A single-player post-apocalyptic game, but with an all-female teammate mod.

No matter what it is, you'll get annoyed if you hear it too much.

Good words, bad words, words of gratitude—they all matter.

However, Aono soon lost interest.

Unlike the small mouth below, the pleasure level of the girl's small mouth above drops exponentially if it doesn't cooperate.

So, after a few simple movements, he pulled it out again.

He wiped the water off his body and carried Dudu back to bed.

This time, Aono positioned the beautiful girl with long orange-red hair in a position where her upper body was lying on the bed and her legs were standing on the floor.

The girl's slender, long legs were raised on tiptoe, her buttocks sticking out high, creating an incredibly alluring suction.

The tightness quickly increased the trust value by another 5%.

Including the one that happened right after midnight yesterday, there's only one more left before reaching today's limit.

For the last time, Aono chose the most classic and ordinary pose.

It's convenient to go straight to sleep afterward.

"What a pity the shops aren't open yet, otherwise I could have bought some clothes and props..."

Aono pulled out of Dudu's body with a hint of regret, and sighed with a "pop" sound.

He didn't go overboard tonight; he stopped once his trust level reached its maximum.

He slept soundly through the night.

In his dreams, besides the gentle and obedient little cook beside him, a purple phantom like lightning would occasionally appear.

The next morning, just as dawn broke.

Aono woke up on time and the first thing she did was check on Dudu's condition.

The girl remained lying quietly to the side, her trust level stable at 40%.

"very good."

He got up, washed up, carried Dudu to the kitchen, and went straight to the workbench.

Yesterday's battle made him realize that using flamethrowers in the new area would only be profitable.

Fortunately, we collected enough materials for the improved flamethrower yesterday.

A flash of blue light appeared, and two brand-new Portable Flamethrowers (Improved Version) appeared on the table.

The handle is more ergonomically designed to fit the palm of your hand, and the shoulder strap has been optimized so that it won't cause shoulder pain even after carrying it for a long time.

"Being prepared is always better than being caught off guard."

Aono hung one of the fire axes on his side and put the other into his backpack, then checked the fire axe and stone spear again.

Before leaving, he went to the kitchen and ate the simple breakfast that Dudu had prepared.

"I'm going out for a bit, I'll be right back," Aono said.

"Yes, Captain."

Without further ado, Aono once again stepped into the ruined world.

Today's target remains that area.

With two improved flamethrowers, the efficiency of clearing monsters has been significantly improved.

He no longer needs to engage in close combat like yesterday, nor does he need to frequently use a stopwatch to lure the enemy.

If you encounter scattered mycelium zombies, use a fire axe and stone spear to deal with them.

When encountering a cluster of enemies, use both flamethrowers to clear a path, alternating between them, to maintain near-uninterrupted firepower.

Those large monster hordes that he once had to deal with with great care are now powerless against the scorching flames.

The charred corpses fell one after another, and gold coins and materials clattered into the backpack.

The journey went smoothly, and we soon arrived at the ruins of the supermarket from yesterday.

Aono stood at the edge of the ruins, his gaze sweeping over the shadow where the purple figure had once stood.

It was empty.

Only the mycelium and monster remains scattered on the ground proved that yesterday's battle had indeed taken place.

He waited a while, then took a few more steps forward and went deeper into the supermarket.

The shelves collapsed, the goods were scattered, but everything seemed normal.

That one person was missing.

"Sure enough, since Dudu doesn't refresh and disappear, then this kind of mobile NPC definitely won't refresh in a fixed location."

Aono felt a little regretful, but it was also within his expectations.

He didn't linger any longer and turned to continue exploring deeper into the contaminated area.

We have enough common resources and materials for now, so it's time to look for the special materials needed to upgrade the Ark.

7. Recruitment successful

"Hopefully, the store feature will be available in the next level."

Looking at the nearly five-figure sum of gold coins, Aono glanced at his tattered t-shirt and shorts, took a deep breath, and continued his search.

Whether it's various seasonings and ingredients, or clothing, these are all things he urgently needs right now.

These items have a very low drop rate from monsters, but they can be purchased with gold coins in shops.

The price isn't particularly outrageous, so you could say it's extremely cost-effective.

The flamethrower burned through half of the mycelium-contaminated area until it stopped in front of a collapsed subway entrance when the flamethrower's energy was less than 30%.

