Inside the house.
"Mommy, is that uncle a bit abnormal?" The little girl ogled the food on the table with longing eyes. It had been a long time since she had fresh food, and her mother also hadn't eaten for a long time. She was sad, not wanting her mother to have any troubles.
Li Mei stared blankly at the food for a moment, then gently said, "Maybe, it's not that the uncle is a bit abnormal, but it's us..."
She halted before finishing, ultimately leaving her thought unspoken.
Back at home.
He started to prepare lunch.
Today, he planned to make a lavish melon meal, pumpkin rice, winter melon soup, sautéed spinach.
He was busy until noon, and the house had long been covered with the aroma.
Very fragrant, especially fragrant.
Because it's an old residential complex without access to natural gas, he still used gas cylinders, which saved him a lot of trouble in case of a gas supply cut-off, as then he wouldn't be able to enjoy a hot meal.
One dish and one soup, enough for one person, life was still so good.
At the dining table.
Lin Fan chewed his food slowly, eating unhurriedly.
Outside in the world.
There were survivors fighting for that sliver of hope.
There were also survivors who, to release the darkness in their hearts, harmed others.
And some survivors hid in a corner, thoroughly sinking into despair.
But for Lin Fan, he was slowly savoring the food in front of him.
In the past, he might have wasted a bit.
But now, he didn't waste anything, not even a single grain of rice.
Things once taken for granted are often overlooked, but during times of dire need, those easily attainable things become so distant and unattainable.
"Phew!"
"I'm stuffed."
Lin Fan, after finishing the last bite, lay back in his chair, patting his round belly, contented.
This life... comfortable.
After lunch, he cleaned the dishes and put them back in their place.
He had always been working and had not had a good time to relax, but now he finally had his wish.
Lin Fan lay on the sofa in a pleasant mood, tranquility settling in, and his entire being felt as though it was transcending.
The household supplies were still decent.
He went over to the computer, wanting to see if there were any new posts, but unfortunately, there were none. In times like these, presumably, no one wanted to go online anymore.
"I wonder when the power and internet will go out."
When exactly everything would stop, no one could say for sure.
Then, he remembered not to worry about electricity—Huang City had a hydroelectric power station. Even without staff, the whole station could continue to operate automatically for several years.
Of course, without management, the hydroelectric power station would eventually stop working. The intake might get blocked, or mechanical failures could occur.
The weather outside was still not bad. Should he take a stroll, breathe some fresh air? It also seemed like a good choice.
More importantly... the Frostmourne.
Such a cool sword.
Carrying it on his back gave him a strange sensation, like his entire person had been elevated somehow.
He pushed the door open and went downstairs.
The residential complex was very quiet, without any movement or sound apart from his footsteps.
Leaving the complex, he stood in front of a shop and looked at the corpses inside, falling into contemplation before snapping back to reality.
He walked silently along the roadside.
Whenever he passed a store, he would stop to take a close look. If he encountered someone he knew, he would certainly have greeted them.
However, unfortunately, there was no one.
At this moment, Lin Fan stopped walking.
There were zombies staggering forward up ahead.
Without noise, the zombies would quiet down, shaking their heads, revealing a trace of foolishness in their blankness.
"I do my thing, and they have nothing to do with it," Lin Fan said with a smile, not taking the zombies seriously. I haven't provoked you; if you provoke me, then it's your fault.
Then.
A few more zombies wandered over, staggering, and immediately spotted Lin Fan.
"Hi there, good day," greeted Lin Fan, waving his hand casually.
Roar!
The shuffling zombies seemed invigorated upon seeing Lin Fan, their clumsy movements suddenly becoming agile as they rushed over furiously.
With snarling faces and venomous claws, black, viscous blood trickled from the corners of their mouths.
"Ah."
Lin Fan sighed, raising his hand to grip the hilt of the "Frostmourne" behind him.
"When peace is no more, and chaos is eternal, I will strike without hesitation, delivering the strongest blow for my own protection."
Splash!
The sword gleamed, sweeping up a gust of wind.
Several bodies thudded to the ground, their heads tossed high in the air, spinning as they landed.
With his current strength coupled with the Simulated Divine Artifact, he couldn't afford to fool around. His blows were earth-shattering, and any intact body left was his own concern.
"Huh! It looks like someone has been here."
After walking for a while, he stopped. A corpse by the roadside caught his attention—it was a zombie whose head seemed to have been struck by a heavy object, caved in at the forehead.
At the same time, there were black tire marks on the road, obviously from hard braking.
"There must be other people living around here."
Lin Fan pondered, feeling it was very likely. After all, humans are the most creative. Faced with adversity, they can explode with power they never had before.
So it was normal for Huang City to have survivors.
4S dealership.
