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

--Translated by likesnovel--

The detection range had increased!

Jiang Fan's eyes immediately lit up.

He quickly activated Perception again.

Almost instantly, he discovered 2 new changes.

The first...

This perception ability could see through walls!

Even though the succulent plant on the windowsill was separated from him by a wall,

he could still clearly sense its location.

The second change was that

the lights he perceived were no longer vague glowing spheres.

Instead, they had begun to take on the rough outlines of their targets.

The succulent on the windowsill now had a faint but recognizable shape.

When he turned to look at Tang Xuerou,

the glow surrounding her body also revealed a rough outline of her figure.

Jiang Fan walked into the bedroom.

Even with the wall between the bedroom and the bathroom,

he could still clearly see the light coming from Tang Xuerou.

Not only that,

he could also observe the situation inside the apartments above, below, and beside his own.

The floor-to-floor height of the building was only a little over 3 meters.

Standing on his apartment floor,

Jiang Fan could see a woman living directly below him.

She was sitting quietly on her couch, scrolling through her phone.

The light now displayed a clear enough silhouette that distinguishing male from female was easy.

The woman emitted a faint yellow glow.

Its brightness was relatively low.

That meant her attitude toward him was Neutral.

The apartment above his was empty.

The apartment on the right belonged to Tang Xuerou,

so there was no one there either.

The apartment on the left was also empty.

The Red Mist had appeared during the daytime,

when most people were away at work.

As a result, many apartments were unoccupied.

Jiang Fan took a deep breath.

This ability...

was basically a living radar.

Its usefulness was enormous.

Excitement filled his eyes.

The only thing he didn't know yet

was whether it could see through the Red Mist outside.

After that,

Jiang Fan continued consuming Awakening Fruits - Perception.

This time, he ate more than 50 fruits.

By the end, he was practically full.

Finally, the ability advanced once again.

It seemed that

the higher the Star Rank,

the harder it became to level up.

【Ding!】

【Perception has advanced to 3-Star!】

【Detection Range Increased: 5 meters → 15 meters!】

Jiang Fan couldn't help but inhale sharply.

From 5 meters to 15 meters.

Although the distance had only increased by 3 times,

the total detection volume had expanded by 27 times!

The world within his perception instantly became vastly larger.

Fortune Center was a residential building with 8 apartments per floor.

Jiang Fan's apartment was located on the 32nd floor,

the second-highest floor in the building.

Using himself as the center point,

every apartment from the 27th floor to the top floor

fell within his detection range.

A total of 56 apartments.

After reaching 3-Star Perception,

the images became even clearer.

The glowing silhouettes that had once been blurry shadows

were now much more defined.

Jiang Fan could easily distinguish men from women.

"1 person..."

"2 people..."

"3 people..."

He silently counted.

"56 apartments."

"13 occupied apartments."

"21 people total."

"12 women."

"9 men."

At the same time,

he discovered something interesting.

Among everyone he observed,

only his own glow and Tang Xuerou's glow were noticeably brighter than the others.

However, Jiang Fan's glow was far brighter.

Tang Xuerou's was noticeably dimmer.

"It must be because we've awakened abilities."

"Everyone else is still unawakened, so their lights are weaker."

Jiang Fan muttered to himself.

Suddenly,

he noticed a massive lifeform on the 28th floor.

It was curled up inside one of the apartments.

The same mutated dog he had seen before!

Its body emitted an astonishingly bright light.

If Jiang Fan's glow could be compared to a candle,

then the mutated dog's glow would be comparable to a high-powered flashlight.

Jiang Fan watched it carefully.

Until he was completely certain of his safety,

he had no intention of stepping outside.

Afterward,

Jiang Fan began exercising.

Push-ups.

Sit-ups.

Weighted squats.

...

In the apocalypse,

physical fitness was one of the most important things.

When it came time to run for your life,

the faster runner usually survived.

"It would be nice to have a treadmill..."

Jiang Fan thought while exercising.

Then he remembered something.

The electricity could fail at any moment.

"Maybe an exercise bike would be better."

...

Inside the bedroom,

Tang Xuerou lay curled up on the bed.

Her gaze was unfocused as she stared into space.

Too many things had happened today.

Far more than she could process.

The peaceful life she once knew had collapsed in a single day.

Countless thoughts flooded her mind.

Without realizing it,

she found herself thinking about Jiang Fan again.

This man...

was like an unpredictable demon.

His moods changed so abruptly that no one could tell what he was thinking.

If she called him a good person...

he was cold and ruthless toward women.

He never showed mercy.

But if she called him a bad person...

he had willingly given her an incredibly valuable power fruit without hesitation.

His words were harsh and cruel,

yet Tang Xuerou discovered something surprising.

She couldn't truly hate him.

In a collapsing world like this,

what value did sweet words from a man really have?

At the very least,

Jiang Fan had allowed her to keep living.

Tang Xuerou picked up her phone again.

The internet was still filled with bad news.

Mutations were occurring everywhere.

The government had yet to launch any large-scale rescue operation.

Even official channels

were mainly urging citizens to rely on themselves.

But the problem was...

countless people were already starving.

How were they supposed to save themselves?

Despair slowly crept into her heart.

Just then—

Click.

The bedroom door opened.

Jiang Fan pushed the door open and stepped inside...

Tang Xuerou was so startled that she immediately jumped up from the bed.

"Brother Jiang... is something wrong?"

Jiang Fan took out a black lychee-like fruit and smirked slightly.

