Tao Shushu was watching the little one when she suddenly noticed a black skull icon appearing in the dialogue box above their head. 

The little one was unhappy. 

Tao Shushu glanced over and frowned slightly. 

In the hall, there were around thirty to forty people. Those seated were likely powerful ability users with some status. 

Behind them, a few timid individuals stood obediently, massaging their shoulders and legs. 

The most extravagant one was the man in the center of the hall. His beard was thick and dense. He was lying on a reclining chair, with one person fanning him, another peeling fruit, and two others massaging his feet. 

This didn’t look like a base established by survivors in the apocalypse—it felt more like a feudal lord had crowned himself a local tyrant. 

When Nan Yuan entered, the bearded man didn’t even open his eyes. “Handled it already? Has Jess gone hunting for beauties again?” 

Most of the ability users burst into laughter. 

Tao Shushu didn’t understand what they were talking about, but when she saw the sly and lewd expressions on the little chibi avatars’ faces, she knew it wasn’t anything good. 

She noticed that one of the people giving a shoulder massage had pressed a little too hard. Immediately, the ability user he was serving grabbed his head and shoved it to the ground.

Tao Shushu was furious. She held back for the sake of the bigger picture, only pinching the ability user’s cheek with her fingertips. 

Even through the screen, she found touching that person disgusting. She then gently hooked the little one’s hand—yes, the little one was still the cutest. 

Although the screen was filled with chibi-style characters, the little one was far more beautiful than the rest. 

The user’s face immediately swelled red. He yelped, clutching his cheek. “Damn it, something bit me!” 

Nan Yuan tilted his head, listening to the commotion. Feeling the slight tug on his hand, his expression softened a little. 

That person was always like this—whenever she saw injustice, she had to act; whenever she saw a pitiful person or animal, she couldn’t help but lend a hand. 

“Mutant bugs? Can our base hold them off?” 

“Tomorrow night is the full moon.” 

“So what? Just keep using ordinary people as the outer wall. Once the mutant beasts have eaten enough, they’ll settle down.” 

The ability users laughed indifferently, mocking the despair of ordinary people, ridiculing the one whose face Tao Shushu had pinched for making a fuss. 

And those who were designated as sacrifices could only swallow their rage, not daring to protest. 

Nan Yuan’s ears were filled with their harsh laughter and cruel words. So this was how this base operated—using ordinary humans as a shield, again and again, to fend off mutant beasts. They were so heartless that they could ignore human lives without a second thought.

Tao Shushu rotated the screen, scanning her surroundings before selecting the bearded man in the center for exploration. After all, to catch the thieves, you must first capture their leader. 

She spent 1 gold coin. 

A profile of the bearded man popped up on the screen. 

[Lin Wei, real name Lin Wei, formerly a combat officer of the Second Corps. Before the apocalypse, his last official title was Captain. He specialized in military operations, close combat, and marksmanship. 

Ability: Fire-type—highly explosive in nature, capable of fire-based teleportation when necessary. 

Nickname: “The Butcher Commander.” His motto for anyone who disobeyed him was simple—kill them.]

Below, a long list of Lin Wei’s atrocities was recorded. 

Tao Shushu flipped through two pages and still hadn’t reached the end. The sheer cruelty of his deeds made her stomach churn with disgust. She instantly regretted wasting a gold coin on such scum. 

Wanting to cleanse her eyes, she turned her gaze to the little one—only to find that the little one’s face had darkened considerably. 

Meanwhile, Nan Yuan was silently calculating. The ordinary people and the ability users were too close together; he wasn’t confident he could save them all. The best strategy would be to attack the highest target—Lin Wei, who had long ruled over them.

Lin Wei was clearly trying to put Nan Yuan in his place, deliberately ignoring him and letting his subordinates chat freely. 

But that worked perfectly in Nan Yuan’s favor. 

Before anyone noticed, he had already moved. 

“Stop that kid!” someone shouted. 

However, the speed-type ability users were already wary of Nan Yuan. They hesitated for just a moment, but it was enough—Nan Yuan had already dashed several meters forward, rapidly closing in on the main seat. 

The hall instantly descended into chaos. 

A barrage of weapons and abilities shot toward him. 

Yet Nan Yuan moved as if he had eyes on the back of his head, shifting his steps at an incredible speed, dodging every attack with ease. 

Lin Wei’s expression darkened. 

Then—bang! 

A gunshot echoed through the hall. 

Nan Yuan had drawn a particle gun and fired a shot straight into Lin Wei’s leg. 

Outside, someone ran in, gripping a communicator. “Bad news—Jess has been killed!” 

