The situation had begun to clarify.

Liu Yang must have caught wind of his movements, seeking revenge, inching closer with every calculated step.

As soon as the subway arrived, he tampered with it, waiting for the moment it would depart to strike.

There were plenty of factories around here; with enough manpower, acquiring chemical materials to synthesize explosives wouldn’t be difficult.

“Guandong, let's go grab some food.”

“Aren’t we waiting for the shift change?”

“It’s already past the time for that. I’d bet Du Lao Si and the others wore themselves out last night after hauling seven or eight women into their rooms. Who knows when they'll be back on their feet. Let's eat first and deal with the rest later.”

The two patrolling men entered a nearby room.

Yang Mu glanced down the hallway—no cameras. After a moment’s hesitation, he began to move, creeping forward on his belly, with Hongyi still mimicking his every move from behind.

Crawling near a room not far from the stairwell, the door left slightly ajar, heavy breaths could be heard inside, distinctly a woman’s.

Not long after, a man’s voice followed.

“Heh, they all said you were a female warlord? Turns out you scream just the same when you're in pain! I thought you’d be silent, like some stubborn mare!”

“The name’s Guo Dahai. Breaking women like you is my specialty, though I’ve had to hold back in the past.”

“But not anymore! Hah! Even if I kill you now, who’s going to care? Once I escape this quarantine zone, who’s going to know I committed murder?”

“If you don’t want to die, if you don’t want more of this torture, why not surrender to me? How about it?”

“I could’ve had my way with you already, but I just love this process of conquest. It’s so... exquisite!”

The man spoke while chuckling.

Yang Mu couldn’t see him, but he knew that voice.

It was the bodybuilder who had greeted them when he and Xiao Naigou arrived at Liu Yang’s apartment.

A female warlord? That could only be Xiang Ru.

It seemed likely that he too had been captured by these men, with the girl, Hongyi, rescuing him and bringing him to the rooftop.

Yang Mu decided it was worth the risk. He slowly activated the recording function on his phone, sliding the camera into the room.

After about half a minute, he pulled the phone back and played the silent recording.

The video showed a living room with three doors—one leading to a kitchen, the other two to bedrooms.

The door to the left bedroom was open, but no one could be seen inside.

Xiang Ru was suspended from the chandelier, her legs dangling half a meter off the ground. Both her legs and hands were tightly bound, with a single rope holding her aloft.

Guo Dahai laughed heartily as he hung four large containers of cooking oil from Xiang Ru’s feet. Then, he added four more.

The containers, though from different brands, were full, evidence that these men had raided nearby households for supplies.

They must have also captured the survivors, otherwise, where would they have found so many women to torment?

Despite her torment, Xiang Ru remained conscious, her cold eyes fixed on Guo Dahai. The iciness in her gaze was enough to freeze the soul.

Yang Mu had little doubt that, in Xiang Ru’s eyes, Guo Dahai was already a dead man.

Had she not been so weakened, Yang Mu was sure Xiang Ru could kill him even under these dire circumstances. Was she waiting for the perfect moment? A chance to escape, perhaps?

Was there someone else in the bedroom?

That might explain why Xiang Ru was holding back—she knew that even if she mustered the last of her strength to kill Guo Dahai, she still couldn’t escape. She’d only alert the others, destroying any chance of freedom.

If he helped her take down this man, would she be able to finish off anyone else in the room?

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It was a gamble, but one he had to take. Otherwise, his current predicament would remain a perilous one.

Yang Mu reviewed the video one more time, memorizing the layout of the room, then took a deep breath and, with a slow and steady hand, pushed the door open.

He pushed it carefully, so slowly that Guo Dahai, who was facing away from the door, didn’t notice a thing.

For Xiang Ru, these past three hours had felt like an eternity.

The subway accident had shattered her left arm, causing her to cough up a mouthful of blood.

Amidst the smoke and dust, she had been dragged out by someone, though she had no idea what had happened next.

She was disoriented, but staying conscious was a testament to her resilience.

When she finally regained her senses, she found herself bound alongside her comrades, with Chu Hong and the others.

Xiang Ru realized that they had all been captured, taken as prisoners.

After staying in the room for a while, the men were taken out, one by one.

These men were, of course, comrades from the Zhanlei Special Forces, but Xiang Ru had no idea where they were sent. Those who left never returned.

Everyone had been captured after sustaining injuries, seemingly losing the ability to resist.

After about two hours, a man finally brought her out, into this room.

Like a cat playing with a mouse, he spent an entire hour torturing her.

He even pried off one of her toenails with a knife—an excruciating pain that made her scream.

She couldn't take it anymore; she had to kill this man.

But there were two others in the room, both armed. If she killed this man, the others would come for her, and she wouldn't survive.

But it didn’t matter—better to die than to live in chains!

