Chương 87: Mysteries

He hadn't even figured out what was going on with the 105 HP yet, and now there was a purple border...

"By the way, Building 24's gas line just exploded. Do we still have gas here?" Vince planned to observe Claire for a bit longer. Seeing a pot of noodles in the kitchen, he asked casually.

"Vince... am I really going to be okay...?" Claire was still looking at Vince in a panic, answering a question with a question. It seemed she was truly terrified. Vince had prepared for several scenarios, but he had never anticipated this one. He had no choice but to scratch his head, pull Claire into his arms, and comfort her:"It's fine. Even though that 'crystal ball' came from inside a zombie, it contains incredible power... even my own body might be related to this power..."

Since he couldn't explain it clearly, he might as well drag his own situation into it to give Claire some sense of security. After all, Vince's strength was visible to the naked eye. Hearing Vince say this, Claire finally relaxed and leaned against his chest.

"Then did you need that crystal for something? Is it okay that it's gone?" Hearing that Claire still had the spare capacity to worry about this, he couldn't help but hug her a little tighter. He blew gently into her ear and said:"It was useful, extremely useful... Since you ate it, you'd better figure out how to compensate me..."

"Mhm..." With a charming, questioning nasal hum, Claire broke free from Vince's embrace and ran to the kitchen, preparing to heat up the noodles for him. She turned on the gas stove, only to find the gas really was cut off...

"Ah... the gas really is gone..." She turned her head and said to Vince in frustration. But as she looked around and remembered the scene when she was cooking noodles that morning, her face couldn't help but flush red, dodging Vince's gaze.

"Just use the induction cooker for now..." Vince's head was entirely filled with Health Bars, borders, and Crystals; he completely missed Claire's embarrassment. He simply reached out, moved the pot of noodles to the induction cooker on the dining table, and turned on the heat.

"Why is there only half a pot of noodles left?" He hadn't noticed earlier, but looking closely, half of it was indeed gone. The watermark from the broth was still high up on the pot.

"Hehe, Zoe ate them this morning..."

"... No wonder she was so attentive when she went downstairs." But eaten was eaten. With such a massive pot, Claire had probably accounted for her portion anyway. After tossing and turning all morning and fighting a massive battle, he had only eaten a few eggs. He hadn't even had a proper meal yet... Ever since his overall physical constitution started getting stronger, Vince's appetite had also been growing.

Although his outward appearance had barely changed, when Vince stepped on the scale, he found he was over thirty pounds heavier than before—weighing in at a solid 186 pounds... Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Pulling up his shirt in front of the mirror, he looked at the slightly raised muscle lines on the surface of his body. He pinched his skin but didn't feel anything abnormal. But this weight was no longer an issue of body fat percentage.

A normal person with this build would weigh 140 or 150 pounds at most, but he... His muscle and bone density was way too high. If he fell into water, wouldn't he sink straight to the bottom?

"Vince, come eat... what are you doing..." Seeing the broth boiling, Claire came to call Vince, only to find him admiring himself in the mirror.

"I remember your body not having this much muscle before..." Claire also leaned in from behind, slipping her hands under his T-shirt to feel his definition.

"Is this also a change from after you woke up?"

"Probably..." Vince gave an ambiguous answer, walking over to the dining table and fishing out noodles with his chopsticks.

"These noodles are basically mush in the broth now..."

"And whose fault is that..." Claire's pretty face flushed red as she playfully scolded him.

"Mhm, mhm, it's pretty good. Broth is good, easy to digest..." Vince smiled apologetically and scooped a bowl for Claire as well. As he ate, he suddenly thought that Zoe shouldn't get a free meal. So he walked to the window, looked at the few people busy making spears by the road, and shouted at the top of his lungs:"Zoe... come up here!"

"Coming, Dage!" Hearing Vince's call, Zoe threw the steel pipe in her hands to Seth and scurried upstairs in a flash.

"What's up, Dage?" But glancing into the living room, she saw Claire slurping down noodle soup, and then looked at Vince...

"Dage, I'm not hungry. I'm not done working yet, I'll head out first..." She turned around, ready to bolt.

"Get in here..." He grabbed her and hauled her inside.

"Ah, Dage, I was just thinking that I'd only have the strength to help if I ate my fill..."

"I wasn't asking about that..." Vince patted her hair, pinched a multifaceted crystal between two fingers, and waved it in front of her eyes.

"Do you remember this?"

"The crystal? Ah! The one you dug out of the mutated hound!"

"Hold out your hand..." Vince placed the [Revitalization Crystal] onto Zoe's palm.

"Do you feel anything strange?"

"Dage, you staring at me like that is giving me the creeps..." Zoe said, blinking her big eyes. Vince put the Revitalization Crystal away and subsequently took out a round, transparent crystal, gently placing it in her hand. The Stealth Crystal had already been eaten by Claire, so the only one he could bring out now was the [Sharpness Crystal], which only had 28 energy points left. This way, if she accidentally ate it, he wouldn't feel too bad about the loss, especially since he now had an intact Impact Crystal.

Still, he stared nervously at her eyes and movements, doing his best to prevent her from gulping it down in one bite. After all, Claire's condition was still unclear, so it was better to observe a bit more. Vince only called Zoe up for an experiment. When this round crystal was taken out, even Claire sitting at the dining table widened her eyes. Firstly, she didn't expect Vince to have another one of these crystals. Secondly, she wanted to see exactly what state she had been in just moments ago.

The two of them stared at each other for five or six seconds. The round crystal just lay quietly in Zoe's palm, completely inactive...

"Uh... Dage, what's wrong? Didn't I dig this one out too?" Zoe held her hand up, asking without moving a muscle. Seeing that Zoe truly had no reaction, Vince naturally put the crystal away.

"Nothing, just doing an experiment... Didn't you say you weren't done working? Get back to work, or do you want to eat a bit more..."

"No, no, I'm full. Claire, I'm heading out..." Not understanding the situation at all, Zoe greeted Claire and turned to slip away.

"Vince... why was it only me..." Seeing Zoe's completely different reaction, Claire was even more baffled.

"... It's fine, keep eating. Don't worry, it's not a bad thing..." Step one, step two, step three... Vince muttered silently to himself. Claire's Health Bar inexplicably breaking past the 100-point mark was the first step, so eating the crystal was the second step... Perhaps there was an inevitable chronological order to this. Since Zoe had absolutely no reaction to either crystal, Vince had no intention of shoving one into her mouth to 'taste the saltiness.'

Just like how cats and dogs instinctively know to eat grass when they're sick, Vince believed that Claire spontaneously eating that crystal must have also been driven by some primal instinct. Since Zoe had no desire to eat it, it was better not to force the issue. Knock, knock, knock! A series of knocks echoed, followed immediately by Zoe's booming, bell-like voice shouting out.

"Dage!"

"The spears are done!"

"Do you want to inspect them? That chubby guy says Ben is calling for him, he has to go!"

"Alright, tell him to wait two minutes, I'll be right down..." Vince tilted his head back and downed the rest of the noodle soup in his bowl in one gulp. He stood up and put the jacket and pants he had thrown by the door back on.

"Claire, once you finish eating, change into some dirty clothes too. We're heading downstairs in a bit, I'm going to let you guys get some hands-on practice..."