Flesh and blood are reshaped through suffering; strength grows through trials, and together they coalesce and take form within the dimension of time. Jiang Le found himself immersed in boundless darkness, and after a full ten days, he finally crossed the threshold from Level 4 to Level 5.

The sound of flowing water, the crisp plink of droplets falling from above, the sound of flesh dissolving, another set of breaths, and the dazed footsteps of zombies on the road dozens of meters above him.

His eyeballs rolled slightly beneath his eyelids; these sounds yanked Jiang Le back to reality from his state of unconsciousness. The reborn bones of his hand moved his slender fingertips to gently brush against the gravel. The moment his fingerprints touched the stone’s surface, its texture and temperature transformed into quantifiable sensory details, transmitted back to Jiang Le’s brain.

His consciousness flashed back into his body like a lit candle. Jiang Le took a sudden deep breath and opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the irregular hole through which he had jumped down, and then something lunged toward him.

His body reacted before his mind could process it; Jiang Le quickly rolled aside to dodge it, but when he looked up, he realized it was Xiao Lang lunging at him.

At Jiang Le’s evasive maneuver, the young wolf froze for a moment, then stood in place and let out a low, discontented growl—almost accusatory.

There was still no light inside the cave, but to Jiang Le’s eyes, it was no longer pitch black—instead, it resembled the visual texture of a black-and-white surveillance feed.

After such a long slumber, it took Jiang Le a while to realize where he was and recall what had happened earlier. He raised his hand to look at the one that had been completely shattered to dust—it was now fully restored, and his body felt better than ever before.

Xiao Lang had been watching over him the entire time Jiang Le was evolving. Jiang Le stepped forward, ignoring the mutated wolf’s howls, and cradled its head in his arms, whispering, “Thank you.”

Xiao Lang had calmed down the moment Jiang Le embraced it. Its head unconsciously nuzzled against his chest, sensing his body heat and heartbeat; the sense of security left Xiao Lang feeling bewildered.

As Jiang Le’s breathing grew so faint it was almost gone, Xiao Lang thought it should feel happy—it wasn’t meant to live with humans in the first place. If Jiang Le died, it would be free.

This longing for freedom had lingered in its heart for a long time, but when that day finally seemed to arrive, Xiao Lang found it couldn’t bring itself to feel happy at all.

It didn’t want Jiang Le to die at all. Fortunately, Jiang Le didn’t die.

After cuddling the sulky little dog for a while, Jiang Le turned his attention back to business. According to the time displayed in the system’s backend, this upgrade had taken him

10 days. After the upgrade, its five senses were enhanced, and its speed, stamina, strength, and recovery ability had all reached a new level.

If a mutated fish were to emerge from this cave right now, Jiang Le would likely be able to tear off its scales with his bare hands.

However, at that moment, all that remained of the original mutant fish were its bones and a floor littered with scales. The fish’s head was still impaled by another bone; at the tip of the piercing, where the two bones crossed, a silvery-white nucleus crystal the size of a fist lay quietly.

The blood vine cannot digest nucleus crystals of a higher grade than itself, so it couldn’t swallow them. Yet the fact that Xiao Lang was able to suppress its evolutionary instincts while in a deep sleep and chose to leave this nucleus crystal for Jiang Le to handle was truly extraordinary.

It looked like a troublemaker, but it was actually quite well-behaved.

Jiang Le’s heart softened slightly, and he stored the nucleus crystal in the system.

As for where the fish meat had gone, Jiang Le knew exactly—he saw a few drops of blood vine corrosive fluid lingering in the crevices of the rock.

After disassembling the mutant fish’s bones, Jiang Le picked one up casually, swung it through the air a few times as if it were a dagger, and found it handled quite well. Moreover, this fish bone was much harder than many existing metal tools, so using it as a weapon wasn’t a bad idea.

Jiang Le stowed the fish skeletons scattered across the ground into his spatial pocket and was just about to leave when he heard footsteps coming from the pipe above the cave entrance. It was other superpower users.

Jiang Le and Xiao Lang instantly teleported back into his spatial pocket. A few dozen seconds later, he indeed sensed someone entering this underground waterway.

Jiang Le couldn’t see what was happening outside his spatial pocket, but he could hear the sounds from outside. Judging by the footsteps and voices, there were three of them. Based on their psychic fluctuations, all three appeared to be Level 3 superpower users.

