Abnormal survival in the end times

Chapter 289 Not My Race
"Huh? Liu Xiaolan?"

Jiang Xiaobai encountered an unexpected person halfway there: her aunt's adopted son, Liu Xiaolan.

I learned from my brother that Liu Xiaolan's mother was her aunt. It was because Liu Ying's superpower was so similar to her mother's and hers's. Eight years into the apocalypse, many studies have shown that superpowered individuals who are related by blood often have similar superpowers.

For example, her older brother has both water and metal-based abilities, while she has both wood and metal-based abilities. She has both her father's and mother's abilities, so she is her parents' most beloved little darling.

The older brother is at most the second oldest.

She's only five years old, but she's already incredibly smart. Even her father says she's the most beautiful and intelligent child in the world, bar none!

So when she saw Liu Xiaolan's mother's superpower, she instinctively felt that something was wrong, so she secretly asked her brother if she was related to their mother.

Then her brother secretly told her that Liu Xiaolan's mother, Liu Ying, was actually their mother's half-sister.

She said, "There are so many wood-type ability users, why is it that she is the same as her mother?"

At this moment, Liu Xiaolan was surrounded by five children older than her. They were a bit far away, and Jiang Xiaobai couldn't hear what they were saying, but it certainly wasn't anything nice, because Liu Xiaolan's face was as cold as an ice block.

Jiang Xiaobai sighed like a little adult. Although Aunt Liu Ying married Uncle Batong, and Liu Xiaolan nominally had a father, his appearance was too unusual, making it obvious at a glance that he wasn't their biological son.

Therefore, some idle and bored kids often call him a little bastard.

Pooh!
Ugly people are always up to no good. They all look so distorted, yet they have the nerve to give others nicknames.
Liu Xiaolan's face was as delicate as a porcelain doll. Although he was a year older than Jiang Xiaobai, Jiang Xiaobai would pinch his cheeks every time they met.

Liu Xiaolan remained silent, letting her pinch her.

Xiao Heng walked slowly forward. As he approached the group, Jiang Xiaobai parted the green ivy covering his head and heard one of the children say, "There's a saying that everyone has heard: 'Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts.' Although he grew up here, he is not one of us, and he is definitely not of one mind with us."

“That’s right, look at him, he’s definitely a spy.”

"And whoever adopted him? I don't know if they've lost their mind. Why would the base chief keep him?"

The child who was cursing Xiao Lan's adoptive mother hadn't even finished speaking when he saw a blur before his eyes, and then he was punched hard in the face.

Xiao Lan stared at the other person with her beautiful blue eyes and said, word by word, "If you insult my mother again, I'll kill you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a dagger made of water materialized in front of him, its tip pointing directly at the child who had just blurted out that Liu Ying's brain was full of water.

Liu Xiaolan is six years old this year, but the other children around him are all around ten years old. However, if you only look at his height, he is only half a head shorter than them.

Jiang Xiaobai remembered that half a year ago, Liu Xiaolan was only a little bit taller than her, about the length of a finger. However, in just half a year, he seemed to have been inflated and grew taller rapidly.

Now she has to look up at him and stand on tiptoe to pinch his cheek.

Fortunately, her face hasn't changed much; she's still as delicate as a porcelain doll.

Liu Xiaolan is also a dual-elemental ability user, possessing both speed and water-based abilities.

But he never uses his powers when he fights with those brats who call him a bastard, so he gets beaten up more often.

The advantage is that, aside from his superpowers, he is getting better and better at fighting skills and strength.

He's using those kids as practice.

My brother said that Xiao Lan is very clever and will never suffer a loss.

He was practically raised by his older brother, and if he were to suffer any harm, neither his brother nor Gigi would allow those kids to bully him.

But today their insults touched a nerve with him; they shouldn't have mentioned his mother.

The children had never seen Liu Xiaolan use her superpowers before. The one who was hit was stunned, as if he had been pinned to the ground by the water-condensed dagger, and dared not move.

However, the oldest among them reacted the fastest. He said in a fierce but weak voice, "Liu Xiaolan, do you want to rebel? Don't forget that you are a foreigner. If you kill us, it's the same as betraying us. Your father and mother will also become traitors and will be driven out of Pengcheng."

"You're the ones who will be kicked out of Pengcheng. Liu Xiaolan is under my protection, Jiang Xiaobai. You bastards, if you curse him again, I'll beat you to death."

Jiang Xiaobai thought these kids were shameless. She couldn't help but speak up in anger, and at the same time, the green ivy in her hand suddenly appeared and lashed out at the older kids without any warning.

