While the south experienced continuous drizzle and sudden torrential rains, the north was just beginning to warm up.
After days without rain, the dry weather was met with strong winds. Since the beginning of the month, sandstorms had shrouded all the buildings within the base, turning the air yellow. A brief walk outside would leave one covered in dust.
The number of teams going out of the city had decreased—no one wanted to expose themselves to such harsh weather and end up eating a mouthful of sand outdoors.
But some people couldn’t afford to waste time.
A car drove out of an old residential area and headed straight toward a spacious, well-decorated quadrangle courtyard.
Urban traffic construction had long ceased operations. With the arrival of the apocalypse, human society had regressed by decades. Even cars had become luxury items reserved for high-tier ability users.
To conserve gasoline, few ability users would drive within the city.
As a result, traffic lights and crosswalks had lost their purpose.
Following the directions she had gathered, Lin Weiran drove the car to the alley outside the quadrangle courtyard.
“We’re here. The Tier 5 Healing-type ability user should be living here.”
Two companions got out first. Before opening the door, Lin Weiran specifically instructed her increasingly silent lover, “Si Zhe, the wind and sand are strong outside. Stay in the car for now. Once we confirm that the person is home, we’ll bring you in.”
Si Zhe responded sluggishly, “Mm.”
He said nothing else.
Seeing him like this, Lin Weiran felt distressed.
They had only arrived at the northern base two days ago, suffering greatly along the way and sustaining many injuries. Before the snow disaster, zombies had been relatively manageable. But with the arrival of spring this year, it was as if they had all collectively gained a powerful buff—Tier 4 zombies were everywhere, and even Tier 5 zombies frequently appeared. A journey that should have taken only a few days had been stretched to nearly a month.
The only silver lining was that Lin Weiran and her two companions had worked together seamlessly and managed to kill two Tier 5 zombies.
Now, she was already a Tier 5 ability user.
As for Si Zhe… No matter how much she reassured him, no matter how clearly he understood that his hope for recovery lay in the northern base, no matter… how rationality ultimately could not overcome emotions, his morale was inevitably sinking day by day.
The forced smile on Lin Weiran’s face vanished the moment she closed the car door.
She silently covered her entire face with a scarf, revealing only a pair of weary eyes, shielding herself from the wind and sand’s erosion.
“Let’s go knock on the door.”
Her two companions stepped forward first, politely reaching out to knock on the courtyard gate.
After a long while, someone impatiently opened the door a crack, sticking their head out.
“What do you want?”
Lin Weiran softened her tone. “Hello, may I ask if Ability User Zhao lives here?”
“You’re here to seek Doctor Zhao’s help too?”
“Yes, is today convenient?”
The person who answered was clearly just an ordinary errand runner. After hesitating for two seconds, they said, “I’ll go ask Doctor Zhao. Oh, and by the way, a consultation with the doctor starts at one Grade 5 crystal. You’d better be prepared.”
“This is not a problem.”
“Alright.”
With a bang, the door was shut in their faces once again, and the sound of footsteps gradually faded away.
It had been a long time since they had seen an ordinary person put on such an attitude in front of them. One of Lin Weiran’s companions sneered, “Doctor? Isn’t it just a Healing-type ability? And yet, people in the northern base even call themselves doctors…”
“Enough!” Lin Weiran reprimanded with a frown. “Ability users have good hearing. Do you want them to overhear you?”
The companion reluctantly shut his mouth.
The sandstorm continued to rage. After just a short while outside, yellow sand had already blown into every strand of their hair.
Lin Weiran regretted not thinking to wear a hat before heading out.
In the old apartment building she was renting, water usage was highly inconvenient—just washing her hair had become a troublesome task.
Looking at the quadrangle courtyard where the other party lived… there was definitely a well inside. More than that, she had already heard—the people living in the courtyard were all high-tier ability users, and their water and electricity usage had no restrictions.
She had enjoyed similar treatment at the southern base before, back when she had lived in an even more luxuriously decorated villa.
She had thought that reaching Tier 5 would at least make her a force to be reckoned with in the northern base, but she realized something was off the moment she entered the city.
When she reported her ability level, the staff responded indifferently, merely recording her information before waving her away.
It wasn’t until she fully entered the northern base that she discovered—Tier 4 ability users were everywhere, Tier 5 ability users were not rare, and there were even several Tier 6 ability users.
By comparison, her Tier 5 ability and her two companions’ Tier 4 abilities were nothing special.
Even in terms of housing allocation, they had been assigned only an old apartment building.
For Lin Weiran, who had always enjoyed the best treatment, this was undoubtedly a blow.
…It didn’t matter. It wouldn’t be like this forever. Once Si Zhe’s ability recovered, they would soon advance to Tier 6 and once again become core figures of the base.
“Doctor Zhao has agreed to let you in.”
When the door opened again, Lin Weiran withdrew her gaze from the quadrangle courtyard, hiding all her emotions deep inside.
“Thank you for your trouble.”
However, the ordinary person who opened the door did not respond and continued to stare directly at them.
Lin Weiran: “?”
Seeing that they weren’t getting the hint, the ordinary person impatiently stretched out his palm, his meaning obvious.
The companion beside her, who had a short temper, immediately flared up. “Do you think you’re some ancient doorman, demanding a tip…”
“Ah Zhe.” Lin Weiran quickly stopped her teammate, took out a Tier 3 crystal, and spoke gently, “Thank you for delivering the message for us.”
