No one could tell whether the mutated serpent had eaten its fill of river creatures or was simply toying with them—it kept a deliberate distance, neither too close nor too far.

Once the people in the vehicle realized their bullets couldn’t pierce the snake’s scales, they gave up attacking altogether.

The car sped through the dense forest, branches scraping across the roof. Zhuang Xiao quickly ducked her head back inside.

She wasn’t afraid of entering a blind zone—what really scared her was accidentally driving straight into a high-radiation area. What would they do then?

And anyway, the car was bound to run out of fuel sooner or later. At that point, they’d have to rely on their own two legs. How long would it take to walk out of here? They’d probably die out there.

Zhuang Xiao tugged on Huo Xiao’s sleeve and shouted into his ear, “Huo Xiao, we can’t keep going in this direction!”

Huo Xiao felt her warm breath against his ear and flinched slightly from the discomfort.

Before he could reply, Zhuang Xiao went on, “That way leads to a high-radiation area!”

“Have them turn left at the first chance they get…”

Huo Xiao didn’t know how she was so certain about the radiation zone, but considering they had no fixed direction anyway, he figured it was worth a shot.

Based on his past experience, the girl had a bit of luck on her side. And besides, Feng Ziyang and the others were already planning to break away from the Dark Night Mercenary convoy—might as well turn wherever they could.

And this didn’t count as betraying his teammates. Former teammates, technically.

But before Huo Xiao could even pass on the suggestion, everyone in the vehicle suddenly lurched right as the car swerved left into a patch of grass.

The Dark Night Mercenary convoy’s two vehicles ahead continued charging down the long-abandoned highway.

Luckily, the mutated serpent ditched them and followed the front convoy instead.

Everyone on board exhaled in relief.

They had finally shaken that damned thing off.

After another half hour of bumpy driving through the underbrush, their vehicle gave out.

Everyone gathered their gear and disembarked.

Only now did Zhuang Xiao have the headspace to take stock of their little group—nine people total, including her and Huo Xiao. Aside from Feng Ziyang, she spotted two familiar faces: the young men who’d helped transport the mutated mantis from their house.

The remaining four looked to be around the same age as Huo Xiao.

“Captain Huo…” blurted Hu Qianli, the driver, before catching himself. Glancing at Feng Ziyang, he corrected: “Boss Huo…”

Feng Ziyang didn’t seem to care and muttered casually, “Boss Huo…”

Back when he first joined the mercenary group, Huo Xiao had taught him a lot. In his heart, Huo Xiao would always be the real boss.

“…What now?” Feng Ziyang asked, clearly ready to throw in the towel. Being the leader was too damn exhausting. Better to just be a foot soldier—boss points, shoot.

Huo Xiao: ……

He was the one dragged onto the car against his will, okay?

Zhuang Xiao also looked at Huo Xiao nervously. “Huo Xiao… we can make it out, right?”

She had just checked her wristwatch map—it was a total blind zone. No mountains, no rivers, no elevation data, not even their own location. Just a blank screen.

Near the safe zone, the map would usually show key location markers. But now?

It was already 5 p.m. They’d been traveling in the blind zone for about two hours. Given their driving speed, they were at least 100 kilometers from the safe zone.

If they had to walk out, it would take at least three days—if nothing went wrong.

And with nightfall coming in just over two hours, their first priority was finding a safe place to rest.

Only then could they plan their next steps.

“First, take inventory of all our supplies,” Huo Xiao said. “Also grab anything useful from the vehicle.”

Before nightfall, they managed to find a place to settle—a long-abandoned cave.

There were no signs of mutated creatures inside. After a quick clean-up, they made it their temporary shelter.

Only then did everyone start paying attention to Zhuang Xiao.

Of course, they’d seen her earlier, but they’d been too busy fleeing for their lives to chat.

Now they were seated in a circle around a small fire, each drinking a tube of nutrient solution.

Everyone had only packed one day’s worth of food. The prey they’d caught by the stream had all ended up in the belly of the mutated serpent, so they had to ration every drop of nutrition now.

Food wasn’t easy to come by in the wastelands.

After a day spent either chasing squirrels or dodging mutated snakes, Zhuang Xiao sat behind Huo Xiao, stomach growling painfully.

She couldn’t help but dig through Huo Xiao’s bag, pulling out a nut to snack on.

Crunch, crunch. The sound came from behind Huo Xiao, drawing everyone’s eyes.

“Boss Huo, we heard you’ve got a new little sister?” Hu Qianli, ever the straightforward one, blurted out the question he’d been dying to ask since they got off the car.

Hearing someone mention her, Zhuang Xiao popped her head out from behind Huo Xiao, cheeks puffed with food. “Yup, that’s me! I’m his sister—Zhuang Xiao. Nice to meet you all!”

“Nice to meet you too, Sister Huo Xiao. I’m Hu Qianli,” Hu grinned widely.

One of the younger men nearby commented, “Your surnames don’t match, but your names sound similar—Xiao and Xiao…”

“Heh… I’m his cousin—distant cousin. Our families were really close back in the day, so they gave us similar names…” she explained with a laugh.

Huo Xiao sat quietly by, listening to the girl spin tale after tale for his former teammates—full of twists and turns, emotional highs and lows.

After introductions, Zhuang Xiao moved out from behind him and joined the circle properly.

Before long, she was chatting comfortably with the group.

Two-thirds of the guys who had visited their home before were named Xiang Xu and Wan He. Both were under twenty. The other three, aside from Hu Qianli and Feng Ziyang, were Xiong Hai, Wei Sheng, and Sima Yan.

Feng Ziyang and Sima Yan were from the safe zone; the rest came from the shantytown.

With the exception of Feng Ziyang, every single one of them was a genetically modified human.

That night, Hu Qianli and Feng Ziyang took turns keeping watch.

Thankfully, the weather wasn’t cold—otherwise, the night would’ve been unbearable.

Zhuang Xiao curled up in her little nest of straw and fell asleep quickly.

Huo Xiao leaned against the cave wall, crossbow in hand, watching the sleeping girl. He, too, soon drifted off.

Nothing happened during the night.

Everyone survived their first night in the blind zone safely.

They all woke up early, even before sunrise.

Just before departure, Huo Xiao walked over and roused Zhuang Xiao, who was sprawled out on the straw, dead asleep.

Honestly, her nerves were impressive—how could she sleep through all the noise of everyone packing?

Zhuang Xiao rubbed her eyes, momentarily disoriented.

It wasn’t until she saw the five or six young men around her that the memories of the previous day slowly returned.

Just as she finished packing her things and slinging her bag onto her back, she heard Huo Xiao say:

“Let’s move out.”