Apocalypse: Resources consumed by women will be returned ten thousandfold.

--Translated by likesnovel--

System notifications continued to ring inside Jiang Fan’s mind.

[Ding! 1 day ago, Liu Mengyao ate 1 steamed bun. Triggering a 500x return! Rewards have been stored in your personal dimensional space.]

[Ding! 2 days ago, Liu Mengyao ate 1 steamed bun. Triggering a 500x return! Rewards have been stored in your personal dimensional space.]

[Ding! 3 days ago, Liu Mengyao ate 1 steamed bun. Triggering a 500x return! Rewards have been stored in your personal dimensional space.]

...

Only then did Jiang Fan realize that Liu Mengyao had been living a far harder life than he had imagined.

For the past 1 week, she had survived on nothing but steamed buns.

The 2 of them soon returned to Tang Xuerou’s apartment.

Dinner had already been prepared.

The 3 women were sitting quietly by the table, waiting.

The moment they saw Jiang Fan return, all 3 immediately stood up.

Tang Xuerou smiled sweetly.

"Brother Jiang, you're back. You must be hungry. Come eat."

Jiang Fan sat down at the head of the table.

"Mhm."

Tang Xuerou then turned toward Liu Mengyao.

"Mengyao, you've had a long day too. Come sit and eat with us."

Liu Mengyao froze as she stared at the dining table.

Braised beef ribs in sauce.

Cola chicken drumsticks.

Steamed sea bass with soy sauce.

Shrimp in red sauce.

Shredded chilled vegetables.

...

"How... how is this even possible..."

Her mouth nearly watered.

Even before the apocalypse, she rarely had the chance to eat such a luxurious meal.

Xu Mengqian smiled proudly.

"It's just an ordinary dinner. Don't mind it, Mengyao. We weren't prepared today. Tomorrow we'll make a proper feast to welcome our new sister."

Liu Mengyao shook her head repeatedly.

"No! This is already incredibly extravagant!"

Jiang Fan simply said,

"Eat."

The 3 women still didn't dare touch their chopsticks.

Liu Mengyao quickly understood the unspoken rule as well.

Only after Jiang Fan had taken several bites did the women finally begin eating.

Seeing that Jiang Fan was in a fairly good mood, the atmosphere at the table gradually relaxed.

Soft laughter occasionally filled the room.

Tang Xuerou chuckled lightly.

"A lot of people went out searching for food today."

Xu Mengqian snorted.

"They're all fools."

"What exactly are they expecting to buy now?"

"Sure, many of the plants died, but the Red Mist is still here. Visibility is still terrible. Who's going to deliver supplies?"

Hu Lili added,

"I saw videos from other survivors."

"Many roads have already been destroyed."

"Some mutated grass roots can even pierce through vehicle tires."

"At least in the short term, transportation isn't coming back."

Tang Xuerou picked up a piece of meat and gently fed it to Jiang Fan before speaking proudly.

"If no outside supplies can enter the city, then all that's left in Mohai City is whatever dry food and frozen food remains."

"With so many people competing for it, how long can that last?"

"Other than Brother Jiang, who has a dimensional storage ability, most people are eventually going to starve."

"And the countryside is in even worse condition."

"The environment is barely suitable for human survival anymore."

"As for factories, they're not doing much better. Without stable electricity, how are they supposed to produce anything?"

While the 3 women were discussing the situation, they suddenly turned toward Liu Mengyao.

"By the way, Mengyao, what's it like outside now?"

Among all of them, only Liu Mengyao had recently returned from the outside world.

Naturally, everyone was curious.

"Outside..."

Liu Mengyao immediately shuddered.

Her face turned pale.

"It's chaotic."

"There's no food left in the supermarkets."

"The insects on the streets are extremely dangerous."

"People are fighting everywhere."

"People are killing each other too..."

When she mentioned murder, she secretly glanced at Jiang Fan with lingering fear.

Afraid he might be displeased.

However, Jiang Fan merely replied calmly,

"Mhm. I killed another 2 or 3 scumbags today."

"Go on."

Killed people again?

The 3 women fell silent for a moment.

Yet none of them appeared particularly shocked.

After all, they had personally witnessed Jiang Fan kill Zhou Tianhao before.

"And then..."

Hearing Jiang Fan casually admit it only reinforced Liu Mengyao's belief that he had indeed killed before.

The fear and respect she felt toward him deepened even further.

She hurriedly continued.

"The people Brother Jiang killed were all criminals."

"They deserved to die."

"He left 1 of them alive and forced him to lead us to their hideout."

"There were 2 cages..."

She then slowly recounted everything she had witnessed.

The women imprisoned like dogs.

The endless torture.

The beatings.

The abuse.

The unimaginable cruelty.

Tang Xuerou, Xu Mengqian, and Hu Lili all turned pale.

Their hearts pounded violently.

They immediately thought of the young woman in Building A across from them.

The one who had been gang-raped by 4 men before disappearing without a trace.

A chill ran through their bodies.

Without realizing it, both Tang Xuerou and Hu Lili tightly wrapped their arms around Jiang Fan's.

Fear filled their eyes.

Along with overwhelming gratitude.

"If we hadn't followed Brother Jiang..."

"Our fate would've probably been the same as theirs."

"Exactly!"

"That's right!"

Xu Mengqian and Hu Lili nodded repeatedly.

As long as they obeyed him, Jiang Fan had never intentionally abused any woman.

As for Xu Mengqian's earlier punishment...

That was entirely her own fault.

She had actually tried to use the same tricks she'd once used on Hu Lei against Jiang Fan.

Looking back on it now, even she felt incredibly foolish.

After Liu Mengyao finished describing her experiences outside, silence filled the room.

Could this world...

Ever truly return to normal?

After dinner, all 4 women worked together to clean up the table.

Meanwhile, Jiang Fan stepped out onto the balcony.

His gaze settled on the exterior wall of the building.

A slight frown appeared on his face.

Just as he had expected.

The wall-climbing vines were growing back.

Plants that had seemingly been wiped out by herbicides were already sprouting tiny green shoots once again.

The sprouts were still very small.

But the fact remained—

They had survived.

How much time had passed?

Only 1 day.

Jiang Fan let out a quiet sigh.

At that moment, night had completely fallen.

The Red Mist below the 21st floor had become a deep crimson sea, like a realm of ghosts and demons.

Using his perception ability, he scanned the survivors within range.

In just 1 day, the population inside Building C had dropped by at least 1/3.

Many people who had gone out searching for supplies never returned.

No one knew whether they were trapped somewhere...

Or already dead.

Of course, some had been fortunate.

A few had managed to find food.

Enough to extend their lives for several more days.

Suddenly—

A massive pillar of fire erupted in the southeastern part of the city.

The flames lit up nearly half the night sky.

Several seconds later—

The explosions arrived.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The windows throughout the apartment shook violently.

The 4 women immediately rushed toward the window in alarm.

"What happened?!"

"Where did that explosion come from?!"

"Is there going to be a huge fire?"

And at that exact moment—

The power went out.

The entire apartment was swallowed by darkness.

"Aah!"

Several screams rang out simultaneously.

Jiang Fan frowned.

"Why are you all panicking so much?"

The 4 women instantly fell silent.

Without realizing it, they all moved closer to him.

Tang Xuerou tightly hugged Jiang Fan's arm.

The firm muscles of the young man gave her an inexplicable sense of security.

She lightly bit her lower lip and looked out the window.

At this moment...

Everything visible had become darkness.

The entire city of Mohai had lost power.

The legacy of modern technological civilization...

Was slowly fading away.

And a deep, suffocating despair...

Quietly settled into the hearts of every woman present.