Apocalyptic World: Surviving with my husband and my cute little babies-Chapter 294: Past three weeks

Seeing the boys finally sleeping peacefully like angels, Elena felt an indescribable happiness.

They were simply too adorable, each of them sleeping in a different, comfortable pose with their chests rising and falling rhythmically.

It tempted her to hug and kiss them all over again. But she held herself back. As much as she wanted to play a little longer, she knew they needed as much rest as possible.

"When are they going to wake up again?" she asked, curious about their daily routine.

Ethan glanced at the clock, calculating. "Around ten in the morning. The eldest will wake up first, then I’ll bathe him."

Most of the time, he handled the babies’ care himself.

Even though their grandmother and aunts often offered to help, he declined. He believed this way, his sons would get used to him faster.

It was also a kind of bonding time—for him and the triplets.

And now, his effort was paying off. The babies were clearly comfortable with him and sometimes cried looking for him.

"Okay," Elena said brightly. She gently placed another blanket over Baby Max.

With the triplets sleeping soundly, Elena finally wanted to focus on everything that had happened over the past three weeks.

Their plans had to be adjusted. Too much had changed—the sudden awakening era, and her unexpected childbirth.

"Tell me what happened these past few weeks," she said, then added with a dry laugh, "and stop hugging me so tightly. I don’t smell good."

Instead of stopping, Ethan teasingly rubbed his nose against her back, clearly missing her.

"Wife... I missed you."

These past three weeks had been chaotic on the outside, but privately, Ethan’s life had been filled with a strange sense of fulfillment.

He had become a hands-on father, taking care of the triplets himself. At first, it was overwhelming, but little by little, he got the hang of it.

The babies could be mischievous at times, yet he still managed to make them listen.

The key was his wife.

Whenever he showed them the sleeping Elena, the babies immediately calmed down. It was fascinating. At the very least, one thing was certain—they would surely obey their mother.

Ethan smiled at her before his expression turned serious.

"After you fell into a deep slumber, the situation escalated. The blinding light from the Golden Tablet was seen by many people."

He went on to explain everything that had happened—why they were forced to leave Building C, and how it eventually led to a confrontation with the Abbott leader.

"So Brother Elias helped us?" Elena asked.

"Yes. I managed to slip away during the fight, thanks to him holding off their leader. I think he’s a good comrade. Should we contract him?"

"Alright," Elena nodded. "I’ll trust your judgment."

Ethan also told her about the mutated rat with an acid ability. "Take a look. I managed to extract its core. See if it’s useful."

Of course, it was useful—extremely so. The core could be used to awaken the same ability, upgrade the space, or even raise her tier.

Normally, abilities require cores of the same type. However, with the Golden Tablet’s purification, the core could be used not only by its original holder but also by others contracted to the Golden Tablet, without any penalty.

"Use it," Elena said decisively. "Try upgrading your ability. You should be close to Tier 2 already. This should be enough to push you through."

"Alright, I’ll listen to you," Ethan agreed. With a higher tier, he could better protect his small family.

"Besides that," he continued, "we also found this spiritual grape. Take a look—Little Mia picked it up and almost swallowed it. It seems the spiritual energy inside is extremely potent."

Elena took the grape and frowned. She had reminded them repeatedly not to take suspicious items lightly, especially now. If they were careless, the consequences could be fatal.

She couldn’t help worrying about Little Mia. Even though the girl’s parents were still alive in this timeline, Elena’s instincts from her past life as a guardian stirred on their own.

In this lifetime, she only wished for Little Mia to live happily—and to be strong enough to protect herself.

"Maybe she was just fascinated by it," Elena said softly, offering a small defense. "To a child, this fruit is unusual and beautiful."

"Hmmpp," Ethan replied, slightly convinced, "but you still need to remind her."

"I will," Elena promised. "I’ll make sure all of them understand not to touch suspicious things—whether inside the space or in the outside world."

Only then did Ethan nod in approval, knowing that his wife wouldn’t indulge the children blindly.

