44: This little girl is scared to death

“You—you mean, are there any zombies in this stairwell?” Shen Yuan asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

Tian Ming looked at the empty stairwell, a smile playing on his lips. “They’ve all been cleaned out. The zombies are probably all on the floors!” he said.

“Don’t you lie to me!” Shen Yuan clutched Tian Ming’s hand tightly, her palm slick with sweat.

The girl was very nervous. But Tian Ming felt nothing. He had already formed an air shield around himself, front and back, so even if there were zombies, they couldn't harm him.

The two climbed to the third floor. The sticky feeling on the stairs lessened somewhat, but the heavy smell of blood still lingered in the air.

“You’re so wet, your palms are all sweaty! No need to be so nervous; even if there are zombies, they can’t harm us.”

How could Shen Yuan not be nervous? She was just a mortal, and she didn't have superpowers like Tian Ming.

“It’s easy for you to say. If you didn’t have superpowers, you’d definitely be scared.”

Tian Ming didn't refute her. When the Apocalypse first broke out, he hadn't discovered so many ways to protect himself. He was very scared back then, but now, he wasn't anymore.

The two continued towards the top floor. The lighting in the stairwell had long since broken, and the light was poor. Their footsteps echoed in the stairwell, sounding exceptionally clear.

Shen Yuan followed closely behind Tian Ming, every subtle sound instantly tensing her nerves.

“Ah!…”

Shen Yuan suddenly shrieked, her body almost reflexively throwing itself into Tian Ming’s arms.

Around the corner of the fourth-floor stairwell, lay a skeleton, its head missing half, and a strong stench permeated the air.

Beside it, there was also an extremely emaciated zombie, gnawing on the skeleton.

Tian Ming raised his hand, and several nano-filaments materialized out of thin air, wrapping around the zombie. The filaments instantly retracted, and the zombie was instantly cut into pieces.

Shen Yuan trembled with fright, not daring to look at the horrifying scene. She clung to Tian Ming like an octopus.

Tian Ming found it amusing and said, “It’s alright, it’s dealt with. I told you not to come; it’s just one zombie, and you’re this scared.”

“I have claustrophobia, you know?”

The stairwells in these tall buildings were indeed narrow. Before the Apocalypse, no one would use the stairs; they almost always took the elevator. So, in such high-rise buildings, the stairwells were small and cramped.

“Get down. Climbing stairs is already tiring. You’re not going to make me carry you upstairs, are you?”

Shen Yuan’s voice trembled as she said, “My legs are weak. Can we rest for a bit?”

Tian Ming was a little helpless. He carried her and continued upstairs, reaching the sixth floor, where he directly pushed open the stairwell door. It was a huge office space, but it was a mess inside, with papers and documents scattered everywhere.

The light streaming in through the large glass windows greatly relaxed Shen Yuan's taut nerves.

But Tian Ming noticed that the girl’s pants were completely wet. It wasn’t obvious in that foul-smelling place earlier, but now that they were on a flat floor, the smell in the air immediately wafted up.

Shen Yuan, the girl, had wet her pants out of fear, and Tian Ming had seen it. Now, she just wanted to find a hole to crawl into, or simply jump off the building.

Looking at Tian Ming’s half-smile, Shen Yuan’s face instantly flushed crimson, so embarrassed she was almost in tears.

“Don’t look, you’re not allowed to look…” Shen Yuan was a little exasperated and directly pounced on him, covering Tian Ming’s eyes.

“Hahaha, I told you not to come, didn’t I? All brawn and no brains, and a coward to boot. Couldn’t you just stay downstairs?”

Shen Yuan released Tian Ming, turned around, and squatted on the ground, crying pitifully. When had she ever been so embarrassed, so humiliated? So socially dead?

Tian Ming shook his head with a smile. Forget it, he wouldn’t tease her anymore; she couldn’t take a joke. Actually, he didn’t have to take the stairs. Who takes the stairs if they’re a normal person?

