Chapter 106: The Empty Apartment

Trevor stared at the empty living room, his dark brows drawn together in a hard line. Something wasn’t right here. He had watched Ethan come back earlier that evening through the flickering amber lights of the streetlamps, and he could have sworn he saw him bring a woman inside. Yet now, after forcing the rusted deadbolt and slipping through the door, neither of them was here.

The apartment was fully furnished. The interior doors were intact, and a few miscellaneous belongings were scattered across the coffee table and sofa. It looked entirely lived-in, as if someone had just stepped out for a moment. But the owner had vanished without a trace, leaving behind an eerie silence that made the hairs on the back of Trevor’s neck stand up.

He scratched his head aggressively, his gaze drifting toward the darkened bedroom.

"Where the hell did he go?"

Behind him, Tessa stood near the entryway, nervously twisting the hem of her black shirt between trembling fingers. Long dark hair fell across one side of her face, half-concealing her features. Dust clung to her clothes, and a dark purple bruise marred her left cheekbone. Even exhausted and marked by the apocalypse, the shape of her was hard to ignore. The fitted black shirt stretched tight across the full weight of her chest, the fabric pulling with every breath and outlining the soft curve of her breasts. Her worn jeans sat low on her hips and hugged the round, full shape of her ass when she shifted her weight, the denim creasing under the pressure.

"Trev," she whispered, her voice barely louder than the hum of the refrigerator, "maybe Ethan already left. We shouldn’t be here. The zombies... they’re getting closer to the building."

Her voice was timid, nearly drowned out by the distant, mournful growls drifting through the ruined streets outside.

Trevor shot her an impatient, venomous look over his shoulder.

"Shut your mouth. I’m trying to think."

Tessa immediately fell silent, shrinking back against the wall. She lowered her head, hiding her expression behind a curtain of hair. The movement made the shirt pull tighter across her chest again.

Trevor turned his attention back to the room. He hadn’t broken into this place to play hide-and-seek; he had come expecting food, clean water, and whatever else he could cram into his pockets. Instead, the place was a ghost town, and Ethan was nowhere to be found. But Trevor had sharp ears. He had heard the camp rumors buzzing through the settlement—rumors claiming Ethan possessed a rare Space Ability. If those whispered stories were true, then Ethan wasn’t just living here; he was likely hauling around a miniature warehouse of resources that made normal survival look like a joke.

Trevor wasn’t about to let an opportunity like that slip through his fingers.

What he didn’t know was that Ethan was watching him right now from a dimension he couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Inside the quiet sanctuary of the Survival Space, Ethan stood before the shimmering spatial light screen, his dark eyes studying the two unwelcome intruders on the display. He had already swept the apartment and the hallway outside to ensure no one else was lurking in the shadows. Satisfied that these two were the only ones foolish enough to try their luck here, he turned his focus toward Sofia, who sat quietly on a nearby crate.

"Stay here. I’ll take care of this."

Sofia nodded, her eyes still locked on the screen, reflecting the soft blue light. "Be careful."

Ethan gave her a short, reassuring nod. A second later, his figure flickered with a faint distortion of air, and he vanished from the pocket dimension, reappearing directly in the center of the living room.

"Who’s there?!"

Trevor nearly leaped out of his skin, his heavy crowbar slipping from his sweaty palm and striking the hardwood floor with a loud, clattering bang. He stumbled backward, tripping over his own boots and staring at Ethan as if a ghost had just materialized out of solid matter.

Then, slowly, recognition cut through the panic.

"Ethan?"

The stark terror on his face vanished almost instantly, replaced by a slippery, ingratiating smile that stretched too wide across his lips.

"Bro! When did you get back? I didn’t even hear you come in!"

Ethan didn’t answer right away. His gaze swept past Trevor and settled on Tessa. She took half a step back, the jeans tightening across her ass with the movement. The system notification sounded in his mind.

[Gift Target Detected: Tessa, 23 years old. Beauty Score: 89.]

Ethan’s expression stayed perfectly neutral, but his interest sharpened. A high-value gift target had literally walked right into his trap. There was no earthly reason to ignore her presence.

