It wasn’t until all the crystal cores from the biological laboratory in the industrial park had been used up that Nan Muran finally collapsed on the ground, drained of energy.

Si Ye quickly reached out and helped her up.

“What’s wrong?” Nan Muran asked, irritated, as she looked at him lifting her as if she were a small chick. She was so annoyed that she felt like kicking him.

“Go sit on that massage chair over there.”

“I don’t want to move at all,” Nan Muran refused without hesitation.

Before she could finish her sentence, she was grabbed by both shoulders and lifted up.

By the time she was seated in the massage chair, she hadn’t even realized it. How did she not notice in her past life that this guy was basically a steel-hearted, straight-laced man?

Si Ye ignored her displeasure and said seriously, “Nan Muran, what you’re doing is very dangerous.”

Knowing he was concerned, Nan Muran nodded.

Then, she stood up directly, her height difference perfectly allowing her to meet Si Ye’s gaze. “I know.”

“Then, would you betray me?” she asked.

The warm breath against Si Ye’s cheek, and the faint fragrance from the girl, made his heart race uncontrollably. His mind went blank. “Of course not.”

Nan Muran couldn’t help but laugh at his ears turning red. Was he really this innocent?

She had to admit, the country had managed him very well.

“Then, it’s settled. Eat the fruit. It’ll help with the improvement of your abilities,” Nan Muran said, feeling a bit self-conscious as she spoke, aware of how her words made her sound like a mischievous girl.

Si Ye, without a word, took the fruit and shoved it into his mouth, his cheeks puffing out as he swallowed it in large bites, devouring it hungrily.

“You…” Nan Muran began to speak, but before she could finish, Si Ye choked and began to awkwardly drink water.

Watching him struggle, Nan Muran cleared her throat a few times, trying hard not to laugh.

Jia Wu, standing nearby, silently took a few steps back. It was hard for him to reconcile this version of Si Ye with the ruthless, cold-blooded wolf he had seen on the African battlefield, capable of taking down ten enemies at once.

By the time the entire Wolf Pack squad had endured the pain and finally fallen asleep, Nan Muran stood up and said to Jia Wu, “They’ll probably sleep for a long time. Let’s head upstairs.”

As they returned to the living room on the first floor, Xiao Liu suddenly reminded Nan Muran that an armed mercenary squad was approaching the villa.

“Do they have any special markings?” Jia Wu asked. He had dealt with the traces on the road yesterday, and there was no reason for them to be chasing so closely unless they had some special means of tracking.

In the current apocalypse, many tracking methods were no longer functional, so how were they managing it?

“The ten people from the laboratory disappeared here, so it’s not surprising they’d be chasing us,” Nan Muran said, focusing on the surveillance screen.

She didn’t plan to confront the underground laboratory directly at this point, knowing that the situation behind it was more complicated than she imagined.

This realization had come after meeting Ouyang Feng, an S-class official. Before the apocalypse, Nan Qiao Group and the Qi family had treated him with utmost respect as an important figure.

But within the underground laboratory, he was just an administrator of an external biological lab. The scale of the forces behind it was far greater than she had anticipated.

“A whole platoon? How could there be so many?” Jia Wu was clearly surprised as he looked at the thirty-six fully armed soldiers appearing one after another.

Nan Muran furrowed her brows. Could the underground laboratory have so many people?

If Ouyang Feng wasn’t stupid, besides sending soldiers to search the mountains, he would also have sent more people to block Si Ye and the others at Nanshan Yunyuan to prevent any military base from being alerted.

If there were two or even three groups, and so many fully armed soldiers, it meant that the underground laboratory’s armed forces were at least on the scale of a company.

This number wasn’t something foreign mercenaries could easily muster, even in the apocalypse.

While she was thinking, the soldiers on the screen began conducting a carpet search around the area.

Nan Muran became increasingly frustrated, eventually laughing in disbelief. “This mountain villa really has a rough fate since it was built here.”

In over three months of the apocalypse, this was already the third wave of people that had chased them to their doorstep.

One wave a month—at least they were giving them face.

“What should we do?” Jia Wu asked, on alert.

Nan Muran poured two glasses of wine and handed one to him. “If they don’t find the villa, we do nothing. If they do, we’ll have to eliminate them all.”

“The mountain villa should be a peaceful and serene place, but if others insist on disturbing it, it’ll become a place where intruders meet their doom.”

“So they’re not searching for us, but for their own dead end?” Jia Wu understood Nan Muran’s plan and took a sip of wine.

The taste was surprisingly good, and Jia Wu subconsciously looked at the bottle—McAllen, and the price was quite decent.

“It’s troublesome. They have three military dogs,” Jia Wu said, setting down his glass and heading to the screen.

After the team had conducted their search, three men holding military dogs appeared on the screen.

Nan Muran looked at the three dogs and frowned slightly. “Brother Wu, do you think they’re tracking the scent of someone from the Wolf Pack?”

“It’s not likely to be the Wolf Pack,” Jia Wu responded. “It must be their own people.”

Faced with the three military dogs, Jia Wu was a bit troubled. If they killed them, it would alert the enemy, but if they didn’t, the dogs would continue circling and they would still be discovered.

“I’ll try to see if I can control them,” Nan Muran said, focusing as she sensed the three military dogs and began applying mental pressure to drive them away.

The three dogs outside immediately began barking madly, but they showed no signs of retreating or changing direction.

Alright, it seemed that her psychic abilities couldn’t control these little creatures.

Meanwhile, Tank, who was behind Nan Muran, began barking fiercely at the outside, and even Da Fu and Xiao Ke were growling, clearly getting aggressive.

About three minutes later…

“Have they given up and stopped barking?” Jia Wu looked at the screen. The three military dogs had suddenly collapsed onto the ground, their ears drooping, motionless.

Nan Muran noticed the change and turned to look at the two little creatures beside her, who seemed quite pleased with themselves.

Indeed, only other animals could have this kind of hierarchical pressure.

“The little guys did a great job,” Jia Wu said, patting Tank and Da Fu on the head.

“Tank, do you think you can keep those three there?” Nan Muran asked as she stroked Tank, an idea forming in her mind.

Tank tilted his head as if thinking, then began barking frantically at the villa’s exterior.

The three military dogs outside, who had been tethered, suddenly broke free of their handlers and dashed into the dense forest.

“My God, if it weren’t for the soundproofing, you would’ve led them right in here,” Nan Muran said, feeling her eardrums vibrating.

Outside, the group watching the dogs run away stood frozen.

“Everyone, retreat from this area immediately. Quick!” the leader, a squad leader, shouted, making a quick decision.

He had once been a trainer and knew very well how strict the training was for military dogs. They were trained to be more formidable than soldiers and would not hesitate to sacrifice themselves.

If the dogs had been frightened off, it wasn’t just a hidden danger—it could be a presence beyond human understanding in the apocalypse.

In this situation, the safest option was a quick withdrawal.