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

Mu Xue stood for a while without sitting down immediately.

She watched Lin You sitting lazily under the big tree, her head bandage still stained with blood.

She held a broken wooden plaque in her right hand, her expression calm, her ridiculous bald head gleaming cold white in the sunlight.

She suddenly didn't know what tone to use to start the conversation.

If she directly said, "Don't mind those words," Lin You would definitely reply, "I didn't mind." But she knew that Lin You definitely knew about the situation at the base.

Just now, at the construction site of the wall, in the canteen, every word those people said was crystal clear. Mu Xue mentally rehearsed her words several times, but felt that no matter how she said it, it would be too deliberate.

If she takes it too seriously, she might seem like a meddlesome gossip who's sympathizing with Lin You's misfortune; if she's too casual, Lin You might think she doesn't care about Lin You's feelings.

In the end, Mu Xue sat down next to Lin You, leaned her bone shield against the armrest, and casually mentioned...

"The cafeteria has canned braised pork today. Chef Chen, who manages the cafeteria, said that the batch he brought back from the supermarket last time is about to expire, so we need to finish it in the next few days."

Lin You flipped the wooden sign over and fumbled between her fingers. "Chen Dazhuang? That guy just wants an excuse to let everyone eat meat a few more times."

"I think so too." Mu Xue tapped the edge of the bone shield unconsciously with her fingers twice, her gaze casually sweeping around.

I still don't know how to start the conversation.

"How's your head? Charlene said it's best to change the dressing again, she's worried about infection."

"It's scabbed over." Lin You didn't even look up.

"That's good." After saying those three words, Mu Xue realized that her fingers were still tapping on the bone shield, so she forced herself to stop.

She had planned to ask about the wound first, and then casually mention that "there was some gossip in the base when you weren't here," in a light tone and with a casual expression, as if she were just talking about a trivial matter.

But now she finds that she has suddenly become clumsy with words.

Mu Xue didn't know what words to use so that Lin You wouldn't feel that she was pitying her.

Because Lin You doesn't need anyone's sympathy, Mu Xue knows this better than anyone else.

After a few seconds of silence, she finally spoke, her tone more casual than before, as if she were chatting.

"By the way, I overheard some people chatting behind the cafeteria today. They said you were really cool when you evacuated the neighborhood, and that the woman who stopped the car was quite nasty."

Mu Xue lowered her voice to a very flat tone, as if she were recounting something that happened to someone else.

"And that's all." Lin You casually hung the wooden sign on a tree branch, then drew her mantis knife and began to clean it.

The movements are relaxed and casual, but there's a sense that he might draw his sword and chop someone down at any moment.

Mu Xue paused for a moment, then, as if giving up, spoke helplessly.

"Also, you were definitely not a good person before the apocalypse; you were the kind of person who would kill without blinking an eye. The case of Team Leader Song's pursuit of you, they made up several versions themselves. Some said you killed more than a dozen people, some said you were a professional killer. I told them that Team Leader Song was pursuing you because you killed two heinous criminals, but they didn't believe me. They said the police wouldn't pursue a good person who killed bad people."

After saying this, Mu Xue looked somewhat dejected and glanced at Lin You's expression out of the corner of her eye.

I can't see anything.

Lin You chuckled. "They have quite the imagination. Professional assassin—I did consider doing that in my past life; it's more lucrative than scavenging. Too bad no one would hire me."

Lin You held the cleaned mantis knife up to her eyes, examining the blade for any remaining bloodstains in the sunlight. "What else did they say? Did they say I'd kill all the disobedient people sooner or later, or that I planned to turn the base into my own private kingdom?"

Mu Xue gave a bitter smile.

"Pretty much. They say you created a hierarchy so that police families could put pressure on them, that you kept the best resources for your own people, that you acted like a local tyrant. They say that for a bald woman like you to become a leader, you must have used some underhanded methods."

After saying this, Mu Xue felt uneasy, her fingers unconsciously groping along the bone shield.

