Chapter 214: Death Cycle (XII)

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Chapter 214: Death Cycle (XII)

There were two main kinds of zombies. The first were original zombies—the first humans infected by the zombie virus. They underwent complete genetic mutation. Although they began at low rank, their evolutionary potential was virtually limitless. Most high-rank zombies alive today had evolved from this original group. Once they reached General-class, they gradually developed intelligence and independent personalities, becoming a genuinely new species.

The second kind were mutants created through secondary infection by original zombies. They had no true signs of life and retained only the instinct to devour flesh and blood. A more accurate name for them would be the “living dead.” Living dead evolved slowly, but their virus spread extremely quickly. Ordinary humans infected this way could at most become intermediate-rank zombies. Ability users were different: once infected, they were often stronger than original zombies and even had a chance of evolving into King-class zombies, though the probability was low.

Shang Ke could not tell whether Di Kui had been an original zombie or an ability user infected later. He knew only that Di Kui had already evolved into the Zombie King before swallowing the Dark Realm world-essence shard. He felt no compassion for humans and no sense of belonging toward zombies, as though he existed outside all other forms of life.

Shang Ke finished off the final zombie, casually flicked the blood from his long blade, and slowly walked back toward Di Kui through a field of severed limbs.

“Three spirit crystals and seventeen crystal fragments.” Shang Ke sat beside Di Kui and roughly counted their haul. “Not bad. This should buy quite a few supplies.”

Di Kui looked at the wounds covering Shang Ke and felt displeased. He casually crushed the empty baby bottle in his hand and vanished. He had not stopped Shang Ke from fighting, but that did not mean he enjoyed watching zombies injure him. Shang Ke had finished his turn. Now it was Di Kui’s. He went off to slaughter the zombies in the distance that had been drawn by the smell of blood.

Shang Ke had no idea what Di Kui was doing and did not particularly care. As long as the man had not gone off to destroy the world, anything was fine.

He pulled some jerky from his bag and ate while admiring the blood-red sunset, waiting for Di Kui to return amid mountains of corpses and seas of bones.

Just then, Shang Ke’s eyelid twitched. Sensing something, he turned around. Nothing was there, yet the feeling of danger refused to disappear.

He opened his perception and, sure enough, discovered several points of light hidden nearby. Two belonged to General-class zombies. The third came from an ability user—and an exceptionally powerful one.

That ability user was farthest away, almost at the limit of Shang Ke’s perception. Any ordinary ability user would never have noticed his presence. The soul fire Shang Ke sensed was violet-blue. If he was not mistaken, it belonged to Zuo Xian, whom he had met not long ago.

The two General-class zombies seemed to be chasing something. One behind the other, they raced rapidly toward Shang Ke’s position.

Within seconds, Shang Ke saw what they were pursuing: a rapidly spinning mass of air. It seemed to be deliberately luring the zombies over, and its course pointed directly at him.

Shang Ke drew his weapon and prepared to fight. He was no match for a General-class zombie, but with his undying body, there was little reason to be afraid.

Just as the swirling air was about to reach him, his vision suddenly darkened. A tall figure appeared in front of him without warning and swept out a hand. The spinning current exploded in midair, transforming into countless wind blades that shot toward the two General-class zombies.

One zombie instantly concealed its form and vanished. The other dropped to all fours, dodged the blades, and continued charging toward them.

The man in front blocked Shang Ke’s view, so he had no idea what happened next. By the time he leaned around to look, there was only a crater in the ground. Both zombies had disappeared.

“Are you hurt?” The man turned, his deep-set gaze settling on Shang Ke.

Huo Xuan? What was he doing here?

Shang Ke put away his weapon and smiled. “I’m fine.”

Seeing the wounds on him, Huo Xuan frowned slightly. “It’s almost dark. Get back to the base early.”

Shang Ke nodded. “I know. Thanks.”

After that, the two fell into an oddly awkward silence.

Now that Shang Ke had chosen to believe Di Kui was his lover, he instinctively felt he should keep his distance from Huo Xuan. Yet this man gave him the same inexplicable sense of familiarity.

