“It is indeed my pillbox. I always check it before a mission to make sure it’s full.”

Ji Yushi spoke naturally, as if carrying a pillbox with him wasn’t something worth making a fuss about.

“Two pills are missing—one I took at the park management office, and the other after we arrived at the bookstore, during the time when you were about to hit me—”

“Wait, I was about to hit you?”

Song Qinglan found this hard to believe.

Ji Yushi paused, slightly adjusting his wording: “—Well, the time when you misunderstood me. The empty slots for the pills are exactly the same, so this is definitely my pillbox. Where did you find it?”

Song Qinglan let it slide and explained the situation: “So how did two pillboxes appear?”

Both of them thought about the small car that had been crushed by their space vehicle earlier.

What if the person in that car wasn’t a survivor?

“Captain Song, I have a question for you.” Ji Yushi, surprisingly calm, closed the book Golden Crow No. 1: Perpetual Propagation. “The second time, outside the convenience store, you and Tang Le came in last to save Tang Qi. Was the place where Tang Qi was bitten the same as the first time?”

Ji Yushi hadn’t seen Tang Qi’s injury during the second incident.

Song Qinglan, puzzled, answered, “Yes, it was the same spot on his right-hand fingers.”

Ji Yushi asked, “Was there any other injury?”

Song Qinglan: “No.”

Ji Yushi continued, “Then I can understand why we saw the zombified ‘Tang Qi’ in this bookstore, which is over 20 kilometers away from the convenience store.”

Song Qinglan waited for him to elaborate.

Whenever Ji Yushi talked about memories, he seemed like a different person.

He wasn’t the same unmotivated student who played games during professional classes or the one who boasted about wanting to win missions easily. When recalling and analyzing, Ji Yushi exhibited a strange, fragile resilience.

“That wasn’t Tang Qi,” Ji Yushi stated. “Although I didn’t see if the ‘Tang Qi’ outside the bookstore had an injury on his fingers, I did notice a wound on his neck. You remember that, right? Even if Tang Qi could have reached this bookstore so quickly, the location of the injuries wouldn’t match. The only one whose injuries match is—Tang Le, who was bitten on the neck before we were swallowed by the Black Wall.”

In fact, Ji Yushi had recognized him at the time but, given the situation, was too confused to voice his opinion.

Song Qinglan was stunned: “Tang Le?!”

But the real, living Tang Le was inside the bookstore at the time, so even Tang Le himself thought the person outside was Tang Qi. Ignoring that for a moment, even if there were two Tang Les, just like there were two pillboxes in the same timeline, it still didn’t make sense.

Song Qinglan voiced his doubt: “But Tang Le was bitten and immediately swallowed by the Black Wall. By that logic, his body shouldn’t have been there.”

For instance, the shortened broom that disappeared—once it was gone, it was gone.

Ji Yushi nodded. “Similarly, the bookstore was also swallowed by the Black Wall, so this pillbox from the last time shouldn’t exist either.”

Song Qinglan fell into deep thought, unconsciously furrowing his brows into a slight knot that made one want to smooth it out.

“Captain Song!!”

Zhou Mingxuan’s voice suddenly came from the second floor.

The moment Song Qinglan heard this shout, his temples throbbed.

Ever since they arrived in PU-31 and were forced to accept this mission, whenever Zhou Mingxuan shouted like that, it meant only one thing: the Black Wall was approaching.

Song Qinglan couldn’t deny that after returning, he might develop a conditioned response to Zhou Mingxuan’s voice.

Zhou Mingxuan moved his face away from the sniper scope and noticed the two people downstairs looking up at him, their expressions close. His small eyes hinted at a mischievous smile, as if he was imagining something.

Fortunately, he quickly got serious before the captain could reprimand him: “There are civilians outside the bookstore asking for help.”

Everyone downstairs was surprised. Civilians, at a time like this?

Song Qinglan also found it strange.

But they had arrived at the bookstore much earlier than last time, so perhaps this was supposed to happen at this time. He quickly climbed the stairs and took the binoculars to take a look.

Zhou Mingxuan asked, “Should we let them in?”

