Zhou Rong's brow twitched sharply twice. Just half a second later, he said curtly, “I know.”

Ignoring the slight resistance, he wrapped one arm around his back and the other under the crook of his knees, lifting Si Nan into his arms. He carried him into the bathroom, set him down in the shower, then turned, grabbed the showerhead, and blasted cold winter water straight into Si Nan’s face.

“Ugh... ugh!”

Si Nan, of course, wouldn't have it. The struggle and scuffle lasted for more than ten seconds before he finally knocked the showerhead away, shouting, “Get out!”

He was soaked from head to toe, his skin glistening from the cold water, but his eyes looked like they were on fire—with rage.

Zhou Rong immediately raised his hands. “I’m sorry.”

Zhou Rong’s T-shirt was also completely soaked, clinging to his body and revealing the taut muscle lines of his upper body. Awkwardly, his camouflage pants, also wet, were clearly tented, impossible to hide.

“I’m sorry,” Zhou Rong repeated earnestly, then said self-deprecatingly, “How about you hit me a couple of times to blow off some steam?”

The words were barely out of his mouth when, with a thud, Si Nan landed a heavy punch that knocked his head to the side!

“Bastard,” Si Nan said coldly.

Zhou Rong rubbed his face and reached out his hand. Before Si Nan could dodge, he felt Zhou Rong vigorously ruffle his hair and say with a hoarse laugh, “Alright, we’re even.”

He then stood up, cleared his throat, and when he spoke again, his voice was perfectly normal. “Comrade Xiao Si, you have three minutes to get dressed and equipped. Assemble downstairs with your weapons!”

Zhou Rong stepped past him and out of the room. Guo Weixiang was waiting in the corridor. When he saw him come out, his eyes swept up and down, and he exclaimed in surprise, “Rong-ge, you... what are you...”

“Can’t a man want to shower with his clothes on?” Zhou Rong cursed casually, then asked, “What’s the situation now?”

“Ah? Oh, Feng Wentai and the others knocked out the guard, stole the minibus keys, and completely crashed through the wire fence on the north side...”

Zhou Rong strode toward the stairs, sighing inwardly.

'I’ll have to rely on my right hand for the rest of my life,' he thought.

Half past midnight, north of the factory building.

People rushed back and forth, their flashlight beams sweeping through the night. A large section of the barbed wire fence lay collapsed in the knee-deep withered grass. Chuncao directed the men to attach several rope hooks to the wire mesh, grabbing one of the ropes herself and shouting, “Three, two, one—!”

“Lift!”

With a united effort, the deformed wire mesh was slowly raised, letting out a groan as if under great strain; then, with startled cries, it split into several pieces and crashed back into the dirt!

Zhou Rong stopped in his tracks, his breath forming a visible white puff as he spoke. “What’s the temperature now?”

“Five degrees below zero,” Guo Weixiang said. “The temperature dropped tonight.”

The last sliver of moonlight had vanished at some point. The night was vast, starless and moonless. Without the protection of the wire fence, the factory grounds stretched out boundlessly.

The darkness in the distance was so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, like the gaping maw of a demon quietly opening.

A sense of unease suddenly rose in Zhou Rong's heart, but he hid his agitation. “Where’s the guard who was watching Feng Wentai and his group?”

The guard had been struck hard on the back of the head with a heavy object. When he was found, his head was bloody, and he was lying unconscious in the grass behind the garage. He still hadn't woken up. Zhou Rong checked his breathing and pulse, then cursed under his breath, “Fuck!”

Guo Weixiang covered the guard with a woolen blanket to keep him warm and said, “Ding Shi has already driven off to chase them. He should be back soon…”

“Impossible, it’s too late. Why was the guard allowed to have the minibus keys?!”

“The keys were originally with Doctor Zheng. He changed into clean clothes after delivering the baby and handed the keys to this guy—they’re good friends. No one expected that in the rush, he’d be assigned to guard Feng Wentai and the others...”

Zhou Rong knew this was no time to assign blame and cut Guo Weixiang off loudly, “Chuncao! Organize a team to repair the fence! Get gunpowder from Si Nan and bury it on the road! Hurry! Where is Si Nan?!”

Chuncao took off running. Guo Weixiang immediately said, “I’ll get the car and call Da Ding back!”

“No,” Zhou Rong said decisively.

He seemed to have suddenly heard something. He raised a hand to stop Guo Weixiang and slowly walked forward.

At the edge of the wilderness, north of B City, a cold wind swept across the land from the boundless night, carrying the sorrowful wails of distant, wronged souls.

Guo Weixiang watched Zhou Rong’s back, nervous but not daring to speak. As he hesitated, he heard Zhou Rong softly utter two words: “...Not good.”

