In the apocalypse era.
Mutated creatures grew at an alarming rate. After a torrential, polluted downpour, even plants began to grow wildly—let alone other life forms.
Creatures that crawled up from the ocean quickly occupied the land, and they were now invading in an organized manner.
But these were still manageable.
In the early stage, mutated creatures were similar to early-stage ability users—roughly equal in combat power.
They could be dealt with.
The real problem was the environment.
The first trouble the seven-person team encountered was a mutated kapok tree.
It had grown over ten meters tall. Its seed pods became much larger, and when they split open, the cotton inside was no longer soft and harmless—it exploded outward like a blast, filling the sky and ground.
These cotton fibers not only blocked vision but also caused severe respiratory diseases when inhaled.
The entire outdoors was filled with floating cotton.
Even Zhao Pingsheng wasn’t at ease. He personally came down from the third floor today, watching them put on their combat suits.
“Old Zhang really has good craftsmanship,” he said.
The new combat suits looked thick and durable, yet still breathable.
Wu Zhe tightened his belt and laughed. “Of course! Zhang-ge’s skills are top-tier!”
Gao Lei adjusted his collar.
Luo Na looked worriedly outside. “Oh my god, it’s all cotton fluff. Just looking at it makes me want to sneeze. Not friendly at all for allergy sufferers.”
Huo Ling was putting on his gloves. The black leather gloves wrapped neatly around his long fingers, outlining a restrained and dangerously attractive aura.
Lin Shuangshuang stared blankly at him.
Her memory had reset again last night. When she opened her eyes, she saw her ex-boyfriend—and nearly fainted from shock and joy.
Huo Ling had frowned at the time, looking very displeased and scary. She almost didn’t survive that moment, but she faked confusion and got through it.
Only later did she check her memo and realize they had already reunited the day before and she had joined his team.
They had also held an important meeting yesterday, deciding to head toward a nearby town this morning to search for uncontaminated supplies.
But the drifting cotton fluff made everything dangerous.
Zhao Pingsheng reminded them, “Luo Na is a fire-type ability user. Be extremely careful.”
Luo Na was tying up her long hair. “Relax, I’m not Xiao Wu. I know what I’m doing.”
“I won’t use my ability unless necessary.”
Wu Zhe immediately protested, “Hey! I’m not stupid either, I know this stuff!”
Gao Lei added, “Not necessarily.”
Luo Na burst out laughing.
The three of them continued bickering noisily.
Zhao Pingsheng sighed helplessly again. “If anything happens, retreat immediately. The humidity is still high after the rain, but if even a spark hits that cotton…”
“It could trigger a catastrophic fire.”
It was extremely dangerous.
Huo Ling zipped his suit up to his chin. “Got it.”
The other three also promised to be careful.
Zhao Pingsheng then looked at Lin Shuangshuang. The girl mimicked Huo Ling, pulling her zipper all the way up to her chin, standing straight like a soldier—cool and sharp.
He thought, No wonder they used to date.
He wanted to remind them it was her first time out gathering supplies and to take care of her—but then felt he was overthinking.
After hesitating, he finally just smiled. “Nothing else. Go ahead. Contact me if anything happens.”
They all said okay.
Lin Shuangshuang straightened her chest. She felt reliable.
Even though her memory had reset again—
she knew what she needed to do.
Main point: gather supplies.
The mobile fortress, like a giant hermit crab, waved its mechanical claws and moved forward through the mutated sea creatures toward the destination.
Before reaching the town, it dropped off the five-person team. Their transport this time was hover motorcycles.
Huo Ling with Lin Shuangshuang, Luo Na with Wu Zhe, and Gao Lei riding alone.
Lin Shuangshuang was very obedient—she did whatever she was told. When her ex-boyfriend handed her a helmet, she put it on immediately. When he got on the bike, she followed.
Then she hugged his waist.
Huo Ling sneered. “You’re pretty familiar with this. Did I even say I’d take you?”
Lin Shuangshuang blinked blankly. “Then… should I ride his?”
She pointed at Gao Lei.
Gao Lei jolted and immediately accelerated away on his reddish-brown hover bike, fleeing the scene.
Luo Na was a step slower and sighed in regret. “If you really rode with us, he’d still be unhappy anyway.”
She glanced at Lin Shuangshuang and quickly smiled. “Sorry, Xiao Shuangshuang, no space on my back seat.”
Then she also sped off with Wu Zhe.
…
Huo Ling clearly had intended to tease her—but the moment she actually looked like she might ride with someone else, he still got annoyed.
He darkened his face. “Hold on tight.”
Then he sped off.
The hover bikes were modified by Zhang Dapeng—silent, fast, and didn’t attract zombies or mutated creatures.
The town was already in ruins.
Mutated plants had broken through the asphalt roads and climbed over buildings.
Zombies wandered everywhere.
Huo Ling used his psychic ability to herd them, splitting zombie groups into smaller zones for easier elimination.
Wu Zhe, the earth-type user, caused the ground to open like a mouth and swallow zombies. When it closed again, only energy cores remained.
Due to his level, he could only handle one target at a time—slow but effective.
Gao Lei, a petrification user, turned zombies’ legs to stone, immobilizing them for cleanup.
Luo Na couldn’t use fire here due to environmental risk, so she provided cover and support.
As for Huo Ling—his combat ability was as ruthless as his personality. He controlled the strongest zombie to kill its own subordinates, maximizing efficiency.
His core collection speed was the fastest; the bag on his handlebar quickly filled halfway.
Lin Shuangshuang was also extremely skilled. This was her specialty. She picked up a steel pipe and began extracting cores from zombie heads.
Her speed was also very fast.
The five of them pushed forward while fighting.
There were simply too many zombies.
There were also mutated plants and birds in the sky, so the hover bikes couldn’t fly too high.
“Bang!”
Luo Na kicked open a shop door and peeked inside.
“Ugh, it’s a fishing gear store. Is this even useful??”
Gao Lei suddenly remembered something. “Take it. Maybe Zhang-ge can use it.”
Luo Na immediately replied, “Got it!”