Chapter 23: Happy Domestic Life.
Judging at the devastating state of the arena, the base feared that even if all the ability users worked together, they could not even touch a hair on his body. Fear worked the best in the 'strong eat weak' world. There were no objections to Changming's demand and a research team for the vaccine was formed. The second male lead, Lei Zemin, and the second female lead, Xue Qing, were a part of that team. It made him satisfied as they were more dependable and passionate about humanity restoration than other researchers.
In the original plot, Lei Zemin became exhausted from overworking so he got sent to the infirmary. There, he met the female lead and fell for her kindness and her charming way of how she handled noisy patients. However, this guy was such a good man that people can feel the 'second male lead syndrome.' He never interfered with the male lead and female lead's budding romance, he only watched and helped from afar while doing his best in the research.
Meanwhile, Xue Qing had always been a responsible and serious woman. She did not like Zhong Guang but Lei Zemin instead due to his soft nature. She was jealous of Yang Huifang for getting all the attention because she had a healing ability. That was why she worked hard on her research to prove her use as a non-ability user. However, Xue Qing still knew what was right and wrong. So, when she saw Changming's appearance, she knew he would not make it because of his significant blood loss. She was the one to rope Lei Zemin in to break him out.
All the cast had assembled at the base. Changming was a character that became a catalyst for many things, he had a major role in the plot in saving humanity. However, if humanity was saved, how could the lead couple stand at the apex of the world with their ability? The apocalypse had to keep on going.
Changming decided to donate his blood once every two months, hoping that it would push the progress of the vaccine. A vaccine usually took about 10 to 15 years to be developed after intensive research and testing. Thankfully, the second male lead developed an ability that helped him see all the components of things around him. He predicted that it would take at least 5 years to deliver the vaccine, which was a piece of huge news.
Changming no longer had to stay in the facility like in the original plot. He could live outside as long as he would come to donate his blood as well as perform some tests that the researchers assigned. At first, he was planning to just move into a 2-room apartment that was offered to him by the base to be close to the facility.
"No, you cannot stay alone. I will move in with you to protect you as I promised. They don't know that your blood can enhance ability yet, what if they found out? Don't risk it." With Zhong Guang's 'persuasive' words, the siblings and he moved into a 3-room apartment.
It was quite a decent place, especially in a time of chaos like this. Having such a place could be called a luxury. There were 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a laundry room, and a cozy living room. Zhong Guang wanted Changming to use the master bedroom but he adamantly refused.
"I have been asking for your help a lot. This is just a small repayment for the help. I also want my room next to Xiao Feng too." Due to his insistence, Zhong Guang could only give up and looked regretfully at the empty room. He somehow felt that this emptiness was not right.
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With his blood constantly being drawn out of his body, he had long developed anemia. He kept feeling dizzy and weak. Being in a safe environment helped him relax to the point that his sleepiness kept increasing, especially with the man who kept following him around the moment he got out of his room.
Looking at the weak appearance of Changming, his heart ached. Zhong Guang rarely cooked, only simple dishes that any students could make. Iron-rich food were said to be good for people with anemia so he decided to learn how to cook from Yang Huifang.
Hmph! This man dared to invite the female lead to our house? Changming watched from the living room the happy atmosphere between the male lead and female lead. Yang Huifang seemed particularly happy as she watched Zhong Guang make mistakes here and there. As she watched and saw his swept-back hair fall in front of his face, she reached out. However, another hand had already done it before she could. She looked incredulously at the youth that had reached the kitchen at some point.
Changming glanced at her and gave a polite smile. He then looked back at the man's shining eyes looking right back at him.
"Don't go into the kitchen, it's dirty. I will make sure to learn all of the techniques to cook for you." Even though the mask usually muffled his voice, there was a clear trace of happiness and warmth in that coaxing.
"I know Guang-ge can do it. You have always been good." It was a fact, Zhong Guang once wanted to learn something, he could grab its essence and master several techniques in a couple of days.
"Mingming, go take a rest, you just got your blood drawn yesterday." Even if his voice seemed calm, there was clear excitement in it. Changming had said his name for the first time and he thought all the time he spent learning was all worth it. He wanted to reach his hand to ruffle the fluffy shoulder-length hair of the youth before remembering his hand was dirty. He looked regretfully and sighed.
It was as if they were in their own world, Yang Huifang became an outsider watching the scene unfolding before her eyes. She guessed their relationship must have developed a lot by living together.
After that, they all enjoyed dinner together happily. Zhong Guang and Changming sent Yang Huifang off and sent Xiao Feng to bed. It was a happy domestic moment in an apocalypse.
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When Changming was busy with donating his blood and performing tests, Zhong Guang decided to join the assault squad just like in the novel. However, he hardly got injured anymore as his power had grown exponentially.
His only purpose to join the squad was to find food that were rich in iron and interesting toys for Xiao Feng. The squad always looked at him weirdly as he never followed the captain's order and worked on his own. He would always bring back toys, children clothes as well as male clothes. When being asked about it, he would answer that they were gifts.
Not only did he go out to get gifts, but he also went hunting for zombies. The squad became deadly afraid of him for that. They all tried to avoid confrontation as much as possible and there was a person keep getting into one.
'I can't rely on Mingming's blood. But to protect them, I have to be stronger.'
Zhong Guang needed to be prepared for any situation that might harm the youth and his sister. He continually hunted and consume the zombies' nucleus and grew stronger and stronger.
Changming knew this obviously, this heroic male lead would never want others to harm themselves to help him. He just silently watched the hard-working guy with amusement.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone