Flora Bloom raised her palm. A ball of deep blue water instantly gathered there at her command.
In her palm, a ball of deep blue water shifted between various shapes, following her thoughts. This confirmed it for Flora Bloom—she had truly awakened her Water Ability ahead of schedule.
The Water Ability had no offensive power. In the apocalypse, High-level Water Ability Users were known as "walking reservoirs."
'Just imagine: after the apocalypse, nearly all rivers and water sources were contaminated by the virus. Even the uncontaminated ones mostly contained mutated creatures. Water was incredibly precious in the apocalypse.'
However, as superpower users became more and more common, Water Ability Users became the most numerous of all, to the point where they were a dime a dozen. Gradually, Water Ability Users were no longer in high demand.
This was why she hadn't been able to earn many Crystal Cores selling water in her past life.
But this time, her Water Ability wasn't as rigid as it was in her past life. She discovered her control over the superpower was masterful. With a mere thought, she could mold the water into any shape or form she desired.
She believed that with enough power, she could shape water into any tangible object—even into offensive attacks.
'If that's the case, then in this life, she wouldn't have to grovel and beg those superpower squads to take her along, only to earn a pittance of Crystal Cores—not even enough for a single day's worth of food.'
In the post-apocalyptic world where society had collapsed, Crystal Cores were not only used by superpower users to absorb energy and level up, but they also served as the primary currency, essential for all trade.
'Three years. In these next three years, I have to become strong and stockpile enough Crystal Cores. I'll need them for survival and to increase my power, and even more so to raise my precious daughter. They're absolutely indispensable.'
Now certain that she had awakened her superpower, Flora Bloom silently thought, 'Enter space.' As expected, the next second, after a dizzying spatial shift, she reappeared in front of a thatched cottage.
Ever since the bracelet and the Crystal Stone painting had merged into her sea of consciousness as blue and white light, Flora Bloom's connection to the space had grown even stronger. She knew with certainty that a single thought was all it took to travel freely between the two realms.
At first, Flora Bloom felt a distinct dizziness whenever she entered or exited the space. But as she did it more and more...
"In, out."
"Enter, exit."
"In, out, in, out."
After entering and exiting the space repeatedly, Flora Bloom found that the dizzying sensation from the spatial shift gradually faded away.
She also discovered that even when she wasn't inside the space, she could clearly sense its existence, as if it were a part of her own body, inextricably linked to her.
With just a thought, everything within the space would appear in her mind, and she could control it all. Conversely, when she was inside the space, she could see everything happening in the outside world.
She knew this space would be her most important ace in the hole for surviving the apocalypse. With a thrill of excitement and a flick of her will, Flora Bloom instantly reappeared in the small farmhouse courtyard inside the space.
The space was miraculous, but Flora Bloom found it exceptionally drab.
First, apart from the small creek outside the courtyard, everything else was static. There were no living things, the colors were dull, and only the air was exceptionally fresh.
She walked to the creek, took a sip of the water, and instantly felt a sense of comfort wash over her. All her fatigue vanished.
The water was incredibly sweet. She drank several more gulps and found that her mind felt sharper, and the cut she'd made on her wrist earlier was healing rapidly.
In a matter of seconds, the wound was completely gone.
'Could this water also relieve fatigue and heal wounds?' At this thought, Flora Bloom immediately went back to the kitchen, grabbed a fruit knife, and made a small, shallow cut on her finger.
The moment the sweet water touched her lips, the wound began to close and scab over at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Flora Bloom was so excited she felt like she could float. 'This is practically a game-breaking cheat for surviving the apocalypse!'
She excitedly swirled her hand in the water, then suddenly froze. Reflected on the clear surface was a face of almost unfair beauty. She had always been gorgeous, which was why Shelton Underwood had noticed her and pursued her so fiercely.
In the reflection, her skin was fair, smooth, and delicate, without a single visible pore. Her features were still her own, but her eyes looked deeper and more vibrant, and her cute nose seemed a bit more defined. She had always been slightly anemic, her lips a pale pink, but now they were a stunning, blood-red hue that looked exceptionally alluring.
There was no trace of the weakness she'd shown earlier from her blood loss.
Most notably, a faint beauty mark had appeared beneath the corner of her eye. On closer inspection, one could see it was a cluster of extremely deep blue, though it looked black at a glance. It perfectly accentuated her skin, making it seem even more translucent and fair, lending her an otherworldly, bewitching allure.
Looking at her impossibly beautiful reflection, Flora Bloom frowned. 'In the apocalypse, a face like this is far too dangerous.' But she had no time to dwell on it now. She had too many questions and ideas about this space.
'This space is just too empty. How wonderful it would be to enjoy the comfort of an old-fashioned farmhouse here during the apocalypse! And when Polly Bloom is born, she could play here too.'
Flora Bloom's mind was already buzzing with ideas. She surveyed the courtyard and counted four animal pens. 'One for chickens, one for ducks, one for geese... and the last one is big enough for a couple of fat pigs.'
Then her gaze shifted to the black earth by the creek. 'I wonder if I can grow things in this soil?'
Flora Bloom mused, 'In my past life, my space could only store inanimate objects. But this time, because of that blue crystal, it's completely transformed. Not only is there a farmhouse courtyard, but I can enter it myself.'
'Does that mean living things can enter the space?'
'Looking at these pens, they must be for living creatures. And this black earth... I bet it has some surprises in store for me too.'
Without a second thought, Flora Bloom collected everything useful from her apartment and stored it in the space, placing it inside the thatched cottage. Then, she threw on a black coat, a hat, and a face mask before heading out to the mall.
Her original plan was just to clean out the mall, but the black earth in her space had set her imagination soaring.
'I remember there's a wholesale seed store in Janton, but it's downtown. Looks like I'll have to risk a trip,' she thought.
Flora Bloom's apartment was in an affluent neighborhood with an underground parking garage. She went down to the garage, circled around, and finally set her sights on a Jeep Wrangler.
It wasn't the best car there, and it was a total gas guzzler. But its advantages were its performance and durability. It could handle some reckless driving and plowing through a few zombies, no problem.
In her past life, Flora Bloom didn't have a driver's license. She had only learned to drive five years after the apocalypse began.
Flora Bloom took a towel from her space, wrapped it around her elbow, and expertly shattered the driver's side window. She then reached inside to unlock and open the door.
The car alarm would attract the owner soon.
Flora Bloom slipped into the driver's seat. She forcefully reached under the steering wheel, located a panel on the inside, and expertly ripped out a device, silencing the alarm.
She was intimately familiar with the inner workings of all sorts of cars from her time as Shelton Underwood's driver.
She skillfully hot-wired the car, stepped on the gas, and drove out of the underground garage.
Her destination was a large mall near the university. Her mission was to buy, buy, buy!
Money?
She didn't have much money herself; her family wasn't well-off. But Shelton Underwood had money to burn. On the second day of their relationship, he had given her a supplementary credit card with a seemingly unlimited balance.
But the old Flora Bloom, weighed down by her principles and a sense of propriety, had never once used the card. That was probably one of the reasons Shelton Underwood held her in high regard.
Today, however, Flora Bloom felt no such burden.
'For a treacherous scumbag like Shelton Underwood, and adding in the hatred from my past life, maxing out one of his credit cards would be letting him off easy.'
It was already eleven o'clock, leaving less than three hours until the apocalypse. Now that her space was unlocked, her plan was to gather enough supplies before it began, and then find her parents and younger brother.
Of course, the most important thing of all was to safely give birth to Polly Bloom in the coming apocalypse and raise her to be healthy and happy.