Chapter 257

Everyone fell silent, wondering what kind of twisted logic this was, their faces grimly serious.

Defense MAX, destruction MAX, and judging by its bulk, its strength must also be MAX-level—no wonder it abandoned teeth, such an inefficient weapon; with one swing of its great sword, it could split a person clean in half!

If we could choose our weapons, there'd still be a chance—run and kite it with an automatic rifle; with our decent marksmanship, we wouldn't miss the egg-sized hole on Zero-Zero-Three's face. But with that dagger on the ground…

It was nearly a death sentence!

Duan Wu's face revealed no emotion, but when Liu Lei said "Zero-Zero-Three," his heart jolted—he thought the Survivor Alliance's human-zombie experiments were already monstrous, but here was an even more extreme faction that had actually engineered mutated zombies?!

He was relieved Fu Wei hadn't come out; otherwise, with his temperament, he'd have charged straight in to investigate.

Lu Yu stood in a dimmer spot, his face pale with rage—he wanted to act now, immediately, to blow that arrogant shark-arm's head off with one shot; he was eighty percent sure he could do it, but the enemy was too numerous, too well-armed, too heavily armed—even if they won, there'd be massive casualties, an outcome no one could bear!

Many shared Lu Yu's thoughts, but Yu Wen was definitely not among them—his reason told him this was not the time to act, because Plan C did not follow this sequence!

The camp was now on the defensive; some didn't even have weapons in hand—they had to wait until the grain began loading onto the trucks, until the enemy let down their guard completely, before striking.

If we acted now, that would be Plan B's procedure—but no one had prepared for Plan B!

"Sir, we truly have no one hidden—there's no need for a duel. Cease your powers."

Yu Wen shuffled over to Liu Lei, smiling obsequiously, slipping him a pack of Loushi—Tianmayu's finest cigarette.

Chen Hanzhou stood beside the sacks of grain, his broken arm half-hidden behind him, speaking with righteous fury.

"Don't do anything reckless—it's just a duel, I'll go!"

Mo Qianlan's eyes reddened, gripping Tan Huajun's arm tightly—she felt one glance would be enough for the giant zombie to slice her mother in two.

Liu Lei shoved Yu Wen aside, pointing his cigarette forward: "You, fatty, step out—I've hated you for ages. With grain this hard to get, you're this fat, you must steal food every day. Folks, today I'm removing this parasite for you—no thanks needed, just remember the Dragon Army's great favor!"

Tan Huajun saw the situation spiraling out of control, cried out in despair, patted her daughter's hand, pushed her away, and walked toward the dagger.

"Then it's not…"

"Alright, please…"

He understood their intent perfectly: one goal only—to control minds through fear. History proved fear was one of the most effective tools of control; in this alone, Zero-Zero-Three, slumped beside the cargo box, truly possessed terrifying leverage!

Poking holes? She didn't think she had no chance—and she couldn't back down, or it'd cause even greater trouble.

Tan Huajun herself was dazed—she wasn't afraid of zombies, but the ones she'd faced before were ordinary ones; what was this monster?

Whoosh.

"Mom…"

Liu Lei stepped before Chen Hanzhou, pressing his rifle directly against his forehead, terrifyingly menacing.

"Dodge!"

"Hey, old man, you're quite the charmer!"

Everyone stared in shock at Tan Huajun!

"I'm merciful—I'll forgive you one last time. If you dare scream again, I'll shoot you dead!"

Her heart sank.

"If you want protection money, just take your stuff and leave—why go through these theatrics?"

Liu Lei weighed the cigarette in his hand, satisfied, ignoring the stares around him: "Fine. I planned to make you fight to set an example for your camp. Since you're so cooperative, I'll pick someone else!"

"No!" Pang Dakun suddenly jumped out from the side.

Instantly, over twenty guns turned toward him…

"She's my adoptive mother—I'm her adoptive son. I'll fight this duel!"

Pang Dakun declared firmly.

"Dakun, don't be reckless—I can handle it!" Tan Huajun truly didn't want to fight, but letting Pang Dakun take her place made her feel guilty.

Since accepting him as her adoptive son, their bond had always been strong—he always shared his gains with Tan Huajun and Mo Qianlan, and Tan Huajun had always taken good care of him.

