Chapter 139

Chapter 139: The Opened Space

After that slightly blinding golden light passed, Gu Ning didn’t immediately open her eyes, but she could already breathe in the fresh air, so different from the apocalypse, along with the scent of grass. The sharp tips of the grass growing from the soil pricked the back of her hand, and she even heard the sound of a waterfall pouring down from the distant mountain forest. Gu Ning slowly opened her eyes.

Bright light filled her pupils, refracting a faint green layer at the edges.

Gu Ning sat up from the ground, looking at the familiar surroundings, feeling a bit disoriented. She knew she wasn’t dreaming—the slightly salty seawater, the distant waterfall in the mountain forest, the sound of the wind brushing through the trees—she could sense everything.

Yet, something was different. The trees were greener, new sprouts emerged from the soil, and the wind that swept through the forest also gently brushed over the ocean, caressing Gu Ning’s face with a hint of sea moisture.

Gu Ning stood by the shore of the Special Ability Sea, looking at the sea she had regained, feeling so happy she could cry.

Before she could fully process it, “Splash!” Something burst out of the water—a massive creature emerged, shaking its thick fur, sending water splashing everywhere, drenching Gu Ning completely.

A giant black bear, holding a fat fish in its mouth, slowly walked out of the water. After a few steps, it noticed Gu Ning standing there, dripping wet and looking quite miserable. It paused, and the fish in its mouth fell to the ground, still flopping vigorously. The bear’s thick paws subtly moved forward a few steps, putting more distance between itself and the water.

Gu Ning wiped the water off her face, then looked at the black bear, which seemed to have grown a bit since she last saw it. Instead of getting angry, she burst out laughing.

The black bear, seeing the human in front of it looking so disheveled yet laughing inexplicably, thought this human must have gone crazy. Crazy is good—crazy means she won’t notice the fish it stole from her pond. It shook its head, picked up the still-flopping fish, and casually walked past Gu Ning.

Gu Ning could tell the black bear was living well in this space and probably wouldn’t try to eat her anymore. Her fear of the massive creature had lessened. She calculated the time she had spent in the apocalypse—a full day must have passed in the real world. It should be the night of the second day after she started cooking. She didn’t know how to explain her disappearance to Ji Jiuzhe, especially with the half-cooked meal left in the kitchen. He’d probably think she was kidnapped! And if she went out now, would she run into Ji Jiuzhe? How would she explain her sudden reappearance?

Even a fool would be suspicious, let alone Ji Jiuzhe. Gu Ning had little hope of lying to him without being caught.

To be safe, Gu Ning decided to wait until midnight to check the situation. She looked at the marks she had made earlier and noticed that the special ability in the Special Ability Sea hadn’t increased. However, the joy of regaining it far outweighed this small disappointment.

Gu Ning changed her clothes, even putting on the down jacket she had worn before. Watching the black bear slowly walk up the mountain with the fish in its mouth, Gu Ning thought, since she had nothing else to do, she might as well see where the bear was going. With a thought, she disappeared from her spot, the wind whistling in her ears, and in a blink, she was standing on a high tree branch. She held onto the trunk with one hand, looking down just as the bear passed beneath her, heading further up.

Gu Ning followed it, crossing a mountain. The sound of the waterfall grew louder, and soon, the bear reached a small pond at the base of the waterfall. It stood by the shore, opened its mouth, and the fish flopped into the water, quickly swimming away. From above, Gu Ning saw that the small pond was filled with dozens of large fish swimming slowly. She had been here before—there were no fish in this water. The bear must have brought the fish from the Special Ability Sea and put them here…

At first, Gu Ning was puzzled by the bear’s behavior, but when she saw it jump into the pond and start chasing the fish around, she suddenly understood. The bear had turned this pond into its own fish farm, bringing fish from the Special Ability Sea to raise here as its private stock. It probably didn’t want to risk losing them again, fearing Gu Ning might take control of the sea.

Seeing this, Gu Ning shifted her position with a thought, moving from the tree branch to the edge of the pond. She pretended to cough lightly.

The bear, happily swimming, suddenly froze, then turned its head sharply to see the human standing by the shore, smiling at it. What? When did this human get here?! The bear was stunned—caught stealing fish from the pond owner!

One human on the shore, one bear in the water, staring at each other.

The bear thought, should I just kill this human now? Then all the fish in the pond would be mine! But this human, small and smiling, didn’t seem like an easy kill. What if I fail? She might ban me from the pond forever! Remembering its previous losses in the pond, the bear felt a bit scared. If I kill her, I’d get the whole pond, but I’d lose those delicious canned fish. Its black eyes stared at Gu Ning for a long time, unsure what to do.

Gu Ning watched the giant bear sitting on the ground, staring at her blankly, then suddenly baring its teeth at her. It took her a moment to realize—it wasn’t threatening her, it was… smiling???

Just as Gu Ning began to doubt her eyes, the bear suddenly dove into the water, came up with a big fish, and walked over to her, dropping the fish on the shore, then continued to stare at her.

Was this a gesture of goodwill? Gu Ning was baffled by the bear’s “human-like” behavior. She knew bears were intelligent, with some studies suggesting their intelligence was equivalent to a three-year-old human child. After mutation, their intelligence might be even higher? Though it felt strange, being able to communicate with an animal was much better than not, especially with such a powerful mutated bear.

