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

Mu Xue couldn't help but say, "A threat? Does that mean we have to kill anyone who poses a threat?"

Lin You glanced at Mu Xue and knew what Mu Xue wanted to express.

Mu Xue could neither agree with nor accept the absurd reason that one should kill another simply because the other party is a threat.

Everyone is a threat in the apocalypse, except for themselves.

In Mu Xue's view, Lin You was a threat, Team Leader Song had a gun, so he was a threat too, and even the survivors gathered together were a threat to her.

You can't kill someone just because they pose a threat.

So... in the end, only one person was left on this earth, and that was herself.

Lin You, with her hands on the steering wheel and leaning against the driver's seat, held up three fingers.

"I see three kinds of threats." She raised her right hand and held up her index finger. "The first kind is the potential threat. Every living person in the apocalypse is a potential threat. You, me, Team Leader Song—theoretically, anyone could harm me under certain extreme circumstances. This kind of threat shouldn't be taken seriously."

Lin You raised her middle finger.

"The second type is passive threat. A person has the ability to harm others, but they don't actively use that ability. For example, you have a shotgun, but you wouldn't point it at me, would you?"

She raised her last ring finger. "The third type is proactive threat. A person not only has the ability to harm others, but has also taken action to carry out that harm. Then he is my enemy, and I never show mercy to my enemies."

The eight men who had been lying in ambush to attack them had already taken action.

Mu Xue frowned, unable to understand Lin You's theory of threat.

In her view, this was a kind of self-justification for being bloodthirsty.

Therefore, Mu Xue chose to remain silent, neither expressing opposition nor agreement.

Lin You sighed and continued, "It's the same question as before. Think carefully about what the first thing they looked at when they got out of the car."

Mu Xue subconsciously tightened her grip on the shotgun.

Lin You also noticed Mu Xue's subconscious movement and couldn't help but chuckle.

"The first thing they noticed was your shotgun, your bulletproof vest, and our armored vehicle parked at the door."

Lin You finished speaking for her, "You're very beautiful, very attractive to any man. That dead guy didn't even linger on your face for a second; all they wanted was a weapon."

Mu Xue's knuckles, gripping the shotgun, turned slightly white, and her expression was rather unpleasant.

"In the apocalypse, if someone steals or robs for a bite to eat, it's because they're driven by hunger. But if someone robs for weapons, it's not because they're forced to; it's because they've chosen a more efficient means of survival."

"What do weapons mean in the apocalypse? It means you don't have to farm, scavenge ruins, or fight monsters. You just need to take weapons and steal the fruits of other people's labor. Once you do that once, you'll start actively looking for targets, upgrading your equipment, and forming gangs. Then you'll rob every survivor in your sight. Including you and me."

Mu Xue looked up at her. "But they only wanted weapons and a car, they didn't fire first. Shouldn't we...?"

"Should we? Wait for them to fire first?" Lin You interrupted her, her voice not loud but every word serious. "Those eight men are positioned in an encirclement. They never intended to let us go from the start. If... I mean, if I hadn't spotted them, and you and I had walked into the ambush, what would they have done?"

Mu Xue fell silent again, a look of fear in her eyes.

Yes, what would they have done if Sister Lin hadn't discovered them?

What else could they do?!

They would definitely kill them and then loot all their valuables.

Lin You watched as the vines outside the windshield hung down from the overpass, swaying gently in the wind.

He immediately slammed on the brakes, then turned onto another road before speaking.

"They take robbery for granted. Did you hear what that big guy said? 'Leave some things behind and you can leave.' How many people has he said that to? And every time he said that, did those who left the supplies actually leave safely?"

As she spoke, Lin You remembered the wallet that looked like a Hermes bag; it was pink.

Obviously, a strong man wouldn't use a wallet of this color.

So where did the wallet come from? That's a question mark.

"Do you think he'll kill you to cover it up?" Mu Xue asked.

