Ye Shu clutched several oxygen bags to her chest and fled in a panic.

She thought she glimpsed Lin Qingyue’s figure in the chaos, but before she could get a good look, her foot nearly slipped into a hole the size of half a person. She barely managed not to fall in.

“Where did they go? Was I seeing things?”

"Awooo... I almost got buried alive! I'd be a disgrace to the Tiger Clan if anyone saw. What are you talking about, Master? It's just you and me here. There's no one else."

Da Piaoliang wriggled out from beneath a collapsed house, shook the dirt from her fur, and leaped onto Ye Shu’s shoulder.

"Maybe I really was mistaken?"

Reluctant to give up, Ye Shu searched the area but still found no sign of Lin Qingyue.

At that moment, Fu Shiyi emerged from the wreckage, shielding Fu Jingchuan as they crawled out. Their clothes were ripped, smeared with mud and blood. Fu Shiyi's gaze lingered on Ye Shu, a trace of concern flickering in his eyes. "Sister Yezi, thank goodness you’re okay! I thought you got buried alive with us."

Ye Shu fell silent. For some reason, she had the feeling Fu Shiyi wasn't telling the whole story. There was a foreboding sense—like only the good die young.

"Is everyone alright? Where's Pang Pangzi? Didn't he make it out?"

For all her cynicism, Ye Shu had a soft spot for this loyal little brother. She didn't want him to die here in the game.

"We're fine—just some minor injuries. It was a ground collapse. The oxygen on E Star was siphoned away for too long, leaving none in the soil. The crust lost its original balance. G City used to be a coal mine a century ago... As for Pang Tong... I don’t think he’s out yet."

Fu Jingchuan frowned, blaming himself for not noticing sooner. His vision was still blurred; if not for little Shiyi being at his side, he would have lost his revival card.

Ye Shu’s expression remained calm as she shouted for Pangzi toward the ruins. The next second, a strong male voice boomed from beneath the rubble.

"Heroine Ye! I think I can still be rescued!"

"Don’t give up on me, please!"

Pang Tong yelled desperately, fresh blood streaming down his temple and turning his vision crimson. He supported himself with both hands, sweating profusely, afraid to let himself faint. The incident came suddenly—and because he was so fat, he’d gotten stuck in the rubble.

Fortunately, he hadn’t been buried too deep. Ye Shu dug him out swiftly with a pickaxe. Still, his head was injured and a steel bar had pierced his leg. If he didn’t get medical help soon, his life would be in real danger.

But when Ye Shu tried calling emergency services, no one answered.

She could only try using Optimize.

[Advanced intelligence detected. Talent level too low to use this feature! Please upgrade and try again!]

Optimize still couldn't be upgraded...

Da Piaoliang was only barely able to use Optimize, thanks to her half-weird nature that let her bypass some limitations.

Luckily, someone finally picked up when Fu Shiyi tried calling. Unfortunately, the rescue team answered, not the hospital. The city's biggest hospital lay in the collapsed zone; most of the medicine and equipment were now buried underground. The hospital was a ruin; nobody could be treated there.

Wiping blood from his face, Pang Pangzi managed a forced, brave smile. "It's nothing. The collapse probably happened not just in G City, but all over the world. Heroine, all we have to do is survive until day twenty!"

"I've still got a healing item on me."

An A-rank item—the Healing Capsule—capable of healing all kinds of injuries, internal and external, and restoring seventy percent of one’s strength.

Pang Pangzi lay panting on the ground like an exhausted dog. It had taken him forever to draw this card! It hurt—not just his body but also his heart—having to use it just because he was fat. Was this world always so unfair to people like him?

As soon as Pang Tong revealed the healing item, Ye Shu’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly. Couldn’t he have said so earlier? She’d almost been ready to write his eulogy.

Gritting his teeth, Pang Pangzi yanked out the steel bar from his leg and swallowed the healing capsule at once. As expected of an A-rank item, the wound healed almost instantly, leaving only a thin scar.

"Sister Yezi, all the oxygen bags are buried under the rubble," Fu Shiyi said, his eyes burning with hope.

He remembered that time during sea survival—Ye Xiaoshu had repaired the fishing boat in mere moments. Fixing a house, or some oxygen bags, should be nothing for her!

Ye Shu grunted in reply, letting him know she understood.

As she gathered her composure, she realized what Fu Shiyi was angling for. He hadn’t yet paid for the boat repair—was he really trying to get another freebie out of her?

"You want me to fix your house and oxygen bags? You’d better bring out some items to trade. Since we know each other, I’ll give you a fair deal: one hundred liters of oxygen for a B-rank item. The last repair job is a separate matter. And you both must promise never to reveal my abilities. Deal?"

Fu Shiyi ground his teeth. What a blatant shakedown. Still, he could only agree.

Fu Jingchuan, for his part, wasn’t surprised by Ye Xiaoshu’s businesslike methods. In his view, this was exactly how she ought to be—straightforward, transparent in her terms. It was reassuring.

"Ye Xiaoshu, in addition to the item, I’ll trade you a piece of information for an oxygen tank."

Ye Shu’s reply was glacial. "I’m not interested."

She had no taste for gossip, and there was no way she’d let Fu Jingchuan use that to get out of paying with an item.

"Shiyi, Pangzi, you two wait aside for a moment."

What Fu Jingchuan wanted to discuss concerned Ye Shu only. He didn’t want the others in on it.

"My precognition ability evolved into the Eye of Foresight. I can see the futures of others, and perceive hidden things. That day... my eyes saw something on you."

"Deal!"

"Half the usual price in resources."

The minute Ye Shu realized it concerned her, she closed on the deal. So Fu Jingchuan’s eye injury was related to her.

"There’s a black mist wrapped around you... The way it moves, it’s almost alive. I can see anyone else’s future, but not yours. You're the only one I can’t see clearly."

Shiyi included. His little brother, always standing behind him, supporting him—Foresight couldn't pierce his fate either.

"I checked again yesterday. The mist hasn’t dissipated."

Fu Jingchuan regarded her solemnly from across the way.

Ye Shu was astonished. He’d tried once, then actually went back for a second look. Could her fate be hidden because her talent card let her reset timelines? If a future can be overwritten, seeing it unclearly should be expected.

And the black mist... It sounded almost like an aura of death.

"Your eyes... they’re not healing because you looked again, aren't they?"

"Mm." Fu Jingchuan blinked, thrown off that Ye Xiaoshu focused on his injury rather than the secrets themselves. A rare flush of surprise and embarrassment crossed his usually cool features.

He handed her the item Fu Shiyi had brought for the trade.

Naturally, Ye Shu didn’t stand on ceremony. These were her due, her rightful spoils.

A B-rank, sea-blue invisibility necklace—it could be used in ten-minute bursts and recharge every twenty-four hours. A pearl ring that would boost speed by two points, which would excite most, but was useless for her. And a Luck Star of unknown rank, which let its bearer make a wish every day—though whether the wish came true was pure chance.

She picked up one of the shattered oxygen bags and triggered Optimize.

The bag restored itself to pristine condition in her hands.

[Optimize the old mansion?]

[Yes.]

In a blink, the collapsed mansion and ruined ground were restored to their original state—untouched, as though disaster had never struck.