Tan Huajun knew Pang Dakun had feelings for her daughter and had even tried to bring them together, but love was something even a mother couldn't control…

"Adoptive Mom, don't be reckless—I'm better with a dagger than you are. Let me go—I'll definitely make it!"

Pang Dakun puffed out his chest, radiating a touch of manliness; since recovering from his injuries, he'd trained daily and his agility had grown sharper.

Others wanted to say something but didn't know whom to advise—advising anyone felt like pushing them further into the fire, so they stayed silent.

"Oh my god, kid's got heart and loyalty! Fine, fatty, you've got a good adoptive son. I allow him to replace you! But…"

Liu Lei changed tone: "Kid, if you win, I won't say a word. But if you lose, your fatty adoptive mom still has to fight!"

Kunye won't lose!

Pang Dakun spoke too fast—Liu Lei didn't catch the pronunciation of "Kunye" and didn't care: "Good lad, go ahead!"

As he finished speaking, many from the Dragon Army moved to clear a wide open space—clearly practiced, not their first time holding such an event.

Tianmayu's people were pushed to the perimeter, watching Pang Dakun pick up the dagger, their hearts sinking to their feet.

"When will Brother Zhang return? Someone's going to die!"

Wang Xin frantically looked around, but saw no sign of anything unusual.

"Don't rush, don't rush—Brother Zhang will find a way. Don't panic. Believe in Dakun—he can do it!"

Chen Hanzhou muttered under his breath, as if convincing others, or himself.

"I really want to act now, damn it!"

Lu Yu clenched his fists until they cracked—he'd endured three months since the disaster, and never had he felt so helpless and stifled; if he weren't young, he'd have burst a blood vessel from rage.

Yu Wen heard murmurs behind him, turned, looked at them with heavy eyes, frowned, and shook his head—said nothing.

The more silent they were, the louder the silence roared—everyone knew the timing wasn't right, but waiting for this so-called timing might cost lives!

The trolley dilemma appeared before them.

Save Pang Dakun's life now by attacking immediately—or sacrifice Pang Dakun to wait for a better moment to strike?

No one could decide—because the one who could make this choice hadn't shown up!

Pang Dakun stepped into the center, gripping a twenty-centimeter dagger, turned to Liu Lei: "I'm going to kill this monster. You won't break your word, right?"

"??" Liu Lei stared at the boy with a strange look, then burst out laughing: "Hahaha!"

"Hahaha…"

The Dragon Army members around joined in, some looking at Pang Dakun with pitying, mocking eyes—laughing silently at his ignorance of Zero-Zero-Three's horror.

"Old Sun, Old Hou, listen to what he just said—ha! Fine, kid, if you kill Zero-Zero-Three, you get more than ten people's rations—and an extra bonus!"

"Good! That's your word! Then let's begin!"

Pang Dakun gripped his dagger tightly, staring at the giant zombie twenty meters away.

"Huh?"

But—was he imagining things? Pang Dakun suddenly spotted Zhang Su among the enemy ranks!

He rubbed his eyes, looked again—his expression changed drastically, quickly made a face at Zero-Zero-Three to cover it up.

He hadn't mistaken the man—but Zhang Su was now wearing their uniform, standing far back, and after being seen, gave him a deliberate nod, then lowered his hat brim!

"I'm back—I told you Uncle Zhang would have a plan! Damn it, I'm going to kill you all!" Pang Dakun swore inwardly, his courage surging.

"Come on, your monster's just sitting there—can't even stand up? Dead already? Hahaha!"

With courage in place, Pang Dakun immediately switched to taunt mode.

"Kid, I warned you—watch out!"

A soldier guarding the giant zombie stepped beside Pang Dakun and suddenly pulled out a small spray bottle, giving him a quick puff.

White powder coated him, a peculiar odor spreading—before Pang Dakun could even identify the smell, the giant zombie slumped beside the cargo box suddenly lifted its head; behind the iron mask's holes, its crimson eyes glowed brighter, hungry, fixed on him—and with a whoosh, its meaty body rose to its feet!

At some point, the steel chain around its neck had been cut—it stood there, head raised, letting out a howl!

"Hey, what did you do to me? Hey!"

Pang Dakun grabbed the soldier who'd sprayed him, his face twisted.

"What did I do? Enjoy Zero-Zero-Three's service yourself! Let go, you idiot!"

The soldier shoved Pang Dakun's hand away and vanished into the crowd, waiting for the show.

(End of Chapter)