The young man's main concern wasn't here; he still looked a bit regretfully at the corpse of the wild beast on the ground, thinking to himself that it would be hard to find another wild beast so suitable as a pet.

"Hey, are you so scared that you've gone dumb?" Maiden asked.

The young man scratched his head a little irritably. "I'm fine."

Obviously, this Maiden had just arrived and hadn't seen the scene where the young man had easily sent the wild beast flying with a gentle push. She thought she had saved him.

"If you have nothing to do, don't wander around outside. It's too dangerous. Are you from a nearby base? How did you end up here?" Maiden asked again.

"So after asking so much, who exactly are you?" the young man said, a bit speechless.

Maiden was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Ah, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Emily Carter, I'm a two-star hunter of the Hunter Alliance. Here, this is my badge."

As Emily Carter spoke, she handed over a badge resembling a silver shield. On the back of the badge was Emily Carter's portrait and the seal of the Hunter Alliance.

"I'm not interested in this kind of fly-by-night organization..." The young man turned to leave.

"Hey! What do you mean by that! You call the world's largest Awakened organization a fly-by-night group? There's a limit to ignorance, you know! And reporting your own name is basic courtesy!" Emily Carter said angrily.

"My name is Blake."

"I want to go home and sleep now, so please stop following me," the young man said.

"Go home? Hey, where are you going? The nearest base is that way!" Emily Carter shouted loudly, watching Blake walk off in the opposite direction.

But Blake completely ignored her and walked straight into an already abandoned apartment building.

Emily Carter stared in disbelief, then followed without hesitation.

"Hey, miss, could you please not enter my home without permission? I haven't invited you in yet."

Blake sat on the sofa, holding a freshly opened can of cola, looking helplessly at Emily Carter, who was glancing around the room.

This was a simple one-bedroom apartment on the third floor of the building. The living room had a sofa, TV, refrigerator, and washing machine—everything a normal home would have.

Emily Carter incredulously opened the fridge. The light was on, and all kinds of food and drinks were neatly arranged, filling the fridge to the brim.

She then went to the kitchen and turned on the faucet. Clean tap water gushed out with a "whoosh."

"This is impossible! This building has been abandoned for ages—where did the water and electricity come from?" Emily Carter exclaimed in disbelief.

"Of course, I stole the lines from the nearby military base," Blake said matter-of-factly, taking a sip of cola.

Chapter 2: Silver Watch

"Hey, if you get caught doing something like that, you'll be arrested!"

"Wait, I get it!" Emily Carter's eyes lit up, clearly realizing something remarkable.

"You're an Awakened too, right? I knew it—how could an ordinary person live alone in a city full of zombies and wild beasts?"

"Sort of," Blake nodded.

"So, do you have any abilities?" Emily Carter asked.

"Abilities? Not really, except I can jump a bit higher and run a bit faster..."

"Hmm, so it's just a first awakening..."

Emily Carter looked a little disappointed.

So-called "Awakened" was a new term that only appeared during the Great Catastrophe after the outbreak of the z-virus.

The z-virus swept across the globe, creating hordes of zombies and wild beasts, but it also caused genetic changes in a small number of people. These people began to possess great strength and all sorts of special abilities, collectively known as "Awakened."

Awakened are divided into "first awakening," "second awakening," and "third awakening."

After the first awakening, Awakened gain speed, strength, and physique far beyond ordinary people.

After the second awakening, Awakened are divided into three types: "Enhancement," "Superpower," and "Trait."

Enhancement type focuses on strengthening a certain aspect of the body, Superpower type possesses some combat-related superpower, and Trait type has some special ability unrelated to combat.

For Enhancement type Awakened, the second awakening usually focuses on a specific ability.

For example, a strength-type Awakened, after the second awakening, will often have strength dozens or even hundreds of times greater than after the first awakening, but other stats won't have such a dramatic difference.

In Emily Carter's view, since Blake didn't emphasize any special ability, he must have only undergone the first awakening.

Emily Carter herself was a Superpower type Awakened. Her ability was "spiritual power," and that translucent blue longsword was a weapon condensed from her spiritual power.

Emily Carter very naturally took a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and took a couple of sips.

"So, can I stay here for a few days?"

"No!" Blake refused flatly.

"Why not?"

"First, there's only one bed here. Second, I like living alone. Third, you can totally stay at the nearby military base," Blake said.

"I can sleep on the sofa! Come on, the beds at the military base are all hard boards, and they don't even have snacks or drinks!" Emily Carter put on a pitiful expression.