Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

"What are you doing, let’s eat!"

Zhang Su saw the situation was too awkward and shouted before gently picking up the spoon to start eating. He couldn’t help it; his hand shook too much to use chopsticks properly.

"Hey, don’t push yourself. You’re already so tired, why practice tonight? Do you want to exhaust yourself to the point of breaking?"

Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan sat in front of Zhang Su with concerned expressions on their faces, speaking softly.

After the disaster struck, one thing remained consistent — through every fierce battle, she had never seen Zhang Su this fatigued.

Zhong Xiaoshan nodded and said, "Things are relatively peaceful around here now; we have plenty of time. Don’t rush and hurt yourself, just in case!"

Both knew Zhang Su was incredibly cautious. He never let everyone train to the point of exhaustion, ensuring there’s always enough energy for emergencies. But why was he pushing himself so hard?

"What, even you two don’t believe in me? Ha, watch out tonight! I’ll take on both of you myself!"

Zhang Su’s slightly trembling hand was akin to a recovering Parkinson’s patient. His grand declaration lacked any intimidation, instead revealing a touch of comedy.

"Don’t boast, I’ll feed you!"

Zheng Xinyu couldn’t stand it anymore, pushing her plate aside and reaching for the spoon in Zhang Su’s hand.

"No, don’t, I can do it myself. Imagine what others would think if someone saw this. Don’t you remember Xiaoshan talking about maintaining an image?"

Zhang Su shook his head vigorously. How would the leader of Celestial Horse Island feel being reduced to a state by a Japanese woman, even needing to be fed by his wife? How would others perceive him?

An idea flashed through his mind, activating a new energy slot!

In an instant, the soreness vanished, the shaking stopped, and his very bones brimmed with vigor.

"Huh?"

Both Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan’s eyes widened simultaneously.

The transformation from utter fatigue to vibrant energy was so stark that even an attempted disguise would be heavily flawed, especially since Zhang Su wasn’t trying to fake anything.

In the blink of an eye, the person before them transformed from a wilted eggplant to a post-rain bamboo shoot, radiating a fresh, renewed spirit.

"You..."

Zheng Xinyu, after her initial widened eyes, furrowed her brows before understanding hit and she nodded, raising a mischievous smile. Surely, this guy was pretending to be exhausted to outsmart Ju Mumio!

Zhong Xiaoshan also sensed something was amiss. This was the real Zhang Su, indeed just like the old him!

However, Zhang Su’s transformation wasn’t only noticed by Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan sitting opposite him. Ju Mumio across the table sensed something odd too.

The moment Zhang Su’s body emitted energy, Ju Mumio paused her eating, slowly turned her head towards Zhang Su, eyes full of disbelief and contemplation.

The miraculous scene clearly surpassed her understanding of human limits!

"Interesting!"

"Hmm?" Yi Xiaoling heard Ju Mumio’s muttering and turned her head, asking in a mosquito-like whisper, "What’s so interesting?"

Ju Mumio didn’t speak, simply shook her head with a sly smile, twisted open a bottle to take a sip of alcohol before bowing her head to eat.

Whoosh...

The strange atmosphere was interrupted when the dining room door opened, and a wheelchair was pushed in, bringing the experimental lab trio.

"Mr. Zhang!"

Completely unfazed by the mysterious atmosphere, Fu Weijun walked into the dining room, immediately spotting Zhang Su, greeting him with a wave before quickly wheeling himself towards Zhang Su.

"Take it slow!"

Duan Wuhu followed a couple of steps and shook his head helplessly.

"Mr. Zhang, I’ve been looking for you all afternoon... here, the route map is ready. There are several docks for sailing; you can decide based on specific conditions. From here, there are many routes to Beihai District; surely you’re more familiar than I am. I’ve mainly noted the laboratory’s situation."

Fu Weijun sat beside Zhang Su’s table, placing a notebook on the table and pushing it towards Zhang Su.

Zhang Su secretly found it amusing. Regardless of the time or place, as soon as Fu Weijun showed up, any surrounding emotions were instantly dispelled. In his world, there’s only concentration; a focused person doesn’t care about anything else.

He picked up the notebook, skimmed through it. It contained plenty of content, complete with diagrams and prioritizations of equipment. Closing it, he smiled, "Alright, Dr. Fu, let’s eat first. Even if we go, we’ll need time to prepare, so don’t rush."

Even without referencing the map, Zhang Su knew the journey was at least seventy to eighty kilometers, traversing many once-densely-populated areas. A round trip was challenging!

"Alright, I’ll leave everything to Mr. Zhang then!"

Fu Weijun nodded earnestly, knowing urging was pointless. With a polite smile, he wheeled himself away.

The restaurant, thanks to the arrival of the lab trio, quickly returned to its original atmosphere.

Zhang Su, after using the Energy Slot, felt revitalized and devoured his meal like a whirlwind, clearing the plate. If not for the fact that he had to train later that night, he would have wanted another!

"Are you really going?"

Zheng Xinyu looked at Zhang Su in a peculiar way as he finished showing off his dinner.