The “doorman” didn’t mind being insulted once he saw the crystal, and he contentedly slipped it into his pocket.
“You guys must be new to the northern base, huh?”
“This is just how things work around here. In this crappy weather, I braved the wind and sand to pass on your message—I’ve already done you a huge favor. If you ran into someone less tolerant, I would’ve had my brother-in-law throw you out by now.”
At the last sentence, they finally understood—the ordinary person in front of them was Doctor Zhao’s brother-in-law.
No wonder he was so arrogant.
Lin Weiran took a deep breath and swallowed her frustration.
Times had changed. Back at the southern base, she could have directly captured the highest-tier Healing-type ability user and brought them to their territory for treatment. But here at the northern base, she didn’t have the power to act recklessly. She could only offer crystals and humbly seek medical help.
After adjusting her emotions, Lin Weiran returned to the car and helped Si Zhe out.
“The Tier 5 Healing-type ability user agreed to see us.”
“Mm.”
Hearing this news, Si Zhe didn’t look particularly pleased.
The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
Lin Weiran accompanied him into Doctor Zhao’s reception room.
Healing-type ability users lived well—they didn’t need to go outside the city to kill zombies, yet they had a steady influx of crystals.
As soon as they met, Lin Weiran handed over the only Grade 5 crystal she had on her.
Only then did the middle-aged man, whose appearance was utterly unremarkable, finally open his mouth: “Who needs treatment? What’s the problem?”
“My boyfriend,” Lin Weiran said, pressing Si Zhe down onto the chair, her voice filled with hope. “His dantian was maliciously attacked, and he can no longer mobilize his ability. Can this condition be restored?”
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man’s expression froze for a few seconds.
He hesitantly looked at Si Zhe—thin lips pressed tightly together, thick gloom gathered between his brows.
Out of ten ability users who had been crippled, all ten wore this same expression.
After pausing for a few seconds, the self-proclaimed doctor spoke solemnly: “I’ll give it a try.”
A warm and soothing Healing-type ability precisely entered Si Zhe’s abdomen.
The external injuries he had previously suffered had long been fully healed—his internal organs showed no visible damage.
But just two fingers below his navel… the place that should have been brimming with energy was completely empty. The Healing ability explored the area, but not only did it fail to encounter any resistance from Si Zhe’s own ability, the energy couldn’t even stay inside for long—it simply dissipated through his pores.
Sweat appeared on Doctor Zhao’s forehead.
He lifted his head and hesitated, staring at Si Zhe for a long moment.
Sensing something was wrong, Lin Weiran immediately asked, “What’s wrong? Can’t it be healed?”
“The damage is too severe. The entire dantian area was pierced through, and the invisible barrier that originally protected the energy has already shattered…”
The more he spoke, the darker Lin Weiran’s expression became. She couldn’t help but interrupt: “I don’t need to know all that. I just want to know—can it be healed or not?”
Doctor Zhao slowly withdrew his ability and shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do.”
Lin Weiran instinctively looked at Si Zhe.
The latter sat calmly in his chair, as if he had long expected this outcome. There wasn’t the slightest reaction of disappointment.
Unwilling to accept this, she said, “Is there really no other way? You’re a Tier 5 Healing-type ability user! Tier 5s can bring the dead back to life and heal broken bones! Are you telling me that a minor injury like a crippled dantian is beyond your ability to treat?”
Doctor Zhao let out a long sigh. “Bringing the dead back to life and healing broken bones is just an exaggerated saying. If I were really that powerful, I would have already turned zombies back into normal humans.”
“What’s more, injuries to the dantian are no small matter. If someone is ambushed while there is still residual energy in their dantian, it will automatically protect the vital areas. But once the energy is depleted, the dantian becomes as fragile as an eggshell—any slight impact, crush, or touch can shatter it.”
“What happened to him wasn’t just an impact, crush, or touch—it was completely pierced through!”
“As for why I can’t heal it, let me give you an analogy. The dantian is the source, while abilities are merely its offshoots. Once the source is completely dried up, how can an offshoot reverse its flow to repair it?”
Doctor Zhao’s tone was filled with regret and helplessness.
“The two of you should leave. There’s nothing I can do.”
“Perhaps you could try seeking out a Tier 6 Healing-type ability user—there happens to be one in the base.”
All the explanations earlier had only deepened Lin Weiran’s despair. But that last sentence sparked a faint sliver of hope.
“A Tier 6 ability user… can they heal it?”
Doctor Zhao replied ambiguously, “Give it a try. The apocalypse is here—what’s impossible anymore? But you’ll need to prepare a Grade 6 crystal in advance.”
Lin Weiran clenched her teeth.
Right now, she could barely even come up with another Grade 5 crystal—offering a Grade 6 crystal for medical treatment was nothing but a pipe dream.
While she was still drowning in disappointment and frustration, Si Zhe had already stood up first. “Let’s go.”
“Si Zhe?”
Lin Weiran called out to him, but he didn’t stop. In the blink of an eye, the man had completely disappeared through the doorway.
She had no choice but to chase after him.
After the two of them left, the little brother-in-law who had opened the door earlier slipped into the reception room.
“Brother-in-law, what you just said… doesn’t match what I heard last time.”
Doctor Zhao replied, “I make it up on the spot every time. How could it be the same?”
“It was made up?”
“Of course. Did you think it was real?” Doctor Zhao dropped the patient-friendly facade he had worn in front of outsiders, sneering. “If I didn’t say that, how could I justify keeping that Grade 5 crystal?”