Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies Chapter 1471: [Side Story] Deng Shentong (XI)
Previously on Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies...
Amber stared ahead in shock at the gruesome scene that resembled a hellish battlefield.
Deng Shentong stood in his silver combat suit, holding a longsword, yet not a single drop of blood stained his body.
Her pupils contracted slightly as she stared at the man before her in disbelief, instinctively stepping back twice.
“Just who... are you, exactly?”
Deng Shentong looked at her and asked calmly, “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that? Who exactly are you?”
Amber’s voice grew a little weaker. She lowered her head and murmured, “It’s not like I’m the one who brought this on you. You came here of your own accord!”
Deng Shentong said, “I know, and that’s why I’m not blaming you for it.”
“But you are quite strange.”
He gave Amber a thorough once-over.
“I think I can pretty much confirm what your ability is now.”“When I first laid eyes on you, I found it strange. Why did you give me such an unusually familiar feeling?”
He let out a long sigh. “Ever since that incident two years ago, I’ve been learning from that man—being wary of everything. And yet you easily broke through that.”
“From the very beginning, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was related to your ability.”
“And besides, a fragile girl like you—falling into the hands of those vicious Wandering Souls, yet not suffering a scratch—that was more than enough to make me suspicious.”
As she listened to Deng Shentong’s words, Amber quietly clenched her fists, but still kept her head down in silence.
She didn’t panic and try to flee. One reason was that it would be useless—she didn’t have the means to escape from a powerful Transcendent. The other was that she wasn’t afraid of the man before her.
Deng Shentong continued, “At first, I chalked it up to the Wandering Souls thinking you had a lot of value, so they didn’t lay a hand on you. But now, after seeing that even those giant crocodiles didn’t attack you, I finally understand.”
He smiled faintly, his gaze profound as he looked at Amber.
“Your ability is to earn people’s goodwill—to make people, even mutant beasts, feel no hostility toward you. Am I right?”
“That’s why, no matter the situation, you never worry about falling into danger.”
Amber’s face turned even paler.
She bit her lip and suddenly raised her head to meet Deng Shentong’s gaze.
“So... do you want to kill me?”
Deng Shentong had hit the nail on the head about her ability.
Her ability was called [In the Name of Love]. In this chaotic and perilous apocalypse, anyone could die at any moment.
Amber feared death, and that intense sense of crisis had granted her the power to be loved and protected by all.
Deng Shentong raised an eyebrow.
“I told you, I chose to come here on my own, so I won’t blame you.”
He gave Amber a deep look. “But your ability probably isn’t as simple as that, is it?”
A mere ability like that wouldn’t have qualified her to be the transport cargo for a B-rank mission assigned by Blizzard City.
Amber remained silent. She couldn’t reveal her own information to others—it was an instinct she had developed in this apocalypse.
Deng Shentong waved his hand at her. “Forget it. If you don’t want to talk about it, fine. I’m going to find Wandering Phantom. If you’re scared, then leave now!”
He turned around and continued forward into Ice Flower Swamp.
Just as he had taken more than a dozen steps, Amber’s voice came from behind.
“Hey! I... I can guide you!”
Deng Shentong turned back. Amber had caught up to him, panting heavily, a flicker of struggle in her eyes before it turned into determination.
“Oh? Why? Aren’t you one of Wandering Phantom’s men?”
Deng Shentong looked at her in surprise.
Amber shook her head forcefully.
“No, I’m not his subordinate! It’s just... if you can take down Wandering Phantom, I can help you.”
Deng Shentong stared at her.
“If you want to come with me, then you have to be completely honest with me.”
“I don’t want someone by my side whose loyalty I can’t tell apart—friend or foe.”
Amber clenched her fists and finally slowly told Deng Shentong the truth.
“Wandering Phantom is the lord of this area. Every human living here must submit to his rule. So I’m not his subordinate—more accurately, I’m just his slave.”
When she mentioned Wandering Phantom, Amber’s voice turned several degrees colder.
“He’s an absolutely perverted monster. Killing, tormenting, torturing—to him, everyone around him is just a toy.”
Deng Shentong rubbed his nose. “So that’s why you chose to run away? Then why are you coming back now?”
Amber let out a cold laugh.
“Do you think Blizzard City is any better? A Transcendent like me with no protection—no matter where I go, I might end up being someone else’s toy.”
“Everyone in the Jiangnan Region probably knows the rumors about Blizzard City by now, right? You’ve used wandering Transcendents for experiments more than a few times.”
Deng Shentong couldn’t argue with that.
Both Zhu Zheng’s research center and Deng Corporation Technology had conducted a massive amount of human experimentation after the apocalypse.
And their best targets were undoubtedly those Transcendents outside who refused to submit to Blizzard City’s rule.
Amber lowered her head and continued, “When the Wandering Souls found me, I knew Wandering Phantom was already angry about my escape. And then you insisted on coming to find him, talking about ‘cleansing’ and all that.”
Deng Shentong had a sudden realization.
“So, you were basically using me as a token of submission—trying to earn Wandering Phantom’s forgiveness?”
Amber smiled bitterly, a glimmer of heartbreaking despair in her eyes.
“I don’t want to die, you know! But all I can do is be a vine, clinging to someone else’s existence.”
As she spoke, she looked at Deng Shentong, a hopeful gleam in her eyes.
“But you’re different from everyone I’ve met before. Maybe... you really do have the power to kill Wandering Phantom!”
She walked up to Deng Shentong, reached out, and grabbed his sleeve.
At that moment, Deng Shentong felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness and fear spreading from the girl, seeping straight into his heart.
“Please... save me!”
Deng Shentong let out a helpless sigh.
“It really is a handy ability, but now that I know what it is, please don’t use it on me so casually.”
Amber shyly let go of his sleeve. “S-sorry.”
“But,” Deng Shentong said with a smile, reaching out to ruffle her hair, “I promise you—I’ll take down that bastard Wandering Phantom!”
Amber looked up at Deng Shentong.
“Will you win?”
“I will!”
Deng Shentong smiled, his eyes brimming with unshakable confidence.
He turned around and strode forward into Ice Flower Swamp with unwavering steps.
Amber quickly caught up and walked beside him. She bit her lip, and in the end, she chose to trust the man before her.