Am I lucky enough to become a girl?

“What bandit chief? I’m just the leader of a survivor camp, leading a group of brothers to struggle for survival in the apocalypse. After all that, what exactly are you people doing here? Blocking my car, killing my man, and now you dare to stand before me like this. Do you have any idea that I’m confident I can turn all of you to ash in a second?”

So far, Ren Anhua couldn’t see any ability they had to control her, but she didn’t dare to actually make a move.

So, she decided to probe them first.

“I’d advise you not to do that.”

Ke Xingmei reached out and flicked Ren Anhua’s forehead.

“Aiya!”

A sharp pain shot through her.

Crystalline tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

Ren Anhua, who had just sat up, suddenly felt a wave of weakness and fell back to the ground.

Her hands were so limp she couldn’t even rub her terribly aching forehead.

“You are my transformed creature. To a certain extent, I can control your body. Things like increasing your sensitivity manifold or making you lie down completely powerless are easy for me to do. If you were to use your ability, no matter how you conceal your energy, I would be able to sense it clearly. I can subdue you during your warm-up phase.”

Ke Xingmei reached out and ruffled Ren Anhua’s hair.

“This is just a demonstration. If you really try to do something you shouldn’t, then you’ll have to be punished. A girl’s body is very delicate, especially certain organs that are already very sensitive. I hope you won’t do anything irrational.”

She was clearly smiling, but Ren Anhua instinctively felt that the woman before her was extremely dangerous.

Strength gradually returned to her limbs, and the pain in her forehead began to fade, but for some reason, a seed of fear was planted in her heart.

In fact, this was also a manifestation of Ke Xingmei’s Transformation ability.

She could influence the psychological state of her transformed creatures to a certain degree for better control.

“So… so what? From the sound of it, you came to me for something. You couldn’t have come just to cause trouble for me, right?”

Although she was the one who had initiated the probe, Ren Anhua just wanted to change the subject now.

For a leader with a large group of underlings, her performance in front of Ke Xingmei was utterly humiliating.

What was with that ‘Aiya’ cry?

And she had almost cried from the pain.

So embarrassing, so embarrassing.

“And you turned me into this. Anyway, can you change me back first?”

Though the question was directed at Ke Xingmei, Ren Anhua’s gaze rested on Lu Shanshui.

It seemed that Lu Shanshui, being a fellow male, could offer her more reassurance.

“No! Don’t change her back! You can’t change her back!”

The Lolita girl’s reaction was fierce, as if she had an inexplicable attachment to the current Ren Anhua.

“Why can’t I be changed back? Is there some technical difficulty? I have some insights into the research of ability control. I don’t mind sharing if it’s for the purpose of restoring my body…”

“She’s so cute like this! Why change back!”

Ren Anhua’s face darkened.

She shifted her gaze back to Lu Shanshui.

As long as Lu Shanshui, the leader, agreed, this Lolita girl’s strange obsession didn’t need to be considered.

“Excellent, Mr. Ren. That’s precisely what I wanted to discuss with you.”

The address “Mr. Ren” made Ren Anhua inexplicably comfortable.

Especially after the humiliation from Ke Xingmei, she seemed to have finally found a sliver of gender identity.

It seemed Lu Shanshui was quite skilled with words as a leader.

“We came to you precisely because we need your help. If you agree to our terms, restoring your original body isn’t impossible.”
Hearing this, Ren Anhua felt that life was not without hope after all.

“Ah! How could you!”

Lu Shanshui gestured for the Lolita girl to be quiet for a moment and continued.

“We need your help to collect a very rare mutated beast core to treat Ke Xiaoshan’s cold poison.”

Lu Shanshui pointed to the frail-looking girl who bore a strong resemblance to Ke Xingmei.

Compared to Ke Xingmei’s mature allure, she appeared more pure and elegant, and her sickly appearance inexplicably aroused a desire to protect her.

“Ke Xiaoshan was bitten through the heart by a mutated jumping spider. Fortunately, she herself is an extremely powerful healer in our team, capable of healing any injury as if turning back time. She healed her own wound, but it wasn’t a true reversal of time. The jumping spider’s mutation level was very high, and its venom couldn’t be expelled, remaining in her bloodstream and spreading throughout her body.”

Lu Shanshui’s tone grew heavy.

