Episode 3

The tender and resilient flesh of the young girl was deeply ensnared by Ren Nan's teeth, the rusty-scented blood pouring from her wounds, staining his chin with its crimson hue. [For the latest chapters, please visit... A mere press of force would cause Lin Sanjiu’s fragile life to vanish from this world forever.

Yet Ren Nan remained still. Not because he was unwilling to devour this precious seed before him, but because he could not move. A chef's knife was deeply embedded in the back of his skull, all the way to the hilt.

In Ren Nan's snow-white eyes, there lingered a trace of excitement—he would never understand why Lin Sanjiu's empty hands made a futile struggle in the air before his life was snuffed out.

For a moment, all Lin Sanjiu could hear was the thunderous beating of her own heart, echoing like a drum in her ears, growing louder and louder beneath the weight of the dead body. Gritting her teeth against the excruciating pain in her neck, she pushed with all her might, sending the heavy corpse crashing to the ground. The knife lodged in Ren Nan's skull was dislodged as the body fell, the blade's tip emerging from his wide-open mouth.

Lin Sanjiu pressed her hand to her neck, her fingers already stained with blood. She gasped for air, her chest heaving, before delivering a powerful kick to the lifeless body on the floor, her voice hoarse as she muttered, "Who said I only evolved two abilities?" Even this brief sentence caused the agony in her throat to intensify beyond bearing.

After that single kick, Lin Sanjiu felt a sudden darkness consume her vision, her body swaying dangerously as dizziness overtook her—faster than she had anticipated, the blood loss hit her with shocking speed. She couldn't afford to think of anything else now; binding the wound was the most urgent matter. Stumbling, she grabbed a towel and pressed it firmly against the injury. Breathing heavily, she collapsed back onto the floor, using every ounce of strength to hold the cloth in place.

The harsh wail of sirens rang through the city, intertwining with the muffled sounds of screams and cries—a stark contrast to the eerie stillness of the 38th-floor apartment.

Half-conscious, half-awake, time passed before the bleeding finally stopped—she had been lucky, it seemed, and did not hit an artery. After a short rest, she had regained enough strength to sit up, drink some water, and, upon lowering the glass, her eyes landed on Ren Nan's grotesque corpse, still sprawled across the floor.

After a moment's thought, Lin Sanjiu, her body weak, dragged herself closer to the body. Trembling, she placed one hand on it, her voice barely a whisper as she spoke, "Take it away."

The instant she spoke, a flash of white light shot from her palm, and the body pierced by the knife vanished with a soft whoosh. A card, no larger than a playing card, fluttered to the floor.

Lin Sanjiu pulled out her phone and illuminated the card.

Just as she expected, crude crayon sketches of a man with his mouth wide open, a knife embedded in his skull, were drawn clumsily on the card. Below the image, in bold black characters, it read, "Ren Nan's corpse."

[Ren Nan's Corpse]

Name: Can't you read the title of the card?

Race: Human

Status: ...Dead, obviously

Potential: 204

Suspect: Lin Sanjiu

Basic abilities: Extreme temperature adaptation, physical enhancement, body modification

Advanced abilities: "Hello, we’re all good," Nutritionist

"This... what is this nonsense?" Lin Sanjiu stared at the card, at a loss for words. This bizarre item was the third ability she had evolved, which had just saved her life tonight.

—As long as she wished, Lin Sanjiu could convert anything she touched into a card, storing it within her body. When needed, with a thought, the card would manifest as the original object in her palm.

Earlier, when she had purposely grabbed a bone-cleaving knife and thrown it at Ren Nan, it was a trick to lower his guard. The true strike had occurred when Lin Sanjiu had been bitten, struggling to place her hand on the back of his head. With a single thought, the "chef's knife" card hidden within Lin Sanjiu's body earlier had transformed into a sharp blade, deeply piercing Ren Nan's brain. Through days of experimentation, she had discovered she could only convert items up to four times a day.

Though she was accustomed to her card creations, seeing one so filled with such... intricate detail was a first for her. She hastily flipped over the "Ren Nan's Corpse" card, only to find a dense block of text on the back:

Ren Nan, male, 28 years old, from another "new world." Introverted since childhood, unpopular with girls, and even received a confession from a senior male student during college. After the arrival of the new world, he struggled to survive, blablabla... In any case, upon arriving in the world of crime suspect Lin Sanjiu, Ren Nan devoured a billionaire with a potential value of 2, inherited his wealth, and deliberately approached crime suspect Lin Sanjiu. Just as he was about to devour Lin Sanjiu, he was killed instead.

"Why not just say it instead of using ‘blablabla’ to gloss over it?" Lin Sanjiu muttered, frustrated, tapping the text with her finger. Instantly, the words vanished, and another section slid into view on the card.