Lin You curled her lips, not because she thought so, but because they wanted to kill her to silence her.

Lin You had seen this kind of thing countless times during the apocalypse.

Obedience will never bring safety, but death.

"A harpoon is a fishing tool, not suitable for killing. It's too slow. But a harpoon can incapacitate its prey—the harpoon has barbs, and once it hits, it can't be removed, leaving the prey bleeding to death on the ground. People who choose this weapon instead of the more efficient crossbow don't enjoy killing; they enjoy the desire to control life. The pleasure of watching their prey slowly lose its ability to resist lasts longer than firing a gun directly. Such people enjoy the act of plunder itself."

Mu Xue remained silent for a long time. She pushed the safety on the shotgun up and down several times.

He seemed quite agitated and couldn't help but whisper.

"Back in school, a professor of jurisprudence once said something like this: The bottom line of the law is not punishing crime, but protecting the weak. Before the apocalypse, there were laws, so the weak still had a chance. After the apocalypse, the laws are gone, so what will the weak rely on? Luck?"

Lin You also noticed Mu Xue's unease and agitation, and sighed inwardly.

They abruptly changed the subject, abandoning the extremely uncomfortable topic they had just discussed.

"Have you ever heard of Confucian scholars using their writings to disrupt the law?"

"...Sister Lin, this is what Han Feizi said. It doesn't mean that."

"Haha." Lin You laughed, which was rare for her, and then said, "People always say, 'There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes.'"

The armored vehicle drove over a section of road cracked by the meteorite's shockwave, and the vehicle bounced a few times.

"I just... hadn't killed anyone before today."

"You can think of them as beasts in human skin. Mr. Qian, Brother Tiger, this burly man, you're starting to be able to tell who's human and who's not."

"You mean a bad guy?"

"No, you'll understand once you've seen more of it. Bad people are still human, selfish and ruthless in their pursuit of survival, but some are truly demons."

Mu Xue lowered her head, looking at the dried bloodstains on her sleeve.

She still didn't quite understand the difference between humans and demons, but she was no longer bothered by it.

The armored vehicle continued forward.

The outline of the university town became clearer and clearer under the leaden sky, like an isolated island surrounded by plants.

In the distance, the windows of the laboratory building reflected a faint light in the dim daylight.

There seems to be someone inside.

The armored vehicle drove onto the main road leading to the university town.

The roadside trees were soaked in the gray fog, their branches and leaves withered, and fine dark green vines were wrapped around the dead branches.

It must be said that the vegetation construction in the university town is indeed quite good.

But now this place has become a paradise for mutated plants, and any creature that gets close to them, whether human or beast, is at risk.

These are all their nutrients.

Lin You drove the armored vehicle far away from the plants and drove directly to the ground floor of the experimental building.

Mu Xue looked around the box, her expression somewhat strange.

"Is this... a university town?"

Lin You has begun to slow down, carefully looking around, as if she can see something unusual in the deathly silent buildings.

Are you familiar with this place?

Mu Xue's gaze briefly drifted into confusion, as if she were thinking of the time she spent studying here.

His tone also became low and slow.

"I've done some experiments here. I took a biochemistry lab course in my junior year and spent a semester in this building."

Mu Xue looked up at the exterior wall of the laboratory building, sunlight shining on her face.

"Back then, the lab smelled terrible. Every time I finished an experiment, I would stand at the door for a long time until the smell on my body dissipated before I dared to go back to the dormitory. My roommate said I smelled like a cadaver."

Lin You glanced at her. "You studied biochemistry."

"Molecular biology major, unemployed right after graduation." Mu Xue switched the shotgun to her other shoulder. "Sister Lin, what are you doing here?"

"Find some instruments."

To activate the Level 2 gene lab in the system, a real biological laboratory is needed.

Aside from university laboratories, Lin You didn't know where else in Z City could she find a complete set of experimental instruments and facilities.