Moreover, this Jin Chuanqiong didn’t have a great reputation—quite the contrary, he was rather disliked.

“Squad Leader, if you ever run into that guy, stay as far away from him as possible. Jin Chuanqiong is nothing but a hypocrite and a true scoundrel, ruthless to the core,” Chen Xiaofei explained to the little zombie. While Jin Chuanqiong had completed a fair number of missions, his methods were dirty. To ensure mission success, he often sacrificed teammates to boost his own completion rate.

In short, he was a cold-blooded and calculating person.

Bai Shu couldn’t help but grimace when he brought up Jin Chuanqiong. “He’s always aiming too high for his abilities. He’ll trip over himself sooner or later.”

Wang Weihu, on the other hand, tried to keep things in check. “Alright, let’s tone it down a bit. After all, we’re all part of combat squads. If someone overhears us, it won’t look good. Then he’ll start playing the victim again, claiming we at 3A bully him and steal credit from his Golden Eagle Team.”

His serious yet sarcastic tone made both Chen Xiaofei and Bai Shu burst into laughter.

Xu Duoduo quickly caught on—this Jin Chuanqiong was clearly bad news.

Just then, Qin Luo glanced down at her and added, “Jin Chuanqiong is all about appearances. Loves stealing credit, acting all high and mighty. Da Qiao even said he despises mutants. If he dares to bully you, just beat him up! If you can’t win, run and tell me. I’ll deal with him.”

He was genuinely worried the little zombie might get bullied. Sometimes, she seemed sharp, but at other times, she could be adorably clueless.

Xu Duoduo simply nodded with an “mm.” Lately, she really had been acting more and more “human.”

Qin Luo thought back to how she had clung to him earlier, her big, expectant eyes looking up at him. A zombie who could feel for others—Xu Duoduo had been genuinely moved by Da Qiao’s gesture of friendship. How could such a little creature not be considered human?

His heart softened at the thought.

Chen Xiaofei, meanwhile, was still ranting about Jin Chuanqiong’s misdeeds. “Damn poser, acts like he’s some big shot. His real name is Jin Dapeng, and he named the Golden Eagle Team after himself. After he screwed over the Rose Team and got mocked by their captain for having such a cheesy name, he went and changed it to Jin Chuanqiong.”

A petty person would remain petty, no matter the name. If his character was rotten, a name change wouldn’t fix that.

The only reason he was still tolerated was because the headquarters were short on manpower.

How many times had Jin Chuanqiong crossed the line? His worst incident involved losing two-thirds of his team members! He cared nothing for his teammates’ lives.

Yet he was a master manipulator, always able to brainwash some teammates into working for him.

Truly a “talent” in his own right.

The group continued their complaints all the way home. This time, they were heading to Wang Weihu’s place. Despite his rugged appearance, Wang Weihu was a surprisingly domestic man.

His home was impeccably clean.

As soon as they stepped inside, the four humans and one zombie received an email from headquarters. They were officially invited to join the upcoming rescue mission, with a reward of 500,000 points per person. Each team would also be equipped with the latest thermal weapons and provisions.

Qin Luo checked the departure time. “Three days from now. Perfect timing—we’ll get our customized weapons and head out.”

Bai Shu reminded everyone, “Tomorrow, we need to take the second dose of the diluted mutation core serum.”

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Which meant they could take the third dose on the way.

This would also give them a chance to further enhance their abilities. Not a bad plan. Once they arrived, it would be straight into combat mode.

Wang Weihu headed to the kitchen to prepare drinks, while Chen Xiaofei took Xu Duoduo to the sofa, where the two began gossiping.

Qin Luo turned around to find the little zombie had wandered off. He immediately announced, “Starting today, Xu Duoduo will undergo special training. No one gets to slack off these next three days.”

Since the little zombie had regained her agility, it was time to stop taking it easy and start training seriously.

Chen Xiaofei groaned dramatically. “Ahhh, my precious vacation! Why don’t you teach your first love yourself?”

