The middle—aged man was the deputy commander of the safe zone.
The moment he learned Su Han had returned, he rushed over immediately.
“A thousand points!” Zhang Ye’s eyes lit up.
“This time, we’ve arranged larger living quarters for your team. Soldiers who carry out special missions deserve better living conditions.”
“Thank you, Deputy Commander.”
“What are you thanking me for? I practically watched you grow up!”
“All right, I won’t keep you any longer. Go get some rest.”
The equipment they had brought back would be taken care of from here on. As for the supplies they had collected along the way, those would remain theirs.
“Finally, I don’t have to stay with Miss Wen anymore.”
Wang Hui let out a long sigh of relief.
“If it weren’t for Wen Lan, would our entire team have earned those thousand points?”
Zhang Ye immediately stood up for his honorary little sister.
“Fine! I’ll give all my points back to her!”
The words flew out of Wang Hui’s mouth before she could stop herself, and she regretted them the instant she spoke.
A thousand points!
Inside the safe zone, gold and silver were worthless now.
Points couldn’t be exchanged for food or supplies, but they could be used to upgrade housing and access electricity.
The summer heat was unbearable. Without electricity, people could literally bake to death.
“The mission’s over. Everyone head back and get some rest.”
Since they all belonged to the same squad, they lived in the same apartment building.
This time, however, they’d been assigned larger quarters.
This section of the compound was noticeably cleaner.
Previously, they had all slept in dormitories with bunk beds.
New arrivals to the safe zone were housed in makeshift prefab shelters.
This area, on the other hand, had once been military administration buildings. The former offices had all been converted into residential units.
The environment here was far cleaner and more orderly.
“The Frost Squad will be staying on the second floor.”
“Members of special squads are allowed to bring their family members to live with them.”
It was one of the special benefits granted to military personnel.
Zhang Ye lived alone and continued to do so.
Each person was assigned a little over fifty square meters of living space.
Wang Hui’s parents and younger brother had already moved all their belongings into her assigned apartment.
The moment she walked in, she realized she didn’t even have a bedroom.
“Dad, Mom! This place only has two bedrooms, and you’ve taken both of them. Where am I supposed to sleep?”
She was furious.
Back when they had lived in the underground shelters, the whole family had squeezed into Wang Hui’s room.
Now that her mission had been a success and she’d joined a special squad, she had received preferential treatment and better housing.
“You’re the older sister. Your little brother is disabled. Can’t you give in to him for once?”
Wang Hui felt even more suffocated.
Ever since she was a child…
Those were the words she’d heard more than anything.
Some older brothers doted on their younger sisters.
Her younger brother, however, was nothing more than a parasite.
“How much food did you bring back this time? You’ve been gone for so long, and we’ve run out of food at home.”
“Your father and I are old enough that we’re still hauling bricks every day.”
In the safe zone, anyone without food had to work for the administration in exchange for daily rations.
Of course, the amount was strictly limited.
Ji Feng had a child.
He had been married, but his wife had turned into a zombie.
Now he was raising the child alone.
Zhou Wen also lived by himself, spending most of his time tending to his plants.
People living alone without registered family members were assigned even smaller apartments.
Just a single bedroom and a tiny bathroom barely large enough to turn around in.
“Here’s the situation. Wen Che, since you didn’t register any family members before, you’ve been assigned a one—bedroom unit.”
“We’re processing your family registration now.”
“If another room becomes available later, I’ll arrange a transfer for you.”
The staff member explained.
“All right.”
There wasn’t much else they could do for now.
Their apartment was on the first floor.
To the left was Su Han’s one—bedroom apartment.
Next door was Zhang Ye’s.
“It’s fine. Lanlan can have the bedroom. I’ll sleep in the living room.”
There was no way Wen Che would let his sister suffer.
“The living room is tiny. You’re six—foot—two. How are you supposed to sleep there?”
Calling it a living room was generous.
It was really nothing more than a hallway measuring a few square meters.
Even though they were siblings, they were both adults now. A grown man and woman couldn’t simply share a room.
“Wen Che, if you don’t mind, why don’t you come sleep at my place?”
Zhang Ye grinned.
“We’re neighbors anyway!”
“Besides, your sister helped all of us earn a thousand points this time! We can run the air conditioner as much as we want!”
Wen Che frowned, a trace of disgust appearing in his eyes.
“I’ll pass.”
“Don’t worry. I sleep very peacefully.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Wen Che was speechless.
They had shared sleeping quarters on missions before.
In the middle of the night, Zhang Ye had hugged him in his sleep.
“My innocence is more important.”
“Then how about this? Captain Su, I’ll sleep with you, and Wen Che can have my room.”
