CHAPTER 129: CHAPTER 1: THE DRAMA QUEEN SISTER REFUSES TO BE CANNON FODDER (PART 1)

"La la la la, la la la la la~"

Jiang Lai was woken up by this series of terribly annoying little tunes.

She cursed a couple of times in anger, but it was utterly useless against Little Buding, who was thicker-skinned than a wall.

"The last mission was a smashing success! I was scared to death at the end, but luckily you died before the male protagonist, otherwise we would’ve broken the rules."

Jiang Lai sat up and looked at her own hands, perfectly intact and flawless. The sensation of having her skin lacerated and blood flowing from the sword cut still lingered in her mind, making her frown in irritation as she rubbed her fingertips, trying to rid herself of the discomfort.

"After you died, Jiang Xiong woke up and directly conquered Chu Country for Emperor Heng to avenge you, then retired with Qin Feng to go home and farm.

Murong Dun watched over your grave for a lifetime, quite devoted. In the end, he died miserably, without even a decent piece of clothing as he called your name with his dying breath. Tsk tsk... what a pitiful fate.

The female lead, Luoyang, ended up pretty badly too. After escaping from Jiang Ling, she went to great lengths to seek revenge, only to end up imprisoned for life."

Little Buding spoke lightly, and Jiang Lai didn’t care at all. She clapped her hands, stood up, and stretched her muscles.

"So, how many points do we have now?"

"Over thirty thousand now. You’ll be free once it hits a hundred thousand."

Jiang Lai frowned.

"Only thirty thousand?"

"Yeah, not bad though. Other systems think getting three thousand for a mission is amazing. We’re a golden duo, earning ten thousand a mission—others are green with envy!"

Jiang Lai was not interested in wasting time.

"When’s the next mission? Hurry up, don’t waste time."

Seeing her calm demeanor, Little Buding’s previous worries vanished like smoke.

Having seen her cry so miserably at the end, it was thought she might brood over it for a while and be unable to move on.

Still, to be on the safe side, part of her memories needed to be wiped.

"OK, next mission starts. Get ready!"

——

On the bumpy gravel road, the vehicle jolted violently, filled with an intense stench mixed with the heart-wrenching coughs of some people, which made Jiang Lai furrow her brow and inch towards a corner.

In the dimly lit carriage, with its mottled iron sheets, everyone was eating what they had with haggard faces and tense expressions, except for Jiang Lai, who had nothing and could only watch others eat.

Jiang Chao, who was beside her, couldn’t bear it any longer and tossed her a can with a cold attitude.

"Eat it, you’ll need the strength to run later on, don’t drag us down."

Jiang Lai opened the can and started eating voraciously, causing nearby people to glance over. No one expected the pampered young lady to eat without a single complaint today, just quietly eating.

Sensing the gazes, Jiang Lai finished the beans in the can clean and looked up at Jiang Chao.

"Brother, got any more?"

"You’re lucky to eat without working, don’t think of getting full."

Pang Long, next to Jiang Chao, sarcastically taunted, but Jiang Lai glanced at him and said nothing, leaning back against the carriage to close her eyes and rest.

In her mind, Little Buding had just loaded all the plot details.

"This world is extremely dangerous, you’re a useless person, remember, staying alive is the most important."

"Hmm."

As expected, she’s indeed useless again.

In the early 23rd century, a virus leaked, leading to air pollution and a zombie outbreak. The human population dwindled, making survival exceedingly difficult.

The original Jiang Lai was the daughter of a group CEO, pampered and without any survival skills before the virus outbreak. Afterward, she followed her brother Jiang Chao in their escapes. Fortunately, Jiang Chao was brave, resourceful, and had mutated with a fire ability, protecting Jiang Lai up to the third year after the outbreak.

During these three years, he formed his own team, including three superpower users and two men without superpowers but with other valuable skills—one was strong, and the other was a doctor. There were other elderly, weak, ill, and disabled individuals who were family members of the superpower users. Unable to help in other ways, they assisted the team with cooking and laundry tasks.

In such a resource-scarce, ever-threatening apocalypse where one could at any moment fall prey to zombies, the useless cannot survive.

But Jiang Lai was an exception—she had a male lead brother with superpowers, leveling up by fighting monsters everywhere while she idly followed along. Despite being pampered and bothersome, the group couldn’t say much because her brother protected her.

Nevertheless, Jiang Lai, who gained without labor, had long been a thorn in the team’s side. Yet, everyone endured silently considering Jiang Chao’s contributions.

Recently, however, zombies began their first mutation from the formerly slow and thoughtless creatures into a batch of second-generation zombies that were quick and intelligent.

Just yesterday, Jiang Chao and two superpower brothers went out to gather supplies, leaving a superpower brother, Yang Jun, to watch the vehicle and protect the non-superpowers. A second-generation zombie suddenly leaped from the roof onto the vehicle’s top. While Yang Jun instructed everyone to stay quiet, the zombie unexpectedly tore the car’s iron sheets, frightening Jiang Lai, who was closest to it, into screaming on the spot.

This scream directly stimulated the second-generation zombie outside, which began clawing at the vehicle frantically, growling beast-like, summoning its kind.

Fearing it would attract more zombies, Yang Jun went out to divert the second-generation zombie, leaving a cartload of elderly, children, and ordinary people trembling inside.

At that moment, everyone started blaming Jiang Lai. When Jiang Lai began to cry in grievance, another second-generation zombie appeared outside the vehicle.

Just as everyone thought they were doomed, the female lead, Gu Han Yan, happened to pass by, killing the zombie with one shot, saving them all.

Thus, when Jiang Chao returned, he invited Gu Han Yan to join them.

Gu Han Yan told them she had no superpowers either, but her marksmanship was good. Although this disappointed them, they still accepted her.

In fact, she possessed the rarest space ability, with weapons and supplies stored within. The reason she chose to join Jiang Chao’s team was that she knew a year later, he would establish the world’s largest base. By sticking close to him, she could survive longer.

Moreover, she knew Jiang Chao’s sister was useless, stupid, and selfish, always grabbing more than her share without any gratitude. Exploiting Jiang Chao’s remaining family affection, she relentlessly bullied the other team members.

Therefore, in the days that followed, Gu Han Yan maintained a cold attitude towards Jiang Lai, never allowing Jiang Chao to allocate the supplies she gathered. Instead, she distributed them among the team based on contribution, except for Jiang Lai.

Gu Han Yan’s approach won everyone’s hearts, and soon they demanded that Jiang Chao establish a rule that only those who work get to eat.

Having done nothing, Jiang Lai naturally had nothing to eat. Without superpowers or any specialty, even her protective brother, amid everyone’s dissatisfaction, had to tell her that she needed to work if she wanted to eat.