After a long silence, Wu Xinyan finally felt she couldn't hold it in any longer. She swallowed, her voice sounding extremely faint: "Um, Captain Zhou..."

"How about that chocolate, you can put it..."

Before she could finish, Si Nan emerged from the blanket, threw on his jacket, and actually pushed the door open to go out.

Wu Xinyan was once again dumbfounded, not snapping back to her senses for a long time.

"What is it?" Si Nan's tone was very placid. "Hurry up, I'm in a rush."

Si Nan was only wearing a black, slim-fit police T-shirt underneath. With his arms crossed, his riot-proof uniform jacket was draped over his shoulders. The expression on his face was remarkably similar to when Zhou Rong had first seen him, when he had ignored the water offered to him in the armored vehicle and had silently disarmed Yan Hao's gun—the posture was even identical.

Zhou Rong sighed to himself, stuffed the chocolate into Si Nan's jacket pocket, and turned to walk back.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five...

The moment he counted to zero, Si Nan's voice indeed came from behind him:

"Are you okay?"

Zhou Rong stopped but didn't turn back, letting out a soft sigh.

"..." Si Nan finally walked up, his long, thick eyebrows furrowing again as he sized up Zhou Rong suspiciously. "Are you okay?"

Zhou Rong said listlessly, "Si Xiaonan."

Si Nan said, "My name doesn't have the character 'xiao' in it."

"Comrade Xiao Si." Zhou Rong amiably corrected himself and asked, "Do you think we're still friends?"

This question was truly complex, mainly because Si Nan had encountered very few other Omegas in his life, and couldn't verify whether "true friendship is impossible between an Alpha and an Omega" was a false proposition or not; but he had encountered very many Alphas, so many that even though he had lost his memories, years of wariness and aversion were still deeply embedded in his subconscious.

He narrowed his eyes, sizing up Zhou Rong.

With one hand in his pocket, Zhou Rong stood one-meter-ninety tall with his shoes on, casting a slender shadow in the moonlight.

Zhou Rong didn't have a brawny, muscle-bound physique; it was more of a formidable sleekness and proportion honed by years of special training—a trait that was also very apparent in Si Nan. But Si Nan's muscle layer was thinner, while Zhou Rong's shoulders were broader, giving him a powerful sense of a male Alpha.

His features held a handsomeness blended with a subtle, roguish charm. Especially when he raised an eyebrow and smiled, an irrepressible wildness washed over you.

This kind of look was a far cry from the righteous and awe-inspiring soldier boys in the public's mind. If the military were to choose a positive image for publicity, his temperament would probably get him eliminated in the first round.

But if he took off his uniform, he was like a dashing young heir, the type who would receive many affectionate gazes wherever he went.

'He's different from the others,' a thought suddenly popped into Si Nan's mind.

He himself didn't know where this strange realization came from, but under the moonlight, there was indeed an indescribable feeling that suddenly stirred deep within his heart.

"..." Si Nan averted his gaze and said, "I guess so."

Zhou Rong lowered his head slightly, pressing relentlessly, "What is?"

"...We're friends, I guess."

Zhou Rong was almost pressed against Si Nan's face, their noses less than a few inches apart. They could both see their own reflections in the other's eyes.

"Really?" Zhou Rong said slowly. "But how come I feel like you've grown to dislike me? You won't talk, we have to drive two cars, you don't even bite my ear anymore..."

Si Nan felt the airflow from his words brush against his cheek, and he couldn't help but shrink back slightly.

But Zhou Rong immediately closed the distance again, his thin lips curling up once more. "Or is it that now you know Rong-ge is an Alpha, you're afraid Rong-ge will hit on you?"

Si Nan's lower back was still bent backward; unable to dodge, he had no choice but to turn his face back to look at him directly.

At this distance, all Zhou Rong had to do was lower his head for their lips to touch.

"I'm telling you," Si Nan lowered his lashes and said slowly, "if I were an Alpha, it's hard to say who'd be hitting on whom. Maybe I'd be hitting on you."

Zhou Rong was slightly stunned. Si Nan then added, "If you don't believe me, let's try. I'll give you a one-hand handicap."

Zhou Rong burst out laughing.

"Comrade Xiao Si, it's good to have aspirations..." Zhou Rong ruffled Si Nan's hair forcefully, then pressed his head closer, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. "But I think, hahahaha, this kind of thing, hahaha—"

Si Nan struggled but couldn't break free. Zhou Rong planted a kiss on his hair and watched him with a smile. "Very good. Then I'll wait for you. Go on back, don't keep your little girlfriend waiting too long."

Before Si Nan could react, Zhou Rong had already let him go and was striding back the way he came.

"..." An indescribable feeling welled up in his heart again. Si Nan couldn't explain what it was. After a moment of dazed confusion, he suddenly remembered and turned his head to yell, "I told you she likes Yan Hao—!"

Zhou Rong's retreating figure stumbled.

