“A lot of people were crushed to death back then…” 

The wind swept through the deserted streets and alleys, emitting a low, wailing hum.

Dust and scraps of paper on the ground were swept up, evoking a desolate, apocalyptic atmosphere.

Jiang Xingrui stood with his back to the light; his tall, straight figure was cast in a long shadow by the sunlight. It was already afternoon; the sunset would likely appear soon. He gave a brief account of the horrors of the “Flesh Factory.”

Qin Ye listened, trembling with fear; he stood up, crouched down, and stood up again.

“It’s so, so terrifying—it’s practically hell…”

Lu Yao listened thoughtfully: “How high do you guys think the level of these ‘Flesh Factory’ zombies is?” The sunlight fell on his tousled black hair, casting a soft glow around the edges; at that moment, he looked perfectly normal.

“It’s widely believed that zombies capable of consistently influencing or even altering their environment can be tentatively classified as Level I,” Jiang Xingrui said. “But actually…”

“Actually, in terms of combat effectiveness, some Level I zombies might not be as strong as Level II ones?” Lu Yao asked.

Jiang Xingrui shot Lu Yao a surprised glance: “Damn, you’re sharp.”

Lu Yao: “Sharp, sensitive—I always feel like you’re trying to make things dirty.”

Jiang Xingrui: “I didn’t choose my words carefully just now, but the person least qualified to say that here is you…”

“All right, all right,” Lu Yao sighed. “Although Level I individuals may not match Level II in terms of combat effectiveness, the true terror of a domain-type ability lies in its persistence and range, right…?”

Jiang Xingrui said simply, “Two of the trapped survivors chose to take their own lives three days later.” 

Qin Ye: “ Did they suffer too much?”

Jiang Xingrui hesitated for a moment before revealing this information: “No. That terrifying thing probably wanted to turn them into zombies.”

“Even being trapped for three days isn’t really a big deal—you could easily survive that long by collecting your own urine in a shoe and drinking it—but a person’s mental endurance is limited,” Lu Yao said. “So it’s better to eliminate Level I zombies as soon as possible; otherwise, it’s easy for people to start feeling like humanity is doomed.” 

“Although I don’t think drinking your own urine from a shoe is quite as ‘easy’ as you make it sound… I agree with your point,” Jiang Xingrui said.

They fell silent for a while.

Until the setting sun turned the shattered sky red.

Lu Yao sighed, “What a terrifying scene—one that’s completely beyond human imagination.”

It certainly sounds terrifying, and it’s hard not to wonder just how powerful the Torch Dragon must be to have resolved this, and just how powerful Brother Li, as their leader, really is.

Presumably, it was precisely this consideration that prompted Jiang Xingrui to reveal more.

“Well, now it’s my turn to ask a question,” Jiang Xingrui said.

Lu Yao: “Ask away.”

Jiang Xingrui took a step forward and said slowly, “When you blew up that house, did you know there were Tier IV zombies inside? How did you know? Did you lure Tier V zombies into it? Judging by your abilities over the past few days, you’re simply not capable of doing that.”

Lu Yao: “As for that question, let Qin Ye answer it.”

Then Lu Yao folded up his folding stool and darted off at a hundred-meter-sprint pace, quickly covering a great distance. 

Qin Ye: ???

He stared blankly at Lu Yao’s receding figure, his mind still reeling.

Lu Yao shouted from a distance, “Go ahead, Qin Ye.”

Although Qin Ye was a bit confused, since Lu Yao had given the order, he obediently explained, “Um… back when those zombies were still ordinary zombies, we managed to lure them into that abandoned factory and lock them up. Then they started devouring each other and turned into Level IV zombies. We originally thought they were Level V, but the boss said they were Level IV.”

Known Level V zombies are much, much stronger than ordinary zombies, but only in terms of physical strength. 

Stage IV zombies, however, possess unique abilities—for example, the Stage IV zombie in the paint warehouse could heal rapidly. After hearing Qin Ye spill the beans, Lu Yao ran even farther away, almost disappearing around the corner.

Jiang Xingrui glanced at Lu Yao running off in the distance, then looked at Qin Ye, who seemed completely innocent, and asked with a complex expression, “Do you know why Lu Yao ran away?”

Qin Ye replied, “Because the big shot is going off to clean up?” 

Jiang Xingrui: “…Don’t you have the ability to think for yourself?”

