The protagonist who hates losers is so sweet to me.

Yu Qing was stunned to see Song Xinqi apologizing as if it was the end of the world. His surprise wiped away all his previous emotions. “Oh, it’s fine.”
He had been a bit out of control earlier, but after venting his feelings, he felt much better.
Wait, was this simple “it’s fine” enough? This was Song Xinqi, the always arrogant and unyielding Song Xinqi, actually apologizing to him!
Seeing Yu Qing’s teary eyes staring unblinkingly at him, Song Xinqi felt uncomfortable all over and awkwardly turned his face away.
He must be crazy to apologize to him.
“Can you still walk?”
His tone was as gentle as he could manage, but since he was never the gentle type, it came out quite stiff.
Yu Qing suddenly felt like laughing. He tried to maintain a serious expression when Song Xinqi looked at him and attempted to stand up, but his face twisted in pain when his foot touched the ground. “It seems I can’t.”
Song Xinqi’s chest heaved once, and without saying a word, he walked over and, to Yu Qing’s surprise, bent down to pick him up horizontally.
Yu Qing had never been carried by Song Xinqi as an adult. He struggled the moment he was lifted.
Song Xinqi frowned, “Don’t move.”
He stopped moving, letting Song Xinqi carry him back to the car and buckle him in.
Yu Xiaoxue followed Song Xinqi’s feet, climbed into the back seat through the window, and placed her front paws on the front console.
“Where are we going next?” Yu Qing asked as the car started.
“Back.”
Yu Qing fidgeted with his seatbelt. “Aren’t we going to find more crystal cores?”
Song Xinqi’s eyebrows furrowed, and his tone was not friendly: “You’re injured. Why would we look for crystal cores?”
“It’s not that serious.”
“Not serious? You were crying so badly.”
He stubbornly replied, “I was angry, I cried out of anger. Do you understand?”
Seeing that Yu Qing had recovered and wasn’t in any serious trouble, Song Xinqi snorted and turned the car around. However, they didn’t head back to City A; instead, they just went to the outskirts.
The car stopped by a stream. Yu Qing got out and carefully tested his foot, finding it less painful than before.
There were two zombies in sight. Song Xinqi dealt with them and extracted a crystal core from one of their heads. That morning, they had collected thirteen crystal cores, each only about the size of a pinky fingertip, but there were many of them.
Song Xinqi absorbed three to restore his ability, one was swallowed by Yu Xiaoxue, and the remaining nine were washed and set aside by Yu Qing. Yu Qing placed the crystal cores in the sunlight to dry and noticed something in the clear stream. Moving aside some gravel, he found an ocarina.
He cleaned it with fresh water and tried blowing into it, producing a few off-key sounds.
“Song Xinqi, look.” he called him over and blew into it a few more times. “It’s an ocarina!”
Song Xinqi looked disgusted. “It sounds awful.”
Unconvinced, he handed it to Song Xinqi. “If you think you can do better, go ahead.”
The ocarina’s sound was ethereal, beautiful even if played randomly. Unexpectedly, Song Xinqi took the ocarina, placed it to his lips, and played with a melody.
The ocarina’s sound was trembling and ethereal, like ripples spreading gently, calming anyone who listened.
Yu Xiaoxue lay by the stream, her tail tip swaying gently with the music. Yu Qing was momentarily stunned, looking at Song Xinqi playing the ocarina. Perhaps the music and sunlight added a filter, making him appear to emit a faint glow.
When the song ended, his gaze at Song Xinqi changed. “It was so beautiful. You actually know how to play the ocarina. Amazing!”
Song Xinqi felt uncomfortable with his straightforward praise. He tossed it back to him and said gruffly, “Let’s go.”
Yu Qing put the ocarina and crystal cores in his pocket and followed him happily.
Back home, he suddenly noticed that Yu Xiaoxue’s body had become very hot. By evening, she was even semi-conscious and lethargic. That afternoon, Song Xinqi didn’t force him to go out.
Yu Qing was extremely worried at home, and when Song Xinqi returned, he anxiously said, “Yu Xiaoxue seems to have a fever. What should we do?”
Song Xinqi walked over to the snow leopard. Yu Xiaoxue opened her eyes to glance at him before lying back down.
“When did this start?” he asked.
“Not long after you left,” Yu Qing said, very worried. “She’s not going to be okay, right?”
Song Xinqi checked Yu Xiaoxue all over and found no injuries. Mutated animals wouldn’t get infected with the virus, so it shouldn’t be mutation.
At this moment, his mental power sensed a slight external fluctuation, which he carefully identified as coming from the snow leopard. This mental wave felt familiar, similar to when an ability evolved.
He guessed, “She might be evolving.”
“Yu Xiaoxue can evolve too?”
Song Xinqi explained, “Mutated animals are like human ability users. If we can evolve, so can they.”
