21: Upgrade with Gold

Twenty minutes later, Lin Ze killed a lone zombie dog.

This was the seventh monster he had killed.

His source points also successfully surpassed 1000 points.

Lin Ze didn't upgrade immediately; instead, he planned to return to avoid any unexpected incidents during the upgrade. It was better to do it back at the base!

As Lin Ze was returning along the original path, he suddenly saw several creatures approaching on the street.

If it weren't for his excellent eyesight, he really wouldn't have seen them! Because this creature was a giant bear with white fur!

With its white fur in the blizzard, if one wasn't careful, they wouldn't see it at all!

This giant bear with white fur wasn't a polar bear; it looked similar to a black bear.

But, that size... Lin Ze saw it stand up, sniffing something with its nose.

That height... it was at least four meters, right?

Was this a monster a human could fight? Lin Ze's expression changed slightly.

He planned to take a detour.

However, the creature seemed to have discovered him and ran directly towards him.

Lin Ze's face changed. The wind was blowing from him towards the giant bear, no wonder it discovered him!

The giant bear charged towards Lin Ze, and the thudding vibrations indicated its immense strength.

Moreover, its speed was not slow; judging by its speed, it was at least over 70 kilometers per hour.

The speed was extremely fast!

Fortunately, Lin Ze's reaction wasn't slow. When the creature charged over, he immediately rushed towards a nearby house.

“Roar!!!” The giant bear roared, looking at the house Lin Ze ran into, and directly slammed its paw onto it.

Boom!!!

Both the door and wall were directly shattered by one paw.

Debris and wood splinters flew out.

Lin Ze, who had already run into the inner room, saw what happened behind him and had no doubt that even with his currently enhanced body, being hit by that paw would definitely result in broken bones and torn tendons.

It was terrifying! It was simply not a monster he could deal with at this stage!

Although Lin Ze really wanted to know how many source points he could get from killing this giant bear, and he also wanted to see if this giant bear had a crystal and how many source points the crystal could be exchanged for.

However, Lin Ze could only think about it; he simply couldn't kill this bear.

Lin Ze ran out through the back door.

The giant bear furiously entered the house, its massive body hindering it, so it could only furiously continue destroying things.

By the time it “smashed through” the house and reached the back, Lin Ze had already run out of sight.

“Roar!!!” The giant bear roared in anger, furious that its prey had escaped.

Just then, a zombie, unaware of its impending doom, happened to pass by.

The giant bear directly slapped the zombie into a pulp, venting its anger.

However, no matter how angry it was, Lin Ze had already run off without a trace.

“Phew~ Good thing I got away!” Lin Ze weaved through various houses, jumping out of windows had become his norm.

Before long, Lin Ze returned to his villa.

The outer courtyard gate was locked, so Lin Ze climbed over the wall to get in, then pushed open the main door.

“You're back!” Lin Zhi had already heard the commotion. She was hiding behind the curtains of the French window, peeked out, and upon realizing it was Lin Ze, she relaxed.

“Yeah! The harvest was pretty good!” Lin Ze said with a smile, then placed his loaded backpack on the sofa.

Lin Zhi curiously scurried over, opened the backpack, and her eyes immediately lit up: “Wow! This is too much!”

Lin Ze didn't take any other supplies; he only took various foods.

After all, daily necessities were not lacking in the villa.

Lin Ze's scavenging trip this time could be described as very fruitful, the kind where he could even pick and choose.

He gathered a pile of high-energy, small-volume, and easy-to-store foods.

Such as canned goods, energy bars, etc.

There were also plenty of drinks, though mostly beverages, because for water, at the villa, they could boil plenty of plain water.

In this apocalyptic world, water was not as extremely scarce in comparison; it was food that was relatively scarce.

Especially for places like safe houses with more people, the demand for food was even greater!

Lin Zhi immediately took out all these foods, sorted them, and organized them.

“Lin Ze... with such a big haul this time, do you still need to go out?” Lin Zhi asked.

“Of course! This has nothing to do with how much I harvest!” Lin Ze shook his head and said, “Alright, don't ask any more questions!”

“Mm...” Lin Zhi, hearing Lin Ze say that, of course, obediently shut her mouth.

After all, whatever Lin Ze wanted to do, she could at most offer a small suggestion, or perhaps not even a suggestion.

Of course, her only role was to obey.

Lin Zhi took out a bottle of yogurt, a bottle of mineral water + a bag of bread + two energy bars + a can of beef: “Can we eat these later?”

“Whatever, you prepare it. Eating your fill is the priority. We're not really short on food right now! And in the days to come, there will definitely be more and more.” Lin Ze said, waving his hand indifferently.

