At the sound of the announcement, Wei Qi immediately set down her bottle and strode toward the crowd.
“Miss Ye, come with me—I’ll introduce you to our commander,” Su Ran said, excitement flickering in his eyes.
Wei Qi, already walking ahead, turned back with a scowl. “Su Ran, have you been outside so long that you’ve forgotten protocol? The commander isn’t someone just anyone can meet.”
Ye Shaohua patted Su Ran’s shoulder. “It’s fine. You go ahead. I’ll take the others to scavenge.”
The moment “scavenge” was mentioned, even Qi Feng, who had been about to follow Su Ran to meet Sui Yun, spun on his heel. “Miss Ye, I’m coming with you.”
Weiwei, who had been gathering intel, also hurried over, ready to set out.
The whole team buzzed with anticipation—especially the second-tier ability users, eager to find a third-tier zombie matching their attributes.
Su Ran wanted to join them, but given the circumstances, he suppressed the urge. His gaze toward Wei Qi turned icy.
Wei Qi noticed but didn’t care, her satellite phone still clutched in her hand.
“Commander,” both she and Su Ran greeted as they approached Sui Yun.
Sui Yun’s clear, penetrating eyes briefly lingered on the distant group, a flicker of confusion passing through them before vanishing.
“Glad you made it back,” Sui Yun said to Su Ran, taking in his clean, unhurried appearance. The slight chill in his demeanor softened—clearly, Su Ran had managed well in the apocalypse.
Su Ran smiled but held his tongue, glancing at the surrounding crowd.
“It’s the end of the world. You’re no longer under my command,” Sui Yun said calmly. “If you wish, you can rejoin the corps with your previous rank. If not, you’re free to leave.”
“I’ll follow you, Commander,” Su Ran replied cheerfully. “But I’d like my own platoon—answerable only to you.”
This had been discussed earlier with Qi Feng and Ye Shaohua.
Sui Yun studied him for a long moment before nodding. “However, the satellite phones allocated to our safe zone are all assigned. I’ll requisition one for you once we reach the capital.”
The apocalypse had regressed communication to near-medieval levels. Without phones, delayed intel could lead to entire cities of zombies descending on them.
Wei Qi twirled her phone, shooting Su Ran a sidelong glance.
Su Ran nearly laughed, remembering how Weiwei had used hers just last night to play online poker with Qi Feng and the others.
As for Wei Qi’s barely veiled gloating? He couldn’t be bothered to react.
…..
Ye Shaohua’s group headed to T University’s medical lab, gathering equipment and tools. Along the way, they killed a third-tier wind-attribute zombie.
“Why couldn’t it be water-type?!” One team member kicked the corpse in frustration.
With all their wind users already at third-tier, absorbing this core would be wasteful, so Ye Shaohua pocketed it for later.
“Hey—fire-type! Don’t run!” Weiwei’s boyfriend chased after a fleeing zombie. “Wait! We won’t kill you! Just tell us where your water-type friends are hiding!”
The fire zombie: “…Mmp, yeah right. Run or die.”
The baby-faced man sighed. “Now that zombies are gaining intelligence, they bolt the second they see us. Hunting’s getting harder.”
The others nodded grimly.
Weiwei thought back to how Wei Qi’s subordinates had described zombies as terrifying monsters and nearly facepalmed.
Third-tier zombies were increasingly common—and cunning. Those who’d survived encounters with Ye Shaohua’s team now fled on sight. Unless Ye Shaohua personally intervened, tricking them was nearly impossible.
…..
By the time they returned, Sui Yun’s evacuation unit was preparing to move out overnight.
“Stay behind our vehicles,” Wei Qi ordered during inspection. “No unauthorized actions.”
“We’re temporarily attached to Wei Qi’s unit,” Su Ran explained as they fell into formation, “but we operate independently. Half-free status.”
He broke off, noticing his team’s lively debate about today’s “little fire” (the third-tier zombie). Clearly, no one cared about impressing Sui Yun.
Su Ran chuckled and let it go.
Sui Yun knew Su Ran’s team included ordinary survivors but had assigned them to Wei Qi’s unit while maintaining separation.
