Coo coo coo~

The pigeon continued making sounds on its own, hopping onto the phone, walking back and forth, and even pecking at the phone screen with its beak, as if attracted by the phone's light rather than wanting to play with it like a human would.

Li Xuan watched Yun Xiuzhi's performance with an amused smile, carefully observing that the pigeon's eyes occasionally glanced toward him.

He extended his hand, "Come here."

The pigeon tilted its head, jumped off the phone, and walked toward Li Xuan on its slender bird legs, stopping when close and shifting from side to side.

Yun Xiuzhi's pigeon disguise was remarkably lifelike. If Li Xuan hadn't known through the Intelligence System that the pigeon was Yun Xiuzhi transformed, he wouldn't have suspected anything.

Normal people who gained transformation abilities primarily maintained human form, only turning into animals when facing danger. Yun Xiuzhi was different - after gaining transformation ability, she stayed in pigeon form for long periods, rarely turning human, and her disguise was exceptionally convincing. Whether in movement or vocalization, she was almost identical to a real pigeon.

"If you keep pretending, I'll clip your wings and throw you down for the zombies to chase," Li Xuan threatened.

Coo coo~

The pigeon called twice, approached Li Xuan's hand, pecked at his palm twice, found no food, called again twice, then flew onto Li Xuan's head.

Li Xuan muttered to himself, "Could it actually be a real pigeon? Not a human in disguise?"

Hearing his muttering, Yun Xiuzhi sighed inwardly with relief, thinking she had fooled him.

'I'm such a genius! Ahahaha~'

'Li Xuan is too scary, actually setting traps for me. Luckily I've loved pigeons since childhood and know their habits inside out, otherwise I would've been exposed today.'

Yun Xiuzhi didn't want to reveal herself, partly worried about being abandoned, partly concerned that Li Xuan might take a liking to her body.

She wasn't a brave person, otherwise she wouldn't have immediately turned into a pigeon to fly to safety after gaining transformation ability.

Compared to going out herself to laboriously search for food while living in fear every day, she'd rather endure a boring pet life.

Even before the apocalypse, she was a homebody who preferred hiding in her little room binge-watching dramas and playing games, occasionally fantasizing about suddenly getting rich, enjoying endless luxury cars and fine wine, living in a flower-decorated castle as a wealthy young lady.

She was lazy most of the time, with only occasional bursts of motivation to improve herself, enthusiastically making plans and dreaming about the future, only to give up after one day.

Her self-evaluation was that she was a pretty vase.

While most people considered calling a woman a pretty vase derogatory, she was quite satisfied with this description. She didn't have particularly ambitious life goals anyway, knowing she couldn't compare to those wealthy young ladies meticulously raised by rich families, but she felt her conditions were better than most women.

Beauty was her biggest asset. With this card plus being honest, never having been in a relationship, being a homebody, knowing how to cook, and having emotional stability, marrying an excellent man shouldn't be too difficult.

She once made a plan to stay home for a few years and get married before thirty.

Now that the apocalypse had arrived, this plan was long forgotten, and the card she once valued most had become a source of danger.

While staying home, Yun Xiuzhi had read many apocalyptic novels, both male-oriented and female-oriented. The outcomes for beautiful but incapable women were all terrible, and she worried that if exposed, Li Xuan would torture her mercilessly.

In the apocalypse, with laws gone and human evil unleashed, maybe Li Xuan would treasure her at first, but what about later? What if Li Xuan grew tired of her?

Wouldn't that make her situation even worse?

Thinking this, Yun Xiuzhi shook her head, feeling quite scared.

Li Xuan picked up the phone and switched to the notes interface.

Yun Xiuzhi came back to her senses and secretly glanced over. When she saw several titles in the notes, she immediately froze.

[Apocalypse Opportunity Locations] [Cultivation Plan] [Apocalypse Truth Speculations]

'Huh? Really? Could Li Xuan's awakened ability actually be future prediction?'

'What the heck is a cultivation plan! Online apocalypse novels always turn into cultivation stories later on, I thought it was fake, but you're actually doing it for real!'

'Quick, show me the apocalypse opportunities! I want to see! Love to see!'

Yun Xiuzhi screamed inwardly, staring intently at Li Xuan's hand, praying he would open the apocalypse opportunity locations note.

Seeing Li Xuan's hand approaching with signs of opening it, her eyes widened, watching closely.

Just one glance! She'd fly away after one glance!

She didn't need to see too much opportunity information—remembering one or two would be enough!

Her transformation ability was a pigeon—she could fly with high mobility, allowing her to secure opportunities early.

Yun Xiuzhi inwardly chuckled twice at the thought of obtaining apocalypse opportunities.