After confirming that there was no blood on the blade, Lin You sheathed the mantis knife and finally turned to look at Mu Xue.

Lin You's expression remained unchanged; it wasn't anger or restraint, but a genuine indifference that showed she felt nothing at all.

Mu Xue had seen Lin You staring into the eyes of the terrifying beasts on the battlefield, and she had also seen her plotting against those who were lying in ambush in the experimental building.

That kind of focus is completely different from the calmness I feel now.

It was as if someone handed her a note with a malicious comment on it. She glanced at it, then folded it up and put it aside, continuing with what she was doing.

"Muxue. When you came in, you asked about my wound first, then talked to me about braised pork, and only then did you bring up this topic. Were you afraid that I would be sad if you heard it, or afraid that I would be angry?"

Mu Xue's fingers paused at the edge of the bone shield. "I have them all. I was also afraid you'd think I shouldn't have told you."

Do you think I should care?

Mu Xue thought for a moment. She originally wanted to say "shouldn't," but that word sounded too consoling.

She realized she really didn't know whether Lin You should care or not, because if it were her, she definitely would care.

But Lin You is not her.

"I don't know," Mu Xue said honestly.

Lin You patted Mu Xue on the shoulder, stood up, and walked to the window. "They say I create a hierarchy, that I exploit ordinary survivors, and that I'm an unfair leader."

Lin You stretched and said with a half-smile, "What can their words change? Can they dull the knife in my hand? Can they stop the sentries on the wall from guarding the base? Can they stop Shunzi from planting vegetables tomorrow? Can they stop the canteen from serving meals? Can they stop the field team from going on missions?"

Mu Xue shook her head and said, "No."

"That's meaningless. Whether they respect me, fear me, or curse me behind my back, it won't affect any actual outcome."

Their respect won't give me an extra bullet, their fear won't grow an extra grain of rice, and their gossip certainly won't make me skip a meal. Caring about what they think of me is like wasting my time on something completely pointless.

I only care about what they do. As long as they do their jobs well, don't rebel, and don't steal supplies, I don't care what they say about me behind my back.

But there's one condition—don't say it to my face, because dealing with murder is a hassle.

"So it's not that you don't care. It's that you feel they don't deserve your attention." Mu Xue said this very softly, as if she had just figured out a problem and suddenly found the answer.

Lin You didn't answer. She turned around and looked back at the busy people in the square.

The smoke from the canteen chimney is thinning.

The sentry's figure was still moving back and forth on the wall, and unrestrained laughter came from afar.

Mu Xue stood up from the chair. "So, do I still need to tell you things like that in the future?"

"Suit yourself. But I suggest you spend your time on more useful things. For example, don't you suspect what I did with all those strange beasts after I made them disappear?"

"That's your secret. And I'm not curious, nor do I want to know."

Although Mu Xue said she wasn't curious, her eyes betrayed her.

Lin You knew that some things needed to be explained clearly, and at least some facts needed to be known by Mu Xue.

"When those beasts are dismantled, they drop more than just equipment; they drop all sorts of other things, you just didn't see them."

Lin You looked directly at Mu Xue and said, "My ability is somewhat special, similar to logistics, but also different. For example, those magical potions are an outward manifestation of my ability."

This statement is half true and half false, but it makes sense.

What's the difference between a system and superpowers? Neither of them possesses the power of an ordinary person.

"Sister Lin, what exactly are superpowers?" Mu Xue wanted to know more.

"Superpowers... they probably came from the gray fog, or perhaps they began to evolve again under the threat of extinction. No one knows what superpowers really are."

Mu Xue thought of Lao Guo, who had manipulated metal-type abilities, whom she had seen today.

Unable to resist, he continued, "Are all superpowers different? For example, you, me, Old Guo who can manipulate metal, and Little Zhou who awakened the power of fire?"

Lin You smiled helplessly and said, "There are many kinds of abilities. Even if you have the same attribute, the abilities you awaken will be different because of your different physiques."

Mu Xue frowned, thinking about the people with superpowers she had encountered, none of whom seemed to be bad people. Could this be a common thread? She subconsciously whispered, "People who have awakened their abilities don't seem to be bad people."

