Chapter 813 - 169: Bone Carver
"It really does taste good. Hua san, aren’t you going to have a bite?"
Su Changxing took a sip of the sake on the table, put down his chopsticks, and said.
Hua san showed a hint of confusion. "I probably don’t need to eat this kind of thing."
Su Changxing shook his head and smiled. "This isn’t about need or not, it’s about whether you want to or not. I’d say it’s because you don’t have that kind of desire."
"Desire?"
"Yes. Humans are creatures with very rich emotions, so they have all kinds of desires. In your case, you probably belong to a species whose desires are rather single. That doesn’t really have anything to do with intelligence—more like a difference between species."
There were five dishes on the table, four dishes and one soup, but three of the dishes all contained potatoes. Probably because in this era of material scarcity, potatoes had once again come into their own.
This was Wang Liang’s doing. They had developed a kind of potato that could grow rapidly in the environment after the apocalypse.
This potato was extremely rich in Energy, about the size of a watermelon, enough to fully meet the needs of Extraordinary, and Ordinary People could eat it too, and it was extremely filling.
This improved crop had also spread widely in Seventeen; every gathering point had large fields of this new type of potato planted.
Hua san’s face showed an expression of half understanding, half not. "Then I’ll try it?"
Su Changxing nodded and smiled. "Try it. Some things aren’t bad to give a shot. If you don’t like it, just don’t eat it again later."
Hua san used a fork to pick up a slice of potato that Su Changxing had put in her bowl, took a big bite, was silent at first, then frowned, and soon her brow smoothed out.
"It doesn’t taste the same as a corpse." She gave her Evaluation.
Su Changxing showed a strange look. "A corpse? Of course it’s different, this is a plant, a potato."
"A potato’s corpse?" Hua san’s face showed a puzzled look.
Su Changxing thought for a moment and said, "You could put it that way too."
At that moment.
Footsteps sounded in the corridor outside the door, one light, one heavy, the rhythm fairly in sync, followed by knocking on the door.
Su Changxing turned his head toward the door and said loudly, "Come in."
The door was pushed open.
Lu Yu walked in from outside, looking travel-worn, black blood splattered over his gray coat.
Su Changxing once again put down his chopsticks and smiled. "What, you heard I had food here and came to get a few bites too?"
Lu Yu’s expression looked Heavy. He walked over, stood in front of Su Changxing, and said:
"Leader Su, I’ve come to confess my sins."
Su Changxing stared at him and said calmly, "Scared? I said I wouldn’t kill you, so I probably won’t kill you. What’s there to be afraid of?"
Lu Yu shook his head and said in a deep voice, "I just feel sorry for the others... Actually, at the very beginning, I was involved in the Doomsday Cult’s affairs, and became an Extraordinary because of that."
Su Changxing fixed his gaze on him, was silent for a while, then said, "I know. I already knew the second time I met you. In fact, the Doomsday Cult’s situation has something to do with me turning a blind eye."
Lu Yu was stunned. He had come here to confess, but hadn’t expected to hear such a Truth—that Su Changxing had long known he was a Doomsday Cultist.
"Why?" He looked at Su Changxing, utterly puzzled, his lips trembling slightly.
Su Changxing let out a soft chuckle. "Do I really need to spell it out? You should be able to guess. In despair, we all look for a few extra paths for ourselves, trying to find a way out."
"Back then I thought the Doomsday Cult might also be a path. After all, they had the Ability to turn Ordinary People into Extraordinary. Not reliable, sure, but you still have to try... better to treat a dead horse like a living one."
"In Team 17 back then, quite a few people had dealings with the Doomsday Cult, but true Doomsday Cultists weren’t many, and even fewer became Extraordinary through them."
Hearing this, Lu Yu’s heart turned cold. He had thought that what he and the others had done back then was well hidden, yet it had all been seen clearly by Su Changxing.
He lowered his head slightly and said earnestly to Su Changxing, "Then why did Leader Su still not kill me afterwards?"
Su Changxing shook his head and said, "There was no need. And later on I stopped concerning myself with the Doomsday Cult’s affairs. Since you’re still alive now, that probably means He chose not to kill you."
"Don’t just stand there. Have something to eat, it really does taste good."
Lu Yu showed a bitter smile. "Leader Su, I won’t eat. There was a riot in the gathering point just now, I came to check what happened."
Su Changxing nodded. "All right, go then, I won’t keep you."
Watching Lu Yu’s departing figure, a trace of surprise came over his face. He truly hadn’t expected Lu Yu would take the initiative to come and confess to him, to lay things out clearly.
"So he’s become aware?"
He pondered, wrapping meat, potatoes, and rice together and taking a big bite, chewing, feeling the surge of Extraordinary Power from Lu Yu’s body.
Every action an Extraordinary takes affects the Extraordinary himself. It’s not just a matter of mindset, but the Real reflecting the illusory, and the illusory reflecting the Real again.
Which is better, Disguise or honesty—Su Changxing couldn’t tell. But one thing was certain: if an Extraordinary wants to keep moving forward, he has to obey his own position.
Just after he finished eating, Yi Xiaotian and Ning Mei came to see him.
"Did it work?" Su Changxing looked at him with a hint of a smile.
Yi Xiaotian only had about a 50% chance of success. That may sound high, but when it comes to life, it isn’t.
Yi Xiaotian was slightly restrained, smiled. "It worked. I really have to thank Mr. Su for this."
[Bone Carver: Tier Eight, Upper Rank, possesses relatively high Perception Ability, able to respond to unexpected situations. In combat can easily perceive flaws in a target and deliver Precise strikes.
How do you carve out a bone without anyone noticing...]
A pretty good position.
Su Changxing shook his head and said, "You can’t gamble with your life. As the old saying goes, if you walk the night road long enough, you’re bound to run into ghosts. Remember that, or you won’t live long."
Yi Xiaotian nodded, his face full of smiles, seemingly not too concerned. "I understand, I’ll keep Mr. Su’s teaching in mind. By the way, with my Ability now I should count as half a master, right?"
Su Changxing sized him up. "At most a quarter. Not enough to count as half."
Yi Xiaotian showed a helpless expression. "Is that so? I thought once I became Tier Eight I’d at least qualify as a master."
Ning Mei nudged Yi Xiaotian with her elbow. "Don’t talk nonsense."
Then.
She looked at Su Changxing, bowed, and said, "Mr. Su, my name is Ning Mei. Yi Xiaotian and I came especially to thank you for helping him. And I ask your forgiveness for the disrespectful things I said to you before."
Su Changxing glanced at this fierce-tempered woman and said, "I wouldn’t call it helping. I just gave him a chance; the rest was up to him."