The first survival zone in Lin City was called “Hope.”
Its earliest residents were the first wave of people who had managed to escape the city alive.
Chu Ming and the group he brought with him were among them.
Because Chu Ming possessed an offensive-type ability, his status among the survivors was exceptionally high. No one dared cross him. And the people who followed him—even those without abilities—lived far better than ordinary survivors.
Because of that, everyone in the newly formed team centered around Chu Ming carefully catered to him. No one dared provoke his temper.
The names “Li Chen” and “Mo Chu” had long since become forbidden topics within the group.
Chu Ming had always been moody and unpredictable, and everyone was used to that. But today, something about him felt even darker than usual, to the point that the entire team sat in fearful silence.
Then, in the suffocating quiet, Chu Ming suddenly spoke.
“The rescue team that went to Lin City…” he asked the person closest to him, “they should be back today, right?”
The man jolted. Cold sweat instantly slid down his back. After a moment of hesitation, he answered carefully, “Y-Yes. If everything’s on schedule, they should return today.”
Chu Ming let out a cold laugh.
“Then tell me,” he said slowly, “do you think they’ll bring Mo Chu and the other one back with them?”
The man’s hand shook violently. His chopsticks clattered onto the floor.
“I—I don’t know…”
Chu Ming frowned in disgust.
“Useless trash.”
Seeing that he was about to lose his temper again, someone else hurriedly jumped in.
“Of course they won’t bring them back! How could they? Those two are probably already dead. Without Brother Chu, one cripple and one woman—how long could they possibly survive?”
Chu Ming narrowed his eyes, impossible to read. Then he suddenly laughed.
“I actually hope they’re still alive,” he said softly. “And that the rescue team brings them back.”
No matter how proud Li Chen had been back then, once he returned here, wouldn’t he still end up in Chu Ming’s hands?
And Mo Chu…
Back then, she had looked down on him. She would rather leave with a useless man than stay by his side. If she fell into his hands this time, he had plenty of ways to make her kneel and beg.
Even if only to vent this resentment—
You two had better stay alive long enough to come back.
Chu Ming chuckled under his breath, stood, and strode away, leaving the others exchanging uneasy looks.
…What exactly did that mean?
The man who had spoken earlier darted his eyes toward Qin Xue in the crowd.
Putting on an ingratiating smile, he said, “Sister Qin Xue, why don’t you go check on Brother Chu?”
Qin Xue startled and snapped, “You—”
The man laughed. “Don’t be upset now. Everyone in the team knows Brother Chu’s interested in you. If you go after him, it’s different from the rest of us.”
Qin Xue hesitated.
Ever since leaving Lin City, everyone had noticed Chu Ming’s interest in her. But for some reason, alongside that interest was a strange sense of distance—as if he wanted her close, yet kept holding back.
Qin Xue knew exactly why he was interested in her.
And because she knew, it disgusted her.
Why should she throw herself at a man Mo Chu had already rejected?
But today, hearing that the rescue team was returning, a sudden panic rose in her chest.
If Mo Chu really came back alive with the rescue team…
Would Chu Ming still look at her the same way?
Would she still be able to live comfortably without lifting a finger?
She struggled internally for a long moment before finally gritting her teeth and getting up to chase after him.
If Mo Chu really returned, then she would have no chance left at all.
She’d end up like everyone else—working herself to death for a single meal, facing those horrifying, disgusting zombies head-on every day.
She had to seize this opportunity before Mo Chu came back.
Meanwhile, Chu Ming headed straight for the entrance of the survival zone.
He arrived at just the right moment. The rescue team was returning with the first group of survivors.
His gaze swept over the densely packed crowd.
No Mo Chu.
Mo Chu was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Even in a sea of thousands, she was the kind of person you noticed instantly.
But he didn’t see her.
Then again… how could a woman survive while dragging along a useless burden?
For a moment, disappointment welled inside him. And at the same time, satisfaction.
Back then, you looked down on me so much.
But now?
Didn’t you still end up dying in Lin City alongside that worthless trash?
This was the price of defying him.
The only pity was that beautiful face of hers.
Thinking this, Chu Ming felt a lofty sort of regret, as though mourning something that had belonged to him.
Then he heard someone mention the name “Mo Chu.”
His expression shifted instantly as he turned toward the voice.
It was a platoon leader he’d met once before. The man was animatedly talking to someone beside him, repeatedly bringing up Mo Chu’s name.
A bad feeling crept into Chu Ming’s chest.
Almost instinctively, his face darkened.
But the next second, he forced a bright smile back onto his face and walked over casually to strike up a conversation.
The platoon leader recognized him immediately and greeted him warmly, clapping him on the shoulder.
Chu Ming subtly dodged the touch and asked with a smile, “I heard you mentioning someone named Mo Chu?”
The platoon leader looked surprised. “You know Mo Chu?”
“I have a friend by that name,” Chu Ming replied smoothly. “A very beautiful girl.”
The platoon leader burst into laughter.
“Then your friend is incredible!”
Chu Ming’s heart sank.
That ominous feeling became stronger and stronger. Still smiling stiffly, he said, “Really? I remember Mo Chu being a pretty gentle, delicate girl. Don’t tell me she actually helped you somehow?”
The platoon leader’s eyes widened immediately.
“Gentle and weak aren’t the same thing! That girl is gentle with people, sure, but weak? Not even close. If it weren’t for her this time, our losses would’ve been catastrophic!”
Then he enthusiastically began recounting Mo Chu’s feats during the rescue mission.
