Chapter 513: Don

"Old Tan, you don't know what we went through. Zhu Zi, tell Old Tan about our close call."

Zhang Su pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and finally exhaled—a rare moment of relief. To him, the term "close call" sounded exaggerated, but for the others, it wasn't an overstatement.

"Come on, come on, I'm the best at telling stories. Old Tan, let me tell you: those zombies you saw before—we big bro gave them a cool name, 'Big Guy.' They're not slow, their strength is insane—one slap can turn a car into a hamburger, and a solid charge flips vehicles over! Their heads look half-developed, barely bigger than a fist perched on their necks. We ran into one outside a residential compound once; we had to gun it down with a whole group firing together. Later, several Big Guys burst out of the compound at once—if Big Bro hadn't acted fast and sprayed them with that thing, we'd all have been running for our lives!"

Zhao Dezhu pointed to a nearby hot cargo crate, still bearing scuff marks from the earlier rollover, but thankfully sturdy enough to have only slightly deformed—no serious damage.

After hearing Zhao Dezhu's account, Tan Huajun couldn't help but be startled: "I thought that Big… Big Guy?"

"Yeah, for now we're calling it that. It's probably a mutated zombie that appeared after this rainfall. The problem is… there are just too many of them…"

Zhang Su nodded.

"I thought Big Guys were just big and clumsy-looking. Didn't expect them to be that deadly. Good thing they're afraid of fire—we still have an advantage."

Tan Huajun's body was still robust, but his facial contours had hardened since the outbreak. When discussing combat details, he now spoke with far more confidence than before.

"No, no, no—I need to correct you here."

Zhang Su quickly waved his hand: "Big Guys aren't afraid of fire—they're afraid of the fire from the Burner Zombies. The heat is too extreme. Never try to fight a Big Guy with ordinary fire!"

"If fire melts a Big Guy, we don't even know if it'll become even more dangerous while burning…"

Zhao Dezhu added, taking a long drag from his cigarette.

"If they get stronger after catching fire, like regular zombies do, that'd be terrifying!"

"We can't rule out that possibility. If we get a chance, capture one and bring it back for study. But when you encounter one of those giants, our best option is always to kill them from a distance. Getting close will be a nightmare."

Zhang Su spoke seriously.

Tan Huajun made an exaggerated face: "Something that powerful? Who'd dare face it head-on? That's just asking for death."

"Heh…" Chen Hanzhou grinned: "Big Brother Zhang dared to. He took one down himself. That's why everyone let him name the Big Guys."

"Ah, I see! Impressive!"

Tan Huajun nodded, admiration in his eyes.

"Report! All zombies are dead."

"Same here."

"No survivors in this area!"

Soon after, the inspection was complete—all zombies eliminated. People trudged through the mall, stepping over corpses, the scene a mess.

"Big Brother Zhang, should we call someone down to clean up? This place is unlivable."

Liu Yao leaned on one hip, staring at the mall's war-torn interior, shaking his head.

"Don't rush to clean yet, Lao Liu, Lao Yang. Assign a few men to stand guard. You two come with me—we're going upstairs to check the situation."

Zhang Su peered through the gap toward the street. Qi Xiaoshuai hadn't dared enter the opposite office building—he was pacing outside, listening carefully, probably up to something of his own.

From the curtain wall to the emergency stairwell, the ground was littered with debris, mostly zombie corpses, plus scattered obstacles. The marks on them recorded a brutal struggle—and then the bodies of the fighters themselves…

The living hadn't even been fully treated yet; there was no time to deal with the dead. It was bleak—but this was the end of the world. Human lives weren't worth more than weeds.

The group reached the second floor. The ordinary members of the LeGou branch gathered in the corridor immediately spotted their hero.

"The King of Hell…"

Someone immediately bowed low, face filled with reverence.

"The King of Hell."

Others followed suit.

"Just call me Big Brother Zhang. 'King of Hell' is a name for enemies. Don't all crowd here—get back to your tasks. Keep things normal, don't panic."

Zhang Su waved to the crowd, then added: "Organize a team to start cooking. It's getting late—everyone's starving."

"Got it, got it!"

"Alright, Big Brother Zhang, we're on it!"

Hearing this, everyone perked up. They hadn't been able to fight, but now they had a role. They spread the word eagerly.

Many, upon learning they'd be cooking for the fighters, rolled up their sleeves and rushed to the warehouse staff to get started.

Though the ordinary members were fired up, Zhang Su remained cautious—he assigned Pan Guoliang and Jia Shiqin to help.