“What’s going on? Did Brother Xiang give us the wrong coordinates? There’s no zombie horde out there, and there aren’t any mutated creatures in here either.” 

“That’s not right. There are clearly bloodstains in the pipe. There’s no way there’s nothing here—unless someone got here first.”

“But who can explain when those bloodstains in the duct were left, or what left them? Brother Xiang clearly told us to investigate where the zombie horde was gathering. While there are indeed quite a few zombies out on the streets, it’s still a long way from being a full-blown horde!”

“Brother Xiang said there might be meteorite fragments washed into the underground waterways, but there’s nothing here right now. Either way, we need to go back and tell Brother Xiang about this. Either he was wrong, or someone beat us to it.”

“Wait a minute, something’s not right here.”

Someone seemed to have discovered something; they crouched down and pulled a rock out from between the crevices. “There’s decaying fluid on this. Judging by the marks, it must be from just a few days ago. This couldn’t have formed naturally—it must be some kind of mutated creature. Maybe it’s the mutated species that used to guard this place!”

Inside the space, the blood vine—which had just crawled out of its growing dish to interact enthusiastically with Jiang Le—suddenly froze. A few tendrils met Jiang Le’s gaze, then slowly and guiltily retreated back into the growing dish, feigning death.

But deep down, the blood vine secretly gloated that the superpower users outside had mistaken it for the mutant species guarding the meteorite.

Jiang Le, however, didn’t care. He hadn’t intended to make the scene look as if no one had been there anyway. He was simply surprised that, while his encounter with this zombie horde was a coincidence, these superpower users seemed to have known all along that there would be a zombie horde and meteorite fragments here. And who was this “Brother Xiang” they kept mentioning?

Jiang Le recalled his death in his previous life. The leader of that group had also been called “Brother Xiang,” and his own death had been caused precisely because that group was searching for a meteorite. He could still vividly recall the excruciating pain of plant stems and leaves piercing every meridian in his body. His gaze grew cold, and he didn’t emerge from his spatial pocket until the group of superpower users had left and were far enough away.

Regardless of whether this “Brother Xiang” was Jiang Le’s enemy from his previous life, there was one thing Jiang Le could be certain of: the man was currently searching for meteorites and seemed to have prior knowledge of their locations.

Pushing this incident to the back of his mind for the time being, Jiang Le used the rock wall to propel himself out of the underground cave. He found the entrance he’d used to descend through the pipe network, lifted the manhole cover, and ignored the few zombies rushing toward him from nearby after hearing the noise.

Jiang Le leaped onto the eaves of the adjacent building. Moving along balconies or stepping on streetlights, he moved with light, nimble footwork, darting up, down, left, and right, and before long, he was back at the mall where he’d told Zhang Haiyang and the others to wait for him.

A dozen or so people were still on the top floor of the mall, though compared to when he first arrived, they now showed signs of anxiety and fear.

During the days Jiang Le was away, the group had carefully rationed the food he’d left behind, eating just enough each day to get by. Although zombies had frequently wandered up via the stalled escalators in the days prior, Zhang Haiyang and the others had plenty of experience killing zombies and had no trouble dealing with them.

Holding onto the hope that Jiang Le would return, everyone had something to look forward to.

However, after more than ten days had passed and the food and water Jiang Le had left were nearly depleted, there was still no sign of him, and a sense of panic inevitably set in.

To make matters worse, they’d been targeted by a flock of mutated birds.

Yesterday, someone who had gone outside to relieve themselves was followed for quite some time before a mutated bird suddenly attacked and tried to snatch them away. Fortunately, at the critical moment, the vine knot on their wrist shot out, tightly wrapping around the mutated bird’s legs and constricting them—causing the creature to let out a shriek and flee in panic.

But this hadn’t completely deterred the flock of mutated birds; over the past two days, they’d frequently spotted several large birds perched on the roof across the street through the window. Li Jiajia didn’t even dare take Tangyuan near the window, so everyone had to huddle together, hoping the vine knots on their wrists would keep the birds at bay.

Once again, a thud came from outside the window, as if something had fallen, followed immediately by the sound of the window being pushed open. Everyone was hiding in a corner far from the window and instantly felt a chill run down their spines.

