Still hoarding supplies in the apocalypse? I'll just go on a killing spree and looting!

Lin You laughed this time, but the laugh was very strange.

Team Leader Song frowned and continued, "They saw you shoot and kill that woman at the entrance of the residential area..."

A rustling sound came from a corner of the supermarket.

The middle-aged man, Zhao Bingcheng, put his travel bag on the ground, stood up, and walked to the cashier.

His movements were hesitant, as if he were making a difficult decision.

Many people stopped their hushed conversations and looked up at him.

An elderly man with gray hair reached out to pull him back, but Old Zhao gently pushed him away.

"Miss Lin," Old Zhao said, standing two steps away from the cashier, "I have something to say, but I'm not sure if I should."

Lin You didn't look up, but coldly replied, "Speak."

"I was in the back of the truck when you fired at the entrance of the residential area. I saw it." Old Zhao swallowed nervously. "That woman was holding onto the safety bar tightly. You got out of the truck, walked over, and fired. At the time, I didn't think much of it. To be honest, the monsters were all rushing over then, and everyone wanted to survive. But later, sitting in the truck, the more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt."

Zhao Bingcheng subconsciously cleared his throat and continued.

"She was just trying to save her boyfriend. She wasn't a bad person. When you shot her, did you ever think... maybe her boyfriend really was inside, maybe it was just a matter of minutes?"

Mu Xue placed the shotgun on the cashier's counter and stood up.

Her movements were very gentle, but Zhao Bingcheng still subconsciously took a half step back.

"Let me answer you." Mu Xue's voice wasn't loud, but every word was steady. "That woman? You don't even know her name; she's probably not from this neighborhood. How do you know what she said is true?"

Old Zhao was stunned for a moment; he really didn't know that woman.

Mu Xue continued, "They're not here. We searched every floor of all three buildings." Mu Xue interrupted him, her tone still calm, much like Lin You's icy demeanor.

"We knocked on every door and confirmed your names before bringing you into the vehicle. If her boyfriend were on any floor of Building 3, we would see him now. But he's not. It's not that he wasn't found—he wasn't even in Building 3. You saw those monsters too. Not just one or two, but a whole horde. If the convoy hadn't left then, and we had waited two more minutes, the horde would have surrounded the entire entrance to the complex. It wouldn't have been just a matter of one person dying."

Mu Xue looked down at everyone who was looking up at her and said with a condescending gaze, "You will all die together."

She paused, looking into Old Zhao's eyes.

"You said she just wanted to save her boyfriend. Yes, she really just wanted to save someone who wasn't in the building. But her actions will drag everyone down with her. Does she know that? Does she know that her actions could kill someone, and that's the most dangerous thing?"

After getting off the truck, Xiao Zhou quietly huddled in a corner, his face still very pale.

But he uttered his first complete sentence after getting off the bus.

"I was in the driver's seat. I saw the monster rush out of the narrow alley—the big one, with limbs on its shoulder blades. Sister Muxue ignited a wall of fire with a Molotov cocktail; if that woman had lingered a little longer, the fire would have weakened. Those monsters would have charged in, torn our defenses apart, and killed everyone in the truck one by one. She risked her life for her boyfriend; that was her choice. What right does she have to make choices for me? And what right do you have to make choices for everyone?"

Old Zhao didn't say anything.

He stood there, but his gaze inadvertently drifted down to the ground.

Xiao Zhou looked at Lin You.

"Sister Lin, I just don't understand why she never realized until her death that her life wasn't her own. When her life was tied to the convoy, her life or death was no longer her own business."

Lin You looked at Xiao Zhou, whose face was pale. From what he said, she could tell that this young armed policeman had a strong sense of collective honor.

He is a promising talent worth nurturing.

Lin You stood up, sheathed the mantis knife back on her back, and walked up to Old Zhao.

Old Zhao was half a head taller than her, but at that moment he felt much shorter than her.

"You asked me if I've ever thought her boyfriend might be in the building." Her voice wasn't loud, but it could be heard throughout the entire supermarket.

"I've thought about it. And it's not just that. To do something so mindless in that situation doesn't deserve sympathy. We survived this time, but what about the future?"

