Lin Chu initially thought it was Yu Hongfei returning, so she immediately got out of bed and went to the peephole to check.

But when she looked through it, she saw two entangled bodies—one groping the other while they retreated into the nearby restroom.

The air was filled with indecent sounds that made her cheeks burn.

Upon closer inspection, Lin Chu realized it was a man and a woman.

They clung to each other and kissed passionately for quite a while before reluctantly pulling apart.

The woman, panting slightly and leaning into the man’s chest, asked coyly,
“Brother Ye, I haven’t had anything to eat in so long… Could you maybe give me a little…”

Before she could finish, the man shut her up with a kiss.

Lin Chu vaguely heard him say, “Then you’ll have to feed me first…”

She had no patience to listen any further and chose to mute the noise outside the door, then returned to bed.

Lin Chu felt agitated.

She knew that this was just a cruel, realistic reflection of the apocalypse—
Especially in a zombie-type end-of-the-world scenario.

Women generally had less combat ability than men, making it harder to fight zombies and survive, so they often had to rely on men and use their bodies as a means to get by.

Lin Chu understood—there was no shame in doing what it took to survive.

Everyone had their own way of staying alive.

But she couldn’t help feeling irritated.

It was the same kind of irritation she felt at age eight, when she first saw her stepfather beating her mother—beating her until she bled.

She hated that feeling.

So she grabbed the electric baton her stepfather usually used to slaughter pigs and charged at him.

She beat him.

She sent that man to the hospital.

She thought she and her mother could finally get away and never be bullied by him again.

But instead, her mother gave her a harsh beating.

Told her never to raise a hand against her stepfather again.

Now, at 26 years old—

Eighteen years had passed, and she still wanted to rush out there.

But she knew—it was useless.

If she really drove that man away, the woman would only blame her for chasing off her meal ticket.

Just like her mother did back then.

And she would go crawling back to that man, even more submissive than before, just to survive.

There was nothing Lin Chu could do.

She rolled around in bed for a long time, restless, unable to fall asleep.

It wasn’t until the sky started to lighten that she finally drifted off.

The next morning, at exactly 6:00 a.m., the alarm rang like clockwork.

But staying up all night and then exercising wasn’t wise—it could cause sudden death.

As a forensic doctor, Lin Chu understood that better than anyone.

The couple outside her door had already left—

Leaving behind a mess.

Lin Chu turned the outside sound back on and, following the principle of “out of sight, out of mind,” lay back down and closed her eyes to catch up on sleep.

She slept until 10:00 a.m., when noise from outside the door woke her again.

This time, before she could even reach the peephole, a familiar voice called out:

“Lin Chu, Zheng Ziyu, I’m back.”

The voice was deliberately low—

But thanks to the fitness pill, Lin Chu’s senses had sharpened, and she heard it clearly.

She put on her shoes and walked to the door.

Even though she’d recognized Yu Hongfei’s voice, she still cautiously peered through the peephole to assess the situation outside.

Yu Hongfei was alone, walking in from outside. His clothes were a bit dirty and disheveled, but he still stood tall. Though his face was smudged with grime, he looked alert and in good spirits.

It didn’t seem like he was injured.

Only after confirming that no one had followed him did Lin Chu open the door and step out.

Zheng Ziyu was two seconds behind her and opened her door as well.

“Ah, finally, I made it back.” Yu Hongfei broke into his signature grin as he saw the two of them, and couldn’t help sighing in relief.

Although he’d only known Lin Chu and Zheng Ziyu for a few days and cooperated on two missions, they seemed to have forged a kind of revolutionary camaraderie.

Now, seeing them both safe and sound filled him with joy.

Lin Chu seemed to sense his emotion and patted his shoulder.

“Good to have you back.”

Zheng Ziyu nodded and echoed, “Good to have you back.”

“Was the mission successful?”

Yu Hongfei nodded. “It went smoothly.”

As he spoke, he raised his hand, and suddenly two opaque sealed bags appeared in it.

“These are newly cultivated fruit and vegetable seeds developed at the survivor base in City F. They’re suitable for greenhouses and small-scale indoor planting. I brought a bit of everything for you two.”

Lin Chu and Zheng Ziyu each took a bag and thanked him. Then Zheng Ziyu asked, somewhat hesitantly:

“Our shelter’s pretty small… Is there even space to grow anything?”

Hearing her concern, Yu Hongfei waved his hand.
“Don’t worry. Every time you survive a world, you can use points to upgrade the shelter.”

“After upgrading, the shelter’s area gets larger, and more functional rooms become available.”

“Mine already has a little courtyard where I can plant vegetables.”

Zheng Ziyu’s eyes widened slightly at that.

It actually sounded pretty great.

The two of them then asked Yu Hongfei about his trip to the City F survivor base.

Yu Hongfei gave them a quick rundown—

He’d found a small SUV in the park with a spare key inside and drove it to the base.

Along the way, he ran into the middle-aged couple with the young son again. They begged him to take them with him, and since he still had some decency left from his military background, he agreed.

Only later did he find out—

They weren’t there out of concern for their daughter.

They’d heard that scientific researchers, who were prioritized and relocated early, were living in big houses, eating three meals a day, and receiving regular government supplies. Their lives weren’t all that different from before the apocalypse.

The couple had traveled all that way hoping their daughter would bring them into that elite lifestyle.

But when they got to the City F base, the officials told them their daughter wasn’t there.

Apparently, she had gone missing even before the outbreak.

Still no sign of her.

Because the researcher was missing, the family wasn’t eligible for the same benefits.

At the time, Yu Hongfei didn’t know the couple’s true motives. He was about to offer them some comforting words—

When they suddenly started cursing their daughter in front of everyone.

Calling her unlucky.

Blaming her for going missing and ruining their chance at a luxurious life.

Even their young son stood there calling his sister a worthless burden.

Yu Hongfei was completely stunned.

When he came to his senses, he kicked them out of the car and left them at the gates of the survivor base to fend for themselves.

After hearing all this, Lin Chu wasn’t surprised.

She had already noticed the boy’s odd reaction when his parents mentioned his sister.

Adults could fake it, but kids couldn’t.

She just hadn’t expected the parents to be so heartless.

But still—
The researcher went missing…

“Was it just her who disappeared? Or were there others too?”