Lin Tao stood inside the gas station and happened to gnce back just in time to witness Bai Ru standing on the car roof, firing her gun. He and Hu Laoda had been busy inside for a while, and now, each carrying two full barrels of diesel, they walked over to the vehicle. After securing the barrels to the roof, Lin Tao jumped down and turned to Bai Ru, who was about to get into the car.

  "Heh, nice shooting! The way you handled that gun just now—if you went into acting, you'd probably drive a lot of guys crazy!"

  "You think I should become an actress?" Bai Ru paused for a moment, tilting her head with a pyful smirk, her expression filled with amusement.

  "Yeah, with your looks, it'd be a shame not to. But, haha, too bad, even if you wanted to now, it's not gonna happen!" Lin Tao chuckled as he climbed into the driver's seat.

  "Hey, Lin Ye, do you really not know who Bai Ru is?" Just as Lin Tao started the engine, Zhang Hong leaned in teasingly, slinging an arm around his shoulder.

  "Bai Ru?" Lin Tao turned around, noticing the girls behind him giggling behind their hands. Scratching his head in confusion, he asked, "Who is she? Some kind of celebrity?"

  "Even you think she'd make a great actress, and you still don't know?" Zhang Hong rolled her eyes at him, grinning mischievously. "Come on, take a guess."

  "Wait... she’s not actually some famous star, is she?" Lin Tao was genuinely surprised.

  At this point, A'Xue joined in, smiling. "Lin Ge, you really don’t know? We all thought you recognized her! Even though Bai Ru is using her real name now, not her stage name, with that face of hers, you should have figured it out. Think about it—how many famous actresses from the mainnd have the surname Bai?"

  "Bai...?" Lin Tao frowned in thought before blurting out, "Bai Ling?"

  Zhang Hong nearly colpsed in exasperation. "Oh, come on! That’s way off!" She looked at Lin Tao as if he were an alien. "No wonder you didn’t react when you saw her yesterday. I actually thought you were just pretending to be cool. Do you not watch movies at all?"

  "Honestly? Not really. I think it's been six or seven years since I st watched one." Lin Tao ughed awkwardly.

  "Bai Ru’s stage name is Bai Ruyu. She was the lead in South African Spy, that blockbuster right before the virus outbreak! Ring any bells?" Zhang Hong pointed at Bai Ru, looking exasperated.

  "Oh! That movie—I do remember! It was released in North America too. So, the girl on the poster holding a Glock 19 was actually her? I remember thinking at the time that her stance was surprisingly professional. But man, that was a while ago—I wouldn't have recognized her now." Lin Tao shrugged, giving Bai Ru an appreciative once-over.

  "Good grief, Lin Ye! Now I really believe what A'Xue said about you being a proper gentleman. Other guys look at movie posters and see a beauty; you just noticed the gun? Is a firearm really more attractive to you than a woman? I don’t even know what to say!" Zhang Hong sighed dramatically, shaking her head in exaggerated despair.

  Lin Tao chuckled. "Hey, I saw the woman first and then the gun, okay?" He turned to Bai Ru with a curious smile. "Did you train your shooting skills while filming?"

  "Mhm!" Bai Ru nodded, a hint of shyness in her expression. "I've starred in several action films, so I’ve had a lot of exposure to firearms. For South African Spy, the production team even hired a military instructor to train me for two weeks. It was tough, but it paid off."

  "If I get a chance, I’ll have to track down that movie and give it a watch. But for now, dies, let’s get moving. Buckle up!" Lin Tao shifted gears and hit the gas, setting off once more.

  The vehicle crawled along the rural road. In theory, the countryside should have fewer obstacles than highways, but progress was slow nonetheless. Abandoned cars blocked the path, broken power lines dangled dangerously, and colpsed bridges forced them to take long detours. Occasionally, they even encountered small groups of the undead, which they had to avoid at all costs. By the time the sun started dipping toward the horizon, Lin Tao checked the odometer and sighed—after a full day of driving, they had covered barely fifty kilometers.

  However, there was one piece of good news: one of the girls recognized the buildings they were passing. According to her, they were just over a hundred kilometers from the Yangtze River. Once they crossed the river, they would reach Jiangcheng, a thriving metropolis with over a thousand years of history.

  Lin Tao pulled the vehicle over in front of a small roadside shop, letting the engine idle. Turning to Zhang Hong, who was half-dozing in the back, he asked, "Zhang Hong, how much food did you collect this morning?"

  "Not much," Zhang Hong replied with a frown. "Besides some basic necessities, a few of the girls’ backpacks are practically empty. Even if we ration, I doubt we can stretch it beyond four days." She sighed. "And we haven’t had fresh vegetables in ages. We’ve been surviving on vitamin tablets, but everyone’s getting weaker."

  Lin Tao nodded. After thinking for a moment, he said, "It’s still three hours until nightfall. Zhang Hong, take the girls and search the area behind this pce. The drought has been bad, so finding crops will be tough, but wild vegetables should still be growing. Gather whatever you can."

  "Got it!" Zhang Hong responded, rallying the other girls.

  "Hu Laoda, you and Cao Mei will be in charge of keeping them safe. If anything happens, use this." Lin Tao handed Hu Laoda a bck military walkie-talkie and set the frequency. Then, in a serious tone, he warned, "I don’t want to see a repeat of your cowardice from this morning. If it happens again, I won’t be so forgiving."

  Hu Laoda looked embarrassed. "I was just scared stiff by that monster… It won’t happen again. I swear."

  "I don’t need your promises. Just remember this: those girls are unarmed civilians. As a man, it’s your responsibility to protect them." Lin Tao held Hu Laoda’s gaze until the tter nodded in shame.

  Satisfied, Lin Tao clipped another walkie-talkie to his belt and turned to Bai Ru. "Bai Ru, you’re coming with me to search for food inside the store. Michael, stay sharp. Keep your eyes and ears open."

  "Rex, my great master! The dies have already promised to take turns giving me massages tonight. I definitely won’t let anything happen to them!" Michael waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Knowing him, Lin Tao was certain he had ulterior motives.

  Lin Tao sighed, adjusting his sungsses as he scanned the small, desote town before stepping toward the shuttered store. Peering through a gap in the door with his fshlight, he spotted movement inside.

  "There’s a zombie in there," he muttered to Bai Ru. "Step back—I’m kicking the door in."

  "Let me handle it," Bai Ru said firmly.

  Lin Tao raised an eyebrow. "Not scared anymore?"

  "I know I messed up this morning," she admitted, gripping the hatchet at her waist. "If I had just swung my weapon without hesitation, it would’ve been fine. I want to try again. I don’t want to be dead weight."

  Lin Tao nodded approvingly. With a powerful kick, the flimsy wooden door colpsed inward, revealing a hulking undead figure within…