Chapter 10

Jiang Dahu's reasoning was simple: he had intercepted the distress signal sent by this team, which led him to come here. In other words, the military base in Manhattan must have also received the same signal. It wouldn't be long before other teams would come to provide support. If they entered the military base, even if Jiang Dahu had three heads and six arms, he wouldn't have the confidence to face hundreds of rocket launchers and heavy machine guns. However, this small combat team in the wild was something he could easily crush.

Thus, the four of them decided to take a temporary rest here. The building had previously been a department store, rich in supplies and with a decent amount of weapons, making it a good base. Jiang Dahu took out some food for the newcomers, and he even gave Ma Le a bun. After eating it, Ma Le clearly felt his health points rapidly recover, indicating that it was a recovery item.

After finishing their meal and replenishing their strength and health, Ma Le sat on a clean step, fiddling with the automatic rifle he had just picked up. Suddenly, he felt someone pat his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Xia Yingying. The girl tilted her head slightly, her smooth hair naturally falling, making her look charming and cute, with a unique kind of sexiness.

"Can I talk to you?" the girl asked.

"Of course, no problem!" Ma Le generously made room for her, "Sit down!"

Xia Yingying sat next to Ma Le. Ma Le stared at the beautiful girl, feeling that she seemed different from before. Objectively, the girl hadn't changed; what had changed was Ma Le's mindset. He didn't know why, but every time he saw Xia Yingying's eyes before, his heart would race uncontrollably, like a boy in his first love. But this time was different. Xia Yingying was still beautiful, but it was just beauty, without the overwhelming charm she used to have.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Xia Yingying seemed a bit uncomfortable.

This time, Ma Le didn't show any embarrassment. He frankly expressed his feelings: "You're so beautiful, who wouldn't want to take a few more looks? But I have a question. Why do I sometimes feel my heart race and my head heat up when I see you, and sometimes I don't? For example, now, I feel like I'm just looking at a little sister. But there were times before when I felt breathless just by looking into your eyes."

"Are you trying to flatter me?" Xia Yingying was somewhat amused and somewhat exasperated by Ma Le's words. She rolled her eyes and explained, "This might be related to my talent. My talent has a certain charm attribute. When I'm in danger, extremely frightened, or very excited, it activates automatically, making people feel good about me. It's a kind of self-defense mechanism! But don't misunderstand, I'm not some woman who seduces men!"

"Oh... I see." Ma Le tentatively believed this explanation. "By the way, you said you wanted to talk to me. What is it? If you have any troubles, I'll help you!"

Xia Yingying was amused by his confident tone. "Hehe, you really are confident... It's not a big deal, but we've suddenly found ourselves in this dangerous world, where we could be killed by suddenly appearing monsters at any time. I just wanted to ask, are you afraid... or, if you were facing a monster that you couldn't defeat or escape from, and you knew you were going to die, what would you think and do?"

Ma Le didn't expect Xia Yingying to suddenly bring up such a heavy topic. He initially wanted to laugh it off with some bravado, but seeing the girl's serious expression, he couldn't joke around. He thought about it carefully and answered seriously, "I still feel like coming to this Miracle City was a mistake, so I haven't really considered death seriously. How can I put it? I think people can survive anywhere, and there's always a way out. But if I were really in the situation you described, pushed to the brink... I would probably go crazy and use all the means and skills I have. Even if I die, I'd take someone down with me!"

Xia Yingying sighed and said, "If you're going to die anyway, why waste your strength? Dying peacefully isn't also good?"

"How can that be?" Ma Le said loudly, "What if my struggle makes a difference, and I can escape with my life?"

Xia Yingying was taken aback and laughed, "So, even at the brink of death, you'd still think about how to survive? You're really an optimistic person, just like your name, Ma Le!"

"You got that wrong!" Ma Le laughed, "Ma Le is a name my dad gave me out of spite. There's a very dirty reason behind it!"

"Really?" Xia Yingying was intrigued and asked, "A dirty... reason? Tell me, tell me!"

Ma Le sighed, "It all started when I was born. I was a bit different. Other babies need to be slapped on the butt to cry and learn to breathe. But I came out laughing, scaring the nurse almost to the point of dropping me! My dad heard about it and thought it was a good omen, so he named me Ma Xiao. But coincidentally, the family next door also surnamed Ma, and they had just had a daughter named Ma Xiaoxiao. If I were named Ma Xiao, the two kids would have the same name. So, I ended up being named Ma Le."

