Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars

Lin Fan had harvested a lot of supplies from clearing out Mutated Zombies over the past two days, especially purified water. Not only did he get [Medium Purified Water] in 100-liter containers, but one Mutated Zombie even dropped a [Large Purified Water]—a whole ton of it!

As far as Lin Fan was concerned, he could breathe a sigh of relief about the water shortage for now.

However, the survivors’ consumption still had to be controlled. If the daily food and drink of a hundred people weren’t strictly managed, the remaining hundred-plus barrels of water wouldn’t last more than a few days.

"What’s wrong? You look a little down..."

Lin Fan noticed the group’s morale was low. As usual, he used Chu Zhaozhao as an icebreaker, crouching in front of her with a smile.

"No energy?"

After speaking, he looked over at Su Qing. Her expression was somewhat similar to Chu Zhaozhao’s, but more reserved.

Seeing Lin Fan look her way, Su Qing paused to compose herself, then smiled and said in a low voice,

"Everyone’s just feeling a bit down after hearing that number..."

"It’s normal to feel down. Swallow the biscuit in your mouth and take a deep breath..."

Lin Fan simply stood between the two women, gently patting them on the back as he spoke in a low voice.

"Brother Liu, Brother Wu, what I’m about to say might be hard to hear, but I hope you’ll listen anyway..."

"Brother Lin, there’s no need for that. Please, speak your mind..."

’Liu Bin didn’t know what Lin Fan was going to say, but since he’d started like this and specifically singled out him and Wu Haitao—two ordinary people—it must be related to the Awakened Ones on the team. It could only help to listen, not hurt.’

"Whether it’s by fate or pure luck that people survived, you few, you two, and them,"

Lin Fan said, pointing first to Liu Bin and Wu Haitao, then gesturing toward the distance, in the direction of the supermarket,

"You’re all alive because you met me. My existence is what allowed you to survive..."

Hearing Lin Fan’s words, they were a bit surprised, wondering why he was bringing this up now.

’No one was denying it...’

So they all looked at him, confused.

Seeing all eyes on him, Lin Fan continued:

"But the credit isn’t mine. To be honest, I was just trying to keep myself alive...

In the process of my own struggle, I saved Su Qing, I saved Zhaozhao and the rest of you, I made it possible for the people in these buildings to go out and find food, and indirectly, I helped more people survive...

But that was never really my intention.

My intention was very simple: I just wanted to live."

Lin Fan casually took Su Qing’s small shield and playfully named it "Pot Lid." It wasn’t like Su Qing could see the attribute panel anyway.

Su Qing’s eyes flickered as if she was recalling the image of him standing alone downstairs. She nodded silently.

"But my personal actions stirred up this whole area and changed the fate of many people. Of course, I might have also directly or indirectly gotten some people killed. I don’t deny any of that."

He continued, caressing the smooth, round shield,

"Is it because I’m some big shot? No. There’s only one fundamental reason: I’m an Awakened One. I have power.

Therefore, many of my actions affect a lot of people. At certain critical moments, they can even determine whether people live or die.

Does that mean I have to bear the responsibility?

I used to question that, but Wang Yuanhua—that Awakened One who had absolutely no connection to me—freed me from that.

He proved something I couldn’t prove on my own: that other people can awaken naturally too.

Even if the odds are extremely low, in our residential complex—a place with two or three hundred survivors at most—two of us Awakened Ones appeared.

Within my sphere of influence, most of the people on both sides of this street survived. Within his, nine people in that building survived.

Perhaps this is the meaning of our existence as Awakened Ones.

We have no responsibility, but we also do.

It’s like the first Anomalocaris and trilobites that evolved exoskeletons, the fish born with jaws, the amphibians forced onto land to breathe with lungs who carved out a vast new world for themselves.

As individuals, they didn’t do anything for their species, but they genuinely did break new ground for them.

