Apocalypse: I Can Upgrade Everything

Chapter 127: Strength Improvement

“You guys get some sleep. I’m going out for a smoke.”

Chen Ye threw his coat over his shoulders and walked out of the classroom, leaving Iron Lion and Chu Che behind.

The moment he stepped into the corridor, a blast of icy air hit him, instantly sharpening his senses. He lit a cigarette, letting it dangle from the corner of his mouth.

He wasn’t leaving out of politeness. He needed privacy.

He wanted to test the effects of the upgraded Death God’s Blood Tears, and the dormitory offered zero secrecy. Everything he did would be under scrutiny.

Iron Lion was easy enough to fool; the big guy was simple. Even if Chen Ye flashed his System interface in front of him, Iron Lion probably wouldn’t register what he was seeing.

The problem was Chu Che.

That man was sharp as a razor. If Chen Ye showed even a hint of unusual activity, Chu Che would piece together the truth in seconds. It was better to keep his distance from the Rational Investigator, especially if their alliance eventually soured.

He passed the neighboring classroom, where Sun Qianqian and Ding Dong were staying.

Suddenly, a dark, headless object floated toward him through the gloom.

Chen Ye froze, the hairs on his neck standing up.

What the hell?

Didn’t Wu Jianshan say this place was safe?

What is that thing?

Chen Ye exhaled a sharp puff of smoke, ready to envelop the entity.

“Chen Ye!”

A crisp, familiar voice rang out from the headless mass. Chen Ye jumped.

“Holy shit! Who are you? How do you know my name?”

“Chen Ye, you bastard! Smoking again? You’re going to smoke yourself to death one day!”

Chen Ye squinted. “Little… Yu?”

“Hmph!”

The “headless monster” was just Little Yu, bundled up in a long, oversized down jacket that completely swallowed her frame. She had pulled the hood and collar up so high that her head was invisible.

She kicked open the door to the girls’ dormitory, shot a glare at Chen Ye from the depths of her coat, and waddled inside.

Bang!

The door slammed shut, sending a tremor through the snowdrift outside.

Chen Ye stood there, cigarette dangling.

That little girl… small stature, big attitude.

Through the thin door, he heard muffled voices.

“Little Yu, who was that?”

“Who else? Chen Ye. Standing out there puffing away like a chimney. I hope he chokes.”

“Hehe… he won’t choke. His ability is literally smoke control…”

Downstairs, the excited chatter of survivors drifted up. For the first time in six months, they were sleeping indoors. Tonight was a celebration.

In another room, Zhou Xiaoxiao hid under her blanket, ignoring her roommates. She stared at the falling snow outside the window, her mind cycling through images of her missing sister, her parents, and Chen Ye.

Elsewhere, only two of the four brothers from Lu City remained.

The fourth brother, He Laosi, had become a celebrity thanks to his lockpicking skills.

The eldest brother, Boss Gao, sat in silence.

Before the apocalypse, Boss Gao had been a local tyrant. A stomp of his foot could make the ground shake. He had gone to prison for a crime that sparked public outrage, but even then, he expected it to be a brief vacation before returning to power.

But the world ended before his sentence did.

Now, the fearsome Boss Gao was just another shivering survivor. His power, money, and influence had reset to zero.

He just wanted to live. To stay as far away from “that devil” as possible. Two of his brothers had died at the devil’s hands. He had no thoughts of revenge. He just wanted to disappear into the background.

To Boss Gao, the most terrifying thing wasn’t an Anomaly. It was being recognized.

After the interruption, Chen Ye scanned his surroundings.

Finding a secluded spot to cultivate was harder than he thought.

Wu Jianshan had explicitly forbidden them from entering the fifth floor. Chen Ye didn’t care to challenge the cult leader’s authority directly, nor was he curious about what horror lay inside the classrooms up there.

But Wu Jianshan never said anything about the roof.

Chen Ye exhaled gently. The smoke swirled, condensing into a set of translucent stairs rising into the snowy air.

Step by step, he ascended the smoke staircase, bypassing the forbidden floor and emerging onto the roof of the school building.

The rooftop was buried under a thick blanket of snow.

With a wave of his hand, the smoke swept the snow aside, clearing a circle of dry concrete. Chen Ye sat cross-legged and pulled out the vial.

[Item Name: Purified Tears of the Death God] [Effect: Highly effective for enhancing the strength of low-level Sequence Beyonders. A rare auxiliary cultivation resource.] [Comment: Purified and refined. No side effects. High safety. No risk of contamination. Long-term use may lead to resistance.]

Under the blood moon, the two drops of crimson liquid in the vial seemed to glow with an eerie, rhythmic light, as if they were alive.

Trusting the System, Chen Ye tilted his head back and swallowed the drops.

Boom.

The moment the liquid hit his tongue, a surge of raw energy exploded in his body. It rushed straight to his brain, a stimulating shockwave that made his vision vibrate.

His face flushed red, and steam began to rise from his skin. It felt like swallowing a handful of raw stimulants.

He immediately activated the [Blood Moon Breathing Technique].

The essence of the technique was to adjust the frequency of his internal Qi to match and assimilate external sources. Whether it was the Blood Moon or the Death God’s Tears, energy was energy.

And he was hungry.

Downstairs, Chu Che waited until Chen Ye was gone before silently getting dressed.

Iron Lion blinked sleepily. “Captain, you going for a smoke too?”

“Go back to sleep. I have something to check.”

“Everyone’s so mysterious tonight,” Iron Lion muttered, rolling over.

Chu Che left the classroom and headed out into the snow, making his way back to the parked vehicles.

He slipped into his car, ensuring he was alone. From a hidden compartment, he retrieved a modified device: the Eavesdropping Radio.

He turned it on and began slowly turning the dial, scanning the static.

Zzzzz…

Zzzzz…

The white noise hissed through the speaker, chaotic and empty.

On the rooftop, Chen Ye opened his eyes.

He exhaled a long, heavy breath, his eyes heavy with exhaustion but bright with excitement.

He checked his watch. 3:30 AM.

He had been cultivating for hours.

The results were worth it. The purified tears had been potent.

He lit a fresh cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled slowly.

Thick, gray smoke billowed out, expanding rapidly until it covered a diameter of nearly 13 meters.

The volume of his Smoke Mist was his most direct yardstick for power. It had grown significantly.

Inside the mist, shapes began to form. One, two… six wolves clawed their way out of the smoke, their eyes glowing faintly.

These were simulations based on the Breeder Sequence wolves he had encountered in the camel caravan.

Previously, his limit was five. Now, he could sustain six.

The wolves weren’t as strong as the originals, but they were expendable and perfect for ground combat. Against flying enemies like the Eight-Limbed Human Face, they were useless, but against swarms of ground-based Anomalies, they would be a formidable pack.

His Smoke Simulation had leveled up.

At this rate, Chen Ye thought, if I can fleece a few more drops from Wu Jianshan, I might be able to push straight to Sequence 2.

Each advancement unlocked new talents. At Sequence 1, he had gained [Nicotine Tolerance], [Smoke Mist], and [Smoke Simulation].

He wasn’t a genius like Sun Qianqian, who could learn flying sword techniques after eating a magic fruit. He was average. But with the System and his pragmatism, he was catching up.

Satisfied, he descended from the roof.

Back in the classroom, Iron Lion was snoring like a chainsaw. Chu Che was missing.

Old fox, Chen Ye cursed silently.

He climbed into his bed and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

“AHHHHHHH!”

At first light, a scream tore through the silence of the school.

It was shrill, desperate, and filled with absolute terror.

Chen Ye’s eyes snapped open.