Si Nan watched the figure disappear into the night, only retracting his gaze without a word after it was completely out of sight.

"Ah, I forgot to tell him about that guy surnamed Wan." He suddenly recalled. "If I'd known, I would have asked him to stay and help."

Having let a strong laborer get away for nothing, Si Nan felt quite melancholic as he turned and walked slowly toward the back garage.

It was already nine-thirty. The clamor from the distant Fertilizer Plant worker dorms was gradually quieting down. People had once again concluded another day of constant anxiety in the apocalypse, sinking into a deep sleep that temporarily erased all fear. In the shadow of the ginkgo tree, the back garage was pitch-black, with an unnoticeable crack between the iron doors.

Si Nan's sharp gaze halted.

Immediately after, a thud came from inside the garage, and a woman's sharp scream rang out: "Help—! Mmph..."

Sounds of struggling, heavy panting, and low curses erupted simultaneously. Si Nan drew a dagger from his thigh with a backhand motion and kicked the door open. Sure enough, in the darkness, he saw a burly man pinning down Wu Xinyan, cursing filthily. The man turned his head at the sound.

"Who's there? Mind your own business! Get the hell out of my way, and just..."

"Been waiting for you," Si Nan said.

The Alpha bodyguard surnamed Wan had yet to understand the relieved meaning behind those three words when he felt his throat tighten. A steel-like force gripped the back of his collar, and his body suddenly felt weightless.

By the time he realized he was flying backward through the air, it was too late.

"Ahhhh—"

The bodyguard's back slammed into the ground. Before he could even try to get up, a foot stomped on his chest, pinning him back down. Then: CRACK!

That kick had broken his ribs. The bodyguard's wretched scream pierced the sky.

Zhou Rong had just returned to the Fertilizer Plant. He sat down, took a sip of water, and made his routine check-in on Yan Hao. Before he could get up to patrol the warehouse, he heard that something had happened.

—BOOM!

The front door was kicked open with tremendous force, so powerful that the ground shook twice. People who hadn't fully fallen asleep were startled awake, gathering in the corridors to look down.

In the open ground, Si Nan's roar was deafening: "FENG—WEN—TAI—!"

He shoved the human-shaped bloody gourd in his hands forward. The latter staggered and fell with a heavy thud!

Wu Xinyan, her hair disheveled, trembled and huddled closely behind Si Nan.

Gasps rose and fell from the crowd. Feng Wentai rushed downstairs with five bodyguards. Seeing his subordinate in the open ground, bathed in blood, a miserable sight with hardly an intact piece of flesh on him, he said in disbelief, "Wan Bin?!"

"What the fuck are you doing?!" "Looking to die!"

Several Alpha bodyguards flew into a rage. Si Nan gathered the trembling Wu Xinyan behind him and flashed his backhand. Blood dripped from the tungsten steel military dagger.

"Kill this brat!"

"Fuck, he's rebelling! Everyone, get him!"

Several bodyguards drew their guns and advanced. The crowd above immediately cried out in fear. At this chaotic and critical moment, a burst of gunfire suddenly erupted from the end of the stairs. The loud noise made everyone scream in terror!

"Stop!"

Zhou Rong's sharp shout echoed across the open ground. He was seen holding a submachine gun with one hand, the muzzle pointing upward, his finger still on the trigger.

Behind him, Chuncao, Ding Shi, and Guo Weixiang held heavy machine guns and assault rifles, coldly watching the Feng Family's men.

In the suffocating silence, Zhou Rong walked down the stairs step by step and asked in a low voice, "What's going on here?"

The heavy machine guns from a special forces armory were not on the same level of deterrence as police service pistols stolen from a station halfway. The Feng Family's bodyguards immediately fell silent, grudgingly dispersing while vaguely shielding Feng Wentai.

In the open ground, the bodyguard named Wan Bin twitched continuously. Blood flowed from multiple wounds onto the ground, pooling into a puddle.

"Captain Zhou," Feng Wentai said, his voice laced with suppressed anger, "your man actually dared..."

Zhou Rong said flatly, "I wasn't asking you. Si Nan, give me an explanation."

But Si Nan seemed not to have heard him at all. He just stared at the constantly convulsing bloody gourd that was Wan Bin, his gaze holding something chilling—cruelty, indifference, a steel-like inorganic quality, as if the thing groaning and struggling at his feet was not a person.

This gaze made him seem like a completely different person. If one looked closely, it was as if the unfamiliar, dark side of his soul was shrieking and struggling, trying to slowly awaken from within that shell.

But this change in him wasn't obvious; at least among all the people present, only Zhou Rong noticed it.

For some reason, his current state made Zhou Rong's heart clench. He barked in a low voice, "Si Nan!"

"He... he kept harassing me..." Wu Xinyan's tearful voice rang out, and many people turned to look at her.

