Chapter 653: Everything Is Gone

“No, this can’t be!”

Shen Linrui suddenly shouted, flailing his arms to break free from his companions’ grips, then lunged forward to seize Lightning, gripping it in his palm as his face twisted and eyes bloodshot: “Lightning, is this real? Are you telling the truth? You’re not joking with me?”

Lightning could easily have dodged Shen Linrui’s grasp, but it did not move—trapped in his palm, it nodded weakly, softly sobbing.

“Boss Shen, uh… what exactly did Lightning say?”

“Yeah, hurry up and translate for us—is Jiajia in trouble?”

Jiajia was Lightning’s owner and also Shen Linrui’s adopted younger sister.

Shen Linrui hung his head, arms hanging limp at his sides, letting Lightning drop to the ground.

“Uh, Commander Shen, could you tell everyone what happened?”

Zhang Su stepped forward and placed a hand on Shen Linrui’s shoulder.

“I….” Shen Linrui lifted his head, his face streaked with tears, then turned to look at his fellow travelers, voice choked: “Gone—everything’s gone. The Dragonhead Camp is gone! Aaaah!”

Shen Linrui wept, raged, and screamed in despair.

Even though Zhang Su had already suspected the worst, he still felt a cold sorrow surge through him—he still didn’t even know how many people had been wiped out from the Dragonhead Camp…

In Qincheng’s territory, the population had plummeted again; perhaps similar tragedies were unfolding in other corners of this world.

Pan Guoliang, usually cheerful and optimistic, had his brows knotted into a tight knot—he was a man who loved noise and crowds.

After Shen Linrui spoke, the other four members of the Dragonhead Camp stood frozen, clearly in a state of mental blankness.

Tap, tap—more footsteps approached. Yu Wen and Zhao Dezhu stepped out, still wrapped in their coats. Seeing a grown man sobbing uncontrollably under the flashlight beam, they dared not ask questions, only exchanged puzzled glances at Zhang Su.

“No, Boss Shen, you—you really understood what Lightning was trying to say? I don’t believe it. I don’t believe the camp’s gone. Impossible. Lightning, how could the Dragonhead Camp vanish? It was so huge, with walls so tall—tell us, are you lying to us?”

A man wearing earflap hat snapped back to attention at the footsteps, rushed forward, knelt on the ground, and pressed his face close to Lightning, urgently asking.

Lightning lifted its head weakly toward the man, then shook its head—meaning, I’m not lying.

“Why? How could it just vanish all at once? This can’t be! Absolutely impossible!”

“This—this—yesterday when we left, the horde was still far from the camp. With all the distractions, it would’ve taken at least thirty-six hours—or longer—to reach the Shanhai Zone! Even if the horde reached Shanhai, it couldn’t have collapsed this fast!”

“Shanzé Sun… indeed, massive loss… massive loss…”

The other three men finally snapped out of their shock, pacing frantically, faces filled with disbelief. Since the outbreak, no news had shaken them more. “Don’t you get it yet?”

Zhang Su shook his head—these people had such poor imagination—and spoke up to explain for Shen Linrui.

“Why did our camp become like this? That tremor everyone thought was an earthquake, and the aurora in the eastern sky—can you figure it out now? The Dragonhead Camp was blown up—flattened by an explosion!”

“You’re talking nonsense. Where would there be a bomb that powerful? It’s not a nuclear weapon—it couldn’t have flattened the Dragonhead Camp!”

Someone immediately rebutted Zhang Su—a burly man with a pale face, lips trembling, spittle flying as he spoke; clearly, he already knew the answer, but hearing it spoken aloud made him want to deny it.

Zhang Su didn’t mind the man’s attitude—he thought “flattened” was still too gentle a word. In truth, they might all be gone—vaporized…

He pressed his lips together, removed his sunglasses, and took a deep breath—his powerful calmness spread outward.

In less than five seconds, Shen Linrui gradually quieted from his frantic jumping; the others’ emotions also slowly settled, though their hearts remained heavy with grief.

Lightning’s furry body trembled, its watery eyes turning in confusion toward the man who had removed his sunglasses.

Juwu Ying subtly moved several meters away from Zhang Su… Pan Guoliang, Yu Wen, and Zhao Dezhu all felt a deep stillness settle in their chests.

“Commander Shen, let me ask you—did your camp routinely use fire against zombies?”

Zhang Su, seeing the group’s emotions had stabilized enough for coherent conversation, put his sunglasses back on.

Shen Linrui turned his face away, tears and snot streaming, struggling to speak: “We used to, but we found zombies became more violent when they caught fire, so we stopped almost entirely. Lord Yama, do you know something? Tell me—please, tell me!”

Unlike his companions, Shen Linrui didn’t deceive himself—he could sense Zhang Su knew far more than they did. He dropped to his knees, pleading with his eyes.

He had many beloved brothers in the camp, his adopted sister in the camp, and the woman he loved—pregnant with their child for two months—now all gone in an instant, leaving him feeling as if he’d fallen into hell.

“Get up. Get up!”

Zhang Su stepped forward and yanked Shen Linrui to his feet—his strength could hurl a 300-pound tire through the air; lifting a man limp as mud was nothing.

Shen Linrui swayed slightly, stunned by Zhang Su’s overwhelming power—but in an instant, he sank back into grief, his heart aching again.

“Come on, let’s go over there and warm up. We’ll talk slowly.”

Zhang Su had no intention of standing frozen on the icy mountain path—he led them to the warm cargo container.

Along the way, the group grew larger again; several curious onlookers emerged from their warm blankets, whispering quietly to each other to find out what had happened.

“Brother Zhang, what’s going on with you guys…?”

Wang Longzhong, guarding the cargo truck, saw a dozen people approaching with flashlights from the darkness, looking confused.

“Nothing, Old Wang. If you’re not sleepy, stay. If you are, go back to sleep.”

Zhang Su tossed a cigarette to Wang Longzhong, then sat on the truck, ignoring the puzzled stares of Shen Linrui’s group—suddenly, one side panel of the cargo box clanged open, startling everyone.

“Look.”

Zhang Su gestured for Shen Linrui and the others to stand before the flaming zombie, pointing into the cargo box: “This zombie is called a mutated zombie. Your camp must have had some too, right?”

Shen Linrui and the others stared into the cargo box—the zombie, its body cracked with glowing red fissures, was so horrifying they could not speak.

“Yes, we did—we called them mutated corpses. One with metallic arms was found by our Vanguard team and brought back, but all were controlled by Dragonhead. There were several types, we heard. Lord Yama, are you saying the explosion was connected to these mutated zombies?”

Shen Linrui snapped out of his shock and looked at Zhang Su.

Lightning had somehow slipped into Shen Linrui’s shirt pocket; feeling waves of heat, its eyelids grew heavy—it had run all the way from Dragonhead Camp, exhausted, cold, and starving.

“Correct!”

Zhang Su pulled out cigarettes and passed them around: “So far, we’ve encountered five or six types of mutated zombies, varying in strength, each with unique abilities. One of them can extract explosive material—its blast is terrifying. Remember the explosion you saw from the north when you spied on our battle a few days ago?”

“That was it!? Oh shit…”

Shen Linrui’s scalp prickled—he accidentally brushed the cargo box and recoiled from the heat.

“Exactly. That explosion was made from material extracted from a mutated zombie. I used less than one-thirtieth of the total extract—and it was that powerful! Based on the disturbance from the southeast, I can tell you: Dragonhead Camp must have ignited one of those mutated zombies.”

Zhang Su mixed truth with deception—he didn’t need to reveal too many details to Shen Linrui’s group; a general understanding was enough.

(End of Chapter)