You should be grateful that I dressed her.

Robert survived alone for three years in the apocalypse, driven by the hope that one day he would develop a vaccine to defeat the virus. Now, seeing the male Night Demon open his eyes, his excitement was beyond words.

Night Demons possessed vision, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to hunt humans. Yet their pupils lacked the ability to contract, and they were devoid of emotion. Their eyes were like the lens of a camera—cold and unfeeling.

At this moment, Robert could clearly see a hint of confusion in the male Night Demon’s eyes, much like a person just waking from sleep, groggy and unfocused.

Li Danio, too, was anxious. The Night Demon’s recovery would determine whether he himself could safely receive the vaccine and rid his body of the infection.

Robert took out a small flashlight, leaned close to the Night Demon’s head, and shone the light directly into his eyes.

As the flashlight illuminated the Night Demon’s face, he squinted, almost humanly.

Such a reaction was impossible for Night Demons. Robert had captured several before, and during his experiments on their pupils, they showed no response to the glare of a flashlight. Their only reaction was frenzied, hysterical attempts to bite anything that moved before them.

“Can you… hear us speaking?” Robert removed the flashlight, his voice trembling as he addressed the Night Demon.

When the light was gone, the Night Demon slowly opened his eyes again, his gaze shifting back and forth between Robert and Li Danio.

“Hey!” Seeing no answer, Robert waved his hand in front of the Night Demon’s eyes to catch his attention, then asked, “Can you speak?”

“Uh…” The Night Demon’s throat trembled, producing a muffled sound.

“Don’t rush, take it slow…” Robert felt his heart about to leap from his chest. Night Demons could utter sounds, but only mindless roars—never anything resembling intentional speech.

“Oh… mm…” The Night Demon’s eyes lost their confusion, and his expression grew more animated.

“Yes, that’s it, take your time…” Robert encouraged him gently.

“You… I…” The Night Demon’s voice became clearer, his face more expressive.

“Your name, say your name,” Robert prompted quietly; after all, a person’s name is the most familiar word in their life.

“Ah… ya… Abe…”

“Abe? Is your name Abe?”

“Abe… Abe…” The Night Demon suddenly shut his eyes, then let out a loud roar. After startling Robert, he reopened his eyes and spoke slowly: “I… am… Abe.”

“Where are you from?”

“New… York.”

Robert shouted with joy at the answer and threw his arms around Li Danio.

“We did it! He knows his name, he knows where he’s from, he’s recovered, completely recovered!”

Li Danio, swept up in excitement, hugged Robert and jumped twice. He no longer had to fear the virus would infect his mind.

“You two…”

As Robert and Li Danio embraced and celebrated, Anna’s shocked voice rang out.

“Carry on, pretend I never came down.” Anna had prepared dinner and was descending to call Robert and Li Danio upstairs, only to witness a scene that left her astonished. She couldn’t help but mutter inwardly—these two really were a couple of oddballs.

“No!” Hearing Anna’s voice, Robert quickly pushed Li Danio away and hastily explained, “It’s not what you think.”

“You don’t need to explain,” Anna said, pursing her lips. “I can… understand.”

Seeing Anna about to leave, Robert rushed over, grabbed her hand, and pulled her toward the sickbed.

“Come and see for yourself—we succeeded!”

Anna, feeling a bit nauseated as Robert took her hand, was led to the bedside, where she saw the Night Demon looking back at her.

“Anna, this is Abe,” Robert introduced, then turned to Abe, asking, “Your profession?”

“I… am a police officer.”

“He can speak?” Anna’s excitement grew as she heard Abe’s voice. Over the past few days, Robert had told her what this meant.

“Yes, he can talk, and he remembers everything from before he was infected.” Before Robert could finish, Anna hugged him. It was an embrace he had anticipated for days, so he naturally wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Um… could you two save the affection for later?” Li Danio interrupted, seeing Robert seize the opportunity with Anna. “Shouldn’t we be focusing on Abe’s condition right now?”

Anna immediately released Robert.

“You’re absolutely right.” Robert shot Li Danio a resentful glance, seeing Anna regain her composure and reluctantly let go of the moment’s warmth.

Abe lifted his head slightly, moved his limbs, and discovered he was chained to the bed.

“Why… are you…”

“Buddy, you want to know why we’ve got you chained up?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you turned into a Night Demon. For safety’s sake, we had to restrain you,” Robert shrugged.

“Night… Demon?” Abe was stunned by the term, then suddenly called out in panic, “Be… tty, Betty, where is Betty?”

“Betty?” Li Danio glanced at the female Night Demon on the other bed. “Who’s Betty? Your wife?”

“Betty, my wife.” Abe’s eyes sparkled with life, his speech growing clearer.

“What distinguishing features does she have?” Li Danio asked.

“She… has a butterfly tattoo.”

“A butterfly tattoo?” Robert and Anna exclaimed in unison. Surely there couldn’t be such a coincidence.

Li Danio lifted Abe’s head so he could see the neighboring bed.

“Is that her?”

“Betty?” Seeing her clearly, Abe was immediately agitated, shouting, “What have you done to her?”

“Calm down. Calm down,” Anna reassured him. “She also became a Night Demon, but we’ve already given her the vaccine. She’ll recover soon.”

Abe calmed a little after hearing Anna’s explanation, though he still struggled to reach Betty’s side.

“Let me go!”

Robert glanced at Li Danio, who nodded. Robert then signaled to Anna, who cooperated by drawing the pistol from her waistband and carefully unlocking Abe’s chains.

The moment the chains were undone, Abe rushed to Betty’s side and gently stroked her face.

Robert whispered to Anna, “Did you know? Abe nearly killed me for Betty.”

Anna frowned. “So, what exactly did you do to Betty, you pervert?”

“I swear I did nothing. After I caught Betty, Abe set up traps to catch me,” Robert explained innocently.

Anna laughed. “Then you should be grateful I changed Betty’s clothes the day before yesterday.”