Chapter Fifteen: The Number One Esper

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Gunfire echoed through the deserted shopping mall. Jiang Qiyu had no time to check whether the man in red had been hit; she immediately ran toward the direction from which the screams had come.

Halfway there, she brushed past a man. He staggered along, his face deathly pale, his clothes spattered with patches of blood. As he ran, he kept glancing back in terror. He nearly fell several times, but he did not dare stop, fleeing forward desperately and blindly.

Jiang Qiyu gave him a cold glance, but in the end decided to rescue the other person first.

The screams were coming from a clothing store. Jiang Qiyu rushed inside and saw a large display rack collapsed on top of a young woman. Her face was contorted with terror, and she let out faint moans. A zombie in a mall uniform lurched toward her, disgusting saliva dripping from the corner of its mouth as it emitted a hoarse, “Hrrgh... hrrgh...”

“Bang!”

Another gunshot rang out. The zombie fell where it stood, splattering green fluid across the floor.

Jiang Qiyu walked over to the rack and assessed the situation. It was enormous and heavy. She drew a deep breath, gripped its edge with both hands, and exerted herself.

To her surprise, she lifted the rack with ease.

Jiang Qiyu froze for a moment, then realized what had happened: the system had raised her Strength attribute to seven. If she had not just lifted the rack so effortlessly, she would have nearly forgotten about it. Since the apocalypse began, all her attention had been devoted to stockpiling supplies, developing her territory, and protecting its residents. Thinking back, ever since the system had informed her that her Strength had increased, she had indeed felt that she was considerably stronger.

The woman trapped beneath the rack was stunned. She stared at Jiang Qiyu with her mouth hanging open, as though she had witnessed a miracle. Jiang Qiyu herself was somewhat surprised as well. She knew she was stronger than an ordinary person, but she had never expected to lift such a heavy rack with one hand. It seemed the system’s attribute bonuses were even more powerful than she had imagined.

The woman crawled out from beneath the rack. Her leg was injured, and blood had soaked through her trouser leg.

“Thank you, thank you for saving me...” she said, gazing at Jiang Qiyu with tears of gratitude. “Otherwise, he would have killed me.”

“He?” Jiang Qiyu responded indifferently.

The woman clenched her teeth, tears welling in her eyes. “...My boyfriend. We came here from the countryside together to find work, and we had been working at this mall for three years. I never thought... I never thought he would treat me like that!”

“What did he do to you?” Jiang Qiyu asked, a trace of coldness entering her voice.

The woman choked back a sob. “When the zombies mutated, we were sorting goods in the warehouse. To save himself, he actually... he pushed me down and trapped me beneath the rack, then ran away...”

Jiang Qiyu frowned, feeling nothing but contempt for the man’s actions.

What a piece of trash. Things like this were common in the apocalypse, but every time she witnessed one, it still disgusted her.

“Your leg...” Jiang Qiyu looked at the woman’s mangled limb. “Can you still walk?”

The woman shook her head, and at last her tears spilled over. “I... I can’t walk anymore...”

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Jiang Qiyu had not originally intended to take the woman back with her. After all, her territory did not need so many more people right now. But looking at the woman’s pitiful condition...

“I’ll bandage it for you.”

Jiang Qiyu took medicine and bandages from her spatial storage and began treating the woman’s wound with practiced ease.

The moment she touched the woman’s hand, Jiang Qiyu saw a faint green light spread across it. The surrounding plants seemed drawn toward it, swaying gently.

Without revealing anything, Jiang Qiyu continued bandaging the wound, while her thoughts turned rapidly. That green light was unmistakably the sign of a plant-based supernatural ability.

She recalled the key to survival in her previous life: growing medicinal herbs and crops, cultivating new varieties, expanding cultivated land... Every one of those tasks had been closely connected to plants.

Without making a sound, Jiang Qiyu activated the system’s Scan skill.

Name: Zhou Yun
Age: 22
Loyalty: 6
Strength: 3
Speed: 5
Burst: 5
Mentality: 15
Personality: Patient, quiet
Ability: Plant-based supernatural ability, beginner level. Can promote plant growth, increase yields, and has a certain chance of producing mutant plants.

As she skillfully bandaged Zhou Yun’s wound, Jiang Qiyu discreetly studied her.

Zhou Yun’s ability was only at the beginner level, and her rank did not appear particularly high, but something was better than nothing. Vimo Territory was currently in ruins and needed everything. Three people were in charge of the poultry and fish ponds, barely managing to provide meat, but fresh vegetables and medicinal herbs had always been lacking.

Processed food was convenient, but eating it over the long term would lead to an unbalanced diet and harm the residents’ health. More importantly, medicinal herbs were essential for making healing medicine and antidotes. If anyone in the territory fell ill or was injured, they would have no choice but to wait for death without herbs.

It seemed the time had come to establish a farming unit.

Zhou Yun’s arrival was perfectly suited to solve that problem.

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“Can you stand?” Jiang Qiyu asked.

Zhou Yun tried to rise, but the injury in her leg made her grimace in pain. “I... I can’t stand...”

“I’ll support you.”

Jiang Qiyu helped Zhou Yun slowly walk out of the clothing store.

“Where do you want to go?” Jiang Qiyu asked.

Zhou Yun shook her head. “I... I don’t know...”

“I can take you to a safe place. They provide food and shelter there, but you’ll need to help grow crops, medicinal herbs, trees, and other plants. Are you willing?”

A glimmer of hope appeared in Zhou Yun’s eyes. She nodded vigorously.

“I am! As long as there’s somewhere safe, I’ll do anything!”

“Come with me,” Jiang Qiyu said. “Welcome to Vimo.”

“Vimo... What kind of place is that?” Zhou Yun asked curiously.

Jiang Qiyu smiled faintly. “Vimo is a safe haven now, and it will remain one in the future.”

She paused to give Zhou Yun time to absorb her words, then continued in a firm voice:

“There, everyone will be treated fairly. No one will be discriminated against because of their gender, background, or any other reason.”

She patted Zhou Yun on the shoulder and added, “We will protect the rights of every member. Men and women alike. There, you will never again have to fear being abandoned simply because you are a woman.”

Jiang Qiyu’s voice was gentle yet filled with strength, making people instinctively want to trust her.

“We will do everything in our power to safeguard everyone’s safety and well-being,” she concluded, her tone carrying an unquestionable resolve.

Zhou Yun gazed at Jiang Qiyu gratefully, her eyes glistening with tears.

“Thank you. Thank you for saving me and giving me somewhere to stay. If it weren’t for you, I truly wouldn’t know what to do...”

Jiang Qiyu smiled. “There’s no need to thank me. It was nothing. From now on, we’re all residents of Vimo.”

“Mm!”

Zhou Yun nodded firmly, hope filling her eyes as she looked toward the future. She clasped Jiang Qiyu’s hand tightly, as though she had seized a lifeline.

“I’ll work hard and repay you!”