Chapter 3: The Safe Haven

When Zhao Nana mentioned her mother, Zhang Xingmin felt a pang of guilt. He was already powerless to help his family so far away, when even those in the same city had no news of their loved ones. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind—there was a flaw in their logic. Why were they waiting rather than actively searching?

As he pondered how to phrase this question delicately, Lin Xiaofeng blurted out, as if he had no sense at all, "Why don’t you go look for her? If your mother could come, she’d be here already! Maybe she’s...gone!"

Zhao Nana didn’t get angry. Instead, she collapsed like a deflated balloon and burst into tears, her earlier bravado vanishing entirely. Between sobs, she choked out, "I’ve looked everywhere—she’s not at home, she’s not on the streets... she’s nowhere..."

Seeing her in such distress, Zhang Xingmin quickly tried to comfort her. "Don’t listen to his nonsense. Not finding her doesn’t necessarily mean something bad happened. Maybe your mother was evacuated to the safe zone."

Lin Xiaofeng, catching Zhang Xingmin’s warning glance, also hurried to offer reassurance.

But what use was comfort? Zhao Nana’s simple question—"Do you really believe that?"—left the two men speechless. Still, operating under the principle that "you never know until you look," the three decided to head north and check the city’s outskirts.

Zhang Xingmin wasn’t entirely altruistic; he had his own reasons. First, with chaos in the streets, having an extra person—especially a doctor—was a good thing. Second, the safe zone might hold clues, whether about the disaster or about Haizhou. He was desperate for answers.

They drove toward the north of the city in silence. No one felt like talking.

The northern safe zone was originally the city’s botanical garden, nestled among mountains and crisscrossed by rivers, a place of outstanding beauty planted with rare and exotic flora. An international architecture exhibition had left behind a collection of unique buildings, making it a favorite spot for tourists, especially young people.

But now, as the trio returned to the gardens, they found a very different scene. Though it was midsummer, the plants looked stunted. Broken branches and discarded leaves littered the ground, along with clothes and bedding hung out to dry. Rubbish was everywhere, as if no one cared for the place.

"This place looks like a garbage dump," Zhao Nana muttered, wrinkling her nose.

"Right? I was here with classmates just last month and it was spotless! What on earth happened?" Lin Xiaofeng said with disgust.

Zhang Xingmin, always fastidious, had to resist the urge to start sweeping up the scraps of paper. He forced a note of optimism. "At least this means people are living here."

They walked deeper into the park, when suddenly a man appeared ahead, holding a gun. He ordered them to stop.

"Wait, aren’t guns banned?" Lin Xiaofeng whispered, swallowing hard with envy.

"The federal government’s collapsed. Of course he could get a gun," Zhao Nana replied, unfazed.

"What should we do? Should we go forward?"

"Is it dangerous?"

"Should we try to take him out?"

"Do you think we could?"

"Not a chance."

The armed man, growing impatient with their murmured debate, barked, "You three—newcomers! Don’t you know only Brother Long is allowed here?"

Only Brother Long? The trio didn’t dwell on the question. They hurried over obsequiously, hands raised, knowing full well that this was someone else’s territory and that showing submission was the only option. The guard, seeing them approach in this manner, didn’t trouble them much, only taunted them a bit before marching them off to see the infamous Brother Long.

Brother Long was no saint. Despite his striking brows, handsome face, and a touch of decadent artistry, his manner was still roguish. In Zhang Xingmin’s eyes, he was just a slightly more cultured thug, the kind who survived by dirty dealings, now thriving in the chaos.

The truth wasn’t far off. Brother Long had once been an exemplary student, but family circumstances forced him to quit school early. He drifted through the streets, drinking, chasing women, and generally acting the part of a small-time hood. Some years back, he’d tried to ingratiate himself with a local mob boss, but instead became the butt of a cruel joke. The boss, with a taste for young men, had tried to have his way with Brother Long. Outraged, Brother Long fought back, and in a fit of vengeance, castrated his tormentor and fed the evidence to a dog. From then on, his reputation grew.

In recent years, Brother Long had kept a low profile, his growing criminal empire largely ignored by a police force with bigger fish to fry. He gradually took over the northern underworld.

