Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars

At first, the golden threads were still faint, like tender shoots of grass. The moment they appeared, the red threads would entangle and annihilate them, leaving no trace.

But as time went on, and more and more of Lin Fan's blood dripped into Chu Zhaozhao's mouth, the golden threads became like vines on a sheer cliff—they took root, gradually weaving together into tough ropes.

The red threads, though numerous, were slowed and restricted by the effects of the serum, while the golden threads were completely unaffected, relentlessly strangling the ominous scarlet wisps.

As the golden threads began to show overwhelming power, the red threads entwined around her Life Value bar were utterly destroyed, one by one, leaving no trace behind.

With their enemies gone, the golden threads began to slowly retract to the start of the Life Value bar, and Chu Zhaozhao's Life Value began to rise…

[12/101]

[13/102]

[14/103]

[15/104]

[16/105]

It worked!

Once the golden threads had completely vanished, Chu Zhaozhao's maximum Life Value, just like Su Qing's, had risen to 105!

As her Life Value recovered a little, color finally returned to Chu Zhaozhao's face. Both her breathing and her heartbeat stabilized.

The deep furrow in her brow relaxed, and she looked as if she were merely asleep.

Seeing that her Life Value was no longer rising, Lin Fan pulled his arm back and equipped the Activation Crystal to restore his own.

"Brother... Brother Lin, is Zhaozhao...?" Chu Zhaotian asked in disbelief, walking forward as he saw his sister's condition improve.

"Mm... she shouldn't mutate now, but she's lost a lot of blood. With a normal person's recovery rate, it'll probably take a very long time..."

As Lin Fan spoke, he turned and suddenly noticed the purple border around Su Qing's Life Value bar. Her health had recovered from [98] when they were downstairs to [99]...

Only seven or eight minutes had passed since then. Lin Fan smacked his forehead. 'Don't I have a perfect example of someone who isn't normal right here?'

As if by magic, a round Crystal Stone appeared in his hand.

It was one of his finds from today.

Since this was an experiment, he needed to control the variables as much as possible. The one Lin Fan took out was an Invisibility Crystal, the same type Su Qing had absorbed.

All eyes were drawn to the Crystal Stone, but only Su Qing seemed to understand. She turned to look at Chu Zhaozhao on the bed.

"Brother Lin, what is..." Chu Zhaotian, not understanding, couldn't help but ask when he saw Lin Fan take out the stone.

But a look from Lin Fan made him snap his mouth shut, knowing that if he said another word, Xu Qian would just have to drag him away again.

'Besides,' he thought, 'now that my sister's condition has stabilized, there's no way Brother Lin would harm her...'

Holding the crystal between two fingers, Lin Fan slowly brought it toward the mouth of the quietly resting Chu Zhaozhao.

When it came within a certain range, Chu Zhaozhao's nose suddenly twitched. As if she had caught a scent, she slowly opened her mouth like a baby bird in its nest, waiting to be fed.

"What the... Mmph..."

At a glance from Lin Fan, Chu Zhaotian clamped a hand over his mouth.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan was dangling the crystal. When he moved his hand to the left, Chu Zhaozhao's head slowly followed. When he moved it to the right, her head slowly turned right...

"Ahem..."

A slight cough from Su Qing interrupted Lin Fan's little "experiment."

'What an incredible instinct...'

"Ahem." Lin Fan cleared his throat as well, then held his breath and carefully placed the crystal into Chu Zhaozhao's mouth.

GULP. With a single movement of her throat, Chu Zhaozhao swallowed the crystal.

Nearby, Chu Zhaotian was speechless, his eyes wide as he watched the bizarre scene unfold.

"Don't worry. It's an Immortal Pill..."

Patting Chu Zhaotian's shoulder, Lin Fan slowly stood up and stretched.

The wound on his hand had already closed and stopped bleeding. Lin Fan poured some alcohol over it, washing away the fresh blood.

And sure enough, just like with Su Qing, purple threads began to slowly grow on Chu Zhaozhao's Life Value bar, right where the golden ones had been moments before.

Lin Fan glanced over to compare it with the border of Su Qing's Life Value bar. Chu Zhaozhao's was a bit bluer—more of a blue-violet.

But perhaps because she was so weak, the threads grew more slowly than Su Qing's had. Still, they were growing at a steady pace.

Lin Fan went back to room 301, found an IV kit, and hooked Chu Zhaozhao up to two bags of glucose.

