Apocalypse: Transmigrated with an Overlord System
Chapter 174: This is one of my most normal formulas

Chapter 174: Chapter 174: This is one of my most normal formulas

Old Zhou came up with a smile, took out a small bag of purple-red fruit bottle from his medicine bag, and handed it to everyone: "Try this. I just made the ’dried fruit juice’ in the morning. It’s sour and sweet. It can relieve fatigue, and it can also relax your spirit."

"Will it not explode?" Lin Ci took it suspiciously, pinching it carefully with her fingertips.

"Don’t worry, this is not a test product!" Old Zhou patted his chest and swore, "This is one of my most normal formulas! Only five pots have been blown up before and after!"

"..." Yang Ming decisively put the bottle back into Old Zhou’s hand.

But the atmosphere became more and more relaxed.

After walking for about an hour of time, Liora suddenly stopped.

She stood in front of a stream, gently closed her eyes, and listened quietly to the sound of wind and water. The shadow spread out like a tide, exploring the surroundings.

Few of her shadows had learned to disguise themselves, and no one noticed their existence until they were stronger than her. So she was relatively calm after letting them go.

But she suddenly looked at Xu Kai, who was stirring the stream and maybe trying to find if it was really pure or filled with pollutants and had become toxic.

She did not know what capabilities he had, neither his powers. He had never revealed it, and she could only find out after he used them... He might be a bigger threat to her, but strangely she trusted him that he would not hurt her.

She did not sense any maliciousness from him...

Everyone stopped as well around the stream.

They had learned that it was usually safest to follow Liora’s rhythm.

After a while, she opened her eyes: "It’s safe ahead. Rest here for fifteen minutes."

Everyone felt relieved and found a place to sit by the stream. Some washed their faces, some drank water after being confirmed that it was not toxic, and some began to count the herbs they had just collected.

And Liora walked alone to a small hill beside her and looked at the way she came.

A bird flew over the branches and made a crisp cry. It was just a small level 1 mutant, it even ran away after one look at Liora.

"You still don’t trust them very much, right?" Xu Kai walked forward, his voice was very light.

"It’s not that I don’t believe it," she said lightly. "I’m just still observing."

"Observe whether we are worth your stay, or... worthy of your protection?"

Liora did not answer immediately.

The wind blew her hair, and she said lightly, "Maybe both."

Xu Kai did not ask again. He stood beside her quietly for a while, arms crossed, eyes scanning the forest as if something beyond the trees interested him more than the silence between them.

But Liora suddenly broke that silence.

"How many days are you planning to stay here?" she asked without looking at him.

Xu Kai was stunned. For the first time in days, he didn’t have an immediate answer.

"...I—" he started, but before he could gather his thoughts, her voice came again—calm, steady, and sharp like a blade sliding out of its sheath.

"Someone like you... a military Commander," she said slowly, as if tasting the words, "can you really live in a place like this? A tiny little base without even enough food for three proper meals, and where it could not provide decent protection at all."

Her voice wasn’t mocking. It was observant. Brutally honest. Unapologetic.

Xu Kai’s mouth opened slightly, but the words caught somewhere between his lungs and tongue. He lowered his gaze for a second. Just a second. Then he turned his head to the side and stiffly replied, "I have my reasons."

"That so?" Liora raised an eyebrow, still not facing him. "Must be pretty important reasons to tie a high-ranking commander to a dying camp full of scavengers and amateurs."

He didn’t reply. His expression didn’t change, but the shift in his stance said enough—shoulders just a bit tense, fingers curling slightly.

Liora smirked faintly, almost invisible. "Alright," she said, brushing a strand of hair away from her cheek as she stepped down the slope, her cloak fluttering behind her. "Don’t tell me. But don’t expect me not to notice either."

She didn’t wait for him to follow.

Xu Kai stood there for a few moments longer, then exhaled quietly, but he didn’t look back at her.

He didn’t say another word.

But the twitch in his jaw said he was thinking of many things.

Just as they took a break, Lin Ci suddenly found that a taciturn boy in the team was hiding in a corner, fiddling with a small piece of shell peeled off from the back of an ant over and over again.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

The boy raised his head, his eyes shining: "I... I want to try to make a knife."

Lin Ci was stunned.

"Can you forge iron?"

"No. But I want to learn."

Lin Ci was silent for two seconds, then smiled.

"You can come to me. My brother used to make weapons, and I have learned some skills."

The boy raised his head in surprise.

He hesitated at first, his fingers still lightly clutching the cracked piece of shell. "Really?" he asked, voice soft, as if afraid his hope might break if he spoke too loud.

"Yeah," Lin Ci said, crouching down beside him. "That ant shell won’t last long, but the idea is solid. You’ve got the right instinct. Shape and edge—those are the first steps."

The boy’s eyes lit up, like someone had just handed him a future he thought was unreachable.

"My name is Kian," he said shyly. "I didn’t think anyone would... think it mattered."

"It does," Lin Ci replied gently. "All of us matter. Especially the ones still trying to build something."

She ruffled his hair, surprising him.

"I’ll bring some scrap later," she added. "We’ll start small. Maybe a dagger. Maybe smaller. But it’ll be yours."

Kian nodded, his hands gripping the shell more tightly now. "Thank you... Lin Ci."

She smiled. "Don’t thank me yet. I’m a tough teacher."

Liora stood in the distance, watching this scene, her mouth curled up in an imperceptible arc.

The sky slowly shifted, the sun leaning toward the west as warm light filtered through the trees. Around the stream, the group was beginning to rise, brushing dust from their pants, strapping gear back on their backs.

Time to move again.

Liora turned around and raised her voice, calm but firm, "Pack up. We move in three."

No one complained. They had rested. They had drunk clean water. They had felt something close to peace.