Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

”What’s this, all dark and mysterious, sniff sniff... Hey, I must say, it really smells like liquefied petroleum gas. Is this thing concentrated LPG? That’s not worth much...”

Duan Wuhu squinted with his mismatched eyes, glaring at the black square.

Xie Yanshan leaned in as well, adjusting his glasses to take a closer look, murmuring to himself, ”We still need the equipment. Otherwise, how are we going to study this...”

”It’ll be a bit troublesome, but there’s still a way!”

Fu Weijun suddenly sat up straight, then asked with realization, ”By the way, what were you guys busy with earlier, has Mr. Zhang left?”

”Mr. Zhang left after checking on Liu Tianji and Ke Zhiyu. He’s going to catch a few ordinary zombies for Qiu Hui to experiment with. He believes Qiu Hui has certain zombie characteristics and wants to see if it attracts their attention.”

Xie Yanshan didn’t intend to hide anything and explained in detail.

”Oh?”

Fu Weijun, who had been absent-minded, suddenly showed interest, his eyes gleaming as he nodded, then added, ”Mr. Zhang has a unique perspective. Why didn’t we think of that? Now that you mention it, it’s quite possible!”

”If someone could really avoid attracting zombie attention, that would be impressive!”

Duan Wuhu showed admiration.

He had previously tested this theory by smearing zombie blood and guts all over him to avoid their notice, but it was futile. After arriving on Celestial Horse Island, he found that even bulletproof vests crafted from petrified zombie skin couldn’t fool them, so he abandoned that line of research.

”Mr. Zhang thought of more than just that.” Xie Yanshan sighed with a strange expression, ”Earlier, Xiaoqiu was about to go berserk again, but Mr. Zhang injected her with a sedative, and only one milliliter was enough to suppress it. The current conclusion is that controlling the headache prevents the frenzy. What do you think about that...”

Xie Yanshan gave a bitter smile, feeling inadequate as non-professional outsiders came in, immediately identifying several problems that left the experts red-faced.

”Someone unbound by theory tends to think imaginatively, quite impressive of Mr. Zhang. I’m going to check on Liu Tianji and Ke Zhiyu; Dr. Xie, you should further investigate this corpse, there should be more to explore.”

”Alright, no problem.”

Xie Yanshan agreed fully, heading off to grab gloves and equipment.

Duan Wuhu naturally went to the wheelchair to push it but heard Fu Weijun speak.

”Brother Duan, you’ve been busy for a long time, take a break. I’ll move around a bit myself and call for you when I need to go downstairs.”

”Oh, alright, be careful then.”

Duan Wuhu wasn’t suspicious and handed the plastic bag of medication to Fu Weijun while helping him open the door, saying, ”This is the pain medication that Second Sister-in-law brought over for Qiu Hui. Check and configure the appropriate dosage, let’s not waste any.”

”Okay, I’ll take a look.”

Fu Weijun replied and then left the room.

”Brother Liu, your Yama Corps is really impressive. I want to join; do you think I have a chance?”

Ke Zhiyu adjusted to the black-and-white view, starting to feel less uncomfortable, though there were still faint pains on his body.

Liu Tianji moved his stump lacking a hand, giving a bitter smile, ”Don’t worry about whether you can join, I’m afraid Brother Su will kick me out. Look at me now, let’s not talk about these dispiriting things. If you want to join the Yama Corps, first, you need exceptional skills, then... hmm? Dr. Fu?”

Mid-chat, the door opened, letting a gentle breeze into the warm room.

”Chatting?”

Fu Weijun slowly rolled his wheelchair into the room, swung around to close the door.

”Yeah, lying here is too boring, so we’re chatting. Is observing time over and can we leave?”

Liu Tianji was hopeful to quickly return to normal life.

”Don’t rush, at least wait until tonight.” Fu Weijun positioned himself between the two beds, glanced about, calmly saying, ”You’re recovering well, do you feel any changes?”

Learning they had to wait another night, Liu Tianji was a bit gloomy, but he considered it better than a corpse transformation. He thought for a bit following Fu Weijun’s question, ”No changes, but I’ve noticed something. I can’t feel any pain; my hand’s wound doesn’t hurt a bit, poking around doesn’t sting nor itch. Did you give me any medication?”

