As Guo Feng stepped out, the previously soundly sleeping Fan Xue slowly opened her eyes, watching his receding back. A flicker crossed her gaze before she slowly rose and followed him.

Guo Feng walked through utter darkness, his heart troubled by the bloodstains on the hall floor. Suddenly sensing movement behind him, he recoiled in shock, instantly expecting an ambush by a zombie. His body flashed sideways like lightning. Turning sharply, he was startled to find his girlfriend, Fan Xue, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief, quickly followed by irritation.

"What are you doing here?" Guo Feng hissed, his voice tight with anger.

Fan Xue’s face was etched with grievance. She slowly produced a small piece of roast meat from her embrace and offered it to Guo Feng. "I saw you hadn't eaten, so I specifically saved some."

Guo Feng froze, his body jolting. He looked down at the piece of meat in the gloom, and the anger in his eyes dissolved like water. Abruptly, he pulled his girlfriend into an embrace, his voice thick with emotion. "Xue, I love you!" He had countless witty lines designed to make women laugh, but in that moment, they choked into these three hackneyed, cliché words, which he utterly disregarded.

Fan Xue let him hold her, burying her face into his chest, her delicate features flushing. She murmured softly, "Me too." Guo Feng eased her out of his hold and, catching the faint light, looked at her beautiful face. He felt she had never looked more breathtakingly lovely, and a brief, self-reproachful bite of his lip crossed his eyes, followed by a flash of apology. He glanced back at the room; seeing no movement inside, he whispered, "These people are unreliable. In a moment, I’ll draw a horde of monsters to them, let them fight it out, and we can clean up the scraps."

Fan Xue nodded slightly, unsurprised; clearly, this was not the first time such a thing had happened.

Guo Feng, consumed by hunger, looked at the roast meat in his hand and began to eat, quickly devouring it in a few bites. He then turned to his girlfriend with gentle affection, intending to press a kiss to her familiar forehead. But his body suddenly stiffened, his face contorted, cold sweat drenching his brow, and he bent over, sinking to his haunches.

Fan Xue, whose demeanor had been gentle and compliant moments before, now appeared composed. The flush of youth faded, replaced by the air of a woman who commanded everything. She smiled faintly. "How is it?"

Guo Feng raised his head, his face a mask of savagery as he glared at the features that had been so charming just moments ago, his eyes nearly spitting fire. Baring his teeth, he ground out, "You damned whore! You—you actually poisoned the food!"

Fan Xue looked down at him from her superior height, smiling lightly. "I know your nature too well. Anything you can’t have, you’ll find a way to seize. If you had woken up and tried to drag me away with you, I wouldn't have done this to you. Unfortunately, you, you wretched man, tried to leave alone. Once you draw the monsters, they’ll certainly turn their rage on me. You are unjust; I am not faithless!"

Guo Feng's heart bled—not just from the agonizing cramps in his abdomen, but because the deep emotion he had felt moments ago felt utterly shredded and rendered worthless, trampled underfoot by the very woman who inspired it. He clenched his fists, like a trapped beast, his eyes locked onto Fan Xue, as if determined to drag her down with him.

He suddenly realized he had made a massive mistake. In the past, no matter whom he had killed, it was always accomplished with a slight trick, and Fan Xue had always seemed like a rather naive woman, making him feel he was the protector. But now, it was clear the woman wasn't dull; she was terrifyingly astute.

Feeling the wrenching pain in his stomach, Guo Feng gritted his teeth and forced out a pained moan. "After all this time we've spent together, don't you feel anything for me? Every time we hunted a monster, I shared the food with you. Among all those women, I picked you out instantly. Xue, do you remember the ring I gave you? That was three months of my petty cash saved up..."

As he spoke, a flicker of memory seemed to surface in Fan Xue, but it was quickly suppressed. She smiled faintly. "Don't forget, you sought beautiful women because you had money. That’s what I was interested in. Now, there are people inside much stronger than you. Do you really think I want to endure the hardship of fleeing for our lives with you?"

Guo Feng’s spirit shattered. He had not expected to be undone by the woman he had long protected. He roared like a maddened wolf, "You bitch!" and lunged toward her, claws extended. Fan Xue recoiled, a flash of panic crossing her face as she tried to turn and flee, only to slam into a solid chest. Then she heard a teasing voice say, "Don't be scared."

Thud!

Guo Feng’s head exploded, and his body fell backward in futile rage.

Fan Xue saw Bai Long appear exactly as she predicted, a hint of surprise and pleasure still in her eyes. "You're awake?" Bai Long glanced at her, his brow furrowing slightly, but he quickly relaxed, his smile becoming notably more perfunctory. "Go on in."

Fan Xue returned to the room to find Ye Chen and the others already awake. Her face flushed, and she murmured, "Sorry to have disturbed everyone."

Ye Chen glanced at her. He had sensed Guo Feng leaving from the very start but had chosen to ignore it. As their conversation and Guo Feng’s furious shouting carried clearly, he casually inquired, "Why did he try to kill you?"

