The woman was bandaging the abdominal wound of a swarthy man while saying to the one - eyed man at the entrance of the cave,

"Captain, this mission has cost us too much. Xiaolu, Pizi, Erlv, and Miaomiao are all gone."

The swarthy man's eyes were also blood - red, filled with deep grief. He murmured,

"We've endured so many hardships. We were on the verge of getting the qualification to enter the inner city after completing this mission. But now, they all died in this damned mission..."

The man speaking was in his thirties, named Xu Jianguo. His face was full of sorrow, and his fists were tightly clenched. The swarthiness of his cheeks couldn't hide the paleness caused by the severe injury from a strange beast in his abdomen.

Xu Jianguo was originally a soldier. During the mass transfer in the early days of the apocalypse, his unit was shattered, and he lost his military status. Later, he was saved by Li Fan and got to know him. During the transfer, they fought against zombie hordes together and established an unbreakable brotherhood. After arriving at the official survivor base in Yanjing, he left the army and followed Li Fan to form a survivor team, serving as the vice - captain for 8 years.

The woman helping him bandage was called Fan Youyou, also a member of Li Fan's survivor team and one of the earliest people to follow Li Fan. Fan Youyou angrily threw away the blood - stained gauze in her hand and said,

"The intelligence given by the official this time is completely wrong. They simply treated our survivor teams as cannon fodder! Brother Fan, I think Yuan Ruoxue betrayed us!!"

"Youyou, don't talk nonsense. Yuan Ruoxue is the captain's sister. It can't be her."

"Why not? She's the daughter of the Yuan family. Her grandfather is Commander Yuan, a big shot in the military. She could have easily let Brother Fan enter the inner city with just one word, but she let Brother Fan lead the team to take on this hellish mission. It's hard to believe it's not her doing!"

Xu Jianguo also suspected Yuan Ruoxue in his heart, but he didn't want to put Li Fan in a difficult position. He stopped Fan Youyou and said,

"Stop talking, Youyou. Do you think the captain wants to enter the inner city? He just wants to get an inner - city qualification for our brothers. The captain is doing this for us."

Fan Youyou also realized that her tone was wrong and apologized to Li Fan.

"Brother Fan, I'm sorry. I don't mean to blame you. Without you, I, Fan Youyou, would have committed suicide long ago. But, but Xiaolu, Miaomiao, they're all gone. This mission is too abnormal. A mission with such a high security level should have been carried out by the military personnel themselves. But it was actually outsourced to our survivor teams. And what exactly is this crystal? Until now, there's not a single detailed mission description. Moreover, it even alerted all the official shelters, and even people from Shangjing were sent here."

Xu Jianguo glanced at the crystal in Li Fan's hand and echoed,

"It's really strange. It seems this thing is very important! Shangjing even dispatched two 7 - rank new humans."

Li Fan stood at the entrance of the cave, looking into the distance. His heart was filled with indescribable pain and sadness. This was the most desperate moment for him in the past eight years. Since the apocalypse, he had experienced countless life - and - death challenges. He lost one eye and had numerous scars on his body, but he had never given up hope. But this time, facing the encirclement and pursuit of the eight major bases and the attacks of various strange beasts, it seemed inevitable that they would perish.

Their 9 - person team had 6 members dead, leaving only the three of them, and all were injured. They didn't know how many power - users were searching for them around. He just wanted to lead these brothers who had struggled to survive in the mire of the apocalypse to live well. He didn't have any excessive demands. But this time, the shady operations of the upper - echelons made him watch helplessly as his brothers and friends died here one by one, all because of this crystal. Li Fan felt betrayed. Just as Youyou said, this mission was too abnormal. The mission details were veiled. Even entering the unclaimed Arctic region required a secret infiltration. But all the action trajectories of their team seemed to be controlled by others at any time. And Yuan Ruoxue, this sister - like figure without blood relation, it was she who encouraged him to take on this mission. She said that as long as they completed this special mission, they could get the living capital for their group to enter the inner city. Looking at the faintly glowing crystal in his hand, it was a diamond - shaped crystal the size of a beer bottle. Inside the crystal, there was a black sphere the size of a pigeon egg, flashing with light.

Li Fan put away his dejected emotions. Facing the two survivors, he made a decision and said,

"Lao Xu, Youyou, this loss is all my responsibility. If I hadn't been so stubborn to take this mission, everyone could have lived well in the wilderness. I'm sorry, I've harmed everyone. Try your best to escape later. If the enemies surround us, you break through from the south and escape. Their target is the thing in my hand. I'll hold them off. Remember, don't go back to the base. Go to Li'ao Mountain. It's suitable for survival. Live well."