"As for this spiritual grape," Elena added, "I’d rather give it to Aunt Liza for further research."

It would be far better to refine a Tier 1 item into something safer and more effective—perhaps a serum—than to consume it in its raw form.

Ethan didn’t object and simply nodded before continuing his report.

"We thought the mutated pests would attack the other buildings after their leader—the mutated rat—was killed. But instead, they gathered around Building C."

"Is there something special about Building C?" Elena asked, gently covering the babies again as they moved unconsciously in their sleep.

"Something strange happened there," Ethan replied. "After the eclipse ended and visibility improved, the changes became obvious. The area around Building C turned lush and green—plants sprouted everywhere, seemingly out of nowhere."

What shocked them even more was that despite the return of the intense heat, the plants never wilted, as if they were completely immune to the harsh environment.

Elena looked at him, waiting for more details. Then it suddenly dawned on her, and she spoke with certainty.

"The youngest might have used his ability the moment he received the orb from the Golden Tablet. It was probably his energy manipulation. The excess spiritual energy inside his body had nowhere to go, so it was released outward, nourishing the surroundings and causing those plants to grow, brimming with life. But this wouldn’t last long. That area needs a constant supply of spiritual energy to sustain itself—and only Max can provide that, unless another ability user with the same power appears."

Now that Baby Max could no longer support it, the area would soon revert to its original state, becoming barren once more.

"So the reason these mutated animals are gathering is that the area is overflowing with spiritual energy," Ethan frowned. "By the way, we’re being surrounded by them."

"Are you saying a large number of mutated animals have gathered," Elena asked. "But why does it feel so calm here? Why hasn’t there been an attack yet?"

She didn’t want to be pessimistic, but the situation felt strange.

A massive gathering of mutated beasts should have been far more aggressive, especially toward awakened humans brimming with spiritual energy.

"Some have ventured close to our building and attacked recklessly," Ethan explained.

"But our heavy weapons are still effective against tierless ones, so dealing with them hasn’t been difficult. On top of that, ability users have started taking the front lines. With their enhanced physiques, they don’t tire easily. More importantly, the mutated animals are too busy fighting among themselves over the territory."

"I see. What about the military?" Elena asked. "Are they planning to leave?"

"They’ve been trying to evacuate for three weeks now. But with the extreme heat and the roads still needing to be cleared for vehicles, progress has been slow. They’re still scouting for the safest route. Do you want us to go with them and resettle at the main military base?"

"We have to," Elena said without hesitation. "We can’t survive alone. We’ll need the military’s strength for what’s coming. My instincts are screaming warnings—our real enemy may start moving soon."

Ethan turned serious. He still hadn’t seen a real alien; even in his dream, he’d only caught a vague, blurry glimpse.

"I understand," he said. "I’ll tell everyone to prepare for evacuation. We’ll move with the military."

She nodded, then asked, "Speaking of ability users... how many awakened in Camel Tower?"

"Well, you said only a few would awaken," Ethan replied, "but I think that prediction was off. Out of sixty residents, thirty awakened. Most have physical enhancement or elemental abilities."

"Thirty..." Elena murmured. "That’s far too many."

Ethan continued, "The military also has many awakened individuals. Based on the information we gathered, only Camel Tower has such a high number of awakened abilities. Other areas seem to have far fewer."

"Maybe the products we sell triggered this," Elena said after some thought.

"You know the supplies from Paradise contain spiritual energy. It’s also possible that the people there have unique physiques—but I’m more inclined to believe it’s our supplies."

"Hm, that’s what I was thinking too," Ethan agreed.

"Even the other camps have started suspecting that the Paradise shop’s supplies are the cause."

Before they could continue, loud barking suddenly erupted at their door.

"Aw! Aw! Aw!"

"Aw—aww!"

At first, Elena thought it was their handsome dog, Poochi. But the barking only grew louder, as if more than one dog had joined in.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at Ethan questioningly.

"Did you adopt more dogs? Why does it sound like there are so many of them barking in the living room? Keep them quiet, or the babies will wake up."