Parker’s tapping fingers paused. Chester glanced at him from underneath his brows. Seeing that he wasn’t being interrupted, he continued.

"Parker, I’ve always had pretty good luck. Before the apocalypse, I even won the lottery before. After the apocalypse, I escaped death more than once. Last time, seven or eight people cornered me, and I still managed to find a way out."

He let out a bitter laugh. "But today, it felt like every bit of bad luck in my life came crashing down at once. Like..."

He trailed off.

"Like what?" Parker asked.

Chester hesitated before finally saying it. "Like something was protecting that woman. Keeping us from getting close to her."

The living room fell silent for several seconds. Vanessa stood nearby, fingers tightly gripping the hem of her clothes.

Listening to Chester’s words, complicated emotions churned inside her. She didn’t think any of this was luck. She knew Wendy’s secrets far better than Chester did.

If Wendy could possess something as miraculous as a storage space, then she definitely had other secrets too.

But Vanessa couldn’t say anything. At least not yet.

What if Parker changed his mind after learning the truth?

"Maybe she’s just lucky," she said softly.

Chester frowned, wanting to argue, but unable to find the words.

"Exactly. Chester, it was just an accident. You’ve worked hard today. Go back and get some rest."

Parker stood and walked over, patting Chester on the shoulder.

In his eyes, Chester was overthinking things. When someone sailed smoothly for too long, having a streak of bad luck once in a while was normal.

Besides, next time that woman might not be so fortunate.

***

Meanwhile, Wendy continued driving her speedboat forward.

It wasn’t until Chester and the others had completely retreated that she slowly realized something strange must have happened back there.

By the time she looked back, the distance between them had already widened so much that she could no longer see anything at all.

Wendy frowned, suppressing the strange feeling rising in her chest. At a time like this, she could only convince herself she was imagining things.

She didn’t dwell on it for long. Her priority right now was finding Suzy. That was the entire reason she had come out today.

Following Suzy was her main objective.

Scavenging supplies along the way would simply be a bonus.

What she hadn’t expected was for Suzy’s group to move so quickly.

She had only been delayed for a short while, yet Suzy and the others had already vanished without leaving the slightest trace behind.

Even if she wanted to search for them, she had no clue where to begin. In the end, she could only rely on instinct and continue chasing after them.

Without realizing it, Wendy arrived at a fork in the flooded streets. After observing for a moment, she decisively chose the left path based purely on intuition. Her luck had always been good in matters like this.

Suzy’s group had most likely gone this way.

***

At that very moment, Suzy, Leonard, and Thomas had already put considerable distance between themselves and Wendy and were currently on their way toward the construction supply mall.

Ever since the apocalypse began, the entire city had become bleak and desolate.

The speedboat sliced through the waterways as ruined streets and submerged buildings flashed past them.

The water in this area had already begun turning unusually clear, revealing debris and structures beneath the surface.

It wasn’t a good sign.

Clear water meant the floodwaters were no longer receding. This place would likely remain submerged permanently.

All three of them remained silent, not speaking a word.

Eventually, sunlight broke through the clouds and spilled across the three of them. The warm golden glow made people instinctively squint. It felt pleasantly warm against their skin.

Suzy sat near the back of the boat, glancing behind them.

The entire surrounding area was eerily quiet, devoid of people, like a dead zone.

The only sound came from the speedboat’s engine, though even that wasn’t particularly loud.

Back when Suzy purchased it, she had deliberately paid extra for the quieter model.

Even so, some engine noise was unavoidable while it ran, but compared to ordinary speedboats, this one was already much quieter.

"How much farther?" Leonard yawned widely. Under the warmth of the sun, he was starting to feel sleepy again.

Thomas sat at the front, steering the speedboat carefully.

Suzy pulled out her phone to check the offline map she had downloaded in advance.

"Two kilometers left," she said.

