The next morning, Kelsey Wen woke up early, the first thing on her mind was to check the space. To her surprise, the self-heating hotpot was still the same, unchanged... What could it mean?

Kelsey sat on her bed contemplating. Could it be that she didn't wait long enough? "I guess I can wait a little longer," she thought. After all, a bit of extra time wouldn't hurt.

Throwing off her blanket, Kelsey noticed that it was even colder today. Quickly, she put on gloves and got out of bed to wash up, then added some charcoal to the fireplace. 

Jinbao, her cat, was still fast asleep on the bed. Kelsey filled Jinbao's food bowl with some cat food and changed the litter. For herself, she simply ate a basket of small dumplings she had bought previously, washed it down with a cup of soybean milk, and headed outside to finish the tasks she hadn’t completed from the day before.

Once outside, Kelsey measured the depth of the traps she had set up and decided to dig a three-meter deep trench while leaving room for a gate in the middle. 

Pulling out a digger from her space, Kelsey marveled at the thought that she was actually operating a digger now. 

After a bit of self-entertainment, she climbed into the driver's seat of the digger and got to work. Once she finished, she filled the pit with sharp spikes. 

Nearby, at the base of a tree, she set up numerous fishing net traps, and put surveillance alarms in place, targeting any dangerous animals that might appear in the mountains. As soon as any such creature popped up on the monitor, an alarm would go off. 

She even installed a launching port on the alarm, which contained three throwing darts that could be activated via remote control. 

Clapping her hands in satisfaction, Kelsey wrapped up her work and began to head home.

But suddenly, rustling sounds came from the woods to her right.

Kelsey quickly climbed up a tree to hide. The noise grew louder as she closely watched the source of the sound.

Finally, a figure emerged from the woods.

A man.

Kelsey’s brow furrowed. Who would be around here during such a harsh winter?

As she peered down at the man, a sense of awe washed over her. His luxurious long black hair was simply draped over his shoulders, with a few strands playfully hanging in front; his white shirt revealed a delicate collarbone, and his long legs were encased in black pants.

With a pale complexion, he had piercing yet sinister eyes, a pronounced nose, and thin red lips curling in a smirk – he exuded a combination of coldness and wickedness.

Mysterious and dangerous!

That was Kelsey’s second impression!

The aura of this man felt exceedingly hazardous. She pressed her body tightly against the tree, hoping he wouldn’t notice her.

Alas, her luck ran out as the man’s gaze shifted in her direction.

“Come out,” he commanded.

The man was Ji He. 

Kelsey realized that hiding was pointless, so she climbed down from the tree.

Ji He looked at her with disdain. Was this really the bloodline of Mang?

He regarded the girl before him, wrapped snugly in a thick black down jacket, her face mostly concealed by a hat and scarf, looking gray and disheveled.

Curiously, Ji He thought about how intriguing it would be to take these striking eyes back to the Star Tower, and he couldn’t help but fantasize about removing them.

Kelsey remained alert, feeling chills run down her spine as the intensity of Ji He's gaze clearly lacked any friendliness.

Ji He’s lips curled into a smirk before he suddenly punched Kelsey in the stomach. By the time she regained her wits, he had already struck.

“Puff—” 

Kelsey coughed up blood and dropped to her knees, doubled over and gasping in pain.

So strong!

That was Kelsey’s evaluation of Ji He. While she herself wasn’t the strongest, rarely did anyone manage to catch her off guard like that.

This man… there was no escaping him!

“Puff—y-you want to kill me? Why?” Kelsey stammered through her blood, racking her brain about how to escape.

Ji He retrieved a silk handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his hands, standing elegantly as his hair danced in the wind like a character straight out of a comic.

He cast a deep, evaluating look at Kelsey and said, “You’re not worth it yet.”

With that, he simply walked away.

Kelsey was left dumbfounded: “What? Is he crazy?”

Though she was relieved to still be alive.

After confirming that he really had left, Kelsey hurriedly took a vehicle out of her space and returned to the villa without caring what kind of vehicle it was.

As soon as she entered her bedroom, her body gave out. That punch was likely to have injured her insides. Kelsey crawled into her space, searching for medicine.

Thinking back on the man who had knocked her down before leaving, Kelsey couldn’t help but lament her bad luck; how could she have encountered such a lunatic?

From now on, she decided to stay put – survival was key!

