It's Hard to Preserve Oneself in This World

"A little more flesh is deemed too much, a little less is deemed too little, just right."

Dorothy didn't dare to look at Dylan. She was feeling a bit flustered just now, something she hadn't experienced in many years.

Consciously, she extracted the crystals and cores from the zombies' bodies, then turned and walked out of the villa.

"Let's call it a day today. It's getting dark, and we're too exhausted!" Dorothy said without even turning her head.

Dylan thought about it and realized there were only ten villas left. Clearing them tomorrow wouldn't hurt, especially with two beautiful women waiting at home.

The image of Jodie in a cheongsam flashed through Dylan's mind, making him eager to return home.

*Cough cough!* Mainly, he was intrigued by her abilities.

Dylan followed closely behind Dorothy as they made their way back to their villa.

---

In the Purple Mountain villa area, the ten villas Dylan hadn't cleared were located at the entrance of the entire villa area, right where the property management office was built.

Inside a utility room, there were over twenty people crowded against the walls, both men and women.

As there was only a small window in the room, it became particularly dark when night fell, but it was relatively warm.

"Don't crowd in any further, can't you hear me?!" one man shouted impatiently.

"Don't squeeze, can't you hear our captain speaking?" another person echoed.

"Yeah, it's annoying. If I knew, I wouldn't have let you guys in!" someone else chimed in.

"I'm sorry, it's just that it's too cold near the door, and I wanted to get closer inside!" a woman weakly explained.

"Cold? Who isn't cold? You guys keep squeezing in like this, disturbing our captain's rest. Tomorrow, who's going out to find food for you?!" one person scolded loudly, not buying it.

"Going out to find food? We participated too! It's not just the security team's credit! Who was scared to death when those monsters came up?

 If it weren't for our captain, you would've been eaten by them long ago," someone retorted.

"I... I know, we... we're very grateful to you too. When the rescue comes, we'll definitely thank you properly!" the woman at the door spoke cautiously.

"Rescue? Tell me, what rescue? There's no phone signal, and the whole place outside is crawling with those walking monsters.

Apart from here, have you seen any living people in the entire villa area?" the captain sneered coldly.

*Click!* A bright light shone, illuminating the woman at the door. She instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes.

Her hair was messy, but she still looked young, wrapped in a banner.The security captain looked at her lecherously and said, "Hehe, feeling cold, aren't you? Come over here then!"

The woman's face paled in fright when she heard this and quickly waved her hand, saying, "No need, I can endure it for a while!"

Ignoring her protests, the security captain ordered the two guards beside him, "Go, bring her over to me!"

The two burly guards in security uniforms got up and went to the woman. They grabbed her and dragged her over to the security captain.

The security captain ripped off the banner from the woman's body and examined her closely. He lifted her chin with his hand and said, "You wanted to thank me, didn't you? Well, no need to wait for rescue. You can thank me right now!"

Suddenly, the flashlight turned off, and the woman's voice filled with fear could be heard.

"What are you doing?!"

"Ah! Your hands are so cold, let me go!"

*Rip!* The sound of clothes tearing.

"Ah! Please don't! I beg you!"

But the security captain didn't stop. Soon, indescribable sounds echoed from the room.

The other people in the room could only seethe with anger but dared not speak up. They had no choice but to rely on the security team if they wanted to survive.

They had witnessed the security team of five killing a monster that was about to attack them.

Most of these people were the owners of the first ten villas. Initially, they used to bow and scrape before the security team. But now, the tables had turned, and they had to flatter the security team.

As the night fell completely, the sounds of moaning continued to come from the room.

Everyone chose silence. They were still counting on the security team to find food tomorrow or to kill the dozen or so zombies lingering at the entrance of the villa area so they could go down the mountain to seek rescue.

---

In Dylan's villa,

He and Dorothy had finished cleaning up, washing all the crystals and cores they had obtained and neatly stacking them on the coffee table.

Dorothy was very tired, and Dylan felt sorry for her, so he didn't let her cook. Instead, he took out a fully prepared table of food while Jodie was out of the living room.

He had set up wine and drinks as well.

When Jodie entered the living room and saw the table filled with delicious food, her eyes lit up with excitement, and she almost drooled.

"My goodness, being able to eat this food, even if I die, I'll have no regrets!"

"Come, Jodie, this feast is prepared for you! Please help yourself!" Dylan smiled and pulled out a chair for Jodie, gesturing for her to sit down.Jodie sat down feeling a bit overwhelmed, "I-I don't deserve such extravagance from you all. You've given me the best of everything!"

Dylan smiled, glancing at Alberta, realizing she hadn't told Jodie about his spatial abilities.

He poured a glass of wine for himself and raised it to Jodie, saying, "Thank you for helping us yesterday. Come, let me toast to you first!"

Dylan downed his glass of wine in one gulp, and Alberta and Dorothy followed suit.

Jodie was also accustomed to drinking. Seeing everyone showing her such respect, she quickly raised her glass and drank it down.

"You really don't have to do this for me; I'll feel embarrassed," Jodie said shyly as she put down her glass.

"Alright! Let's eat then!" Dylan said.

During the entire meal, most of the time Dylan and the others watched Jodie eat alone.

Through conversation, Dylan learned that Jodie was a student in the music department at Bluewater Bay Art College, specializing in playing the flute. She was Alberta's roommate and a very close friend.

The villa she was staying in belonged to her aunt and uncle.

She happened to be visiting that evening and got trapped there when the cold wave hit.

She was lucky not to freeze to death. When the temperature rose slightly, she wrapped herself in a blanket and went to look for food.

To her horror, she found her uncle biting her aunt madly at the staircase.

This sight frightened her, and she screamed involuntarily. Her uncle, now turned into a zombie, heard her scream and redirected his attack towards her.

She quickly ran back to her room and locked the door. But the zombie uncle outside didn't stop trying to break in.

He started banging on the door furiously, and it seemed like he would break through any moment.

Out of habit, she picked up her flute and started playing to calm herself down.

Strangely enough, as soon as the flute sound started, the zombie uncle outside quieted down.

She didn't know why, but she stayed inside, too scared to go out. Once, she accidentally knocked over a lamp by the bedside, and the zombie uncle outside heard the noise and started banging on the door again.

She was afraid and started playing the flute again, and the zombie uncle quieted down once more.

It was then that she vaguely realized that playing the flute seemed to calm the zombies down.

Yesterday, she heard the sounds of survivors and zombie dogs fighting outside her window. Curious, she stood by the window and saw Dylan, Alberta, and Dorothy fighting off the zombie dogs.