Liu Tianji hadn’t realized until he accidentally used his stump to support himself, got startled, and noticed no pain, realizing something was off.

”Oh? Is that so? No medication...” Fu Weijun frowned, nodding, eyeing Ke Zhiyu, ”How about you? Same thing?”

Ke Zhiyu shook his head gloomily, ”I can feel pain, still hurts now...”

”This might be the individual variance in the Corpse Transformation Inhibitor, it’s an area where we still have much to learn. But overall, you’re progressing positively, take your meds, then if tonight goes smoothly, you’ll be free to move around.”

With that, Fu Weijun wheeled to the desk, pulled medication boxes and bottles from the plastic bag Duan Wuhu had given him and calmly proceeded to prepare them.

”We won’t face any trouble; we’re surely going to pull through.”

”Yes, Brother Liu’s right. Surviving a disaster brings fortune.”

Liu Tianji and Ke Zhiyu had no doubts about taking medication, feeling quite optimistic.

...

”Hey, Old Ding, what’s up with this, no bed in the room?”

Zhang Su was about to head to the parking lot for a vehicle; catching zombies couldn’t possibly be done on foot. As he walked past the Wangshan Folklore Institute’s entrance, he saw Ding Yong Country in a foul mood with Zheng Ziwen, moving bed frames out from the lodge warehouse.

”Hey, Boss Zhang. Don’t even mention it! Put it down, man, I’m telling you to put it down!”

Seeing Zhang Su, Ding Yong Country signaled Zheng Ziwen to put the bed down, sulking, ”It was a perfectly fine bed, this foolish kid jumped onto it and broke the beam. What do you say about this...”

Zheng Ziwen stood by, head down, hands running over the bedding, clearly embarrassed. Ding Yong Country’s words were understated, as more than one beam broke; half the bed had actually collapsed.

”Perhaps it hadn’t been used for a long time, and the wood rotted.” Zhang Su was at a loss for words; the guy was indeed a handful.

”Well, I’ll find some wood later to make a new bed. Boss Zhang, why aren’t you resting, what’s keeping you busy?”

Besides ironwork, Ding Yong Country knew a bit of carpentry; not the intricate stuff, but creating beds and wardrobes posed no problem.

Zhang Su pointed towards the parking lot, ”Got business to take care of, you carry on.”

”Hang on, Boss Zhang.”

Seeing Zhang Su about to leave, Ding Yong Country rushed to the gate, asking with a smile, ”It’s audacious to ask, but what are you doing? Need a helper?”

”Helper?”

Zhang Su arched an eyebrow; nothing more needed to be said. He glanced at Zheng Ziwen, who seemed oblivious, but Ding Yong Country made a shy grin, intentions unspoken.

”It’s dangerous!”

Zhang Su replied earnestly; his task was catching zombies, not fooling around.

”Dangerous? All the more need for a helping hand?”

Hearing that, Ding Yong Country’s wrinkle-lined face showed a shrewd smile, joking about how danger was everywhere these days.

Zhang Su smiled, nodded at Ding Yong Country, understanding his intent. He hoped Zhang Su would bring Zheng Ziwen along; not necessarily for guidance, but at least to endure hardship, shaping his character.

Such a minor favor for Zhang Su wasn’t an issue, it might even add a bit of fun to the dull mission. What’s more, Zhang Su had accepted a major task unbeknownst to Ding Yong Country, so he didn’t refuse.

Spotting Zhang Su’s attitude, Ding Yong Country knew what it meant. He turned and called Zheng Ziwen, ”Ziwen, come over! Your Uncle Zhang is going out to run errands and needs someone to lend a hand, you go help!”

”Huh?”

Walking over to the two, Zheng Ziwen was taken aback by the news, blurting out, ”Zhang, King Yama’s so impressive, is there anything I can do to help...”

Having seen Zhang Su’s battle against nine from the Flying Wolf Gang, Zheng Ziwen was consumed by Zhang Su’s combat imagery, continually visualizing himself in that manner, trying to use manifestation to strengthen himself.