“Feng… Brother Feng, did a bird fly in?” someone asked in a low voice. “Zhang… Brother Zhang?”

Zhang Haiyang was the backbone of this group, while Feng Yun was the only superpower user.

Feng Yun felt uneasy inside, but he had to save face and reassure the others: “Don’t panic. We still have a dozen or so vine bracelets. We can handle anything ordinary that comes in.”

As he spoke, he stood up and quietly picked up the baseball bat they’d found in the sports goods store at the mall, preparing to fight it out if all else failed.

Something was approaching. Due to the angle, the figure’s shadow was stretched into a strange shape. Feng Yun and Zhang Haiyang exchanged a glance; Feng Yun signaled that he would strike first, with Zhang Haiyang following.

It’s getting closer, closer and closer—now’s the time!

Feng Yun swung the baseball bat in his hand with all his might. There was a dull thud, but the chaos he’d expected—with the creature scattering in all directions—didn’t happen. Instead, one end of the bat was firmly gripped in the palm of a slender hand.

That solid strength was terrifying. Feng Yun looked on, his scalp tingling, and the next second—“Aaaaaah, Brother Jiang!”

Feng Yun was so overcome with emotion that his voice was about to crack. Without a second thought, he tossed aside the bat and lunged into Jiang Le’s arms. Jiang Le pressed the bat against Feng Yun’s chest: “What are you doing? Behave yourself.”

Upon hearing Feng Yun call him “Brother Jiang,” Zhang Haiyang also rushed out from behind, excitedly exclaiming, “Brother Jiang, you’re finally back!”

From the very second Jiang Le had stored the meteorite in his spatial pocket, the zombies could no longer sense its presence. This abnormal gathering began to disperse on its own, and within a few days, the zombies that had come from all directions began to scatter in every direction. As the terrifying scenes on the street gradually faded, Zhang Haiyang had a premonition that the mission Jiang Le had set out on had succeeded—but since he hadn’t seen Jiang Le return, he’d been growing increasingly anxious.

Now, with Jiang Le’s return, all his negative emotions vanished into thin air; Jiang Le was the very embodiment of security. Even the mutated bird perched on the eave across the street seemed to sense this change, flying off alertly toward an unknown destination.

Jiang Le told everyone to pack up. Since the tide of corpses had receded, there was no need for further delay—they could continue on their journey home. There was quite a bit to pack.

This place had once been a large shopping mall. Although various factions had looted supplies and raided the area several times along the way, that didn’t mean there wasn’t anything useful left.

For example, Li Jiajia found several sets of girls’ clothing in various sizes for Tangyuan at the children’s clothing store inside the mall, along with some toys. She bundled them all into a sturdy package and had Zhang Haiyang carry it on his back.

Others found many good books at the discount bookstall that had once been on the first floor and wanted to take them along as well. With their leader back and supplies on their backs, smiles appeared on everyone’s faces.

With the threat of the zombie horde gone, Jiang Le led the group through the outskirts of Xizhou City in just over half a day, taking a detour to return to the border between Xizhou City and Jiang City.

There was another bridge here—one that had been built relatively recently and was still usable. Crossing it meant they were officially back in Jiang City.

That night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Jiang Le returned to the farm space and finally found time to check the farm system’s notifications, as well as the meteorite fragments and Level 4 Mutant Fish nucleus crystal he had obtained.

The Level 4 Mutant Fish had already appeared in the creature encyclopedia the moment it was killed. Level 4, 4-star potential—it was a high-potential mutant species. It was characterized by exceptionally high defense, which was at the maximum level on the hexagonal chart and nearly exceeded it; its attack power also surpassed the average for mutant creatures of the same level; and its speed ranked first among them.

However, there are trade-offs: its Intelligence and Mental Strength stats are notably low.

Defense, attack, and speed are all considered safe mutations in biological evolution, so even if you give this nucleus crystal to Xiao Lang, you don’t have to worry about it causing any uncontrollable conditions.

But before considering an upgrade, there’s something even more important to understand: meteorite fragments.

Jiang Le tapped to open the text message pushed by the system.

“An incredibly grueling battle! Congratulations, Host, on defeating a Level 4 Mutant Fish and earning an Encyclopedia Exploration Point!”

