Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 35

Upon learning that Zhu Liang had been taken, both Snow Finch and Black Eagle immediately accelerated toward the designated meeting point.

But Black Eagle ran into trouble.

As Lou Tiannan carried Xi Ya and led Lin Bai through the alleyways of the Central-Southern border zone, a group suddenly blocked their path.

With a quick glance, he counted six men emerging discreetly from the alleys, surrounding them.

The gaunt, dark-skinned man at the front lifted his chin, his eyes fixated on Xi Ya in Lou Tiannan’s arms, his lecherous intent undisguised.

Lou Tiannan pulled his coat over Xi Ya to shield her from the man’s gaze.

Seeing the child covered up, the gaunt man finally shifted his attention to Lou Tiannan and Lin Bai, sizing them up. When he met Lou Tiannan’s cold, piercing stare, he hesitated for a moment. But after glancing at his men beside him, his arrogance returned. With a grin, he sneered, “I’ve had my eye on you two strangers for a while now. You step onto Brother Kan’s turf and think you can just leave without paying a price?”

The men surrounding Brother Kan chimed in, “Yeah! Nothing comes for free!”

Lou Tiannan exchanged a glance with Lin Bai. He set Xi Ya down and asked, “What do you want?”

Brother Kan snorted. “What do I want? Leave the kid and the woman, and you can scram.” His eyes practically clung to Xi Ya.

Lin Bai stepped in front of Xi Ya, blocking Brother Kan’s gaze. She smiled and walked toward him, saying, “I’ll stay. Let them go, okay?”

“You?” Brother Kan’s gaze shifted to Lin Bai. Her face was plain and his interest visibly plummeted. He waved dismissively. “Fine, but strip first. Let me see what you got.”

Lin Bai obediently reached up to unbutton her shirt.

Brother Kan grew impatient. “Too slow! Don’t waste my damn time!”

He grabbed her collar to yank it open, but before he could exert any force, Lin Bai let herself fall toward him.

Annoyed, Brother Kan was about to curse, but as he caught sight of the cold indifference in her eyes, a chill ran down his spine.

His instincts, honed through countless life-and-death encounters in the Central-Southern border zone, kicked in. He immediately activated his ability against her, but he was too late.

Lin Bai tilted her head slightly, dodging the steel needles he shot toward her. In the same instant, the sharp black blade in her hand plunged into his heart.

“Brother Kan!” his men shouted in shock.

In the blink of an eye, the situation flipped.

While they had been focused on Lin Bai, Lou Tiannan had somehow moved behind them. His hand locked around one man’s neck and within a second, the man silently collapsed, lifeless.

With a single stride, Lou Tiannan closed in on a second target. The man was reaching for a gun at his lower back when a sudden burning pain shot through his fingers. His eyes darted to the source and saw the small girl before him unleashing an ability. He reflexively tried to summon his own power, but Lou Tiannan’s hand was already on his throat.

With a crisp crack, he never gets the chance to draw his weapon again.

At the same time, Lin Bai moved like a phantom, appearing behind the remaining men. The gleam of her black blade flickered in the alley’s dim light.

One by one, the attackers staggered before collapsing to the ground. Their unfocused eyes, frozen in disbelief and terror, stared blankly into nothingness.

Without pausing, Lou Tiannan picked Xi Ya up and they continued toward their rendezvous point.

Not long after they left, the soft chime of a bell echoed through the alley with a ding-a-ling.

The white-robed priests appeared.

Deputy Coomber crouched down and touched the still-warm blood on the ground.

Behind him, one of his followers examined the corpses and murmured, “Your Grace, three stab wounds, three with dislocated cervical vertebrae. All were killed in a single strike, swift and precise. No traces of abilities used.”

“No fingerprints on their faces?”

“No, they were probably wearing gloves. This technique doesn’t match Blood Bone or Red Sand’s usual methods.”

They had followed the scent of blood there, only to find six corpses lying on the ground. There were few traces of ability use. The six victims had all been ruthless figures in the chaotic zone. Who could have taken them out so silently?

“Caesar, check it,” Coomber said without turning his head.

The ethereal and delicate-looking young man behind him received the command. A scanning light flickered from his eyes as he systematically examined the scene. After completing the scan, he reported, “No matching blade wounds found in the database. The spinal dislocation technique has more than 90% similarity to the methods used by the Federal Security Bureau’s forces.”

Coomber’s brows furrowed. “The Federal Military Security Bureau? They already have people here?”

Someone beside him asked anxiously, “Your Grace, what should we do?”

Coomber studied the knife wounds on the bodies and the marks on their necks. Slowly, he said, “Caesar, report this to the Bishop first. Then, notify the nearby priests to be on alert. It’s likely there were two people; one around 1.88 meters tall, the other around 1.7 meters.”

“Understood.”

Caesar began transmitting the message. As the most advanced android of the apocalypse, his internal magnetic field easily covered the surrounding area, ensuring that the information was sent out smoothly.

However, as the signal transmission wrapped up, his pupils flickered. He seemed to have detected that strange woman again.

Someone like him.

She was nearby.

His core processor instinctively began compiling a trace report to analyze the situation. But just as he started organizing the data, his process abruptly halted, because he received a warning directive.

The same warning directive as last time.

One he could not refuse.

