"Don't move."
Just as Lu Renjia's fingers moved, a foot stepped on them first. Eve held down his hand and whispered, "Don't think you can activate your powers under my nose. If you move again, I'll cut your neck."
Qi stood behind her, and a thick black tentacle crawled out from his shadow, with the tip condensed into a spike, wrapping around Lu Renjia's neck threateningly.
Now Lu Renjia no longer dared to act rashly, and said in a trembling voice: "You...what do you want to do?!"
"Don't be afraid," Eve laughed. "Didn't I tell you? It's just a few questions. It's very simple."
She smiled, and the cold and oppressive feeling on her face disappeared. If she hadn't been holding a knife in her hand, she would have looked like a beautiful angel in a church mural.
Lu Renjia stared at her in horror, his clothes on the back already half soaked with sweat.
Eve pulled out the reward poster from her pocket and unfolded it in front of Lu Renjia: "You know this poster, right?"
She used affirmative sentences, not giving Lu Renjia a chance to deny. Lu Renjia could only nod and said repeatedly: "I know, I know! It's a new task that just came out these days!"
He thought Eve was going to ask about the progress of the mission, so without waiting for her to speak, he started talking like pouring beans: "Actually, not many people take this mission. We have released the news for a few days, but no one has come to claim the reward." Except for the small vendor who asked the question today.
Eve raised an eyebrow: "No one is interested in this mission?"
Didn't Hongfeng say that everyone wanted a spot at Queen Bee Headquarters? How could they let this opportunity slip away?
Lu Renjia said: "This... is a bit complicated to explain..."
Eve didn't say anything, but gave Qi a look, and the latter's tentacles on Lu Renjia's neck immediately tightened.
"Don't! Don't! Don't! I can't speak!" Lu Renjia said hurriedly, "Don't kill me!"
The tentacles loosened slightly, and he took a breath in shock before saying tremblingly, "Because the reward for this mission... is really a bit embarrassing..."
"Oh?" Eve was curious. "What do you mean?"
"Think about it, if those powerful superpowers wanted to enter the Queen Bee headquarters, wouldn't they have to worry about finding an opportunity?" Lu Renjia said cautiously. "Plus, finding a specific zombie would definitely take a lot of time and energy. If they had that much time, they could easily earn several bags of nuclear crystals, let alone one. Who would take on such a thankless job?"
"But the efficiency of ordinary people or those with weak abilities is far lower than that of strong ones," Lu Renjia continued. "Among them, there are many who want to take advantage of the situation, so..."
Although they have announced this bounty mission in this camp base for a long time, there has not been any splash so far.
He thought he had explained it clearly, but the red-haired girl blinked and frowned again.
"That's not right," Eve muttered. "Doesn't the Queen Bee want to catch him as quickly as possible? Then why not just set a more luxurious bounty?"
If the Queen Bee really needed to capture Seven urgently, Eve understood that she should have spread the news at all costs to attract a large number of powerful people with special abilities, instead of offering seemingly generous rewards like she is doing now, which only attracted a mob.
Her index finger tapped the blade again and again, staring at Lu Renjia's face thoughtfully. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind like a light, and Eve's index finger paused. She turned her head and her green eyes widened slightly.
"Sir," she suddenly said, "Do you know the Qingshan Research Base nearby?"
"Qingshan Base?" Lu Renjia frowned in confusion at first, then relaxed. "Ah... the research institute affiliated with Queen Bee?"
"There was an accident there recently. A few zombies escaped and caused a commotion," Eve said slowly, her clear eyes reflecting Lu Renjia's face. "Have you heard the news?"
Unexpectedly, Lu Renjia raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Commotion? No, where did you get the news?"
Eve's expression paused.
"That base is small, and its equipment and security are incomplete, so they wouldn't have too many zombies," Lu Renjia said. "And Qingshan Base is close to our branch base. If there was any trouble, they would definitely contact us in time, but we haven't received any news!"
Eve stared at him intently. "No? Could it be that your rank is too low, and you don't have the authority to get firsthand information?"
Lu Renjia: “…”
What's wrong with this girl? Doesn't she know that being too blunt can be very hurtful?!
"...No," he endured, "I am a team leader after all. If Qingshan Base really needs help, I will contact the branch immediately, so that all cadres above the team leader level will get the news." Especially since they are the closest stronghold to Qingshan Base.
