"Si Nan!" Yan Hao knocked on the window and asked in a clear voice, "Are you free? Want to go for a walk?"

In the center of the spacious rear factory building, Si Nan had found an eggbeater somewhere and was rapidly stirring a basin of black, ointment-like substance. The surrounding air was thick with the smell of kerosene. Hearing the voice, he stopped and waved Yan Hao in.

This was the first time an outsider had been allowed into his workshop. Yan Hao couldn't help but feel flattered. "Are you making..."

Si Nan handed him the eggbeater and the iron basin, giving a short command: "Beat it hard."

Yan Hao was completely confused but had no choice but to hold the basin and stir vigorously for a long time. Both his arms became so sore he couldn't lift them. Only then did Si Nan say with satisfaction, "That's enough. You can go now. Don't go around talking about this."

"What is this?"

"Gunpowder."

Yan Hao: "..."

Yan Hao had originally wanted to ask Si Nan out to discuss whether he wanted to go to the B Military Region with the special forces squad. But Si Nan was clearly unconcerned about his own whereabouts, so Yan Hao had to leave and discuss it with Zhou Rong himself.

Under the vast, late-autumn blue sky, Si Nan spread the mixed gunpowder in a cool, shady spot in the factory, waiting for the kerosene to air-dry. Suddenly, he heard light, hurried footsteps and poked his head out the back window to look.

Behind the factory was a secluded path. A ten-minute walk to the east led to the anhydrous ammonia storage and treatment workshop, while the west side led to the back of the cafeteria kitchen. A young girl in an apron was scurrying around the corner of the path, her face pale and frightened. When she suddenly saw Si Nan, her steps halted.

"?" Si Nan stared at her, recognizing Wu Xinyan.

Wu Xinyan rushed over in a few quick strides, reaching out to grab the window.

Perhaps Si Nan's words on the day they arrived at the Fertilizer Plant, "It's been six months, you can't get rid of it," had left a deep impression on Wu Xinyan. The girl had never liked him much and often took detours to avoid him. Si Nan didn't know what was happening, but seeing that she didn't look like she'd been bitten by a zombie and was about to eat someone, he opened the window from the inside, took her hand, and pulled her in.

Wu Xinyan closed the window with a backhand, crouched on the ground, and pulled Si Nan down to crouch with her.

"Shh..." she said softly.

Si Nan frowned. He heard footsteps on the path outside the window again, much heavier this time. A man's rough voice called out, "Hey! She was just here, where'd she go?"

Another man's voice, this one with an accent, said, "What is this place?" Then, the footsteps approached, and he peered in through the back window of the factory. Not seeing Si Nan and Wu Xinyan hiding in the shadow of the windowsill, he casually said, "No one's here."

"Damn it, that chick is fast."

"Save yourself the trouble. Boss Feng said not to touch these people, have you forgotten?"

It was two of Feng Wentai's bodyguards. A shadow passed over Si Nan's eyes.

The two men rustled around for a moment, probably lighting cigarettes. The one who had spoken first grumbled, "I'm trying to court her, what's wrong with that? This isn't allowed, that isn't allowed. Boss Feng is being so cautious about those soldiers."

The one with the accent grunted.

"Tell me," that man lowered his voice suspiciously, "are those guys really special forces?"

"Why, you think they're not?"

"A few Betas acting so cocky, it doesn't look right. In this day and age, don't you have to be an Alpha to get into the special forces? I suspect they're underlings of the Guo Family, taking advantage of the chaotic times to bluff and swindle people, and they've even fooled Boss Feng..."

"Fooled or not, as long as they have a way to get us into the shelter, that's all that matters."

The two of them complained casually for a bit. Si Nan, completely hidden in the small space beneath the windowsill, narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Oh, right," the one with the rough voice suddenly remembered something. "The other day, Boss Feng made Lu Hui kneel and apologize, but Lu Hui got kicked in public by that sissy-looking kid. He's been itching to cause trouble for him these past two days."

"That happened?"

"Yeah. If you ask me, it's a disgrace. Can't even handle a weakling kid like that. One of these days, when no one's around, we should drag that kid over and teach him a lesson... So fair-skinned and delicate, he looks like an Omega to me. Probably using drugs to pretend..."

"What, you wanna go through the back door?"

The two of them laughed lewdly, cursed a few more times, and their footsteps finally faded away.

Wu Xinyan's face was pale and she glanced trembling at her side. She saw Si Nan's brows furrowed tightly, his pupils narrowed, and the corners of his eyes lifted into a sharp, fierce expression.

"We..."