Every sentence was filled with admiration.
He clearly held her in extremely high regard—even bordering on reverence.
The smile on Chu Ming’s face nearly shattered.
How could this possibly be Mo Chu?
How could this be that timid, fragile Mo Chu—the girl who had once seemed so helpless she could only rely on others to survive?
But then the platoon leader casually added something that obliterated the last traces of Chu Ming’s denial.
“Do you also know someone named Li Chen? He was with Mo Chu. That kid’s amazing too! His fire ability locked down a second-rank zombie in an instant. Damn, if they hadn’t insisted on leaving, I would’ve dragged both of them into our survival zone myself!”
The words hit Chu Ming like a thunderclap.
In an instant, every shred of pride, superiority, and self-satisfaction inside him was smashed to pieces.
It felt as though he had become that powerless ordinary man all over again.
Li Chen… wasn’t dead?
Not only had he survived—he had awakened an ability?
The Mo Chu who repeatedly saved the rescue team… the powerful Li Chen the platoon leader praised so highly…
Were they really the same Mo Chu and Li Chen he knew?
Chu Ming felt as though someone had slapped him viciously across the face.
He could no longer maintain the smile on his face. After a hurried excuse, he turned and left.
And the moment he turned around, his expression twisted into something hideous—like a ghost crawling out of hell.
But someone else was even more shaken than he was.
Qin Xue, who had secretly overheard everything from nearby.
Mo Chu… wasn’t dead?
Even Li Chen—the man she thought Mo Chu had foolishly chosen to save—had survived too?
Thinking about the fear and humiliation she had endured these past days beside Chu Ming, then comparing herself to the Mo Chu they described—a woman like a battle goddess standing beside the powerful Li Chen—
A surge of jealousy and resentment nearly drove her mad.
Why?!
Why could Mo Chu still turn things around after falling so low?
Why was heaven so unfair?!
Why?!
That night, Chu Ming smashed every visible object in their team’s quarters, looking like a maddened demon while the entire group trembled in terrified silence.
But Qin Xue’s room was unnaturally quiet.
Quiet in a way that felt deeply unsettling.
…
Meanwhile, after parting ways with the rescue team, Mo Chu—who had successfully talked them into giving her a military jeep—did not leave Lin City immediately.
The day after the rescue team withdrew, the two of them began hunting through the now completely abandoned city.
That’s right.
Hunting.
Zombies preyed on humans for flesh and blood.
So humans could just as easily hunt zombies for crystal cores.
Most zombies in the city were still only first-rank. This was the perfect opportunity to rapidly gather zombie cores. Once the majority evolved into second-rank zombies, the entire city would truly become a zombie metropolis.
Without large groups of ability users traveling together, humans would never again be able to approach the cities that once belonged to them.
Mo Chu’s idea was undeniably bold.
But when she brought it up to Li Chen, he wasn’t surprised in the slightest. After thinking it over for a moment, he actually seemed to agree with her.
Mo Chu could only sigh inwardly.
As expected of the future Great Demon King.
And through the hunting plan she proposed, she finally witnessed the true power Li Chen possessed after awakening his ability.
At first rank, Li Chen could only shape his flames into narrow lines during combat. The fiery threads weren’t real ropes, after all, and powerful zombies could still break free.
But while zombies could escape the fire lines—
They couldn’t escape the flames themselves.
The crimson fire carried a terrifying adhesive quality. Even the smallest spark would cling to whatever it touched and burn it completely to ash, domineering and relentless, as though it would never stop until everything was consumed.
In Li Chen’s hands, it became the deadliest weapon imaginable.
Most of the time, he simply stood at a high vantage point, calmly controlling the flames while coldly watching the zombies struggle and howl inside the inferno.
Then, once everything had burned away, he would descend at an unhurried pace and retrieve the glittering crystal cores from the piles of ash.
After watching a few times, even Mo Chu was left speechless.
Then she brought Xiao Jin with her and charged straight into the middle of Li Chen’s flames, targeting the sturdier zombies that hadn’t died immediately despite being engulfed in fire.
Li Chen, standing above, saw Mo Chu rush directly into the flames with Xiao Jin.
His heart nearly stopped.
He instantly withdrew the fire, dropped down from above, and grabbed both Mo Chu and Xiao Jin out of the battlefield.
Mo Chu looked bewildered after being dragged out, completely confused about why he had suddenly done that.
Looking at her blank expression, Li Chen rarely showed actual anger.
Still suppressing it with difficulty, he said, “Can’t you see how dangerous it is when the flames are burning? What if you got hurt?”
Of course Mo Chu understood the danger.
But she and Li Chen were thinking about completely different things.
Frowning slightly, she replied, “I know. But we’re teammates now. I need to coordinate with you in battle. Your flames won’t always hit everything, and some zombies won’t die immediately. If no one goes in to finish them off, that’s dangerous too.”
Li Chen paused.
Some of his anger faded, but his brows still remained tightly knit.
“Then you should’ve discussed it with me first. I could’ve coordinated with you.”
Mo Chu shook her head.
“Your ability is stronger. There’s no reason for you to accommodate me. If you deliberately hold back to cooperate with me, you won’t be able to use your power freely. It’s better for me to adapt to you instead.”
That was simply how Mo Chu thought.
Maximize efficiency in battle.
Everything existed for the sake of victory.
A mindset perfectly suited to the apocalypse.
Li Chen looked at her silently for a long time.
That night, Li Chen absorbed his very first crystal core.
Since he couldn’t stop her from risking herself—
Then he would simply become stronger.
