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

--Translated by likesnovel--

Jiang Fan arrived on the 28th floor.

To avoid revealing his wall-phasing ability, he chose to use the stairs like a normal person.

The moment the survivors in the corridor saw him appear, several of them instinctively stepped back 2 or 3 paces.

Many of the elderly residents glanced toward Grandma Xu at the same time.

Just moments ago, she had been speaking boldly and confidently.

But now that Jiang Fan was standing right in front of her, she suddenly felt a little uneasy.

However,

Jiang Fan didn't even spare her a glance.

He walked straight to Li Qingquan's apartment and knocked on the door.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Inside the room,

Li Qingquan instinctively walked over to the peephole.

The moment he saw Jiang Fan outside, his heart skipped a beat.

A chill shot from the soles of his feet all the way to his head.

Could it be...

Had I somehow offended him?

Li Qingquan immediately became tense.

But now that Jiang Fan was already at his door, he had no choice but to open it.

Forcing a polite smile, he said,

"B-Building Manager Jiang... what can I do for you?"

"I'm here to check on your patient."

Jiang Fan spoke calmly and walked inside without waiting for permission.

Li Qingquan didn't dare stop him.

He quickly shut the door and followed behind.

The man who had been scratched by Grandma Xu immediately stood up.

He looked like a student being summoned by the principal.

Jiang Fan walked over and carefully examined the wounds on the man's face.

Then he asked,

"Doctor Li, can you treat this?"

Li Qingquan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At least Jiang Fan wasn't here to cause trouble.

"The chances aren't very high."

"We're critically short on medicine right now."

In truth, he desperately wanted to ask whether Jiang Fan had any medical supplies.

But in the end, he didn't dare.

Jiang Fan nodded slightly.

His expression remained unreadable.

"Show me the medicine you're using."

Li Qingquan immediately brought over the remaining pine needles.

Jiang Fan knew very little about traditional medicine.

But he understood one thing.

A doctor was valuable.

Especially a traditional medicine practitioner.

If it were a modern Western doctor,

once pharmaceutical factories and advanced medical technology disappeared,

most of their capabilities would be severely limited.

Traditional medicine was different.

Its practitioners possessed extensive knowledge of herbs and natural remedies.

The real question was...

In a world where plants and animals were mutating at an incredible rate,

how much of that knowledge still applied?

Even so,

something was better than nothing.

Suddenly, Jiang Fan remembered something.

"The last time I saw you, weren't you selling some kind of vegetable that smelled absolutely terrible?"

Li Qingquan nodded.

"Mutated sparrow lettuce."

"The smell is extremely strong."

"If it's cooked, it actually smells even worse."

"But I can guarantee it's edible."

"And its nutritional value is quite high."

"I've been eating it as my staple food lately."

"Unfortunately, there's no gas anymore, so cooking isn't an option."

"As for eating it raw..."

"Even I'm not completely comfortable with that."

As he spoke, Li Qingquan sighed regretfully.

Jiang Fan nodded.

"Let me see it."

Li Qingquan promptly brought out the mutated sparrow lettuce.

The moment the container was opened,

a horrifying stench exploded into the room.

It was like a public restroom that hadn't been cleaned for months.

Jiang Fan almost vomited up his dinner on the spot.

In contrast,

Li Qingquan's expression remained completely normal.

He seemed to have grown accustomed to it.

The injured man stared at the bowl of vegetables with hopeful eyes.

"This... is really edible?"

Li Qingquan nodded seriously.

"Of course."

"I eat it every day."

"It's practically all I have left at home."

The injured man looked at the healthy color in Doctor Li's face.

Then he asked pitifully,

"Then... can I have some?"

Li Qingquan smiled faintly.

"You dare eat it raw?"

The man clenched his teeth.

"I do!"

"I probably don't have many days left anyway!"

"At least let me have 1 full meal before I die!"

He was single.

No family.

No one to rely on.

Li Qingquan placed a large bowl of raw mutated sparrow lettuce in front of him.

"I picked it yesterday."

"This vegetable is quite strange."

"Even after sitting for 3 days, it doesn't rot."

The injured man took a cautious sniff.

"Urgh..."

His face changed instantly.

A wave of nausea surged from his stomach.

Standing nearby, Jiang Fan was completely speechless.

People could actually eat this stuff?

At the same time,

he couldn't help but admire Li Qingquan.

"How did you even discover that this thing was edible?"

Just then,

the injured man stuffed a small bite into his mouth.

"BLEAAARGH—!"

His face twisted immediately.

The mutated sparrow lettuce was so soft and mushy that it barely had any texture.

The taste resembled something best left undescribed.

Combined with the horrifying smell,

the result was far beyond what a normal human could endure.

The man ate.

Then vomited.

Then forced himself to eat again.

In the end, he barely managed to finish half a bowl before completely giving up.

He collapsed into a chair, utterly exhausted.

Staring blankly at the ceiling.

Occasionally, another wave of nausea made him gag.

Li Qingquan chuckled softly.

"You're doing better than I did."

"The first time I tried it, I couldn't even finish 2 bites."

"Honestly, if you eat it every day, you'll eventually get used to it."

"If we still had water and fire, you could even make soup out of it."

"The taste is... well..."

"But the nutritional value is excellent."

Soup that smells like a toilet?

Jiang Fan fell silent.

Then he looked at Li Qingquan with a strange expression.

This old man...

Was truly something else.

Meanwhile, the injured man weakly waved his hand.

"Forget it..."

"You'd be doing me a favor by killing me..."

"Even if I die, I'm never eating this stuff again..."

"BLEAAARGH—!"

Jiang Fan chuckled softly.

"I just want to keep detailed records of his symptoms."

"I'd like to know whether these herbs actually work."