Before she could finish, Si Nan raised his index finger in a gesture to stop, then pulled her up and out of the factory door like a whirlwind.

"These are the car keys. If anything goes wrong, evacuate everyone. The spare supplies have already been placed in the minibus. Please take good care of the pregnant woman. We'll be back from the military region in a week at most..."

Zhou Rong was carefully explaining things to Doctor Zheng when Si Nan suddenly pushed the door open, pulling a panting Wu Xinyan who had been jogging to keep up. He came up, said nothing, and directly pulled the still-warm Type 64 Pistol from Zhou Rong's waistband.

"Hey!" Zhou Rong was furious. "What are you doing? Come back!"

Si Nan did indeed turn back, reached into Zhou Rong's pocket, pulled out a large ring of warehouse keys, and started to walk out again.

Fortunately, Zhou Rong grabbed his wrist in time. "What's going on? Where are you going? Are you on a looting spree?"

Si Nan said coldly, "Stay out of it. It's none of your business."

He shook off Zhou Rong's grip, pulled Wu Xinyan, and turned to leave, heading straight for the garage.

Zhou Rong took two steps out the door, about to yell at him, but looking at Wu Xinyan's stumbling back, he seemed to realize something and abruptly fell silent.

"...Tch, this kid," Zhou Rong muttered. "Quite popular with the ladies."

He stood there for a moment, a lump seemingly stuck in his throat that he could neither swallow nor spit out. After a while, he pinched the bridge of his nose hard, using the sharp pain to cover something up, and turned back with a smile. "Sorry to make a fool of myself."

Doctor Zheng looked as if he wanted to say something but held back, nodding with understanding.

"Get in the car," Si Nan said.

Wu Xinyan scrambled on all fours to climb into the high driver's cabin of the armored hazmat vehicle, asking fearfully, "Where are we going?"

Si Nan slammed the door shut, started the engine, and said, "Nowhere."

The hazmat vehicle drove out of the garage, made a U-turn in the open space, went around the factory cafeteria, and headed towards the rarely visited anhydrous ammonia treatment workshop. It bounced along the gravel road for several minutes, making Wu Xinyan feel almost carsick, before screeching to a halt in front of a dilapidated brick building.

"I was clearing out zombies last week and found this place." Si Nan jumped out of the vehicle and asked, "How long has he been harassing you?"

No matter how brave she was, Wu Xinyan was still trembling a little. "Since... since those people got here, just a few days after..."

This was a garage for waste transport trucks. The air reeked of ammonia, and the green iron door was rusted, looking like it had been abandoned for a long time. Si Nan stepped on a dumpster, climbed through a dusty, cobweb-covered back window, then opened the front door and gestured for Wu Xinyan to come in.

"The garage door is battery-controlled; the switch is here. It's not very clean inside. We'll clean it up a bit later. It's fine for living in."

Wu Xinyan hugged her arms, looking around with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

The garage walls had large patches of water damage and mold. The corners were piled with junk, and a thick layer of dust covered the floor. Si Nan moved two boxes of mineral water, instant noodles, blankets, and other items from the hazmat vehicle, then pulled out the Type 64 and pressed it into Wu Xinyan's hands. "After we leave, if anything happens, bring your pregnant friend and hide here."

Wu Xinyan's breath hitched, feeling as if she were holding a hot coal. "I-I-I... I don't... I don't dare to shoot..."

Si Nan moved behind her, patted her arm, and guided her hands to raise the gun. He aimed it at the sky and—BANG!

The recoil sent Wu Xinyan stumbling back. The shell casing clattered to the ground. Si Nan encouraged her, "Now you dare."

Wu Xinyan's mind was blank, a complete mess. After a long moment, her lips trembling, she nodded forcefully.

·

"Don't tell anyone about this place, not even your pregnant friend." On the way back, Si Nan drove, his eyes on the bumpy gravel road ahead. "Avoid those people for the next few days. Don't get into any direct conflicts. I'll prepare some more supplies for you before I leave."

Wu Xinyan turned her head. Si Nan's long, curly eyelashes were lowered, his gaze always silent and focused, which sometimes gave the false impression that he was emotionless.

"You..." Wu Xinyan began, her voice a thin thread. "Aren't you... afraid of them?"

"No."

Wu Xinyan tried a more direct question, but her voice was even quieter. "...Then, those things they said about you, are they true?"

This time, Si Nan glanced at her from the corner of his eye but didn't answer.

And so, Wu Xinyan was tormented by curiosity the entire way back, an imaginary little person in her mind grabbing Si Nan's shoulders and shaking him frantically countless times.