As soon as they saw Jiang Xiaobai, they turned and ran.

This is the notorious little devil of Baiguoyuan. Not to mention her powerful parents, no one can afford to mess with her brother Jiang Qi alone.

They dared not scold her, nor dared to hit her, and of course, they might not be able to beat her anyway, so running away was their only option.

But since their family is at the very top of the Shenzhen pyramid, there's nothing shameful about them being afraid of five-year-old Jiang Xiaobai and avoiding her.

After the children had disappeared from sight, Jiang Xiaobai put away the green ivy and turned to ask Liu Xiaolan, "What does 'those who are not of our kind must have different hearts' mean? When did these illiterate people learn to say such profound things?"

In recent years, Shenzhen has been developing well. Three primary schools have been built in the city, and children under the age of sixteen are required to attend school, which is similar to compulsory education before the apocalypse.

However, these children often skipped school every few days, and their grades were terrible. They didn't seem like the kind of people who could say things that even she couldn't understand.

Liu Xiaolan didn't understand either, but he could guess the general meaning: that he and the Chinese were not of the same ethnicity, so they were not of the same mind.

That's not right. He was raised by his mother, and since his mother is Chinese, he is too. He won't be of one mind with others, but he will definitely be of one mind with his mother, and he will also be of one mind with Jiang Xiaobai.

After his explanation, Jiang Xiaobai also felt that the kids were talking nonsense.

"Ignore them. Do you want to come with me to find my brother? I want to join his youth team. What about you? Do you want to join too?"

Jiang Xiaobai rode on Xiao Heng's back, his two short legs swaying back and forth. When talking about the youth team, he raised his chin slightly and said with great pride, "Brother said that his youth team is all about strength. Your strength is only a little worse than mine. If I say a few nice words to brother, maybe he will make an exception and let you in. How about it? Do you want to go?"

"want!"

As soon as Jiang Xiaobai finished speaking, Liu Xiaolan nodded without hesitation and said, "I also want to join Brother Qiqi's youth team."

After he finished speaking, his beautiful blue eyes flashed. Actually, he felt that with his and Jiang Xiaobai's age, they were not old enough to join Jiang Qi's team. They didn't take care of the children, so how could they be allowed to join?

But since Xiaobai said so, he'll just play along.

Jiang Xiaobai was unaware of Liu Xiaolan's thoughts, assuming that he agreed with her idea. She happily flashed him a sweet dimple, raised her chubby little hand, and waved it forward with great flair, saying, "Let's go to the military academy!" Of course, not just anyone can get into the military academy, but Jiang Xiaobai's status was special.
Jiang, the deputy base commander, is the apple of the chief instructor's eye and the little princess of Baiguoyuan. She can go anywhere with a swagger.

The young soldier on guard at the gate watched with a mixture of amusement and envy as the two children rode two large dogs, striding proudly through the gate.

Eight years into the apocalypse, former pets either went mad and were killed, or ran into the uninhabited hills and dense forests, becoming wild and untamable. Those that mutated initially and were then adopted by humans for their own use were actually very rare.

After all, no one has the courage to keep a mutated pet around when survival is already difficult.

Now, even if I wanted to stay, I couldn't.

Jiang Qi and Song Xiaoxiao's two fire-type dogs have become the hottest topic in the entire Pengcheng. Apart from their first litter being taken in by them, their Shiba Inu named Liuli has been pregnant twice more in the past five years. Each time, the puppies are so sought after that they are almost impossible to give birth to. Even the base manager, Ouyang, has joined the ranks of those vying for puppies. Two years ago, he managed to snatch one after much persuasion.

The two large dogs that Jiang Xiaobai rode, which Jiang Qi likened to the two guardian generals, had only given birth once in the past five years, perhaps due to their excessively large size after mutation, which affected their reproductive function. Although there were two puppies, the parents protected them tightly and refused to give them to either of them.

Jiang Qi is a dog lover. If Heng Ha doesn't agree to give it to someone else, then they'll keep it. It's not like they can't afford to keep it.

When Jiang Xiaobai brings Hengha out, their two offspring will consciously stand guard at the door, taking on the responsibility of standing watch.

It's incredibly perceptive!

"elder brother"

Jiang Qi had just finished class when Zeng Tong pulled him aside to ask him questions. Just then, he heard a soft, cute, and familiar little voice.

He immediately turned around and walked towards the source of the sound, scooped his little sister from Xiao Heng and held her in his arms, while Lin Zhe lifted Xiao Lan off Xiao Ha and put her on the ground.

"Running around again. Can't you just stay home quietly?"

