Chương 97: Two Destinies

The four of them sat together in the living room of apartment 302. The only light source was a small, battery-powered nightlight sitting on the coffee table. Zoe's Health Bar hadn't finished its transformation yet, but her HP had begun to recover normally. The speed was slower than Claire's, recovering roughly one point every ten minutes. Seeing this, Vince didn't bother hooking her up to another IV bag. At this recovery rate, she would likely wake up by tomorrow morning.

Looking at the Health Bars of the three people in front of him, he hesitated for a moment. He didn't tell the two boys the results of the experiment, simply instructing them impartially:"Even though you drank my blood, it doesn't guarantee you can resist the zombie virus. Keep your guard up and stay absolutely careful..."

"Got it, Vince..." The two boys replied while munching on their chive pockets. Sitting to the side, Claire didn't know exactly what had happened, but she could guess the gist of it from Vince's words. She didn't press the issue. Seeing Zoe's condition stabilize had relaxed her significantly, so she joked:"This Ben is pretty capable. To think he could find this many chives at a time like this..."

"Yeah. They only made about thirty pockets in total, and he gave me more than half... They're actually really good, tastes like something from a restaurant outside." Vince said as he ate. He had been eating Claire's cooking exclusively; suddenly tasting outside food felt a bit unfamiliar.

"Yeah..." Claire smiled. She then got up, went into the bedroom to check on things, and walked back out.

"Vince, when do you think Zoe will wake up..."

"I don't know, probably in the next day or two..." Vince didn't give a definitive answer, just a rough estimate.

"She can wake up that fast?" Cody interjected suddenly.

"Yeah, maybe even faster. She might wake up tomorrow..." Vince looked at the yellow [64/100] floating above his head, feeling a complex mix of emotions. Out loud, he moved up Zoe's estimated wake-up time. Whether it was Claire, Zoe, or even Vince himself, if a full Health Bar meant full health... Then as long as they survived an injury and stopped the bleeding, they could probably recover to peak condition within two days... While thinking this, he turned his head to glance at Seth. [67/105]...

As his blood took effect within Seth's body, the HP recovery rates of the two boys were widening into a noticeable gap. At this rate, by tomorrow morning, Seth's HP would be completely full, while Cody might not even reach full HP in another three days... Based on Vince's observations, none of the yellow Health Bars among Ben's group were completely full; the highest ones hovered around the 90-point mark.

In other words, even in a safe environment with ample food, their HP might never naturally recover to its absolute maximum. Vince had only seen three types of fully recovered Health Bars: his own, Claire's green Health Bar, and Claire's purple-bordered green Health Bar. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. If these people were collectively termed "Awakened," then Awakened and non-Awakened were entirely split into two different species based on vitality alone...

If Vince's blood was effective on everyone, having experienced the loneliness of clearing out mutated zombies in the buildings by himself, he would open his veins without hesitation to boost the majority of people to 105 Max HP. Regardless of their combat capability, at least they would have fast recovery and wouldn't be afraid of getting hurt. That was the only way they could possibly claw back a sliver of an advantage in a world overrun by zombies and mutated monsters. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

At least, not on Cody... What exactly are you missing?... As the sky darkened, Claire volunteered to stay and take care of Zoe. She was a girl, after all; even for her brother, Cody, it was a bit inconvenient. Therefore, the two boys took their leave, preparing to head upstairs and rest early.

"Vince, we'll head up first. I'll keep the walkie-talkie on, so call us directly if you need anything..." Cody said his goodbyes to Vince and turned to walk out of the room. Seth followed behind him. Just as he turned to leave— Vince's gaze swept past Cody's retreating back. He gently patted Seth's shoulder and slipped a round crystal straight into his mouth. Seth swallowed it down with a gulp as naturally as breathing.

Then, as if he had completely forgotten the exchange had even happened, he turned and followed Cody upstairs. It wasn't that Vince was intentionally isolating Cody. Rather, when Seth wasn't around earlier, he had privately shown Cody this very crystal. And the boy had zero reaction to it, simply assuming it was some medicine you took when infected. If Seth had eaten the crystal right in front of him, Cody would definitely realize he was the odd one out.

Not only would it crush his motivation, but it would also breed unnecessary resentment. It was better to just keep him in the dark. But Claire had witnessed the entire exchange. She remained silent, and after the two left, she gently closed the door.

"Vince, was that..."

"It was the same kind of crystal you guys ate..."

"Seth? Why didn't you give one to Cody?"

"Do you remember? When you ate it, it was an absolute instinct, as natural as breathing..."

"Of course I remember..."

"Then do you remember Zoe earlier..."

"She was unconscious and her head was still following your hand... And you, playing around at a time like that!" Claire said, lightly punching Vince on the shoulder.

"I wasn't playing, it was an experiment. How else would I figure out the secrets of these things..."

"So do you know now?"

"No..."

"..." Claire turned and walked back to the sofa, placing the nightlight on the coffee table. Vince went to the bathroom for a quick wash. When he came out, he sat beside her, gently stroking Claire's hand.

"Why Seth?" Claire asked in confusion.

"I don't know either. Cody doesn't have the instinct to eat this crystal, but Seth does, you saw it too... As for the difference between the two of them, I have a way to verify it, don't worry..."

"Sigh... Does that mean Cody is the only one who won't have this power..."

"You felt it?"

"Mhm..." Claire raised her right hand, rubbing the spot where the Mutated Hound had clawed her earlier today. Right now, the wound was nothing more than a faint red mark.

"I know why you told Zoe to let me kill the zombies as much as possible now... At first, I didn't feel anything, but after killing a few, I could clearly feel my stamina and strength increasing..." Vince massaged her arm and said:"Yeah. If your original overall physical constitution was a score of 100, then right now, every time you kill a zombie, you gain a point. In the future, when you're stronger and kill stronger zombies, you'll gain even more..." Claire's eyes widened.

She hadn't expected Vince to be so intimately familiar with this method of growing stronger. On second thought, as if catching onto something:"You... you too?"

"Duh. I'm the source for all of you, of course I am... It's just that killing normal zombies is useless for me now. I'm already much stronger than them. Water doesn't flow uphill..." Vince casually kicked off his shoes, lay down on the sofa, rested his head on Claire's lap, and spoke with his eyes closed.

"Then in the future, Zoe, Seth... all of them will be?" Claire asked while rubbing Vince's forehead.

"Probably. I still need to experiment..." He was probably truly exhausted. The moment Vince lay down, a wave of drowsiness washed over him. Within moments, his speech became slurred and hazy...

"Then Cody... when he finds out in the future... Sigh..." Claire also understood why Vince had spoken like that at the dining table earlier.

"The future... if he can't become like you guys, how far into the future can he really go... I'm tired, I don't want to think about it anymore..." As Vince spoke, light snores began to escape his nose. He had fallen fast asleep. Claire didn't know whether Cody should be told about this either. But she knew Vince had lied to the boys earlier—she was clearly immune to the virus now. Perhaps he did it to avoid dealing a crushing blow to Cody, but she still felt a sense of alienation.

This barrier wasn't just wedged between them and Cody; it spanned between them and all the "ordinary people" in the world. It was an invisible, yet undeniably real, abyss.