Blame It on

"Sis, there are people following us," said Jing Yi.

The twin sisters had just come out of the trading hall and hadn't gone far when the more observant younger sister noticed they were being followed.

"What should we do then? Should we just turn around and take them out? But I've never killed anyone before, just zombies," said Jing Ru.

Before joining Xiao Jun's team, the two sisters had lived very miserably, with the elder sister Jing Ru having killed zombies in order to find food. In contrast, the younger sister Jing Yi had been well protected by her elder sister.

After joining Xiao Jun's team, the two sisters hadn't participated in any more battles. At most they just rummaged through airdropped crates.

Even so, Xiao Jun had used mutant crystals to upgrade both sisters to second rank.

If it really came down to it, the few people following them would be no match for the sisters.

"No need, just let them follow. It's even better that way," said Jing Yi.

It seemed the pressure of this apocalypse was greater than imagined. It was only the third day and people were already resorting to stalking. Tomorrow it would be robbery, and the day after, outright plunder.

The sisters turned a corner, and a woman walking towards them also turned the corner from the opposite direction.

"Second step," said Jing Yi softly as they brushed past each other.

...

"Boss Yang, could these two girls really be from Future City? Wouldn't it be unwise to provoke them?" asked one of the men following the sisters.

"You idiot, would Future City dare to do this? Everyone was still in shock the first three days, but by the fourth and fifth days, they'll certainly realize what's going on. It's the evils of capitalism at play," replied Boss Yang.

"Future City is very ambitious about building a city. Even if they wanted to make money, they wouldn't do it so blatantly," said the man, who seemed quite educated, perhaps forced by his smoking addiction to keep his mind sharp.

"Should we make a move then?" asked the underling.

"Make a move your ass. You think we're the only ones watching these girls? Mark my words, they'll definitely try to sneak out in the middle of the night, that's when we'll strike," said Boss Yang.

They could only watch as the twin sisters entered the residential area of Future City. For now, no one dared to make a move.

At 9:30 PM, Boss Yang kept rubbing his hands together. It was too cold.

He looked left and right, then carefully took out a pack of White Sand cigarettes from his jacket. The box was already crumpled beyond recognition.

Opening it, there were two wrinkled cigarettes left inside.

At least he was lucky those two girls didn't take these kinds of cheap cigarettes, otherwise there would have been nothing left.

Shielding himself from the cold wind, he flicked his lighter crisply, the sound especially loud in the dead of night.

His underlings all looked over in envy.

Boss Yang shakily took two puffs, already feeling much better.

After taking a big drag, he passed the cigarette to one of the men.

"One puff each, no more."

The underling nodded excitedly. It had been almost a whole day since he last smoked.

Inhaling deeply, he took a big puff. The others looked on covetously.

When it was their turn, they followed suit and took a large puff each.

By the time it reached the last man, the ember was nearly touching the butt, yet he showed no sign of distaste, determined to keep puffing until nothing came out.

"Boss Yang, Boss Yang."

A man came running over swiftly from the distance.

"I was right about that villa having a back door. I saw those two women sneak out."

"You guys were smoking behind my back?"

Slap!

Boss Yang struck him over the head.

"What are you waiting for, show us the way! Once we catch those two girls, there'll be smokes for everyone!"

"Yeah, and those twin sisters, those figures, those looks, hehe..."

The group of seven or eight men eagerly followed behind the guide, rushing towards the small path behind the villa.

And it wasn't just them. Several more groups suddenly emerged from other corners.

Money moves people's hearts, and smoking addiction is a catalyst.

"Boss Yang, there they are," said the guide.

After running for over ten minutes, they finally caught sight of the two women.

Knowing they were being pursued, the women were also running very fast.

"Damn it, those two must be variant humans, probably second rankers with that kind of speed," cursed Boss Yang.

But even knowing the women were fast, the men showed no signs of giving up, persisting doggedly in their pursuit.

"Sis, where are we running? I'm so tired," said Jing Ru breathlessly.

"Stay close. I told you only to eat and sleep all day. Now that the apocalypse is here you've even gotten fatter," scolded Jing Yi.

"Fart, I got fatter? No way. I'm just lazy, not unable to run."

As if poked in a sore spot by her own sister, Jing Ru suddenly sped up, dashing more than ten meters ahead of Jing Yi.

"Sis, hurry up. Could it be you really got fat and can't run anymore?" taunted Jing Ru.

"Sis, you ran the wrong way! It's left!"

Jing Yi looked on speechlessly. This foolish sister of hers...

"I..."

Jing Ru had barely managed to speed up, only to overshoot. She almost blurted out a quintessentially Chinese saying.

"Sis, hurry! If they catch you, you're done for. Don't expect me to help you," said Jing Yi sternly.

...

"Keep chasing, I don't believe those two women can keep running for long," shouted Boss Yang.

With just one road, the pursuers had converged into a single group, numbering at least fifty to sixty people. It was an impressive force.

But at this time of night, most people were resting up for the brutal battles at midnight.

Their chase had also taken them far from Future City's garrison points, so there was no fear of running into others.

After a chase of half an hour, the sisters, though second rank variant humans, had reached their limit.

"Sis, just admit I got fat, okay? Can you tell me how much longer we have to run? I really can't go on," pleaded Jing Ru.

"Up ahead, left turn," instructed Jing Yi.

After two more successive turns, a garrison came into view.

Before Jing Ru could even make out what it was, a figure suddenly appeared from the right and swept her up in his arms.

Jing Ru was about to struggle when a familiar voice sounded in her ear.

"Don't resist."

In the next instant, Jing Ru and the man vanished. Jing Yi showed no surprise, as if she had known all along what would happen.

One second later, the man reappeared and picked up Jing Yi.

"Where are the girls? How could they just disappear into thin air?"

"I'll be damned, living people can't just vanish. They must've gone inside."

Emboldened by their superior numbers, the men grew bolder and noisily prepared to charge in.

"What do you punks think you're doing, causing trouble at my Lone Wolf Group?"

A loud shout rang out as dozens of men armed with steel knives ran forward to block their path.

"We're looking for two women. Hand them over."

"Yeah, we're looking for people."

Chaos ensued at the scene.

"Looking for people? More like looking for death," said the leader of the Lone Wolf Group. He had no intention of wasting time talking. With a wave of his hand, his men moved to attack with their knives.

Clearly they were no match in a fight, not to mention the difference in strength. The other side had dozens of blades.

The men might be foolish but they weren't stupid. Seeing the Lone Wolf Group really meant business, they immediately turned tail and fled.

Lone Wolf Group huh. They would spread the word tomorrow that the two women must be with the Lone Wolf Group.

Keeping a good distance away, about a hundred meters from the garrison, three figures carefully picked their way forward.

"Brother Jun, your skill is amazing, to cover such a great distance in an instant," said Jing Ru in awe.

"Shut up, don't let anyone find us. Hurry back to your own territory," he replied gruffly.