Chapter 41

Reality didn't give Si Nan much chance to hesitate. A few seconds later, the SUV slowly started and drove out of the gas station.

Si Nan's last shred of a soldier's rationality overcame his hunger. He didn't choose to go forward immediately, but instead retreated a few steps to hide his figure. He saw the SUV turn around and drive slowly straight down the main street.

What are they trying to do?

Si Nan looked around. Not far away, more than ten cars and electric scooters were piled up in a chain collision, a tragic sight. Other than that, there were no vehicles in sight, not even an intact bicycle could be found.

The SUV drove further and further away, about to disappear from his line of sight. Si Nan clenched his back teeth and broke into a run, chasing after it.

"Someone's following us." Inside the SUV's cabin, the driver glanced at the rearview mirror and said in a muffled voice.

The blonde-haired, blue-eyed Female Alpha sitting next to him was examining her fingers. Hearing this, she immediately looked up, but in the rearview mirror, she only saw hordes of Zombies slowly chasing the car, only to be quickly left behind. "Where? Who is it?"

"Didn't get a clear look. They hid too quickly."

The rear compartment trembled slightly as the vehicle moved forward. Rommel's voice didn't come from it.

"Probably a survivor," the Female Alpha mused. "Speed up, Abar. Shake him off. We still have to search for the next survivor base."

Abar stepped on the gas. The front bumper sent several Living Dead flying, and the vehicle sped away in a cloud of dust.

The city had become a paradise for the undead. Every steel-and-concrete building on both sides of the street had become a giant coffin, rooted in the earth, towering into the clouds. A cold wind swept through the desolate streets. The stations, supermarkets, and schools were empty. Trash and plastic bags chased each other, swirling in the dust, only to be stepped on by a Zombie.

The SUV passed through a residential complex. In the side-view mirror, the bushes on the surrounding wall suddenly moved imperceptibly.

"Still following," Abar said.

This time, the Female Alpha also noticed the movement and became alert. "Could it be a lot of people?"

She turned to look at her superior. In the back seat, Rommel finally stopped wiping the short blade in his hand. "Only one."

He didn't look up, saying flatly, "Slow down. Set up a roadblock ahead and see who it is."

·

His heart was beating rapidly and irregularly in his chest. Si Nan panted, feeling cold sweat stream down his temples. If this continued, he would soon be dehydrated.

Should he give up?

Or should he find a way to circle around to the front of the car and risk asking for help directly?

Si Nan's strong, wary instincts made him disinclined to choose the latter, but he had already been chasing for half a day, and the immense physical energy he had expended made him reluctant to give up. Just as he was caught in a dilemma, the SUV ahead suddenly turned, leaving the street and entering a long alley full of single-story houses.

There's a chance.

Si Nan took a two-step running start, leaped from the wall to the treetops, then used his momentum to jump onto a roof. He moved quickly across the connected rooftops of the single-story houses like a light and agile feline, stopping silently at the edge of the eaves.

He saw the SUV stop in front of a house. The driver got out, opened the trunk, carried half a case of mineral water, and walked into the house. It looked as if this was their temporary base.

Si Nan lay on the eaves, looking down into the trunk of the car, and was instantly stunned—so many supplies!

Cases of compressed biscuits and canned meat were stacked up, along with dehydrated fruits and vegetables, high-protein foods, various energy drinks, warm clothing, blankets, and fire-starting and power-generating equipment...

Si Nan swallowed, carefully observing the surroundings. He quickly planned an approach and retreat route, chanting to himself: 'I'll just sneak one can.'

'Just one. Enough to last until I reach the suburban heliport alive.'

After making up his mind, Si Nan leaped silently from the eaves like a wary and cautious snow leopard, making no sound as he landed. He then approached the trunk and reached for a can of luncheon meat.

—Just then, his nerves tensed, and he jerked his head to the side.

The tip of a blade grazed past his cheek!

Si Nan spun around. When he glimpsed his attacker's face, he froze for a moment: she was a strong, white Female Alpha, and her face was quite attractive.

But for some reason, the moment he saw this Female Alpha, alarm bells went off in his mind. A very bad feeling mixed with disgust welled up from the bottom of his heart, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

The Female Alpha was also completely stunned. She subconsciously asked in English, "You, how are you..."

In the split second she was dazed, Si Nan decisively pulled back, abandoning the can that was almost in his grasp, and retreated several meters away.

"Stop!" the Female Alpha shouted. The huge driver from before came rushing out of the house and opened fire!

Si Nan said angrily, "I just wanted something to eat!" Before the words were out of his mouth, he rolled on the ground, dodging a hail of bullets. He heard the Female Alpha shout something harshly at the driver, and then the two of them chased after him together.

Normally, even if the other side had a gun, Si Nan wouldn't be too afraid of a joint attack from two Alphas. But his condition was extremely poor now; the exhaustion from his fever and dehydration was rapidly consuming his body. With the other side clearly intending to kill, it wasn't worth risking his life for a bit of food.

Si Nan swung his arm to block a flying kick from the driver and was instantly pushed back several steps by the immense force. He bent over like a weeping willow, dodging the short blade thrown by the Female Alpha. The blade whirred as it spun, embedding itself deep into the wall. Si Nan sidestepped again to avoid the driver's mountain-splitting blow, plucked the short blade from the wall, and leaped onto it.

The Female Alpha yelled something in English. In that instant, Si Nan understood. She said, "—Switch to anesthetic rounds!"

Si Nan's eyebrow twitched. The moment he landed on top of the wall, he crouched and leaped again, grabbing the eaves. He felt a numbness in his ankle.

The anesthetic needle had grazed his skin.

'Damn it!' Si Nan cursed inwardly. He bit his tongue hard, using the pain to maintain a sliver of clarity as the paralysis set in. He staggered a few steps along the eaves and suddenly discovered someone else was lying in ambush ahead!

It was a white man, about thirty-something years old, slowly rising from the roof tiles.

Si Nan had no time to ponder why the man's expression was so strange and his movements so slow, as if he were confirming a dream that would shatter at the slightest touch. All he wanted now was to escape this group of Alphas. He would rather charge back into the Zombie horde to find a supermarket or convenience store, even if it meant scavenging for scattered grains of rice, than ever get close to these people again.

"...Noah," Rommel called out in a low voice.

Si Nan rushed towards the back of the eaves, but Rommel moved to block him. In the instant they passed each other, Si Nan practically teleported. Rommel didn't even see his movement clearly, only feeling a breeze slip past his arm.

'This speed can only be described as nimble,' Rommel thought.

A familiar nimbleness he had witnessed countless times.

Rommel's eyes narrowed. He launched a sweeping kick like a thunderbolt. As Si Nan was forced to parry, unable to dodge in time, Rommel reached out, his hand about to hook around his neck—

But at that same moment, as if divinely assisted, Si Nan grabbed Rommel's arm with a 'pah!' and spun in close.

Rommel instantly realized what he was about to do and paused subtly.

The next second, a blade was pressed to his throat. Si Nan was completely hidden behind him. Facing the approaching Female Alpha and driver, he barked, "Stop!"

The two of them stopped in their tracks, exchanging glances with Rommel. The air grew tense.

Rommel gave a barely perceptible shake of his head, stopping his two subordinates from advancing. "Noah."

"..." Si Nan held the knife in a reverse grip with his right hand, pressing it to Rommel's throat and forcing him to retreat step by step. "Who are you?"

"You can't escape," Rommel said.

Si Nan repeatedly closed and opened his eyes, forcing himself to stay conscious through the worsening dizziness. He didn't catch the extremely complex and indescribable meaning in those simple words.

"You can't escape," Rommel repeated, this time in a tone like he was talking to himself, as if making some kind of vow.

Si Nan pressed the blade to his throat and said hoarsely, "Shut up! Who are you people? What are you doing here?"

Rommel said, "Your temperature is very high... you have a fever."

A roof tile suddenly shattered. Si Nan's foot twisted, and his lower leg, grazed by the anesthetic needle, finally went completely numb. He could barely support his own weight, and he staggered in his extreme dizziness.

'I just wanted to steal a can to eat...' he thought vaguely.

'Looks like you really can't get away with petty theft.'