Lin You smiled, a helpless smile. "Mu Xue, do you think I'm a good person?"

Mu Xue was taken aback.

"Do you think I'm a good person?" Lin You asked again, her tone as calm as before, as if she wasn't asking for her opinion of her, but rather, "Have you eaten today?"

Mu Xue remained silent for a long time.

She looked at the bandage on Lin You's head, at the faint bloodstains seeping from the bandage, and at the grotesque burn on her forearm that resembled a centipede.

Mu Xue forced a smile. "I don't know."

"You saved me, you saved An'an, you saved Shunzi, you saved everyone in this base. But you also killed people... You killed Boss Qian, you killed Brother Hu, you killed the woman who stopped the car. You're not a good person; good people don't kill. But you're not a bad person either; bad people don't save people."

Her voice was sincere, each word seemed to have been carefully considered before being uttered: "So I don't know."

Lin You's lips twitched slightly.

The arc was so short that it would have been completely unnoticed if Mu Xue hadn't been staring at it.

"What you just said is essentially the same as what those people on the construction site said."

Before Mu Xue could retort, Lin You raised her hand to stop her. "It's not that the content is the same, it's that the logic is the same. You're all using the same yardstick to measure me... what a good person should do, and what a bad person should do."

"You think good people should save lives, and bad people should kill. I did both, so your inner yardstick can't measure me. This inability to measure me leads to confusion, confusion leads to gossip, and gossip escalates. You feel wronged for me because you think you understand me. They call me a villain because they don't understand me. But whether they understand me or not, the result is the same... You're all using the standard of 'good people' to judge me. But people are very difficult to measure simply as good or bad."

She raised her right hand to her eyes, as if to block the sunlight streaming through the tree canopy.

"Do you think the people on the construction site will change their opinion of me just because they know Old Sun moved into the visitor center and his granddaughter received proper treatment? No. They'll just say, 'She bribed Old Sun to work so hard for her.'"

Mu Xue stared blankly at Lin You, feeling a lump in her throat.

Lin You put her hands back on her knees and leaned back in her chair. "So I never expected them to respect me. To respect someone requires repeatedly proving that you are trustworthy; every crisis is a test."

I've already lost one arm, what if I lose another? What if I can't hold the wall when the next horde of monsters comes?

They'll take back their respect. It's probably ingrained in their bones. They might only need to do it once… just once to show them the consequences of breaking the rules.

Old Sun was punished for stealing medicine by having to move bricks, and they saw it.

They saw that Lao Zhang's food rations were confiscated for violating regulations.

I shot and killed the woman who stopped the car; they saw it too.

These three things combined will be enough for them to remember for a long time.

The next time someone tries to steal antibiotics, he'll first think of Old Sun's face as he moves stones. The next time someone tries to stop a convoy, he'll first think of the scene where that woman's head was smashed open.

She paused, placed her right hand on the bandage on her forehead, and pressed it gently.

A dull ache shot through her from beneath the bandages. She frowned briefly, then relaxed. "I'm afraid they won't turn to hatred when I can't hold the walls. I'm afraid they won't rebel because of supplies shortages. I'm afraid they won't expect me to be a good person. I'm afraid I'll only make them afraid to make mistakes."

Mu Xue lowered her head and repeated those words to herself several times.

Then she raised her head. "So you'd rather be feared than respected."

"Yes." Lin You's voice was completely calm, as if she were stating a truth that had been proven countless times in the wasteland.

"In my past life, I met a base leader in the wasteland. He was kind to everyone, and everyone respected him. Later, when supplies ran out, guess what happened?"

Mu Xue remained silent.

Lin You turned to look at her, her eyes holding the same expression as when she looked down at the strange beast from the rooftop that day. "He was eaten by those people."

Mu Xue shivered. Was this the truth of the post-apocalyptic world?!

"Muxue, I won't let the same thing happen to me. Because I can't afford to lose, and I don't want to lose."