I Am the Protagonist 06

Qin Weiwei dragged him back to the room while grumbling under her breath. She felt that Fang Zhiyi had embarrassed her.

But in the afternoon, Qin Weiwei found Lu Jingxiao with a face full of excitement.

"What? Supernatural abilities?" Lu Jingxiao was also shocked and immediately took people to see Fang Zhiyi.

Fang Zhiyi looked very weak at the moment. When he saw them enter, he just grinned.

"Stay lying down, just rest," Lu Jingxiao stepped forward and examined him. "Weiwei said you awakened an ability?"

Fang Zhiyi replied somewhat sheepishly, "I’m not sure if it is..."

Wang Wei snapped impatiently, "If you don’t even know, then why the hell are you talking nonsense?"

"Wang Wei, enough," Qin Xue interjected.

Qin Weiwei snorted coldly. "Zhiyi, show them!" Her tone toward Fang Zhiyi had already changed.

Fang Zhiyi nodded and reached out to touch a piece of wood on the table. The next moment, the wood disappeared.

Wang Wei’s eyes widened like a bewildered black bear. "Huh? Magic? Where’d it go?"

Fang Zhiyi opened his hand again, and the wood reappeared out of thin air.

Lu Jingxiao froze for a moment before his expression turned excited. "Is this... telekinesis? Or spatial manipulation?" Either way, it was exactly what they needed right now!

Fang Zhiyi thought for a moment. "Maybe spatial. I can see a square room in my mind..."

Lu Jingxiao’s eyes gleamed before he ordered, "Take Zhiyi to a private room to rest!"

As Fang Zhiyi left, he caught the envious and jealous glances from his former roommates.

Moving into a private room with meals delivered to him, Fang Zhiyi finally felt relieved. Over the past few days, to avoid suspicion, he had been eating the same slop as everyone else—half-cooked rice soaked in water! Enough to drive a sane man mad.

Meanwhile, in Lu Jingxiao’s room, they were discussing Fang Zhiyi’s situation.

"Spatial abilities are incredibly rare—no, practically unheard of!" Lu Jingxiao was exhilarated.

Wang Wei scoffed. "So what? He’s just a walking storage unit. Can’t even fight. What’s the damn use?"

Qin Xue countered, "That’s not true. With him, storing supplies will be much easier. We won’t have to leave anything behind."

At that, Wang Wei shut up.

Wei Xun pondered for a moment. "How much can his space hold?"

Lu Jingxiao shook his head. "Not sure. I’ll ask him later. Xue, go use your healing ability on him so he can recover faster and join our team’s expansion plans."

Qin Xue nodded with a smile.

Qin Weiwei, seeing no one acknowledge her, grew irritated. "Hey, I’m the one who brought him here, and you’re just deciding everything without me?"

"What, you want a medal? For picking up trash and calling it treasure?" Wang Wei muttered under his breath, though his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

As the two began arguing again, Lu Jingxiao played mediator, while Qin Xue apologized on her sister’s behalf, further angering Qin Weiwei, who stormed out and slammed the door.

Fang Zhiyi hadn’t expected that revealing his abilities would instantly elevate his status—even Qin Xue came to heal him, though he wasn’t actually injured. As her healing energy took effect, he slowly sat up.

"Feeling better? Zhiyi, from now on, we’re comrades. You’ll do your best to serve the team, right?" Qin Xue began her usual spiel about selfless dedication.

Fang Zhiyi nodded. "Of course!"

Seeing his resolute expression, Qin Xue smiled in satisfaction.

In the days that followed, Fang Zhiyi accompanied the main team on their expeditions. The protagonist’s luck was undeniable—while others struggled to find supplies, Lu Jingxiao stumbled upon them effortlessly. Dried meat beneath collapsed buildings, untouched by scavengers, was discovered when Wang Wei tripped over it.

At first, they asked Fang Zhiyi politely to store things. But soon, it became routine.

"Zhiyi, can you fit this?"

"Fang Zhiyi, come store this."

"Hey, hurry up! This one too!"

If weapons didn’t need to be kept on hand, Fang Zhiyi suspected they’d make him carry those too.

Lu Jingxiao once spoke to him privately. Upon learning that time in his spatial storage was nearly stagnant, Lu Jingxiao instructed him to keep most of their food and supplies hidden there, only bringing out small portions.

From his words, Fang Zhiyi sensed Lu Jingxiao’s distrust toward his so-called "comrades."

Naturally, Lu Jingxiao didn’t fully trust him either. Perhaps due to altered circumstances, Lu Jingxiao assigned an ability-user to "protect" him—though Fang Zhiyi knew it was just as much about surveillance.

His assigned protector was Li Si, a lean but supernaturally strong man who had previously been responsible for heavy lifting. Now, with Fang Zhiyi around, his workload lightened considerably.

Fang Zhiyi didn’t make any moves. If Lu Jingxiao told him to go out, he went. Otherwise, he wandered around, watching others work—behavior that annoyed quite a few people.

One day, Lu Jingxiao led a team out to scout for survivors.

Fang Zhiyi strolled around the resort with his hands behind his back like an old bureaucrat before plopping down on a tree stump in a secluded spot. Then, a cigarette and lighter appeared in his hand.

No one batted an eye at him conjuring items—his ability was common knowledge.

But when Li Si, whose eyes were usually half-lidded, saw the cigarette, they flew wide open.

He watched as Fang Zhiyi lit it, took a deep drag with visible satisfaction, then tossed it aside with mild disdain.

Li Si hesitated for only a second before snatching it up.

"What a waste!"

Fang Zhiyi glanced at him in surprise. "What?"

Li Si pulled out a crumpled matchbox, relit the cigarette, and took a long drag. For a moment, he seemed to enter a trance.

"Bliss."

Noticing Fang Zhiyi’s amused smirk, he scratched his head sheepishly. "Hardcore smoker here. Had to quit cold turkey after the apocalypse. Sometimes I find a stray, but most days, nothing. Where’d you get this?" He vaguely recalled that none of their recent supply runs had yielded cigarettes—if they had, Wang Wei would’ve taken them.

Fang Zhiyi grinned mysteriously. "Trade secret."

Before Li Si could press further, Fang Zhiyi pulled out an entire pack and tossed it to him, along with a lighter.

Li Si was ecstatic. "This—this—" In the apocalypse, people killed each other over scraps of food. Alcohol and tobacco were luxuries. And Fang Zhiyi had just handed him a whole pack!

"Shh. Keep it quiet. Between us, right?"

Li Si’s face was full of gratitude. To a nicotine addict like him, Fang Zhiyi might as well have been his savior.