Little girl, you did well.

For this reason, most of the zombies remained active inside the shadowed apartment buildings, while the open areas of the residential compound outside were strangely devoid of them.

When the two of them reached the gates of the compound, they were immediately blocked by several burly men.

These men, slovenly dressed, exuded a strong aura of menace. They had been hiding in the security booth, but upon seeing someone approach, they rushed out to intercept Xue Feng and his companion.

“Hey, brother, you’ve got quite the luck with women!” sneered the man up front, whose face was marred by a long scar, his eyes leering at An Xiaowei.

An Xiaowei trembled in terror, but the scar-faced man stepped forward, reaching out as if to touch her chin.

With a shriek, An Xiaowei hid behind Xue Feng.

At this, Xue Feng’s voice turned icy. “Get lost. She’s my woman.”

“So what if she’s your wife? If I want her, she’s mine!” The scar-faced man revealed his true, brutish nature, intent on taking An Xiaowei by force.

Xue Feng stepped firmly in his way, blocking him with a cold glare.

“Come on, let it be!” As the scar-faced man made to draw his weapon, a bald man at the side hurried forward to restrain him.

“Scar, don’t be rash. If the woman’s already taken, just leave it!” another man, this one with rippling muscles, added his support.

With the scar-faced man momentarily backing down, the bald man approached Xue Feng. “Brother, it’s dangerous out there. Where are you going?”

“Naturally, to scavenge for supplies,” Xue Feng replied calmly.

“Go ahead, then!” The bald man smiled broadly. “Just a misunderstanding earlier—don’t take it to heart, brother!”

Xue Feng had no desire to waste words on these street toughs, so he led An Xiaowei out of the Jiamei Compound.

As they watched the pair depart, the scar-faced man grumbled, “Big brother, why did you let them go? That girl was a real beauty. Wouldn’t it be sweet to have our way with her?”

The bald man replied with a sly grin, “Why rush things, brother? It’s still daylight, isn’t it? Besides, if that guy’s gone out to find supplies, let him. When he comes back with both goods and the woman, we’ll have the best of both—won’t that be even sweeter?”

The three of them burst into raucous laughter. The scar-faced man slapped the bald one on the back. “You really are a sly old fox—full of dirty tricks!”

Glances were exchanged, and their laughter grew even more lascivious.

Meanwhile, in Xue Feng’s mind, the system’s notification sounded again:

[Information accuracy verified. Reward: One Browning 1935 pistol, five hundred rounds of ammunition!]

Xue Feng then arranged for An Xiaowei to wait in a safe spot while he went out and procured a vehicle.

In truth, the armored car he’d received as a system reward was stored in his personal inventory, ready to be summoned at any time. However, since An Xiaowei was still under his observation and he didn’t want her to know about his storage ability, he decided not to use the armored car for now and simply picked up an ordinary private car instead.

With An Xiaowei, he drove to an abandoned supermarket.

After the outbreak, the city was plunged into darkness, water and power cut off, and the vast supermarket hall was shrouded in pitch blackness.

“Feng, are we really going in there? There must be a lot of zombies inside!” An Xiaowei whispered apprehensively.

Xue Feng leaned in and muttered a few words into her ear.

“Can that even work?” An Xiaowei’s face changed dramatically.

Xue Feng replied gravely, “Either you drive the car to lure the zombies away, or you go inside and gather supplies. Choose for yourself.”

“I…” An Xiaowei hesitated for a long time before finally saying, “I’ll drive the car.”

Xue Feng climbed out and hid behind some rubble across the street. An Xiaowei turned on the headlights, floored the gas pedal, and crashed straight into the supermarket’s entrance.

With a tremendous crash, the glass doors shattered under the force of the impact.

Then, with headlights blazing into the blackness, An Xiaowei repeatedly leaned on the horn.

Zombies had poor vision, but their sense of smell and hearing were preternaturally sharp. The scent of fresh meat drove them into a frenzy, and shrill noises agitated them even more.

The commotion An Xiaowei made by smashing through the doors had already disturbed the zombies lurking inside. Now, with the horn blaring, it was as if she was issuing a challenge:

All eyes on me!

Instantly, dozens of zombies swarmed in her direction, jaws agape and claws outstretched.

Panic-stricken, An Xiaowei slammed the car into reverse, then floored it, mowing down a line of roadside barriers as she fled in terror.

She sped off, a horde of zombies in hot pursuit.

Xue Feng, watching from cover, couldn’t help but frown. “This woman really is a wild driver…”

Originally, he had only intended for her to pull up to the supermarket and honk, not to smash in the doors. But An Xiaowei, overwrought with nerves, had instinctively floored the gas as if it were the brake.

Her clumsy maneuver, however, ended up luring almost all the zombies out of the supermarket.

Nevertheless, Xue Feng remained cautious; before entering the supermarket, he drew his pistol.

The supermarket was quite large. While much had already been looted, plenty of supplies remained. Xue Feng wasted no time, sweeping everything into his spatial storage.

When An Xiaowei returned ten minutes later, Xue Feng was already waiting at the entrance with two bulging backpacks.

“Get in, quick! The zombies are almost on us!” Even from behind the car window, Xue Feng could see the terror etched on her face.

Despite her clumsy efforts, Xue Feng found himself quite satisfied. She had accomplished the task he’d given her—if not smoothly, at least effectively.

Ten minutes later, they returned to Jiamei Compound.

At the gate, they were stopped again by the trio of scavengers.

As soon as Xue Feng got out of the car, the three strongmen surrounded him.

“What is it you want?” he asked coldly, fixing his gaze on the tattooed man leading them.

The tattooed man grinned. “Brother, we three risk our lives to keep Jiamei Compound safe, you know. Since you’ve had quite a harvest on this trip, shouldn’t you at least share half of what you brought back with us?”