"I see," Eve said thoughtfully, "I understand."
She played with the knife up and down, and suddenly smiled: "I see."
Lu Renjia stared at the shaking knife tip in fear: "...Ah?"
"The Queen Bee does hope to capture... that zombie as soon as possible," she paused, her eyes casually glancing at Seven, "but they don't want to catch him."
Lu Renjia was confused by her: "What does this mean?"
Eve blinked at him and said nothing.
Qi escaped. On the one hand, Queen Bee issued a bounty order, and on the other hand, she blocked the news of Qingshan Base. However, these two things are so contradictory. Why did they do this?
Eve guessed that perhaps catching Seven was indeed urgent for the Queen Bee, but they did not want to make a big deal out of it and let everyone know.
That's why there was a bounty with an awkward reward - Queen Bee wanted to find out Seven's whereabouts, but was afraid of attracting powerful psychics, so she deliberately lowered the reward so that only low-level psychics would be attracted.
It’s like a merchant whose beautiful jade was stolen. He dares not make a loud noise, but still wants to get the jade back. He can only come up with some specious gimmicks and find some minions to run errands for him.
"So you are Meiyu..." Eve raised her eyes and looked at Qi meaningfully.
seven:"?"
Eve winked at him, asked him to lower his head, and patted Qi's cheek: "Nothing."
Come to think of it, she had subdued thousands of zombies, but had never seen one that could evolve on its own or even produce human body temperature - Eve didn't think this was the effect of the witch's heart.
"Okay," she turned her gaze back to Lu Renjia, "one last question."
Lu Renjia stared at her in horror, his throat suddenly rolling.
"Do you know who issued this mission?" Eve bent down slightly and lowered her voice.
But Lu Renjia's answer still disappointed her.
"We don't have the authority to verify the identity of the issuer," he shook his head. "But anyone who can issue such a region-wide mission must be a high-ranking cadre, no, perhaps even a core member."
This was the same as what the vendor said. Eve followed up on his words and said, "So if you want to contact him, you have to go to the headquarters?"
Lu Renjia nodded: "Yes..." He hesitated and whispered, "I... I remember that a cadre from the headquarters just talked to me on the phone about this matter..."
Before he finished speaking, Eve had already raised her head: "Who is it?"
"That...that person isn't the publisher!" Lu Renjia said quickly. "It seems he just came here to gather information. He didn't reveal anything else."
Eve didn't waste time talking to him: "Name."
Lu Renjia hesitated for a moment before saying, "I advise you not to go looking for trouble. That man is very strong. Even among the Queen Bees, who are full of talented people, his strength ranks among the top ten. So far, no one has been able to escape his Qingfeng Sword..."
"Name." Eve raised her hand, and Qi understood. A black spike rose from the ground and aimed at Lu Renjia's right eye.
"No? No? No?! I'll tell you! I'll tell you!" Lu Renjia hurriedly changed the subject, "You must know him—his name is Chang..."
“Bang!”
Before Lu Renjia could finish his words, the next second, his head suddenly exploded from the middle, and immediately brain matter and rotten flesh flew everywhere like fireworks, rushing towards Eve who was closest to him.
Eve was slightly startled, and before she could react, a dark shadow passed by her eyes.
——Seven stood in front of her, and his tentacles condensed into a wall, blocking all the filth.
Her nose was filled with the pungent smell of blood, and her brain was buzzing with pain. Qi's arm was warm against hers, but Eve's own hand was clammy and cold. She exhaled softly and pushed Qi away: "Let go, I'm fine."
Qi paused and took his hand away from Eve's waist.
Eve stood up, shook her still dizzy head, stepped on the sticky brain matter on the ground, and looked in the direction of Lu Renjia.
He is dead.
His body fell limply in a pool of blood, everything above the neck blown to pieces. Eve walked forward, stopped three meters away from him, and said thoughtfully: "Is this... a curse?"
Curses are a type of black magic. She is a necromancer and has not dabbled in this area much, but she has heard of certain spells that can be cast on others. As long as the person on whom the spell is cast triggers the restrictions, the spell will be triggered.
Although her world is not connected to this world, since the supernatural powers here are so strange, there might be curse-related supernatural powers.
But... her gaze turned back to Lu Renjia's body. What had he done just now to trigger the curse?
