Unaware of the situation, Chuncao and Guo Weixiang ate the piece of chocolate. Midway through, Miss Wu Xinyan, who wasn't afraid of gaining weight, also came over for a piece.

However, when Si Nan woke up yawning in the afternoon, he had forgotten everything. He stretched and asked inexplicably, "Where is everyone?"

“They went ahead to search for supplies,” Wu Xinyan said while washing clothes. “Captain Zhou took more than ten people. He saw you were asleep, so he didn't call you.”

“Because I’m not one of their Unit 118, of course,” Si Nan immediately said coldly.

Wu Xinyan smiled, “Why do you remember a few words of criticism so clearly?”

Zhou Rong and the others had driven one vehicle away, leaving the other parked by the river. Last night the dark clouds were so thick, but today was unexpectedly a fine day. Sunlight spilled onto the river's surface, reflecting a shimmering golden light.

Wu Xinyan finished washing the clothes and went to hang them up to dry. Not far away, people were packing things up and preparing dinner, creating a rare peaceful atmosphere in the apocalypse.

Si Nan got out of the vehicle to stretch his limbs, taking a deep breath of the cool early winter air. He saw Doctor Zheng checking Yan Hao's wound in the open space behind him, and an older woman holding a baby, boiling water to prepare milk formula—needless to say, the full cup was for the injured, and half a cup was for the baby.

Si Nan watched from a distance the packet of milk formula he hadn't even had the chance to open, feeling quite melancholic inside, knowing he wouldn't have another chance to encounter dairy products on this journey.

Wu Xinyan finished hanging the clothes, then went to pick up the cup of milk for Yan Hao. She and Doctor Zheng squatted by the bedding, discussing something. After a while, Doctor Zheng got up and left. She chatted with Yan Hao for a few more sentences, then covered her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed.

Si Nan shook his head, kneading the sore nape of his neck and sighing like a world-weary old man.

These people...

Just then, Doctor Zheng returned with a crutch fashioned from a tree branch and motioned for Yan Hao to try taking a couple of steps. Yan Hao sat up with some difficulty. Doctor Zheng couldn't help him up alone. Wu Xinyan wanted to help, but Doctor Zheng stopped her. After scanning the open area, he waved at Si Nan, "Comrade Xiao Si, come lend a hand!"

Si Nan walked over, rubbing the back of his neck. Before he even got close, he saw Yan Hao smiling at him.

Si Nan tested the splint on his chest. "Will walking dislocate it now?"

Yan Hao called out in a low voice, "Si Nan."

Doctor Zheng said, "No, the fracture has already been set. Alphas can handle this kind of clean, closed fracture."

Si Nan didn't want to jump into the river to bathe, the older women certainly wouldn't let him near the stove, and there was nothing else for him to do, so he obediently supported Yan Hao's right arm, helping him walk forward slowly with Doctor Zheng.

At this time, the slope was covered in wild grass, the afterglow of the sunset sinking in the west. The distant town seemed to be melting in golden water, the view a sea of gold and red. Si Nan wasn't one to initiate conversation. As they walked, Doctor Zheng was reminding Yan Hao to use boiled water and pay attention to disinfection. After a while, they too fell silent, and Yan Hao gave a light cough.

“...Si Nan.”

“Hm?”

“Back then…” Yan Hao paused, his expression complex, and said hoarsely, “I think I heard you say that Yingjie also survived, but I was in a daze at the time and didn't hear it clearly…”

“I lied to you,” Si Nan said in a low voice.

Yan Hao sighed. “It’s alright.”

After a moment, as if he had struggled with it for a long time, he finally asked in a strained voice, "Was it from that time... from me, that you knew we were both Alphas?"

Doctor Zheng had been listening idly, but upon hearing this, he seemed to sense something, and the corners of his mouth twitched a few times.

Si Nan froze. “...Mm.”

He looked up at Yan Hao, caught off guard by the other's gaze.

Amidst the countless twinkling gold specks on the river's surface, a certain familiar warmth swirled in the depths of Yan Hao's eyes—it was the same hesitant, unspoken temperature that had burned in his eyes when he stepped forward for a tight embrace as the two teams parted in the underground tunnels of the B Military Region.

Si Nan lowered his head to think, his brows furrowing slightly. The space between his eyebrows, already showing faint lines, creased once more.

Yan Hao had been paying close attention to the subtle changes in his expression. Realizing something, he immediately said, “There’s something I want to tell you. Back then…”

Unexpectedly, Si Nan tactfully interrupted him, "I have something to do. Why don't you let that girl help you walk?"

