STB Chapter 138: First Love

   Johnson knew the meaning of the movements next door.

    With his age, he’d already taken a science class in his previous school. Some daring teenagers even had first time experience. Johnson just didn’t expect those two people to be in such a close relationship.

   The gasps and moans over there are not fierce, nor are there any screams from excitement which is totally different from what Johnson “knew” since the sounds are stifled and forbearing. He didn’t know why but these sounds and movements are more exciting than the audio from the “educational film” he’d seen. Johnson climbed up in a panic, and even put on his shoes in reverse.

   The passage is full of mushrooms. If he wanted to leave, he must drill out of the mushroom caps.

   Johnson, with his thin physique, easily squeezed through.

   These hyphae made him feel uncomfortable. There is always an unexplainable sense of danger in his heart. Johnson looked down and hugged his arms as he passed through. The mushrooms crushed by him shook with dissatisfaction.

   ——strange, he should be able to squeeze through this gap.

   Johnson took a step back and wondered. He looked at the mushrooms, then looked down at himself.

   His t-shirt seemed to be cut short. Initially, it was able to cover him up to his thighs.

   The teenager sneezed, went over the table and wrapped a python skin over his body.

   The python skin is warm, waterproof and windproof. It’s better than fur, although it’s hard.

   Hyphae touched the scales, moodily avoided it as if trying to rip off the python skin, and “peeled” the teenager inside. Johnson ran before the mushrooms ripped off his “clothes,” and finally managed to go out.

   After two turns, beyond is the stairs leading to the surface.

    The mushrooms began to get sparse at this point, and it’s full of monster corpses that strayed inside. Over time, these bodies would rot, so it’s necessary to clean it up regularly.

  In the past, Yang Chao did this work with people from the Black Abyss, making them tired to death, and afraid of being entangled up by the mushrooms and can’t walk.

  After arriving in this underground city, Jian Hua walked along the edge of the mushroom field to keep it from expanding every day. He controlled the hyphae to throw the corpses out, so it’s not too hard.

  The underground city has several layers of tunnels and long winding stairs, like a maze. Sometimes, even if separated by only a wall, it takes ten minutes to get to the other side. The people who built the city years ago seemed to want to avoid a strong enemy as each block can be blocked entirely. Some are also fitted with stone doors.

   Jian Hua initially dumped the monster bodies in another enclosed area.

  After the monsters realized that the “mushrooms” are terrifying, by default, it became the territory of the “Great Devil,” and they don’t dare come close, so the workload of cleaning up immediately dropped.

   The mushroom, without food, sent the mycelium and those that went past the edge automatically turned transparent, looking for prey.

   The tunnel that Johnson entered has sparse mushrooms on the surface, but transparent mushrooms had long occupied the actual walls. This road is more spacious and should be the central passageway in the dungeon.

   Mushrooms chased the monsters, and monsters go where the ability holders go. The three sides converged together. It’s an inevitable phenomenon.

   Johnson saw the moving figures in the distance. He immediately became alert, and half hid in the wall, carefully looking over there.

   The people who came is tall, their hair color and complexion not like the local Turks. They wore hiking boots, held weapons, and even wore infrared night vision glasses. They were very well equipped. Johnson thought they’re like the mercenaries he saw on TV.

   “Ten o’clock direction, there’s an intense energy reaction.”

   “Ten o’clock direction, there’re signs of life.”

   Two mercenaries opened their mouths to remind their companions.

   All guns moved towards the wall where Johnson was hiding, their fingers on the trigger.

   “Infrared scanning……the body seemed to be a child?”

   “Energy fluctuations approximately or exceed B-level ability holder.”

   Johnson didn’t hide his power, but the mycelium had a camouflage ability. He crouched in the corner, and the mushrooms took care of the new reserve grain, always hooking up with him and wrapping around a few small parts.

   “Hmph, why are you afraid of a child with B-level ability. We have Jennifer!”

   A tall girl with wheat-colored skin in the middle of the group proudly raised her chin.

   She has a very hot body. The pants used for field training perfectly hugged the curves of her legs, and with the tactical action of bending close to the target, the ups and downs of her chest became very obvious.

   These people are speaking in English, so Johnson couldn’t help but listen more.