"That's normal, what's the dirty reason?" Xia Yingying asked curiously.

Ma Le chuckled, "Think about it. My name is Ma Le, so the family next door, Ma Xiaoxiao, would be 'Ma Le's neighbor' (a vulgar phrase)."

Xia Yingying was taken aback, then burst out laughing, "Your dad... really, he's something, hahaha..."

Ma Le also laughed, "He never admits it. I figured it out myself. Not only that, he seems simple and dull on the surface, but he has a lot of devious ideas, like last time..."

"Here they come!" Ma Le's words were suddenly interrupted by a stern shout from Jiang Dahu. He frowned, looking at the Miracle Emblem, and said seriously, "Someone is coming! Very powerful!"

The newcomers became alert, readying their weapons and asking, "What's going on?"

Jiang Dahu shared the map, and on the miniature map of Manhattan, a prominent purple-red dot was rapidly approaching the building!

"What is that?" Ma Le asked, "Brother Jiang, does your thing have radar?"

Previously, when they encountered mutated舔食者 (lickers), Jiang Dahu never issued a warning, so the map didn't seem to have the ability to detect enemies. So, what was this prominent red dot?

Jiang Dahu was momentarily speechless, then explained, "This one is very powerful and dangerous, so there's a warning... But that's not important. The key is that we don't know if this person is friend or foe. Get ready. Ma Le, take this!" He handed the disk to Ma Le, "I need to focus on the enemy, so you keep this mission item safe!"

Ma Le took the disk, and the three newcomers readied their weapons to protect Jiang Dahu's back. Jiang Dahu raised his gun, pulled out a dagger, and held it in his mouth, ready for battle.

The dot on the map got closer, and even the strong Jiang Dahu was sweating. Ma Le noticed this and felt that the giant was hiding something, that he knew the true identity of the dot...

"How is that possible?!" Jiang Dahu exclaimed. The red dot on the map had completely overlapped with their location, but they saw no abnormalities. "Is it an invisible person?" Ma Le guessed.

Suddenly, a "crack" sound came from above. Looking up, they saw the ceiling cracking, and plaster falling.

"Above! Get out of the way!" Jiang Dahu fired a shot at the crack, and the three newcomers scattered.

With a loud boom, the ceiling completely split, and broken bricks and stones raised a cloud of dust. A figure could be seen falling, landing with a loud thud, the impact sending a shockwave that scattered the fleeing newcomers. Even Jiang Dahu couldn't escape, and the black figure, standing over two meters tall, pushed him with one hand, sending him flying. Ma Le saw this and was shocked. Jiang Dahu, with his monstrous strength, couldn't resist this black figure. What kind of monster was it?!

As the dust settled, Ma Le finally saw the true face of the black figure. To his surprise, it wasn't a terrifying demon but a seemingly ordinary man. He was about 1.78 meters tall, of medium build, wearing a black leather jacket over a gray hoodie, the hood covering his head, making it impossible to see his face. Only his pale chin was visible.

Seeing this person, Ma Le felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity. Thinking of the equipment and clothing of the dead mercenaries, a thought flashed through his mind—wasn't this place from Resident Evil?!

The mysterious man looked around and walked straight toward Ma Le. Ma Le was terrified, having already guessed the man's identity. If it was really that person, resisting him would be a death sentence. Ma Le quickly raised his gun and shouted, "Don't misunderstand, we're just refugees, not bad people, no ill intentions!"

But the mysterious man ignored him, walked over, and grabbed Ma Le by the neck, lifting him off the ground with incredible speed, which even Ma Le's enhanced dynamic vision couldn't follow.

The man stared at Ma Le, his face showing anger, and said, "You are the #@%&#（!）*￥@"

Hearing this, Ma Le felt like crying. His English proficiency, barely 30 points, was not enough to communicate fluently with Americans. He only understood the first three words, and the rest sounded like gibberish. Ma Le had no choice but to explain in broken English, "I am not bad man! I am not your... enemy..."

Ma Le's explanation clearly had no effect. The man began to tighten his grip and finally said a sentence Ma Le could understand, "Go to hell!"

---

**End of Page**