Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

As the zombies grew stronger, Meng Changwei felt immense pressure as a boss, utterly exhausted and overwhelmed!

”Boss, do you think Master Zhang will let us live up on the mountain? That tourism resort doesn’t look bad!”

Xiaowei, while adding zombie chunks to the furnace, asked with an expression of longing on his face.

Just then, a big sister walked out of the bedroom opposite, patted the dust off her clothes, and chimed in, ”I doubt it. The best he’ll do is let Old Meng live there. We don’t have that kind of influence.”

The two bedrooms faced each other, convenient for separating men and women. Meng Changwei heard the big sister’s words, smiled, and gestured with his hand, ”Even if Master Zhang lets me go, I wouldn’t. I’d stay with everyone, we... hmm?”

Just as he was speaking, Meng Changwei heard a thumping knock at the door. He turned his head and saw Qi Dabin symbolically knocking on the iron door, then entered the courtyard with his men, showing polite manners but not excessively.

”What are these guys here for...”

”Empty-handed, they’re definitely here to demand supplies, boss, we shouldn’t give them any!”

”Yeah, definitely don’t give them. They have food but won’t eat it; they just want to take advantage of us. That’s not right!”

The few people tidying up the house were very dissatisfied with the Flying Wolf Gang.

”You all keep busy, I’ll go ask!”

Meng Changwei set down his tasks, took a deep breath, and stepped outside. He was reluctant to invite them inside, as it would be inconvenient to ask them to leave later.

”Hey, Old Qi, why did you come over? All settled?”

Meng Changwei pushed the door open, walked out, and with a puzzled face and a sweep of his one eye, headed towards the axe thrown in a corner of the courtyard, pretending to fetch something.

”Old Meng, don’t busy yourself. I have something important to tell you.”

Qi Dabin walked quickly to Meng Changwei’s side and handed him a cigarette.

”Important? Is it that the courtyard you chose earlier isn’t to your liking? Then just change it.”

Meng Changwei took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear, then bent down to pick up the axe.

”A courtyard isn’t exactly that important...”

Qi Dabin didn’t mind Meng Changwei’s attitude, familiarly threw his arm around Meng’s shoulder, and whispered, ”One of my brothers just went up the mountain, hoping to exchange some supplies with Master Zhong. And guess what happened?”

Meng Changwei turned around to look at the dozen or so men standing in the courtyard and completely ignored Qi Dabin’s words, asking instead, ”Who among you went up the mountain just now? How come I didn’t hear anything?”

”We live by the village entrance, and you live inside the village, so you wouldn’t hear us. There’s an electric scooter in the courtyard, quick as anything, very convenient. Don’t interrupt, important news—do you want to hear it?”

Qi Dabin looked serious and mysterious, acting like you’d definitely regret if you didn’t listen.

So, let’s hear it.

Meng Changwei, distracted, said, ”If you want to say it, say it. If it’s inconvenient, don’t bother. Ugly words upfront, I won’t be responsible if I learn some secret!”

Qi Dabin was entirely unfazed by what Meng had said, proceeding with his script, enunciating one word at a time, ”My brother overheard some shocking news — Zhang Su is dead!”

!!??

Meng Changwei was initially shocked, then looked puzzled with an expression that seemed both amused and restrained, ultimately unable to hold back his laughter.

”Hahaha... Master Zhang is dead? Do you want to hear what you just said?”

Qi Dabin’s face showed not a trace of humor, instead showing earnestness, ”It’s true, I’m not lying to you!”

”Come on, tell me who overheard this news; don’t count on an ear...”

”See how you don’t believe... Skinny!” Qi Dabin beckoned to the back, ”Come tell Old Meng what you heard!”

”Okay!”

Skinny darted over to the two, hunched over, with eyes keenly watching, sporting a ”you didn’t know, did you?” expression as he began to speak.

”Boss Meng, I went up the mountain just now. Before I could connect with anyone inside, I heard noise coming from the camp. I thought things were fine before; how did it all turn noisy so quickly?

Then I quickly huddled outside the mountain gate to eavesdrop on what was going on inside... what I heard was astonishing. It turns out Zhang Su is already dead, and inside there’s not one group but three, ready to divide up Celestial Horse Island!”

