The roar of the small truck echoed all the way to the end of the road.
The streets, once cluttered with abandoned vehicles, had been cleared away.
Only after returning to the safety zone did Lu Dongnuan feel her nerves finally relax.
Although this trip hadn’t yielded much in terms of supplies, she had gained some valuable information.
First, there was the Special Mutated Infected that resisted control.
Lu Dongnuan couldn’t even tell if that thing had originally been human.
Given the nature of the small spiders, there was a high probability that the thing below was a giant spider.
She noted this grudge for later; she would settle it once the virus evolved a bit more.
Second was the Black Shield Company.
This was the first time Lu Dongnuan had heard the name.
She planned to ask Lin Mo, the regressor, to see if she could get any information out of him.
She stepped out of the truck and closed the door.
The sight of the small truck paired with her black clothes and cold expression created a striking sense of contrast.
“Dr. Lu, you’re back.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Dr. Lu.”
People who were busy working greeted her.
Lu Dongnuan responded with a smile and a nod, but her pace didn’t slow.
The people wore dusty, gray clothes as they busied themselves in the limited open space.
Some were organizing the pitifully small amount of supplies, while others were repairing damaged tools.
At the very least, the place looked like it was thriving.
Lately, everyone’s enthusiasm had been high.
Almost everyone was scrambling for work just to trade for a bowl of the braised pork Lu Dongnuan made.
However, the number of people and their lack of experience remained an issue.
Many accidents occurred during the construction process.
Setting aside the injuries, even the walls didn’t look particularly sturdy.
Sometimes, she couldn’t help but sigh.
People always complained about how hard civil engineering was, but when things went south, everyone cried for a civil engineer.
She went to the villa first but found no one there.
After walking around the safety zone, she finally spotted Lin Mo near the wire fence on the west side.
He was holding a small object that looked like a crucifix, waving it constantly at the zombies outside.
The zombies were surprisingly cooperative — they didn’t pay him any attention at all.
Lu Dongnuan didn’t speak immediately, she stopped a few steps away, crossing her arms as she watched Lin Mo perform his ‘ritual’ for the zombies.
The setting sun cast a fuzzy golden glow around his silhouette, creating a strange sense of harmony with the old, blackened metal crucifix in his hand.
Outside the wire fence, the zombies shuffled and wandered, completely indifferent to the living human standing so close to them.
“A newly developed zombie-repelling ritual?” Lu Dongnuan finally spoke, her tone carrying a hint of playful teasing, “It seems to be incredibly effective.”
Lin Mo’s hand stiffened, and the crucifix dropped to his side.
He turned around, his face expressionless.
He weighed the object in his hand and said, “Just a small test.”
He stood up and stretched.
“What about you? Why are you back so soon?”
“I almost became a snack for a spider,” Lu Dongnuan said, leaning against the opposite wire fence post.
She briefly recounted her experience, placing emphasis on the creature’s immunity to mental shocks and the name ‘Black Shield Company.’
Lin Mo fell silent for a moment.
From the distance, the sounds of hammering and conversation from the safety zone drifted over, making this corner feel exceptionally quiet.
He tucked the crucifix away and shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Black Shield Company is not a product of this stage. In my memory of the previous life, it didn’t gradually surface until after the second year of the Great Cataclysm.” Lin Mo chose his words carefully.
“You can’t find anything in public records. There’s no headquarters address and no legal representative, yet they are present in many places.”
‘In some outposts, supply crates stamped with the Black Shield logo would suddenly appear. There were also teams with incredible strength and sophisticated equipment who claimed to be hired by the Shield. And then there were the studies regarding biological weapons and the source of the virus.’
He looked out at the desolate world beyond the wire fence.
“Some say they are the executors of a ‘Fire Seed’ plan left behind by the former government or major corporations. Others say they were one of the hands that pushed the disaster forward. But the most reliable theory is that they are the government’s black gloves.”
“They do the dirty work?”
“A bodyguard company. You can’t exactly stop people from making money.”
“Is money still useful?”
“As long as there are people, money is useful.” He paused for a beat, “In a sense, we will become a version of Black Shield in the future.”
Lu Dongnuan tilted her head in confusion and asked, “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
“Black Shield’s scope of business is very broad — from search and rescue, resource recovery, and clearing outposts to more secretive tasks.”
“For example, eliminating certain mutants that are too dangerous or don’t meet their expectations. They have the technology and the means.” Lin Mo lowered his voice, “I even suspect they hold part of the map for the virus’s evolution.”
Lu Dongnuan felt a chill run down her spine.
Black Shield sounded unfathomable, and she had already offended that woman named Lin Sui…
“How do they feel about… small safety zones like ours?” Lu Dongnuan asked.
“It depends on our value,” Lin Mo replied realistically, “If we have value, they might contact us, trade, or even provide limited protection. If we have no value, or if we get in their way…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear.
“So, are we valuable, or are we in the way?”
Lin Mo looked at her, the final rays of the sunset reflected in his eyes.
“Right now? We are likely just ants, not worth mentioning.”
‘But in the future…’ He curled his lips slightly and said, “We have to make ourselves valuable — and a type of value that they can’t easily control.”
Shouts erupted in the distance as the patrol changed shifts.
Wisps of smoke rose from the safety zone, and the faint aroma of food drifted over.
The two walked back side by side, their shadows stretching long behind them.
Lu Dongnuan kept trying to unintentionally drift closer to Lin Mo, but he always noticed and purposefully maintained his distance.