Originally, a women's clothing store was packed with wounded. The dark clouds overhead had lingered, plunging the entire mall into darkness.

Wu Baokang had people fetch camping lanterns as emergency lighting, illuminating the store as much as possible. These supplies had belonged to Liao Youzhi; even though he couldn't use them all, he locked them away, refusing others access—this was the leader's privilege.

"Ah… my hand…"

"Please don't cut off my leg…"

"I'll just stay like this. If I live, it's luck. If I die, it's fate. I won't beg anymore!"

The atmosphere in the clothing store was complex. Some clung desperately to life—even if they lost everything but their head, they'd still want to live. Others had accepted death and given up treatment entirely. Most were caught in between: they wanted to live but couldn't bring themselves to amputate. Their minds were torn—but time didn't wait.

Zhao Dezhu and Zheng Xinyu were swamped, completely unaware of Zhang Su's arrival.

They weren't the only ones treating the wounded. Ouyang Qiao, Pan Ru, and others who hadn't been injured and had basic medical knowledge were also busy.

Nearly every fighter had some injury, but everyone focused only on those bitten by zombies, ignoring the rest.

In the short history of the Survivors' Alliance, no incident had ever caused such heavy casualties. Previous zombie horde attacks had been stopped outside the mall—this was the first time they'd broken inside.

Fortunately, the other side of Taiyangcheng Pedestrian Street was Qin City Hospital No. 3. They'd gathered plenty of first-aid supplies during previous raids—and now they were all being used.

"Big Brother Zhang!"

Liu Tianji sat in a corner, tightly bound with rope, battered and filthy—but his spirit was surprisingly good. Zheng Xinyu had already given him a zombie's thalamus. Whether he'd turn would be determined later, but he couldn't die from blood loss—that'd be a waste.

"Sit down, sit down…" Zhang Su stepped forward, pressing down on Liu Tianji's shoulder as he tried to rise. "Hold on. We still need you to set up the communication network. Don't let us down!"

"I can do it, Big Brother Zhang! I'll get it done—I promise!" Liu Tianji replied eagerly. Who wants to die? Everyone was encouraging him—he had no reason to give up.

"Liu Brother, you should be exhausted right now. If you're sleepy, sleep. Is it too noisy here? Should we move you somewhere quieter?"

Chen Hanzhou asked, drawing from his own experience.

Liu Tianji's smile froze. Slowly, he said: "Oh no… I'm not sleepy at all. Just tired. Is that bad?"

He knew Chen Hanzhou's story—it was the veteran's hard-won wisdom.

"Don't talk like that. Keep your will to live. Everyone's different. Don't give up easily!" Zhang Su squeezed Liu Tianji's shoulder.

"Big Brother Zhang's right, Liu Brother. We're both still single. You gonna die like this? I've got tons of cool stuff on my computer you haven't seen yet. When we get back, I'll lend it to you—you can binge till you're satisfied!"

Wu Lue suddenly appeared, leaning in to comfort Liu Tianji in his own unique way.

Suddenly, many noticed Zhang Su had returned. Gaze after gaze converged—admiration, gratitude, reverence, even fanaticism. Voices greeted him constantly. Even the most listless wounded seemed to perk up, as if drawing strength from Zhang Su himself, clinging to him as a spiritual pillar to carry them through hardship.

Yu Wen walked up to Zhang Su with a solemn face, deeply ashamed: "Mr. Zhang, I must make a self-criticism. I was the first to suggest going downstairs to eliminate zombies. If we'd been more cautious, held the emergency stairwell, this disaster wouldn't have happened."

Would it have been better? Maybe. Narrow stairwells are natural fortifications.

"It's my fault too."

Li Zongkai stepped forward, face flushed with shame. Zhang Su had trusted him completely, putting him to assist Yu Wen—and together, their teamwork nearly got everyone killed.

"You two…"

Wu Baokang rose from the corner, crushed his cigarette underfoot, and walked toward the door as he spoke: "Don't blame this all on you two. After we went downstairs, I led everyone out. That situation… damn it, forget it. I'm just a damn idiot myself!"

Zhang Su had already gotten a rough picture from Tan Huajun. Hearing the three take blame, he waved his hand: "Analyzing mistakes is necessary. Everyone makes them. Looking back, your decisions weren't fundamentally wrong—just lacking caution. Remember this next time!"

He patted their shoulders, then pulled Li Zongkai aside slightly and asked: "Have you contacted the military base? Any problems?"

