The heavy thud sounded extraordinarily abrupt against the dead silence of the street.
Su Wan’s hand reaching for the light switch paused briefly, a flash of vigilance darting through her cool eyes. Showing no sign of panic, she reversed her grip on her signature chef’s knife—sharp enough to slice through iron.
Lightening her steps, she glided to the explosion-proof door like a silent cat.
Through the transparent bulletproof glass, Su Wan took in the scene outside.
Lying on the steps was a tall, imposing man. Covered in blood from head to toe, his black tactical uniform was shredded into ragged strips. Thick streams of dark red blood trickled down the steps, presenting a gruesome sight.
Su Wan narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze landing on the man’s chest.
Three brutal claw marks, deep enough to expose bone, ran across his torso. The flesh along the edges had already turned black and rotten, oozing purple, highly toxic slime.
These were lethal wounds inflicted by a Tier-3 early-mutated zombie—a sight found only in the core zone of the red mist.
If an ordinary survivor had suffered injuries like these, they wouldn’t last a minute before mutating on the spot. Yet this man was still clinging to a single breath, having forced his way here to escape.
Su Wan shifted her gaze to his face, her pupils dilating slightly.
It was an extremely cold, chiseled face, with a faint, old scar running near his brow bone. Even though he had lapsed into a semi-conscious state from his severe injuries, he still exuded a chilling aura of top-tier strength that warned strangers to stay away.
Su Wan’s mind raced, instantly matching this face with the memory of the original host.
Li Jin.
The ultimate official male protagonist of this world—a former ace captain of the military special forces. He was also the peak fighter who awakened dual ice and spiritual abilities after the apocalypse broke out.
According to the original storyline, in the third month of the apocalypse, Li Jin led a team into the core zone with the highest red mist concentration to rescue trapped teammates. Not only did he encounter an extremely rare Tier-3 Zombie King, but he was also shamelessly betrayed and ambushed by his trusted subordinate.
In the end, his abilities were completely drained, and he was struck with the lethal poison of the Tier-3 zombie, fighting his way out to escape. In the original plot, high-ranking base officials happened to rescue him, kicking off his subsequent path to dominance.
She hadn’t expected that by a twist of fate, this future God of War would end up collapsed right at her restaurant’s doorstep.
Su Wan stood quietly inside the door, watching Li Jin, whose vital signs were growing weaker by the second.
She weighed her options: to save him, or not to save him?
Saving him meant spending the points she had worked so hard to accumulate and risking his potential mutation. Leaving him to die meant the male lead’s demise, which would inevitably throw the future post-apocalyptic landscape into chaos.
Most importantly, while Su Wan now possessed an absolutely safe shop, she lacked a top-tier enforcer to hold down the fort and clear out enemies outside.
And in a wasteland like this, who could be more useful than Li Jin, the future God of War?
At this thought, Su Wan’s lips curled into a cold, perfectly rational arch.
She turned around, walked swiftly back into the kitchen, and reignited the stove. The bone broth in the pot bubbled gently, wafting a rich aroma.
Opening the system panel, Su Wan spent the 100 points she had just earned without hesitation.
*Ding! Purchased 1x Novice Purification Powder. 100 points deducted.*
At the system’s prompt, a small paper packet materialized in Su Wan’s hand.
She briskly tossed a handful of noodles into the boiling pot. Once cooked, she scooped them out into a bowl, poured over the rich bone broth, and evenly sprinkled the packet of purification powder inside.
The powder dissolved instantly upon touching the water, leaving no strange odor. Instead, it rendered the noodle broth even clearer and more vibrant.
Holding the bowl of enhanced clear broth noodles, Su Wan walked back to the explosion-proof door.
By now, Li Jin outside had reached his absolute limit. His fingers twitched uncontrollably. Dark purple veins crawled up his neck toward his face—a sign that the zombie virus was about to completely overtake his brain and trigger full mutation.
Su Wan pressed the intercom button on the door frame. Her voice, cool as frost, carried clearly through the speaker:
“Captain Li, wake up. Keep sleeping, and you’ll turn into one of those monsters out there.”
Hearing the clear call, Li Jin, whose eyes had been tightly shut, tightened his fingers abruptly. With immense effort, he pried open his heavy eyelids, revealing deep, dark eyes cold as a frozen pool.
Even on the brink of death, those eyes flashed with an extremely dangerous light, like that of a lone wolf.
He stared fixedly at the beautiful woman inside holding a bowl of noodles, his breathing heavy and ragged.
“You… know me?”
Li Jin’s voice was raspy, like sandpaper scraping together, his throat thick with the taste of blood.
