Chapter 73: Chapter 73: A Person Should Always Have a Backup Plan

Sue Lawrence grabbed the broom from the corner and Elliot Lawrence took the shovel. The two of them dragged the small cart and headed outside, one step at a time.

The temperature dropped with each curtain they passed. By the time they reached the cave entrance, they greeted the people they were relieving.

"How is it?"

Elliot Lawrence asked the person at the entrance.

"The snow’s coming down hard, but at least there’s no wind. If there were, we’d be done for."

The speaker was a young man. He had seen the apocalyptic blizzards firsthand, and the mere thought of those gales still made him shudder.

"So you’ll have to keep shoveling nonstop. The snow’s so heavy it’ll get deep in no time."

Elliot Lawrence nodded. Once the handover was complete and the other two had left, he and Sue Lawrence climbed out of the cave.

The snow outside was so thick you couldn’t see a person’s silhouette from three meters away.

"This much snow?"

Elliot Lawrence was stunned. He’d never seen a snowfall this heavy. It was like snow was being dumped from the sky. You’d think nothing existed between heaven and earth but the endless white.

Sue Lawrence glanced at their cave entrance. In the few minutes they had been talking, a thick layer of snow had already accumulated, at least a couple of inches deep.

She then looked over at the sled. Several robots had it completely surrounded. Each one had extended a panel, like the sail of a ship, and their tips met at the top to form a pointed octahedron. The snow couldn’t pile up on the steep slopes and slid right off, forming drifts around the sled.

"We’ll have to clear it every half hour."

Sue Lawrence gauged the depth of the snow. ’Every half hour should be manageable,’ she thought, ’and fairly easy, too.’

"Sue!"

Elliot Lawrence glanced behind him. A figure was hiding behind the curtain, only a flicker of movement visible through the gap.

Sue Lawrence deliberately switched to the public comms channel and shot Elliot Lawrence a look. "I’m going to find a place to use the bathroom."

With that, she picked a direction and started walking. Over there, the tops of some large trees were visible. The heavy snow had buried nearly half of the twenty-to-thirty-meter-tall trees, making them look as short as saplings, though their trunks were still massive.

Sue Lawrence walked over, one step at a time.

Soon enough, she heard the voices of Elliot Lawrence and Ox on the public channel.

Ox said, "Tough watch late at night, huh?"

Elliot Lawrence played dumb. "Yeah. Can’t sleep?"

"Hahaha, my stomach’s a little upset. Gotta take a dump..."

As he spoke, he started walking in Sue Lawrence’s direction. Elliot Lawrence quickly stopped him. "Hey, there’s a girl over there. Go the other way."

"Oh, is that right? Well, well..."

Ox shot a vicious glare in Sue Lawrence’s direction. After a moment’s thought, so as not to arouse suspicion, he headed off in another direction—the opposite one.

Sue Lawrence chuckled. ’My brother’s trying to wear down Ox’s stamina for me. Nice one, Elliot! Props to you!’

She quickly retrieved a snowboard from her spatial storage and strapped it to her feet. She then pulled out the weapon she’d recently grown accustomed to—the Bone-cutting Knife. She also swapped her issued gloves for a pair of cold-resistant ones from her space; they were five-fingered, thinner, and offered more flexibility and dexterity.

Although they weren’t as warm as the standard-issue gloves, when the choice was between frozen fingers and losing her life, she’d take the frozen fingers.

’Besides, it’s just numbness, not frostbite. I can just rub them with some snow if they get too stiff.’

Once her preparations were complete, Sue Lawrence activated her skills. Ant’s Perception, Katydid’s Jumping Ability, B Level Skiing, B Level Fencing Skill, C Persuasion Technique, B Level Ice Control Skill, B Level Healing Skill—she activated everything she thought might be useful!

The moment she finished activating all her skills, her Perception picked up a vicious projectile screaming toward her. She dodged on pure instinct, whipping her head around to face her attacker.

Sure enough, Ox was standing there. He held some unknown device in his hand. With a soft press, a piercing static blasted through her helmet. He was jamming the comms.

’Shit,’ she thought. ’This Ox is smarter than he looks, knowing to cut the comms first. I bet Tiana Lynch gave him that device.’

But the deep snow made it difficult to move, so Ox wasn’t fast. Sue, on the other hand, could be. She had her snowboard gear on, which was like putting racing tires on a tank. She shot forward at high speed—not running, but lunging straight at Ox!

Ox was stunned for a second when he saw Sue suddenly accelerate. He had been worried the bitch would run away and report him. He never expected her to charge straight at him instead!

’Ha, what’s this? A pleasant surprise?’

’Does this bitch really think her scrawny little self can actually fight me? Hahaha!’

Ox felt incredibly lucky. This was an absolute windfall!

"Haha, you idiot! I have a Superpower!"

Ox almost cheered out loud. Too bad for him, he only thought he’d destroyed the comms. Sue’s B Level Network Technology was more than enough to fix such simple jamming.

Almost instantly, Sue’s voice crackled to life in his helmet. "Surprise! I have a Superpower too!"

"!!!"

Ox was dumbfounded. ’The comms aren’t broken? No, I have to end this fast! I can’t give her the chance to call for help!’

He moved instantly. But for once, Sue had the exact same thought: she wanted to end this fast!

He recklessly unleashed his A Level Wind Slash, and Sue countered with her B Level Ice Control Skill.

Snow was just frozen water, after all. Walls of ice and snow fused together in front of her, blocking the Wind Slashes in the blink of an eye. The few that managed to slip through had their power greatly diminished and couldn’t even touch her.

"Fuck!"

Ox cursed. ’This woman really does have a Superpower. So why the hell didn’t Tiana Lynch tell me?!’

Seeing her get so close, Ox finally thought to run, but he was horrified to discover he couldn’t move.

He looked down and saw that his feet had been frozen to the ground at some point. The ice was still climbing, visibly creeping up his legs until it reached his waist.

"Your Superpower is Ice Control... just like Tia Norris!"

He screamed in terror, but Sue was already on him. She froze his hands, preventing him from using his Superpower, and then ripped open the zipper on his protective suit.

’Hmm, resources are scarce. The man is disposable, but his gear has to be left for me intact!’

"Heh..."

Sue Lawrence smiled. "Didn’t Tiana Lynch tell you? Doesn’t she claim she can see Superpowers? Tsk, tsk. Looks like you were played for a fool, just a disposable tool she’s using."

"Wha-what?!"

"You don’t get it? I’m saying Tiana Lynch definitely saw my Superpower. But she didn’t tell you. Any guesses why?"

Sue sowed discord without a moment’s hesitation.

Then she drove her knife upward, straight into his heart.

Ox’s face was a mask of terror, his eyes clearly filled with hatred for Tiana Lynch. But he would never get the chance to go back and question her.

She coldly withdrew her knife. Then, quickly manipulating the ice that encased Ox, she removed his helmet and tossed it into her spatial storage. She stripped off the rest of his gear and threw it in as well, followed by the corpse. The last step was to use her Ice Control Skill to erase all traces of the fight. She froze a smooth layer of ice over the footprints, and only when the ground was a perfectly flat sheet did she turn and leave.

Then, she switched her comms to encrypted channel 4.

"Elliot, I just deliberately patched into the comms of the other person Tiana Lynch sent."

’Plant the seeds of doubt. You always have to leave yourself an out, right?’