After returning to the shelter, Lin Chu quickly wiped the blood off her skin, then sat by the door and took out the Tang sword she had retrieved from Gangzi, inspecting it carefully.

This Tang sword was clearly no ordinary weapon.

It measured one meter in total length, with a long, straight blade that gleamed with an unusual dark luster—as if it were made of some high-tech material.

It didn’t look like something current human technology could produce.

More like…
Something produced by the system.

But when Lin Chu checked her points shop, the weapons currently available for purchase were all quite basic—none had materials like this.

Maybe it was because she was still a newbie and hadn’t unlocked further permissions.

This Tang sword was definitely a rare and exceptional weapon. No wonder Gangzi treasured it so much, always wiping it clean whenever it got stained with blood.

It had been well maintained—lucky for Lin Chu.

The short, thin man didn’t have a weapon nearly as good. All he had was a plain baseball bat.

Adding the one she’d taken earlier from that tall, chubby guy named A-Feng, Lin Chu now had two baseball bats in her inventory.

A baseball bat was long and packed a decent punch. In times like these, having one was already a decent means of self-defense.

Lin Chu carefully stored the weapons. Since she had no idea when Ma Yan’s people might show up, she didn’t dare to relax. She took out a piece of bread and ate to restore her strength.

Just as she finished, she heard a noise outside.

She got up and peered through the peephole. One of the men who’d come with Ma Yan earlier that morning was now standing outside the bathroom door.

His brow was furrowed deeply, and he called out in a low voice:

“Gangzi?”
“Skinny Monkey?”

He called a few more times. No response. No one in sight. Da Cheng’s face darkened.

“Boss gave them such an important task, and they’re slacking off?”

He muttered in dissatisfaction, assuming the two were hiding inside to rest.

He walked into the bathroom and looked around, but still saw no one.

“Hiding outside to slack off?” he guessed, only to immediately shake his head.

“No way, no way. Gangzi’s obsessed with avenging his brother. No chance he’d slack off. Even if Skinny Monkey wanted to, Gangzi wouldn’t allow it.”

“Something’s happened. Something must have happened. I need to tell the boss right away!”

He was just about to head out, machete on his shoulder, when he suddenly paused and looked down at the footprints on the ground.

The prints led outside.

“Gangzi and Skinny Monkey left? They must’ve spotted that bitch’s trail.”

Da Cheng’s anxious expression eased a little.

Regardless of the situation, the most important thing now was to alert the boss.

With that in mind, he hurried outside—so focused that he didn’t notice a shadow silently trailing behind him as he exited Building 6.

The moment Lin Chu saw Da Cheng leave the bathroom, she quietly opened the shelter door and placed a prepared note by the second-to-last door.

She hid behind a wall, observing Da Cheng. Confirming that he hadn’t noticed anything, she used the wall for cover and followed him.

Ma Yan’s group had high combat strength and many members. The zombies along the route from their shelter to Lin Chu’s had already been cleared for points.

So Lin Chu followed him effortlessly, out of the compound, across the street, and into a different complex on the other side.

From the bloodstained entrance, she could tell this was a software park.

As the name implied, the companies here were all IT firms.

These companies made money from technologies in phones or computers—nothing related to physical goods or manufacturing, let alone survival supplies.

No wonder Ma Yan’s group had gone out of their way to raid the pharmaceutical tech park instead.

Perhaps because the two parks were close by and built by the same developer, their layouts were nearly identical.

Lin Chu quickly memorized the path.

She kept a careful distance and observed as she tailed Da Cheng, while he, lost in worry, paid no attention to his surroundings.

He rushed through the back door of a building without even closing it behind him, shouting:

“Boss! Boss!”

Lin Chu didn’t dare follow him in. Instead, she crouched beneath a window with a broken pane to listen.

“What are you yelling about?” Ma Yan’s voice was sharp and annoyed.

“Gangzi and Skinny Monkey are missing.”

The moment Da Cheng said it, Lin Chu heard a loud thud and several gasps from inside.

“You’d better explain yourself,” Ma Yan said, his tone growing colder.

“I saw Gangzi and Skinny Monkey’s footprints leading outside the building. There were also two sets of women’s footprints. But there had been a lot of zombies outside earlier, so the blood and scattered tracks made it hard to see exactly where they went.”

“My guess is, those two women came back and saw Gangzi and Skinny Monkey guarding the place. They didn’t dare enter and were discovered, so Gangzi and the others chased after them.”

Someone asked, “And when you arrived, you didn’t hear any fighting or chasing nearby?”

Da Cheng thought for a moment and replied firmly, “No. It was completely quiet. I don’t know how far they chased them. I didn’t dare search aimlessly, so I came back to report.”

Ma Yan chuckled.

“No matter how good those women are at hiding, they can’t escape the palm of my hand.”

“Come on, let’s go check. Can’t let that brute Gangzi ruin those two sweet things.”

Everyone inside was stunned for a moment—then remembered the woman from the 24-hour convenience store a few days ago.

That scarred face flashed through Lin Chu’s mind as well.

Sensing the brief silence, Ma Yan’s voice suddenly rose:

“What? You don’t want to go?”

“We do—of course we do!”

Someone responded quickly.

The rest chimed in too.

“I heard there are two this time. I can’t handle both. I’ll let you guys have a turn.”

That sparked laughter and excitement inside.

“Boss, if we’re all going, who’s staying to guard the place? And what about those people—and that dumb soldier guy?”

It was one of the men who had been stuck guarding during the day.

He hadn’t gotten to participate earlier, and now that it sounded like Ma Yan was handing out rewards, he clearly felt left out.

Ma Yan glanced at him and sneered.

“Look at you, so pathetic. No one’s staying behind tonight. Everyone goes—whoever shows up gets a share.”

Cheers erupted from within.

Silently, Lin Chu repositioned herself, concealing her presence completely behind the building.

Moments later, the sound of footsteps rang out as the whole group came pouring out of the building.