Yu Qing felt relieved, stroking Yu Xiaoxue’s fur. “Once your fever subsides, you’ll be stronger.”
The high fever lasted until the next afternoon. Song Xinqi was out looking for crystal cores, and Yu Qing was home caring for her.
The snow leopard’s breathing was heavy, her body constantly heaving. Yu Qing, having experienced high fevers himself, knew how it felt and kept smoothing down her fur.
At a certain point, Yu Xiaoxue suddenly opened her eyes and stood up, shaking out her fur as her gaze cleared.
“You’re better?” he asked in surprise, touching her back. The temperature under his palm was rapidly dropping.
The evolution-induced fever came slowly but receded quickly. Soon, the snow leopard was full of energy, licking his arm with her tongue.
The hot tongue on his arm felt like a burn. He laughed and pulled away, and Yu Xiaoxue, after playing for a while, lay down at his feet to groom herself.
However, the spot on his arm that Yu Xiaoxue had licked grew hotter and even started to hurt.
He checked his arm but saw nothing.
He glanced at the oblivious Yu Xiaoxue, a bad feeling surfacing in his heart. He sensed Song Xinqi’s location.
Still outside, but not far, probably on his way back.
The pain in his arm intensified. When he sensed Song Xinqi had entered the base, he couldn’t sit still and said to Yu Xiaoxue, “I’m going outside for a bit. Stay here.”
He hurried out, jogging to the base entrance. Song Xinqi parked the off-road vehicle with a blown tire in its usual spot and saw the panting Yu Qing as he got out.
“Song Xinqi, are you injured?”
Getting out of the car, he walked over and pinched Yu Qing’s cheek. “What, you hurt too?”
Yu Qing grabbed his hand. “Let me see.”
On his forearm were rows of tiny, dense blood holes.
“A mutated mushroom got in the car. I didn’t notice and got hit by its spores. Just a minor injury.”
After explaining, he realized he had said too much. Feeling irritable, he wondered why he was explaining to Yu Qing. His pain shouldn’t matter to him.
“Did you treat it?” Yu Qing asked, seeing the blood holes still oozing.
“The spores have been removed. Just need to disinfect.”
He pulled his hand back. “Don’t just stand there. Let’s go.”
Shi Tao, who had come to check on Song Xinqi after hearing about his injury, saw Yu Qing disinfecting his arm while he looked impatient. Yu Qing grimaced in pain, making one wonder who was injured.
Song Xinqi glanced up. “What’s up?”
Shi Tao forced a smile. “Nothing, just heard you were hurt and came to check.”
“Get out.”
Shi Tao’s expression stiffened. He wanted to say something but, under Song Xinqi’s pressure, retreated, his face darkening as he closed the door.
It had been almost a month and a half since they arrived at the base. Yu Qing suddenly remembered, “Are the zombies outside increasing?”
Song Xinqi nodded. “We’re close to City A. The zombies there will eventually be drawn here by the human presence.”
To avoid the scenario where zombies overrun the base and the original Yu Qing abandons Song Xinqi to escape with Shi Tao, the best solution was to leave early.
“Shouldn’t we leave now? If zombies come, Shi Tao might try to trip us up,” Yu Qing reminded him.
Song Xinqi’s smile was not friendly. “You’ve become cautious. Good. Once we’ve gathered enough crystal cores, we’ll leave.”
Collecting crystal cores was easier here than in the wild.
Gathering more now would be useful for emergencies later.
With Song Xinqi’s assurance, Yu Qing was no longer worried.
Discovering that Yu Xiaoxue had a crystal core radar ability, Song Xinqi took her out every time they went searching for cores.
Others were initially shocked to see Song Xinqi with a snow leopard, but they didn’t dare say anything. Fortunately, she was well-behaved, and they gradually accepted her.
Post-evolution, Yu Xiaoxue’s size grew rapidly, now larger than an average snow leopard, though she was still on milk.
Her appetite increased, and their milk powder supply dwindled, causing Yu Qing concern.
However, the heavens did not abandon the snow leopard. He discovered that crystal cores could be a staple food for mutated animals. A small one could keep her full for half a day, starting Yu Xiaoxue’s weaning process.
The large snow leopard lay on the ground, mewling pitifully. He turned away, determined not to be swayed, and threatened, “If you don’t eat the crystal core, I’ll call Song Xinqi.”
Having spent the last few days with Song Xinqi, Yu Xiaoxue had fully realized his terrifying nature. The once-daring snow leopard now obediently ate the crystal core at the mention of his name.
Song Xinqi was indeed effective, he thought.
They absorbed crystal cores daily, akin to eating meals. Each core’s small energy added up, significantly boosting their abilities over time.
Yu Qing was blissfully dreaming of becoming stronger, unaware of the impending disaster. On the night before they decided to leave the base, Yu Qing suddenly developed a high fever and fell into a coma.
