Chapter 4: The Mutant Frog

Z――

A big tree collapsed with a crash!

Sang Chu looked at her own hands, feeling both excited and a little disappointed.

Tu You said, “It really is the lightning element! You’ve mastered it so quickly!”

Sang Chu replied, “Even though I didn’t have powers in the apocalypse, I was always researching them.”

She had tried many methods, but none had awakened her abilities. She never expected that a stroke of luck would suddenly awaken her lightning powers.

“Ribbit—ribbit—ribbit—”

A frog’s croak interrupted Tu You, who was still fiddling with the light in Sang Chu’s hand.

“Sang Chu, look, that’s a mutant frog! Its light resistance is super high, and its body can fetch up to a hundred coins!”

A hundred coins?

Sang Chu quickly put away her curiosity, shifted her power to her legs, and in an instant, shot out like a bolt of lightning.

Her speed was so fast that Tu You was shaken all over, clutching at Sang Chu’s clothes with both paws.

“I’m gonna puke, I’m gonna puke! Damn it, Sang Chu, slow down!”

Sang Chu’s face turned pale. “It’s my first time using this too!”

She couldn’t control it!

With a loud bang, Sang Chu crashed headfirst into a big tree and was forced to stop.

She landed flat on her back, rubbing her sore butt with a pained expression. “I knew it, that was way too reckless.”

Tu You just laughed awkwardly.

Operating and understanding are clearly two different things.

Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit—

The frog’s croak was nearby!

Ignoring her sore butt, Sang Chu jumped to her feet.

Tu You shouted, “Behind you!”

That big frog actually knew how to sneak up!

It croaked in front of them, but in a flash, its huge body appeared behind Sang Chu, a massive frog leg swinging toward her.

Sang Chu dodged swiftly, lightning blade forming in her hand, and flung it at the giant frog.

Bang—

The lightning blade bounced right off the frog’s skin!

It turned its back to her and hopped away.

Sang Chu slid nimbly, summoning another lightning blade, gritting her teeth.

“This big frog isn’t afraid of lightning blades?”

Tu You explained, “Lightning blades and light are both energy attacks, but this frog is immune to them.”

“Alright.”

Sang Chu powered up her legs and dashed into a bamboo grove.

But to her surprise, the giant frog leaped even faster than she could move with her powers!

It was like a skyscraper coming to life—so agile!

Sang Chu used her power to jump to the tip of a bamboo stalk. As the frog closed in, she adjusted her body weight, borrowed the momentum, and leapt onto the frog’s back.

Ribbit――――

The frog croaked angrily, thrashing wildly, but Sang Chu held on tight. She formed a lightning blade and stabbed it fiercely into the back of the frog’s neck.

It worked!

But in the next instant, the pain-crazed frog flung her off, and its huge foot came stomping down.

Sang Chu rolled aside, slicing at its webbed foot with her lightning blade, then grabbed a bamboo stalk and stabbed it into the frog’s palm, pinning it to the ground.

Ribbit, ribbit...

The frog’s croak grew weaker.

Drip, drip, drip—

The sound of blood dripping made Sang Chu realize her hearing had become unusually sharp.

She looked up to see blood from the frog trickling down the bamboo she’d stabbed into its neck.

Taking advantage of the moment, Sang Chu quickly cut another bamboo stalk and, like throwing a javelin, hurled it at the frog’s body.

The giant frog, immune to light and lightning, finally collapsed.

Tu You cheered, “Wow, that was awesome! Sang Chu, if you catch more mutant frogs like this, I’ll be able to pay off my debt in no time!”

After all that, Sang Chu was exhausted and sat down right where she was.

She opened her storage box and put the giant frog inside.

“How much do you need to pay off?”

“According to the currency of the Mutant World, it’s a thousand coins! Sang Chu, you have to hurry, okay?”

“I’m curious—if I don’t help you, I’ll die, but why are you so anxious?”

“Of course I’m anxious! Because someone needs me, I was just born into this world. If no one pays my debt, I’ll be sent back to the chaotic void. It’s so dark there, I don’t want to go back!”

Dark?

Sang Chu thought of the apocalypse—she didn’t want to go back to that life either.

But with Mu Xue here and her brother’s fate still unknown, she couldn’t just ignore him.

Before the apocalypse, her brother always protected her.

After the apocalypse, she had no powers and survived only by relying on Mu Xue, who had awakened spatial abilities, and by desperately struggling to live.

If it hadn’t been for Tu You, she probably would have died long ago.

She shared her thoughts through her mind link: “As long as you don’t trick me, we’ll work together.”

Tu You looked at her, puzzled. “We’re on the same side, why would I trick you? Hurting you would only hurt myself!”

“Mm.”

She decided to trust it.

Sang Chu took out a bottle of water, drank a few sips, and sprawled out on the ground.

“Tu You, I feel like I don’t just have lightning powers, but I can’t use the others. Do you know why?”

“That’s strange.”

Tu You didn’t know either. It had knowledge from many worlds, all implanted at birth, but it didn’t know what was going on with her powers.

Tu You guessed, “Maybe your body hasn’t fully recovered yet.”

“I don’t know, it’s a weird feeling, like something is blocking me.”

Tu You thought for a moment. “Why don’t you try using up all your power?”

“Use it all up?” Sang Chu frowned slightly. “Maybe. The fastest way for me to level up is to use my powers to the limit. Every time I exhaust them and recover, my energy becomes purer and more abundant.”

Tu You nodded. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

“Alright!”

Ignoring her fatigue, Sang Chu stood up, but suddenly paused.

“Wait, let me set a trap here first. If my power runs out and I get weak, I can run back here.”

“For safety.”

Sang Chu used her lightning to dig a huge pit, then lined the bottom with sharpened bamboo stakes, points facing upward.

After covering it with leaves and branches, she finally finished.

Tu You raised its tiny paw and shouted, “Let’s go!”

“Mm.”

And so, one person and one rabbit set off into the wild.

Along the way, they only encountered a few low-level mutant creatures—bees, mosquitoes, birds, even some goldfish—but not a single mutant frog...

Tu You had thought that if they caught a dozen or so mutant frogs, it could settle things with Sang Chu and avoid being sent back to the chaotic void. Who knew it would just be a bunch of small fry!

Tu You said in disappointment, “Ah Chu, why haven’t we found any mutant frogs?”

“Don’t worry, it’s only the first day. Tomorrow I’ll go somewhere farther, we’ll definitely find some.”

“Alright...”

Tu You lay on Sang Chu’s shoulder, completely uninterested, looking rather dejected."