Zombie Apocalypse: I Have Safe Zone Superpower

Chapter 372: Chapter 372: Silas’s Temporal Storage

She had lived too long to be fooled.

In her past life, she had confronted them with the same question, and their answers had been completely different.

Back then, they had claimed it was related to some confidential research they were conducting.

They had begged for forgiveness, saying their mistake had caused Ivy years of suffering.

’Why are there so many inconsistencies...? What exactly are you hiding from me?’ Ivy’s mind tightened around the thought like a fist closing around a knife.

Silas stepped forward, eyes burning with resolve.

"Should we continue investigating?" he asked. His stare toward Helena and Victor was sharp, as if he was ready, more than ready, to dig into his in-laws’ secrets if Ivy only nodded.

Helena and Victor held their breaths, their shoulders stiff with dread.

Ivy’s fingers curled slightly before she released a long breath.

She shook her head gently.

"I’ll accept this explanation."

The room went silent.

Everyone understood instantly.

Ivy accepted it not because she believed it, but because she wanted to maintain the illusion of peace.

Helena and Victor sighed in visible relief. Helena stepped forward, her voice soft but trembling.

"We’ll tell you the truth when the time is right. Now... it just isn’t."

After the family finally left, a heavy silence settled over the room, thick enough that Ivy felt she could almost touch it.

Silas wasted no time; he wrapped his arms around her with a force that revealed just how terrified he had been.

His hold was warm and trembling slightly, as if he were trying to convince himself she was truly awake and not about to slip away again.

His breath brushed against her hair as he muttered softly, voice cracking at the edges.

"I was really scared this time. You shouldn’t keep starving yourself like that, Ivy."

Ivy gently patted his back, feeling the tension in his muscles beneath her palms.

His heart thudded against her chest, wild and uneven, and it created a strange ache inside her.

"I wasn’t starving myself," she whispered. "I honestly don’t know why I’m not gaining any weight at all. I’ve been eating so much these past few days."

She wasn’t lying. Even though Silas had been consumed with responsibilities, her siblings had practically formed a rotation schedule to cook for her and make sure she ate every single meal.

The scent of warm broth and freshly cooked rice still lingered faintly in the room from earlier, a quiet reminder that she had been eating well.

Yet her body remained stubbornly thin, almost fragile.

It worried her. It embarrassed her. And on bad days, it made her feel unbearably small.

’Everyone else looks healthy and radiant, but I still look like a fragile twig ready to snap... what if someone prettier appears one day? What if Silas notices her?’

A cold, ridiculous fear crawled up her spine.

Ivy quickly shook her head, chasing the thought away before it could bury its claws any deeper.

The last thing she needed was to allow insecurity to poison her sanity.

She pulled back slightly and looked up at him.

"How are you feeling now? Have you eaten anything yet?"

As soon as the question left her lips, Silas’s stomach growled loudly, so loud that the sound practically vibrated between them.

His ears reddened slightly, and he shook his head.

"I haven’t eaten," he admitted.

He lifted a hand and made a smooth motion through the air.

A warm, fragrant ball of soup materialized in front of them, steam curling upward like soft white ribbons.

Ivy blinked, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"Did you... really just do that now?"

Silas nodded.

Ivy gaped, feeling a ripple of astonishment that washed her insecurities away for a moment.

"When did you awaken a space superpower? In my previous life, you awakened a healing ability at this point, not space."

Silas couldn’t stop the small chuckle that escaped him.

"I did awaken healing powers," he corrected. "This isn’t a space power. It’s the Temporal Storage."

Ivy’s eyes brightened instantly.

"Temporal storage?"

Silas nodded again.

"When you lost consciousness," he began, his voice low,

"I didn’t panic at first. For two days, I forced myself to stay calm. But on the third day... something inside me snapped. I started investigating everything, anything. I even suspected the Temporal Storage itself somehow harmed you. So I contracted mine, thinking maybe it could help."

A faint tremble lingered in his words. Ivy imagined him pacing, sleepless, desperate, pulling at every possible thread as fear ate him alive.

"But it didn’t make any difference," he continued. "I even tried asking the Temporal Storage for information, but it stayed silent. Completely silent."

Hearing the raw exhaustion and helplessness woven into his tone, Ivy felt her heart squeeze painfully.

She reached out and hugged him tightly, burying her face against his chest.

His scent wrapped around her, grounding her far more than anything else could.

’This silly man... from my previous life to this one, he loves me so fiercely that he forgets the world whenever something happens to me.’

She pulled back a little and met his eyes, curiosity blooming again.

"So what kind of ability did you actually awaken? How does your temporal storage work?"

Silas laughed, though a hint of embarrassment fluttered over his expression.

"It’s nowhere near omnipotent like yours," he confessed. "I really wanted to show it to you properly, but I can’t."

Ivy leaned forward eagerly.

"What do you mean you can’t?"

Silas scratched the back of his neck and finally explained.

"My temporal storage is a downgraded version of yours. Only I can enter. It doesn’t let anyone else inside."

Ivy startled at that. A memory flickered through her mind, her own temporal storage in the early days, allowing living beings inside for only five days before the system would attempt to expel them.

She murmured, half to herself,

"Mine used to allow living beings inside for only five days. If yours doesn’t allow anyone except you, then... yes, it sounds like a downgraded version."

Silas nodded with a sigh.

"It’s also simple. It doesn’t have a building function like yours. Or maybe it does, but it’s locked. And unlike yours, it doesn’t ask for zombie crystals at all."