“Former special forces captain, dual ice and spiritual ability user—of course I know you.”
Su Wan stood inside the safe, brightly lit shop, looking down at him.
“You’re infected with Tier-3 zombie poison and your energy is drained. You have ten minutes to live at most.”
Li Jin pulled his cracked lips into a bitter, self-deprecating smile.
“If you know I’m turning into a zombie, why don’t you get the hell away?”
“That door can block zombies, but it won’t block my self-destruction before I die.”
Even in death, he would never allow himself to become one of those mindless, man-eating monsters.
Su Wan didn’t even bat an eye. She leaned down slightly, absolute confidence shining in her gaze.
“Captain Li, I don’t take in useless people, and I never make a losing deal.”
“This bowl of noodles in my hand contains special purifying herbs that happen to suppress the virus in your body.”
“One hundred points for your life.”
“The condition is: after you recover, you stay here and provide absolute military protection for my restaurant.”
Hearing this, a look of profound shock flashed deep in Li Jin’s eyes.
In his over twenty years of life, he had met countless people who sought to exploit him. Yet here, when he was on the verge of death and capable of mutating into a monster at any moment, a woman dared to strike a deal with him from an equal—even assertive—stance.
No sympathy. No charity. Only cold, equal exchange.
Li Jin stared intently into Su Wan’s clear, unruffled eyes. He saw no fear in them—only a calm composure that had everything under control.
“This deal, Captain Li… do you take it or not?”
Su Wan’s hand holding the bowl remained steady as a mountain, without spilling a single drop of broth. She delivered her final ultimatum:
“Agree, and I’ll open the door to give you the noodles. Refuse, and I’ll close up and go to sleep right now.”
Li Jin looked at the steaming bowl of noodles, then at Su Wan’s cool, stunning face.
The pride in his bones forbade him from bowing to anyone. Yet the miraculous aroma of the food caused a faint resonance in his drained energy core. Intuition told him this mysterious woman was not lying.
Closing his eyes, Li Jin took a deep breath, swallowing the blood in his throat.
“Fine. I agree.”
A few simple words, yet they felt like signing a heavy contract in the presence of Death itself.
The corners of Su Wan’s mouth turned up slightly, forming her first genuine smile of the night.
She clicked the switch, and a side slit of the explosion-proof door slid open smoothly—just wide enough for a single person to pass through.
Su Wan placed the piping-hot bowl of noodles beside Li Jin’s hand.
“Eat. When you’re done, remember to lick the bowl clean. I don’t like people who waste food.”
Leaning against the cold wall, Li Jin raised his blood-stained right hand with a tremor. He picked up the bowl, completely ignoring the scalding soup inside, and gulped down the noodles and broth in huge mouthfuls.
The warm liquid slid down his esophagus into his cramped stomach.
The moment the noodles hit his stomach, a pure, gentle surge of energy exploded within his body. Like a well-trained army, that energy rushed swiftly to every limb and bone.
The dark purple zombie virus frantically destroying his cells shrank back rapidly under the impact of this energy, as if meeting its natural enemy. The purple toxic fumes rising from his wounds ceased, and his bleeding gradually returned to a normal, vibrant red.
Even more shocking to Li Jin was that his dry ability core had begun to rotate slowly again.
He stared in disbelief at the empty porcelain bowl, a storm of astonishment brewing in his eyes.
What kind of miraculous restaurant was this? A single bowl of noodles was more terrifyingly effective than any special drug developed by military labs!
He raised his head, wanting to get a proper look at the woman who had saved him. But once his tightly strung nerves relaxed, an endless wave of exhaustion overwhelmed him.
Before he could even say thank you, Li Jin’s eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness completely.
His tall frame fell forward into the shop with a heavy thud.
Su Wan looked quietly at the God of War passed out cold on the floor and let out a helpless sigh.
“What a troublesome guy… Looks like I have to double as a porter tonight.”
Grabbing Li Jin by the collar, she mustered all her strength to drag his heavy body into the dining hall.
Relocking the explosion-proof door, Su Wan dumped Li Jin onto several dining chairs pushed together. She didn’t bother treating his deep, bone-exposing wounds; the system’s purification powder not only detoxified but also greatly enhanced an ability user’s self-healing capabilities. By tomorrow morning, this God of War would be fully functional and ready to work for her.
Fetching a clean blanket, she tossed it casually over Li Jin.
Looking out the window at the deepening red mist, her gaze hardened with unshakeable resolve.
Her strongest enforcer was now in place. Tomorrow, her Chinese restaurant was going to make a grand splash in this wasteland world.