Winter

Xu Zhi did not try to hide her gaze fixed on the core. Pale blue, a new attribute—she wanted it badly.

Shen Jinwen was no out-of-touch fossil with no internet access. She had read and heard of plenty of classic apocalypse novels. The instant she found this thing inside the Mutated Animal she had killed, she made several associations, such as the classic zombie crystal cores.

So the moment Xu Zhi finished mentioning attributes, Shen Jinwen thought of this crystal.

The reason she dared take out the crystal and show it to Xu Zhi now was also because Xu Zhi had frankly told her about attributes first. Xu Zhi could clearly have coerced her, yet she had been willing to let her leave first, and now she was sitting down to peacefully exchange information with her. More importantly, Shen Jinwen herself wanted to know more. That was why she was being honest now.

Xu Zhi had never interacted with people much since childhood. Especially after falling ill, she had in a sense become "isolated from the world." Even the only family she could communicate with had not been very willing to talk to her. Though both her IQ and emotional intelligence were intact, and she occasionally learned about the outside world from television, asking her to conceal her feelings in front of something she desperately wanted and immediately come up with a perfect set of polished words was beyond her.

So she simply asked bluntly, "I want this. What can I trade you for it?"

She did not believe Shen Jinwen had taken it out without considering that she might want it.

Sure enough, Shen Jinwen did not look too surprised. She tested the waters. "Tell me everything you know about attributes."

In Shen Jinwen's eyes, information was actually more important than this single crystal. Gathering information herself was not easy, but how could she have known Xu Zhi's methods of gathering it were so "special"?

She had only meant to probe a little and had already prepared herself for Xu Zhi to haggle. Sure enough, she heard the girl say, "I can tell you part of what I currently know, and it will be a very important part for you."

In Xu Zhi's view, information about Attribute Cores was not something that needed to be especially concealed. As time passed, everyone would discover it sooner or later. But even so, she had no intention of spilling everything for just one core. She had to save something for the next trade.

For example, this time, she did not intend to tell Shen Jinwen the specific details of every attribute.

In Xu Zhi's view, this city had already come to a standstill. The people still alive could not all be like her, with a "cheat" that reduced their need for food and water. They would inevitably have to risk going outside to search for survival supplies, and they would certainly find cores after defeating monsters.

This world had never lacked smart people. Someone would always guess from the cores' different colors that they were related to "attributes." It was simply too obvious.

There would even certainly be people willing to test the cores through experiments and uncover their true function.

Xu Zhi had no plans to contact more people in the short term. Her focus remained on improving her strength. She boldly guessed that before long, a new order might emerge in this Dead City—for example, the strong being respected.

When that time came, money would inevitably become useless. Bartering would replace monetary transactions. And what could replace money better than anything else?

Naturally, supplies and cores.

She kept the most critical information to exchange for greater benefits. At this moment, she was willing to take a slight loss and tell Shen Jinwen about attributes partly because she wanted to "make a friend."

She did not plan to go out for some time, while Shen Jinwen seemed to go out frequently. She needed Shen Jinwen as a source of information.

So she looked at Shen Jinwen and continued, "You should know that one core in exchange for my information is not an equal trade. Even if the information I provide is incomplete, its value far exceeds a single core."

"So I need you to continue paying me."

"In the days ahead, cooperate with me and tell me what information you obtain."

"If I confirm that you have not deceived me, then once our cooperative relationship is stable, I will tell you another piece of related information—something very important that others will have difficulty learning in detail."

That information was naturally the detailed information on this pale-blue core. Xu Zhi herself would need to obtain the core and read the narration before she could know it.

At that, Shen Jinwen fell silent for a long time. Xu Zhi did not know what she was thinking, only that in the end, she nodded. "All right."

After saying that, she took the initiative to hand the core to Xu Zhi. It was a gesture of goodwill.

Xu Zhi smiled at the sight. Shen Jinwen was quite interesting—she did not talk much and acted decisively. She looked somewhat sharp, but after spending time with her, Xu Zhi felt that her personality was calmer than her appearance suggested. If they became partners, she seemed like she would be a quiet and reliable one.

Thinking that, Xu Zhi accepted the core and examined it. "I mentioned attributes earlier. This is an Attribute Core."

"There are eight attributes in total. Different types of Attribute Cores have different colors. As for what the eight attributes are called, what they do, and what abilities they have, I cannot tell you yet, because the payment you have offered is not enough."

"As proof."

Xu Zhi took out the pale-yellow Blade Attribute Core she had previously put in her pocket. "Here. This is one of the Attribute Cores I possess."

