Chapter 499: The Sky Has Darkened!

"Alright, alright!"

Zhang Su stepped forward two paces, standing between the three, and pointed to the distance: "You three take this elsewhere—we've got real business to attend to!"

Over a hundred people stood stunned. Though the messy love triangle was dramatic, nothing compared to the thrill of espionage—hadn't they seen the man with the cane trembling in fear? Bai Xianglong, Xiao Jing, and Gao Dongyang understood the situation; they knew such matters shouldn't be aired publicly. Accompanied by Liu Yao, Zheng Xinyu, and a few others who loved spectacle, they walked off to handle their private affairs.

The remaining people were reluctant to let go of the drama, but soon turned their gazes toward the young man leaning on his cane.

"Meng Shihao, Meng Shihao… look at you, a pathetic mess. Your cover's blown, right?"

Yang Xin looked at the young man sweating profusely from his temples, his heart heavy. Before the man could answer, he went on: "I still remember—over two months ago—from… what a coincidence—wasn't it right from that packaging plant we found you?"

"You were hiding in the workshop supervisor's office, begging us for help through the window. Dozens of zombies inside the factory. Your leg was badly injured. I never imagined it was all just an act by Absolute Justice…"

Thud. Meng Shihao dropped to his knees, tossing his cane aside, removing his broken glasses, and wept bitterly: "Big Brother Yang, I had no choice! My mother's under Ding Wei's control—she's in constant danger. If I disobeyed him, she'd be killed. I truly had no way out."

A middle-aged woman in her fifties, caring for her crippled son—such a pair was shunned in every camp. To survive, Meng Shihao had no choice but to obey Ding Wei's orders.

"Fine, assume you're telling the truth—you're some kind of filial son. But your mother's life matters, while the lives of your brothers and sisters in this group don't?"

"You're a monster! Look at the havoc you caused—Absolute Justice killed several of our brothers. How do you make up for it? You and your mother both belong in hell!"

"It's all your fault! If not for you, none of this disaster would've happened. We nearly became slaves of Absolute Justice—I'll kill you!"

"Don't move! Hey, don't be impulsive!"

Seeing the crowd's fury rise, Zhang Su immediately stepped forward with his men to calm them. Meng Shihao might die—but not like this, not beaten to death by a mob…

"You're all just bullies who pick on the weak… Cao Duoliang, Chef Cao—he's a mole too, a Little Eagle Society spy! Why aren't you dragging him back to kill him? You only dare to bully a disabled man—is that all you've got?"

???

Zhang Su froze, staring at the weeping man on the ground. Is this normal logic?

"Fuck you!"

Liu Yao had gone off to watch the drama. Ma Xiyu, former second-in-command of the Little Eagle Society, snapped back: "Old Cao was planted in Tianqi Group, yes—but he only sent us one piece of intel, about supply collection, and even that was wrong! After that, he went silent—effectively defected to Tianqi Group! I suspect that one report was deliberately botched to prevent conflict between Little Eagle and Tianqi. Besides, we never intended to exterminate anyone back then. Look at the damage you've done—you tried to get everyone killed! And now you dare bring up Old Cao? Fuck your mother!"

Cao Duoliang was a terrible mole. Liu Yao was too blunt to notice, but Ma Xiyu had sensed something off long ago. Without this Absolute Justice incident, Cao Duoliang might've vanished completely from the Little Eagle Society.

"Yeah, Old Cao's honest and hardworking—he never did anything against us!"

"What the hell are you, then? You just loaf around waiting to die, then betray us—you deserve to die!"

"We've got to kill this bastard!"

"Enough!"

Zhang Su roared, freezing the rising chaos. His cold gaze locked onto Meng Shihao: "You're good at stirring trouble—sowing discord, inciting rage, trying to create chaos. All this theatrics? You just want to muddy the waters. But let me tell you—you have zero chance."

Hearing Zhang Su's words, the crowd calmed. Yes—how could they let a monster manipulate their emotions? Irrational. Too irrational.

"I didn't!"

