According to protocol, anyone encountered while searching for supplies who was confirmed to be uninfected had to be brought back to the base. Zhao Yan looked at the girl who couldn’t even chew a compressed biscuit.
“Do you want to come back to the base with us?”
With his years of experience killing zombies, he could tell at a glance that she wasn’t infected. But he couldn’t understand why she was here. She looked like someone who had been well protected—there were no people in the apocalypse with skin so fair it seemed to glow. So where were the ones who had protected her? She also looked like she had been starving for a long time…
The rusty lock on the door, the beautiful girl, and the fact that they had already searched the surrounding ten miles without finding a single living person—all of it made her presence here strange. Zhao Yan decided he needed to question her first.
【Le… Le Huan, there’s goodwill points! Wow, so many goodwill points… hahaha!】
Seeing 1066 dancing excitedly, Le Huan shot it a sideways glance. “Tch, how embarrassing.”
The goodwill points must have come from the man in front of her. As for what kind of goodwill it was, she didn’t care—having it was enough. Thinking this, she relaxed. Since that was the case, he definitely wouldn’t eat her.
The two of them stared at each other, neither speaking. Finally, Zhao Yan opened his mouth, about to say something—
Footsteps sounded from the stairs, followed by a group of people pushing the door open.
“Team Leader, are you alright?”
“Don’t make a fuss. With how strong Team Leader is, what could possibly happen?”
“Have we finished searching for supplies? I want to go back to the base already.”
“Team Leader, there are a lot of supplies in this building, but most of the food is expired…”
The group abruptly fell silent the moment they saw the scene in the room. One by one, they stared at their Team Leader… and the fairy-like girl beside him.
“Th-this… who is she?” Wu You was the first to speak. He had brown curly hair and wheat-colored skin, resembling a large poodle.
“My name is Yu Lehuan. Can I go back to the base with you…” Le Huan looked at them with slightly reddened eyes, her gaze finally settling on Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan snapped back to his senses under her gaze. So she wasn’t foolish after all. He was just about to say “yes”—
When another voice interrupted him.
“How did you end up here? Where are your companions?”
The one speaking was Wang Ni, the second-in-command of their team. He was cautious. Even though he had been momentarily stunned by Le Huan’s beauty, he quickly voiced the doubts in his mind.
Le Huan paused at the question, about to answer—
【Le Huan! You can’t mention me! Otherwise they’ll treat you like a monster and capture you for research!】1066 panicked again.
Le Huan rolled her eyes. “Little Six, do you think Young lady is stupid?”
Her eyes grew even redder, a layer of tears forming. “How would I know what’s going on… I got separated from my family… I didn’t dare go anywhere. I was scared…” As she spoke, tears fell one after another, large droplets landing on the bedsheet and leaving damp marks.
Wu You panicked immediately. He couldn’t stand seeing women cry—especially someone as stunning as Le Huan.
“Hey, don’t cry, little beauty… we didn’t mean anything by it. Wang Ni, watch your tone! She’s not your prisoner!”
Wang Ni felt a bit at a loss seeing her frightened to tears. “……I didn’t even say much.”
The others scrambled around looking for tissues to wipe her face, but none of these rough men carried tissues with them. They all stood awkwardly by the door, looking helpless.
Zhao Yan curled his fingers slightly, then reached out to wipe her tears. Just a light touch made her skin turn red.
Le Huan felt she had acted enough and stopped crying. Back at home, she had caused endless trouble, to the point where her parents sometimes wanted to discipline her severely—but the moment she cried, everything would stop. Out of sight, out of mind, they would just let her go out to relax. This trick had always worked flawlessly for her.
Le Huan was good at reading people. She could tell that these men were soft-hearted. From the moment they entered, 1066 had already notified her that she was gaining goodwill points. Although the amount wasn’t much, it was enough for her to work with.
Seeing that she had stopped crying, the group let out a sigh of relief. Although her appearance was strange and didn’t quite make sense, she was still a living person. They couldn’t just abandon a young girl like her.
They had come out this time to search for supplies and survivors anyway. This small building had plenty of supplies and hadn’t been searched by other bases.
“We’ll stay here for the night and leave for the base tomorrow morning.” After saying that, Zhao Yan stood up and walked out. Before leaving, he glanced down at Le Huan. She lowered her gaze, lost in thought. Her lashes, still clumped together from crying, made her look pitiful.
“Stay here and don’t run around,” Zhao Yan said before leaving. He sounded harsh, his tone cold.
Wu You scratched his head as he looked at her obedient, lowered gaze. “Our Team Leader just talks like that—don’t take it to heart. He’s even harsher with us. We’re going to clear out the zombies now…” He was afraid she might start crying again.
Le Huan kept her head down and said nothing, but in her mind, she was already complaining to 1066 about Zhao Yan.
“His hands were so dirty. Who knows what he touched before touching me—so disgusting. What if he touched zombies? 66, disinfect me.”
【……】