With no food left, Wang Hui’s leg still hadn’t fully healed.
She had no choice but to practice traditional Chinese medicine within the safe zone in exchange for food.
Fortunately, she was still an ability user, so at least she wouldn’t starve.
Her family, however, had to struggle even harder.
Yet not a single one of them ever showed her any understanding.
Wang Hui had already been saving nearly all of her own food for them, but they were never satisfied.
Life in the safe zone was short on supplies, but at least they no longer had to worry about zombies appearing.
It was relatively safe.
Even so, the atmosphere inside the safe zone had become increasingly unstable lately.
At first, Xia Mo came to see Wen Lan every day.
But after realizing that Wen Lan always found an excuse to avoid her, she stopped coming over.
Instead, she began spending her time on other things.
Wen Lan had originally believed she could safely spend her entire pregnancy in the safe zone and give birth without incident.
Bang! Bang!
Someone pounded heavily on her door.
“You must be Wen Lan.”
“We’re from the safe zone. Hand over the mutated fleeceflower root.”
“Who told you about it?”
Aside from the people around her, no one else knew she possessed the mutated fleeceflower root.
“And besides, it’s mine. Why should I hand it over?”
“Since you’re part of the safe zone, we’re only borrowing it for research.”
“No.”
“I won’t lend it.”
The man standing before her was powerfully built. One glance was enough to tell he was an enhanced evolver.
He tried to force his way through the doorway.
Wen Lan had no intention of letting him.
She grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, locking him in place.
The man’s eyes widened in shock.
How was this possible?
He was a strength—type evolver.
His physical power far exceeded that of ordinary people.
How could this slender—looking woman restrain him so easily?
“Brother Liu, stop going easy on the pretty lady!”
One of his teammates laughed from behind, assuming Liu Tong was deliberately holding back because Wen Lan was beautiful.
Liu Tong’s expression darkened.
Going easy?
He couldn’t move at all!
His entire arm had already gone numb.
If he rolled up his sleeve now, it would probably already be covered in bruises.
Was this woman actually an evolver too?
No…
The woman who gave them the information had clearly said Wen Lan only possessed a useless perception ability.
Their orders were clear.
They had to take the mutated fleeceflower root.
No matter what.
If they failed…
Those people would probably come personally.
Wen Lan shoved him away.
Liu Tong staggered backward several steps.
“Brother Liu, seriously? You can’t even get through a doorway?”
His face turned ashen.
“Miss Wen.”
“We have to take it.”
“Don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.”
“Brother Liu, why waste your breath with a woman? Let’s just grab it and leave.”
Liu Tong’s expression became even uglier.
He had personally experienced how terrifying Wen Lan’s strength was.
“If you’re so capable…”
“You do it.”
He frowned.
Liu Tong might still hesitate to hurt a woman.
His teammate had no such reservations.
If they failed the mission, they wouldn’t receive any contribution points.
Without contribution points, there would be no food.
Without food…
Nothing else mattered.
“Don’t blame me for being rough.”
The man lunged forward.
This time, Wen Lan didn’t bother using her hands.
She simply raised one leg and drove a kick straight into his stomach.
Boom!
He was sent flying over three feet before crashing onto the ground.
The man curled up, clutching his abdomen in agony.
Liu Tong hurried over and helped him up.
Wen Lan hadn’t held back that kick.
The twisted expression on the man’s face said everything.
Just then, Wen Che rushed over in a hurry.
As expected…
They had come to steal Wen Lan’s mutated plant as well.
The moment Liu Tong and his companion saw Wen Che, the fight erupted immediately.
Even though both of them were evolvers, they were no match for Wen Che.
A sphere of water instantly enveloped each of their heads.
After nearly a minute without oxygen, both men lost consciousness and collapsed.
“What happened?”
Wen Lan immediately sensed that something was wrong with Wen Che.
“The safe zone has changed.”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone close to me leaked information about my mutated vine.”
“Could it have been Zhou Wen?”
“No.”
“It wasn’t Zhou Wen.”
“Something happened to him too.”
“What?”
“Brother, they’re after my mutated plant.”
“They won’t stop here.”
“And those two…”
“They didn’t seem like official personnel.”
Most of the official security forces were soldiers.
Although many had become zombies, a considerable number had survived.
Military personnel carried themselves differently.
Sharp eyes.
Straight posture.
The result of years of military training.
Those two men were evolvers, but they clearly weren’t soldiers.
“There’s no time to explain.”
“Wen Lan, come with me.”
Wen Che grabbed her hand.
Only then did Wen Lan notice the bloodstains across his back.
“What happened?”
“I’ll explain later.”
“We have to leave now.”
Watching them rush away, Wang Hui frowned.
But she didn’t step forward to help.
She still had a family to think about.
Her fists clenched tightly.
Wen Lan was someone worthy of being called a true friend.
If she missed this chance today…
She might lose that opportunity forever.
“What about Xia Mo?”
They hurried downstairs toward the room where Xia Mo and Zhang Meng had been staying.
“Xia Mo hasn’t been back for several days.”
“She found herself a man.”
Zhang Meng spoke with obvious envy.
Why was it that Wen Lan had her brother…
And Xia Mo had a man to rely on?
Neither of them had to risk their lives searching for supplies anymore.
Wen Lan frowned.
A sudden chill crawled down her spine.
“Run!”
Without waiting any longer, Wen Che pulled her outside.
At that very moment, Su Han rushed in to meet them.
His face was pale.
His arm was stained with blood.