Qin Ye said solemnly, “When I’m with the Boss, it’s best if I don’t have the ability to think for myself—that’s a kind of happiness for me.” 

Jiang Xingrui’s mouth twitched slightly.

Ah, Qin Ye was actually right.

Then he looked toward the spot where Lu Yao had disappeared, his gaze sharp.

“He ran off, leaving you to me. That’s because he knows I’ll do this for…”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Jiang Xingrui’s figure blurred for a moment.

Jiang Xingrui pushed off with his foot and shot forward at a speed beyond human limits, his entire body like a bolt of black lightning tearing through the twilight.

“—I’m very angry.” 

The icy trailing note still lingered in Qin Ye’s ears, but Jiang Xingrui had already caught up to Lu Yao.

Lu Yao felt an irresistible force strike him from behind and to the side; he instantly lost his balance and was violently thrown to the ground by a pair of large hands. 

As dust swirled, Jiang Xingrui’s agile frame pressed down on top of him, his knee pinned Lu Yao’s lower back, leaving him unable to move. 

At the same time, a cold sensation brushed against his carotid artery—Jiang Xingrui’s dagger, radiating a chilling aura. 

Lu Yao’s reflexes were lightning-fast; almost the instant he hit the ground, the hand gripping the alloy bone blade had already shot upward. But Jiang Xingrui’s other hand clamped down on his wrist, forcing it down onto the icy ground. The position the two men were in at that moment was extremely ambiguous and dangerous.

Jiang Xingrui loomed over him, pinning Lu Yao down with his body weight. Their chests were almost touching, their faces mere inches apart.

Lu Yao could clearly feel the other man’s hot, angry breath hitting him between his eyebrows with each exhalation. “Just as I thought, Lu Yao. You weren’t exactly a good person even before the apocalypse, were you?”

Jiang Xingrui’s voice had grown much deeper, tinged with suppressed rage.

“Conducting these experiments on your own for personal gain…

The zombie virus broke out precisely because of people like you!”

This sudden, complete about-face stemmed from the other person’s overwhelming sense of justice.

This was something Lu Yao really hadn’t expected—he hadn’t anticipated that there would be such a righteous person in the post-apocalyptic world. But Jiang Xingrui really was formidable; even though he’d run so far ahead, he’d still been caught up with.

“Looks like I shouldn’t read too many novels and watch too much anime after all. I thought everyone would turn into gray characters after the apocalypse…” Lu Yao mused. “Besides, I thought we’d been getting along pretty well these past couple of days.”

“It’s been somewhat pleasant,” Jiang Xingrui admitted, showing no sign of easing the pressure on his dagger. “But there are certain things—there are limits.”

“If you want to kill me now, don’t you need to ask your superiors for permission first?” Lu Yao asked. “I should have already proven my worth many times over.”

Jiang Xingrui snorted derisively. “Hah. Killing someone—I don’t need permission for that.”

Lu Yao: “So you’re saying you have the authority to do this. Oh, so you’re one of the Torch Dragon’s three greatest masters. Besides you and the leader, there’s one other among the three.”

Jiang Xingrui’s pupils contracted: “You’re still able to calmly analyze all this even at a time like this—you’re impressive, but it’s a shame. Is this your last word?” 

“If I told you,” Lu Yao met Jiang Xingrui’s piercing, star-like gaze head-on, “I don’t know why I ended up creating a Tier IV zombie either. This outcome exceeded even my expectations.”

Jiang Xingrui’s voice grew even colder: “You know I can tell when you’re lying, right?”

Lu Yao answered honestly: “I knew you could detect lies the moment you told me about your ability.”

Jiang Xingrui gave a cold chuckle: “Do you know how many lies you’ve told me during this time?” He moved a little closer, his nose almost touching Lu Yao’s. 

Lu Yao said awkwardly, “Um, I don’t know about that, but I can definitely count how many truths I’ve told you.”

For a moment, Jiang Xingrui was at a loss for words.

“…And you have the nerve to say that?” He ground the words out through clenched teeth.

“The last thing you need in the apocalypse is dignity.” Lu Yao proudly lifted her chin, even though the movement brought her neck even closer to the dagger.

Jiang Xiangrui had no choice but to pull the dagger back a centimeter, and then he knew he had already lost this game.

