The sensory experience of the Total Black Day was not great. Staying outside for too long meant never seeing any light.

Even during meals, they had to rely on their own lighting tools.

However, when it came to sleeping, no one kept the lights on. It actually made sleeping more comfortable.

Qin Luo pulled Xu Duoduo onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her. “The ground is cold. Just sleep like this, hurry up and sleep.”

Xu Duoduo pressed against Big Dog’s chest. Qin Luo unzipped his coat, and it was warm inside. She liked his scent and also liked his waist.

Her small hands wandered over his abs, then wrapped around his waist.

Qin Luo took a sharp breath, his ears turning red. He wrapped her up in a thick blanket and patted her back. “Go to sleep. Stop messing with me.”

Xu Duoduo obediently snuggled against him. She was fascinated by this feeling of mutual dependence.

Their spot was near the window.

They could hear faint rustling sounds outside. It was snowing again.

But the snowfall here wasn’t heavy.

Even the accumulation outside wasn’t much.

Qin Luo lay on his back, holding a warm little zombie in his arms. It felt… reassuring.

Everyone took the opportunity to rest.

Occasionally, there would be sounds of insects approaching from outside, only to be swiftly eliminated by the sisters of the Rose Squad.

Qin Luo woke up right on time. As soon as he opened his eyes, Xu Duoduo inexplicably woke up too, groggy. Her head of white hair was scattered across his chest.

It tickled his neck.

Half-asleep, Xu Duoduo nuzzled closer, rubbing under his neck as she took in his scent. She liked the sweet minty smell on him, not overpowering at all. Last night, he had used guns and explosive bead bombs, leaving a hint of gunpowder scent on him. The mix was still pleasant.

Qin Luo’s voice was a little husky from just waking up. He chuckled and asked, “Xu Duoduo, between us, who’s the puppy? What are you sniffing for? Smells good?”

Xu Duoduo let out a small huff, displeased, and bit down on his collarbone, successfully making Big Dog suck in a breath of cold air. She left behind tiny sharp tooth marks.

Then the little zombie got up. It was time for their shift to guard the night, letting the Rose Squad sisters rest.

Qin Luo rubbed his collarbone, glanced at the bite, and muttered, “Your teeth are getting sharper. Look at this mark. Good thing it’s winter.”

He couldn’t help but complain.

Wang Weihu and the others gradually woke up as well. Chen Xiaofei yawned, whining, “Ah~ I just fell asleep not long ago! I miss the base.”

At least at the base, they could get a proper night’s sleep.

Bai Shu adjusted his glasses, then put on his goggles and started dressing.

He still seemed half-dazed.

Wang Weihu got up and said, “If we push in a bit further today, we should reach the power stone mine. Last night’s encounters were just appetizers.”

The real power stone deposits were further inside.

They didn’t need to take the stairs; the second-floor window was their designated entrance and exit.

With his messy wolf-tail hair, Qin Luo called out toward the outside, “Captain Mu! Time to switch shifts, it’s our 3A turn.”

From the rooftop opposite, Mu Mei immediately responded, “Alright, Rose Squad is withdrawing. It’s all yours.”

Qin Luo replied, “Got it. Thanks for the hard work.”

Xu Duoduo had already grabbed her chainsaw and leapt down, landing smoothly on the first-floor street, going straight for a centipede-like creature. The chainsaw buzzed loudly.

The ladies of the Rose Squad couldn’t help but chuckle.

“That little girl fights pretty fiercely.”
“Comrade Duoduo is indeed hardworking.”
“We’ve practically watched her grow up.”

Mu Mei glanced at the white-haired little zombie. With a swift swing of her chainsaw, she dispatched the mutant insect without even blinking. Indeed, she was quite cool.

By now, fighting mutant insects felt to Xu Duoduo like working in a supermarket fish stall for years. She was just a soulless, industrial monster-slaying worker.

Qin Luo let out a whistle. “Wife, you’re so badass!”

After jumping down, he immediately tossed a thunderstorm orb toward a sudden appearance of a kangaroo-like creature. As it neared, the orb split into two, then four, continuously dividing before finally detonating.

Crackling lightning surged everywhere, looking spectacular.

Xu Duoduo tilted her head to glance at it. She put on her four-lens night vision goggles, so he couldn’t see the admiration in her eyes, but she still gave Qin Luo a thumbs-up.

Big Dog might be chatty, but when it was time to be cool, he never slacked off.

Chen Xiaofei launched himself out of the second-floor window with a loud “Woohoo!” and then immediately screamed, “Ah, cold cold cold cold cold! I miss my blanket!!”

When could he retire already?

Bai Shu mimicked a flying squirrel, gliding down from the second floor, gun in hand, taking out several mutant spiders in quick succession. Seeing the street suddenly teeming with bugs, he hesitated.

“Rose Squad had a lot of pressure, yet they didn’t even ask us for backup.”

Wang Weihu’s fluffy tiger ears twitched. He effortlessly leapt down from the second floor, his black-and-yellow-striped tail giving him excellent balance.

“This late at night, these mutant bugs seem even more numerous.”

Xu Duoduo noticed it too. When they had arrived in Vaguo, it had been daytime, even though the Total Black Day made it impossible to see. The biological clock of these insects still seemed to function.

They only became rampant at night.

But that was fine. They were here for the power stones anyway, and cleaning up a wave of mutant monsters along the way was just a bonus. The loot from these insects was useful too.

Chen Xiaofei shot at the flying bugs above and asked, “Hey, squad leader, do you think these bugs are edible? Wasn’t there a place where eating bugs became popular?”

Fried, grilled, all sorts of ways.

Xu Duoduo’s face scrunched up at the thought. She liked eating, but she did not like bugs.

Even though everyone was wrapped up tightly, Qin Luo could still somehow sense her emotions. So, after tossing another set of thunderstorm orbs ahead, he said, “Enough about that. Xu Duoduo doesn’t like it.”

Chen Xiaofei sighed, “I don’t like it either, but if the squad leader cooked it, I’d be willing to try. Everything she makes tastes good.”

Bai Shu told him to stop being disgusting. Bugs were something he never wanted to eat in this lifetime.

Just then, Wang Weihu spotted something. “Movement detected—a three-star mutant iguana.”

Qin Luo immediately responded through his earpiece, “On my way.”

They weren’t far apart. Upon hearing about the three-star iguana, Qin Luo and Xu Duoduo rushed over and began fighting.

Soon, they had a three-star mutant core in their hands.

Xu Duoduo shone a flashlight on it, curious. The core was olive green.

It actually looked pretty nice.

After admiring it, she stuffed it into her storage space.

Wang Weihu told her, “Squad leader, if you can eat it, just eat it. The team’s mutant cores are all yours. Xiaobai, Xiaofei, and I don’t mind.”

They had said this more than once.

Qin Luo was checking information on his tablet to see which parts of the iguana were useful. Hearing this, he added, “Yeah, Xu Duoduo, eat whatever you want.”