"Yes!" Zhang Su wiped his mouth and stood up, saying to Ju Mumio, "I’ll wait for you!"

Having said that, he walked towards the door, whistling cheerfully along the way, a stark contrast to when he first entered.

Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan rolled their eyes in unison and chose to continue eating, as their meals were barely touched.

Ju Mumio watched Zhang Su leave, her eyes filled with contemplation. She didn’t quite understand.

Everyone in the restaurant pretended not to notice anything, turning a blind eye to Zhang Su’s departure. Even after he closed the restaurant door, they didn’t dare to discuss it carelessly, as the elder and second sisters-in-law were still sitting there...

Jingxin Garden, the highest located inn on Celestial Horse Island, is about four or five hundred meters away from the parking lot at the scenic area’s entrance. Next door is where chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep are kept, usually only visited by people feeding the livestock for cleaning. Currently, it’s the only unused inn.

Zhang Su went to the small garden provided for guests at Jingxin Garden. It was quiet all around, so quiet that even with his exceptional hearing, he couldn’t hear the noise from the restaurant over three hundred meters away.

Sitting cross-legged on the stone table, he took a deep breath and began training according to the method taught by Ju Mumio.

"Hey!"

With full energy, he easily held difficult and strange poses without feeling strained.

However, the moment Zhang Su closed his eyes, he immediately opened them again.

"What’s going on?"

Just now, when he closed his eyes, he felt an extremely peculiar sensation: it seemed as if the air around him had turned into a thin mist, wrapping around him. But upon opening his eyes, everything returned to normal!

Whether it was an illusion was easy to test: just close eyes, thin mist, open eyes, normal, repeat a few more times, and confirm it wasn’t an illusion!

"This is not normal!" Zhang Su plopped down on the stone table, propping his chin and pondering, "Is the thin mist normal? Hmm? Just right, I should ask her!"

While Zhang Su was mulling things over, he heard footsteps, followed shortly by another, one light and one heavy, easily identified as Yi Xiaoling and Ju Mumio.

"It’s so dark, Brother Zhang, turn on a light."

The two walked into Jingxin Garden, Yi Xiaoling’s flashlight swept around, and seeing Zhang Su sitting on the table startled her, despite zombies running rampant the fear of ghosts still lingered in her heart.

"The light is inside, go turn it on yourself."

Zhang Su pointed at the house.

"Xiaojuzi, accompany me..."

Yi Xiaoling pulled Ju Mumio into the house to turn on the lights. Two lanterns hanging under the eaves lit up, casting a soft glow over the small yard, making it faintly visible.

"Hey, Sakura, I’ve got some questions for you!"

Zhang Su waited for the two to walk over, waving at Ju Mumio with absolutely no student-like demeanor, actually requiring the teacher to step forward to listen to his questions...

Ju Mumio slowly approached Zhang Su, her clear gaze sizing him up and down, she said slowly, "You make me feel surprised."

"Hey, wow!" Zhang Su replied with an odd smile, "You surprise me too! You’ve learned to speak our language in just two days, did you study beforehand?"

He had asked Ju Mumio to communicate in Mandarin within a week, and to his surprise, she accomplished it in just two days.

"Well, Xiaojuzi, she..."

"That’s, not important, why did you recover so quickly?"

Ju Mumio waved her hand at Yi Xiaoling, not wanting to tell Zhang Su that she had been secretly learning Mandarin for over a month. She didn’t want others to know about the efforts she had made behind the scenes; previously, she hadn’t mentioned it as she wasn’t fluent yet, but now she was willing to communicate with imperfect pronunciation because of her pressing desire to know Zhang Su’s secret.

Scratching the surface of Zhang Su’s mind was ninety-nine percent of the Energy Slot. He raised the corners of his mouth, smiling as he spread his hands and said, "Fast? Are you sure the afternoon training left me exhausted? I think you might be overstating, Ju’s Martial Arts wouldn’t drain me completely!"

Ju Mumio’s eyebrows furrowed, he shook his head slightly: "Not right, you were extremely tired in the afternoon, there’s no reason you could still persist."

"You are so naggy, are you concerned if I am tired or not? I’ve already said I’ll continue tonight, this level of training intensity is nothing. Ask you something serious!"

Zhang Su waved his hand and then continued seriously, "Just now while practicing meditation posture, as soon as I closed my eyes, I felt a thin white mist around me, what’s going on? I’m not about to have a mental breakdown, right?"

"Impossible!"

Previously, Ju Mumio never spoke loudly, but this time she was clearly a bit lost, her tone rising as she startled Yi Xiaoling sitting beside her.

"What’s the meaning of your shocking demeanor, you seemed quite steady before, something like a martial artist, now your image is greatly diminished!"

Zhang Su frowned in dissatisfaction, his contemptuous expression was evidently irritating.

Ju Mumio was completely indifferent to Zhang Su’s criticism, her brows furrowed tightly, and she said, "Can you, explain more clearly, your experience just now?"