"What happened to those people from the dog farm?" Yun Xiaoxiao asked.
If they had all stuck together back then, they probably wouldn't have been bullied so badly.
"Ah," Zhang Xiuyan sighed, "That's a long story."
She glanced around, and seeing no one else nearby, spoke in a low voice.
"We were returning to the base with the young Base Commander, remember?
But halfway there, we were surrounded by a horde of zombies. Those people didn't even treat us as humans - they just pushed some of us off the vehicle to distract the zombies.
I can still hear their screams in my nightmares. It was horrific."
She sighed and continued, "After we arrived at this base, some got into conflicts with others and were beaten to death.
Some were taken as concubines by those who fancied them.
Of course, some awakened supernatural abilities and were valued.
Oh, remember that guy with glasses you warned me about, Zhou Kai? He awakened an Earth-based Ability and is now part of the guard team.
After all that, only the four of us are left.
But enough about us, how have you been doing lately?" Zhang Xiuyan asked with a smile.
Yun Xiaoxiao nodded, "Not bad."
In truth, her attention was no longer on the conversation with Zhang Xiuyan.
It wasn't because she was being impolite, but because...
Long Zhe's affection for her had reached 100%!
Mu Yang, Qin Zhi, and now Long Zhe - that made three people.
Which meant...
[Ding! For gathering three people with 100% intimacy, the host is rewarded with a random ability!]
[Random ability activated: Mental Defense Ability!]
[Mental Defense: Can resist mental attacks!]
Yun Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up!
With this, she no longer had to worry about terrifying mental system ability users like Ling Jing!
She looked thoughtfully at the Scumbag Detection Panel, noting Zhang Xiuyan and the two children's affection levels at over 90%.
Then, she opened her small backpack and took out bread, cookies, and other snacks, placing them one by one into their hands.
Seeing them hesitate, Yun Xiaoxiao smiled warmly.
"Eat up, don't be shy. We're all close friends now."
She kept a close eye on the Scumbag Detection Panel.
Sure enough, their affection levels for her began to jump up rapidly.
Yun Xiaoxiao's smile grew even wider.
With an innocent and generous expression, she said,
"Is this enough? If not, there's more in the car."
She pointed at the vehicle Ling Jing had seized from the bandits earlier.
Ling Jing in the distance: ......
"It's... it's enough," Zhang Xiuyan stammered, staring at the food in her hands, overwhelmed with emotion.
"So much food," the two children swallowed unconsciously.
Only Long Zhe frowned deeply, immediately handing everything back to Yun Xiaoxiao.
"These are precious items that you must have worked hard to obtain. We can't accept them.
Besides..." He glanced back at the slum area, his expression darkening.
"With so much food, we might not even live long enough to eat it."
The people living in the slum area had all fled here through great hardship, with few resources to their name.
They survived on the basic rations distributed by the base every day.
Everyone was constantly hungry, so the desire for food was unimaginable.
That's why there were so many fights and brawls every day.
Although the guard team kept watch, they only patrolled occasionally and couldn't pay attention to this area all the time.
When the guards were gone, the weaker individuals became targets for the more brutal ones.
For example, lone women, children, the elderly, and weak or timid men without abilities.
Of course, sometimes these bullies would pick on someone simply because they didn't like their face.
If you resisted or opposed them, you might find several people sneaking into your tent while you slept at night.
By the time others discovered you the next day, all that would be left in the tent was your lifeless corpse.
Even if the guard team found out, they wouldn't care. They'd just consider the corpse unlucky and throw it outside the city walls.
This was the desperate and helpless reality of life for those at the bottom of the apocalyptic base hierarchy.
"Yes, Long Zhe is right. We can't accept these," Zhang Xiuyan and the two children quickly returned the food to Yun Xiaoxiao.
Seeing their worried expressions, Yun Xiaoxiao glanced behind her.
She saw several people staring greedily at the food in their hands.
When they noticed her looking, they hurriedly averted their gaze.
But soon, they were sneaking glances again.
Yun Xiaoxiao frowned, taking the food back from their hands.
They all breathed sighs of relief.
But Yun Xiaoxiao clearly noticed the two children swallowing hard.
They put on stubborn faces, trying hard not to look at the food in her hands.
She pressed her lips together, then opened two of the bread packages and handed them over.
"If you don't want to take it back, let's eat here before you go."
The children's eyes lit up, but they still looked to Long Zhe, seeking his approval.
Long Zhe was about to refuse, but seeing the hopeful looks in his younger siblings' eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say no.
Seeing him nod, the two children immediately accepted the bread and began to devour it ravenously.
Their cheeks bulged as they ate, looking as if they hadn't had a proper meal in ages.
Yun Xiaoxiao opened two more packages of cookies and handed them to Long Zhe and Zhang Xiuyan.
Long Zhe shook his head, "I'm not hungry."
He felt that Yun Xiaoxiao had already saved his life twice, which was an enormous debt of gratitude. If he ate her food too, wouldn't he be an ungrateful wretch?
But as soon as he spoke, his stomach growled loudly.
His face instantly turned red.
"Oh well, since I've opened these, if you don't want them, I'll have to throw them away," Yun Xiaoxiao said nonchalantly, pretending not to have heard.
Hearing this, Long Zhe hurriedly took the food.
"I'll eat it."
Food was far too precious now to be thrown away.
He knew Yun Xiaoxiao had said that on purpose, just to make him accept the food.
If he refused again, he'd seem ungrateful.
He silently vowed to find a way to repay Yun Xiaoxiao in the future.
Zhang Xiuyan also gave Yun Xiaoxiao a grateful look, taking a cookie and stuffing it into her mouth.
How long had it been since she'd eaten like this?
It was truly... blissful!
[Ding! Congratulations, host has obtained another random ability!]
[Stink Fart Ability: Release a stinky fart, powerful in its stench, can freeze enemies in place for one second!]
[Automatic experience activated...]
"Pffft~~"
A loud fart suddenly rang out.
Long Zhe and the others, who were eating, suddenly froze as if someone had hit the pause button.
A second later, they all raised their heads in unison, gazing at Yun Xiaoxiao with strange expressions.
Yun Xiaoxiao: !!!
