Chen Luo would not drink unless there were special circumstances.

But to celebrate his true reunion with Su Dazhu, Chen Luo had to have a drink.

Not much, just two bottles of ice-cold beer.

Chen Luo watched Su Dazhu eat heartily, a trace of guilt flashing in his eyes.

The appetite of Awakened was much larger, especially those with physical abilities; they were all gluttons.

But how much food was there for them to eat?

At first, Chen Luo didn't know this. He only understood after coming into contact with other physical Awakened.

The experience of being hungry was something Chen Luo feared just thinking about. Su Dazhu often gave him food, secretly enduring unbearable hunger.

Chen Luo vowed that he would rather starve himself than let Su Dazhu go hungry again.

Watching Su Dazhu eat happily, Chen Luo smiled like an old father, feeling exceptionally gratified that his child could eat his fill.

Under Chen Luo's constant urging not to hold back, the eight dishes still weren't enough for Su Dazhu. Chen Luo brought out another plate of *dapanji* (big plate chicken) before Su Dazhu was finally satisfied.

Chen Luo felt more comfortable than if he had eaten a ginseng fruit himself when Su Dazhu was full.

Chen Luo got up, went to the kitchen, and took out barrels of purified water from his spatial ability to wash the zombie crystals he had obtained.

Chen Luo didn't count how many there were, but there were at least two hundred.

After washing them, Chen Luo saw Fawang looking at him expectantly.

*You promised to let me eat the leftovers!* But there weren't any left; that glutton had finished them all.

Chen Luo smiled and took out a portion of braised pork for Fawang.

Without exaggeration, in a few days, there wouldn't be many people in the world eating better than Fawang, this dog.

Right now, everyone just had some stored ingredients.

Chen Luo called Su Dazhu over and handed him a handful of crystals.

"Dazhu, try absorbing the power of these crystals. It can quickly enhance your strength."

Su Dazhu asked where these came from. Chen Luo smiled and explained that they were dug out of zombie brains.

Su Dazhu immediately looked disgusted, finding it a bit nauseating.

Su Dazhu thought of something and asked doubtfully, "Brother Chen, how did you know there was this thing in the zombies' heads?"

Chen Luo said, "When your head hurt this morning, you felt something forming in your head, right? I guessed that it was a crystal being produced, and I wondered if there might be something like that in the zombies' heads."

"Sure enough, they have them in their heads too."

Su Dazhu praised in realization, "Brother Chen, you're so smart."

Chen Luo smiled. This kind of thing could be known as long as one was smart and flexible enough. It wasn't a secret.

Even if one didn't know, they could easily learn it after contacting other people.

Chen Luo said gently, "Don't call me Brother Chen in the future. Just call me Brother."

There was, of course, a difference between Brother Chen and Brother.

Despite Su Dazhu's large stature, he was indeed three days younger than Chen Luo.

Su Dazhu immediately grinned foolishly, "Okay, Brother. I've always wanted to have an older brother."

Chen Luo and Su Dazhu had actually known each other for over a year. In Su Dazhu's heart, Chen Luo was different from those arrogant property owners who didn't even look at him, the security guard, directly.

He was always very gentle, polite, and not condescending.

It was hard not to feel goodwill towards this kind of respect.

This was also why the two of them naturally became partners after they met in his past life.

Chen Luo had Su Dazhu choose a room to absorb the crystals in peace, and he also went to his room to start absorbing.

After Fawang finished eating, Chen Luo directly threw a handful of crystals to it.

"Eat them one by one. If you can't handle it, don't eat anymore."

The crystals could be held in the palm of the hand to absorb, or they could be eaten directly.

The difference was that holding them in the hand allowed one to freely control whether to absorb or not. Eating them directly meant that if one couldn't withstand the energy, the most extreme result would be exploding and dying.

Of course, this situation was impossible with the lowest-level crystals, but since this thing was dug out of the zombies' heads, wasn't it disgusting to eat?

Fawang was a dog, so it didn't matter.

Chen Luo lay on the bed, holding the crystal, and began to absorb.

The crystal contained some kind of power. Absorbing it could strengthen oneself. The best effect was achieved by absorbing crystals of the same attribute.

For example, spatial crystals had the best effect for Chen Luo to absorb.

This power also could not be absorbed without limit. It depended on the individual's situation.

It was like eating. A big eater could eat ten bowls of rice, while some people could only eat half a bowl.

People who ate more naturally had better aptitude, and their strength increased faster.

The amount of power that could be absorbed at one time also increased with the growth of strength.

Based on his experience from his past life, Chen Luo estimated that he could now absorb the power of eight crystals at a time.

This was a lot. Awakened with poor aptitude might not even be able to absorb the power of one crystal completely when they first awakened.

The power contained in each crystal was not the same. Some had more, some had less, but the difference was not large. After absorbing about twenty in total, one could probably reach the strength of a Level 2 Awakened.

As he absorbed, Chen Luo suddenly sat up.

"Something's not right. After absorbing five, I feel like I've only absorbed a little bit."

Originally, after absorbing five crystals, Chen Luo should have been more than half full, but now, it only felt like he was filling the gaps in his teeth.

This was, of course, a good thing. The more power one absorbed at a time, the faster one's strength increased.

Chen Luo began to re-absorb, both surprised and delighted.

When he absorbed the 21st crystal, Chen Luo's head suddenly ached, but it wasn't as painful as when he awakened in the morning.

Chen Luo was a little incredulous. *Did I reach Level 2 on the first day of the apocalypse?*

In his past life, he only advanced on the 14th day.

In the morning, when Chen Luo had just awakened, he could emit four spatial orbs at a time. Now, Chen Luo could at least fire 15 times.

And the power had increased a little.

It didn't produce a qualitative change against zombies. He could kill eleven or twelve zombies at most, which still couldn't keep up with the efficiency of the electric baton.

Ignoring this change, Chen Luo continued to absorb the power of the crystals.

After reaching Level 2, the lowest-level crystals had a much weaker effect on Chen Luo because the power of these crystals was not pure enough.

Once he reached Level 4, the power of the lowest-level crystals would have no effect at all. They could only barely be used to speed up the recovery of power.

Therefore, there were some zombie crystals that Chen Luo simply couldn't be bothered to pick up. Enough was enough.

It wasn't until he absorbed 42 crystals that Chen Luo felt that he had reached his limit and couldn't absorb any more. One reason he could absorb so many was because he had reached Level 2.

Leveling up not only improved his ability but also slightly strengthened his physical fitness.

The physical fitness of a King-level Awakened was not inferior to that of a Level 10 physical-type Awakened.

It was only relatively weaker.

Feeling the power within his body, Chen Luo stood up, wondering if he could now use the Void Sword.

Chen Luo began to gather all the power in his body into his palm, condensing it into the shape of a sword.

This sword was not invisible or colorless.

A pale white, laser-like lightsaber gathered in Chen Luo's hand.

But in less than five seconds, Chen Luo fell onto the bed, covered in sweat. Forcing himself to use this ability consumed too much of him.