Soft footsteps echoed from the room next door.

Sasha held her breath and listened carefully. These footsteps seemed heavier than the ones from Xu Qiang.

[Ding! Novice Mission (1/3): Kill Xu Qiang - Completed!]
[Reward Issued: +1 Free Attribute Point, 50 Points]

Hearing the notification, Sasha unhesitatingly allocated the attribute point to her physical ability.

Her physical strength now reached a score of 5, equivalent to the average adult. However, Sasha still felt that her method of dispatching Xu Qiang earlier was noticeably slower than in her previous life. Her body still had a long way to go before reaching its former peak.

As the other man’s footsteps approached, Sasha quickly assessed her options.

She grabbed the dagger from Xu Qiang's corpse. Xu Qiang hadn’t even used it earlier; he’d been too overconfident.

[Ding! Novice Mission (2/3): Kill Wang Fuxiang - Activated!]
[Reward: +1 Free Attribute Point, 100 Points]

The footsteps grew louder.

The second phase of the chain mission sounded in Sasha’s mind.

Wang Fuxiang and Xu Qiang were a pair of petty criminals who used to moonlight as taxi drivers. They were familiar faces on the streets, engaging in brawls, robbery, and trafficking. Each had been in and out of prison numerous times.

When the apocalypse came and the world descended into chaos, the two thrived. Freed from the constraints of the law, their darker impulses blossomed.

Over the past few days, they had killed countless innocent survivors and victimized numerous women.

Xu Qiang, in particular, had peculiar tastes that even Wang Fuxiang secretly despised.

After days of looting and violence, today’s target was a small supermarket they had scoped out earlier. It was stocked with enough supplies to keep them comfortable for a while.

Pretending to be weak and desperate survivors, they had tricked the kind-hearted couple running the store into opening the doors.

Moments later, the couple was ambushed and killed.

Hearing someone fleeing inside the store, Xu Qiang eagerly gave chase, while Wang Fuxiang leisurely ransacked the goods.

Now, with Xu Qiang failing to respond, Wang Fuxiang cursed under his breath, blaming his partner for being too distracted by his base desires.

As he approached the warehouse door, a faint metallic scent of blood reached his nostrils.

Wang Fuxiang instinctively gripped the axe at his waist—a weapon still stained with the blood of the supermarket couple.

“Xu Qiang, what the hell are you doin—”

Wang Fuxiang stepped into the warehouse but froze mid-sentence.

The sight before him shocked him to his core.

Xu Qiang lay lifeless in a pool of blood.

Nearby, a girl in a dirty light blue school uniform sat on the ground. Her body bore the marks of a brutal beating, and her tear-filled eyes stared blankly in his direction, trembling uncontrollably.

Clutched in her small hands was a bloodstained utility knife.

It didn’t take long for Wang Fuxiang to piece it together. He cursed Xu Qiang for his carelessness, believing his partner had underestimated the seemingly helpless schoolgirl and been fatally stabbed in the process.

Quietly gripping his axe, Wang Fuxiang calculated his next move. The girl, clearly shaken from her first kill, was still in a state of shock.

He intended to take advantage of her disorientation and end her life swiftly.

As he stepped closer, though, he noticed something peculiar.

Despite the terror in her gaze, the girl wasn’t focusing on him but rather on something just behind him.

A chill ran down his spine.

Not good!

Cold sweat broke out as Wang Fuxiang turned his head sharply.

Too late.

A sharp, searing pain pierced his chest. A dagger had already plunged through his back, straight into his heart.

The weapon in question—Xu Qiang’s dagger.

Wide-eyed, Wang Fuxiang turned to see his assailant: a young girl whose dress and face were streaked with blood.

The orange glow of the setting sun bathed her features, blurring the distinction between bloodstains and sunlight.

She smiled faintly and raised a finger to her lips in a silencing gesture—directed toward Shen Yiyue.

In his last moments, Wang Fuxiang realized the horrifying truth: the frightened schoolgirl had been nothing more than bait.

The hunter had become the prey.

Overwhelmed by pain and rapid blood loss, Wang Fuxiang collapsed into unconsciousness and fell into the growing pool of blood.

Shen Yiyue was paralyzed by shock and terror. Her mind blanked entirely.

The sweet, innocent little girl who had called her “sister” just yesterday had suddenly transformed.

Now, she had ruthlessly killed two dangerous men with skill, cunning, and an unnerving calm.

More terrifyingly, Sasha’s face betrayed no trace of emotion. She was cold—unflinchingly so.

After dispatching Xu Qiang, Sasha had taken just a few seconds to calmly place the bloodied knife in Shen Yiyue’s hand, creating the illusion that she had accidentally killed him in self-defense.

Shen Yiyue had been too stunned to react, holding the weapon dumbly.

Sasha had then moved to hide behind the warehouse door, leaving no bloody footprints or sounds.

She had signaled for silence, setting a flawless trap for the next target.

To Sasha, taking their lives was no more consequential than stepping on ants.

Now, with Wang Fuxiang’s lifeless body at her feet, Sasha braced herself to pull out the embedded dagger. After ensuring he was truly dead with a few more strikes, she cleaned the blade on his clothing with practiced ease.

Looking toward the corner, Sasha saw Shen Yiyue trembling, her mind still reeling.

By the rules of her former organization, witnesses should always be silenced to eliminate potential liabilities.

But that was the old Sasha—a tool to be used and discarded.

Now, having been betrayed and killed once already, she had no reason to adhere to those same rules.

Sasha’s lips curled into a faint smile. She wanted answers from Shen Yiyue first.

Gripping the dagger, she stepped forward slowly, her gaze locked onto the terrified girl.

Shen Yiyue stumbled back, unable to suppress the sheer terror that gripped her.