Watching the transport helicopter take off didn’t seem complicated at all—but Tang Xiaoman still found herself dizzy from it, her palms slick with sweat.

It took her a while to find her voice again. “Why… doesn’t it need a key?”

“This is a large aircraft,” Zhou Yichen replied calmly as he guided the helicopter in a smooth circle before bringing it back down onto the rooftop. “It has a built-in tracking and anti-theft system. And most people wouldn’t know how to fly it anyway.”

He gestured for her to store the helicopter, then added, “Once it’s inside your space, no system will be able to locate it.”

Tang Xiaoman suddenly felt the pressure. “Something this big must burn through fuel like crazy. I’ll need to stock up on aviation fuel specifically. And it’s huge—it just swallowed up all my remaining space in one go. You’ll have to help me reorganize things, make room so I can keep stockpiling supplies.”

—

The two of them worked inside the space for over half an hour, shifting the bulkiest items into the villa’s living room and dining area.

Fortunately, the villa had no furniture or appliances, making it perfect for storing large items.

When the first floor was packed to capacity, they started moving things into the open areas of the garden.

“Careful not to crush my crops and vegetables,” Tang Xiaoman reminded him.

“Got it.”

Zhou Yichen was the kind of man who got things done—efficient, capable, and not much for chatter.

At last, they cleared enough space. Tang Xiaoman grabbed him, slipped out of the space, and quickly stored the transport helicopter inside.

With that massive machine secured, her sense of stability skyrocketed. “If anything urgent happens in the future, we can evacuate as a group.”

Zhou Yichen glanced at her, hesitated, then finally asked, “What exactly do you know? Is the end of the world really coming?”

Tang Xiaoman blinked, her smile tinged with mischief. “Want to know? Then come back into the space and help me work some more.”

—

Tang Xiaoman brought out a water pump, and together they drew water from the pond to irrigate the garden.

Ten square meters of wheat, ten of corn, ten of sweet potatoes, plus three pumpkin plants, three Malabar spinach vines, and three blueberry bushes.

The crops had been drooping, lifeless—but once watered, they perked up almost immediately, standing tall and vibrant again.

“Good work,” Tang Xiaoman said, pulling out two bags of fresh milk. She casually handed one to Zhou Yichen.

He accepted it and checked the expiration date.

“No need to worry,” she said confidently. “It’s technically expired, but it hasn’t gone bad. My space preserves things.”

Zhou Yichen opened the bag and took a sip. It was rich and smooth—perfectly fine.

Her space really was something else.

After finishing the milk, he looked at her again.

Tang Xiaoman spread her hands. “One day, I had a dream about the apocalypse. First came extreme heat, then torrential rains, typhoons, and floods. After that… endless night and endless day.”

She stopped there.

After all, you never truly knew what lay in another person’s heart.

If Zhou Yichen made it through the polar night and polar day with her—if they were still a team—then she might tell him what came next.

Truthfully, she herself had only survived four years in the apocalypse.

Whatever disasters followed beyond that, she didn’t know either. She’d simply face them as they came.

One thing was certain: every year got harder. Every year, more brutal.

Zhou Yichen fell silent.

She talked about the apocalypse so often… and it all stemmed from a dream?

He pressed his lips together slightly, offering no comment.

As they finished their milk, Tang Xiaoman prepared to leave the space. But she noticed Zhou Yichen’s gaze linger for a few seconds on the firearms.

Thinking of how he’d helped her secure a massive helicopter tonight, she generously handed him an AK rifle and a hundred rounds of ammunition.

Zhou Yichen accepted it with a quiet thank-you.

“As long as you work for me sincerely, I won’t treat you poorly,” Tang Xiaoman said, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the space.

—

By dawn, the people Gu Heng had sent out to search for Su Ke and his group still hadn’t found a trace of them.

Even the assassin had vanished completely.

Gu Heng was frantic. Su Rou, on the other hand, remained perfectly calm.

“Let’s wait a little longer. Maybe he’ll come back in a couple of days,” she said lightly.

Just imagining Su Ke torturing Tang Xiaoman in every cruel way possible filled her with a strange sense of excitement.

Seeing her so unconcerned, Gu Heng couldn’t help asking, “Aren’t you worried about Su Ke?”

“He’s a man—he’s not the one who’ll suffer,” Su Rou replied with a teasing glance. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about Tang Xiaoman instead?”

With her putting it that way, Gu Heng could only let it go. “Fine. We’ll wait a bit longer.”

—

Tang Xiaoman slept until she woke naturally—it was already past two in the afternoon.

She and Zhou Yichen hadn’t returned to the villa until after three in the morning.

Completely drained from the night before, she’d collapsed into bed and slept for eleven straight hours.

Stretching lazily, she felt refreshed from head to toe—fully restored.

She pulled out a serving of astragalus chicken soup from her space and savored a bowl before heading downstairs to the kitchen.

Even though she was already half full, she made it a habit to check the kitchen anyway.

There was egg fried rice, stir-fried lamb with scallions, and a dried scallop mushroom soup left for her in the pot.

Lu Jingming’s cooking really was impeccable.

She happily ate another full meal, then went to find 01.

It was the bodyguards’ lunch break, so she knocked on his door.

01 opened it, his expression slightly cold. “Miss Tang. Do you need something?”

Seeing his face, she couldn’t help recalling how Zhou Yichen had looked the night before—tense as if facing a great enemy when she’d knocked on his door.

Seems like that group message she’d sent had caused some unintended side effects.

She’d better be more careful with her jokes in the future.

With a faint smile, she said, “I heard you salvaged some jewelry for me last night?”

She urgently needed those items to expand her space, so she didn’t bother with formalities.

01 froze for a moment, clearly not expecting her to be so direct.

But he quickly recovered, turned around, and went to fetch them.

He returned with a heavy cloth bag and handed it to her.

She weighed it in her hand, thoroughly satisfied.

“Thanks,” she said, slipping him a bag in return. Then she added, “About the joke I made last night… that was a bit inappropriate. Sorry.”

With that, she turned and headed back to her room.

01 stood there, momentarily stunned.

He opened the bag she’d given him.

Inside was a genuine leather holster, two magazines, a grenade, and a suppressor.

Thinking of the handgun she’d given him before, he realized… she actually treated him quite well.

It just wasn’t a kind of favor reserved for him alone.

In the end, 01 accepted the reality: in Miss Tang’s eyes, he ranked below Captain Zhou.

But it didn’t matter.

He and Zhou Yichen weren’t even competing on the same track.

There was an unspoken rule in their line of work—

Bodyguards weren’t allowed to develop emotional entanglements with their employer.

And he was a professional.