Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars

"You guys are back..."

Lin Fan shouted to the others from behind the cutting machine, then picked up the spear shaft from the ground and turned back into the clinic.

"Just a sec, guys. This is the last one..."

Meanwhile, Wu Haitao expertly used the moment to pick up the spearhead from the ground and place it on the pile of blades nearby. He even used his foot to kick the worn-out cutting disc aside.

A moment later, the group saw Lin Fan walk out again, carrying an intact spear. He casually placed it on the base of the cutting machine, the blade of the spearhead pointing toward them, gleaming menacingly...

Wu Haitao, his expression still blank, pressed down on the machine’s handle, and a shower of sparks erupted once more.

The four who had just returned from upstairs stared, dumbfounded, at the pair’s practiced teamwork. The blade Chu Zhaozhao was levitating even dropped back into her hand.

’So, for the half-hour we were gone, they’ve just been here cutting up spears!’

’Where did all these spears come from?’

The others could let it slide, but Su Qing was completely baffled.

That morning, a formidable-looking spear had mysteriously appeared in Lin Fan’s hands. She had just assumed he’d found it somewhere and hadn’t thought much of it.

’But this many spears... When did he bring them all back?’

’Su Qing knew this clinic like the back of her hand. There was nowhere to store so many spears...’

"You—?"

In her confusion, Su Qing forgot any form of address, pointing at the still-sparking machine as she yelled in Lin Fan’s ear.

"I’ll explain back inside—!"

Lin Fan cupped a hand over one ear against the noise and shouted back at Su Qing,

"What took you so long—!"

"We were— Ugh..."

Su Qing grabbed Lin Fan’s arm, pulled him a few steps away from the noise, and pointed toward Chu Zhaozhao.

"We were waiting for Zhaozhao. She said she thought she could control the lock cylinder to pick it, so we waited while she spent some time figuring it out."

The other three, seeing this, followed them over, confused.

’That sounds like one way to do it,’ Lin Fan thought. He turned to Chu Zhaozhao and the others and asked:

"So, how did it go?"

Hearing Lin Fan finally address her, Chu Zhaozhao sent the blade in her hand floating over to join the pile. Eager to redeem herself for nearly losing track of that spearhead earlier, she placed her hands on her hips and declared smugly:

"Hmph hmph! I figured it out! I’m a master lock-picker now!"

She said, pointing a thumb at herself.

"She ’figured it out’ for half an hour,"

Chu Zhaotian muttered from the side, crowbar in hand,

"And wouldn’t let us just pry it open..."

"You!"

Hearing this, Chu Zhaozhao immediately shot her brother a vicious glare.

"I was just afraid you’d get tired!"

’Lin Fan was surprised she could actually control a lock cylinder to pick it. He’d have expected her style would be to just rip the entire lock right off the door.’

"Zhaozhao is amazing, really. She learned such a delicate operation just by feel in only half an hour!"

Su Qing added, defending Zhaozhao while patting her on the head.

Being able to pick a lock in half an hour just by figuring it out on her own was truly impressive, but Lin Fan asked with keen interest:

"How did you pick the lock?"

Seeing Lin Fan’s curiosity, Chu Zhaozhao immediately puffed up her chest and explained proudly:

"Hmph hmph! I know all about the inside of a lock—it’s all those little springs that the key pushes up. I just had to multitask! I turned the lock cylinder with one part of my focus and used the rest to push up all those little pins. Once they were all in place, CLICK, it popped right open!"

She finished, tilting her head back with an expression that screamed, ’Aren’t you going to praise me?’

Lin Fan nodded silently. He didn’t know how to pick locks himself, but he had a basic understanding of their internal structure, and she was right.

’Even Chu Zhaozhao’s acrobatic spoon-throwing act wasn’t enough to demonstrate the true extent of her talent. Multitasking like that... it sounded easy, but to actually do it...’

’And considering what she’d said before—that every object she controlled felt like one of her own limbs...’

’To be able to control a dozen or so new limbs at will...’

’Her talent was truly staggering.’

Still, Lin Fan offered his own perspective on the matter.

"Zhaozhao, have you ever thought about... directly turning the handle on the inside of the door..."

"Hmph! The handle on the insi— Huh?"

Chu Zhaozhao’s expression froze. She stared at Lin Fan in disbelief. Even the three onlookers were stunned for a moment before they burst into fits of laughter.

"...The handle? Waaah— Sister Qing, they’re bullying me!"

With that, she whirled around and buried her face in Su Qing’s back, refusing to show herself.

Su Qing herself was shaking with laughter, but seeing that Lin Fan seemed to have more to say, she pulled Chu Zhaozhao out from behind her and pushed her forward.

Lin Fan looked at Chu Zhaozhao, who was pouting, her face red with the realization that she’d done something silly again. He couldn’t resist reaching out and squishing her cheeks.

"Figuring out such a precise operation on your own in so little time is incredibly impressive. That’s worthy of praise!"

He gave her a thumbs-up, as if awarding a consolation prize. But then his tone shifted, and he continued,

"Abilities are tools for solving problems—for solving them *efficiently*.

"When you have supernatural powers, it’s natural to think about problems from a supernatural perspective. So, subconsciously using your ability to pick the lock wasn’t wrong..."

"But..."

Chu Zhaozhao pouted, finishing his sentence for him.

"But!"

Lin Fan repeated it anyway.

"Supernatural powers just make our actions more efficient. You can’t just carry a hammer and see every problem as a nail. If the goal is opening the door, don’t get fixated on picking the lock..."

A loud CLANG interrupted Lin Fan. At the same moment, the roar of the cutting machine also fell silent.

"Alright, that’s the last one... Zhaozhao, take control of those two shortened spearheads..."

Seeing that the final spearhead was done and their most important raw materials were ready, Lin Fan cut his lecture short.

’In truth, he couldn’t always follow that principle himself. He’d just been inspired to say something by the incident. Since he couldn’t explain the philosophy perfectly, it was best to leave it at that.’

He said, pointing at the pile of spearheads.

Chu Zhaozhao didn’t quite understand what Lin Fan meant.

Still, she had at least learned that she didn’t need to go through all the trouble of studying the lock cylinder to open a door. She just had to use her ability to grab the handle on the inside and pull. Every little bit of learning was progress.

So now, hearing Lin Fan’s command, she stopped pouting and activated her ability. The two uniquely short spearheads from the pile lifted into the air and flew over to them.

These two spearheads had been neatly cut short right at the small wings of the blade. Their entire cut edge was a ring of sharp points and blades, making them impossible to hold by hand.

"Take control of these two spearheads. I want you to pierce them through this car door, out the door on the other side, and then pull them back through..."