Through the binoculars, Song Qinglan saw two civilians about 20 or 30 meters from the bookstore at the corner of the street. They were wrapped up tightly, dressed like Arabs, standing on top of an electric car and waving to them, surrounded by a circle of zombies.

“Let them in,” Song Qinglan decided. “Assist them, and be quick.”

“Yes.”

Guardians were never cold-blooded, and the captain’s response was as Zhou Mingxuan had expected. He took aim at the zombies and began sniping from a distance.

With precise and rapid shots, the first gunfire broke the quiet of the street, quickly eliminating the circle of zombies around the electric car.

The two civilians, clearly very excited, quickly slid down from the car roof and sprinted toward the bookstore.

Zhou Mingxuan skillfully picked off the zombies that chased them, taking them down with headshots one by one.

The civilians had already honed their survival instincts; they didn’t look back even once after hearing the gunshots, instead sprinting headlong toward the bookstore.

Tang Qi and Tang Le went up to assist, and the two civilians quickly rushed inside.

“Bang!”

Li Chun slammed the bookstore door shut.

The team members quickly drew their guns, unsure who the newcomers were, but soon saw that the person on the left had removed their hooded robe. He was a man with a square face, dark skin, and a rather honest look.

The other person also removed her hood, revealing a woman in her thirties. Under her robe, she had been hiding a child of about three or four years old, who clung to her neck. The little girl, very clean, looked around at everyone with wide, innocent eyes.

It turned out to be a family of three.

Everyone holstered their weapons.

The two survivors immediately relaxed, then gasped for breath, saying, “Thank you!! Thank you for saving us!”

After giving them a moment to catch their breath, Song Qinglan asked bluntly, “How did you know there were people in the bookstore?”

The dark-skinned man replied honestly, “We were hiding in a small shop down the street and saw the space vehicle driving this way. We were almost out of food, and we figured staying put would mean starving to death, but going out might get us bitten. So we thought we might as well take a chance. If we were lucky, maybe we could find a safer place to stay.”

All three of them were dressed in black robes, which didn’t seem to be made from a single piece of fabric but were instead patched together from various dark-colored clothes.

Sensing the group’s scrutiny, the woman licked her chapped lips and asked, “Could we have some water? There was no water over there, and the child has been thirsty for days.”

“I’ll get it,” Ji Yushi, who had been standing quietly to the side, offered.

Strangely, when there were more people around, he seemed to fade into the background, so much so that the survivors hadn’t even noticed his presence until he spoke.

But as soon as he did, he immediately drew their attention.

Among the group of tall, strong young men, Ji Yushi appeared more delicate and somewhat scholarly.

Li Chun asked curiously, “Why are you dressed like that? Isn’t it too hot? Don’t you feel suffocated?”

The dark-skinned man’s expression turned a bit odd. “We’re used to it. It makes it harder for the zombies to bite.”

Li Chun pressed on, “How long have the zombies been around? How many survivors are left in the city? Has anyone come to rescue you?”

Li Chun’s rapid-fire questions reflected what everyone else was thinking.

The dark-skinned man replied, “It’s been almost a month. I don’t know about other survivors—we’ve been hiding all this time and haven’t been able to contact anyone outside. We don’t know if anyone is coming to rescue us… Are you the police, with such good equipment?”

As he spoke, Ji Yushi returned with water.

There was only one bottle of water left in the bookstore, plus half a bottle that Song Qinglan had found and given to Ji Yushi earlier.

The woman took the bottle and gave it to the little girl, while Ji Yushi handed the remaining water to the dark-skinned man.

But just as he did, he felt a sudden force as the man’s expression changed, and he yanked Ji Yushi toward him.

Immediately, everyone raised their guns, but the dark-skinned man already had a miniature gun pressed to the back of Ji Yushi’s defenseless head. “Hand over the keys to the space vehicle!! Or I’ll kill him!!”

“Damn it!”

“Let him go!!”

Song Qinglan raised his Shenmian weapon. “Do you really think you stand a chance?”

The woman had already taken the little girl and hidden behind the man.

It was three against a group—where did the man get the nerve?

The man sneered. “It doesn’t matter. I only just met this woman, and the kid isn’t even mine. You can try it, but I’ll take him down with me. There’s nothing worth living for in this world anyway.”

“Consultant Ji!”

