10 Hungry Again

"As long as you take good care of me, I might just let you see!" Dale flashed his most proud and seductive smile. However, this smile, on Howard's view, appeared twisted and fat, filled with a thick sense of malice. "Are you threatening me?" he asked.

"Heh, man, don't think about getting rough. Anger me, and you'll regret it!" Dale, holding a small hammer in his hand, said with a cold laugh.

Whoosh! Howard's hand moved swiftly, and the knife fell. Dale's head rolled on the ground several times before coming to a stop, still wearing a look of disbelief. She couldn't believe to her death that Howard would actually make a move to kill her! Nor could she believe Howard's speed was so fast that she was no match at all.

Previously, when facing men, they would often apologize and compromise, not daring to fight back at all! Why was this? She didn't realize that some men didn't want to argue with her, not because they were afraid or couldn't beat her, but because moral and public opinion constraints made it despicable for a man to hit a woman.

Now, in this post-apocalyptic world, without the constraints of morality and law, who would tolerate her faults?! With Dale's character, even if she hadn't fallen into Howard's hands today, she would have eventually fallen into someone else's.

Clang! The small hammer fell to the ground. Dale's plump body staggered in place before falling heavily to the ground. "It's quiet now!" Howard didn't even glance at Dale, heading straight for the shelves. Despite feeling panicked and nervous about killing someone, he had no regrets. Whether it was for the supermarket's supplies, to retaliate against Dale for despising his life, or to affirm his determination to survive coldly and decisively in this post-apocalyptic world.

This was a necessary step. Forgiving an enemy is like digging your own grave; you never know when they might bury you alive.

Howard lightly touched the goods on the shelves.

"Ding! You have collected 120 packs of instant noodles, totaling 1200 food points!"

"Ding! You have collected 86 packs of biscuits, totaling 430 food points!"

"Ding! You have collected 100 sausages, totaling 1100 food points!"

"Ding! You have collected 216 bottles of drinks, totaling 1080 food points and 96 points of purified water!"

"Ding! You have collected 10 boxes of purified water, totaling 500 points of purified water!"

...

Howard started cleaning shelf after shelf, collecting everything from self-heating hot pots, soybean oil, rice, soy sauce, and more.

Eventually, he found a small storage warehouse of the supermarket. Generally, the items on the shelves are just a part of the inventory. To avoid frequent deliveries, such medium-sized supermarkets will have their own warehouse. And the supplies stored here were no less than those outside. While the shelves held individual packages, here there were boxes of food stacked together. Boxes of instant noodles with 24 packs each, boxes of milk, cans of luncheon meat, bread, sausages, and more. He collected them all!

After busying himself, Howard straightened his back, his bones cracking from maintaining the same posture for a long time. Collecting food was good, but it required touching the food to be effective. He had been bending down touching these packages for hours.

"Ding! Your current total food points are 78,432, with 1,565 points of purified water!"

Considering 60 food points can be converted into meat product points, that's over 20,000 points a year, enough for three to four years. And this was just from one supermarket. By looting a few more supermarkets and restaurants tomorrow, he could live a life without worrying about food and clothes!

What a thrill! Truly thrilling!

While Howard was busy collecting food, Miranda was not idle either.

She took a detour from the back alley to the main road, leveraging her "invisibility" ability against zombies to begin a merciless killing spree.

"Ding! Miranda gained evolution energy +1, level up requires 22/100!"

"Ding! You gained evolution energy +1, level up requires 12/20!"

"Ding! Miranda gained evolution energy +1, level up requires 23/100!"

"Ding! You gained evolution energy +1, level up requires 13/20!"

...

A series of notifications continuously flashed before Howard's eyes! Howard had just finished clearing the fast food section, and his level went up!

"Ding! Congratulations, you've leveled up to the Extremely Strong rank, level up requires 0/50!"

Leveled up again!? A surge of strength flowed within him again, and the lines of his muscles became even more defined, visible even through his clothes.

He thought Miranda would have returned by now. After all, during this trip out, she had killed three zombies in the apartment lobby, three on the road, and nine more just now, making a total of fifteen. Her hunger level should have increased to 45%!

However, Howard was surprised to find that Miranda's hunger level had barely changed, still at zero!

"How is this possible? Could it be..." Howard paused, immediately coming up with a bold hypothesis.

Could it be because after Miranda had eaten her fill, he had forcefully fed her twice more?! The energy hadn't gone to waste but was stored inside her body. As she fought and expended energy, only when the energy stored inside her was completely depleted would hunger arise?!

Half an hour later, as Howard was about to collect food from the warehouse, an important notification emerged again: "Ding! Congratulations, you've leveled up to the Human Limit rank, level up requires 0/150!"

His strength had increased again!?

In just one hour, gaining two levels in strength was incredibly exhilarating! By then, Miranda's hunger level had risen to 64%. Fearing she might go too far in her frenzied state, Howard quickly ordered her to return.

Using the same method as before, Miranda, carrying a cardboard box for cover, escorted Howard back to their apartment building.

"Ah!" Miranda, clutching her slightly deflated stomach, looked eagerly at Howard, signaling that it was time to eat.

"Look at you, all covered in blood. Take those off and go take a shower!" Howard only then noticed that Miranda, having gone off to kill zombies, was covered in bloodstains on her body and dress, emitting a foul, bloody smell. Despite this not diminishing her beauty and allure, the scent made it difficult for Howard to approach her.

"Ah?" Miranda stared curiously at Howard, seemingly not understanding what taking a bath meant.

"Forget that you haven't fully regained your intelligence and don't know how to bathe!"

"Guess it's up to me to help you bathe!" Howard said, quickly stripping himself clean and then reaching out to Miranda, peeling off her clothes as if stripping a banana.