Bai Shu chuckled and cast a teasing glance at their captain. “Are you sure you want us teaching her?”

Qin Luo rolled his eyes. He wasn’t about to get jealous over something like this! “I’ll handle hand-to-hand combat. Bai Shu, you teach her sniping. Old Wang, you cover martial arts. Xiaofei, teach her how to stay hidden.”

In the apocalypse, every skill was a survival tool.

They couldn’t always keep an eye on her. The best solution was to help her grow stronger.

Though they joked around, everyone agreed without hesitation.

The little zombie tilted her head, observing them. Finally, she tapped a few words on her tablet and held it up for them to see: **[Teach me. I want to learn.]**

Her determination made them all smile. That’s just who she was—given the chance, she’d always give it her all.

Dinner that night was a feast: braised beef, ginger duck, spicy diced chicken, boiled shrimp, garlic stir-fried cabbage, and a pot of seaweed egg drop soup freshly made by Wang Weihu.

These were all pre-apocalypse home-cooked dishes.

Most of the ingredients were ones Xu Duoduo had prepared before the apocalypse; only the soup was freshly made.

Everyone ate to their heart’s content.

The braised beef was savory and tender, the ginger duck fragrant and falling off the bone, the spicy chicken perfect with rice, the boiled shrimp sweet and fresh, and the garlic cabbage a refreshing palate cleanser.

Finishing it all off with a bowl of seaweed egg drop soup left everyone feeling utterly satisfied.

Xu Duoduo couldn’t eat much of these dishes—just a bite of each. She could now taste a faint hint of flavor, but it was still worlds apart from what she remembered.

These days, she could only consume mutated plants or mutated animal meat.

For example, the mutated shrimp Chen Xiaofei had bought the other night had been delicious. Unfortunately, such ingredients were scarce and in high demand. The use of mutated plants and animals as food was still in its infancy, but supply would likely increase in the future.

In the end, Xu Duoduo munched on a mutated bat’s mutation core, which tasted like sweet raspberry.

“Ahh, I’m so full! Life is just too good! Having the Squad Leader is such a blessing—I could praise her a hundred times every meal!” Chen Xiaofei exclaimed, ever the expert at boosting morale.

Even Bai Shu, full and content, leaned back on the sofa, zoning out in bliss.

Wang Weihu diligently cleaned up the dishes.

Meanwhile, Qin Luo was busy drafting a special training schedule for the little zombie. The timetable was packed to the brim.

The devil’s training regime was about to begin!

Xu Duoduo suddenly remembered something and followed Wang Weihu into the kitchen. Seeing how well-equipped his kitchen was, she thought about preparing more food.

The appetites of ability users were enormous. Since everyone saved their mutation cores for her, she couldn’t let them go hungry. It was time to stock up on cooked food.

Wang Weihu noticed her wandering around the kitchen and said, “Squad Leader, go rest. I’ll handle the dishes. I’m used to it.”

Xu Duoduo couldn’t speak, so she typed on her tablet: **[Space. Lots of ingredients. Need to prepare cooked food.]**

Her thoughts often got stuck these days, so she kept her sentences short and to the point.

Wang Weihu immediately agreed. “I’m not the best cook, but I can make sure everyone’s fed. Squad Leader, just bring out the ingredients. I’ll prep some cooked food whenever I have time. You focus on learning from Qin Luo.”

The little zombie nodded reservedly and began pulling out an array of pre-apocalypse supplies from her spatial storage. These were simple to prepare—just cook them thoroughly.

She also took out four air fryers and three pressure cookers, handing them all to Wang Weihu.

Wang Weihu felt overwhelmed, unable to imagine how much effort Xu Duoduo must have put into stockpiling all this food before the apocalypse. Still, he nodded resolutely. “Alright, alright. I’ll do my best to get everything cooked.”

Satisfied, the little zombie finally relaxed. When Qin Luo called her from the other room, she shuffled out to join him.