Sweeping the streets is such a tedious and boring job. Last night’s rain left a lot of stuff caked on the ground, and Lu Yao even told everyone to clean it up—it’s really both gross and a hassle.

When things get boring, chatting is the natural thing to do.

“Hey, buddy, what kind of organization is Torch Dragon?” Lu Yao asked.

Jiang Xingrui clearly still had a certain level of wariness: “You’re asking me a question—doesn’t that mean I can ask you one too?”

Lu Yao nodded: “Exchanging intel? Sure.”

Qin Ye, standing nearby, pricked up his ears, becoming so engrossed that he stopped paying attention to sweeping the street.

Jiang Xingrui said, “Although Torch Dragon isn’t the largest organization in Linchuan and the surrounding area, we’re the strongest. We have three top-tier experts, and our leader, Brother Li, possesses a terrifying flame ability…”

“Fire powers!” Qin Ye let out a startled cry.

Isn’t this just like in TV shows and novels! Fire! Flame! Superpower!

“That ability is really impressive,” Lu Yao agreed.

He actually just blurted out the leader’s superpower? Well, with a superpower like that, there’s no way the organization’s leader could keep it a secret. Jiang Xingrui nodded proudly: “Yeah, Brother Li is the strongest!” He looked incredibly proud.

Lu Yao studied Jiang Xingrui’s expression: “Are there any hidden risks with this ability?”

Jiang Xingrui’s expression suddenly turned wary: “Why are you asking that?”

Lu Yao thought to himself, *That’s because while you’re proud of him, your gaze is also a bit dim and pained—so there must be something wrong with your leader.*

“I was just asking. Don’t all superpowers come with risks?”

Jiang Xingrui leaned his broom against the curb and said casually, “Oh, they all have risks, but it’s pretty rude of you to ask so directly.” 

Lu Yao said innocently, “Isn’t this just exchanging questions?”

Jiang Xingrui: “Let’s ask something else.” Then Jiang Xingrui suddenly realized something: “Your bizarre behavior—could it be because of the side effects of your superpower?”

Jiang Xingrui was actually pretty perceptive.

For now, while so many things remain unknown, it’s definitely best to reveal as little as possible.

Even though Jiang Xingrui has already exposed 12,345 pieces of information, with such a massive organization backing him, it wouldn’t matter if he exposed 6,789 more. But if Lu Yao were to expose even more, who knows what might happen.

So he needs to find a way to make Jiang Xingrui not think that way. After all, if it’s a side effect, that implies coercion—and that means it’s his own weakness.

With that, Lu Yao flashed a charming smile and admitted openly, “Yeah, you finally figured it out! Actually, I’m just a perfectly normal, handsome guy. Everything you find strange is just a side effect of my superpower.”

Jiang Xingrui pressed his hand to his forehead: “I was overthinking it. I shouldn’t have blamed your behavior on your superpower… You’re not that simple a person…” 

Lu Yao: “……”

Lu Yao’s smile faded.

For once I told the truth, and he didn’t even believe me! Damn it! Just wait till I trick you! Lu Yao asked, “So, to return the favor, what’s your superpower?”

Jiang Xingrui replied briefly: “My ability is micro-frequency perception.” 

Lu Yao: “Oh, oh, oh… Is it from living organisms or metals?” More questions popped into Lu Yao’s head.

Is it the low-amplitude electrochemical oscillations of biological tissue, or the micro-vibrations of metallic structures? What’s the range? Does environmental noise affect your perception? Is it passive, or can you actively choose? 

So this is another form of supernatural power in this new world. After hearing about the leader’s fire-based power, Lu Yao had assumed that all supernatural powers were as simple and crude as in anime.

Jiang Xingrui: “Do you really think I’d go into that much detail?”

He’s still pretty wary, isn’t he?

To remain so steadfast in his convictions despite my meddling—Jiang Xingrui’s actually pretty impressive…

More questions kept popping into Lu Yao’s mind.

If it’s a biosensor, it should provide some combat enhancements—can it predict zombie activity? Can it detect heartbeats? Or could it be used as a lie detector?

Lu Yao pressed further: “So am I essentially naked in front of you? This is really important to me.”

Jiang Xingrui answered this question with a sigh of exasperation: “It’s not quite that bad—don’t worry.” 

“I’m not worried,” Lu Yao said. “I just feel it’s a shame.”

Jiang Xingrui: “…Please cut it out, you pervert.” 

Jiang Xingrui didn’t want to dwell on this topic with Lu Yao any longer: “Now it’s your turn to answer my question. What’s your superpower?”

Lu Yao said, “My superpower is that it automatically connects to the internet when I post on Moments.” 

Jiang Xingrui: “……”

Jiang Xingrui asked, enunciating each word clearly, “Are you kidding me?”

Lu Yao confidently held out his phone to Jiang Xingrui: “If you don’t believe me, take a look—all my Moments posts were successfully posted.”

“I’m not falling for your trick—don’t show me that,” Jiang Xingrui said as he pushed Lu Yao’s hand away, but in the end, he couldn’t help but snatch Lu Yao’s phone to examine it closely.

He stared at the icons at the bottom of the screen, his brow furrowed. Everyone has used Moments before.

He scrolled through it a second time, this time reading the captions carefully as well, and then he was hit with a sudden mental shock. He looked at Lu Yao as if he’d seen a ghost: “What you said… is that really true?”

Lu Yao: “Given how well you know me, have I ever lied to you?”

Jiang Xingrui: “It would’ve been fine if you hadn’t said that—but now that you have, there’s definitely something wrong…” He couldn’t help but flip through Lu Yao’s phone again, examining it inside and out.

