"Hello. We just came to look for supplies. If you don’t mind, could you leave some for us? We’ll come back and take them after you leave."
At the man’s words, Cecilia’s previous aggressiveness instantly vanished.
Seeing the man, Ginny instantly recalled that the shelter he established in her past life was in a factory nearby. The man’s name was Ian Garland. He was a retired soldier who had run a bodyguard company composed of veterans before the apocalypse. Therefore, his base had arguably the best reputation. It was the shelter with the largest number of ordinary people in Breven, which was also why its resources had always been the poorest.
"Sure, we’ll leave some," Ginny said. "By the way, I’m Ginny Kane. We are currently staying at the Brierwood Villa, about fifteen kilometers away. If you have nowhere else to go, you can head there. However, I don’t take in useless people."
Ian nodded gratefully. "Alright, thank you. Don’t worry, everyone on my side is a veteran or their family member. Our current location is still relatively safe. Once we no longer have a safe place, we’ll go look for you. Thank you."
With that, he gave Ginny a military salute, and everyone behind him followed suit.
Seeing this scene, Ginny felt quite touched. In the apocalypse, where humanity was often extinguished, it was rare to encounter such a decent group of people.
"Oh, right," she added. "There’s a store inside with a lot of instant food. We have enough food, so you guys can go grab it later. I just forgot exactly where it is, so you’ll have to look for it."
"Thank you, thank you. I thank you on their behalf."
Ginny waved her hand and turned to leave.
"Let’s go," she told her group. "We have enough for ourselves. Leave the rest for them."
"Alright."
With a smile on her face, Ginny used the heavy truck as cover to secretly fill an entire store with instant noodles, self-heating rice, self-heating hotpot, sausages, and other goods from her space. Then, she left.
Seeing Ginny’s group drive away, Ian and his people stood on both sides of the road, saluting them as they passed.
Timmy, who was driving, watched the scene and punched the steering wheel. "Damn." His eyes grew slightly red.
Since the start of the apocalypse, this was the first time they had met people who remained righteous despite the world ending. Everyone felt an indescribable emotion. In the face of disaster, human selfishness was infinitely magnified, and all they usually saw was hypocrisy. Ginny felt healed by this group of soldiers.
At this moment, Ginny’s desire to establish a safe base became even more resolute.
Upon returning home, Ginny distributed the Corpse Crystals to everyone. Noticing that Caleb Grant hadn’t returned yet, she couldn’t help but worry. But remembering that Caleb was now at Level 2, her anxiety eased slightly. As long as he didn’t run into a Mutant, he should be able to handle it.
"I’m heading upstairs," she told them. "You guys tidy up a bit. The diesel is in the back warehouse—Clark, remember to fuel up the generator later. Cecilia, keep an eye on the little guy, and on Chloe too."
"Got it."
"Don’t worry, Ginny. Go get some rest."
Ginny smiled and turned to go upstairs. First, she checked on Chloe Cheney; she wanted to see the healing effects of the diluted Spiritual Spring Water on her injuries.
At Chloe’s door, Ginny raised a hand and knocked. "Chloe, is it a good time to come in?"
"Come in, Ginny!" Chloe’s voice called out from inside.
Pushing the door open, Ginny saw that the bruises on Chloe’s face had already half-healed. She felt reassured. The little guy beside her, seeing that Ginny didn’t come to him first, immediately began to protest. He glared at her dissatisfiedly and kept reaching his arms out, demanding to be held.
"I’m coming, you little sourpuss." Ginny chuckled. "Chloe, once you feel better, get out of bed and do some exercises. It gets very cold at night. There are extra blankets in the wardrobe over there; grab them if you need to. Cecilia will bring you dinner later."
"Okay. Sorry for all the trouble. Your medicine works wonders; I feel like I’ll be mostly recovered by tomorrow, and then I can help you guys out."
Ginny smiled. "Then get some rest. I’ll take this little guy with me."
"Alright. Bye, Ginny."
After heading downstairs, Ginny handed the baby to Cecilia. "We should really give this kid a name. Calling him ’little brat’ all the time... ahem... is a bit disrespectful, isn’t it, little guy?"
The little guy’s response was a blatant eye roll.
"How about Whitey?"
As soon as the words fell, the little guy’s protest rang out in Ginny’s mind. "No! I am a baby!"
"Nickname, Baby. Full name... Hmm, how about... Bobby... Bobby Kane. How does that sound?"
Hearing this, the little guy instantly broke into a wide grin. And with that, his name was officially settled.
After pinching Bobby’s chubby little cheeks, Ginny took the Corpse Crystals and headed upstairs.
Placing all the Corpse Crystals into her space, she picked up the Level 3 Corpse Crystal from the Mutant zombie she had killed earlier and prepared to absorb it. Neither in her past life nor in this one had she ever absorbed a Corpse Crystal above her own level. Thus, Ginny was extremely cautious, drawing in the Energy bit by bit.
Just as she was on the verge of breaking through from Level 2 Peak to Level 3, she stopped. She ceased absorbing the Level 3 Corpse Crystal, leaving it looking dim, with only about a quarter of its Energy depleted.
During this first attempt at cross-level absorption, Ginny had keenly felt the oppressive weight of the Energy. Several times, she had nearly lost control of the power surging within the Corpse Crystal. It proved that absorbing a High Level Corpse Crystal was possible, but highly dangerous; a single moment of inattention could cause her body to explode.
Setting the Level 3 Corpse Crystal aside, Ginny continued to absorb the remaining Level 0 Corpse Crystals in her space. Since zombies hadn’t started evolving yet, the Energy contained in these crystals was minimal. Ginny absorbed more than a dozen in a row before successfully leveling up to Level 3.
Upon reaching Level 3, Ginny could now manifest her Void Blade, naturally boosting her combat power for future battles significantly. Focusing her spiritual power, she shot a transparent blade about twenty centimeters long toward the open ground in front of the wooden cabin.
The blade pierced straight through the soil, plunging deep underground and leaving a deep hole in its wake.
"It’s this powerful?" she marveled. "With this kind of force, piercing through two zombies at once shouldn’t be a problem at all."
She continued to practice until she had completely mastered the skill, only then exiting her space. Checking the mental map in her mind, she noted that there were still only seven red dots. Ginny knew Caleb hadn’t returned yet, but it was already 11:00 PM.
She decided she might as well go look for him.
Packing her things, she changed into thick thermal wear, grabbed a warm windbreaker, and headed downstairs. Perhaps because everyone was exhausted today, there was not a single person on the ground floor.
Ginny drove out directly in the off-road vehicle; after all, it was much faster. With the enhancement of her Spiritual Ability, her journey was virtually unobstructed. Even upon entering the city proper, she deliberately chose routes with the fewest zombies.
Ginny had only heard of Oscar Lynch’s residence from her past life but had never actually been there. The biggest issue was that it was over twenty kilometers away from her villa. Normally, this twenty-kilometer drive would take an hour at most, but it took Ginny nearly two hours to arrive.
Upon reaching the entrance of the residential compound, Ginny finally understood why Caleb hadn’t made it back yet.