Just as the first rays of morning sunlight hit the ground and the second week of the apocalypse officially began, a group of twenty people dragged their tired bodies on the empty streets of H city.

They were almost at the city limits and were currently walking towards the government hospital that was located on the outskirts of the city.

"Here. Take this." Alex handed a piece of roasted meat to one of the women in the back, who quickly accepted it and thanked her in return.

Not just her, but most people in the back had a piece of roasted meat in their hands that were slowly nibbling on while they continued to walk forward.

"Don't hesitate to ask more if you need it." Alex patted the woman and moved on to the next person. 

She then took out another raw meat from the storage pouch that was slung around her waist and took a deep breath before blowing on it. 

However, unlike the usual norm, when the air was blown on piping hot food to make it cooler, here it was actually the other way around.

She blew softly on the piece of meat to roast it with her breath, which was now akin to the hot vapors swirling inside a kitchen convection oven.

She looked at the piece of meat as if her life depended on it and with a heavy concentration, she blew on it as slowly as she could.

The piece of meat was from a bird and its fat sizzled when Alex's warm breath assaulted it. A deep rich aroma seeped out and it was soon done. 

"Phew! That's better." She nervously smiled as this roasted meat was also perfectly cooked just like the previous one.

Her control had improved a lot now, but in the beginning, she had straight up burnt a few chunks of raw meat into black soot. 

Luckily, she was standing at the back of the group, so Lu Chen hadn't seen what she was up to. He was angrier and colder than usual and so Alex sneakily did these things behind his back.

If he was going to play the bad cop, someone else had to play the good cop. Xu Meilin and Guan Ye, of course, noticed this a while back but they pretended as if they hadn't seen anything and kept moving.

While they didn't exactly disagree with Lu Chen whose methods were decisive and ruthless, they also did not stop Alex from handing out a few rations so that people can manage to go to the hospital somehow.

It was only a few kilometers away and with their enhanced speed and capabilities, they were almost close to the location, but their accumulated fatigue, exhaustion, and the fact that they were all poisoned and bleeding made this few minutes of walk extremely painful and torturous.

Despite this, not one single person complained and silently listened to whatever Lu Chen said. This was what made Alex even more pitiful towards them and she did her best to help out.

Meanwhile, the big black wolf dog walking at the front was fully engrossed in her own world. Qin Hua was mulling over different things and what needed to be done.

The group soon reached the hospital building and while Lu Chen, Guan Ye, Alex, and Xu Meilin shot out to search the huge campus for various medicines and supplies, Qin Hua casually strolled to the elder Gou Sheng.

[Inspect] She growled.

<Ding. Mutated Human Being; Level 2>

Name: Gou Sheng

Health: 110/200

Strength: 12

Stamina: 5/10

Agility: 8

Wisdom: 50

Relationship: Loyal

Skill: Perseverance (Passive; Lv 1)

Title: Apprentice Alchemist

[Woof! Not bad! This old man has improved a bit in the last 24 hours. He even got a new skill and… Woof! Finally! Loyal!] 

Qin Hua shook her head helplessly and chuckled. She felt very happy to see that the relationship status had changed, not because she wanted some sort of recognition for working her ass off.

But it felt good to just know that these people were finally starting to accept her and not be terrified of her all the time. 

[I knew it! Woof!] She smacked her lips gleefully.

[Of course, my cuteness was eventually going to win them over! Woof! Woof!] She shook her big head with her long ferocious canines glittering in the sunlight like sharpened daggers.

She then wobbled over to the elder happily and lifted her paw, signaling the old man to stop.

"Ahh…" The elder was shocked to suddenly see her standing in front of him. Her speed was so fast that it was almost as if she had apparated in front of him out of thin air.

"Ahh... "

"..."

"..."

The two of them looked at each other blankly as the elder did not know what to say to the dog and Qin Hua did not want to bark and scare him away.

Of course, after a couple of seconds, she already lost her patience and retrieved the bag of herbs from her inventory space.

All sorts of herbs were stored within the storage pouch and moreover, their freshness and condition were pristine just as if they had been plucked a few seconds ago.

"Oh!" Elder Gou Sheng nodded his head, finally understanding what was going on.

They were still at the main entrance of the hospital, inside the gated compound but outside the actual building, regardless, the old man quickly settled down on the cement ground.

He first laid a cotton blanket in front of him and then took out the herbs one by one and placed them on the towel, segregating everything as he did so.

"These have such strong… mmm… medicinal aroma." The elder had already forgotten about Qin Hua, as his eyes twinkled at the sight of the various herbs in front of him. 

He was also very tired that he was visibly drooling at the edges of his mouth, but still, he continued to examine the herbs energetically.

Qin Hua smacked her lips and then lifted her paw to point out a particular cluster of leaves, amidst the various plants.

[Woof! Woof! This one here.]