The next day, Ye Junhan and the other two returned to camp.

As soon as they approached the Miasma Forest, Ye Junhan keenly sensed that the dangerous presences in the swamp had vanished.

Zhao Qingxiao came over and briefly reported on what had happened after they left. He focused on how Gu Xi and the others had spent the entire previous day fishing using Water Vine Vegetable.

’No wonder.’

Ye Junhan grew pensive.

With the combined strength of Gu Xi, Shen Yue, and Wei Heng, and using bait, they had probably wiped out nearly all the mutated creatures in this swamp. Even if a few had slipped through the net, they had likely fled and were now hiding far away.

But...

Ye Junhan looked up at the vast white expanse in the distance. ’To make a move now... isn’t it a bit too soon?’

"Captain, there’s one more thing."

Zhao Qingxiao glanced toward the research team’s area on the side of the camp and lowered his voice. "This morning, Qi Xiang came out and delivered a strange fish to the research team. Its belly was covered in roots. She said it was a research sample for them..."

This act was clearly a veiled message to certain people: the dangerous creatures in the swamp deep within the Miasma Forest would soon be completely cleared out by Gu Xi.

Meanwhile, the concentration of the surrounding miasma had also been visibly decreasing over the past few days.

Once the miasma in the forest no longer posed a threat to humans, and with Gu Xi proactively clearing out the dangerous creatures in the swamp... would those people still be able to sit still?

After all, in the eyes of certain people, the creatures in this swamp were a powerful weapon.

That, Zhao Qingxiao guessed, was the real "big fish" Gu Xi was trying to catch.

Ye Junhan gave him a long, deep look but said nothing.

Zhao Qingxiao rubbed his nose and said pointedly, "Captain, I’m guessing Miss Gu is clearing out the dangerous creatures in the swamp right now to send a signal. It’s to buy some time for certain people."

He took a step closer, his voice dropping to a low whisper. "Captain, with the incident at the Central Base, the higher-ups still haven’t contacted us..."

Ye Junhan glanced over, his expression impassive. Zhao Qingxiao met his gaze without flinching and said candidly, "Captain, we need to start thinking about the future of our men."

It might seem like the men of our Special Service Team were lucky to have avoided the vortex of the Central Base’s power struggle this time. But anyone with half a brain knows that as long as we’re tied to Gu Xi, we’ll never be free from the machinations of those in power!

To put it bluntly, what do a few dozen people in our convoy matter to those at the top?

We could become sacrificial pawns for some losing side in a power struggle at any moment!

The apocalypse is tough, and the human heart is unpredictable.

For Zhao Qingxiao to speak so frankly to Ye Junhan today showed that he truly considered him a brother, one for whom he would risk his life.

Besides, he knew perfectly well that the Special Service Team couldn’t possibly separate from Gu Xi now. Forget whether Ye Junhan had romantic feelings for her—even the men on the team wouldn’t agree to it.

Frankly, they were all willing to sacrifice themselves for their country, but they absolutely refused to become victims of someone’s political infighting!

Besides, this is the apocalypse. Who doesn’t want to live a safe and stable life?

Ye Junhan patted his shoulder without a word, then turned and went to find Gu Xi.

Gu Xi was in their small camp in the Miasma Forest, using Purification on Crystal Cores. After a full day of fishing yesterday, Wei Heng and Shen Yue had harvested a large batch of Crystal Cores from the mutated animals. Even Qi Xiang, wielding her Triangular Military Knife, had managed to pick up quite a few on the side.

However, the mutated creatures living in the swamp had absorbed a strange type of energy over the years. As a result, the energy within their Crystal Cores was mottled and impure, making it unsuitable for espers to absorb directly.

So, Wei Heng and the others had given all the Crystal Cores they collected to Gu Xi for her to purify.

When Ye Junhan found her, Gu Xi was lazily leaning against a large rock, listening to the radio. A bucket sat in front of her, nearly half-full of Crystal Cores. Inside, a lush, vibrant green vine churned the contents like a water snake.

