Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

“Go! Quickly!”

Zhang Su made a swift decision, pulling Zheng Xinyu and jumping into the safety door, followed by Lu Yubo rushing in with Lanlan.

“Old Tan, are you crazy, move it!”

When Zhang Su turned around, he saw Tan Huajun still frantically swinging a caliper, not responding even when he shouted.

“Godmother!” Pang Dakun yelled wildly.

“Damn!”

Zhang Su leaned out to take a look, zombies were already closing in on the other side, less than five meters from the safety door. The fourth-floor fire was blazing fiercely, nearly lighting up the entire mall. Although the fire was climbing upward, if anything burning fell to the first floor, it would ignite the whole mall!

In a split second, he grabbed Tan Huajun’s backpack with all his might and pulled her into the safety door.

Thud, the two fell in a heap!

Bam.

Pang Dakun nearly pressed against Tan Huajun’s arm to close the safety door, but it was too late; two zombie arms and a head were stuck in the door gap.

Accompanied by howling, the situation was so tense that everyone was gasping for air!

“Help!”

Pang Dakun squeezed out the words through clenched teeth, blaming the dim light; otherwise, you could see his face flushed like liver color. If the zombies behind had any brains, his strength wouldn’t be enough to hold them off.

“Helping! Sister Tan, come on!”

Zheng Xinyu also braced the safety door tightly, not daring to relax for a moment, while calling for Tan Huajun’s help, desperately needing her weight at this moment.

“Coming, coming!”

Ignoring the pain in her body, Tan Huajun scrambled to her feet and leaned against the safety door.

“I’ll kill you bastards!”

Lu Yubo put Lanlan on the ground, drew a knife and a food sampler, and started stabbing the zombies poking through the door gap.

But Zhang Su was even faster; with a flash of his knife, the new machete (the old one was given to Zhao Xue) sliced through the zombie’s head neatly. With another swift motion, he cut off another arm.

Bam!

After Zhang Su chopped off both zombie arms, the safety door finally closed heavily under everyone’s combined effort, with the surrounding bolts fastened, but there was no time to relax; the force of the zombies pounding the door was overwhelming.

No one dared to trust the quality of the safety door.

“Go! Downstairs!”

Not a second could be wasted. As Zhang Su fastened the bolts, he ran towards the stairs.

The mall’s emergency passage was much wider than an apartment building’s; three or four people could run side by side without problems. From the safety door to the stairs was roughly three to four meters. Just as Lu Yubo was pulling Lanlan and reached the stairs, the safety door crashed down with a bang!

Howling ensued…

The first row of zombies predictably fell to the ground, somewhat blocking the ones behind from crossing the threshold.

“Hey, what’s happening over there? We’re ready to leave; clear a path quickly!”

Descending the stairs, Zhang Su pulled out the walkie-talkie to contact those guarding the vehicle, sweat streaming down his forehead.

“Some guy tried to cozy up got chased away, first floor is clear, Brother Su!”

Wu Lue’s voice came through.

“Let’s go, back to the vehicle!”

Zhang Su shouted towards downstairs, knowing the others could hear him.

As the group reached the first floor, Zhang Su was stunned seeing the scene before him. A group was holding the safety door so everyone could get through quickly. Tang Xiaoxiao and Tang Xiu had regained their freedom, being dragged by the arms, while Xiang Wei was being dragged like a dead fish by Jia Shiqin and a delivery guy, his face battered and swollen.

“I said to control them, did you… beat him to death?”

Zhang Su pointed to the swollen-headed Xiang Wei.

When they left, Xiang Wei was just a bit disheveled. Now, his face was bruised, blood oozing from mouth and nose, unconscious, clearly having taken a severe beating.

“Damn, Brother Su, this bastard is a lunatic! Shortly after you left, he slashed open the zip tie, jumped up, and grabbed a fruit knife from my hand and cut me; look!”

Wang Xin stood up from the crowd, clutching his shoulder, and Zhang Su saw his hand covered in blood.

“Luckily, it didn’t hit any bones, just a flesh wound. Disinfect it and a few stitches should do!”

Zhong Xiaoshan had already checked Wang Xin’s injury.

Bang!

Just then, a burnt advertising sign fell straight from the fourth floor to the first, flames descended from the sky, sparks scattered like iron flowers, shockingly intense.

Whoosh!

The billboard, as tall as two people, fell to the ground, a tongue of flame sweeping towards the crowd.

“Run, don’t waste time, quick!”

Zhang Su had been considering going to the mall to scour through it, considering the fire was on the fourth floor and the lower floors weren’t affected. But now, it seemed like everything was in vain.

