14: Chapter 14 Resource Scarcity, A Choice Between Life and Death?

The eighth day.

The early morning light filtered through the tattered curtains, spilling into the small twenty-five-square-meter studio apartment.

But this faint light could not dispel the deathly silence in the room.

Ye Qingyue lay on the bed, her eyes beginning to glaze over.

She hadn't eaten for three whole days.

Three days.

For an ordinary young girl, this was approaching the limit.

Her complexion was as deathly pale as a corpse.

Her lips were purple, cracked and covered in bloody fissures.

Her breathing was so faint it was almost inaudible.

She was curled up under the quilt, her whole body trembling.

She was cold.

Extremely cold.

Not just because the room temperature was over ten degrees below zero.

But also because her bodily functions were collapsing.

With no food to provide energy,

her body could not maintain a normal temperature.

She felt herself slowly freezing to death.

Ye Qingxue sat by the bedside, forcing herself to stay upright to look after her sister.

Her own state wasn't much better.

She also hadn't eaten for three days.

She was also at her limit of hunger.

Her eye sockets were sunken, her cheekbones protruded, and her entire frame had withered.

Her hands shook incessantly.

Her vision was blurred.

Her consciousness drifted in and out.

But she couldn't collapse.

She had to guard her sister.

She had to stay with her sister.

Even if... even if it was just to die with her.

"Qingyue... Qingyue..."

Ye Qingxue gently patted her sister's face.

"Wake up... don't sleep..."

But Ye Qingyue did not respond.

She had already fallen into a semi-comatose state.

Ye Qingxue's tears began to flow again.

It was over.

It was really all over.

By the wall, Lin Yuan opened his eyes.

He also looked terrible.

Pale, haggard, with weary eyes.

But... he was still conscious.

He could still think.

He still had the strength to sit up.

Lin Yuan secretly held a frost curse antidote in his mouth.

The faint medicinal effect circulated through his body, barely maintaining his vital functions.

While the antidote wasn't food, it could at least alleviate some of the weakness.

Allowing him to hold on for another day or two.

He looked at the two sisters dying on the bed.

"I can still hold on for a few days,"

Lin Yuan said calmly.

"What about you two?"

Ye Qingxue snapped her head up, her eyes filled with hatred.

But she couldn't speak.

She was too weak.

Lin Yuan stood up and walked to the window.

He was calculating in his mind.

How much longer could Ye Qingxue last?

A day?

Half a day?

Or... should he compromise now?

If she still didn't compromise...

Lin Yuan's eyes flickered.

He could force them, but that wouldn't be recognized by the system.

The system required "genuine recognition," not forced submission.

Lin Yuan considered it for a moment and shook his head.

No.

Forced methods wouldn't work.

First, in Ye Qingxue's current state, she would definitely resist frantically.

Even though she was weak, a cornered beast still fights.

If he truly enraged her and she fought to the death, it would be disadvantageous for him too.

Second, and more importantly...

The system needed genuine recognition.

The system wouldn't acknowledge anything obtained through force.

Furthermore, the subsequent "resource level upgrades" required "establishing a deep bond."

How could there be a bond with something obtained by force?

So, he still had to make them trust him willingly.

At the very least... he had to make them feel that following him was the best choice.

Lin Yuan thought of another way.

Actually...

He could totally let the sisters drink boiled water containing snow poison.

The power hadn't completely gone out these past few days.

He could boil snow water.

Although snow water was toxic, the toxicity might decrease after boiling.

Then they could take the frost curse antidote.

Maybe he could exploit a bug—drinking the water while neutralizing the poison.

This method was theoretically feasible.

But...

Lin Yuan quickly dismissed the idea.

For two reasons.

First, if this method were truly effective and he drank it himself but didn't give it to the sisters...

it would definitely trigger a stress response in them.

In the Apocalypse, human nature cannot withstand such tests.

Ye Qingxue would surely question him frantically, maybe even fight him to the death.

Their already tense relationship would completely shatter.

Second, the uncertainty was too great.

This method was purely speculative.

