Chapter 5: Goals, the Farm, and Powers

Bian Changxi rented an apartment in Xinfeng Community, a newly built residential area on the outskirts of the city. There weren’t many residents, so after the apocalypse, there wouldn’t be many zombies here either. The location fit perfectly with Bian Changxi’s plans. After saying goodbye to Bian Kuang, she pushed her modified knockoff motorbike to the bottom of Building 5, parked it, and walked up the stairs to the third floor.

The third floor wasn’t too high, but not as vulnerable as the first floor—just right.

Each floor had four small apartments facing each other, separated by a central corridor. Bian Changxi lived in unit 303. She took out her key to open the door, glancing at 304 across the hall. Besides her, 304 housed a family of four. Since they were right across, if anything happened there, she could easily observe through the peephole.

She entered, turned on the light. It was a one-bedroom apartment, fully furnished. The living room was a mess, piled high with things she’d bought earlier. She gave it a quick look, set down her three knives, fished out a bottle of mineral water, and sat down on the sofa as she drank.

From her pocket, she took out a small wooden box containing a white jade bracelet.

The smooth, creamy jade glowed warmly under the chandelier. It was a keepsake from her mother, said to have quite a history.

In her previous life, Bian Changxi had never figured out the bracelet’s secret, treating it only as a memento. It wasn’t until three months after the apocalypse that she accidentally discovered it contained a storage space.

After the world ended, people with supernatural abilities began to appear, including those with spatial powers. Compared to elemental abilities, spatial powers were much rarer and more valuable, so those who had them kept them strictly secret. Naive as she was, Bian Changxi thought she was just a spatial-type user. Later, she discovered she could use her mind to plant seeds in the land inside the space, though the growth rate was painfully slow, and she never explored it further.

It wasn’t until she met Zhu Yunhua that things changed. A girl in his group, who owned some strange treasure for exploration, discovered her secret. After they became close, Zhu Yunhua’s old classmate and tech fanatic, Qu Yi, proposed to study the bracelet’s space...

Thanks to Qu Yi’s research, the bracelet’s space gradually expanded, developing fertile soil, rivers, houses, and warehouses. The efficiency of farming and animal husbandry slowly improved, turning it into a real farm. Eventually, the owner (herself) could even enter and exit the farm at will.

Because of this, although the farm technically still belonged to her, anyone could use it. That’s probably why Zhu Yunhua became greedy for it. But Qu Yi never figured out the true secret: she was deeply connected to the bracelet—if she died, the bracelet would be destroyed, and the farm and warehouses inside would collapse and vanish.

She really wished she could have seen Zhu Yunhua’s face at that moment—it must have been quite a sight...

Bian Changxi gave a cold little laugh, then sighed and pulled her thoughts back.

Her gaze fell again on the bracelet, her brows furrowing.

She didn’t know how Qu Yi had managed it, nor could she remember what had triggered her own discovery of the bracelet’s space.

She turned the bracelet over and over, fingers rubbing it, hoping to activate some hidden mechanism. She even pictured the farm from her previous life in her mind, silently willing herself to enter...

Nothing happened.

Thinking for a moment, she took a kitchen knife, cut her index finger, and let a drop of blood fall onto the bracelet. The blood was absorbed, and she was overjoyed—but still, nothing happened.

Bian Changxi couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.

Before discovering the space in her previous life, she’d been injured plenty of times, and her blood had dripped onto the bracelet more than once, but the space had never appeared. Clearly, this wasn’t the way. According to Qu Yi, at most this would let the bracelet recognize her as its owner, but it wasn’t enough to unlock the space or the higher-level farm.

“What do I need to do?” Bian Changxi fell into deep thought.

The farm was her greatest asset in the apocalypse. It would determine whether she struggled to survive like everyone else or had an extra layer of security, living safely and freely. It was practically a cheat device, a plug-in, a paradise apart from the world.

Just imagine: while others agonized over carrying a few supplies, she could stash everything in the farm and just carry a backpack for show; when others entered the base and felt the pain of handing over their hard-earned goods, no one would know she was secretly rich; in battle against zombies or humans, she could pull out top-tier weapons from the farm at any time; when others were surrounded by zombies, struggling in filthy, dangerous conditions, she could hide in the farm, eat and drink her fill in peace, untouched even by the worst floods outside...

