"I just went over and asked; there are thousands of people ahead of us in line. It’s estimated it’ll take at least half a year for our turn."
Duan Xu’s tone was helpless, while Yang Jun was somewhat displeased beside him.
"Didn’t they say there would be serum upon arrival? Why does it take so long to queue?"
"Everyone wants to inject serum, but it’s not readily available. I heard the recently produced batch was already used up. A new batch is in production, and only a hundred doses can be made at a time. It’ll take at least four months before it’s our turn."
Duan Xu learned all this by asking around.
People coming for the serum receive a number, and they line up according to the number to get the injection. Looking at the number in his hand, Yang Jun sighed.
"Is there no other way? This is too slow; we can’t possibly wait here for so long."
Wherever humans gather, they attract a swarm of zombies. Without the protection of the base’s high walls, tents are almost as flimsy as paper against the zombies. If the zombie horde attacks, there’s no way to escape.
Everyone understands this, but no one wants to leave now.
"Didn’t they say that finding a rare sample allows you to directly enter the base?"
At this moment, Gu Han Yan, who had been sitting silently beside them, spoke.
Her voice was hoarse and strained, making it painful for others to listen, like sandpaper scraping on rough iron, distinctly unpleasant.
Yang Jun and Duan Xu were reluctant to look at her face, yet they couldn’t avoid making eye contact to prevent agitating her fragile nerves.
"Rare samples are scarce; you’d probably have to go far to find one. People worldwide are trying to exchange samples for a chance to enter the base. Once inside, you get direct access to the serum; outside, all you see are Superpower Users catching zombies."
Gu Han Yan looked at the people streaming past outside the tent, pulling down her hat and speaking softly.
"Do you know how you can get a free lunch in this world?"
Then she stood up, glancing back at Yang Jun.
"Come with me."
Yang Jun hesitated for a moment but eventually stood up, following her out of the tent. He realized she was trailing a man who looked thin and small, his eyes darting around cautiously as he protected the item in his arms.
Gu Han Yan moved forward, and the vine in her hand silently climbed up the man’s back. In a secluded corner, her vine tightened around the man’s neck, her eyes under the brim of her hat gleaming coldly.
"Give me what you’re holding, and I won’t kill you."
The man clutched it tighter, looking at the grotesque, terrifying woman before him, trembling and crying hopelessly.
"I have a daughter, she’s only a year old, this is for her, please."
He pulled a small photo from his shirt pocket, showing him holding a swaddled child with a joyful smile.
Yang Jun couldn’t help but speak softly upon seeing this.
"Let it go."
But Gu Han Yan tightened the vine, her tone indifferent.
"He says he has it, so it must be true? In the apocalypse, you can’t trust anyone’s word. Hand it over!"
With those words, spiny thorns grew from the vine, piercing the man’s neck directly. Blood flowed out, and the vine seemed to come to life, frantically sucking his blood.
Yang Jun furrowed his brow, his eyes filled with shock.
"You didn’t need to kill him."
Gu Han Yan remained unmoved, staring coldly at the man, indifferent to his violent struggles while the vine continued to draw his blood.
Soon, the man’s face turned ashen, his skin shriveled, and his eyes stared widely filled with despair and fear.
Gu Han Yan reached into his arms and pulled out a palm-sized cage containing a vibrantly colored butterfly. As it spread its wings, eyes on the wings blinked rapidly, bizarre and frightening.
On the way back, Yang Jun was silent while Gu Han Yan handed him the cage, but he didn’t take it.
"Are you blaming me for being too cruel?"
"No."
"You are. Why won’t you admit it? Who are you being so hypocritical for?"
Yang Jun increasingly felt that Gu Han Yan was extreme and ruthless.
"We are both Superpower Users; even if we don’t enter the base, we can survive. If we’re willing to wait a month, we could have waited, but that man was just an ordinary person. Whether what he said was true or false, the sample belonged to him.
For him, surviving is much harder than for us.
No matter what, you shouldn’t have treated him that way."
Yang Jun didn’t want to say anything else.
Though often short-tempered, he had a basic sense of right and wrong, and Gu Han Yan’s cold-blooded action was something he couldn’t accept. He even felt her face looked increasingly menacing.
Having said this, Yang Jun turned and walked away. He only took a few steps before instinctively looking back, seeing Gu Han Yan already in line at the base entrance wielding the sample.
He watched silently for a while, then turned back to the tent.
Duan Xu saw him return alone and asked.
"Where’s Han Yan? Why are you alone?"
"She got the rare sample and went to queue to enter the base."
Duan Xu seemed slightly surprised.
"She got a sample... She went inside?"
Regarding Gu Han Yan obtaining a sample in such a short time, it seemed that he was more surprised she’d leave everyone behind and go to the base on her own.
Yang Jun didn’t feel like saying anything else.
"From now on, let’s just act as if she’s not part of the team. We’ll stay in line, and every day I’ll try my luck a bit farther away."
Duan Xu had an elderly mother with him, and there were some ordinary people in the team; with the only three Superpower Users, and Gu Han Yan gone, it was up to Yang Jun to look for samples.
Duan Xu was still not giving up, asked once more.
"Didn’t she say anything?"
"No. People fend for themselves in the apocalypse, she left, and we need to live well."
"How could... How could Han Yan do this..."
Yang Jun frowned; he wasn’t too surprised by Gu Han Yan’s actions, given they had spent so much time together. With her scarred face, Gu Han Yan had clearly grown gloomy and reticent, her mental state was highly abnormal. He wouldn’t be surprised by anything she did now.
"Alright Xu, don’t think about her anymore."
"I’m going to check on her."
With that, Duan Xu rushed out of the tent chasing the long line outside the base until he found Gu Han Yan in black, wearing a black hat.
"Han Yan."
"What are you doing here?"
Gu Han Yan glanced ahead, then frowned at Duan Xu, her tone impatient.
Duan Xu seemed a bit awkward.
"You go in first; we’ll catch up soon. Oh, here’s this, take it. The line is long; you might need something to eat."
With that, Duan Xu handed Gu Han Yan the bag of bread he’d brought out, watching her intently.
Gu Han Yan accepted the bread and urged him to leave.
"Go tell Yang Jun, once I’m inside, I’ll approach Andre soon, and we’ll bring you all in quickly."
"Yes, I knew that’s what you meant; I understand."