“Sincerity.”
The old man slowly spoke just one word.

Chen Jianguo was momentarily stunned, but then nodded in agreement with the leader’s remark.

Ever since he had started dealing with Nan Muran, he had noticed it too. That young woman might seem gentle and generous on the surface, but she was definitely not someone who would suffer a loss. If she ever had doubts about someone, she absolutely wouldn’t give them a second chance.
“Understood, Chief,” he said solemnly.

“By the way, is there any new information from the Jing City Safe Base about the Shensha Organization?”
When the old man mentioned Shensha, his gaze turned noticeably colder.

At first, when they received the report from the Lan City Safe Base, everyone had found it hard to believe. But just to be safe, they had thoroughly investigated—only to find the results even more chilling.

They discovered that Shensha’s influence was almost everywhere, even entrenched deep within the core power structures of major bases. Thinking about how many people were involved, they couldn’t help but feel more and more disheartened.
They had wanted to immediately report the matter to Jing City, but before they could, news had already been sent from there.

The Shensha Organization didn’t just have underground laboratories and mercenary teams—it also carried the remnants of pre-apocalypse international genetic labs. And behind them were even more foreign powers.
Some of these operatives were high-ranking officials; others, seemingly insignificant civilians. They had been hiding in the country for many years, spreading their network far and wide. Shensha had long since grown into a towering tree.

Hearing the name “Shensha,” even Chen Jianguo, who had been thrilled about soon receiving twenty mutated fruits, felt his excitement cool. He couldn’t help but start to worry.
“No updates. Ever since Chen Shuhan and Ouyang Yun were exposed in Lan City, it’s like they’ve just… vanished,” he reported.

“It’s only the calm before the storm,”
the old man said calmly.
“We just need to keep a close watch on the Ouyang family and Lin Weicheng. They will definitely make a move.”

He poured himself a cup of tea so weak it could barely be called tea, took a sip, and frowned slightly.

Chen Jianguo couldn’t help but feel helpless watching his old leader’s reaction. Since the apocalypse, tea had become more and more of a luxury.

He suddenly thought of Nan Muran.
Maybe she had some tea somewhere?

—

While Xiang Xi went to inform Chen Jianguo, Nan Muran and her group headed straight to Villa No. 1 to check things out.

The small multi-story building where Sanjin and Eagle lived was just west of the base’s reception hall—only a road apart.

Villa No. 1 of the Nanshan Cloud Garden neighborhood was located directly behind the reception hall, not far from where they lived. In fact, you could see the villa from the fifth-floor office window.

They walked into what used to be the exclusive garden exhibition area for Villa No. 1.

The once-precious trees had withered into brittle, dead branches. The whole courtyard was now unrecognizable, filled with an air of decay.

There was hardly even a clean spot to step.
Sitting in her wheelchair, Bai Mei began to wonder if they had come to the wrong place.

Seeing the villa covered in heavy snow, long neglected and falling apart, Han Yingting and the others could only feel awkward.

Chengcheng turned to Fifteen and asked,
“Fifteen, was no one living here before?”

Ever since the safe base was established, anywhere that could house people would be occupied. How could this place be left to ruin?

“It’s right behind the trading hall. There are patrols coming and going all the time. No one dares to live here without permission,” Han Yingting explained.

Hearing that no one had lived here before, Nan Muran’s slight obsessive-compulsive urge relaxed a little.
Meanwhile, behind her, Si Ye and Jiawu exchanged a glance and both frowned.

The originally confident and hopeful Bai Mei finally couldn’t hold back anymore:
“Ranran, are you sure this is the place?”

Nan Muran scratched her temple awkwardly.
Was this… really the same place she remembered? The difference seemed a bit too drastic.

“Well, with all this snow, it’s understandable the outside looks bad. I’m sure it’ll be better inside,” she tried to reassure.

Hearing her words, Si Ye pulled her hand gently,
“Let’s go inside and take a look. It’ll probably just be a little dirty.”

When they opened the heavy steel-wood composite carved door—

Everyone was instantly greeted by a scene of devastation:
An empty, looted house; a floor so dusty that one step would kick up a cloud; shattered, broken windows letting the freezing wind howl through.

Their last shred of hope collapsed.

“This? Twenty mutated fruits for this? Are they insane?”
Eagle blurted out.

Si Ye immediately shot him a glare, and Eagle obediently shut his mouth.

“It’s okay, we can fix it ourselves,” Jiawu said, suppressing his displeasure to comfort Nan Muran.

Bai Mei looked around and added,
“Well, at least it’s big enough. Honestly, it’s kind of perfect.”

Listening to everyone trying to comfort her, Nan Muran could only sigh helplessly.
Looking at the ruins in front of her, she felt like a complete fool.
Twenty mutated fruits—she could’ve bought anything else, but ended up with… this.

It wasn’t much better than the half-mountain villa they’d had before.
The only advantage was its size—about 1,700 square meters altogether.

Han Yingting, Chengcheng, and Fifteen all silently worried for Colonel Chen.
Did he even know what state this place was in? If he did, this deal was way too shady.

—

Before long, Guo Fei arrived with Chen Jianguo.

When they saw the state of Villa No. 1, they were both stunned.

The reason the base had left this villa untouched after being built was to save it for more important uses in the future.
But now… what a disaster.

Guo Fei looked unhappily at Chen Jianguo, who looked just as helpless.

But Chen Jianguo knew the most important thing was not to lose the deal.
He quickly stepped forward to Nan Muran and said,
“How about this—our base has been constructing new housing nonstop. We have plenty of materials. I’ll arrange for people to clean this place up right away, and you can come back afterward. How does that sound?”

Nan Muran glanced at Guo Fei’s subtle gesture and realized Chen Jianguo really hadn’t expected things to be this bad.
She didn’t blame him, but she also didn’t plan to just accept the situation.

“Then I’ll trouble you, Colonel Chen. Have it cleaned today, please.
We’ll find a place nearby, and I’ll hand over the fruits to you then.”

Hearing that she was still willing to go through with the deal—and wasn’t using this as an excuse to lower the price—Chen Jianguo breathed a huge sigh of relief:
“Good! The military’s office building is just to the east. Let’s head over there.”

—

Hearing they would go to the military office building, Bai Mei glanced again at the villa and marveled at Ranran’s shrewdness.

Setting up right next to the military headquarters—who would dare cause trouble?

The military office area was located in the fifteen-story building east of the reception hall.
It wasn’t the latest glass façade type—it had clearly been modified to withstand extreme cold.
The stairways still had prominent signage, and the olive green decor made its purpose clear at a glance.

Nan Muran and her group followed Chen Jianguo’s team into the building.

Because Nan Muran and Si Ye were walking in front and looked so striking, everyone they passed couldn’t help but glance their way.
The two, used to such attention, remained completely composed.

Suddenly, a woman’s elegant voice rang out, filled with obvious surprise and joy:

“Wild Wolf…”

Nan Muran paused, and Si Ye also found it strange.

“Wild Wolf” was Si Ye’s codename.
Why would a woman call him that… and in such a tone?