Chapter 443: Who Wants to Be My Friend?

Bang!

A faint explosion sounded from the flames, and only then did everyone remember Liao Youzhi's warning about the corpse-bomb—enough to devastate the entire Qingxian area!

The blast's power was minor, flickering and dying out within the dragon of fire; what followed was what everyone truly cared about.

As the explosion rang out, a tongue of flame surged upward from the dragon, sweeping through the air like a wave of fire, as if countless moths had been ignited, crackling like fireworks set off during the New Year.

Countless powders were utterly incinerated in the flames; the entire process lasted less than ten seconds. The flame wave subsided, leaving only the dragon of fire still spewing. The asphalt road had long since melted; after over a minute of burning, not a single organic substance remained in the fire—only pure flame! Zhang Su clearly remembered Wu Baokang telling him that powder capable of causing corpse transformation loses its potency near fire; if proximity isn't enough, direct incineration would be even safer—and the facts proved it true!

The zombie emitting fire seemed evil, yet this flame purified everything! The dragon of fire spewed from east to west; to the north, the Yama Army, escorting Luo Yongzhan, advanced southward, heading to meet the Yama King.

At the moment Zhang Su activated the fire-spewing zombie, Yu Wen knew the battle was over—ended with the fewest possible casualties!

"Man, it's so hot!"

"Tell me about it—this fire's power isn't any weaker than Ascension Primordial Slurry, and it's sustained too..."

"Another Gold Legend quality!"

Zhao Dezhu and the others walked along chatting, their conversation light, their demeanor calm—nothing like the terrifying name "Yama Army."

Luo Yongzhan, his hands bound behind his back, felt his legs go weak; what he'd just witnessed was too horrifying—over a dozen comrades and his own commander had been utterly incinerated, not to mention the second-in-command and the elite squad second only to the Bodyguard Unit, also swallowed by the flames.

Finished—the Survivors' Alliance was utterly finished...

Hup!

Zhang Su saw his men approaching, released the metal chains, and the green indicator light on the password lock turned red—turns out, once the chains returned to position, the password had to be re-entered.

The heavy barrier slammed down, cutting off the dragon of fire. The fire-spewing zombie didn't immediately calm; it writhed back and forth on the metal frame, its restraints clanging loudly. But after prolonged spewing, the flames on its body had dimmed slightly—it couldn't keep firing forever.

The cargo container housing the fire-spewing zombie, having served as the nozzle, glowed red overall, displaying a beautiful gradient from front to back...

On the street, wisps of black smoke rose from the ground; only now did people catch the stench of burning—likely from petrochemical residues.

Those who perished in the flames turned to white ash, drifting through the air; all organic matter had been fully consumed. Red-hot molten metal mixed with black, gelatinous residue lay still on the ground.

Gulp.

People far away all swallowed hard in unison, unable to believe what they saw—more shocking than the zombie siege!

Clap! Clap!

Two sharp claps suddenly rang out, jolting everyone awake.

Zhang Su had somehow stepped out of the cargo truck, leapt onto the roof of an SUV, and called out clearly to those nearby and far: "Some of you may not know me. Let me introduce myself—I'm Zhang Su, the leader of Tianmayu, the Yama King!" The atmosphere froze. Liu Yao, the crude-looking man, kept fidgeting with his submachine gun, deeply uneasy—he rarely felt this way, not even when facing Liao Youzhi, but seeing Zhang Su on the roof made his heart tremble.

Especially after that brief eye contact—perhaps due to the lingering malevolence from killing over twenty men—he involuntarily looked away, forgetting even the debt of his three fallen brothers.

Yang Xin was slightly better off—he'd already heard reports from his men about Tianmayu. Since the five hostages from the Qitian Group had cooperated fully and suffered little, their reputation of Zhang Su was unexpectedly positive; they weren't overly afraid, even smiled and nodded at him...

The Survivors' Alliance remnants were the most shaken—the Vanguard Team's Second Squad and the Recon Team's Third Squad, twenty men total, utterly clueless what to do! The Recon Squad had no business being here; they were only dragged along because yesterday's zombie swarm report came from Recon Team Three.

Zhou Le, captain of Recon Team Three, trembled visibly, his face twisted unnaturally—he never imagined the guys from the north were this terrifying. He remembered just yesterday applying to Liao Youzhi for weapons, planning to head north for investigation. One day later, their leader Liao Youzhi was gone!

The most composed were Zhang Xin's Vanguard Team Third Squad—yet he dared not show his hand, unsure of Zhang Su's intentions, so he simply led his men quietly aside.

One man sat alone behind a vehicle, his arms bound strangely, his mouth gagged with hemp rope—it was Wu Baokang...

He was the only Bodyguard Unit member to escape death—thanks to Zhang Su's order to Ju Wuying not to kill him.

Wu Baokang's emotions were utterly calm, as if he didn't care at all about the deaths of Liao Youzhi and Gong Chengming.

Li Zongkai returned to his squad, greeted his men; their faces showed excitement, but they knew this wasn't the time to talk, suppressing their urge to speak.

Zhang Su saw the scene silent, most faces blank with confusion. He bent down, took the portable loudspeaker from Yu Wen, raised the microphone, and said: "Don't be nervous—we aren't enemies. Your confrontation with us was caused by a malicious schemer!"

"The mastermind behind this conspiracy has been utterly purified by fire!"

Zhang Su pointed to a scar on the highway, seven or eight meters wide, and continued: "The treacherous bastard has turned to ash. I, the Yama King, hold no grudges—I consider you all friends. If you're willing to be my friend, I invite you to Tianmayu to discuss the full story and our future plans!"

"If you're not willing to be my friend, I won't stop you—take your men, get in your vehicles, and return the way you came!"

Killing Liao Youzhi was always part of Zhang Su's plan. The destruction of Gong Chengming's faction stemmed largely from Zhang Su sensing the darkness hidden in Gong Chengming's heart.

The Four-Sided Alliance sought trouble with Tianmayu. After such a major event, they didn't even notify their "quasi" ally in advance, but instead treated Tianmayu as a pawn in their scheme, and at the critical moment, tried to bind everyone together using an unpredictable danger to deal with Liao Youzhi.

If this plan succeeded, Gong Chengming would be the greatest beneficiary. If it failed, everyone might become collateral. Later proof showed Liao Youzhi's corpse-bomb was wildly exaggerated—but before that, no one dared doubt it. Eliminating the two leaders of the Survivors' Alliance didn't mean the matter was over. Since they'd come this far, taking the next logical step made sense—Zhang Su now wanted to see how the rest would react.

He hadn't planned to expand so quickly, but now that it had come to this, he had no choice but to act!

(End of Chapter)