The young man with the buzz cut said, "My name is Zhao Hai. I often buy things at your supermarket...you forgot?"

"Okay, what are you doing in the bathroom?"

Zhang Hao had absolutely no recollection of it, but could only give a perfunctory answer.

Almost everyone in this apartment building has shopped at the supermarket, so how could he possibly know them all?

"My parents turned into zombies. I was in the bathroom at the time... I didn't have time to react, so I had to lock myself in. What's wrong with this world? How did it suddenly become the end of the world? Sigh, why are my parents so unlucky?" Zhao Hai became sentimental.

Fang Ping sighed, "Please accept my condolences and take it easy."

"It's okay, I can handle it."

When Zhao Hai saw his murdered parents at the door, a look of surprise appeared on his face: "Did you kill them? Did you come here specifically to save me?"

Zhang Hao didn't want him to misunderstand: "We killed them, but not to save you. We fought our way from the first floor to the seventh floor. There are no more zombies in the first unit. We'll go to the other units to clear out the zombies later."

"Wow! That's incredible! They wiped out everyone from the first to the seventh floor? Can I join you guys?" Zhao Hai exclaimed.

Have you awakened your superpowers?

"What kind of superpower?"

"It's just a feeling. Anyway, all Awakened Ones know that they are Awakened Ones."

"I don't know, I felt a lot when I pooped just now."

"Then do you dare to kill zombies?"

"No way, that's a zombie! Wouldn't that be suicide?"

Zhang Hao refused: "Then I'm sorry, you can't join us."

Zhao Hai grew a little anxious, frowning as he said, "Why? You guys are so strong... You can take me with you, right? I may not know anything, I can't cook or do laundry, but I can cheer you on! As strong people, don't you need moral support?"

"..."

Fang Ping, standing to the side, almost rolled his eyes.

You're useless at everything, how dare you join?

How can this person be so shameless?

"No need," Zhang Hao shook his head.

"Uh, could you give me some food?" Zhao Hai asked again.

Why should I give it to you?

"Uh, you have so much stuff in your supermarket... giving me any of it won't make a difference, right?"

"no."

Why are you so stingy?

"..."

Zhang Hao couldn't be bothered to pay him any attention.

He called out to Fang Ping and then walked towards the door.

But who would have thought that this guy would still keep pestering me, yelling, "Hey, you broke my door and you're just going to leave like that? You all stay here, I'm not an unreasonable person, I won't ask for much~ Just compensate me with ten boxes of instant noodles, ten bottles of water, and fifty cans of food."

Upon hearing this...

Zhang Hao turned and walked back, a faint smile on his face: "What else do you want? Continue."

"Then give me a few more bags of rice and flour? I need the freshest ones, the old ones won't keep. Also, two boxes of noodles. And if you can protect me and take me to a safe place..."

Before he could finish speaking, there was a tearing sound.

Zhang Hao's axe came down, and the man was cut in half at the waist. Blood and intestines were scattered all over the ground, and he died a gruesome death.

Even though Zhao Hai was dead, his face was still beaming with a happy smile, as if he could already see the ten boxes of instant noodles in his hands.

"..."

Zhang Hao didn't even look at him, turned around and left with Fang Ping.

These kinds of people aren't as disgusting as saints.

But that's really going too far.

They helped him kill the zombies. He was just an ordinary person locked in a toilet. He would either starve to death or be bitten to death by the zombies when he came out. He had almost no chance of survival.

They saved his life, and yet he still has the nerve to ask for supplies? And he's even making outrageous demands?

Haha, where's your face?

Zhang Hao felt no remorse whatsoever for killing Zhao Hai.

Today was supposed to be a very fruitful day, but Zhao Hai made me very unhappy. Killing him made me feel much better.

It took another ten hours to clear out all the zombies in the remaining three apartment buildings, accumulating a total of 112 level-one crystal cores.

It was a very fruitful day, and it was already past midnight.

Even awakened beings need rest, so the two people and the crow went downstairs and returned to the supermarket.

The raven kept watch, and nothing happened that night.

The next day, very early in the morning.

The two people and the crow began to absorb the crystal core.

Zhang Hao sat cross-legged, with faint electric arcs appearing on his body.

It took fifteen minutes to absorb all fifteen crystal cores and finally level up to level two.

Moreover, "Thunder Tempering" made his skin extremely tough, so level one zombies could no longer bite through it, and his physical attributes were also greatly improved.

Eight-pack abs revealed, the dual-axe warrior is about to be released.

Moreover, he mastered a second skill – "Thunder Blast".

He can now emit lightning from the pores of his hands and continuously control the lightning to form spheres, which are extremely lethal.

Fang Ping absorbed twelve of them and leveled up to level two, and also mastered the "Earth Spike" skill.

Raven absorbed fourteen orbs and leveled up to level two, gaining a higher level of mental strength and mastering the skill "Mental Slowness," which is quite effective against Awakened Ones.

Since they have all been promoted to Level 2 Awakeners, they need more Level 1 Crystal Cores to upgrade.

Zhang Hao needs 150 crystals, Fang Ping needs 120, and Raven needs 140. Even with enough level 1 crystals, it will take more than ten days to upgrade.

Level 2 crystal cores can indeed speed up the upgrade process, but this is only the second day of the apocalypse.

Even if zombies evolve very quickly, level two zombies are so few that they are negligible, so there's no point in relying on them.

Fang Ping also realized the problem: "Boss, what do we do now? Should we keep killing zombies?"

"We definitely have to kill the zombies. We can't just sit and wait for them to evolve to level two, that would be too slow. But while killing the zombies... we need to keep an eye out for the best Awakened Ones, and at the same time, we need to scavenge for a lot of supplies."

Zhang Hao's eyes flickered, and he slowly said, "We can't recruit too few people. We need to build a team of five or six Awakened people first. Then... we can go and do something big."

Fang Ping humbly asked, "Then how do you gather the awakened ones?"

"In the early stages, you can use incentives, such as giving a small amount of resources or crystal cores. Later, you can gradually cultivate the relationship between team members and also secretly assess their character. If someone is too saintly, you can eliminate or get rid of them. Of course, the most important thing is loyalty... We don't want anyone who is disloyal, no matter how high their talent is."

Zhang Hao's thoughts were not that simple.

Those top awakened individuals from the previous life can be recruited in advance, as long as there is no enmity between them.

But the apocalypse had already broken out, and Zhang Hao didn't know their early location; he could only hope to run into them by chance.

No, there are still a few he knows about.

Zhang Hao suddenly thought of a target he wanted to recruit, and it was nearby.

As Fang Ping and Raven walked down to the first floor, just as they were about to go out through the back door of the supermarket to look for someone, there was a loud knocking on the back door.

Outside the door, a woman screamed frantically for help.

"Boss Zhang, help me! There are so many zombies chasing me! Ahhh, I'm going to die!"