One month after the apocalypse, the authorities finally regained control and began rebuilding order.
Due to mutated plants, zombies, and mutated beasts, human living areas had been severely damaged. Power plants and communication stations had become territories of mutated plants, leaving many regions without signal.
Fortunately, there had been prior planning before the apocalypse. Satellite signals were activated, along with radio broadcasts, allowing official information to reach at least 80% of the population.
The first official announcement included the following:
Wu Ke had only been working for two years. To save money, she lived in a shared apartment. After news of the apocalypse spread, her roommates all went home, leaving her behind.
Her family strongly favored sons over daughters. When the apocalypse rumors appeared, her family only asked her for money and never showed concern—not even trying to persuade her to return home.
She knew that even if she gave everything, life wouldn’t be good if she went back, so she chose to stay in the city.
Since her roommates had left, she temporarily had control of the apartment.
As for the landlord? Probably owned too many properties to notice. Until the apocalypse arrived, she lived there without issue.
She used her savings to buy as many supplies as possible and even replaced the front door—her small investment in surviving the apocalypse.
She didn’t know how long her supplies would last or how long she would survive.
Fortunately, she neither became an ability user nor turned into a zombie. She moved through the building, collecting supplies from the homes of those who had turned into zombies, even killing them with a knife—completing her transformation from a peaceful civilian to a survivor.
At the beginning of the apocalypse, when communication still existed, she received a message from her father.
He said her younger brother and mother had become zombies, while he remained a normal person. He asked if she had become an ability user.
When he learned she hadn’t, his tone immediately changed. He ordered her to return home to cook, clean, and take care of the family.
Wu Ke laughed. “Isn’t it just you left at home? So you want me to take care of you?”
A 50-year-old man stronger than her needed care? “Serve” would be more accurate.
He became angry. “What’s wrong with taking care of me? I raised you—you should repay me! Your mother was right, you’re ungrateful!”
Wu Ke wasn’t hurt. She simply blocked him.
There was nothing to say to those who benefited from the system. Even if they knew they were wrong, they wouldn’t change—they had to protect their own interests.
As children, they relied on parents and sisters. As adults, they relied on wives and daughters. Later, they relied on daughters-in-law and granddaughters—this was the life of many such people.
There were three ability users in Wu Ke’s building. It wasn’t a large number, but not small either. Since most tenants had returned home, less than 30% remained, so having three ability users was already good.
They were all young—one man and two women—full of youthful passion. They formed a team to clear zombies, gather supplies, and build defenses. This rental building became their safe territory.
After receiving the official announcement, they learned the nearest safe base was in a nearby city. The three ability users decided to go.
They asked the team members. Including Wu Ke, all 20 ordinary people agreed to go together.
The future was uncertain. Going to the base might bring hope—or cost them their lives. No one knew. But they were willing to take the gamble.
Even when disheartened, young people still had courage.
Cheng Feng belonged to those who hadn’t received any information. But with knowledge from the original novel, he knew that official bases would begin forming around this time.
Joining a base now had pros and cons. The advantage was better treatment early on, as labor was needed. The downside was that everything was still uncertain, like crossing a river by feeling for stones.
Moreover, the base would later become chaotic. One wrong step, and he could end up as cannon fodder.
In the original story, the main characters only cooperated with the authorities later and rose to high positions after escorting scientists.
So Cheng Feng had no intention of joining a base. He planned to stay hidden in the mountains until the apocalypse ended.
The tiger cub had been born for a week. Whenever he went out to trade, he carried it with him.
The cub got hungry too quickly—if he didn’t feed it in time, it would cry endlessly.
It had only just opened its eyes and couldn’t find food on its own, so leaving it at home wasn’t an option.
Hearing it cry again from the cradle, Cheng Feng calmly stopped what he was doing, took out a prepared bottle, and fed it.
“Gulp, gulp…” The sound of drinking filled the room.
Looking at the half-awake little creature, Cheng Feng showed a helpless smile.
Raising a child was hard.
But when the fluffy little thing looked at him with its watery blue eyes, it all felt worth it.
“Cheng Xiaohu, Daddy is going to cook now. Be good and don’t make noise.”
Like many pet owners, he unconsciously took on the role of a parent, even calling himself “Daddy” and naming the cub Cheng Xiaohu.
“Awoo~” The cub responded before continuing to drink milk.
Seeing that it had calmed down, Cheng Feng continued his work.
While organizing his space yesterday, he found a lot of frozen chicken feet, duck feet, duck necks, and similar items. Craving them, he decided to cook a large batch of braised food to store and eat slowly.
Preparing these took time, so he brought out a cradle he had used as a child, placed Cheng Xiaohu inside, and moved it to the kitchen for easy care.
In addition to chicken feet, duck feet, duck necks, chicken gizzards, chicken hearts, duck organs, lotus root, tofu skin, dried bean curd sticks, and kelp, he also planned to braise pig intestines, pig heart, pig lungs, and beef.
All of these had been stored before the apocalypse, and cooking them now for future meals felt just right.