But it was too late. The chaos inside the hall had already erupted.

Tao Shushu reacted swiftly, extinguishing all the torches in the hall. Since the little one could see clearly in the dark, let’s see how Lin Wei planned to fire-teleport now. 

Only a few ability users had night vision, and the hall grew even more chaotic. 

She subtly adjusted the aim of certain ability users’ guns, then picked up two of the stronger ones and placed them together—let them deal with each other. 

The darkness made it even harder for anyone to control the situation. 

Tao Shushu carefully gathered all the ordinary people into one area. She wasn’t sure if the little one could see her actions, but she did it anyway. 

At this moment, Nan Yuan was locked in a standoff with Lin Wei.

He could hear the entire battlefield—the sound of alarms blaring outside, over a hundred people rushing toward the hall. 

And he heard it—the cries and whimpers of ordinary people gathering into one area.

That was her doing. She was smart. 

He could trust her to guard his back.

Nan Yuan pressed the barrel of his gun against Lin Wei’s forehead. 

“Captain Lin, long time no see.” 

Lin Wei’s pupils contracted violently. 

“It’s you?! You’re still alive? Damn, you really are hard to kill.”

Nan Yuan subtly signaled to the nearby ordinary people, urging them to run. Then, he grabbed Lin Wei. 

“Hah! If your mother hadn’t crashed her damn ship into my battleship, I wouldn’t have been stranded on this desolate planet. But hey, having you as a burial companion isn’t bad either. Let’s die together in this wasteland.” Lin Wei sneered as he tightened his grip on Nan Yuan’s gun. 

Nan Yuan’s voice was calm but sharp. “Back on the battleship, you searched my mother’s quarters. What did you take?” 

“I’d rather die than tell you.” Lin Wei’s grin widened. “Didn’t think you’d be so damn lucky. Your whole family’s dead, and yet you survived. Since you’ve delivered yourself to me, I might as well send you on your way.” 

Suddenly, flames ignited in Lin Wei’s hands, searing toward Nan Yuan. 

But before the fire could even touch him, several pots of tea were dumped over Lin Wei’s hands, dousing the flames. 

Nan Yuan grabbed Lin Wei with one hand and slammed him hard onto the ground with the other. “Behave.” 

He stomped out the remaining embers in Lin Wei’s palm.

Lin Wei hadn’t expected his attack to be neutralized so quickly. Pain wracked his body, as if his organs had been shattered. Coughing, he let out a bitter laugh. 

“Even if I told you, so what? The battleship is gone. That thing—you’ll never find it again. And even if you do, do you really think you can make it back from this desolate rock to the Capital Star in time to stop the beginning?”

Lin Wei’s coughing grew more violent. 

One of his most loyal subordinates suddenly fired a shot at Nan Yuan. 

Nan Yuan dodged with a swift sidestep, but at that moment, another person lunged forward, grabbed Lin Wei, and tried to flee. 

Nan Yuan didn’t hesitate—he pulled the trigger on his particle gun.

Lin Wei’s body went limp, slumping to the ground. 

Just then, a fire ignited on one of the ordinary people in the hall. 

That person didn’t even stop to put it out—instead, they turned and ran toward the exit.

Tao Shushu, who had been closely observing the battle, immediately recognized Lin Wei’s handiwork. She had already extinguished all the flames, yet Lin Wei still managed to set a person on fire.

She wanted to switch her position to block the escape, but at that moment, an ability user threw a grenade toward the ordinary people.

Tao Shushu had no choice—she grabbed the grenade and threw it back before it could detonate. 

When she turned back, several people were already on fire, including some ability users. 

And outside, a group of reinforcements was charging into the hall. 

Now was the time. 

Tao Shushu picked up another grenade that was about to explode—this time, she hurled it straight at the entrance.

Boom!

A deafening explosion sent the incoming reinforcements scattering, throwing them into utter disarray.

But the explosion had set the entire entrance ablaze, making it even harder to track down Lin Wei. 

Tao Shushu felt a wave of frustration—until she saw Nan Yuan fire a precise shot at one of the burning ability users.

Without hesitation, Tao Shushu pressed that person down onto the ground. 

Nan Yuan’s aim was dead on.

Sure enough, Lin Wei—who had been hiding by transferring his fire onto others—was the one hit. His breathing grew ragged, and within moments, all the spontaneous fires around the hall extinguished. 

Lin Wei was finished.

Nan Yuan cast a cold glance at the fallen ability user. If Lin Wei hadn’t been so obsessed with power and greed, always choosing the strongest ability users as his trump cards, Nan Yuan might not have noticed the trick so quickly. 