Eve thought about it and it seemed that when Lu Renjia was about to say the name of the cadre from the headquarters, he suddenly exploded.
"Don't you want to be discovered?" She smiled slightly.
The person who cast the curse might not be the cadre himself, but his accomplices. Their purpose was also very clear - just as Eve had guessed before, these people did not want to make a big deal out of it and wanted to reduce the number of people who knew about it as much as possible.
However, she raised her hand, and her fingertips skimmed across her shoulders, finally landing somewhere on her right shoulder.
Despite being interrupted, she was still able to guess the name of the cadre that Lu Renjia mentioned.
Qingfeng Jian, a man, a strong one among the superpowers.
Eve laughed.
Isn't this a coincidence? She just happened to meet this cadre before.
"——Evergreen Peak."
***
"Huh? You're back?" Hongfeng looked up and saw Eve and Qi coming in after opening the curtain.
"Qi changed his look?" He glanced at Qi curiously. The other party didn't react. Hongfeng didn't mind and said to Eve, "Did you find out the information you wanted?"
"That's about right," Eve said, glancing around the shed. "Where's our trailer?"
"It takes up a bit of space inside, so I pulled it outside," Hongfeng said hurriedly, "but the supplies have been unloaded."
He gestured to Eve to look at a pile of cans in the corner: "They're all here."
"Okay," Eve nodded and said nonchalantly, "I'll give these to you."
"Hmm... eh?!" Hongfeng was originally cutting tree roots. When he heard Eve's words, he almost chopped off his fingers. He exclaimed in surprise, "Wait... what did you say?!"
"Here are some for you," Eve said, as if the pile of canned food were just junk you'd find anywhere on the street. "It's too much trouble to carry them around. I don't need them."
"But...you...this..." Hongfeng stumbled for a long time before finally finding a point with difficulty, "Wait, are you leaving?!"
Eve squatted down and picked out some medicines and canned food from the pile of supplies, saying, "Yes."
"Where to go?" Hongfeng asked confusedly, "Isn't the camp good?" It's safe and crowded, and he was sure that Eve would stay.
"No," Eve said without turning back, "There are no zombies here."
Hongfeng: “???” What a vicious word.
Eve pulled out a backpack, stuffed everything she'd just picked out into it, and tossed it to Qi before continuing, "We're going to take on Queen Bee's bounty mission."
"The one that catches zombies?"
Eve gave him a look of concern and intelligence: "Of course not."
"That……"
"Didn't you say the Queen Bee was handing out a lot of missions this time?" Eve said. "Seven and I are going to take on other missions." She tossed up a plate of aspirin, caught it, and said with a smile, "We plan to become members of the Queen Bee headquarters."
Hong Feng was stunned for a few seconds, then hesitated and said, "If that's the case, wouldn't it be better to just go find that zombie? The other missions that offer promotions to headquarters are very difficult, and you may not succeed."
Eve sighed: "Me? I want to, but Qi will cry."
Hongfeng: “?” What does this have to do with Qi?
Eve patted Qi's shoulder. Qi met Hongfeng's puzzled gaze and held his face expressionlessly: "Oh, oh, oh."
Hongfeng: “…” Damn, this is so fucking eye-catching.
Seeing his disgusted expression, Eve laughed, squatted down again, and continued to rummage through the pile of supplies.
It's not that she didn't consider using an ordinary zombie to get away with it, but if she thought about it carefully, she would realize that this was a bad idea.
——The Queen Bees are so eager and secretive to capture Seven, which proves that they must know Seven’s peculiarities to some extent. If they rashly use a zombie to replace Seven, they may end up losing more than they gain, and instead expose themselves to the Queen Bees’ sight.
This is the thing Eve avoids most.
As a necromancer who has been at the top of the bounty association's wanted list for many years, Eve is well aware of the importance of the enemy being in the open while we are in the dark. Revealing her whereabouts to the enemy is something only a third-rate witch would do.
She could also take Qi and hide, but this was not in line with Eve's character. What a joke. When the four major mercenary groups joined forces to hunt her down, she never hid - she was a powerful necromancer, not one of those dwarfs who could only squat in the toilet.
Besides, if she leaves this matter alone, it would be like burying a time bomb next to her. Qi still has her witch heart in him. If he is kidnapped one day, does she have to travel thousands of miles to get her puppy back?