"He was harassing me before you all left, saying he wanted to be my boyfriend. Thanks to Si Nan-ge for helping me find a hiding place, but he still tracked me down... Tonight, he came to force me. When I screamed for help, Si Nan-ge stepped in..."

Saying all this in front of everyone was clearly very embarrassing for Wu Xinyan, but she still mustered her courage: "He had a gun on him, he almost killed us. He also said that after he was... was done, he planned to drag me out to feed the zombies..."

The crowd exploded at once, and a buzz of discussion arose.

Zhou Rong said coldly, "Boss Feng, do you have anything else to say?"

"How can you believe a one-sided story?" Feng Wentai immediately retorted stiffly. "This woman herself said Wan Bin wanted to be her boyfriend. Who knows if she agreed to it and then colluded with an outsider to pull a honey trap?"

Wu Xinyan cried out, "I did not!"

"You did not?" Feng Wentai sneered back. "If you didn't, why didn't Wan Bin harass someone else? Why did he have to harass you?"

"I..."

"Out of so many women, he chose you. I think you were the one who seduced Wan Bin first, right?"

"You're spouting nonsense!"

"Whether it's nonsense or the exposed truth, you know best in your heart, Miss." Feng Wentai sized her up sarcastically, yet his tone was soft and gentlemanly. "Pardon my forwardness, Miss, but for an ordinary Beta girl to be able to hook an Alpha like Wan Bin, and even get a special forces soldier to play such a cliché honey trap game with you, your methods and character are quite dirty, aren't they!"

Wu Xinyan was so angry she trembled all over. Feng Wentai then glanced at Zhou Rong:

"They say flies don't bite a seamless egg. Captain Zhou, tell me, why did this have to happen right at this moment? The timing is just..."

Just as Feng Wentai was about to use this to his advantage, Wu Xinyan could no longer hold back and stepped forward to slap him!

With a smack, Feng Wentai grabbed her wrist. Just as he was about to shove her away violently, a hand suddenly pressed down on Wu Xinyan's shoulder—it was Si Nan.

Not only the Feng Family's bodyguards, but even Feng Wentai himself didn't have time to react.

Si Nan sent Feng Wentai flying with a kick to the chest!

"Boss Feng!"

The kick was powerful enough to shatter gold and split stone. Feng Wentai, despite being so tall and sturdy, flew nearly ten meters before landing. Several bodyguards rushed up at once, scrambling to help him up. Seeing blood constantly trickling from the corner of Feng Wentai's mouth, they went crazy: "This kid is trying to kill Boss Feng!"

"Fuck, murder!"

"Why aren't you running? The soldiers are killing people!"

The crowd retreated in a panic. The timid shrieked, children cried out in terror, and the scene instantly devolved into chaos.

Lu Hui, the Feng Family subordinate who had kowtowed to Si Nan before, took advantage of the chaos to fire a warning shot. In the half-second of silence after the gunshot, he suddenly roared: "They're trying to wipe us out! Those soldiers want to seize power, they want to kill all the Alphas!"

"Why aren't you running? They're about to open fire!"

The open ground was large, and the scene was chaotic. The terrified crowd didn't notice who fired the first shot and became even more frantic, pushing and shoving.

In that hundredth of a second of chaos, Lu Hui hid behind the people and aimed his gun at Si Nan—

Bang bang bang!

The submachine gun flashed, and Lu Hui screamed as half of his arm was blown clean off!

"Rong-ge!" Ding Shi and Guo Weixiang cried out in alarm at the same time.

Zhou Rong raised his gun, the gunpowder smoke not yet dispersed.

Around him, the crowd scrambled back into the building. Women protected their children and cowered inside, while the bolder men only dared to leave their doors ajar, peeking out fearfully. The open ground was littered with overturned tables and chairs and bloody footprints. Amidst the rolling and screaming of his subordinates, Feng Wentai let out an enraged, near-death cough.

"Rong-ge," Chuncao said softly, holding his gun, "we're losing control. We need to think of something."

"Don't come any closer!" The four remaining Feng Family bodyguards raised their pistols, trembling as they shouted, "Don't, don't... Everyone, attack together!"

Zhou Rong let out a breath.

The breath seemed to be one of relief, yet also of helplessness. He then took two steps forward, stood in the center of the open ground, and beckoned to the three special forces soldiers behind him with a finger. "It seems there really are Alphas like this, who refuse to submit when they see the other party is an ordinary person—"

"Brothers, today we'll make Boss Feng submit."

A Swiss Army Knife slid out from Zhou Rong's sleeve, snapping open with a clang and piercing his palm.

Chuncao, Ding Shi, and Guo Weixiang also cut their palms. Blood immediately gushed out, and the extremely potent Alpha Pheromones of the four special forces soldiers instantly volatilized, rapidly blanketing the entire open area!

The faces of the few men from the Feng Family changed drastically. Even Feng Wentai stopped his violent coughing in horror.

Si Nan abruptly averted his gaze, held his breath, and took half a step back.