Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

Familiarity grows with interaction. When Wang Xingui received news that Zhang Su was coming again, he was far less nervous than the first time. The previous transactions had been pleasant and they agreed to keep in touch in the future.

“Big brother, what are you planning to trade for this time?”

Wang Xingui enthusiastically stood at the village entrance with his men to receive Zhang Su.

Zhang Su noticed the bandages wrapped around Wang Xingui’s neck and shoulders. Such valuable injuries couldn’t have been caused by zombie bites. He frowned and asked, “Did there was a conflict?”

“Those bastards from Beita Camp, damn it. A few days ago, we took the brothers to Xingge Village to scavenge and ran into the people from Beita Camp. We lost a brother!”

Wang Xingui spoke with anger in his voice.

Zhang Su’s group exchanged silent glances; this conflict wasn’t initially expected to become so intense…

“It just so happens I need to go to Beita Camp, come guide the way for me.”

Zhang Su gestured to Wang Xingui.

“Big brother, we’ll go with you, damn it, I want revenge.”

“Yes, those beasts ambushed us; we have to kill them!”

The people of United Village perked up when they heard Zhang Su was going to Beita Camp.

“No, no.” Zhang Su shook his head and said, “It’s better to have quality over quantity, one guide will suffice!”

“Alright, big brother, I’ll take you there!”

Wang Xingui stood up, thought for a moment, and asked, “Big brother, why do you suddenly want to confront Beita Camp?”

Zhang Su hesitated for a moment, knowing that Wang Xingui would find out the reason sooner or later, he said: “Today, someone from Beita Camp snuck into our camp to spy on us. Sitting and waiting is worse than taking the initiative!”

Wang Xingui’s expression tightened; to him, Zhang Su’s group was untouchable, how dare anyone come looking for trouble?

“Those guys are really bold! Let’s teach them a lesson.”

“Let’s go.”

Zhang Su wasted no words, left United Village with Wang Xingui.

Quickly, under Wang Xingui’s guidance, two cars twisted and turned to a village outside; unfortunately, the sight made Zhang Su frown.

The entire village street was empty, but it didn’t mean there were no zombies in the village. With his incredible hearing, he could clearly hear many zombies growling inside the farmyards.

Pang Dakun nimbly climbed a wall, looked inside, and his expression twisted, nearly falling off.

“Uncle, all zombies, dozens!”

“The yard is used to hold zombies, so where are the people?”

Zhang Su asked, frowning.

Wang Xingui scratched his head, mumbling, “It shouldn’t be… they live here, I even brought my brothers to see before! Big brother, I’m really not lying to you!”

“Sniff, sniff…”

Zheng Xinyu took a sniff and said, “I can smell the kind of firewood used in rural stoves, I can smell it!”

Zhang Su looked at Zheng Xinyu, curiously asked, “Hey, when did you become a dog nose, possessed by ‘lucky’?”

“I really like the smell of burning firewood, so I’m especially sensitive. I’m sure someone burned firewood in the village before!”

Zheng Xinyu said with certainty, her eyes scanning the surroundings, but didn’t find residual smoke.

“So, the people from Beita Camp live together with zombies in the village?”

Qi Xiaoshuai asked in disbelief.

Zhang Su suddenly thought of encountering a girl with a zombie daughter at the glass factory and felt that the people of Beita Camp are likely hiding in one of the courtyards.

With so many courtyards full of zombies as cover, outsiders wouldn’t find the place quickly and easily fall into a trap, while their own know which courtyard is safe and aren’t affected at all.

“Follow me, I’ll surely drag them out!”

With that, Zhang Su held his gun and walked along the street, listening intently to the movement inside the courtyards.

The layout of Beita Camp was quite good. The roads in the village were straight in both directions, the courtyards with new buildings had high walls, whereas those without money to build new houses still had the old mud walls, revealing the situation inside at a glance, without needing further exploration.

One row, two rows, three rows… soon, Zhang Su stopped in the middle of the fourth row of courtyards. The large iron gate before him was affixed with faded Spring Festival couplets, and the gate was three meters wide, enough for ordinary vehicles to pass through.

Unlike the other zombie-filled courtyards, this one was quiet, not a sound, and you could see from the slope in front of the iron gate the traces left by shoe prints.

Zhang Su gestured to the group, then pointed at a toilet built outside the courtyard to Pang Dakun, the meaning clear for him to check it out.

Pang Dakun didn’t say a word, tiptoed deftly, and without making a sound, climbed up the wall and peeked into the yard, then nodded to Zhang Su.

Rumble…

Trying to push open the iron gate, the wheels made a huge noise. Zhang Su stopped immediately, and the others followed Pang Dakun’s example, climbing over the toilet into the courtyard.

“Brother Su, they’ve gone!!”

Zheng Xinyu’s first action upon entering the yard was to head to the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, the stove was still emitting warmth, indicating someone had been cooking here earlier!

“Damn it…”

Zhang Su looked at the charred piece of wood in his hand, then threw it aside, placed one hand on his waist, and said decisively, “Beita Camp has experts!”

