I Turn Stones into Crystals in the Apocalypse

[Please don't send votes. I may change the blurb, or I may stop writing.]

Bad news: Qi Yuan was betrayed by his childhood friend and handed over to an underground organization for experiments because of his crystal-mining ability. He died.

Good news: Qi Yuan was reborn, and his crystal-finding ability evolved into "turning stone into crystal."

In this post-apocalyptic world, crystals are hard currency.

The defenses of fortresses need crystals to run, advanced medical pods need crystals, and even ability users need crystals to replenish their power.

Qi Yuan becomes an invisible tycoon of the apocalypse.

But being rich without any combat power is dangerous, so Qi Yuan has to keep his head down and stay cautious.

First, he uses the "family severance payment" from his biased parents to rent a warehouse, stockpile supplies, and quietly develop his ability. Then he sends his scheming childhood friend to the underground organization to enjoy life as a lab rat.

As the apocalypse grows chaotic, Qi Yuan stays in his warehouse, putting on weight and figuring out his ability.

Then one day, Qi Yuan goes out for a stroll and finds a man pinned beneath the rubble, barely alive.

Sigh, I'm no Tang Sanzang, and you're no Sun Wukong. Rest in peace...

Unexpectedly, the man is still alive the next day. Qi Yuan gives him a pack of cigarettes, but the man doesn't smoke.

Hmm, not smoking is a good habit.

Or maybe that's because Qi Yuan didn't give him a lighter.

On the third day, Qi Yuan gives the man a pack of spicy strips. He doesn't eat them.

What, you're nearly dead and still worried spicy strips are unhealthy? So pretentious.

On the fifth day, the sun is scorching, so Qi Yuan holds an umbrella over the man's head.

After the apocalypse, Qi Yuan's greatest daily pleasure is checking in on the man.

Then, a month later, a torrential rain begins.

Qi Yuan suddenly remembers that the man is stuck in a pit. Even if the rubble didn't kill him, the floodwater will.

"Hey, hey, I'm the kind of guy who never thinks things through. You figure out how not to drown!"

"Crystals."

"...If you'd just spoken up sooner, you could've spared yourself a whole month of suffering!"

Qi Yuan finds a crystal source for the man. The man uses his ability to push aside the rubble and climb out.

To Qi Yuan's surprise, he follows him back to the base and spends his days brooding in a corner, leaning against the wall like a gloomy ghost.

Then one day, an earth-dragon mutant beast overturns Qi Yuan's base, and Qi Yuan breaks down in tears...

"All my apocalypse supplies are gone..."

Before the rain even reaches him, all of Qi Yuan's stockpile vanishes, including the game console he was playing just a minute ago.

It turns out the man has a spatial ability and has given Qi Yuan a separate space within it, so Qi Yuan can keep indulging his hoarding habit.

On the road to finding a new warehouse, they run into bandits, ill-intentioned capitalists, and arrogant ability users. The man, no, Ling Ye, takes care of them all, unlocking new abilities in front of Qi Yuan without any hesitation.

And so Qi Yuan follows Ling Ye into an apocalyptic life of laying low for a while, then having a blast for a while.

Theme: Press on through hardship and turn the tables against adversity