Chapter 29 The Survivors on the Fifth Floor

Soon, a quiet conversation could be heard from within.

“Brother Qiang, it’s a human…”

“…No monsters…”

“…Open the door, let him in!”

In no time, Kong Zhe heard the heavy locks click twice before the doors slowly opened. He didn’t hesitate, pulling little Lei along as they stepped inside.

Within was an impressively luxurious buffet restaurant. Counters and refrigerators were stocked with all manner of ingredients—vegetables, meats, pastries, and drinks—all in abundance. Anyone who had survived in the apocalypse would have been overjoyed at the sight, regarding this place as a veritable paradise.

Kong Zhe was no exception; the bounty of food immediately caught his eye. Yet, he soon forced himself to look away, shifting his attention to the people gathered in the restaurant.

He was assessing their potential danger, a habit formed over his three years of surviving the apocalypse in his previous life.

There were about twenty or thirty people in total, split evenly between men and women, all huddled together in a corner of the restaurant. Some leaned against the walls, some slumped in chairs, and others simply lay sprawled on the ground. Without exception, their eyes were clouded with confusion and listlessness, making Kong Zhe wonder whether they had gone without food for a long time.

But with so much food all around, why would they be starving?

Closer to the front of the group sat two men. One leisurely sipped red wine, while the other had an arm wrapped around a woman, his hands roaming over her with impunity.

Kong Zhe immediately noticed these two. Both were Awakened, while the rest were ordinary people.

To think that out of this group of over twenty, two were Awakened—it was no wonder there were so many monster corpses outside. If two Awakened worked together, their efficiency at killing beasts would be greatly increased.

Both wore security uniforms and shared similar features, making Kong Zhe suspect they were related. After observing the situation, he could roughly deduce why the others were starving. Clearly, after gaining their extraordinary powers, the two Awakened had become ambitious, using force to assert control over the people here. They must have claimed all the food for themselves, refusing to share it with the others.

A woman, dressed in a flamboyant red gown, sashayed over to the man with the wine. She was the one who had opened the door for Kong Zhe.

She walked up to the man, settling herself on his lap, her arms around his neck as she cooed, “Brother Qiang, the newcomer doesn’t seem like an ordinary person, does he?”

The man she addressed as Brother Qiang brazenly groped her chest, eliciting a series of coquettish moans, and laughed, “Of course not—he’s an Awakened. But not a particularly strong one!”

Zhang Qiang had originally been a mall security guard, one of the lowest-ranked employees—poorly paid, forced to flatter wealthy customers all day, and frequently berated by his boss without the courage to talk back. Yet after the world ended, he swiftly became Awakened, gaining formidable power. His younger brother, Zhang Hao, Awakened soon after.

The brothers’ status transformed overnight. Though trapped here with the group, their abilities as Awakened allowed them not only to survive but to become the de facto rulers of the twenty-odd people. Their first act was to seize control of the food, distributing it as they saw fit.

Before the apocalypse, these people were all influential figures—big bosses, entrepreneurs—who would never have spared Zhang Qiang a glance. Now, they had no choice but to curry favor.

Take the woman on his lap, for example—a famous actress and the most sought-after star of the year: fair-skinned, beautiful, and voluptuous—a woman who once existed in a different world from Zhang Qiang. He could never have dreamed of her before. But now, she willingly served him, obeying his every whim without protest.

Even more importantly, the woman possessed Awakened talent, and her magical energy was not insignificant. For Zhang Qiang, who had just received a new escort mission, she was a prize. He had already decided that once he leveled up a bit more, he would take her and all the food to the new city district, enjoying her company while earning mission rewards—a perfect plan.

As for the newcomer—a young Awakened—he was only Level 2, clearly just Awakened. Zhang Qiang had learned that those who Awakened early tended to be stronger, but this young man was of little consequence. He barely spared him a thought, confident in his own overwhelming power and certain he could subdue or even kill the newcomer for his gear if he wished.

Not far off, the other Awakened, Zhang Hao, was momentarily surprised to see another Awakened enter. But upon spotting the large “LV2” floating above the youth’s head, he smirked with disdain. After all this time, the boy was still only Level 2—pitifully weak. Zhang Hao himself had reached Level 2 within three hours of Awakening, so he looked down on Kong Zhe without reservation.

Zhang Hao, Zhang Qiang’s brother, after confirming the newcomer posed no threat, withdrew his gaze and squeezed the two women beside him, women he once could only admire from afar, relishing the sense of power.

The women grimaced in pain but dared not make a sound, for otherwise, all their morning’s efforts would be wasted and they would go without food for the day.

Seeing their anguished yet unresisting faces, Zhang Hao felt a surge of twisted satisfaction. Ever since his girlfriend left him for a wealthy man before the apocalypse, he had become psychologically unstable, and now, with power, he indulged his cruelty without restraint.

Zhang Hao sneered at the young man standing dazed in the center of the hall, “Hmph, kid, you may be Awakened, but you’re on our turf now. If you want shelter here, you’ll need to trade something. That long blade of yours looks nice—I’ll take it. Maybe I’ll give you some food later.”

Kong Zhe was unfazed by the arrogance—he’d seen this type many times before, bullies who preyed on the weak and cowered before the strong. He didn’t bother to respond. At that moment, he noticed something odd. Stroking his chin, he asked Zhang Hao with a strange look, “Just how many monsters have you two killed?”

The two brothers’ level indicators floated above their heads—one Level 3, the other Level 4. This puzzled Kong Zhe, who considered himself a fast grinder but was still over seventy experience points from reaching Level 3. How had they reached such high levels?

If the brothers had been here since the apocalypse began, the monster corpses outside should be all they’d killed. Yet, counting them up, there were fewer than twenty. If experience points were halved at the start of the apocalypse, as he recalled, then those monsters shouldn’t have been enough for both brothers to reach their current levels.

“Pah, country bumpkin…” Zhang Hao scoffed. “See that pile of beast corpses at the door? Not to scare you, but my brother and I killed all those monsters together! Kid, you’d better behave, and maybe we’ll help you level up too…”

Kong Zhe tuned out the rest of his bluster, lost in thought. From Zhang Hao’s words, he inferred that the brothers had only killed those monsters at the door. Based on the experience values he remembered from his previous life, that was just enough to reach their current levels. So, it wasn’t that early experience had been halved—it was that, for some reason, his own experience gain had been drastically reduced.

The cause was easy to guess—the black box. It was the only thing on him he couldn’t figure out, and likely the only item siphoning away his experience points.

This realization made Kong Zhe frown. If the box really did absorb experience, would it continue as long as he carried it? If so, he’d forever be losing experience—terrible news, especially in the early days of the apocalypse when everyone leveled up rapidly. The difference wouldn’t be obvious at first, but over time, the gap between him and other Awakened would only widen…

Suddenly, a woman’s scream shattered his thoughts.

“Ah! A monster!”

Kong Zhe instinctively looked down and saw the little dog ambling in from the door, stopping at his feet and brandishing its shovel at the crowd.

Chaos erupted in the hall. Everyone except Kong Zhe panicked. The ordinary people scrambled away, cowering against the far wall, trembling in terror.

The brothers Zhang Qiang and Zhang Hao shoved the women off and drew their weapons, bracing themselves for battle.

Zhang Qiang slapped the woman in red across the face, “Didn’t you say there were no monsters?”

“I…I…” The woman’s cheek instantly swelled, her heart full of grievance. She stammered, unable to explain. After all, she truly hadn’t seen any monsters before.

Confusion clouded her mind—why hadn’t she seen it?