Si Nan let go, but the next moment, Yan Hao grabbed him.

“Ahem!”

The two of them looked over together. Doctor Zheng had a very serious expression. “Uh, the baby is crying over there. I have to go check. I’ll call you two for dinner later, alright!”

'What does that baby crying have to do with you?' Si Nan thought. 'That child is awake for four hours a day and cries for three and a half of them, it's not like you can make her stop crying'—but before he could stop him, Doctor Zheng had already greased his soles and fled.

Yan Hao was a little embarrassed. “Are you still going to listen?”

Si Nan swept his gaze around. In the open space, people were cooking and washing clothes. Doctor Zheng was already holding the baby quite proficiently, patting and cooing, with absolutely no one showing any intention of coming over.

“…” Si Nan sighed. “Go on.”

The two of them sat down by the riverbank. Yan Hao had a medical harness strapped to his chest, making his sitting posture quite strange. Si Nan gathered the wild grass beside him, bundling it into a pillow to place behind him, to make his posture a little more comfortable.

“I originally wanted to tell you back in T City, but everyone thought you'd been bitten by a Zombie. It was chaotic, and then the helicopter crashed on the rooftop... After we got to the Fertilizer Plant, I heard you say you looked down on Alphas, so I didn't dare bring it up.”

Yan Hao paused, looking down at his hands and said softly, “I know some exceptionally outstanding Betas do look down on Alphas, thinking they're chauvinistic and all that. But our team, on the whole, isn't like that, and I… I’m not like that either. I’ve always respected you, especially since you saved my life twice. If you count finding the antibody and injecting me at the base, it should be three times.”

Si Nan shook his head. “That situation doesn't count.”

“Then the first two times should count.”

“The first two times were just in passing…”

“We don’t need to argue about this,” Yan Hao interrupted him, decisive yet gentle. “In this apocalypse, every day is fraught with danger. No one would risk their own life ‘just in passing’. You can dismiss it, but I must accept the favor. It’s a matter of principle.”

Yan Hao was clearly different from Zhou Rong—ever since exposing his Alpha gender, Zhou Rong had become completely unrestrained, often exuding an extremely strong sense of rigidity and pressure, even a hint of oppressiveness during confrontations. But Yan Hao hadn't changed much; he was still gentle, and even if he became anxious at times, it would quickly pass.

Si Nan looked at him, and the doubt that had rocked his heart countless times since leaving the B Military Region surfaced once again.

'Should I take this chance to ask?' he thought.

...But it's really a bit awkward. What if these two Alphas are just shockingly unconventional?

As he was mulling this over, he heard Yan Hao speak again, “There’s a question I originally planned to ask you after some time, once I’d thought it through clearly… But in the apocalypse, death can come at any moment. When you close your eyes at night, you don't know if you'll be able to open them to see the next day's sun. If I never get the chance to ask, I think I would regret it for the rest of my life.”

He slowly raised a hand to press the back of Si Nan's hand. The movement was very gentle, but one could feel the rough, hard calluses from a gun and the faint, old scars from a knife on his palm.

“I just want to know…”

The muscles in Si Nan's cheeks stiffened slightly. He saw Yan Hao lean in a little closer, his gaze extremely focused and serious. “After spending this time together, what are your thoughts on…”

Suddenly, a clamor erupted not far away, and cries of alarm rose from the crowd.

Both of them instantly fell silent and looked towards the source of the sound at the same time. Si Nan drew his gun and aimed at the highway—

However, it wasn't a sneak attack by Zombies. He saw their armored vehicle and a tour bus parked one after the other at the edge of their camp. Zhou Rong jumped out of the driver's seat, yanked Guo Weixiang out of the passenger seat, and kicked him square in the chest!

“Get the hell over there!” Zhou Rong’s roar was extremely clear even from so far away. “You disgraceful thing! Scram! Don’t come over here!”

“I was wrong, alright…”

“Scram! Disgraceful!”

Zhou Rong was clearly furious, completely different from when he had been lecturing Chuncao that morning before giving up halfway. A few kicks sent Guo Weixiang stumbling and crawling, almost coughing up blood. It was Doctor Zheng who, fearing that in his rage he would create another casualty in the camp, stepped in to block him with words of persuasion, signaling for the disheveled Guo Weixiang to hurry and run.

“Don’t let me see you, you bastard—”

Zhou Rong was about to go kick him again, but several people rushed down from the tour bus and managed to hold him back after much persuasion.

