Five years into the apocalypse, and now those with abilities are strictly ranked.

The most common are elemental abilities of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Beyond those, there are mutated elemental abilities, and mutated powers are very strong.

For example, spatial, lightning, psychic, and ice-type mutated abilities. Because of their mutation, once awakened they are at least B-rank, making them the kind of strong fighters every major base wants to recruit.

Among them, psychic-type powers were the most mysterious, and also the rarest.

So far, it was only heard that a southern base had a psychic-type powered individual—their exact rank unknown, but this person was extremely strong.

So strong that they single-handedly fought against two level-five zombies without falling behind.

Zombies also have ranks; a level-five zombie is roughly equivalent to an A-rank esper.

This psychic was called the Super King — rumor had it he invented the codename himself. It sounded a bit over the top, but his terrifying power couldn’t be ignored.

The most basic display of a psychic-type ability was this — taking objects at a distance with pure thought; wherever they looked, weapons appeared.

If the psychic power was strong enough, they could directly control an enemy’s mind, making the enemy fight themselves. That was the terror of psychic-type abilities.

Zhu Yuan never expected to encounter a psychic-type user in a place like this, and of all people, it was a little girl.

If he hadn’t once been lucky enough to watch footage of the Super King fighting a level-five zombie, Zhu Yuan couldn’t have been sure the little girl was a psychic.

The cleaver floating silently behind her was the best proof.

A strange feeling like he’d stepped in dog poop rose in Zhu Yuan’s chest. He forced a kind, friendly smile onto his ashen face. “Little sister, my name is Zhu Yuan. I’m badly hurt—could you help me?”

The little girl nodded and reached out her tiny hand to support Zhu Yuan.

“Thank you.” Zhu Yuan bit his tongue, gritting his teeth as he leaned on the doorframe to stand, stumbling as he walked into the room.

Out of the corner of his eye he constantly noticed the kitchen knife; as the little girl moved, the knife moved with her, the blade pointing straight at him.

Zhu Yuan did not take this as a sign of hostility from the girl; on the contrary, it showed that despite her age she already had a sense of vigilance.

No wonder she could live here on her own.

Since he woke up until now, he hadn’t seen anyone else besides Bian Bian; from that he could infer that only the little girl lived here.

If there were any other “adults,” they would have shown up long ago.

Seeing Bian Bian about to enter the living room, before the feed switched to the living room, Xiu Jin hurriedly put down the kitchen knife.

Without the knife, the menacing stare eased; Zhu Yuan secretly let out a breath.

“Uncle, you sit first.” Bian Bian rarely had the chance to be around strangers, because Lu Yu would never leave her alone with someone she didn’t know.

When she used to stay by Grandpa’s side, she only had to be obedient and call people, but now it was different. This uncle was badly injured and was asking her for help. Bian Bian remembered Grandpa saying that if someone asks for help and you are able to assist, you should do so.

Even in this cruel post-apocalyptic era, Lu Yu never wanted his precious granddaughter to grow cold and heartless.

Bian Bian pulled over a chair for Zhu Yuan to sit, then went to another room where Grandpa’s clothes were kept. She found a clean set, hugged it to her chest, and ran out.

During this time, the pant leg she was holding dragged on the ground; not noticing, she stepped on it and suddenly lost her balance.

This time Xiu Jin was especially cautious. He didn’t clamp the precious daughter between his arms, but rather used his fingers to slightly support the little body at the edge, so Bianbiana didn’t fall—she only stumbled, unaware that the reason she hadn’t fallen was because the “villain” she thought of had helped.

Once steady, the little girl hurriedly rolled up the pant leg that had been dragging on the ground and handed it to Zhu Yuan: “Uncle, your clothes are wet. These are grandpa’s clothes. Put them on first.”

Zhu Yuan felt dizzy. As soon as he heard the two words “grandpa,” his mind cleared a little. He took the clothes and said weakly, “Where is grandpa?”

What is this kid asking Grandpa to do? Could it be that he plans to make a move on his precious granddaughter now that no adults are around?

Even injured, she wouldn’t behave. Xiu Jin’s eyes narrowed as he picked up a bottle of water from the desk behind Bianbian.

The little girl lowered her head at his words and fell silent.

“Sorry, I…” That response made Zhu Yuan realize the girl’s grandfather might be in trouble, so he immediately apologized. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he saw the bottled water quietly rise behind the girl, and the rest of his sentence died in his throat.

“Uncle?” Bian Bian looked up at Zhu Yuan with a puzzled expression.

Zhu Yuan swallowed, and sincerely said to the little girl, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Bian Bian smiled as she responded solemnly to the earnest thanks.