The sound of an engine grew from far to near. Headlights suddenly pierced the end of the road, followed by Ding Shi’s heart-wrenching shout carried on the wind, “Rong-ge! Tell everyone to run—!”

“A huge horde of Zombies is heading south from B City! They’re coming this way, they’ll be here soon, they’re only two kilometers away!”

Everyone in the open area turned pale, and screams of terror pierced the night sky!

“Quiet! It’s okay! Don’t be afraid!” Zhou Rong’s harsh cry rang out amidst the chaos, instantly silencing everyone. He continued, “Everyone, go bury gunpowder and nitrocellulose within a five-hundred-meter radius of the factory! Quick! Guo Weixiang, get the new mother and the wounded into a vehicle! Move all the guns! Bring out the armored vehicle!”

“Ding Shi! Prepare to cover the evacuation of the civilians! If you can’t bring the food supplies, leave them!”

Everyone moved at his command, their faces a mixture of fear and anxiety. Amidst the crowd, Zhou Rong turned back and yelled at Guo Weixiang, who was turning to sprint toward the garage, “Remember Yingjie—!”

His roar drowned out all other noise. “Don’t leave Yingjie behind!”

Guo Weixiang’s nose stung. “Yes, sir!”

Ding Shi sped over and screeched to a halt beside Zhou Rong, shaking his head breathlessly. “Couldn’t catch them. There’s no way. They went north. From their direction, they should run straight into the Zombie horde.”

“Numbers?”

Ding Shi’s voice trembled slightly. “The sudden drop in temperature caused a mass southward migration of the Zombies. They’re countless, in the thousands, tens of thousands.”

Zhou Rong made a swift decision. “Go to the warehouse and get the flamethrower and three Signal Flares. Go back to the front of the road. Fire one when the first wave of Zombies is one and a half kilometers away, the second at one kilometer, and the third at five hundred meters. Then return immediately to cover all the survivors. Assemble at the factory dormitory building. Chuncao!”

Chuncao was directing the men to plant explosives along the road, sweating profusely. “Yes!”

“When the second Signal Flare goes up, order everyone to retreat immediately! If a single person is missing, I’ll hold you responsible!”

“Yes!”

Zhou Rong stood in the open space, one hand pressed tightly to his brow. A moment later, he remembered something. “Where’s Si Nan?”

“Si Nan!” he looked up and bellowed.

His gaze swept over the bustling crowd, but he didn’t see that familiar, silent figure. His heart sank slightly. 'Is he angry?'

'He shouldn't be. This is definitely not the time to be sulking, and Si Nan isn't that kind of person...'

“What do you want?” a cold voice sounded.

Zhou Rong turned to see Si Nan, dressed head to toe in riot police gear, the key to his explosives lab hanging around his neck. In his hands, he carried two dozen bottles of nitroglycerin, a frown on his face as he stood behind him.

“Knew you didn’t run off,” Zhou Rong’s heart relaxed immensely. He reached out and pinched his cheek. “You really are Rong-ge’s little treasure...”

Si Nan turned his head to dodge, saying angrily, “Do you want to drink this nitroglycerin?!”

Zhou Rong had gotten used to taking liberties with him. He was about to retort with something like, ‘If you’re the one feeding it to me, I’d drink anything,’ when suddenly a Signal Flare shot into the sky in the distance, emitting a dazzlingly bright light.

The Zombie horde was within a one-and-a-half-kilometer range.

The people carrying explosives were running back and forth frantically. Zhou Rong could no longer be bothered with teasing. He personally carried Si Nan’s “Flying Fire Meteors” and half-buried the powerful nitroglycerin in the path of the advancing Zombie horde, while shouting for someone to hurry Guo Weixiang along.

Swoosh—

The second Signal Flare rose into the sky!

Chuncao’s deafening roar echoed from the distant darkness, “Everyone, retreat—! Quick, quick, quick!!”

The survivors ran back like madmen, but Zhou Rong slung the assault rifle from his shoulder, held it in front of him, and strode forward against the human tide.

“Captain Zhou!” Suddenly, a sharp, high-pitched female voice cried out from the chaos, “Captain Zhou, it’s bad!”

Now, whenever Zhou Rong heard the words ‘it’s bad’, he would shiver reflexively. He turned to see Wu Xinyan stumbling toward him from the direction of the factory dorms, running so hard her hair was disheveled and her face was flushed. “Captain... Captain Zhou, Doctor Zheng, Doctor Zheng told me to tell you...”

She staggered to a stop, caught her breath, and said in despair, “The new mother can’t be moved. She can’t leave. She’s having a difficult labor.”