Xin Ye recalled the unique ability Lian Muyun had mentioned during the preliminaries—one where the user could manifest an ideal romantic partner to protect them.
It was an ability that was, evidently, quite hard on boyfriends.
"Weiwei," a guide from another side, responsible for the First Branch team, walked over and waved at Jian Weiwei. "You're in charge of the Seventh Branch?"
This man had a refined, scholarly air. He held a tattered book with strange patterns on the cover, likely related to his ability.
"That’s right, Captain. Look, there are several familiar faces in our group. Does the bet we talked about in the group chat this morning still stand?"
At the mention of a "bet," the man whose arm Jian Weiwei was clinging to glanced back at Xin Ye’s team before silently averting his gaze.
"It stands. Good luck."
With those words, the man gave a polite smile to Leng Xianye and Xing Yue before returning to the First Branch’s assembly area.
Xin Ye recognized him. He was the captain of another veteran team at Headquarters, though their teams hadn't collaborated in the previous timeline, so his memory of the man was faint.
"Did you hear that? I have a bet with the other guides, so please work hard on this mission."
Jian Weiwei finally deigned to let go of her manifested ability. She pressed her hands together in a pleading gesture. "Try your best to come back alive."
"Otherwise, I’m going to lose a lot of money."
These guides were treating the survival rate of the teams they led as a game.
Xin Ye opened his mouth to speak, but Lian Muyun leaned in from behind, clapping a hand on his shoulder and giving him a knowing wink.
Since the distance wasn't great, they traveled on foot. Everyone walked—except for their guide. Jian Weiwei was carried the entire way by her manifested ability, trailing at the very back of the group.
Xing Yue’s expression grew increasingly grim. She clearly hadn't expected the Headquarters to assign someone with such a lax work ethic. Xin Ye, however, felt nothing of the sort; among the ability users at Headquarters, the stronger they were, the weirder their personalities tended to be. Jian Weiwei was actually one of the more normal ones.
Xunyin resumed its role as navigator: [Continue straight for another kilometer to reach the entrance of the abandoned mall. You looked up data on Pipa toads two days ago, but have you looked into this specific batch of mutated Pipa toads?]
"Have you all researched mutated Pipa toads yet?" Jian Weiwei’s airy voice drifted from the rear.
Seeing no one answer, she wrapped her arms around her ability’s neck and began her own introduction. "Pipa toads originally only lived in the tropics. But after the apocalypse, various toad species within our borders developed 'pipa' characteristics—carrying their young on their backs—and began interbreeding."
"After several years of evolution, the pipa trait has become fully compatible with normal egg-laying traits."
"The mother Pipa toad we’re clearing out today has two batches of young."
"One batch is still on her back. The other is hidden somewhere in the building."
As the team approached the commercial building, she finally began to show some concern for her duties as a guide. "How are you going to move once we’re inside? Splitting into groups?"
"We usually split into two groups, with the specific assignment depending on the situation." Xin Ye was curious about how Jian Weiwei would instruct them. "Do you need us to finalize the split and report it to you?"
"Oh... that’s a very ordinary way of doing things."
She pouted, looking genuinely bored by the suggestion, but then a thought seemed to strike her. She beckoned Xin Ye to her side.
"How about we try my team’s method?" she asked.
Xin Ye wasn't sure if the methods of elite teams would suit his own. He asked humbly, "What method is that?"
"Everyone fights for themselves until every mutant in the building is dead. We compare kill counts—competition provides motivation, after all." Jian Weiwei’s eyes curved into crescents, looking very pleased with her own suggestion.
She tapped Xin Ye on the shoulder.
"You come with me. I want to see what you’re capable of as a captain."
***
The five of them chose five different routes to enter the mall. Xin Ye took the back entrance. The first thing he saw upon entering was an elevator lobby piled high with construction debris. The floor was coated in a layer of transparent mucus; it wasn't hard to guess it had been left by the Pipa toads.
Feeling uneasy walking alone, he summoned his Mirror.
"Should we track the toads based on the direction of the mucus?" the Mirror asked.
Xin Ye nodded. "Yes. The mucus is thicker toward the main hall. Let's head that way."
Jian Weiwei had finally climbed down from her "boyfriend’s" back. Ever since the Mirror had been summoned, she had been staring at him, showing no intention of participating in the mission.
As they walked toward the hall, she couldn't help but ask, "Is your Mirror... human?"
The question made the Mirror slightly uncomfortable, and he silently moved a bit further away from her.
"Both psychologically and physiologically, I consider the Mirror to be a normal human being," Xin Ye replied, his eyes scanning their surroundings. He took the gun the Mirror handed him; the one at his lower back would serve as a backup.
Jian Weiwei ignored the dismissive tone in Xin Ye’s voice. She linked arms with Number 237. "Is that so? My ability is physiologically human, but psychologically... not so much."
Number 237 didn't even bother to look at his master.
Once he confirmed the corridor was clear, Xin Ye couldn't help but complain to Xunyin: "Does this side character also have some tragic past that caused mental issues? Do all novel characters nowadays need a miserable backstory or experience?"
Xunyin: [A few lucky ones don't, like Lian Muyun. But most do. Without selling a sob story, no one loves you—take yourself, for example.]