Si Nan's hand holding Rommel hostage loosened slightly, as if he wanted to use his last bit of strength to escape alone. However, he had overestimated his resistance to the anesthetic. A few seconds later, he staggered and fell to his knees. Before his knees could touch the ground, a pair of hands reached out from the side and wrapped around him.

"..." Si Nan muttered a curse, but it was impossible to hear what he said. Then, his body went heavy.

Under the effect of the drug, he finally fell into a brief slumber, free of hunger, regret, and disappointment.

·

"Systolic pressure seventy-nine, diastolic forty. Body temperature thirty-nine point five degrees."

"Give him a shot of nutrient solution."

The door of the single-story house was opened, and a cold afternoon draft howled in. The Female Alpha and the driver looked up to see Rommel step over the threshold and make a gesture, his face expressionless.

It was a signal for them to get out.

The two subordinates stood up with a tacit understanding and left.

The door closed again. Rommel walked to the bedside and looked down at his captured prey.

The north-facing house was already backlit, and in the gloomy, pre-snow winter, it was even darker and damper. The bed was very narrow and low; the prey probably didn't feel very comfortable. Rommel's gaze fell between his eyebrows, where faint lines had indeed formed, as if he still held a great deal of dissatisfaction even in his deep sleep.

But as he lay there on his side, unconscious, his entire body seemed to be shrouded in an extremely soft, ethereal light, making the simple, cluttered house and the narrow, old window frames seem to possess a special charm.

This wasn't the first time Rommel had felt this way. He let out a breath and finally sat on the edge of the bed, lowering his head to carefully study the familiar face before him, once again confirming the source of that faint glow—he was too fair.

Like beautiful white marble that had been polished and chiseled time and again, baptized by time and years, yet still as smooth as new. In a surrounding world that was growing ever more weathered and old, it still radiated a brilliance that was both innocent and piercing.

'Why?' he thought mockingly. 'He's clearly a monster.'

His mother was a slut who had infatuated his father even after marrying and having children, and he too was a monster, genetically modified from birth, beyond the ethics of ordinary people.

Rommel slowly reached out his hand, but didn't let it land, instead gliding it over Si Nan's unconscious cheek, a finger's breadth away.

He still remembered when he was very young, sitting in the garden full of anger and jealousy, waiting for the car carrying "that woman" to pass by, wanting to see what the face that his father had been unable to forget for so many years actually looked like. He had already forgotten the woman's specific features, but the heart-stopping charm he witnessed in that instant, and the twisted disgust it bred, remained deeply etched in his heart.

The kind of attraction that symbolized misfortune, and the beauty that foretold a tragic fate.

It was exactly the same as with this nominal younger brother of his.

In the beginning, he had wanted to murder this weak and easily bullied child more than once—in the magnificent, decaying manor, achieving this goal was actually very easy. But late one night, under the cover of the servants, he snuck into Noah's bedroom. As he watched his adopted younger brother, pondering whether to choke or strangle him, he suddenly felt an almost imperceptible halo of light around him.

Like warm water flowing over white porcelain, suffusing it with a soft and subtle charm.

Perhaps it was the faint glitter of the garden fountain, or perhaps it was an illusion created by the cold moonlight.

—He's a monster, he told himself.

He decided to strangle this little monster with his own hands. He placed his hands on the other's slender neck, and then Noah woke up with a start. He began to struggle and scream, making thumping sounds in the fight. The butler and servants were alerted, and his father rushed in, heralding the end of the murder attempt.

That happened when he was eleven, and Noah was six.

From then on, he was never able to get close to an unsuspecting, sleeping Noah like he was today, because he would always wake up whenever he approached. It was as if that childish murder attempt under the moonlight years ago had left a deep imprint on his subconscious, enough to stir his most sensitive nerves even in his sleep.

Rommel's fingers finally descended, brushing past the tips of the tightly closed eyelashes.

Those lashes were as fine and dense as a raven's feathers, and the fingertips of a person accustomed to firing a gun would have calluses, making it impossible to feel such a subtle touch.

But Rommel's breathing grew somewhat tight, and he slowly leaned down.

Their breaths were less than two inches apart when Si Nan suddenly opened his eyes.

