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

Mu Xue paused for a moment, then noticed Lin You looking at her. "My spatial ability. I can instantly deploy and retract bone shields, but deploy and retract bullets?"

Mu Xue felt immense pressure, since the speed of a bullet was impossible to detect with the naked eye.

Not to mention the inhuman operation of firing and reloading bullets.

Lin You explained, "It's not about retrieving and releasing bullets. It's about changing the bullet's trajectory. Your spatial abilities can distort space within a small area. If you train it to a high enough precision, you can deflect the bullet's direction the instant it leaves the barrel. To put it another way, if you could open a fist-sized spatial rift directly in front of the target, send the bullet in, and then fire it out from another rift, the bullet could bypass all obstacles and hit the target directly. That's not sniping, that's assassination—a telekinetic assassination."

Mu Xue looked down at her outstretched hands, remained silent for a moment, then looked up and said, "Starting tonight, practice for an extra hour every day."

Lin You sighed and said, "That's a long way off. We need to start preparing now."

Mu Xue sighed helplessly, after all, strength is something that can't be improved just by talking about it.

Lin You felt she needed to discuss this with someone, so she went directly to the visitor center at Orchid Mountain.

Team Leader Song was found very quickly.

Team Leader Song is still busy, and looks rather haggard.

Lin You knocked on the door.

Team Leader Song looked up at the doorway, then went back to his work. "What's the matter?"

Lin You placed her phone on Team Leader Song's desk.

Team Leader Song paused, picked up his phone, and saw the screenshot of the crow looking back.

Team Leader Song zoomed in on the screenshot and drew a circle on the crow's eye with his fingertip.

The drone's outline was reflected in the dilated pupil—not a blurry spot of light, but a clear lens shape.

This shows that the crow wasn't simply attracted to the drone; it recognized it as a man-made object.

Team Leader Song remained silent for a moment before handing his phone to Lin You.

"What is this?"

Lin You put away her phone, her face grim, and said, "A high-level shapeshifter."

Team Leader Song's face revealed the same gloomy expression as Lin You's.

Lin You frowned and said, "This is a threat. The only thing I can think of is training snipers and using Mu Xue's ability to cross space to strike it. But right now we need a way to solve the problem immediately. Whoever is behind this crow, it's currently active near the base and could come back at any time."

Team Leader Song did not respond immediately. He put the documents in his hand on the table and walked to the window.

Looking at the armed police who were setting up hidden sentries on the wall.

After a long while, Team Leader Song turned around and said.

"I once handled a case where two gangs were fighting over territory and were sending spies into each other's hideouts. When one gang leader discovered the spy, his first reaction was to find the spies and beat them up. However, he didn't find anyone and instead exposed all his men. While he was searching for the spies, the other gang raided his hideout."

Team Leader Song leaned against the window frame, arms crossed over his chest. "I'm not saying we shouldn't fight. I'm saying, before we act, we should figure out what the other side wants. If he wanted to fight, he would have already done so. He has the ability to lure the horde of monstrous beasts here, or poison our water source. But he hasn't. He's observing us, not attacking us. This means he might not be an enemy—at least not yet."

"You mean, talk to him?" Lin You looked at Team Leader Song.

Team Leader Song nodded and said, "That's right. If he's an enemy, he'll slip up during the talks. If he's a high-level ability user passing by, we might be able to cooperate. The worst-case scenario—he won't talk and continues to spy. Then we can fight later. But right now we don't even know who he is, so the risk of launching a preemptive strike is too great. If we fire a shot, it's tantamount to declaring war. Can the base fight a full-scale war with its current strength?"

Lin You did not answer, nor did she need to answer.

Team Leader Song continued, "Next time that crow appears, don't even think about shooting. Leave these to me, I'll handle them properly."

Lin You didn't know what to do either, but Team Leader Song was right.

However, we cannot place all our hopes on the other party's kindness; we must now devise some backup plans.

"What if the other side refuses to talk and launches an attack on us?"

Team Leader Song sighed, "Hopefully, the worst-case scenario won't happen. If it does, we'll need to make some preparations."

Team Leader Song hesitated for a moment before taking out a map of Z City.

He pointed to one of the spots and said, "Go here and ask for help if it helps."

Lin You looked at the unmarked area on the map, which was nearly fifty kilometers away from Z City.

Trying to cross fifty kilometers in this damn apocalypse is practically suicide.

"What's there?" Lin You had to ask for clarification.

Team Leader Song hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "There are troops stationed there."

Lin You immediately understood that for the military, let alone a crow flying at extremely high speed in the sky, even a stealth fighter jet exceeding the speed of sound would not be able to withstand the military's precise strikes.

Lin You hesitated and said, "Since it's that kind of place, how do I get in or get their help?"

This problem is unsolvable; Lin You's visit won't help.

Does an ordinary citizen really think they can get the army's unreserved help just by talking a few words?

What are you thinking about?!

If you are directly close to a military base, in peacetime the only possible response would be warnings and expulsion.

But after such an apocalypse, not eating peanuts directly is considered a great blessing.

Team Leader Song thought for a moment, then took out a medal from his drawer and handed it to Lin You.

"I don't know if it's okay, but you can show this to them. I think they'll give you the chance to explain your purpose."

The medal is small, its bronze surface is polished to a shine, and there is a small patch of dark green oxidation on the edge, a mark left from being exposed to air in a drawer for a long time.

The medal features an eagle with outstretched wings on the front, with a lightning bolt beneath its talons.

The back is engraved with two lines of text: "Military and police cooperate to safeguard peace."

Below is a number, a date, and a person's name.

Lin You didn't know what this meant, and didn't ask any further questions, because many things were simply indescribable.

Always stay with me.

Lin You prepared to leave the base to seek help at the military outpost.

But before that, Lin You needs to consider what will happen after she leaves. The base's development is handled by Team Leader Song, so she doesn't need to do it herself. But what about An An and Shun Zi?

Lin You put the medal into the inner pocket of her tactical vest and zipped it up.

Outside the window, sunlight bathed the base's outline in a dark gold hue.

Lin You pushed open the door and walked towards the greenhouse.

Shunzi will most likely stay here, and An'an won't go too far either.

Inside the greenhouse, potato seedlings have already sprouted, their leaves swaying gently in the evening breeze.

Shunzi squatted on the edge of the field, gently brushing away the soil around the base of a potato seedling with his fingers to check its growth.