It was here

As the breathing of the girl in her arms gradually steadied, Bai Yaoyao carefully eased Lulu back against the sofa. Using Fat Brother as the center, she spaced everyone out a little to keep anyone who turned into a zombie from hurting the others nearby.

She left Fat Brother where he was. At over two hundred pounds, he was honestly too heavy to move.

Once she had finished, she was about to sit on the sofa and wait for everyone to wake up when she realized her own head felt heavy. Before she could think much of it, she lost consciousness.

The villa was silent. Everyone, including Bai Yaoyao, slept peacefully.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the living room and walked straight toward Bai Yaoyao.

The figure stopped and gazed at her for a long time, then couldn't resist reaching out. Just before that hand touched Bai Yaoyao's cheek, it hastily withdrew.

The figure took out two crystal cores and placed them in Bai Yaoyao's hands, then held both her hands to help her absorb the energy within the crystals.

Before leaving, the shadowy figure glanced at the others in the villa. After a moment's hesitation, the figure casually tossed a few crystal cores toward them.

Bai Yaoyao had no idea how long she had been unconscious. The instant she came to, she opened her eyes and hurriedly checked on everyone. Only after confirming that everything was normal and no one had woken yet did she relax.

Bai Yaoyao found herself drenched in sweat, her throat unbearably dry. She picked up the glass on the table to get a drink.

But then...

Bang...

It shattered.

Startled, Bai Yaoyao immediately checked whether her spatial storage was still there. Only after finding nothing wrong did she let out a deep breath.

If my spatial ability disappeared and turned into a strength ability, all those supplies would be gone. I'd seriously throw up!

But why had she awakened a strength ability as well? Being unable to control the force of her movements was a clear sign of its early stages.

Bai Yaoyao picked up another glass and moderated her strength. At last, she managed to get some water into her mouth.

People usually remained unconscious for twenty-four hours. But when she checked her phone, she realized she hadn't been out for long at all. Only two hours had passed.

She simply closed her eyes again. Something felt strange: she could clearly sense everyone's position and posture in the room. She could even clearly "see" the drool at the corner of Doggie's mouth...

She could sense every corner of the room, too, though nothing farther away. Wasn't this a psychic ability?!

A strength ability was one thing-it was fairly common. But a psychic ability was even rarer than a spatial ability. Once a psychic ability reached level three, its user was guaranteed to win a head-on fight against an ability user of the same level.

It could often kill without leaving a trace, making it the perfect weapon for a sneak attack. If the opponent wasn't on guard, it could directly collapse their mind and turn them into an idiot in an instant...

It was also highly effective against zombies, disrupting them and briefly freezing them in place. Paired with her spatial ability, it would be incredible...

Bai Yaoyao had no idea why these changes had happened, but they were good news regardless. Besides, the new abilities suited her perfectly: her strength ability complemented her fighting skills, while her psychic ability paired with her spatial ability...

Although she had fantasized in her previous life about being a mage who threw fire, conjured ice, or called down lightning, being an assassin really did suit her better.

Bai Yaoyao suddenly found herself looking forward to the impending apocalypse. This time, I won't be defeated so easily!

Even without so many extraordinary opportunities in her previous life, she had carved out a bloody path for herself, one step at a time. This time...

Excitement surged through her, impossible to suppress. She wanted to grab a blade and head out to hack down zombies right now, but reason won out in the end.

She would wait for the others to wake up and diligently practice her two new abilities in the meantime. Bai Yaoyao knew of only one three-ability user: the leading figure of Huaguo's Military, who also held first place in the Combat Power Rankings.

His name was Chen Yixuan. Apparently, he had been a special forces soldier before the apocalypse, and afterward, he had awakened strength, earth, and lightning abilities.

Not only could he attack at both close and long range, but his own defenses were practically invincible.

Dual-ability users were uncommon as well, and even fewer managed to become high-level ability users. The more abilities someone had, the more crystal cores they needed to advance.

With the Capital Main Base in A City behind him and the full support of Huaguo's Military, Chen Yixuan had managed to raise his Three-System Special Ability to level nine.

Bai Yaoyao began to feel a headache coming on. Her three abilities felt like three ravenous little money-eating beasts, all waiting with their mouths wide open for her to feed them.

Time flew as she practiced.

Hearing movement, Bai Yaoyao hurriedly opened her eyes. She relaxed a little when she saw it was Fat Brother.

"How are you feeling, Fat Brother? Any discomfort?" Bai Yaoyao asked.

"Whew. No discomfort at all. In fact, I feel like I'm bursting with strength," Fat Brother said excitedly, standing up and stretching his stiff body.

"Feel the energy inside you and find a way to control it," Bai Yaoyao told him.

Fat Brother nodded and focused on the glass on the table. Well, five seconds later, he sprayed a handful of dirt at it...

"That's it? That's it? Yaoyao, didn't you say I was a frontline warrior?! Why am I just some guy who throws dirt?!" Fat Brother asked, looking as though his whole world had been turned upside down.

Bai Yaoyao explained, "Nature abilities-things like metal, wood, water, fire, and earth-are all pretty useless at first. They aren't as useful as strength or speed abilities, but they'll get better as they develop.

"With your earth ability, you'll eventually be able to make cages to trap zombies. You can also create Earth Escape to protect the team. It's very useful.

"You also had a metal ability in your previous life. Give that a try."

Fat Brother patted his little chest. "You scared me to death. A metal ability sounds badass. Let me try again."

Fat Brother focused again. After straining for ages, he shot out a tiny needle that had no force behind it at all.

Even so, Fat Brother excitedly ran over and picked it up. "I'm keeping this in my collection! This little darling is so much cuter than a handful of dirt!"

Bai Yaoyao smiled and spread her hands. "As long as you're happy."

Fat Brother stopped chatting with Bai Yaoyao and kept practicing his new abilities, though he made little progress.

Although nature abilities became powerful as they developed, they were far too weak early on, and their users were generally fragile. Without teammates to protect them, it was difficult to unleash offensive abilities. Having only a defensive ability was no use either if they couldn't attack.

There were no lone heroes in the apocalypse. Without teamwork, survival was impossible. Yet human hearts were complicated and fickle. Often, powerful ability users died not at the hands of zombies, but because of human greed or jealousy.

That was why the Dark Night Squad would only ever have twelve members, from beginning to end.

Oh, and one dog.