Rommel froze. Their eyes met for several seconds, then he sat up with a slight smile. "Noah."

The anesthetic was still in effect. Si Nan's gaze was unfocused for a long moment before it finally, little by little, focused on Rommel's face. A clear, undisguised vigilance slowly surfaced in his eyes. "You... are..."

"Still remember who I am?" Rommel studied his expression. "Hmm, it seems you really do have some after-effects."

Si Nan's mind was a bit hazy. The high fever had not yet subsided, and his chest heaved uncomfortably.

"Just now, when I was looking at you lying here, I was reminded of the year you first entered the Florida military's secret base..." Rommel didn't seem to care if the other could understand, letting out a short laugh to himself. "I had already been at the base for a few years then. One night, on a whim, I took a look in your room during a dorm inspection."

"You were sleeping very soundly, even snoring a little. But when I got close to your bed, before I could even steady myself, you suddenly woke up, as if you were always on guard against me sneaking in to harm you."

"..." Si Nan's dry throat managed to force out a sound. "I don't know... what you're talking about..."

"It doesn't matter," Rommel said. "It's been so many years anyway. I just wanted to tell you. I wasn't trying to murder you that night."

He seemed to find it very amusing and laughed, but this expression of friendliness, which would be normal on anyone else, looked out of place on his handsome face and inexplicably caused a pinprick of revulsion to rise in Si Nan.

He subconsciously squeezed further into the bed, his prominent wrist bone bumping against the handcuffs.

Rommel paid no mind to this action.

Rommel picked up a jar of maple syrup from the bedside, slowly opened the lid, and, under Si Nan's sudden gaze, scooped out a spoonful of the golden, sweet syrup. "Do you know why you're sick?"

"..."

"Because you don't have enough sugar. Your modified body has a massive demand for sugar. Otherwise, you'll weaken quickly, your cardiopulmonary metabolism and respiratory functions will be affected, and in severe cases, it's possible... you could even die."

"Whether you've been hiding on your own all this time, or you were with someone," Rommel revealed a mocking smile, "they clearly didn't give you even the most basic care."

Si Nan said hoarsely, "...They'll come back for me."

Rommel looked as if he had heard a joke. "Oh? Come back to the city center, which is swarming with millions of Zombies, to find you?"

Si Nan looked as if he had been sharply stabbed and fell silent.

Rommel put down the jar of maple syrup, his right hand steadily holding the spoon that emitted a sweet fragrance, while his left thumb gently caressed Si Nan's temple. "Noah."

Si Nan didn't make a sound.

"Kiss me. Just once. Just like how you kissed that special forces soldier surnamed Zhou." Rommel tempted him in a voice that was almost tender. "This whole jar will be yours, okay?"

A hint of surprise flickered across Si Nan's brow, as if he had heard something that deeply confused him—but then he glanced at Rommel, his eyes clearly filled with disgust. He pressed his thin, chapped lips together, abruptly turned his face away to face the inner wall, and closed his eyes.

It was a decisive action without a trace of hesitation.

Rommel, however, seemed to have anticipated this. Not only did he not fly into a rage, but his smile deepened. "Good... very good."

He casually tossed the spoonful of maple syrup aside, then pulled out a shimmering silver briefcase. He opened it, took out an instrument and coils, and wrapped the red and blue wires one by one around Si Nan's handcuffed wrists, which had no strength to resist.

Si Nan seemed to sense something, his eyes snapping open as he struggled to sit up!

—An electric shock device!

In an instant, chaotic memories from his dreams came flooding back like a tidal wave. The detestable, blonde-haired, blue-eyed young man from the laboratory, and the face in front of him, overlapped. They were the same person!

Rommel pressed one hand on Si Nan's neck, pinning him back to the bed. He looked down at his eyes, which were exceptionally bright with hatred, and asked, "Where is the cryo-box you were carrying after the crash?"

Si Nan had no idea what he was talking about and kept his lips tightly sealed.

"Where is it?"

Still no answer.

"I should have known..." Rommel nodded slowly, taking a self-deprecating breath. "Tenderness really doesn't suit you."

As soon as the words fell, he clenched his teeth and decisively pressed the button on the electric shock device.