“No.”
Su Han frowned immediately.
“Su Han, can I stay at your place? I’ll pay you rent.”
“Sure.”
“Su Han, so the two of you can share a room, but I can’t? We’re all brothers. Isn’t that discrimination?”
“Wen Che won’t set me on fire in the middle of the night.”
Knowing he had no comeback, Zhang Ye awkwardly rubbed his nose.
Watching the three of them, Wen Lan could tell they were genuinely close friends.
She returned to the bedroom to clean up.
Although the apartment had been assigned to them, it was still rather messy.
They would have to handle the cleaning themselves.
They would be living here for quite some time.
Still, they finally had a place to call home.
At the very least, they no longer had to worry about zombies attacking while they slept.
Better yet, with her own private space, she could openly use the items stored inside her dimensional space.
Her pregnancy was still in its early stages, so moving around wasn’t difficult.
Later, when her belly grew larger, everything would become much more inconvenient.
So while she still could, she needed to actively search for supplies.
Stockpile.
“Lanlan, you stay here. I’ll be across the hall, sharing Su Han’s place.”
“Won’t that trouble Captain Su too much?”
“Not at all! We’re brothers who have survived life and death together.”
“Get some proper rest.”
“Brother, take these clothes. They’re all your size.”
“All right. I’ll give Su Han a couple of sets too.”
Since Wen Che would be staying with Su Han now.
“Mhm.”
After tidying the room, Wen Lan discovered that the safe zone had electricity.
She plugged in the story player and let children’s stories play continuously.
The He Shou Wu was placed on the table.
There were still over a dozen energy beads inside her space.
They came in every color except black.
Wen Lan took them all out and examined them with her perception.
Aside from the black ones, the yellow beads were the most compatible with the He Shou Wu’s energy.
Zhou Wen’s little flower was able to absorb yellow energy beads.
She buried a yellow energy bead in the He Shou Wu’s flowerpot and observed it carefully with her ability.
Nothing.
It didn’t absorb it at all.
It seemed that only black energy beads would work.
That night, Wen Lan fell asleep listening to children’s stories, feeling the steady stream of energy her babies returned to her.
Her body was growing stronger every single day…
Su Han’s apartment.
Wen Che brought over the clothes.
“My sister picked these out. They’re clean.”
He placed them beside the bed.
“Mm.”
Su Han had just finished showering.
These days, all water had to be filtered before it could be used.
Fortunately, with Wen Che around, water wasn’t a problem.
His ability was now strong enough to fill an entire large barrel with water.
Su Han picked up his clean clothes.
Two brand—new pairs of underwear slipped out.
Wen Che didn’t find it awkward in the slightest.
Su Han, however, blushed faintly.
“Your sister bought these too?”
“Yeah.”
Wen Che nodded matter—of—factly.
A strange glimmer flashed through Su Han’s eyes.
The tips of his ears quietly turned red.
The next morning, Su Han’s team received another mission to search for supplies.
Although many people inside the safe zone had awakened abilities, they had all been ordinary people before the apocalypse.
Some had been students.
Some had been waiters.
Others were office workers.
Many had spent their days staying home binge—watching TV shows, reading novels, and ordering takeout because they couldn’t even be bothered to go downstairs.
Even after awakening abilities, they still needed training and proper guidance.
An awakened power alone meant little if one’s physical fitness couldn’t keep up.
Without absorbing energy beads or finding the correct way to level up, those abilities remained weak.
The military had begun retraining awakened individuals before assigning them to the various special squads.
New squads also had to be formed, leaving manpower in critically short supply.
When the zombie outbreak began, it wasn’t only civilians who mutated.
Soldiers.
SWAT officers.
Police.
Many of them had transformed as well.
Their numbers had been drastically reduced.
There simply weren’t enough people left.
That was one of the biggest reasons the safe zone remained so chaotic.
There weren’t enough law enforcement officers.
No single officer could possibly manage so many people.
Wen Lan was also an awakened ability user.
“Captain Su, these two are the new recruits assigned to your squad.”
“All right.”
“This is an emergency training initiative. Every squad is required to take in three to five recruits.”
“Since Wen Lan has only recently joined your team as well, we’ve only assigned two to your squad.”
Zhang Nan said with an eager smile.
He knew better than anyone how difficult it was to assign these green recruits to veteran squads.
But there was no helping it.
Without real combat experience, awakened ability users were practically useless.
The only solution was to send them out into the field and let them gain experience.
There were currently ten official special squads, all made up of military personnel and special police.
“Anyone selected to join one of our special squads has been evaluated as Grade A in ability potential.”