Chapter 80

Celine saw Hogan off and finally relaxed.

She quickly came out of the space and got back into the car.

Shenan had been waiting inside for a long time. When he saw Celine return, the tension on his face finally eased.

But he couldn't help complaining, "Don't be so careless next time! You have to wait until I'm here to do something like this?"

Celine knew her brother was worried about her. She smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, big brother. Don't be angry. I was just too impatient. I won't do it again next time."

Shenan sighed. He wasn't really angry. It was just that the city was full of cameras. If one of them caught this, it would be hard to explain.

But seeing his sister admit her mistake, his anger faded a lot.

"Alright, let's not talk about this."

He changed the subject and told Celine about Old Man Li's friend who wanted to buy some antiques from the Qin Dynasty. He hoped she could go handle it.

Hearing this, Celine hesitated a little.

"But big brother, your surgery is in a few days. I'm worried—"

"Don't worry," Shenan cut her off. "I already told Kaylee. She will go with me to the hospital and take care of me for half a month."

His tone was a bit unnatural when he said this, but at that moment the engine roared, and Celine didn't notice anything strange. She just nodded to show she understood and promised to send the money to Kaylee.

"I've already taken care of it."

Shenan waved his hand to tell her not to worry.

Since her brother had everything arranged, Celine relaxed and said, "Alright then, I'll buy a ticket back tomorrow."

Suddenly, Celine seemed to remember something.

She reached into her right pocket and pulled out a small cloth bag.

"Oh, big brother," she handed the bag to Shenan, "this is crystal cores Red gave me. I won't be here for a few days, so keep some with you just in case."

Shenan took the bag, feeling its weight.

He opened it, curious. Inside was a half bag full of clear, sparkling crystal cores!

"So many?!" Shenan said in surprise.

"Yeah," Celine nodded, briefly explaining, "Red's base had a small zombie wave today. They took the chance to gather some."

Shenan understood. In this world, danger and opportunity came together. Getting this many was lucky.

He didn't hesitate. Carefully, he picked five or six crystal cores and put them into his small pouch.

After putting them away, he picked up one core, held it in his palm, closed his eyes, and tried to activate the weak energy inside his body, quietly absorbing it.

But just as he started guiding the energy—

"Hm?"

Shenan suddenly opened his eyes wide, his face full of shock and doubt.

Not right!

This time, the crystal core... feels completely different!

The energy flooding into the body is much more abundant than any level one crystal core he had absorbed before!

And the absorption process is extremely smooth, almost without any resistance, as if that energy was naturally compatible with his body.

"What's going on?"

Shenan whispered, looking at the crystal core in his hand, his eyes full of confusion.

Is this really a level one crystal core?

Why does the quality and quantity of energy feel like... it has improved by more than one level?

At the same time, in the post-apocalyptic base separated by a different dimension, the atmosphere was very tense.

Red, Zhennan, Leader Rui, and others sat around a simple meeting table, with several level one crystal cores they had just collected scattered on the table.

"Do you feel it?" Zhennan's rough voice broke the silence. He looked sharply at Leader Rui.

Leader Rui nodded seriously, his face more serious than ever. "I feel it. The energy... is not right."

They had just tried absorbing a newly acquired level three crystal core. Normally, with their strength, absorbing one level three core would only slightly replenish what they used.

But this time, just one core filled their bodies with energy in a way that was crazy, almost as full as if they had absorbed three to four cores of the same level before!

Zhennan and Leader Rui exchanged a glance. Instantly, they saw the same shocking conclusion in each other's eyes.

"The zombies... have evolved again."

Leader Rui's voice was a little dry.

This kind of evolution was not just a simple level upgrade. That would directly show in the color and energy fluctuations of the crystal core.

This time it was different. The core in their hands was still a level one crystal core, and the energy fluctuation was definitely at the level one range, but the energy inside was so full, so pure!

This could only mean that the zombies' evolution had entered a new, more terrifying stage.

A subtle, hard-to-notice kind of evolution!

Red stayed silent. At this moment, he looked up, staring out the window.

Outside, it had started to snow heavily again, with huge snowflakes falling quietly. The world was covered in white.

He sighed deeply, his voice heavy with exhaustion and helplessness.

"It seems the driving force behind this 'invisible evolution'... is this continuous heavy snow."

The snow brought extreme cold, and also unknown mutations.

Ah—

Red rubbed his forehead, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness rise in his heart.

They were only trying to struggle to survive in this damned apocalypse.

Why must it be... so difficult?