   The woman called Jennifer, he hadn’t seen her yet, but he can feel the heat of the other person’s life.

   That’s right, heat……a fire system ability.

   If he hadn’t seen Li Fei, Johnson would think this is the most threatening fire ability holder he had ever seen. Her power is like a bright light in the dark, dispelling the gray airflow around the Abandoned World, and brighter than a burning torch.

   Such a passionate and charming woman would, of course, have many admirers.

   The ability holders who can feel her power would be deeply attracted.

   Because life in the Abandoned World is full of despair, people became muddleheaded. To live, both hands are stained in blood, and some had been lost in killing and resentment.

   But yearning for the light is everyone’s instinct.

    If this wave of power indeed attracted Johnson, he would’ve gone out, and wanted to meet this lovely girl. This A-level fire system ability holder would hook his young heart. 

   ——but he didn’t see this beauty. He had seen Li Fei before seeing this beauty.

   Li Fei, with the help of the hyphae, usually won’t be recognized by others but Johnson is different. He had already been exposed to the “field” of the fire demon, can he still not know the strength of Li Fei’s ability?

   Compared with Li Fei, this A-level person is like a flashlight under an intense spotlight, or like the street lights turned on during the day. Although bright, it’s hard to notice it.

   The difference between S-level and A-level had such a disparity.

   Each level is more than ten times the power of the previous level. The larger the base, the higher the gap after stacking up in double digits.

   Li Fei’s ability is too strong, so there won’t be any warm, bright, and beautiful feelings. It would make people feel scared and terrified instead.

   There is also when Li Fei’s emotions are calm; the mycelium obscured his presence. Once he exposed his strength, you won’t want to get near. Once the “field” hits the ability holders head-on, they’d be scared to death. Except for the psychopath Dr. Mad, it’s estimated that no one would come forward to express admiration.

    Right now, Johnson is not disillusioned nor attracted, but his head is a mess and kept recalling a name.

   A-level fire system ability holder Jennifer……

   When Federico was half unconscious, he raved and once told the teenager, “Jennifer is not a girl you liked, you are just obsessed with her appearance”. Then he mumbled a few words talking about loving someone by appearance is different from really liking a person for their inside.

   Actually, Johnson trembled whenever he heard the name, Jennifer.

   The hurricane that gave him his ability is called Jennifer.

   Many women had this name, but an A-level ability holder who also have a flame ability……after these two conditions filtered them out, there won’t be that many left.

   ——so this is the type of girl he’ll like?

   Johnson was so nervous that he almost stretched out his head to look. The other side had guns, and he’s close. He didn’t choose to force a confrontation, but rather quickly took off the snakeskin, piled it up in the corner, then lifted his arms and shrunk.

   “Tch, sure enough, it’s a little kid!”

   The dark muzzle pointed at Johnson’s forehead.

   The teenager under the muzzle showed a scared expression, but his eyes are very clear.

   The mercenary man with a beard heavily grunted but did not put down the gun. He said without looking back, “As it happens, he’s not local. Did you come here to travel? Where are your parents?”

   His companions came one after the other. They smiled and ridiculed, “You are so fierce, how can he answer? Only ability holders can enter the Abandoned World, what if his parents aren’t?”

   In the eyes of the crowd, the teenager had a malnourished appearance. He obviously did not eat enough.

   They knew very well the situation in the underground city. The ability holders staying here numbered thousands of people, and there are even more monsters, so they’re constantly fighting every day. A helpless foreigner boy, if not for being a B-class ability holder, he’d long be buried in the caves!

   “Can you understand?” The bearded mercenary turned to ask, “What’s the nationality of this kid?”

   “Europe, United States, Canada……who knows!” The beautiful woman named Jennifer laughed.

   Johnson was surprised in his heart: This time, no one actually mistook him for a girl?

   “My name is Fe…Fredrick.” Johnson’s face is pale with his whole body trembling.

   “You can understand? This is great!” The leader of the mercenaries took out a character sketch and showed it to Johnson, “Have you seen this person?”

   Johnson’s eyes fell on the paper. He found that the drawing turned out to be Li Fei.

   He couldn’t conceal his widened eyes, and the muzzle immediately shook in front of his eyes.

   “Speak, where is this person?”

