The entire bunker utilized fingerprint password unlocking devices. From the first floor to the top level, in public areas and even down to corridors, Hao Cheng's electronic eyes were everywhere.
Even his most trusted parents had not been granted authorization for the bunker's password.
This meant that within the entire bunker, only Hao Cheng was the sole master.
This man made Xu An very curious. In this regard, Hao Cheng's measures were even better than most small-scale bases in her previous life.
In her past life, there were indeed individuals like Hao Cheng, wealthy and fond of novelty, who had established underground bunkers and secret bases.
However, when their kindness led them to indiscriminately accept survivors, the authority of the original owner began to weaken.
Humans were gregarious animals.
But just as wolf packs on the plains needed to elect a wolf king, a small base inevitably required a leader.
A thousand-mile dike could collapse from an ant's nest; internal divisions were often the reason a team fell apart.
Xu An remembered that the small base, despite having ample supplies and no zombie threat, had disintegrated due to internal strife and dissolved within a year.
"What brings you down here this time?" After asking Lin Zhuoran, she realized the question was abrupt. "If you're not comfortable answering, you don't have to."
Xu An smiled. Lin Zhuoran was always perfectly timed, making interactions with her incredibly comfortable.
"There's nothing I can't say. We're here on a mission to search for mutated flora and fauna."
Seeing Xu An speak so casually, Lin Zhuoran assumed it wasn't a significant matter.
"Mutated flora and fauna?"
"What, have you seen some?"
Xu An asked casually, not expecting the other person to nod solemnly.
"I don't know where your base is, but in the past year, Blue Star has undergone tremendous changes. Not only have zombies run rampant, but there have also been unpredictable natural disasters and even strange flora and fauna."
"During a patrol, our team spotted a willow tree. We intended to chop it down for firewood, but unexpectedly, the tree seemed to possess life. As soon as we approached, it began whipping everyone with its branches."
"We named that thing the 'Assault Willow.' Our base is small, with virtually no specialized personnel. We were completely clueless about it, thinking it was just a tree that had gained sentience."
Lin Zhuoran spoke with lingering fear, and Xu An nodded frequently as she listened.
"Based on your description, it sounds like the Assault Willow might be a mutated specimen, but we'll need to see it for ourselves to be sure."
After discussing business, Lin Zhuoran let out a long sigh. "Is the Lighthouse fun?"
Xu An chuckled. "The world is in an apocalypse; what's fun about it? However, it is indeed a place where one can settle down."
She didn't say more, nor did she ask Lin Zhuoran if she regretted it.
In fact, Xu An rarely asked others about regrets, just as she never asked herself.
Since her rebirth, she had no regrets about anything she had done, because she knew she wouldn't get another chance.
At the entrance, Zhou Haimei was chatting animatedly with Yu Qin. She was surprised that survivors on the surface, without official rescue, had spontaneously formed numerous bases specifically for receiving survivors.
"How do you manage your supplies?"
"Our bunker operates under the rule of the jungle; we don't support the weak. You get as much food as you work."
"The higher your contribution points, the more benefits you can exchange."
Zhou Haimei was curious. "Are there any elderly or children here?"
"Only Hao Cheng's parents are older. Everyone else seems to be able-bodied men and women."
Yu Qin lowered her head and said softly, "It's already difficult to see the elderly and children who have survived the apocalypse, isn't it?"
Zhou Haimei also fell silent.
Let alone on land, even on the Lighthouse, it was rare to see newborns.
...
While Lin Zhuoran was still catching up with Xu An in the room, they spoke like old friends who hadn't seen each other for years, with endless conversations.
"Oh, right, what about the zombies you mentioned earlier?"
When zombies were mentioned, Xu An's expression became slightly grim.
"I suspect the zombies have begun their third evolution. When we came down, we were surrounded by a zombie horde, but it wasn't a simple encirclement. It was as if there was a plan, a trap designed to catch us."
Lin Zhuoran teased, "So you fell into it?"
"If I had fallen in, I wouldn't be standing here now." While they joked and laughed, Xu An then seriously explained, "It's likely that intelligent zombies have appeared among them."
"Can't you do anything about it up there?" Lin Zhuoran pointed to the ceiling with her index finger.
"Tch, if we could do something, we wouldn't still be hiding around."
Lin Zhuoran understood the implication in Xu An's words. Indeed, at the moment survivors waited day after day without receiving any national rescue,
everyone felt abandoned. Resentment, suspicion, and anger—almost all negative emotions exploded at that instant.
But Xu An saw a distinct difference in Lin Zhuoran.
While it wasn't very apparent during the incident in the desert, seeing Lin Zhuoran and Yu Qin now, Xu An finally understood the source of the persistent strangeness she sensed from them from the very first glance.
Lin Zhuoran had become much more formidable.
If a year ago Lin Zhuoran was still a weakling Xu An needed to save, then a year later, Lin Zhuoran was definitely a partner who could stand shoulder to shoulder with her.
Only a year had passed, but Lin Zhuoran had truly achieved it. One should look at someone with new eyes after they had been apart for three days.
Not only Lin Zhuoran, but also the girl named Yu Qin accompanying her. The firm muscle lines on Yu Qin indicated that her strength was not to be underestimated.
Xu An couldn't help but consider a hypothesis: if a few random people were taken from the Lighthouse and placed on the surface, could even one of them survive a single night among the survivors there?
Xu An then thought of a hypothesis about "human evolution" proposed by a madman in her previous life...
Just then, several shaky, slow-moving zombies with rotting skin began to walk. Upon seeing Zhou Haimei and Yu Qin standing at the entrance, they suddenly lunged at them.
Yu Qin hadn't expected to encounter mutated creatures even here.
"Sister Zhuoran, zombies have appeared here too."