Like dominoes, once the first billboard fell, things began to tumble down one after another towards the first floor…

Bang, boom…

A group of people sprinted madly towards the mall entrance, as fiery debris occasionally crashed down around them. The most dangerous moment was when a fireball narrowly missed Zheng Xinyu’s back, nearly brushing by her. However, Zhang Ya suffered bad luck, as a wave of heat nearly set her pants on fire, scaring her pale.

“Quick, hurry up!”

At the entrance, Wu Lue and Chen Hanzhou waved continuously, while a Corgi named Good Fortune spun frantically beside them.

Woof woof woof.

As Zhang Su’s group was about to reach the mall entrance, zombies that followed them down the stairs from the third floor arrived at the first floor, losing their target in the scorching flames, and began to wander aimlessly.

The zombies behind didn’t catch up, but a large group suddenly emerged on the nearest escalator to the mall entrance.

Going up was slow; rolling down was incredibly fast…

Unfortunately, no matter how fast, it was useless. Before they could even stand up, Zhang Su’s group had already dashed out of the mall entrance. As Jia Shiqin and the delivery guy dragged Xiang Wei out of the mall last, Wu Lue and Chen Hanzhou quickly closed the door, placing the sawed-off iron lock across the door handle.

Bang bang, bang.

Just after the glass door was closed, the zombies inside the mall reached the entrance, their withered hands madly smacking against the glass doors, their bloodthirsty mouths biting it relentlessly, as if doing so would let them taste the blood on the other side…

Though made of glass, the mall doors were incredibly sturdy—representing the image face, far superior to the internal safety doors. Even with constant pounding from the zombies, they didn’t show any signs of loosening.

“Get in the car, quick. Old Tan, don’t get distracted. Your daughter is in your vehicle!”

Zhang Su advised, quickly jumping into the driver’s seat of the Benz RV, astonished to find someone stealthily pulling at the car door handle!

Since he used a smart key card to start the vehicle, the driver’s door lacked a magnetic card sensor area and was generally locked, only opening temporarily for entering and exiting. Seeing someone tugging at the door was novel, and he noticed an unfamiliar face!

This foolhardy person was actually trying to steal the car?

It was unimaginable, the madness of the act. Just a brief period away from the vehicle, and someone emerged right here—it was truly a gamble with fortune!

However, the person attempting to open the door now realized the car’s rightful owner had returned.

Their eyes met, awkwardly.

“Damn you!”

Zhang Su unlocked the door and pushed it open in one swift motion, flipping the car thief, who had stepped on the tire, onto the ground.

“I’ll kill you…”

Even after escaping danger, Zhang Su felt inexplicably angry, unwilling to let someone come looking for trouble off the hook, jumping out of the car ready to teach the person a lesson. Not necessarily killing them, but at least dislocating an arm!

However, the person who fell was not simple, rolling swiftly to the side upon falling from the car and disappearing into the darkness on all fours, leaving no chance…

“Lucky you ran fast, damn! Hmm?”

As Zhang Su cursed in anger, a line of text flashed in his mind.

[Everybody went all in to help Tan Huajun solve difficulties, difficulty level: A, Mo Qianlan (discovered), Tan Chengwu (discovered), complete]

“So it really is seeing the living and the dead…”

Zhang Su lamented, previously worried about not being able to save Tan Huajun’s father, concerned about the challenge reward shrinking, and whether core members of the team might become discouraged.

Now, half of those worries were relieved.

[Reward: Vision Enhancement]

“Vision enhancement? How does this effect… whoa damn!”

As Zhang Su puzzled over its manifestation, his vision blurred slightly, and the world in front of him suddenly transformed drastically.

The pitch-black night in his view now seemed like daylight, the clarity so instant he instinctively squinted. Despite no glaring sensation, he adapted within seconds.

“Night vision! Holy shit…”

Zhang Su couldn’t help but feel excited, spotting a figure rubbing their butt heading towards Mall B Building—evidently the car thief from earlier.

With a thought, his focus zoomed, unexpectedly drawing eyesight closer, even spotting the English phrase printed on the stranger’s back: Valar Morghulis!

“Night vision plus optical zoom, this is truly unheard of!”

Zhang Su looked around like he’d entered a new world, spotting someone peeping from an office building’s upper floor, zombies wandering at the end of the road, a bird of unknown species resting on a lamppost with its head tucked into its wings asleep.

Meticulous, beyond measure!

If there’s an organ in humans inconsistent with evolution, the eye would certainly count, as mysterious and complex as the brain, with numerous inexplicable structures—mysterious and powerful.

The aid provided by vision enhancement is immeasurable, requiring Zhang Su to explore its potential slowly.