In this case, the only way to remove this thorn in the heart is to infiltrate the upper echelons of the Queen Bee headquarters and eliminate the mastermind behind the issuance of the wanted order.
Eve thought to herself as she nonchalantly played with the medical bandage in her hand.
Judging from Lu Renjia's reaction, Qi's matter did not spread within the Queen Bee. Perhaps many people did not know the purpose of the Qingshan Base at all. She just hoped that the fewer people who knew about this matter, the better, so that she would not have trouble dealing with it.
"Please say hello to the others for me," she said, grabbing the remaining medical supplies and stuffing them into her backpack. "We're leaving now."
"You're not eating lunch either?" Hongfeng was surprised. "Potts said there's meat today!"
"Isn't it enough for six people? You guys eat." Eve gestured to Qi, signaling him to go out first, and she followed behind. When she opened the curtain, she suddenly turned around and smiled at Hongfeng who was stunned in the spot. "By the way."
The light from outside the shed splashed onto her face, casting spots of light on Eve's delicate features. For a moment, she seemed to be blending into the light, like a petal that God had accidentally dropped into the mortal world.
"You are all good people," she said meaningfully, "live well."
***
Eve brought Seven to the Bounty Hall.
...Calling it a bounty hall is actually a bit of an exaggeration.
Eve stood under several tents made of plastic tarpaulins, confused for a few seconds before saying to Qi, "Go find the Queen Bee's stall."
Seven nodded, pointing to Eve's right.
There was an independent stall there. Eve looked over and saw a wooden board in front of the stall with the words "Queen Bee" written on it.
She hooked her finger at Qi, signaling him to follow, but after taking two steps, she suddenly realized and turned around in surprise: "Can you read?"
Qi stood behind her, looking at her in confusion.
Eve stared at Qi suspiciously, then casually picked up a flyer and pointed at the words on it and asked, "Do you recognize it?"
Qi Mo didn't move at all.
Eve thought for a moment and said, "Tell me what this word means. I'll give you blood to drink."
Qi continued to open her dark eyes wide.
Eve: “…”
Even though she felt he was playing dumb, time was running out, so she had no choice but to give up: "Forget it, let's go."
Qi lowered his head, gently took the flyer from Eve's hand, and put it back on the stall.
Eve: “…” Is he just pretending to be stupid?
She glanced at Qi, ignored him, and walked straight to the Queen Bee's stall. Qi followed silently, like a well-behaved little tail.
There were a lot of people at the Queen Bee stall. I could see a group of people crowded there from a distance. When I got closer, I found that the stall was divided into two tables. One of them was crowded with people, while the other table had only a few people.
Eve noticed that the two types of people were dressed and looked very different. The people at the first table kept shouting loudly, and their clothes were rather shabby, and they had no weapons on them.
Most of the people at the second table were silent. They would glance at the flyers on the table and leave quickly, or talk to the people behind them. They were dressed much better than the people at the first table, and some even wore brand new leather jackets.
Eve thought about it and walked to the second table.
There were two men sitting behind the table, one with a burly build, the other with narrow eyes like twin snakes. As she approached, the burly man didn't move, while the narrow-eyed man nodded at the table in front of him and said, "Look for yourself."
Eve nodded and said to Qi deliberately, "Stand closer."
Qi moved closer as he said, and Eve's eyes were always on the two men. They were attracted by Qi, but after looking at her for a few times, they looked away again.
That’s right, Eve touched her chin, even a person with super powers couldn’t recognize that Qi was a zombie.
She felt relieved and turned her eyes to the flyers on the table. Eve quickly scanned the contents. They were all missions with various requirements. Some required collecting metal materials, some required hunting zombies, and there were also several escort missions. She didn't look at them in detail, but it seemed that they were about sending some non-combatants to specific areas.
"Is there nothing you can do?" Seeing her standing still for a long time, the snake-eyed man pointed to the first table and said, "You should go there. The difficulty here is only for those with C-level abilities and above."
He wanted to say from the beginning, this little girl looks so weak and frail, and it's obvious that she doesn't have any special abilities, so why did she run directly to their table?
Eve shook her head: "Wait, I'm still looking."
The snake-eyed man frowned: "What are you looking for?"
Eve didn't even look up: "The most difficult task."
