CHAPTER 673: 【667】QUEEN OF THE APOCALYPSE 3 (2 MORE UPDATES)

Mentioning his family, the young man collapsed in an instant, sitting on the ground, frightened and helpless, staring at the gloomy sky with a face full of confusion and helplessness.

"You say, what’s happened to this world? How could it have come to this? I woke up with them, but they all came at me like monsters, biting and gnawing at me. I had no choice, I really had no choice, only to pound on their heads,"

From his words, Zhu Li caught a critical phrase, "You knew how to deal with them as soon as you woke up?"

He looked at her oddly, "Don’t you know? Before we were frozen, there were already these monsters. I never imagined that the living would survive and the dead mutate in such a way. They were all fine before, without any issues at all. What on earth is going on?"

Zhu Li had never watched television, so how could she know that before the apocalyptic freeze, a portion of the population was already infected, and after the freeze, another group underwent mutations. Could the survivors indicate that they might all be part of a Superpower System?

However, considering the harsh reality of survival in the apocalypse, she didn’t remind the man, nor did she have much contact with him. When she asked for his opinion, his gaze lingered on the shovels and spades, probably thinking of his grandparents, and after a moment, he waved at her.

Zhu Li thanked him and immediately returned to her own home. She didn’t dare cultivate these plants outside, but instead found many containers to fill with soil and brought them inside, drew the curtains, and planted the seeds in the soil. Then, extending her left middle finger, she concentrated her spiritual power there. Soon, a thin line of water streamed out from between her fingers, and she used this small flow to thoroughly water the soil in the three containers.

Then, switching to her right hand, a green halo of light shone onto the seeds. As her spiritual power amplified, the seeds began to sprout and grow at a visibly fast pace, changing every five minutes or so. As the outline of the seedlings appeared, she realized they were tomato plants.

However, before the seedlings even had the chance to blossom, her strength was already exhausted.

"I have no energy left from not eating, and relying solely on spiritual power is bound to lead to depletion."

Since waking up, she had already drunk six glasses of water, and if not for her ability to produce some water, they probably wouldn’t even be able to flush the toilet at home – a terrifying thought indeed.

The tomatoes were not yet ripe, but the radishes in her space had matured. One seed had produced three radishes; she planted two seeds and harvested six in total. Keeping two to replenish her strength, she sold the other four, then quickly planted two more seeds to await the next harvest.

The radishes she harvested were as long as an infant’s forearm but thicker. They were crunchy and not at all spicy. She ate two radishes and felt her strength slowly return. She couldn’t bear to throw away the radish tops, planning instead to find some firewood and see if she could make some soup to drink, since she still had some oil, salt, and vinegar at home.

After regaining her strength, Zhu Li spent about four hours to ripen the tomatoes. From the time the tomatoes matured until they withered, she harvested about twenty fruits of various sizes. These tomatoes tasted sour and had a sandy texture, making them especially delicious.

She ate two and stored the remaining two in her space warehouse, only to be reminded by the System that she would be charged ten Gold Coins for twelve hours of storage fees.

The reason being, tomatoes were an external variety to the space, and storage required a processing fee. In the future, anything she wanted to store would need to be approved by the System.

The wretched capitalists!

Zhu Li complained, begrudgingly accepting the rules. Glancing outside, evening was setting in, which might mean nightfall was soon. She had no idea what the night would bring, but for now, the villa community seemed relatively safe.

While she could still see, Zhu Li went outside to gather some branches to take home, only to run into the young man again.

"Hello, what’s your name? Can we band together? I don’t want to go into my house, and in other people’s houses, there are those things,"

In the apocalypse, one always had to be wary of anyone nearby. Zhu Li wasn’t familiar with him, and he was a man while she was a woman. Though only sixteen, she was, after all, a female, and it was necessary to be cautious of others. Hence, she chose to refuse his request, but out of kindness, she gave him a tomato.

"My name is Rong Hua, I’m pleased to meet you. I know what you’re worried about. Otherwise, you could let me stay in your storage room. It’s getting dark, and I really have nowhere to go,"

He was grateful for the tomato she gave him, and didn’t make any excessive requests. The Zhu Family had two storage areas, one was outside like theirs – a junk room with a door that was not suitable for living. The other entrance was inside their house, beside the kitchen was a storeroom that led down to the basement. After thinking it over, Zhu Li arranged for him to stay in their basement.

The two were likely both observing each other at this point, and neither had exposed themselves.

Seeing Zhu Li gathering branches, Rong Hua helped her, and after returning home with the branches, Zhu Li asked him to go wash up in the bathroom. Afterwards, she went upstairs and retrieved a set of clothes for him from Zhu Yu’s room.

"You’re covered in blood. Change into this. It’s Zhu Yu’s clothes; I don’t know if they’ll fit,"

"I can’t wear his clothes; he’s four years younger than me. I’m already twenty this year. Does his father have any sportswear?"

The weather was neither hot nor cold, making it suitable to wear spring or autumn clothes. Zhu Li went upstairs to find her father’s clothing for him.

After washing up and coming out clean, he looked at her curiously and asked, "You’re a Zhu too? Are you Zhu Yu’s cousin?"

"I’m a few months older than him; he’s my younger brother," she calmly explained.

"How come your house has water? And how can this tomato be so fresh?"

Zhu Li glanced at him and tossed the bedding she had prepared on the sofa to him, "You should go rest now,"

"Can I just sleep in the living room? You know, there might be rats in the basement and if they’ve mutated... I’d be in real danger,"

Zhu Li furrowed her brow, clearly not having considered this issue, but his reminder seemed reasonable. So, she didn’t insist any further and went straight upstairs.

After she closed her door, Rong Hua’s eyes, in the darkness, fixed unblinkingly on the bathroom with water and the fresh tomato that he held but was still reluctant to eat, wondering if all this had anything to do with the young girl’s Superpower.