Wei Qi, however, was visibly displeased—especially at the sight of Ye Shaohua’s group lounging around, using water abilities for laundry and bathing. No one else in the corps lived so extravagantly.
To her, they were undisciplined deadweight.
During missions, she excluded them entirely, relegating them to logistics.
The baby-faced crew, busy pushing toward third-tier peak, didn’t mind.
Three days passed without Ye Shaohua meeting Sui Yun. According to Su Ran, he was always scouting ahead.
…..
That evening, chaos erupted in Wei Qi’s camp.
“What’s going on?” Ye Shaohua asked, tinkering with a small device by the fire. Behind her, team members juggled medicine bottles and snacks.
Su Ran returned grim-faced. “One of Wei Qi’s key subordinates was bitten. Ability users usually heal from zombie bites, but he’s infected. She’s preparing to abandon him—”
“Wait.” Ye Shaohua eyed his odd expression. “I’ve finished compiling research these past few days and have the tools. Let me try treating him.”
Su Ran blinked, then brightened. “Yes!”
The baby-faced man kicked him. “That gloomy act was just to bait Miss Ye into offering, wasn’t it?”
Su Ran ignored him, rushing back to Wei Qi.
“That ordinary girl in your team?” Wei Qi scoffed. “If she were so capable, why hasn’t she holed up in a safe zone? Su Ran, this pathetic excuse won’t save your brother Su Mu. Do you think I’m stupid?”
Sui Yun, having examined Su Mu, confirmed quietly: “The capital’s Dr. Zhao has no solution either.”
Su Ran knew of Dr. Zhao—the apocalypse’s sole known brain-domain ability user, with 30% cerebral development (ten times the average).
“Commander, trust me. Miss Ye can help. If she fails, I’ll execute Su Mu myself. No risk to anyone.”
Sui Yun’s gaze shifted toward Ye Shaohua’s camp.
She sat by the fire, toying with a device, her delicate features half-lit by flames. Sensing his stare, she looked up—calm, unreadable.
“Take him,” Sui Yun said.
“Commander?!” Wei Qi stared, aghast.
Sui Yun ignored her, still watching Ye Shaohua. He wasn’t one to trust strangers easily.
Yet somehow, he had.
Strange.
“The capital’s satellite signals are down,” he told Wei Qi. “No calls for the next few days.”
Wei Qi acknowledged stiffly.
…..
Su Ran brought Su Mu back, prompting Wei Qi to quarantine their entire team.
At nightfall, her people kept a fifty-meter buffer from Ye Shaohua’s fire.
When Wei Qi’s unit set out to forage, they pointedly left the “deadweight” behind—though not without disdainful glances.
Especially at Ye Shaohua, casually snacking on beef jerky.
“That Ye girl’s living the dream,” someone muttered. “No skills, yet they feed her.”
“Pretty privilege, I guess.”
Meanwhile, Ye Shaohua skimmed notes by the fire, chewing jerky as Weiwei stirred soup. The team lounged, utterly at ease.
Qi Feng, fresh from hunting non-mutated game, rinsed off in their modified vehicle—water tanks atop it refilled daily by their water-ability users.
A luxury that drew envy from Sui Yun’s entire corps.
Who else vacations through the apocalypse?
As Qi Feng stepped out, shouts erupted ahead.
“Third-tier fire zombie! Run!” Wei Qi’s voice trembled.
Panic spread as the corps scrambled.
Wei Qi’s heart pounded. Burn wounds seared her skin; her subordinates’ screams tightened her chest.
The moment they’d left camp, they’d been ambushed by a high-tier fire zombie.
A football-sized fireball hurtled toward them. Wei Qi dodged—but not enough. It grazed her arm, charring flesh.
The projectile didn’t slow, barreling toward the temporary camp.
Chaos erupted as survivors fled uphill.
Yet around one fire, the group remained—laughing, passing bowls of soup, utterly unbothered.
The baby-faced man bickered over the last serving.
Ye Shaohua leaned back, watching Wei Qi’s panic with detached calm, her face glowing in the firelight.
Amid the frenzy, their serenity was jarring.
To onlookers, they seemed fools, frozen before annihilation.
Had they given up? Or—
