Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

Chapter 18: Chapter 18 Short-Term Cooperation_1

”Hurry up, stop gawking, move out now!”

Unbeknownst to them, the sound of Wen Yu’s slaughter had lured the horde of zombies outside the office building over. Boss Zhang saw that their escape route had formed, so he didn’t bother watching the fate of that human any longer. He directed the remaining group inside the office building to frantically flee outside.

The crowd in the office building clearly understood whose life was more important: theirs or someone else’s. They couldn’t afford to watch the drama unfold any longer. Under the leadership of Police Chief Wang and Boss Zhang, they fled downstairs.

「...」

Wen Yu watched the dwindling zombie tide, realizing that the thrilling battle was nearly over.

Yes, it was an adrenaline rush.

In his previous life as cannon fodder, Wen Yu had faced countless situations far more dangerous than this. Ordinary zombies couldn’t break through his defenses at all. All he needed to do was protect his face and hands, and he could kill all these zombies. As for that occasional Level 1 zombie, Wen Yu could only think, what battle didn’t have its surprises?

After a fierce fight, Wen Yu looked at the sea of corpses and blood before him, panting heavily. His superior physical strength provided him with tremendous stamina. Unfortunately, even the greatest stamina couldn’t withstand the onslaught of hundreds of zombies. Thankfully, Wen Yu had carefully calculated the number of zombies on the streets, and it was well within his capabilities.

Relaxing his numb wrist, Wen Yu deactivated his combat mode and, stepping on piles of corpses, climbed directly through a nearby second-floor window.

Looking at the dejected Soul Beast beside his ear, Wen Yu tended to the minor wounds on his face and carefully scanned from the window for the survivors he had seen earlier.

Wen Yu knew very well that people were observing him from nearby.

Seeing that he had just earned nearly 800 points single-handedly, Wen Yu had no reason to give up. Especially as the number of zombies dwindled, his heart ached—these were all points!

Battling alone, he had already reached his limit in that last solo fight. If he had some help at this point, never mind how many points could be gained, with a bit of luck, he might even be able to take on the mutant rats.

While gnawing on the jerky in his mouth, he carefully observed his surroundings. The bright moonlight provided Wen Yu with a much wider field of vision.

Before long, Wen Yu spotted a group of people, the majority of whom were wearing police uniforms.

「...」

Police Chief Wang led the way, swiftly clearing the zombies blocking their path. With his powerful strength and rich combat experience, he dispatched these zombies easily, basically one per strike.

Moreover, the survivors behind him weren’t pushovers. Boss Zhang wielded a steel saber, and with several able-bodied young men behind him, the team’s overall combat power was extremely strong. freew\e bnovel.com

And after Wen Yu’s rampage, there weren’t many zombies left along their route.

The entire team moved forward quickly.

”Wait.”

Police Chief Wang was the first to stop, looking at the man in a tight outfit standing in their way.

The crowd behind didn’t understand what was happening, so they craned their necks for a better look.

”Isn’t he the same guy from before? So many zombies couldn’t kill him; he’s totally my idol!”

”Wow, he looks so manly, so handsome!”

”Is he really human?”

”What’s the deal with this guy? In less than two days, he’s become so strong.”

「...」

Wen Yu frowned at the eclectic group before him—men, women, young, and old.

Of particular note was the middle-aged man leading them. Wen Yu had observed him closely earlier: the man’s physical fitness had reached 4 points, even stronger than Wen Yu’s own.

At this stage, professionists who could reach this level must have at least a few hundred zombie kills under their belts. He’s undoubtedly a top-tier professionist.

”Young man, my name is Zhang Wen. I ran a small business before the apocalypse. I just saw your skills; they’re truly astonishing!”

Boss Zhang, who was behind Police Chief Wang, stepped forward swiftly to stand before Wen Yu, praising him lavishly.

Wen Yu sized up Boss Zhang: a man in his mid-thirties, holding a steel saber, with a pistol tucked at his waist. The outline of a protective suit was visible under his clothes.

