The guy who took unauthorized photos was escorted back by Qin Luo and Wang Weihu. Whatever method they used must have scared him badly enough that his legs turned to jelly - he probably wouldn't dare to take sneaky photos or make snide remarks anymore.

When Qin Luo returned to his seat, the little zombie was just finishing a mutation core, munching away with puffy cheeks like a hamster.

He poked her cheek, muttering, "Tch, and they say we're too intimate just because of this?"

He was just talking to himself.

The little zombie glanced at him with sparkling eyes, making him feel oddly embarrassed.

Bai Shu looked at Qin Luo exasperatedly, "You're always picking her up and carrying her around, either over your shoulder or in your arms. Plus you're constantly poking her or patting her head. What do you expect people to think?"

Qin Luo felt awkward as he realized it was true. He just couldn't help teasing her - seeing her made him feel nostalgic.

He just wanted to playfully tease her.

But his pride made him defensively say, "It's just convenient, that's all."

Bai Shu responded sarcastically: "Sure, sure."

Chen Xiaofei quietly snickered.

Wang Weihu coughed and pretended not to hear, lying down to sleep.

Qin Luo: ...

Well.

There was no explaining it!!

Long after Xu Duoduo finished chewing the mutation core, she remembered she was supposed to get them food. But by then, all four of them had already lain down to sleep.

She was confused for a second, then wrapped herself in her small blanket and lay down too. She hoped to get better soon - this delayed thinking was really annoying. The irritated little zombie stared at Qin Luo's neatly trimmed nape and his back...

She wriggled over like a caterpillar in her blanket, snuggling up against her delicious-smelling food reserve to sleep. Tonight would definitely be sweet dreams.

**

At dawn, everyone in the warehouse started getting up one after another.

Those who had been on night watch went straight to the vehicles to catch up on sleep, while others packed up to prepare for departure.

Apart from the occasional noise of dealing with stray zombies during the night, everyone had gotten a good night's sleep - something extremely rare in the apocalypse.

Chen Xiaofei stretched with his messy bed head, sighing contentedly, "Ah~ Slept so well last night. We should thank Zhang and his team for taking the night watch shifts and letting us get such good rest."

Bai Shu also got up, squinting as he looked for his glasses.

Chen Xiaofei opened his eyes to find four familiar-colored thermoses neatly arranged in front of him. He turned to look at Xu Duoduo and exclaimed excitedly, "Wow, Little Squad Leader, you're better now?"

The little zombie's eyes had regained their spirit, no longer appearing dazed like yesterday. She even gave him a cool nod and handed him a jar of side dishes - crispy spicy radish chunks to go with their porridge.

Chen Xiaofei was almost moved to tears, holding the jar of spicy radish while whimpering, "Waaah, Little Squad Leader, you're like my second parents! This is great, we can go back to living the good life with delicious food again!"

Bai Shu simply smacked Chen Xiaofei's head, scolding, "Why are you making such a fuss first thing in the morning?"

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He was fine otherwise, just had a bit of a temper when waking up. Usually, it was best not to bother him, but Chen Xiaofei just had to make such a racket first thing in the morning, irritating him.

Chen Xiaofei immediately perked up, holding his jar of radish saying, "Well then, don't eat any later!"

Bai Shu finally saw clearly what he was holding, his eyes flashing. He got up calmly and said, "Oh, fine, I won't eat it."

The next second, he snatched Chen Xiaofei's spicy radish jar, "I'm confiscating this!!" and quickly stored it in his spatial storage card.

All four of them had spatial storage, though their spaces weren't large, and headquarters could monitor what was inside - there was no privacy.

Chen Xiaofei was stunned by Bai Shu's shameless move, frozen on his bed.

Bai Shu had already run to the bathroom.

Wang Weihu sighed helplessly, "Alright, stop fooling around. Let's eat and get moving."

He also got up.

True to his father-figure nature, while others ran off after waking, he started making the beds first.

He folded each blanket into neat squares before storing them in his spatial storage card.

Xu Duoduo squatted nearby watching the whole show with great interest, finding their bickering quite entertaining. Seeing how pitiful Chen Xiaofei looked, she gave him another can of preserved anchovies.

Chen Xiaofei instantly revived! "I'm back! Off to wash up!"

Wang Weihu noticed the little zombie squatting at the side, looking particularly small, and politely greeted her, "Morning, Little Squad Leader. Feeling better today?"

After all, she had saved three of their lives - they now shared a life-and-death bond.

Though she had become dazed last night and even grew fangs, the electronic display on her collar had remained green throughout.

How good of a person must she be to have no desire to harm others even after becoming a zombie?

Wang Weihu had never seen such a zombie before, but that didn't stop him from admiring her.

Xu Duoduo didn't like people looking at her collar. As a little zombie who firmly believed herself to be human, she disliked being treated as different. So when Wang Weihu greeted her and glanced at her collar, she felt uncomfortable and only nodded vaguely.

Then she turned and left, going to squat in another direction, guarding the breakfast she had prepared for them - four thermoses of hot porridge plus a box of tea eggs, probably containing eight or nine eggs.

Qin Luo had gone out early for a perimeter check. He had woken up earlier than anyone else, mainly because he couldn't sleep - the little zombie had been using him as a chew toy last night.

The little thing had snuggled up to him while sleeping, and sometime in the middle of the night, she had changed positions and somehow ended up in his arms, suddenly biting his wrist. It had startled him awake, and he almost snapped her neck.

When Qin Luo realized it was her, he was stunned for a long while. When he finally came to his senses, he found she was just teething on his wrist, probably too afraid to actually bite, just playing with his wrist.

She had drooled all over his hand.

Qin Luo was dumbfounded. He called out to her but got no response - she just kept gnawing on his wrist with her eyes closed, probably uncomfortable from teething. Her brows were tightly furrowed, her little face all scrunched up, making him feel quite troubled.

He felt quite awkward about it and barely slept all night. In contrast, the little zombie seemed like she was sleepwalking. When he woke up in the morning feeling uncomfortable, she woke up too, blinking at him, but showing no signs of embarrassment.

This made him blush, and he decided to go out for some fresh air. After making several rounds and taking down more than a dozen lone zombies and mutant dogs, he still couldn't figure it out.

Among the four of them, why did she stick to him specifically? Perhaps...

There could only be one truth!

Xu Duoduo must like him too! That had to be it! It would explain everything!

She had been staring at his chest muscles while he was showering yesterday. Such a handsome guy like him must have caught the little zombie's eye. Qin Luo nodded while stroking his chin, fully convinced of his reasoning. Well, who could blame her? He was quite the looker!

After figuring this out, Qin Luo felt completely refreshed. When he returned to see the little zombie squatting there guarding their breakfast, she couldn't have looked more adorable.

Oh.

Who couldn't like her?

He went over to look at her, squatting beside her. The little zombie turned to see him return, her eyes immediately brightening, and she moved closer to him.

She had to be right next to him.

Qin Luo felt delighted inside, and turned to ask her, "Hey, do you like me?"

As he said this, he felt quite shy - Squad Leader Qin was experiencing his first flutter of romance at age twenty-two.

Xu Duoduo looked at the delicious-smelling Qin Luo in front of her, barely holding back her drool. She immediately nodded, very seriously nodding - she did really like him.

Want to eat him.

Qin Luo turned completely red, blushing from his ears all the way down to his neck.