He shifted his eyes back to Trevor, his voice cold. "What are you two doing in my apartment?"

Trevor rubbed his hands together nervously, forcing out a hollow, awkward laugh.

"Don’t misunderstand, Bro. My family used to live over in Building Three. Before everything went to hell, my old man ran a supermarket, and we had a lot of emergency goods stashed away. Unfortunately, most of those are gone now."

He spread his hands in an exaggerated gesture of helplessness.

"Then I happened to see you come back with a woman this evening. I figured you might have stumbled onto some decent supplies, so I just came over to ask for a little friendly help."

He leaned forward, wearing the sort of oily charm that had probably talked him out of bar fights before the world ended.

"Besides, we’re practically Bros, right? Remember back in the day when we went down to the police station together?"

Ethan did remember. Before the apocalypse pulled civilization apart, Trevor had dragged him away from a quiet company dinner to look for some illicit underground party. The local police had raided the place within ten minutes. They had been caught red-handed and forced to pool every cent they had just to pay the hefty fines. It was a miserable memory that Ethan had long since tried to bury. He had never imagined the same manipulative idiot would one day break into his home at the literal end of days.

Apparently, Trevor genuinely believed a cheap, forgotten acquaintance carried more weight than basic human decency.

Without a word, Ethan reached into his Survival Space. Two heavy boxes of military-grade compressed biscuits materialized in his hands, followed immediately by a bulky five-gallon water jug that thumped heavily onto the coffee table.

"Take them and get out."

Trevor stared at the supplies, his eyes widening to the size of saucers. For a split second, he completely forgot how to hide his raw greed. He lunged forward like a starving animal and snatched the food into his arms.

"Bro! I knew you wouldn’t forget about me!" His face split into an ugly, triumphant grin. "You’re a real one, Ethan. If we survive this God-forsaken apocalypse, I swear I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me today!"

Ethan didn’t bother validating the lie. Instead, he reached back into his storage space, retrieved a glowing blue mutant Core, and held it out smoothly toward Tessa.

"This is for you."

Tessa blinked, staring down at the pulsating crystal resting harmlessly in his open palm. Before she could even process the gesture, Trevor burst out into a loud, mocking laugh.

"You’re still buying into those stupid online apocalypse novels?"

He shook his head as though Ethan had just lost his mind. "That thing is nothing but a useless, radioactive rock. My family had two mutant poodles cornered in an alley, and I killed both of them with a pipe. I swallowed their Cores myself." He puffed out his chest, looking proud of his stupidity. "Do you know what happened? Absolutely nothing. I spent half the damn night pissing blood, and that was it. No Ability, no superpowers, nothing."

Trevor laughed again, shaking his head. "Don’t tell me you actually believe these fairy tales can turn ordinary people into comic-book heroes."

Ethan completely ignored him, keeping his focus locked entirely on Tessa.

"Take it."

She hesitated, her heart hammering against her ribs. They barely knew each other, and she had no earthly clue why this man was handing her something Trevor insisted was absolute garbage. Still, Ethan’s demeanor was calm and unshakable. He wasn’t demanding anything vile in return. After a moment of heavy internal debate, she reached out and accepted the Core.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Then, trusting him blindly, she swallowed it.

Trevor’s smug smile instantly faltered. "Wait. You actually ate that crap?"

Tessa gasped, pressing a trembling hand against her throat as a sudden surge of heat flooded her system. For several seconds, nothing seemed to happen. Then, a vibrant green light bloomed softly in the center of her palm. She watched in total disbelief as the soothing glow spread across her fingers, casting emerald reflections over the dust on her skin. A warm, revitalizing wave traveled up her arm. As it passed her face, the ugly purple discoloration of the bruise on her cheek began to fade like ink under water. The swelling subsided, leaving her skin smooth and clear.

Tessa touched her cheek with shaking fingers, tears welling in her eyes.

"I can feel it... I can actually feel something changing inside me."

Trevor stared at her glowing hand, his mouth hanging open so wide his jaw looked unhinged. No words came out.

Meanwhile, Ethan’s system notifications flooded his mind in a rapid stream of text.

[Gifted an Elite Core to a gift target with a Beauty Score of 89.]

