“Beep beep, energy stone—Grade C, energy value: 1378.”

After testing all the energy stones, Zhuang Xiao could barely contain her joy. Eleven energy stones in total: one Grade C, three Grade D, and the rest all Grade F.

What a haul!

Zhuang Xiao rubbed her chin, wondering if she should go look for a few more bird nests…

Suddenly, another thought struck her. She pulled out the pearl necklace hanging around her neck and tested it again.

“Beep beep, energy stone—Grade F, energy value: 270.”

She hadn’t really done anything with it—how did it lose almost 200 energy value?

Still, a lot of strange things had happened yesterday.

Taking advantage of the break, Zhuang Xiao decided to sort through all the abnormal things about herself.

First, she could see energy stones—or more precisely, the white light they emitted.

Second, she could see areas of high radiation.

Third, these energy stones seemed to transmit some kind of special energy to her. Under certain stress conditions, her speed and endurance noticeably improved.

Fourth, why did the mutated giant snake, among all those people, single her out to chase?

The first two were undeniable—proven through repeated tests. Her eyes were practically like Monkey King Sun Wukong’s Fiery Golden Eyes.

As for the last two, those still needed confirmation.

The third one didn’t seem like a bad thing at all—it might even be good for her.

But the last one… hopefully, that was just a freak accident. She really didn’t want some giant mutated beast falling for her next time and chasing her around like some tragic lover.

That would just be… pitiful, right?

All in all, it seemed she now had a cheat skill—well, more like a pair of Fiery Golden Eyes.

Zhuang Xiao stood up, brushed the grass off her butt, and followed her instincts onward. She had to find the squad she got separated from.

Especially that walking encyclopedia with chronic illness, Huo Xiao. If he accidentally wandered into a high-radiation zone… what if he just dropped dead?

Meanwhile, back with Huo Xiao—

He hadn’t slept all night.

His dreams were filled with scenes of Zhuang Xiao being swallowed whole by that mutated snake.

Zhuang Xiao: …Really? Thanks a lot, Grandpa. Couldn’t you wish me some good luck for once?

Around noon.

Huo Xiao and his team stood before the corpse of the mutated giant snake, all exchanging looks.

That looked like the same mutated snake that kept chasing them… right?

Right?

Huo Xiao crouched down to examine the snake’s body. Two wounds were clearly caused by sleeve darts.

The darts were still stuck in the snake’s body.

It wasn’t that Zhuang Xiao had forgotten to retrieve them—she was just worried they might still be laced with toxic hemlock. Without gloves or proper tools, she wasn’t about to grab them barehanded.

So, she abandoned those two darts.

“These darts belong to our cousin, right?” Hu Qianli asked, stammering as he pointed to the darts in Huo Xiao’s hand.

So our cousin… soloed a mutated giant snake?

Good grief… she looked so delicate, but turned out to be an absolute beast.

Huo Xiao gave a quiet “mm” and stood up. “Skin the snake.”

Seeing the snake dead and Zhuang Xiao’s darts embedded in it, Huo Xiao’s tightly strung nerves eased—just a little.

“Got it…” Hu Qianli replied and waved to Xiang Xu and Wan He to get to work.

The skin of a mutated snake was valuable—couldn’t let it go to waste.

Shame about the meat, though. He’d just tested it—it was mildly irradiated and slightly mutated. Plus, it had been sitting out all night and had started to spoil. Otherwise, he’d definitely cut off a couple of pieces to try.

Everyone in the mercenary team knew how to skin a snake.

Even though Zhuang Xiao had stabbed a few holes in it, they could patch it up—still a fine piece of snakeskin.

Feng Ziyang walked over and patted Huo Xiao on the shoulder. “Our cousin will be fine.”

“Once we’re done here, we move out,” he said to the others.

Dangerous as this blind zone was, they’d gotten quite a bit out of it.

At first, following Huo Xiao through the dense forest in search of one girl felt pointless—some frustration was inevitable.

After all, in a place like this, looking for a young woman—especially one being chased by a giant mutated snake—her chances of survival were slim.

But today, everyone was unusually motivated. It was partly guilt and partly gratitude.

Because yesterday afternoon, they’d accidentally wandered into a high-radiation zone.

At first, no one noticed—just a little dizzy and lightheaded.

Could’ve been the heat, could’ve been hunger. No one thought much of it, so they pressed on.

Then suddenly—thud!—Hu Qianli collapsed.

That’s when it hit them: they’d walked into a high-radiation area.

With their remaining strength, the group tried to retrace their steps. But on the way back, three more people collapsed one after another.

They barely made it back to the forest. Aside from Huo Xiao, not a single one of them was unscathed—everyone looked deathly ill.

Thank god they realized in time. If they’d gone any deeper, they would’ve died in there.

If they were in a Safe Zone, this would’ve been easier to deal with—just one dose of radiation-clearing serum per person. But they weren’t.

Huo Xiao thought of how these people had been through life and death with him, yet now followed him without a word of complaint, even in the blind zone, just to find Zhuang Xiao (even though he and Zhuang Xiao were basically forced onto this team).

He felt he had to do something.

Seven lives.

He couldn’t let them all die here.

So, with great reluctance, he pulled out the energy stone he’d kept hidden.

Each person held it for five minutes. The stone made three full rounds in everyone’s hands before its energy was fully drained…

Only then did the team regain their strength.

As for where this D-grade energy stone came from—it was obviously a Zhuang family heirloom.

Don’t be fooled by Feng Ziyang and Sima Yan being born in the Safe Zone—neither of them had ever owned an energy stone. As for the other five from the slums, that went without saying.

So when Huo Xiao finished telling them his elaborate, dramatic cover story, everyone was deeply moved.

Zhuang Xiao: …

Brother Huo, you sure picked up that storytelling skill fast.

That was a D-grade energy stone, and they just used it all up?

Boss Huo had no idea how to explain that one to her.

The debt of gratitude was huge. So with guilt and gratitude weighing on them, the group once again set off in search of their missing cousin.

And it wasn’t until they found the mutated snake’s corpse that everyone finally relaxed—just a little.

Our cousin (or cousin-sister)… she must still be alive.

That was the unanimous hope in everyone’s heart.

Meanwhile, while eight grown men were desperately searching for their missing cousin—

That same cousin was happily raiding bird nests, completely forgetting her original goal of finding her lost team.

What could she do? The light from the energy stones was practically blinding her titanium-alloy dog eyes…