He glanced at the others. It was clear this team was an elite force.

Among the dozen or so people, most of the younger ones were professionists. Only a few elderly individuals and children, lacking combat abilities, hadn’t become professionists. Their equipment was also quite good; Wen Yu spotted two handguns alone—one in Zhang Wen’s hand and the other held by the middle-aged man leading the group.

Furthermore, nearly all professionists carried a steel saber.

”I’m here to discuss cooperation with all of you,” Wen Yu said to Boss Zhang. This astute man seems to have some influence in this group.

”What sort of cooperation are you referring to, young man?” Boss Zhang squinted, his tone now tinged with caution.

”There are so many zombies here, and hardly any of them have evolved yet. You should all realize, just as I demonstrated earlier, these zombies are points—they are the resources for humans to become stronger! I obviously can’t kill them all by myself. Instead of letting the mutant rats benefit, why don’t we team up and eliminate all these zombies? The points we could obtain would be enough to strengthen your entire team considerably.”

Zhang Wen sucked in a sharp breath. This man before me is either a lunatic or a genius! Judging by his words, he clearly didn’t get enough from the previous battle and is already thinking of another big score.

”You’re incredibly strong, young man, but we’re not on your level. A zombie horde that large is too dangerous for us. Besides, we have non-combatants with us.”

He glanced back at his team. While most were combat-capable professionists, there were still a few elderly people and children who hadn’t become professionists.

Zhang Wen had, of course, carefully considered Wen Yu’s proposal. Who wouldn’t be tempted by points? But these people were all he had left. If he were to lose any more, his core team would be decimated.

Astute as he was, Zhang Wen was already considering using this core group to establish a camp.

Hmm. Wen Yu mulled it over. As cannon fodder in his previous life and a nobody for the first half of this one, he really wasn’t cut out for this kind of negotiation. Moreover, seeing the elderly and vulnerable in their group, he couldn’t expect them to fight like he did, taking on hundreds alone.

”Alternatively, young man, how about you wait until we’ve settled the elderly and children? Then we can go with you?” Zhang Wen suggested tentatively. This was, for now, the most advantageous approach for him. The elderly and children were too much of a drag on the team’s combatants. If they were all professionists, Wen Yu’s proposal would definitely be worth considering.

”Then let’s forget it,” Wen Yu said. He couldn’t wait for them to settle their elderly and vulnerable before they helped him. By then, the mutant rats would have devoured all the zombies. And he certainly wasn’t going to tangle with those mutant rats.

”Wait, I’ll go with you.”

It was Police Chief Wang, who had been leading earlier, who spoke. Before Zhang Wen could say anything, Police Chief Wang turned directly to everyone behind him. ”Everyone, I’ve said it before: now that we’re out, you will all follow Boss Zhang’s orders from now on. I am no longer fit to lead you.”

”I must apologize to all of you for what happened earlier. If I, Wang Zhigang, make it back alive, I will owe each of you my life.”

Ignoring the commotion from the crowd behind him, Police Chief Wang pulled the handgun from his waist, handed it to a man behind him, and walked directly up to Wen Yu.

”My name is Wang Zhigang. I was formerly the deputy chief of the police department. Now, I want to go with you to kill zombies and earn points. But I have one condition.”

”Oh? What condition?”

Wen Yu felt a surge of unexpected joy regarding Police Chief Wang. As the strongest in this group, this one man was basically worth all the others combined. Wen Yu wasn’t sure what exactly had happened within this team, but that was none of his concern.

”You have to help me kill all those rats.”

Wang Zhigang said this hatefully. Seeing the anger and hatred on his face, it was highly probable that his relatives or friends had died at the mouths of mutant rats. Connecting this with the problematic zombie horde from earlier, Wen Yu quickly deduced the cause and effect of the whole situation.

”Let me be honest,” Wen Yu said, refusing outright. ”Just the two of us, we can’t possibly defeat that many mutant rats in the police station.”

What a joke! There was no way he would agree to such a suicidal condition.

”I have a plan.”