As she spoke, Lin You raised her intact arm, pointed to her temple, and continued, "Can you guarantee that her mind will be normal in the future? That she won't do something like this again? Are you gambling your life, everyone's lives, on countless future occurrences?"

Old Zhao's lips moved, but he didn't say anything.

Lin You chuckled softly, a cold laugh.

"Do you know the difference between a 'saintly mother' and a 'saintly hypocrite'? A 'saintly mother' sacrifices herself for others. I admire that kind of person. A 'saintly hypocrite' sacrifices others for herself. She stands in front of the safety net, thinking she's risking her life for love. But she doesn't know how many people her desperate act will kill. Her sense of morality is built on the lives of others."

She turned around to face everyone in the supermarket.

Everyone lowered their heads, and no one dared to look Lin You in the eye.

"I hope today is the last time. I don't like shooting people. But if there's anyone else who's not thinking straight next time, like that woman who stopped a car during the evacuation, refused to get in when the horde of monsters was approaching, and shouted 'I'm not going' when everyone was waiting for her."

Lin You pointed to her chest and said, "I will still shoot. Not because I want to kill her, but because I don't want everyone to be buried with someone who is mentally unstable someday."

She turned around, walked back to the counter, and sat down again.

Place the mantis knife on your knees and close your eyes.

There was a long silence in the supermarket.

Old Zhao awkwardly retreated to his travel bag and didn't say anything more.

Xiao Zhou sat in the corner, watching the churning gray fog outside, much like the turbulent darkness within his heart.

Late at night.

Lin You's wounds were throbbing, and she watched as the gray mist churned at the supermarket entrance, while the occasional roars of strange beasts echoed from the distant streets.

The sound is far away and doesn't seem to be coming this way for the time being.

I opened my eyes and looked around. All the curtains and windows were pulled down, and even the gaps were stuffed with strips of clothing and toilet paper.

They were afraid that the light from the campfire in the supermarket would seep through the gaps and attract strange beasts.

The supermarket was quiet, but not everyone was asleep.

Many people, some sitting and some lying down, stared at a certain spot with worried and confused eyes.

Team Leader Song lay on the roof of the supermarket, reporting the situation every fifteen minutes via walkie-talkie.

Inside the supermarket, the night passed quietly without incident.

As dawn broke, the gray fog was thinning, fading from dark gray to grayish-white, and then from grayish-white to a very thin layer of white.

Lin You opened her eyes, stood up, walked to the supermarket entrance, and pulled open the roller shutter door.

It was quiet outside.

After a night's rest, not everyone can fall asleep.

Most people looked listless and quickly ate something.

The convoy restarted.

The armored vehicle was still leading the way, with Mu Xue driving and Lin You sitting in the passenger seat, holding a knife and seemingly asleep with her eyes closed.

Her breathing was a little heavy.

The injury to her severed arm was more serious than she had thought, and she even started to have a slight fever.

Team Leader Song kept giving reports almost all night, his voice a little hoarse on the walkie-talkie: "The convoy is in position. Let's go."

The convoy drove away from the supermarket parking lot.

The armored vehicle would occasionally jolt, and Lin You would open her eyes to look in the rearview mirror before closing them again.

An hour later.

The convoy returned to the Orchid Mountain Scenic Area.

The remaining police officers pushed aside the makeshift chevaux-de-frise made of steel bars; it was not meant to defend against cavalry but against the charge of strange beasts.

Originally, Lin You used these building materials to build the base, but because they were to be transported by truck, they were unloaded on the roadside. Now, however, they have found a better use.

These were probably done by the first few survivors; there were a lot of them.

Among the survivors, there seem to be some who are very capable, at least knowing to start making preparations before danger even occurs.

The convoy finally entered the scenic area base.

Lin You nodded to Team Leader Song and headed straight for her two-story house.

Mu Xue followed closely behind.

Team Leader Song is very busy right now, as he needs to count the number of wounded and survivors brought back from the supermarket one by one, as well as make subsequent arrangements.

Lin You returned to her two-story house. An An was sleeping, but her sleep was a little restless.

Lin You picked up the fallen blanket and covered An An with it again.

He then left the bedroom and plopped down on the sofa.