"Tell me who you are before I drown your ass!" the blue-haired girl threatened with two giant water tentacles pointed straight at Yang Zhang.
At this point, Yang Zhang knew that he couldn't avoid the attack because Ivy was still wet and slippery, and he wasn't fast enough to dodge both of the tentacles if they attacked at the same time.
Quickly raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, Yang Zhang admitted defeat. He had been caught, thanks to Lt. Spicy Wing's reckless behavior.
'I'm so going to eat chicken drumstick tonight,' Yang Zhang cursed in his heart.
"Who are you?!" The blue-haired girl asked for the second time.
Cornered, Yang Zhang was forced to reveal his identity or die for real at the hands, or rather tentacles, of the blue-haired girl.
"M—My name is Yang Zhang. I'm just a normal human who lives in the forest to hide from the zombies and ability users. I accidentally found this spot. I got curious about the dark lake and wanted to check, but you suddenly popped out of nowhere while only wearing a towel—"
"Do you think I will trust you?! You clearly come here to peek at me, right?!"
"What?! That was spontaneous. I didn't plan to peek at first—oop." Yang Zhang realized what he had just said and quickly zipped his lips. He cursed at himself in his heart that he fell for such easily noticeable bait question.
The blue-haired girl gritted her teeth, definitely pissed off. She raised one giant tentacle up, ready to strike Yang Zhang in the next second.
Yang Zhang's face paled as he realized that his death was imminent. It seemed that the blue-haired girl wasn't up for a discussion, nor a truce, since she had the upper hand right now.
Yang Zhang looked down to check his pets. Little Ivy was still wet because she was mutated from an ivy plant. Of course, it would take a while until she dried up.
Lt. Spicy Wing had fallen unconscious in an instant after getting hit with the big wave, and that left Chestnut as the only able-bodied companion.
Chestnut had just opened its eyes and looked around confusedly. Yang Zhang got a sudden flash of inspiration, but it was a bit inhumane.
However, when he looked up and saw the menacing tentacles, he knew that it was either his life or hers.
"N—No need to feel threatened, Miss. I'm just a regular human with no ability whatsoever. I can't even reach you right now. I'm not a threat, 100%! But what about you? Why are you here in the middle of a deep forest anyway?" Yang Zhang started a conversation to distract the blue-haired girl while he nudged at Chestnut, who was still drying its fur with his shoe.
"Squeak?" Chestnut looked up towards Yang Zhang, and it was also shocked by the two giant tentacles looming above them.
Yang Zhang looked down slightly while he kept trying to converse with the blue-haired girl to extend his time.
He pointed at the lake in front of them with his chin, subtly instructing Chestnut to jump in and start discharging electricity.
"Squeak!" Chestnut quickly understood what Yang Zhang meant. It quickly rushed towards the lake unnoticed because the blue-haired girl was too focused on debating Yang Zhang.
"Normal human?! Do you think I'm that stupid?! There are no "normal" humans in this world anymore. They are either zombies or have some dangerous ability that can kill you!" The blue-haired girl said, much to Yang Zhang's surprise.
She seemed to be genuinely clueless about the existence of normal humans with total immunity to the virus in this world.
Yang Zhang saw that Chestnut was already close to the lakeside, and he tried to debate the girl to keep her distracted, "Don't you have a radio or something? The government categorizes humans into three types: the zombies, ability users, and humans with immunity against the virus."
…
"Do you think I am going to trust you!? Even if there is a normal human in this world, they will not survive one day in the middle of a forest full of dangerous animals and plants!"
'Well, she wasn't wrong with that one,' Yang Zhang thought.
He glanced at Chestnut again and found the electric squirrel was already on the lakeside, preparing to dive into the clear water.
Thus, Yang Zhang asked the blue-haired girl, "You don't believe that a human can survive in this place?"
"Of course, I won't believe that bullshit! I know you're just a pervert who wants to peek at me, right!?"
"Well, I will show you something to prove that. A human can survive in this forest with help," Yang Zhang said.
The moment he saw that Chestnut was about to jump into the lake, he yelled, "CHESTNUT! LOW VOLTAGE DISCHARGE NOW!"
"SQUEAK!"
"Huh?!" The blue-haired girl didn't understand what Yang Zhang meant. At least until she noticed a squirrel that started discharging electricity inside the clear lake.
The electricity turned the clear water brown, and the blue-haired girl could see it spreading fast inside the water.
Her eyes widened, but it was too late for her to react. The water electrocuted her in a split second.
BZZZZZTTTTT!
"AHHHHHHH!" the blue-haired girl screamed in agony when she got zapped. The two water tentacles dispersed, and Yang Zhang quickly picked up Lt. Spicy Wing on the ground and ran away. He hid behind a tree to avoid getting electrocuted by the water from the giant tentacle.
Chestnut stopped after discharging for 10 seconds and then swam back to the lakeside.
"Squeak!"
Hearing the signal from Chestnut, Yang Zhang finally peeked from behind the tree and noticed water in the lake had returned to its original dark color. Yang Zhang approached Chestnut, who was drying its fur again.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
"Good job, Chestnut," Yang Zhang praised. He looked in the girl's direction and found that she was floating on the lake's surface, unconscious.
Honestly, Yang Zhang thought about running away and leaving the girl alone since he expected her to attack again as soon as she regained consciousness.
But then, he realized that it was too dangerous. What if a wild animal found the girl's unconscious body and ate her for lunch, or another human found this place and took advantage of her while she was unable to protect herself? Though, the second possibility was less likely.
But it was still possible, and the girl was in a vulnerable state right now.
"Squeak?"
"Aish, you're right, Chestnut. I can't leave her alone. Let's just save her first and wait until she wakes up to decide what to do."