"No way!"

"Absolutely not!"

Hearing Li Fan's decision, Fan Youyou and the other immediately rejected it.

"Brother Fan, both I and Brother Jianguo were saved by you. How could we abandon you and escape alone at this time? We'll either go together or stay together."

"Yeah, Captain. We're all alone in this world. We've supported each other to survive until now, and that's enough."

Fan Youyou came to Li Fan's side, looked firmly into Li Fan's only remaining eye, and smiled calmly,

"At worst, it's just death. Even in the underworld, you're still our captain."

Li Fan's eyes turned red. It seemed as if those familiar faces were right in front of him. This kind of friendship was so precious in the apocalypse where social order had collapsed. But just because of his wrong decision, it was all ruined here.

Just as Li Fan was about to persuade them again.

Boom!!

An RPG came straight towards the cave, causing the cave to collapse.

Li Fan and the other two were all power - users. Ordinary thermal weapons could hardly hurt them. They rushed out before the cave collapsed. However, outside, nearly a hundred power - users and new humans had surrounded them. Although these people didn't wear military uniforms, it was easy to tell that they had the temperament and physique unique to the inner - city soldiers of the base. There was a clear difference between them and their survivor team who had been struggling to survive. Li Fan swept a glance around. None of them were familiar faces, but he was sure that these people must be from the inner city of Yanjing. Li Fan asked in a deep voice,

"Whose men are you? Li Changjun's or Commander Yuan's?"

At this time, a person that Li Fan didn't expect walked out of the crowd and said to Li Fan,

"Brother Fan, hand over the thing in your hand. As for whose men we are, you don't need to know. Hand over the thing, and they promised me to spare your lives."

Li Fan was shocked. This person was a brother in his team. They were still fighting together an hour ago. He had seen them being besieged and killed by a group of strange beasts.

Seeing this person, Xu Jianguo was immediately furious and asked sharply,

"Liao Yunfei!!! You're not dead. No, it's you! You traitor. You sold our action trajectory!"

However, Liao Yunfei ignored Xu Jianguo and dodged Li Fan's gaze, not daring to look at him.

Li Fan was very silent. He didn't question why he betrayed. In the apocalypse, he had experienced too much betrayal. It was nothing more than that others offered enough benefits. Liao Yunfei knew Li Fan well. The more silent Li Fan was, the angrier he was.

"Brother Fan, don't blame me. I want to live, live well. I don't want to live that precarious life with you anymore. Hand over the crystal, and I'll..."

Before Liao Yunfei could finish, Li Fan interrupted him and said,

"Shut up."

Li Fan changed from shock to anger at first, but now he was as calm as water. His tone was also without any fluctuations. His only remaining eye was calm, and he asked,

"What about Xiaolu and the others?"

Liao Yunfei took a step back. It was not until he saw the people he brought around that he forced himself to calm down and didn't answer Li Fan.

Seeing Liao Yunfei's expression, the answer was already clear.

The anger in Li Fan's heart made him even more gloomy. He said in a cold tone,

"I can hand over the thing. Let Li Yuhang come and get it himself."

Liao Yunfei asked in surprise,

"You, how do you know?"

Li Fan's eyes swept past Liao Yunfei as if he were looking at a pile of dispensable garbage. He looked at the crowd and shouted,

"It seems I guessed right. Li Yuhang, I know you're here. Come out!"

As soon as the words fell, a male voice came.

"Li Fan, why bother? You can't escape. The mission is completed. Hand over the crystal obediently. I can give you three the qualifications to live in the inner city."

The person speaking was a man in a new - style combat uniform, tall and straight. His skin was fair but slightly sinister. This person was Li Yuhang. His father, Li Changjun, was the mayor of Yanjing before the apocalypse and is now one of the people in power at the Yanjing shelter base. Since Li Fan came to Yanjing, Li Yuhang had been targeting Li Fan everywhere.

Seeing Li Yuhang, Li Fan's guess in his heart was already half - confirmed. He just didn't know what role Yuan Ruoxue played in this matter.

"Li Yuhang, do you believe what you said yourself? We originally accepted the mission from your Yanjing official. After completion, we were going to hand it over to you. But you came with such a large force. You didn't show up earlier or later, but just when we got rid of the other shelters and were exhausted. Don't tell me you're here to pick us up."

"Hehe, then what do you think we're here for?"

Li Fan raised his eyebrows indifferently, swept a glance around the power - users, and continued,

"You deliberately guided us to get this, and then used my speed - type power to escape, attracting all the attention to me. After we got rid of the people from other bases, you came to reap the benefits."