The advantages were endless. This farm was too important—she had to find a way to unlock it!

Suddenly, Bian Changxi remembered a time when a large rice harvest from the farm filled the base’s first warehouse. Everyone was so excited, they held a celebration. Qu Yi got drunk and said to her, regretfully, “What a waste! You really wasted it before! If only you’d used the farm earlier... If I could go back to before the apocalypse, I’d find you, steal the bracelet, and unlock it as fast as possible.”

“You know how to unlock it?”

“Not sure, but I’m pretty confident.” Qu Yi suddenly grew serious, looked around, and held up three fingers. “The first three days! Did you know? I’ve researched this: the top-tier ability users all awakened in the first three days of the apocalypse! Those days were magical—zombies were non-toxic, weak, mutated plants and animals hadn’t changed yet, and the strongest powers started appearing... It’s like God gave humanity a buffer, a chance to reclaim their gifts. The farm’s opportunity should be in those days too. What’s missing is activation energy.”

“What kind of energy?”

“Zombies! Five—no, ten zombies, maybe more. Kill them, and their energy will be absorbed by the bracelet... But who can say for sure...”

“Who can say for sure?” Bian Changxi murmured. She’d never taken Qu Yi’s words seriously. Turning back time and starting over was just a fantasy. Since it couldn’t happen, why dwell on it? She’d always been someone who looked forward, not back. But now, the impossible had actually happened.

“No matter what, I have to try!”

Her first goal for the apocalypse: kill ten zombies in the first three days.

Compared to the uncertainty of unlocking the farm, awakening her powers in the first three days was, thanks to Qu Yi, something she understood very well—it was much simpler.

So, her second goal: awaken her powers within three days.

In this life, she was determined to become strong!

It was destined to be a restless night. Because of a post titled ""The Apocalypse Is Coming,"" some people argued online, some cursed, some didn’t care, some laughed and made plans to wait together.

Under the city lights, in a luxury villa community on the outskirts, seven or eight young men and women gathered in one villa, directing trucks loaded with supplies into the garage while two people carefully took inventory. A red-haired guy ran over and punched Bian Kuang on the shoulder. “Hey, Kuangzi, do you really believe that bullshit post? You haven’t lost your mind, have you?”

Bian Kuang kept writing, smiling. “We’ve got nothing better to do—might as well have some fun. Don’t you think it’s interesting? By the way, did you bring your car?”

The redhead cursed, “I brought both the Land Rover and the big Dongfeng truck. Nearly got chewed out by my old man for being out so late. You owe me a big meal for this!”

A scholarly-looking young man pushed up his glasses, glancing over from the trucks. “That might be tough. Kuangzi spent all his savings and pulled a lot of family strings for this. If the apocalypse doesn’t come, he’ll get a beating at home. If it does, we’d better stick close to him—forget about free meals.”

Bian Kuang finished his notes, raised an eyebrow, and said, “We’re just about done. Let’s head inside. Who knows what’s going to happen at midnight? We’ll just have to wait and see.”

As the seconds ticked by, somewhere else on Earth, in a room with tightly drawn curtains, a computer glowed blue in the dark. A slender, elegant hand moved the mouse, habitually opening the email inbox—only to find a new message.

The owner of the hand was surprised, hesitated a moment, then clicked it open.

“A Heng, you must be surprised to get an email from me.”

The hand on the mouse trembled, as if in shock, then quickly scrolled down.

“These past three years, you’ve changed your number, your name, your identity—vanished from the world. The only link between us seems to be this email account. I’ve wanted to write to you so many times, but always held back. But this time, I know if I don’t, it’ll be too late.

“What you’re about to read will shock you, maybe even make you laugh and think I’m delusional. But every word is true. I once thought about telling those around me, but I can’t. Call me cold or cruel, but if anyone lets this slip, the consequences would be disastrous. But with you, I can’t and won’t hide it.

“Since I’m being so serious, if there’s anyone with you, please ask them to leave. And please, keep the contents of this email strictly confidential.

“Remember when we watched Resident Evil together? I was so scared, I told you if the world ever turned out like that, I’d rather end it before things got that bad. But now, I have to tell you—the world we live in really is about to become like that.”

*Received a site notification and appointment message, so I'm posting this chapter first to celebrate!*