Wei Jiawen and Shi Qiao came downstairs—the noise earlier had been made by them. They had just woken up and discovered that they had awakened abilities.
Wang Che turned to look at them. “The food is on the table. What abilities did you awaken?”
The two were starving. They buried their heads and quickly finished a bowl of rice, then went to refill another.
After finishing two bowls, Wei Jiawen finally had time to speak. “When I woke up, there were vines all around my bed. It scared me—I think it’s a wood-type ability.”
Shi Qiao also slowed down his eating. “When I woke up, I was hard.”
Everyone: …??? Is that something we’re supposed to hear?
Shi Qiao added, “And it’s long-lasting.”
Wang Xin and Gu Cheng’s faces immediately turned red, while Wei Jiawen looked envious. “Brother, that ability of yours… pretty impressive. I’m seriously jealous.”
Shi Qiao rarely rolled his eyes. “What nonsense are you thinking! It’s a metal ability. When I woke up, my whole body was covered in metal, so I felt hard. I can retract it and return to normal.”
Wei Jiawen became even more envious. Thinking of his own soft vines, he almost felt embarrassed to show them. “Boss, what about you guys? What abilities did you awaken?”
Wang Che replied, “I awakened a storage space. Wang Xin has healing, Gu Cheng has water. The others haven’t woken up yet.”
Wang Che wasn’t sure about his other ability, so he didn’t mention it.
After eating, the five of them gathered to explore their abilities together. Soon, the other three also came downstairs.
Gu Cheng replaced the food on the table with a fresh spread. The three were starving as well and each ate two to three bowls.
After patiently waiting for them to finish, Gu Cheng asked, “What abilities did you awaken?”
Lu Ning shook her head. “I’m not sure, but I feel like my hearing and vision have improved. I could hear you talking from upstairs.”
“Then it should be enhanced five senses.”
Chen Chuan conjured a ball of flame in his hand. “I think I’m fire-type. I almost set my room on fire when I woke up.”
Fu Zhe enjoyed Wang Xin’s attentive care. “I’m lightning. When I woke up, there was an electric current running through my body. Like when I’m with Xinxin—getting shocked.”
Everyone felt a wave of goosebumps. This was not a place to linger—they left the storage space to the lovey-dovey couple.
Just earlier, when Fu Zhe came downstairs, Wang Xin had rushed over, hugged him enthusiastically, and kissed him without caring about anyone else watching.
Wang Che was already numb—his carefully raised “cabbage” had finally been taken by a “pig.”
Unlike her older brother’s frustration, Wang Xin was full of sweetness. Fu Zhe had finally let go of his concerns and made their relationship official.
After everyone digested and discussed their abilities, they tested the rain outside and confirmed it was normal. They decided to patrol the villa district to see if there were really zombies.
Putting on tactical jackets and raincoats, wearing masks, and each carrying a Tang sword, they headed out.
Some people had already begun awakening abilities one after another, but more were still ordinary people who hadn’t even developed fevers and didn’t understand why those around them suddenly had.
Using her keen hearing, Lu Ning identified four houses with abnormalities. Shi Qiao used his metal ability to open the first security door. Inside was a fingerprint lock, but due to the continuous rain, the solar-powered system had stopped working, and the electronic lock could be pushed open easily.
A foul stench mixed with growling rushed toward them. Wang Che raised his hand and slashed—the zombie’s head fell to the ground.
The people behind him all turned pale, especially the three girls, who leaned against the wall and vomited.
Three more zombies rushed out. Wang Che let the other four handle them. The four coordinated well and were skilled, but they were still disgusted—the sensation of cutting through a neck was deeply unsettling. Blood and rotting flesh splattered everywhere, leaving them feeling awful.
The interior was dark. Wang Che used his ability to sense the surroundings and signaled that no one else was inside. After entering, they casually looked around. They didn’t take any food or water—somewhat disgusted by it—but went upstairs and collected many antiques, gold, jewelry, and rare Hermès pieces. Gu Cheng stored everything into the storage space for future use—such as holding crystal cores.
