In a frigid apocalypse, she fed her boyfriend until he became a zombie king.

Wenren Lei landed with a "plop" and stood right in front of the zombie tree.

The zombie tree, which was enjoying its elegant meal, was startled. Its dense leaves trembled wildly and emitted a sharp, piercing cry: "Baaaaaah—!"

"Holy shit!" Wenren Lei hadn't even stood up properly before she blurted out, "That's such an awful way to address someone, can't you just shut up?"

"Meow—!"

Fu Yan landed right after her and reached out to steady Wenren Lei.

The zombie tree immediately fell silent upon seeing Fu Yan, no longer daring to tremble; only its leaves continued to fall pitifully into the snow.

Wenren Lei put her hands on her hips and looked the zombie tree up and down: "You sure know how to eat, what level are you?"

"Meow." The zombie tree wrapped itself in its branches and trembled.

"Yellowstone level." Fu Yan scanned the tree trunk and said, "There's a Redstone level zombie inside its body."

Wenren Lei conjured a flowing Tang sword and placed it on the conveyor belt: "Show it to me, or I'll cut off your rice bowl."

The zombie tree hugged itself even tighter.

Wenren Lei loudly threatened, "I really will chop it!"

Fu Yan shook his head helplessly, a faint red light flashing in his eyes, and said to the zombie tree, "Open it."

"Meow..."

The zombie tree reluctantly stretched out its branches, slowly opening the gap in the middle of its trunk.

Wenren Lei ran over, stood in front of Fu Yan, and peeked out.

The tree trunk was hollow, and inside sat a little boy of about seven or eight years old, who was hugging a crystal core and eating it greedily.

Sunlight filtered through the tree trunk, and the little boy turned his head to see Wenren Lei and Fu Yan, asking in confusion, "What are you doing?"

Wenren Lei immediately noticed that the little boy's lower legs were connected to the zombie tree, and the whole child looked like he was growing out of the tree.

Wenren Lei suddenly realized what was going on and asked, "Who has the fusion ability?"

The little boy raised his hand and answered, "Baa~"

The zombie tree immediately shook its leaves, "Meow—"

"Good boy/girl," Wenren Lei coaxed gently, "So what kind of superpower do you have?"

The little boy raised his hand high, about to shout, "Guagua is..." but he suddenly covered his mouth and said through his fingers, "My sister won't let me tell anyone."

Fu Yan succinctly revealed the answer: "Purification ability."

"Ah!" Guagua's eyes widened in surprise, and she covered her mouth even tighter.

The two exchanged a glance, and Wenren Lei looked in the direction of the research institute, having already roughly guessed the cause and effect.

A child, whose superpowers have been exhausted and who is on the verge of death, is abandoned in the wild by a research institute. By chance, he completes a symbiotic fusion with a mutated tree.

Wenren Lei took out a yellow crystal core from her spatial storage and waved it in front of Guagua: "Clear the vines outside the research institute, and I'll give you this level-three crystal core."

Guagua swallowed hard, firmly covered her eyes, and shook her head frantically: "No! My sister and the neighbors are inside. Guagua has to protect them! You're not allowed to go in!"

"Although Guagua hates the uncles and aunties at the research institute, Guagua's family members are there too!"

"Are you all big bad guys?!"

"Guagua is so busy! Does she still have to deliver food to everyone?"

"..."

A continuous stream of "baa" sounds rang out, and Wenren Lei raised an eyebrow: "So all the townspeople are in the research institute?"

"Right?"

The child's logic is quite difficult to understand; it's innocent yet contradictory, and he protects the townspeople and the researchers together.

Wenren Lei pulled Fu Yan aside and whispered, "Can you control him to open the door?"

Fu Yan gently shook his head: "The Corpse King has limited control over Red Stone-level zombies and cannot change its deep-rooted obsession."

"Alright then." Wenren Lei turned back to Guagua and said in a serious tone, "I just called your sister, and she wants you to open the door."

Guagua yelled, "Are you lying?!"

Wenren Lei also shouted, "Liar is a big honk!" (Macho man)

Fu Yan stood to the side watching Wenren Lei deceive the child, a faint smile on his lips.

Guagua rolled her eyes and thought for a moment, then said, "Then tell me your sister's name, and I'll believe you."

Wenren Lei crossed her arms and sneered, "Your sister said she doesn't have a brother named Guagua. You little liar, what a liar!"

Guagua waved her little hands excitedly: "I'm not a liar!"

Wenren Lei leaned forward and looked him in the eye: "Then tell me your sister's name, and I'll believe you, okay?"

Guagua answered crisply, "My sister's name is Ling Limei."

Wenren Lei clapped her hands in praise: "You got it right! I believe you now. Open the door for your brother, I'll bring your sister some delicious food, okay?"

Guagua nodded blankly: "Meow, open up the vines, meow."

The zombie tree bleated, and the sound of vines rubbing together came from afar.

Wenren Lei instructed, "Open the door when I tickle you, otherwise I'll talk bad about you to my sister from inside, got it?"

Guagua's face scrunched up: "Did you remember that?"

Wenren Lei tossed the crystal core to Guagua and waved, "Goodbye, Guagua, meow."

Guagua hugged the crystal core and beamed with joy: "Goodbye!"

Wenren Lei jumped onto Fu Yan, saying, "Let's go, let's go!"

Fu Yan held him firmly and led him through the woods towards the research institute. He looked down and said, "How can you lie to a child?"

Wenren Lei burst into laughter: "Because I'm a big hunk, huh?"

Fu Yan smiled helplessly: "Stop it."

"Meow meow meow."

The two stood back in front of the giant vine hemisphere, which had now opened up, revealing complete darkness inside.

Wenren Lei jumped down from Fu Yan's arms, took out a flashlight, and went inside.

The moment the two stepped into the ball, the gap closed instantly.

The flashlight beam swept across the ground, revealing numerous bloodstains at the base of the vine-covered wall, and irregular scratch marks scattered across the ground. Wenren Lei crouched down to examine it: "These look like scratches made by human fingernails!"

Fu Yan looked down at the ditch in the ground and said, "It looks like someone escaped here and was dragged back."

The flashlight beam followed the scratch marks forward, revealing a series of winding, bloody drag marks that stretched from the vine ball to the entrance of the research institute.

Wenren Lei shuddered: "Heinous and insane."

The institute's main gate was just a few steps away. Wenren Lei walked over and pushed it open.

"vomit--"

A strong smell of blood and decay hit them, causing Wenrenlei to stumble backward and bump into Fu Yan's chest.

Fu Yan helped Wenren Lei up: "You wait outside, I'll go in and see."

Wenren Lei grabbed Fu Yan's arm and gagged, tears welling up in her eyes. He waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I'm used to the smell. Let's go inside."

After saying that, he took out a mask, put it on, and went into the research institute first. The bloodstains disappeared after extending into the institute's lobby.

Watching Wenren Lei's retreating figure, Fu Yan couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache. He followed behind her and said, "Lei Lei."

Wenren Lei turned to look at him, took his hand, and slowly walked forward: "What's wrong?"

Fu Yan wanted to say, "I'm here, you don't need to force yourself," but in this apocalyptic world, Wenren Lei also needs to grow.

He smiled and changed his words, saying, "You're getting braver and braver, that's great."

Wenren Lei chuckled, "I'll protect you from now on."

Fu Yan said softly, "Okay, thank you, my darling."