   Johnson remembered the placement of roads on this side and thought about where to run while quietly condensing power.

   “*Wu wu!*” The energy detector carried by the mercenaries immediately lit up red and issued a loud alarm.

   “Someone’s here!”

   The mercenaries have guns, but they warily looked around.

   Not waiting for them to identify the cause of the alarm, Jennifer first felt her boots are tied. She looked down, and can’t help but scream, “What’s this?”

   “Don’t move. This is the mycelium of the mushrooms! The more you struggle, the tighter you’ll be tied!”

   “Wasn’t it supposed to be fire?”

   “Monsters and ability holders can lead the mushrooms away, but after it occupied a site in droves, it would be lazy, and generally won’t easily move,” the bearded mercenary wondered, “Logically speaking, these things should not happen in the Middle East. It hadn’t been that long……its expansion should still be in China.”

   “When we came from the road above, didn’t you see it? The mushroom fell out of the void……”

   The crowd said half, then saw the mushrooms camouflaged on all sides of the wall and gasped.

   “Impossible, how can there be so much……this location is deep. It’s just a few days; it doesn’t make sense to grow so fast! Is the Devourer here too?”

   Once the name is spoken, many people shook.

   “Stop joking!” Jennifer struggled with a smile, “Didn’t you say that to avoid the future with my sister and that love triangle with the Savior, I came to the Middle East to become a mercenary! Now you tell me, the evil Devourer also came here?”

   “There’s nothing impossible. The Turkish underground city is very suitable for hiding. Haven’t we already met two or three high-level ability holders that should not be here? No one wanted to obey their own destiny, to be used by the State as a dog, and then thrown out!” The bearded mercenary impatiently said.

   “Before you only said the Fire Demon……might be nearby.”

   “Because there are mushrooms here. There’s also a tourist who said he saw a yellow-skinned Chinese here, I just guessed!”

   Who knew they’d get a big surprise before the meeting.

   “Forget it; let’s retreat first!” Against two S-class together, who’d be an idiot.

   There is also Jennifer’s suitors who can’t figure out the situation: “Why? We have guns!”

   “When Poseidon died, Greece had a major tsunami. Guess what happens when you kill the Fire Demon or Devourer?”

   “……”

   Jennifer glanced at Johnson, asking the leader, “Then him?”

   “Do you have to pick a puppy every time you see one? You’re still not walking fast!”

   Johnson silently watched them leave, his mood difficult to describe.

   He slowly walked back with his head down. In the place where Li Fei and Jian Hua lived, those movements had stopped.

   In fact, Li Fei didn’t want to end it so fast, but they felt something was wrong after the first release. Fatigue suddenly welled up, and his power sharply decreased……

   Jian Hua quickly pushed him away.

   The tightly connected parts issued an ambiguous sound when pulled apart. Jian Hua couldn’t bear it. Exploratory hands touched his thighs and moved to the rear where viscous, slippery liquid should have poured out.

   Nothing, there’s nothing at all……

   Jian Hua was dazed for a few seconds. He thought about how he hadn’t had any episodes of the sleeping sickness lately. Is that why the mushroom finally entered the devouring mode? Ever since that first time, before Li Fei wanted to get close to him, they had to kill a cannibalistic squid and a glass snail?

   Li Fei’s expression is also very complicated. He didn’t know if he should feel happy that Jian Hua is cured, or be entangled after his little brother was kicked out after only releasing once.

   When the atmosphere became awkward, they heard the footsteps of the teenager.

   The two immediately put on their clothes, and traces like the hammock were thrown far away.

   “I’ll go see if his fever is gone.” Jian Hua’s blush hadn’t receded. How could Li Fei let him go out? 

   Johnson had reached the door, and anxiously said, “Someone is coming from outside. They know you guys.”

   This sentence is not difficult to understand, and Li Fei also got used to Johnson’s accent these past few days. His expression changed, and he went out to ask what happened.

  As a result, the mushrooms moved, and even Jian Hua is surprised.

   “You grew taller?”

   Growing up two centimeters overnight, and the thin body has a little more meat, what is going on? Is the Savior a balloon?

   The author has something to say:

The nutrition in Abandoned World’s monster meat is very good, but Johnson used to give it to the singer before, so now……

   Of course, when I was writing it before, the effect is not that good