Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 77

The night was deep and heavy. Three kilometers away from Aurora Church, on a desolate, open road, the collisions of various abilities lit up the dark sky as bright as daylight.

Among those abilities, a cluster of black flames was particularly striking. The flames were entirely pitch-black, with only their edges glowing with an eerie light. Everything they touched turned to ash, a clear display of their extreme temperature and immense destructive power.

The black flame ability was fierce and aggressive. Even the ability-enhanced zombies had their skin scorched by its heat.

The Aurora clergy, despite being A+ rank ability users, were utterly overwhelmed by Lou Tiannan and his team’s well-prepared assault. They could only watch helplessly as the high-ranking zombies they had painstakingly gathered were burned to nothing by the black flames.

At that moment, they had no time to worry about their Bishop’s wrath because they weren’t even sure they would survive.

“Groooaaahhh—!”

As the countless high-ranking and ability-enhanced zombies launched indiscriminate attacks, the Aurora clergy were the first to fall. The zombies seized their opportunity.

“Ah!” A white-robed cleric widened his eyes in horror as he stared at the claw marks on his arm. The infection from an ability-enhanced zombie was far more potent than normal. His transformation began almost immediately, but before it could fully take hold, a zombie behind him dug out his heart and his body collapsed lifelessly into the snow.

“Groooaaahhh—!”

The ability-enhanced zombies, drooling, lunged at every ability user in sight, desperate to tear into their flesh and steal their energy.

The scouts at the perimeter were the first to notice something was wrong.

“Captain Lou, southeast of our position, we’ve detected a massive wave of zombies heading our way!” they reported urgently. “It must be the ability-enhanced zombies’ summons!”

Someone quickly counted that the five trucks had carried a total of seven ability-enhanced zombies. Those creatures had an incredibly strong influence over lower-rank zombies. If they didn’t eliminate them quickly, the situation would spiral out of control.

Three had already been reduced to rotting flesh under their assault. The remaining four were still on the battlefield, hunting for their prey.

Lou Tiannan, his fist engulfed in black flames, struck an ability-enhanced zombie in front of him. The sheer force sent the creature crashing to the ground, its jaw dislocating from the impact. Before it could rise again, Lou Tiannan stomped down on its chest and drove his fist straight into its face, obliterating its head.

In the susceptible period, his brute strength was left unchecked and utterly ruthless. Every attack he delivered carried his full, unrestrained power.

His body radiated searing heat, energy particles surging wildly around him. With each punch, each release of his ability, the surrounding temperature spiked. Even from a distance, the sheer heat emanating from him could be felt. The snow along the roadside melted, forming streams of water that snaked and pooled in every direction.

Lou Tiannan had become the most coveted prey for the ability-enhanced zombies and, at the same time, the most fearsome presence on the battlefield.

Lin Bai had not accompanied Lou Tiannan on the mission.

There were too many ability users in the border building, all eager to take part in the mission. It wasn’t just about killing zombies; they also wanted to see Lou Tiannan’s abilities for themselves. Some of them had held high-ranking positions in the Federal Army before the apocalypse. Now, they had to take orders from a young man in his twenties and naturally, they had their doubts. They wanted to confirm whether Lou Tiannan was truly capable of leading this mission.

So, Lin Bai was assigned to stay behind. Of course, she had no intention of sitting idle. The moment Lou Tiannan led the team away, she handed her post over to Xi Ya, gave her a few instructions, then donned a mask and swiftly left the border building.

Her destination was Aurora Church’s side hall.

In the pitch-black night, Lin Bai ran swiftly along the secluded paths of Eastern District Five. Her cold, deep-set eyes gleamed in the darkness and in her palm, she held a half-melted piece of amber. Strands of hair fluttered in the wind outside her mask.

She moved quickly, her body fueled by sufficient energy to push her to maximum speed.

In less than ten minutes, she arrived at the outer perimeter of the church’s side hall.

Cautiously, she found a rooftop vantage point and waited for the right moment.

Her fingers silently rubbed against the half-melted amber in her palm, peeling away the excess resin bit by bit, gradually revealing what was hidden inside.

A small piece of a yellow candle, no larger than a joint of a thumb.

Just as the best way to hide a leaf is within a forest, Xiao Hehua had concealed the tiny piece of yellow candle within a block of resin amber.

She lightly tapped the communicator in her ear. Long before anyone had noticed, she had already infiltrated Lou Tiannan’s team’s communication channel.

Soon, the sounds of battle echoed through the device and not long after, she noticed a shift in the guards outside the side hall as they were growing restless.

Taking advantage of the darkness, she pressed close to the wall, shutting down all sound systems in her body. Like an inanimate object without life, she silently approached the side hall. She was incredibly close to the guards, no more than two meters away in a straight line, yet no one noticed her presence.

Moments later, the guards received orders to switch posts. Some of them were being sent to reinforce the chaotic battle.

During the brief seconds of the guard shift, Lin Bai took a daring risk. Keeping her back to the wall, she brushed past the guards, slipping into the side hall unnoticed.

The outer hall of the side hall was pitch black. The exterior was heavily guarded in layers, but inside, there was not a single guard. It was exactly as she had expected. Clair wouldn’t want anyone knowing what was inside.

The side hall was filled with decorative objects. Intricate plaster statues lined the winding corridors, suits of armor stood in the corners, and even a few crates of canned goods meant as a diversion. Activating her night vision, she maneuvered past the boxes and statues with ease, moving swiftly through the passageway.

She was heading underground.

That was her true destination.

As she rounded a corner and lifted her foot to take a step, a powerful sense of danger surged through her body, a sharp instinct for survival and crisis awareness flaring up in an instant.

