Chapter 399: Chapter 399

The next day, after a small celebration, the family stared at the two watermelons in the courtyard that were adult-sized and weighed over a hundred pounds each, exchanging bewildered looks.

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be a big deal - if they couldn't finish them, they could just throw them away. But this was the apocalypse, where the value of food went without saying.

Wasting food felt truly shameful.

In the end, with no other choice, the family sat together and ate until their bellies were completely full, yet they barely managed to finish less than one-tenth of just one watermelon. They sent some to Uncle Shen's house next door.

The remaining portion was juiced and stored in An Ning's spatial storage along with the rest of the watermelon.

After finishing all this, the family was too exhausted to move, and An Ning had already washed up early and climbed into her small bed.

Even so, that evening, not only Lu Ting but even Shen Qing quietly took out crystal cores and began attempting to advance to the next level.

However, after more than half a month, accompanied by a spatial fluctuation, only Shen Qing successfully advanced.

"Hahaha, I'm at the same level as you now, Ting-ge!"

Lu Ting, who had absorbed two third-stage crystal cores but showed no progress for over half a month: "..."

And at this moment, Dad Lu didn't yet know that this frustration would continue for a full two years.

Time flew by, and two years quickly passed.

Aside from occasionally going out with her parents to "see the world" and training her combat skills, An Ning's daily life wasn't much different from before.

It was just Lu Ting, as a father... ahem...

If advancing from fourth stage to fifth stage was a clear hurdle for An Ning, then for other supernatural ability users who hadn't yet discovered the correct "cultivation" method, the gap between third stage and fourth stage was undoubtedly like an insurmountable chasm.

At the very least, over these two years, aside from third-stage ability users gradually advancing within the base, there had been absolutely no news of anyone reaching fourth stage.

Countless people had tried, only to end in failure.

Among them, quite a few had even died from qi deviation due to being unable to break through for so long.

That being said, Lu Ting did have some capability. After numerous failed attempts, he quickly began working on other approaches. After multiple experiments, he actually managed to develop a cultivation method that suited him perfectly.

Around this time, mutated fourth-stage zombies began appearing outside the base.

They were extremely fast - even the most powerful firearms couldn't target them properly, let alone be effective against them. Their bodies were covered in green scales, and their defensive capabilities had upgraded again. However, what was even more terrifying was that these zombies could even launch some ranged energy attacks.

These zombies had even developed a certain level of self-awareness, and in some sense, could command zombie hordes to launch strategic invasions.

Though this ability hadn't been truly discovered by anyone yet - people only knew that if you went outside, you were highly likely to be counter-hunted by these highly sensitive high-level zombies.

At least in everyone's current view, although the outside was extremely dangerous, staying obediently within the base still offered some degree of safety.

Even so, people were still filled with panic.

For no other reason than that the base's supplies were severely insufficient.

It had been three full years since the apocalypse began. Food outside had either been completely scavenged or had already rotted. Additionally, with years of extreme heat and little rain, aside from a few wood-type and water-type ability users, the land could hardly grow crops anymore.

The few surviving plants and animals had mostly mutated. Although they were verified to be edible, their offensive capabilities were sometimes even stronger than third-stage zombies.

The difficulty of obtaining food had increased yet again.

Many smaller bases had even begun experiencing internal conflicts over food, with ability users fighting and killing each other.

Fortunately, compared to them, An Ning's base was somewhat better off. With her being a publicly known third-stage (actually fourth-stage) wood-type ability user, over these two years while training her abilities, she had continuously sold significant amounts of grain and vegetables.

She occasionally went out with Dad Lu and others to hunt some powerful food sources.

After learning about her capabilities, Base Leader Zhou had even specially arranged for them to move to a villa area closer to the inner city. But even so, this couldn't solve the real crisis.

Only two paths lay before them now.

First: Venture outside to search for food, risking being hunted by fourth-stage zombies.

Second: Wait for the base to descend into chaos due to food shortages, repeating the fate of other bases.

Over three years, with everyone working together, although communications hadn't been restored, information transmission between different regions wasn't much of a problem.

Just as everyone was filled with anxiety...

On this day, within the base, accompanied by tremendous thunderclaps, by the time everyone rushed over, this world's first (publicly known) fourth-stage ability powerhouse had finally been born.

"As expected of Brother Lu!"

"Is this the power of a fourth-stage ability user?"

"Truly a heaven-sent genius!"

Feeling the constantly moving lightning elements around them and the visibly powerful aura, people in the crowd occasionally showed worship in their eyes.

Moreover, during such panicked times, the appearance of a fourth-stage ability user undoubtedly injected a strong dose of confidence into everyone.

This was hope for survival!

Even the wig accidentally destroyed by the lightning couldn't diminish this high-level ability user's brilliance in the slightest!

Though... well, it did look somewhat strange for a moment. Even Base Leader Zhou personally came with his people.

For a moment, it seemed like all applause and glory poured in at once, with nothing but various worshipful, admiring gazes visible all around.

In the crowd, Shen Qing instinctively grabbed her daughter's hand.

Even Lu Ting, who considered himself quite mentally strong, couldn't help but feel momentarily dazed under such gazes.

But only for a moment!

A heaven-sent genius who lagged a full two years behind his own ten-year-old daughter!

Lu Ting couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Facing the admiring gazes of the crowd outside the open area, he naturally straightened his sleeve that had become somewhat tattered due to the overwhelming lightning power.

When excusing himself to Base Leader Zhou to change clothes, his expression remained exactly the same as usual, without any arrogance of being "this world's number one"!

Truly worthy of being the "number one"!

The surrounding spectators all exclaimed in admiration.

Just how powerful was a fourth-stage ability user? Soon everyone had their answer. Lu Ting led a team outside for just a few days, not only returning successfully but bringing back large quantities of food and reportedly more than one fourth-stage crystal core...

With the survival crisis resolved, everyone couldn't help but celebrate together.

Meanwhile, news of a lightning-type fourth-stage ability user appearing in the Blaze Base, along with Lu Ting's famous name, quickly spread throughout all remaining bases...

Also attracting the attention of certain interested parties.

Receiving the message transmitted by the system, in an exquisitely decorated room after a major battle, a ten-year-old girl attempting to break through couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Well now, what a coincidence!

But then again, An Ning thought to herself, it was only a few days until the original body's death in her previous life, or that large-scale zombie siege...