Chapter 18

The next morning, Guan Yuanfeng found a plate of fresh, plump blueberries and red strawberries on the breakfast table.

He was surprised: “How are they ripe so quickly?” He had seen the berries as dark green when he watered them.

Zhou Yun replied, “The heat has made them ripen faster.” According to normal logic, he shouldn’t have noticed the abilities this soon, so he planned to find a chance to talk to Guan Yuanfeng about awakening abilities later.

Guan Yuanfeng picked a blueberry and ate it. “It’s quite sweet. The variety you grew is really good.”

Zhou Yun smiled and brought over two bowls of pork knuckle noodles. Guan Yuanfeng watched as Comet also devoured the noodles. “Don’t spoil it too much. The refugees outside probably can’t eat this well. We should conserve resources. We don’t know what the situation will be like later.”

Zhou Yun said, “What’s there to be afraid of? I still have a few pigs upstairs.”

Guan Yuanfeng: “…”

He took out a radio and turned it on, listening to the broadcast. It was still about the characteristics and weaknesses of zombies.

But today, there was a new report: After the Red Mist disaster, people with fevers began to show signs of abilities. The report advised the public not to panic or abandon family members showing signs of fever. Instead, they should restrain them and wait to see if they regain consciousness. If their intelligence returns to normal, it could indicate the onset of abilities. People with abilities were urged to report to the rescue base for registration.

Guan Yuanfeng and Zhou Yun exchanged glances. Guan Yuanfeng asked Zhou Yun, “Abilities? Do you feel anything?”

Zhou Yun thought for a moment. “It feels like my mind is clearer and my body is lighter, but I haven’t seen any noticeable manifestations yet. This news would be more helpful if they included more details about the abilities.”

Guan Yuanfeng looked thoughtful, but Zhou Yun served him another bowl of noodles. “After we eat, let’s use the drone to check out the Dome Restaurant next door. We need to expand our planting area. This weather might stay dry for a while.”

Guan Yuanfeng’s sharp gaze briefly swept over Zhou Yun’s lowered lashes. He didn’t press further on the topic of abilities but took the noodles and began eating.

After breakfast, they launched the drone from the rooftop garden, flying high and heading toward the Dome Restaurant on the other side of the wall. The pale blue glass dome sparkled under the blazing sun, and they could clearly see the tables and chairs in the restaurant below.

The drone flew in through a window in the dome, slowly surveying the restaurant. The shiny marble floors were immaculate, with potted plants placed around. The restaurant’s center island housed a disinfection cabinet for utensils, a self-service condiment area, a self-ordering machine, and a cart for serving dishes.

Zhou Yun commented, “These condiments are well-kept. If properly stored, they can still be used.”

The drone moved on, and a large aquarium wall appeared on the screen. This aquarium was used for guest viewing and ordering fish, with several saltwater tanks containing sea crabs and fish.

Zhou Yun was excited. “There are so many fish!”

—–

In his previous life, he and Guan Yuanfeng had never visited this place before, but now, it felt like he had stumbled upon a treasure trove.

It’s worth noting that saltwater fish were more likely to mutate than freshwater fish, and just like most mutated plants that only produced wood-type ability cores, aquatic animals, when they mutated, often produced water-type ability cores.

He was a dual-type water and wood ability user, and he needed water-type ability cores.

This meant that if he could obtain just a few water-type ability cores from the fish in this entire wall, his ability would be greatly enhanced early on!

Initially, he had only planned to target the koi and fish in the artificial lake in the community, but now this was an unexpected windfall.

Seeing Zhou Yun so happy, Guan Yuanfeng was surprised. “Do you like fish?”

Zhou Yun smiled. “Yes, and these fish are quite valuable. If properly raised, they could even reproduce.”

Guan Yuanfeng: “…” He didn’t want to dampen his enthusiasm, but raising saltwater fish wasn’t exactly easy.

“Look! King crab! Over here, turbot fish! Lobster, this one’s delicious steamed with garlic.”

“There are also a lot of oysters and clams. Clams can be baked in salt, and mantis shrimp are delicious fried or steamed…”

“This side has grouper, flower crabs, and blue crabs. It’s crab season… I have some special red vinegar… and salted egg yolk stir-fried dishes are really unique…”

Guan Yuanfeng watched as Zhou Yun was already seriously counting the dishes on the menu, his dark eyes sparkling, and couldn’t help but smile.

The fish wall had two sides, but when they turned to the other side, both their smiles faded.

On this side, below the window, there was a fish pond, which also housed many ornamental koi.

On the opposite wall, one of the aquariums had been shattered, and the water had drained out into the pond below. Only a few tiny fish fry remained inside.

A zombie stood by the fish pond, holding a large fish that was still struggling. It was gnawing at it, its sharp nails like knives. The zombie was still wearing a security guard uniform, with a gray-blue face, bulging eyes, and sharp fangs.

Zhou Yun looked at the large goldfish being torn apart by the zombie—its golden scales shimmering—clearly a representative ornamental fish for the restaurant. His heart ached, “Such a big goldfish, what a waste.”

If we continue to let this zombie rampage here, how many more fish will it ruin?

Guan Yuanfeng reached out and gently pressed on his shoulder to calm him. “Let’s see if there are any other zombies.”