Xin Ye pointed his gun at his own temple, attempting to use force to make Xunyin speak properly, which gave the Mirror a start.
Before pushing open the door to the main hall, Number 237 and the Mirror both confirmed there were no signs of life immediately behind it.
The three men pushed the door together. The resistance was much greater than expected. As the gap widened, more and more liquid flowed into the corridor.
When the door finally swung open, several strings of toad eggs floated past Xin Ye’s legs.
The black eggs were encased in transparent, ribbon-like strands. Because the mutated mother was so large, the eggs had grown proportionally; each one was about half the size of a human head.
Inside the pale black spheres, one could faintly see tadpole-like mutants wriggling their tails. Number 237 moved to shoot the eggs near his feet, but Xin Ye stopped him.
He jerked his chin toward the main hall. "Look."
The entire first floor of the mall was half-submerged in mucus, filled with more toad eggs than one could count. Destroying one or two was pointless.
"Then the plan to track the toads by the mucus won't work either, since it's everywhere. What do you plan to do?"
Jian Weiwei was a veteran, after all. She showed no sign of disgust at the environment, merely watching Xin Ye as if she were his subordinate.
"Let's check the side rooms on the first floor first," Xin Ye said, treating her like a new teammate. "Can the guide help with the search?"
Jian Weiwei: "Sure."
The storefront counters and service desks were mostly destroyed, but a few rooms remained relatively intact. The first few they searched were filled with junk and an excessive amount of mucus, but nothing special. Just as Xin Ye was about to open the last door—the staff breakroom—Number 237 reached out to stop him.
"There’s a mutant inside," he said.
Number 237 was an A-rank ability; his detection range was further than the Mirror's. The Mirror pressed against the door to confirm, then nodded to Xin Ye. "There is definitely something back there."
Xin Ye said, "Alright." He prepared to turn the handle with his left hand, keeping his gun lowered in his right, ready to strike.
Before he could open the door, someone else stopped him.
Jian Weiwei took his gun and pressed a dagger into his hand. "In a damp place like this, facing thick-skinned mutants, the person in front should use a blade. Leave the shooting to the people in the back."
At that moment, her expression was exceptionally serious, like a true teacher.
Xin Ye took a sharp breath, realizing his oversight, and thanked her. Fully prepared, he finally opened the door.
A bright green mutated toad lunged from the darkness behind the door, covered in mucus as it pounced toward Xin Ye.
Though the mucus wasn't corrosive, Xin Ye still raised his arm to block. His right hand, positioned below, easily drove the dagger into the mutant’s bloated belly.
Jian Weiwei’s dagger was lighter and thinner, suited for a woman. Xin Ye had to stab the toad twice more after shoving it to the ground before the weapon felt right in his hand. Jian Weiwei followed up with two shots from the rear as she had promised. The thick legs gave a final twitch, and the mutant went still.
Out of a strange habit, Xin Ye first sliced open the mutant’s stomach. Only after confirming there was no metal sphere inside did he retract the blade and return it to Jian Weiwei.
Though Jian Weiwei didn't understand why he had immediately performed an autopsy, she didn't ask. "Such a vivid green... definitely a mutt. Real Pipa toads are much darker."
"Though it's large—nearly the size of an adult human—it’s likely a juvenile for a Pipa toad," Number 237 added, crouching to inspect the corpse. "Its skin is too tender; it cuts easily. It doesn't look like a fully grown mutant."
Having just handled it, Xin Ye agreed. "Yes."
He glanced at the open door. "I wonder why this one was hiding in here. It didn't move even though it must have sensed us outside. Let's go in and look."
The four of them entered the staff breakroom. The electric lights were dead. Even though it was daytime, the Mirror used a flashlight to help illuminate the space.
Jian Weiwei’s eyes lit up. "Xin Ye, your ability is so thoughtful. My boyfriend never does things like that."
Number 237 gave her a look devoid of emotion.
Xin Ye didn't really want to respond to that. If her "ideal boyfriend" ability treated her like this, he refused to believe there wasn't some underlying psychological issue.
The room was small, so the four of them searched it quickly. Xin Ye soon found what he was looking for.
"Look at this." He took the flashlight from the Mirror and shone it on a pile of grayish-green material in the corner. "I almost missed it; I thought it was just a torn sack."
Number 237 was highly proactive. He reached Xin Ye’s side a step ahead of Jian Weiwei.
He expressionlessly picked up the object that Xin Ye had been too disgusted to touch and flipped it over.
"It’s shed skin from a Pipa toad," he said, pointing to a series of large, arranged pits. "But this skin looks like it was torn off; it’s not a complete piece."
The Mirror offered a logical deduction: "Pipa toad juveniles hatch from the specialized skin on the mother's back. So the mutant that just attacked us probably hatched from this skin not long ago?"
"Um, sorry to interrupt the discussion."
Jian Weiwei suddenly waved her hand from outside the circle the three men had formed, clearly thinking the gesture was cute.
"Actually, I wanted to mention this outside," she said. "According to the intel I have, the mother Pipa toad in this building should still be in the incubation phase. She won't reach the birthing stage immediately. It’s a period where she’s relatively vulnerable—that’s why the Headquarters sent you little ones from the branches here to play."
"Like I said: one batch on her back, one batch in the building."
***
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