“Congratulations, Host, on obtaining 1 Meteorite Fragment. We’ve detected that you currently have two pets. Please follow the guidance in the Creature Compendium and try using the meteorite to help your beloved pets break through their current potential limits and gain even greater combat power!”

He retrieved the meteorite fragment from the corner of the warehouse. The moment he took it out, Xiao Lang and the blood vine both turned to look at Jiang Le.

Following the system’s prompt, Jiang Le opened the Creature Encyclopedia. Sure enough, he discovered a shimmering slot directly below the profiles of Xiao Lang and the blood vine—it appeared to be designed to hold the meteorite fragment.

This slot had only appeared after Jiang Le obtained the meteorite, and now it was accompanied by a line of explanatory text. After reading it, Jiang Le began to understand. Simply put, the potential star ratings of Mutants vary, but this is not set in stone. Through the power of the meteorite, a Mutant can undergo a “Marrow Purification,” completely altering its innate limitations and advancing to the next star rating.

However, this comes at a cost. Not only is the process of breaking through one’s original potential star rating extremely painful, but if it fails, not only will the mutant gain no power, but they will be sent back to square one.

This “starting point” does not refer to the state before attempting the meteorite “Star-Breaking” process, but rather to the state before any mutation occurred at all. A Mutant might regress overnight from a high-level Mutant Beast to its weakest, pre-mutated form—a state where even a weed by the roadside could kill it.

For Mutant Beasts, whose very nature is driven by evolution and advancement, this is truly a matter of one step to heaven, one step to hell.

Given the dangers involved, Jiang Le couldn’t make up his mind right away. Besides, he was still on the road—it wasn’t the time to take risks—so he decided to wait until he returned to the farm before deciding whether to use the meteorite.

After traveling for another three days, the familiar mountain path finally came into Jiang Le’s view. Low-level mutated plants grew lush on both sides of the path, but they didn’t obscure it—someone must be clearing this section regularly.

Jiang Le sensed someone crouching in the grass in the distance, and it wasn’t hard to figure out who it was.

“Mao Xiaofei?”

As soon as Jiang Le called out, everyone saw a burly figure suddenly emerge from the distant bushes—clearly a Level 3 superpower user. Yet the man carried no airs of a superpower user; as he ran over, he looked every bit the goofball, and the moment he saw Jiang Le, he was practically jumping for joy.

“Brother Jiang, you’re finally back!”

Ever since Jiang Le had left the farm, Mao Xiaofei had been eagerly awaiting his return every single day. Waiting at the farm left him feeling uncertain, so he’d come over every day during his lunch break to sweep the mountain path.

To his surprise, when he came out today as usual with his shovel and broom, he spotted a group of more than ten people on the path at the foot of the mountain after sweeping for only a short while. At first, Mao Xiaofei thought they were outsiders, so he hid in the bushes to observe them, silently weighing whether they were friend or foe. It wasn’t until Jiang Le called out to him that he realized it was actually Jiang Le who had returned.

When Zhang Haiyang and the others saw the superpower user suddenly appear, they were initially nervous and flustered. Faced with Mao Xiaofei’s curious gaze, their first reaction was to flash a conciliatory smile; even Zhang Haiyang’s daughter, Tangyuan, hid in her mother’s arms.

Mao Xiaofei looked at Jiang Le, somewhat at a loss.

Jiang Le introduced Zhang Haiyang and his group to Mao Xiaofei, explaining that they would be staying at the farm from now on.

Mao Xiaofei immediately broke into a cheerful smile, showing no trace of condescension toward ordinary people: “Great! More people means more fun. Brother Luo, Sister Kong, and I have been looking forward to having other employees join us for a long time.”

He helped carry a pile of luggage—which felt as light as a feather—and ran back to the base ahead of everyone else. Upon hearing that Jiang Le had returned with new employees, Kong Shuya and Luo Mian also ran out.

The two of them hadn’t spent as much time with Jiang Le as Mao Xiaofei had, but aside from the fact that Jiang Le had saved their lives, even when he wasn’t at the farm, Mao Xiaofei couldn’t stop referring to him as “Brother Jiang” this and “Brother Jiang” that. So when they saw Jiang Le now, Kong Shuya and Luo Mian were both delighted and felt no sense of distance whatsoever.

