Little Pink Starfish

It was said that Su Qingyan showed concern for Meng Qiao in front of many people…
It was said that Su Qingyan took on all kinds of odd jobs just to celebrate Meng Qiao’s birthday…
It was said that Su Qingyan handled all the household chores where Meng Qiao lived…
It was said that Su Qingyan cooked for Meng Qiao personally every day…
It was said that Su Qingyan seriously refuted anyone who spoke ill of Meng Qiao…

It was said…
It was said that the entire base was full of rumors about how Su Qingyan and Meng Qiao were childhood sweethearts whose relationship was so close that no one else could wedge themselves in.

Gu Bai: “……”
Why did this all sound so off?
As someone who knew the plot, he understood that this was Su Qingyan intentionally showcasing his hardworking, gentle, and kind side, also meant to contrast Meng Qiao as lazy, willful, and spoiled—deliberately bullying him. It was Su Qingyan’s tactic to appear innocent and prepare to stand on the moral high ground in the future.
But for anyone who didn’t know that, damn it—it really sounded like he was wooing Meng Qiao!

The problem was, it looked too much like courting.
Even a typical boyfriend wouldn’t be this considerate, meticulous, and attentive, right? Let alone Meng Qiao’s low-EQ old gong!
Compared to Su Qingyan, Yin Jiu was like trash—aside from his looks, what did he even have!?

Was this even fair…

This was actually how it was in the original as well. And if it weren’t for the fact that Su Qingyan had always treated Meng Qiao like this since childhood, Meng Qiao wouldn’t have trusted him so much and gotten so close to him. But who would’ve thought that this pure, caring, flawless white lotus of a best friend was secretly full of sinister, ruthless, and scheming thoughts?
It wasn’t that Meng Qiao was dumb—it was just that the black-hearted lotus was too damn skilled.

What made it worse was that this white lotus wasn’t the sobbing kind, nor the sorrowful kind, nor the delicate kind—he was the kind that seemed full of personal charm!
So ever since childhood, even though Meng Qiao’s tsundere, proud, and flamboyant personality drew attention from many, Su Qingyan never got sidelined. Instead, while complementing Meng Qiao, he also shone in his own right. Especially after the apocalypse began, not only was he praised by everyone, even Meng Qiao himself sincerely felt that Su Qingyan was just that good—just that flawless!

Endless updates came in from the little brothers. Gu Bai listened to the rumors and reflected on the original plot, feeling quite emotional.
Of course, the most hilarious part was…

Yin Jiu frequently visited his restaurant and stared at Meng Qiao every day as he ate. No matter how Su Qingyan tried to show off in front of him, no matter how much he flaunted his charm, Yin Jiu still… only had eyes for Meng Qiao.

The black-hearted lotus was furious.
And what made it worse—

Because every time Su Qingyan stayed by Meng Qiao’s side under the excuse of “protecting him from being taken advantage of,” and several times even deliberately used his fine figure to block Meng Qiao, claiming it was to protect him when it was clearly an attempt to seduce Yin Jiu, and after receiving Meng Qiao’s gratitude and sparkly-eyed admiration—Yin Jiu! When he looked at Su Qingyan, there was already deep hostility in his eyes, okay!?

Gu Bai quietly snorted with schadenfreude in his heart.
Damn, this was totally treating the black-hearted lotus as a love rival! He’d completely diverted the hatred of the protagonist shou’s old gong!
And while pretending to “advise” Meng Qiao, the lotus had inadvertently made Meng Qiao begin to subtly change his attitude toward Yin Jiu—starting to notice his strengths!

What a fine wingman for the people, what a perfect matchmaker for this enemies-to-lovers ship, using his life to tie the red string of fate!

For a moment, Gu Bai didn’t know whether he should give Su Qingyan a thumbs-up or light a candle for him.
From a certain point of view, he really was Meng Qiao’s good buddy.
Pffffft hahaha.

Su Qingyan had always been good at reading people, but he didn’t understand Yin Jiu well enough yet. So he only noticed that Yin Jiu’s gaze had gotten hotter lately—but because Yin Jiu managed to restrain his expression, Su Qingyan didn’t realize that “heat” was full of malice.
He even thought his seduction was working better than before.

So he doubled down on his efforts to grab attention—while racking up even more hate from Yin Jiu.
Meanwhile, because Gu Bai had been laying low lately, Yin Jiu finally heard from a few “accidental” sources (as arranged by Gu Bai) about Gu Bai and Meng Qiao’s actual relationship.
Since then, Yin Jiu had no more resentment toward Gu Bai—instead, he felt extremely satisfied knowing that Meng Qiao had never belonged to anyone else, and in the future might be his alone.

His intelligence returned, his emotional quotient rose slightly.
We must give the black-hearted lotus another hundred likes.

