Han Yingting had no intention of letting the town chief, whose hands were drenched in blood, go. He led fifteen and some of his own team members in pursuit.

The three of them almost turned the small town upside down.

Finally, they found the town chief, covered in blood, lying in a corner, stabbed to death.

Looking at the town chief’s pierced hands, Han Yingting’s eyes reflected deep thought.

This was clearly a sign of interrogation.

Moreover, from the interrogation to the final kill, the method was professional and swift. The only ones in the town capable of this were himself and Sye and his group. What were they trying to find out by doing this?

Now that the man was dead, it meant they already knew the answer.

Curiosity aside, Han Yingting still let out a sigh of relief because, with their help, the pursuit was much easier.

After all, if it had only been the three of them chasing, the man would have escaped long ago.

“Let’s head back.” Han Yingting’s tone was casual.

Fifteen, who had come with him, glanced back at the already-dead town chief and silently followed Han Yingting out.

Upon their return, they found that the military enhanced individuals in the courtyard had all vomited uncontrollably.

Some were disgusted and retching, others had pale faces, and everyone was visibly in pain.

“Captain Han, you’re back,” another girl from the team, who couldn’t handle overly strong flavors and had only tasted a little of the spicy meat, said, her complexion looking a bit better.

Han Yingting nodded. “What happened?”

“They just went to check the kitchen,” the girl said with a look of discomfort. “When I think of the kitchen, I… I can’t hold it in anymore.”

The three of them didn’t need to think hard to know what they had seen in the kitchen. After all, the people with the town chief had survived by eating people.

Aside from the mutated zombies, any living humans were probably eaten by them already.

“So what about these women?” one of the military enhanced individuals, who had recovered a bit, pointed to a corner where a dozen women were huddled together and asked Han Yingting.

The women, except for one older middle-aged woman, were all young and beautiful.

The middle-aged woman sat in the corner with vacant eyes, as if she had found release.

The young women, on the other hand, were cowering in the corner, some of them looking expectantly at Han Yingting and his group. Since these people were military, they probably wouldn’t harm them.

Han Yingting looked at one of the girls. “Is that man really your town’s town chief?”

“No, he’s the principal of the town’s high school,” the girl quickly replied.

She then told them that the man who called himself the town chief was actually the principal of the town’s high school and his surname was Wang.

Principal Wang had been regarded as a great person in the town before the apocalypse.

At the beginning of the apocalypse, since Principal Wang’s family had stocked up a lot of food, he helped many survive. After the acid rain, zombies started appearing in the town, and people began to lose hope, even starting to commit suicide.

It was during this time that Principal Wang obtained a substance that could alter people’s physiques and even awaken their powers.

From then on, the survivors in the town began to worship him as a god.

The man with dark skin used to be the town’s mechanic. Others, such as the local police officers and businessmen, all started begging Principal Wang for the substance.

Principal Wang generously shared it with many people.

But the substance didn’t work immediately; it took quite a while to show any effects.

They couldn’t keep begging for it each time.

Gradually, the people in the town started to form a small group with Principal Wang at the center. This small group kept growing and eventually became what it was now.

After the acid rain, as the zombies roamed, these people became the most formidable fighters. Originally, they were seen as the hope of the survivors, but eventually, they turned into everyone’s nightmare.

A month and a half ago, as food became more scarce, these people started collecting any remaining food from the survivors. When the food was still insufficient, they began to eat the two-legged sheep.

Only the young, beautiful women and girls with good looks were spared.

The rest were either killed and disappeared, or put on the dinner table.

Upon hearing this, the military enhanced individuals couldn’t control their stomachs any longer and vomited uncontrollably.

In the corner room, Nan Muran, who had been sleeping soundly, began to frown as the noise outside became unbearable.

Finally, she opened her eyes, completely losing her desire to sleep.

“It’s not fully light yet, should we sleep a bit more?” Jiawu asked gently.

Nan Muran helplessly sat up. “It’s too noisy. By the way, where’s the stuff? Did you bring it back?”

Her seemingly random question stunned the three of them, but then they laughed in realization.

“Nanshi, you thought of it.” The eagle sighed. Nan Muran was too sharp.

“The zombies inside and outside the town were cleaned up very thoroughly. That takes some real skill. And the person who guided us last night was a secondary defensive-type ability user.”

“This means they know how to upgrade their abilities. They must have some stockpile,” Nan Muran continued, taking the warm water from Sye and drinking it, feeling more awake.

“Also, we have some unexpected gains.” The eagle handed Nan Muran a bag.

When she saw the red-black fruits inside, both Xiaobai and Xiao Liu on her wrist began to glow with excitement.

Seeing their reactions, the three of them realized that this was a good thing.

“They say it’s a top-tier mutated fruit. Did you find out where the fruit tree is?”

“It’s behind Emperor Mountain,” Jiawu answered.

“Let’s have Han Yingting wait here for a day, and we’ll head there first thing in the morning.” Good things must not be missed, especially since this could improve one’s physique.

Meanwhile, outside, Han Yingting had gathered some key information. The middle-aged woman was Principal Wang’s wife.

According to her, the juice was especially effective for awakening abilities in younger people.

As for why it worked on the young, it was because Principal Wang himself didn’t experience any changes despite using it every day, but people under forty-five had significant effects. This was all an illusion created by Principal Wang to control the people in the town.

Moreover, to prevent anyone from threatening his position, the five awakened individuals were carefully selected by him. They were either simple-minded, strong in body, or poorly educated with radical ideas, or they were former students who had been grateful to him.

“Where did he find this juice you mentioned?” Han Yingting asked, a bit excited. A juice that could guarantee 100% ability awakening was definitely a valuable find.

The middle-aged woman shook her head. “I don’t know. He kept those things hidden very well. But I saw him mix some black concentrate with water several times; it looked like fruit juice.”

Han Yingting immediately thought of mutated fruits. It seemed like this principal must have discovered a mutated fruit tree.

It was a pity the man was dead… No, wait…

Han Yingting suddenly turned around to look at the small room where Sye and the others were.

It seemed that they had already found the location of the tree. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have killed so decisively. Unable to help himself, he gave a wry smile. These people were exceptionally sharp.

What Han Yingting could think of, Fifteen also realized. However, he didn’t covet the information that Sye’s group knew.

To him, the true strong in the apocalypse must have such a mind and means.

“Captain Han, what about them?”

All thirty or so men had been killed, but these women hadn’t done anything wrong. They couldn’t just kill them all, could they?

Han Yingting looked at the women and fell into deep thought. He didn’t think these women, who had survived and seemed to be living well, were innocent.

But having to directly kill them, he found himself reluctant to do so.

At this moment, the door in the corner opened.

Nan Muran and her group stepped out of the room.