Chapter 567

"Zhang!"

In the duel arena, Qi Dabin was panting heavily, his throat bobbing with the airflow, his shoulders heaving, and sweat dripping from his forehead. He glared at Zhang Su with complex eyes: "Do you really want to kill us all? In front of so many people, we are the same kind! Don't you want to be a benevolent leader?"

Knowing he had reached a dead end, Qi Dabin was still unwilling to give up.

"The same kind? Who the f*ck is the same kind as you! When you wanted to bring people up the mountain to loot during a fire, why didn't you think about everyone being the same kind?"

Zhang Su had taken many punches and kicks, but the most obvious one was at the corner of his left eye. He didn't know whose sucker punch it was, but it had split open, and blood was sticking to the outer corner of his eye. He squinted his left eye and said loudly.

"Brothers, is it righteous to eliminate bandits who harbor evil intentions toward Tianma Island?"

After his voice fell, there was no immediate response from the crowd, because everyone needed to think before answering. What if they shouted the wrong thing and it became awkward?

After about two or three seconds, "Yes" started to ring out from all around, finally converging into a loud, clear sound.

Zhao Dezhu and his group hadn't gone too far yet, and they all looked back, their faces wearing miserable expressions.

"Damn it, why bury those dog-sh*t people? Just throwing them into the field would be so much easier."

Liu Yao kicked the dirt on the ground with great dissatisfaction.

"Hmph!" Yang Xinqi had originally intended to agree, but thinking about how he had been called by Liu Yao to dig pits, he was very angry and couldn't be bothered to express an opinion.

"Go, go, go, stop talking so much nonsense. We are a survivor camp that promotes civilization and new customs, not a savage tribe, understand?"

Zhao Dezhu beckoned Liu Yao and the others to continue walking forward.

"Dog thief, did you hear that? From our standpoint, killing you ill-intentioned idiots is righteousness. Do you have any last words? One last sentence—this is my final mercy to you!"

Despite having some injuries, Zhang Su's state was fine; he was full of spirit. Especially after taking down seven people with his bare hands just now, a thick murderous aura sprayed out through his words.

This murderous aura in Zhang Su's heart naturally affected the surrounding crowd, and everyone couldn't help but want to kill the two people in the arena.

"I, I've seen movies. In the movies, there's a way where the two captured people are made to duel, and the one who survives gets let go. Give me a chance, give me a chance to fight him..."

Qi Dabin completely broke down. He raised his hand and pointed at Skinny Monkey, saying something that left countless people dumbfounded.

Even with Zhang Su's mental fortitude, he was stunned. Could someone be this shameless? For a moment, he didn't know what to say, but some people wouldn't sit still and wait for death.

Just at this moment, a change occurred in the arena!

Qi Dabin pointed at Skinny Monkey but faced Zhang Su, his heart pounding, expecting the other party to agree. He didn't notice that a surge of murderous intent had appeared in the depths of Skinny Monkey's eyes, and he immediately put it into action.

"You die first!"

Skinny Monkey moved, launching a thunderous strike at Qi Dabin.

In the Flying Wolf Gang, he was called Skinny Monkey not just because of his physique, but because he was agile enough—much like Qi Dabin, otherwise he wouldn't have survived until the end! Skinny Monkey was somewhat lacking in strength, so his attacks were extremely vicious. In the past, when fighting people, his attack points were concentrated on vulnerable areas like the eyes, throat, solar plexus, and groin, and this time was no exception! In a turn of events that was within reason but beyond expectation, Zhang Su subconsciously stepped forward but then stopped his momentum.

Bang! "You, ugh, roar, uh..."

Qi Dabin felt a black shadow flash before his eyes, followed by a heavy blow to his throat. A wave of intense pain spread, and he couldn't breathe! He clutched his neck in disbelief, his eyes filled with regret and malice.

Having his throat bone shattered without any defense, which further led to a ruptured trachea and the inability to breathe, he was definitely going to die.

But why was there no defense? According to logic, when saying the words about dueling Skinny Monkey, Qi Dabin should have thought that Skinny Monkey would make a move, but he didn't consider that aspect. Because in his heart, Skinny Monkey would realize this was a trick—a trick aimed at Zhang Su! Qi Dabin was very confident that Zhang Su would accept the proposal, because many people liked to toy with their prey, especially cornered beasts like them; it was most interesting to tease them. Anyway, that's what he would think.