Now, it’s not just the two of us. There’s also you all. Maybe the way you awakened was different from Wang Yuanhua’s, but you are all undeniably Awakened Ones, possessing strange abilities and powers.

Think about it. Besides the nine people in Wang Yuanhua’s building, who is responsible for the survival of the other forty-plus people in the complex?

Was it me?

No. It was actually you.

It was the four of you, with spears in hand, who killed all the zombies in the complex, giving the people outside a chance to get in. That’s how they survived.

Your goal might have just been to kill zombies, but your actions genuinely impacted the fates of those dozens of people.

Wang Yuanhua’s appearance has made me believe that in every corner of this world, there must be countless other Awakened Ones. And because of their actions, there are even more survivors.

But I also know the monsters out there aren’t just simple zombies. There are things five times stronger, ten times, 33.3 times... maybe even 100 times stronger..."

Lin Fan paused here and looked around at everyone. Their eyes held confusion, doubt, and bewilderment, but one thing was the same: every one of them was staring intently at him. He gave a self-deprecating smile and continued,

"I’m just a vet from a rundown old complex. Hearing a lot of this from me might sound a little ridiculous, but since we’re on the topic, I’m going to finish what I have to say.

I have a feeling this war isn’t going to end anytime soon. My appearance, your appearance, Wang Yuanhua’s appearance—it’s all just the first blast of the horn.

This is a war, but it’s also not a war. Our job isn’t to fight battles; it’s to survive.

But in order to survive, there are only three things we can do: fight, get stronger, and live.

Our survival might affect the survival of dozens or hundreds of people. The survival of more people ’like us’ could affect the survival of tens or hundreds of millions.

For a hundred people to have survived in our one small complex... that’s already very good..."

As he spoke, Lin Fan, standing between Su Qing and Chu Zhaozhao, extended a hand forward.

He didn’t look at their expressions, his gaze fixed firmly on the back of his outstretched hand.

"Comrades, do not be down. Do not be sad. And do not go gentle into that good night..."

A hand entered Lin Fan’s field of vision and covered his own. The palm was warm and strong. The hand was dark and calloused, with some black grime under the fingernails.

Lin Fan silently raised his head and met the gaze of the hand’s owner. It was Liu Bin.

And at this moment, a light shone in his eyes that Lin Fan had never seen before—a light that even Lin Fan’s repeated displays of miraculous power had never elicited from him.

"Brother Lin... I... I understand."

Liu Bin said, his voice faltering as he looked into Lin Fan’s eyes,

"I might not have understood everything, but I understood the last part!

I, Liu Bin, am an ordinary man. There’s not much I can do. Before, I thought you were powerful and smart, so clinging to you, serving you all... it was a good deal! But today, after hearing all this... I... I’m just an ordinary man, but..."

As Liu Bin spoke, tears welled up in his eyes.

"But from now on, you all just keep moving forward. I’ll always be your steadiest support from the rear! You’re Brother Lin! But we’re comrades!"

Next came Wu Haitao’s hand, sticky with machine oil, then Chu Zhaotian’s and Xu Qian’s, and finally, Chu Zhaozhao’s and Su Qing’s from beside Lin Fan.

Lin Fan felt the layers of warmth and weight on the back of his hand. He slowly raised his head, looking around at each person beside him, at the light shining in their eyes.

"I don’t know what you plan to do or where you’re going in the future, but your direction is my direction! Wherever you go, I’ll go!"

Su Qing said with certainty, looking at Lin Fan’s face.

"Me too!"

Chu Zhaozhao, standing to the side, nodded emphatically.

"Brother Lin!"

Although Chu Zhaotian and Xu Qian were young, they could still feel the weight of all those hands, and they responded in low voices.

"Alright! Enough of this, then!"

Lin Fan looked around at everyone.

"Eat up. Once you’re full, and before it gets dark, we’re going to go clear out De’anli across the street!"

Then, all their hands pressed down together, completely dispelling the gloomy atmosphere that had enveloped them.

"Let’s eat!"