With Lin Wei dead, Nan Yuan switched the hall lights back on.

Then, he grabbed a speed-type ability user by the collar. 

“Which ones here are guilty of the worst crimes?” 

As he asked, he systematically eliminated the abusive users who had been excessively oppressing the ordinary people—his memory sharp, his execution swift. 

The speed-type ability user had initially thought Nan Yuan was arrogant for challenging an entire base alone. But now? Even Lin Wei, the infamous “Butcher Commander,” had fallen in just a few moves. Not daring to resist, he quickly pointed out the worst offenders. 

Nan Yuan’s methods were ruthless. 

Attacks from others never landed—yet every shot he fired found its mark. Not a single bullet missed. 

Before long, some of the remaining ability users trembled and dropped their weapons, pleading for mercy. 

Nan Yuan finally lowered his gun.

“You can continue fighting for your commander.” 

“Or put down your weapons and follow my rules.”

The remaining people hesitated for a moment—then, they all dropped their weapons. 

In the butcher’s organization, most of the worst offenders were Lin Wei’s closest subordinates—powerful ability users with high status. 

But among the remaining ability users, some had always disdained Lin Wei’s methods. They hadn’t dared to oppose him outright but had done their best to avoid sinking to his level. 

Seeing her cub successfully subdue his first group of underlings thrilled Tao Shushu. 

No matter how powerful her Cub became in the future, these people—right here, right now—were his first followers.

Cub was so amazing!

Feeling thoughtful, Tao Shushu even adjusted the lighting, making sure her cub was standing in the best-lit spot like a true protagonist. 

Meanwhile, the speed-type ability user was enthusiastically introducing the base’s members. But then—he suddenly noticed that the firelight had quietly shifted positions.

Wait… did the great master have such a strong sense of stage presence that he even needed a spotlight?

Thinking he had uncovered something profound, he instinctively shuffled his feet backward—not wanting to be caught in the “exclusive light circle” and risk offending Nan Yuan. 

But the moment he moved—

Thwack!

A cold arrow pierced straight through him. 

The attacker had been aiming to kill Nan Yuan. That arrow was formed from pure condensed energy; its destructive power was immense. Even with his speed-based reflexes, the ability user couldn’t dodge in time. 

Nan Yuan sighed. 

He had already heard the arrow slicing through the air but had wanted to test whether he could use light to cut it in half. He hadn’t expected the poor fool next to him to shift at the worst possible moment—and take the hit instead. 

With calm precision, Nan Yuan locked onto the shooter—then disabled their bow hand in one swift move. 

No one else dared to cause trouble after that.

As soon as Tao Shushu woke up, she immediately opened the game.

She swiped away a WeChat message from Li Anyu—who had sent yet another joke about Su Momo—and focused back on her screen. 

The system notification was still there, glowing triumphantly: 

[Congratulations on completing Side Quest 4: Eliminate the “Slaughterers” gang and take over their resources. Reward: 1000 Gold Coins, 7 Advanced Sobriety Cards, 200 Prestige Points.]

Tao Shushu was thrilled—she had completed the mission so easily!

Now that the task was done, the remaining people shouldn’t be a threat to her cub anymore. 

She finally relaxed. 

And most importantly… 

The voice pack costs 1000 gold coins. 

She had been longing for the dialogue function for so long—now she could finally talk to her cub!

Just as she was about to open the system shop, she noticed a commotion among the huddled NPCs in the corner of the screen. 

When she clicked on it, she saw a man with a crew-cut —injured during the battle—coughing up blood. His family knelt beside him, wailing in despair. 

Nearby, the speed-type ability user who had blocked the arrow earlier sat dazed, clutching his leg. 

Tao Shushu scanned the scene—so many people were wounded.

Her cub had taken out some medical supplies, but it was far from enough. 

She hesitated. 

They were just Q-version characters—but she couldn’t treat them as just pixels on a screen.

In the end, she spent 14 gold coins on medical supplies. 

Balance: 996 gold coins.

It wasn’t enough to unlock the voice system anymore. 

Tao Shushu sighed. 

She tugged at the cub’s hand in the game, feeling a little wronged—then logged off. 

She had stayed up late the night before. 

So now, she had woken up late too.

As soon as Tao Shushu logged in, she immediately noticed something surprising— 

Her gold coin count had changed to 1001! 

It was her cub—while she had been sleeping, he had kept driving, covering over 100 kilometers and earning a 5-coin reward in the process. 

Tao Shushu was thrilled. 

She excitedly tapped to purchase the voice communication system. 

A small speaker icon appeared on the screen. 

Finally! She could talk to her cub!

She cleared her throat, then pressed the speaker button.