Although most of it was fine, Lu Yao usually jotted down random inspirations in his Notes app. Based on those notes, one could make some inferences about his system.

“Stop, stop—don’t keep scrolling.” Lu Yao reached out to take the phone away. “Don’t go snooping around. What if you see a nude photo of me? Will you take responsibility for that?”

Jiang Xingrui’s hand jerked, and he handed Lu Yao’s phone back as if he’d touched something filthy. “Do you still take those kinds of photos?”

Lu Yao asked seriously, “Haven’t you taken any yourself?”

Jiang Xingrui: “……”

Jiang Xingrui changed the subject: “…What exactly is your superpower? I’ve seen some weird superpowers before, but nothing as strange as yours. You must be pulling my leg.”

Lu Yao shrugged: “I’m still figuring it out myself.”

Jiang Xingrui paused for a moment: “Ah, with complex abilities, you really do have to figure them out slowly…”

Lu Yao nodded: “Yeah, yeah.”

Then he thought to himself, Oh, so you still have to figure things out after your ability awakens? New info acquired. Chatting is one thing, but they still had to clear the street.

During that time, another zombie popped out, and Qin Ye chopped it to pieces with his stainless steel tactical axe.

The move was low-difficulty, but because the blood spatter was kept to a minimum, the score was very high. 

Jiang Xingrui continued sweeping the street, deep in thought.

After a while, Lu Yao said, “So, Jiang Xingrui…”

Jiang Xingrui: “Hmm?” He immediately pricked up his ears and listened intently to Lu Yao.

Lu Yao: “You really did take that kind of selfie.” 

Jiang Xingrui: “……”

Jiang Xingrui: “I really want to smash your head open to see what’s going on inside.”

Lu Yao sneered, “You’re not the first person to think that.”

Before Jiang Xingrui could lose his cool, Lu Yao said, “Then let’s exchange the next piece of information.” 

Jiang Xingrui replied, “Sure.”

After answering, he let out a sigh of relief; it really was so hard to have a normal conversation with Lu Yao. Wait a minute… Come to think of it, maybe he hadn’t been “trained” by Lu Yao after all… 

He didn’t have time to think about this question carefully, because Lu Yao had already started asking:

“What was the highest level of zombie you’ve ever encountered?”

This was another crucial question.

The answer would give Lu Yao a better understanding of this world. Jiang Xingrui was silent for a moment: “That’s not exactly a pleasant memory.” 

Lu Yao: “I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

Jiang Xingrui: “No, you’re not sorry at all—because you were the one who stuck your neck out to hear the story! And why did you even bring a folding stool and sit down? You guys are way too much!!!” 

Qin Ye awkwardly put away the little folding stool and stammered a lie: “I—I just got tired from cleaning, so I sat down.”

Lu Yao kicked Qin Ye: “I’m so ashamed to have a son like you.”

Qin Ye put the folding stool back down. “Sir, please sit down.”

“Now that’s more like it.” Lu Yao sat down on the stool, turned to look at Jiang Xingrui, and said earnestly, “The preliminary preparations are done. You can start now, my friend.”

Jiang Xingrui: “…Can I beat you guys up?”

Lu Yao: “Just like that origami crane said, if you’re angry, take it out on Qin Ye.”

Qin Ye: “…Big Shot…”

Jiang Xingrui: “I’m cursing you right now—after I’m gone, a Tier III zombie will come and eat you both.”

Despite this, Jiang Xingrui still answered Lu Yao’s question.

“We ran into a zombie… no, ‘one’ doesn’t quite cover it… That thing practically… assimilated an entire factory…”

Qin Ye froze: “Assimilated? What does that mean?”

Jiang Xingrui looked into the distance, his gaze wavering: “The walls, the doors—they were all writhing flesh. The entire factory came to life… You have no idea—that factory’s massive steel gate had practically turned into…”

Lu Yao: “It turned into a different kind of giant anus, right?” 

Jiang Xingrui: “…I guess so. But you have to know that that huge steel gate was absolutely terrifying. Never mind… what you’re describing sounds pretty terrifying too…Never mind.” 

He said “Never mind” twice in a row.

“Holy fucking shit, will you die if you go one second without talking about shit, piss, and ass?!”

Lu Yao said awkwardly: “…Uh, as a matter of fact, I actually would.”

Jiang Xingrui’s expression looked like he wanted to knock Lu Yao to the ground: “If you interrupt me one more time, I’ll fucking beat you to death.”

Lu Yao: “Okay, I’ll shut up.”

But with that, Jiang Xingrui snapped out of his earlier emotional state and was able to objectively describe that flesh-and-blood factory.

“We stood at the doorway and smelled something that wasn’t just the stench of a corpse—it was thick and viscous, like something fermented. Can you imagine steel growing flesh? I stood outside the door and touched the wall with my hand; I could feel…”

He shuddered and repeated himself.

“The entire factory is… alive.

Actually, we could just go around it. This isn’t a video game, after all—it’s not like defeating a powerful boss will give us good loot.”

Lu Yao: “But you guys still went in.”

As Jiang Xingrui said this, a bright fire burned in his eyes:

“Damn it, someone has to do it—so why not us? Brother Li said that if we don’t do it, this might spread even further. In the end, we might be able to avoid it for a while, but we can’t avoid it forever.

We brought a lot of gear. We sliced through layer after layer of flesh. Brother Li’s fire ability is really powerful… Do you know what the scariest thing about that thing is?”

“What?” Lu Yao asked.

Jiang Xingrui said slowly, “It feels pain. When it’s in pain, it contracts.”