"Thank goodness, all those monsters are dead! Did you kill them all? You're amazing… I was so scared, I thought I was going to die."
Lin Qingqing's eyes welled up with tears as she ran instinctively toward Yu Tian.
But Huan Tian's expression remained cold. He raised his short spear, forcing Lin Qingqing to stop in her tracks.
"Stay back. Keep your distance."
"What… what are you doing? I'm human! I wasn't bitten!"
"Prove it."
"Look, there's not a scratch on me. No blood, nothing!" Lin Qingqing raised her hands and spun around in front of him.
But the icy look in Huan Tian's eyes didn't waver. "Not enough. Take off all your clothes and show me again."
"You… you pervert! What are you trying to do to me?!"
Lin Qingqing's face turned pale. She backed away in horror, arms crossed tightly over her chest, her eyes wide with shock and fear.
"I have zero interest in your body," Huan Tian said, his tone sharp as steel. "My only concern is eliminating any threat to my safety. If you won't comply, I'll throw you out right now—or treat you as an infected."
Lin Qingqing's doe-like eyes went wide, filled with disbelief.
She couldn't understand how someone could be so heartless, so cold.
But in his eyes, she saw no trace of mercy or emotion. And as someone trained in psychology, she knew he would throw her out if she didn't cooperate.
"Miss Lin, my patience is running out. You have three seconds left."
Huan Tian tightened his grip on the spear and stepped forward.
"One."
…
"Two."
…
Lin Qingqing glanced at the zombie corpses on the ground. In that moment, she finally understood.
The apocalypse was here.
This was no longer the world ruled by morals and law.
"I'll remove my clothes—but don't come any closer!"
She had always been decisive. Once she made up her mind, she would follow through, no matter how reluctant or uncomfortable she felt.
She stood up, kicked off her high heels, and began stripping off her clothes piece by piece, starting with her coat.
Lin Qingqing bit down hard on her lip, her white teeth sinking into the soft red flesh. Her face was pale, but she didn't argue.
Finally, with trembling hands, she removed her last layer of protection, exposing every inch of herself under the cold gaze and the pale moonlight.
There. I'm naked."
She slowly turned in front of Huan Tian.
Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a silvery glow across the room—and her skin, as if draping her in an icy radiance.
For a brief moment, Huan Tian was caught off guard.
There was no denying it—Lin Qingqing was breathtaking. Under the moonlight, she looked like a spirit: lithe, graceful, her skin firm and smooth, her figure toned with no trace of excess fat. It was clear she worked out regularly.
In his past life, countless women had thrown themselves at him. He had seen all kinds of beauty. But after all these years in the apocalypse, even the most beautiful women carried the rough edge of survival. Their bodies bore the marks of long battles and hard lives.
But Lin Qingqing—she was something else entirely.
She was like a lost work of art, surviving somehow in this ruined world.
"You do yoga? Or maybe fitness training?" Huan Tian asked instinctively.
"Have you stared enough?" Lin Qingqing growled, her voice laced with anger and humiliation.
Huan Tian looked up, meeting her eyes—eyes that blazed with fury and unrelenting vigilance, like two flames ready to ignite.
To him, though, it was like a little kitten baring its teeth and pretending to be fierce.
Lin Qingqing locked eyes with him, her body tense and ready. If Huan Tian dared to make a move, she would fight him with everything she had.
In her mind, the decision was clear:
If she had to die, she'd die with dignity. She'd never let a bastard like him get his way.
Fortunately, she saw it—the moment she removed her final layer of protection, Huan Tian's gaze finally softened.
The tip of the short spear lowered slowly as he turned away, beginning to search the room.
"Put your clothes back on," he said without looking at her. "And if you want to stay alive, ditch the heels—and find a way to cut your hair."
A casual reminder—consider it the price of admission for the view he'd just witnessed.
He paid no further attention to Lin Qingqing as she got dressed. Instead, he moved methodically, locking the doors to the lounge and conference room, then sweeping the space in detail. All available food and water were gathered and placed on the conference table.
Only then did Huan Tian finally allow himself to relax.
—Demon Hunt Mode: Disengaged.
It was a combat technique he'd developed in his past life, after countless battles and kills. When activated, his mind entered a state of absolute cold clarity, suppressing all negative emotions—pain, fear, anger, even empathy. Every part of him became honed for survival.
It was the first technique he ever created—and the foundation upon which he built the Demon Hunters squad.
He'd taught it to every member of his team.
In the last life, the world came to know the Demon Hunters as the embodiment of precision and efficiency.They were like the blades of an industrial meat grinder—merciless and unstoppable, tearing through everything in their path, be it mutant or human.
Now, with the mode deactivated, all the fatigue and soreness he had been suppressing surged through his body like a crashing wave.
He didn't even make it to a chair—just collapsed onto the floor, twisted open a bottle of water, and gulped down two mouthfuls. Then he tore open a pack of crackers and stuffed them into his mouth without a second thought.
Right now, what he needed most was energy.
As the food and water settled in his stomach, the suffocating weakness that had gripped him slowly began to fade.
Of course, he knew full well—there was no way his body could absorb nutrients that quickly. But in that moment, it wasn't about nutrition.It was about the psychological relief of eating—something he'd come to understand after surviving countless near-death encounters.
As he ate, Huan Tian began combing through his memories of the apocalypse from his past life.Several lingering questions... finally had answers now.
In his previous life, Huan Tian had already noticed something strange about the zombie outbreak in this building.
The infection didn't spread gradually—it exploded simultaneously on the first and top floors.
Now, he understood why.
It was the construction crew stationed on the roof.
They'd been replacing glass when the infection hit. Caught in the open, they got infected instantly, then sealed off both the emergency and fire escape routes. As a result, the rooftop became ground zero.
Survivors fled downward. The zombies followed.
So when Huan Tian finally broke out of the CEO's office, not only had the rain stopped—But the entire floor was eerily empty. Every infected person had already moved on. That was how he'd made it safely to the staff lounge.
Without sparing Lin Qingqing a glance, he approached the fallen zombies and began dissecting them with clinical precision.
From the ten corpses, he harvested 50 Tier-1 Nightmare Crystals.Then he used 2 demon-hunting points to craft 20 more rounds of Nightmare ammo.
His current supplies:
Nightmare Crystals: 55
Nightmare Ammo: 69
Remaining Demon-Hunting Points: 19
Meanwhile, Lin Qingqing, now dressed, stood near the window, pale and shaken.
She couldn't look away from Huan Tian, especially the way he calmly and methodically cut open zombie corpses, not even blinking at the blood and gore.
It was terrifying. Monstrous, even.
But she knew one thing clearly—she had no other option now.
She glanced at the lifeless bodies on the floor, took a deep breath, and forced the words out:
"I want to go with you. Take me with you… I'll trade whatever I can. Just don't try anything on me."
Huan Tian didn't look up. His voice was flat:
"Then let me be honest."
"In the apocalypse, a woman's greatest value is letting a man release all his bottled-up rage and despair. That's the only thing I see in you right now."
"So, unless you can offer something else—Tell me. What other value do you have?"