Zhu Yuan was bewildered when he woke up. First, his ability had recovered by 50%. Before, his ability was depleted, and he even thought it would take at least half a month for him to fully recover.

But after sleeping, not only did the pain in his chest lessen, but his ability had also recovered so much?

What’s going on!

In his mind, he instantly recalled those strange cultivation novels he had read in school before the apocalypse, where the male protagonist, surviving a great disaster, was bound to have an extraordinary encounter. Had he gained something extraordinary in his sleep?

He subconsciously raised his hand, and a small gust of wind formed in his palm.

Then he sat up, and with a crisp thud, something rolled off him and under the bed. Following the sound, Zhu Yuan’s eyes widened.

Heavens! A wind-element crystal!

Not one, but several, and these crystals were all second-level crystals, equivalent to C-level ability users.

He quickly threw off the covers and got out of bed to pick up the crystals. His gaze swept over to the iron box on the bedside table, and his body stiffened completely.

What did he see?!

A whole box of crystals, all elements represented! Almost all of them were second-level.

Zhu Yuan picked up the iron box with slightly trembling hands, rummaged through a corner, and pulled out three slightly larger ones. These were… level three crystals.

Not only were there hundreds of level two crystals in one iron box, but also three level three crystals. What a lavish existence this was.

Even with Zhu Yuan’s extensive experience, he was momentarily overwhelmed by such a large sum of “wealth,” his legs turning to jelly.

He had survived in the apocalypse for five years, mostly obtaining level one crystals, and ordinary zombies didn’t drop crystals after death; at the very least, they had to be level one zombies.

Level 2 crystals are also uncommon. When zombies evolve to Level 2, they can summon lower-level zombies around them, so C-level ability users don’t have a particularly high chance of winning against Level 2 zombies.

For Zhu Yuan, as long as he didn’t encounter a large group of Level 2 zombies, he wouldn’t be in danger. If he encountered a Level 3 zombie, his only option would be to flee for his life.

He and Du Mingyu desperately killed that injured Level 3 zombie and obtained a Level 3 crystal. It should have been a happy occasion, but it led to Du Mingyu’s betrayal and sneak attack.

Now, he saw three Level 3 crystals in an iron box.

Amidst the shock and confusion, there was a hint of irony.

Looking at the pink and tender iron box, adorned with cartoon patterns, he couldn’t help but gasp, understanding the origin of this box of crystals.

Zhu Yuan’s heart pounded. What would happen if he just left with this box of crystals?

He couldn’t help but smile bitterly; it truly was tempting wealth.

Especially for him, who is currently penniless—all his belongings are in the car.

Zhu Yuan took a deep breath, put the cyan crystal back into the box, his gaze sweeping over the tempting level three crystal, and then he closed the iron lid.

He understood why his injuries had healed by more than half and his powers had recovered by 50% after a night’s sleep.

Because he had absorbed a large amount of level two crystals, and they were of the same element.

Zhu Yuan’s chest vibrated, and the hand holding the iron box trembled slightly.

Five years into the apocalypse, having witnessed the selfishness, hypocrisy, and indifference of human nature, it turns out… this world wasn’t as cold as he had imagined.

Or perhaps… this was the purest kindness of a child.

Clang.

The noise from outside pulled Zhu Yuan’s thoughts back. He quickly put down the iron box, hurried to open the door and walked out. In the dim living room, a small figure squatted down, reaching out her small hand to pick up the broken glass on the floor, making his eyelids twitch.

What if the sharp glass cuts her hand!

“Bianbian.” Zhu Yuan subconsciously smiled, softening his voice.

Bianbian looked up and said in surprise, “Uncle Zhu Yuan, you’re awake?”

Zhu Yuan walked over, twisting her little fingers, and said a little shyly, “I wanted to pour you some water, but I broke the cup.”

