Chapter 45: Human Self-Salvation: An Unparalleled Swordsman

“Xiao Qian, stay safe.”

Zhao Wenjun warned the glasses-wearing young man, Xiao Qian.

“Don’t worry, Brother Zhao.”

Qian Cheng’s real name was Qian Cheng; he had hired Zhao Wenjun as his personal trainer at the gym.

He’d kept him for a full year, so their relationship was far from ordinary.

Qian Cheng had originally been nearsighted, but after his attributes were replenished, that problem vanished long ago.

Yet he’d worn glasses for twenty years and still felt uncomfortable without them, so he’d gotten a pair of rimless frames as decoration.

Zhao Wenjun had criticized him for it, saying it hindered combat.

But Qian Cheng didn’t care—he told Brother Zhao that everyone had habits, and in the apocalypse, there was no need to overexplain.

“Xiao Qian, if anything feels off, come back immediately—don’t lure too many.”

“Got it, got it.”

With that, Xiao Qian waved his hand and walked toward the street on the other side.

This was their strategy: one person would go alone down the street to lure the Firewing Birds.

The rest would hide in nearby buildings, including Fang Shi as well.

Once the Firewing Birds were lured over, Fang Shi would strike out and kill them.

This method required relocating after every use.

Otherwise, the ground would be littered with corpses, and Firewing Birds weren’t fools—they wouldn’t dare approach.

If they killed too many Firewing Birds, their bodies would retain pheromones from the birds.

These pheromones warned other Firewing Birds to stay away from this dangerous creature.

And there was no good way to eliminate these pheromones—they could only fade over time.

Otherwise, why would Fang Shi even need a decoy? Couldn’t he just kill a batch and move elsewhere?

Now, Fang Shi’s strength was immense; at most, only five Firewing Birds could attack him simultaneously.

The rest could only circle nearby, and even five was the absolute limit—usually, three or so surrounding him already left no room for further attacks.

This meant Fang Shi only had to face about three Firewing Birds at a time.

And Fang Shi possessed the ability to kill with a single strike—no matter how many surrounded him, he cut them down one by one.

He could break free at any moment.

Thus, this encirclement could not exhaust Fang Shi; instead, it formed a kind of protection for him.

Usually, once he killed five or six Firewing Birds, the rest would flee.

Aside from undead, all living creatures feared death.

No Firewing Bird would fight to the death for the sake of some law-force, sacrificing its own life completely.

…

Qian Cheng circled around, looked up at the sky, and moved forward cautiously.

The street was littered with cars involved in chain collisions, their charred skeletons still smoldering.

This was one of the first tragedies after the apocalypse.

Some drivers turned into zombies, or passengers became zombies and interfered with driving.

On streets with denser traffic, super-chain collisions were inevitable.

In such cases, not only were the living dead, but even zombies were mostly wiped out.

Especially since the apocalypse struck at seven a.m.—peak commuting hours.

This only intensified the carnage.

Thus, although zombies still roamed the streets, they weren’t nearly as numerous as in movies or TV shows.

There was no risk of being overwhelmed by a sea of corpses.

Added to that, Blue Star’s expansion had created new land barriers.

These further scattered the zombies.

Logically, if Qian Cheng remained cautious and used vehicles and other debris as obstacles,

he could walk the street alone without worry.

But Qian Cheng’s enemy wasn’t just zombies—he was a decoy, and his target was Firewing Birds.

Firewing Birds flew through the air; they didn’t care about roadblocks—they simply flew right over them.

Thus, being a decoy was far from easy.

It required exceptional observation skills to detect the arrival of Firewing Birds the instant they appeared.

And then he had to flee immediately—otherwise, he might die before Fang Shi could arrive to help.

Fortunately, Blue Star’s expansion had caused tall trees to grow across newly formed land.

These trees restricted the Firewing Birds’ diving ability—if he maneuvered well,

the Firewing Birds couldn’t fully utilize gravitational acceleration and had to rely solely on their own speed to chase.

This was the decoys’ one slim chance at survival.

Otherwise, on a street full of obstacles and crawling with zombies, if Firewing Birds pursued at 100 meters per second,

no one except Fang Shi could survive.

Qian Cheng was doing this for the first time; it was impossible not to be nervous.

Previous decoys had operated from rooftops, which were far safer.

But as Fang Shi killed more Firewing Birds, the pheromone range kept expanding.

Rooftops, being so small, were no longer suitable for hunting.

The moment Firewing Birds approached, the thick pheromones scared them away.

So the decoy location had to be moved to the street.

“This operation will clear Firewing Birds from several nearby streets.”

“Once we’ve also cleared the zombies from the streets, we can gather all the survivors in the area.”

“Everyone should first gather in a tall building, eat meat daily, and train.”

“Even if Firewing Birds keep pouring in from the spatial portal,

we won’t need Fang Daoist to carve out our own future.”

While Fang Shi slaughtered Firewing Birds, Zhao Wenjun and the others weren’t idle.

