Chapter 98: Ha, Dreyvyn! (Today

Liang Dacheng’s aura was intimidating, striking fear into the students at once.

After all, before the Collapse, they had all been mere students, never daring to break laws or cause trouble; hearing these words, their respect and fear came naturally.

“Su-ge?”

Kuang Miao crept close to Zhang Su and whispered his name, seeking his opinion.

Zhang Su spread his hands, turned to face Liang Dacheng and the other two, and smirked: “Baihe Street Community? Search and Rescue Team Captain? Relocation Camp? Orders from above? You’ve spun a damn fine tale—keep going, do you even believe it yourselves?”

Others might fear Liang Dacheng’s bluff, but Zhang Su had never backed down from a fight.

“You!”

Liang Dacheng glared, then calmed himself and raised his voice again: “Everything I said is true. If you don’t believe me, go see for yourself—the relocation camp is thriving. You refuse to contribute and instead slander us—are you even human?”

Zhang Su, seeing the man still lied, said coldly: “I slander your old man! I’m done with your nonsense. Two choices: leave now, or die now.”

Liang Dacheng was impatient; Zhang Su had no patience left to listen to his stories.

As Zhang Su’s words ended, Zheng Xinyu and the others instantly went on alert, weapons already in hand, held across their fronts, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

“You!”

Liang Dacheng hadn’t expected the shift so fast—hadn’t realized the real authority was hiding among the crowd, and the one he’d been talking to was just a lackey?

“Are you trying to rebel against heaven? Listen: whether you hand over supplies today or not, you WILL hand them over—that’s the order from above!”

With that, Liang Dacheng pulled a pistol from his coat in front of everyone’s stunned eyes.

“Ah!”

“Oh god, he’s got a gun!”

“No, Su-ge, don’t act rashly!”

Panic erupted. Even Zheng Xinyu and the others felt the overwhelming threat.

Under strict control, only Zhang Su had ever fired a real gun at a shooting range; Lu Yubo had seen one or two others. Everyone else had never even seen one.

Seeing a firearm suddenly in someone’s hands carried immense psychological weight.

Of the four students, all except Chen Hanzhou crouched on the ground, mimicking movie scenes, too terrified to move.

Zhao Dezhu also shielded the Yu family father and daughter nearby, eyes blazing with fury but saying nothing.

“Kid, weren’t you just acting all tough?” Liang Dacheng sneered, swinging his revolver toward Kuang Miao and the others: “They can just crouch. You? You’re getting on your knees!”

“Kneel?” Zhang Su spread his hands, smiling with an unreadable expression: “No one in this world makes me kneel.”

“Today, there is—one is me!” Liang Dacheng raised his revolver again, snarling at Zheng Xinyu and the others: “You’re all a group, right? Get on your knees—NOW!”

Swish.

Zhang Su didn’t kneel—he did something that stunned everyone: he drew his dog-leg knife, clearly ready for a bloody fight.

“Su-ge, don’t be reckless! As long as the mountains remain, firewood won’t run out!”

Zheng Xinyu grabbed Zhang Su’s arm, face pale with terror.

Against zombies, you could fight—even twice, thrice, if terrain favored you, four, five, six, eight fights were possible. But against a human with a pistol? Almost no chance of victory.

“Su-Su-Su-ge, forget that bullshit about ‘fists faster than seven steps.’ Listen to Sister Xinyu!”

Lu Yubo still wore a fierce expression, but inside he was terrified—no one wasn’t afraid of a black muzzle.

“One crappy gun to threaten all of us? Six bullets, all hit, still five left! Wives, Bozi, Old Tan—dare you fight with me?”

Zhang Su showed no fear.

“Oh wow, you’re tough, huh? So you’ve got a stupid cleaver? Want to test my gun?” Liang Dacheng’s brow twitched, aiming his revolver straight at Zhang Su.

“Su-ge’s right—six bullets. Fuck you!” Lu Yubo was the first to respond, shaking his grain sampler.

“That backpack on your chest probably won’t puncture easily—I wonder if he can hit every headshot? I sure can’t. Heh…”

Zheng Xinyu tightened her backpack, stepped beside Zhang Su, and raised her baseball bat before her face.