She would feed Zhu Yuan water with a cotton swab every once in a while. Seeing that there wasn’t much water left in the cup, she took the cup to the living room to refill it, but accidentally knocked the cup to the floor.

The little girl felt a bit bad, but there were many cups at home, so she only felt a little bit bad for a moment.

“Luckily, I didn’t spill the water.” The little girl pointed to the remaining half bottle of mineral water and said like a little adult, “The cup can be broken, but the water cannot be wasted.”

After speaking, she was about to continue picking up the shards. Broken things should be cleaned up promptly, otherwise, it’s easy to get cut – Bianbian’s soles had suffered greatly from this.

“Let Uncle do it.” Zhu Yuan pulled Bianbian aside. The little girl was quite clever, pattering over to the bathroom to drag out a broom.

Watching Bianbian’s familiar actions, Zhu Yuan paused, then asked, “How long have you lived alone?”

Bianbian, dragging a broom much taller than herself, thought carefully for a moment, then shook her head: “I don’t know.”

A flicker of heartache crossed Zhu Yuan’s eyes, but he didn’t dwell on the matter. He took the broom and cleaned up as quickly as possible, while Bian Bian, holding her little bear, watched from the side, a little happy.

Having an uncle clean up was much faster than doing it herself.

“Uncle Zhu Yuan, I’ve soaked your clothes, but I can’t wash them.” Bian Bian said this with a bit of guilt. Her underlying meaning was, “Uncle, please wash the clothes quickly so that once they’re dry, you can change out of Grandpa’s clothes.”

Zhu Yuan looked into the basin in the bathroom and chuckled. After years of struggling in the apocalypse, most of the time when clothes got dirty or damaged, he would just find a new set at a clothing store.

Food was hard to find, but clothes were quite easy to come by.

Looking at his clothes neatly soaking in the basin, a strange warmth welled up in his heart. He instinctively reached out to pat Bianbian’s head, but felt a resistance, and then his hand was bounced back.

Zhu Yuan: “?”

He looked at his hand somewhat strangely. A moment later, meeting Bianbian’s beautiful, clear eyes, he thought it might be Bianbian’s unconscious release of ability, to protect her.

“Okay, I’ll wash it later. Thank you, Bianbian.”

“You’re welcome,” the little girl said softly, then mustered up her courage, “Uncle Zhuyuan, could you please cook some noodles for me?”

The little girl turned and picked up the instant noodles, her big eyes looking at Zhuyuan expectantly. This was the first time she had asked a stranger for help, but she thought that since Uncle Zhuyuan had asked her for help, it would be okay for her to ask Uncle Zhuyuan for help in return.

“Grandpa’s noodles are delicious, but I can’t reach, so I can’t cook them.”

Zhu Yuan asked, “How do you usually eat?”

The little girl pointed to the instant noodles, then to the water.

Zhu Yuan’s heart ached, unable to imagine a little girl just a few years old living all by herself.

He guessed that Bianbian and her grandfather depended on each other, but something happened to her grandfather.

Moreover, through the various metal protections in the house, it can be concluded that Bianbian’s grandfather was a metal-element ability user.

And a very strong one, the box of crystals was the best proof.

That’s why they could settle here.

Although Little Bianbian possessed the most mysterious superpower, she was too young to control it. She couldn’t call for help and had to live alone.

Zhu Yuan took the instant noodles and went to the kitchen. He saw that all the kitchen utensils were complete, and a scene popped into his head: an old woman busy in the kitchen, with Little Bianbian hopping around beside her.

Opening the cupboard, he was pleasantly surprised to find rice inside!

Now even Zhu Yuan was craving it. With rice and a gas tank, it meant they could have a proper hot meal. He himself hadn’t had a hot meal in a long time and missed it dearly.

Swallowing hard, he turned around and said, “Bianbian, do you want to eat rice?”

Bianbian’s eyes lit up, and she nodded heavily. She could only eat fragrant rice when Grandpa was around; she couldn’t cook it herself.

