For a moment, no one in the room was willing to take out their crystal core.

Some people looked at Huang Simiao with displeasure, thinking she was meddling in other people's business.

Zhang Run didn't have any objections, so it's just her who's talking, right?

But how can we survive in this kind of weather without water!

The people in line were unwilling to leave, and just stared at Zhang Run, hoping that he could recover his superpowers soon.

In fact, Zhang Run also had crystal cores, which He Qing had specifically reminded them of when they went out.

Anyway, if you kill zombies or mutated plants and they drop crystal cores, let them keep them themselves.

Now, all the team members have awakened their superpowers.

The crystal core will not be given to He Qing and Huang Simiao.

However, Zhang Run simply lay down weakly, seemingly without any intention of crushing the crystal core to restore his spiritual power.

Li Chu, still unaware of what was going on, walked over and said, "Zhang Run? How about I give you the crystal core I have?"

“A-Chu…” Huang Simiao wanted to go over and take her hand to signal her.

However, Li Chu calmly turned her body to the side, just in time to avoid Huang Simiao's hand.

Her face still held a peaceful and gentle smile, but her eyes were not looking in Huang Simiao's direction.

Seeing Li Chu's smile, everyone unconsciously put aside their hostility.

Some of them said somewhat embarrassedly, "Actually, exchanging crystal cores for water resources is normal..."

But before he could finish speaking, someone next to him kicked him, making him shut up.

The depletion of mental energy means there's no strength left to escape.

"Unjustly consuming someone else's mental energy is practically the same as murder in the apocalypse." Shen Jing had been watching the show from the side of the stairs, but seeing Huang Simiao's aggrieved eyes, she coldly uttered a sentence and turned to leave.

Huang Simiao subconsciously took two steps forward.

But then she remembered that among those present, her ability level was the highest, so she hesitated and stayed.

Those who had just had their veils of shame ruthlessly torn off by Shen Jing began to mock her after she left, saying, "She has the best resources in the base, so it's easy for her to stand there and not feel the pain!"

"The water purification agents produced by the research institute are probably all in her hands."

"Exactly, she's not someone who lacks water, and in this heat, who else is as comfortable as her!"

Some people even dragged Huang Simiao's earlier incident into the conversation, saying, "Hey, Huang Simiao, you're not planning to run away with that woman, are you? Didn't we hear you have strong wood-type abilities? You can't run away, otherwise who will protect us if that monster comes in!"

A faint muttering came from the corner: "Who knew it would be so dangerous? It was only because the base commander and Huang Simiao have superpowers that we decided to come out and find the generator and those summer supplies..."

But who would have thought that on the very first day, they would be driven to this predicament by the mutants, those monsters.

I thought zombies were scary enough.

There are actually such disgusting and powerful mutant animals.

Everything they did was for the base; they risked their lives for it.

Huang Simiao held back for a moment, but still retorted, "Shut up! Shen Jing isn't the kind of person you're making her out to be!"

To everyone's surprise, the cheerful Huang Simiao suddenly lost her temper.

They were disrespectful earlier, but now they're siding with Chen Jing. This has really hit a nerve with those people.

"Huang Simiao! Didn't you beg us to come out?"

"What's your attitude now? Do you think you're so great just because you have superpowers?"

"We were the ones protecting you before, otherwise you would have died countless times!"

Their back-and-forth conversations filled Huang Simiao with a suffocating sense of responsibility. But she couldn't just leave like Shen Jing. They were right about one thing: some people were indeed following her and He Qing out to find supplies because of their special abilities.

She lowered her head, walked to the stairs, sat down, and took out the spiritual spring water that Shen Jing had given her from her backpack to drink.

As soon as she looked up, she saw Li Chu looking at her with a complicated expression.

The two exchanged a glance, then silently lowered their heads and went about their own business.

Once a disagreement has occurred, it is very difficult to eliminate the resulting estrangement.

She is, and so is Li Chu.

This was the first time Huang Simiao and Li Chu had a disagreement since the end of the world.

In the past, it was always her who acted recklessly and childishly, and Li Chu would gently smooth things over for her.

I don't know when or how it turned out this way.

When Shen Jing gave her the spiritual spring water, she instructed that no one but her should drink it. So she definitely wouldn't share it with anyone else, even if Li Chu was full of disappointment, even if those people openly or secretly cursed her—"It's easy for you to talk when you're not in her shoes."

Whether standing or sitting, she does it all by her own ability, so of course it doesn't hurt.

Huang Simiao pursed her lips, then took out some compressed biscuits from her backpack and ate them. These biscuits were also given to her by Shen Jing; Shen Jing had taken care of her throughout the journey…

I took a bite of the cookie and my eyes involuntarily welled up with tears.

Fortunately, she was sitting in the corner, and no one noticed her movements.

Huang Simiao ate in small bites, sniffing the air. Just as he was about to take another sip of the spiritual spring water, a cup of steaming water was handed to him.

Looking up, I saw that it was the injured base commander, He Qing.

"If I remember correctly, you should be drinking warm water recently, right?" He Qing coughed lightly, a little embarrassed.

Huang Simiao was stunned upon hearing this. She took the cup and sipped at the rim of it, her expression a mixture of tears and laughter.

On such a hot day, he actually used his superpower to give her warm water.

"Pfft, I... I don't actually need to drink hot water right now." Huang Simiao smiled, then pointed to He Qing's wound and said, "Besides, your injury is quite serious, so don't waste your mental energy using your superpowers."

He Qing sat down on the stairs next to her and said nonchalantly, "I'm almost fully recovered. People with superpowers have a stronger recovery ability than ordinary people, so don't worry about me."

"Who's worried about you?" Huang Simiao turned her head away from him.

Before the apocalypse, Huang Simiao saw a sentence online.

Men who are like central air conditioning are not worth having.

But she couldn't help being moved by this indiscriminate care, and tried to find something different in the central air conditioning.

Huang Simiao actually acknowledged this intermittent bout of romantic infatuation.

Even if it only involves a little more camaraderie, she would gladly accept it...

"Sigh..." Huang Simiao buried her head in her arms and sighed helplessly.

Even in the apocalypse, she still has the leisure to think about these things.

He Qing didn't understand her fluctuating emotions, and just patted the back of her head as usual.

Treat her like the girl next door.

Huang Simiao grasped the hand with distinct knuckles and turned to look at He Qing.

Just as He Qing was feeling a little uncomfortable under Huang Simiao's gaze, she heard Huang Simiao whisper, "Captain, don't treat me like a little sister. I can take on two people at once now."

This was the first time He Qing had ever seen such an aggressive look and tone in Huang Simiao.

He wasn't sure if it was from fright, but he felt as if his heart had skipped a beat.

Seemingly noticing his predicament, Huang Simiao smiled and deftly changed the subject.