CHAPTER 241: CHAPTER 241: OLD FRIENDS

The morning light crept through the curtains, soft but pale, unable to dispel the heaviness that hung in the city. Leng Pan stirred first, the warmth of Lu Zhen’s body wrapped around her still lingering from the night before.

She turned slightly, finding Lu Zhen awake, already watching her. His gaze was dark and passionate, as though reliving every moment from the night before and memorizing every breath she took.

"You’re awake. Good morning, Baby," he murmured, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.

Leng Pan smiled faintly. Deep love evident in her eyes. "Good morning, hubby." She returned the greeting cheerfully.

"Ready for another agonizing day?" Lu Zhen asked lazily as if he was asking about the weather.

"As ready as I’ll ever be." Leng Pan replied with a brighter smile. She loved how her husband found humor in the most unlikely topics.

After breakfast with their families, the two retreated to the study room together with Lu Tao, their tech guru. The table was already filled with printed maps.

Lu Zhen spread out a rough city grid map across the table, marked with zones of zombie activity and areas hit hardest by meteorites.

"We need to start categorizing possible collaborators," he said, tapping the map. "Not everyone who experiments with meteorite fragments or zombie corpses is a traitor, but the ones tied too closely to disappearances, smuggling, or sudden gains of power, those are our first suspects."

Leng Pan leaned forward, scanning the red circles and blue markings he had made.

Her eyes narrowed. "The military will complicate things. Some of them are still loyal, but others... they’ll play both sides, just like before.

We can’t confront them directly until we know where Ouyang Jin stands. Your friend will probably contact us soon, right? You told that soldier our whereabouts."

It’s not that Leng Pan doubted her husband’s friends but once bitten, twice shy.

They had been betrayed by close friends before, so being cautious won’t hurt.

At the mention of his friend’s name, Lu Zhen’s expression froze for a moment. He also remembered the betrayal, so he had half-trust, half-curiosity towards Ouyang Jin and his other friends.

"He’s already sniffing around. That soldier should have reported seeing us in the mountains. It won’t be long before he comes knocking."

Leng Pan considered this, then nodded. "Good. We can test him. If he remembers, like us, then he’ll be cautious in how he approaches. If he doesn’t..." Her voice hardened. "Then he must prove his loyalty the hard way."

She wasn’t being unreasonable, but the lessons of the past were hard to swallow.

...

Far across the city, in the military base, Ouyang Jin dismissed another soldier and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. He couldn’t stop the faint smile tugging at his lips.

The thought of his two commanders, together, alive, and this time allowing themselves joy, was more than a relief.

He felt that it was a sign.

A sign that maybe, just maybe, this life could be different.

A soldier could hope, right?

But hope came with danger. If they had their memories, the traitors might too. The balance was delicate, one wrong move, and everything could collapse as it had before.

He tapped his fingers against the desk. He couldn’t wait any longer. He had to see Lu Zhen face to face, not as a soldier to his superior, but as a friend.

Well, it didn’t matter how they met or the identities they used, actually, as long as they were on the same page as before.

...

Meanwhile, in the quiet apartment community where Leng Pan and Lu Zhen lived, whispers had already begun to stir.

Neighbors noticed the couple returning late at night, their truck sometimes carrying things too heavy for ordinary people to move.

Rumors spread of Leng Pan’s cruelty, of her terrifying strength. Some painted her as a savior, others as a dangerous threat.

Moreover, what had happened on the mountains and inside their apartment the other day had also spread. Some people were excited, and others fearful.

Leng Pan listened to one such whisper when she passed by the entrance of their building as she and Lu Zhen returned from patrolling their community to ensure that there weren’t zombies or spies around.

Her lips curved faintly, almost mocking. She turned to Lu Zhen when they were out of earshot.

"Fear spreads faster than the truth. That hasn’t changed since our last life." She said mockingly.

Lu Zhen shrugged lightly. "Let them talk. It’s better if some underestimate us while others overestimate. Both work in our favor."

Leng Pan gave him a sidelong look. "That’s exactly what you said back then."

He smiled. "And it worked, didn’t it? At least until you decided to sacrifice yourself."

Her playful glare silenced him. She wondered if she would ever hear the last of her choosing to sacrifice herself over being with him.

She did have some regrets about that, but there was nothing they could do except cherish what they had now.

That night, after the house had gone quiet, they sat together once more, sketching strategies using a desk lamp so as not to attract too much attention.

"The traitors will probably come in waves like before," Leng Pan said slowly, her voice lowered to almost a murmur. But Lu Zhen heard her loud and clear.

"First, scavengers who sell information for scraps once the resources become too scarce. Then opportunists who think they can manipulate the chaos and derive benefits.

But the true collaborators, the ones who deal with the zombies or aliens directly; they’ll stay hidden until the battlefield tilts in their favor."

Lu Zhen’s jaw tightened. "We can’t wait for them to reveal themselves. By then, it will be too late."

Seeing her husband being so serious, Leng Pan started to wonder if regaining their memories had been a good thing.

Without those memories, they had been going out to train and collect supplies for their family to survive.

But now, it felt as if an extra burden had been added to them. It made Leng Pan uncomfortable.

However, now that they had those memories, she knew that there was no retreat.

She reached across the table to smoothen the furrowed brows of her husband and said, "We won’t wait. We’ll bait them. Let them think they’ve cornered us, then cut off their retreat."

He met her gaze, and for a moment, the silence between them was filled with understanding deeper than words.

Yes, they didn’t have to be the same as they were in their last lives. This time if winning means playing dirty, then they would.

This was not just a strategy. It was survival, vengeance for the past, and a vow that this time, they would not lose each other.

And somewhere in the dark corners of the city, eyes watched, ears listened, and unseen hands began to move.

The past was rising again.

But so were Leng Pan and Lu Zhen.

And their starting point this time was higher. They had memories, strategies, and allies willing to join them.

"After touching the meteorite in the mansion again this time, are your memories more vivid?" Lu Zhen suddenly asked his wife.

The reason he asked was because he found that after waking up, his memories were so clear as if those events happened yesterday.

Leng Pan’s lips curved faintly. "Vivid enough that I can still smell the smoke of war. In that world... we faced things worse than zombies. Armies of monsters genetically spliced with alien cells, swarming across cities. The humans who betrayed us weren’t much different from the ones here. Power and greed... they’ll always find ways to destroy what we try to protect."

Leng Pan drew a steadying breath before continuing,

"Back then, we learned that unity was our only chance. The stronger we became as individuals, the more tempting it was to act alone, but the alien threat forced us to work together. This time, we can’t wait until the world is on its knees before forming alliances. We need to act now.

If we form a resistance against zombies or if those aliens show up while we still have traitors among us, things will become complicated."

Lu Zhen agreed very much with his wife. And he made that known to her.

"Then we’ll cleanse the rot from within. Anyone experimenting with zombies, anyone handing resources to aliens... they’ll face judgment before they drag everyone else down. The problem is probably going to be the greedy guys in the government."

Lu Zhen looked at his wife’s serious face and his gaze softened. If he could, he would spare her the agony of having to go to war again.

But he knew that he couldn’t. She was Commander Leng and will have to pick up that role again sometime.

As the two looked at each other affectionately, their moment was interrupted by a knock on the door.

The two people in the room looked at each other in puzzlement.