Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars

Lin Fan took a sudden leap, landing right on top of the courtyard wall.

The two men in the courtyard guarding the supply warehouse were already on edge from hearing voices outside. When a figure suddenly appeared on the wall, they were startled.

They scrambled for the long spears at their sides and stumbled back to the warehouse entrance, their eyes fixed nervously on the figure. They were just about to cry for help.

"It's me, Lin Fan. Where's Liu Bin?"

Lin Fan looked at the two men, speechless. He didn't recognize them, but they looked vaguely familiar. 'Anyone guarding this place must be one of Liu Bin's men,' he thought. He quickly spoke up before they could cause a commotion.

"Ah... It really is you, Brother Lin..."

One of them peeked out from behind the door, squinting to get a better look at the person on the wall. After confirming it was really Lin Fan and not some Mutated Zombie, he walked out of the warehouse with a sheepish smile.

"Brother Bin... We don't know. He went out with that new big guy a little while ago..."

"Oh, it's fine. Go back to what you were doing."

'The new big guy? Wang Yuanhua?'

Lin Fan jumped down from the wall. Seeing that neither Liu Bin nor Wang Yuanhua was around, he glanced at the barrels of water stacked under the corrugated steel shelter. The amount looked about right.

They had previously been distributed at a rate of one barrel per person. Now, with over fifty new people, there were still over fifty barrels left.

It seemed even Liu Bin's men weren't using the water wastefully. They were managing things well.

He gave the two men a nod, passed through the small gate, and headed straight out of the supermarket.

"Whoa... It's Brother Lin... That wall is so high, and he just flew right over!"

The two men in the courtyard watched Lin Fan walk away, murmuring to each other in low voices.

"So cool... I'm jealous."

...

The main supermarket floor had been converted into a small cafeteria where several women were preparing the next day's food.

When a stranger emerged from the back, they all turned to look at him with curiosity.

"Ah! Lin..."

One of them recognized him as Lin Fan and gasped, covering her mouth in surprise.

Seeing this, Lin Fan quickened his pace and hurried out of the supermarket, terrified that one of the women would suddenly strike up a conversation: "Doctor Lin, do you remember me? You treated my dog for constipation!"

Lin Fan really wouldn't know how to respond to that.

"Brother Liu, it's Lin Fan. Where are you? What about Wang Yuanhua?"

Lin Fan walked out the supermarket entrance in a few strides, pulled out his walkie-talkie, and called Liu Bin.

"Brother Lin... it's Liu Bin. Brother Wang is here with me... He woke up, so we went to the clinic to look for you. You weren't there. Where are you?"

Liu Bin's voice crackled over the walkie-talkie.

"Hah! We must have just missed each other. I'm at the supermarket. Come on back."

"Oh, okay, right away..."

A few young people were standing at the supermarket entrance. They didn't recognize him at first, but after hearing his conversation with Liu Bin on the walkie-talkie, they figured out who he was.

"Brother Lin, have a seat."

A young man quickly brought over a stool.

Lin Fan took the stool, said thanks, and sat down right at the entrance of the supermarket.

The fire under the large pot by the entrance had gone out, leaving only a little warmth in the cauldron.

The lid was ajar, and through the gap, he could see a few flatbreads stuck to the inside wall of the pot. Having so much food that there were leftovers was a rare sight in these apocalyptic times.

At the base of the opposite building were several tables, where a few people sat chatting on a motley collection of chairs and stools. Lin Fan noticed their health bars were low; they must have been the recently rescued survivors.

These people, just pulled from the abyss of despair, understood the value of life better than anyone. They gathered in small groups, greedily savoring every moment.

The supplies scavenged from the apartments in the complex were no longer being moved to the supermarket. Instead, they were stored nearby on the first floors of these buildings.

The contents of the refrigerators had almost all rotted. The only useful supplies they could gather were things like drinking water, rice, flour, and oil—all easy to preserve.

Lin Fan could see figures moving about inside through a window. It looked like people were still busy in there.

"Brother Lin..."

A soft call came from the distance. Lin Fan turned to see two silhouettes approaching from the west, backlit by the setting sun. One was wide, and the other was even wider.

The one who had called out was Liu Bin, which meant the even wider figure was clearly Wang Yuanhua.

"Brother Lin."

A less familiar voice also spoke up.

In his conversation with Liu Bin, Wang Yuanhua had learned some basic information about this "leader" of theirs. He'd also found out from Liu Bin that everyone called him "Brother Lin," not "Leader" as he had before.