They analyzed and summarized Firewing Bird behavior, trying to develop a reliable strategy against them.

They already had a preliminary plan.

The deadliest trait of Firewing Birds was their diving ability.

One hundred meters per second was far too fast—barely anyone besides Fang Shi could react in time.

Even Fang Shi himself had initially relied on his high perception to handle them calmly.

So the first rule: limit their speed. Fortunately, Blue Star’s expansion had increased the number of ancient trees, providing terrain to exploit.

The second rule: still limit speed. Even without diving, Firewing Birds’ normal attack speed reached twenty to thirty meters per second.

This required people with extremely fast reflexes to temporarily block them.

Once blocked, others could use fireproof nets to trap the Firewing Birds,

preventing escape, then swarm in and hack them to death with blades.

The third rule: regarding Firewing Birds’ flame power, close-combat defenders must avoid prolonged fights.

Others must act quickly, aiming to kill one Firewing Bird within one minute.

Their ranged flame breath had a charging time, so there was some chance to dodge.

As long as you didn’t cluster absurdly or blind yourself by ignoring them, anyone with decent reflexes could avoid it.

Of course, these were only strategies for dealing with one Firewing Bird.

Other scenarios had also been considered.

But all these operations assumed everyone’s base attributes met the standard.

Only then could casualties be minimized as much as possible.

Fang Shi’s arrival accelerated the achievement of this condition.

Fierce extraterrestrial creatures could initially catch humans off guard.

But once humans recovered, they used their intelligence to devise countermeasures.

Humans never surrendered passively—they always tried to find a glimmer of hope in the direst circumstances.

…

The stairwell was bustling.

If you ignored the scene outside, the first-floor lobby almost resembled pre-apocalypse life.

This building had many survivors; they noticed Zhao Wenjun and the others arriving.

They emerged from hiding spots one after another to join Zhao Wenjun’s group.

Grouping together for safety was human instinct.

After the initial shock, Zhao Wenjun and his team were still freely moving outside.

They were clearly no ordinary people—extremely powerful.

Otherwise, how could they have survived against those beautiful creatures out there?

Those giant birds were far deadlier than zombies.

Most people were in poor mental condition; even with sufficient food, the environment imposed immense psychological pressure.

Fortunately, no serious incidents had occurred.

It was only the fifth day since the apocalypse; human order had collapsed.

But morality and law still restrained people’s hearts.

Some even believed these disasters were merely regional.

Like the disasters China had experienced before.

They waited for official rescue teams.

Without Fang Shi, the Zhaowen Army would have arrived here many days later.

Who knows what misfortunes might have happened by then.

At least things wouldn’t be as harmonious as below.

“Captain Zhao, thanks to you, we’ve been saved.”

A middle-aged woman gripped Zhao Wenjun’s hand in gratitude.

“It’s nothing; it’s our duty.”

Zhao Wenjun was truly the man who would one day establish Ancheng Settlement.

Facing such a scene, he showed no fear, calmly chatting and responding to the grateful crowd.

This morning, as they set out, someone suggested gathering survivors during their next outing.

Everyone agreed—it gave them legitimacy and made things easier.

Zhao Wenjun proposed they call themselves a civilian militia, with himself as its captain.

After all, he had indeed served in the military.

In an emergency, this wasn’t a big deal.

“There’s no question of whether you should or shouldn’t come—your arriving here in such danger must have cost you dearly.”

The middle-aged woman continued her thanks; she wasn’t foolish—she knew how dangerous the outside world had become.

“We’re just assisting; the real credit goes to my Master…”

Zhao Wenjun hadn’t finished speaking when—CRASH!

Fang Shi had already burst out the door.

The sound startled the survivors.

In fact, the survivors had long noticed Fang Shi.

He seemed out of place, standing silently by the door since entering.

Dressed in black training robes, arms cradling a long sword, he gazed calmly into the distance.

He appeared detached from the world, composed and serene, his clothes spotless.

He bore none of the brutality from Zhao Wenjun’s group, who had fought for days in the apocalypse.

Nor did he show the fear or exhaustion common among survivors.

He looked like an ordinary man walking through an ordinary society.

The dangers outside had never touched him—as if the apocalypse didn’t exist in his eyes.

The survivors were deeply curious: what kind of man was he?

They dared not disturb him—even as they warmly welcomed the rest of the militia, they avoided even approaching Fang Shi.

Only when they learned from the militia that this young man was Zhao Wenjun’s Master did their perception shift.

And that he was terrifyingly powerful—one sword could slay a Firewing Bird.

Instantly, Fang Shi gained new labels in the survivors’ eyes: heir to Chinese martial arts, a once-in-a-millennium sword prodigy.

They marveled at how vast and rich China was, producing talents of every kind.

Had it not been for this apocalypse, such a person might have remained hidden among the common folk.

They’d never have seen him in their lifetime.

They were envious beyond words.

I'm just very envious.