You are a good person!

Li Wangmiao's heart tightened instantly. Could it be that group has arrived? She couldn't help but start trembling.

But then, to her surprise, the sound that came from outside the door was barking. While she was still dazed, the puppy in her arms suddenly broke free and dashed toward the entrance, followed by the rest, all barking as well. Though their voices weren’t loud, they sounded delighted. What was going on?

Just as Li Wangmiao hesitated, debating whether she should go out and have a look—thud! Someone had already barged in.

"Little girl, are you here?" Of course, it was Xue Feng. Accompanying him was Black Panther, who was now mingling with the other pet dogs, rekindling their bond after more than ten days apart. Black Panther had grown significantly larger, looking nothing like before, but his scent remained unchanged. The other dogs recognized him by it and began rolling on the ground, exposing their bellies—a gesture of submission in the animal world. In the blink of an eye, Black Panther had become the leader of the pack.

"It's you?" Li Wangmiao stepped out of the room cautiously, only to discover it was Xue Feng. She remembered his face from when she peeked through the door crack last time.

"Where's your brother?" Xue Feng asked, though he already knew her brother was gone, but he had to keep up appearances. At that moment, a voice echoed in his mind:

[Information accuracy confirmed. Reward received:]
[Host’s endurance attribute +5!]
[Current host attribute panel:]
Strength: 41
Agility: 42
Spirit: 30
Endurance: 50
Luck: 38 (+100)
Abilities: Divine Thunder (Stage 2, Level 2), Stone Skin (Stage 2, Level 1), Time Zero (Stage 2, Level 1)

Endurance increased again? Xue Feng was genuinely curious; if his endurance kept rising, would he eventually be immune to toxins or the zombie virus? Since the apocalypse began, he hadn't fallen ill at all.

"My... my brother is dead!" Tears streamed down Li Wangmiao’s face as she wiped her cheeks over and over. Xue Feng let her cry for a while without interruption. Three days had already passed since the incident, and Li Wangmiao had come to accept the truth, so she soon composed herself.

"Where did this one come from?" She had noticed Black Panther from the very beginning.

"This is the one I exchanged for back then. He’s doing quite well now, fat and healthy," Xue Feng said with a gentle smile.

What? The puppy he took from the pet shop? How did it turn out like this—stronger than an average adult dog!

"Not just Black Panther, but the other dogs are all alive and well. I didn’t make them into dog meat hotpot," Xue Feng added. The real reason, of course, was that he had enough food and didn’t need to.

"I... I misjudged you. I didn’t expect..." Li Wangmiao immediately lowered her head, staring at her feet in embarrassment. Ever since trading the puppies for instant noodles and bottled water, she had blamed her brother several times, convinced Xue Feng must have eaten the dogs. She never imagined his dogs were doing so much better than her own, growing so strong!

Little did she know, Black Panther’s diet was rather unique—crystal nuclei from zombie brains. Xue Feng saw that the other pet dogs were all skin and bones, so he handed out some sausages for them to share. Watching the puppies eat, Li Wangmiao swallowed hungrily. She hadn’t eaten much lately, not just because her brother was gone, but because food was so scarce. She could barely afford to keep herself alive, let alone feed the dogs.

"Here." Just then, Xue Feng handed her a piece of chocolate—her favorite. She had nearly forgotten what chocolate tasted like.

"Take it, don’t be shy." Seeing her hesitate, Xue Feng grabbed her hand and pressed the chocolate into her palm. Overcome, Li Wangmiao began devouring it ravenously. Xue Feng then handed her a bottle of drink, which she opened and drank without a second thought. The sugar revived her, flooding her body with new strength.

It was only now that Li Wangmiao remembered she shouldn’t drink water from strangers—a basic rule for every girl. But then she thought, if Xue Feng meant her harm, she wouldn’t have been able to resist anyway.

"I’m willing to go with you. You’ve taken such good care of Black Panther—you must be a good person. I just have one request," Li Wangmiao nodded lightly. In her eyes, anyone who could keep dogs so healthy in the apocalypse—where every bite of food was precious—had to be a true dog lover.

Xue Feng could only smile wryly. He’d only kept Black Panther because of the system’s instructions; the dog would become a powerful ally in the future. If the system told him an alpaca would help him, he wouldn’t mind raising one of those, either. But if this was what Li Wangmiao believed, it would save him a lot of trouble, so he didn’t bother explaining.

"You want me to take your dogs too, don’t you?" Xue Feng saw right through her. Even with nothing left, she still cared for these pets as if they were precious lives.

"Yes," Li Wangmiao nodded quickly.

"Alright, no problem." Xue Feng agreed. He planned to form a patrol team made up of dogs, and Li Wangmiao would be the perfect trainer. In this world, dogs were far more alert than people.

At that moment, Black Panther suddenly grew tense, staring at the entrance and whimpering.

"Someone’s coming," Xue Feng muttered, frowning. Black Panther’s warning meant people were nearby. He hadn’t expected to encounter other survivors so soon.

"I have a basement here. Let’s hide inside!" Li Wangmiao, thinking it was members of the Red Flower Society, turned pale with fright and hurried Xue Feng through a small door. The pet shop’s basement was well concealed and not easily found without a thorough search.

"You take the dogs downstairs first. I’ll hide upstairs," Xue Feng said, wanting to see who the newcomers were.

"No, let’s go together! Live or die as one—I can’t let you face danger alone," Li Wangmiao misunderstood his intention.