Jiang Xingrui: “It’s not quite that bad… Never mind… You’ve told me so many lies, but this one is actually true.”

Lu Yao: “Yeah, even though I’ve been acting like some kind of mad scientist, this time I really didn’t.”

Jiang Xingrui raised his voice: “Give me a satisfactory explanation, or else you’ll see that I can kill people even more efficiently than I kill zombies.”

Lu Yao realized he was serious, so he spoke rapidly: “Zombies evolve and mutate much more easily and quickly than I imagined. After a Tier IV zombie devoured more than thirty ordinary zombies, plus one that I suspect was a Tier V zombie, it turned into this.”

Jiang Xingrui: “Tell us something we don’t know.”

Lu Yao: “You definitely don’t have accurate data on this evolution rate and the conditions required. Never mind, I’ll tell you one more thing… Let me go, okay?”

Jiang Xingrui wouldn’t budge an inch: “That depends on the value of the intelligence.”

Lu Yao sighed: “You might have jumped to the conclusion that I was using the flesh and blood of living people to make the zombies turn on each other…” 

Jiang Xingrui: “Isn’t that exactly what you’d do? You’re the kind of person who’d do something like that.”

Lu Yao: “I thought a gentleman is judged by his actions, not his intentions. I didn’t use the flesh and blood of living people—I was actually planning to use chickens, ducks, and geese that happened to be passing by on the roadside.”

Jiang Xingrui: “…What kind of nonsense is that?”

Lu Yao: “But before I could even find any wild chickens, ducks, or geese, the zombies started killing each other—on the third day.”

Just then, Qin Ye finally ran up, panting heavily. When he saw Lu Yao pinned to the ground, his eyes instantly turned red. Qin Ye raised the stainless steel tactical axe in his hand and, roaring, swung it at Jiang Xingrui: “Let go of the boss! Or I’ll fight you to the death!” 

Without even turning his head, Jiang Xingrui swung his dagger backward, blocking Qin Ye’s swing with a crisp clang. His arm was remarkably steady—he didn’t even waver—as he continued to stare at Lu Yao: 

“There’s no way zombies could start devouring each other so violently in such a short amount of time.” Lu Yao: “That’s the key piece of information I have. Let me go, and I’ll tell you more.” 

Qin Ye swung his axe, preparing to launch a second attack: “Let him go!!!” 

Jiang Xingrui lowered his gaze and looked deeply at Lu Yao, his sharp eyes flashing with thought. After a moment, he said in a deep voice, “All right.”

Lu Yao said, “The smell! The smell! I locked them in the paint warehouse and spilled a huge amount of paint. The pungent odor disrupted their judgment and drove them mad.”

Qin Ye’s second attack came crashing down. Jiang Xingrui leapt to his feet and dodged the axe blow.

Caught off guard, Qin Ye nearly struck Lu Yao.

Lu Yao reacted with lightning speed, rolling on the spot to dodge it. The axe slashed the ground, grazing the hem of his shirt and sending sparks flying.

“That was close, that was close,” Lu Yao said, patting his chest. He wasn’t just referring to that narrow escape from the axe.

Qin Ye awkwardly withdrew his axe: “Sorry, boss.”

Lu Yao waved his hand dismissively and turned his attention back to Jiang Xingrui: “There are two possibilities: first, the scent has clouded their judgment regarding their companions; second, it may be directly affecting their fragile, mutated central nervous systems, causing them to become frenzied and increasing their aggressiveness.”

“Pick one of the two.”

Jiang Xingrui furrowed his brow and began to think.

But then he saw Lu Yao suddenly run off in the other direction. Jiang Xingrui froze for a moment, then hurried after Lu Yao.

Could it be that Lu Yao was lying again? What on earth was Lu Yao…

Just then, he saw Lu Yao fighting fiercely against a zombie.

Jiang Xingrui immediately moved to help, but heard Lu Yao shout, “No need!”

Lu Yao simply pulled his helmet over the zombie’s head, preventing it from biting anyone else. Then, in a strange posture, dragged the zombie toward the other side. 

“What… what are you doing?” Jiang Xingrui asked.

While dragging the restrained zombie across the street, Lu Yao said, “This old lady—I’m just helping out! I’m helping her cross the street!” 

Jiang Xingrui：“……”

MDZZ. 

Did I just exchange intel with someone like this? Is this really okay?!