"Meet? Hell no—we're gonna fight till one drops!"
Kael's eyes blazed with a feral glint, his voice rough with pent-up rage.
Reno ducked his head, lips twitching.
Poor bastards—wrong place, wrong time to cross their cranky, simmering boss!
Elara stared at her phone's blank signal bar.
A faint, cold smirk tugged at her lips. With the line dead, Kael must be blowing a fuse right now—good.
"Elara! C'mere and taste this!"
Piper waved cheerfully, holding out a bowl. "Jaxon and I whipped it up—how's the flavor?"
Elara joined the others on the ground.
She took the bowl from Piper and sipped the soup slowly.
"Not bad—seasoning's balanced."
Her tone was flat, no extra warmth.
"Should we scavenge supplies along the way?"
Elias pushed up his glasses, his voice rigid as always. "The three of us can't just mooch off you for free."
Silas and Piper nodded eagerly.
Jaxon glanced at Elara, his mouth opening and closing—he wanted to agree, but didn't dare speak up without her go-ahead.
All three turned to Elara in unison.
Unspoken, she'd become the linchpin of their little group, her word final.
Elara set her bowl down casually, lifting an eyebrow.
"We've got enough food for days. Scavenging's necessary, but hunting Mutated Beasts matters more."
Miss the early Apocalypse window, and grabbing Beast Cores'll get ten times harder once everyone catches on.
She paused, voice sharpening with the resolve of someone who'd seen hell and back.
"Bottom line: power first, supplies second. We're here to get strong—for when we awaken Superpowers."
"Do you think… we can actually awaken Superpowers? The odds are so slim!"
Piper asked, voice small with fragile hope.
"Even if we can't—you gonna just roll over and die?"
Elara shot back coolly, her gaze cutting through the dark.
Piper froze.
Elias and Silas fell silent, mulling her words.
Yeah, even as normies, none of them were ready to give up.
Not in a world swarming with Mutated Beasts.
After lunch, the five hit the road again.
They topped up the tank at a gas station, grabbing an extra barrel for emergencies—you could never have too much fuel in the Apocalypse.
When they spotted Mutated Beasts, everyone but Elara hopped out to practice their skills.
And when they passed government troops' kills, Elara didn't hesitate to pry out the Beast Cores—waste not, want not.
By dusk, they'd left the national highway for a main road.
"We'll reach X City by noon tomorrow!" Jaxon grinned, gripping the steering wheel excitedly.
"Thank gods—we'll split from those government goons first thing. Finally!"
Piper cheered, still fuming over their earlier cowardice and hypocrisy.
"There's a tunnel in about 300 miles, right?"
Elias frowned, his usual pessimism creeping in. "Hope nothing goes wrong."
"Ugh! Don't jinx it, you buzzkill!"
Piper glared.
"Alright—Elias and I will take first watch after dinner. You three rest."
Elara cut them off, brows furrowed with authority.
"Watch? Why?"
Jaxon blinked, confused.
"Do you want Mutated Beasts munching on you in your sleep?"
Elara shot him a look, then turned to the others.
"From now on, someone's on watch every night—even in 'safe' spots.
This is the Apocalypse, people. Danger doesn't sleep. One mistake, and you're dead."
"Elara's right. We get it."
Silas nodded for once, his gentle voice firm. "Rest up—save your strength. Mutated Beasts could strike anytime."
Elara and Elias stayed behind.
Jaxon, Piper, and Silas climbed back into the car.
Elias opened his mouth to speak.
But Elara nodded toward the roof. "I'll take the top—you cover the perimeter."
Before he could reply, she vaulted onto the roof in one fluid move.
Her figure blended with the night, invisible.
Elias adjusted his glasses.
He watched her settle cross-legged, her elegant features paler under the moonlight, aura cold and untouchable.
He looked away, focusing on scanning the dark surroundings for threats.