Just as Xiang Ru was about to make her move, she saw the door quietly open, and two figures crawled inside—one large, one small.

It was him!

Yang Mu?

When Xiang Ru was captured, she vaguely heard someone say, "That kid hit me in the face—lock him up alone. When he wakes up, I'll deal with him myself!"

She had tried to open her eyes and saw, in a haze, that the person being captured was indeed Yang Mu.

How did he escape? And why was he here now? What was he planning?

The answer was already clear. Xiang Ru was simply too surprised. How had this man, who she had found so irritating, suddenly become so remarkable? He had found a way to escape from a sealed room and now somehow managed to move freely?

There was no time for answers. Xiang Ru tensed, ready to act.

Yang Mu finally reached Guo Dahai’s side, moving with calculated precision. He had already noticed the high-voltage stun baton hanging from Guo Dahai’s waist, commonly referred to as an electric baton.

Everything was done in absolute silence. Yang Mu slowly stood up and, with extreme care, removed the baton from Guo Dahai’s body—completely unnoticed.

It was no joke. After surviving so long in this world, one needed a few tricks to guarantee a meal every day.

With everything set, Yang Mu flipped the switch and pressed the baton to Guo Dahai's neck.

Guo Dahai screamed as the shock sent him to the ground.

Yang Mu followed him down, continuing to stun him until he passed out.

There were indeed others in the room. Two men with guns burst out, and Yang Mu tensed with anxiety.

It was up to Xiang Ru now. Did she still have the strength to fight back? He had taken one of them down; she now had the opportunity and time to act.

If not, he could only use Guo Dahai's body as a shield to escape. But in his weakened state, could he move fast enough?

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, he saw Xiang Ru, with eight barrels of oil hanging from her legs, summon the strength in her waist. Her legs pushed against the ropes, lifting her body to a ninety-degree angle.

Yang Mu was in awe. This girl's core strength was incredible—her kidneys must be in great shape.

The two men barely had time to take two steps before they entered Xiang Ru’s attack range. Before they could even raise their guns, Xiang Ru’s leg, weighted with four barrels of oil, swung and struck one of them in the head, knocking him unconscious.

The other tried to dodge, but Xiang Ru’s body, already fully extended from the momentum of her previous strike, was too quick. She hooked the man’s neck with her leg, pulling him back into a tight chokehold between her calf and thigh.

Yang Mu could hear the sickening crack of bones as the man’s eyes rolled back. When Xiang Ru finally released him, he collapsed to the ground, either dead from asphyxiation or with his neck broken.

At that moment, Xiang Ru wore only a pair of deep red safety shorts, leaving her long, sleek, snow-white legs fully exposed.

Earlier, Yang Mu had found her legs quite sexy, comparable to Wen Sijia's. Now, he only felt a sense of awe—these weren't legs; they were weapons. Being caught between them was a death sentence.

Yang Mu now fully understood that while he was strong, he was still leagues behind this woman.

In her prime, not only would he not stand a chance in a direct fight, but even in a sneak attack, he wouldn't likely come out on top.

After eliminating the three men, Yang Mu weakly lay on the ground, looking up at the woman still hanging from the ceiling.

"Untie me."

She spoke softly. Yang Mu hesitated no longer. The two of them worked in perfect unison—if they wanted to survive, they had to keep cooperating.

He pulled a knife from Guo Dahai’s body and cut through the ropes binding Xiang Ru.

As soon as she hit the ground, the first thing she did was bite into her own arm.

Blood seeped from her teeth, painting a ghastly scene.

As she bit down, she also sucked her own blood.

"Are you that hungry? Drinking your own blood may be a solution, but too much blood loss will only make you weaker."

Her face turned pale, but she ignored Yang Mu’s words, continuing to suck her blood. Then she walked over and grabbed a belt from one of the men she had taken down.

Finally, she stopped drinking, using the belt to tighten around her waist and then retrieving a knife from the man’s waist to hang at her side.

These weapons had originally belonged to the Zhanlei Special Forces.

She checked the gun, reloaded it with a magazine from the body, and prepared for the next phase.

Xiang Ru now stood barefoot, in safety shorts, with her waist exposed. Her upper body wore a matching bra of the same deep red.

Though her outfit was revealing, she paid it no mind.

Yang Mu watched her and began to understand—she hadn’t bitten herself out of hunger, but to sharpen her focus.

The woman before him was enraged, bloodthirsty, and utterly savage, her full potential now unleashed.

She was like a lioness, long caged, finally returning to the wild.

"Let's go, Yang Mu. Let’s kill them all."

The restrained fury in her voice matched her actions. As she walked, her foot came down on Guo Dahai’s neck, and with a crack, his neck twisted at a grotesque angle.

Then, without hesitation, she kicked open the door, no longer bothering to hide her presence. It seemed she had nothing left to fear, or rather... nothing left to lose.