"Hello, we're all good": In a sea of people, the ability to identify seeds with high potential value. Through intimate physical contact (kisses, hugs, etc.), this ability can trigger the latent potential of ordinary humans, accelerating their evolution into various abilities. As the saying goes, one benefits, the other loses nothing.

Nutritionist: After consuming a person, the greatest potential value, evolutionary ability, and physical strength will be gained. A balanced diet ensures a beautiful tomorrow.

Note: The chef’s knife in the head comes from Germany, sharp, lightweight, and durable, purchased for 599 yuan from Jingxi Mall.

Without her "sharp intuition" ability, Lin Sanjiu might have thought this was all a dream. She cursed softly, unsure what to do with the "Ren Nan's Corpse" card. She was unwilling to store a corpse inside her body, so, after a moment's thought, she stuffed it into her pocket.

With Ren Nan's card detailing his abilities so clearly, she wondered if her own card also contained information on her abilities and the so-called "new world." While the idea was tempting, she certainly couldn't turn herself into a card—her mind raced, and she plucked a strand of hair, softly saying, "Take it away!"

A flash of white light later, another card appeared in her hand. [Hair]

Owner: Lin Sanjiu

Hair quality: Black, healthy, slightly dry at the tips

Function: Annoying when stuck to a broom.

Note: Based on the condition of the roots, the owner may experience hair loss around the age of forty.

Damn. It's useless. Lin Sanjiu swiped her hand dismissively, and the hair vanished into the darkness.

A hot new world... She mused, lost in thought.

59 degrees Celsius... Even with her evolved "high-temperature adaptation" ability, she was struggling to cope. What would ordinary people be going through?

Suddenly, a chill ran down Lin Sanjiu’s spine, and she jumped up from the couch. Zhu Mei! How could she have almost forgotten her best friend?

Thinking of Zhu Mei potentially in danger, Lin Sanjiu couldn't care less about her own injury. She hurriedly grabbed a backpack, stormed into the kitchen, and stuffed all the bottled water and drinks from the fridge into it. Changing into light sportswear, she grabbed the keys and rushed to the apartment's emergency exit, charging into the dark stairwell.

Though she was only heading downstairs, after rushing down 38 floors, Lin Sanjiu was already winded. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she took a drink of water and continued to the basement.

Ren Nan's car—or rather, the car of the person he devoured—was parked in the basement. Zhu Mei's house was a twenty-minute drive away, and in this heat, Lin Sanjiu had no intention of walking.

As she stepped into the parking lot, a blast of hot air nearly knocked her off balance.

Looking around, she realized the parking lot was eerily quiet, with every car's headlights glaring brightly, all of them running. The roar of the engines echoed, amplifying the sound many times over, filling the entire parking lot. Hundreds of exhaust pipes were expelling heat, turning the enclosed lot into an oven, at least three or four degrees hotter than outside.

Everyone who could make it to the parking lot had done so. In the midst of the city's power outage, the only refuge from the sweltering heat was the cars, their air conditioners the only thing keeping them alive.

After walking only a few steps in the scorching air, Lin Sanjiu felt her shirt soaked with sweat. Through the windows of the cars she passed, she saw unfamiliar, panicked faces: some desperately trying to make calls, others holding children and crying uncontrollably. Some had fainted, possibly from dehydration on the way to the parking lot. Others stared at her in disbelief, as if puzzled by how she could still be walking.

Despite the air conditioning surrounding them, a faint veil of despair hung over many of the faces inside the cars. The air conditioning was only delaying the inevitable—once the fuel or electricity ran out, no one in the parking lot would survive the oppressive heat outside.

Lin Sanjiu knew very well she had no ability to help those in the cars. Her bag only contained five bottles of water, three cans of soda, and a few band-aids—hardly enough to last. Gritting her teeth, she swallowed her sympathy and, with steely resolve, made her way to the familiar Audi, jumping inside as if fleeing.

She briefly considered turning on the air conditioning but opted to roll down the windows instead. After all, she wouldn’t die from the heat, though it would be uncomfortable. It was better to conserve the precious fuel and electricity for Zhu Mei. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she started the car and slowly drove out of the parking lot.

Compared to the underground furnace of the parking lot, the 59°C air outside actually felt somewhat bearable.

Surprisingly, the streets were nearly deserted, with few cars on the road—likely because people didn’t want to waste precious fuel and electricity.

The cars parked along the streets, like those in the parking lot, were also idling, their occupants resigned to using the last of their air conditioning.

As Lin Sanjiu sped past a red Mazda, a shadow suddenly flew in from her right, striking the Audi's door with a resounding thud.

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Dear readers (if there are any): By the time you read this chapter, I will probably be on a plane. As a Daoist with ambitions, I’ve decided to search for the legendary Kunlun. From now until the end of the month, my dear Storage Box will be uploading the chapters for me... Please surprise me!

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