For the past two days, Chen Qingzhou and Gu Nuan had been living peacefully in the RV, spending their time watching dramas and eating together. Chen Qingzhou had been the one cooking these last couple of days, and surprisingly, he turned out to have quite a talent for it.
Why has everything been so quiet lately?
Because all the zombies were undergoing the baptism of the black rain. They stood motionless in the downpour without making a single move. Chen Qingzhou used his spiritual sense to investigate and discovered that crystal cores had begun forming inside many of the zombies’ brains. The colour of each crystal core corresponded to the zombie’s ability. The lowest grade was white, followed by yellow, while the strongest were red. However, very few zombies were able to form red crystal cores. These crystal cores could also increase the cultivation of ability users, which was why, later in the apocalypse, countless ability users fought desperately to seize them.
“What are you thinking about?” Gu Nuan asked as she waved a hand in front of Chen Qingzhou after noticing him spacing out.
“Nothing. Crystal cores have started appearing inside the zombies’ brains. That means the black rain is about to end.”
“You mean… we should go collect the crystal cores now?”
Chen Qingzhou rubbed her head with a smile.
“Very smart. The black rain is still falling, and the zombies can’t fight back.”
Gu Nuan immediately remembered the uses of crystal cores. She took raincoats, rain boots, gloves, and helmets out of her System Space for Chen Qingzhou. Once he had put everything on, he was ready to leave.
“Be careful,” Gu Nuan reminded him worriedly.
“Don’t worry! Stay in the RV and wait for me. I’ll be back soon.”
With that, Chen Qingzhou picked up his broadsword and got out of the vehicle. After stepping outside, he spread his spiritual sense and found a large concentration of zombies roughly two kilometres to his left.
Perfect! He would go there.
He found a car inside the parking garage, smashed the window, started the engine, and drove off.
Although she knew Chen Qingzhou would be fine, Gu Nuan still couldn’t stop worrying. Since there were no zombies nearby, she put on her raincoat, rain boots, and helmet before waiting at the entrance to the car park for him. As she waited, boredom soon set in, so she took out a chair and a handheld game console and started playing an offline game.
When Chen Qingzhou reached his destination, he was stunned.
Good heavens! There were even more zombies than he had detected earlier.
Excellent! Time to make this a big harvest.
Without any hesitation, he swung his broadsword, cutting down the zombies one after another as easily as chopping vegetables. Some of them had crystal cores, while others did not.
Before long, sparkling crystal cores covered the ground.
Chen Qingzhou took out a large black rubbish bag and began collecting them. Once it was full, he resumed chopping through the zombies. By the time he had finished clearing the entire area, he had filled two large bags with crystal cores.
Checking his watch, he realised he had been gone for almost four hours. Worried that Gu Nuan would be anxious, he quickly loaded the bags into the car and hurried back.
Meanwhile, Gu Nuan gradually grew sleepy while playing her game. Chen Qingzhou still hadn’t returned, and before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep.
From a distance, Chen Qingzhou spotted her sitting at the entrance to the car park.
Why had this woman come out here to wait for him? Hadn’t he told her to stay inside the RV?
Hearing the sound of the approaching engine, Gu Nuan rubbed her eyes just as Chen Qingzhou pulled up beside her.
“It’s so cold outside. Why did you come out here to wait?”
“I was worried about you. I wanted to be the first to see you when you came back.”
Having just woken up, her voice was slightly hoarse.
“Get in.”
Gu Nuan put away her chair and climbed into the car.
They drove back beside their RV. Chen Qingzhou got out and dragged two completely full rubbish bags from the back seat.
“Wow, that’s so many!”
“There were loads of zombies over there. Put these into your System Space and wash them.”
As he spoke, he removed his raincoat, rain boots, and helmet and tossed them into the borrowed car.
Gu Nuan stored the crystal cores inside her System Space and placed them directly into the stream to be washed clean.
“You must be hungry. Come and eat something.”
She took out roasted sweet potatoes and roasted corn, all of which had been prepared earlier inside the System Space. Among the supplies she had collected was an oven.
“What would you like to drink?”
“I’d like something cold.”
Gu Nuan handed Chen Qingzhou a glass of iced Sprite while she poured herself some orange juice.