“An expert? What do you mean, Brother Su?”

Lu Yubo asked.

“The troublemaker brought back the news. Their leader must have guessed we’d come looking and left with the crew immediately. Bold move and smart!”

Zhang Su lit up a cigarette.

“That’s good, Brother Su. Doesn’t it mean they don’t want to clash with us?”

Zheng Xinyu tilted her head and asked. Life in the apocalypse was already exhausting dealing with zombies; she didn’t want to fight people too.

“No way!”

Zhang Su rejected Zheng Xinyu’s naive idea decisively. He said, “If they didn’t want conflict, why would they sneak into our camp to investigate? Wouldn’t it be better to coexist peacefully?”

“Brother Su is right, that bastard clearly has bad intentions!” Lu Yubo nodded in agreement.

“What do we do now? If they’ve run off, won’t it be even harder to catch them?”

Zheng Xinyu realized her thinking was a bit idealistic.

Zhang Su shrugged and said, “We know too little about them… Guizi, do you know of any other Beita Camp strongholds?”

“I don’t know.”

Wang Xingui shook his head in confusion, suddenly feeling the enemy Beita Camp was quite formidable. How he wished Zhang Su’s power could destroy it, but they ended up empty-handed!

“With so many villages around, they could easily hide somewhere, making it hard to find them.”

Qi Xiaoshuai clicked his tongue. These days are different; searching for people also means being wary of zombies, risking falling into trouble themselves.

“We can’t come for nothing. Let’s search; they left in a hurry, might’ve left something behind!”

Zhang Su tightened the strap of his gun, signaling the group to search together.

Soon, they discovered two more deserted courtyards, empty but with plenty of signs of life left behind.

“KNO… potassium nitrate? What the heck is this?”

In a small warehouse, Lu Yubo holding a bag of flour saw a white bag in the corner, and the obscure name on the package made him abandon any thought of taking it.

“Potassium nitrate? Are you kidding me…”

Hearing Lu Yubo’s mutter, Zhang Su came over from the room where he was searching. At a glance, he saw the big bag in the corner: “It’s pronounced ‘xiao,’ potassium nitrate, didn’t Teacher Xiaoyu talk about it every day?”

“Huh? This is the stuff Teacher Xiaoyu said is used to make bombs?”

Lu Yubo stared in amazement at the seemingly ordinary white bag.

“Move along, keep busy, I’ll take care of these!”

In the narrow space, it was inconvenient for two people to work. After having Lu Yubo leave, he found some sulfur and good-quality charcoal in the corner.

These were very important materials. Yu Qing had often urged them to get some, and now they finally succeeded.

The group carried the items back to the car. Qi Xiaoshuai suggested they look for traces of the Beita Camp people nearby, but Zhang Su vetoed it. Wandering blindly was dangerous; if an investigation was needed, it should be done covertly!

Though they didn’t return empty-handed, the group remained silent on the way back, unsettled by the enemy lurking in the shadows.

Wisely, Wang Xingui refrained from asking where Zhang Su’s camp was. If he was supposed to know, it would have been disclosed; since it wasn’t, better not to ask to avoid trouble.

After dropping Wang Xingui off at United Village, Zhang Su’s group took a detour back to Celestial Horse Island.

However, to Zhang Su’s surprise, as soon as their two vehicles turned from the highway onto the self-built road leading to the mountain’s base, they saw another car parked there, seemingly trying to drive up the mountain!

“Wow, today’s lively, isn’t it? In the morning, a troublemaker visited, and now another car in the afternoon?”

Qi Xiaoshuai gripped his gun tightly, staring at the distant black car’s rear.

“That car…”

Zhang Su slowed down, although others couldn’t see clearly, his excellent eyesight allowed him to discern the car’s situation ahead.

At that moment, the car ahead moved, starting to climb the mountain, making it clear they wanted to go up and take a look.

“Brother Su, that car…”

Zheng Xinyu also noticed the problem, pointing at the vehicle already driving up the mountain, she exclaimed, “Isn’t that Xiaoshan’s car?”

“Heh…” Zhang Su sneered, saying, “There’s a road to Heaven they don’t take; yet without an open door to Hell, they choose to come. Interesting, haha!”

“What’s going on?”

Qi Xiaoshuai, bewildered, looked at Zhang Su and Zheng Xinyu, clueless.

“You’ll know soon enough!”

With a mischievous grin like a little witch, Zheng Xinyu couldn’t believe the stolen car would return by itself!

“Brother Su, Brother Su, that car up ahead looks so familiar!”

Over the walkie-talkie, Lu Yubo’s voice came through.

“You didn’t see wrong. Let’s go, block them!”

Zhang Su responded, pressing the accelerator, the engine roared and sped towards the mountain base.

Before long, the Prado caught up with the Haranda, which was slowly making its way up. Unfortunately, the car’s rear windshield was missing, replaced by tape, cardboard, and plastic wrap. The door was dented, the rear bumper badly scarred, and the front bumper missing, hinting at unknown ordeals it had faced.