Chapter 6 Notification

Mo Chu picked up the largest backpack she could find in the warehouse and stepped outside. Once she was out, she pulled the warehouse door shut from the outside and dragged two zombie corpses to the entrance, arranging them in a way that suggested the place had just gone through a brutal fight and was now occupied by the undead.

She knew this kind of disguise was a bit exaggerated. If it were the sixth year of the apocalypse, no one would be fooled. But in the early days—when most people hadn’t yet adapted to the blood-soaked reality—just two corpses were enough to scare off the majority.

It wasn’t foolproof, but she could only hope she’d return quickly enough that it wouldn’t matter.

And yet… she wasn’t sure if it was because, right before she left, Li Chen had unconsciously grabbed her hand in his unconscious state, but she suddenly found herself thinking that the so-called “great devil” from her past life… seemed a little pitiful.

The thought itself startled her.

In her previous life, Li Chen had been brutal, unpredictable, and a mass murderer without hesitation. No one would ever describe him as “pitiful.” Even though his experiences had long since become an open secret among awakened ability users, spread deliberately by those with ulterior motives, pity was never part of how people saw him.

He had been the “Demon King.”

But this life… he was just “Li Chen.”

Mo Chu let out a soft sigh. Before she even began her search, the urge to return quickly had already grown urgent.

She moved swiftly through the city. Since her goal was supplies, she avoided groups of wandering zombies whenever possible.

The streets were completely empty of pedestrians. The city felt like a dead shell.

Mo Chu knew that the surviving people were either hiding at home or in former workplaces, waiting anxiously and despairingly for rescue—or they had already fled early on, just like she had in her past life.

Back then, most survivors believed only their city had fallen. They thought that if they escaped or waited long enough, they would live and eventually return to the civilized world.

But in reality, the entire world had already collapsed. Every city was on its own.

On the third day of the apocalypse, communication systems were still down and rescue had not arrived. Some people began to realize something was wrong—but most still clung to hope.

However… there was still a sliver of hope.

Mo Chu’s expression tightened slightly as she pushed the thought aside and focused even more on searching for supplies.

Eventually, she found what looked like an untouched underground supermarket.

But the moment she entered, she realized it wasn’t empty.

Two groups were already facing off inside the aisles, tension thick enough to cut through the air.

One group was mostly men with a few women—clearly dominant in numbers. The other group was mostly girls, but at the front stood three boys with solid, muscular builds, all over 1.8 meters tall, radiating an unmistakable “I could take you all on” aura.

The standoff reached its peak the moment Mo Chu stepped inside.

Every eye snapped toward her.

The male-heavy group immediately looked hostile when they saw she was a woman. The leader’s gaze darkened.

Without hesitation, Mo Chu slowly pulled out the dagger she had tucked into her boot. Her eyes sharpened, refusing to yield even an inch.

Some things could be compromised. Others couldn’t—especially supplies. Give once, and there would be a second time. That was a lesson carved into her bones over six years of the apocalypse.

The moment she appeared armed and dangerous, the man’s expression subtly shifted, his hostility withdrawing a fraction.

At that moment, one of the boys in the other group—still wearing a basketball jersey—frowned and said, “This supermarket is huge. No one can take everything. Let’s not interfere with each other. We’ll compete fairly.”

The other man clearly felt it wasn’t worth escalating. He snorted. “Fine. Each to their own ability—but she can’t come in.”

He pointed directly at Mo Chu.

All eyes turned to her.

Mo Chu’s face remained calm. She was already considering whether to deal with this man now or wait until they left and rob them later.

In the apocalypse, you didn’t just get blood on your hands from zombies. Sometimes you had to stain them with your own kind. She had learned that long ago.

Before she could act, a girl from the other group suddenly spoke up, her voice laced with disgust. “She’s with us now. Are you saying she can’t come in?”

No one in their group objected.

With that many people backing her, the opposing side reluctantly backed down.

Once inside the food section, the girl waved at Mo Chu. “Come in quickly.”

Mo Chu lowered her dagger and walked over. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

The girl waved it off, clearly in a hurry. “Go find your food fast and leave. Don’t get targeted by those people.”

Without waiting for a response, she hurried off to catch up with her teammates.

Mo Chu called after her, “What’s your name?”

The girl didn’t even turn back. “Ying Yi. See you!”

Watching her disappear, Mo Chu also moved deeper into the supermarket.

The place still bore traces of the early apocalypse—fallen shelves, bloodstained walls, scattered corpses of both zombies and humans. But the fact that no zombies had been drawn here despite all this chaos meant one thing: the area was likely cleared.

