Ling Cage, pick up Lu Mingfei at the start.

It was still dark. A biting wind, carrying snowflakes, swept across the cleared training ground atop Dingmao Peak. The lighting here came from spotlights nearby, and thanks to the reflection of the snow, it was no darker than daytime.

Despite wearing thick combat gear, Lu Mingfei still felt the chill seeping into every part of his body, especially in his hands gripping the icy spear, which were almost numb.

These past few days, Lu Mingfei has been getting up very early, even earlier than Bai Yuekui. He never imagined that practicing martial arts would be so early and so tiring, but Mai Duo told him that she had always gone through this before. So Lu Mingfei gritted his teeth and persevered, not only to gain some self-defense skills in this apocalypse, but also because he couldn't be inferior to Mai Duo, who was younger than him.

Since he's been getting up before dawn these past few days, Maiduo has been bringing Lu Mingfei his breakfast.

Maido stood before him, dressed in a sharp, tailored outfit, her breath lingering in the air. The gleaming silver spear in her hand seemed to glow against the snow-covered ground.

"A gun is an extension of the body, not a piece of dead iron." Mai Duo's voice sounded particularly clear in the wind. When she was teaching Lu Mingfei, she seemed to have become Ulan Aodeng, with a composure that did not match her age. "You have to feel its weight, its balance, its bones."

She held the spear horizontally, assuming the most basic spear-holding posture, the movement so natural that it seemed as if the spear and the person were one.

"Come on, do as I say. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and lower your center of gravity." Mai Duo said, correcting Lu Mingfei's crooked posture. "Keep your back straight, but not stiff. Yes, imagine your spine is a dragon, alive, not dead."

Lu Mingfei adjusted as instructed, only to feel his whole body twisted. The spear in his hand felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and its tip trembled slightly uncontrollably.

Maiduo walked behind him, reached out, and gently supported his trembling forearm. The warmth of the girl's fingertips penetrated through his thick clothes, making Lu Mingfei stiffen slightly.

"Relax, don't fight the gun." Her voice was very close, right next to my ear. "Your strength is not for suppressing it, but for guiding it. Look at that raised snowdrift in front of you, treat it as a target, and feel the power coming from the soles of your feet, through your waist, over your shoulders, and finally to the tip of the gun."

Lu Mingfei tried to concentrate and follow her instructions. He clumsily attempted to exert force, then suddenly thrust forward!

The gun made a weak whooshing sound, his movements became distorted, his steps faltered, and he almost fell over.

"Pfft—" Maido couldn't help but laugh out loud, then quickly straightened her face, but the laughter in her eyes couldn't be hidden. "Are you using a bayonet or throwing yourself like a javelin? Power is a line, not a point. Be steady and accurate."

She took the gun from Lu Mingfei and demonstrated it again. With a slight twist of her waist, her arm seemingly extended gently, but the gun sprang out like a lurking venomous snake. With a "whoosh," the tip of the gun accurately touched the snowdrift she had pointed to earlier, scattering snowflakes everywhere.

"Did you see that? It's not about using your arm strength, it's about using your whole body." She handed the gun back to Lu Mingfei. "Again."

Lu Mingfei took a deep breath of the cold air, trying to recall the rhythm of Mai Duo's movements. He closed his eyes, feeling the snow beneath his feet, and his core muscles thrust out once more.

This time, although still a bit clumsy, the gun was much more stable, and the sound of it cutting through the air had a sharper edge.

"Yes! That's it! Remember this feeling!" Mydo's eyes lit up as she encouraged him.

The rest of the time passed in this monotonous, repetitive motion. Thrust, retract, thrust again. Lu Mingfei's arm went from sore and numb to excruciating pain, then to near numbness; sweat soaked his inner lining, which became icy cold in the low temperature.

Maido watched from the side the whole time, occasionally offering pointers.

"Lower your wrist a little further."

Keep up with the pace, don't freeze in place.

"Breathe! Don't hold your breath, coordinate with your movements!"

She was demanding but incredibly patient. When Lu Mingfei finally managed to execute several decent straight thrusts in a row, a look of satisfaction appeared on her face.

"Take a break." Maido took a water bottle out of her bag and handed it to him.

Lu Mingfei took the water and gulped down several mouthfuls of icy water. He felt as if a knife was cutting his throat, but his spirits were strangely high. He watched Mai Duo casually wielding her spear in the snow, and her figure overlapped with the girl in his memory who had amazed him in the morning light and snow curtain.

"Madame," he couldn't help but ask, "how long did you practice to... to be able to dance as beautifully as you used to?"