Gu Ning stared at the bear, her mind racing with ideas. Suddenly, she had a thought, and a can of fish appeared in her hand. She immediately noticed the bear’s eyes light up. She tossed the can toward the bear, and it landed precisely in the water in front of it. The bear picked up the can, shaking it up and down, wondering where this human had found it—it had searched everywhere and found nothing.

“Do you like this?” Gu Ning tried to communicate with the bear.

The bear held the can, staring at Gu Ning. It saw her mouth moving but had no idea what she was saying.

Gu Ning gestured wildly, unsure if the bear understood. She was trying to say, “I have many, many cans like this. I can give them to you, but you have to…”

The bear tilted its head, utterly confused, its mind screaming: What?! What?! What are you saying?! Is this human crazy?! I don’t understand human language!

After a long while of gesturing, Gu Ning gave up on communicating with the bear, sighing in defeat, “Forget it, let’s take it slow.” With the plan to build a good relationship with the mutated bear, she waved her hand, and three rows of canned fish appeared neatly on the shore. She gestured for the bear to take them.

Checking the time, it was almost time to go. After some more gesturing and saying goodbye to the bear, Gu Ning returned to the space gate with a thought.

The bear watched the neatly arranged cans of fish and the human who had suddenly disappeared. After a while, it cautiously moved to the cans, inspecting them carefully. Once sure it wasn’t a trap, it happily opened a can and started enjoying its favorite snack.

Gu Ning calculated the time—it should be around 2:30 AM in the real world. Even if Ji Jiuzhe was still in the house, he would surely be asleep by now. And even if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be in the kitchen, right?

Gu Ning took a deep breath, then turned the doorknob and pushed—

Gu Ning silently appeared where she had disappeared.

The surroundings were pitch black. Gu Ning sighed in relief, planning to head back to her room. Just as she stepped out of the kitchen, she heard a faint mechanical sound. She froze, looking toward the door as it was pushed open. Gu Ning pursed her lips, quietly retreating back into the kitchen. With a “click,” the living room light turned on! Footsteps approached, and Gu Ning, momentarily blinded by the sudden light, crouched down, hiding behind the cabinet separating the kitchen and living room.

The footsteps grew closer. Gu Ning’s pupils contracted—it was Ji Jiuzhe!

Why was Ji Jiuzhe coming back from outside at this hour? If she had come out a few minutes later, she would have run right into him! Thinking of this, Gu Ning, hiding behind the cabinet, felt a wave of fear, even her breathing slowed.

The footsteps stopped in the living room, followed by the sound of someone sitting on the sofa. Gu Ning thought she even heard a faint sigh.

It seemed her timing wasn’t great. Maybe she should return to the space and come out later. Gu Ning had the thought—but her pupils contracted. What was going on??? Gu Ning panicked, realizing she couldn’t return to the space!

What was wrong with the space? Was it malfunctioning? Gu Ning’s breathing became erratic, unable to understand what was happening.

At that moment, Gu Ning held her breath, staring nervously at the cabinet—she heard the sound of a gun’s safety being released.

Ji Jiuzhe’s voice, cold and filled with a hint of killing intent, said, “Come out.”

Gu Ning froze, her scalp tingling. Slowly, she raised her hands, carefully peeking out from behind the cabinet, afraid Ji Jiuzhe might accidentally shoot. Once her face was fully visible, she forced an awkward smile, “Captain, it’s me.”

Ji Jiuzhe paused, instinctively calling out, “Gu Ning?”

Gu Ning awkwardly replied, “It’s me.” She paused, then nervously glanced at the gun still pointed at her, swallowing hard, “Could you… put the gun down first?”

Ji Jiuzhe seemed to come to his senses, lowering the gun.

But Gu Ning didn’t relax. After putting the gun down, Ji Jiuzhe strode toward her. Was he going to punish her?! Gu Ning nervously wondered if she should fight back. But before she could decide, Ji Jiuzhe’s cold presence was already close. Gu Ning instinctively stepped back, her back hitting the cabinet. Ji Jiuzhe stopped about a meter away.

He took out his phone, tapped a few times, then spoke to someone who had been woken up in the middle of the night, “She’s been found.” Without waiting for a response, he hung up. His gaze never left Gu Ning, calm on the surface but with undercurrents of emotion. Gu Ning, under his calm stare, felt her hair stand on end. Even facing the mind-controlling zombie in the apocalypse hadn’t given her such a chilling feeling.

Ji Jiuzhe calmly asked, “Are you hurt?”

Gu Ning shook her head, swallowing hard, trying to regain control of the conversation, “Actually, I…”

“Third Brother went through a lot of trouble to find you. Tomorrow, treat him to a meal and thank him in person.” Ji Jiuzhe finished calmly, then turned to go upstairs.

Gu Ning was stunned. That was it?

“Oh,” Ji Jiuzhe stopped after a few steps, slightly turning his head, his voice still calm, “If you’re going out again, you can just use the front door.”

Gu Ning watched as Ji Jiuzhe walked upstairs, speechless. She didn’t feel any sense of relief. Ji Jiuzhe had remained calm, without any scolding or questioning—but Gu Ning was terrified, feeling that Ji Jiuzhe was extremely angry, very, very angry.

Meanwhile, in another world.

A little girl in a white dress stood on the earthen wall built by Third Brother, her emotionless gray eyes coldly watching the Zhongnan Base in the distance…