You rascal, what took you so long?

The move was only temporary. Mi Li's place wasn't suitable for settling down, much less serving as a gathering point.

And with Chen Luo, a spatial ability user, around, wouldn't moving be a breeze?

Anything they needed to take could simply be tossed into his ability space.

Ma Yu packed her cooking utensils, some seasonings, and daily necessities.

Chen Luo and Su Dazhu only brought some clothes.

In less than five minutes, Chen Luo and the others were ready.

The heavy truck's cab was spacious enough that four people, a cat, and a dog didn't feel cramped.

In the truck, Su Dazhu was catching up on a period drama. Taking advantage of the downtime, he pulled out his phone and started watching like an addict.

Rice crouched behind Su Dazhu, watching curiously.

A woman's coy voice came from the phone. "You rascal, what took you so long?"

Su Dazhu chuckled foolishly in delight.

Rice watched with great interest too.

Mi Li was envious. Her phone had long since run out of power; she wouldn't even want to use it as a brick.

Seeing her expression, Chen Luo took out a phone and a power bank and handed them to her.

"Here, have some fun. There are plenty of movies, novels, and games on it. I've got laptops too. Want one?"

Chen Luo had several dozen laptops as well. He hadn't bought too many; these days, the electronics mall was overflowing with them.

"Chen Luo," Mi Li said in wonder, "you remind me of Doraemon. You've got a treasure chest with everything in it."

When they reached the area near Mi Li's apartment complex, Chen Luo hesitated over where to park the truck.

After a moment's thought, he stopped worrying. Anywhere would do. The truck would soon lose its usefulness.

Once zombies evolved to level one, they would no longer stupidly let him run them over without dodging.

Moreover, at level one, zombies could cast various spells just like humans, though their power was very weak.

Weak as they were, they could still threaten the truck.

On the twentieth day after the apocalypse began, zombies would start evolving one after another. In fact, a tiny number had already evolved to level one after eating people.

If the survivors couldn't grow stronger faster than the zombies, their fate needed no explanation.

Chen Luo drove into Mi Li's apartment complex and parked in a random spot.

Now, Mi Li wasn't afraid when she saw zombies. She didn't panic at all, a change that had taken place in just a few hours.

The best temporary place to stay was the apartment across from hers.

Its door was shut tight, but the windows were actually open, suggesting no one was home.

Su Dazhu easily climbed up to the second floor. With a little force, he snapped the security bars apart.

The door had been locked with a key and couldn't be opened even from inside. None of them knew how to pick locks, so Su Dazhu had to force it open.

But that broke the door.

A door wasn't much of a defense, but if someone forced their way in, it could at least give them some warning.

Otherwise, stray cats, dogs, or even rats could get inside and potentially threaten everyone's safety.

Mi Li thought for a moment. "Why don't you stay at my place? It has four bedrooms and a living room, just enough for everyone."

Could Chen Luo refuse?

I've got to stay close and protect you, after all.

It was already past nine at night. Without electricity, Mi Li's home was pitch-black.

Chen Luo closed the curtains and took out several battery-powered desk lamps that gave off a fairly dim light.

Looking at the light, Mi Li couldn't help feeling safer. If Chen Luo hadn't been there, she wouldn't have dared turn on a lamp even if she'd had one.

She might have been young, but she was far from careless.

For the past few days, the whole apartment had fallen into darkness every night. Hungry and thirsty, she'd had nothing to do but sit in the dark in a daze. Looking back, she didn't even know how she'd endured it.

Now, the world outside was full of danger, yet with Chen Luo there, Mi Li somehow felt at ease.

Like a magician, Chen Luo produced two watermelons and smiled. "Time for watermelon!"

Watermelon happened to be Mi Li's favorite fruit.

Looking at them, Mi Li felt as though she were dreaming. Everything that had happened today seemed like a dream.

She remembered the terrifying obese zombie at the mall, how Chen Luo had stood before her like a mountain, and how kind he'd been to her.

Unable to help herself, Mi Li hugged Chen Luo. "Chen Luo, I feel like the luckiest thing that's ever happened to me was meeting you and my sister."

With Mi Li hugging him like that, Chen Luo couldn't help letting his thoughts wander.

Ah, my charm is just too high. There's nothing I can do about it.

I only met Mi Li today. Haste makes waste. Otherwise, my ugly intentions will be exposed.

Ma Yu looked at Mi Li. A man like Chen Luo was handsome, considerate, good-natured, and "rich" to boot. If he started flirting with someone, who could resist?

He just hasn't flirted with me. Otherwise, I don't think I could resist either.

Mi Li came to her senses and let go of Chen Luo. Blushing, she took small bites of watermelon to hide her embarrassment.

After they finished the watermelon, Mi Li began assigning rooms.

"Ma Yu, you can stay in this one. When classmates occasionally came over, I'd let them sleep here."

"Su Dazhu, this is the room my sister used for painting. We just need to move a bed in."

Su Dazhu said casually, "I'll sleep on the floor. It's cooler anyway. Let's not bother moving a bed. Too much trouble."

"Chen Luo, this is my sister's bedroom. You can stay here."

If someone had to stay in Mi Ling's room, Ma Yu, being a woman, should have been the most suitable choice. Yet Mi Li had assigned it to Chen Luo.

Because this was the nicest room.

Her intentions couldn't have been more obvious.

Ma Yu didn't tease her. She didn't care which room she stayed in.

Chen Luo was a little taken aback. I'm staying in Mi Ling's room?

Well, that's great.

But where will Mi Ling sleep when she comes back?

Whatever. I'll move in first and worry about that later.

Mi Ling's room was decorated in pale blue, with a simple, elegant style and a faint fragrance.

A cooling mat had already been spread over the bed. Chen Luo lay down with his arms and legs stretched out. It was wonderfully comfortable.

Remembering something, Chen Luo took out a crystal, washed it, and went into the living room to give it to Mi Li.

"This is a crystal. Hold it in your hand and absorb the power inside. Hmm, in game terms, it increases your mana and level. When you feel your body can't take any more, don't force it."

Chen Luo taught Mi Li some of the basics, and she nodded, only half understanding.

Not absorbing crystals didn't mean the ability power within one's body couldn't grow. It simply grew more slowly than it would with crystals.

Today, Mi Li had used her strength boost seven times.

If she absorbed a crystal today and did it again tomorrow night, she would be able to reach level two.

Chen Luo returned to Mi Ling's room, intending to absorb a crystal himself and then go to sleep.

What he hadn't expected was to find Rice sitting on the bed, waiting for him.

Rice gave Chen Luo a "seductive" look.

"You rascal, what took you so long?"