Zhong Xiaoshan said nothing, held her wrench horizontally before her nose, then stood beside Zheng Xinyu.

Tan Hua tightened her lips, shifted her stance, and stood beside Zhong Xiaoshan, her caliper looking comical but deadly.

“Fucking hell, I’m no coward!”

Zhao Dezhu stomped over to Tan Hua’s side.

“Master Zhao…”

Yu Wen tried to stop him but was too late—he gritted his teeth, made his decision: if they moved, he’d strike at the same moment—catch the three off guard!

Zhang Su hadn’t expected Zhao Dezhu to step forward—he glanced at him, surprised, then nodded silently.

“Good, good, you’re brave? Today, I’ll use you six as gun targets! You didn’t die to zombies—don’t regret dying by my gun!”

Liang Dacheng spat the words through clenched teeth, but his foot subtly stepped back.

That step didn’t escape Zhang Su’s eyes—he silently sneered.

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Su kicked off the ground and surged forward—five meters vanished in less than a second, bringing him face-to-face with Liang Dacheng.

“Fuck you!”

Liang Dacheng roared—but didn’t pull the trigger. Instead, in everyone’s disbelief, he hurled the revolver straight at Zhang Su’s face!

“What?”

Liang Dacheng’s move left everyone frozen.

Isn’t a revolver supposed to fire bullets with a *Biu*? Throwing it? What the hell?

Ha, Dreyvyn!

The new way to use a revolver!

Not just Kuang Miao’s group—Liang Dacheng’s two companions were stunned too, a sense of betrayal rising in them, their hearts hollowing.

“Hey!”

Zhang Su had already sensed something off about the gun—the clinking sound when he waved it, like plastic hitting plastic. Could this be real?

He didn’t dodge—he let the revolver smash into his forehead, then swung his dog-leg knife downward in a wide, brutal arc straight at Liang Dacheng, using the momentum to strike with terrifying force.

Normally, Liang Dacheng’s two companions would have rushed to help—but now they each stepped back, waving frantically at Lu Yubo and the others charging toward them…

Thud.

The revolver struck Zhang Su’s temple as expected, bouncing off with a spin.

Swish!

The heavy, powerful slash reached Liang Dacheng’s chest.

Clang!

The razor-sharp dog-leg knife struck the fire axe, sending sparks flying.

Liang Dacheng had some skill—he blocked Zhang Su’s attack at the last moment, then used the force to retreat, shouting for help—but saw his two companions already disarmed.

“I’ll fight you to the death!”

With nowhere left to run, Liang Dacheng’s fury surged, eyes red, swinging his fire axe wildly with a whistling roar.

Zhang Su braked in place, keeping his distance—wild punches could kill a master, and wild axes could kill one too.

“Hahahaha, coward! Come on, I’ll chop you to pieces!”

Liang Dacheng’s eyes bulged with blood, emboldened by Zhang Su’s hesitation.

In the past, Zhang Su might have traded wounds for a kill—but not now.

There was no stable healing environment. Even with a nurse nearby who knew first aid, supplies were scarce—any injury could mean death.

Suddenly, Zhang Su turned his head, eyes locking on the door beside Liang Dacheng: “Don’t move—I’ll kill him myself!”

The sudden shift shocked Liang Dacheng—he spun toward the door, raising his guard—but saw nothing, not even a feather. His heart sank.

“Bastard!”

Liang Dacheng never expected deception—he felt the wind rush past just as he swung his axe blindly to defend himself.

Swish!

Clatter.

“Ahh! My arm—!”

A strange sound—and Liang Dacheng’s forearm snapped clean off. The fire axe clattered to the ground. The severed limb, its cut surface neat and spurting blood, sent chills through the crowd.

Thud.

Zhang Su gave no pause—he kicked Liang Dacheng square in the chest, sending him flying several meters.

Staggering backward, Liang Dacheng collapsed against the wall, face twisted with malice and terror—his hormones surged so high he forgot the pain of his missing arm.

Zhang Su didn’t lower his guard. He picked up the fire axe, glanced at it, sneered: “Security guards pretending to be soldiers? Die!”

His voice rose sharply—he spun the axe and hurled it like a javelin toward the corner.

“Ahh…”

Pei Lan turned away in horror.

Plop!

