Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 30

That night, Lou Tiannan’s susceptibility period flared up again, even more violently than on the first day.

The high fever struck with a terrifying intensity.

He panted heavily, his teeth clenched. The steel bars around his wrists showed faint signs of heating up. His fists were tightly clenched, knuckles turning white, muscles throbbing with pain. A sharp surge of hormones rampaged through his mind.

A voice deep inside him whispered, ‘Go mad. Let go completely!’

‘You have the power of black flames. You are the true powerhouse of the apocalypse!’

‘You will become the king of this world!’

Every word was like a razor, slicing through his mind, like a heavy iron hammer trying to shatter his consciousness.

His bloodshot eyes snapped open. A violent urge surged within him, screaming to destroy everything around him. His vision blurred and all he could feel was endless suffering. The bloodlust in him threatened to consume him completely.

Just as he was about to move, a cold glint of a blade flashed before his eyes.

The next moment, the tip of a knife pressed against his throat. The sharp edge of the black blade had already pierced his skin and a thin trickle of blood trailed down his neck, soaking into his shirt.

Lin Bai’s calm and unwavering voice cut through the haze, “Captain Lou, I’ve already said it before. I don’t tolerate threats to my safety, including from you.”

‘Kill her! Kill her!’

The voice inside him roared.

‘Kill this woman who stands in your way!’

Lou Tiannan’s bloodshot eyes locked onto Lin Bai. Slowly, his vision cleared. He could see her now. She was just as composed as before, just like when she had pointed a gun at him. Her gaze held no emotion.

The boiling heat in his veins and the overwhelming bloodlust all seemed to freeze under that steady stare. The raging storm within him began to settle…

His clenched jaw slowly relaxed. He exhaled, then inhaled, each breath slow and labored. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, then he looked straight at Lin Bai and repeated his earlier words, “I won’t hurt you.”

Lin Bai didn’t believe him. The pressure of her blade didn’t lessen in the slightest. She trusted only the knife in her hand.

Lou Tiannan slumped back against the wall, exhausted. But the energy in his body burned hotter, his blood boiling in protest at his retreat. It pushed him, urged him, and demanded that he embrace the madness once more.

But Lou Tiannan could endure it now. He had to endure it.

He reached out, fumbling for the steel bars around him, locking them around his wrists one by one. In reality, the steel bars were meaningless to him. If he wanted to, he could break free at any time.

But he didn’t want to.

Lin Bai watched him cautiously for a while, making sure he wasn’t about to lose control. Then, she tossed a roll of bandages at him. “Wrap your neck yourself. The scent of blood will attract zombies.”

Lou Tiannan’s fingers trembled as he reached for the bandages. His wrists, weighed down by the steel bars, struggled to lift the small roll, pressing it against his neck.

Such a simple action drained all his remaining strength, leaving him drenched in sweat.

In that confined space, Lou Tiannan closed his eyes, trying to resist the raging energy inside him. But perhaps it was psychological. Somehow, the small wound on his neck, inflicted by the knife, helped him stay lucid. The sharp pain cut through the haze, keeping his consciousness clear.

At the very least, the crystalized black energy in his brain no longer attacked him as violently. His body still burned with unbearable heat, the fire raging deep within his organs.

He stayed awake all night, his body scorched by fever. His lips were cracked and peeling from dehydration.

The next morning, Lin Bai handed him a single water pouch and told him flatly, “I won’t give you any more food. You only get water.”

Lou Tiannan understood what she meant. Food would help him regain strength, but water would only keep him alive. In short, she was making sure he wouldn’t die, but nothing more.

After a night of suffering, he did feel slightly better.

The compressed biscuit from the day before had long been used up. As he picked up the water pouch, he paused and asked, “How long have we been here?”

“Five days,” Lin Bai replied.

Lou Tiannan was stunned. Five days? He hadn’t realized that much time had passed. His gaze dropped to the water pouch, filled with confusion. “Where did you get the water?”

From his hazy memories, he recalled drinking quite a bit of water. But their combat backpacks hadn’t contained enough for two people to drink so freely. Unless…

She had given all the water to him.

That thought sent a strange emotion flickering through him. Holding the pouch, he opened his mouth to say something—

Only for Lin Bai to point at a makeshift filtration device in the corner. “Ionene filtration membrane,” she said casually. “My partner taught me. The sea is right there, so I just filtered it. Your military doesn’t teach this?”

Lou Tiannan: “…”

They did teach it. His own combat suit even had a built-in filtration membrane.

Lin Bai felt like the temperature in the space dropped a couple of degrees after she finished speaking. She glanced at Lou Tiannan but didn’t think much of it. Maybe he was starting to recover.

The past few days had been rough for Lou Tiannan, but for Lin Bai, things had been pretty good. The constant heat radiating from him had replenished her energy. It was the first time in ages that she had felt fully charged.

Now that she had enough energy, she started considering whether she should just abandon Lou Tiannan.

She had gone outside once and roughly determined that they were near Eastern District Two, not far from Eastern District One. If she traveled alone, she could reach it in about four days.

But then she thought about another issue regarding her energy supply. The days of intense sunlight were becoming fewer. If she left Lou Tiannan, it would be hard to find another ‘charging station’ as efficient as him.

And then, another thought struck her. Where were Lou Tiannan’s teammates?

It had been days.

A hint of frustration rose in Lin Bai’s heart. Those guys were way too slow.

“Are we finally getting close?”

She tilted her head, feeling like she had heard something.

“Xi Ya! Xi Ya! Hurry, take out the knife and check!”

That was Zhou Yu’s voice. Lin Bai recognized it immediately.

She turned back to Lou Tiannan and said, “Captain Lou, looks like your team has found us.”

As soon as she spoke, footsteps echoed nearby, overlapping in different directions.

“Seems like it should be around here! But why is there no one? Could we have the wrong place?”

Lin Bai glanced at Lou Tiannan, who was still securely restrained, then waved her hand through a small opening in the rubble. “Over here.”

“Ah! We found them!”

Someone quickly noticed her movement, and the team rushed over. As they began clearing away the debris, they called out, “Lin Bai, is that you?”

“Where’s Captain Lou? Is he with you?”

“Are you injured?”

“Mom!”

Voices overlapped chaotically as bricks were removed. But as soon as the opening was wide enough, a thick, overwhelming Alpha scent surged out, hitting everyone head-on. The group instinctively furrowed their brows and took a step back.

Wen Xiaxia was the first to slap on a pheromone-blocking patch and immediately handed them out to the other Alphas.

“Captain Lou’s susceptible period has arrived?”

Everyone quickly applied their patches while taking in the scene inside the rubble. As they got a clear view, their eyes widened in shock.

“What the hell did you do to Captain Lou?!” Lu Jia was the first to explode.

Their Captain Lou was trapped under layers of steel bars, his clothes disheveled, bandages wrapped around his neck. Next to him was an empty lubricant bottle and with the overwhelming Alpha pheromones in the air, it was almost impossible not to have certain thoughts.

Lin Bai casually replied, “You should be asking what he did to me.” Then, without holding back, she added sarcastically, “You guys took forever to get here. Was all that concern for your captain just for show?”

“Of course not! We ran into Blood Bone on the way!” Zhou Yu quickly explained.

***

Three days ago…

The rain fell in a steady drizzle. When the two teams met, it was like bitter enemies crossing paths, no words were needed before they started fighting.

But Zhou Yu’s group was still recovering from their injuries and with Xi Ya in tow, they weren’t in any shape to take on Chang Qi and Chang Ping’s men.

Outmatched, but not foolish, they used the poor visibility from the rain and Zhu Liang’s familiarity with the terrain to dodge and flee while fighting back.

Still, it was inevitable that they were eventually found by Chang Qi’s group and another intense battle broke out.

Even with the rain enhancing her C-rank water ability, Wen Xiaxia couldn’t hold her own against Chang Ping’s A-rank ability.

Already wounded, they suffered fresh injuries. As Chang Ping’s vine whip lashed toward Wen Xiaxia, Xi Ya set it ablaze just in time, blocking the attack.

But she made herself the target of Chang Qi’s attack and a fireball was shot straight toward Xi Ya. Song Yan tackled Xi Ya to the ground, causing the fireball to miss.

“Heh, you blocked it once, but can you block it a second time?” Chang Qi sneered as he launched another fireball.

Zhou Yu used all his strength to raise an iron plate in front of them. But Chang Qi was no longer the same man from the mall. His flame energy was now far stronger. Under the intense heat, the center of Zhou Yu’s iron plate showed signs of melting through.

Just as the flames were about to penetrate the iron plate, the surrounding raindrops suddenly changed. They broke free from gravity, gathering into thin streams and merging into a single force that blocked the fireball.

At first, Chang Qi didn’t take the water seriously and pushed more energy into his flames. But within seconds, he realized something was wrong.

Despite the extreme heat, the water did not evaporate. Instead, it solidified even further. In fact, ice shards visibly began forming in the scorching air. His flames, unexpectedly, started weakening.

“Brother, something’s not right!” Chang Ping also noticed. “This isn’t water-based ability—”

Before he could finish, rows of ice spikes shot toward them.

Caught off guard, Blood Bone suffered several casualties. Chang Qi and Chang Ping barely managed to retreat in time, escaping with minor wounds, but blood was already staining their clothes.

The smugness on their faces was completely gone, replaced by unease and fear. They finally realized that it was an ice-based ability!

They scanned their surroundings cautiously and after a few seconds, their gazes all locked onto the same spot.

Not far away, a woman in a deep green combat uniform was approaching. Her long, tea-brown hair was tied into a ponytail, the ends swaying slightly as she moved. She was tall, her facial features soft and harmless, with bright, deep brown eyes, an easy face to trust at first sight.

Her gaze swept over Blood Bone’s members and she smiled gently, as if greeting old friends. Her voice was calm and warm, “It’s been a long time, everyone. What brings you to my territory?”

Such a gentle sentence, yet the wounded members of Blood Bone immediately fell silent, their bodies trembling slightly.

Most of Blood Bone’s members had been criminals before the apocalypse, so almost every one of them recognized the woman. Some had even been personally captured by her.

Their deep-rooted fear of the Law Enforcement Department hadn’t faded, not even now. And the woman before them was the very source of that fear.

Captain of the Law Enforcement Department’s First Squad, Elena Herbert.