“This sweet potato is incredibly sweet. As expected from something grown in the System Space.”
“Eat more slowly.”
Chen Qingzhou wiped a smear of sweet potato from the corner of her mouth.
Was it really that delicious?
Recently, Gu Nuan’s tastes have become incredibly unpredictable. One moment she craved spicy food, the next she wanted sweets. She could even eat those unbelievably sour green plums without any trouble.
A pregnant woman’s appetite really was impossible to understand.
After they finished eating, Gu Nuan flopped onto the bed.
“Ah… this feels wonderful. My morning sickness hasn’t been nearly as bad these past two days.”
“It really has improved.”
“I can finally enjoy delicious food again.”
Chen Qingzhou lay down beside her and wrapped an arm around her.
“Thank you for everything, sweetheart.”
“It isn’t hard at all. Every time I think about our three babies growing inside me, I feel so happy. Do you think they’ll be boys or girls? It would be wonderful if we had both, then we’d have a son and a daughter.”
Chen Qingzhou gently rested his hand on her stomach.
“I hope so too. But who knows? Boy or girl, I’ll love them all the same.”
After resting for a while, Gu Nuan took out all the crystal cores.
“Are you going to absorb them now?”
After giving it some thought, Chen Qingzhou decided to use all of the white crystal cores first.
“Yes.”
“Then sit on the sofa and absorb them. I’m going to sleep for a while. I’m still so sleepy.”
“Alright. Go get some rest.”
Chen Qingzhou began absorbing the white crystal cores. In truth, there weren’t very many white ones from today’s hunt. Yellow crystal cores made up the majority, while there were also a handful of red ones.
He spent the entire night refining the energy within the crystal cores. After using every white crystal core along with several yellow ones, his abilities finally advanced to Level 2.
When he opened his eyes and extended his spiritual threads, he discovered he could now observe an area nearly one hundred kilometres away.
His lightning ability had also become significantly stronger.
Turning around, he noticed that Gu Nuan had kicked off her blanket again.
He tucked it back over her, and she slowly woke up.
“You’re awake.”
“Mmm. Good morning! How did it go?”
“My abilities have reached Level 2.”
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
Gu Nuan clapped excitedly.
She got out of bed and began making breakfast while Chen Qingzhou spread his spiritual threads to inspect the surroundings.
The black rain had stopped.
Just like in his previous life, it had lasted only three days.
“What should we have for breakfast? Steamed eggs and soup dumplings?”
“Sounds great.”
After breakfast, they prepared to leave.
Not long afterwards, Wang Gang and the rest of his team came downstairs.
“Are you leaving too?” Wang Gang asked.
“Yes! The black rain has ended, so it’s time for us to move on.”
“Would you like to travel with us? Oh, and I’ve awakened an ice ability. What about you?”
“Congratulations! I have a lightning ability.”
Chen Qingzhou deliberately mentioned only one of his abilities. Even though it was already the apocalypse, it was always wise to stay cautious.
“Oh, another member of our team also has a lightning ability.”
“Then congratulations. Your team has become much stronger.”
“Haha. Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” Wang Gang invited once more.
“No thanks, I prefer travelling on my own.”
Seeing that Chen Qingzhou had no intention of changing his mind, Wang Gang did not press the matter any further. After all, they were heading in the same direction anyway.
Chen Qingzhou and Gu Nuan set off once more.
Because Gu Nuan had become especially sleepy over the past two days, she no longer sat in the passenger seat. Instead, she curled up beneath the blankets and slept soundly in the back. Chen Qingzhou worried she would sleep for too long, so he regularly woke her.
Just like now.
“Nuan Nuan. Nuan Nuan. Sweetheart, wake up. You’ve been asleep for almost two hours.”
“Huh? I’m awake.”
After sitting up, Gu Nuan realised he was right. She had slept for nearly two hours.
Feeling thirsty, she took out a bottle of yoghurt and a plate of fruit, then handed Chen Qingzhou a can of cola.
“Here, have a bite.”
She fed him a grape.
The two of them were living like immortals.
In the apocalypse, most people struggled just to find enough food to survive, yet they were still able to enjoy fresh fruit.
That was the greatest advantage of having the System Space.