Denton was straightforward. He was ready to transform and let Nelson study the stench coming from his body. "Nelson, go ahead," he said with a grin. "Do whatever tests you need—draw blood, take samples, even peel off a bit of my mutant shell if it helps. We're brothers now. I trust you." He stood up, eager to give Nelson something to work with. Tyler pressed him back into his seat. "Eat first," Tyler said firmly. He was right. If Denton transformed now, nobody else would have the appetite to eat. Nelson nodded seriously, eyes glowing with admiration. What a nice guy! Denton actually let me study as much as I want. Now, that's a real friend! Caroline watched the group laughing and talking around the table. Suddenly, she wanted to smile. A real smile that came from the depth of her heart. After the chaos and danger of the day—sitting here among friends, hearing them joke and tease—for the first time, the apocalypse didn't seem so unbearable. In her past life, she had wandered alone for ten long years. She'd had teammates, sure, but there was no trust, only benefits and survival. Everyone guarded their own secrets, ready to stab someone in the back for supplies. But now, she was fighting and eating alongside people she could actually relax around. And that, to her, was enough. ... Meanwhile, Francis was dealing with something that almost gave him a heart attack. The ability user who had stolen supplies from the army warehouse had just returned them all—voluntarily. After the battle, Francis had been so exhausted that he fell asleep before he could even eat. But then, a soldier burst into his room, shaking him awake. Francis was ready to explode. He'd made it clear before—unless the sky was falling or another wave of mutant insects was crashing through the city, no one was allowed to wake him up. But he had barely fallen asleep when someone started yelling outside his tent.Now his head throbbed like it was splitting open, and his heart pounded so hard it felt like it might jump right out of his chest. "What is it now?!" Francis barked, pressing a hand to his chest to steady his racing heartbeat. The young soldier didn't even notice his anger. His face was lit up with excitement. "Colonel! Our supplies—they're back!" He gave a short explanation. A man who'd always claimed he had no ability had suddenly come to him, saying he wanted to return the supplies he had borrowed and hoped the army would forgive him. For a moment, Francis thought his heart had stopped. Then he shot up from bed like a man rising from his deathbed. "Seriously? Stuff like this actually happens to us?" He'd been through one disaster after another lately—finally, a stroke of luck! When the soldier confirmed the story, Francis felt his back pain vanish and his legs stop aching. His whole body fills with energy again. "That's great! Fantastic! Hahaha!" he shouted, grinning from ear to ear. He didn't know that what really caused the man to have a change of heart was seeing Caroline and the others fighting on the front lines. The sight of soldiers risking their lives to protect the people had filled him with shame. Before the apocalypse, the man had been an ordinary office worker—just another face in the crowd. After joining the shelter, he still had no real skills. He was young, yes, but completely useless in a world that now needed strength and courage. When people were sent out to collect cockroaches for food, he refused to go—too scared to even try. Then one day, he awakened a spatial ability. And just like that, pride got the better of him. He felt powerful for the first time in his life. Important. Special. And with that pride came bad intentions. He stole supplies from the army, thinking no one would ever find out. He didn't tell a soul and was quietly pleased with himself. But his moment of glory didn't last long. The insect disaster came. Abilities users rushed to the front lines. Even ordinary civilians picked up bats, knives, or anything they could find and fought back. But he hid behind everyone else, too cowardly to fight the worms.He watched as a soldier threw himself into a swarm of bugs to save him. That soldier nearly died. It took several civilians charging forward together to pull the soldier out alive. And what did he do? He just held onto the supplies he had stolen, too chicken to lift a wooden pole in defense. When the fight was over, he saw those soldiers collapse from exhaustion. He saw hungry survivors gulping down water because they had nothing else to eat. The guilt hit him. Overwhelmed with shame, he finally went to Francis, returned everything he had taken, and begged for forgiveness. Francis laughed and waved a hand. "Everyone makes mistakes! You owned up to it—good enough for me! Now quit standing around and hand out the food! Let's eat!" In an instant, the shelter came alive with cheers and laughter. People finally had something to eat. Then someone spoke up with a daring idea. "Hey, what about those steelworms? Can we eat them?" After surviving on cockroaches for so long, the thought didn't sound too crazy anymore. Everyone turned to look at the red worms scattered across the floors and floating in the water.