The spatial portal could not be opened in water.Why was that?Ray found it difficult to understand.He knew that whenever the spatial portal encountered an obstruction, it would automatically stop. That was why it couldn't be opened inside solid objects—such as within a wall, or inside a human body.But water was such a soft substance. It flowed away with the slightest push. So why couldn't it be opened within it?Just because water was still a physical substance?Then, theoretically speaking, air wasn't a true vacuum either—it contained gases, even dust particles.So why could the spatial portal be opened freely in air?'No. I need to expand the range where I can open the spatial portal.'Ray walked to the edge of the pool and began experimenting.As expected, he still couldn't open the spatial portal in Tenlix Lake, and it was the same in the swimming pool.But this time, he didn't give up. He kept trying.In the future, he would likely hunt mutated sea beasts in the oce

In the past, collecting energy had been part of Ray's daily routine. But after his conflict with Agatha's faction, he had put that task aside.Now, so many days had passed that a faint sense of urgency returned to him.What if he ran out of energy someday?As the saying went, only by dwelling in hardship could one avoid ruin in comfort.He stopped hesitating and acted immediately.Since the nearby gas stations had already been thoroughly swept clean by him, he headed straight to Orlaspen City and began his search there.The moment his spatial perception activated, everything within a radius of over 300 square kilometers unfolded in his mind—survivors, supermarkets, gas stations—everything was clearly mapped.Now, collecting fuel was absurdly simple.With spatial swap and the spatial portal, an entire fuel container could be directly pulled into his otherworldly storage space.After clearing two gas stations, he even casually eliminated two rogue ability users who were causing

"Ray, we have reliable sources of information. Please don't try to divert the topic," said the woman who claimed to be Lieutenant Colonel Shay.Ray remained calm and unruffled. He chuckled lightly. "How reliable are we talking?"The woman sounded slightly helpless, then blurted out, "It was one of Guillermo Rodriguez's men—Guillermo himself told them that you had stockpiled massive amounts of supplies before the disaster."What the hell.'Channing, you bastard. I really want to resurrect you just so I can kill you a hundred times over,' Ray cursed inwardly.He had initially assumed his cover was blown through some hacker-like method—someone digging up records of his pre-apocalypse hoarding. But no. It turned out to be one of Guillermo's men snitching?And in the end, wasn't this all Channing's fault?'Ah, Channing… no wonder I keep borrowing your name as cover. You really don't get slandered for nothing.'"That's nonsense. Pure fabrication," Ray immediately denied it cleanly. "

Not only had they reached the coast, but they were now walking directly across the frozen ocean surface.And if they continued a little further… wouldn't that lead straight to the ice huts where the foreign woman he had met was staying?Those ice huts were built far out, more than ten kilometers offshore. Ray had only discovered them on a whim after deliberately venturing farther toward the sea. With his spatial perception covering a ten-kilometer radius, he had just barely picked up their presence.Given how wary Tim had been of Fanghold and other factions, it actually made sense that he would choose to establish his settlement in such a remote, isolated place.Cautious—but also intelligent.Even if Fanghold was actively searching for survivors and forcing people to evolve, they probably wouldn't come all the way out here.There was nothing here. No resources. No value. Who would waste their time?As expected, after walking a bit further, the ice hut settlement came into view.

Ray chatted with Leah for a while longer.It turned out that she alone was responsible for going out to sea to fish, because no one else's abilities were suitable for it.She was a beast-type ability user, able to breathe underwater. The others could not. Even if they were not afraid of freezing to death, surviving underwater was an entirely different problem.So she handled the fishing, while the others each took on different roles, searching for supplies in the surrounding areas.However, none of them dared to venture into the city. Resources around the perimeter were limited, and life had become increasingly difficult. Because of this, some people had begun to lose patience. They were even persuading Tim to move into the city—or at least relocate somewhere closer to it.Ray shook his head inwardly.This settlement looked peaceful on the surface, but in reality, it was entirely held together by Tim's personal prestige and charisma. First of all, that kind of structure was not s