This whole ridiculous scenario, Gu Bai watched with great interest every day—not on-site of course. As a mercenary group leader, how could he stoop that low? No, he listened to reports at first, then just had his little brothers spy and come back to reenact it for him—now that was satisfying.
Addicted?

As for Meng Qiao, his thoughts were something like:
① Qingyan is still as considerate as before. Mm, maybe I should talk to Master and see if I can get him a job.
② That pervert is a pervert, but maybe he’s not that bad…

↑
Other people may say he’s heartless, unreasonable, cruel, and tyrannical—so what!? Young master is just this dazzling! If you’re jealous, then go get Master to protect you too! My luck is unparalleled! My presence is divine! Not convinced? Go cry about it, peasants! Hahahaha!

That inner monologue really racked up hate.
Though no one actually knew he was thinking that…

Besides the protagonist shou, his old gong, and the black-hearted lotus who were still tirelessly grinding affection points, everything else was normal.
Everyone was working hard in their roles. The major ability users still held a balance of power. Yin Jiu’s lightning powers were ridiculously strong, Gu Bai’s ice powers continued to improve, and the fire user—though a bit weaker—still held a steady position.
Whenever zombies attacked the city, ability users raised their arms and countless hunters responded. Wave after wave of zombie offensives crumbled under their hands.

The S City survivor base was still just as warm and peaceful today!

·

Beijing survivor base.
Political leaders and military generals stood on the towering wall, protected by countless ability users, staring at the scene before them with visible fear.

There stood the towering snake shrouded in black mist, the sky-darkening flock of birds like a mass of clouds, and the black, water-like swarm of beasts—less than fifty meters from the city wall, watching like hungry predators.
Aside from the giant snake in the center, the beasts were divided into several groups, each backed by countless mutated beasts. The aura they brought was one of crushing despair.

But surprisingly, the beasts didn’t immediately attack.
Instead, they stood there quietly. Aside from the terrifying threat and overwhelming pressure they exuded, they didn’t seem like mindless animals at all.
Which made it even more terrifying.
Having zombies in the apocalypse was bad enough. Now even mutated beasts had intelligence? How the hell were humans supposed to survive!?

What’s worse—they had no idea when these beasts mutated, when they gathered, or how they gained self-control!

The general was decisive: “Call in the ability user with the beast-tamer ability! That’s an order!”
His soldier immediately saluted and ran off to fetch the person without delay.

Soon, the beast-tamer was dragged over and dropped at the general’s feet.

Beast-tamer: “…General?” He felt the killing aura, turned his head, saw the massive beast horde… almost leapt out of his skin, “Emmmm—what the what the what the—”
General sternly: “Your mission is to try to communicate with the mutated beasts.”
Beast-tamer: “You’re killing me here, man!”
General: “If you don’t, we all die. Go!”
Beast-tamer, looking like he was at a funeral, climbed up… in front of the wall.

He tried to sense something and fell into despair.
Sure, he had the beast-taming power, but right now he could only coax cats and hamsters. Talking to massive predators? Your servant truly does not dare!

But—dare not or not—he had to dare…

With trembling legs, the beast-tamer stretched out his arms and activated his ability.
To communicate with cats and hamsters, he’d use brain… brain… brainwaves, right?

“You guys ¥＠＃＠％￥＃＠……”
“Is there anything…％￥＃……％＃％￥……”
“Feel free to…％￥＃……％￥＃……％￥＠……”

Mutated beasts: “……”
Then, everyone on the wall saw the beast horde part like the Red Sea, and a giant golden-maned lion walked out, shook its mane, and opened its mouth: “Anyone here speak human? If you don’t know beast-speak, don’t come up here and embarrass yourself, alright? Shameful!”

Leaders + Generals: “……”
Ability users on the wall: “……”
No one expected the mutated beast’s Mandarin to be more standard than theirs.

The beast-tamer’s lips trembled too.
He was practically in tears… Damn it, even mutated beasts are language geniuses now!? How’s a brother supposed to make a living like this!?

The general was still decisive. He stepped forward: “What’s your goal?”
The giant lion shook its mane again: “We’re here to help our boss find someone.”
General: “Who?”

The lion grinned: “Bring out all the male ice-type ability users. Let’s pick a pretty one?”
Ice-type users all took a synchronized step back.
Damn it, what’s this got to do with us!?

The giant lion grinned, baring steel teeth: “If you don’t bring them out…”
A mutated low-IQ parrot immediately jumped up, did a solo bird tango on the lion’s back: “You know what it means! You know what it means!”
Another mutated low-IQ parrot flapped its wings and did a seductive solo bird Latin dance: “Chosen in Jiangnan! Time to make a move here!”

General: “……”
Leaders: “……For the sake of national security.”
Pick your damn self, pick your damn——!