Everyone was left speechless by this unprecedented discovery, and they all scrambled to bring out their best hoarded crystal cores to test.
Qi Jin and Ning Wanli each absorbed five mid-tier crystal cores. After waiting for a long while, they could only feel their internal anomalous energy becoming slightly fuller, no new abilities had manifested.
Yu Yicheng had no crystal cores, so Cheng Yuchuan kindly gifted him one mid-tier core. After absorbing it, his healing ability jumped two levels straight to Level 3. Although the speed of advancement was astonishing, it was still only an upgrade, no new ability had branched out.
There was no other intact high-tier crystal core available to experiment with, and no one could tell whether the key lay in the high-tier core itself or in Lu Xihe personally. So Cheng Yuchuan took out another mid-tier core and gave it to Lu Xihe to absorb.
After roughly a few more minutes, Lu Xihe felt energy flowing within his body, but no matter how many times he tried, he could only unleash his fire ability.
It seemed the key to absorbing crystal cores and manifesting new abilities lay in high-tier cores.
Among the five people present, only Cheng Yuchuan and Ning Wanli were capable of killing high-tier aberrants. But even Ning Wanli, a Level 4 ability user, could only barely win against a high-tier aberrant with everything she had, she had no spare strength to control her force and obtain an intact high-tier core.
Even someone as powerful as Cheng Yuchuan, a Level 5 ability user, couldn’t preserve a high-tier core intact on the battlefield. The one he had was only obtained by capturing the high-tier aberrant and slowly grinding away its hard shell with his ability, bit by bit.
In all this time since the apocalypse began, he’d only gotten this single one, little did he know it held such a big surprise behind it.
After testing crystal cores for most of the morning, everyone had gotten up without even eating breakfast, and they were all starving by now.
Lu Xihe went up to the second floor and brought down the snacks he’d gathered last night for everyone to eat. He also stuffed the two large sacks of food that Zhong Mo had left for the two little ones under their beds.
Although they might not be able to finish that much, this was their brother’s love for his younger siblings. Lu Xihe felt that unless absolutely necessary, those two big sacks should be saved for them to enjoy slowly.
Zhong Hao and Zhong Yue both knew that their big brother had already turned into an aberrant and left them for good, just like their parents, never to return. At only nine years old, they didn’t cry or make a fuss. Every day they obediently stayed in the RV, even eating as little as possible, not wanting to cause trouble for Cheng Yuchuan and the others.
Lu Xihe had seen all of this, and he’d urged them many times to eat their fill, but every time they just smiled and said they were full. Lu Xihe couldn’t force them to eat.
Watching the little ones grow thinner right before his eyes, Lu Xihe felt deeply guilty. The fact that he’d seen Zhong Mo last night but hadn’t brought the two kids to meet him made Lu Xihe’s heart ache even more.
After thinking about it all night, Lu Xihe finally decided to tell them gently that these two sacks of food were specially brought by Zhong Mo.
He didn’t mention that he’d seen Zhong Mo himself. He only said that while searching for supplies, he’d run into a familiar-looking mid-tier aberrant that dropped these two big sacks of food and ran off at lightning speed.
Everyone knew that a Level 3 ability user who mutated into an aberrant became a mid-tier aberrant. The two kids understood immediately that this was their brother’s gift to them.
They’d been driving north for over ten days now, already more than a thousand kilometers from where Zhong Mo had turned. Zhong Mo had actually followed them the whole way, even helping them find supplies, he must have been hiding somewhere they couldn’t see, watching over them.
He hadn’t sent food before, but now he’d suddenly brought two big sacks. He must have noticed they weren’t eating properly.
The two little ones hugged Lu Xihe and cried quietly for a good while before finally pulling out a huge pile of food from the sacks and wolfing it down. For the first time, they ate until their bellies were round and full, and after the meal, each of them let out a satisfied burp. Seeing that, Lu Xihe felt much better in his heart.
Coming back from the two little ones’ area, he’d just reached the front cabin when he heard Yu Yicheng complaining that the snacks were expired and tasted terrible. Lu Xihe was puzzled, the apocalypse had only been going on for seven or eight months at most; snacks shouldn’t go bad that quickly.
