Chapter 135: Resentment, When Reborn Ones Meet

The man, seeing that the person asking was a young, beautiful woman who clearly looked powerful, immediately beamed and replied, “I heard this stuff can cure snake venom. If it works for snake venom, it should work against other poisonous bugs, right? There are all kinds of nasty things out in the wild, so I figured I’d get some just in case. I wanted to go pick it myself, but that place is crawling with vipers. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.”

“Does everyone know about this?”

“Not really,” he recalled. “Yesterday, I was wondering why my rival was secretly trying to buy this stuff. After asking around, I found out someone had already picked some of this five-colored grass a few days ago. I couldn’t figure out why it was so popular. It wasn’t until this morning that I heard about its effects, and now word’s spread everywhere.”

This morning… That must have been after Liang Ziyin told Gu Xu, and then Gu Xu spread the news? That was possible.

Just as she was thinking, a voice sounded behind her: “Young Master Bian? What a coincidence.”

Bian Changxi stiffened and turned to look.

A group of people was coming in through the main gate. Leading them was a tall, refined young man in a white shirt and black pants, with handsome features and a pleasant smile—a true gentleman at first glance.

Bian Kuang, who was following behind Bian Changxi, immediately straightened up and put on a polite, reserved smile. “Mr. Zhu, are you here on business too?”

The two shook hands. Zhu Yunhua smiled wryly. “Just here to see if there are any suitable missions to take. Are you heading out of the city today? I’d love to work with you again, Young Master Bian.”

As he spoke, his gaze briefly flicked to Bian Changxi. “And this is…?”

Bian Kuang glanced at Bian Changxi, who nodded slightly. Bian Kuang introduced, “This is my younger sister, Bian Changxi. She just arrived at the base yesterday. I’m taking her out to get familiar with things. Xiaoxi, this is Mr. Zhu Yunhua, a second-tier fire ability user. Once, my team ran into trouble in the wild, and if Mr. Zhu hadn’t happened by and helped us, we’d have been done for. We even worked together again after that.”

“Is that so?” Bian Changxi’s gaze lingered on Zhu Yunhua for a moment, then she smiled and extended her right hand. “Thank you, Mr. Zhu, for helping my brother. He looks sharp, but he’s actually quite careless. I’m relieved he can make friends with capable people like you. If you ever need my help, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Zhu Yunhua lightly shook her hand, letting go almost immediately, the whole process very gentlemanly, his expression and gaze perfectly proper. “Miss Bian, your reputation precedes you. I didn’t expect you to be such a lovely and beautiful young lady.”

Bian Changxi felt a twinge of disgust inside. “You flatter me.”

“Haha, you’re Captain Gu of Jiangcheng’s right-hand woman. If I dared to get too friendly, I’d probably have to face Captain Gu’s wrath the very next day, wouldn’t I? If I get the chance to visit, I hope you won’t have forgotten me by then.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Bian Changxi replied, her gaze shifting to the people behind Zhu Yunhua. There were three of them. One was a familiar face—the last person she saw before her death: Xu Hong, the fire user who burned her to death. He still looked young and raw, watching her with a curious and cautious expression. When she looked over, he gave her a polite but nervous smile.

That’s how the weak act around the strong.

But what flashed through Bian Changxi’s mind was his sneering, self-satisfied “Your ability is useless.” She could still hear the contempt in his voice.

The second person was also familiar—Qu Yi, the tech fanatic she’d been suspicious of. Even now, he was scribbling in his notebook as he walked, looking disheveled and muttering to himself. When he noticed the group had stopped, he snapped impatiently, “Are we going or not? Let’s grab the mission and get back. I told you not to drag me out here, what a waste of my time!”

Bian Changxi was surprised. She remembered Qu Yi and Zhu Yunhua had been classmates for years and remained close even after entering the workforce. Qu Yi had always respected Zhu Yunhua.

She caught a flash of embarrassment on Zhu Yunhua’s face. She couldn’t help but feel a bit pleased—seemed like Zhu Yunhua’s team wasn’t as harmonious as in her previous life.

The third person was a delicate, graceful woman. Bian Changxi paused—she didn’t have much impression of her. She seemed to be an employee from Zhu Yunhua’s former company, named… Wen something.

Strange. Where was Zhu Yunhua’s junior, the one with the special ability to sense treasures? He always kept her close.

Zhu Yunhua led his group to the self-service terminal to look for missions. Bian Changxi waited with Bian Kuang, who was chattering away with explanations she no longer heard. Her gaze stayed fixed on Zhu Yunhua’s group.

Zhu Yunhua was different from her past life. Back then, when she met him, she’d been in a sorry state and he’d appeared as a rescuer—never as flattering or accommodating as now. But that made sense; she was much more capable now, after all. That didn’t mean anything.

The same went for Xu Hong.

As for that Wen woman, she remembered her as just a pretty face, barely noticeable.

But Qu Yi was the odd one. He was a high-IQ researcher with high emotional intelligence, always mindful of his image and skilled at dealing with people—unless he hit a bottleneck in his research, he rarely lost his composure like this.

She frowned in thought. Meanwhile, Wen Mingli quietly turned to look at her, coldly and unnoticed.

