Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

“Haha, old village chief, how are you so sure there’s supplies in the car? What if it’s empty?”

Zhang Su spread his hands and said with a smile.

“Young man, after the disaster struck, there are always people wanting to escape to the northern mountains. We charge them like this every time, fair and square, but it’s none of your concern. Hehehe…”

Ma Changshou chuckled wisely.

The people around Zhang Su found it odd. While there was no excessive hostility from their side, everyone was holding a firearm. Was the other side blind, unable to see?

To dare openly demand supplies in such a situation, there could only be two possibilities…

Either West Camp Village had strong backing, enough to handle the situation at hand, or the people in front of them had something wrong with their heads.

The likelihood of the second was very small because in a post-apocalyptic world, among those not so sharp, none would become the person in charge!

Zhang Su naturally considered these factors, pondered for a moment, and said, “There are indeed supplies in that car, but they may not be what you need. Why not tell me what you’re lacking now, and we can make a more valuable trade, wouldn’t that be better?”

As soon as these words were said, the people from West Camp Village began whispering among themselves; they seemed to find Zhang Su’s proposal quite good.

Seeing them discussing, Zhang Su didn’t rush but quietly consulted with a few clever companions about the situation in front of them, finally all agreeing it was best to first probe their bottom line.

A group of villagers discussed for several minutes, then Ma Changshou looked at Zhang Su again, “Young man, your proposal makes a lot of sense. We all think it’s good. We summarized what we’re currently lacking, and it’s quite a bit, chiefly coal, liquefied gas, fuel oil, and diesel, especially coal.”

After hearing the other party’s request, Zhang Su secretly rolled his eyes, thinking it would have been better not to make the suggestion; direct bargaining would have been better.

Among those items mentioned, except for carrying a little fuel, he had none of the others…

“Haha…”

Zhang Su awkwardly laughed and asked, puzzled, “Old village chief, you’re not short on food and drink?”

“Young man, you haven’t lived in the countryside, have you?”

Ma Changshou patiently explained, “Every household in the village has food stored, enough to eat till spring comes next year without starving, and there’s no worry about water as the wells haven’t frozen! But the temperature dropped too quickly. We usually buy coal by October, but this year it’s unavailable, and everyone is cold; chopping wood to keep warm isn’t a long-term solution.”

Zhang Su nodded, realizing this was why people often said during small disasters you go to the city, but in great calamities, you head to the countryside. In the end times, vast and sparsely populated rural areas offer more chances to survive.

“We have a little fuel, old village chief, tell me, how much do you need?”

Zhang Su didn’t mention a specific amount, waiting for the other to offer a price first.

“Are all the people in your car out?”

Ma Changshou asked.

Zhang Su glanced back, nodded, “Everyone’s here.”

“Good, young man, you’re the calmest among those who have passed by these days, no fuss or rush. I won’t ask sky-high prices, there are twenty of you, not counting the little dog, fifty liters of fuel each, exactly a thousand liters!”

“Old geezer…”

“Don’t mess around!”

Zhang Su quickly grabbed Lu Yubo, who was ready to curse, and glared at him, then looked at Ma Changshou again, “Old village chief, you really know how to joke. A thousand liters is close to a ton! Not to mention whether we can carry it, so much fuel on a car is a moving bomb, isn’t it?”

“Not to mention a thousand liters, truth be told, we have two barrels of oil now, sixty liters in total.”

Reported less by two barrels, they will always come in handy.

“Sixty liters? No way, too far off. Sixty liters would at most let two of you pass, impossible.”

Ma Changshou waved his hand repeatedly, not representing only himself but the interests of many behind him.

“Brother Su, as we head north on this trip, many villages line the roads. If they’re all like this, stopping us for robbery, we can’t take it, let’s just lay it out!”

Lu Yubo whispered in Zhang Su’s ear.

“Young man, don’t think you can fool old farmers like me with fake goods, it won’t work!”

Ma Changshou saw Lu Yubo touch the rifle on his shoulder, revealing an old, confident smile with disdain in his eyes.

“Old village chief, how do you know we have fake goods?”

Zhang Su patted the rifle on his chest and asked with a smile.

Ma Changshou shook his head and smiled, “Hey, young man, you’re not the first batch of survivors with toy guns we’ve encountered. We’ve come across several before you, though none as exaggerated!”

Zheng Xinyu and the others finally understood why the other side was fearless; they were overly clever.

“Oh?” Zhang Su found it interesting and asked, “How are we exaggerated?”

Ma Changshou seemed to love talking and, without any impatience, said slowly, “If you had the real stuff, would you be arguing with old farmers like me here? Besides, you know our country’s situation, with strict control on firearms. Like those neat rifles on you, they’re ninety percent fake; only my kind of iron pipes are the real deal!”

While speaking, Ma Changshou lifted his clothes and pulled out a double-barreled gun roughly a ruler’s length from his waist; it was hard to say if it’s a pistol, shotgun, or double-barreled scattergun?

Total craftsmanship looked crude, surely welded by some master in the village.

A call.

A cold wind blew through, ruffling the hair of those on both sides of the barricade, making the scene suddenly quiet.

“Hehehe…”

Zhang Su suddenly laughed and said, “Old village chief, has this homemade gun brought you quite a bit of income?”

“That’s right, in today’s society, having a gun makes you the king. Guys, I advise you not to have any funny ideas, hand over the supplies honestly, head north to escape quickly, and listen to advice when it comes to staying safe!”

