In a frigid apocalypse, she fed her boyfriend until he became a zombie king.

"Then let's move that family of three out tonight, so we don't have to worry about them later," Wenren Lei said.

Fu Yan said, "This is the first step."

"Is there a second step?"

"Of course," Fu Yan whispered in Wenren Lei's ear.

Wenren Lei perked up at the mention of this, her eyes lighting up as she looked at Fu Yan: "You want me to lead a disturbance? You'll regret it."

Fu Yan chuckled: "No regrets. It's better to stir up this stagnant water in the manor so that we can make our move."

Wenren Lei said, "But it won't work during the day. With the mental control suppressing me, my mind can't function."

Fu Yan said, "There is an antidote."

"There's an antidote for all of this?"

Fu Yan took out a small glass bottle from his spatial storage: "The head instructor relied on this to avoid being controlled by mind control. Liao Xingwei also drank this the day he was sent away."

No wonder Liao Xingwei was making faces in the car that day.

Wenren Lei stared at the bottle of pale yellow liquid, a hint of disgust in her voice: "This looks strange. Could it be something from the brewery?"

Fu Yan said, "No, this is birch sap."

Wenren Lei said, "Then I'll lead all the trainees to gnaw on tree bark, and they'll be able to escape control, right?"

Fu Yan chuckled, then couldn't help but tiptoe around Wenren Lei with his leg: "I misspoke. It's the sap from one of the special birch trees. Liao Xingwei took it from the head instructor's office."

Wenren Lei stared blankly, gently nuzzling Fu Yan with her head: "One of the trees... Brother Yan, I'll leave that family of three to you. I need to go to the head instructor's office."

Fu Yan looked down at him: "Are you going to steal a bottle too?"

"Absolutely. But I have other things to do." Wenren Lei took out Kong Weiyan's photo. "Have Yi Yang and the others wait here to meet us. If everything goes smoothly on my end, we can take all the trainees away from the manor tomorrow."

……

Before the six o'clock whistle blew the next day, Wenren Lei had already woken up.

It was noisy outside the dormitory; the chaotic footsteps mixed with barking dogs echoed throughout the entire manor.

Wenren Lei stood by the window and looked out. The people walking around the manor with their dogs were normal humans, not the puppets in the birch trees.

The disappearance of that family of three stirred the first ripples in the stagnant manor.

Even the rats that usually hide in the shadows have started to show themselves.

The whistle blew on time, and a slight rustling sound came from behind.

"Awake?" Wenren Lei's gaze remained fixed on the window.

0001 rubbed her eyes and went to the window: "What happened?"

"Something might have happened." Wenren Lei turned her head to look over. "The manor is not peaceful today. 0001, come with me. I need your protection."

0001, a half-eaten yawn still lingering on her lips, looked at Wenren Lei with a serious expression: "Why do I feel like you're acting a little different today?"

Wenren Lei smacked his lips. He had only swallowed the terribly bitter antidote a short while ago, and its effects were said to last for ten hours.

"You're overthinking it. Go wash up, or you'll be punished for being late."

Wenren Lei smiled kindly at him and picked up the washbasin before leaving the dormitory.

0001 was puzzled: "What's wrong with this person today...?"

The smile on Wenren Lei's face disappeared as soon as he left the dormitory. Today, he had to keep 0001 firmly by his side.

If the attempt to turn him to the enemy fails, just kill him; the manor's mind control will be broken that way.

During breakfast, many trainees noticed something was amiss.

There were many unfamiliar staff members at the manor, and everyone entering and leaving the restaurant was repeatedly checked, which made everyone whisper among themselves.

"Here, 0001." Wenren Lei held up her bowl of thin porridge, smiling as she touched the rim of 0001's bowl. "Drink up."

0001 paused for a moment, then gave Wenren Lei a perfunctory smile: "Done."

Wenren Lei, holding her bowl, gulped down her porridge. 0001 leaned forward and whispered, "Don't you find it strange?"

Wenren Lei put down her bowl and shrugged: "What's so strange about it? Isn't it a good thing to manage the manor more strictly?"

0001 frowned at him: "You're acting even stranger than the manor today."

Wenren Lei, resting her chin on her hand, looked at 0001: "Have you been having any strange dreams lately?"

0001 paused for a moment: "Why do you ask that?"

"You look terrible. I thought you were having nightmares." Wenren Lei stood up and walked out. "I'm full. Enjoy your meal."

Wenren Lei leaned against the wall at the restaurant entrance with her arms crossed, and waited for five minutes before Fu Yan came out.

"How is it?"

Fu Yan put his arm around his shoulder and they walked together toward the training ground: "Shielding abilities won't work on 0001; that's his own ability. But I secretly gave him a paralysis ability, which should have some effect on weakening his mental control."

Wenren Lei chuckled and nodded: "That's good, let him ponder his dream for a whole morning."

"Lei Lei, are you so sure he'll help us in the end?" Fu Yan asked.

"I wasn't sure at first, but after leaving the head instructor's office last night, I was certain."

Why do you say that?

Wenrenlei took out Kong Weiyan's photo from her pocket and handed it to Fu Yan.

Fu Yan took the photo and examined it repeatedly: "Is there anything wrong with this photo?"

Wenren tearfully said, "The person in the photo is not 0001."

Fu Yan looked at the face in the photo, which was almost identical to 0001's, and asked, "Then who is he?"

Wenren tearfully said, "Kong Wei'an, 0001's twin brother."

"Did you find this in the head instructor's office last night?"

Wenren Lei brushed a stray hair from her forehead: "Impressive, isn't it? After being interfered with by your paralysis ability, 0001 once muttered to himself in the dormitory that he seemed to have entered the manor to look for someone."

"I didn't take it seriously at the time, thinking he was lying to me."

"Later, I was too deeply influenced by 0001's mindset. After you took me away from the manor, I saw fragments of his memories before he entered the manor. He took the initiative to come to the manor after he had determined its location."

Wenren Lei pointed to the photo: "This is one of his belongings before he entered the manor. If he's not a narcissist, there must be a reason why he would bring a photo of himself when escaping in the apocalypse."

"This is the person he's looking for, his younger brother, Kong Weian."

Fu Yan returned the photo to Wenren Lei: "So that's why you want to go to the head instructor's office in person?"

Wenren Lei nodded: "Before Kong Weiyan awakened his superpower, the manor registered the real names of all the students who came to apply. The number was only assigned after he awakened his superpower."

Fu Yan asked, "You mean Kong Wei'an entered the manor before Kong Weiyan? Wasn't Kong Weiyan among the first batch of trainees?"

Wenren Lei said, "He was among the first batch of students to enter the manor after it opened to the public."

"Brother Yan, this manor used to be the site of a research institute. Back then, the concept of using purification crystals to enhance superpowers didn't exist here."

Fu Yan frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"

Wenren tearfully said, "Kong Wei'an isn't a student; he's an experimental subject for the research institute, just like Lao Wen. Do you understand?"

Fu Yan was silent for a moment: "You mean, Kong Wei'an mutated and turned into a zombie during the experiment?"