Xiao Han spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. He glanced at Mo Lei, who was so frightened he was about to faint, and then threw his head back and laughed, a laugh filled with self-mockery and disdain.

“Lei Laohu, is your damn brain kicked by a donkey? What am I, Xiao Han, worth?! Lu Shiyan, that guy, is ruthless and cold-hearted. For energy stones, let alone one Xiao Han, even if he sacrificed ten or eight more, he wouldn't even bat an eye!”

He bared his teeth, revealing his bloody gums.

“Besides, even if I die here today, it’s because I’m not good enough! What’s losing a teammate in the apocalypse? You expect someone like him to trade for ‘scum’ like us? Dream on – you wish!”

“That’s not for sure!” Lei Laohu didn't entirely believe Xiao Han’s nonsense. He smiled coldly, “Go tell Lu Shiyan to bring the energy stones and roll over to A-District Plaza to see me within half a day! Otherwise, I’ll chop off one of this little brat’s hands first, then cut out your tongue! I want to see if Lu Shiyan is really that hard-hearted!”

Lei Laohu lifted his foot and stomped heavily on Xiao Han’s fingers.

“Ah!” Xiao Han groaned, veins bulging on his forehead.

Lei Laohu looked down at him: “Or, should I start with you?”

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Su Wan and A Mo were waiting in a hidden underground passage. The sound of explosions faintly reached them, making Su Wan restless.

“A Mo, do you think… Lu Shiyan and Xiao Han, will they be alright?” Su Wan’s voice carried a hint of an almost imperceptible tremor.

A Mo’s face was expressionless, but his eyes were exceptionally firm: “The Captain has his arrangements. We just need to wait.”

Su Wan knew A Mo’s personality; asking was pointless. She could only place her hand on her bulging lower abdomen, “Baby, your father absolutely must be alright…” She murmured to herself.

Suddenly, A Mo’s communicator at his waist vibrated slightly. He quickly answered, and after listening for a few sentences, his expression changed slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Su Wan immediately tensed up.

A Mo was silent for a moment, then looked at Su Wan, his voice low: “The Captain is fine. But… Xiao Han and Xiao Lei were captured by Lei Laohu.”

Su Wan felt as if struck by lightning, her face instantly turning pale.

“How… how could this happen?” Her voice was dry and hoarse, filled with disbelieving panic, “What about Lu Shiyan? Wasn’t he going to… to cast the net? How could Lei Laohu…?”

A Mo’s face remained mostly expressionless, but his eyes were exceptionally solemn: “Lei Laohu is using Xiao Han and Xiao Lei’s lives to threaten the Captain into handing over something.”

“Something? What something?”

What could it be, something Lu Shiyan went to such great lengths for, even causing such chaos, to obtain?

A Mo was silent. Lu Shiyan had only instructed him to protect Su Wan before the operation, and told him several backup evacuation points and emergency contact methods.

Su Wan looked at A Mo’s tightly pressed lips, knowing that asking further would yield nothing. She suddenly recalled what he had said that night.

‘The more dangerous the place, the more it hides what we want.’

‘For example, the strength and capital to let you and the child survive in this apocalypse.’

…

She understood! Everything became clear!

Lu Shiyan’s previous abnormal actions, his infiltration of Lei Laohu’s forces, creating chaos at all costs… it was all for this thing! And this thing was for her and the child in her belly!

The plots in those apocalypse novels, where the female lead’s fetus absorbs the mother’s energy, leading to the mother’s weakness or even death, exploded in her mind again. She had been worried sick about this before, unable to sleep at night.

Did Lu Shiyan know too? Is that why he…?

An indescribable warm current, mixed with bitterness, instantly surged into her heart, making her eyes well up. That man, cold and ruthless, treating human lives like grass, yet for her and the child, he laid out such a grand scheme.

He never told her any of this, only silently acted.

“So… that’s how it is…” Su Wan murmured, her voice tinged with a hint of a sob.

She also finally understood why, in the original novel, the character of Xiao Han had almost no presence, seemingly disappearing in the mid-stage. It turned out he had… sacrificed himself in this turmoil at the Central Base.

And all of this was because of her, an unexpected variable, because of the child in her belly, which made Lu Shiyan advance his plan and changed the fate trajectories of many people.

If it weren't for getting energy stones for her, Lu Shiyan might not have fallen out with Lei Laohu so quickly, and Xiao Han wouldn't have…

“No! Xiao Han won’t be in trouble! Absolutely not!” Su Wan suddenly looked up. She couldn’t let Xiao Han die because of her!

Su Wan grabbed A Mo’s arm, “A Mo, what do we do now? Where is Lu Shiyan?”

A Mo said: “The Captain told us to wait in a safe place, he will handle it.”

“Handle it? How will he handle it? Lei Laohu has Xiao Han and Xiao Lei as hostages!” Su Wan said anxiously, “It’s too dangerous for him to go alone!”

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down: “No, I can’t just wait. A Mo, take me to find Lu Shiyan. Perhaps… I can help.”

A Mo frowned: “Miss Su, the Captain’s orders…”

“I know his orders are for my own good!” Su Wan interrupted him, “But the situation is different now! Xiao Han was captured because of us!”

“I can’t just watch him get into trouble! And, the thing Lei Laohu wants, that thing is in Lu Shiyan’s hands now, right?”

A Mo nodded.

“If Lu Shiyan gives the thing away, wouldn’t all his previous efforts be in vain? Lei Laohu won’t let them go easily either…”

Su Wan caressed her lower abdomen, “So, the thing cannot be given! And the people must be saved!”

She looked at A Mo, saying word by word: “I cannot become a burden to Lu Shiyan, and I certainly cannot let him give up saving Xiao Han because of me!”

A Mo silently looked at Su Wan, seeing in her eyes a determination identical to Lu Shiyan’s.

“Alright.” A Mo finally nodded, “I know a backup contact point where the Captain might go. We’ll wait for him there.”

…

A-District Plaza.

The atmosphere was murderous, with swords drawn and bows bent.

Lei Laohu sat on a temporarily moved grandmaster’s chair, his face so gloomy it could drip water. Behind him stood a row of armed cronies, radiating killing intent.

In the center of the plaza, Xiao Han and Xiao Lei were tied with their hands behind their backs, kneeling on the ground.

Xiao Han’s lips held a sarcastic smile, but his eyes were fixed on Lei Laohu, as if he wanted to devour him whole.

Xiao Lei, on the other hand, was trembling with fear, not even daring to cry out loud.

Around them, on the rooftops of surrounding buildings and at alley entrances, Lei Laohu’s men were ambushed, forming an inescapable net.

Time passed minute by minute, and the agreed half-day deadline was approaching.

Lei Laohu’s patience was also quickly running out. He glanced at the sky and snorted coldly: “Lu Shiyan, it seems you don’t care about your brother’s life!”

He signaled to his subordinate: “Prepare for execution! Start with the little one!”

Two fierce-looking thugs walked towards Xiao Lei with sinister grins, raising the machetes in their hands.

Xiao Lei looked at the gleaming blades, closed his eyes in terror, and screamed in despair.

Just at this critical moment, a cold voice clearly reached everyone present:

“Lei Laohu, your appetite is a bit too big.”