Before even entering, the howls of the mycelium zombies reached my ears.

Clearly, these mycelial monsters, which like to lurk in the shadows and ambush others, are far more common in dark and damp places like subways and sewers than on the ground.

After a moment's thought, Aono chose to clear out the surrounding mycelium zombies rather than go down to explore.

Whether or not the materials you need are below, they won't run away anyway.

The safest approach is to clear out the monsters outside first to avoid being attacked from both sides.

While you're at it, upgrade a few more levels and manufacture a few more flamethrowers.

It's never a bad idea to be well-prepared before exploring new areas that seem far more dangerous.

Seemingly sensing Aono's intention to retreat, the few mycelium zombies lingering at the subway entrance roared a few times and then pounced on him.

"boom--"

Two blazing fire dragons surged forth.

As he fired, Aono retreated and dodged.

But no matter how they maneuvered or turned, the gun remained aimed at the grayish-white mycelial monsters until they were all roasted to a crisp.

With his increasingly powerful physique, several mycelium zombies turned into gold coins and materials on the ground before they could even touch the hem of his clothes.

After picking up the gold coins and materials, Aono decisively turned and left.

On his way back, he deliberately changed direction and cleared out more monsters along the way.

When the flamethrower ran out of power, fire axes and stone spears were used.

It is much less efficient than a flamethrower, but there is no difference in terms of safety.

With the boost from his talent, after two days of efficient monster clearing, Qingye has reached level 9, and his combat power has reached 29.

Both its speed and strength are higher than those of elite monsters.

With ample firepower, dealing with these mycelium zombies became increasingly easy.

Of course, this is on the premise that they are not surrounded.

The most terrifying thing about zombies, regardless of their type, is their sheer number and their fearless nature.

In terms of individual combat strength, it's really not that great.

"It's about time to head back."

After smashing another zombie's head, Aono glanced at the time and, without further delay, sped back.

He pulled an electronic stopwatch from his backpack, lured away a group of approaching mycelium zombies, and then started running.

Occasionally, a few zombies would attack him on the road, but they couldn't catch up with him at all.

When Aono arrived home, it was just getting dark.

The rest is just like yesterday.

He first went to the kitchen to check on Dudu and asked her to prepare dinner before going to the manufacturing room.

Next comes dinner, a bath together, and increasing trust levels.

After two days and more than ten practice sessions, Qingye became more skilled, even though Dudu was completely uncooperative.

Trust value +5%

Trust value +5%

Trust value +5%

Trust value +5%

Standing, kneeling, lying down, sideways...

After three hours and seven or eight different positions, Qingye successfully raised Dudu's trust level to its maximum for the day.

As before, every time his trust level increased, he would open Dudu's panel and try to click on "Recruit".

Today is no exception.

"Um?!"

As soon as Aono opened the panel, he noticed something different from before.

Below the trust value, the otherwise unremarkable "Recruit" button emitted a faint glow, seemingly reminding him to press it.

"60% trust level... is that the passing grade... is the maximum 100%?"

With a hint of anticipation, Aono took a deep breath, and with a thought, chose to recruit.

The panel no longer displays the "Insufficient Trust" message; instead, it shows the recruitment cost.

[Would you like to spend 10000 Gold and 20% Ark Energy to recruit "Zhou Meili" as a full teammate?]

Aono looked at the system notification but didn't immediately confirm. Instead, he frowned and pondered.

After a day of fighting monsters, his gold coins have just exceeded five figures.

Gold coins aren't the key; you can just kill more monsters.

Even if monsters don't keep respawning, there will never be a shortage of monsters in such a post-apocalyptic world.

He was concerned about the second condition.

20% of core energy...

The Ark's functions are related to its level and are perfectly balanced, so theoretically it doesn't need any additional features, nor are there any options to add them.

At least for now, Aono has not found a way to replenish energy.

Perhaps it can only be replenished after it's been used up?

In any case, Ark Energy certainly cannot be depleted.

This means that at present, a maximum of four teammates can be recruited.

If you want more teammates, you either need to find a way to replenish energy or upgrade the Ark.

As expected, upgrading the Ark Shelter is the absolute main theme of this game.

Since there are only four positions, we can't just recruit anyone.

After thinking for a while, Aono finally decided to recruit Dudu.

First of all, Dudu was the first person he met.