Chapter 44 News of the Fruit, Return
Chapter 44 News of the Fruit, Return
"Hoo..." Su Jinjin exhaled a breath of stale air, trying to calm her surging emotions.
However, when she turned around, she felt the atmosphere suddenly freeze.
Cheng Cheng, the scarred man, and the young man holding the unconscious Xiao Wu all stared intently at her.
"Who exactly are you?" Cheng Cheng's voice broke the silence. Her eyes were extremely complicated, and she was also very confused.
She gripped the mantis scythe tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force.
"At first, seeing how neatly dressed you were, I assumed you were one of those damned researchers at the shelter... but now..."
She took a deep breath, her voice tinged with doubt, "The ability you just used! Instantly putting the Carrion Flower and Xiao Wu to sleep! That's not a power you can gain by eating a special fruit! That's a special ability that only... only insect whisperers possess!"
Su Jinjin: Of course I'm not an ordinary person, I'm a player, but I can't say that.
Su Jinjin felt that she had gotten herself into a lot of trouble.
The taciturn young man beside the scarred man suddenly raised his head, his eyes burning with deep-seated hatred and madness.
He pointed at Su Jinjin, his voice hoarse as he roared, "Who else could it be?! She's a bug in human skin! A spy sent by the Bug Whisperers! The Bug Whisperers are good at disguising themselves as harmless! She wants to infiltrate among us, find the location of the refuge, and then destroy it! Destroy our last home! She wants us all dead!"
This person completely lost control of their emotions.
His entire family had perished in an attack by the Insect Whisperers, and at this moment, he seemed to be pouring all his pain from losing his loved ones and his fear of the Insect Whisperers onto Su Jinjin.
Su Jinjin: "???"
Su Jinjin found it funny.
"No," Su Jinjin's voice turned cold, "If I really wanted you dead, I could have just stood by and watched. Your companion, Xiao Wu, would have been fertilizer long ago. He could have used his ability to put you all to sleep while you were escaping, leaving you for the swarm to feast on! Why would I go to all that trouble?"
After saying that, Su Jinjin glanced at the agitated young man and then cursed, "Idiot!"
youth:...
Su Jinjin's original intention was simply to find a local familiar with the environment to gather some information, so as to avoid being clueless in this instance like a headless fly.
We've obtained some intelligence, but the suspicion, fear, and potential madness of this group are themselves a more unstable bomb than insects.
In the apocalypse, the breakdown of humanity is the norm.
Su Jinjin had no doubt that once the pressure reached a critical point, the young man blinded by hatred, or anyone else, would definitely do something crazy.
She didn't want to entrust her back to someone like that.
"Fine, I've saved your teammate's life too!"
Her gaze shifted to Xiao Wu, who was still unconscious. "But this life wasn't saved in vain."
She looked at Cheng Cheng, "I saved his life. Now I need the reward I deserve. Tell me where I can find the 'Power Apple'? Or information on fruits with similar special effects. In exchange, we'll call it even, and I'll leave immediately to avoid anyone thinking I'm targeting you."
"What do you mean!" The young man who had always been hostile to Su Jinjin suddenly rushed in front of her.
"You still want to take things from us?! You're definitely up to no good! Sister Cheng Cheng, don't believe her! She just wants to find out the secret location where we found the Enhancement Fruit!"
Su Jinjin's eyes, visible above her mask, held undisguised mockery: "Oh? Now you're not afraid I'm a bug whisperer? You dare to get this close? Aren't you afraid I'll suddenly 'go crazy' and kill you!" Her voice wasn't loud, but it pierced the young man's eardrums like an ice pick.
The young man was speechless, choked by the cold gaze and words; his anger felt like it had been doused with a bucket of ice water.
Young man: "You..."
He instinctively took a step back, his face turning pale and then red, his lips trembling but unable to utter a single word.
Ignoring the brainless youth, Su Jinjin looked at Cheng Cheng, who was clearly making the decision.
Cheng Cheng took a deep breath.
Su Jinjin is right, it's a fact that she saved Xiao Wu's life.
Moreover, getting rid of this "unstable factor" might not be a bad thing for their team's safety.
"I can tell you, but it's very dangerous there." Cheng Cheng hesitated for a moment, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the handle of the mantis scythe.
Su Jinjin waved her hand dismissively: "It's nothing, you don't need to worry about it."
Cheng Cheng was speechless for a moment, then gritted her teeth and finally made up her mind: "You almost went in yourself, to that area where the giant spiders were entrenched, the garden in the west of the city. There's a Power Apple Tree there, right in the center of the garden. But now it's guarded by a terrifying giant spider queen, so it'll be difficult for you to pick it."
Cheng Cheng originally wanted to find another opportunity to help her companions pick a few Power Apples, but she didn't expect to run into Su Jinjin.
"Okay, I understand." Su Jinjin nodded, her gaze already drifting towards the distant horizon, clearly planning her next route.
Just then, Xiao Wu, who was lying on the ground, suddenly let out a weak groan, and his eyelids trembled slightly.
The others immediately surrounded him, asking him all sorts of questions about his condition.
"What...what happened to me?" Xiao Wu weakly opened his eyes, his voice hoarse. "I remember being entangled by the carrion flower, and then..."
"It's alright, it's all over now." Cheng Cheng squatted down and gently patted his shoulder.
Taking advantage of everyone's attention being drawn to the injured, Su Jinjin quietly retreated to the edge of the rooftop.
She took one last look at the group of people.
There was no farewell, nor was there any need for one; this was merely a brief encounter where each party got what they needed.
When Cheng Cheng finally remembered something and turned around sharply, the tall, slender figure was no longer visible on the rooftop.
Only a few specks of dust were stirred up by the night wind, and a faint red light appeared in the distance.
Cheng Cheng paused, a vague sense of loss suddenly welling up inside her.
But soon, Xiao Wu's coughing brought her back to reality.
She shook her head, putting the mysterious woman out of her mind. In this post-apocalyptic world, being able to protect her companions was already a great fortune.
At the same time, Su Jinjin quickly returned along the route she had come from.
Along the way, the traces of the mutated beetle swarms were shocking.
The place was a complete mess.
However, there is one advantage to the passage of insect swarms: not a single living insect can be seen in the areas they pass through.
All living things were either devoured or had long since fled.
This made Su Jinjin's return journey exceptionally smooth, without having to constantly guard against sudden attacks.
Soon, that terrifying spider territory reappeared in sight.
From afar, countless silvery-white spider silks intertwined into a giant, all-encompassing net under the blood-red sky, trembling gently in the breeze.
Countless giant spiders crawled on the web, their purplish-black exoskeletons gleaming eerily under the red light.