Chapter 75 Daily Life of Three People and a Dog

With the help of the fire, the three men and the dog continued to clear out the scattered zombie hordes around the base.

Twenty kilometers from the base lies a semi-abandoned industrial park.

The three people and the dog took a short rest in a relatively intact warehouse. Zhou Min and Lin Yan sat leaning against the cargo boxes, sipping water. Ruan Ning stood in the shadows by the door, her gaze sweeping across the quiet factory area outside.

The fire was lying in the sunlight by the warehouse entrance, its chin resting on its front paws, its eyes squinting, but its ears twitching from time to time, catching any slight sound carried by the wind.

Its size remained enormous and imposing, but the restless flames on its body had long since subsided, with only a few sparks occasionally escaping with each breath.

Lin Yan took out a piece of dried mutated bird meat wrapped in oil paper from her backpack. Just as she tore open the packaging, the huge figure at the door turned its head sharply. Its dark red eyes stared intently at the meat in her hand, and its tail unconsciously began to slap the ground slightly, making a "plop plop" sound.

Lin Yan was both amused and exasperated. She broke off a small piece and tossed it over. Da Huo caught it precisely with its mouth open, swallowed it whole, and then continued to watch eagerly, wagging its tail even more enthusiastically and making soft, urging "woof woof" sounds in its throat.

"You glutton, you're already at level three and you're still so greedy," Zhou Min said with a laugh, breaking off some of her own rations and tossing it over.

Da Huo accepted everything offered, and after finishing, he smacked his lips contentedly, then rested his chin on his paws, reverting to a lazy, wary posture, though his eyes would occasionally glance at the two people's backpacks, as if estimating how much food was left inside.

After lunch and a short rest, Zhou Min began her daily training.

Her movements were much smoother than before, and her control over her strength was much better. She repeatedly slashed and thrust at a marked, abandoned tire.

Ruan Ning watched from the side, occasionally correcting her: "Your wrists are too stiff, and you're not using the right force." "Keep your feet in, don't just use your hands."

On the other side, Lin Yan tried to lift heavier discarded mechanical parts to train her strength control and endurance.

The fire seemed to find it amusing; it strolled over to Zhou Min and lay down to look at her.

After watching for a while, it suddenly stretched out its front paw and slammed it on the ground with a thud, kicking up a small cloud of dust. Then it tilted its head to look at Zhou Min, as if to say, "Like this? With more force?"

Zhou Min was amused by it: "Go away, stop making trouble. How can I compare to your paws?"

With a grunt, Da Huo turned his attention back to Lin Yan.

Seeing Lin Yan hold up a rusty lump of iron, it suddenly stood up, trotted over, nudged a larger part next to it with its nose, then looked up at Lin Yan, its tail wagging slightly, the meaning clear: "This? Try this?"

Lin Yan: "..."

A faint smile flickered in Ruan Ning's eyes as she transmitted a "quiet" command through the mental link. The fire immediately wilted, drooping its ears and lying back down at Ruan Ning's feet, though its eyes still darted around, looking at this and that.

After exercising, the three people and the dog started cleaning the office building in the park.

While clearing one of the office buildings, they encountered more than a dozen ordinary zombies and a speed-type mutated zombie lurking in the shadows.

With just a glance from Ruan Ning, Da Huo immediately understood.

Instead of spewing out powerful flames, it let out a low growl and pounced out like a golden lightning bolt, directly using its formidable physical strength to knock over three or four ordinary zombies in the front row. With a swipe of its claws, it swept two zombies away, clearing a path for Ruan Ning and the water arrow attack.

As the speed zombie attempted to attack Zhou Min from the side, who was using her mental power to disrupt the zombie horde, Da Huo seemed to have eyes in the back of its head. It suddenly turned around, its massive body surprisingly agile. It opened its mouth and unleashed a precise, well-controlled line of fire, blocking the speed zombie's path and forcing it to reveal itself.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Yan rushed out from the other side, unleashing her second-level power and finishing him off with a single strike.

"Well done, great job!" Ruan Ning praised.

The fire swished its tail and held its head high, looking quite proud, which made Lin Yan laugh out loud.

During lulls in the fighting, Ruan Ning would conjure up a clear water sphere, drinking some himself and sharing it with Da Huo.

Da Huo would carefully approach and use its tongue to lick the water ball, its movements surprisingly elegant. After finishing, it would rub its head against Ruan Ning's hand to express its satisfaction and gratitude.

After killing half an afternoon of zombies, everyone decided to spend the night here.

We found an office with a secure lock, and everyone ate dry rations with just water, while also arranging the night watch order.

The early spring nights were still chilly. When it was Zhou Min's turn to keep watch, she wrapped her coat tighter but still felt a bit cold.

The large fire outside seemed to sense something. It moved slightly, bringing itself closer to Zhou Min. The deliberately controlled warmth emanating from it immediately formed a warm barrier, dispelling the chill outside.

Zhou Min was stunned for a moment, then felt a warmth in her heart and whispered, "Thanks, Da Huo."

Da Huo's ears twitched, and it made a very slight "purring" sound in its throat as a response, while still watching the darkness outside warily.

The next morning, Zhou Min was awakened by a warm, wet touch on her face. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the enlarged, hairy face of Da Huo right next to her, with its tongue hanging out slightly.

"Ouch! What are you doing, Da Huo!" Zhou Min shrank back in fright.

When Da Huo saw that she was awake, it happily nudged the empty wrapping paper next to her with its nose—it was the oil paper that had been used to pack the dried meat yesterday.

Lin Yan was also woken up by the noise. Seeing this, she said helplessly, "It's begging for breakfast. It worked hard keeping watch last night, so it's probably hungry."

Ruan Ning had already finished getting ready and was fixing her hair in front of the condensed water mirror. She glanced at the raging fire: "It digests quickly, and the energy consumption of a third-tier creature is also high. Let's see if we can hunt something on the way today to give it a snack."

"Extra food?" Zhou Min muttered as she got up. "It could probably eat its fill by going out for a walk on its own, but it insists on coming with us to eat our leftovers."

The fire seemed to understand, and let out two pitiful "woof woof" sounds, rubbing its big head against Zhou Min's leg. It didn't control its strength well and almost knocked her over.

"Alright, alright, I give up!" Zhou Min laughed and pushed it away. "Ruan Ning, shall we continue to go further in today? It feels like this industrial park has been almost completely cleaned up."

Ruan Ning put away the water mirror: "Go back and clear the area along the other route. Try to get back to the outer safe zone of the base before dark. Fire," she transmitted a clear route image through the mental link, "Scout ahead, be careful to hide, and don't alert the zombie horde."

With a burst of energy, Da Huo shot off with a "whoosh," his massive body moving through the ruins with surprising agility, quickly disappearing around the corner.