Besides, he’d just come from the two little ones, and the snacks they were eating were the same as what was in their bags. He’d even checked the dates, they were all within their shelf life. There was no reason they should have expired and gone bad so quickly.
But the fact was, all four big bags of snacks he’d brought back were expired.
Lu Xihe picked up a pack of the same kind Yu Yicheng was eating, opened it, and took a bite. The expired dried fish was indeed disgustingly bad.
It was greasy, fishy, and foul. The more he chewed, the more his stomach churned. He forced down the mouthful with sheer willpower, but there was no way he could take a second bite.
“So gross, so gross, I want roast chicken, grilled fish, and braised pork~” Yu Yicheng buried his head into the fluffy fur of the Fluff Beast and wailed miserably. Life in the apocalypse was just too hard to bear.
Seeing Yu Yicheng howling so pitifully, Qi Jin quietly took the dried fish from Ning Wanli’s hand and replaced it with dry, flavorless mung bean cakes. They were dry and bland, sure, but at least they weren’t fishy and foul.
No one took Yu Yicheng’s daydreaming nonsense seriously. Everyone kept chewing on the expired, awful-tasting food, and no one noticed the three steaming dishes of fresh, delicious hot food that had quietly appeared on the table behind them.
“I think I smell braised pork,” Yu Yicheng sniffed the air, inhaling randomly. He steeled himself and took another bite of the fish. “And grilled fish, and roast chicken. Am I poisoned and hallucinating from eating something bad?”
“No!” Lu Xihe froze, realizing something was off. “I smell it too.”
He suddenly stood up, his gaze landing on the long table behind Yu Yicheng. There, clearly laid out, were three steaming plates of meat dishes.
“Behind you!” Lu Xihe shouted excitedly, pointing at the direction behind Yu Yicheng.
Everyone turned to look. Yu Yicheng spun around and came face-to-face with a fragrant roast chicken rear, startling him so badly he jumped up from his chair. The force was too much, and he slammed into the cabinet above him.
“Holy crap! Holy crap, crap, crap!” A fluffy beast rushed to the top of his head as a cushion, so Yu Yicheng didn’t feel any pain. He pulled the fluffy beast down to check if it was hurt while screaming in shock at the sudden appearance of fresh, delicious food.
“Is this really happening? I didn’t eat any wild mushrooms, did I?” Yu Yicheng couldn’t believe his eyes. He slapped himself across the face. “It hurts, it’s real!”
While he was still testing whether it was real, Qi Jin had already torn off a drumstick and handed it to Ning Wanli, then began shredding the roast chicken to distribute to everyone.
“Delicious! So good!” Yu Yicheng praised with every bite, tears of emotion streaming from the corners of his eyes.
Lu Xihe quickly called the two little ones out. Even though they had just eaten, this was a rare chance for fresh food, they had to stuff down a few more good bites no matter what.
Three plates of food, seven people, cleaned up in two minutes.
Yu Yicheng was still not satisfied, rubbing his belly and muttering, “Not full.”
The moment those words left his mouth, under everyone’s astonished gaze, the three plates of fragrant hot dishes that had just been wiped clean appeared on the table once again.
This time, no one had any mind for eating. All eyes were fixed on Yu Yicheng.
It seemed a new ability had emerged.
“You… try saying something else?” Lu Xihe rushed over and grabbed Yu Yicheng’s hand, his voice trembling with sheer excitement.
Yu Yicheng was still stuck in the shock of conjuring delicious food out of thin air. Dazed, he followed Lu Xihe’s lead and said, “I also want to eat roujiamo, old pigeon soup, uh… uh… hairy crabs!”
Before long, roujiamo, old pigeon soup, and hairy crabs appeared on the table one by one, confirming the fact that they were all food Yu Yicheng had casually conjured.
Just as Yu Yicheng was scratching his head in confusion, a gentle, magnetic, clear male voice rang out at the right moment:
[Host has redeemed from the system mall: roast chicken, grilled fish, braised pork, roujiamo, old pigeon soup, hairy crabs. 90 points deducted. Enjoy your meal.]