After thinking for a moment, Shang Ke asked, “I saw Zuo Xian just now. Did he deliberately lure those two zombies toward me?” Exactly—if he wanted someone to dislike him, he had to spare no effort in exposing that person’s people!

“I’ll investigate it. Don’t worry.”

Don’t worry, my ass! Isn’t Zuo Xian your trusted subordinate? You’re supposed to defend him with complete confidence! Protect him!

Shang Ke deliberately made his tone unfriendly. “How exactly are you going to investigate? Zuo Xian is one of your people. Even if you know he tried to harm me, you’ll just let the matter drop in the end.”

“Then how do you think it should be handled?” Huo Xuan asked with an expression of perfect impartiality.

Shang Ke said viciously, “Cripple his ability, throw him into a zombie horde, and let them chew him until not even his bones are left!”

As someone who had personally experienced such treatment, Shang Ke could guarantee that this punishment was cruel, bloody, and violent enough!

Huo Xuan did not become angry. Instead, a faint smile appeared on his face. He was the uncrowned king of this planet, respected almost everywhere. Even people dissatisfied with him rarely showed it openly. Most could hardly remain calm in his presence at all. Someone like Shang Ke—relaxed, casual, and bold enough to demand severe punishment for Zuo Xian—was truly one of a kind.

Shang Ke gave him a strange look. What are you smiling about? Someone wants your trusted subordinate fed to zombies, and you can still smile? Could you please show a little awareness of being the boss?

While he was thinking this, Huo Xuan suddenly asked an utterly unrelated question. “Did you like the perfume I gave you?”

Perfume? Shang Ke instinctively reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottle. When changing clothes that morning, he had casually slipped it into his pocket. He had no idea what had possessed him.

He looked up at Huo Xuan. The other man’s gaze was deep and unreadable, making Shang Ke’s heart skip. Don’t misunderstand! This is a coincidence!

Pretending not to care, Shang Ke stuffed the perfume back into his pocket and said blandly, “Haven’t used it. Don’t know.”

“Mm.” Huo Xuan did not pursue the subject. Instead, he took a syringe from inside his coat and walked over. “You were scratched by a zombie. I’ll give you the vaccine.”

The vaccine developed by humanity could prevent viral infection to a certain extent. For ability users, unless they suffered repeated cross-infection, a timely injection usually prevented transformation. The vaccine was extremely precious, however, and not every ability user could afford one.

“No need. I have my own.” Using a dose on him would be pure waste.

Huo Xuan ignored the protest and, quick as lightning, stuck the needle into Shang Ke’s arm.

Shang Ke: I already said I don’t need it…

The instant the needle went in, a dense killing intent surged from nearby.

Huo Xuan’s expression sharpened as silver light flashed around him.

“Watch out!”

A figure abruptly appeared behind Shang Ke. Huo Xuan barked a warning and several silver blades shot outward, curving through the air before plunging toward the figure at Shang Ke’s back.

The figure took Shang Ke with him and instantly shifted beyond the blades’ range. In the next second, he reappeared alone before Huo Xuan and drove a fist toward his chest.

The two immediately exchanged blows and launched into a fierce battle in midair.

Shang Ke rubbed his temples, anxiety tightening in his chest. The situation he had tried so hard to prevent had happened anyway.

Huo Xuan was definitely no match for Di Kui, and Di Kui would never show him mercy. If Huo Xuan was killed, it really would be game over!

When two King-class powerhouses fought, stopping them was out of the question—merely approaching was difficult. Their tremendous pressure spread for dozens of miles, and every living creature in its path fled.

“What’s going on?” Zuo Xian’s voice suddenly sounded beside Shang Ke.

Shang Ke was in no mood to answer. He simply stared at the two men fighting overhead.

Zuo Xian was startled to see Shang Ke remain completely composed beneath such overwhelming pressure. Even he could barely withstand it, yet the man beside him seemed entirely unaffected. Had Shang Ke also reached King-class? No. Impossible. Zuo Xian rejected the thought almost immediately. He had just seen Shang Ke fight; his combat ability was only somewhat above that of an ordinary soldier.

Then why could he remain so calm beneath the pressure of two such powerful men?