Still, Mo Chu remained cautious as she stepped forward.

She noticed the male-heavy group heading straight for raw food—meat, rice, flour—clearly planning to transport it back home. The younger group, meanwhile, focused on ready-to-eat meals and packaged food.

Mo Chu didn’t waste time watching further.

She went straight to the beverage section, grabbing several bottles of clean water and energy drinks, filling half her backpack in one go.

In her previous life, she had learned this lesson the hard way:

In the apocalypse, water was more important than food.

After that, she stuffed a handful of chocolate into a side pocket, then searched for high-sugar, high-calorie foods and non-puffed grains like oats. Her eyes quickly landed on what she needed, and she grabbed two cans of fruit.

Her movements were precise and efficient.

Compressed rations were impossible to find in a place like this—let alone the military-grade supplies she had once seen in special task forces. In such conditions, high-sugar foods provided quick energy, grains were more filling and long-lasting than cooked meals, and canned fruit was a precious source of vitamins.

When her backpack was nearly full, she lifted it—heavy, almost uncomfortably so.

She slung it over her shoulder and scanned the supermarket again.

Unexpectedly, she noticed the hostile man from earlier quietly separating from his group, heading in a different direction.

Mo Chu frowned slightly.

She followed him.

When she caught up, she saw him pinning the girl named Ying Yi between a shelf and a wall. One hand covered her mouth tightly, the other tugged at her clothes.

The moment order collapsed, some people’s ugliness surfaced instantly.

A surge of anger flared in Mo Chu’s chest.

She strode forward without hesitation. Before the man could react, she grabbed him from behind by the hair and slammed his head into the wall with all her strength.

A heavy, dull bang echoed through the supermarket.

The man’s vision blurred instantly, blood streaming down his forehead.

Mo Chu quickly stuffed a towel against the wound to suppress the blood scent so it wouldn’t attract zombies. Then, without hesitation, she stepped on his arm—

Crack. Crack.

Two clean breaks.

She immediately stuffed another cloth into his mouth to silence his screams.

Her foot pressed down on his shattered arm again as she looked at him like he was already dead.

The man trembled violently, unable to even scream, nearly fainting from the pain.

Only then did Ying Yi react.

Mo Chu expected tears or panic—but instead, the girl grabbed a rolling pin from nearby and smashed it down on the man’s head without hesitation, careful not to make unnecessary noise.

Mo Chu almost laughed.

She didn’t stop her.

But footsteps approached from the other side, so Mo Chu quickly stopped her and took a jacket from a nearby shelf, draping it over Ying Yi to cover her torn clothes.

Only then did the girl sniffle. “Thank you…”

Mo Chu helped fasten the buttons for her.

Tears finally spilled from Ying Yi’s eyes. “Thank you… you’re… you’re so gentle…”

Mo Chu patted her back lightly.

Her teammates soon arrived. Seeing the scene, they immediately understood what had happened. Furious, the three leading boys dragged the injured man up and expelled him along with his group.

The others thanked Mo Chu repeatedly.

She simply waved them off and said nothing.

Before leaving, she dug through the nearby zombie corpses and extracted a crystalline object from one of them.

She didn’t hide it.

The group stared in shock.

Ying Yi hesitantly asked, “Sister… what is that?”

Mo Chu glanced at her. “A zombie crystal. Awakened ability users can use it to level up.”

“C-crystal?”

The group looked like their worldview had just collapsed. Some were amazed it really existed; others asked if “abilities” were really what they imagined.

One of the boys, however, became serious immediately and began asking detailed questions about crystals and their usage.

Mo Chu answered everything she could.

“You’re telling us something this important just like that?” the boy asked gravely.

Mo Chu shrugged. “There’s nothing I can’t say.”

He stood and bowed deeply. “Thank you.”

Mo Chu shook her head slightly.

She had no intention of monopolizing the knowledge of crystals. First, they would inevitably be discovered sooner or later. Second, the earlier humanity adapted, the better their chances of surviving the second wave of zombie evolution.

Before she was an ability user… she was human first.

And humans didn’t watch their own kind get crushed without reason.

Once her goal was achieved, she didn’t linger. After saying goodbye, she left.

Behind her, the boy murmured to the others, “I think that professor might have awakened an ability. We need to go back and tell them.”

“Wait, really? I thought she just got sharper after a fever…”

“Let’s try finding crystals on the way back!”

“We really should thank that sister…”

He watched Mo Chu’s departing figure, understanding just how earth-shattering her casual words had been.

In his heart, he silently said:

Thank you.