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

--Translated by likesnovel--

### Floor 2

Liu Dongqiang stood by the window with Chen Yun in his arms, staring down at the area below the apartment building.

Just moments ago, he had seen a group of people emerge from Building C and run outside to clear the overgrown weeds.

He was completely baffled.

Had they all gone insane?

The grass had been growing at a ridiculous rate lately, as if it had been pumped full of growth hormones.

Even if they spent the entire day pulling weeds, there was no way they could clear everything.

So why waste the energy?

Chen Yun yawned sleepily.

"Who knows? Maybe they've all lost their minds."

"Come on, Brother Qiang. Let's go back to sleep."

Yesterday, she had eaten her fill, drunk her fill, and spent the entire night with Liu Dongqiang.

Now she was so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open.

The day before, while the herbicide was still effective, Liu Dongqiang had taken Chen Yun out to search for supplies.

He was fairly clever.

He knew that a massive supermarket like Yida Supermarket would attract huge crowds.

Even if they got there, they probably wouldn't get anything.

Worse, it would be extremely dangerous.

So instead, he took Chen Yun to a nearby parcel collection station called "Bird's Nest Inn."

Using his lock-picking skills, he easily broke inside.

The building was packed with hundreds of unclaimed packages.

No one was coming to pick them up anymore.

The two of them found a large amount of food and drinks.

Enough to survive for several more days.

More importantly, their success had boosted their confidence tremendously.

There were at least hundreds of parcel stations scattered across Mohai City.

Even if only 1 out of every 10 still contained useful supplies, it would be enough to keep them alive for a very long time.

Suddenly, Liu Dongqiang scratched at his crotch irritably.

The more he scratched, the itchier it became.

A strange foul odor seemed to be coming from it as well.

Frowning, he pulled down his pants to take a look.

The moment he saw it, he froze.

"Holy shit... what the hell is this?!"

His entire lower region was covered in dense clusters of red bumps.

The sight was absolutely disgusting.

Chen Yun's face immediately turned pale.

"What the hell?!"

"What did you do?!"

"Don't tell me you've got some disease!"

She hurriedly checked her own body.

Fortunately, she couldn't find anything abnormal yet.

But inwardly, she was cursing Liu Dongqiang nonstop.

This bastard looked so honest.

Who would've thought he was carrying something contagious?!

Please don't let me catch it too!

Still, she needed Liu Dongqiang to survive.

So she didn't dare say any of that aloud.

Grabbing a bottle of purified water, Chen Yun headed into the bathroom.

She sat down on the toilet and began cleaning herself.

Outside, Liu Dongqiang called anxiously:

"Hurry up when you're done!"

"I need to wash up too!"

Before he could finish speaking—

A strange sound suddenly came from inside the toilet.

Fwoosh!

Something black shot upward from the bowl like lightning.

It resembled a thick tentacle the size of a human fist.

*Thrust!!*

The black tentacle pierced straight through Chen Yun's body from below.

Then burst out through her mouth.

Her eyes widened instantly.

Her entire body froze.

Liu Dongqiang stood there with his mouth hanging open.

His mind went completely blank.

Holy fucking shit!!!

Whoosh!

The black tentacle retracted just as quickly as it had appeared.

Blood splattered across the entire bathroom.

Chen Yun's body collapsed onto the floor.

Like a lifeless sack of mud.

Blood pooled rapidly beneath her.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Liu Dongqiang let out a hysterical scream.

The sound was so shrill it barely sounded human.

Everyone pulling weeds on the 1st floor heard it.

So did the nearby residents.

---

### Floor 32

Jiang Fan witnessed everything through his perception ability.

Just moments ago, one of the creatures hiding inside the drainage system had suddenly become nearly **10 times brighter** than before.

Then it burst out and impaled the woman.

Afterward, its aura dimmed once again.

Then it vanished back into the sewer network.

Jiang Fan's expression darkened immediately.

"Damn..."

"This thing is way more cunning than I thought."

It could suppress its own power.

Disguising itself as a harmless, weak creature.

Tang Xuerou heard the scream as well.

Goosebumps instantly spread across her skin.

"Brother Jiang..."

"What happened?"

"That sounded like someone from our building."

Jiang Fan replied coldly,

"I'm going to check."