At that moment, a piercing whistle tore through the air, followed by Huo Xuan’s cold shout. “You’re… a zombie!”

As the battle intensified, the powder coating Di Kui’s skin gradually rubbed away, revealing his true appearance. The patches of gray-blue livor mortis made his identity unmistakable.

He was no ordinary zombie!

Huo Xuan was now certain that this man’s strength exceeded ordinary King-class. He was very likely the legendary Zombie King—Di Kui!

Watching from farther away, Zuo Xian heard Huo Xuan and his expression changed. He turned toward Shang Ke in disbelief. “You actually keep a zombie beside you—and you brought him into a human base?”

Seeing Zuo Xian glare at him, Shang Ke suddenly had an idea and deliberately provoked him. “So what? Keeping zombies is my hobby. Maybe I’ll raise a few more later.”

“Are you insane?” Zuo Xian pointed at him angrily. “Do you have any idea how much damage a zombie that powerful could do to humanity?”

“How much damage, exactly? He stayed in the base for two days and nothing happened.” Shang Ke looked utterly unconcerned.

“Nothing happened yet doesn’t mean nothing will!” Seeing Huo Xuan increasingly pressured, Zuo Xian ordered, “Make him stop immediately, or don’t blame me for turning on you!”

Shang Ke lifted his chin with an expression practically begging to be punched. “Sorry. Nothing I can do.”

Zuo Xian grew frantic. “You know exactly who Huo Xuan is. If anything happens to him, you’ll become the enemy of all humanity.”

“Heh.” Shang Ke smiled faintly. “Once Huo Xuan dies, Di Kui can take his place. Frankly, I’m rather looking forward to humanity going extinct.”

With that detached expression and casual tone, he looked exactly like some transcendent antisocial lunatic.

Zuo Xian finally snapped. Killing intent flashed through his eyes as he abruptly seized Shang Ke by the throat and said coldly, “In that case, before humanity goes extinct, allow me to send you on ahead.”

Shang Ke managed to protect his throat in time and avoided being killed instantly. His entire purpose had been to enrage Zuo Xian and force him to attack, thereby drawing Di Kui’s attention away and bringing the battle to an end.

Of course, Shang Ke was not completely certain it would work. A Zombie King did not think like an ordinary person. Di Kui might not break away to save him before killing Huo Xuan—especially since Di Kui knew Shang Ke could revive and that death was therefore not necessarily a problem.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the pressure on his throat abruptly vanished. Someone swept him into an embrace and carried him away from where he had been standing.

Shang Ke poked his head out from Di Kui’s arms. Zuo Xian was clutching a bleeding arm and staring at them with a pale face. Huo Xuan stood beside him, his expression dark and unreadable.

A low growl rumbled from Di Kui’s throat. His face was ferocious, his eyes filled with razor-sharp killing intent.

Shang Ke wrapped his arms around Di Kui’s waist and said softly, “Let’s go.”

Di Kui gave a cold snort. No. He refused to leave before killing these two humans.

Shang Ke pinched his back. “You really don’t want to go? If we leave now, I’ll let you do what we did last night.”

What they did last night… A flood of decidedly indecent images flashed through Di Kui’s mind. After hesitating for three seconds, he picked Shang Ke up and disappeared.

Huo Xuan watched the place where they vanished, a sharp light flashing through his eyes.

“Huo Xuan, that Shang Ke is dangerous. He wants to use Di Kui to kill you and then destroy all of humanity.” Zuo Xian angrily denounced Shang Ke’s crimes.

Huo Xuan sighed. “And you actually believed that?” Shang Ke had only been trying to lure Di Kui away.

“What?” Zuo Xian did not understand.

Huo Xuan said nothing more. Remembering the sight of Shang Ke being carried away by Di Kui, he could not help clenching his fist.

Would anyone willingly stay with a zombie? And not just any zombie, but a terrifyingly powerful Zombie King—one whose anger could bring catastrophe down on humanity. Perhaps Shang Ke remained at Di Kui’s side only because he had no other choice.

Resolve flashed through Huo Xuan’s eyes. He had to become stronger—strong enough to rescue Shang Ke from the Zombie King.

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