“Stop having this pointless discussion. You’re all being kept in the dark. Do you know, the whole of Yunnan has already been overrun by mutated creatures, and the virus will soon spread to this city. By then, there will be no way to escape. I got a private plane from Dad to come pick you up. Let’s go! This is not a place you should stay.”

Hearing this, Brian Carter lifted the partially closed waterproof door and walked straight into the tent.

Besides Jason Grant, there was another man in the room.

He was very tall, with a fair, clean-shaven face. The thin gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose gave him a refined, scholarly air. His slender limbs and lean build made him look agile and quick, and he appeared to be about twenty-five years old. Wearing a clean Versace hunting suit, he exuded a noble aura that ordinary people could never possess.

“Who are you?”

Before Brian Carter could speak, the man had already frowned. He raised his hand to adjust his slightly slipping glasses and said in a rather unfriendly tone, “Entering someone else’s residence without permission—isn’t that extremely rude?”

In contrast, Jason Grant’s reaction was much more enthusiastic.

“How did you get here?”

The girl excitedly circled around the table and hurried over. She seemed to want to grab Brian Carter’s hand, but felt it wasn’t quite appropriate, so she just held her hands up awkwardly in the air, her face openly beaming with delight as she said, “You—when did you get back?”

“I just finished a mission and came by to check on you.”

As he spoke, Brian Carter glanced at the man beside him out of the corner of his eye. Behind the glass lenses, the man’s eyes were radiating a cold, snakelike hostility.

“Let me introduce you—this is my cousin, Samuel Cooper.”

Relying on her natural female intuition, Jason Grant keenly sensed the unfriendly atmosphere between the two men, so she tried to smooth things over with a surface-level introduction.

“Nice to meet you.”

Samuel Cooper’s scrutinizing gaze quickly landed on the newly changed second lieutenant insignia on Brian Carter’s shoulder. Perhaps feeling that a low-ranking officer posed no threat to him, his sharp tone softened slightly. He greeted him indifferently, then continued the interrupted conversation: “Jason, there’s no time. You have to leave with me right now.”

“I’m not going anywhere—” Jason Grant’s attitude was very firm.

“Don’t be childish. Listen to your cousin—this really isn’t a place for you.”

Suddenly, Brian Carter unexpectedly spoke up to persuade her: “The virus is spreading much faster than anyone imagined. If anything changes, things will get chaotic very quickly.”

“What, even you… even you think so?” Caught between the two men, Jason Grant was at a loss.

Brian Carter nodded seriously. He reached out and gently brushed the hair from the girl’s forehead, saying tenderly, “Pack your things and go! Staying alive is more important than anything.”

Jason Grant looked up, grabbed his rough hand, and pressed it gently to her cheek, slowly caressing it. At some point, a layer of sparkling tears had appeared in her confused eyes.

Beside them, Samuel Cooper deliberately turned his head away. But his eyes were filled with obvious jealousy and coldness.

Feeling the touch of the girl’s soft skin at his fingertips, Brian Carter took a deep breath and, with difficulty and determination, withdrew his hand. Then he spread his arms, firmly gripped Jason Grant’s delicate shoulders with his strong fingers, leaned in close to her face, and said in an unquestionable tone, “Don’t waste time—go now.”

Packing up would take some time. Perhaps wanting to continue their unfinished conversation, the two men left the tent together.

“Do you know Jason’s true identity?”

Samuel Cooper took a delicate silver cigarette case from his pocket, pressed the spring latch, and took out a slender, silvery cigarette, lighting it for himself.

It was the famous Treasurer cigarette. A single pack cost over three hundred RMB, making it the most expensive cigarette in the world.

“Do you know Yongsheng Group? Jason is its only legal heir. As for me, I’m the chairman of Jinsheng Industries, and also Jason’s fiancé.”

Samuel Cooper held the cigarette between his fair fingers and elegantly flicked the ash. At the same time, he turned and gave Brian Carter a contemptuous look, saying with a hint of mockery, “A passionate combat experience is indeed irresistibly attractive to a naive young girl. Especially at a time like this, a handsome officer is bound to be popular with girls. But if you think you can use that to get close to Jason, you’re gravely mistaken. Hmph! You’re just a second lieutenant. With a single word, I could have you utterly destroyed.”

This was no empty threat. Both Yongsheng and Jinsheng were renowned super-conglomerates. For a tycoon with more money than he could spend, spending a few million to buy an ordinary person’s head was as easy as eating or sleeping.

For some reason, Brian Carter suddenly felt a little tired.