"Before, it was my fault for not protecting you well enough. But rest assured, from today onward, I won’t let anyone hurt you. As for those rations, I don’t deserve them either. Here, take this—it’s for you to use."
As soon as he finished speaking, Le Xu’s stomach growled loudly. He clutched his belly, his face flushing with embarrassment.
Damn it, why did my stomach have to steal the spotlight now?
"What exactly is this thing?" Little Wei picked it up. Le Xu hadn’t explained what it was, but she had never seen anything like it before. Even fire-attribute energy crystals weren’t as vividly colored as this.
Yu Jing glanced at the object in his hand and sighed.
"This… is the energy core of a special mutated creature. The boss and I took on a dangerous mission to secure a grain warehouse. Originally, we had a team of ten. In the end, they sacrificed themselves to get the boss and me out, taking down that special mutated creature with them."
As he spoke of the incident, Yu Jing’s eyes reddened. His chest heaved as if he couldn’t catch his breath, his throat tight and aching. Unwilling tears spilled from the corners of his eyes.
Hearing this, Le Xiaowei handed the item back to Le Xu.
"You use it. I don’t want to grow eight legs or something."
Le Xu: "…"
"That won’t happen. There’s a forty percent chance this can awaken an ability," Le Xu blurted out in his urgency.
This was something no one knew yet—it wouldn’t be discovered until a year later. Even if someone offered a fortune in food for it, no one would be willing to sell.
Even if the person already had an ability, it could unlock a second one.
But for ordinary people, the odds of awakening an ability were slim—Le Xu had never seen it happen before.
"Then I still don’t want it. This must be an offensive-type ability. You should use it—it’s the last thing your brothers left you, after all."
Le Xiaowei couldn’t bring herself to use something soaked in blood so casually.
It’s just a special mutated creature. I’ll find one myself later.
"No—" Before Le Xu could finish, Le Xiaowei kicked him.
"Stop dithering like a girl. If you don’t use it, I’ll throw you out the window and feed you to the dogs."
Le Xu fell silent for a long moment before finally speaking again.
"Then you can call me ‘sister’ from now on. I only want you to have this."
Le Xiaowei: …Speechless.
"You’re such an idiot."
The last time Le Xiaowei had been this exasperated was… well, the last time. This male lead seemed to have some serious issues. If not for the apocalypse, she would’ve dragged Le Xu to get his brain checked.
But then again, he had just gotten his sister back. Stay calm, don’t lose your temper.
Le Xu: QAQ
My sister is so fierce.
Then he watched as Le Xiaowei crouched down and started scrubbing the energy core with dish soap, rinsing it thoroughly several times. Confused, Le Xu squatted beside her.
"Xiaowei, what are you—" Before he could finish, the energy core was shoved into his mouth.
The thing could be absorbed through touch or ingested.
But most people didn’t have the luxury of washing energy cores, so Le Xiaowei had even sterilized it.
"Cough—cough—!" Le Xu hacked violently, his face reddening, but the energy core was easier to digest than usual. After a few coughs, it went down.
A warm current surged straight to his abdomen.
Clutching his stomach, Le Xu stared at Xiaowei in shock.
"Why… why won’t you forgive me?"
"This should taste better than a tangerine. What’s there to complain about?" Le Xiaowei patted his head lightly as she crouched beside him.
Le Xu: …
This is nothing like a tangerine.
Wait, that’s not even the point.
"What ‘forgive you’? I never said I blamed you. Did you kill me?" Le Xiaowei mused, rubbing her chin.
Le Xiaowei’s death really couldn’t be pinned on Le Xu. Besides, the original male lead had wanted to avenge his sister when he found out—but that was near the novel’s finale. How could he possibly defeat the protagonist of a fanfic spin-off?
Claims he’s too soft-hearted to kill… As if he’d stand a chance even if he weren’t.
"Huh?" Le Xu froze.
"Want some self-heating hot pot?" Le Xiaowei asked instead.
Le Xu touched his stomach. Truthfully, he did. Life in the apocalypse had been brutal—just two steamed buns a day, chewed slowly to make them last.
Reading his expression, Le Xiaowei immediately understood.
"If you want it, then hurry up and absorb the energy." With that, she stood and looked out the window.
From here, she could still see the distant safe zone. She wondered if Yuan Qiaoqiao had found a place to stay yet.
The supplies she’d given her should last three or four days.
Meanwhile, Yuan Qiaoqiao stood by her own window, gazing out at the world beyond the safe zone. She had rented a small single room—this building was on the outermost edge, so the rent was cheap: five energy cores a month.
"This rain is terrifying… I hope Sister is okay," she murmured to herself before a knock sounded at her door.
Her heart jumped. Peering through the peephole, she saw the woman who had greeted her earlier. After a pause, she opened the door.
"Um, is something wrong?"
"I live in this building too, so I’m notifying everyone. The base has issued a warning: until the rain stops, don’t go outside. The building’s entrance will be locked. If you need food, you can buy some on the second floor."
"If you’re short on energy cores, you can also work odd jobs there. The pay isn’t great, but it’ll keep you fed."
The woman spoke while filling out a form, then handed it over.
"Just sign this to confirm you’ll cooperate."
"Oh, okay. Is there something dangerous about this rain?" Yuan Qiaoqiao couldn’t help worrying about Xiaowei, still outside the safe zone.
The woman glanced around before lowering her voice. "People exposed to the rain turn into zombies. So don’t go out. The experts think this rain might even make the zombies stronger."
So that’s it.
Yuan Qiaoqiao relaxed slightly. As long as it didn’t harm Sister, it was fine.
She signed the form, handed it back, and closed the door.
At least I have enough supplies. I hope the rain stops soon.
She silently prayed.
"What’s going on? Xiaowei, look at this!" Yu Jing wiped sweat from Le Xu’s forehead as his body flickered unnaturally, a faint greenish hue surfacing on his skin.
"This… it looks like he’s turning into a zombie?" Yu Jing’s voice was laced with concern.
Le Xiaowei crouched beside him, studying Le Xu’s face. Huh, he really does look like a lightbulb.
Beads of sweat rolled down Le Xu’s forehead, one after another, splattering on the floor. His face was swollen and tinged with blue. Le Xiaowei narrowed her eyes, sensing the energy churning inside him.
No surprise—it’s a special mutated core. Even though it’s in his stomach, the energy is rebellious, bouncing around and refusing to be absorbed. It’s even trying to consume him instead.
For zombies, absorbing this would be easy.
But for ability users? Not so much.
Oh no. Did I just indirectly assassinate the male lead?
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his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