Ye Junhan glanced at Sprout working diligently in the bucket before walking to the other side of the boulder. His gaze fell on the old radio sitting on the rock.

The radio was broadcasting missing-person announcements.

Ye Junhan had just returned from City A. From what he had seen and heard there, the situation at A City Base was not good.

The main issue was the chaotic management. Even though the base had prepared contingency plans for the major earthquake, they weren’t very effective. As a result, there were still many displaced people within A City Base...

Many had been separated from their friends and family.

Naturally, many people were using the radio to search for their loved ones, so the missing-person announcements were being broadcast on a repeating loop.

Ye Junhan stood under a large tree nearby, quietly listening along with Gu Xi for a while.

Finally, Gu Xi turned off the radio and looked up at him. "Did you make contact?"

"Yes." Ye Junhan briefly told Gu Xi about his trip to City A, but he omitted the specific details of his conversation with the military’s top brass.

Since it involved military secrets, Gu Xi didn’t press for details. She just listened quietly, occasionally nudging Sprout, who was trying to sneak its head out of the bucket to pester Ye Junhan.

After he finished talking about City A, Ye Junhan paused, then met Gu Xi’s eyes. "Mr. Li and Mr. Xiao have a message for you."

Gu Xi wasn’t surprised. Her eyes landed on the back of his shoulder, where an obvious cut was visible.

’With Ye Junhan’s strength, not many people could injure him. Since when did A City Base have a master of that caliber?’

She raised an eyebrow, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Ye Junhan subtly shifted half a step, moving his injured shoulder out of her probing gaze. "Mr. Li and Mr. Xiao... told you not to go soft."

After he spoke, he gave Gu Xi a long, meaningful look.

’Don’t go soft?’

’On who?’

’The Gu Family? Yun Ye? Or Ye Xin?’

Gu Xi stared at the radio before her, lost in silence.

On the other side of the large rock, Ye Junhan accompanied her in silence.

Nearby, Sprout was still working diligently. The crisp clinking of Crystal Cores from the bucket sounded particularly ethereal in the silent woods.

Just then, the Mutated Rat King suddenly darted out from nowhere. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Ye Junhan’s brow furrowed slightly.

The Mutated Rat King shook the mud from its fur and shot him a contemptuous SQUEAK. ’So what if I’m a little dirty? This is the glorious mark of a hard worker! What does a fool like you know?!’

Ye Junhan was speechless.

He looked at Gu Xi. "Has this rat... gotten smaller?"

Gu Xi nodded. "Yes. It just evolved."

"The little guy is a bit strange," Wei Heng remarked as he walked over. He had been following behind the Mutated Rat King and nodded a greeting to Ye Junhan.

Ever since the apocalypse began, mutated animals had only ever evolved to become larger. At least, Wei Heng had never seen one that chose to evolve to be smaller.

"That just shows how little you’ve seen," Qi Xiang said, sheathing her Triangular Military Knife at her waist as she walked over. "Evolution is diverse by nature. Mutated animals absorb different types of energy, so they follow different evolutionary paths..."

Previously, this Mutated Rat King had been unwilling to hand over the Crystal Cores it acquired, choosing instead to hide and absorb them secretly. Gu Xi, for her part, wanted to observe the effects of that strange energy from the swamp, so she had let it be, treating it as a lab rat for her experiment.

Unexpectedly, after absorbing those Crystal Cores, the rat had indeed begun to evolve differently.

For now, there were no other obvious changes, but its size... it was indeed a tiny bit smaller.

But since the little thing was currently coated in mud from head to tail, it was difficult to notice the change if you weren’t looking carefully.

"C’mere, little guy," Qi Xiang called, bending down to scoop a few Crystal Cores from the bucket and holding out her hand to the rat.

When the Mutated Rat King saw the Crystal Cores, its small, bead-like red eyes darted around slyly. It then scurried happily over to Qi Xiang, its face a mask of eager sycophancy that not even a head full of mud could conceal.

It was a perfect, living embodiment of the saying: "Whoever provides the milk is your mother."