Even with the speedboat, traveling wasn’t easy. Too much floating debris cluttered the flooded streets, forcing them to slow down instead of speeding ahead.

"Two kilometers, huh..." Leonard yawned again. "Alright, that’s not too far."

Suzy nodded.

Lowering her eyes to the navigation again, she said to Thomas, "After the next intersection, turn the corner and we’ll be there."

Thomas gave a soft acknowledgment, his eyes constantly sweeping their surroundings with sharp vigilance.

Suzy noticed how tense his back had become. That was how Thomas looked whenever he was on guard.

A strange tightness gripped her chest. She instinctively looked around.

"Did you sense something again?" she asked quietly.

Thomas’s sharp eyes moved like scanners, continuously inspecting the nearby buildings and waterways.

At her question, he nodded and lowered his voice. "There might be people nearby."

Suzy blinked. "Your radar’s going off again?"

Although she joked, she silently became more alert as well.

Thomas glanced at her with amusement, the tension in his expression easing slightly.

"You could say that."

"I understand."

Thomas’s so-called "radar" was actually his intuition. He had always trusted it completely.

Back during his mercenary days, that terrifyingly sharp instinct had helped him avoid countless deadly situations. The only reason he had survived this long was because of it.

And Suzy had witnessed it firsthand. She had no doubt in him whatsoever.

Sliding backward, she tapped Leonard, who was still yawning, and whispered, "Uncle, there might be people nearby."

The trace of drowsiness in Leonard’s eyes vanished instantly. His gaze sharpened at once as he scanned the nearby buildings.

"Where?"

"Thomas’s radar picked something up, but we’re not sure exactly where."

"Alright. They’re probably somewhere aro..."

Leonard suddenly whipped his head around before finishing his sentence. His eyes locked onto a building behind them to the right.

One of the apartments had shattered windows, its interior pitch black. From this distance, he couldn’t make out any details. All he could see was that dark window staring back at him like an abyss.

"Suzy, get the weapons ready."

"Okay."

Suzy grabbed the backpack beside her and used it as cover while retrieving weapons from her space.

She didn’t take out the guns, they were too loud. Firearms were reserved for true emergencies, her final trump card.

After searching through the bag, she slipped a dagger against her body. Then she pulled out two modified nail guns.

Thomas and Leonard had spent the last two days tinkering with them while stuck at home.

Thomas had considerable experience modifying weapons, so under Leonard’s suggestion, the two of them had started experimenting.

The nail guns had short range, but their power was not to be underestimated.

Finally, Suzy placed a compact crossbow beside her.

The weapons were ready.

Meanwhile, Thomas seemed to have noticed something.

He gradually slowed the speedboat until it was practically gliding across the water at its lowest setting.

The engine noise dropped to the bare minimum. The surroundings became so quiet that only the gentle sound of water lapping against the hull remained.

Leonard and Suzy each gripped a nail gun tightly.

The crossbow rested in Thomas’s hands.

His eyes remained fixed ahead as he spoke in an extremely low voice.

"They’re right ahead."

The speedboat came to a complete stop, rocking faintly atop the water.

All three held their breath.

Once everything fell fully silent, Suzy heard it too.

About three or four hundred meters away, another speedboat emerged from a branching waterway to the right.

There were three or four figures aboard, though their faces couldn’t be seen clearly. That boat was noticeably larger than theirs, and its engine roared much louder.

"Don’t move," Thomas whispered steadily. "Wait for them to pass."

Leonard tightened his grip on the nail gun, leaning forward slightly as he watched the approaching speedboat warily.

Suzy stared into the distance, her heart tightening.

The good news was that the people aboard the other boat didn’t seem to notice them.

They were heading in the opposite direction.

One man stood at the bow, scanning his surroundings, but he never looked their way.

"Wait a little longer," Thomas said calmly, steady as stone. "They’ll pass soon."

The other speedboat drifted farther and farther away, its engine noise gradually fading into the distance.