Li Qingxiao

Hearing the woman say that, Li Mu Chuan immediately abandoned the idea.

Those zombies were about as fast as the ones in World War Z. Li Mu Chuan did not think he could outrun them.

"You came in with companions before, didn't you? How did you end up alone? Don't tell me they deliberately hurt you and used you as bait?"

Li Mu Chuan's imagination ran wild as he glanced at the injury on her leg.

By then, the woman had taken a medical kit from the side, removed the gauze from her wound, and begun disinfecting and bandaging it.

It looked like this was a fallback hideout she had prepared beforehand. Otherwise, she would not have been so familiar with the place.

The woman fell silent for a moment before saying, "No. It was because they wanted to seize power."

What?

Li Mu Chuan froze when he heard that.

Seize power?

"I was one of the commanders at Blackstone Base. The base had been fairly orderly at first. After all, everyone had come from a civilized society. But as time passed, things at the base gradually started to go wrong.

Some people felt that, since things had already reached this point and it had been so long since the apocalypse, they wanted a lawless state.

On top of that, food was scarce. Some people felt food should no longer be handed out for free, but exchanged for something. They believed the base should not support freeloaders."

Li Mu Chuan found it rather baffling. "And then?"

"Then all sorts of filthy things began happening in the base. People skimmed food rations. Some secretly picked out beautiful women and took them away. Even women who submitted were tortured to death with all kinds of cruel methods.

Those who refused were taken out to search for food, then secretly murdered."

Li Mu Chuan's expression changed involuntarily as he listened.

"So they wanted to kill you to take control of Blackstone Base?"

Li Mu Chuan understood.

The woman nodded. "To begin with, many people were uncomfortable with a woman lording over them. On top of that, I stubbornly insisted on maintaining order and refused to let them do whatever they wanted. Naturally, I became an obstacle in their path."

Li Mu Chuan understood. That really was how some people thought.

"Then you really have had it rough."

Li Mu Chuan shrugged. There was not much he could do about something like this.

Fortunately, he only needed to stay here for another dozen days or so before he could leave.

The woman was somewhat surprised by that. Why did this guy look as though none of it concerned him?

If Blackstone Base had remained orderly, he could have had somewhere to settle down too, couldn't he?

If the world became this chaotic, could he really stay untouched by it?

"How long have you been alone here? It's already been over a year since the zombie outbreak. Why do you look so well-fed?"

Li Mu Chuan did not look like someone who had been ravaged by the apocalypse at all. But how was that possible?

Living in the city was even harder. One had to worry every moment about zombies suddenly charging out.

Even living in a high-rise was not safe, because the zombies would rush toward it like mad, piling themselves into human walls and climbing more than ten meters high.

She had seen situations like that far too many times.

Because of that, there were almost no people left in the cities. They had all moved outside.

"I've only been here for a while," Li Mu Chuan replied vaguely when she asked.

He quickly changed the subject. "By the way, I had no idea what happened back then. The zombies suddenly broke out. Do you know the specifics?"

Li Mu Chuan's diversion worked. Hearing the question, the woman sighed and shook her head.

"I don't know the specifics either. Some said it was poison released by nature. Others said there had been a laboratory leak in America. But before anyone could figure out what had happened, communications and order had already fallen apart.

Everything happened too fast back then. Before an effective counterattack could even be organized, the entire world began to fall."

Li Mu Chuan nodded lightly.

Then he saw her open a case beside her.

Inside, Li Mu Chuan saw several test tubes and a piece of equipment that looked quite sophisticated.

That small case even resembled a workbench.

"What's that?"

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

The woman did not answer. Instead, she took out some plastic sheeting and began arranging it around the room.

Layer after layer, she enclosed a small area at the very center, then took out an alcohol spray and began disinfecting it.

After completing that series of steps, she crawled straight inside, seemingly cultivating something.

Why did this look like she was researching a serum?

Li Mu Chuan raised his brows as he watched. He felt she was probably developing a serum.

That case had been remarkably high-tech. Once opened, all sorts of parts kept combining, carrying more than a hint of Transformers transforming.

Li Mu Chuan watched for a few moments, decided he could not understand any of it, and could not be bothered to keep paying attention.

Several zombies ran past outside the window before vanishing from sight again.

Only then did Li Mu Chuan realize that the zombies' cries now were completely different from the cries he had made earlier when testing whether there were any zombies around.

So the zombies reacted differently because the sounds were different?

As Li Mu Chuan pondered this, night quietly fell.

Having gone hungry for three days, Li Mu Chuan searched the room but did not find even a scrap of food.

This hideout of hers did not even have food?

Just as Li Mu Chuan was wondering about that, the woman emerged from the third layer of plastic sheeting after disinfecting herself several times, perhaps because it had grown dark and there was no light.

"Were you researching a serum just now?"

Seeing her, Li Mu Chuan could not help asking.

The woman nodded lightly. "I was originally a biological researcher. I began researching it at the start of the zombie outbreak, but I still haven't found any leads."

"By the way, my name is Li Qingxiao."

Perhaps because Li Mu Chuan had not made any other moves, Li Qingxiao was rather satisfied and gave him a brief introduction.

"Li Mu Chuan."

Seeing that, Li Mu Chuan gave his own name as well.

"Do you have any food?" Li Mu Chuan looked around before asking her anyway.

He had not eaten for nearly three days. He was truly starving, and he had done quite a bit of physical activity these past few days.

At those words, Li Qingxiao's cheek twitched. She had not even asked whether he had food, yet he had turned around and asked her first.

"Do I look like I have food on me anywhere?"

Li Mu Chuan looked her over. She really did not seem to have any food, and he immediately sighed.

It was over. There was no food, and he had already been hungry for three days.

If this kept up, was he really going to starve to death here?