Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

The scene of the little zombie gnawing made quite a few people around Zhang Su turn away, unable to look directly.

“Wu wu wu…”

Zhong Xiaoshan suddenly choked up, throwing herself into Zhang Su’s arms, and said, “Brother Su, I lied to Sister Pan. If it weren’t for me, Sister Pan wouldn’t have died.”

“Pan Guihua couldn’t let go of her daughter. It was always going to end this way sooner or later. We just sped up the process. You lied to her for all of us, don’t bear too heavy a burden. We’re all accomplices in this.”

Zhang Su patted Zhong Xiaoshan’s shoulder. His stance was as always; as long as it didn’t harm his own interests, being the good guy was fine. But if it meant real losses for him and those around him, then no, sorry.

Guilt and remorse are permissible, but life safety is not negotiable.

After hearing Zhang Su’s words, everyone also comforted Zhong Xiaoshan, recognizing that she played the villain for a relatively safe haven for them all.

Awooo.

About seven or eight minutes later, Pan Guihua, who had been affectionately caressing the little zombie, stopped what she was doing. She turned her stiff neck, letting out a beast-like roar from her throat, and then turned to fight her daughter for the bloodied food on the ground.

The transformation process was rather quick, and no one knew the reason—perhaps it’s in the blood, or maybe it’s because of the places bitten…

“I’ll send them off.”

Lu Yubo walked forward with a food sampler but was stopped by Zhang Su.

“Zhang Ya, you go.”

Zhang Su turned his head, looking at Zhang Ya, who was in the crowd with red-rimmed eyes.

This order was beyond everyone’s expectations. Since joining the team, Zhang Ya had always been very quiet, rarely voicing her opinions, almost like an invisible person. No one understood why Zhang Su called her by name.

Zhang Ya walked up with a complex expression on her face and said, “Brother Su, does it have to be me?”

“Yes, you send Sister Pan and her daughter on their way, then I’ll talk to you.”

Zhang Su spoke words that left people puzzled.

“Okay, I’ll go.”

Others were puzzled, but Zhang Ya was not. Her body quivered slightly, and she walked towards Pan Guihua and her daughter with her head lowered.

The zombies, engrossed in gnawing on the blood food, were very stable in their emotions and did not care much about people approaching them.

Zhang Ya carefully approached Pan Guihua and her daughter from behind, raised her trekking pole, hesitated for a moment, then struck down suddenly, stabbing into the back of the neck.

Puchi, puchi…

Killing zombies that wouldn’t resist was not difficult for Zhang Ya. In a few strikes, she stopped Pan Guihua and her daughter’s movements, leaving them prone and motionless on the blood-soaked bodies.

To be on the safe side, she even stabbed the bloodied man on the ground a few more times!

“Liu Tianji, Wang Xin, Zhou Litao.”

Zhang Su called out to the ‘Tiguan Trio.’

“Brother Su, what do you need?”

Liu Tianji was the first to jump in front of Zhang Su.

“Go over there and dig a pit to bury Pan Guihua and her daughter.”

Zhang Su pointed to a muddy wasteland by the roadside.

“Does… does this have any meaning?” Zhou Litao immediately objected, finding it unnecessary.

“I’ll do it, Brother Su!”

“I’ll help too.”

Zhong Xiaoshan, Tan Huajun, and Yu Qing stepped forward.

“You don’t need to!” Zhang Su said, “This is their job.”

“What’s the big deal, Brother Su, I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it, he did!”

After his initial daze, Liu Tianji quickly caught on, jumped up, and ran to the factory, saying, “I’ll get the shovel, don’t fight me on this, I’ll do it!”

“Brother Su, I’ll get the tools too, Liu Tianji and I are enough!”

Wang Xin said while glancing at Zhou Litao, then hurriedly followed Liu Tianji, running to the glass factory.

Zhang Su turned to Zhou Litao, who wore an embarrassed expression, and coldly said, “It’s clear that from the start you didn’t like our team nor acknowledged me as the leader, not even willing to call my name.”

“The backpack is there; you can leave now. You’re not welcome here.”

Zhang Su pointed to the bag by the woman’s corpse, originally prepared for Pan Guihua, deciding it was best to send away this discontented person to avoid any trouble down the road!

“You!” Zhou Litao hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. His expression was complicated as he stiffened his neck and said, “I’ll dig, okay? Why kick me out? You’re too overbearing.”

“You’ve already lost your chance to perform. Now you only have a chance to leave. Don’t waste that too.”

Zhang Su waved his hand behind him, signaling to everyone that they could go about their own business.

Zhou Litao was very dissatisfied. Seeing two colleagues running out with shovels, he said, “If we’re leaving, the three of us will go together. I won’t leave alone!”

“Alright, then you can ask them what they think.”

Zhang Su spread his hands.

“Brother Su, what are you…”

Liu Tianji ran up, panting heavily, sensing something was off, his shifty eyes darting between Zhang Su and Zhou Litao.

“Liu, they don’t welcome us. They want to kick us out. And after all your hard work, this is the outcome. Let’s leave together!”

