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On the frozen surface of the lake, Logan struck the ice forcefully with a pickaxe.
About a meter below the ice, a frozen carp could faintly be seen.
Saliva involuntarily gathered in Logan's mouth as he made up his mind that this fish would be dinner for him and Zach tonight.
Zach was someone he had known for fourteen years and had been his partner in the post-apocalyptic world for eight years. He was, without a doubt, the person Logan trusted the most in his life.
This time, it was Logan's turn to search for food while Zach was responsible for keeping watch on the surroundings.
Suddenly, a barely perceptible sound was carried on the howling wind.
"Pop!"
Logan's pupils shrank abruptly.
The sound of a gunshot with a silencer!
A piercing pain shot through his back.
Logan fell to the ground, the pickaxe slipping from his grasp and flying three meters away.
What was going on? How could someone sneak up on him without Zach giving him a warning?!
He turned his head with difficulty and saw Zach standing beside his old enemy, Simon Clark, speaking to him with an ingratiating smile.
Through the wind, Logan could faintly hear words like "space," "not worthy," and "shelter."
At that moment, Logan's mind raced faster than ever before.
Zach had betrayed him!!
Blood was draining from Logan's body, and he was growing colder by the second.
But more unbearable than the physical pain and cold was the heartache of being betrayed by the person he trusted most!
The two of them walked toward Logan.
Simon Clark looked down at Logan with undisguised contempt in his eyes:
"Logan, you've fallen into my hands."
Logan clenched his teeth so hard that they bled, staring at Zach with unwavering hatred.
He had lost all feeling from the waist down, and it was all thanks to his "good brother" and "loyal partner"!
Zach avoided Logan's bloodshot eyes, his gaze shifting nervously as he said:
"Logan, don't blame me. I contributed to activating the space too, but you always treated it as your own. You refused to share it so we could all go to the shelter together.
We can join Simon and make your space serve him. You won't have to struggle to find supplies on your own anymore. I'm doing this for your own good. The world is getting more dangerous every day."
Logan had a family heirloom, an old bowl passed down from his father, which he carried with him even after the apocalypse.
One day, while Logan and Zach were searching for supplies, they accidentally dug up an ancient coin.
What they thought was just a useless trinket turned out to be a key. When Logan picked up the coin, it activated the bowl, granting him access to a personal space.
From that day on, Zach's attitude subtly changed.
Meanwhile, Logan continued to focus on how to ensure they both had enough to eat, completely unaware of Zach's shift in behavior.
Eight years.
Eight whole years!
Logan suddenly found it all laughable.
"You actually... hahaha, you betrayed me over this?! Hahahahaha!!"
Logan, his mouth full of blood, laughed maniacally.
Zach knew full well that Simon Clark was one of the people Logan hated most in the world!
They had supported each other for eight years, never abandoning one another, only to be divided by a space that had only been awakened for less than six months!
So this is what it means to be guilty for holding treasure!
After laughing, Logan closed his eyes tightly for a moment, then opened them again, speaking to Simon Clark with certainty:
"I can work for you, but Zach is useless to you now, isn't he?"
Zach's mouth opened slightly as realization dawned on him. A look of terror crossed his face as he turned to Simon Clark:
"Simon... you wouldn't..."
Logan twisted the knife:
"He'll tell you, and he'll tell others too. My space has nothing to do with him. The more people who know, the more likely it is to be exposed."
At this moment, Logan's eyes were bloodshot, with a terrifying depth in them.
He should have looked wretched, but the smile on his face sent chills down anyone's spine.
Zach looked at Logan, a flash of fear and malice in his eyes, as he forced a smile that was uglier than crying and said to Simon Clark:
"Simon, I was the one who told you about the space, wasn't I? I can help you keep an eye on Logan, make sure he doesn't do anything against you."
"Yes, you did well."
Simon Clark nodded in agreement.
The smile on Zach's face became more sincere.
"I'll remember your contribution forever."
Zach's pupils shrank, and his body trembled slightly. He wanted to say something more.
But Simon Clark had already placed his gun against Zach's head. He never intended to let Zach live.
"Pop!"
Red and white splattered from the back of Zach's head.
"Swish!"
In an instant, just as Simon Clark turned his gun and shot Zach in the head!
Logan used all his strength, propping himself up with one arm while the other gripped a sharp piece of ice, which he hurled fiercely at Simon Clark!
By some stroke of luck, Logan's throw struck Simon Clark squarely on the head.
Simon Clark's body fell onto the ice, his gun slipping from his hand and landing just a meter away from Logan.
Logan desperately crawled towards the gun—closer, closer.