Song Xinqi was also affected to some extent. His mental power couldn’t exert its full effect, and he almost got ambushed by a mutant ability zombie. Luckily, Yu Xiaoxue was nearby and promptly killed it.
With dangers lurking outside, their current condition wasn’t suitable for venturing out, so they had no choice but to continue staying at the base until Yu Qing recovered. It was only a matter of one or two days, and they could afford to wait.
Fortunately, the mental link only facilitated mutual sensation and didn’t force Song Xinqi into a coma. Otherwise, if they both suddenly fell unconscious, it would be disastrous.
To avoid malicious individuals taking advantage of their vulnerability, Song Xinqi still went out on missions as if nothing was wrong.
Lately, they could clearly sense the zombie horde getting closer to the base. What used to take nearly an hour to spot was now visible in less than half an hour.
Out in the wilderness, Yu Xiaoxue stood on a rock, watching the skyline teeming with figures, emitting deep growls.
Despite many abilities users clearing out zombies every day, their numbers didn’t seem to decrease. Song Xinqi had a premonition that they would soon reach the base.
But no one expected them to arrive so quickly.
It was the third morning since Yu Qing fell into a coma. Two guards on duty were chatting, complaining about the increasingly slow dawn.
As they opened the gate, a zombie burst in unexpectedly.
“Roar!”
The first line of defense was breached, and the zombie pressed against the second fence, its body pierced by spikes but still screaming as it reached out to grab the guards.
The guard who was in the front exclaimed in shock and fell to the ground.
Soon, they witnessed an even more horrifying sight. Countless zombies crowded behind, their heads almost impossible to see, like an endless wave.
At the moment the gate was opened, it seemed like they collectively activated a switch, all roaring and charging towards the two guards.
The guards scrambled to close the door and turned to flee. “It’s bad, the zombies are surrounding us!”
The commotion woke up the abilities users, who, after hearing the noise outside, cursed as they opened the door, only to be bitten on the neck by the zombies rushing in.
After a full day of unconsciousness, Yu Qing slowly woke up, his voice hoarse. “It’s so noisy, what’s happening?”
Song Xinqi, standing by the window, watched the chaos outside, holding a machete in his hand, while Yu Xiaoxue beside him maintained a stance ready to attack, ears perked up high.
“The zombies have entered the base.”
“Oh,” Yu Qing responded before lying back down, feeling drowsy again. Wait, something didn’t seem right. It hadn’t been that long. He vaguely thought about it before drifting back to sleep.
“Don’t sleep. We need to escape.”
He was shaken awake by Song Xinqi, staring at his lips for a long time before understanding what he was saying.
“Can you use your ability to shrink yourself? I’ll take you out.”
He nodded vigorously, shrinking himself. In his hazy vision, the world suddenly became huge, and he looked at Song Xinqi as if he was a giant.
He looked up at his waist, his neck craning higher and higher, but he lost control of his balance and fell into the blanket.
Song Xinqi picked up the doll-sized Yu Qing silently.
“Song Xinqi, why did you become so big.” Yu Qing, feeling the heat all over his body, collapsed into Song Xinqi’s giant palm, limbs dangling in the air. “You could put me in your pocket and take me away.”
In fact, Song Xinqi did just that. Yu Qing was half of his body standing in his coat pocket, with only his head sticking out.
Yu Qing was dissatisfied, wriggling in the pocket, and soon stuffed his head into the pocket, curling up and falling asleep.
Song Xinqi bit his tongue, using the pain to clear his muddled mind. With a whistle, he signaled to Yu Xiaoxue beside him. She growled softly, ready to attack, as they fled the scene.
Yu Qing’s constant high fever felt like a continuous hemorrhage debuff, manageable with seven or eight zombies but barely survivable with over a hundred.
Song Xinqi quickly depleted his ability as they fled, absorbing five or six crystal cores just to escape from the street.
At that moment, an off-road vehicle with a bucket on the back whizzed past them, and Shi Tao’s voice came from above: “Get in quickly.”
Song Xinqi’s expression darkened. He didn’t want to have too much contact with him at this time, but now it was the only way out.
Amidst the continuous honking, Song Xinqi kicked away the zombies and jumped into the car, his finger on his lips as he blew a loud whistle.
Yu Xiaoxue’s ears twitched, and she gracefully leaped into the bucket, startling the empathetic abilities user who was driving the car through the rearview mirror. Seeing the large snow leopard so close, his grip on the steering wheel faltered.
Even though the zombies’ movements were still uncoordinated, their running speed was comparable to that of a person in full sprint, and they wouldn’t tire.
Shi Tao used a thunderous hand to grip the car’s bucket and chop down on the zombies chasing after them. He shouted to Song Xinqi, “Quickly use your ability to get rid of them all.”
Seeing his delayed response, Shi Tao looked over and found Song Xinqi’s face pale, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead.