Chapter 31: "Damn, Everyone on the Team Has One"

The crimson droplets, like flowing pomegranate juice, reflected the focused eyes of the youth beneath his tousled hair.

"Remember, once synthesis begins, you must wrap it inside the bullet head as quickly as possible. If you are slow, we will all die." Su Huan warned, holding a brass 9mm bullet in his hand.

Qi Xiaoba gripped the armrests tightly and nodded. "I am ready."

Su Huan signaled to Wan Xing.

The latter took a deep breath and poured the sap collected from the Blood-Thirst Fruit into a glass bottle. Inside was a special genetic fluid harvested from over a dozen zombies—a material similar to what could be extracted from a Nightstalker. Because the amount found in each zombie was extremely sparse, it was easy to overlook. Had it not been for Su Huan’s insistence, she would never have been able to pool such a substance together.

The two liquids merged in the glass bottle.

"Hiss..."

The crimson liquid changed color in an instant, a point of pitch-black spreading rapidly as if contaminated.

"Did it succeed?"

Wan Xing felt a strange sensation; the liquid in the glass bottle exerted a powerful attraction upon her, as if consuming it would grant her some form of evolution.

"Of course it failed."

Su Huan pinched his little finger, staring at the bottle with a hint of wariness. Synthesizing genetic agents was not as simple as merely combining materials. It required a professional with the appropriate apothecary skills to oversee the process—fine-tuning the ratios, timing the fusion, and monitoring the subtle changes in physical properties. Otherwise, the result would be exactly what they saw before them: a failure.

The cost of failure could vary, but some failed products possessed peculiar side effects. For instance, this viscous, oil-like black liquid. Its full name was "Evolutionary Beast Inducer." Because of its strong deceptive properties, it was highly effective for clearing areas or luring evolved beasts. Yet, like many inventions, people did not use it for noble purposes.

"Flesh Party Invitation," "Dinner Bell," "Evolutionary Beast Uber," "Apocalypse Happy Soda," "Every team member has one of those damn things..."

Soon, this simple agent became widespread. Almost everyone capable of scavenging had one. When everyone held one, it formed a sort of nuclear deterrent. Only by holding this could one rest assured that their teammates wouldn't betray them at a critical moment.

"Tighten it. Pour it in three seconds. Xiaoba, get ready." Su Huan warned nervously.

A cold, metallic glint appeared in Qi Xiaoba’s eyes. The brass bullet on the table suddenly hovered in mid-air, the bullet head separating from the casing and melting like ice cream to form a narrow space inside.

Wan Xing dropped the pitch-black liquid at the perfect moment. As the fluid swirled at the mouth of the bottle, the attraction stemming from genetic instinct reached its peak.

"Snap!"

The liquid dripped in, the brass bullet head snapped shut, re-inserted into the casing, and fell into Su Huan’s palm. The eerie sense of attraction vanished instantly.

Looking at the brand-new bullet in his hand, a faint smile played on Su Huan’s lips. "It’s done."

Dull footsteps echoed from the direction of the dining car. Liang Kuan asked, puzzled, "I just had a strange feeling."

Su Huan stood up and patted his shoulder, which had grown even sturdier. "Your feeling was correct, but you’re late. Get ready. We move in ten minutes, but don't enter Mojiang City directly; just stop at the boundary outside."

"Are we setting out?"

"No."

Su Huan licked his upper palate, a cold, sharp light glinting in his eyes. "Go tell Wang He to get ready. Take twenty men. Tonight, we’re going to bring back the forklift and the water purifier!"

...

19:20, stifling and windless.

Dark clouds like cotton wool soaked in machine oil pressed down on the horizon. In the twilight, the curved outline of the distant water plant's cooling tower glowed iron-gray. Further out lay the calm Mojiang River. Clearly, the thirty-plus degree temperature could not cause any severe changes to this mighty river. It quietly nourished the land on both banks, just as it had before the apocalypse.

Yet, this was the most dangerous place in the entire region, save for the city center. In Su Huan’s mind, the depths of the river were even more terrifying than the heart of the city. Densely packed evolved beasts fought frantically in the murky riverbed, devouring and evolving. No one knew to what extent they had evolved or how many horrific existences lurked there. The unknowns were simply too vast. Thus, even four years into the apocalypse, no one dared to approach these water sources.

"Tap, tap..."

Su Huan stomped on the thick steel plate beneath his feet, pulling his thoughts together. Although he had no current plans to build a combat platform, he had intentionally made the roof of the vehicle flat, making it easier to add a second layer later as a passage to the rear carriage, or to install robotic arms, machine guns, and other weaponry.

He raised his wrist and checked his mechanical watch.

19:24.

About one minute left.

Su Huan pulled out the confiscated handgun, ejected the magazine, checked it, and reloaded. He fired a shot into the ground. Hearing the familiar crisp sound and confirming there were no issues, he pressed the special bullet into the chamber.

A subtle vibration traveled through the train beneath his feet. Su Huan raised the handgun, aimed it forty-five degrees toward the sky above the water plant, and pulled the trigger.

"Snap."

The bullet, reaching an initial velocity of 400, drilled out of the muzzle, lost its momentum at its apex, and began to fall. Its landing point was also its maximum range: exactly one kilometer away, at the water plant.

The train had already departed.

...

Countless heavy gasps suddenly erupted in the silent suburbs, accompanied by intimidating, low roars that rose and fell in succession. Whirlpools suddenly appeared on the silent river surface, and patches of murky, dark-red blood surged up, accompanied by the terrifying sound of scales scraping against each other beneath the water. The wild grass along the bank bent low, the rustling sounds converging into a torrent.

And this torrent was aimed directly at the water plant on the shore.

At this moment, Gao Zhe was sitting in a room, chewing on instant noodles. The crunching sound was coarse and jarring. Beside him lay a man with a shattered skull—the last male left in the entire water plant.

He had spent the entire afternoon doing a pointless thing. He had killed everyone in the water plant. Except for the women. They had committed suicide.

He had killed forty-four people, his mind becoming numb toward the end. He couldn't even tell if he was acting out of anger or lingering pity; he had simply made a habit of crushing their skulls.

Suddenly, the chewing stopped.

Gao Zhe felt an immense sense of oppression enveloping him. An instinctive fear gripped his heart like a giant hand. He dropped the half-eaten noodles, smoothed the hair standing on end on his neck, picked up a steel bar, and walked to the window.

He peered out cautiously. The sky was pitch dark, but through the faint light, he could make out the buildings outside. Yet, for some reason, he felt as if terrifying existences were watching him from beneath every shadow!