“The venom constantly erodes her body with cold energy. She can only use her healing ability to treat herself nonstop, just to hold on. Her body temperature can now barely be maintained at around 31 degrees Celsius, her life sustained by infinite healing. But as you can see, winter is coming. If we don’t completely remove the venom’s corrosion in time, she won’t survive this winter.”

Although Lu Shanshui’s explanation was simple, Ren Anhua could hear the danger within.

A jumping spider mutated to the point where it could bite through a human heart—what level of mutation was that?

In the two months since the apocalypse began, humanity had developed a rudimentary understanding: the greater the difference in size from the original creature, the higher the mutation level.

The malignant mutation of animals was generally called a ‘Corrupted Beast’, while a simple evolution of abilities was called a ‘Mutated Beast’.

What Lu Shanshui needed was a Mutated Beast’s core, not the disgusting thing from a Corrupted Beast, so there was still room for discussion.

“What Mutated Beast’s core do you need? Where is this beast? How strong is it?”

Ren Anhua was very proactive when it came to the matter of restoring her original body.

“It’s in the Water World Aquarium. There’s a kapok tree with a high-level fire mutation. It’s not that strong, probably just enough to incinerate a small car. If we were to classify it, it would be around a level-two mutation. But to get its mutation core, we need someone who can withstand and maintain high temperatures at the same time,” Lu Shanshui explained.

“Simple. I can help with a small matter like this. There was no need to make things like this. I agree.”

Ren Anhua felt this wasn’t difficult at all, and it was ridiculous that things had escalated to this point.

They even turned her into a petite girl.

Thinking about it made her regretful.

Why did she have to fight in the first place?

Ren Anhua, who had no concept of respecting the dead, silently cursed Er Gou’s entire family a dozen times in her mind.

“And then?”

Ren Anhua stared at Lu Shanshui.

“That’s it. You’ve already agreed, isn’t that great?”

“I’ve agreed, so change me back quickly.”

“It’s not that simple. Of course, we can only change you back after we’ve obtained the mutated beast core.”

“Does that mean I have to stay in this… this female form until you get the core?”

“Of course. If we restore you now, what if you run away?”

“What if I promise not to run?”

“You think I’d believe your nonsense? Trust-based transactions don’t exist in this world, Mr. Ren.”

For the sake of Lu Shanshui calling her “Mr. Ren,” Ren Anhua felt she might as well agree.

A level-two mutated beast, and a plant at that—it wouldn’t be too difficult for her to handle alone.

But the thought of having to maintain this girlish state for some time still troubled Ren Anhua.

She was probably more anxious to get the kapok tree’s mutation core than Ke Xiaoshan herself.

“Alright, alright.”

Ren Anhua stood up, wrapped in the blanket, and discreetly compared her current height with Lu Shanshui’s—she really was short.

“You’ll restore me once the core is obtained, right? Then let’s go now. Where is this swimming pool you mentioned?”

“It’s an aquarium, not a swimming pool. Besides, it’s almost dark, and we’re about to have dinner. We also have to go to the Pingdingshan Base tomorrow to restock supplies before we head to the aquarium. The road is still quite long, so there’s no use rushing.”

“You sounded so certain, I thought it was nearby. How do you know there’s a mutated kapok tree there if you’ve never even been?” Ren Anhua complained.

She had heard the theory that one’s physical state could affect one’s personality.

She didn’t want to return to her original body only to find herself acting like a sissy.

That was not a leader’s demeanor at all, and it was disgusting.

Lu Shanshui chuckled twice but didn’t answer the question.

“If there’s no other way, then let’s just do it as quickly as possible. And also, my subordinates.”

“They’re all still alive. After all, I’m not a bad person.”

Ren Anhua had some objections to this statement from Lu Shanshui.

“That’s good, then.”

Ren Anhua insincerely agreed with Lu Shanshui’s words.

“Lastly, do you have any clothes for me? I can’t just keep wrapping myself in this blanket, can I? Just give me any shirt and a pair of shorts.”

Maintaining a female body was a big problem.

To avoid any psychological impact (in short, becoming effeminate), Ren Anhua planned to maintain her previous lifestyle as much as possible.

However, she was destined to fail.

The Lolita girl, who had been waiting at the side, heard her words and, as if her long-awaited prey had finally taken the bait, walked towards her with shining eyes.

“This child, leave her to me.”

She excitedly dragged Ren Anhua up the stairs.

Seeing such suitable material in Ren Anhua, she had already envisioned more than a dozen outfits in her mind.