Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

Shen Heng and the others settled into the room opposite. Cheng Jingyi remained wary of them, and when she left, she deliberately marked the door of Shen Yisui's room by blocking it with something.

The two soldiers had been hiding in the West District for an unknown amount of time, surrounded by dense zombies. Besides two guns, all they had left were a few bags of expired bread.

Cheng Jingyi naturally wouldn't share the food with them. The things in his bag were enough for him and Shen Yisui to last for two or three days. He wasn't so stupid as to want to share with these people.

He only went out on patrol as an excuse to check on the condition of the ball.

The ball was in much better condition than when it was with Cheng Jingyi. Its body was radiant and dazzling, a far cry from the disheveled state it had been in when Cheng Jingyi first saw it.

But it still rarely spoke, simply following behind Shen Heng, never taking the initiative to talk to him.

This part about the colored ball is similar to what Cheng Jingyi remembered.

Cheng Jingyi withdrew her gaze.

The adjutant and Yi went out for the night. They didn't have enough food, so they had to risk being chased and eaten by zombies to find more.

Shen Heng stayed inside to recuperate because of his injuries. Cheng Jing saw that he was staying in his room and had no intention of approaching Shen Yisui, so he also kept to himself as planned.

The adjutant and soldier Yi Yi were gone for about three hours. When they returned, both of them had a lot of scratches on their bodies. It was said that they had encountered a high-level zombie nearby and were chased for three or four kilometers.

Fortunately, neither of them was seriously injured; their clothes were dirty, and they only had minor cuts and bruises.

"These two bags that haven't expired are for you. The rest have gone bad, so I'll eat them."

When Yi returned, he slumped into his chair, making the old wooden chair creak. He seemed oblivious, picked out a few boxes of instant noodles from his bag, and threw them directly at the other two people.

Shen Heng took the bag of instant noodles, glanced at Yi Yi, and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. We'll go out today, and it'll be your turn next time," Yi said casually. "Anyway, I'm not going out. That thing almost crushed my kneecap."

As Yi Yi spoke, she zipped up the backpack she was carrying.

The room was packed full of other food, but Yi pushed it down without changing her expression, saying that it was all expired food and couldn't be eaten.

Shen Heng's gaze flashed over Yi Yi's backpack, and he pursed his lips but said nothing.

In the face of the apocalypse, everyone is in danger, and the concept of "sharing" has become irrelevant. Yi Yi wanted to keep the food he had found for himself, and his excuse was simple yet obviously flawed, which implicitly revealed his attitude.

Shen Heng's eyes flickered, and he glanced at the colorful ball beside him out of the corner of his eye, his brows furrowing slightly.

With the colored ball around, even when Shen Heng was on the run, his teammates would give him priority in choosing food. Or, they would simply give him most of what they got.

Yi Yi, however, had no such intention at all.

He seemed unaffected by the colorful ball, acting solely on his own whims. Shen Heng received no attention or affection from him, just as Shen Yisui had in the past.

Shen Heng gripped the food packaging tightly. He was about to say a few more words to Yi Yi when he looked up and heard his adjutant say, "Shen Heng, I have quite a lot of food. I'll share half with you."

Shen Heng paused, and before he could speak, Lu Ran placed all the food in front of him.

"Is that enough?" Lu Ran asked him.

Shen Heng's knuckles twitched slightly. He looked at Lu Ran, whose expression was indifferent, just like his usual expression.

“…That’s enough, thank you, adjutant.” Shen Heng lowered his head, no longer looking at Lu Ran’s face.

Lu Ran hummed in agreement and didn't say anything more to Shen Heng.

It was already late, and the entire house was pitch black. The few people hiding inside quickly divided their belongings and then found places to rest.

This dark place was only illuminated by a few small, crackling light bulbs, perhaps to save electricity. After a while, those light bulbs were turned off.

Cheng Jingyi sensed the movements of the people outside from inside the room. He leaned against the door and looked in the darkness toward Shen Yisui's location.

"Knock down."

There was two knocks on the door from the outside.

Cheng Jingyi turned his head at the sound and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"

"It's me." The voice outside sounded tired, but the tone was clear, and Cheng Jingyi recognized the person the moment he spoke.

He opened the door and saw Yi standing at his doorway, bathed in the dim light from the window.

Cheng Jingyi narrowed her eyes slightly: "What?"

"I need to discuss something with you." Yi Yi's face was as pale as before, but now she looked noticeably haggard, and her tone was heavy and unrecognizable.

"what's up?"

"It's something we talked about before," Yi said. "The high-level zombie we encountered today has quite a few good items. Do you want to cooperate with us?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jingyi raised her eyes, only to hear Yi Yi continue, "After it's done, the crystal cores are yours, and the food is ours. I don't think you need any food for the time being, so how about this deal?"

Cheng Jingyi looked at him coldly: "Did Lu Ran send you?"

Yi smiled but remained silent.

Cheng Jingyi immediately understood what they meant. Lu Ran, that old-fashioned guy, clearly didn't want to have too much contact with zombies. The fact that he was willing to let Cheng Jingyi join them on their outing was simply because he was influenced by Shen Heng.

Cheng Jingyi had already made up his mind, and he said, "Okay, I'm fine with anything."

“Then we’ll go together. I sprayed a locator on that zombie, so we’ll find him soon.”

"Is Lu Ran coming with us?" Cheng Jing asked again as Yi Yi finished speaking and was about to leave.

Yi turned her head: "Yes, the adjutant is going with us. To be honest, he's a little worried about you too."

Cheng Jingyi didn't care about Lu Ran's attitude. The two soldiers' superpowers were quite ordinary and didn't pose much of a threat to him for the time being.

“Okay, let me know when the time comes,” Cheng Jingyi said.

Yi made a gesture to him, then turned and walked back to her corner.

Cheng Jingyi watched his figure gradually disappear into the darkness, and then closed the door behind her.

*

The high-level zombie was last seen in an abandoned factory in the western district, about seven or eight kilometers away from here.

Yi Yi had made preparations in advance. He was familiar with the movements of the high-level zombie and specifically chose to go there in the early morning.

Cheng Jingyi arrived downstairs on time as agreed. He saw that the two soldiers downstairs had pistols on their waists and couldn't help but sneer.

"Leaving now?"