The little fluff ball got very excited, seeing all the white stones similar to the one that Art bought earlier in the market. But this time, there were thousands of them under the large clear lake. It quickly started collecting them into the space.

Little Eros: Master, I have collected all the stones and the water here. It will take 1 day for me to absorb all of the stones to upgrade. Unfortunately, during this time you cannot access the G Space.

Aria: That's okay. Take your time.

—

Aria: S3, were there anything on Edward's records regarding energy stones?

S3: No.

Aria: How about anything regarding this location besides the Xing Plant?

S3: No.

Aria: How about any phenomenon that occurred in these woods after the ZA?

S3: Yes. There were large amounts of plant mutation happening in this forest, giving birth to over 2 dozen zombie plants exceeding level 8, and hundreds above level 3.

Not only did the Z virus mutated people, it mutated animals and plants too.

Z virus effect on plants:

1. Normal plants

2. Zombified carnivorous plants

3. Spirit mutation

Z virus effect on animals:

1. Normal animals

2. Zombified animals

3. Spirit mutation

Spirit mutation basically means the same as having awareness and abilities. Though they cannot be as smart as humans but the plants or animals are aware of the situation and can inspire abilities intuitively to fight and hunt.

Aria: S3, S4, and Art. You guys are smart. Based on S3's historical archive, run a few analysis of how this cave affects the park outside.

—-

Aria obviously already deduced that this energy source fed the plants above the cave or down into the river. If this cave's water or stones are responsible for creating the Xing Plants, then it just makes sense that there would be more mysterious plants that came from this source that no one knew about.

As for why this magical cave was never found? It's because no human can access it.

Thinking about all the dangerous nature encounters she had experienced or heard of in the previous life, she suspected that those places originally have these types of energy sources. Until the ZA happened, the sources surely got contaminated by the Z virus which mutated the already zombified plants around the mountains.

So does that mean the other well known places will also have these types of energy source?

If that is the case, then she might need to put robbing the Tang's Pharmacies on the backburner and replace it with hunting down these energy sources all over the world.

Not only would the G Space be able to expand, which means ores can be grown for Art to create weapons and upgrades for the mech, but it would also prevent high leveled plant mutations in the future. Thousands of lives could be saved this way.

Aria never had any aspirations to save the world. In her first life, she had a hard enough time to survive by herself before being imprisoned. Killing the Zombie King was a serendipitous moment since she had nothing to lose.

But to save the world? To save everyone? To save every individual person who asks for help?

No.

She intends to face this apocalypse alone.

Being alone she can use the space however she wanted. She doesn't have to worry about whether or not the place she is sleeping is safe or not, or the things she has will be more enticing than their stable relationship.

--------

Aria remembered the first group she joined after leaving the Li's family. They were young and rugged, full of university students caught unaware during the ZA.

At the beginning the whole group was harmonious and friendly since everyone had emergency food hoarded inside their space button as they waited for the government to rescue them. Then at the 3 month mark, consumable resources were running low and the group was divided into two different groups. One group went out to find resources and food while the other group refused since they didn't want to face the zombies.

She belonged to the 2nd group, ignorant and easily swayed by the fact that she didn't want to be separated from the safety of location. Although she didn't have much food left, she was putting her hopes on the government to save them.

Of course, many people had the same idea. Going out with the 1st group is too scary. Zombies are gross and ugly. It's better to sit here where it's safe. Plus there were some better looking men staying with them so there is plenty of time to develop feelings. Even during the ZA, young people and their hormones will find opportunities to be together.

The 1st group went out and came back with 2 injured members. The amount of food collected was unknown, the group kept their mouths tight since the group separated in bad terms. As the days went by, the 2nd group's remaining food was less and less. Everyone had their own count of how much food they had left, especially of the remaining CFPs. CFPs are small cubed and pill sized portions so it is easily stored and hidden. No one knew how much each person had.

Until the first person ran out of food in group 2. Then trouble started brewing. That person started begging for food from the other members of the second group. At first some kind hearted members started sharing, but after a week of this, their inventory started declining and they were put in the awkward situation of saying no.

A girl tired of being bothered angrily told the one begging to go ask the 1st group for food since they went out two weeks ago and must have collected a lot of it. The desperate female approached the 1st group and was ridiculed and yelled at until one male offered her some food in exchange for her service. Everyone was shocked at the perverted request. The female left in shock and anger, going back to the comfort of the 2nd group resulting in them feeding her another week until the ones helping her also ran out of food. This left 3 females starving.

Knowing what the 1st group wanted if they approached them again begging for food, the 3 females turned to the 2nd group's males. As soon as everyone heard the perverted request from the 1st group a week ago, some males' eyes lit up in greed and lust. Three males from the 2nd group came out and offered the same deal as the 1st group for the 3 females but they are to be shared amongst the 3 males all together. The females agreed and soon after the 6 people moved into a room together and obvious s* sounds came out of that room for hours, the men coming out for breaks before going back in.

Aria turned white during that time since she only had 2 weeks worth of food left. She halved her rations right away and was on guard against all the males. Luckily she wasn't as attractive looking as the 3 girls that exchanged their bodies for food. Soon after, the 3 males started pimping the 3 girls' services food from the 1st group. Food was low again so another trip was initiated to find food and resources. This time Aria went out.

She knew what the males were waiting for. They were waiting for all the females to succumb to hunger to sell their bodies. Since there is still a hint of hope that the government will come and help them soon, they didn't dare to go too far and outright r* the females. But if the females offer themselves willingly...

Before leaving, Aria emptied out everything unimportant in her space and left with the group to hunt for food. They went to a high end apartment and each person chooses a door to enter and harvest what is left over. If there is someone there then they will not disturb, if there are zombies, they have to kill before entering.

Those apartments with zombies were higher risk but also gave more rewards since there is still food in the kitchen and pantry. Aria hit 3 apartments before finding a huge stash of CFP that could last her for 6 months. She was only able to store them all after taking out some of the clean clothes she collected to change into a backpack.

Outside the door meeting up with everyone, eyes were on those with backpacks. Since everyone knew that backpacks can only be used once someone's space was full. Then on the way back, some of the men kept asking the females what they found and placed in their space buttons.

By this time CFPs were in high demand. Only some dried foods were still good since they could be kept for a long time.

By the time they asked Aria, she said she didn't have much luck and only found some clothes which she planned to trade for food. The men's eyes were sharp and crafty at that answer. Halfway back, they encountered a large group of zombies and she purposely ran away in the opposite direction of the group.

She found a building with a view of the group's buildings and kept an eye on them. By the time the military arrived to escort the survivors in the area to the nearby base, the women that came out from that building were all pale, dirty, and lifeless. It looked like they all eventually succumbed to the men to survive.

--------

Human beings are really too selfish. So she decided not to join any permanent groups or teams when the ZA occurs. It's a lot better to do things by yourself without having to worry about what others want from you.

---------------------- Author's Notes -----------------------

Is it time to meet the love interest yet?