The fire axe struck Liang Dacheng’s cheek squarely, embedding over an inch deep. Blood gushed instantly—he never even screamed before he died.

Silence fell. Only the drip… drip… drip of blood on the floor remained.

Dust settled. Zhang Su exhaled, turned to face the crowd.

Except for Zheng Xinyu and the other three, plus the sickly woman, everyone else involuntarily stepped back.

Brutal. Ruthless.

“Su-Su-ge, you’re terrifying against zombies—and killing people too…”

Kuang Miao trembled as he flattered.

Zhao Dezhu was shaken too—he slaughtered zombies like a demon, but killing humans? He’d never tried.

I never expected to see something more brutal than filleting a fish—I sighed, “Big brother, your technique… awesome!”

“Honey, look at this…”

Zheng Xinyu stepped forward and handed Zhang Su the revolver she’d earlier smashed against his head.

Zhang Su took the gun, ran his fingers over it, snapped open the cylinder with a click, and sneered, “Kids’ toy guns are pretty realistic—would be even better if they were made of metal!”

“So it’s really fake?”

“Damn, I thought it just had no bullets.”

“This bastard’s too sneaky—he deserves to die!”

Everyone felt humiliated and furious—they’d nearly pissed themselves from fear of a plastic gun.

Zhang Su toyed with the toy pistol and said, “You did the right thing. Before confirming if a gun’s real, surrendering to survive is the wisest choice!”

“Bro Zhang, did you already know this gun was fake?”

Kuang Miao looked at Zhang Su like a starstruck fan.

Zhang Su couldn’t reveal his extraordinary hearing—he pointed at the two cowering in the corner who hadn’t dared speak a word: “These three were just plain security guards. Their uniforms? Fake—every security badge was ripped off. Do you think guys like this could have real guns?”

Kuang Miao and the others immediately checked—and sure enough, found traces on their chests and sleeves.

“Shit, these guys are shameless!”

Zhang Su aimed the toy gun briefly, then stuffed it into his backpack: “This is the end of the world. Even if we don’t seek trouble, trouble finds us.”

“People will do anything for food and drink. It’s not just them who are evil—we’re the same. Don’t pretend you’re good. In this world, good people don’t survive.”

After speaking, Zhang Su looked at the two people in the corner: "How many of what your boss just said were true?"

“A-all of it’s fake…”

One of them gathered courage to answer, shaking his head frantically, begging: “Big brother, we’re sorry! We were forced—we didn’t want to do this! Liang Dacheng made us follow him with a gun!”

“Yeah, yeah! If we’d known his gun was fake, we’d have left long ago! You’ve got to believe us—we’re good people!”

The other one quickly chimed in.

Zhang Su glanced at the two, then turned to Lu Yu: “Find something to gag them.”

“Got it, hehe!”

Lu Yu was delighted—he loved doing this kind of thing.

“Big brother, we’re really innocent…”

*Slap*

“Ahh… mmmph!”

Lu Yu walked over and slapped the screaming man, then slapped tape over his mouth.

Zhang Su ignored the two and turned to the group: “I understand your desire to reach the settlement—but the reality is far worse than what you’ve seen. Remember: survive by yourself!”

“Yes! Survive by ourselves!”

“Bro Zhang’s right—survive by ourselves!”

“Survive by ourselves!”

The group was deeply stirred.

Enduring the disappointment of false hope isn’t necessarily bad—it reminded everyone how dire things truly are. Only by abandoning unrealistic fantasies can they move forward properly.

“Pack up. We’re leaving. We can’t stay here anymore!”

Zhang Su stared at the scattered corpses and shook his head—he’d planned to leave anyway, but now the group had grown much larger.

“Mr. Zhang, aren’t we staying the night here?”

Yu Wen asked in surprise—Yu Qing was still feverish and too weak to move.

Zhang Su shook his head: “The gas station’s too obvious. Anyone passing by will check it out. Stopping briefly is fine, but spending the night? No. Plus, Teacher Yu still needs medicine—there are plenty of pharmacies outside. Find one that hasn’t been looted and grab what you can!”

Medicine is hard currency in the apocalypse, but early on it won’t be scarce yet. Since there’s no production—only consumption—it’ll grow increasingly rare and valuable over time.

(End of Chapter)