Lu Jingze and the others had faced far more difficult situations before the apocalypse, so they adapted quickly. In a short while, they washed up and ate some simple food before heading over to meet the others next door.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Tian Le walked over to open the door. Seeing the people at the entrance, he smiled slightly.
Since they were still unfamiliar and had been traveling all morning, he hadn’t done much else except hold Ji Tianyi in the car. Moreover, Tian Le had chosen research as his field partly because he wasn’t very good at social interactions.
He made a cup of coffee for Ji Heng and quietly sat down beside him.
It was just the beginning of the apocalypse, yet Ji Heng’s team had already begun to take shape. Everyone following him had a supernatural ability, and by the end of the apocalypse, they would all be renowned figures.
After a night of awakening abilities and gathering supplies while traveling, Ji Heng hadn’t had time to study these people in detail.
“How far is the nearest warehouse?” Ji Heng asked Bai Qingyu.
“President Ji, about 20 kilometers. Under normal, non-traffic conditions, we should reach it in half an hour.”
“Mm, you and Sun Ye study tonight if there’s a better route we can take.”
“Understood.”
“After using your supernatural abilities for a day, have you noticed any differences?”
Ji Heng felt that his own ability had become more solid and skillful. At this rate, it would definitely continue to improve, though the trigger for the next upgrade was still unknown.
“My ability feels much more controllable. At least I can manage the parts I want to control,” Lu Jingze said, recalling how he had almost demolished an entire door while trying to adjust a handle earlier in the day.
“I think I can sustain my supernatural ability for much longer. At first, I would get dizzy in under five minutes, but now I can go nearly twenty minutes before needing a break,” Jiang Lijia explained.
The others reported similar progress.
“Is it possible that zombies have something like a crystal core in their heads, like in the novels?”
Cai Yan’s question made everyone fall into thought.
If that were the case, perhaps they should attack more zombies instead of constantly avoiding them.
“Good. We’ll verify that naturally over this period,” Ji Heng said, avoiding useless speculation.
Tian Le wanted to say that Cai Yan was correct—that there really was a crystal core—but he didn’t know how to explain why he knew so much. After hesitating, he realized Ji Heng had already made a decision.
Ji Heng really was a dominating figure and willing to try. With resources collected, someone like him would almost certainly succeed.
Wang Facai was the last to wash up, and he hadn’t even had time to drink water.
Now that they could relax, he didn’t hesitate: “President Ji, do you have any water here?”
“You’re silly. Of course I do,” Jiang Lijia patted his arm.
“Hehe~ I forgot. I’ll get a cup then. I want some water.”
Water? Right. Since the heavy rain, many water sources and soil had been contaminated. In the coming days, outbreaks would occur, and more people would inexplicably turn into zombies.
But it wasn’t really inexplicable. Tian Le remembered data showing that all of this was caused by the contamination from the storm.
People had no food or safe water, and when basic needs couldn’t be met, they had no time to think about anything else. Drinking water at home was even worse without proper filtration, allowing the virus to spread freely. The results were predictable.
“Ji Heng, for water later, we should use sealed sources or the water Jiang Lijia makes. Today on the road, we saw many water sources contaminated. There might be a virus,” Tian Le said, frowning as if afraid of infection.
“Yes, everyone should be careful. Don’t consume anything unknown—many things are infected.” Ji Heng had almost forgotten about the bottled water they’d been drinking all day, but thankfully Tian Le reminded him.
He looked at Tian Le with a gentle gaze. Indeed, Shen Xu, the secretary he had hired, was excellent. Several times, he had given useful suggestions at critical moments.
Tian Le saw satisfaction in his eyes and wondered what that meant.
“Waaah~”
In everyone else’s eyes, as the President and the little secretary shared a tender look, the baby sleeping in the bedroom woke up.
“Baby, I’m coming,” Tian Le said reflexively, standing and rushing to the room.
He was patient, softly coaxing Ji Tianyi. As the crying subsided and the little head gradually cleared, the tears still lingered at the corners of his eyes.
“Daddy~ I’m so hot. I feel like I’m roasting.”
“It’s okay. I’ll have Cai Yan get you some ice toys, alright?”
“Okay, fine.”
Ji Tianyi looked uncomfortable, his little face flushed. Tian Le noticed how hot he seemed.
“Ji Heng, look. Could Tianyi be about to awaken his supernatural ability?”
“What?” Although awakening abilities wasn’t unusual, Ji Heng hadn’t considered that such a small child could be an ability user.
He observed the little one, who was groggy and confused, his eyes red. Ji Heng reached out to check his temperature.
Tian Le thought Ji Heng was going to pick up the child and stretched his hands forward. Ji Tianyi, thinking Dad was going to hold him, reached out too—and a stream of fire suddenly erupted.
Fire snakes shot straight toward Ji Heng’s face.
“Whoa.”
“President Ji.”
“Watch out!”
Voices mixed in a chaotic chorus.
Lu Jingze and the others had initially just watched quietly, curious about Young Master Ji, whose mother remained unknown to them.
Seeing the fire snakes appear, each of them instinctively used their own still-undeveloped abilities to protect.
After the abilities settled, everyone saw Ji Heng covered in water, ice, and dirt, standing there with a dark expression. He glanced at Lu Jingze and the others, then silently turned toward the bathroom to shower.
“Pff~ hahahaha.” Tian Le couldn’t help laughing. He hadn’t intended to, but the scene was just too funny. He wondered how Lu Jingze and the others had managed to keep a straight face.
“You all okay?”
Seeing them frowning or sitting silently, Tian Le, after laughing, wondered if he had been too unkind and decided to comfort them.
“We’re fine for now. Later, not so much.”
“There was a Secretary Chen who spilled coffee all over President Ji once; he was sent to mine coal for half a year.”
“I just smeared dirt on President Ji’s face! I’m so scared now,” Wang Facai trembled on the sofa.
“Daddy, did Tianyi do something wrong?”
Tian Le looked at the baby, whose face had cleared and returned to normal color. He felt a little relieved.
“It’s okay. You just awakened your ability and haven’t learned to control it yet. That’s normal.”
“Young Master Ji, are you also a fire-type ability user? But why is your ability so different from my small flames?”
Qiao Xia asked, puzzled, while demonstrating the flames she had practiced with all day. They were already much larger than when she first awakened. But compared to the fire snakes Ji Tianyi had just unleashed, hers looked like a mere trifle.