The Evolution of Power: Joining the Apocalypse Team

Zhang Qiang was responsible for hunting zombies, while Zhou Xiaoqian focused on collecting zombie crystal cores. Their team clearly had a well-established dynamic, working together with impressive efficiency.

Red Hair and Old Eagle formed a duo, while Shadow operated alone. Armed with a dagger, she was incredibly fast—Li Xuan estimated her running speed to be under seven seconds per 100 meters. Agile and swift, she weaved effortlessly through hordes of zombies, leaving them unable to catch her.

With all five evolved team members in action, the nearby streets were quickly cleared of zombies without Li Xuan even needing to lift a finger.

Besides collecting zombie crystal cores, their primary focus was on scavenging food. Evolved individuals had significantly larger appetites, and battling zombies rapidly drained their energy. Without enough food, they simply wouldn't have the strength to fight.

However, nearly all supermarkets had been looted, making it incredibly difficult to find supplies.

Li Xuan had little interest in supermarkets. After a while, he stumbled upon a dilapidated jewelry store.

"Huh? This is the Fortune & Prosperity Gold Shop," he muttered, eyeing the shattered sign. The glass doors and windows had long been smashed, and gold jewelry lay scattered across the floor, completely ignored.

Two months ago, this shop had likely been looted during the initial chaos. Some opportunists had tried to get rich quick amidst the collapse of order. But after hoarding gold, they discovered it was utterly useless—societal structures had crumbled, and no one cared about wealth anymore.

With less than 1% of humanity surviving, gold was worthless. Only food and water held true value.

Li Xuan stepped inside and began collecting the abandoned gold jewelry. This was the largest gold shop in the neighborhood, and he casually picked up over 200 pieces, likely worth millions in the old world.

"Whoa, there's even a safe!"

Using brute force, he pried it open, revealing 50 gold bars, each labeled at 1,000 grams.

"Holy crap!"

"These bars must be worth over 20 million!"

Li Xuan stored them in his spatial pocket—an effortless profit since no one cared about them anymore.

After clearing out the gold shop, he made his way back.

Two hours later, Li Xuan returned to the meeting point with a backpack slung over his shoulders. Zhang Qiang, Zhou Xiaoqian, Red Hair, Old Eagle, and Shadow soon arrived as well.

Red Hair and Old Eagle looked slightly frustrated as they pulled out three crystal cores each.

"We searched two supermarkets and three convenience stores but didn't find any food. We killed twenty zombies in total and collected six crystal cores," Red Hair reported. "We'll each hand over one core to the team."

Shadow, ever efficient, said, "I killed thirty zombies, collected five crystal cores, and even found a pack of instant noodles." She displayed the five cores and the prized noodles.

As a Level 2 evolved individual, her solo performance was impressive. Thanks to her speed advantage, her efficiency outshone the rest.

"I killed fifty zombies with Zhou Xiaoqian," Zhang Qiang announced proudly. "We collected ten crystal cores and found a bag of sunflower seeds."

For evolved individuals, hunting ordinary or Level 1 zombies was no longer challenging, so they always managed to gather some crystal cores. However, finding food was becoming increasingly difficult since supermarkets had long been cleaned out.

Turning to Li Xuan, Zhang Qiang asked, "So, what did you find?"

Li Xuan replied casually, "I didn't collect any crystal cores. But I passed by the Fortune & Prosperity Gold Shop, and on a whim, I broke into their safe. I thought it would be full of gold, but guess what?"

"The safe was stuffed with food!"

"I was shocked. I don't know which genius thought it'd be clever to stash food in a jewelry store's safe, but honestly, that guy's a genius!"

As Li Xuan spoke, he unzipped his backpack.

Inside, it was packed with food—30 sticks of sausage, six tubs of instant noodles, and even a five-kilogram bag of rice.

Fresh rice! In this apocalypse, finding fresh rice was like striking gold. A proper meal of rice was nothing short of a heavenly feast.

The team's eyes lit up, staring at the bag in disbelief.

"This is insane! Why didn't we think of that? Hiding food in a jewelry store safe—those bastards were sneaky geniuses!"

"Damn, my mind is blown. From now on, we're checking every jewelry store safe we find!"

Zhang Qiang quickly composed himself. "Li Xuan, according to our rules, you need to hand over 30% of your supplies to the team. The rest is yours to keep. Do you want to trade any of it?"

Li Xuan pretended to be hesitant. "Um… can I trade food for zombie crystal cores? How much food would I need for one core?"

Zhang Qiang smirked. "Well, two tubs of instant noodles can get you one crystal core. Three sausages for another, and a kilogram of rice for one core. Sound good?"

The other team members exchanged looks, silently cursing Zhang Qiang's greed.

If it were up to them, they'd happily trade a single tub of noodles for a core. But Zhang Qiang wasn't known for being generous—he squeezed every advantage he could.

For evolved individuals, it wasn't hard to find crystal cores. The real challenge was having enough food to sustain their evolution. Without sufficient nourishment, even with crystal cores, they'd die of starvation as their bodies burned through energy rapidly.

"So cheap? Great! I'll trade everything I have," Li Xuan replied enthusiastically. "Captain, how many cores can I get?"

Zhang Qiang grinned. "Since you're new, I'll cut you a deal. You can have all the crystal cores we've collected today—21 in total. They're yours!"

"As for the food, we'll have a feast tonight—rice, instant noodles, and sausages!"

"Zhou Xiaoqian, get some water and find a pot. Red Hair, start boiling water and cooking the rice!"

"Yes, Captain!"

The team found a nearby villa, lit a fire, and prepared a feast.

They cooked the entire five kilograms of rice.

Zhang Qiang alone devoured five large bowls of plain rice. Red Hair, Old Eagle, Zhou Xiaoqian, and Shadow each ate three bowls, cleaning their plates with gusto.

Everyone got a sausage as a side dish, savoring every bite.

Li Xuan, meanwhile, found a quiet room to himself—where he consumed the zombie crystal cores, preparing for his next evolution.