Leng Pan noticed the change imdiately.
"The temperature is dropping," she said.
Lu Zhen nodded.
"The extre heat is ending."
"That ans new variables. We don’t know what will co next."
Lu Zhen nodded.
"It’s not necessarily a bad thing. As long as it’s sothing we can survive, we will find a way to do it."
Lu Zhen studied her quietly.
For all her strength, for all her composure.
There were monts like this.
Monts where she allowed herself to simply exist. Just her.
Monts like this were rare recently. She was always in combat mode or training.
His heart ached for her, but he knew he couldn’t stop her. The only way was to support her.
He leaned closer.
"Do you rember," he said softly, "how you used to avoid ?"
Leng Pan froze for a brief mont.
Then she rolled her eyes.
"Why are you bringing that up now?"
She had been a fool before. To be more precise, it was that stranger occupying her body who had been stupid. Not her.
"Because I finally caught you."
She scoffed lightly.
"You didn’t catch . I allowed you to do it."
Lu Zhen laughed.
"Sure. Let’s go with that."
Before she could respond, he lowered his head and kissed her.
It wasn’t a rushed kiss, but a slow and intentional one.
The kind of kiss that didn’t belong on a battlefield.
Leng Pan’s hand instinctively gripped his shirt.
For a mont, everything else faded away.
The training, the zombies, the aliens, even the apocalypse.
It was just the two of them in this sacred space.
"Ehem."
A dry cough broke the mont.
Both of them froze.
Slowly, they turned.
Lu Tao stood at the rooftop entrance, staring at them with wide eyes.
"I... uh..."
He scratched his head awkwardly.
"Should I co back later?"
Leng Pan’s expression instantly returned to its usual calm.
"Speak."
Lu Tao blinked.
That was fast.
"I just ca to report," he said quickly. "The supply teams returned. There were several injured people but no casualties."
Lu Zhen sighed in annoyance.
"You couldn’t have waited five minutes?"
Lu Tao grinned shalessly.
"Nope." He no longer feared his brother.
He still worshipped him like before, but he was more casual with him now.
Leng Pan ignored both of them.
"Anything unusual?" she asked.
Lu Tao nodded.
"Yeah. They all reported encountering fewer zombies."
That caught their attention.
"Fewer?" Lu Zhen repeated.
"Yeah," Lu Tao said. "And the ones we did see were... weaker."
Leng Pan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"That’s not a good sign."
Lu Tao tilted his head.
"Why?"
"Because it ans sothing else is taking them as a priority," she replied calmly.
Lu Zhen’s expression darkened.
"The aliens."
Leng Pan nodded.
"They’re reallocating resources."
Lu Tao’s grin faded slightly.
"So... bigger attack later?"
"Most likely."
In the last battle, the aliens hadn’t used zombies, but that didn’t an it won’t happen next ti.
They needed to prepare better now.
The brief mont of peace shattered just like that.
It was back to reality now.
Leng Pan stepped away from Lu Zhen and straightened.
"Call a eting tonight once everyone has returned." she said.
"We need to adjust our strategy."
Lu Tao nodded and rushed off imdiately.
Lu Zhen watched her quietly.
"Back to work already?"
She glanced at him.
"Did you expect anything else? With the way things are, we will probably face sothing earth shattering next ti."
"I don’t expect anything less than this from you." Lu Zhen said as he stepped closer to his wife again.
"But next ti..."
She raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"I should probably lock the door."
Leng Pan stared at him for a second.
Then she turned and walked toward the stairs.
But the faint smile on her lips didn’t go unnoticed.
Lu Zhen determined that she was probably thinking of the sa thing.
They were a perfect match for each other.
As the sun began to set, the base continued to buzz with activity.
They were preparing for it, shaping it, and fighting back against it.
And at the center of it all, Leng Pan and Lu Zhen stood side by side.
No longer just surviving the apocalypse like they had planned in the beginning.
But leading humanity into its next Chapter as commanders.
The war was far from over.
The sky was still dim when Leng Pan stepped out of the building.
A thin layer of mist clung to the ground, wrapping the base in a stiff stillness before the day fully began.
But unlike before, this stillness was no longer filled with fear.
Behind her, footsteps followed.
Lu Zhen, Lu Hao, Ouyang Jin, Sonny, and a team of fifteen carefully selected fighters gathered one by one.
Each of them carried weapons, packs, and enough supplies for a long outing, even though they planned to be gone for a day.
Leng Pan glanced at them briefly.
"Today’s mission is simple," she said calmly. "We head to the food processing factory on the outskirts to collect everything useful and return safely."
Her gaze swept everyone behind her.
"But don’t let your guard down. The city is changing and we don’t know what we might encounter. So, be careful."
Everyone nodded.
The convoy moved quickly.
Two modified trucks led the way, reinforced with tal plating bullet-proof glass. They were driven by experienced fighters. Soldiers who had retired from the military and had real experience in war.
The city looked... emptier.
Abandoned streets stretched out ahead of them.
Broken buildings stood like silent witnesses to a fallen world.
It was hard to believe that less than a year ago, these streets were buzzing with people shouting as they hawked their goods, shops sold different products, people went to work.
It was like a completely different world.
Lu Hao, walking slightly ahead, paused.
His eyes narrowed.
"There are zombies," he said. "But... they’re not moving toward us."
Leng Pan imdiately understood.
"They’re being drawn elsewhere?" She asked thoughtfully.
Lu Zhen’s expression darkened.
"Or controlled."
They had seen how aliens could control zombies, so that wasn’t a far-fetched assumption.
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