”Three groups dividing Celestial Horse Island... What? Is what you said true?”

Meng Changwei frowned. He considered Zhang Su’s death news purely as a joke, but if there’s chaos on Celestial Horse Island, the credibility of the earlier information jumps dramatically. Yet, it’s possible both pieces of news are false.

However... Zhang Su’s life or death is uncertain, but verifying whether there’s infighting on Celestial Horse Island is incredibly easy, so what’s the point of playing this joke?

”Of course, it’s true!”

Seeing Meng Changwei’s surprise, Skinny knew he was becoming convinced and quickly lowered his voice again, wearing a rural elderly gossip expression.

”It was tremendously furious, two men and that guy named Zhong were arguing, claiming they contributed when building the camp, and even if Brother Su was still around, they would get a piece. The other group said they don’t care and they want at least a third, otherwise Celestial Horse Island will be in chaos!”

The words flowed seamlessly.

”Closing off doors and infighting, that’s interesting!”

Qi Dabin laughed meaningfully, then looked at the silent Meng Changwei, ”Old Meng, I know your Bridge Town previously collaborated with Celestial Horse Island several times, but that was limited to cooperation. Now Zhang Su is already gone, the guy named Zhong is obviously stalling us, once they’ve sorted everything out, it might be detrimental to us!”

Meng Changwei tightened his grip on the axe, his one eye flashing with thoughtful light, glancing between Qi Dabin and the tense-looking Skinny. What exactly does detrimental to us mean...

We’re merely outsiders; does their infighting have anything to do with us?

Clearly, you see an opportunity to benefit and want to intervene, yet you speak so grandly!

He slowly shook his head, ”In any case, I don’t believe Master Zhang is dead!”

”You don’t believe? It’s normal if you don’t; either doubt the people on Celestial Horse Island are lying, or suspect my brother gave false military reports. It’s easily fixed; let’s go together to Celestial Horse Island and see for ourselves!

If the information my brother heard is incorrect, we’ll use the excuse of exchanging supplies. If it’s true, Old Meng, then this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Their infighting leads to splitting the cake; why not add our two groups into the mix, share the spoils!”

As long as Meng Changwei’s group from Bridge Town can be coaxed up the mountain, Qi Dabin’s plan would be successful. Then it wouldn’t matter whether it’s actually muddied or not!

Meng Changwei said nothing; he certainly wouldn’t easily compromise.

He raised his hand and waved gently, turning to head back into the house. The information Qi Dabin brought was overwhelming. Whether true, false, or half-true, half-false, he needed to digest it properly.

”Old Meng, what are you still hesitating for? If not, lend us five guns. Once we succeed, we’ll allocate your brothers from Bridge Town a piece of land on the mountain. We’ll live inside the wall together, worry-free!”

Qi Dabin, seeing Meng Changwei’s indecision, painted a rosy picture.

”The mountain defenses are complete, concrete walls, iron doors, all top-notch quality; even the current frenzied zombies can’t break through!”

Skinny chimed in from the side.

”Stop quarreling; let me have some peace.”

Meng Changwei shook his head and continued walking towards the house.

To be honest, upon seeing Celestial Horse Island’s wall and mountain gate, he was equally excited. Considering the unique terrain and strict defense measures, it was truly easy to defend and hard to attack. With proper supplies, it’s like a paradise.

But asking him to exploit their weakness during conflict to seize the camp was beyond him. This was a bottom line; even if the opposing side hadn’t provided good living conditions, breaching this would be unthinkable.

Qi Dabin and Skinny exchanged glances, refrained from blocking Meng Changwei, and only said, ”Hurry up, opportunity once lost won’t return!”

”Boss, I think this guy named Meng is tough to fool. Might have to go to step two! If Celestial Horse Island provokes him, he’ll surely get angry, then... hahaha!”

After Meng Changwei entered, Skinny softly spoke to Qi Dabin, unable to contain his laughter at the end.

”Don’t rush, step two is risky. If not careful, we might all get dragged in. Let’s wait for Old Meng!”

Qi Dabin’s lips moved slightly, his voice low.

According to their plan, if people from Bridge Town won’t cooperate, they would first provoke Celestial Horse Island, falsely claiming Bridge Town is plotting an assault, incite discord between the two sides, and then take advantage of the chaos.