Chương 75: Spring Nights Are Short, the Sun Rises High

"You stole my meat!" Zoe was the first to break free from the previous silence. She nudged Vince with her shoulder while whining. Seeing this, Claire smiled. She picked up a slotted spoon, scooped a spoonful of meat from the pot, and dumped it into Zoe's bowl, finally pacifying her. Seth, as if having gleaned something from Vince's answer just now, silently stood up and offered a deep bow to Vince.

"Vince, thank you for saving us..." Hearing this, the others suddenly snapped back to reality. Ever since they left the gas station up until now, the group had felt as though they were bound by fear, only thinking about clinging tightly to Vince, not daring to let go for even a moment. But just now, perhaps Seth had truly grasped a lifeline from Vince's words—a lifeline that could genuinely allow him to survive.

Only then did he break free from that fear, taking the initiative to explicitly acknowledge the fact that they were all relying on Vince's protection to survive until now... In an instant, whether it was Cody, Zoe, or even Claire, they all silently stood up and offered a deep bow to Vince.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're going to shorten my lifespan doing this... I had my own selfish reasons for saving you, don't make me out to be some holy saint. Don't jinx me..." Vince hastily stood up, helped the two women beside him up, and then said to Cody and Seth across the table:"You two get up too..." He then raised his glass and said:"Come on, let's drink a toast together..." Clink, clink, clink! The crisp sound of glass colliding rang out. The five of them raised their glasses high toward the two desk lamps.

"To today!"

"... To today!" Fortunately, Zoe finally ate her fill when there was still half a plate of meat left. The five of them finished two bottles of liquor. The others weren't very drunk; only Zoe was completely wasted. She mumbled, "I'm full..." And then collapsed onto the table, fast asleep. Vince suspected that if the alcohol hadn't hit her, she would have kept eating. Cody couldn't carry her, so Vince had to be the one to carry her over to the sofa, where she immediately began snoring peacefully.

Cody clearly trusted Vince completely. After the two boys helped clear the table, they went upstairs to sleep, casually abandoning Zoe in Vince's apartment... Leaving only Claire and Vince staring at each other...

"Uh... I'm going to go wash up..." Vince said, looking at Claire. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Let's go together..." Claire replied, looking back at him. The two of them turned off the lights. They washed up from the living room to the bathroom, then washed up from the bathroom back to the living room, and finally washed up all the way into the bedroom. Vince dug a battery-powered nightlight out of the bedroom drawer and placed it on the nightstand. Under the dim amber light, Claire's silhouette was outlined exceptionally softly.

Stripped of the toughness and decisiveness she wore during the day, all that remained was the profound allure swirling in her eyes. Reflected in those bright pupils was the amber glow of the nightlight, along with Vince's face. Vince reached out a hand, gently trailing a finger across her silky skin, and whispered, "Are you scared?" Claire naturally understood that Vince wasn't referring to what was happening between them, but rather the world itself.

She shook her head, taking the initiative to hold Vince's hand and press it tightly against her own cheek, whispering in response, "I used to be. I'm not anymore..." With that, she leaned into Vince. Like a piece of warm, flawless jade, she radiated a slight heat in Vince's hands. A light drizzle began to fall outside the window. The patter of raindrops against the glass merged with the intertwined breathing inside the bedroom. Like a nocturne.

The amber light flickered, stretching and fusing the two silhouettes, casting shifting, silent shadows against the wall. He could feel her limbs wrapped around him, and hear her soft, intermittent whimpering, like a little animal. Sweat soaked the bedsheets, blurring the sound of the rain outside.... He didn't know how much time had passed before the rain outside finally stopped. Absolute silence. Vince lay on his side, his arm acting as a pillow for Claire.

He could hear her steady, even breathing, and the calm, rhythmic thud of his own heartbeat. The two sounds intertwined, forming the most peaceful melody in the world at this moment.... The overnight rain washed away some of the bloodstains on the street, and it seemed to wash away a layer of the dark haze looming over everyone's hearts as well. Under Ben's organization, as soon as the sky began to lighten, the survivors systematically brought out various iron pipes and steel bars from their homes.

They gathered them downstairs, cut them to the appropriate length, and sharpened one end to create spears. They formed squads of seven: five holding spears, one with a crowbar, and one with a hammer and chisel. They began moving along the residential buildings, targeting the quiet apartments first, prying the doors open one by one to collect supplies....

"Over... ksssh... Clear... ksssh..." Vince was awakened by the harsh static of a walkie-talkie... Opening his eyes, he saw a groggy Zoe crouching right beside his side of the bed. She was holding a walkie-talkie next to his pillow with one hand, while her other hand propped up her head, her chin resting on the mattress, looking like she was about to fall asleep again...

"You! What are you doing in here?!" Vince was startled and bolted upright, but suddenly remembering he wasn't wearing any clothes, he hastily yanked the thin blanket up.

"Who put this under my head? It went off several times already..." Zoe complained with a deeply wronged expression.

"I was dreaming and all I kept hearing was 'Clear' and 'Over'... It woke me up right at dawn..." Vince suddenly remembered that when he brought the radios up yesterday, he had just tossed them onto the sofa. He must have left this one turned on, and it was picking up Ben's team's signals this morning. He hadn't expected them to start moving this early. He took the walkie-talkie from Zoe's hand and glanced at the [59/100] floating above her head. It seemed she was recovering well.

He quickly shooed her out, telling her to go back to the sofa and get some more sleep. He turned his head to look at Claire behind him. Her Health Bar was completely full. It read [105/105]...

"?" Vince vigorously rubbed his eyes, making sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"What the hell?" [105]?! Why did it go up by 5 points? He shook Claire, but she wouldn't wake up at all. She merely let out a soft hum and went back to sleep... It seemed she was thoroughly exhausted from last night. After all, with Vince's current physical constitution, heh... But since she wouldn't wake up, Vince had absolutely no way to ask her how she felt or what exactly had happened... Don't tell me the way regular people increase their Max HP is by sleeping with me?! Ah?

What kind of H-manga plot development is this?!

"That can't be right..." Vince was completely baffled, scratching his head in confusion. He truly couldn't comprehend the underlying mechanics of this Health Bar system at all. Since he couldn't interview the party involved, Vince simply got dressed and went to the bathroom to quickly wash up. Zoe was sprawled out on the sofa, snoring soundly. Vince seriously doubted she would even remember bringing the radio to him once she woke up...

While mentally roasting Zoe, he grabbed a few braised eggs from the boxes Ben had delivered yesterday. With the walkie-talkie in hand, Vince headed downstairs.