Facing Zhang Haiyang and his group, they naturally felt that these were just other people Brother Jiang had rescued—people just like themselves. But Zhang Haiyang and the others didn’t have time to dwell on such emotions; they were left speechless the moment they arrived at the farm.

Having traveled with Jiang Le all these days, they had certainly fantasized in private about what the base he belonged to might look like. Surely it would be much better than Hope Base, right? They weren’t sure exactly how it would be better, but as long as it could put food on the table, they’d be more than satisfied.

However, no matter how wonderful their imaginings had been, they still couldn’t compare to the shock of seeing the reality unfold before their eyes. The four large characters “Peace Farm” hung high above the gate, and lettuce and cucumbers were planted right at the entrance.

The lettuce leaves were enormous, forming a ball-like cluster at the center with several spreading out toward the edges. The cucumber vines were laden with plump fruit, hanging from the top all the way to the bottom—each one uniform in size and fresh and tender.

Sensing someone approaching, the lettuce and cucumber leaves swayed gently, as if they, too, were rejoicing at the arrival of visitors. Zhang Haiyang’s gaze followed the path past the flowerbed at the entrance, looking deeper into the farm.

As far as the eye could see, there was no chaos or desolation, no ruins or sewage—only vast stretches of greenery extending into the distance. The space between the ridges was lush and vibrant with life; some were covered with plastic mulch, others climbed trellises. Familiar and unfamiliar crops stood shoulder to shoulder, arranged in a dense yet orderly pattern.

Chickens with glossy feathers strolled leisurely behind the fence, now pecking at the ground, now lifting their heads; ducks and geese swam in the pond, now spreading their wings, now diving beneath the water; large livestock—cattle, sheep, and pigs—stood in their pens, now chewing their cud, now resting.

Warehouses were interspersed among the fields, and in the distance, several small buildings stood quietly, their black tiles contrasting with white walls. Everything appeared peaceful, bountiful, and orderly.

In that moment, Zhang Haiyang felt as if he had been transported back to the time before the apocalypse; before he could speak, tears began to stream down his face.

He had Mao Xiaofei and the others take Zhang Haiyang back to the dormitory first. Jiang Le let Xiao Lang out to roam freely around the area—in fact, this was also to check whether any potential threats had emerged near the farm during this time and to conduct a safety inspection.

The giant wolf gracefully leaped over the farm’s high walls, its figure vanishing into the forest. Jiang Le, meanwhile, returned to the farm’s office.

According to the system’s assessment, everyone who had returned with Jiang Le this time was eligible to be hired as staff.

To follow procedure, Jiang Le printed out the employee handbook as usual and had those willing to stay at the farm sign their names.

By signing this code of conduct, they formed a binding agreement with the farm: while they could improve their physical constitution by earning experience points through farm work, they were also prohibited from engaging in any activities that endangered the farm.

Naturally, Zhang Haiyang and his group had no objections. Even Feng Yun, who had drifted from base to base, had never seen such a prosperous base before. Scraping by was a last resort—who wouldn’t want a long-term, stable life?

Once the new employee contracts were collected, Jiang Le’s system had access to the information of all current employees.

The first employee, Mao Xiaofei, is a hard worker and currently holds the highest rank on the farm. As a Level 3 Strength-type superpower user, he ranks among the top tier even at the base outside. Kong Shuya is a Level 3 air barrier superpower user; although she has slightly less experience than Mao Xiaofei, the air barrier superpower is an extremely powerful defensive superpower and is even rarer than Strength-type superpowers outside the farm.

Although Luo Mian is an ordinary person, his physical constitution has already approached that of a Level 2 superpower user through his work at the farm.

Although Zhang Haiyang and the others currently have unimpressive stats, once they become employees and work diligently farming the land, it’s only a matter of time before they get stronger.

Only Tangyuan, who is still too young, remained at the farm as a family member.

The employees were tasked with helping the newcomers familiarize themselves with the farm’s work procedures. After Xiao Lang confirmed there were no abnormalities around the farm, Jiang Le took him back into the farm’s spatial realm.

After hiring another dozen or so workers, the farm’s staff finally reached its full complement of 16. At the same time, the Level 3 farm had accumulated enough experience points to reach Level 4, and the system notified Jiang Le that he could proceed to the next stage.