The moment he finished speaking, his body slowly sank into the floor.

He quickly moved through the structure until he reached an empty apartment on the 2nd floor.

Then emerged from the floor.

Without hesitation, he kicked open Liu Dongqiang's door.

**BOOM!!!**

The door exploded inward.

Liu Dongqiang was sitting on the floor.

His face was white as paper.

His body trembled uncontrollably.

When he saw Jiang Fan, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

The bathroom was covered in blood.

Chen Yun's corpse lay face-down beside the shattered toilet.

The toilet bowl itself had been smashed to pieces.

The drainage pipe underneath had expanded to nearly **twice** its original size.

A powerful stench filled the room.

Through his perception, Jiang Fan could already tell the creature had left.

It was currently slithering through the drainage system toward the 1st floor.

After observing for a while, he quietly sighed.

It seemed this creature had limitations.

For now, it could only move within the area from the 5th floor downward.

At least at the moment, the upper floors remained safe.

As long as it wasn't a threat to him...

There was no problem.

Jiang Fan said nothing further.

He simply turned around and left.

---

Eventually, Liu Dongqiang regained his senses.

He frantically gathered every piece of food and every bottle of water he could find.

Then sprinted up the stairs like a madman.

He didn't dare stop for even a second.

Only when he reached the 22nd floor—

Where more residents were gathered together—

Did he finally feel a little safer.

But the moment people saw his condition, they immediately backed away.

"Don't come any closer!"

"God, you stink!"

"Stay away from us!"

"Don't come near me!"

Liu Dongqiang's face was pale, almost deranged.

He kept repeating the same words over and over.

"There's a monster..."

"There's a monster in the toilet..."

"There's really a monster in the toilet..."

His voice trembled uncontrollably.

Filled with terror and despair.

Meanwhile, the faces of everyone around him gradually turned pale as well.

Because nobody knew...

How many more monsters like that might still be hiding inside the building.

### Noon

Not long afterward, most of the people who had gone downstairs to clear weeds began returning.

The results were even worse than anyone had expected.

The most productive worker had only managed to pull about **60 jin** (roughly **30 kg**) of weeds.

The least productive had gathered just over **30 jin** (around **15 kg**).

These were all city dwellers.

Most had never done hard physical labor in their lives.

On top of that, everyone had spent the past several days hungry, exhausted, and sleep-deprived.

Their bodies were already at their limits.

They also lacked proper tools.

Even worse, **2 people** had been bitten by unknown insects.

The swollen wounds on their bodies had expanded to the size of a palm.

Even the slightest touch caused sharp pain.

Before long, both victims developed fevers.

Their faces became visibly pale.

Soon, complaints began spreading through the crowd.

"Damn it!"

"That convenience store clerk is screwing with us!"

"Who the hell can pull **100 jin** of weeds a day?!"

"We don't even know if he's actually going to give us food!"

"I'm dying of thirst!"

"My water supply is almost gone!"

"What are we supposed to do now?"

...

Standing nearby, Grandma Xu listened with a satisfied smile.

She and the other elderly residents didn't have the strength to do manual labor anyway.

Earlier, when she saw the younger survivors willingly pulling weeds in exchange for food, she had been secretly unhappy.

Now that everyone was starting to complain, she immediately seized the opportunity.

"I told you so!"

"Pulling weeds is a complete waste of effort!"

"That convenience store clerk is deliberately making things difficult for us!"

The moment someone took the lead, others quickly followed.

"Exactly!"

"Even if we clear everything today, it'll just grow back tomorrow!"

"He's doing this on purpose!"

"Let's go find Jiang Fan!"

"Make him share some of his food!"

"It doesn't have to be much!"

"Just **3 loaves of bread per person per day** would be enough!"

Someone hesitated.

"But... what if he attacks us?"

Another person immediately replied,

"Then we go together!"

"I don't believe he'd dare do anything to so many people!"

"That's right!"

"We all go!"

"There are so many of us—he won't dare!"

"Exactly! If we stand together, he can't do anything to us!"

...

Among the crowd, Tian Tian listened quietly.

A faint light flashed in her eyes.

"So..."

"There's someone named Jiang Fan living in this building."

"And he has a lot of food?"

She had only teleported into the building recently.

