Chapter 5: The Space

Through countless life-and-death battles, she had transformed from a quiet girl into a fearless, high-ranking ability user.

Every level-up, every evolution—

She had fought tooth and nail for them.

From a mere guard, she had climbed the ranks—becoming a squad leader, then a team captain, dedicating herself to protecting the base and her fellow survivors.

Back then, she had believed she was noble.

That she, like the others, was safeguarding the last embers of humanity.

Looking back now, Jiang You realized—

She had been a complete fool.

Tricked by these people for over a decade.

In the end, they had betrayed her, drugged her, and sold her off to Forbidden Island as a test subject.

Her extraordinary healing ability—

Only her own family had known about it.

The ones who had poisoned her without warning—

Could only have been her family.

What upbringing?

What blood ties?

What brotherhood and unity?

All of it was bullshit.

She clenched her jaw, furious at her past self.

She wanted to slap herself twice for ever believing them.

But right now, the priority was getting the jade bracelet back.

She had no idea where Li Tianming had hidden it.

If she confronted them directly, it might create unnecessary trouble and delay her plans.

So—

She had played along with their attempts to marry her off to Boss Wang’s son.

And the four million yuan in bride price?

That was just a bonus.

However, as Jiang You stared at the bracelet, watching her blood seep into it, nothing happened.

Her brows furrowed.

"Could it be that only Li Yingyue can use it?"

Her expression turned icy.

"If I can’t use it, I’d rather smash it to pieces than let someone else have it."

At that moment—

The bracelet suddenly turned scorching hot in her hand.

The spot where she had dripped blood burned, peeling off a small patch of skin, revealing a deep red gemstone-like luster beneath.

Jiang You hesitated.

Then, she squeezed her finger harder, letting more blood smear across the bracelet.

Immediately—

Like a shedding snakeskin, the bracelet began flaking apart.

Piece by piece, the dull gray-white outer layer crumbled away.

A few seconds later, it had completely transformed—

Gone was the cheap, faded appearance.

Now, it gleamed a deep, blood-red color, like the finest blood jade.

Jiang You was stunned.

In her past life, the bracelet on Li Yingyue’s wrist had never changed—

It had remained in its dull, gray-white state.

"Why did it transform after absorbing my blood?"

"Could it be… a bloodline restriction?"

Her mind raced.

"Where’s the space?"

"Where is the storage dimension supposed to be?"

Just as that thought crossed her mind—

Her vision suddenly blacked out.

When she opened her eyes again—

She was standing in the middle of a vast stretch of barren, black land.

Inside the Space

She glanced around.

Behind her was a small, fenced courtyard with three rooms.

The fences were collapsing, and the house was clearly abandoned.

Stepping inside, she found a dry well in the yard.

"Is this the space?"

She had assumed the bracelet only stored objects.

But this—

She had physically entered a separate dimension!

Looking down, she realized—

The bracelet had disappeared.

In its place, on the inside of her right wrist, was a bright red mole, as vivid as crushed cinnabar.

Her wrist had never had any moles before.

Which meant—

The bracelet had merged with her body.

She frowned.

"If this bracelet can transform into a mole to hide itself, why did Li Yingyue wear it on her wrist in my past life?"

"And if this space can store living beings, why had she never put any animals inside?"

Li Yingyue had no combat ability.

Every time they went out to scavenge, Jiang You had protected her.

She was certain—Li Yingyue had never stored living creatures in the space.

Jiang You decided to test something.

She focused.

"Exit."

A second later—

She was back in her room.

She exhaled sharply, thrilled by the discovery.

"If this space has land, then I can grow crops!"

Excited, she re-entered the space and inspected the house.

There were three rooms—

A main hall

A bedroom

A kitchen

The furniture was decayed—the moment she touched anything, it crumbled into dust.

The kitchen had a clay stove and a rusted iron pot.

When she pressed the pot, it disintegrated into rust.

She opened a wooden cabinet, only to hear—

"CRACK!"

The cabinet collapsed in a cloud of dust.

"Cough, cough!"

Jiang You waved away the dust, stepping back.

She continued searching—

And in the back of the kitchen, she found a cellar entrance.

Inside, a dark stairway spiraled downward into pitch-blackness.

She grabbed a flashlight and carefully descended.

What she saw stunned her.

This wasn’t just a simple underground storage room.

It was a massive underground warehouse!

The size of the underground space matched the size of the land above.

Jiang You's heart pounded with excitement.

She needed to test its storage capabilities.

After a few trials, she successfully stored and retrieved objects.

Then, she placed two identical ice creams—

One on the surface

One in the underground warehouse

A few hours later, she returned—

The ice cream on the surface had melted into a puddle.

The ice cream in the underground warehouse remained completely frozen.

Time Flow in the Space

She was breathless with realization.

The surface area had normal time flow.

The underground warehouse had nearly frozen time.

"This means I can store food indefinitely without worrying about expiration!"

"Even freshly cooked meals—I can take them out piping hot whenever I need!"

She walked the boundary of the space—

A transparent, glass-like barrier enclosed the land.

She reached out—

It felt soft and jelly-like, yet impossible to break through.

After about half an hour inside, Jiang You began to feel lightheaded.

She quickly exited the space.

Through further experiments, she realized—

She couldn’t stay inside the space for too long.

However, non-human creatures could survive in it.

She had placed a fishbowl with live fish inside—

And the fish remained completely unaffected.

"Looks like only intelligent lifeforms can’t stay too long."

She would need to test this theory further in the future.

But one thing was clear—

She wouldn’t be hiding in the space permanently.

She had to survive the apocalypse herself.

And that meant—

It was time to stockpile supplies.

Jiang You pulled out a notebook.

She began listing everything she needed to prepare—

Then grabbed her phone, researching more items to add.

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