Shen Mu had been staying in his secret base for nearly a month.
Since the apocalypse began, he could still see supplies in that mysterious space increasing or decreasing. But it seemed the owner had noticed items going missing and taken precautions—he hadn’t found anything at the boundary anymore.
Still, he had to admit—the wild vegetable buns he picked up before were really delicious.
He had stored plenty of supplies before the apocalypse, so even though there were many chances to loot for free, he didn’t bother. His focus was on improving his abilities and his space.
Both required zombie crystal cores.
From his previous life, he knew these cores usually appeared about six months after the apocalypse. But now, with his knowledge, he had an advantage.
Some high-level ability users had revealed that a few zombies actually formed cores right from the beginning.
These zombies were easy to identify—they were more intelligent. Most of them gathered into groups, forming small factions. If you found a group, there was likely a high-level zombie among them.
These early high-level zombies would usually become future zombie kings.
This information hadn’t been very useful in his past life, but now it was crucial.
Over the past month, Shen Mu had been traveling constantly, searching for these zombies. He found five such groups and successfully obtained five cores.
With these, he upgraded to a level-two mental attack ability.
Unfortunately, they were all level-one cores. If they had been level-two, he would only need two.
Still, he told himself this was already very good—he had surpassed most people.
In his previous life, Shen Ke and the others only rose to power between the third and fifth years. So now, they should still be weak.
Without their space and money this time, they should be struggling even more.
And they were—but not materially. Their struggle was emotional.
Although Cheng Feng and Shen Mu had disrupted their plans, they still had enough supplies to live comfortably for years.
But people are never satisfied.
Their dreams of power clashed with their current limitations. Their former wealthy life clashed with their current reality.
Once dissatisfaction set in, arguments became constant.
That day, Jiang Yun was cooking again. Shen Ke and his father were still sleeping upstairs with the air conditioner running—powered by a generator.
She had told them many times to conserve fuel, but they ignored her.
Shen Ke even said, “With electricity, you’ll always have hot water. You won’t freeze while doing chores. I’d feel bad if your hands got hurt.”
Jiang Yun placed a lobster into hot water, her eyes cold.
He cared about her hands—but ignored the fact that she did all the housework, even washing their socks and underwear. She gagged at the thought.
If she had stronger abilities, she would have already…
She suppressed the murderous thought.
Then she thought of her dream—how things should have been. It was all ruined by Cheng Feng and Shen Mu.
At mealtime, her suppressed anger finally exploded.
She had called them to eat from noon until nearly 2 p.m. before they came down.
Shen’s father saw the lobster and immediately took the whole thing for himself.
Shen Ke froze, then got angry. “You only made one? Are we running out of food?”
Jiang Yun slammed her chopsticks down. “If you want more, cook it yourself!”
She had told them countless times to conserve supplies.
She stormed upstairs.
As she left, she heard Shen’s father say while eating, “…such a bad temper… should replace her…”
She slammed the door.
Two hours later, starving, she came downstairs—only to find nothing left.
At that moment, she realized the truth.
They treated her like a free servant.
She rushed to the kitchen and took out a bigger lobster, a steak, and precious vegetables, and cooked for herself.
If they wouldn’t treat her well, she wouldn’t hold back anymore.
Soon, the smell drew them downstairs—and the house erupted into chaos once again.