“My name is Zhu Yuan. What’s yours?” Zhu Yuan introduced himself again, doing his best to ignore the implied threat of the mineral water, trying to convey his goodwill to the little girl and show that he was harmless.

His body began to tremble uncontrollably, the cold from blood loss, and with his clothes soaked through, he was completely drenched, holding on by sheer will.

Even though he had made it inside, the only person in the room was a little girl; she was still so small, likely unable to tend to his wounds—he had to rely on himself.

Instinct told him he could not faint; if he lost consciousness, he might never wake up again.

“My name is Bian Bian,” the little girl’s voice was soft.

Zhu Yuan unconsciously softened his voice for fear of scaring her. He began to change clothes despite the pain. Seeing the little girl staring at him with wide eyes, his face flushed: “Bian Bian, uncle is going to change clothes, can you turn around for me?”

Bian Bian obediently nodded and turned away.

Xiu Jin hurriedly moved the bottle of mineral water so Bian Bian wouldn’t see. He moved too quickly and lost control, accidentally bumping into Zhu Yuan’s head.

Zhu Yuan let out a muffled groan.

“Uncle?”

“I’m fine.” Zhu Yuan said. Compared to the pain in his chest, the throbbing on his forehead was negligible. He looked up at the still-floating bottle of mineral water and guessed that although the little girl had awakened a psychic ability, she was too young and bewildered to fully control it.

That interruption made Zhu Yuan notice the girl’s skirt was wet and clinging to her, making her look even smaller—a tiny bundle—which vaguely reminded him of his little niece before the end of the world.

About the same age as Bianbian, clever and lively, adored by everyone. When the apocalypse came, they were all gone.

He saw with his own eyes that his family’s little niece had mutated; she would never again call him “uncle” in a soft, childish voice.

The world changed in an earth-shattering way.

Zhu Yuan painfully closed his eyes; when he opened them again and looked at the small figure before him, there was warmth in his gaze.

The little girl was home alone, yet she was willing to save him—though the threats of the “kitchen knife” and the “bottle of water” were vivid in his memory, it still brought a slight warmth to Zhu Yuan’s heart, which had just been torn apart by a friend’s betrayal.

“Bian Bian, your skirt is wet. Go and change into a clean one quickly, so you don’t catch a cold.” He coughed, blood-tinged foam seeping from the corner of his mouth, which he wiped away with a raised hand.

Bian Bian uneasily tugged at her damp clothes — it was a brand-new dress — and sighed like a little adult. Obediently, she went back into the bedroom and picked another new dress to change into.

While Bian Bian returned to the bedroom, Zhu Yuan in the living room gritted his teeth and stripped off his wet clothes as fast as he could, then put on the clean clothes that Lu Yu had worn before.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt and looked down at the wound on his chest; the skin around it had already turned pale and it wasn’t bleeding much anymore.

And the pendant his mother had given him before the apocalypse, which he used to wear on his stomach, was gone.

Zhu Yuan was stunned for a moment, then a look of joy flashed in his eyes. He felt that the bullet hadn’t hit his heart; it was lodged in the layers of his muscle.

This was all thanks to five years of living through the end times, which left Zhu Yuan never daring to let his guard down for a moment; he spent huge amounts of time each day training his stamina so that, when danger came, he could run faster than anyone else at the crucial moment.

Most importantly, the pendant reduced the bullet’s impact, which is why it didn’t hit his heart.

The pendant his mother gave him saved his life, but the bullet was lodged in the wound; he had to remove it.

But how to remove it?

With a click, the bedroom door opened. Bian Bian walked out wearing a new dress, and immediately afterward she realized she could no longer see.

To be precise, it was as if an invisible wall had appeared before her, blocking her view so she couldn’t see the living room.

Bian Bian thought she was seeing things, lifted her small hand and rubbed her eyes.

In fact, an eavesdropping father was gnashing his teeth and glaring at Zhu Yuan, who had his upper body bare.

Damn it—sharing a room with the baby and not even putting on clothes, what on earth is his intention?!

Men and women should not touch—didn’t you know that!

Fearing her precious daughter would get styes at such a young age, Xiu Jin stuck a finger out to block in front of her little girl’s face, and with the other hand tossed the garment at Zhu Yuan.

Zhu Yuan, hit on the head by the falling clothes, saw the little girl rubbing her eyes and suddenly realized how inappropriate his actions were, so he hurriedly pulled the clothes on.

Only then did Xiu Jin relax the finger that had been shielding the corner of the girl’s face. Just as the little girl finished rubbing her eyes and opened them again, her vision cleared.

The young girl’s long eyelashes fluttered as she pointed at Zhu Yuan’s chest with her small finger: “Uncle, it’s bleeding there.”

The hurried motion of pulling on his clothes tugged at the wound, and blood flowed out again, soaking the freshly changed garments.