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After an afternoon of rest, Wang Yuanhua's health had recovered by over forty points. Although his external injuries and his arm were still far from fully healed, he looked much more spirited.

Seeing Lin Fan sitting by the entrance, the two of them quickened their pace and were in front of him in a moment.

"Wang... I'll just call you Brother Wang, too."

Wang Yuanhua didn't look that old, but he wasn't necessarily younger than Lin Fan, either. Not wanting to get into the semantics of it, Lin Fan decided to just follow Liu Bin's lead.

"Yes, yes, of course! Anything is fine. Brother Liu calls me that too."

Wang Yuanhua smiled at Liu Bin beside him, then walked up to Lin Fan and bowed deeply, his head lower than Lin Fan's even though he was sitting.

"Brother Lin! I can never repay you for saving my life. You're the reason I'm still alive. If there's anything you need done, just say the word!"

Any pride he'd felt as a "strong man" had been obliterated when he faced that Mutated Zombie. He had just sized Lin Fan up and down—no signs of fatigue, no injuries, nothing.

He was just sitting on the stool with a faint smile, watching the survivors come and go, nodding in response to their greetings. He looked completely at ease.

He'd woken up in the tree and fled for his life, leading the zombies away in a panic. This was the first time he had seen Lin Fan since. He had guessed that the man before him must have dealt with the monster, but he never imagined it would have been done with such ease.

So what else was there to say? He immediately pledged his loyalty.

Lin Fan wasn't quite used to seeing this big man, one arm still in a sling, bowing so deeply to him. He shot a glance at Liu Bin, who understood the signal and quickly reached out to help Wang Yuanhua up.

"Hey now, Brother Wang, there's no need for that. You're making it sound like we're strangers. All of us here owe our lives to Brother Lin. A great debt of gratitude isn't something you need to keep talking about. Besides, Brother Lin doesn't like all this sappy stuff..."

"Exactly. Look how chill Liu Bin is. This guy has never once thanked me..."

Lin Fan joked, playing along with Liu Bin.

A debt of life like this wasn't a good thing for either the rescuer or the rescued. It was better not to keep bringing it up; that sort of thing could easily lead to trouble.

So naturally, Lin Fan didn't accept the formal show of respect. He just bantered with Liu Bin and let the moment pass.

"Heh heh..."

Hearing them, Wang Yuanhua looked up at Lin Fan. He scratched his head with his good left hand, a smile spreading across his face.

"Alright then, I won't stand on ceremony, Brother Lin! But anyway, if you need anything done, I'm your man. No questions asked!"

"Alright, alright. What are you going to do with just one good arm? Focus on healing up first. Sit down. Tell me your story, starting from day one of the apocalypse..."

Lin Fan agreed with a smile, then casually brought up the question he was most interested in.

This was the very reason he'd come.

A few young men brought over two more stools. Liu Bin also had someone bring out a few cases of beer from inside. He took a stool and sat down opposite Lin Fan.

The young people who weren't busy didn't leave. Lin Fan didn't shoo them away, either. 'If they want to listen, let them,' he thought. 'Wang Yuanhua will be living among them from now on. Forbidding them from listening would just make me look suspicious.'

As the sun set, the group of well-fed survivors began to chat, some sitting, some standing. Wang Yuanhua began his story, starting from when he'd first come to the complex for a tile-laying job.

When he told them how he'd been bitten, breaking an arm and both legs, the crowd around them gasped in shock.

When he got to the part about a female neighbor throwing herself at him, the onlookers broke into lewd grins and teased him.

In that moment, the distinction between Awakened Ones and ordinary people quietly faded away. There was only the story and the people within it.

The sky grew darker, but the crowd gathered around them only grew larger.

Although it wasn't autumn yet, the overcast night felt a bit chilly. Someone moved the large cooking pot aside and lit a fire in the barrel stove, driving away the damp chill in the air.

There was no roasted meat, but there was beer. A crowd gathered around the three men, enjoying this rare moment of peace.

"Brother Wang, when you ate that thing... what was it like?"

Chu Zhaotian asked curiously from the crowd, holding a can of beer.

"What was it like? Nothing special..."

"Wait a minute... When did you get here?"

Lin Fan held up a hand, a beer can in his grasp, cutting Wang Yuanhua off.

He'd thought he was hearing things when Chu Zhaotian's voice cut in. Looking up, he saw that familiar, grinning face looking right at him, as if trying to give him a surprise.