Ji Yushi, held at gunpoint, remained silent, but his hand had quietly moved toward the Diamond Bird weapon.

Song Qinglan’s expression was tense. He wanted to warn Ji Yushi not to make any sudden moves, fearing it might worsen the situation, but he held back, concerned it would make things worse.

The gun at the back of Ji Yushi’s head pressed harder as the dark-skinned man gruffly threatened, “Hurry up, hand over the keys to the space vehicle, or I’ll take him down with me!!”

With a row of guns aimed at him, the woman trembled in fear.

The little girl, still oblivious to what was happening, slid down from the woman’s arms and stood in the middle of the room, looking confused. She didn’t understand what was going on and took out a doll to play with.

The doll was dressed in a red dress, with curly hair, and was very pretty.

Ji Yushi let go of the Diamond Bird and suddenly said, “Captain, give them the keys.”

The dark-skinned man demanded, “Did you hear that?!”

Song Qinglan didn’t show any intention of negotiating with the enemy. From his expression, everyone could tell he was calculating various ways to launch a surprise attack or fire a shot.

But Ji Yushi spoke again, “Do you remember the movie Dawn of the Dead?”

Ji Yushi, with his neck held in a choke, had to tilt his head back. His fair skin was flawless, and his expression remained natural. If one looked closely, there was no sign of tension in his eyes.

Perhaps he wasn’t facing death for the first time and had simply grown accustomed to it.

The teammates were shocked—why was Consultant Ji talking about a movie at a time like this?

Ji Yushi’s voice was calm: “Trust me.”

Song Qinglan slowly lowered his gun and then said to Duan Wen, “Give him the keys.”

“Captain?!”

Tang Le shouted in disbelief.

But Duan Wen followed the order and handed over the keys to the space vehicle.

The dark-skinned man grabbed the keys, but he didn’t lower his gun, keeping it pointed at Ji Yushi’s head. He whispered in Ji Yushi’s ear, “Smart move, but I’ll need you to come along with us. Your group is dangerous. Once the vehicle is ten kilometers away and I’m sure no one’s following, I’ll drop you off somewhere safe.”

As he spoke, he started backing toward the door, dragging Ji Yushi with him. He was cautious: “Open the door and make sure we get to the vehicle safely, or I’ll blow his brains out!”

The zombies outside had been thinned out earlier, so there were only a few left. However, when they heard the door opening, they quickly rushed over.

“Ughhh—”

The zombies were taken down one by one.

The woman followed closely behind the dark-skinned man, holding the child. She turned back and quietly said, “I’m sorry,” to the group. She was clearly acting against her will, but she hadn’t spoken out or warned them, highlighting the tragic loss of humanity in this post-apocalyptic world.

The dark-skinned man kept the gun pressed to Ji Yushi’s head without letting up for even a second.

As they reached the space vehicle and opened the door, seeing that most of the zombies had been dealt with, the dark-skinned man whistled.

Out of nowhere, five or six more people, all covered in patched robes and heavily armed, emerged. They were all armed, confirming that as soon as the dark-skinned man entered the bookstore, these people had slowly surrounded the area. Their goal had always been to steal the vehicle, and the woman and child were just bait to lower the group’s guard.

As the two sides faced off, Song Qinglan suddenly said, “Wait.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to him.

The dark-skinned man cursed, “You trying to back out?!”

Ji Yushi saw that Song Qinglan’s gaze was deep, his emotions difficult to read.

Then, unexpectedly, Song Qinglan smiled. “Not backing out. I just don’t feel comfortable with him being thrown out on the road alone. How about you take another one of us with you and drop us both off together? If you agree, I’ll give you this gun.”

The Shenmian gun was entirely black, cold to the touch, and clearly high-quality.

Could there really be such a good deal?

The dark-skinned man hesitated.

“Take him too,” Ji Yushi said. “He’s my boyfriend.”

Song Qinglan: “…”

Everyone else: “…”

Ji Yushi lowered his eyelashes, saying helplessly, “Can’t you tell he’s gay?”

“That’s pretty obvious!” the dark-skinned man spat on the ground, then ordered his companions to take the gun and motioned toward Song Qinglan. “Tie this gay guy up!”