The three of them rushed all the way up to the seventh floor. The moment they hit the stairwell leading to the rooftop, the stench slammed into them so hard their vision went dark.

The piled corpses were still there. Days of decomposition had turned the smell into something almost physically violent.

Yang Bin held his breath immediately. The stairwell was blocked by the bodies, so he grabbed the handrail and climbed over.

Chen Hao and Hu Wenliang scrambled up after him.

Once they reached the rooftop, they slammed the door shut and gulped fresh air. Another few seconds in that stairwell and they would've suffocated.

"Brother Bin, why are we up here?" Chen Hao asked, confused.

"To look at the stars."

"Look at the stars??"

Both of them went blank.

"I just used my ability to observe those zombies. When they stare at the Nine Stars of the Big Dipper, Spiritual Energy flows into their bodies from the surrounding environment.

I had you two try it as well. When you focused on the Nine Stars of the Big Dipper, Spiritual Energy flowed into you too.

This might be a Cultivation Method. So we're going to try it properly." Yang Bin's tone was dead serious.

"Really!?"

Both of them stared at him, eyes wide.

"Mm." Yang Bin nodded.

The three found a clean spot, lay down on their backs, and fixed their gazes on the Nine Stars of the Big Dipper overhead.

Before long, thin wisps of Spiritual Energy began flowing into their bodies.

Of the three, the Spiritual Energy gathering around Yang Bin was noticeably denser than around the other two. Whether that was because of his eye-related talent, his Tier 2 physique, or both, he couldn't say for certain.

None of them felt anything tangible. If they hadn't trusted that Yang Bin wouldn't lie to them, Chen Hao and Hu Wenliang would have quit on the spot.

Staring at one fixed point-especially a glowing one-wore the eyes out fast.

Even at Tier 1 and above, they could only hold for twenty minutes before their eyes gave out.

Yang Bin, on the other hand, seemed completely unbothered. His gaze stayed locked on the sky without wavering.

The two didn't disturb him. They rested for a few minutes, then looked up again.

From then on, the pattern held: twenty minutes of watching, then a break. Yang Bin never stopped. Not once.

They exchanged a glance, both seeing the same shock reflected back.

At first they'd assumed his higher strength let him last a bit longer. Now it was obvious-this wasn't just a matter of being stronger.

But then they remembered his talent and it clicked. His ability was rooted in his eyes. Of course they could handle more.

And so, the three of them spent the entire night on the rooftop, watching stars.

The constant eye strain nearly put them to sleep several times, but the thought of growing stronger kept them forcing their eyes open.

Throughout the night, Chen Hao and Hu Wenliang lost count of how many breaks they took. Yang Bin barely rested at all-just a brief doze somewhere in the middle.

At five in the morning, the Nine Stars of the Big Dipper slowly faded from the sky.

The three of them couldn't fight the exhaustion any longer. Their eyes closed and they were out.

Fourth Day of the Apocalypse.

The food crisis hit full force. Most households only kept two or three days' worth of food on hand. By the fourth day, many had nothing left.

No food meant hunger, and hunger meant choices. Some took desperate risks and ventured outside to search. Others decided it was easier to take from the people around them. Robbery became routine.

Without law to hold them back, the darkest parts of human nature crawled into the open.

On the fourth day, zombie strength surged again. Teams that had previously managed to clear zombies suffered devastating losses and were forced into hiding.

The self-proclaimed experts who'd been posting tutorials online went silent.

Combat videos grew scarce. Distress calls multiplied. The entire internet reeked of despair.

Then the authorities dropped a bombshell-news that would reshape humanity's fate.

The official announcement stated that certain Special Zombies contained red crystals inside their skulls. Consuming these crystals could drastically enhance a person's physique, granting the strength to kill ordinary zombies with ease.

The announcement included photos of the crystals and a warning: Special Zombies were far stronger than ordinary ones. It would take several people working together to have any chance of bringing one down.

The authorities urged people to step up and fight. Only by growing stronger could they survive the apocalypse.

The moment the news dropped, the internet erupted.

For a population teetering on the edge of despair, this was a light in the darkness.

People poured out of their rooms to hunt zombies, each one hoping to get their hands on a crystal and transform overnight.

The more ambitious ones began pulling people together, forming factions.

None of this reached the three on the rooftop. They slept straight through until noon-last night had wrung them dry.

Yang Bin woke first. He stretched, took stock of his body, and a grin spread across his face.

Just as he'd predicted. It worked.

He could feel it clearly-overnight, his raw strength had increased by at least thirty-some kilograms.

He nudged Chen Hao and Hu Wenliang awake with his foot. "Check yourselves. See if your strength went up."

The two clenched their fists, testing. Excitement lit up their faces.

"It went up. Feels like about ten kilograms," Chen Hao said.

"Same here. About that much," Hu Wenliang confirmed.

Yang Bin frowned slightly. The gap between his gains and theirs was significant.

But then he thought about how they'd needed constant breaks while he'd barely stopped, and it made sense.

"From now on, we do this every night," Yang Bin said. "That way, even after the crystal news gets out, we stay ahead."

"Got it." Both nodded.

"Let's head down, eat something, then go kill zombies. Goal for today: both of you hit Tier 2." Yang Bin was already moving.

"What about you, Brother Bin?"

"I'm not in a rush. We'll worry about me after you two get there."

"Alright."

The three headed downstairs, back to their dorm to brush their teeth, wash up, and eat. In the middle of the apocalypse, they were probably the only people living this comfortably.

"Brother Bin, I think we need to switch buildings," Chen Hao said, grimacing. "Getting to the rooftop here is a pain every time, and even with the door shut, the stench still drifts up."

"Yeah, I smelled it too. Absolutely foul," Hu Wenliang agreed.

"Fine. We'll pack up and find somewhere with better conditions," Yang Bin said.

"How about the Graduate Dormitory? I heard it's two people per room, fully equipped-way better than what we've got. And the building has a rooftop too," Chen Hao suggested.

"Works for me. Let's go there." Yang Bin nodded.

They sorted through their belongings-clothes, food, daily necessities-and filled several backpacks. Each of them ended up with one pack on their chest and one on their back.

Once everything was packed, they left the dormitory building and headed toward the Graduate Dormitory area.