Bianbian hadn’t eaten rice in a long time, almost forgetting its taste.

Then, as if remembering something, she reached out and tugged at Zhu Yuan’s sleeve, her grape-like eyes seemingly sparkling: “I went to a supermarket yesterday, and it had so many things, even pickled mustard greens.”

Pickled mustard greens with rice, that’s a perfect match.

The reason Bianbian didn’t take the pickled mustard greens yesterday was because they were too salty. Eating them would only make her thirsty, and water was more precious than food. Bianbian, with her small arms and legs, couldn’t carry much water when she went out to find it.

Yesterday, dragging back ten bottles of mineral water was the limit of Bianbian’s physical strength.

Zhu Yuan never expected there would still be an unswept supermarket nearby. He raised his wrist and looked at the watch on it.

It was four in the afternoon, the rain outside had stopped, and the sun was out. Feeling the condition of his powers, going to the supermarket to find pickled vegetables would be no problem.

His gaze shifted, noticing the large apple on the table. He didn’t think much of it, only assuming the large apple was also brought back by Bianbian from the supermarket, which indicated there were many good things in the supermarket.

No matter what, I should go and improve Xiao Bianbian’s meals!

“Okay, let’s go to the supermarket!”

Bianbian was so happy she almost jumped, excitedly patting her pockets.

Zhu Yuan, on the other hand, looked for a weapon. He remembered his gun had fallen downstairs, so he went to the balcony to look down, but only saw the corpse of the zombie he had killed, and his gun was gone.

Zhu Yuan’s heart tightened.

There are two reasons why the gun is missing: either a zombie picked it up or a person picked it up.

No matter which one it was, his injury hadn’t fully healed, and perhaps he shouldn’t take risks at this time.

But seeing Bianbian happily remove the chair propped against the door and the water hanging on the doorknob, and thinking that she probably hadn’t eaten hot food for a long time, he really couldn’t bear to spoil her mood.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “Bianbian, will you wait for me at home? I’ll go get it.”

“But you don’t know where it is,” Bianbian said.

Zhu Yuan had forgotten about that, and after a few seconds of looking at each other with the little girl, he finally had to take Bianbian with him, determined to protect her.

As soon as he stepped out the door, Zhu Yuan was startled by the sealed metal wall upstairs. His face immediately changed, and he quickly picked up Bianbian, retreated back inside, and closed the door.

Breathing rapidly, cold sweat ran down his back, pulling at the wound on his chest, but he completely ignored it.

There was actually a high-level zombie upstairs, with extremely high pressure, at least level three, and possibly even level four!

Bianbian: “?”

“Uncle Zhuyuan, what’s wrong?” She was startled by Zhuyuan’s sudden movement.

Zhu Yuan swallowed hard, his throat tight, and looked down at the little girl: “Bianbian, have you and Grandpa always lived here?”

Bianbian nodded.

“Do you know upstairs…” The terrifying pressure of a high-level zombie made Zhu Yuan’s scalp tingle. How did little Bianbian and her grandpa live under the pressure of a high-level zombie?

Before she could finish speaking, the little girl sadly lowered her head, golden tears falling. She raised her small hand to wipe them away, and whispered, “That’s Grandpa.”

Zhu Yuan: “…”

Zhu Yuan: “???”

Zhu Yuan: “!!!”

Meanwhile, on Xiu Jin’s side, seeing Zhu Yuan actually pick up his precious daughter, his face immediately darkened. He kept pulling at Zhu Yuan’s hand until his precious daughter was out of Zhu Yuan’s clutches before he stopped.

Considering this kid is going to cook for his precious daughter, he won’t dwell on it.

But this kid made his precious daughter cry, and Xiu Jin felt a surge of anger again.

However, seeing this kid so scared by Lu Yu upstairs, he inexplicably felt a sense of schadenfreude.

“Dare to have ulterior motives towards my precious daughter, and I’ll let Lu Yu bite you to death!”