"Are you sure this is going to work?" Duan Ze asked as Wenzhi recorded the shelter, capturing the overcrowding, the exhausted staff, the reality hidden from the polished cities.

"There are reporters who’ve tried to expose places like this," Duan Ze continued quietly. "Their reports never make it out."

Wenzhi didn’t stop filming.

"Too bad I’m not a reporter," he said dryly. "If every shelter near a red zone looks like this, then they should be building more of them. Bigger ones. Not wasting resources on pointless experiments."

Duan Ze smiled faintly. "You really don’t care about breaking the law, do you?"

Wenzhi scoffed. "What do you mean? I’ve always been a lawbreaker."

"No. Not really."

Wenzhi ignored that. "I need a computer."

While the others followed the military commander deeper inside, Wenzhi approached a passing female soldier.

"Excuse me. Can I use a computer?"

She paused, eyeing him carefully. "That depends. What for?"

Wenzhi lifted his phone. "A private one would help."

Understanding flashed across her face.

Without another word, she handed him her laptop.

Wenzhi moved outside to a quieter corner of the shelter, crouching against the wall. He connected his phone, set up basic protections to mask the device, then started editing.

He trimmed the footage perfectly, sharpened the focus, drawing out the darkest details until the worst of it was impossible to miss. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

It was just enough to catch the public’s eyes and more than enough to turn their stomachs.

When he was done, he uploaded the video through a newly created account and sent it directly to multiple major media channels.

Then he left a copy on his government-issued phone.

He wanted them to see it. He wanted them to know it was him.

Wenzhi looked ahead through the broken iron fence, his gaze settling on the deep red air beyond it.

Corruption. A full red zone.

Normal humans wouldn’t last more than twenty four hours there. Guides could stretch it to five days at most, but even then, they needed support.

Wenzhi’s lips twisted.

Red zones didn’t just stay contained. They spread. Across borders, into other countries, reaching the oceans where sea monsters thrived and everything else either died or mutated into something unrecognisable.

If this expansion was real... Then he wasn’t just dealing with Shao Xinyuan, eventually losing control and destroying the world.

He was dealing with something worse.

Wenzhi groaned and dragged his hands over his face, fingers pushing through his hair. "Bloody hell..."

A familiar aura pressed in.

Ah.... Just when his day couldn’t get worse.

Xinyuan stood in front of him, tall, solid, completely in his space.

"What are you doing out here, freckles?" He murmured. "We’re heading into the red zone in an hour."

Wenzhi dropped his hands and looked up at him, unimpressed. "What are you and Kaiwen up to?"

Xinyuan blinked. "I’m just trying to get a meeting with Jingxin."

Wenzhi stared at him. He hadn’t expected honesty. And somehow, that made it worse.

Because it sounded incredibly stupid.

Wenzhi pushed himself to his feet, exhaling slowly, like he was holding his temper back by force.

He really needed to stay calm.

"Why would you want to meet your brother?" he asked, shoving his phone into his pocket and holding the laptop against his chest. "The same brother who tried to kill me."

Xinyuan sighed. "I know it sounds like a bad idea."

"No," Wenzhi cut in. "It’s a stupid idea."

"I can’t track him alone," Xinyuan breathed, leaning in as he shoved his hands into his pocket. "Kaiwen’s family has ties to the old blood faction; I’m using them as bait. Jingxin won’t come out for me directly. Not after last night."

"Is this a reunion, then?" Wenzhi’s voice was dry. "I was under the impression you two didn’t exactly stay in touch."

Xinyuan didn’t reply. He just looked away.

Damned Secrets.... Was this angst or just miscommunication?

Wenzhi stepped closer. "Do you remember what we talked about earlier? About Doctor Bai?"

A flicker of movement crossed Xinyuan’s eyes, his entire being narrowed down to deciphering the thoughts behind Wenzhi’s gaze.

"My answer is yes," he said at last. "If she tries to separate us, I will kill her."

There was no hesitation. None at all. And then he walked away.

"Hmm..." Wenzhi remained still, his gaze focused on Xinyuan’s retreating figure as the wind ruffled his hair. "What is going on with him?"

There was this feeling.... It was like Xinyuan was putting a quiet distance between them that hadn’t been there before.

Why did it piss Wenzhi off so much?

~•~

Not long after, they regrouped by the trucks, loading supplies.

Wenzhi, Xinyuan, Nuo, and Jiang Zhaohe took one truck.

Duan Ze, Lu Kaiwen, Suye, and Chenxi took another.

While Zhiyao and Yuzhen stayed behind at the shelter.

Nuo drove.

Wenzhi sat in the front passenger seat while Zhaohe and Shao Xinyuan stayed at the back.

Soon, they were moving straight into the red zone.

The air shifted gradually, turning thick, heavy, stained with that deep red haze until it surrounded them completely.

Wenzhi focused on his role. He pulled up the tracker, scanning the recorded map of the deeper sector. Signals flickered across the screen, marking rift activity and known monster presence.

"We’ll reach a small rift in thirty minutes," he said. "But there are no monster signals nearby."

That made everyone look up.

"That doesn’t sound right," Jiang Zhaohe said.

"Unless someone else cleared them out," Nuo added.

Wenzhi’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror. Xinyuan wasn’t listening. He was staring out the window. At something in the mist.

What was he looking at?

Xinyuan suddenly leaned forward, his palm slamming onto Wenzhi’s shoulder with a possessive, heavy grip.

"Don’t move," he hissed.

Wenzhi startled. "Wha..." The words died in his throat.

Because out of the thick fog, a monster with four jagged horns tore through with a guttural growl. A mountain of muscle and rage hurtling toward them with the unstoppable force of a freight train.