Ma Changshou supported himself on a crutch with his left hand, pointing to the ground, and raised his gun towards the sky with his right hand, his posture quite striking.

“Hey, did you guys raid the toy store in the city?”

“I bet so, just look at all these rifles lined up so neatly, haha.”

“Hey, we’d be fine with fifty liters less fuel, just give us two of those too, the kids in the village would surely like them!”

The villagers around Ma Changshou seemed very relaxed, not paying any attention to Zhang Su and his group.

In terms of weapons, they had more than one firearm, and in numbers, they didn’t fall short either. If a fight really broke out, they wouldn’t be fazed.

“Are our guns fake?”

Zheng Xinyu asked Zhong Xiaoshan a bit naively.

Zhong Xiaoshan felt the cold gun barrel: “I don’t think so, it feels quite solid to me.”

“These villagers have never seen the real stuff, adorably silly, hehe.” Lü Leiyang chuckled softly with a coquettish air, making the people around him shiver.

Zhang Su stepped forward and shrugged helplessly: “I initially wanted to give you a bonus for cleaning up the area so diligently, but you pulled out guns instead, how can we negotiate like this?”

Ma Changshou chuckled: “Young man, it’s me negotiating with you, not the other way around. We’ve finished talking. One thousand liters of fuel, or all the supplies on that big vehicle, choose one yourself.”

“You said before that if we had the real deal, you wouldn’t be polite, but that’s not right,” Zhang Su shook his head: “I was negotiating properly because I don’t want to bully the weak! Remember one thing, Old Village Chief, experience only deceives those who believe in it!”

With that, Zhang Su unlocked the safety, raised his rifle, aimed at the zombies on the barrier, and pulled the trigger.

Da da, da da, da da da da.

A fierce barrage of gunfire echoed in the sky, white smoke mixed with flames burst from the muzzle, bullets struck the zombie bodies, tearing fragile tissue into a mush, blood splattered and wood chips flew.

Thirty bullets poured out in just over ten seconds, the sound of shells hitting the ground was crisp and pleasant.

The gunfire reverberated across the fields, shaking Ma Changshou and his group’s hearts, all the villagers unconsciously retreated, some held their heads, and more leaned directly on the ground, eyes filled with fear and disbelief.

Corgi Good Fortune was also startled by the gunfire, scurried behind Zheng Xinyu, crouched down, and covered its head with its paws…

Crack, clack!

Unload the magazine, pull out a spare one, load it up, chamber a round, the series of moves might lack tactical flair, but they were precise and orderly!

Having shot automatic rifles in games was one thing, but in reality, it was the first time. Zhang Su felt his arms and shoulders go numb from the recoil and thought that spraying bullets like this wouldn’t do, better to aim and shoot.

Silence.

When the echoes of gunfire faded away, all that remained in their ears was silence, far away, zombie figures appeared, sluggishly moving toward the highway, posing no real threat.

“Still want the supplies?”

After reloading, Zhang Su maintained a high posture, with the gun aimed straight at Ma Changshou and his group.

The leader had made his stance clear, so all the team members naturally stopped hesitating, ready with their guns. The atmosphere immediately turned tense and murderous!

“No, no more, clear a path quickly, hurry!”

Ma Changshou licked his chapped lips, waving his arms to command the villagers to move the barrier aside, fear as thick as ink in his eyes.

Quickly, the obstacles on the bridge were cleared to the sides, and Ma Changshou had long put away his broken firearm, walking cheerfully to Zhang Su: “Sir, you may leave now.”

“I was a young man before, now I’m ‘sir’? Gained quite a bit of seniority fast!”

Zhang Su cleaned his ears, the gunfire was so loud it loosened the wax.

“We couldn’t recognize Mount Tai, I’m sorry, really sorry. May I ask your name, sir?” Ma Changshou and the villagers were very humble, thoroughly portraying knowing when to seize an opportunity.

He still couldn’t believe all twenty people with Zhang Su had real guns, but even having one genuine one was enough to keep their village in check.

Pitting broken firearms against automatic rifles, wasn’t that seeking discomfort?

“Zhang, don’t call me ‘sir’, sounds awful! If you’re sorry, show some sincerity. I just shot thirty bullets, ten pounds of rice and flour for each bullet! Total six hundred pounds, okay?”

Zhang Su asked.

The villagers froze, wasn’t this turning a disadvantage into an advantage?

What terrible luck!

Ma Changshou dared not refuse, nodding repeatedly: “Alright, alright, Boss Zhang wants six hundred pounds of rice and flour, then it’s six hundred pounds of rice and flour, I’ll have someone prepare it for Boss Zhang right away!”

“Boss…” Zhang Su found the title Ma Changshou used amusing, he really used to be a medium-sized boss.

“Zhuzi, Master Jia, follow them to get the rice and flour, and if anyone tries any tricks, shoot them in the head to prevent zombification from troubling the villagers, we’re all about full service, sending them west!”

“No tricks, no tricks, Boss Zhang rest assured, we’re simple folk, where would we play tricks!”

Ma Changshou waved his hands continuously, his face horrified, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like if two automatic rifles started firing into the village.

“Old Village Chief, if you want to continue doing business like this, you must strengthen your arms, at least have a homemade firearm for everyone. Today you just ran into me, a kind-hearted person. Think how frightening it would be with an ill-tempered one.”

Zhang Su advised earnestly.

Ma Changshou didn’t dare argue, only nodded vigorously: “Yes, yes, Boss Zhang, you’re right, we were too arrogant, too ignorant.”