***

“What’s wrong?” Lou Tiannan turned to look at Lin Bai.

They were almost at the rendezvous point when she suddenly stopped.

After confirming that the android wouldn’t expose her, Lin Bai shook her head. “Nothing. Let’s go.”

When the three of them arrived, Blue Pigeon and Snow Finch had already met up. The group gathered in an abandoned basement in the Central-Southern border zone to discuss their next steps.

Zhou Yu quickly summarized the situation for them. When they first arrived, there were chaotic battles all over the area. Wanting to avoid unnecessary trouble, they had each found concealed spots to gather intelligence while waiting for the others.

However, Zhu Liang’s hiding place was caught in the crossfire between Red Sand and Blood Bone. Red Sand seemed to have mistaken him for a Blood Bone attacker and took him when they retreated.

“Do we know where they took him?”

“Lu Jia followed them, but to avoid being detected, he kept his distance. From what he saw, they took him into the Guangming Building.”

“The Guangming Building?” Lou Tiannan and Elena frowned simultaneously.

The Guangming Building was named after the famous federal gemstone, the ‘Heart of Light.’ It was a jewelry skyscraper owned by the Tang family, a prestigious dynasty in the jewelry industry. The building was equipped with multiple top-tier security systems, rivaling even those of the Security Bureau.

That place was going to be a problem.

Elena pulled out a map and tapped the location of the Guangming Building. “We can’t break in by force with their level of security.”

“Then what do we do? Brother Liang has already been taken for an hour!” Lu Jia was anxious.

Elena tapped the map twice. “We talk to their leader.”

***

Zhu Liang was not in a good situation.

After being discovered by Red Sand, he was immediately bound with thorny vines by a wood-based ability user and thrown into a vehicle. Four Blood Bone members were captured alongside him.

The moment they got in the car, their mouths were gagged and they were thoroughly searched. All their equipment was stripped away and black hoods were placed over their heads. Any slight movement made the thorn bindings tighten further. The Red Sand captors showed no mercy. Whether due to their long-standing feud with Blood Bone or simply their cruel nature, the thorns dug deep into their flesh, turning them into helpless captives.

Before the apocalypse, Zhu Liang had been an exceptional sniper. But after the rise of ability users, their physical prowess and heightened senses had far surpassed his own. That feeling of powerlessness haunted him often, especially now.

Suppressing his frustration, he focused on counting his steps and tracking turns, trying to map their route in his mind. The final destination felt oddly familiar.

They pushed him into an unfamiliar room. Voices sounded nearby.

“Why go through all this trouble? We should just chop up these Blood Bone scum and be done with it! Saves us the hassle of those mad dogs fighting us for territory every day.”

“Shut up. Their fate depends on the presidents. Just lock them up and wait.”

The presidents?

So Red Sand’s leader was also in the Central-Southern border zone?

Zhu Liang quickly sorted through the intel in his mind.

Elena had briefed them before. Unlike the lawless maniacs of Blood Bone, Red Sand operated with a degree of order, or at least, they had their own set of rules. They still looted, burned, and killed, but compared to the reckless brutality of Blood Bone, Red Sand was somewhat more reasonable.

Time passed second by second. Zhu Liang kept count in his head. At approximately 5,500 seconds, footsteps echoed outside the door.

Shhh!

The black hood over his head was pulled off. As his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, he quickly took in his surroundings.

He was in a conference room-like space. Slogans from Tang Jewelry still hung on the walls and doors. In front of him stood four people; one woman and three men.

Zhu Liang recognized the man and woman in the lead.

The woman, about thirty-eight years old, wore a traditional Chinese qipao with knotted buttons. She was slightly plump, with red hair coiled at the back of her head, and had a wealthy, round face with a lingering charm. She was Tang Mary, the head of Tang Jewelry.

Beside her, a man stood in a white suit. He was strikingly handsome, but what stood out the most was his signature short green hair, an unmistakable sign that he was the founder of the M-brand of adult toys, Bai Chuan.

Those two had often appeared on financial news channels before the apocalypse. But why were they working together now? Zhu Liang’s mind was full of questions.

Smack!

One of the Blood Bone captives was kicked to the ground by Tang Mary. She looked down at them arrogantly and said, “I’m going to ask you some questions. Answer truthfully. If you dare lie to me, I’ll throw you out to feed the zombies. Understood?”

The four Blood Bone members, intimidated by her presence, nodded repeatedly.

Click. Click. Click.

The sound of high heels echoed as someone stepped closer, stopping right in front of Zhu Liang.

A weight pressed down on his shoulder as Tang Mary’s red high heels dug into him. “Did you hear me?!”

Zhu Liang nodded.

“First question, are you the ones responsible for the recent explosions in Eastern District One?”

At that, the four Blood Bone members had mixed reactions with some nodding, while some shaking their heads. Annoyed, Tang Mary smacked one of them across the face. “You’re making me dizzy! I’ll give you two seconds. If you can’t give me a straight answer, I’ll throw all of you out!”

“One!”

“Two!”

As soon as she finished counting, all four of them nodded in unison. Zhu Liang followed suit.

Bai Chuan’s gaze landed on Zhu Liang. He took a step forward and lifted Zhu Liang’s chin with his gloved hand.

Tang Mary noticed and asked, “What’s wrong with him?”