Meng Shihao sat on the ground, speaking with false conviction: "Everyone has the right to fight for survival. This time, Brother Yang and the knights got lucky—they met you Tianmayu and returned safely. But what if they'd all died out there? We'd lose our protection—would we just wait to be eaten by zombies? I warned Absolute Justice in advance to find everyone a new refuge, so we could all live. What's wrong with that? Tell me—what's wrong?"

His illogical, desperate defense, mixed with subtle flattery toward Tianmayu, stirred anger again—but everyone remembered Zhang Su's warning and held their rage, watching his performance.

"Don't try to butter me up—it's meaningless. I haven't executed you yet because you still have value. Give us useful intel—maybe you'll get a sliver of mercy."

Zhang Su clearly heard the hidden meaning in Meng Shihao's words.

"I left Absolute Justice over two months ago—I know nothing now. All I did was for the brothers' sake. I just wanted everyone to live better. The reality deviated? That's beyond my control!"

Meng Shihao's expression was wildly agitated.

"Fuck, you're talking nonsense—you're mentally ill. How about it, Old Yang? You do it, or me?"

Zhang Su now believed Zhao Dezhu's words—Absolute Justice was full of freaks. "I'll clean the nest myself."

Yang Xin drew his dagger instantly, face etched with sorrow. Killing the man he once saved still pained him—but he wouldn't hesitate.

"You—you're going to do what? Yang Xin! You swore you'd never harm a member of the group! Are you breaking your vow? The Lord will punish you!"

Seeing Yang Xin advance, Meng Shihao turned pale, his mind racing. He scrambled backward, pleading: "No, don't kill me! I lied just now—I know many secrets of Absolute Justice! I'll tell you everything! Don't kill me! If I die, Ding Wei will kill my mother! Can you bear to let an old woman suffer like that?"

"Fuck!"

Zhang Su, enraged by Meng Shihao's act, drew his military knife with a clang and stepped forward: "Old Yang, step aside!"

Suddenly, he didn't want Yang Xin to be the one to kill Meng Shihao. This bastard was too despicable—full of lies, twisted logic, utterly self-centered. His vile nature was carved into his bones!

If he didn't kill him himself today, he'd never get over it.

"Your mother should see you now—you deserve to die!"

Zhang Su grabbed Meng Shihao's messy hair—but suddenly, the man whipped out a three-inch fruit knife from his waist and lunged at him with a snarl.

"Watch out!"

"Brother Su…"

"You die too… uh…"

Meng Shihao, frenzied, stabbed at Zhang Su's belly—but it felt like piercing hardened leather. His strength was too weak—he couldn't even push Zhang Su back.

He had no idea Zhang Su had seen through his move from the start.

"I won't die. You will."

Zhang Su didn't flinch at the tiny fruit knife. He let the stabs land, then his military blade flashed—slashing across Meng Shihao's throat. Blood sprayed, splattering his pant leg with force.

Plop…

The fruit knife dropped to the ground. Meng Shihao's once-clear, cunning eyes dimmed. His throat was severed—he tried to speak, lips moving desperately, but no sound came. Thud.

Within seconds, massive blood loss cut off oxygen to his body. The corpse collapsed.

"Good! Good riddance, hahaha!"

"The monster's finally dead—may the fallen brothers rest in peace!"

"Leader is wise!"

Watching Meng Shihao's final struggles, even the most timid women exhaled deeply. Four months in the apocalypse, surviving zombie hordes—only to nearly be killed by their own kind. It was heartbreaking.

"Fan Dahai, come help me carry this monster to the graves!"

Yang Xin envied Zhang Su's swift, decisive strike—he couldn't act so cleanly, but he had his own duty.

"Got it!"

Knight Fan Dahai bounced over. With Yang Xin, they lifted Meng Shihao—one by the legs, one by the shoulders. Like a sacrificial rooster, his blood dripped steadily as they laid him before three crude graves.

"Hey, dying as sacrifice for these three brothers? You've died a worthy death, you bastard!"

Fan Dahai stared at Meng Shihao's unblinking eyes, slapped his palm hard over them—no respect for the dead. Such courtesy didn't apply to enemies.

With the mole eliminated, the group's mood shifted noticeably—lighter, freer.

