"My little ancestor, please don’t wake up again."
Softly pleading to the sleeping Nannan, Zhou Ranjun closed his eyes to fall asleep, but not long after closing his eyes, he felt a hand patting his shoulder.
The moment Zhou Ranjun realized someone was at his bedside, he jumped up and switched his gaze to the person who had patted him.
The light turned on, Zhou Ranjun saw who it was, none other than the boss, "Li Henian"!
When he caught sight of Tang Ye, Zhou Ranjun’s first reaction was fear, followed by deep grievance. Nobody knew the extent to which he was tormented by Nannan today.
To please this child, he even sent away his own wife and temporarily locked her in a room so as not to disturb Nannan!
Tang Ye’s eyes, hidden under his mask, glanced at the sleeping Nannan. Suddenly, a smile appeared on his face. He patted Zhou Ranjun on the shoulder again and said, "You did well, as for your reward..."
Under Zhou Ranjun’s expectant gaze, Tang Ye paused, took a Level 2 Evolution Crystal Core from his pocket – it was the one excavated from Zhang Han’s brain. Since he got it in his hands, Tang Ye had not touched it.
For him, the energy replenished from this Crystal Core was far from enough. Rather than wasting it, Tang Ye decided to use it to win some people’s loyalty.
Loyalty is something that everyone likes, even Tang Ye, the zombie, was no exception.
Looking at the Evolution Crystal Core in Tang Ye’s hand, Zhou Ranjun flickered with doubt, looked at Tang Ye, then back to the Crystal Core.
"Brother Nian, is this..."
"This is a Level 2 Evolution Crystal Core. If I’m not wrong, consuming it should allow you to evolve into a Level 2 New Human!" Tang Ye interrupted before Zhou Ranjun could finish speaking.
Hearing Tang Ye’s words, Zhou Ranjun’s face filled with shock as he held the Crystal Core tightly, his eyes revealed his deep fervor!
Ever since he turned into a New Human, he had deeply realized the importance of power in the Apocalypse!
A chance to acquire more power was in front of him now, how could he not be thrilled!
He reached out for it but hesitated before his hand could touch the Crystal Core. He drew back his hand and looked at Tang Ye puzzled. After a while, he finally spoke up, "Can this truly allow me to evolve into a Level 2 Evolution..... New Human?"
"Hmm, yes," Tang Ye replied casually.
"But Brother Nian, why don’t you..."
Again, Tang Ye interrupted him before he finished, "I know what you’re worried about. I won’t harm you, at least not before you betray me. But if I want to kill you, I wouldn’t waste so much effort. Killing you is too easy for me."
"Take it, it’s very precious, but it has no use for me anymore."
When Zhou Ranjun asked if the Evolution Crystal Core could evolve him into a Level 2 New Human, Tang Ye knew what he was thinking. However, this made Tang Ye somewhat annoyed. He was expecting to see Zhou Ranjun bursting into tears of gratitude, but instead, he was suspected of having malicious intent.
He tossed the Crystal Core to Zhou Ranjun, then went to the other side of the bed, picked up Nannan and left the room.
Zhou Ranjun hurriedly picked up the Evolution Crystal Core, completely abandoning his suspicions, and shouted excitedly at Tang Ye, "Thank you, boss!"
At his words, Tang Ye’s face showed no emotion, only his cold eyes flashed with a deep killing intent!
The plot did not follow his script and it not only annoyed Tang Ye, but it also made him feel humiliated!
Carrying Nannan out of the stronghold, the guards at the door didn’t find it strange to see Tang Ye carrying a little girl out in the middle of the night.
During Tang Ye’s time here, he frequently went in and out, which had become a normal scene for them, although they didn’t know what the boss was up to.
He carried Nannan all the way back to the villa. When he opened the villa door, he instinctively flipped the switch, only to find that the generator had been off for a long time, there was no electricity to supply the lights. He couldn’t help but shake his head.
In the darkness, Tang Ye saw Ah Fu’s huge body curled up in a corner. Seeing Nannan in Tang Ye’s arms, Ah Fu growled lowly at her.
Tang Ye could see that Ah Fu was very fond of this little girl. With this in mind, he also placed Nannan on Ah Fu’s back. Seeing Nannan on his back, Ah Fu gave another happy growl.
The next day, in the afternoon, Tang Ye came to the stronghold alone and gathered some people.
These people were the companions of those who were parasitized by zombie worms yesterday, who had gone out to gather resources together.
To investigate this matter, Tang Ye needed to get information from them.
Since yesterday, no one in the stronghold had gone out. The gate was kept shut to prevent anyone from being parasitized and turning into a zombie.
For a stronghold with over a thousand people, the food supply was limited. Without doing anything and staying in the stronghold, they wouldn’t be able to support themselves for long, even though they had contributed a lot of resources before.
Thinking about the large number of people made Tang Ye’s head ache. The responsibility of feeding so many people weighed heavy on him and made him regret becoming the boss of this place.
While being the boss was easy, feeding so many mouths was difficult.
Although cultivation was ongoing, it would take some time for the crops to grow. Food wasn’t going to be available right away.
At this moment, nearly a hundred people stood in front of Tang Ye. Seeing that no one else was coming, Tang Ye looked at the faces of these people. He didn’t rush to speak, but paced back and forth, organizing his thoughts.
After a while, Tang Ye stood still, faced them, and wore a mask that exuded an undeniable chill, causing the people to feel a wave of dread. After another moment of silence, Tang Ye finally began to speak in a husky voice.
"You must have all seen what happened yesterday. They were all parasitized by a type of zombie worm. This type of worm can turn people into zombies upon infection. Even New Humans can be infected."
When his words fell, the crowd was startled, including the survivors gathered around. They looked at each other, it had been a month without zombies here. Hearing about zombie worms made them feel dazed.
Ever since their new boss arrived, their lives had improved considerably, but this comfort was only based on the absence of zombies outside, not their actual disappearance, but rather their expulsion by another presence.
They had guessed that it was the work of the new boss, hence their particular reverence for him, something everyone knew.
However, after such a long period of peace and quiet, people gradually started to live as they used to before the Apocalypse, albeit with daily resource gathering which they considered as work, and had no objection to it.
But now, the zombie worms mentioned by Tang Ye, was a stark reminder for them - they were still in the Apocalypse!