No one knew if it would work.

What if it didn't?

What if the antidote couldn't suppress the toxicity after drinking the snow water?

Then they would die.

After all, the human body was infected so deeply just by touching it.

If he let one of the sisters try it and she died...

it would be a huge loss for Lin Yuan.

If she died, and the resource became invalid,

he would lose a source of supplies.

That was something he absolutely could not accept.

Therefore...

The safest and best way was still to unlock new resources through Ye Qingyue.

Once he collected Ye Qingyue, the system would randomly generate new resources.

If he was lucky and it generated water or food...

that would be perfect.

So, the current strategy was:

Wait it out.

Keep waiting.

Wait until Ye Qingxue was completely desperate.

Wait until she had no choice but to compromise.

And then she would "willingly" hand her sister over to him.

A cold sneer curled on Lin Yuan's lips.

Time was still on his side.

He turned around and looked at the sisters on the bed.

Ye Qingxue was looking at her sister in despair.

Ye Qingyue's breathing was getting weaker and weaker.

If this continued, she might not last the day.

Finally.

Ye Qingxue broke down.

"Please..."

she sobbed.

Her voice was so hoarse it was almost unintelligible.

"Please... give my sister something to eat..."

She knelt on the bed, tears streaming uncontrollably.

"I... I'll do anything..."

"Please... save her..."

Lin Yuan looked at her, his expression remaining calm.

"I've said it before."

His voice was cold.

"I want your sister, not you."

Ye Qingxue trembled all over.

She raised her head, her eyes full of despair and rage.

"You... you beast!"

she screamed.

Though she was weak, anger gave her a final burst of strength.

"In your dreams!"

"I'd rather we both starve to death!"

"I will never let you touch my sister!"

"Never!"

Lin Yuan just shrugged after hearing this.

"Suit yourself."

He turned and walked back to the wall.

"It's you two who will die first, not me anyway."

Then he ignored her.

He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes,

as if he truly didn't care anymore.

Ye Qingxue looked at his back, then back at her sister.

She hugged Ye Qingyue and began to wail.

"Qingyue... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

"Sister... Sister really has no other way..."

She cried heart-wrenchingly.

But her cries grew weaker and weaker.

Because she had no strength left either.

She was gambling.

Gambling that Lin Yuan was lying to her.

Gambling that he had no solution at all.

That he was just a pervert trying to take advantage.

As long as she held out, he would eventually starve to death too.

Everyone dying together was better than... better than letting her sister be defiled by him.

Ye Qingxue convinced herself of this.

But... but her sister was really about to die.

She could feel her sister's body temperature dropping.

Her breathing was getting shallower.

Life was slipping away bit by bit.

Maybe... maybe in a few more hours, her sister really would die.

Ye Qingxue's heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife.

Just then.

Ye Qingyue weakly opened her eyes.

She saw her sister crying.

Using the last of her strength, she squeezed out a few words:

"Sister... I'm so cold..."

Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

"I'm so hungry..."

After saying this, her eyes closed again.

She fell back into a coma.

Ye Qingxue looked at her sister.

Looked at her pale face.

Looked at her cracked lips.

Looked at her increasingly faint breathing.

Her heart broke.

Completely shattered.

"Qingyue... Qingyue!!"

She shook her sister frantically.

But her sister didn't react.

No reaction at all.

Ye Qingxue finally realized.

Her sister... might really be dying.

Right before her eyes.

Right in her arms.

Slowly dying.

"No... don't..."

Ye Qingxue sobbed.

"Don't die... please... don't die..."

But her sister couldn't hear her.

She had already fallen into a deep coma.

Perhaps she would never wake up again.

Ye Qingxue held her sister, feeling her entire world collapse.

By the wall, Lin Yuan opened his eyes.

He looked at Ye Qingxue, who was holding her sister and crying in pain.

His gaze remained calm.

Without a trace of pity.

Only indifference.

And... waiting.

He was waiting.

Waiting for Ye Qingxue to make her final choice.

To watch her sister die before her eyes.

Or...

Compromise.