While Liu Yun was worried that her mission target had left, Gu Lingjian was observing her from inside an abandoned jewelry store not far from there.
Frowning slightly, he couldn’t help but think, ’This young lady is very strange. She doesn’t seem afraid to be out here alone without any protection. Doesn’t she know that zombies are attracted to noise?’
While he was deep in thought, a soldier walked up to him. Handing him a small pack of compressed biscuits, he said, "Captain, please eat something."
The soldier’s voice interrupted Gu Lingjian’s thoughts. Looking away from Liu Yun, he turned to the soldier and said, "Thank you. How is Xiao Mu’s condition?"
Chen Chuan lowered his head after Gu Lingjian asked the question to hide his sadness. After a moment of silence, he shook his head in response.
Gu Lingjian had already expected Chen Chuan’s answer, but he couldn’t help holding on to the hope that Mu Nan could still be saved.
Hearing nothing from Gu Lingjian, Chen Chuan raised his head and looked out through the broken window. Noticing that the strange young lady in the distance was grabbing her hair and seemed to be wailing in panic, he frowned.
After a brief moment of thought, he turned to Gu Lingjian and asked, "Captain, should I go out and check on that young lady? She seems to need some help."
Hearing this, Gu Lingjian raised his eyes and looked at Liu Yun. After a moment of thought, he put away the compressed biscuits and said, "She saved us today. No matter what, we need to thank her properly."
Nodding in agreement, Chen Chuan turned to the other soldiers and said, "Captain and I will go out for a while. You guys stay here and wait for us."
"Yes, Vice-Captain."
After informing the others, Gu Lingjian and Chen Chuan left the abandoned jewelry store. Out of habit, before leaving the store, they took out their weapons, preparing for a sudden zombie attack.
With their weapons ready in hand, Gu Lingjian and Chen Chuan exchanged nods before carefully walking toward Liu Yun.
While the two of them were approaching, the System’s notification suddenly rang out in Liu Yun’s mind.
Ding!
A second later, a transparent blue screen appeared in front of her.
[Detecting two humans approaching.]
[Status: Neutral.]
When Liu Yun read the notification, she raised her head and scanned her surroundings. A moment later, she saw two tall men in dirty military uniforms, holding guns as they approached her from a distance.
’Oh, aren’t they from that small group? Since they are here, then my mission target should be nearby. Looks like I can continue doing this side mission for now.’
Recognizing them, Liu Yun smiled slightly.
Seeing her smile politely at them, Gu Lingjian paused in his tracks for a second.
Walking beside him, Chen Chuan also became cautious the moment he saw Liu Yun’s smile.
After the apocalypse that turned the world into a living hell, the ugliest side of humanity had been brought to light.
For a piece of moldy bread, parents would sell their children without hesitation. Friends and lovers would betray and kill each other just to survive for another day.
Gu Lingjian and Chen Chuan had been fighting on the front lines since the arrival of the apocalypse. They had faced countless betrayals and witnessed humanity crumble firsthand.
It would be foolish for them to lower their guard just because of a smile.
Unaware of what they were thinking, Liu Yun nervously clenched the hem of her skirt as she conversed with the System in her mind.
’System, why are they looking at me like that? Does my smile look ugly?’
After she asked, the System remained silent for a long moment.
Not receiving any response from the System, Liu Yun asked again, ’System, should I stop smiling or keep smiling? I feel like the two of them look even more cautious now than before I smiled.’
After she asked for the nth time, the System finally responded.
[Player, this is an Apocalypse World. It’s normal for them to be cautious. You are not ugly, just dirty.]
Listening to the System’s cold mechanical voice, Liu Yun had the strange feeling that the System was looking down on her.
After a brief moment of thought, she decided to stop smiling.
When she put away her smile, Gu Lingjian and Chen Chuan also stopped in their tracks. Standing two meters away from her, Gu Lingjian observed Liu Yun cautiously.
A few moments later, he lowered his weapon and politely said, "Thank you for saving my team just now, Young Lady."
Hearing this, Liu Yun realized that they had approached her just to thank her. However, the one who had saved them was the System’s Beginner Protection Shield, not her.
Scratching her cheek, she felt embarrassed to accept his thanks and replied, "I didn’t do anything. It was just a coincidence."
Guessing that she didn’t want to reveal how she had exterminated thousands of zombies in just a few seconds, Gu Lingjian tactfully changed the topic.
"Young Lady, I see that you seem to be searching for something. If you don’t mind, you can tell us the details. We might be able to help you find what you are looking for to repay your life-saving grace."
When Liu Yun heard this, her eyes lit up.
’Isn’t this like being handed a pillow just when I’m sleepy?’
As she thought, Gu Lingjian and Chen Chuan noticed her excitement. They exchanged glances and immediately raised their guard against Liu Yun.
Not knowing that the two men regarded her as a powerful and mysterious ability user, Liu Yun carefully explained, "An hour ago, I accidentally saw one of your friends’ wounds turn black. I wonder if you could let me check on him. I might have a way to save him."
The moment her words fell, Gu Lingjian and Chen Chuan’s eyes turned cold. Without warning, they raised their weapons and pointed them at Liu Yun.
Faced with two guns aimed at her head, Liu Yun’s first reaction was to raise her hands, close her eyes, and shout in horror, "Ah! Please don’t shoot me!"