Earlier, she had secretly searched Zhang Yinuo's apartment.

She hadn't found a single piece of food.

Unwilling to give up, she came downstairs.

That's when she found a large crowd arguing heatedly.

Today, Tian Tian was disguised as a middle-aged woman.

She had deliberately made herself look worn-out and unattractive.

As a result, nobody paid any attention to her.

After listening for a while, she decided to follow the crowd.

"This Jiang Fan guy is finished."

"All these people are going to take his food."

"No matter how much he has, there's no way he can protect it."

"And if things get chaotic..."

"Maybe I can grab something for myself."

Just as everyone was talking excitedly—

A voice suddenly came from the stairwell above.

"Sounds like you're all having a great conversation."

"Why don't you let me join in?"

The voice was calm.

Relaxed.

Almost like someone greeting old friends.

Yet the moment it sounded—

The entire hallway fell silent.

---

Earlier, Jiang Fan hadn't slept at all during the night.

After finishing lunch, he had taken a nap while holding Hu Lili.

After sleeping for a little over **1 hour**, his stamina had almost completely recovered.

Now that his overall physical stat had reached **90 points**, he could stay awake for **48 hours straight** without feeling much fatigue.

But the reason he liked sleeping with Hu Lili in his arms was simple.

She was soft.

Warm.

And unbelievably comfortable.

However, the moment he opened his eyes, he sensed something unusual.

There was a new superpowered individual inside the building.

Inside that person's body was a familiar blue energy.

Along with a physique he recognized immediately.

Tian Tian.

"She's finally come back..."

Jiang Fan felt a surge of excitement.

He didn't dare waste even a second.

He was afraid she might disappear again.

So he quickly got dressed and used his Phasing ability to move downstairs.

When he reached the **25th floor**, he heard a group of people enthusiastically cursing him.

Jiang Fan couldn't have cared less.

These people meant nothing to him.

The only person he cared about was Tian Tian.

Seeing that she was still mixed in with the crowd and hadn't left, he stepped around the corner of the stairwell.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"Sounds like you're all having a great conversation."

"Why don't you tell me about it?"

His gaze swept across Tian Tian naturally.

She seemed extremely confident in her disguise.

She didn't suspect a thing.

Jiang Fan descended the stairs one step at a time.

The crowd instinctively parted for him.

Just moments ago, everyone had been talking boldly.

Now that the real person stood before them—

Nobody dared speak.

Even the people who had been bitten by insects while pulling weeds remained silent.

The memory of Jiang Fan casually killing people was still burned into everyone's mind.

Nobody wanted to be the first to step forward.

Tian Tian frowned.

"What are they afraid of?"

"There's so many of them..."

"Why are they scared of just one person?"

She carefully examined Jiang Fan.

The young man was handsome.

Ordinary-looking.

Nothing seemed particularly special about him.

At that moment, Jiang Fan stopped walking.

It looked casual.

Accidental, even.

But in reality, he had stopped directly in front of Tian Tian.

Smiling at the crowd, he said,

"Go on."

"Weren't you all talking so confidently just now?"

"I'm listening."

Everyone immediately turned toward Grandma Xu.

Grandma Xu's expression froze.

But after a brief hesitation, she still forced herself to step forward.

"Young man, I was only—"

Whoosh!

A flash of white sliced through the air.

Slash!

Blood erupted toward the ceiling like a crimson fountain.

Grandma Xu's head separated cleanly from her shoulders.

The severed head rolled across the floor.

Thud...

Thud...

Thud...

Finally, it came to a stop directly in front of Tian Tian.

Tian Tian's mind went completely blank.

Her entire body froze.

She couldn't react at all.

Meanwhile, Jiang Fan looked down at the butcher's cleaver in his hand with apparent surprise.

As though he had only just noticed it.

Then he said in a puzzled voice,

"Huh?"

"Why'd you stop talking?"

"I'm listening."

The entire hallway fell into absolute silence.

So silent that even breathing sounded loud.

Everyone stood frozen.

Their faces pale as death.

Nobody even dared blink.

Because they had just remembered something.

The man standing before them wasn't a leader.

Wasn't a community representative.

And certainly wasn't someone they could negotiate with.

He was a monster wearing human skin.

A monster who could kill without hesitation—

Not even for a single second.