Chapter 28 Too Much Like a Henpecked Husband

Chapter 28: Such a Whipped Man!

"Whoa, what are you all doing?"

Hua Diao snapped back to reality, finding herself encircled by a group of plump, drooling, simple-minded bears. Their eyes, wide with greedy anticipation, were fixed on the treasure chest, staring with an intense, fiery gaze as if beholding an unparalleled beauty.

It startled her!

Eighth Brother reluctantly tore his gaze from the treasure chest, then chuckled, rubbing his hands together obsequiously as he addressed Hua Diao. "Uh, Boss—no, Fairy Sister, we just wanted to see what might come out of the treasure chest."

Hua Diao's beautiful eyes, dark and bright, now unobstructed by the venomous mosquitoes, pierced straight into Eighth Brother's, as if to see through him.

A moment later, she suddenly raised an eyebrow, a faint smile playing on her lips, and asked, "Oh? And then what? You want a share of the spoils too?"

Eighth Brother's eyes gleamed with unexpected resolve, showing no sign of backing down. He even had the audacity to say, with a hint of shyness, "If Fairy Sister doesn't mind, that is."

His brothers around him gaped in astonishment at his shamelessness, their jaws practically hitting the floor.

Then, one by one, their eyelids twitched, and they shot him frantic, meaningful glances.

*'What are you saying, Eighth Brother? This boss is our savior! How can you be so brazen as to ask for a share of the loot?'*

*'Yeah, Eighth Brother, didn't you always say good brothers should be loyal? What you're saying now has no sense of camaraderie at all. Don't make your brothers look down on you.'*

*'Exactly! If it weren't for the boss, we'd have been torn to shreds by those werewolves by now. How could we even be standing here talking? And you're still thinking about loot? You're dreaming!'*

Despite his brothers' scornful admonitions, Eighth Brother remained unperturbed. He was no longer the same Eighth Brother as before; he had grown, having faced life and death.

In the peaceful past, talking about loyalty was fine. Even if he suffered losses, there was no fear for his life. But now, it was different. This was a man-eat-man world. Being too idealistic would only lead to death.

Besides, he wasn't being disloyal or unreasonable. He just wanted to secure some protection for his brothers. And they *had* put in effort and risked their lives earlier.

If it weren't for him and his brothers constantly employing harassment tactics to draw the werewolves' aggro during that chaotic scene, the little fairy wouldn't have been able to carry the whole field so easily!

So, asking for a share of the loot wasn't *that* shameless, was it?

A swarm of large, venomous mosquitoes buzzed over, slowly re-obstructing Hua Diao's recently cleared vision. The hot wind carried a burnt smell.

The young men, feeling a sudden, inexplicable stifling heat in the air, were momentarily struck dumb.

Hua Diao observed the changes in their expressions, the corners of her cherry-red lips slowly curving upwards.

"Alright, you did contribute earlier, so you *should* have a share of the spoils. However, according to pick-up group rules, I contributed several times more than all of you combined. So, I'll take ninety percent. I'll pick first, and the remaining ten percent is yours."

The tension instantly dissipated.

Eighth Brother also felt a wave of relief and immediately raised his hands, indicating his agreement to the distribution. Though ten percent was small, it was within his acceptable range. After all, something was better than nothing.

The other young men also breathed a sigh of relief. They had been scared to death, truly fearing that their savior, the young lady, would jump up and beat their Eighth Brother's dog head. Thankfully, his dog head seemed to be safe for now.

With the distribution settled, Hua Diao finally had time to continue opening the treasure chest. She even took the initiative to ask the eager young men to help count the items inside.

This delighted the youths, who had long been drooling and longing to get their hands on the items. Grinning from ear to ear, they all vied to help.

Hua Diao simply smiled and let them be. After all, she was the one opening the chest; having them help count the contents wouldn't affect the drop rate.

---

On the cobblestone path at the entrance of Dongyang Lake Park, two men and two women sped towards them on electric scooters, looking hurried.

One of them, a sharp-looking woman in a silver-gray trench coat, had a grim expression. She panted heavily, unable to hold back her frustrated curses. "Damn it, which idiot rushed off to die this time? Do they really think they're the chosen ones who can't be killed? Honestly, let those people die. Our Special Operations Team is already swamped—how many 'suicide squads' have we saved just this morning? We haven't even had time to rest or drink water! And worst of all, some of them are so ungrateful. After we save them, they curse us for 'stealing their kills' and even try to demand a share of the treasure drops. Their audacity knows no bounds!"

She shot a glare at the man leading the group. "And you, Captain Zhao, why can't you be tougher? The Special Operations Bureau isn't just our team. Why do you always foolishly accept missions directly? Why can't you push back like Captain Lin? I heard the Eighteenth Squad was formed just two hours ago. These rescue missions should be given to the newbies, to give them a chance to prove themselves and pass their evaluations quickly!"

Ji Miao's face was filled with righteous indignation as she looked at the man riding a pink electric scooter in front, shaking her head in disappointment.

The man, tall and long-legged, with a tough-guy demeanor, looked utterly out of place and rather pathetic hunched over the small pink scooter.

The man, Zhao Xu, wore an embarrassed expression on his handsome, rugged face. "I—I'm just used to it, that's all. Back at the police station, everyone used to fight for cases, eager to earn merit and show off."

A pure-looking girl on a light yellow scooter to his left interjected softly, "Miao, don't blame Captain Zhao. He must have his reasons. Besides, even if we're a bit tired, we're saving many lives, aren't we?"

Zhao Xu immediately seized on this like a lifeline, nodding repeatedly. "Yes, yes, Xiao Mo is right! I *do* have a reason this time! My mom just sent me a message through the game, saying my bratty younger brother and his gang of dubious friends came towards Dongyang Lake Park, and they even took the kitchen knife from home. She knew right away something was wrong. That brat probably doesn't know his limits and came here to hunt monsters. It just so happened that Director Zhang assigned me the rescue mission for Dongyang Lake, so I just took it. Otherwise, I definitely would have refused this mission! We're not oxen; we've been busy all morning without even eating, so we're definitely tired and hungry. I know what's important; I certainly wouldn't wear you all out."

Ji Miao snorted. "That's more like it."

Then she tilted her chin. "Didn't you say your brother might be one of those idiots rushing to their deaths in Dongyang Lake? Why aren't you speeding up? Aren't you afraid your brother will be torn in half?"

Zhao Xu's sturdy voice brightened with joy. "Right, right! Let's speed up!"

On the fourth scooter, a blue one, Qiu Guangliang, a young man with thick eyebrows and large eyes, silently rolled his eyes. *The captain is acting too much like a whipped man. Could the rumors circulating in the bureau be true? Does Captain Zhao have a thing for Miao?*

He chuckled to himself. *When we get back to the bureau, I definitely have to share this with my buddies. The apocalypse is so dull; how can we not have some gossip?*