'The bleeding has stopped, and I don't have blood for a transfusion, so I'll just have to make do with glucose. Anyway, judging by Su Qing's recovery speed, as long as...'

Uh…

Lin Fan's train of thought suddenly stalled. 'As long as what?'

'Recalling the plots of novels he'd read, the transformation from a normal person to someone like Su Qing... calling it a 'mutation' doesn't sound great. Let's call it an 'awakening'...'

'Once a person Awakens, they gain a poor man's version of my constitution. If nothing else, recovering their Life Value shouldn't be a problem.'

'If it were me, with the Activation Crystal equipped, recovering a hundred points of Life Value would only take about an hour and a half.'

'For Su Qing, it probably takes eight or nine hours.'

'As long as Chu Zhaozhao successfully Awakens, with some good food, drink, and a day's rest, she'll be back on her feet.'

"Sister Qing, can you stay here and look after Zhaozhao? Use these cotton balls and some alcohol to clean the blood from around her wound and off her body. Call me when the IV bag is empty. I'm going to rest for a bit..."

After getting an affirmative nod from Su Qing, Lin Fan turned to leave. He nudged Chu Zhaotian and Xu Qian with his shoulder.

"You two, with me."

He led the way to 301 and sat down on the sofa.

Chu Zhaotian and Xu Qian followed him in. When they saw Lin Fan sit, Chu Zhaotian's nose suddenly stung. His legs gave out, and he started to fall to his knees.

"Brother Lin..."

"Stop!"

Lin Fan stuck out his leg, blocking him.

"Don't start with all that. You know I don't go for this stuff."

"But I have to thank you for saving Zhaozhao..." Chu Zhaotian said, choking back sobs as he wiped away his tears.

"There are other ways to thank me. Pull up a chair and sit down. I have a few questions for you two."

Lin Fan leaned back on the sofa, replaying the recent events in his mind, along with everything that had led up to this moment.

'Mutation... or rather, awakening. One of the paths to it has started to become clear. A few more experiments should be enough to confirm it.'

Once they were both seated, Lin Fan looked at them seriously. "For these next questions, you have to tell me the absolute truth. This is very important."

Seeing how serious Lin Fan was, they both nodded vigorously and hastily agreed.

"Do you two trust me?"

"We do!" they replied in unison.

Lin Fan looked at the green and yellow Life Value bars above their heads and leaned back on the sofa, puzzled.

"Zhaotian, you first. Why do you trust me? When did you start trusting me? And what are you willing to do because of that trust?"

Hearing this, Chu Zhaotian fell silent for a moment. He wiped his tears and said in a heavy voice:

"...I don't remember exactly.

Maybe it was at the gas station. Or maybe it was because Zhaozhao trusts you so much. You saved us, you gave us food, you led us out of there, you taught us how to fight... And now, you've saved Zhaozhao's life..."

He paused, a hint of self-mockery unconsciously creeping into his tone.

"I hate how useless I am...

I want to get stronger, strong enough to protect Zhaozhao myself. I want to be a help to you, not a burden...

I trust you. I'll carry out your every order without hesitation. I might be scared, but I'll still do it!"

"Mm..."

Lin Fan looked at Chu Zhaotian. He could tell from the determination in his eyes that he wasn't lying. Of course, he had no reason to lie in this situation anyway.

Looking at the yellow Life Value bar above his head, Lin Fan felt a little lost...

He then turned to Xu Qian and asked him with the same earnestness:

"Xu Qian, what about you?"

Hearing his name, Xu Qian looked up, a lost expression on his face. It was clear he had been pondering the question himself while Chu Zhaotian was speaking.

Their lost gazes met, and Lin Fan couldn't help but sigh.

But as he thought in silence, the lost look in Xu Qian's eyes gradually morphed into a kind of obsessive conviction that Lin Fan couldn't quite decipher.

"I... I trust you too, Brother Lin.

As for why... That day we ate, you told us so many things...

I don't really know why, but after that... that night, I was actually able to sleep..."

Xu Qian seemed to muster all his courage as he continued:

"I've... I've seen what happens to... to weak people...

It's not as simple as just dying. It's... it's having to watch with your own eyes... completely helpless..."

His voice was already breaking as he spoke, his eyes welling with tears.

"You... you're different from us... but sometimes... it feels like you're one of us, too..."

"I'll do whatever you ask... anything. I just don't want to go back to being that... that useless piece of trash who can only stand by and watch, unable to do a single thing..."