Maido stopped what she was doing, planted the butt of the gun in the snow, and thought for a moment: "Let's start from when I can lift this gun. Dad said that the guns of our Ulan family are etched into our bones."

She looked at Lu Mingfei with clear and serious eyes: "Lu Mingfei, marksmanship isn't just for show. Every move is for survival. When the Devouring Beast pounces, you don't have time to think. All your actions must be instinctive. I'm teaching you these tedious things now so that one day they can become your instincts and save your life in critical moments."

The wind and snow seemed to have subsided a bit. Lu Mingfei looked at Mai Duo's cheeks, which were slightly red from the cold but incredibly determined, and then looked down at the long spear in his hand, which seemed much heavier. The restlessness he felt from the monotony and exhaustion quietly dissipated.

He gripped the gun barrel tightly again, feeling its cold touch and inner strength, and straightened his back.

"I understand," he said softly, taking a deep breath. "Madame, let's continue."

As the sun rose in the east, casting long shadows of the two on the snow, Maido finally called for a stop.

"Alright, that's enough for today."

These words were like a pardon, and Lu Mingfei's last taut string suddenly loosened. He almost instantly lost all strength, and the spear in his hand fell to the snow with a "clatter." He slumped down like a lump of mud, panting heavily, his white breath churning violently in the cold air.

He felt as if his arms no longer belonged to him; soreness, numbness, swelling, and pain were all mixed together, and even lifting a single finger felt strenuous.

Seeing his disheveled appearance, Maido shook her head, a faint smile playing on her lips. She walked over, deftly picked up the spear from the ground, and carefully wiped the snow and dust off the shaft with her sleeve, her movements practiced and deliberate.

"Looks like these past few days of training haven't been in vain. You're impressive for being able to keep going for so long." She slung the cleaned spear behind her back, walked up to Lu Mingfei, and held out her hand. "Get up. You can't sit down right after training. Walk around slowly, or you'll regret it tomorrow."

Lu Mingfei looked up at Mai Duo's outstretched hand, which seemed to glow in the afterglow of the setting sun. He hesitated for a moment, then used the support to stand up. His legs went weak, and he almost sat back down, but Mai Duo caught him in time.

"Thank...thank you..." Lu Mingfei's voice was hoarse from exhaustion and the cold.

"Let's go back." Mai Duo let go of his hand, turned around and walked ahead, her steps still steady, a stark contrast to Lu Mingfei's unsteady gait.

The journey back seemed even longer than the way there. Lu Mingfei dragged his leaden legs, stumbling along behind Mai Duo.

The cold wind persisted, but he felt a warm current flowing within him—the lingering warmth from strenuous exercise, and an indescribable, fulfilling exhaustion.

He watched Maido's back as she walked ahead, the long spear swaying gently on her back with each step, outlining a resolute silhouette.

The setting sun dyed her hair a warm gold, which strangely blended with her cool and aloof temperament at that moment.

……

The three of them had just come down from the snow mountain training ground by elevator. Lu Mingfei had been practicing marksmanship with Mai Duo all morning and was now sore all over. Xu Tong, on the other hand, seemed to have wandered out from somewhere and happened to run into them at the elevator entrance.

In the early morning, the music for morning exercises echoed powerfully across the camp square. Bai Yuekui stood at the front of the crowd, dressed in a neat tracksuit, leading everyone in stretching their limbs.

Her movements were precise and rhythmic, a stark contrast to the muscular men behind her, yet strangely harmonious.

"What... is Boss Bai doing?" Lu Mingfei asked, rubbing his sore arm, and was taken aback.

"Doing morning exercises, can't you tell?" Xu Tong leaned against the guardrail, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, grinning roguishly.

"It's our first time meeting..."

"First time meeting you? How could that be? Oh right—" Xu Tong drawled, winking mischievously, "You sleep until noon every day. What, are people like that in your world?"

"Hey! You're talking nonsense! That's not true!" Lu Mingfei said like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Oh—" Xu Tong nodded as if suddenly realizing something, "So that's how you are."

"No! I mean, I didn't sleep until noon!" Lu Mingfei was so angry that he jumped up and down. This Xu Tong was clearly mocking him on purpose.

He's just... a little bit more of a sleeper than the average person! Besides, when has he ever not eaten breakfast? Although he's usually dragged out of bed by Boss Bai to eat.

Maido smiled slightly and pointed to a particularly serious figure in the line: "Belikov always does things very seriously."

"That's right," Xu Tong chimed in, his tone carrying a certain matter-of-fact admiration, "He was practically raised by Boss Bai, how could he not be decent?"