“We have to leave immediately.”
“We got Zhou Wen out.”
Wen Lan had never seen such panic on Su Han’s face before.
Even while facing an entire zombie horde…
He had always remained calm.
The same went for Wen Che.
Without hesitation, the three of them followed Su Han and sprinted outside.
A military vehicle waited at the entrance.
Its body was riddled with bullet holes.
The windshield had long since shattered.
“Get in!”
Zhang Ye shouted from the driver’s seat.
Wen Lan and Wen Che climbed into the back.
Su Han took the passenger seat.
Behind them lay Zhou Wen, unconscious and covered in blood.
Even his glasses had been shattered.
Zhang Ye himself was also soaked in blood.
“They’re over there!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire erupted behind them.
Bullets slammed into the armored vehicle, leaving deep scratches across its surface.
Fortunately, it was military—grade.
Far sturdier than an ordinary vehicle.
“Damn it!”
“Don’t turn left!”
“There’s a roadblock!”
Using her perception ability, Wen Lan warned them immediately.
A grenade flew toward the vehicle.
Halfway through the air—
It abruptly stopped.
Under Su Han’s psychic control, it reversed direction and flew back toward the people who had thrown it.
Su Han frowned deeply.
Excessive use of psychic power caused severe headaches.
If pushed too far, it could even damage his eyesight.
In extreme cases…
He could fall unconscious.
At this point, escaping alive was already a miracle.
Wen Lan still had no idea what had actually happened.
Seeing pursuers gaining on them, Wen Che immediately raised a massive wall of water, blocking their line of sight.
“Hold on!”
Zhang Ye floored the accelerator.
The military vehicle smashed straight through the barricade.
Crash!
In the process, they accidentally sent one of the pursuing men flying.
But no one had time to worry about that now.
After driving for what felt like forever…
The pursuers finally disappeared.
“What happened?”
“They’ve been conducting human experiments.”
“Some mutated plants possess regenerative genes.”
“They discovered that wood—element ability users share genetic similarities with those mutated plants.”
“So…”
“Zhou Wen was used as a test subject?”
“Why would the authorities do something like that?”
Wen Che found it difficult to believe.
“The government…”
“…isn’t the same government anymore.”
“General Zhang is dead.”
“What?!”
“The safe zone is now controlled by private interests.”
“Zhou Cong.”
“Him?”
Zhou Cong.
The country’s wealthiest retail magnate.
He owned thousands of large chain shopping malls nationwide.
No wonder…
He must have enormous stockpiles of supplies.
With food in his hands…
And only a limited number of official troops remaining…
He had easily gathered countless followers under his control.
The moment Su Han returned to the safe zone, he realized something was wrong.
That was why he had secretly hidden part of the supplies he’d collected instead of turning everything over.
Later…
He had made a deal with Wen Lan and stored even more supplies inside her storage space.
“No wonder two civilians came today to steal my fleeceflower root.”
“Was it Zhou Wen who told them?”
“No.”
“It was Ji Feng.”
Ji Feng had a family.
Among all the members of the special squads, anyone with loved ones could easily be threatened.
If Wen Lan refused to surrender the fleeceflower root…
More people would continue coming for it.
They simply hadn’t expected Wen Lan to be so strong.
Even two grown men had failed to overpower her.
“They’ve caught up!”
The roar of motorcycle engines grew louder and louder.
The military vehicle bounced violently along the ruined highway.
The road was nearly impassable.
Destroyed cars littered the pavement.
No matter how skilled Zhang Ye was…
There was no way to drive through.
Bang! Bang!
A bullet blew out one of the tires.
The vehicle crashed into the roadside guardrail and finally ground to a halt.
“Wen Lan!”
“When the fighting starts…”
“Run!”
Wen Che shouted urgently.
“Su Han!”
“Stop running!”
“Hand over Zhou Wen!”
“And that woman!”
“Give us the fleeceflower root!”
“We’ll let all of you go.”
Eight people surrounded them.
Two of them were armed with guns.
Their weapons were aimed directly at the group.
The moment they refused…
The attackers would open fire.
Among them were both ability users and evolvers.
There was no way Su Han would hand Zhou Wen over.
Otherwise…
He never would have risked so much to rescue his brother.
“I’ll give you the fleeceflower root.”
“You let us go.”
Wen Lan opened the lid of the bottle containing the fleeceflower root and handed it to her brother.
Moments earlier, her perception ability had already told her the man was lying.
He had no intention of letting them leave alive.
“Smart girl.”
“No wonder Zhou Feng can’t stop thinking about you.”
“He specifically wants us to bring you back.”
Wen Lan gave Wen Che a subtle nod.
He immediately understood.
But hearing those words made Wen Lan’s brows knit tightly together.
Beside her, Zhang Ye frowned.
Blood continued pouring from one of his arms.
The earlier battle had been far too intense.
Su Han and Zhang Ye had killed many of their men.
How could they possibly let them walk away now?
Handing over the fleeceflower root only meant certain death.
Wen Che passed the bottle to the leader.
“We’ve got it.”
“So this mutated plant really can heal people?”
Wen Lan frowned.
Her fleeceflower root had such an ability?
“Take Zhou Wen back.”
Several men stepped forward to seize him.
“No!”
“If anyone lays a hand on my brother…”
“You’ll have to step over my dead body first!”
Zhang Ye raised a fireball with one hand.
But his energy was nearly exhausted.
The flames flickered weakly, threatening to go out at any moment.
“Heh…”