Finally, Li Xuan clicked on the [Apocalypse Opportunity Locations] note. The interface switched, containing only a few words.

[You're watching, aren't you, my little pet]

Yun Xiuzhi's body stiffened, thinking "oh no" as she realized Li Xuan was still playing dirty tricks.

Just as she prepared to look away, Li Xuan's fingers quickly typed.

[I didn't turn off the recording]

Yun Xiuzhi was utterly stunned. How could someone be this wicked?

No, she wasn't completely exposed yet!

Before Yun Xiuzhi could make sounds to continue pretending to be a pigeon.

Li Xuan typed a few more words, [Make one more coo, and I'll throw you into the toilet]

Yun Xiuzhi swallowed the coo that had reached her throat, utterly helpless, and spoke in human voice, "I'm just a poor, helpless pigeon. Why are you picking on me?"

Yun Xiuzhi's voice carried a seductive quality, like that of a newlywed wife. Without seeing her, just hearing the voice would conjure an image of a gentle wife with long hair reaching her waist, wearing a purple dress.

Li Xuan grabbed Yun Xiuzhi, thinking about how she would become a female emperor in the Strange Martial Arts version in the future, and couldn't help but laugh.

"From now on, you're my person. Understand?"

"Don't be fooled by my nice voice—I actually look really plain," Yun Xiuzhi said.

"It's fine. I'm not picky."

Yun Xiuzhi hung her head, feeling powerless. Finished—she'd encountered a hungry ghost.

"Um... if I said I have diseases, would you believe me?"

"No."

"Okay."

Li Xuan casually placed Yun Xiuzhi on the bed, "From now on, you don't need to stay in the cage. How dangerous it is outside needs no explanation. Stay with me, and you won't lack food or drink."

After waiting a while, he didn't hear Yun Xiuzhi's response.

"Hmm? Do you still want to run? I think you've probably guessed something. Staying with me is definitely your best choice."

The pigeon squirmed awkwardly and reluctantly said "Okay."

Then the pigeon rapidly grew larger, its form changing. In the blink of an eye, the pigeon had disappeared, replaced by a petite, cute girl on the bed. She wasn't tall, with fair, slender legs crossed. Her features were three-dimensional and exquisite, her small face white with a rosy blush, like a soft, glutinous lemon blueberry cake—sweet and delicious.

The transformation ability had one drawback: every transformation required changing clothes.

For example, when Li Xuan transformed into a Prehistoric Colossus and returned to human form, he needed new clothes since the old ones were torn apart during transformation.

Yun Xiuzhi quickly grabbed the blanket to cover herself, holding it with both hands. Her cute little face showed clear unwillingness mixed with the humiliation of having to comply, as if threatened with words like 'Yun Xiuzhi, you wouldn't want XX to be known, would you.'

The next moment, both spoke almost simultaneously.

"Come on, beast. I'm not afraid."

"Change back!"

Huh?

Yun Xiuzhi lifted her small head, eyes filled with confusion and great puzzlement as she looked at Li Xuan, "You... I... This... Ahhhhh! This isn't right!"

Yun Xiuzhi's face instantly turned red like ripe fruit, extremely cute.

Her crystal-clear toes exposed to the air curled tightly, with clear potential to dig out a three-bedroom apartment on the spot.

Bang~

Yun Xiuzhi turned back into a pigeon, fluttered her wings, flew back into the cage, and even locked the door herself.

She curled up in the cage corner, burying her head in her feathers, mentally raging.

'Ahhh! I don't want to live anymore!'

'It's all Li Xuan's fault! All his fault! Ahhh!'

Li Xuan smiled without speaking. He wasn't someone without desires, but he knew how to exercise restraint.

Yun Xiuzhi was important, crucial to whether he could obtain powerful strength in the third version, and an extremely rare combat asset. He couldn't recklessly change Yun Xiuzhi.

The reason Yun Xiuzhi could control the Brain Snatcher Strange Being was because her essence was human, but she spent long periods not being human, succeeding through serendipity.

He didn't fully understand the mystery behind it, so he chose to let Yun Xiuzhi continue being a pigeon for extended periods.

Of course, he also knew that to make Yun Xiuzhi willingly help him, establishing a romantic relationship and becoming family would be most secure.

Thus, he couldn't force Yun Xiuzhi, otherwise it would backfire. Letting things develop naturally was best.

He waited for a while, giving Yun Xiuzhi time to calm down.

He walked to the cage, extended a finger, and poked Yun Xiuzhi inside, "You don't need to stay in the cage anymore."

Coo coo~

"Speak human language."

"I like being in the cage. If I want to go out, I'll go out myself. You should go to sleep—aren't you tired? Go to sleep already." Yun Xiuzhi used her sexy voice.