Elara released a swarm of rice-grain-sized bubbles, closing her eyes.
Everything within 50 meters—rustling leaves, distant growls, even the car's engine hum—flickered into her mind, clear as day.
She gripped a gold-element Beast Core in each hand, starting to absorb its energy.
She'd had no chance to do this all day—that's why she'd volunteered for watch.
Every second counted when it came to leveling up.
The night was quiet, wind cool…
But not a single insect chirped. It was the eerie silence of a dead world.
Elias stayed sharp, his eyes never resting.
Suddenly, he caught a flash of golden light out of the corner of his eye!
He spun around.
The darkness was empty. Even the figure on the roof had merged into shadows.
Elara's eyes flew open.
A spark of joy lit them. Damn—absorbing ten Beast Cores had leveled her up!
In her mind, the gold-element progress bar now showed a "1" inside the star marker.
Leveling up from 1 to 2 would take twice the energy. Each subsequent level would double that—this was gonna get brutal, fast.
Elara calmed her excitement.
Then her vision blurred. When it cleared, she gasped, staring in disbelief.
Before her stretched an endless garden.
Flowers of every color bloomed thick and wild, their scent so rich it made her dizzy.
Behind her, a log cabin sat enclosed by a rough-hewn fence.
In the small yard, ten beehives stood in neat rows. Countless bees buzzed in and out, busy at work—as if waiting for her.
Get closer, and a sweet, sticky honey scent wafted over.
Warm and inviting.
Pushing open the cabin door, Elara saw two 50-centimeter wooden buckets next to each hive.
Both brimming with honey, crystallized into golden 硬块 from age.
Honey oozed from the hives' bottoms.
Pooling on the ground in glistening puddles.
Elara bit her finger hard.
Sharp pain shot through—this was real. Not a hallucination, not a Superpower trick.
She exhaled, a rare grin spreading across her face.
So this was a space!
Suddenly, she remembered the mysterious missing peach pit.
The one she'd bought at the flea market, the one that vanished after cutting her finger. Could this be its inner dimension?
Hidden in her body all along, only accessible once her Superpower hit Level 2?
That had to be it!
Inside the cabin, the small space was crammed with more buckets.
Except for a simple bed, a wooden table, and a rickety chair.
Wood shavings and carpentry tools lay on the floor.
Leftovers from whoever built the buckets and hives.
Elara carried the full buckets outside.
She placed one by each hive, stacking the crystallized ones neatly under the eaves.
Her mind raced—she needed more containers.
Plastic buckets, metal cans, anything that could hold honey.
She spun each hive's honey extractor slowly.
Soon, the new buckets overflowed with fresh, runny honey.
Staring at the growing pile, she frowned.
She needed more beehives too. Plastic buckets were easy to scavenge—beehives would be harder.
And what about the honey's effects?
If it was just regular honey, this space was useless. She'd have to clear part of the garden to store supplies—food, water, weapons.
At dawn, the first ray of sunlight slanted through the car window.
Elara's eyes flew open, alight with excitement.
After half the night of testing—cutting her arm, going hungry, meditating with the honey—she'd figured out its powers!
First: it's super-concentrated food.
A cube of crystallized honey filled her stomach, keeping her energized for hours without sluggishness.
Second: it healed.
A deep cut on her arm stopped bleeding in seconds, scabbed over within minutes. Four hours later, only a faint pink mark remained—no scar.
And third—most amazing of all—it's packed with pure energy!
A few bites, and both her air and gold-element Superpower progress bars inched up. It was like a universal Beast Core—no element restrictions, no wasted energy.
Next Chapter Teaser:
Elara's space honey becomes a target! Mutated beasts swarm after sensing the energy, and Kael's violent jealousy flares when he sees her sharing honey with Silas. Will the honey's secret be exposed? Can they fight their way through the beast horde to reach X City? The love-hate entanglement between Elara and Kael is about to escalate—don't miss it!