"Old Yang, how much do you know about Absolute Justice?"

Zhang Su asked, staring at the wreckage of Xihuan Road.

"Brother Su, everyone's exhausted today. Let's forget the supplies. As long as we're alive, we can get more later. No need to risk it."

Yang Xin knew Zhang Su planned to storm Absolute Justice—but he thought the risk too great.

Zhang Su waved his hand, shaking his head: "Whether we recover the supplies is another matter—but today, this must be settled."

"From what I know, Absolute Justice has about fifty active members—likely more. But their gear is crude. You saw it—less than half have firearms."

"But… that guy named Lei Ge surprised me. Where did he get detonators? From the others' reactions, they didn't know—he's probably an exception."

Yang Xin relayed what he knew, but worry still clouded his face. The earlier fight had been brief, but far deadlier than the battle at Beidong Town. Zhang Su listened, silent. He knew the group's condition was poor—but strike while the iron's hot. With nearly all the auto park's supplies gone, losing them would be catastrophic.

Yet, as he hesitated, the sun vanished—swallowed by clouds in an instant, too fast to react.

"What's…?"

"My god, look at those clouds—are demons coming?!"

"Shit, the Dragon King's here… this is too weird!"

Everyone looked up. Dark clouds surged from the southeastern horizon, spreading across the sky at visible speed—impossible to calculate velocity. In four or five breaths, the bright sky became a suffocating black canopy.

As if an invisible hand had draped a thick blanket of sooty cotton over the Earth…

Such extreme weather had never occurred before. Even the hottest summers didn't darken the sky this fast. Everyone stared, frozen. This wasn't natural meteorology.

"Big brother, this… this is heaven's wrath…"

Zhao Dezhu's face was grim. One moment, blazing sun—the next, utter darkness. His skin turned ashen; rare fear flickered in his eyes as memories of the disaster's early days surged back.

"It's been ages since rain. Used to be cloudy often—but this time, it's real."

Zhang Su gripped his knife tightly, staring at the churning clouds. His heart weighed heavy. No normal human could remain calm before such disaster.

"I heard rain makes zombies stronger—is that true?"

Yang Xin also stared at the sky. He hadn't noticed much during the last two rains. The idea that zombies grew stronger was rumor—he remained skeptical.

"Correct."

Seeing confused glances from those in the auto park, Zhang Su nodded solemnly: "There have been two rains since the disaster. The first was a heavy downpour shortly after the outbreak—it made zombies faster and stronger."

"The second was snow. Light, but afterward, mutated zombies appeared. Their mobility improved too, though cold temperatures masked the changes. Once temperatures rise, you'll feel it."

"Fuck! So the rumors from the Survivors' Alliance were true—I thought they were just bullshit!"

Liu Yao, seeing the sky darken, rushed back to the crowd to listen.

The trio embroiled in their love triangle also fell silent—their drama suddenly trivial under the darkening sky. Love could wait…

"Qincheng gets little rain. If rain makes zombies stronger, what about the rainy south?"

Yang Xin asked curiously.

"Shit, Old Yang, why care about others? Let them die if they want!"

Liu Yao scoffed at Yang Xin's concern.

Zhang Su waved them off, silencing their bickering: "Communication's cut. We can't know what's happening elsewhere. But scientists suspect global climate has become unnaturally uniform—this is all controlled by the same hand behind human-zombie transformation."

"This… damn, that's totally possible!" Liu Yao wholeheartedly agreed with the global climate theory.

Yang Xin sighed: "I hope so. Otherwise, if the rainy regions are wiped out, human civilization is doomed."

"Old Yang's right."

Zhang Su, seeing Liu Yao about to confront Yang Xin, immediately voiced his agreement: "When the lips are gone, the teeth feel the cold. Though infighting among humans is inevitable, if our numbers truly drop below that red line, human civilization will have reached its end—we cannot change this, but none of us wish to see that day come."

Everyone fell silent; deep down, they were all too overwhelmed to care for themselves, let alone the survivors of other cities—or even those in other camps, alive or dead. But if survivors continued to dwindle, the Reaper's scythe would inevitably come for them too.

(End of Chapter)