Lin Fan stopped in his tracks, standing outside the glass, looking at the brand-new cars inside.
The blue body, the perfect lines, so flirtatious, so bright, the car with a brilliant record in the automotive world.
Wuling Hongguang.
He had always hoped to have a car of his own.
This one in front of him, he had liked it for a long time, though it was only tens of thousands of yuan, but with his strength, he was still unworthy of it.
Other cars might be good, but to Lin Fan, none was better than Wuling.
At the same time, its logo had a great sense of design, very similar to Corvette's logo.
The two cars might have a huge difference in price, but being so similarly designed, they might be distant relatives.
If you can't afford a Corvette, playing with its distant relative is just the same.
Standing outside the window for a long time, touching the glass as if he were touching the car.
"Keep trying, one day you will be mine."
"I, Lin Fan, will own my first set of four wheels with my own ability."
After looking for a while, he withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward.
Gradually, he saw many rotting corpses.
"Rest in peace."
He could hardly do anything about it, limited by his abilities, he just wanted to live an ordinary life, with society still in existence, moral integrity and order eternal, maintaining reason and morals in his heart, no matter how dark the times.
Without reason and morals, one would turn into a horrifying beast, completely losing oneself.
Bang!
Suddenly.
A muffled sound erupted.
A splash of blood landed on his face, he looked up and touched it, warm and with the smell of blood, it was fresh blood.
He looked over, and a female corpse lay in front of him, her body patched blue and purple in stark contrast to her unblemished skin elsewhere.
The corpse was female with long hair cascading over her shoulders, her eyes wide open, even with blood smeared all over her face, it was clear from her contours that she was once beautiful.
She died with eyes wide open.
A voice came over,
"Damn, such bad luck, jumping off a building, what a fucking bitch," a man stood on the balcony of the fifth floor, his face scratched.
Seeing the woman lying still there was irritating.
He had spent a long time using her as a tool, and now she was gone.
Who knows when he'd find such high-quality goods again.
The man had lived there for a long time, never expecting that in the same building, there would be such high-quality 'goods.' If it weren't for going out in search of a living, he might not have met her.
In the past, he only dared to look, not to touch, but as the apocalypse came, it wasn't just about looking anymore; he could do some 'happy things'.
Lin Fan stared at the woman who had jumped off the building, noticing that her eyes were looking at him, devoid of spirit, but the anger within them struck his soul.
"What should I do?"
He whispered.
From her eyes, he seemed to see despair, anger, helplessness, and perhaps she had experienced something unimaginable.
Her wrists, her ankles, looked as if they had been tied up by something.
"Hey, who are you?" The man was about to go back inside but, startled, he saw Lin Fan standing below.
Someone had actually dared to come out.
Could it be that there were no zombies below?
If that was the case, it seemed he could go out again looking for isolated beauties, to unleash decades of fantasies.
"Why would you do such a thing?" Lin Fan looked up, a little angry.
He rarely argued with anyone.
What made him have such an attitude was an article he learned about during his nine years of compulsory education.
"Expanded Wisdom Literature"
A Taoist primer for children penned by a learned person.
The wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated.
They saw life very clearly.
Respect to the gentleman shows virtue, fear of the petty doesn't mean incompetence, a step back reveals the vastness of the sky and earth, yielding a little ensures peace of mind and calm, progressing involves considering retreat, starting should foresee letting go, when successful, don't repeat, in all actions, leave room for maneuver.
This is a section from the text.
Put simply,
A moment's patience can calm the seas, a step back can open up the horizons.
But to witness what's before him as if he had seen nothing, he couldn't do that.
"Who the fuck are you? Who I play with is none of your damn business, get the hell out of here now, really fucking bad luck," the man's voice was rough, and his appearance coarse, with a round face and stubbly chin, clearly not a good person by looks.
"You will pay for what you've done," Lin Fan crouched down, gently picking up the woman, and walked towards the residential area.
The man on the balcony, unable to see Lin Fan's figure, cursed under his breath.
"What a dumbass, moving the corpse away, he wants to go home and abuse the corpse, huh? What a pity, a corpse that doesn't struggle is even worse than an inflatable one," the man muttered, then scratched his groin and returned to the living room, slumped down on the couch and, with a hiss, opened a can of beer and gulped it down.
He hadn't had his fun in the last few days.
Well, it was okay; he'd just have a good rest for a while.
And after a bit of time, if he was lucky and found some good stuff, he'd tie her up and bring her over.
Thinking of this, his face flushed with excitement.
"Fifth floor."
Lin Fan arrived at the stairwell, looking up, quiet, perhaps with no zombies, but zombies were not what he feared.
What he detested were these people who, clearly of sound mind, could do such infuriating acts.
Unforgivable.
PS: Please throw some monthly votes this way.