Go ahead and fret, she thought. When all these familiar faces start acting differently, when their personalities and behaviors change, how will you tell who’s been reborn?

And in this base, new technologies, theories, and production methods were coming from all directions and factions. It was almost impossible to trace anything back to a single person. When you looked up, all you saw were these confusing shadows—everyone seemed to have a hint of “rebirth” about them. How were you supposed to make sense of it all?

From the moment she was reborn, she knew she had to take advantage of this blessing and make it big. At the same time, she was terrified that there might be others like her. She didn’t believe for a second that two—or more—reborn people meeting would be some touching scene. There can’t be two tigers on one mountain, nor two reborn in one world. The future’s resources could only belong to her. She’d long been ready to eliminate any other reborn she encountered.

Her first suspect had been Bian Changxi. After all, they’d all been imprisoned together, and it was when Zhu Yunhua, in a fit of madness, had thrown a piece of the jade bracelet that she’d been reborn. If her rebirth was thanks to a shard, what about Bian Changxi, the bracelet’s owner?

The jade bracelet’s existence was already bizarre, so it wouldn’t be surprising if it had other powerful effects.

So, on one hand, she plotted to steal Bian Changxi’s bracelet, and on the other, she guarded against her being another reborn.

She had Brother Sun send Old Zhang, and at the same time, used the last bit of time to have Brother Sun get their manufacturing partners to call Bian’s eldest brother—saying all sorts of things. It was a two-pronged approach against Bian Changxi, and if she investigated later, it would all seem complicated.

Meanwhile, she’d come to the Su City base early, made all sorts of preparations, even sharing new technologies with others at a loss, though she kept the most important things to herself. Brother Sun secretly controlled those people too. The whole base was under their control, and the future would be guided by them—no one could trace anything back to them.

The only thing not going smoothly was Bian Changxi.

From all the signs, she really was reborn too—and had changed Gu Xu’s fate.

Bian Changxi wasn’t scary. At most, she had the bracelet and a wood ability—how much trouble could she cause? She was focused on cultivating powerful ability users and building a superweapon army. If ten couldn’t do it, she’d use a hundred; if a hundred couldn’t, then a thousand. Even if she couldn’t kill Bian Changxi, she could force her to hide in her bracelet forever.

The scary one was Gu Xu.

Gu Xu was undeniably powerful. Even with all her foreknowledge and resources, with all her people, she still couldn’t say for sure she could bring Gu Xu down.

Right now, he was just a fire user, still in this small Su City instead of the capital, yet he’d already forced the local bigwigs to give way again and again. If negotiations failed, he’d just use his fists! In two months, he’d fought several matches in the arena. And that was before his terrifying future lightning ability, and that infuriating “strong-man effect”—he was practically God’s favorite!

Wen Mingli bit her lip in frustration. With Gu Xu around, no one could hope to surpass him and become the boss—unless they left the capital and built a base elsewhere. But where could be safer than the capital? The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau? There were barely any people there. What would be the point, even if it was safe?

But until she was sure she could topple Gu Xu, she didn’t dare provoke him. Only Brother Sun, not believing in fate, had tried to stir up trouble in the base, but it hadn’t worked out.

Until Mid-Autumn night, when she couldn’t hold back any longer and arranged a “chance encounter” outside the base. She’d tried her best to mimic Bian Changxi’s past desperate situation, but it still hadn’t worked. She got a fever, gained an ability—only to find it was the useless space type.

Even after that, when she deliberately ran into Gu Xu a few more times, his gaze was always cold, even more suspicious than with ordinary people. What was wrong with his brain? So paranoid, so lacking in confidence!

Anyone else would at least let a suspicious person get close—especially a beauty like her. Playing along wouldn’t hurt him, but he gave her no chance at all.

No wonder someone like him would get overshadowed by Zhu Yunhua!

Wen Mingli’s face darkened unconsciously.

Zhu Yunhua noticed. “Xiao Wen, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Wen Mingli snapped out of it, about to shake her head, when she sensed someone’s gaze on her. She quickly feigned weakness and said, “I probably caught a chill last night. My stomach’s a bit upset. Sorry for the trouble, boss.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s my fault for not thinking things through. We’re done here anyway, let’s head back.”

Xu Hong chimed in, “Yeah, Mingli, you’re our big warehouse—we can’t have anything happen to you. Want me to help you walk?”

Wen Mingli nearly ground her teeth to dust. This idiot! No wonder he got dragged down by Bian Changxi even when he was eighth-tier fighting a sixth-tier. She forced a smile and shook her head. “It’s fine, let’s go.”

Bian Changxi watched Wen Mingli’s back thoughtfully. “Big warehouse”? Space ability? She remembered this Wen woman didn’t have any abilities…

Thanks to zjj213 for the sachet! You’re too generous. I’m so happy this book is your favorite in the apocalypse genre!

I’m so tired, this chapter took forever, but I finally finished it. I’ve noticed my credibility is dropping—so much for the promised double update at 9pm. I really can’t make it in time, and I don’t want to just slap something together. Maybe I should officially change it to 10pm? ~~oo~~"