"I'm in a good mood today."

"So I'm giving you another one as a reward."

This fruit was a new one that had grown from the same succulent plant.

The moment Tang Xuerou saw that it was another power fruit,

her eyes immediately lit up.

"Thank you, Brother Jiang!"

"Thank you so much, Brother Jiang!"

The green glow around her body brightened noticeably,

almost overwhelming all other colors.

It was clear that at this moment,

her sense of goodwill toward Jiang Fan had increased significantly.

Tang Xuerou quickly took the fruit and swallowed it.

At that moment, a system notification echoed in Jiang Fan's mind.

【Ding! Tang Xuerou has consumed 1 Awakening Fruit - Body Enhancement】

【200x Return Activated!】

【Obtained: 200 Awakening Fruits - Body Enhancement】

【Stored in Personal Space】

【Awakening Fruit (Body Enhancement)】

【Star Level: 1-Star】

【Effect: Overall physical fitness improvement】

【Repeated consumption of the same fruit has a chance to increase Star Level】

After she finished eating,

Tang Xuerou looked down at her body in shock.

"I... I feel stronger?"

She quickly walked over and tried lifting the bedside table.

Something that used to be difficult to move

was now lifted with ease.

Jiang Fan said calmly,

"This fruit enhances physical strength."

"It improves overall bodily performance."

Tang Xuerou became so excited she almost jumped.

But soon after,

she noticed a black, sticky liquid starting to ooze from her pores.

It looked extremely dirty.

Being someone who cared a lot about cleanliness,

she rushed straight into the bathroom to shower.

Jiang Fan watched and thought to himself,

"Feels like marrow cleansing and meridian purification from cultivation novels..."

Then,

he flipped his palm.

A large number of Body Enhancement Awakening Fruits appeared in his hand.

Without hesitation, he threw them into his mouth.

Boom!

In an instant,

a massive surge of power flooded through his body.

Every muscle fiber was filled with explosive strength.

It felt like he could punch through a wall with a single strike.

That sudden feeling of strength made him instantly understand Tang Xuerou’s excitement.

【Body Enhancement 1-Star】

【Overall Physical Fitness +5】

At that moment,

a new system notification appeared.

【Ding!】

【Status Panel Unlocked!】

"Status panel?"

Jiang Fan quickly opened it.

There were only a few lines of information.

━━━━━━━━━━

Jiang Fan

【Overall Physical Fitness: 15】

【Average Adult Baseline: 10】

━━━━━━━━━━

"Damn it!"

Jiang Fan exclaimed.

Just 1 fruit

had boosted his stats by 50%.

Without wasting even a second,

he grabbed another handful of Body Enhancement Fruits

and began devouring them frantically.

As for the black residue on his body,

he could wash it off later.

1 fruit...

2 fruits...

3 fruits...

...

Jiang Fan kept eating nonstop.

Until he had consumed more than 30 fruits,

a notification finally appeared.

【Ding!】

【Body Enhancement upgraded to 2-Star!】

【Overall Physical Fitness +15】

At that moment,

Jiang Fan felt an unprecedented sense of lightness in his body.

Every cell was filled with vitality.

But he still didn’t stop.

In the apocalypse,

nothing mattered more than personal strength.

After that,

he continued eating more than 100 fruits.

So many that he almost felt like vomiting.

Finally, another breakthrough occurred.

【Ding!】

【Body Enhancement upgraded to 3-Star!】

【Overall Physical Fitness +40】

The moment he reached 3-Star,

his body underwent a massive transformation.

A clearly defined 8-pack appeared on his abdomen.

Every muscle across his body was tight and sculpted,

like steel forged into human form.

Filled with terrifying explosive power.

An ordinary human had a stat of 10.

But he...

had reached 50.

5 times stronger than a normal person.

And what surprised Jiang Fan even more

was that the improvement wasn’t limited to strength alone.

His senses,

speed,

reflexes,

and durability

had all increased dramatically.

He tried activating his Perception ability again.

And discovered that energy consumption had dropped significantly.

Before,

using Perception felt like sprinting at full speed continuously.

But now,

it felt like simply walking.

He barely felt any energy drain at all.

“At least I can keep it active for over 10 hours...”

“Maybe even longer.”

Jiang Fan muttered.

“Physical stats only increased 5 times,”

“but the actual effect feels way more than that.”

At the same time,

he noticed something else.

The glow emitted from his body had become dramatically brighter.

So bright that it now surpassed even the mutated dog on the 28th floor.

After that,

Jiang Fan began testing his body.

Beyond raw strength,

his physical durability had also improved significantly.

He touched his arm,

then flexed his muscles.

The muscle fibers felt like tough elastic steel.

Then he clenched his fist

and lightly punched the wall.

BOOM!

A loud impact echoed.

The latex paint on the wall cracked instantly.

Jiang Fan’s eyes widened in satisfaction.

His arm only trembled slightly.

He barely felt any pain.

Then he began throwing full-force punches.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The wall shook violently.

Large chunks of paint fell off,

revealing cracked hollow bricks beneath.

But even after using full strength,

he still felt no pain.

Only a slight tension.

Jiang Fan spread his fingers.

Then dug them into a hollow brick.

His fingers were like iron clamps,

piercing deep into the brick with ease.

CRACK!

A sharp breaking sound rang out.

Then he pulled hard.

RIP!

The entire hollow brick

was torn straight out of the wall with his bare hand.