Hearing that, a faint light flickered in Li Qingquan's eyes.

His instincts told him...

His opportunity might finally have arrived.

"Understood."

...

2 hours later,

Jiang Fan returned.

The moment he entered the room, he noticed that the wound on the injured man's face had already scabbed over.

Not only that,

through his special perception ability, he could see that the unstable aura surrounding the man—which had previously flickered weakly—had become noticeably steadier.

The injured man felt the change as well.

Excitement filled his face as he spoke.

"Doctor Li!"

"I can barely feel the pain anymore!"

Li Qingquan quickly examined the wound.

A moment later, he couldn't help but exclaim,

"Unbelievable..."

"The mutated pine tree is actually far more effective than the original."

"Perhaps this evolution isn't just a disaster."

"It may also be an opportunity for humanity."

Looking at the injured man, he nodded.

"You're very lucky."

"Go back and get some rest."

The man was so overjoyed that he practically jumped to his feet.

After thanking Li Qingquan repeatedly, he hurried out of the room.

Jiang Fan was equally satisfied.

This Li Qingquan...

Really had some skill.

Since that was the case,

Jiang Fan didn't mind helping him a little.

He got straight to the point.

"Starting today,"

"I'll provide you with food every day."

"Interested?"

Li Qingquan froze for a moment.

His gaze drifted toward the instant noodles nearby.

He was only human.

If normal food was available,

who would willingly eat vegetables that smelled like a toilet every day?

Having lived for more than 50 years,

Li Qingquan understood how the world worked.

He didn't believe in free favors.

So he cautiously asked,

"And what would I need to do in return?"

Jiang Fan was very pleased with that response.

Reasonable people were easier to manage.

And they caused fewer problems.

"If one of my women gets sick,"

"you treat her."

"If you cure her, you'll be rewarded."

"If you fail, you won't be punished."

"What do you think?"

Li Qingquan was instantly tempted.

To put it plainly,

this was a personal physician position under Jiang Fan.

And Li Qingquan wasn't the type to cling to meaningless pride.

He answered immediately.

"Deal."

After accepting the offer,

Li Qingquan decided to move right away.

His most valuable possessions were solid hardwood furniture.

There was no practical way to move those.

Besides,

he lived alone.

He could relocate whenever he wanted.

His wife had passed away many years ago.

As for his son and granddaughter,

they lived in another city.

Ever since the red mist had engulfed the world,

all contact had been lost.

Li Qingquan packed only a few sets of clothes

and a medical box.

Inside were basic medical supplies such as:

silver acupuncture needles,

a medicine scale,

alcohol,

iodine,

and several other essential tools.

Jiang Fan then led him upstairs.

The people watching from the corridor were filled with envy.

Especially Grandma Xu.

Her face darkened even further.

One of her grandsons had died.

And in her eyes,

it was entirely Li Qingquan's fault for refusing to save him.

Yet today,

the old doctor had saved the bastard who argued with her.

And now he had even been granted permission to live on the upper floors.

"Old quack!"

"Are you deliberately making an enemy of me?!"

Grandma Xu cursed resentfully.

But nobody paid any attention to her.

...

Not long afterward,

Jiang Fan brought Li Qingquan to the 28th floor.

He chose an apartment as far away from Zhang Yinuo's room as possible.

Jiang Fan was an extremely cautious person.

There was no way he would allow Li Qingquan to live on the 32nd floor.

Li Qingquan stared at the apartment door in confusion.

"I'm staying here?"

"How do I even open the door?"

Jiang Fan didn't answer.

Instead, he casually extended his hand.

The next second,

his entire arm silently passed through the reinforced security door.

When his hand returned to normal on the other side,

he simply turned the lock from within.

Click.

The door opened immediately.

Over time,

Jiang Fan had become increasingly skilled at controlling his phasing ability.

He could now precisely choose which parts of his body became intangible.

Li Qingquan's eyes widened.

"Is that a supernatural ability?"

"That's incredible!"

Jiang Fan merely smiled.

He offered no further explanation.

"If I need anything, I'll come find you."

"For now, don't leave unless absolutely necessary."

"It's chaotic outside."

"Someone will bring your food later."

He still didn't truly trust Li Qingquan.

Naturally, he had no intention of revealing all of his abilities.

After settling everything,

Jiang Fan returned home.

He grabbed 1 full carton of instant noodles,

1 large bag of ham sausages,

and 1 pack of bottled water.

Then he turned to Xu Mengqian and Liu Mengyao.

"Take these to Room 2809."

"Give them to Doctor Li Qingquan."

The 2 young women hesitated slightly.

Neither wanted to leave the apartment.

But they were even less willing to refuse Jiang Fan's orders.

Jiang Fan wasn't worried.

His perception ability covered the entire building.

At least above the 5th floor,

there were no immediate threats.

But below the 5th floor...

That was a completely different story.

In a single night,

the areas that had previously been cleared with herbicides had once again become overgrown.

Grass and vines were spreading at an insane rate.

Insects, ants, rodents, and countless other creatures scurried everywhere.

The brief period during which people could still safely venture outdoors

had come to an end.

Now everyone was trapped inside the building once more.

And even staying indoors wasn't truly safe.

The lower floors were infested with mutated rats and mutated cockroaches.

Occasionally, mutated mosquitoes would appear as well.

If one bit you...

All you could do was pray for good luck.

On top of that,

a new species of strange creature had appeared in the drainage system.

Its body resembled a gigantic earthworm.

The creatures slithered through the sewer pipes in a revolting manner.

Although they looked terrifying,

Jiang Fan's perception revealed that the energy radiating from them was relatively weak.

For now,

they didn't seem to pose a major threat.

However...

In a world where everything was evolving at a frightening pace,

no one could know

what those creatures might become tomorrow.