Yan Hao had Si Nan help him slowly walk over. Just as he reached the middle of the camp, he saw more people getting off the tour bus in twos and threes. Among them was a cowering teenager, who looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old. He had delicate features and a slight build, with a large piece of gauze taped to his forehead, through which bloodstains were faintly visible.

Si Nan’s steps faltered.

“What’s wrong?” Yan Hao asked sensitively.

“…” Si Nan said softly, “An Omega.”

“I won't hit him.” “I really won't hit him.” “I'm just angry at the moment... I promise I won't beat him to death!”

Zhou Rong finally managed to convince the chattering crowd, extricating himself in exhaustion. He had Doctor Zheng take people to inventory the supplies and give the newly rescued survivors a physical check-up, then twisted open a bottle of water. He was terribly thirsty; droplets of water ran down his chin and along his sinewy neck. He furiously chugged more than half the bottle before wiping his mouth, still not fully satisfied.

“Yo, Comrade Yan Hao!” Zhou Rong let out a breath, eyeing the crutch in Yan Hao's hand from the corner of his eye. “What are you doing? Instead of lying down properly, you’re taking our family's Comrade Xiao Si out for a stroll?”

Yan Hao retorted irritably, “Who’s your family’s Comrade Xiao Si? He might be our family’s for all you know.”

Zhou Rong: “Tsk, tsk, tsk, look at you getting all feisty. Why don't you let Si Xiaonan say for himself whose he is? Didn't Da Ding pass on my parting words to you yesterday?”

Si Nan: “…”

Under the intense glare of two pairs of eyes, Si Nan raised a hand and pointed with his thumb to the distance, where Guo Weixiang was dejectedly squatting on the ground pulling up weeds. “What did he do?”

In fact, upon seeing the Omega teenager, everyone had a faint suspicion. As expected, Zhou Rong's answer didn't surprise either of them. “That,” he pointed to the teenager cowering by the tour bus and said gravely, “is the species I least want to deal with in my life, and the one I fear encountering most on the run—an Omega.”

Si Nan was expressionless.

Yan Hao immediately said, “Don’t say that, Captain. You two make a good match. A hero saving a beauty, it’s perfect.”

“But I already have Comrade Xiao Si. We ran into this group while scavenging a supermarket. They were survivors who hid in a warehouse when the virus broke out. Because supplies were abundant, they ate and drank well every day, and even had self-heating instant noodles. You know, the kind that heats up when you pull a string? When we went in to rescue them, they were eating dinner—a steaming pot of Master Kang's Old Altar Pickled Cabbage noodles with sliced ham sausage…”

Si Nan and Yan Hao swallowed simultaneously.

“What’s with that look on your faces? We really were there to rescue people,” Zhou Rong said, dissatisfied. “And they were very eager to leave with us. You two didn't see the scene, it was just like the victorious rendezvous of the People's Red Army after The Long March… or like Comrade Xiao Si’s General Washington successfully crossing the Delaware River. But that's not the main point.”

“The main point is, there's an Omega among the survivors.” Zhou Rong sighed deeply, his expression weary. “This kid was chased by Zombies during the transfer and hit his head on a shelf, bleeding all over the place. The smell of his Pheromones was something else. I was standing guard outside, and in just the few minutes I was gone, Comrade Guo Weixiang almost made a mistake that would get him shot…”

The teenager was peeking from a short distance away, seeming very curious about what they were saying, but his expression was timid.

“Don’t you come over here! Get lost!” Zhou Rong roared, catching Guo Weixiang trying to sidle closer out of the corner of his eye.

Guo Weixiang wilted and had no choice but to go back to pulling weeds.

Zhou Rong, still fuming, snorted heavily.

“This kid’s blood Pheromones are extremely, extremely strong. He’s reached sexual maturity and is about to go into his first Heat Period. We have to take him with us, but soon, even if he’s not bleeding, the Pheromones from his impending Heat Period will travel for ten li, attracting hordes of Zombies to follow us. Everyone will be exposed to danger.”

“Either we leave immediately and find him an Inhibitor as soon as possible, or we let him get through his Heat Period, a clean and simple solution.” Zhou Rong clapped Yan Hao on the shoulder and said earnestly, “After careful consideration, the organization has decided to give you a chance to get out of singledom.”

Yan Hao immediately took two steps back, his feet moving as if on wind. His agile movements made him look like a completely different person from the listless man who had been leaning on Si Nan for support just moments before. “No, no, Captain, Rong-ge! You’re the boss, it’s better if you handle it personally.”