“Mm-hmm!” Although she was a bit worried about Lin Ze going out, their current life was indeed very comfortable. Where else could they eat so well! They even had water for baths and a large villa to live in.

Lin Zhi had never imagined she could have such a life in the apocalypse!

Lin Ze had no time to pay attention to Lin Zhi now; his mind was immersed in the system.

Because he found that his source points had increased!

And not just by a little!

He now had over 1600 source points!

At least six hundred points had increased!

Six hundred points! He didn't even know where he got them from...

Lin Ze pondered for a long time, recalling the description of source point acquisition when he got the system: behaviors that influence the world's direction, change the world's destiny, etc., can all acquire source points.

Killing monsters was the most direct way of influence.

After all, regarding things like destiny and direction, a small matter can have a huge impact, spreading from a point to a wider area!

Of course, for the world, killing a single zombie might not change the overall situation much.

That's why the reward source points were so few...

So, these six hundred source points... what factor did they come from?

Lin Ze pondered, recalling the events of these past few days.

Supplies... monsters killed... encountering the giant bear... and then there's this girl, Lin Zhi...

He thought for a long time but couldn't figure out the specific situation... In the end, Lin Ze gave up thinking.

No matter what, this was a good thing!

After Lin Ze and Lin Zhi finished eating, Lin Ze lay down on the “bed.”

Just like before, their beds were all on the first floor, laid on the ground, with three layers of mats underneath, making it soft and warm.

“I'm going to rest for a bit. If anything seems off with me, you don't need to worry too much.” Lin Ze said to Lin Zhi.

“Ah... Oh, okay!” Lin Zhi was stunned when she heard Lin Ze's words. She blinked blankly, pondered the meaning of Lin Ze's words for a moment, but still nodded.

Whether she understood or not, just listening and doing was the right thing.

However... Lin Ze's words made Lin Zhi involuntarily think of evolution crystals... After all, Lin Zhi knew a little about that stuff.

Lin Ze immediately clicked on the system panel, then clicked on the “+” sign next to [Body Enhancement I].

One thousand source points immediately disappeared, leaving over six hundred source points.

Lin Ze felt an unknown power surge within his body, rapidly spreading to his limbs and bones, making his whole body feel warm.

At the same time, he also saw [Body Enhancement I] change to [Body Enhancement II], and the upgrade source points instantly changed from 1000 to 10000.

The next level requires 10,000 points!

This gave Lin Ze a headache. Fortunately, the warm, almost maternal feeling in his body pulled his thoughts back.

He completely immersed himself in that warm pleasure.

Unconsciously, he fell asleep.

When he woke up again, the sky outside had already darkened, and only the blizzard remained unchanged.

“You're awake!?” Lin Zhi saw Lin Ze wake up.

“Mm...” Lin Ze sat up, feeling the changes in his body. He felt his strength had increased several times over.

His five senses had also improved significantly. The first thing he felt was warmth, the kind of warmth brought by fire.

Plus the firelight reflecting on his face.

He turned his head to look, and there was wood burning in the fireplace nearby.

“You did this?” Lin Ze pointed to the fireplace.

“Mm! This villa has a lot of wood stored... I just took some up to burn...” Lin Zhi said to Lin Ze, “Um... I didn't do anything wrong, did I?”

“No! It's very good!” Lin Ze shook his head slightly and casually praised Lin Zhi: “You did well!”

Outside, there was a blizzard, the windows were sealed, and the French windows were also tightly covered with curtains.

He wasn't worried about the firelight shining out and being discovered.

“Have you eaten?” Lin Ze asked.

“Not yet... Waiting for you~” Lin Zhi shook her head slightly.

“Then get ready to eat. Let's eat our fill first!” Lin Ze nodded and said, “Oh, and prepare a bit more. I'm quite hungry.”

“Okay! No problem!” Lin Zhi nodded, not asking further. She guessed that Lin Ze had used an evolution crystal, making him even stronger, so his energy needs were greater, and he naturally needed to eat more.

When would she be able to use an evolution crystal herself... Lin Zhi felt a little anticipation in her heart, because that represented power!

However, Lin Zhi was sensible; she wouldn't actively ask Lin Ze for it. Only if Lin Ze proactively gave it to her... And the stronger Lin Ze was, the more at ease she felt.

After all, when it came to fighting and killing, Lin Ze was far more skilled than her. She was just an accessory and a support... She just needed to do her logistics well.

Moreover, with her improved physical fitness, her help to Lin Ze should be... being able to carry heavier things?

“By the way, do you want to become stronger?” Lin Ze suddenly asked Lin Zhi.

“Huh?!” Lin Zhi was startled, Lin Ze's abrupt words made her imagination run wild.