[First Gift to Target Detected. Base Return Unlocked.]

[Target: Tessa. Age: 23. Beauty Score: 89. Rarity: 100.]

[Base Return: 60x.]

[Emotional Fluctuation Detected: Gratitude + Survival Instinct.]

[High-Multiplier Bonus Triggered!]

[Return Received: SSS-Rank Ability, Breath of Corrosion.]

[Ability Description: Releases a black corrosive mist capable of disintegrating material structures. Corrosive intensity increases with the host’s Ability level.]

[Target Awakening: S-Rank Ability, Life Link.]

[Ability Description: Through physical contact, the user can share injuries with another person. The Ability accelerates the healing process for both the user and the target.]

[Ding! The host has unlocked 10 gift targets.]

[Gift Cooldown reduced to 6 days.]

A strange, crackling sensation rippled through Ethan’s right hand. He turned his palm upward instinctively. Thin, volatile wisps of black mist seeped from his pores, curling around his fingers like smoke rising from a hidden brushfire. The air around his hand warped and twisted under the intense chemical pressure. Curious, he glanced toward a heavy steel-legged chair sitting nearby and allowed a tiny tendril of the black mist to drift against one of its legs.

A faint, sharp hiss filled the room. The metal instantly darkened, bubbling violently as if exposed to acid, before its structural integrity collapsed completely. Within three seconds, a massive chunk of the leg simply disintegrated into fine black powder.

Ethan closed his fist, cutting off the flow. The mist vanished instantly.

Not bad at all.

He had just acquired another SSS-Rank Ability. On top of that, the system had permanently shortened his cooldown window after he officially hit ten registered gift targets. Ordinary survivors risked their lives hunting monsters just to consume Cores with a minuscule chance of survival, and even then, most awakened nothing useful. Meanwhile, he could effortlessly farm powerful abilities through system gift returns, while leaving the targets vastly stronger than before.

Tessa had just awakened a high-tier S-Rank healing Ability from a single Core. If she learned how to utilize it properly in the field, she could save lives that would otherwise be lost to the wasteland.

Ethan shifted his cold gaze back to Trevor.

And this absolute clown had swallowed two Cores without awakening a single spark of energy.

Trevor had spent the entire time bragging about his nonexistent strength. Now Ethan completely understood why: the man was all loud bark and zero bite.

"Let me see that hand!" Trevor snarled, suddenly lunging forward to grab Tessa’s wrist.

She recoiled with a gasp, trying to pull away, but he held on tight, wrenching her palm toward the light of the window. "How the hell did this happen? You swallowed the exact same kind of worthless stone, and now you’ve got a supernatural Ability?"

He examined her hand like a madman trying to find a hidden mechanism. "Why did it work for you? What did Ethan do differently to make it trigger?"

Tessa struggled against his grip, her face flushing with humiliation and fear. "I don’t know, Trevor, let go of me—"

"Then ask him!" Trevor whipped his head around, fixing his eyes on Ethan with a toxic mix of desperate curiosity and bitter jealousy. "Come on, Bro! Tell me your secret. I’ve already eaten two Cores myself. If there’s some kind of trick to this awakening bullshit, you need to tell me right now!"

Ethan’s expression chilled into absolute frost.

"Get out."

Trevor froze, his ugly grin slipping. "What?"

"I said, get the hell out of my apartment."

Ethan strode toward the front door, grabbed the handle, and threw it wide open. "Take your food and get lost before I change my mind."

Trevor looked as though he wanted to scream and smash something, but something dead and predatory in Ethan’s eyes stopped him dead in his tracks. He forced out a shaky, pathetic laugh. "All right, all right, no need to get your panties in a bunch. We’re leaving." He snatched up the boxes of biscuits and the water jug, clutching them to his chest like a dragon hoarding gold. "Come on, Tessa."

She hurried past him into the hallway, but right before stepping across the threshold, she glanced back over her shoulder at Ethan. There was profound gratitude in her dark eyes, mixed with a tangled web of emotions she couldn’t yet put into words. Then, Trevor rudely yanked her sleeve. "Hurry up!"

She lowered her head and let him pull her down the corridor. The heavy apartment door clicked shut behind them.