The Lighthouse on the Lonely Island

A deserted island, its coordinates lost in a nuclear blast, had become the Group A Special Task Squad's temporary refuge.

A makeshift trail trampled through the island's thorny undergrowth led up to a hill, where an abandoned lighthouse had become their temporary command post.

Vines covered the lighthouse's outer walls like a natural protective layer, hiding it amid a tangle of roots and branches.

Surprisingly, the place had escaped destruction in the nuclear blast, and its vegetation had grown even lusher. But along the way, they had found no trace of other carbon-based life forms, as if this were an island paradise for plants alone.

The lighthouse had been cleaned out. A small circular hall occupied the ground floor, and a staircase spiraled up along the walls to a lookout and the lantern room.

A basement beneath the circular hall was equipped with a complete diesel generator, which would work with a few minor repairs. But the lighthouse's wiring had completely deteriorated, so generating electricity now would undoubtedly be asking for trouble.

A door beside the hall led to a pitched-roof cottage. Its interior was simple, with a small kitchen, a washroom, and two bedrooms.

Song Zhi looked around, ecstatic! This is the proper damn script for surviving the apocalypse! Start with a lighthouse, scavenge all your gear! Clear land and farm, hunt, stockpile supplies, keep a low profile while growing stronger, and hole up until the end!

But a single remark from Lai'en sent her surging spirits plummeting. "This island has been abandoned. The freshwater treatment system is broken, food is in critically short supply, and the plants on the island are highly poisonous. Don't go wandering off on your own. Radio silence starts today, and we'll take turns on watch. We have to stay here for a while."

No fresh water? No food? And the plants on the island are highly poisonous?

What kind of disastrous start is this?!

They didn't have any superpowers, and they couldn't purify contaminated water and plants like people in novels!

Awoo! I got excited for nothing.

Food was manageable. Miller had left them two large crates of canned goods and compressed oat biscuits, enough to last two months if they rationed them. But the lack of fresh water was the real killer.

As the sniper, Lu Yu took the lighthouse's attic. They also left one of the two bedrooms for Song Zhi and used the other to store daily necessities, while ammunition went in the basement.

The others laid out their sleeping bags in the circular hall.

They were clearly planning to stay for a while.

Song Zhi didn't dare sleep in the pitch-black bedroom by herself. A lost deserted island, a lonely lighthouse, vines crawling all over the walls, a dilapidated, dark cottage—the horror factor was off the charts. All it needed was an eerie laugh...

Materialism and idealism fought a spirited dialectical battle in her mind. In the end, idealism won and took control of everything for the time being.

"I'm afraid of ghosts..."

She stood timidly beside the nearly rotted wooden table, head lowered, scuffing the dust with her toe as if digging a hole.

"Pfft!" Someone was the first to laugh. It was Lu Yu.

The others mentally replayed every S-grade horror movie they had ever seen. When they looked at the dark, gloomy cottage again, they too felt it really wasn't safe inside. Absolute physical attacks were no defense against magic damage.

"Come on, I'll stay with you tonight. Once we do a little fixing up tomorrow, this place won't look like a haunted house anymore..." Lu Yu slung the sniper rifle over one shoulder and held out a hand to Song Zhi.

Song Zhi picked up her sleeping bag and clutched Lu Yu's hand as though grabbing a lifeline. "I've attracted evil spirits since I was little. When I was a kid, I'd even go to a spirit medium to have incense offered and check if I'd been frightened by spirits... The yin energy in this room is too strong..."

Frightened, Song Zhi couldn't stop talking.

Lu Yu wrapped an arm around her waist and chuckled with his head lowered. So even this Violent Loli gets scared?

"Don't be afraid. Your big brother has plenty of yang energy. With me sleeping beside you, no little ghost will get near you." Lu Yu deliberately teased her, though his voice held a trace of indulgence.

The two slowly climbed the stone steps to the lighthouse attic.

Wilk lay in his sleeping bag, tossing and turning, annoyed at himself for reacting too slowly and angry that Lu Yu was so crafty.

Seriously, how is he so good at finding an opening?

"Hill, in your country, what do men usually do when a girl is afraid of ghosts?" Wilk asked.

Hill, who was on the first night watch, leaned against the shabby sofa with his gun in his arms and snorted. "My older brother once stayed on the phone with his girlfriend and read the Bible to her all night."

"Did they get married later?"

"No, they broke up..."

"Oh, that's a sad story!" Wilk said regretfully, resting both hands behind his head.

"I think when girls are afraid of ghosts, or when they're terrified, what they need more is a man who can give them absolute security and strong protection, not overly gentlemanly reassurance. Lu's approach was effective." Kelante chuckled, then seemed to remember something and turned to look at Lai'en.

In the rainforest of Seji, someone also seemed to have taken a strong approach once, giving Song Zhi a measure of safety.

Lai'en lay in his sleeping bag as if asleep. He rolled over, ending up facing the dark cottage. Mm... We really should clean it up first tomorrow, and we need to find a way to solve the fresh-water problem... They couldn't contact the outside world for the time being. Hopefully this godforsaken place would let them hide out for a while.

By the time Song Zhi woke up, daylight was streaming in. She stretched and crawled out of her sleeping bag.

Lu Yu was wiping the telescope lens on the lookout. It was a high-magnification lens that could clearly show scenery dozens of nautical miles away. With it, they could keep timely track of any movement on the sea or the beach.

"You're awake? Come on, I'll take you to wash up. The lieutenant found a shallow seawater pool where you can bathe." Lu Yu had taken off the heavy bulletproof vest and was wearing only his camouflage fatigues.

At the mention of a bath, Song Zhi's eyes sparkled. She hurriedly ripped open the Velcro on her tactical vest and said, "Quick, help me!"

Lu Yu came over and crouched in front of her, helping her take off the heavy tactical vest.

"Whew!" Song Zhi felt the weight lift from her shoulders and back, and she could breathe freely again.

The two went down the stairs one behind the other and saw Lai'en standing in the hall wearing only a tight black tank top. His lean, powerful muscles filled it out completely, and a potent wave of masculine hormones seemed to hit them head-on.

Perks this early in the morning? Song Zhi thought.

He was fiddling with something. Hearing movement on the stairs, he only glanced over briefly before returning his attention to the work in his hands.

"Lieutenant," Song Zhi greeted him.

"Mm. Lu Yu will go with you. Don't run off," Lai'en instructed.

"Got it."

Song Zhi followed Lu Yu out of the lighthouse.

Wilk and Hill were clearing away the excess vines from the cottage's outer walls, leaving the windows and most of the walls exposed so sunlight could enter the once-gloomy, frightening cottage. Through the broken window, she could see Kelante repairing the small kitchen, but it was so badly damaged that it was no longer usable.

After greeting each of them, Song Zhi followed Lu Yu to the shallow pool where seawater seeped in through cracks in the rocks.

The water was salty and undrinkable, but it was fine for bathing.

Lu Yu quickly stripped off his shirt and pants, then plunged headfirst into the shallow pool in his briefs. He dived to the bottom, then burst back through the surface and shouted to Song Zhi on the shore, "Woo-hoo! The water's just right. Hurry up and get in!"

Song Zhi: "..."

Seriously, how presumptuous can this guy be?!

He had just jumped right in wearing nothing but his little underpants. How was anyone else supposed to bathe?

Is that polite?!

Lu Yu was obviously doing it on purpose. He showed off the eight-pack on his abdomen and gave Song Zhi a wicked smile. "You'd better hurry... The others will all be here soon..."