At night, Li Yao took a patrol boat out of her space and handed raincoats to Yan Yuansi and Ning Xinyue—one each.
After hearing Li Yao’s plan, they decided to go with her.
The water level had already risen to the fifth floor. Each of them carried weapons and wore hiking backpacks. Returning empty-handed was not their style.
Some people noticed their movements. Seeing others able to leave, someone shouted,
“Hey, can you take me with you? I’ll pay you!”
Hearing the chance to get out, many gathered to watch. Even the night and heavy rain couldn’t hide Li Yao and the others from being noticed.
“From building 43, please take me with you!”
Yan Yuansi looked at Li Yao worriedly.
“That person just called out our unit. We’re exposed.”
Li Yao operated the patrol boat calmly.
“What’s there to be afraid of?”
Ning Xinyue nodded in agreement.
Yan Yuansi looked at Ning Xinyue, sensing something was off. Before, she wasn’t happy with Li Yao’s decisions. Ning Xinyue had been stubborn about it, and now, after a week, she barely spoke.
Yan Yuansi had no idea what they talked about that day. Ning Xinyue believed Li Yao’s insecurity came from her origin and that she had already mustered great courage. Yan Yuansi, for better or worse, was a bit simple-minded and not really part of the discussion.
Li Yao’s current target was the office building. With water flooding up to the fifth floor, it had to be more than ten meters deep.
The situation outside was far worse than inside their residential area. Yan Yuansi and Ning Xinyue were speechless when they saw it. No amount of pictures could compare to witnessing it firsthand.
Li Yao’s place was near the city center. Half an hour later, she broke a window and led Yan Yuansi and Ning Xinyue inside.
She said,
“We’ll search floor by floor—try to find food, drinks, weapons, and medicine.”
Seeing Yan Yuansi, Li Yao sighed.
“Try to find some cat food.”
She felt helpless—Yan Yuansi wasn’t much use at the moment. Still, she reminded him again,
“If anything feels off, don’t hesitate. Run straight to me or Sister Ning.”
Yan Yuansi nodded. He sensed that if he didn’t listen to Li Yao, things would only get worse for him.
They searched floor by floor. Li Yao stuffed small snacks into her bag—any food was meat in these times.
The boss’s office was stocked with all sorts of things, mostly tea leaves.
In the late apocalypse, tea was worth more than gold. Company bosses liked to collect tea to entertain clients.
Li Yao put everything into her space. As for the safe, she simply pocketed it into her space to sort out later at home.
They gathered supplies floor by floor. Yan Yuansi and Ning Xinyue handed everything to Li Yao because only her space could store so many items. She promised to share with them later.
They were all workers, so desks were filled with snacks and coffee. Every boss’s office had a safe.
Reaching the top floor, they went to the biggest office. It was clean and solemn. The three of them found nothing there.
Li Yao thought about it. Big bosses’ offices usually hid secrets. She searched for a while and found a secret room.
Overall, it was grim. The secret room had several oil paintings of women, and the rest of the walls were covered with candid photos of women’s daily lives—taken secretly from odd angles.
Yan Yuansi and Ning Xinyue looked on with great interest at the photos, while Li Yao rummaged through boxes inside the secret room.
When she opened one box, Li Yao showed the first smile of the day.
Inside were several exquisitely designed handguns. Excited, she picked one up. It felt great—no worse than the ones she bought abroad.
【Li Yao’s smile will surely captivate someone.】
【Alright, alright. This woman barely shows expression—she just smiles at weapons.】
【Big boss Li Yao, show us your skills!】
Li Yao stowed the guns safely. She then found many bullets. Looking at the boxes of ammo, she wondered what the big boss was up to. This place was basically a small arsenal.
There was also a huge safe, which Li Yao pocketed into her space without hesitation.
“It’s about time. We have to get back before dawn.” Li Yao didn’t want neighbors to notice their bulging backpacks.
Yan Yuansi, who had been training hard on the treadmill and stairs under Ning Xinyue’s watch, had greatly improved physically. They descended quickly.
Li Yao pulled out the patrol boat again. Between four months of heavy rain and two months of thunder storms, there would be a few rainless days when she could use diving gear to get fuel at the gas station.
On the way back, people occasionally called out for help.
Yan Yuansi looked at them sympathetically and gave some food when he could.
“Thank you, thank you! Can you spare a little more? I have a mother at home.” A man gratefully looked at Yan Yuansi.
Yan Yuansi was clean and fresh-looking. The woman behind him was stunning too. If someone killed Yan Yuansi, they’d get his supplies—and those two women would be theirs too.
Ning Xinyue noticed the ruthless gleam in the man’s eyes and wanted to help the woman, but after seeing Li Yao standing still and unmoving, she held back.
“I can only give you this.” Yan Yuansi handed over a few small bread rolls.
“Thank you, you’re a good person.” Suddenly, the man pulled out a knife.
“Leave your supplies and women here.”
Yan Yuansi quickly dodged and punched the man, sending him falling into the water. The man sneered venomously,
“None of you are leaving.”
Li Yao took out a nail gun from the patrol boat and easily shot the man’s knife-wielding hand.
“Ah!” the man screamed in agony.
Li Yao calmly put the nail gun away. She hadn’t forgotten they were live streaming—and the contract stated they couldn’t kill Earth natives.
For now, she let these people live. When the situation got worse, even small wounds could be fatal. For now, she had to endure.
If she encountered truly malicious people later, she would kill them secretly.
Life in the apocalypse and the research institute had already hardened her heart.
No one noticed her resolve.
On the way back, Yan Yuansi looked like an abandoned puppy.
Ning Xinyue sat beside Li Yao.
“Last time and this time, you didn’t seem to want to save Yan Yuansi. Aren’t you afraid of owing five hundred billion?”
“There’s a saying: in the apocalypse, the saint gets killed first. If there weren’t rules from the show, and if he wasn’t my teammate, he would’ve died last time. He still doesn’t understand that her softness will not only kill herself but us as well.”
She focused on the way home. Now, water routes and land routes were different, and one false step could mean disaster.
“If Yan Yuansi had really died just now, it would’ve been his own carelessness. We never expected that man to have a knife. How could the show blame me?”
If they attributed everything to an accident, Yan Yuansi’s death wouldn’t count against them.
Ning Xinyue was completely convinced. The fragile Yan Yuansi clung to the equally weak and pitiful Ning Xinyue, sobbing softly.
He was really suffering and wanted to go home—letting the merciless wind and rain lash his face.