Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

The base’s loudspeakers broadcasted on a loop for an hour, detailing the various methods for obtaining Crystal Cores and the value they would hold in humanity’s future.

It advised all base residents to collect as many Crystal Cores as possible.

It also announced that within the next half-month, the base would continuously refine the exchange rates for trading Crystal Cores for various supplies.

Xie Ning stood on the balcony for a long time, her brows furrowed slightly as she gazed at the calm surface of Ta Lake under the night sky.

Though it looked perfectly normal, Ta Lake always gave her an indescribable sense of danger.

”Is something wrong?” Song Youzhi asked, walking onto the balcony. He followed Xie Ning’s gaze toward the distant, placid surface of Ta Lake.

”Uncle, we’ll pack our things tomorrow and prepare to leave the day after.”

”Is it because Zhang Biyun came looking for your mother today...?”

Xie Ning shook her head.

’It has nothing to do with that foolish woman.’

Zhang Biyun was just a nobody. As far as Xie Ning was concerned, it didn’t matter in the slightest whether she caused them trouble or not.

”I have a bad feeling,” Xie Ning said, staring into the distance at Ta Lake, her pupils reflecting one whirlpool after another.

She felt as though something suffocating was hidden deep beneath the calm surface of the lake.

Just like Lanshan, which had been burned to nothing, it was a sight that left one deeply unsettled.

Xie Ning returned to her room alone and began to extract the energy from the pile of Second-order Flying Insect Crystal Cores.

Her biggest prize today was this pile of rice-grain-sized green insect Crystal Cores. Judging by the pile on the floor, there had to be at least thirty to fifty thousand, if not a hundred thousand.

Xie Ning was in no mood to count them.

At first, she could only draw from two or three at a time, but after half an hour, her speed gradually increased.

She went from drawing from five or ten at once to entire handfuls.

The effect was obvious.

A small metal box could no longer hold so much energy. Xie Ning simply rolled the energy into a ball and tossed it into the air above the terrace.

And so, next to the massive Water Ball, there was now an Energy Ball emitting a soft white glow.

As the pile of Second-order Flying Insect Crystal Cores on the floor dwindled, the Energy Ball gradually expanded to the size of a soccer ball.

Xie Ning took out the three half-finished bottles of Energy Water she had made that morning. She drew wisps of energy from the Energy Ball and added them to one of the bottles.

When she added the eleventh wisp, the mineral water bottle, its contents boiling, suddenly burst.

Xie Ning had been prepared for this and had already jumped back the instant the bottle burst.

It was a bit of a shame, but experiments weren’t meant to succeed every single time.

Learning from her failure, Xie Ning stopped after adding just ten wisps of energy to the other two bottles of Energy Water.

Expend superpower energy, replenish with Energy Water. Expend superpower energy, replenish with Energy Water.

After several rounds of this, Xie Ning reached a decent conclusion.

Drinking half a bottle of this Energy Water could restore twenty percent of one’s superpower energy.

The recovery rate couldn’t compare to the speed of absorbing energy directly from a Crystal Core.

But it was twice as effective as the Energy Supplement Potions sold in her previous life.

Xie Ning swept the Crystal Core ash on the terrace into a long, empty flowerpot, turned off the lights, and left the villa.

...

Early the next morning, someone was pounding on the iron gate, making it go CLANG! CLANG!

Song Youzhi yanked the door open, his face full of rage, and sure enough, he saw the same group from the City Defense Team barging in again.

”What do you want now?” Song Youzhi sneered inwardly.

’Since Ningning has decided we’re leaving tomorrow, I don’t want to stir up any more trouble.’

’Otherwise, judging by the way they were banging on the gate, he’d have taught them a harsh lesson.’

Today, however, the men from the City Defense Team didn’t shout at Song Youzhi. Instead, they stepped aside.

A middle-aged man in work clothes jogged forward from behind them, smiling as he greeted Song Youzhi. ”Excuse me, we’re looking for Aunt Song.”

”Old Zhang?” Song You’ai walked over, looking puzzled. ”Why are you here?”

Old Zhang was the manager of the water distribution point. He had dealt with Song You’ai many times and they were well-acquainted.

Old Zhang looked at Song You’ai, embarrassed. He rubbed his hands together and forced a smile. ”Aunt Song, why didn’t you come to work today? Uh, how about we head over there now?”

Song You’ai gave him a strange look. ”Old Zhang, don’t tell me you don’t know. Your Miss Bi Yun fired me yesterday! I have nothing to do with the base anymore. You should find another Water Ability User to help you from now on.”

”Aunt Song,” Old Zhang said, his face flushing as he gave an awkward chuckle. ”She’s just a young girl, she doesn’t know any better. Please don’t stoop to her level. You know what the situation at the base is like.”

”The water shortage is critical. Just this morning, more than a dozen people suffering from heatstroke and severe dehydration were sent to the infirmary, but they couldn’t be saved.”

Song You’ai nodded. ”I know. And I never said I was unwilling to help. But your Miss Bi Yun fired me! Yesterday, she brought a gang of thugs to my door, screamed at me, said the base didn’t need an unreliable worker like me, and that I was fired!”

”Yes, yes, of course,” Old Zhang said, his expression growing more pained by the second.

He was a distant relative of Base Chief Zhang, which was how he had managed to land this cushy job in the first place.

But now, Miss Bi Yun had created a huge mess for him. She’d fired Song You’ai without asking any questions, and as a result, the workers who came to haul water from the distribution point had been raising hell with him since first thing in the morning.

There was only one crate of water, they’d complained. Who was that enough for?

The administration department didn’t even have enough for its own use, let alone enough to supply the base’s citizens at the Town Square.

When he found Miss Bi Yun to explain the situation, the color drained from her face. It was obvious she hadn’t understood the circumstances at all.

Right now, Song You’ai was indispensable to the entire base.

Song You’ai provided a guaranteed ten crates of water for the base every day—one session in the morning, one in the afternoon, and she would sometimes even come in at night to work overtime and use her superpower.

The amount of superpower water Song You’ai produced by herself was more than the other three official workers could produce combined; they couldn’t even come close.

The three official workers were jealous of her, so they spun tales and slandered her to Miss Bi Yun.

Miss Bi Yun had bypassed him—the person in charge of the water distribution point—and fired Song You’ai directly, leading to the current chaotic mess.

Old Zhang was in a tight spot. For the sake of his job, he didn’t dare chew out Base Chief Zhang’s brainless daughter, but he absolutely could not afford to offend Song You’ai.

The woman before him was his meal ticket!

”Old Zhang, it’s not that I want to make things difficult for you,” Song You’ai said calmly. ”But look at me. At my age, I was viciously berated by a young girl yesterday, who accused me of taking a salary without doing any work.”

”Don’t I have any dignity? Your base fired me yesterday, and today you want me to go right back to work. That makes no sense, no matter how you look at it, does it?”

”So, how about this: you have her come here and explain herself to me in person.”

”She’s not a child anymore, is she? People should take responsibility for their actions. She shouldn’t make mistakes and expect others to clean up her mess.”

Old Zhang just kept saying, ”Yes, yes, of course,” his face a mask of misery. He couldn’t help but sigh.