Lu Mingfei's gaze swept across the group of people doing exercises, finally settling on the towering man next to Bai Yuekui: "That... uncle who uses the forging table as a gantry?"

"Huh? How did you know?"

"I saw it when I passed by the workshop last time," Lu Mingfei gestured, "He hung such a big iron hammer on it and did cable chest presses. He really did both work and exercise at the same time."

"No wonder he's the village's chief foundry; how could he do it without such strength?" Xu Tong exclaimed in amazement.

"Ding—" The elevator arrived at the ground floor.

As Lu Mingfei walked through Central Park, he witnessed once again what "Ragnarok" truly meant. Despite having seen it several times before, he was still each time utterly awestruck by the superhuman training methods of these elderly men and women. Some were banging their foreheads against iron bars, others were swinging around on human swings with ropes around their necks, and still others were leaping down high steps on all fours, mimicking cheetahs, faster than he could run on two legs!

But the most eye-catching one was Bai Yuekui. Although Boss Bai was old, her physical condition was ridiculously young. Sometimes when Lu Mingfei was facing her, he would feel as if she were a girl next door.

Later she became the girl next door.

Why? Because once, Lu Mingfei, being a bit of a smart aleck, asked Bai Yuekui, who is nearly a hundred years old this year, if he should call her Grandma Bai.

Age is a taboo subject for women everywhere, and Bai Yuekui was no exception. As a result, Lu Mingfei was beaten up and punished by being forbidden from coming to freeload for three days.

Lu Mingfei, of course, shamelessly admitted his mistake, pleading and begging, even deliberately losing a few games and affectionately calling her "Sister Bai" a few times, before he was allowed to stay and continue to freeload.

From then on, Lu Mingfei obediently called Bai Yuekui "Boss Bai" just like everyone else.

At this moment, Bai Yuekui noticed Lu Mingfei, who was trying to slip away with his neck hunched over, and waved to him from a distance.

Lu Mingfei immediately ran over to his benefactor, who was offering him food and clothing; how could he dare disobey?

"Why don't you try it too, and relax your muscles?"

"Me? Do this?" Lu Mingfei pointed to himself, his face filled with disbelief. He had just been tortured to the point of near death by Mai Duo, and now he had to do more exercises? He might as well just be done with it!

But in the end, under the watchful eyes of Xu Tong and Mai Duo, Lu Mingfei still gritted his teeth and joined the line.

He was already uncoordinated, and with his physical exhaustion, he performed the morning exercises, which he had never learned before, in a crooked and awkward manner, looking like a crab having a cramp.

He vaguely heard Bai Yuekui chuckle very softly beside him, but he didn't dare to look up to verify it. He could only silently shed tears in his heart, wondering if Boss Bai was still holding a grudge against him for calling her "Grandma Bai" before.

After the training session ended, Xu Tong and Mai Duo said goodbye and left separately. Lu Mingfei, on the other hand, looked like a fish out of water, hanging his head as he walked back with Bai Yuekui.

"How are you feeling? Do you feel much more relaxed?" Back home, Bai Yuekui picked up a towel and gently wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Lu Mingfei collapsed onto the table, his voice barely audible: "Water...give me water..." His voice was so pitiful that it seemed he would turn to ashes on the spot if he didn't drink some water.

Bai Yuekui shook his head helplessly, poured a glass of water, and handed it to Lu Mingfei. Lu Mingfei grabbed it and gulped it down in a few mouthfuls, then choked, his face turning red, and he coughed violently.

"Tsk," Bai Yuekui said with a look of disgust, "So clumsy, you even choke on water. How can I trust you to assign tasks?"

"Cough...didn't I drink too fast..." Lu Mingfei finally caught his breath, then suddenly grasped the key point, "A mission? I'm involved again?"

"What do you mean by 'again'?" Bai Yuekui raised an eyebrow. "You've only been on one mission in total, and that was almost half a month ago."

"The day after tomorrow, you will be working with Xu Tong's team. Our objective is to capture a Type II Devouring Beast alive."

Lu Mingfei nearly spat out his second gulp of water: "What?! Catch a Devouring Beast?! I'm going to catch one?!"

"I'm taking you to broaden your horizons. Xia Dou will be the main force; you won't need to be the one charging into battle," Bai Yuekui added casually.

Lu Mingfei remembered that although he didn't know what Xia Dou's potential was, he had seen Xia Dou control a puppy to do a backflip. So, was the mission to protect Xia Dou to capture a Devouring Beast alive?

"Then this mission should be quite simple," Lu Mingfei thought.