Suddenly, Shen Yuan, who was squatting on the ground wiping away tears, still hadn't received any comfort. She only felt a chill between her legs, as if she wasn't wearing pants.

Evaporation can carry away heat. Such extremely rapid evaporation of water, isn't that the chilling sensation of a sudden coolness?

Shen Yuan shrieked in fright and immediately stood up, but she found that her pants were already dry, feeling somewhat cold to the touch.

Not far away in the air, a pale yellow water ball still floated. Tian Ming had already extracted the water that had soaked into her pants. Looking at the water ball, Tian Ming raised an eyebrow.

“Sister Shen, you’re a bit overheated. Drink more water when you get back.” The water ball suddenly froze, becoming a solid chunk of ice, and dropped to the ground with a plop.

Tears still clung to Shen Yuan’s face. Listening to Tian Ming’s teasing, she wished she could kick this arrogant guy to death.

“You only know how to make sarcastic remarks!” Shen Yuan wiped her tears and glared at Tian Ming, fuming.

“Let’s go, I won’t tease you anymore. Stand next to me.” Tian Ming called out, gesturing for Shen Yuan to come over.

Although Shen Yuan was puzzled, she still stood next to Tian Ming. A carbon fiber board appeared under their feet, and four carbon fiber pillars emerged below it. The pillars grew rapidly, directly lifting Tian Ming and Shen Yuan like a jack.

“Ahhh, stop, stop, we’re going to hit the ceiling!” Amidst Shen Yuan’s startled cries, the two, completely unharmed, passed through the sixth-floor slab and arrived on the seventh floor.

Shen Yuan was stunned. She sat dumbfounded on the carbon fiber board, the two of them rising rapidly as if on a lifting machine.

They could pass through floors because Tian Ming could transform matter. He could directly convert a small area above his head into a quantum state, allowing the two of them to pass through unharmed.

Then, by continuously growing the carbon fiber pillars beneath the fiberboard, he could achieve the function of an elevator. The reason he made them climb the stairs was to mess with the girl. He was, after all, the boss of the Shelter, and she showed no reverence towards him.

Shen Yuan also seemed to have caught on, asking, “Actually, you could have used this method to go upstairs from the very beginning, couldn’t you?”

Tian Ming nodded and said, “That’s right. While you were building the Shelter, I wasn’t idle. I’ve been constantly exploring new uses for my abilities.”

Shen Yuan practically roared, “Then why did you still make me take the stairs? Were you deliberately trying to scare me?”

“Yes, of course I was deliberately trying to scare you. Who takes the stairs if they’re a normal person?” Tian Ming burst into laughter, looking as if his scheme had succeeded.

“You!...”

“Watch your words. I’m your boss now. You have no reverence at all. Do you think everything you do in the Shelter is working for me?”

Shen Yuan’s words were forcefully swallowed back. Yes, what could she do with this person now? In the Apocalypse, he was invincible. If she angered him, he might just abandon her.

Shen Yuan reached out and hugged Tian Ming’s thigh.

“Throwing yourself at me won’t work. You’re like a tomboy. What’s the use of being pretty?”

Shen Yuan gnashed her teeth in anger but still said, “Haven’t you heard, big breasts, no brains? Do you think I grew this brain for nothing? Who wants to throw themselves at you? I’m just afraid of falling.”

At this moment, the two had passed through the last floor and appeared on the top floor of the telecom building. The top floor and the passage below the rooftop were blocked. Above was a small communication Laboratory. Tian Ming passed through the floor and appeared directly inside the Laboratory.

The entire Laboratory was already in a mess. A woman slumped in a chair raised her head; her face was extremely gaunt, and her eye sockets were deeply sunken. Looking at the suddenly appearing Tian Ming and Shen Yuan, a strange smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

The woman slowly turned her head and muttered to herself, “Another hallucination, sigh! Another hallucination.”