The moment 001’s voice sounded, everyone was shaken. The truth behind the food appearing out of thin air was revealed.
It wasn’t an ability, it was the system.
“Where did I get points?” Yu Yicheng asked, puzzled. “How many points do I have left?”
After leaving the novice village and teaming up with Cheng Yuchuan, he hadn’t done any missions. Every day he was either playing cards with Lu Xihe or sleeping. Where did he get points to exchange for food? He hoped he hadn’t blown through his original stash, if he got cravings later, it would kill him.
If a person keeps eating bitter, they adapt to it. But once they taste sweetness and live a life of luxury, going back to bitterness is unbearable.
[Host earns points by completing missions. Current remaining points: 1,290,000.]
“That much?!” Yu Yicheng was stunned. What had he even done to get 1.29 million points?
[Host’s current mission is: Stay alive. One point for every second lived.]
“There’s such a good deal?! Then… what can I exchange for in the system mall?” Yu Yicheng was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to ask the system.
[As long as you want it, as long as I have it, it can be exchanged.]
“Wow, cool!” Yu Yicheng was ecstatic, blowing kisses into the air nonstop. “001, I’m falling in love with you, 001! You’re amazing, 001! Mwah, mwah, mwah!”
“Excellent!” Lu Xihe was thrilled too. Yu Yicheng’s system being able to exchange for various supplies at any time was undoubtedly the best gift for surviving the apocalypse.
Then he remembered something and said to Cheng Yuchuan and Qi Jin, “You two should try your systems too, see if you can exchange as well.”
“Right, let me try.” Qi Jin, who was usually a very calm person, also showed an uncontrollable look of excitement.
Cheng Yuchuan said nothing. He silently asked his system in his mind, then shook his head. “Level too low. Insufficient permissions.”
Qi Jin followed suit and lowered his head. “I don’t have enough permissions or points.”
“Huh?” Yu Yicheng froze at that, feeling a bit awkward as he tugged at the hem of his clothes, a thousand thoughts racing through his mind.
He quietly asked the system in his head: “001, what level do I need to be to exchange from the system mall?”
[Regardless of level, all systems have the function of exchanging points for items in the system mall. However, beginner-level systems can only exchange for common tools within the small world. Special items that exceed the small world’s standards, such as providing food and daily necessities in the apocalypse, require leveling up to the corresponding rank to unlock permissions.]
001 explained the system levels and function usage to him in concise, detailed terms.
[Secondary-level unlock: basic space and partial time-system abilities. Third-level system: unlock terminal shielding function. Top-level system: unrestricted under the rules of the Overlord, i.e., omnipotent.]
“Then what level are you?” Yu Yicheng asked weakly.
[Top-level.]
“A max-level system! And me?!” Yu Yicheng was stunned yet again, today, he had lost count of how many earth-shattering revelations had completely rewritten his worldview.
One after another, massive surprises came pouring down on him like they were free, drenching him in delight until he felt light as air, ready to float to the heavens.
The last line was shouted out instinctively, and everyone heard his exclamation about the max-level system, casting envious glances his way.
Yu Yicheng waved his hand grandly, brimming with bold generosity: “Order whatever you want to eat, I’m paying!”
“Awesome!” The group cheered, lining up one by one to place their orders.
Strangely enough, several dishes they requested, ones Yu Yicheng had never tried or didn’t like, couldn’t be exchanged from the system’s shop. Only the foods Yu Yicheng loved were available in abundance.
At this, Lu Xihe remarked enviously, “What a thoughtful system, precisely tailored to serve its host.”
Though many dishes couldn’t be ordered, in this apocalypse where even basic survival was a struggle, having an endless, instant supply of fresh, aromatic, and delicious meals was more than enough to satisfy everyone.
Lu Xihe ordered a black pepper beef steak rice and walked over to Cheng Yuchuan, who had been frowning in silence, looking dejected ever since he’d asked the system earlier.
“Don’t overthink it, eat up. You’ll get everything as you level up later.”
“…” Cheng Yuchuan took a deep breath, then forced a bitter smile. “Mm.”