Chapter 9: Malice, and the Classification of Abilities

Bian Changxi glanced at the can that had rolled far away, a flash of surprise flickering in her eyes. She was at least thirty meters from the convenience store entrance—if someone could throw a can that far, they must have awakened an ability. It was either an enhancement of physical strength from a Five Elements ability, or a Strength-type ability from the Ordinary category.

But then she smiled, tinged with a trace of annoyance. She stopped her motorcycle, turned to look for the person who had thrown the can. Inside the store, five people were staring in shock at a skinny boy—no need to ask, he was clearly the culprit.

Under everyone’s gaze, the boy’s face turned bright red. He stammered, “I—I just wanted her to stop.”

The boy who had first called out to Bian Changxi glared at him, then hurriedly said to her, “Sorry, friend, our classmate didn’t mean any harm…”

If this isn’t malice, then what is?

Because Bian Changxi had stopped her bike, the zombies saw hope. Two of them gave up on the convenience store and started heading toward her, getting closer by the second. Bian Changxi pointed at the boy who had called out, held up one finger, then pointed at herself and held up two. She took off her backpack and tossed it by the roadside, put on her helmet, and rode forward to widen the distance between herself and the zombies. Then, with a sudden turn, she charged straight at one of them.

With a bang, the zombie was sent flying. She braked, turned around, and precisely ran over its knees, crushing them. Without giving it another glance, she immediately set her sights on the second zombie.

That zombie had no idea how dangerous a motorcycle could be. It just lumbered forward, mouth agape. Behind the visor of her helmet, Bian Changxi’s eyes flashed coldly. She was about to ram it when suddenly her vision blurred—a wave of intense dizziness hit her, accompanied by nearly unbearable pain from the wound on her left arm. Cold sweat broke out all over her body.

That moment’s delay was enough for the zombie to reach her, its sharp claws swiping out. Bian Changxi drew the straight blade from her back, slicing off several of its fingernails and a pinky finger. Using the momentum, she rolled off the bike, flicked the blade to cut the strap holding her fire axe, caught the axe in her left hand, and sprang to her feet, retreating quickly.

She took a couple of breaths, sheathed the blade, switched the axe to her right hand, dodged twice, then found an opening and hacked into the zombie’s right shoulder. It roared and swiped at her with its left hand, but Bian Changxi ducked low, darted under its right armpit, and swung the axe in a full arc. The sharp edge made a harsh sawing sound as it cut, and the zombie’s entire right arm dangled, attached by only a bit of flesh.

Without pausing, Bian Changxi moved behind the zombie and brought the axe down in a powerful swing. Most of the back of its head was chopped off, brain matter splattering everywhere.

The zombie crashed heavily to the ground. Still not reassured, Bian Changxi chopped its head off completely before finally relaxing. Past experience had taught her: only a decapitated zombie was a safe zombie.

Leaning on her axe, she caught her breath and glanced back. The last zombie was also staggering toward her, while the people in the convenience store—whether from shock or something else—stood frozen, eyes wide. One man and one woman even bent over and started vomiting.

She let out a cold, mocking laugh.

The boy who had called out to her snapped out of his daze and shouted, “Come on! This is our chance! Are the six of us just going to stand here and watch a girl fight zombies for us? If you’re not cowards, follow me—let’s take down the last one together!”

He talked a lot, but it worked. The others were roused, flung open the convenience store door, and rushed out to surround the last zombie.

Meanwhile, Bian Changxi methodically chopped off the head of the first zombie—the one with crushed knees—then picked up her backpack, righted her motorcycle, and leaned against it, cradling her left arm as she watched coldly from the sidelines.

They actually weren’t bad at fighting zombies. The boy who’d called out—clearly the leader of the six—stood in front of the zombie, directing another girl to help him distract it, while Zhang Yuwen and the skinny boy who’d thrown the can attacked from behind.

Zhang Yuwen was the tall, handsome, slightly roguish type—came from money, always hanging out with a gang of friends, but not much of a fighter. He was all show, no substance. That was exactly why Bian Changxi had chosen him to join her in her wild days. Right now, he was wielding a kitchen knife, attacking the zombie with great flair but little real effect. The skinny boy, on the other hand, was hammering away with a mallet, his expression twisted in a mix of savage glee and cathartic release. It was unsettling to watch, but every blow left a dent. If only he were taller—if he could reach the zombie’s head, a few hits would finish it.

After watching for a moment, Bian Changxi was pretty sure: the skinny boy had awakened a Strength-type ability.

In the apocalypse, abilities fell into three main categories: Ordinary, Elemental, and Special.

Ordinary abilities included Strength, Speed, and Enhanced Endurance. These didn’t show any outward signs; in other words, people with these abilities were just physically superior to normal people. They were often already advantaged before the apocalypse—athletes, bodyguards, soldiers, police, hitmen. Because they were so common, Ordinary abilities were highly valued in the early days of the apocalypse, and many small, scattered factions were formed by people with these powers.

Elemental abilities, by contrast, were much rarer. The elements included the five traditional ones—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—as well as derivatives like ice (from water), lightning (from fire), wind, mist, and so on.

The defining feature of Elemental ability users was that their powers manifested physically when activated. For example, in her previous life, Bian Changxi had a Wood ability, which let her summon green vines and wooden spikes. Xu Hong had a Fire ability, able to throw fireballs and fire blades.

Statistics showed that only one in twenty ability users had an Elemental power, and derivative types were even rarer and more powerful—lightning was the most prestigious of all.

Finally, there were Special abilities, which basically fell into two types: psychic and spatial. Psychic abilities had branches like telekinesis, telepathy, and mental detection. Spatial abilities included basic storage, as well as teleportation and spatial folding.

Special abilities were the rarest of all—maybe one in a hundred people had one, and they usually awakened later than the others.

If Ordinary abilities were a continuation of pre-apocalypse advantages, Elemental and Spatial abilities were a matter of luck—who got them, which type, was entirely out of one’s control. Psychic abilities, though, were unique and fair: they could be cultivated through training, but usually only powerful Elemental users could reach that threshold.

In her previous life, Miss Cai Jiangmei had developed a psychic ability on top of her Ice power. Zhu Yunhua had also managed to gain a telepathic ability from his Fire base.

And Gu Xu—Bian Changxi sighed—the leader of the Tengyang Base, the strongest person in all of China, was a dual-type powerhouse with both Lightning and Telekinesis. His strength was terrifying, making countless heroes yearn to challenge him, but all they could do was sigh in frustration.

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