When Shen Jinwen saw the [Blade] Attribute Core, she believed Xu Zhi's words even more. After showing it to her, Xu Zhi put both cores into her pocket and continued.

"One very important thing I can tell you is that living beings are drawn to the attribute most compatible with them. So you are most likely most compatible with this pale-blue attribute."

"Do not casually try doing anything to yourself with an Attribute Core. There are restraining relationships between attributes. If you want to know how to use them specifically, you will have to show some sincerity in our future cooperation."

"That is all I can tell you for now."

Xu Zhi had painted Shen Jinwen a rather pretty picture with that speech. She did not even know how cores were used herself, yet she dared to fool Shen Jinwen so directly.

Fortunately, the information Xu Zhi had revealed was indeed "worth far more than the price." In Shen Jinwen's eyes, Xu Zhi had already changed from the "strange and dangerous girl" she had met for the first time into a "mysterious person who knew many things."

When she opened the door for Xu Zhi, Shen Jinwen's trust in her had perhaps only been ten or twenty percent. That level could hardly even be called trust; it was more of a gamble.

But now, her trust in Xu Zhi had already exceeded fifty percent. That likely also had something to do with the fact that the "apocalypse" in Cloud City had only just begun, and trust between people had not yet been completely worn away.

Because of Xu Zhi's "generosity," Shen Jinwen directly told her most of what she had discovered over the past few days in their subsequent exchange. There was not actually much, and it was almost all centered around this area. It had some value, but compared to Xu Zhi's information, it was insignificant.

Therefore, she did not ask Xu Zhi to say anything more. After finishing, she agreed with Xu Zhi that whenever she found information she considered valuable, she would meet with Xu Zhi. Once Xu Zhi believed it was enough, she would tell her more.

After exchanging information, Xu Zhi did not stay long. She still had quite a few things to do.

After returning to her new home, Xu Zhi first picked up the Game Console and thought about how she had put the black fruit back into the storage before. At the time, it had happened with a single thought. Now, she followed the same approach, holding the pale-blue core in her hand and "thinking" about it. The next second, the core vanished from her hand.

Xu Zhi opened the game storage, and sure enough, there was an additional pale-blue crystal inside.

She selected the core, and then a word appeared beside it: [Winter]

[Congratulations, you have obtained another core of a different attribute. Would you now like to learn some information about this core?]

Xu Zhi skillfully clicked [Yes].

[Winter: The principle of silence, endings, and things that do not entirely pass away.]

[It contains fading, remembrance, deathly stillness, decay, snow, finality, and weakness. Its characteristic is silence, and perhaps at times, an awareness of one's own end.]

Xu Zhi frowned as she looked at those words. Honestly, she had not sensed much of an aura of "fading" or "deathly stillness" from Shen Jinwen, and it had even less to do with "weakness" or "decay." Of course, looking at it this way was somewhat superficial. Her understanding of attributes was not deep either. Perhaps by getting to know Shen Jinwen, she could determine how attributes truly aligned with people.

For some reason, as Xu Zhi looked at the description of [Winter], she felt that this attribute's traits were somewhat "neutral." Unlike [Moth], whose description alone made it clear that the attribute was chaotic and would probably produce plenty of people who lived for chaos, nor was it like [Blade], with power and conflict laid bare and struggle never ceasing among those who possessed it. [Winter] seemed too quiet.

This made Xu Zhi increasingly curious about the traits of the other attributes.

But before that, she needed to conduct a small experiment to test whether one of the uses of the cores was what she thought it was.

Xu Zhi took the [Blade] Attribute Core from her pocket, then looked at Little One. "Open your mouth."

Little One was lying by her feet. At her words, it obediently opened its enormous, blood-filled mouth. Xu Zhi tossed the core inside. "Eat it."

Yes, the experiment she wanted to conduct was simple: to see what changes would occur after a Familiar ate its corresponding Attribute Core, and whether it could digest the energy within the core.

It was a very simple and crude idea. Little One happened to be nearby, making it the perfect experimental subject and material.

In Xu Zhi's view, figuring out how to use the cores as soon as possible was extremely important. After all, she had a core corresponding to her own attribute in her hands.

Perhaps this would become the key to strengthening herself.

Less than five seconds after Little One swallowed the core, Xu Zhi watched as it suddenly curled its body into itself, closed its eyes, and lowered its head onto its body, seeming to enter a hibernation-like state.

Seeing this, Xu Zhi picked up the Game Console and looked at the screen.

[Winter] is pale blue. At the end of the previous chapter, I wrote it as gray; I only noticed when I went back to check.