Snake-eyed man: “???”
"...Got it," Eve suddenly said, pulling out a page from among several flyers. "Can I take this quest?"
The snake-eyed man took it and looked at it, almost laughing: "Are you sure?"
The mission on the flyer only had one line of requirements: [Go to Zishui City and rescue the mission target Baishuichuan.]
But the reward below was very generous—Eve pointed her finger at it: "If I complete the mission, I can be promoted to the second-level team member of the headquarters?"
"It's just level two," the snake-eyed man said. "There's a level one above that, the squad leader, the officer... a level two member is still just a minion."
Upon hearing this, Eve looked at the two of them inquiringly.
The fact that the snake-eyed man could say this meant that his rank must be above level two, perhaps... a small team leader?
At this time, the burly man on the side spoke.
"This mission is difficult." When his gaze fell on Eve, she realized that he had a pair of eagle-like eyes. "Do you know Purple Water City?"
Eve shook her head honestly.
"Purple Water City was once one of the fortresses under the jurisdiction of the Queen Bee, with a population of 30,000. However, last month, a source of zombie infection appeared within the city, causing a zombie outbreak from within, and the entire city fell."
Eve raised her eyebrows in slight surprise.
A city with a population of 30,000 is considered a big city in the end times. Putting aside other things, the fact that Queen Bee can build such a complete city with such a large population shows her strength.
"With a population of thirty thousand," the man said slowly. "Even if we exclude those who escaped, there are still nearly twenty thousand zombies lurking in the city. Do you think you can make it through unscathed?"
Eve didn't answer his question, but instead asked, "Who is Bai Shuichuan?"
The man was silent for a moment before he said, "He's one of the important members of the Queen Bee. When Purple Water City fell, he happened to be trapped inside."
After he finished speaking, he shut his mouth tightly. Eve glanced at the man thoughtfully. For some reason, she felt that he seemed unwilling to reveal more information about Baishuichuan, so she deliberately asked, "How important is it? Did you send someone to rescue him?"
"No comment." The man's mouth was like a tightly closed stone door.
Eve pondered for a moment and said, "I'll take it."
She had figured that the person who issued the seven bounty orders must be a core member of the Queen Bee. Even if she entered the headquarters, it would be meaningless if she was just a level three minion. It would be better to be as close to the top as possible.
Among these tasks, only the reward from Zishui City can allow her to directly become a second-level team member.
The man frowned, "This mission requires a B-level or higher psychic."
"Old Song, what's the big deal?" The snake-eyed man suddenly said, "We're going to test their strength anyway, so let them try."
He turned to Eve, a meaningful smile on his face. "We need to screen the quality of our team members. Is that okay with you?"
"Okay," Eve nodded readily, "but let him go first."
Qi walked out from behind her, with a pair of dark eyes under his neat bangs.
He exuded an unfathomable aura, like a black hole. Both men were stunned for a moment. The man with snake eyes reacted and coughed awkwardly: "I'm the tester. You two follow me."
He led the two to an open area and explained the rules: "If you can attack me within three minutes, you'll pass."
Eve raised her hand: "Is it okay if I just touch you?"
The way she asked made the snake-eyed man very unhappy. He laughed coldly and said, "You can tell me when you meet him first."
The man called Old Song stood to one side, holding a worn-out timer in his hand. He said to Eve, "Move aside. I'm about to start the timer."
Eve quickly stepped aside. Qi turned around and gave her a slightly uneasy look. Eve thought for a moment and gestured to him, "Do your best."
She didn't know what level Snake Eyes was, so she could only let Qi check it out first.
Qi nodded slightly and turned his attention back to Snake Eyes. Just then, Old Song pressed the timer: "Start!"
"Hmph, you two little brats, don't think you are that capable," Snake Eyes snorted, "Let me, Lin Bing, tell you what it means that there are always people beyond you, and beyond the heavens..."
"Bang!"
Before he could finish his sentence, he was suddenly hit hard on the chin. He flew several meters away like a kite with a broken string and fell heavily to the ground.
——Qi stood in the position where he was just now, with his right hand still maintaining the posture of punching. Seeing Lin Bing fall, he withdrew his hand and looked at Eve hesitantly.
Eve curled the corners of her mouth.
She turned her head and said to the dumbfounded Old Song with a smile, "He passed."
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