After finding the medicine and taking it, Kelsey changed clothes and lay down on her bed, making up her mind to skip cooking for the time being and focus on healing.

Jinbao sensed the blood on Kelsey and anxiously circled her, meowing, “Meow!”

Kelsey weakly gathered Jinbao in her arms and kissed his head: “Don’t worry, Jinbao. Big sister’s just feeling a bit under the weather!”

Jinbao obediently curled up next to her, resting his head against hers.

As Kelsey stroked Jinbao's fur, she pulled out a small pot of nourishing soup from her space and began to drink.

While sipping, she reflected—she needed to rein in her recklessness. Today, that man hadn’t killed her; what if something worse happened next time?

But when had there been such formidable people in Huaguo? Especially during the extreme cold. She recalled that the man had worn thin clothing.

In such cold weather, he seemed completely unfazed—was it advanced technology or something else? 

Kelsey’s frown deepened as she pondered how this life seemed to be drastically different from her last.

Eventually, she dismissed the troubling thoughts.

She resolved to strengthen her training after she recovered from her injuries; she couldn’t afford to slack off as she had before.

The circumstances of this life seemed to be shifting a bit. News from the A City base hadn’t left, and then there was that man…

All of this pushed her to become stronger; she had learned from the apocalypse that only the strong could survive.

Meanwhile, after Ji He left Kelsey’s line of sight, he used a spatial button and directly jumped to A City.

A City, Temporary Government Building, 18th Floor.

The Third Elder, Yuh Si, sat in his office and activated a holographic communication with the Central Star.

“Beep—”

The connection was successful.

An elderly man in his fifties appeared in the hologram, his hair graying and his expression severe.

Third Elder Yuh Si spoke excitedly to the hologram, “Brother! The bloodline of Mang has been activated!”

The hologram, an elderly man named Zhen Si, fixed a stern gaze upon him. “Have you located them? We must find them first this time!”

Bowing, Third Elder replied, “The bloodline power hasn’t fully activated yet; it’s likely just at the first layer and unstable. We haven’t tracked a location yet.” 

The Elder's face darkened, and he growled, “What are you doing here then? Hurry up and find it! Useless!”

With that, he abruptly disconnected.

Feeling a bit wronged, Third Elder Yuh Si thought to himself, even if he followed his brother's instructions, how could he find something when the bloodline power was only partially activated?

If it were his brother, he probably wouldn’t find it either! Hmph! All his brother cared about was power and status…

Despite his grievances, Third Elder Yuh Si still arranged for people to search.

After Kelsey finished eating, she took a short nap, awakening to find her body feeling significantly better?

She stood up and jumped experimentally. “Huh? Am I really this better?” 

What was going on?

Had her body undergone a transformation?

Kelsey stood motionless in her room, baffled for a moment, but quickly snapped back to reality.

If rebirth was possible, what else could be deemed impossible?

Remembering the self-heating hotpot she had set aside yesterday, Kelsey glanced at the clock— it was now 5:53 PM. She hurried back into the space.

Upon approaching the self-heating hotpot, she discovered another identical hotpot had appeared beside it!

Kelsey was overjoyed!

The space really had a copying function!!!

From now on, she would have an endless supply of resources!

However, it seemed that the copying cooldown was a day. She checked her other supplies, and sure enough, everything else had also quadrupled—whatever quantity she put in, it would double. 

With this in mind, she realized it could only grow and grow from here!

Kelsey was bubbling with excitement as she dashed out of the space, wrapping her arms around Jinbao in a warm embrace.

Jinbao looked bewildered, questioning if he had just given birth.

“Meow~”

Kelsey chuckled mischievously, feeling a bit ridiculous, and soon subdued her laughter.

She planned to enjoy the self-heating hotpot tonight!

After all, it was a great contributor to her happiness!

After finishing the hotpot, Kelsey headed downstairs to the training room for some training. 

The encounter with that man still left a shadow in her mind – she had to grow stronger!

Sweat trickled down her forehead as Kelsey lay panting on the training room floor. 

Suddenly, she felt a wave of nostalgia for her parents. She got up and climbed to the attic, pushing open the door that led inside.

Taking a soft mat from her space, she sat on the ground and opened a box.

Inside were her mother’s belongings, and Kelsey fondly reminisced as she touched each item.

“Hiss!”

Kelsey cut her hand on something sharp, a few drops of blood falling from her finger. She turned to see what had caused the cut.

“Huh? This is...”