Chapter 346: Chapter 331: She Is Just Taking Back What Belongs to Her

Gu Xi looked up at Ye Junhan.

’Was it just my imagination, or did I just see a flash of... chagrin in his eyes?’

Gu Xi: "..."

She couldn’t help but carefully recall what she had just said... and confirmed that it was all perfectly normal.

’So... it was probably just too dark to see clearly, right?’

Gu Xi looked away.

"About this matter..." Gu Xi lowered her gaze to the little green sprout stirring restlessly on her fingertip.

"I’ll give you an explanation for this," Ye Junhan said suddenly.

The two of them spoke at almost the same time.

Gu Xi looked up at him in surprise.

Ye Junhan stiffened slightly.

After a moment, he nonchalantly pulled the small vine from his wrist and held it out to Gu Xi. Then... he gave her a deep look, turned, and strode away, his face expressionless.

Gu Xi: "..."

In the gathering dusk, she glanced at the man’s retreating figure in the distance, then looked down and poked the two tender leaves on top of Bud, murmuring with a soft sigh:

"Oh, Bud, you’ve been a bit forward lately, haven’t you?"

"Look, you scared him off... We can’t have you doing that again."

Bud shook the two tender leaves on its top innocently. ’That man has an energy that naturally draws me to him. I’m just a little green sprout, I can’t help it, can I?’

...

It wasn’t until the next morning that the group who had ventured deep into the swamp the day before finally emerged, looking quite reluctant.

Seeing them covered in mud and walking with unsteady steps, Qi Xiang was thoroughly confused. ’Ability users’ vision isn’t affected by darkness, but isn’t it obviously easier to find things during the day than at night?’

Putting everything else aside, just look at that thick layer of mud on them... How many times did they have to roll around in the muck last night to get that caked-on look?

Of course, under normal circumstances, ability users wouldn’t just fall into the mud. But the large group that went in last night was anything but united.

With so many different factions, each with their own ulterior motives, who knows how many times they secretly sabotaged one another.

Qi Xiang watched the spectacle with amusement, unconsciously munching on an extra sweet potato for breakfast.

This, however, made Shen Yue rather sullen.

...With outsiders present, it was best not to flaunt their wealth. So, Wei Heng and Ouyang had discussed it and decided to implement a rationing system for the entire convoy. The food for every meal was now strictly counted.

The extra one Qi Xiang ate had been Shen Yue’s portion.

Shen Yue shot Qi Xiang a mournful look, stuffed the remaining half of his sweet potato into his mouth, and ambled over toward Li Xiao.

Nearby, the expressions on the faces of Tang You and his people were grim.

—The Special Service Team hadn’t prepared any breakfast for them.

Of course, it wasn’t as if they were desperate for a few sweet potatoes. But regardless, they had come in the name of a rescue mission. When Zhou Yue had led his people over before, he had even brought several truckloads of supplies.

But now, they weren’t even offered a single sweet potato.

It was... a huge loss of face.

But these were all people of status; they naturally wouldn’t stoop to asking for food outright.

Yang Xi suppressed her irritation, wiped the mud from her mouth, and snorted. ’It’s just a few sweet potatoes. As if I’d care about that.’

Just then, Li Xiao and Shen Yue met up. They slung their arms over each other’s shoulders, huddled close, and began whispering.

Yang Xi had sharp ears and vaguely overheard the words "Mutated Rat King." An idea sparked in her mind. She took a small packet of jerky from her pocket and, in front of everyone, unhurriedly tore it open.

The jerky didn’t actually smell like much, and the taste... well, the taste was hard to put into words.

Yang Xi usually never ate it.

But you couldn’t deny that it was made from the flesh of a mutated beast and was packed with energy. On the front lines, they often used this kind of jerky to lure other mutated beasts during clearing missions.

Recalling the information she’d received from her source inside the convoy, Yang Xi felt she had found her opening.

Sure enough, moments after she took out the jerky, a large, golden-furred mutated rat suddenly darted over.

"This must be the Mutated Rat King that Miss Gu is raising, yes?" Yang Xi held out a strip of jerky to Bai. "Here."

Everyone’s eyes fell on the woman and the rat.

Liu Bo, in particular, had seen plenty of mutated animals on the front lines, but this one... how to put it?

It was just... a bit strange.

The "a bit strange" Bai had just been let out of Gu Xi’s space when it smelled a peculiar scent of meat. Its groggy brain hadn’t even processed it yet, but its four short legs were already carrying it over on pure reflex.

By the time Yang Xi offered the jerky, Bai’s brain had finally, belatedly, caught up. ’I’m not who I used to be anymore.’

’How could something with such low-grade energy be worthy of my current status?’

Bai glanced at the jerky, a flash of disdain in its beady red eyes. Then, it lifted a small paw and pushed the jerky away.

Everyone: "..."

Yang Xi froze for a second, then looked up at Gu Xi and said pointedly, "Miss Gu’s pet is truly one of a kind."

"You know it." Qi Xiang had no patience for passive-aggressive snark and shot right back, "Are you jealous of our Gu Xi, old lady?"

Yang Xi, who was being called an "old lady" for the first time in her life: "..."

She was only in her early fifties, the absolute prime of an ability user’s life. Everyone she met normally had to address her respectfully as Miss Yang.

The line of men pursuing her was long enough to stretch from the gates of City A all the way to the Base Administration Building.

But now, this woman, Qi Xiang, had dared to call her an "old lady" in public!

Yang Xi was livid. A vicious glint flashed in her eyes.

Just then, Gu Xi suddenly spoke. "Mr. Tang, I’m temporarily taking over City A."

Her words were like a thunderclap, stunning everyone present.

It took Tang You a long moment to process what she’d said.

"Miss Gu, you..." He looked at Gu Xi, his expression a mixture of shock and suspicion. ’Could it be?’ he thought. ’Is her first step to reclaiming her power and getting her revenge starting with our City A?’

’If so, things are about to get very troublesome.’

Gu Xi regarded him calmly. "Is there a problem?"

"Miss Gu, although I am the Base Commander, there are some things I don’t have the final say on," Tang You said, looking troubled. "Of course, I personally have no objection to you taking over City A."

’Not that I’d dare to have any,’ he thought.

"But this sort of thing... it has to go through the proper channels." Tang You put on a show of someone who would follow Gu Xi’s every command but was regretfully powerless to decide this matter himself.

Gu Xi asked, "Channels?"

"Well..." Tang You hesitated. He hadn’t expected Gu Xi to suddenly bring this up and was completely unprepared.

Naturally, Tang You had no intention of handing over control of City A.

But Gu Xi was waiting for his answer, and simply brushing her off wouldn’t work.

After some thought, Tang You said earnestly, "Miss Gu, if you want to take over control of City A, you first need a valid reason, then you must submit an application to the higher-ups, and then..."

Gu Xi gave Tang You a strange look and wiggled the small green sprout wrapped around her finger. "Mr. Tang, I’m not negotiating with you."

Gu Xi’s tone was calm, but a chill ran down Tang You’s spine.

He broke out in a cold sweat.

’How could I have forgotten who she is?’

Normally, taking over a large survivor base would naturally require a lot of procedural steps.

But there were always special circumstances... For example, what if the base encountered a sudden emergency and the entire management team... disappeared?

"Miss Gu..." At this thought, Tang You wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Don’t be nervous, Mr. Tang." Gu Xi raised a hand to pat his shoulder, but her gaze traveled past him, toward City A in the distance, as she murmured almost inaudibly, "I’m not interested in power..."

’I just... want to take back what’s mine.’