No one expected it—the ten grenades, as if striking an invisible barrier in mid-air, were suddenly deflected and flung back with force.

“Get down!” The faces of the Venomous Snake Squad turned ashen.

The ones nearest, Ouyang Feng, Ouyang Yunyun, and several researchers, were the first to be tackled and shielded by others.

But the rest, who hadn’t reacted in time, weren’t so lucky.

The ten grenades exploded among the crowd, turning the area into a blood-soaked mess in an instant. Screams of agony and cries for help rang out endlessly.

Severed limbs and mangled flesh were strewn everywhere. The stench of blood choked the air.

Nan Muran sneered—using weapons against a level-three psychic was just asking to die. What a bunch of arrogant fools.

“Don’t panic. Follow my orders. All units, attack together,” barked the Venomous Snake Squad’s captain at the outer security personnel.

Ouyang Feng whispered quickly to him, “Yunyun has the inhibitor. Break through using the window at the end of the rear corridor. Take a few key researchers and leave.”

The Venomous Snake captain understood immediately.

With this command, Ouyang Feng was essentially abandoning everyone else in the building.

“Got it.” After signaling his squad, they silently began falling back toward the second-floor window.

Under orders, the security guards raised their guns and fired back in unison. Bullets tore into the branches and vines.

Feeling pain, Xiaoliu and Xiaobai grew furious.

Nan Muran amplified her life force output. “Xiaoliu, Xiaobai—kill everyone holding a gun.”

Before the wide-eyed onlookers on the second floor, the branches and vines moved as if they had eyes, targeting all armed guards. Sharp thorns pierced their throats one by one.

The brutality stained many people’s eyes red. Gripped by terror and rage, they grabbed whatever weapons they could to fight back.

Broken twigs shimmered green and regrew instantly. Severed vines flared white and grew even more wildly.

Meanwhile, Ouyang Yunyun, Ouyang Feng, and a few key researchers were already at the second-floor window, escorted by the Venomous Snake Squad.

“Don’t leave us behind…”

“Help!”

The awakened ability users and outer guards tried to follow, but it was too late.

Ouyang Yunyun pulled out a red inhibitor from her waist and tossed it without hesitation toward the shadow outside the window.

Xiaoliu and Xiaobai momentarily weakened. The vines and branches recoiled frantically.

“Go!” the Venomous Snake captain shouted as he jumped from the second floor and caught the others as they jumped.

On the third floor, Nan Muran stood calmly on the platform, watching with a slight smile. She exhaled in relief. “Let’s hope this time, you don’t disappoint me.”

Once on the ground, Ouyang Feng’s group rushed toward the parking lot, while the vines and branches chased after them madly.

Three Venomous Snake team members, covering the rear, were quickly entangled by the branches.

“Charles!” the captain’s face twisted with rage upon seeing one of his men trapped. He tried to rush back.

But Xiaoliu and Xiaobai didn’t give him a chance—three were swiftly killed.

“Drive!” Ouyang Yunyun shouted hysterically from the car, seeing the slain team members.

The captain, eyes red with grief, slammed the gas pedal.

As the two vehicles sped off, Nan Muran withdrew her life energy.

A radiant smile touched her lips. “Bon voyage.” She lightly leaped down, landing at the spot where they had fled.

On the second floor, only five survivors remained. Under the moonlight, they saw her silhouette appear and trembled uncontrollably. One even wet his pants.

“Is that her?” a middle-aged man looked utterly defeated.

A younger man nervously peeked out the window. “I—I don’t know.”

“Is she going to kill us?” a girl burst into tears. She had only come here to earn some food to save her sick mother.

Nan Muran ignored the trembling survivors upstairs and walked away from the compound.

Meanwhile, Ouyang Feng’s convoy sped down the highway, with zombies swarming behind them.

“At this rate, we’ll be overwhelmed by the horde before we ever reach the city’s shelter,” the Venomous Snake captain said anxiously.

“Dad, we can’t go to the city anymore. Let’s head back to the underground lab,” Ouyang Yunyun said, panic rising as more and more zombies appeared.

Ouyang Feng nodded. “Back to the underground lab.” At least there, with its high-level defenses, no one could break in.

Watching the vehicles change direction, Nan Muran actually smiled.

She pulled out an off-road vehicle from her storage space and began chasing them toward Mt. Cui.

They drove up the mountain to the halfway point, then hid the cars in a cave and continued on foot into the rarely-trodden mountain depths.

Because members of the Venomous Snake Squad were ahead, Nan Muran kept her distance and used her psychic powers to track them.

In that moment, she was grateful for the hundreds of crystal cores she’d gotten from the lab—without them, she’d never have lasted this long.

After about three hours of hiking, Nan Muran paused in confusion. Was that… snow?

It wasn’t even October yet, and only one place in the southern mountains of West City had snow at this time—Mt. Tai.

This wasn’t Mt. Cui at all.

(Chapter continues on next page…)

Suddenly, it all made sense. No wonder she hadn’t found the underground lab even after turning Mt. Cui upside down—it wasn’t there at all.

Worried about missing anything, she instinctively crept closer to the front.

“What did you say?” Ouyang Feng’s voice rang out.

A cold female voice responded, “The four soldiers from the HB Military District escaped. The military’s newly established safety base is at Yunyuan in the southern mountains. We must find them quickly, or the consequences will be dire.”

“How long ago did they escape?” Ouyang Feng sounded more panicked than when Nan Muran had destroyed the lab earlier.

“Over an hour. All ability users and the Black Ice Squads have been dispatched, but there’s no news yet.”

“Take the researchers back to the lab. Everyone else, search. We must find them. If they’re alive, bring them back. If they’re dead, bring their bodies.”

Nan Muran couldn’t help but smile. Si Ye and the others had escaped.

She had originally planned to tail the search party and rescue them on the way, but now the lab had split into multiple teams.

Unsure which direction they fled, she could only follow the path from her previous life.

That meant she had to hurry back to the mountainside villa to wait, or risk missing them again.

Realizing this, Nan Muran turned and sprinted down the winding road.

On the way back, she couldn’t help laughing to herself—had she just gone through all that trouble for nothing?