The pain kept Zhu Yuan conscious. Not wanting to alarm the little girl, he lifted a hand to press against his chest and said, “Bianbian, do you have a small, sharp knife?”

The little girl said, “There’s a fruit knife.”

“Can uncle use it?”

The little girl scampered to the kitchen, and after a while brought out the fruit knife she had used to peel the apple yesterday.

“Here.”

But Zhu Yuan didn’t take it; instead he looked into the little girl’s eyes, pressed his cracked, pale lips together and said, “Bianbian, there’s a bullet in my wound that needs to be dug out. I don’t have the strength now. Can you help me pull it out?”

Originally Zhu Yuan wanted to say, “Use your ability,” but thinking the little girl still couldn’t fully control her power, and if she lost control she might stab the knife into his heart—then he’d have no place to even cry.

After considering it, he swallowed the words back.

Bian Bian understood what Zhu Yuan meant: her uncle had a bullet wound, and he wanted her to use a knife to dig it out.

“But… I don’t know how,” Bian Bian said in a small voice, her little hands twisting together helplessly.

Zhu Yuan gave a wry smile; if there had been anyone else around, he wouldn’t have asked a little girl to help.

But he truly had no strength left—every ounce was being used just to stay conscious and not faint.

Digging out the bullet required someone else’s help, and the only candidate was the little girl before him who possessed the most mysterious psychic ability.

Knowing she could awaken a psychic power, he was sure the girl wouldn’t try to stab him to death.

But seeing her on the verge of tears, Zhu Yuan sighed; he couldn’t bear to force her, and besides, this was truly not something she should be doing.

Zhu Yuan bit the tip of his tongue hard; the pain brought back some strength to his body. He said, “Bian Bian, do you have any gauze?”

Bian Bian went to the bedroom to get the little first-aid kit she had used to put on band-aids, and when she handed it to Zhu Yuan she said generously, “It’s all here, Uncle, you can use it.”

Inside there really was a small roll of medical gauze and even a small bottle of rubbing alcohol—these were treasures, hard-to-find supplies out in the world.

Zhu Yuan was overjoyed. Without further hesitation, he disinfected the fruit knife with the alcohol and lifted the hem of the clothing.

But after trying several times, his hand holding the knife trembled violently; he had no strength at all to stab the blade steadily into the wound.

Bianbian obediently turned around at Zhu Yuan’s words, hugging the little bear with both hands, convinced that Uncle Zhu Yuan must be in pain.

“Let’s give Uncle Zhu Yuan a candy in a bit, sweet and tasty — if you eat it, it won’t hurt anymore,” she whispered to the teddy.

Their precious daughter was actually worrying about a stranger and even planning to give him candy.

Thinking about his own intimacy score of -50, Father Xiu poked at the screen and felt truly jealous.

Then she watched Zhuyuan hesitate for a long moment without stabbing the knife into the wound—

Pickling at the edge, fidgeting like that, not the least bit like a man.

Xiujin’s obsession flared; she snatched the fruit knife from Zhuyuan’s hand, tugged his shirt down a bit, and pushed the blade point-first into the wound.

Quick, precise, ruthless.

All of it depended on his fingers working the screen.

The system prompt popped up urgently: [If you do this you’ll get Zhu Yuan killed!]

Xiu Jin: “So hurry up and tell me whether I should keep poking forward, or move backward, or go left or right?”

System: “…”

Xiu Jin: “Hurry up, or I’ll poke him to death.”

The system popped out word by word: [A little to the left, lift the tip of the blade.]

The blade was guided out.

Zhu Yuan watched with wide eyes as the fruit knife in his hand was taken by an invisible force and then driven into the wound on his chest. In that instant, Zhu Yuan felt certain he was dead.

A gale of storm-like pain exploded in his mind, instantly whipping up a tempest; such agony made him cry out.

Then, the bullet was pulled out.

Zhu Yuan: “…”

Hearing Zhu Yuan’s painful cry, Bianbian trembled in fear, hesitated, and then slowly turned around.

Seeing this, Xiu Jin quickly shoved the knife back into Zhu Yuan’s hand.

Mm, perfect.

Zhu Yuan sat slumped in the chair, gripping the blood-stained fruit knife. Large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead; though his face was ashen, he looked somewhat better than before.

He knew the bullet had been removed by Bian Bian using her ability.

She was afraid, but she still helped him.

Zhu Yuan’s eyes grew moist; he gave the little girl a weak smile. “Thank you, Bianbian.”

Psychic-type ability users truly live up to their reputation.

Bianbian accepted Zhu Yuan’s thanks in a dazed way, but the little girl was extremely puzzled—

Uncle Zhu Yuan—what is he thanking her for?