"Oh, come on, keep bragging..."

  "How did you end up killing their leader’s son?" Lin Tao interrupted Hu Laoda in a quiet voice. He knew Hu Laoda was already frustrated to the point of madness, but there was no need to argue with a stranger just to feel superior. Lighting a cigarette of his own, Lin Tao exhaled slowly and looked at Zhang Xu.

  "That pervert was a real piece of work. Not only did he abuse women, but he also preyed on men. Who would’ve thought he’d set his sights on one of my brothers? To save him, I had no choice but to kill that son of a bitch. Sigh... I don’t even know how my poor brother is doing now. I had to run—I couldn’t go back for him!" Zhang Xu shook his head helplessly and crushed his cigarette butt forcefully into the table.

  Lin Tao nodded noncommittally and continued, "Tell me about your settlement. Give me the general situation."

  "It’s about 50 to 60 kilometers west of here. Originally, it was a small countryside amusement park. Not many people lived nearby, but after the outbreak, a lot of survivors took refuge there, slowly forming a settlement. I don’t know how things are elsewhere, but our settlement is getting worse and worse. It started with over ten thousand people, but now? Maybe five or six thousand are left. The rest either starved to death, turned into zombies, or were killed by each other. We've stripped every retively safe area of food—there’s almost nothing left. Take this rest stop, for example. Without the rain, no one could even get in—it’s crawling with the undead."

  Zhang Xu sighed and spread his hands. "And then there’s the biggest problem—water. The surrounding area doesn’t have many zombies, but fresh water is incredibly scarce. You’ve seen it yourselves—even the Yangtze River has dried up. Every drop is precious. Once, I was so desperate I drank an entire bottle of facial toner. Thought I was gonna die right then and there, but I had no choice. Even though we’re dying of thirst, it’s still safer here compared to pces with plenty of water."

  "Who’s in charge over there? Is there a single leader?" Hu Laoda straightened up, eyes full of expectation. It was clear he was reminiscing about his own days as a leader, basking in the glory of his past.

  "No one has the energy to manage such a big crowd, and people have broken off into different factions. No one listens to anyone. Mostly, people stick with their hometown groups—banding together to search for food or bully others. The guys who were after me? A gang from Jiangbei, one of the mid-sized factions. As for the loners like me, we just look out for ourselves. When we go out scavenging, it’s like an online game—find a few people you get along with, team up, and split the loot. The three rgest factions, though, have formed a so-called enforcement team. They make the rules, and if you want to live there, you have to follow them."

  "Pfft, with that few people, they still have to make it so complicated?" Hu Laoda scoffed, rolling his eyes at the ceiling as if recalling his own past—how he once rose to power through three parts cunning and seven parts sheer luck.

  Lin Tao pulled out another pack of cigarettes, opened it, and tossed one to Zhang Xu. "Are guns common in your settlement?"

  "Rifles and heavy weapons are pretty much monopolized by the three major factions. That’s one of their rules—everything except melee weapons and handguns must be turned over. They do offer food in exchange, but there are only about a hundred or so rifles in the whole pce. Most are outdated training weapons or homemade scrap guns—barely useful against zombies, mostly just for intimidation. If you have an actual Type 81 rifle, that’s considered a rare treasure!" Zhang Xu lit his cigarette and scoffed in disdain.

  Lin Tao narrowed his eyes slightly. "What about Nanzhou? The city west of Jiangcheng—do you know anything about it?"

  Zhang Xu hesitated, then shook his head. "I’ve never been there, but the road to Nanzhou is completely impassable. The people who managed to escape from that direction all say the same thing: not many zombies, but the ones there are absolute monsters. A friend of mine told me he once saw a massive zombie covered in eyes and extra limbs. It wiped out an entire armed convoy like it was nothing. If he hadn’t been far away, he wouldn’t have made it out alive. Because of that, the western border of our settlement is considered a forbidden zone—no one dares to go past twenty kilometers in that direction."

  He hesitated, then looked at Lin Tao cautiously. "Lin Ge… you’re not thinking of going to Nanzhou, are you?"

  "No matter what, I have to go," Lin Tao said firmly. He gestured toward the women in the group. "But before that, I need to make sure they’re taken care of. I want to check out your settlement first."

  Zhang Xu scratched his head, looking uneasy. "Lin Ge, you’d better think this through. These dies are beautiful, sure, but in our settlement, if they don’t have someone protecting them… let’s just say, selling themselves wouldn’t even guarantee survival. We’ve got at least six or seven hundred women there already trying to make a living that way. The competition is fierce."

  "I’ll discuss it with them first." Lin Tao took a slow drag from his cigarette. When he turned, he caught Bai Ru watching him with a complicated expression. He knew she had overheard everything but could only sigh and avert his gaze.

  Before long, dinner was ready. The women had found some bowls and dishes in the kitchen, cleaned them up, and began serving fragrant white rice and ham soup. Zhang Xu eagerly pitched in, chatting animatedly with the dies and cracking jokes—some a little risqué. His antics had them giggling in no time, and soon, they were all getting along.

  "Sister, please, take a seat! How could I let you pour the drinks? That’s my job!" Zhang Xu fawned as he snatched a bottle of Wuliangye from Cao Mei’s hands. With an eager smile, he poured Lin Tao a full gss, then gnced at Hu Laoda. Instead of pouring for him next, Zhang Xu filled his own gss first, completely ignoring Hu Laoda’s reaction. He then shamelessly shoved the remaining half bottle into Hu Laoda’s hands before taking a big gulp of his own drink.

  "Ahhh…" Zhang Xu sighed in bliss. Stretching his arms wide, he grinned at Lin Tao. "Good booze, beautiful women, delicious food—Lin Ge, you’re living better than you did before the apocalypse!"

  Cao Mei chuckled, swirling a gss of red wine. "Of course! Lin Ye is on another level. He made it all the way from the north on his own—do you think just anyone could do that?"

  "Lin Ge!" Zhang Xu suddenly shouted, making everyone jump. To their surprise, he was staring at Lin Tao with a pitiful expression. "Let me follow you! I’ll go wherever you tell me to, no questions asked! I may not be as skilled as you, but I can carry stuff, clean weapons—whatever you need!"

  "Dream on!" Mikael snorted, lounging on a chair. "My master’s rifle doesn’t need you to clean it. The dies here fight over who gets to do it—and they even have built-in water sources! What do you have? Hah!"

  "Mikael, you’re such a perv!" Axue scolded, gring at him. She patted his head in warning. "No more dirty talk, or no kisses for you tonight!"

  "Aw, babe, don’t be mad!" Mikael ughed, rubbing his big red head against Axue’s chest. She was already used to his antics and absentmindedly fed him a bite of food while giggling.

  "I… What the hell?!" Zhang Xu gawked. "Lin Ge, is your dog… some kind of ancient spirit? If he keeps training, will he turn into a human someday?"

  "Get lost!" Mikael rolled his eyes. "You’re the only damn monster here!"