An Muning brought Fan Ningyue to the sea he had mentioned.

This was the first time in eight years of the apocalypse that Fan Ningyue had ever seen the ocean.

Inside this so-called “apocalyptic tower,” it felt as though they had always been imprisoned—unable even to cast their gaze beyond its boundaries.

Yet after leaving that tower of struggle and competition, this man instead seemed freer in both body and mind, almost unreasonably carefree.

The sea breeze was gentle. Black hair fluttered in the wind. Fan Ningyue gathered her unruly long hair and squinted slightly against the wind.

“Not bad, right?” An Muning said, folding his arms. “Now, Miss Fan Ningyue, look to your left.”

He pointed toward the front-left. She followed his gesture.

Not far away, at the edge where the road met the beach, stood a white villa.

“How is there a villa built here?” Fan Ningyue raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Who would build a villa so close to the sea? It was practically pressing right against the beach.

“Because I’ve never lived in a villa before, and I wanted to see what a seaside villa actually feels like, so I moved one here,” An Muning said casually. “I also made my own water purification system, so water is definitely not a problem… it’s kind of a rare comfort.”

Fan Ningyue nodded.

It really was rare.

“And over there—” An Muning pointed to the right.

There was a long wooden pier extending straight into the sea.

“That’s my fishing platform. I come here sometimes to fish. The gear is all in the villa…”

“Hey,” he suddenly seemed to think of something. “Do you know how to fish?”

“I’ve seen it before, but never done it,” Fan Ningyue shook her head.

“Then you’ve come at the right time,” An Muning said, waving his hand. “The weather’s perfect today—ideal for fishing.”

Fan Ningyue keenly sensed a ripple of mental energy spreading like waves across the area.

In no time, several zombies came over carrying a large pile of clearly fishing equipment.

Fan Ningyue: “……”

“You’re really lazy,” she said.

“How so?”

“You don’t even bother carrying your own fishing rods.”

“Hey, this is efficiency. Those little guys don’t get tired anyway—might as well let them help,” An Muning said, clapping his hands. “Come on, pick one.”

“How do I pick?”

“I have no idea.”

“…You don’t even know?”

“Back then I only started learning fishing in the past three years,” he said, spreading his hands. “Before that, fishing wasn’t even a subject in my life. I just picked whatever looked expensive from the shop.”

“…Even though I don’t fish, I still know this much,” Fan Ningyue said, pointing at the pile of river rods and lines. “Sea fishing doesn’t use these, does it?”

“Is that so?” An Muning squinted. “It’s basically the same thing.”

“It’s not the same at all… the sea is dangerous too.”

There were mutated creatures in the ocean as well. While they weren’t much of a threat to the two of them, she didn’t think freshwater rods could catch mutated sea life.

“No worries. I’ve got proper sea fishing gear—it’s down below,” An Muning said, squatting down and rummaging through the pile.

…

It was Fan Ningyue’s first time fishing. The wooden platform beneath her feet swayed slightly, creaking with every movement.

She had no idea how this guy managed to build something like this. The surrounding sea churned gently, but today the weather was truly perfect—warm wind, calm waters.

It made one’s heart feel strangely peaceful.

At the edge of the platform, they were already far beyond the broken shark net of the nearshore waters.

An Muning unfolded a folding chair and sat down, humming an unknown tune.

Fan Ningyue often wondered how this man could be so carefree. The eight years of apocalypse seemed like a fairy tale dream to him.

Once the dream ended, he simply moved on with his life, completely separated from the past.

An Muning skillfully baited his hook and cast the line.

“What are we fishing for?” Fan Ningyue asked, imitating him as she stood up. She awkwardly cast her rod and nearly got her hand scratched by the hook.

“Start with small fish. Then use the small fish as bait for bigger ones,” An Muning’s faint laughter came from beside her.

He tugged his line lightly, making the bait swim.

