…
"I don't want to believe it, have you been reading some sci-fi novel and letting your imagination run wild?"
Seeing that Lu Hao indeed didn't believe her, Su Jin directly summoned her vines. She only summoned the delicate vines, which wrapped around Lu Hao's wrist.
Lu Hao: …
"This is my Wood Element ability. In less than a month, many people in this world will awaken special abilities, including you." Before she had joined Lu Hao's team in her past life, she already knew that Lu Hao had a special ability, a very powerful one, but the person who took her to claim the bounty didn't specify what it was.
"Why will people awaken special abilities?" Lu Hao now believed most of what she said, but Su Jin mentioned she had died once—what was that about? Could it be because he hadn't protected her well enough?
"It's because soon, a virus will spread across the Earth, and the infected will be like the zombies in movies, consuming human flesh, scooping out human brains," she continued, observing Lu Hao's furrowed brow.
"If a normal person is caught or bitten by an infected, they too will turn into zombies. To kill them, you can only destroy their brains, like by shooting them in the head."
The delicate vine remained wrapped around Lu Hao's wrist, a trickle of energy flowed into his body, making him feel as comfortable as if he were soaking in a hot spring. But if what Su Jin said was all true, how could he let her face danger?
"You survived in the world of zombies for two years, so where was I? Weren't we together?" Lu Hao asked nervously.
Su Jin retracted her vines, wrapped her arms around Lu Hao's waist, and leaned into his chest as she continued, "At that time, I was on a business trip in Province G and hadn't had the chance to return when the zombie virus outbreak occurred. The world was in chaos then, planes, high-speed trains, and buses had stopped running, and the power systems were down.
"I heard that you and Driver Chen went to Province G to find me, but by then I had joined another team and headed to a base in the neighboring province, so we never met. It was only later that your substantial bounty worked. Someone brought me to you, but on that day you happened to be away, and one of your subordinates locked me up, not wanting me to see you. Later, she injected me with the zombie virus when I wasn't paying attention, and then I woke up. At that time, I was on a plane to Province G. I also thought all of those were just dreams, but my Wood Element ability also came back with me. Lu Hao, it wasn't a dream. It was the real apocalypse, and it's less than a month away!"
"What's the name of the subordinate who killed you?" Lu Hao's voice was somewhat cold. Su Jin could feel his anger, but that was not the point right now!
"I'll tell you about that later, right now the most important thing is that you believe me!"
Even though Lu Hao was still immersed in self-blame, he believed her, but he couldn't believe he had lost her. How could he!
Holding Su Jin tightly, he decided that no matter what happened in the future, he would stay by her side and not let her get hurt again.
Feeling Lu Hao's emotions, Su Jin also quieted down.
She knew what Lu Hao was thinking. Before, she didn't think much of it, but in Lu Hao's arms, she began to confront the reality that she had died once. Was it humiliating? It was incredibly humiliating. Alone, she had lost her family and friends, lived in fear every day for two years—hunger and cold were secondary; loneliness was the most frightening. Although she had been with some teams, none of the relationships lasted until the end.
Lu Hao touched Su Jin's face in his arms and realized she was truly crying. He also felt an indescribable heartache. He had never blamed himself so much before. He felt it was because he hadn't protected her well enough, and it was his subordinate who had killed her. If he knew that person's name, he feared he wouldn't be able to contain himself from dismembering him!
"Xiao Jin, don't cry, I'll be with you. We'll be fine together," Lu Hao frantically tried to find the right words to comfort her.
"Lu Hao, there's another thing I need to tell you," Su Jin sniffled and sat upright, taking out the Jade Slip from the Space in front of Lu Hao.
"Is this also a Special Ability?" Why did something suddenly appear in Su Jin's hand?
Su Jin, not hurrying to explain, took Lu Hao's finger, and using a tough leaf from her vine, she made a cut. Blood quickly flowed from Lu Hao's finger, dripping in the direction of the Jade Slip.
As the blood levels dropped, Lu Hao suddenly felt a suction force, followed by a change in his surroundings.
He was now sitting face to face with Su Jin on a rock. It was very quiet around them, and the air was fresh. Could Su Jin's special ability really create such an illusion technique?
Su Jin, seeing the puzzled look on Lu Hao's face, smiled slightly and said, "This is the pendant you gave me. I only discovered its existence a few days ago. It must have been passed down by your ancestors, but for some reason, its functionality was lost."
Then, Su Jin took Lu Hao on a tour of the Lu Residence, with most of the explanation coming from her.
Lu Hao never knew the family secrets of his own house, nor had he heard about the peculiar use of that pendant. So, he concluded that the pendant must choose its owner and would only unlock its little world when it recognized someone.
After hearing Lu Hao's deduction, Su Jin seemed to understand as well. However, this space ultimately belonged to an heirloom of Lu Hao's family.
It took nearly an hour for the two to finish walking through the Lu Residence. The residence was simply too large, and after finishing the left side courts, they had to walk back and then proceed to the right side courts.
There were many rooms, and apart from using them for living, Su Jin planned to convert most of them into storage.
"Lu Hao, if I let my family also enter and exit this space, would you agree?" Su Jin asked with some nervousness, afraid that Lu Hao might disagree and cause a rift between them.
Unexpectedly, Lu Hao agreed without hesitation: "Your family is my family, of course I agree. If, as you say, the apocalypse happens later, we will need our own people, and it's best if those are our respective families." Lu Hao really liked Su Jin's grandparents. If it were not for his busy work schedule, he would definitely offer to live there and contribute to their expenses regularly.
"However, as for the space, the fewer people who know about it the better. I completely trust my parents and grandparents. For some more distant relatives, we should still discuss it," Lu Hao said, worried that if too many knew about the space, it might inadvertently expose Su Jin to risks.
"I understand. I just wanted to consider your opinion, Captain Lu."
Anyone who knew about the existence of the space and was part of the Jade Slip Contract had to be their closest kin. Even among kin, if anyone harbored even the slightest thoughts of greed or hedonism, Su Jin would not agree. Lu Hao felt the same way.
Looking at the vast space whose actual size was unknown, Lu Hao felt less self-reproachful, knowing that if Su Jin ever faced any life-threatening danger, she could immediately hide in the space.
Meanwhile, their immediate concern was to stockpile supplies.
Fortunately, Lu Hao had completed the tasks at his unit and had caught the suspect, so he could request leave to go shopping with Su Jin.
Remembering the person they had caught, Lu Hao frowned and asked, "You just mentioned, zombies? What do they look like?"
"What? Did you encounter them too?" Su Jin was shocked.
"I'm not quite sure yet. When we caught the suspect, he was in a frenzy, biting everyone around him. We thought he'd overdosed on drugs, so we handcuffed him and locked him up in the station.
"Did anyone catch him?" Su Jin anxiously asked. It was extremely dangerous as if he had scratched someone, it might already be too late!
"No, we wore bulletproof vests, and although he tackled one of the officers, he didn't bite through to the skin." Lu Hao was relieved that the police uniform was sufficiently protective; he couldn't bear to see any teammate sacrificed, especially in such a manner.
It seemed the situation was already spiraling out of control, and they needed to prepare early.