[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-sickly-cannon-fodder-spoiled-by-the-powerful-apo":3,"chapter-sickly-cannon-fodder-spoiled-by-the-powerful-apo-sickly-cannon-fodder-spoiled-by-the-powerful-apo-chapter-85":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Sickly Cannon Fodder: Spoiled by the Powerful Apocalypse Bosses",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},562836,814,"Chapter 85","sickly-cannon-fodder-spoiled-by-the-powerful-apo-chapter-85",85,"\u003Cp>Suzy steadied her breathing, smoothing down the faint ripple of emotion in her chest before stepping forward and pulling the door open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside, Thomas stood waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His lips were pressed into a thin line as his gaze flicked over the two of them—lingering just long enough to catch the subtle awkwardness they hadn’t quite managed to hide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Finished talking?\" he asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We’re done,\" Suzy replied evenly. \"Let’s head back.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a quick farewell to Derek, she turned to leave with Thomas. Just before going, she tapped her phone and said, \"Stay in touch.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Derek smiled brightly and nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two of them made their way back through the darkened stairwell, moving one after the other in silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Thomas suddenly spoke. \"Is he your boyfriend?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The question caught Suzy off guard for a split second, but she answered calmly, \"No. He’s just a junior from school.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas was one of her bonded targets, too. As aproperplayer, there was no way she’d lock herself into a relationship so early.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, nothing had been officially defined between her and Derek anyway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas nodded slowly. \"I see.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Out of her sight, he let out a quiet breath, the tension in his brows easing ever so slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why do you ask?\" Suzy tilted her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No reason. Just... curious,\" he said, already picking up his pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within moments, he had climbed several steps ahead of her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suzy had no choice but to quicken her pace to catch up. Soon, they reached the ground floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leonard was already in the driver’s seat, a cigarette between his fingers, the car’s air conditioning humming steadily in the heat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he saw them, he waved. \"Back already?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stubbed out the cigarette and opened the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once they were inside, he started the engine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"All sorted?\" he asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suzy nodded. \"Yeah. I left him some supplies—he’ll be fine for a while.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leonard glanced at her through the rearview mirror. \"You’re pretty close with that junior, huh?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah,\" Suzy said casually. \"He helped me a lot back in school.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He seems decent,\" Leonard added with a teasing note. \"And pretty handsome, too.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suzy just smiled, offering no reply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Derek’s apartment complex was only a few minutes away. Before long, they were already driving back into their own neighborhood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the surrounding darkness, their residential compound stood out starkly—one of the last places still lit, glowing like an island in the night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They parked in the underground garage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each of them grabbed their things from the trunk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas said his goodbyes to Suzy and headed straight to his own building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suzy and Leonard took the elevator up together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the first floor, the elevator stopped again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doors slid open—and there she was again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked disheveled, empty-handed, her expression drained and sullen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she saw Suzy, she froze for a moment before lowering her head and stepping quickly inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the mirrored walls of the elevator, her gaze turned sharp—watching them with a cold, unsettling intensity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Suzy had been delayed at Derek’s place, Julia had been making her way back as well. Their paths had simply crossed again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suzy noticed the look and felt a flicker of irritation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She hadn’t done anything to this woman. All she’d done was refuse a favor—and now she was being stared at like an archenemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, the elevator doors opened again soon. Suzy grabbed Leonard’s arm and stepped out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the doors slid shut, Julia was left alone inside. Only then did she finally snap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You bitch! It’s all your fault—yours!!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice shrieked through the confined space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In her mind, everything that had gone wrong—the stolen supplies, her humiliation—had somehow become Suzy and Leonard’s fault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they had given her a ride... If they had helped her shop...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Would she have ended up like this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was their refusal, she convinced herself, that had ruined her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The resentment twisted deeper and deeper inside her, especially when she thought of how clean and composed they had looked—while she had been left in such a miserable state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dark glint flickered in her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back home, Suzy and Leonard immediately turned on the air conditioning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suzy took out chilled spirit-spring water from her storage, handing Leonard a glass before taking one herself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The icy sweetness revived them almost instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Suzy returned to her room and carefully focused inward, sensing the subtle changes in her body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The system had been right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Closeness really did make her stronger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That single kiss with Derek had brought a tangible improvement—small, but undeniable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had been drinking spirit-spring water all this time, but she had begun to notice something:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was a limit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The water enhanced her foundation, strengthened her baseline—but after a point, the progress plateaued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It made her better, yes—but in a vague, almost intangible way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only after that kiss had she trulyfeltthe change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A clear, measurable shift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suzy came to a realization:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spirit-spring water expanded hercapacity—like raising the cap on experience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But her actual \"experience points\" hadn’t increased at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That kiss had finally nudged the bar forward. And that was very good news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She quickly checked Derek’s affection level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After everything she’d done for him, it had to go up, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she looked, it had increased byeight points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she glanced at Thomas’s. To her surprise, his level had risen too—by three points, just from earlier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t quite understand why.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was undeniably a good sign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three days later, just as Suzy had expected, the power went out. Not because the system failed, but because someone had deliberately sabotaged it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment the blackout hit, the group chat exploded with complaints.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even when Suzy went downstairs to collect water, the line was filled with grumbling voices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had only been half a day without electricity, yet people who were used to constant air conditioning were already struggling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, with the elevators down, those living on higher floors would have to haul heavy buckets up the stairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suzy scanned the crowd carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still no sign of Richard Stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the past three days, water deliveries had come every other day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And not once had she seen him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She even asked the staff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The answer? He hadn’t come down even once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some of the property management staff were already beginning to wonder––had he... died inside his apartment?\u003C\u002Fp>",1063,"2026-05-30T15:23:36.944Z","2026-06-01T04:31:34.774Z",1,"novelbin.me","cc0a9f8d9d29751195bb6e67142c2f5d1373c1c42e53c2bee9fd9d5ce1a7b8e1","sickly-cannon-fodder-spoiled-by-the-powerful-apo-chapter-86","sickly-cannon-fodder-spoiled-by-the-powerful-apo-chapter-84",210,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsickly-cannon-fodder-spoiled-by-the-powerful-apo-cover.jpg"]