The drone didn’t disturb the zombie, which was crazily devouring food, and flew quietly past the glass door of the restaurant. Sure enough, the roller shutter outside the glass door was locked, and the entrance was silent.

Guan Yuanfeng said, “Not bad. As long as we deal with this zombie, the entire top floor will be under our control.”

Zhou Yun said, “I think this zombie doesn’t like going into the water.”

Zombies are repelled by water, and since their bodies are made of bones and rotten flesh, they can’t float in water and thus can’t swim.

At this point in the apocalypse, people haven’t fully figured out their characteristics yet.

Zhou Yun had focused more on developing water abilities because of this reason in his past life. Later, he found that while the wood ability had slower upgrades, weaker attacks, and lower damage, it was actually much more useful once it reached higher levels.

Guan Yuanfeng was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

Zhou Yun said, “Look, the fish pond is shallow, and there are so many fat koi fish inside, within easy reach. Yet, the zombie didn’t go into the water to catch them. Instead, it broke the glass fish tank closest to it. That’s quite a bit of effort. Why would it choose to do something difficult when it could have just grabbed the fish?”

“You see, its two hands are rotting, so it must have spent some effort breaking the tank to get this golden dragon fish. But only its hands are a bit wet, and its clothes are a little damp, while the rest of its body is dry. This shows it avoided the water.”

Guan Yuanfeng looked carefully. “Indeed, that makes sense.” He fell into thought, but after a while, he instructed the drone to fly back and said, “It’s still dangerous. We can observe it a little longer.”

Zhou Yun glanced at him. “Are you planning to wait until I fall asleep and then use Comet to clean it up?”

Guan Yuanfeng froze, awkwardly explaining, “It’s just one zombie… I want to use Comet to tie it up, then shoot it in the head… Having you along would just add more danger.”

Zhou Yun nodded. “But if the zombie harms Comet, it would not be worth the risk. I feel like the zombie virus is somewhat similar to rabies, and both humans and dogs are susceptible targets.”

Guan Yuanfeng shook his head. “I plan to have Comet lead it and then hide in a high position to shoot it.” He pointed to the video and said, “There are some thick beams where the lights are hung on the ceiling.”

Though his legs were disabled, with the help of an electric grappling hook, he could still climb up to the high window, enter, and shoot from above. Using stillness to control movement was feasible. If they had a sniper rifle, it would be even easier.

Zhou Yun said, “You mean kite flying… Comet may be fast, but it might not be faster than the zombie. We need something to slow the zombie down, and if the arrow misses the vital spot, it may not disable its movement.”

Unlike the human crystal core in the dantian, the zombie’s crystal core is located in the brain. To preserve the useful crystal core, the best method of attack is to sever the zombie’s head.

Zhou Yun reminded him, “You need to pierce the center of its forehead.” Even if it damages the crystal core, since Guan Yuanfeng doesn’t have abilities yet, safety must come first.

Though Guan Yuanfeng didn’t understand the term “kite flying,” he still grasped the meaning and said with some regret, “If we were outside, we could dig a trap in advance or bury land mines.”

Zhou Yun responded, “It hates water…”

He pointed at the smooth marble floor of the hall. “If we put water here, it would be slippery and hard to walk on, and it would look like there’s water everywhere, which should affect its mobility.”

Guan Yuanfeng quickly recalled the terrain he saw earlier. “The glass door area is higher and has a threshold. There’s also a glass fish tank wall blocking the way. It’s possible that water in the restaurant could accumulate.”

If it were before, they would have worried about water seeping downstairs, but now they didn’t need to care too much.

He pointed to the kitchen behind the restaurant. “There’s a water pipe here. While there’s still water supply, we should quickly connect the pipe and flood the area.”

Zhou Yun knew he was good at planning action. “I can go connect the water pipe.”

Guan Yuanfeng frowned. “No, you can’t take the risk. Zombies have a sharp sense of smell. It’s too dangerous.”

Zhou Yun already knew he would oppose this. “Then, we can connect the pipe from here and let it flow through the window. The rainwater tank still has some stored rainwater.”

Guan Yuanfeng hesitated. “We don’t know how long the drought will last. Our neighborhood is on higher ground, and the water supply relies on secondary pressure. Once the power goes out, water will likely stop. We need to save this water for ourselves and for watering the garden.”

Zhou Yun knew that Guan Yuanfeng would worry about these things. In risky situations, he, a disabled person, wouldn’t want Guan Yuanfeng to take the risk either. But when planning, he often downplayed his own importance, even less than rainwater.

If he didn’t expose his plan, Guan Yuanfeng would definitely try to handle the risky tasks himself.

But now that he had awakened his abilities, using water for attack was still difficult. He couldn’t generate large amounts of water to flood the restaurant, but producing clean drinking water to ensure their survival was not hard.

Once he obtained the crystal cores from the fish, upgrading would be easy. The zombie’s crystal core… overall, this operation had more benefits than risks, and he supported taking action.

But he had to make sure that Guan Yuanfeng would take the safest, most foolproof approach.

He said, “I see that it’s going to rain again in the next few days, so there’s no need to worry. Also, once we control this place, there’s still plenty of water in the fish tanks and ponds.” He looked at Guan Yuanfeng. “Safety first.”

Guan Yuanfeng saw the sincere concern in Zhou Yun’s eyes. After a pause, he finally said, “Alright.”