Xia Lin liked Extreme Nourishment.

  Don’t be fooled by its somewhat confusing skill effect—it was, in fact, a serious control skill!

  It had low consumption, no cooldown, and with Xia Lin’s current 13 Spirit attribute points, he could easily use it twice, with a third shot if absolutely necessary.

  The nourishing effect took hold the moment the light seeped into Wang Ye and Li Qing’s bodies.

  Fat rapidly proliferated, and their bodies swelled uncontrollably.

  It was known that without a limit-breaking technique, the attribute limit for a Level 2 Ember Zone traveler was 20 points, and Level 1 was even worse, not exceeding the limit of an ordinary human.

  Therefore, it was clear that Wang Ye and Li Qing’s attributes couldn’t be very high.

  This wasn’t a question of whether the skill’s effect could be resisted—Li Peipei had been hit, and these two stood even less of a chance.

  The real question was whether the rapid weight gain would directly destroy them.

  The answer was yes.

  The sudden weight gain quickly overwhelmed their bodies, and they were lucky not to have died instantly.

  Their mutated forms made movement nearly impossible, and the sight of two massive, thousand-pound fat men crammed into the small driver’s cab was nothing short of hellish.

  Unintelligible howls came from the mountains of flesh, followed by heavy, labored breathing.

  Obesity made it difficult to breathe...

  One of the panting sounds abruptly stopped. Wang Ye, a Level 1 traveler, had been destroyed by his obesity. His heart and blood vessels couldn’t withstand the strain, and he died instantly.

  On the other hand, Li Qing’s breathing gradually stabilized.

  He looked around blankly, but his vision was severely impaired as his eyes were buried in fat.

  Suddenly, he felt something cold, thick, and hard press against the back of his head.

  Xia Lin’s voice sounded faintly.

  “I ask, you answer. Okay?”

  ...

  “Da-da-da, da-da-da.”

  A crisp gunshot echoed.

  Then, the back door of the truck opened. Xia Lin crossed himself while tossing the woman’s rifle back into the car, murmuring, “May you rest in peace. Amitabha.”

  Having performed the last rites, Xia Lin’s expression brightened again.

  Because Backstab had worked once more...

  [Backstab effect activated.]

  [You have backstabbed your affiliated faction. Effect assessment: extremely weak.]

  [You have gained 0.01 points in all attributes.]

  [Due to the minimal attribute bonus, it will not be reflected in the attribute panel or have an actual effect. It will be rounded up to the nearest integer and then distributed.]

  Xia Lin was human, and killing a member of the same species naturally counted as betraying his faction.

  No problem!

  “Now, you’re my favorite skill,” Xia Lin said with a smile, then turned his gaze northward.

  The Tieyu Base was 130 kilometers away.

  Li Peipei had indeed posted a bounty on Xia Lin, offering a staggering 10,000 Ember Zone points!

  In response, Xia Lin simply grinned.

  “Poor girl.”

  First, he killed her teammate, then stole her precious treasure, and finally turned her into a grotesque, obese figure. In retaliation, she offered a 10,000-point bounty.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  It was obvious she didn’t have much savings.

  There was one thing that truly puzzled Xia Lin.

  Two words were highlighted on the wanted notice:

  “Capture alive.”

  At the entrance to the Ember Zone in the Tieyu Base, Li Peipei had wanted to capture Xia Lin alive, which made sense.

  It was a way to vent her anger, and of course, capturing him alive was preferable.

  But after Xia Lin had demonstrated his escape skill, Farewell from a Thousand Miles, Li Peipei still insisted on capturing him alive. This left Xia Lin confused.

  Killing Xia Lin wasn’t easy, and capturing him alive would be exponentially more difficult...

  “It can’t be that she’s fallen in love with me,” Xia Lin mused casually, shaking his head and dismissing the thought. Instead, he looked westward.

  There was another base in that direction.

  Its name: the Guhua Base.

  Its leader and protector: Guhua, the 56th in the human sequence.

  ...

  One mountain cannot hold two tigers—unless they’re a male and a female.

  Li Peipei and Guhua were just like that.

  As the leader of the Guhua Base and the 56th in the human sequence, Guhua was only thirty years old but strikingly handsome, with the charm of a trendy metropolitan man from before the disaster.

  Everyone in both bases knew of Guhua’s admiration for Li Peipei.

  But today, Guhua wasn’t feeling happy.

  In the living room of his mansion, Guhua glanced at the mountain of flesh sitting beside him, then quickly averted his eyes.

  He looked troubled but finally couldn’t resist asking the question he most wanted to ask.

  “Peipei, you’ve gained weight... Can you still dance?”

  Dragon Flash Dance, Li Peipei’s signature technique...

  “Pop.”

  Guhua slapped himself in the face and, facing the murderous glare from the slit in the flesh, quickly apologized.

  “It was a slip of the tongue. What I meant was... the problem of being fat can be solved. For example, we can do liposuction. Right, Peipei?”

  Liposuction wasn’t a major surgery. With the emergence of Ember Walkers, the plastic surgery industry had also advanced significantly, aided by new skills.

  Li Peipei was indeed so fat that she had lost her human shape, but a few simple surgeries could restore her to her former self.

  Facing Guhua’s question, Li Peipei merely snorted.

  Her voice, clear despite the fat, echoed through the room.

  “I don’t care about my appearance.”

  Guhua: But I do...

  He didn’t dare say this aloud and simply listened as Li Peipei continued.

  “The Sequence Hegemony Battle is just around the corner, and I care more about my strength.”

  After saying this, she raised her hand and looked at her arm, now resembling a lotus root. “That thief is short-sighted to disgust me like this. He’s just become an Ember Walker and doesn’t understand the myriad abilities in the Ember Zone.”

  Guhua was momentarily stunned, then realized something.

  He lowered his voice and uttered five words.

  “Sequence 3, Martial King Lie.”

  Martial King Lie Wang.

  Human Sequence 3.

  His legendary exploits were well-known. He wasn’t one of the first to enter the Ember Zone but rather entered more than 200 days after it had opened.

  What’s more, when he entered the Ember Zone, he was carrying a debuff:

  C-class Abnormal Disaster: Obesity.

  This disaster caused those affected to become uncontrollably obese, gaining weight until their genes could no longer withstand the strain within a week.

  However, Lie Wang had forged an unimaginable path based on obesity.

  “Martial arts.”

  “Practicing martial arts requires immense energy, and the fat caused by obesity is excellent fuel.”

  “Moreover, Lie Wang was exceptionally talented in martial arts. He was noticed by the Sanfeng Martial Arts Hall in the Ember Zone and taught the Bloody Breathing Method, which skyrocketed his progress in breaking through limits.”

  Guhua spoke these words slowly, reflecting on the might of Lie Wang, who had become an Ember Walker less than 100 days ago and dominated the last Sequence Hegemony Battle. He couldn’t help but sigh.

  “Then you’ll have to change professions...”

  Li Peipei snorted and laughed. “It’s no big deal if I do.”

  Retracing the path of the Martial King, even if her martial talent wasn’t as exceptional as Lie Wang’s, a “small Martial King” could easily secure a top 30 position in the sequence.

  “But there’s a prerequisite for all of this.”

  “That Xia Lin guy.”

  “I want him—alive.”

  Li Peipei looked at Guhua, and even through the slit in the flesh, Guhua could vaguely see the cold light in her eyes.

  In response, Guhua let out a bitter laugh.

  “The situation on my side is quite different from the Tieyu Base...”

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