He was deeply concerned about the base's safety. From what they'd seen, the enhanced zombies could break through barriers easily—and their ability to track humans had improved. That was terrifying.

Li Zongkai shook his head, shrugging awkwardly: "Right now, I can only wait passively for them to contact me. The comms are always on, but no message yet. I guess no news is good news."

"I just want to know—were there many zombies locked near the base?"

Zhang Su asked bluntly.

Li Zongkai immediately shook his head: "How could zombies be locked near the base? We lured them all away. The nearest horde is over ten kilometers out. Maybe a few lingered in apartment complexes, or were left alive because no one bothered to kill them—but very few. Not enough to matter."

The Civilization Guardians handled surrounding zombies differently than the old Eagle Society had.

Zhang Su nodded in relief. If that was true, things were better. He stepped forward to face the crowd, sensing their mood, noticing the helpless expressions on Zheng Xinyu and the medics' faces—he guessed treatment wasn't going well. He raised his voice:

"Everyone! In this shitty world, surviving is hard. Life is cheaper than weeds. If we don't value our own lives, who will? As long as you're alive, anything's possible. Plainly put: a bad life is better than a good death. The wounded must cooperate with medics. A fierce will to live can help you fight off zombification!"

"Really… really? King of Hell, I really want to live."

A middle-aged man, around forty, wept as he asked.

"If you didn't die on the spot, you're lucky. Don't throw away your chance to live!"

Zhang Su stepped forward to the man, patted his shoulder.

Don't throw away your chance to live.

Simple, plain—even grammatically flawed—yet these words reignited hope in many who'd nearly given up. Life was too precious to abandon. It must be guarded with everything. Not lost. Never lost!

"Hey hey… Big Brother Zhang, something's up!"

At that moment, Qi Xiaoshuai's voice crackled into Zhang Su's ear. His radio was quiet—most couldn't hear it—but Zhao Dezhu and others also wore radios. Instantly, many in the store heard.

Qi Xiaoshuai's voice didn't sound panicked or urgent. Many hearts eased. Everyone watched Zhang Su, hoping he'd get answers.

Zhang Su struggled to pull his radio from his belt—it had survived fierce fighting, stuck tight.

"What's the situation? Speak."

"Six Big Guys behind the office building… but… their behavior's weird. They don't seem to be coming for us."

At the office building's parking entrance, Qi Xiaoshuai hid beside a ruined guard booth, eyes like a hawk, peering through broken glass at several swaying figures in the distance.

He'd volunteered to scout the office building. But when he got close and saw the shattered door and dark lobby, his nerves kicked in. He decided to probe from the perimeter first—and what he found was major.

He circled to the back entrance. The world was eerily quiet—until he heard strange noises from inside. Moments later, six swaying figures stumbled out the back door. The KFC sign hanging above finally snapped, crashing to the ground.

Seeing six Big Guys, Qi Xiaoshuai's heart leapt to his throat. He pressed himself flat against the corner, not daring to move, breathing slow and shallow…

Luckily, they didn't spot him. And they weren't heading toward LeGou Mall—they shuffled slowly westward. Once they'd moved far enough, Qi Xiaoshuai darted forward a few steps, found a better hiding spot, and immediately contacted Zhang Su.

"Six!"

The number made Zhang Su's face grow grim. Compared to the zombies they'd killed before, this was still a small number—but he hoped there wouldn't be more.

What exactly is the situation? Are they trapped, or just pacing in place?

Since the big guys weren't coming over, Zhang Su couldn't just leave them be—too great a threat. Almost all the survivors in the northern part of Qincheng were from Tianmayu; they had to be dealt with quickly!

"Uh… judging by the direction they're heading, maybe they're headed for the kindergarten?"

Qi Xiaoshuai said uncertainly.

"Damn it!" Liu Yao leapt to his feet, waving his arms: "Bro Su, this—this thing, we can't let that… let…"

"Shut up!"

Zhang Su impatiently cut off Liu Yao's stammering and pressed the talk button: "Xiaoshuai, you can't let those big guys reach the kindergarten. Keep close surveillance, disrupt them if you can—but don't take risks. We're rushing to deploy. Once we're ready, bring them back immediately. Can you do it?"

Hearing Zhang Su's orders, Liu Yao and Yang Xin both exhaled in relief. The kindergarten now housed more than just the former members of Xiao Ying Hui—every survivor from the entire auto park was there, nearly two hundred people. Perhaps it was precisely because of this population increase that the big guys had been drawn here.

(End of Chapter)