As he spoke, he pretended to pat her little bottom. Although he knew that with her abilities and the protection of the two guardians, there was a high probability that nothing would happen, but what if something did?
That brat is too wild and incredibly audacious. There's nothing she wouldn't dare to do, only things she hasn't thought of.

"noob,"

Zeng Tong ran over to greet Jiang Xiaobai, and at the same time reached out and squeezed her chubby little hand, which was soft and tender and felt very nice.

The precocious Jiang Xiaobai rolled her eyes. She glanced at Sister Xiaoxiao and Sister Youyou who were walking towards them, then tilted her head and asked Zeng Tong, "Sister Tong, I heard your dad call my dad. He wants you to go back, right? When are you leaving?"

Zeng Tong has a photographic memory. I heard that her academic level has reached the level of a junior high school graduate. Before coming to Shenzhen, she was studying high school courses.

I heard she scored very high on the military academy's academic exams, almost a perfect score; she's a prodigious genius.

It's just that they are too young, and their physical fitness and special ability training haven't kept up. Otherwise, such talents would all be specially recruited by various schools.

In fact, the military academy in Pengcheng did have a special recruitment plan for her. The old lady and old man of the Zeng family, who had already moved to Yunxi Village, also wanted their beloved granddaughter to stay here, but Zeng Tong was unwilling.

The little girl is young, but she has a lot of ideas.

I came to Shenzhen to visit and learn, not to stay here.

This was an agreement she made with her father before coming here; she still had to return to Kyoto, since all her connections and friends were there. If she wanted to build her own team like Jiang Qi, then the people she would choose would definitely be in Kyoto.

That's Zeng Tong's territory.

As for arranged marriages, you must be joking. She's so young, how would she know anything about love?
Although she did admire Jiang Qi, it was only for his skills and superpowers, nothing more.

Clearly, this little girl possesses a maturity and insight beyond her years.

"Well, I was originally scheduled to return on the 10th of this month, but I still have some skills and techniques that I haven't learned yet. I want to learn them from your brother again, so I'll postpone my return by half a month."

Zeng Tong then realized that she hadn't told her father the news yet. But logically, he shouldn't be in a hurry, since her grandparents were here, and he really wanted her to stay here to study.

Unfortunately, she had other things to do back home and couldn't stay here for long.

When Yueyue, Youyou, and Song Xiaoxiao, who had just walked over, heard that Zeng Tong would be staying for another half a month, the three girls' lips twitched, and they exchanged helpless glances.

It's not that they don't welcome her; she's just a little girl, and they wouldn't go so far as to make things difficult for her.

The problem is that she's too curly.

She has a photographic memory for academic subjects and always ranks first in exams, just like Jiang Qi. As a result, the teachers always use her as an example, saying that she is not even ten years old yet, and it doesn't matter if you can't reach her level of comprehension and learning ability, but you can't slack off either.

Who has slacked off?

Why don't you just call her a demon?
This kid is absolutely inhuman when it comes to exams.

Fortunately, his physical abilities and superpowers are only average, otherwise, would he even be able to survive?
Yueyue glared at Jiang Qi, thinking to herself, "Couldn't you have been a little more serious when you were teaching her? Tell her to learn quickly and leave."

Youyou glanced at him, thinking to herself that he usually seemed quite clever, but now that he's just teaching a child, how come he's so stupid? Can't you even teach him?
Song Xiaoxiao didn't look at Jiang Qi, but as she passed by him, she reached out and pinched his arm.

Jiang Qi was completely baffled. He hadn't offended these three ladies at all.

Turning to his good friend Lin Zhe, he whispered, "Did you offend them? Is that why they're taking their anger out on me?"

Lin Zhe was even more confused. He wasn't just bored, so why would he offend them?
It was lunchtime, and Zeng Tong had already greeted Jiang Xiaobai before being called away by her two companions from Kyoto. Soon, only Jiang Qi and his sister, Lin Zhe, and Liu Xiaolan remained at the scene.

"Brother, those guys stopped Xiao Lan today and started talking about him."

Jiang Xiaobai didn't rush to discuss joining the youth team with her brother. Instead, she talked about the group of people surrounding Liu Xiaolan. Her point was that they were incredibly audacious to insult Aunt Liu.

Although Xiao Lan had just taught them a lesson, it wasn't enough.

She wanted her brother to remember them too, and to catch them and beat them up when he had the chance.

However, Jiang Qi and Lin Zhe were taken aback when they heard the words "not of our kind." These words did not seem like something a group of idle children would say. It was very likely that they had been guided to say this to Xiao Lan.

　It's almost over. Whose story would you like to see next?

　　(End of this chapter)