It wasn't until they drove back to the factory, and Si Nan had parked the armored hazmat vehicle back in its spot and locked the doors, that he suddenly beckoned to her.

Wu Xinyan: "?"

She followed Si Nan's finger and looked at the brick wall. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past—BANG!

A jolt went through Wu Xinyan's entire body. She saw that Si Nan had punched the wall. The red brick instantly cracked, and then a web of fractures half a meter in diameter silently appeared.

"What do you think?" Si Nan said calmly.

Tossing the keys up and down, Si Nan walked away nonchalantly, leaving Wu Xinyan staring in a daze at the fist-sized hole in the wall.

·

Zhou Rong saw off Doctor Zheng, who had repeatedly sworn his commitment to the organization, and then sat alone in the factory director's office, sunk deep into an armchair.

Outside the window was the calm blue afternoon sky. The sounds of people training and talking in the front yard, carried by the wind, could be faintly heard. Zhou Rong habitually reached for the cigarette pack beside him. It was his last one. He held it to his nose, sniffing it carefully for a long time without lighting it.

"Sigh."

Zhou Rong slowly took out his lighter. Just then, the office door behind him was thrown open, and Si Nan tossed a large ring of keys through the air.

"Whoa!" Fortunately, Zhou Rong had quick eyes and fast hands. He swiveled in his chair and snatched them out of the air. "—You're done?"

Si Nan didn't understand, but replied, "Yeah."

Zhou Rong observed his expression, chose his words carefully, and after a long moment of thought, asked, "You coming with us to the military region?"

Si Nan said, "Yeah."

"..." Zhou Rong asked tentatively, "Do you like that girl?"

Si Nan was about to leave when he heard this. He stopped, looking rather baffled. "No, why?"

Zhou Rong was bursting with things to say but didn't know where to start. He was so frustrated a vein throbbed on his forehead. "Then why did you..."

"That girl," Si Nan glanced around the corridor, then suddenly lowered his voice and said very seriously, "she likes Yan Hao. You should pay attention."

—At that moment, Si Nan's tone could almost be described as friendly. Zhou Rong stared at him, dumbfounded, with a sudden feeling that something wasn't right.

But he had no time to figure out what exactly was wrong before Si Nan turned and went back to the rear factory building to stir his gunpowder.

·

Three days later, Zhou Rong personally finished counting the last case of ammunition, slammed the rear hatch shut with a bang, and shouted, "Move out!"

As the entire courtyard of men and women, young and old, watched, the armored vehicle slowly drove out of the factory grounds. In the rearview mirror, the faces of the people—reluctant, grateful, hopeful, fearful, and worried, each with a different expression—gradually shrank.

Six special forces soldiers plus one unofficial combatant sat in the vehicle, all fully armed, wearing Kevlar protective suits, and carrying Uzi submachine guns on their backs. Zhou Rong was about to say something to lift the mood when he saw Si Nan stand up, slide open the rear door with a whoosh, and jump out of the moving armored vehicle.

Zhou Rong stuck his head out and roared, "You little ancestor, what are you trying to do now!"

Si Nan ran to Wu Xinyan at the front of the crowd. From within the layers of soft padding in his single-strap tactical bag, he pulled out a glass bottle etched with countless cracks and filled with an unknown substance. He handed it to her and said curtly, "Avoid shaking it. Try to throw it as far as possible."

Wu Xinyan, like a soldier about to go into battle, clutched the bottle of nitroglycerin tightly and asked nervously, "What if it's not far enough?!"

Si Nan was silent for a moment. "Pray."

"..." Wu Xinyan said helplessly, "I guess I'll practice with rocks first, then."

Not far away, Zhou Rong retracted his gaze from outside the car window, sighed wistfully, and suddenly reached out to ruffle Chuncao's hair. "Cao'er..."

His bargain-bin daughter was cleaning a gun barrel with a soft cloth. Without looking up, she asked, "What's up?"

"Do you think Dad should go find an Omega, settle down, and live a quiet life?"

Everyone in the vehicle looked up at the same time, staring at Zhou Rong in utter shock. In the driver's seat, Yan Hao instantly swerved the vehicle into a large S-shape.

Si Nan ran back to the vehicle, grabbed the iron ladder, and leaped up, returning cleanly to the rear compartment. He looked around at everyone, completely bewildered. However, at this moment, no one paid any attention to his confusion. Chuncao put down her submachine gun, gripped her bargain-bin father's hand tightly, and said emotionally, "Can you please not say it like some Omega would actually fall for you?"