Tactical Retreat and Verdant Vengeance

Huang Xiu watched as the pig-headed man’s right hand turned into a hand blade and swung down, cutting off the spider plant spikes that had pierced his body. Then he pulled them out one by one.

“Distant water can’t quench present thirst. A single mutated cactus can’t change the situation.”

Though she had said she’d make the pig-headed man pay and give him no good fruit, Huang Xiu had actually been calm all along. The pig-headed man’s strength exceeded her expectations. A single mutated spider plant could barely defend itself. Relying on it to kill the pig-headed man was clearly impossible.

But just like in League of Legends, killing a hero and getting a kill is only a means to victory, not the true goal. Destroying towers, in other words buying time until reinforcements arrive, was her real goal!

Huang Xiu glanced at the pig-headed man ahead. She had no intention of fighting him head-on. Something as big as the Void Realm descending, she didn’t believe the Special Anomaly Management Bureau would fail to notice. So as long as she could save the students before help arrived, that was enough.

So…

“Saving people counts as success!”

With a thought, the girl controlled the slowly rotating spider plant to charge forward and delay the pig-headed man. She herself turned and ran down the stairs.

“I’m out! Time for a tactical retreat!”

“Every class has potted plants, but only a few classes placed them on the corridor windowsills. Let me think which ones those are.” Huang Xiu thought as she ran, but suddenly she realized something.

“Wait, why am I fixated on potted plants? The campus green belts have countless plants.”

“I’m really panicking! How could I be so stupid!”

She laughed at herself in frustration. She wanted to slap herself, but it would hurt too much, so she gave up.

Siiip!

With a strange noise from upstairs, the connection in Huang Xiu’s mind with the spider plant vanished instantly. The mutated spider plant didn’t hold up! But that was within her expectations. Originally, thanks to her micromanagement, the mutated spider plant could barely contend with the pig-headed man for a few exchanges. Now she had left it to fight alone. It couldn’t last more than a few rounds against the pig-headed man.

After all, she was a summoner, Zyra, who won by numbers!

“As long as I have enough plants, the pig-headed man is nothing to fear!”

Huang Xiu’s gaze sharpened. She leaped down from the ten-step staircase, landing on the first floor using the jump.

“What era is this? Still taking stairs the traditional way!”

But as soon as she landed and steadied herself, a black shadow fell heavily in front of her.

Bang!

Accompanied by a deafening roar that shook the ground, dust flew into the air. The ground was covered with cracks like spiderwebs. It was the pig-headed man! He probably realized he couldn’t catch up to Huang Xiu, who was about to reach the first floor, in time. So he chose the shortest route: jumping down.

“Damn it, is this bastard that smart?!”

Looking at the pig-headed man suddenly appearing before her, his eyes bloodshot, Huang Xiu’s heartbeat involuntarily skipped a beat. But she quickly calmed down. Calm was her best weapon besides her ability.

Suddenly, a fierce wind came from behind. A silver-white object rapidly grew larger in her vision. Her excellent dynamic vision allowed the girl to clearly capture the angle and trajectory of the approaching caliper. She timed it perfectly. With a sudden leap, she dodged the huge caliper sweeping toward her. As she fell forward, she rolled nimbly on the ground, then pushed off with both hands and started running on all fours. That was a parkour landing roll.

If it weren’t for her transformation making her body softer and much more agile, even if she could react in time, she wouldn’t be able to execute such moves that only existed in her mind.

She pushed her body to its limit. She passed through the corridor like a gust of wind in an instant, arriving at the open ground outside the teaching building.

Schools are typically second only to parks in greenery. And Yingshi No.1 High School, a key high school with ample funding, had put in even more effort. The school was full of green belts, flowerbeds, and street trees. On public service days in the past, cleaning the flowerbeds had exhausted Huang Xiu and her classmates. But she never expected that now, this would save her life.

Now, in front of her, outside the teaching building, there was a large green belt.

Gently cutting her palm with her fingernail, the girl was growing more familiar with this pain. Her eyes reddened and moist, she smiled faintly. “Finally, my home turf.” Her eyelashes curved into a beautiful arc, and faint dimples appeared on her cheeks.

“Now I really will count your sins!”

Before the words faded, the girl swung her right hand. Blood sprayed in all directions like a rainstorm. The oval cycad with tough leaves, the weeds on the ground, the osmanthus tree dozens of years old… A full dozen plants began to emit a faint red glow.

“Mutate!”

Deep in the girl’s dark pupils, a faint white light flickered. That was a sign of Void energy surging to its peak. She had never mutated so many plants at once, let alone an osmanthus tree seven or eight meters tall. The Void energy in her body poured out like a floodgate opened. But the most terrifying thing was that this drain had no end in sight. She didn’t know when it would stop.

Sensing something wrong, she tried to cancel the mutation of so many plants. But once the mutation had started, it was impossible to cancel. So Huang Xiu could only grit her teeth and endure.

“Damn it, I got too cocky!”

In just two seconds, the amount of Void energy that flowed out of her was equivalent to that of two ordinary Awakening-level specials. If she weren’t an S-rank ability user, with Void energy comparable to a Silver-rank special, she would probably have been drained dry.

At the same time, the pig-headed man had caught up. He was like the most cowardly simp, the most devoted bootlicker; now his eyes were full of Huang Xiu’s graceful figure. He would not give up until he had devoured her alive.

Carrying a stench, he charged at the stunned girl. Holding the caliper with both hands, he swung it toward the girl standing still by the green belt, like swinging a baseball bat. The fierce wind from his swing howled. It blew open the green hair covering the girl’s face, revealing her beautiful eyes with white rivers flowing in them.

“Go!” The girl’s cherry lips parted slightly. A spike as thick as an arm shot out lightning fast from beside her.

Ptoo!

That was the sound of flesh being pierced. The spike arrived after being launched but struck first, instantly piercing the pig-headed man’s chest. But this hasty strike seemed not to hit his heart, or perhaps this monster didn’t have a heart weakness. He just shuddered violently, then with red eyes, the caliper in his hand continued undiminished, aiming to smash the girl’s head.

“Die! Human thing!”

Well, he couldn’t speak, and wasn’t even very smart. That was just Huang Xiu imagining his lines. After all, it wouldn’t be fun if the villain didn’t say some tough words before dying.

The white caliper grew larger in the girl’s calm eyes, but she didn’t even flutter her eyelids. A brown hand the size of a person reached out from behind her, gently enclosing her in its palm, firmly protecting her.

With a muffled bang, wood chips flew everywhere. The caliper’s terrifying strike hit the back of the giant hand, leaving a huge dent.