Half an hour later.
The bathroom door opened.
Jiangnan came out wrapped in a bath towel, his wet hair hanging over his forehead, making him look a little less cold and severe.
He glanced at the neatly folded clothes and nodded in satisfaction.
Hiring this "cleaner" had been worth it.
After changing into clean clothes, Jiangnan could barely keep his eyes open.
He headed straight for the big bed at the back of the RV, lifted the covers, and climbed in.
The bed was warm, and there was a soft, warm body inside.
It was Chen Tong.
She had already changed into her pajamas and curled up beneath the covers to warm the bed for him.
When Jiangnan climbed in, Chen Tong trembled slightly, both nervous and a little expectant.
But Jiangnan simply reached out and gathered her plump body into his arms like a body pillow.
He found a comfortable position and closed his eyes.
There was no amorous foreplay, nor did he make a move.
A few seconds later, his breathing settled into a steady rhythm.
He was exhausted.
The battles ahead would demand that he be in top form. He had no energy to waste on that sort of thing.
Chen Tong froze for a moment, then wrapped her arms around the young man several years her junior and closed her eyes, reassured.
In the living room.
Looking at the big bed, Yu Shishi seemed eager to try. "Um... I want to go over there too..."
"In your dreams!"
Liu Yuqing yanked her back and pressed her down onto the sofa.
"Do you think you can go in there? That's a Special Plot Trigger Point! Do you want to get your account banned?"
"Stay here and squeeze onto the sofa with me!"
"Oh..."
Yu Shishi curled up in Liu Yuqing's arms, looking aggrieved.
Inside the RV, everything was warm and peaceful.
Meanwhile, deep in the wheat field, the sun blazed overhead.
Compared to the paradise inside the RV, this place was practically an Asura Field.
The eleven survivors who had fled deep into the wheat field were now standing in a circle, locked in a heated argument.
The Awakening Fruit had become the fuse that split them apart.
"Wu Hao! What do you mean?!"
Yang Wei's face was livid as he pointed at the bespectacled boy opposite him and shouted.
"I'm the one who led everyone out! I'm the one who found the Safe Zone in the wheat field!"
"What gives you the right to grab the captain's position now?!"
"Heh. You led them?"
The boy named Wu Hao sneered and pushed up his glasses.
He used to run with Li Xin's crowd and was a Student Union officer. He had always looked down on PE students like Yang Wei.
"I admit, you got lucky last night and guessed the right way."
"But so what?"
"This is the apocalypse! Strength is what matters!"
Zzzzt!
Wu Hao raised his hand, and several streaks of purple lightning burst from his palm.
"Survival of the Fittest. The Strong Rule!"
"I awakened a B-class combat Supernatural Ability: Lightning Control! The most destructive power in the Elemental System!"
"And what about you, Yang Wei?"
Wu Hao pointed at Yang Wei with a look of contempt. "You've only got C-class Strength Amplification. At best, you're good for hauling bricks."
As he spoke, he pointed at Guo Shuai beside Yang Wei.
"And you, Guo Shuai."
"D-class Danger Sense? And a detection range of only twenty meters?"
"I've got eyes! I've got ears! What use is your useless ability?"
"By the time you sense danger, the monsters will already be right in your face!"
"And you even had the nerve to order everyone to leave the wheat field! To leave this Safe Zone! What an idiot!"
"Wu Hao, you..."
Guo Shuai's face flushed as Wu Hao ripped into him, but he had no comeback.
Behind Wu Hao, Liang Rui, Wang Jinsheng, and the others all wore smug smiles.
Liang Rui held a ball of fire in her palm—C-class Fireball Technique—while Wang Jinsheng...
His arm instantly turned into several strands of withered yellow straw, twisting and writhing with ease.
C-class Straw Entanglement.
"Yang Wei, face reality."
Liang Rui leaned against Wu Hao and sneered. "Stick with Brother Wu Hao and you'll have food to eat. The little tricks you can do? You'd better save your breath."
The tide had turned completely against him.
Bai Lianhua, who had been clinging to Yang Wei's arm, rolled her eyes and quietly let go.
"Brother Yang Wei... why don't we just listen to Wu Hao?"
Bai Lianhua spoke in her usual coy, affected manner. "We're all classmates, after all. There's strength in numbers..."
Yang Wei stared at her in disbelief. "Lianhua, you..."
He never thought she would take their side too.
"Hmph! If that's how it is, then we have nothing in common!"
The last of his hope shattered.
He clenched his fists and roared, "Guo Shuai! We're leaving! Let's see who can't survive once we're gone!"
"Fine! Let's go!"
Guo Shuai had a temper of his own. He spat viciously. "A bunch of fence-sitters! I was wrong about all of you!"
"Come on, Yang Wei. You can't talk sense into someone bent on getting themselves killed!"
The two turned and walked away, resolutely turning their backs on the others.
Yang Wei looked back at the woman who had been fawning over him all along, and let out a bitter laugh.
"Ptooey!"
He spat at Bai Lianhua. "You bitch! Yu Shishi was right to curse you last night. You're a damn menace!"
With that, he and Guo Shuai walked straight toward the other end of the wheat field without looking back.
"Heh. Idiots."
"They had a perfectly good wheat field to stay in, but they just had to go somewhere else. What fools."
Wu Hao put away the lightning and snorted with disdain.
And in a corner that no one noticed...
"Wang Jinsheng," whose arm had turned to straw, was smiling.
As the two left, the wheat swayed, carrying the sound of their footsteps to its ears.
Wang Jinsheng looked toward them, fixing his gaze on Guo Shuai's back.
"Hehehe..."
"Run... go on, run..."
He murmured in a voice only he could hear.
"As long as you're still in the wheat field... you're my nourishment..."
"None of you will get away..."
Before you continue