The previous blow wasn't enough to be fatal. He had to kill Simon Clark, kill him!!
A surge of overwhelming hatred flashed in Logan's eyes.
He touched the gun.
A fleeting look of joy crossed his face.
"Pop!"
A sharp pain struck the back of Logan's head, and consciousness plunged into darkness.
…
"Beep beep beep beep!"
Logan abruptly sat up, gasping for air.
Wasn't he just dead? Was there a fourth person at the scene? Who was it?!
It was then that Logan realized his injuries had vanished.
And the warm temperature and soft bed around him were definitely not from the frozen apocalypse.
The ear-piercing beeping continued, and the dazed Logan spotted the phone by his bedside.
A phone?!
A phone that had been rendered useless at the start of the apocalypse?!
…
It took Logan a long time to calm down.
And to confirm that he had been reborn!
He had been reborn before the frozen apocalypse.
Before the frozen apocalypse began!
The current date was March 1, 2024, 7:30 AM.
At this time, he was only nineteen years old, a college freshman in the city.
He didn't live in the dormitory but stayed at home.
Logan stood on his bedroom balcony, feeling the cool morning breeze.
The March sun was warm as it used to be.
Looking down from the 28th-floor balcony, he could see the busy traffic on the road outside the neighborhood, which would soon turn into a gridlock.
But this peaceful and prosperous scene would soon be replaced by endless white snow, never to be seen again.
And the root cause was told the sun hanging high in the sky.
Logan raised his hand to shield his eyes, glancing at the sun, the very source of human life.
Humanity might never have imagined that if one day, something went wrong with the sun, what would happen to them?
But Logan knew. It would be a disaster—it would be the apocalypse for mankind!
Three months later, on June 1st, the largest solar flare in human scientific history, classified as SSS-level, erupted. This was the time calculated by scientists after the apocalypse began.
The solar flare erupted so suddenly that it couldn't be predicted in advance. By the time coronal particles were about to reach Earth, it was already June 3rd, and a scientist from the Bear Country had just discovered the anomaly!
This gave humanity only one day to react, and even then, governments around the world hadn't reached a consensus.
At 10:00 AM on June 4th, a powerful electromagnetic pulse destroyed every satellite orbiting Earth—none were spared!
All electronic devices failed!
Next came the geomagnetic storm that swept across the globe!
In an instant, the electric power that humanity had taken centuries to establish was wiped out, plunging the world back into a dark and primitive society.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
After the solar eruption, the sun seemed to enter a weakened state, visibly dimming to the naked eye.
Within three days, the global temperature plummeted to an average of minus fifty degrees Celsius, and the entire planet was frozen, ushering in a frozen apocalypse.
Over 90% of all species faced extinction.
Animals, plants, food sources, and even low-lying buildings—all were buried beneath snow and ice!
Humanity was confronted with an unprecedented disaster!
From that moment on, survival would be an uphill battle for anyone who wanted to live!
...
Logan returned to his room and, after a brief moment of thought, opened the safe and took out a plain-looking bowl.
The bowl was rough and uneven, with a dull gray color and a chipped edge.
If someone squatted with it by the roadside, they could easily start begging.
At first, Logan had found it strange that his father had gone out of his way to include this old bowl in his will.
But after he activated the bowl and gained access to a space within, Logan realized just how special it was.
It was a cornucopia!
It required a specific item to be activated, or rather, to be restored.
In his previous life, Logan had only managed to repair the cornucopia and gain access to the space eight years into the frozen apocalypse, purely by chance.
But by then, the supplies he could find barely kept him alive, let alone enough to stockpile.
What was most important after the apocalypse struck?
Supplies!
Supplies that could be carried around without fear of being stolen!
Now, the first thing he needed to do was activate the cornucopia!
In his previous life, Logan had found the item needed to activate the cornucopia at the antique market in the southern part of the city.
No time to waste; the item was crucial to his rebirth and survival, so Logan decided to head out immediately.
He found a backpack, placed the cornucopia inside, and left the house.
As he walked downstairs, he saw a breakfast shop and suddenly remembered he hadn't eaten.
He was used to going hungry in the apocalypse, sometimes not finding food for two or three days and having to eat snow to stave off hunger.
Logan walked into the breakfast shop and devoured a hearty meal.
After eating, he drove to the South city's antique street market, using his memories from his previous life and some help from GPS.
In the morning, the street was bustling with activity, with over a hundred stalls set up and people coming and going.
In his previous life, Logan had found the key item to repair the cornucopia here with Zach—a coin with a unique pattern.
That ancient coin had been dug out from beneath thick snow in his previous life. Logan could only recall that it was somewhere in this antique market, but he couldn't pinpoint the exact location, so he had to search stall by stall.