Using the same method, they cleared three more houses and gathered plenty of antiques and gold. They didn’t need food, so they left it for others.
Wang Che realized that in the darkness, he didn’t need to rely on his eyes—he could perceive his surroundings through sensing.
After Xue Chao woke up, he awakened a speed ability.
After taking stock of the team, they found that many in the military hadn’t been as fortunate. Out of the fifty-person team, ten had turned into zombies—fortunately, they had been isolated in advance. Ten had awakened abilities, while the rest hadn’t.
After Wang Che’s group returned and cleaned up, Xue Chao came over to exchange information.
Upon learning that all eight of them had awakened abilities, he couldn’t help but admire them—they were practically chosen by fate.
He also brought news: among Chu Xiuyuan’s group of four, three had awakened abilities.
Chu Xiuyuan had awakened two abilities. One was very special—corrosion, releasing a poisonous mist that could cause people to faint, weaken, or even be corroded after inhaling a certain amount. His other ability was wind.
Jiang Li had also awakened healing. Another girl hadn’t awakened anything, but she had possessed precognition even before the incident.
There was also Zhou Tong, who awakened enhanced strength. He had already been skilled in combat, making him even more formidable.
Lu Ning shook her head and interrupted, “I heard that Zhou Tong also has an invisibility ability. He deliberately hid it to make things easier for himself later—to gather information.”
Xue Chao hadn’t expected them to conceal such things. Invisibility was a troublesome ability.
Listening to everyone’s abilities, Gu Cheng looked at her own small water skill and couldn’t help but sigh. As expected of the male and female leads—their companions even had invisibility. She was extremely envious.
“Sigh, I should’ve just shot them earlier. Watching my enemies grow stronger like this is really frustrating.”
The others: …
Coincidentally, Jiang Li was thinking the same thing—why hadn’t Gu Cheng turned into a zombie?
Seeing the men around Gu Cheng and Wang Xin—all ability users and quite powerful—she resolved to carefully plan how to kill Gu Cheng and then recruit the others.
Hearing that Wang Che had a storage space ability, Jiang Li knew he must have stockpiled many valuable supplies. In the entire villa district, only Wang Che’s team could still eat fresh, hot meals. Others had exhausted their solar power and could only rely on dry rations—those in better conditions had self-heating pots or rice.
Jiang Li’s group had just finished their last self-heating meal and could only start eating bread.
She even resented Gu Cheng for opposing her. If not for Gu Cheng, Wang Che would definitely have joined her team. It had to be Gu Cheng and Wang Xin interfering.
Military personnel without abilities helped the villa district survivors prepare for disasters, while those with abilities organized teams to clear zombies around the villas. On the first day, the surrounding area was cleared, and they began expanding outward, striving to rescue more survivors.
Wang Che required all eight members of his team to go out daily to clear zombies—not to save survivors, but to strengthen their team.
Newly awakened abilities needed practice. Only through fighting zombies could they gradually master their skills while also improving physical fitness, reaction speed, and team coordination.
The environment outside was extremely harsh. Light rain continued to fall, floodwaters hadn’t receded, and the air was filled with stench—garbage and floating corpses were everywhere. Many bodies had bloated grotesquely from soaking in water.
Aside from Wang Che, who had an unusually strong mentality, and Xue Chao, who had undergone frequent drills, the others vomited repeatedly.
In the end, feeling sorry for Gu Cheng and Wang Xin, Wang Che used his ability to create a storage space barrier over several inflatable boats, blocking the stench.
Wei Jiawen stared at the barrier in shock. “Boss, if you had something this amazing, why didn’t you use it earlier? I’ve practically vomited my bile out!”
The others didn’t say it out loud, but they thought the same.
Wang Che showed no remorse at all. “I didn’t throw up, so it didn’t occur to me.”
If they weren’t unable to beat him, they would have already thrown him off the boat.