Li Xuan propped his chin, "Your voice doesn't match your appearance at all."

Yun Xiuzhi's human form appearance leaned toward youthful cuteness, but her voice was that of a mature older sister/wife type.

"I can't help it either. After my voice changed during puberty, it became like this. But it's quite nice too—when I play games, many people help me rank up," Yun Xiuzhi said.

"How long can you maintain your transformation?"

Yun Xiuzhi thought for a moment, "About seven days? I've never reached the limit, so I can't be sure."

Tonight she went to peek at Li Xuan's phone partly because she felt her transformation time was nearing its limit and she needed to return to human form to recover stamina.

She never expected to be discovered. Although she achieved her objectives—saw Li Xuan's phone, wasn't bored anymore, and returned to human form once—she didn't want to achieve her goals this way.

"Quite long," Li Xuan murmured thoughtfully.

Yun Xiuzhi lifted her small head, "Was that super huge Tyrannosaurus Rex you?"

"It was me, but what I transformed into wasn't a Tyrannosaurus Rex," Li Xuan said casually.

There was no need to hide this. He would definitely bring Yun Xiuzhi along on future missions, and the transformation commotion was too big to conceal anyway.

Rather than hiding it, better to reveal it early to accelerate natural progress.

"So it was you! Why can I only transform into a pigeon while you can transform into such a huge monster? This isn't right—our transformation animals aren't even in the same dimension," Yun Xiuzhi said.

Li Xuan calmly revealed what countless survivors desperately sought—the source of transformation ability: "What you eat. When the apocalypse erupted, there were sixty seconds of darkness. Whatever animal's bones, flesh, or blood you eat during that time point, when light returns, you can transform into that animal."

Survivors who hadn't awakened transformation ability would find it hard to guess the truth. Those with transformation ability, if they had any brains and carefully recalled, would eventually discover the truth.

Yun Xiuzhi had brains but hadn't carefully reflected on it. Now she was quite surprised, "So that's how it is. I remember when darkness fell, I was eating roast pigeon."

She suddenly felt retrospective fear. When darkness descended, she was having dinner with friends, ordering many delicious foods, mainly barbecue: roast pigeon, suckling pig, lamb chops, and beef skewers.

Fortunately, she was eating roast pigeon at that time, not roast suckling pig.

Transforming into a pigeon was much better than becoming a suckling pig. Cows and sheep couldn't compare to pigeons either—sheep needless to say, with small size and little strength, their survival probability against zombies was worse than humans'.

Cows had more strength, better than sheep, but couldn't match pigeons' mobility. She had relied on pigeon's flight ability to escape danger.

Among the five friends dining together, three turned into zombies at the apocalypse's beginning. One friend was immediately pounced on and unfortunately infected. Another friend reacted quickly and ran to the restaurant kitchen—unknown whether infected now.

Yun Xiuzhi carefully recalled that the friend who ran to the kitchen was probably eating lamb skewers last. Turning into a sheep wouldn't help escape the restaurant at all.

"What did you eat to gain such powerful transformation ability?" Yun Xiuzhi asked curiously.

The monster Li Xuan transformed into had Tyrannosaurus Rex characteristics but wasn't exactly a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"Tyrannosaurus Rex, Blue Whale, and Quetzalcoatlus," Li Xuan said calmly.

?

Yun Xiuzhi's mouth fell open, "Huh? That can't be right. Where did you eat these three animals? Also, if you eat multiple animals when darkness falls, do you gain characteristics of multiple animals simultaneously?"

Li Xuan grabbed Yun Xiuzhi and rubbed her bird head, "You ask too many questions."

Yun Xiuzhi wasn't stupid either and quickly guessed Li Xuan must have eaten the three animals at a museum—only museums would have these three animals simultaneously.

Li Xuan had purposefully eaten three animals—definitely not mere coincidence. She didn't believe such coincidence existed—randomly eating three animals exactly when darkness fell?

Possible?

Believing that was less credible than believing she was Sun Wukong.

Combined with Li Xuan purposefully capturing her at the cafe.

Yun Xiuzhi's brain rapidly operated, connecting clues together, arriving at a truth.

Li Xuan wasn't from the present timeline!

Li Xuan had traveled back from the future!

Only this could explain how Li Xuan knew the transformation ability source in advance, made preparations early, obtained powerful transformation ability, and accurately captured her at the cafe. Remember—she had just hidden in the cafe for a short time before Li Xuan arrived.

Previously she suspected Li Xuan awakened prophecy ability, but now she overturned that. Darkness descent only granted humans transformation ability—no so-called prophecy ability existed, nor animals that could predict the future.

So I become very powerful in the future?