Zhou Litao, not caring that Zhang Su was standing in front of him, blatantly twisted the truth.

Zhang Su didn’t expose him, taking the opportunity to assess Liu Tianji and Wang Xin’s reactions.

The two were momentarily stunned by Zhou Litao’s words, looked at him, then at Zhang Su. Being smart, they quickly guessed the truth of the situation.

Wang Xin sneered coldly, “Zhou Litao, I think Brother Su only wants you gone. You used to love making things up at the company, and you still haven’t changed that bad habit.”

“That’s right. Brother Su entrusted such a sacred task to me and Da-Xin. How could he want us gone? I think you miss your old managerial flair and always want to control the conversation. I advise you, if you don’t have the ability, listen well!”

Liu Tianji had a lecturing tone, seemingly imitating Zhou Litao’s former attitude.

Zhang Su had an amused expression, continuing, “You two are right. I only want him gone. He said he wanted to call you along. You decide for yourselves.”

“What’s there to decide, Brother Su? You’re righteous. You’re a leader by nature. I’m definitely sticking with you!”

Liu Tianji slammed his shovel into the ground, speaking passionately.

Wang Xin nodded emphatically, “Exactly, Brother Su. From the moment you drove back alone to find us, I decided to stick with you. Trust us, we’re very capable!”

“Ah, enough talk. Brother Su, let’s dig the pit!” Liu Tianji gave Wang Xin a look and dashed off.

Zhang Su saw Zhong Xiaoshan follow Liu Tianji and Wang Xin but didn’t worry about her. He knew she wanted to be busy, or she’d feel uneasy.

He turned to look at Zhou Litao, who seemed anxious, then glanced at the bag left in the distance, a clear signal.

Zhou Litao took one last look at his colleagues digging in the distance, shrugged, and walked towards the bag. Picking it up, he headed towards the city.

In the apocalypse, there were too many drifters like Zhou Litao. Zhang Su had no time to focus on each one. His gaze shifted to Zhang Ya standing by the roadside.

Compared to the ambitious yet less capable Zhou Litao, he valued Zhang Ya’s impressive skills and quiet demeanor.

Taking advantage of the situation with Zhou Litao, it was time to address Zhang Ya’s issues.

“Let’s go.”

Zhang Su gestured for Zhang Ya to walk towards the factory. On the way, he said, “Don’t you have something to say to me?”

“Huh?” Zhang Ya seemed puzzled, “Brother Su, isn’t there something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“If you keep playing dumb, you’ll end up like Zhou Litao. Think it over.” Zhang Su said calmly, without much emotion.

Zhang Ya lowered her head, biting her lip in torment.

When they returned to the glass factory, she looked around. Everyone was busy in the distance, so she pulled out a white bottle from her bag and handed it to Zhang Su.

Zhang Su curiously looked at the white plastic bottle in Zhang Ya’s hand, “What does this mean?”

“You must have already figured it out. Yes, I was sent by Liang Xiaocheng as an undercover…”

Zhang Ya said quietly, then shook the bottle in her hand, “This has fluorescent powder for tracking. Liang Xiaocheng wants me to scatter it along the way so he can catch up and find an opportunity to kill you.”

“But there’s one thing I want to make clear…”

Zhang Ya then hurriedly said, “At that time, Liang Xiaocheng, a few others, and I were hiding in a medical aesthetics clinic, diagonally opposite Yihe Car Shop. He said he wanted revenge on you. Everyone was giving ideas, so I suggested infiltrating your group to create an opportunity for revenge.”

“But I intentionally made this suggestion to escape from Liang Xiaocheng, Brother Su. You have to believe me!”

Zhang Su took the bottle, opened it, and looked inside. In broad daylight, there was nothing to see. He closed the lid, “Why did you want to escape from Liang Xiaocheng, and why choose to join my group?”

Zhang Ya hesitated and looked at Zhang Su with some embarrassment, then lowered her head again, “I’ll be honest, but don’t be upset…”

“You’re already doing covert operations with me, what’s there to be upset about?” Zhang Su found it somewhat amusing, “Go ahead.”

“Actually, I didn’t initially plan to join your group. I just wanted to leave Liang Xiaocheng and his gang. But after spending time with you, I really liked the group’s atmosphere. Everyone is great, and you’re great too…”

“As for why I wanted to leave Liang Xiaocheng, it’s because he’s a lunatic. He’s mentally unstable. When Liang Dacheng was alive, he could at least restrain him and keep him in line. But after Liang Dacheng died, Liang Xiaocheng became completely unhinged. Following him meant a short life, so I had to consider my own future!”

Zhang Su closed his eyes briefly, then looked again, and saw three bubbles above Zhang Ya’s head.

[Vigilant][Strong][Arrogant]

Vigilance and strength were the most basic qualities in the apocalypse, but for the [Insight Label] to highlight these showed how pronounced these traits were in Zhang Ya. However, the last one, arrogance, was unexpected for Zhang Su.

Since joining the group, he had been secretly observing Zhang Ya and hadn’t noticed this issue. Perhaps it never showed because everything had been fairly routine, or maybe there were too many stronger individuals in the group, leaving no room for arrogance…