Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

”Storage in Dimensional Space complete.”

Xie Ning watched as two crucian carp appeared in the empty bucket, flopping wildly. She hefted it, judging the weight to be a little over five hundred grams.

’Isn’t that a little meager for so many people?’

’Oh well,’ Xie Ning thought. ’There are other dishes anyway. I’ll just have Mom make fish soup with this.’

If the fish wasn’t enough, the soup would make it go further.

Stingily, she retracted her Dimensional Space, then conjured a bit of tap water from the villa’s supply and poured it into the bucket.

The two fish, alive and kicking, began to swim around in the bucket.

Just then, Xie Ning saw Song Kexin bouncing up the stairs. She immediately called out to her little sis, shoving the bucket into her hands. ”Take this to the kitchen. We’re adding a dish.”

”Wow!” Song Kexin’s eyes went wide, and she nearly jumped in surprise. ”Where did this fish come from?”

They were so lively! They looked incredibly fresh.

Just as Xie Ning was about to answer, Song Kexin made a zipping motion across her lips. ”Sis, you don’t have to say anything. I don’t know a thing. I’ll just focus on eating!”

With that, she bounced off, bucket in hand.

Watching her go, Xie Ning didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She shook her head and walked over to the table, her eyes landing on a glass pitcher.

The large glass pitcher on the table contained the superpower water her mother had set out.

Xie Ning stared at the superpower water for a few seconds, then took out a small velvet pouch and tipped out two ordinary Crystal Cores.

She had already given the small bag of purified Crystal Cores to Gu Chen. All Xie Ning had on her were these two ordinary Crystal Cores and four Speed System Mutated Crystal Cores from the fight on the winding mountain road.

Xie Ning thought, ’Since I can magically purify Crystal Cores...’

’I wonder if I can extract some of the energy from inside the Crystal Core?’

She’d been mulling this over for the past few days.

The last time she’d recklessly exhausted her Space Ability Energy, she had replenished it with Crystal Cores and discovered her superpower had improved ever so slightly.

Clearly, depleting her superpower and then absorbing energy was extremely beneficial for her.

’Since the energy inside a Crystal Core can replenish my spent superpower,’ she mused, ’could I extract that energy first?’

’Like that big Water Ball I stored on the terrace?’

’Could I slowly store up an Energy Ball, just in case?’

Of course, she didn’t have nearly enough Crystal Cores to just mess around and experiment with at the moment.

’So, I should probably go out every afternoon and hunt for more Crystal Cores.’

Acting on the impulse, the young woman tried not to absorb the pure strand of energy inside the Crystal Core, but to slowly strip it away.

The process was very slow.

By the time Xie Ning had stripped all the energy from one Crystal Core, the once-glittering Crystal Core slowly turned to ash and ceased to exist.

This wisp of energy was minuscule. Xie Ning was worried that if she just tossed it into her Space, she’d never be able to find it again.

So she simply created a metal box and put the energy inside.

The energy, like a thin wisp of smoke, drifted back and forth inside the metal box. It didn’t dissipate, even after a good while.

Xie Ning let out a sigh of relief, a pleased expression appearing on her face.

She then extracted the energy from the other Crystal Core. This time, instead of putting it in the metal box, she slowly guided it, encouraging it to merge with the superpower water in the glass pitcher.

This process was even slower.

The energy seemed highly resistant to the superpower water.

The instant it touched the water, the liquid began to roil and boil as if it were on fire.

Fearing the pitcher might explode, Xie Ning leaped back, putting distance between herself and the table...

But after a moment, the boiling superpower water gradually calmed down. The energy had completely dissolved into the water, which was now perfectly still.

After waiting cautiously for another three to five minutes, she rubbed her nose and crept back over.

She first created a few Metal Knives and some Metal Spikes. Once she had depleted some of her Gold Ability energy, she reached out and poured herself a small cup of the superpower water.

As the superpower water went down, Xie Ning’s eyes brightened slightly.

Sure enough, she could feel a trace of energy moving within the water, but its effect on replenishing her superpower was negligible.

After all, it was just one small, First-Rank ordinary Crystal Core. It was only natural that it wouldn’t have much of an effect on her.

’Looks like I’ll have to go out and hunt more Crystal Cores to run some more experiments!’

If her experiment succeeded, she could save the Crystal Cores she would have spent on Energy Supplement Potions in the future.

With her own special Energy Water, she could provide an extra layer of security for herself and her family, even during major battles.

Next, Xie Ning tried extracting the energy from the four Speed System Zombie Crystal Cores, but it wouldn’t merge with the energy from the ordinary Crystal Core.

’It must be a difference in elemental properties.’

She muttered to herself, created another small, round metal box, and engraved the word ”Speed” on it before putting the small ball of superpower energy inside.

Having done all this, Xie Ning felt quite pleased.

It was fun, she thought, to slowly uncover the fantastical possibilities of her superpower.

Just then, a call for dinner came from downstairs.

Xie Ning poured the large pitcher of what was now her first successful batch of Energy Water into three empty plastic water bottles before running downstairs.

With Zhu Yong and his son, plus her aunt and cousin, there were sixteen people in total. It was a bit of a squeeze for everyone to eat comfortably at one table, so they split into two.

Ji Erhuo and Xie Ning became the leaders of the kids’ table, spearheading the charge to snatch food and making for a boisterous meal.

The two children, Zhu Nanxing and Su Xiyue, felt as if they’d spent the entire day in paradise.

It had been almost a month since the apocalypse began, and they had never eaten such a wonderful meal.

Even though the large electric fan couldn’t chase away the stuffy heat in the living room, they still felt incredibly happy.

There was not only fish soup, but also red-braised pork, spicy chicken, soy-braised duck, meat buns, and meat patties. In the post-apocalyptic world, even a single one of these dishes felt like an unimaginable luxury.

As she ate, Su Xiyue started to cry.

Her heart aching, Song Kexin hugged her and patted her back. ”Silly girl, come on and eat. What are you crying for?”

”Sister, am I dreaming?” The poor child was afraid that if she woke up, this huge feast—and her family—would all disappear.

The child’s innocent words were both heartbreaking and touching.

Song Kexin held her and wiped her tears. ”It’s not a dream. Good girl, Yueyue. You and your mom are home now. From now on, we’re all going to fight zombies and eat delicious food together!”

”Uh-huh!” Su Xiyue nodded emphatically and clenched her little fists. ”Yueyue will try her best to fight the monsters!”

Everyone laughed, charmed by her innocent words.

Xie Ning gave her a piece of meat from the fish’s belly, and everyone went back to eating.

In the afternoon, their mother provided water so the four poor souls who hadn’t bathed in almost a month could line up for a wash.

On the large bed in the garage, Zhu Yong had his first truly good sleep since the apocalypse began.

’He was thankful a million times over that he had gone against everyone’s opinion and rescued Youxuan and her daughter.’

’There really are more good people than bad in this world.’

’Finally, I don’t have to squeeze into the same tent with that bizarre family and listen to ”Princess” Annelina’s constant wailing...’

Xie Ning took the lead on a small electric scooter rented from the base, leading a noisy bunch of goofballs toward the south gate.