Truth be told, Xia Xinyan and Murong Yue hadn’t been on bad terms in their previous life. But given their different genders and the era’s constraints, closeness was impossible—they were, at best, allies.

So now, Xia Xinyan viewed Murong Yue with clearer objectivity.

This girl was far from virtuous. In their past life, she’d pulled plenty of backstabs—but with one silver lining: she only betrayed strangers. Once she deemed someone a friend? Surprisingly reliable.

Still, Xia Xinyan doubted Murong Yue saw *them* as friends yet.

After all, she’d given Murong Yue quite the… *friendly* greeting before entering the instance.

But she wasn’t unreasonable enough to blame her for hypotheticals. So she kept her tone warm: “When did you get in the car?”

“Ah…” Murong Yue laughed it off. “No time to waste! Get in first—we’ll talk later. What if those lunatics spot us— Watch out!”

Before she finished, several red-faced men howled as they charged nearby. Ling Mo spun instantly, sprinting toward the car: “Get in, now!”

Xia Xinyan and Fatty followed. But the red-faced guys were faster—unnaturally so. Their heart-attack-level sprint sent chills down their spines.

In sheer oppressive dread, these lunatics felt no different from zombies.

They’d nearly reached the car when the men closed in.

Ling Mo whirled at the door, gun raised: “Get in! I’ll cover you!”

Xia Xinyan nimbly vaulted the hood into the passenger seat. Fatty yanked the rear door open a beat later: “Ling, hurry!”

Ling Mo slid in, fired once—dropping the nearest attacker—then slammed the door. “Go!”

Murong Yue froze. “Me? Drive?”

“Are you kidding? You’re in the driver’s seat, sis! Just go!” Fatty gaped. *Was she still clueless?!*

“Oh… right!” Murong Yue belatedly hit the accelerator—

—and smashed straight into a road post.

Everyone: “….”

“Sorry, my bad!” She reversed wildly. Before straightening, the red-faced men circled their fallen comrade and slammed the car. Human-cannonball impacts dented the frame; one shattered the rear window. Fatty shrieked: “Holy crap! Brothers, help! Shoot him—shoot him now!”

Ling Mo instinctively raised his gun, then swapped it for a brick. He swung hard at the man plunging through the glass: “Die, you bastard!”

Murong Yue finally corrected the wheel and sped onto the road. “Phew! We’re out! Wow, I thought we’d flip—were they *that* reckless?”

Xia Xinyan paused a second, voice gentle: “You’re going the wrong way.”

Murong Yue: “….”

“Or head to your spawn points? You were spawned at ‘home,’ right?” Xia Xinyan tilted her head toward the others.

Murong Yue shook her head. “Bar.”

“Office. Just finished a night shift,” Fatty added.

Ling Mo slightly raised an eyebrow. “Rough.”

Compared to that, he and Xia Xinyan had it easy—spawned in the same bed…

*That scene flashed back.*

The sheer nightgown… the tantalizing glimpse beneath…

*Ahem.* Focus.

“Let’s return to our place,” Xia Xinyan murmured, setting navigation. “Just U-turn.”

Murong Yue nodded—and swerved straight into another post.

“Sis, do you even *know* how to drive?” Fatty stared, stunned. “You’re wrecking this car!”

“Of course I can!” Murong Yue shot back, wrenching a brutal U-turn past the crumpled hood. “I only failed the driving test four times! My skills are solid—I’m just nervous!”

Fatty: “….”

Even Xia Xinyan fell silent.

*Now I get why Murong Yue never drove last life.*

Suddenly, a system alert flashed:

【News Flash: I3 Pharma Group has identified Unknown Contagious Virus W and distributed its vaccine to all city research labs.】

“Virus W? The zombie virus?” Fatty frowned.

Ling Mo nodded thoughtfully. “Games don’t give pointless hints. This *is* the instance lore—Virus W caused city riots. It’s contagious… and curable.”

“Then why not tell us earlier?” Murong Yue asked.

“Maybe the hint triggers when someone’s infected,” Ling Mo mused, watching the streets. “Standard game logic: stage-based reveals.”

“…No way? Already?” Fatty’s face twisted. “We don’t even know the symptoms! How do we tell?”

“Flushed faces?” Murong Yue chimed in. “They looked like they’d downed bottles of strong liquor and gone wild.”

“Likely,” Ling Mo agreed. “But infection probably has an incubation phase—like zombie viruses. Which means… one of us might be infected.”

Silence thickened the car.

After a beat, Fatty broke it hesitantly: “Nah… we barely touched anyone. Wait—we don’t even know the transmission method! Bites? They didn’t bite!”

“Who knows,” Ling Mo shrugged.

“How about grabbing vaccine first?” Xia Xinyan interjected. “Infected or not, it won’t hurt to have some.”

“Solid plan—but where?” Fatty asked.

“Navigation shows it.” She pointed to the dashboard. Eleven labs appeared; the closest was two kilometers away.

“Then go there—let’s roll!” Fatty perked up. “This instance is locked. Four of us? No way we get wiped.”

“…Please don’t jinx it,” Ling Mo shot him a look. “Your ‘blessings’ got us killed enough times before.”

Fatty chuckled awkwardly and fell quiet.

Xia Xinyan glanced at Ling Mo from the corner of her eye, sighed inwardly, then leaned back with her gun and closed her eyes.

*He’s improving so fast… Analyzing the instance thoroughly without my guidance now.*

*No wonder he’s mine.*