She had no time to think. Acting purely on instinct, she leaned back just in time to dodge the blade coming straight at her. Stepping back until her shoulders pressed against the wall, she looked at the attacker. When she finally saw who it was, her heart gave a violent jolt.

The narrow passageway, barely a meter wide, was completely blocked by a massive figure that loomed like a mountain. Short curly hair, jet-black eyes, towering at nearly two meters tall. The once vicious, greedy expression on his face had been replaced by a mask of blankness.

Lin Bai knew the man all too well. It was Tyke, the one she had killed with her black blade!

How could he be there?!

She could clearly see that many parts of his body had been replaced with metal. Even the left hand she had chopped off was now a mechanical prosthetic, its steel surface gleaming with a cold light in the dim corridor.

Tyke’s eyes were completely swallowed by black; even the whites had turned jet-dark. On the patches of skin not replaced by machinery, a sickly blue-black rot could be seen.

The mark of zombification.

He had turned into a zombie after death?

Lin Bai’s mind raced with possibilities. Who could have turned Tyke into this?

Claire?

No. He didn’t have that kind of ability.

Lin Bai didn’t move.

Tyke didn’t move either.

In the silence, Lin Bai heard the steady tramp of footsteps behind Tyke.

She couldn’t go forward.

Swiftly, she began to retreat, but the moment she moved, Tyke moved as well. His mechanical hand unfolded into claws and slashed straight for her face!

Lin Bai’s feet barely touched the ground as she flung herself backward.

Blades thin as cicada wings came at her from every direction. Lin Bai drew the black blade, parrying the flying steel while retreating step by step.

As Tyke shifted, his movements revealed the figures standing behind him: an entire squad of expressionless guards.

At a single glance, Lin Bai’s blood ran cold. Lisa, the Chang brothers, Hu Dingguo… and others she didn’t know. All of them were supposed to be dead, all of them once Bloodbone ability users, yet there they were, like Tyke, turned into zombies.

Who could have done this?!

However, Tyke, who had become a zombie, would not answer her. With a guttural growl, he lunged, attacking Lin Bai with terrifying speed, faster than any ability zombie she had seen before!

And Lin Bai had no more room to retreat. As his claws came for her, she stood rooted to the spot, unmoving, eyes fixed on the metal fingers rushing toward her.

The claws grew larger and larger in her vision and then—

—Stopped.

Tyke’s metal hand froze midair. After two seconds, as if losing its target, he retracted his claws and stood motionless like a puppet.

So it was true. Without sensing breath or movement, they couldn’t attack.

Amid the blaring alarms, Lin Bai heard the confused voices of the guards outside the doors, calling for the priests of the cathedral.

Footsteps echoed at the side hall’s entrance. At the sound, the zombified ability-users melted into the darkness without a word.

“Your Excellency Bishop!”

Lin Bai heard someone calling out in the side hall.

Claire had come personally?

As Tyke began turning stiffly around, Lin Bai crouched low, vanishing from his sight. With a quick glance around, she slipped silently behind a statue, hiding her figure.

Tyke’s movement in the passage froze mid-turn and then with sudden agility, he swung back again.

However, this time, the person before him was Claire.

Through the narrow gap between the statues, Lin Bai could clearly see that even as Claire moved, Tyke made no attempt to attack him. Claire even stood directly before Tyke and questioned, “What happened here?”

“Some…one…” Tyke’s voice was dry and stiff, like gravel grinding across his vocal cords.

Lin Bai hadn’t expected Tyke, already zombified, to still be capable of speech.

“Who?” Claire pressed.

This time, Tyke gave no reply.

“Where is this person?” Claire asked again.

Tyke still didn’t answer, only stood there woodenly.

Claire’s face tightened with urgency as he looked at the puppet-like Tyke, then asked, “Did he break through?”

“N…o…” Tyke croaked.

Yet Claire remained uneasy. He was about to stride past Tyke into the underground passage when his steps faltered. His eyes narrowed. The dead could not lie. If the intruder hadn’t entered… then could the person still be inside the side hall?

Cautiously, he swept his gaze around; the ceiling, the floor, until finally his eyes settled on the cluster of statues and supply crates.

Without hesitation, Claire strode toward them. He had only taken two steps when Coomber’s anxious voice rang out from the side hall entrance.

“Your Excellency Bishop, the situation outside has escalated. The Federation patrol has arrived!”

“Go deal with it first. I’ll be there shortly.” Claire did not slow down, continuing toward the corner where the statues stood. Five meters… three meters… two meters—

“Beep, beep, beep—”

From the depths of the side hall came the muffled wail of an alarm. Claire halted instantly, head whipping toward the sound. Abandoning his search around the statues, he spun without hesitation and dashed into the underground passage.

Behind a statue less than a meter away, Lin Bai opened her eyes. Her left arm battery was burning through its reserves as she clipped it in place. To trigger that alarm, she had forced herself into rapid power drain while deliberately stirring her emotions, setting off the sensors.

Once Claire was gone, Lin Bai’s energy reserves had nearly bottomed out. She rose quickly, retreating toward the doorway without hesitation. Just before leaving, she noticed a magnetic interference shield device in the corner of the side hall wall. So that was likely why the other ability-users said their powers failed near the hall.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out two grenades.

If that was the case, she might as well blow it up and recharge herself in the blast!

***

Three seconds later, amid the flare of an explosion, Lin Bai left the side hall.

E/N: I’m dropping this novel. Why? Because the latter part of the story contained non-consent elements that bothered me too much, especially because it involved the MC doing the deeds. The author warned in the official summary that the MC is not a good person and I took it too lightly. My mistake.
Sorry for the inconvenience.