A hint of suffering crossed Fan Xue's cheek. "I was offering him food, but I discovered he planned to draw monsters to kill us all. When he realized I saw through his scheme, he became enraged with humiliation."

She made no move to hide the poisoning. Although this violated Bai Long's orders, in the apocalypse, an obedient child was always preferred over a naive one.

Ye Chen couldn't be bothered to say more. "Go to sleep."

Bai Long looked at her; the smile in his eyes had already faded considerably. Having been around Ye Chen for so long, his insight had sharpened, and he easily saw through the girl’s maneuver. He never cared for women who were overly clever.

This small, common drama of the apocalypse passed quickly.

The next morning.

Sunlight streamed in from outside. The group awoke and searched the building for water, finding the supply cut off, so they left without washing.

Fan Xue noticed that none of them were paying her any attention, and she paused, looking pitifully small. "Can you all give me a lift? Out here in the wilderness, I’m afraid alone..." She felt that exposing Guo Feng’s scheme by deliberately provoking his outburst yesterday should have counted as merit, yet she couldn't fathom why the others were now so much cooler toward her.

Ye Chen scorned wasting breath. Without a hint of a smile, he said, "You can go."

His bluntness was almost embarrassing to those accustomed to flirtation. This wasn't due to Ye Chen lacking social grace; after ten years enduring the apocalypse, he had seen through the illusion of "seeing a mountain as a mountain, then not as a mountain, and finally, as a mountain again."

It was foolish and laughable to assume a man who had survived ten years in the wasteland would be perpetually smiling, handing out cigarettes, projecting an inscrutable aura. In the apocalypse, what mattered was self-interest!

Begging others for help while crying over dead parents was less effective than handing over a fragrant piece of cured meat. As long as you possessed resources, even a cold shoulder would be met with smiles and flattery. If you were inherently weak and constantly fawning, you would still be discarded when convenient.

Fan Xue stiffened, then looked pleadingly toward Bai Long beside her. Bai Long looked helpless. "My dear lady, the boss has given the order; there’s nothing I can do."

Fan Xue paused, then looked at Ye Chen, slightly stunned. She hadn't realized that Bai Long, who had effortlessly dispatched so many monsters, wasn't even the actual leader of this group...

Fan Xue bit her lip until it was faintly red. "Just take me to the Hohhot Base City ahead. Whatever you need me to do, I'm willing!" The implication in her words was clear.

Bai Long hesitated, glancing at Ye Chen. "Why don't we take her along?" Though he knew the woman was cunning, he was always lenient toward women and didn't find her repulsive. Under the pressure of survival, there were far too many people like her, just drifting along...

Ye Chen responded indifferently, "Whatever." The woman wouldn't need him to carry her, and she wasn't heavy; she wouldn't impede their speed. To contradict Bai Long, his trusted comrade-in-arms, over a minor woman seemed as pointless as swatting a fly that landed on his own palm—not worth the effort.

Fan Xue was overjoyed, like a drowning person grasping a lifeline. She shot Ye Chen a glance filled with awe, and then the group set off.

As soon as she mounted Bai Long's back, Fan Xue was struck dumb. The speed of this party was astonishing, easily outstripping even a motorcycle. And... they were openly running right down the main street?

Heavens, didn't they know this would attract countless monsters?

Soon, a Level 200 Ironhide Hound snarled as it charged from the side, making Fan Xue jump and nearly scream. Then she watched Ye Chen casually flick his wrist, and the hound dissolved like wet clay, melting into a puddle of sludge.

Fan Xue’s eyes nearly popped out. Her face was vacant, and then her heart began to hammer. She suddenly realized she had stumbled upon a team operating at an incredibly high level! If she knew that the strength of this group could raze the entire Hohhot Base City, she would likely have fainted dead away.

After that brief interlude during the otherwise monotonous journey, they soon arrived at the Hohhot Base City. Ye Chen hadn't intended to stop here specifically; he was heading toward Russia, and this happened to be a necessary stop.

Towering walls, magnificent arrow towers, and a vast perimeter area—the Hohhot Base City materialized before them.

At the city gate, numerous soldiers clad in animal hides stood guard, carrying the carcasses of monsters. Some were wounded, their arms broken or missing entirely.

The arrival of Ye Chen's group didn't draw widespread attention, but a few sharp-eyed, astute individuals noticed the Dragon Hide Armor they wore. Though they couldn't identify the exact monster, the armor’s sheen and integrity indicated high-grade gear!

Consequently, many people subconsciously made way for them.

Ye Chen and the others approached the city. The guarding soldiers were perceptive; one glance at Ye Chen made him refrain from rashly demanding an entry permit, and he automatically stood aside. It was an unwritten rule: those recognized as powerful could enter the city even without a permit.

It was much like peacetime, where the cost of living in Shanghai was so high that a single room downtown cost eight or nine hundred a month, making it unlivable for the average person, who then had to move to a third-tier city. The base city operated under the same principle.