At the dinner table, Liu Yang introduced the newcomers to the rest of the group.
"Let me introduce you. This is Bai Ling, go by White Fox. She's an ability user. And this is Wang Feifei, who, like you all, is a normal survivor."
Surprise washed over the women's faces as they processed his words.
An ability user?
This drop-dead gorgeous woman with a sleek, white pixie cut was actually an ability user?
He Yushi and the others immediately cast envious glances her way.
In the post-apocalyptic world, awakening an ability was something everyone dreamed of.
Having an ability meant having the power to protect oneself.
Facing ordinary zombies, an ability user wouldn't feel a shred of fear.
Liu Yang then introduced He Yushi and the rest of the core group to Wang Feifei and White Fox.
White Fox and Wang Feifei offered friendly smiles. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. Since we'll be living together from now on, please treat us well."
Although White Fox was an ability user and had been quite arrogant back at Black Tiger Base, things were different now.
Since she had chosen to follow Liu Yang, she needed to show proper respect to the women around him.
Compared to them, she was a latecomer.
She certainly didn't dare overstep her bounds or act like she owned the place.
"Oh, don't say that! What do you mean, 'treat you well'? You're an ability user, while we're just regular people," He Yushi replied hastily. "As long as we can all get along, that's more than enough!"
"Of course! I'm very easy to get along with," White Fox promised, patting her chest. "Don't worry, if any danger ever threatens the villa complex, I'll protect you!"
He Yushi and the others lit up with genuine delight.
"That's wonderful! Having an ability user around to guard us really puts our minds at ease!"
Zhao Lina, the studious top student, chimed in, "If you don't mind, could you share your experience with us? Maybe teach us how to awaken abilities? We really want to awaken too!"
Tang Mengting and the rest nodded eagerly in agreement. "Yeah, exactly! Teach us if you can, so we can awaken abilities and stand on our own two feet!"
White Fox chuckled softly. "Awakening an ability doesn't really come down to specific techniques. It mostly depends on natural talent and genetics. If you ask me to teach you, I honestly wouldn't know where to start.
"However, if you just want to learn more about how ability users work, I'm happy to tell you everything I know."
Zhao Lina nodded approvingly. "Mhm, that works too! If you give us the background details, we can analyze it ourselves and see if we can figure out a way to trigger an awakening!"
Everyone chatted and laughed as they ate, the atmosphere warm and harmonious.
The only outlier was Zhou Keke. She seemed entirely detached from the conversation, keeping her head down and steadily shoveling food into her mouth.
Before dinner was even halfway over, Zhou Keke put down her bowl.
"I'm full. I'm going back to take a shower first-you guys take your time."
Liu Yang found it a bit odd. "Huh? Why did Zhou Keke eat so fast? And her face looked a little off-kind of flushed. Could she be coming down with a fever?"
He Yushi flashed a mischievous smirk and nodded repeatedly. "Yup, yup, yup! She's feeling a bit under the weather. You'd better give her a thorough, full-body checkup later!"
Zhao Lina chimed in with a sly grin, "Make sure it's a Category 8 hurricane-level inspection!"
Tang Mengting and the others burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Zhou Keke might be an athletic goddess, but even she might not be able to handle that! Don't be so bad!"
"Hahaha! Right? Zhao Lina, you're wicked!" Su Xiao and Chen Dan laughed along.
Watching them crack up, Liu Yang was utterly baffled.
What?
What was so funny?
Why couldn't he get the punchline at all?
Whatever.
Time to eat!
Unable to decipher the women's inside joke, Liu Yang simply focused on finishing his meal.
After dinner, he returned to his private quarters.
Yet the moment he pushed the door open, his keen senses picked up a presence inside the bedroom.
A delicate, feminine fragrance drifted into his nostrils.
Liu Yang paused, then let out a wicked grin. Calling out into the dark room, he said, "Which little kitten is being so eager tonight? I haven't even finished digesting my food, and you're already waiting in my bed? To reward such initiative, I'll have to put in some serious work!"
At his words, a noticeable tremor shook the duvet on the bed.
Chuckling smugly, Liu Yang stripped and slid under the covers.
Only after crawling inside did he discover that the person waiting for him was none other than the athletic goddess, Zhou Keke!
And at this moment, Zhou Keke was lying there completely naked, waiting for him to claim her.
Looking at her sculpted figure and the crisp, tight abdominal lines on her stomach, Liu Yang couldn't resist remarking, "So it's the famous athletic goddess herself! In that case, I'll make sure to take extra good care of you!"
"Mm... ah~ ♡" Zhou Keke let out a tense, soft moan before whispering nervously, "Just... don't be too wild..."
Liu Yang gave a confident grin. "Relax. When it comes to innocent girls who haven't experienced the world yet, I'm a seasoned expert. I know what to do."
Before long, sweet, indescribable sounds filled the bedroom.
...
Back at the university, Student Council President Chen Hao had showered Zhou Keke with over a million yuan in gifts without ever getting to touch her hand. Yet in the end, the athletic goddess had voluntarily crawled into Liu Yang's bed.
If Chen Hao ever found out, he'd probably be so furious he'd choke down three whole chicken legs out of sheer rage.
...
The next morning.
Liu Yang opened his eyes and checked his system notification panel.
[Congratulations to the Host for completing the "Spreading Branches and Leaves" daily task for 10 consecutive days!]
[Reward: All basic attributes raised to 1000 points!]
Seeing this prompt, Liu Yang was thrilled.
"Holy crap! My base attributes were at 850 before, and now they've jumped straight to 1000! That's a flat boost of 150 points across the board!"
The reward for a 10-day streak of spreading branches and leaves was ridiculous!
A stat value of 1000 represented twenty times the baseline of an ordinary human!
Back when he was at 16.5 times the human baseline, he had hacked through Level 6 zombies during the stone monument trial like chopping vegetables.
Now that he was at 20 times, wasn't he practically invincible?
To the current Liu Yang, ordinary ability users were no different from ants.
"Damn, this feels good!"
Liu Yang felt a surge of supreme confidence.
With stats this absurd, he could finally flex like a true powerhouse and declare: "I don't eat beef!"
He opened his character panel to check his updated stats:
* Name: Liu Yang
* Age: 18
* Height: 185 cm
* Weight: 80 kg
* Strength: 1000
* Speed: 1000
* Stamina: 1000
* Spirit: 1000
* Abilities:
1. [Future Deduction] (Level 4)
2. [Virus Immunity] (Level 4)
3. [Ice Control] (Level 6)
4. [Dark Space] (Level 5)
5. [Zombie Control] (Level 2)
* Equipment: [Dark Cloak], [Black Light Katana]
* Special Talent: [Genetic Enhancement]
Looking at the panel, Liu Yang was brimming with satisfaction.
Even setting aside the fact that he possessed five distinct abilities-and that his main offensive ability, [Ice Control], had reached Level 6, granting him an practically inexhaustible supply of ice needles as well as the power to craft ice shields and full-body ice armor-his raw physical attributes alone were staggering.
A base stat multiplier of 20 times the human baseline was more than enough to crush the vast majority of ability users!
After all, a standard Level 1 ability user only possessed physical attributes around 100 points.
Liu Yang's base stats were ten times that of a Level 1 ability user!
With speed and power like this, he could blitz and instantly obliterate any enemy before they even had time to react.
Furthermore, there were still fifteen young women staying in the neighboring villa.
That was a guaranteed streak of at least fifteen more daily rewards.
If he hit a 25-day streak, what kind of insane reward would the system grant him then?