The most common items in the antique market were coins.
Almost every stall had them, and there were hundreds in piles.
After two hours of searching, Logan still hadn't found the coin with the unique pattern.
His expression grew solemn.
After asking around, he learned that the antique market only gathered on weekend mornings.
And the stall owners who came each time were not fixed.
This was undoubtedly bad news.
If the stall owner with the special coin only set up shop on the day the apocalypse struck, wouldn't Logan have to wait three months to find it?
That would significantly reduce the advantage of his rebirth.
In another hour or two, the stalls on this street would start packing up, and if he couldn't find it by then, he would have to try his luck next weekend.
"Whew…"
Exhaling deeply, Logan calmed himself and continued searching for the next stall.
"Logan?"
A familiar voice came from behind him.
Logan's eyes narrowed, and a flash of killing intent crossed his otherwise clear gaze.
It was a voice Logan would never forget, even in his dreams.
Zach—Logan's classmate and friend from middle school through high school, who had survived eight years of the apocalypse with him only to betray him in the end.
Suppressing the killing intent in his eyes, Logan turned around and feigned surprise:
"Zach? What are you doing here?"
Zach, dressed in a city management uniform, walked over and patted Logan on the shoulder.
"I should be asking you that! What's this? The top student suddenly taking an interest in antiques?"
Zach said teasingly, looking at Logan's handsome face and expensive attire, a barely noticeable flash of jealousy passing through his eyes.
Having lived an extra lifetime, Logan noticed the envy in Zach's eyes and a cold gleam flickered in his own.
So, even back then, Zach had already harbored resentment towards him.
Zach was a temporary worker at the city management bureau, so his presence here wasn't surprising.
Without showing any emotion, Logan casually brushed Zach's hand off his shoulder and said nonchalantly:
"Nothing much. I'm free this weekend and heard there are a lot of antiques here, so I came to take a look."
Zach chuckled to himself. He had been working in this area for almost a year and knew that the street was full of fake goods.
Many people came with the hope of finding hidden treasures, but even one success in a year was rare.
Not long ago, a fool had been scammed out of tens of thousands and came back causing a scene.
But Zach wouldn't tell Logan that. He'd be happy to see Logan fall for it, since Logan wasn't short on money.
Still, he maintained the facade of friendship, smiling as he said:
"There are a lot of fakes here, but there are real treasures too. Six months ago, an old man picked up a genuine Han dynasty artifact for $200 here and sold it for $500,000!"
A typical nineteen-year-old would have their interest piqued upon hearing that. Even those who came just to browse would be tempted to buy a few things.
Logan kept his expression neutral, though he was sneering inside. How had he never noticed how sly Zach was before?
Nodding to Zach, he said:
"Then I'll have to take a good look."
Just then, a commotion broke out not far away.
A crowd had gathered around.
Driven by curiosity, Logan walked over as well.
Seeing the crowd, Zach shouted:
"Make way! City management at work!"
The crowd parted, making way for them.
Logan seized the opportunity to move to the front.
A young man in his mid-twenties, visibly agitated, held a coin and was furiously spitting as he spoke:
"Old man! I had this appraised yesterday, and it's just a modern piece of craftsmanship! fake!! And you had the nerve to sell it for $100,000! I want my money back! You have to refund me today!!"
The stall owner was a man in his seventies, dressed in coarse clothing. His weathered face was deeply furrowed in distress:
"This is really a family heirloom!"
"What kind of heirloom? Are you going to give me a refund or not?! If you don't, I'll call the police!"
The onlookers had various reactions, most of them enjoying the spectacle.
Zach leaned over to Logan and whispered:
"This kind of thing happens here every few months. Back in the day, this kid would've gotten a beating."
In the antique trade, there's an unspoken rule: once you buy an item, even if it's a fake, you can't return it. If you get scammed, it's your own fault for not knowing better. Consider the money spent as paying for a lesson.
But apparently, this young man either didn't know or pretended not to and was determined to get a refund.
Logan's pupils contracted when he saw the coin in the young man's hand!
It was the ancient coin that would activate the cornucopia!
The old man's hands trembled as he spoke with a bitter expression:
"This really is a family heirloom. It's been passed down since my grandfather's grandfather. Young man, I'm not lying to you!"
Some of the onlookers were giving the young man disapproving looks. Didn't he understand the rules?
At the same time, some people thought the old man was putting on a good act.
After all, the coin had been appraised. Could the appraisal have been wrong?
Logan took a deep breath, stepped forward, and asked the young man with a hint of curiosity:
"Could I take a look at that coin?"
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