Chapter 26: Eternal Day

It had been nine days since the apocalypse began. These women had endured far too much darkness, and only now did they feel a flicker of warmth and kindness left in the world.

"Keep it up, everyone. Let's aim to get all of you to level 5 by tomorrow."

A cheer rippled through the group; it was as if they had finally found a place to call home.

"There are 220 cores left. Let's give them to Shiyun and Ruke." With 110 cores each, both of them could reach level 4.

To advance beyond level 10, one required ten first-tier cores. Once a person reached the first tier, all their attributes would double; ordinary people stood no chance against a first-tier zombie, let alone killing one. Only those who had awakened A-grade talents had the opportunity and ability to solo a common first-tier zombie. Otherwise, it almost always required teamwork.

"Boss, why don't we give our squad a name? Something cool, like the 'Thunderbolt Squad'?"

"What do you all think would be a good name?"

"How about 'Kings of the World'?"

"Have you been playing too many games? I say we call it 'Carefree Manor'."

Lin Yu pressed his palms to his forehead. What on earth was all this?

"Let's just call it 'Eternal Day'," Lin Yu said, cutting them off. He chose the name from his past life.

"Eternal Day?"

"Yes. Eternal Day. I want everyone in our squad to keep their eyes fixed on the light of the future."

"That's good. It’s full of hope."

At that moment, a flicker of excitement stirred in Lin Yu’s heart. Eternal Day had finally been established in this life.

The tenth day of the apocalypse.

The four A-grade awakeners of Eternal Day had all reached level 10, and the other thirteen women were all level 5. In this ancient town, they had become a force not to be underestimated.

"You won't forget me, will you?" Chen Jing'er looked at Lin Yu, her eyes filled with reluctance.

"I won't. You were my first woman; I could never forget you for as long as I live." Lin Yu gently stroked her hair, adding softly, "You must strive to survive. By the time I reach the third tier at the latest, we will definitely meet again."

"If I awaken my talent and become strong, can I go with you?" The experiences of this period had already left a deep mark on her heart.

"Don't overthink it. Your attributes show the presence of mana, which means your talent has already been activated; it just hasn't fully awakened yet."

"The harder a talent is to awaken, the more extraordinary it is once it does. I suspect that when you do, it will be at least an S-grade." Lin Yu pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear, "Stay alive. Wait for me."

...

"Let's go. We will continue to push toward the center today. Let's aim to have everyone at level 10 within three days."

After Lin Yu left, Chen Jing'er quickly began to organize. "I must awaken my talent. I won't hold him back," she resolved, her eyes filled with determination.

...

"Where are we going now?" Liu Shiyun held Ruke’s hand, following behind Lin Yu. She hadn't expected Lin Yu to take only the two of them.

What she didn't know was that Lin Yu had his own reasons. Chen Jing'er was his first woman, and leaving her with the rest of Eternal Day meant she would have companions and face little danger. His journey to find his younger sister, however, would involve crossing mountains and ridges where he might accidentally encounter terrifying mutant beasts—the risk was simply too high.

Liu Shiyun possessed a spatial talent. Not only could she help him collect gasoline and other combustible materials, but if they encountered danger, having these supplies would make escaping and replenishing mana much easier. Furthermore, once she advanced to the first tier, she would likely unlock powerful, high-damage spatial abilities.

Liu Shiyun gazed at Lin Yu's back, her mind wandering. *Could he be planning to do 'that' to me while we’re alone? If he uses force, what should I do? He’s so strong, I don't think I could resist.* As she thought this, a flush of crimson crept up her cheeks.

"Oof!" She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Lin Yu had stopped, and she bumped straight into his back.

"What are you daydreaming about?" Lin Yu asked, looking at her flushed face with a blank expression.

"N-nothing! Nothing at all!"

"We’re heading toward Huanxi Road. I remember there are many 4S car dealerships there."

"Are you going to buy a car?" Liu Shiyun blurted out.

"It’s the apocalypse, why would I buy a car? Can't we just take a few?" This woman was clearly distracted, not thinking straight. "We need to get to Tianhai City, which is nearly six hundred kilometers away. We can't exactly walk there, can we?" Lin Yu said as he walked.

Liu Shiyun composed herself and added, "We should also get more gasoline to store in my spatial storage. It will definitely be useful later."

Lin Yu glanced at her. This woman was quite clever.

The three of them made their way toward Huanxi Road. The zombies along the way were sparse and few in number. Lin Yu didn't intervene, leaving them for Liu Shiyun and Ruke to use as sparring partners.

"It’s so hard for ordinary awakeners to level up," Liu Shiyun panted. After about an hour, both she and her daughter were exhausted, having killed only about fifty zombies. The number of cores they had obtained was a pitiful twelve. Although she was only level 5, she had awakened an S-grade talent, and her four core attributes were far superior to those of an ordinary person. She simply lacked combat experience and had yet to discover how to use her talent for offense, so for now, she could only rely on her base attributes.

"At this rate, if things go well, an ordinary awakener can only get less than a hundred cores a day." And that was only if they were already level 5; if they were only level 1, killing even a single zombie would be difficult. It was already the tenth day of the apocalypse, and most zombies had generally reached levels 3 or 4.

"That row ahead looks like the 4S dealerships."

"But there are so many zombies."

Lin Yu saw that she was right. Five dealerships were clustered together, but they were swarming with two or three thousand zombies. For him, this number of zombies posed no pressure at all.

"Wait here for me. I’ll clear them out, and then you can come over."

With his current terrifying attribute stats, Lin Yu didn't care about these low-level zombies as long as there were fewer than ten thousand of them. With 172 points in speed, he could run at full tilt, and these level 3 or 4 zombies couldn't even touch his sleeve. He just had to be careful not to get surrounded, because if zombies were everywhere, speed would be useless as there would be nowhere to maneuver.

Lin Yu flashed forward, charging rapidly into the horde. When he was about fifty meters away, he hurled a fireball into the crowd. The fireball erupted into flames, instantly incinerating seven or eight zombies.

"ROAR!"

The horde erupted in a frenzy. The zombies on the perimeter shrieked and charged at Lin Yu.

"Flame Roar!"

A terrifying wave of fire surged out like a tidal wave, engulfing the hundreds of zombies in the front. After the flames subsided, the ground was littered with cores.

"Again!"

Lin Yu roared wildly, launching wave after wave of fire into the zombie mass. These brainless creatures, devoid of pain and driven only by instinct, rushed into the flames one after another.