When disaster struck, Brother Long and his gang happened to be partying in the botanical garden, and so they claimed it as their own. Survivors from nearby drifted in, naturally becoming his subordinates. More people arrived, swelling the population and the chaos. To mark his dominance, Brother Long cordoned off a private enclave—the very place the trio had just stumbled into.

When they were brought before him, Brother Long was in high spirits, idly toying with a fine Hetian jade pendant.

Zhao Nana recognized it instantly—it was the very pendant her mother always wore. She demanded, furious, "Why do you have that jade pendant?"

Brother Long didn’t answer. One of his lackeys snapped, "Shut up! Say another word and I’ll gag you!"

Brother Long, now playing the benevolent leader, intervened. "Hey, you shouldn’t be so rough with a beautiful lady. Let them go."

The three were released. Lin Xiaofeng curled his lip in silent protest, but Brother Long ignored him and addressed Zhao Nana. "You know this pendant?"

"It’s my mother’s! She never took it off! What did you do to her?" Zhao Nana’s eyes were red with anxiety.

"I have no idea," Brother Long answered truthfully. He’d only accepted the trinket out of curiosity, thinking it might hold some secret, but after much scrutiny, he’d found nothing—and now it had brought him nothing but trouble.

At that moment, a stewardly figure at Brother Long’s side, sensing his boss’s displeasure and guessing his thoughts, stepped in to smooth things over. "Miss, our boss genuinely doesn’t know the details. But I heard that this pendant belonged to an older lady who came here for refuge a couple days ago. Some fool thought it had special powers and brought it to Brother Long to examine. Please, don’t be upset. I’ll send someone to fetch your mother right away."

With a cough for effect, he barked orders, "Well? Go fetch the lady at once, and return the pendant to the young woman."

Zhao Nana took back the pendant without a word of thanks, causing some visible annoyance. Zhang Xingmin and Lin Xiaofeng kept their heads down, feigning ignorance—though their behavior didn’t go unnoticed.

The three settled temporarily into life there. As a doctor, Zhao Nana was in high demand. The two young men, strong and healthy, were better off than the elderly or children; Lin Xiaofeng, skilled with firearms, quickly found a place among the defenders.

After a few days, they gained a clearer picture of life in the safe zone. Since the disaster, a miniature society had formed here, almost like a small nation, with a surprising degree of order. Most importantly, electricity had been partially restored, albeit unreliably. Brother Long was the undisputed ruler—lawless, but not cruel, his chief vice being a fondness for women. He’d kept the trio mainly because Zhao Nana was beautiful.

Zhao Nana understood her situation perfectly. Weighing her options, she decided Zhang Xingmin seemed the most decent and sought his protection. He readily agreed—not because he was particularly noble, but because he realized the place was tightly guarded, escape was unlikely, and gaining Brother Long’s trust—or even eliminating him—might be necessary for more freedom.

That night was unusually peaceful—so quiet it felt as though the disaster had never happened, as if they were just here on vacation. But things were never that simple. After several days of restraint, Brother Long finally made his move, sneaking into Zhao Nana’s room.

He found someone asleep in bed. Delighted, he crept to the bedside, slipped under the covers, and began groping—only to find bulging muscles and no sign of a woman’s curves. His hand moved lower and encountered a firm abdomen... then, beneath the underwear, a sizeable bulge.

"What the—who the hell is this?" he exclaimed, switching on the light.

Zhang Xingmin, who had endured in silence, thought to himself, "Nana was right, Brother Long clearly had bad intentions. Who knows—maybe when he got bored, he’d just kill us all. But confronting him now could be dangerous. Whatever, I’m past caring about my dignity."

With the light now on, the two men stared at each other in stunned silence.

Zhang Xingmin spoke first. "Brother Long, did you enjoy your little grope? Want to compare sizes?"

Brother Long, mortified, stammered, "No, no, that’s quite all right! Sorry, I was just... heading to the bathroom and got the wrong room!"

He hurried out. In the hallway, he found Zhao Nana leaning against the wall, waiting for him with a knowing smile.

Brother Long didn’t lose his temper. He passed by her calmly but left her with a warning:

"What I want, I always get. Just you wait."