Armed Train in the Apocalypse

On the other side, Zou Ji was sprinting through the jungle.

The dense fog brushed past his ears with a touch of chill. The complex terrain of the jungle not only did not hinder him but instead provided various footholds and assistance.

The dark jungle seemed to release goodwill toward him at this moment.

It was the feeling of closeness from every ancient tree and plant mixed together. If he stopped to listen carefully, he might even be able to have a simple exchange with these plants.

But he didn’t have time to explore the power he had just gained; the more generous the reward ”god” gave, the harsher the punishment would be.

The previous people who touched the cave all died.

If it weren’t for Uncle Huanzhi’s warning at the time, he probably would have been consumed by the entities inside.

Now the most important thing is to find enough believers.

Only this way can he obtain endless power.

Zou Ji did not go to the first camp; the people there should be tangled with the train now. During this time, it’s best to go to the second camp, whose combat power has been completely wiped out, and the remaining people can only escape with him. Then, taking on some fugitives from the first camp would suffice.

Having made plans in his mind, Zou Ji swiftly navigated through the jungle and soon arrived outside the second camp.

Just as he was about to enter, he sensed something amiss; the surrounding plants rustled, indicating someone was approaching, but the plants didn’t show any sign of repulsion.

It must be other vine-men coming.

Zou Ji hesitated for a moment, retracting his foot from stepping onto the trunk; today was Fear Day, and normally, except for necessary battles, most vine-men would stay home with heads in their hands, ignoring the outside world.

He was now under divine favor, so he didn’t need to do so.

But how did these people achieve it?

As he wondered, a faint arrow noise pierced the air; Zou Ji’s emerald eyes suddenly contracted, his pupils nearly vanished, as emerald green dyed his entire sclera, his upper body suddenly fell back.

A poisoned arrow scraped past the side of his neck.

The skin turned black upon contact, carrying a foul stench.

Zou Ji recognized the scent immediately; it was the sap of the poison blood vine, even a drop would rot one’s body from inside out, a process lasting three to four days, watching oneself dissolve inch by inch in endless despair, forming the deepest horror.

But the numbing sensation lasted only an instant; a surge of heat from within spread, rushing to the neck, with a trace of bluish-white blood flowing out through the wound, flushing away the poison.

Simultaneously, he jumped down from the giant tree, tapping his toes on the branch, diving into a trampoline-like purple flower. The flower eagerly closed its mouth but disdainfully spat Zou Ji out the next moment.

”To the right!”

”Don’t let him escape!”

”Block him!”

Shouts echoed through the dense forest, Zou Ji navigated like a hunted mouse.

Without the newfound power, he would have been captured at first glance.

But facing equally skilled vine-men in jungle combat, his little advantage was insufficient. No matter how he evaded, he would eventually be surrounded by vine-men vastly outnumbering him.

After kicking a middle-aged vine-man into a shrub, Zou Ji found himself blocked by a female vine-man.

She held a short spear about 1.2 meters long, the shaft not smooth but rough, with grooves and ridges like twisted tree roots.

Vines emerged from her back, tying around surrounding plants.

It was impossible to kick her down.

Vine-men continued to gather from both sides.

”Don’t move!”

Though the woman shouted, her eyes showed undisguised amazement.

Because Zou Ji was just too ”perfect.”

Compared to the vine-men with various mutated plants, Zou Ji only had skin color matching theirs, yet more luminously smooth, without any trace of mutated plants, his well-toned muscles wrapping bones, with enviable Life Force.

Like a species evolved to its pinnacle, distinct from humans.

Zou Ji gritted his teeth and charged at the woman, her eyes suddenly turned cold, the short spear stabbing towards his chest.

Zou Ji slightly sidestepped, his arm pierced, yet he squeezed into the woman’s arms, powerfully striking her abdomen with his intact arm, sounding like a punch hitting a tree trunk.

The woman bent over in pain from the blow.

Zou Ji snatched the short spear, dodging behind her, extending four vines from five fingers, twisting into a spike against her neck, fiercely glaring at the surrounding vine-men.

”Don’t come closer, I’ll kill her if you do!”

Vine-men smirked coldly, slowly encircling him.

Zou Ji’s heart sank, clearly he hadn’t captured someone important.

The surrounding vine-men increased in number but did not rush to attack, instead clearing a path.

Vine-man Zhang Hui, with wooden temples, stepped from the crowd, holding bullets.

Calmly, he looked at the teenage boy on the branch, pretending not to know, ”Who are you?”

Zou Ji looked at the unfamiliar face below, delighting inside, ”I’m the caretaker of Liu Mu Camp. Outsiders have occupied our camp, disregarding jungle rules, reckless deforestation. The disaster they’ve caused has already annihilated our camp, soon affecting all caretaker camps here...”

Zhang Hui’s face changed dramatically, enraged, ”How many are they?”

Zou Ji observed his expression intensely, relieved internally; vine-men were wary of outsiders.

Initially, they would shelter outsiders, but unruly ones invited jungle depths’ horrors, destroying entire camps.

With time, vine-men camps grew increasingly hostile towards outsiders, some even refusing to interact with fellow vine-men camps.

Each vine-men camp in the Plant Zone was an isolated island of fear.

”They have a large train and many gun-armed soldiers...”

Zou Ji did not lie about the Armed Train description, for he didn’t know much, having only seen it from afar. The only contact was with Su Huan, whom he couldn’t gauge clearly.

”No wonder there were huge vibrations here recently, it was those outsiders!”

Zhang Hui frowned, speaking resentfully.

Zou Ji saw his few words gain the other’s trust, silently proud inside.

These adults were just older.

Still manipulated within his palm!

Zou Ji released the woman, descending the tree to engage Zhang Hui deeply.

After hearing his account, Zhang Hui frowned, ”Their firepower is too strong, likely military remnants, direct confrontation is unwise.”

Seeing his hesitation, Zou Ji anxiously said, ”But ignoring them will lead to greater calamities.”

”No, no, I meant using some tactics.”

”Tactics?”

”Yes, you mentioned they have a leader? As long as we eliminate their leader, they’ll collapse without attack.”

Zou Ji’s brain spun fast but still struggled with adult schemes.

”But we can’t beat him...”

”We don’t need to win, we can pretend to surrender, then do this and that...”

The more Zou Ji listened, the brighter his eyes became; this plan was far better than his.

If it succeeded, perhaps it would directly help avenge Uncle Huanzhi and bring Xiaoya back!

”Let’s settle it this way, I’ll cooperate with you!”

Zou Ji firmly said.

Looking at the well-proportioned, abnormality-free teenager before him, Zhang Hui’s eyes darkened.

If it weren’t for the immediate threat of the Armed Train, he truly wanted to study how the teenager evolved this way.

Having been human for thirty years, nobody wanted to turn into such monsters.

The group quickly gathered, over a hundred vine-men heading toward Broken Barrel Camp, while Tong Zizhan and Gao Yuan’s chase squad advanced in their direction too.