At this moment, the wall clock hanging at an angle was already pointing to 4 a.m.
Dawn was only a few hours away.
Under Li Yiming’s guidance, Christine sat cross-legged on the hospital bed.
“Cross-legged meditation??”
“This is such a mockery of science!”
Christine followed Li Yiming’s instructions with her body, but her mouth was still complaining non-stop.
“It’s the apocalypse—trust me, you’ll see a lot more things that mock science.”
As he spoke, Li Yiming gently kneaded Christine’s slightly stiff shoulders.
“Relax. Empty your body. Let go of all the clutter in your mind.”
Under Li Yiming’s guidance, Christine’s breathing gradually became steady and even.
The zombie core in her palm began to emit a soft blue glow.
Clearly, she had entered the optimal state for absorbing the core.
Seeing that Christine had gotten into the right state, Li Yiming let out a long breath of relief.
He moved another hospital bed and placed it across from Christine.
Li Yiming sat cross-legged on the bed and pulled out a zombie core.
Sitting in this relatively open space meant that if zombies broke in, he could react immediately.
He took out a gray zombie core from his pocket and placed it in his palm.
He wasn’t sure how much more time this larger core would buy him.
After silently sighing to himself, he smoothly entered a meditative state and began absorbing the non-attribute zombie core.
…
The night passed quietly.
Early the next morning.
The sun rose again, bringing the usual light to this land of despair.
Sitting cross-legged on the hospital bed, Li Yiming’s eyelids suddenly twitched.
After one last cycle of breathing techniques…
The zombie core in his palm completely disappeared.
Li Yiming slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of stale air.
Refreshing!
A glint of light flashed through his eyes.
At this moment, a soothing warmth flowed through every part of his body!
Li Yiming jumped off the bed and clenched his fists.
Facing the laboratory’s concrete wall, he threw a punch!
BANG!
His fist smashed straight into the concrete wall, sending web-like cracks across the entire surface!
Holy crap!
Li Yiming was startled by the damage he had caused.
How was his punch this powerful?!
This level of destruction far exceeded his expectations!
He had punched through solid concrete—what kind of superhuman strength was this?!
And the most surprising part?
Li Yiming hadn’t even used his full strength.
If he had gone all out…
The entire wall might have come crashing down!
While marveling at his strength, he cautiously pulled his fist out of the wall.
He was worried that if he moved too abruptly, the entire wall might collapse!
After pulling his hand out…
Li Yiming carefully examined his dust-covered fist.
Not even a scratch!
Apparently, his power wasn’t the only thing that got a boost.
Even his body’s defense had become much stronger!
What surprised him even more was the vague sense of an invisible barrier after absorbing the core.
According to how the comic described the power system…
Li Yiming had very likely reached the peak of Tier 0!
He estimated in his heart:
If he absorbed just one more low-grade zombie core, he might be able to successfully break through to Tier 1!
This rate of improvement was basically cheating.
No—this was cheating!
Except, the cheat he was using… was originally meant for the protagonist Shen Feiyan, given by the author himself!
In the original comic, Shen Feiyan didn’t arrive at Sacred Heart Hospital until midway through the apocalypse.
The cheat the author had prepared for the protagonist to use in the mid-apocalypse—Li Yiming had now gotten his hands on it early.
How could that not result in a massive power-up?!
You have to understand—
Shen Feiyan, who had been coasting through the apocalypse with cheats and smooth-sailing battles, had only just reached the peak of Tier 0 at this point in time.
As for his breakthrough to Tier 1, that wasn’t supposed to happen until tomorrow!
And yet Li Yiming, with just a single day and night, had caught up to nearly two weeks of Shen Feiyan’s progress!
Li Yiming shook the dust off his fist and wore a wicked grin.
He couldn’t be blamed for stealing the cheat.
After all, he had warned Shen Feiyan.
Back then, if Shen Feiyan had just acted like a decent human being and pulled up the person who saved his life…
Then Li Yiming wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to steal the cheat, right?
A grin of successful scheming crept across his face.
Just as he was feeling thrilled by his transformation…
Li Yiming suddenly realized—Christine was gone.
He looked around.
The spacious laboratory was now empty.
Then he noticed something: on the bench outside the bathroom, Christine’s clothes from yesterday were neatly folded.
And from inside the bathroom, he could hear the sound of running water.
Was she taking a shower?
She could already get out of bed and walk on her own that quickly?
Filled with curiosity, Li Yiming slowly approached the source of the water sounds.
Just as he neared the door and was about to knock—
Click.
The tightly closed bathroom door slowly swung open.
A thick wave of steam rolled out from inside.
Christine walked out, wrapped in a towel, her hair still wet.
Under the precariously fastened towel was her exquisitely curvy and graceful figure.
Emerging from the steamy bathroom, Christine looked like a goddess stepping out of a painting.
Li Yiming took a deep breath, lifted his hand to cover his eyes, and quickly turned away out of instinct.
Christine, upon seeing Li Yiming, also showed a flicker of surprise on her face.
“You… why are you standing right outside the bathroom door?”
She looked at him suspiciously.
“Ahem. I was just a little worried about you, that’s all,” Li Yiming said with a cough.
He really hadn’t expected Christine’s body to recover so fast.
But it wasn’t just Li Yiming who had misjudged her recovery time—
Christine had also misjudged his awakening time.
Her plan was to slip into the bathroom and take a shower while Li Yiming was still absorbing the core.
She didn’t expect that just as she stepped in…
Li Yiming would finish absorbing the core right after.
Now they had bumped into each other—just in time.
Christine let out a light sigh, seemingly accepting his explanation.
She picked up her change of clothes and went back into the bathroom.
Li Yiming also let out a long sigh and slowly turned back around.
Men and women really are different…
He rubbed his temples in frustration.
Living alongside a woman really did come with all kinds of inconveniences.
But Christine didn’t take long.
She soon finished changing and walked out of the bathroom.
“So,” she asked while drying her wet hair with a towel, “are we heading out today?”
“Yeah,” Li Yiming nodded. “Since your body seems to have recovered well, we’ve got no reason to stay here any longer.”
“Once you’ve packed up, we’ll leave.”
He slowly walked over to the exhaust window of the lab, his sharp gaze scanning the horizon.