She felt a bit dejected.
The bustle and warmth of the safety zone soon enveloped them, temporarily dispelling the coldness brought by the news of Black Shield.
However, Lu Dongnuan knew in her heart that once certain information was known, the world would never look the same again.
During dinner, Lu Dongnuan intentionally gave Lin Mo one extra spoonful of meat.
Lin Mo raised an eyebrow at her.
“An information fee,” Lu Dongnuan said, resting her cheek on her hand with a smile.
“Actually, if I look at you for a long time, you’re quite handsome.”
Lin Mo ate the meat without mercy and replied, “I was always handsome.”
“Eww — ” Lu Dongnuan intentionally elongated the sound, pretending to be disgusted.
The Black Shield Company, the Special Mutated Infected, the uncontrollable spider, and this regressor who hid too much of the past…
Looking at Lu Dongnuan’s face, Lin Mo suddenly felt as if he had returned to the past.
Back then, they were like this too, though they had only just married and were even closer.
His sister was by his side, and those noisy brats were there too.
That was truly the time he missed the most in the apocalypse.
Back then, he felt that the state of the world had nothing to do with him, as long as he could protect the people he cared about.
But in the end, everything changed.
His sister died, the boys died… they died in his wife’s mouth, right in front of him…
Lu Dongnuan saw the sorrow in the man’s eyes, he was likely caught up in his emotions again.
Watching him lower his head and eat his rice in silence, the trace of a smile on her face gradually faded.
She put down her chopsticks and stopped making quips, yet she didn’t look away.
After a long while, Lin Mo seemed to drag himself out of that bone-chilling memory.
He realized he had been silent for too long and noticed her quiet gaze fixed on him.
“What are you looking at?” He met her eyes.
“I’m looking at how handsome you are,” Lu Dongnuan said softly, adding a playful lilt to the end of her sentence.
Lin Mo twitched the corner of his mouth but didn’t take the bait.
However, Lu Dongnuan didn’t back away this time after he showed resistance.
She picked up a kettle of warm water and refilled his half-empty bowl.
Lin Mo didn’t say anything, silently taking a sip.
The warm water slid down the side of the bowl, pooling in a shallow layer at the bottom.
The rising steam blurred Lin Mo’s lowered eyes.
He rubbed the rim of the bowl with his fingertips.
The rough texture allowed his chaotic thoughts to gradually return to the present.
“Starting tomorrow, reinforce the wire fence on the west side and bury spikes at the base of the wall,” he suddenly said, his voice carrying a hint of unnoticed huskiness.
“Spiders have a very keen sense of smell. You disturbed it today, so there’s no guarantee it won’t follow your scent here.”
Lu Dongnuan nodded repeatedly.
Lin Mo hummed in response and took two more bites of rice.
His movements were much slower now, and the atmosphere gradually grew warmer.
Looking at Lin Mo, Lu Dongnuan suddenly remembered him waving the crucifix earlier and couldn’t help but ask, “That crucifix of yours… what is it actually for?”
Lin Mo looked up, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment before he answered slowly, “It contains your blood. It can stop zombies from attacking.”
He paused before adding, “It’s not that useful. It works against ordinary zombies, but against something like a Special Mutated Infected, it’s just a piece of scrap metal.”
After dinner, Lu Dongnuan went to take inventory of the supplies while Lin Mo returned to the western wire fence.
He knelt on the ground, his fingertips trailing across the cold wire as his gaze fell on the gray horizon in the distance.
The Black Shield Company had appeared early.
In his previous life, Black Shield had been nothing more than a vague legend at this point.
It wasn’t until the second year of the Great Cataclysm that they truly revealed their fangs.
But now, Lu Dongnuan had already heard their name.
Did this mean that some things had already quietly veered off their original tracks?
He tightened his grip on the crucifix, the cold metal digging painfully into his palm.
Images of his previous life’s destruction flooded his mind again — his sister’s screams, the blood of his brothers, and Lu Dongnuan’s eyes, drenched in crimson…
“Lin Mo?” Lu Dongnuan’s voice suddenly rang out behind him, interrupting his memories.
He quickly hid the gloom in his eyes and turned around, his face returning to its usual indifferent expression.
“Finished the inventory?”
“Yeah. We have enough scrap metal to reinforce the wire fence with two more layers.” Lu Dongnuan walked to his side, following his gaze toward the distance she asked, “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.” Lin Mo looked away and replied, “Go back and rest. There’s a lot to do tomorrow.”
As he spoke, he took the lead and walked back.
Lu Dongnuan watched his back and hesitated for a moment before quickly catching up and gently grabbing the corner of his shirt.
Lin Mo’s footsteps came to a sudden halt, and his body stiffened for a second.
“Um…” Lu Dongnuan’s voice was a bit soft, “If you ever think of something bad in the future, remember to tell me. I am a psychologist.” She paused, then added, “Besides… we are on the same side, aren’t we?”
Lin Mo nodded, “And…”
“And what?”
“I will definitely make you fall in love with me.”
Lin Mo didn’t say anything.
He just looked at Lu Dongnuan, making her feel nervous, wondering if she had crossed some line.
Just as she was about to retreat…
“Eww — ” Lin Mo made a face of disgust, mirroring the one Lu Dongnuan had made earlier.
Of course, this warm little moment didn’t last long before it was shattered by a shout.
“Outsiders are coming!”
The two of them froze simultaneously.