“What’s that for?” she asked curiously.

“Luring bait,” he said with a smile. “It looks like a small fish, so bigger fish come to bite. Isn’t fishing supposed to be a rich young lady’s pastime?”

“Who has time for fishing?” Fan Ningyue shrugged. “We’re not free every day. There are so many people to contact, so many relationships to maintain. It’s exhausting.”

“After the apocalypse, you don’t need to do that anymore, right?”

“Yeah… after the apocalypse, you don’t need to maintain all that anymore,” she sighed.

Suddenly, her fishing rod bent sharply.

“There’s a fish!” she said in surprise, raising an eyebrow.

An Muning: “?”

He leaned over to look at her bending rod, then glanced at his own.

His line was completely still. No movement at all.

Meanwhile, she was already pulling against something with surprising force.

“So strong…” Fan Ningyue blinked in mild surprise, her hand steady as iron.

She was only surprised that the fish had this much strength—but even the strongest fish couldn’t compare to her.

She thought back to fish she had seen before in markets or videos—things that could be lifted with one hand, unable to resist shop owners or nets at all.

Fan Ningyue was thinking that the fish she had seen before in seafood markets or videos—those that could be easily lifted with one hand and couldn’t even struggle free from shopkeepers or nets—somehow possessed this level of strength once they were in the water.

To her, it was truly astonishing.

“Is it that strong?” An Muning raised an eyebrow.

He didn’t think so.

“It’s not that it’s strong… it’s just…” Fan Ningyue suddenly tried to find the right words. “It’s like an earthworm in soil. I can see it, but I can’t just pull it out with my hand.”

“Lack of education is scary,” he said casually.

“…I probably have more education than you.”

“Just kidding.”

“Which university did you graduate from?”

“…I never went to university.”

Fan Ningyue: “……”

“So we’re comparing academic qualifications now? I’m more of a ‘a master in every trade’ type,” An Muning said, folding his arms. “Not going to university didn’t stop me from making achievements in the apocalypse.”

“Which high school did you go to?”

“North No. 1 High School,” An Muning said proudly.

“Isn’t that a pretty good school?”

“Yeah. I just couldn’t afford university,” he shrugged. “My grades weren’t good enough for the school to cover my tuition either. If I couldn’t afford it, I just didn’t go.”

Fan Ningyue pursed her lips, a little awkward, and quickly changed the subject.

“Uh… that fish looks like it’s about to escape.”

“Huh?” An Muning widened his eyes. “Impossible. I personally selected this hook—how could it possibly get away?”

He leaned in, bringing with him a faint, forest-like clean scent.

The fishing rod was snatched from Fan Ningyue’s hands. She sniffed slightly.

“What shampoo do you use?”

“Just normal ones.”

“Then why does it smell so natural…” she muttered.

“Regeneration-type ability users have a natural scent like this on their body,” An Muning said with a grin. “Smells good, right?”

Fan Ningyue felt the topic drifting somewhere strange, but still nodded.

“It does smell good.”

“Then you’ll need to pay a fee for smelling me.”

Fan Ningyue: “……”

Her teeth clenched slightly as she considered, for a brief moment, how likely it would be to kick him into the sea right now.

Conclusion: almost zero. This guy had water-based abilities—he wouldn’t drown.

“Here!” An Muning grinned. The fishing rod suddenly jolted violently, a terrifying force transmitting down the line into the water. “Comrade Fan, get the net!”

“Oh—okay.” She snapped back to attention and grabbed the landing net beside her.

An Muning was already excited.

A beautifully colored fish broke the surface.

Because of the apocalypse’s mutations, it was at least half a person tall.

A fish over a meter long, covered in vivid colors—Fan Ningyue had never seen anything like it. She curiously touched its body.

“It’s really pretty… what kind of fish is this?”

“Qingyi,” An Muning said through clenched teeth.

Beginner’s luck.

It had to be beginner’s luck.