Then he could play some unexpected tricks during the duel with Skinny Monkey, either sneak-attacking Zhang Su or taking an important person hostage, and finally use that to escape.

In the past, Skinny Monkey could always easily discern the subtext of Qi Dabin's words, but this time was different from any other time.

Qi Dabin had miscalculated...

Skinny Monkey was already on the verge of a breakdown, or rather, having watched his companions die one by one, his spirit had already collapsed. How could he care about playing along with the act? There was only one belief in his heart: if you want me to die, I'll kill you first! "Stu... pid..."

Qi Dabin couldn't speak, but that didn't stop him from cursing in his heart and then turning those words into lip-reading.

Pfft...

He fell to the ground full of unwillingness, then began to twitch. Until the moment he stopped, his eyes were staring straight at Skinny Monkey. Originally, he hated Zhang Su the most, but in the end, at the moment of death, he changed his target.

Skinny Monkey seemed to have drained all his strength. He didn't dare to look at Qi Dabin, who had died by his own hands. His hand, which had launched the attack, was still throbbing from the excessive force. He stared fixedly at Zhang Su, and after there was no sound in his ears, he said: "Leader, Leader Zhang, I killed the mastermind of the whole thing. Can, can you let me go?"

The sky was gloomy, the scene was quiet, and everyone was silent.

The darkness of human nature was performed thoroughly at this moment, so thoroughly that it made some people feel psychologically uncomfortable.

Zhang Su looked up at the sky covered in dark clouds; there wasn't a trace of sunlight.

The absolute justice of last night, the Eight-Family Village encountered this morning, and running into the Flying Wolf Gang at his own doorstep—scene after scene of human evil was like this sky, pressing down on his heart, dark and heavy.

"Sigh..."

He couldn't help but sigh. He couldn't understand what these people were thinking at all; he couldn't resonate with them.

Zhang Su knew very well that in the face of survival opportunities, reason would gradually be lost, and along with it, morality and humanity would disappear. Nothing was important; only staying alive mattered.

But things hadn't reached that point yet!

If there were a supreme existence that descended rules now, and the six hundred people present had to engage in a chaotic battle, and the only survivor could live happily and long, then he would probably participate in the bloody slaughter too.

But the reality wasn't that bad; why take things to such an extreme?

"Follow the brothers from Daqiaobao Township well, join Tianma Island together, and in the future, we will work together and advance and retreat together. What's wrong with that?"

Zhang Su couldn't help but shake his head. He walked toward Skinny Monkey, saying earnestly: "Why insist on causing trouble, why insist on looting, why insist on risking your own life just to regret it later? What for?"

"It's all... hey!"

Skinny Monkey thought Zhang Su was starting to preach and intended to let him go, but he didn't expect that when the other party approached within two meters, he would suddenly launch an attack!

A shadow flashed, and a fist the size of a sand pot had already reached his chest...

Zhang Su had no intention of giving Skinny Monkey a chance to speak. Two meters was a range where he could hit with one strike and cause massive damage; he didn't want to hear the other party beep anymore.

Thud, pfft... A straight punch hit Skinny Monkey's chest without suspense. It was more spectacular than Bruce Lee's one-inch punch; the force was unknown, but the lethality was extremely high!

People standing behind Skinny Monkey saw the back of Skinny Monkey's chest bulge where he had been punched, and then his whole body fell like something that had lost its balance, tumbling messily toward the back.

Many people gasped, secretly thinking that what was shown in the movies wasn't fake after all—you really could hit someone like that with one punch. But that was twenty years of internal energy! Pfft...

"Ugh... ugh..."

Zhang Su's goal was achieved; he didn't let Skinny Monkey say another complete sentence. He fell into a pool of blood and died.

The first charger, Da Niu, was harvested by Zhang Su's kick, and the last remaining one, Skinny Monkey, was blasted to death by a punch. One kick, one punch—curtain up, curtain down.

"The trial is over. The nine bandits of the Flying Wolf Gang deserved their crimes. The Yama King has executed them one by one, clearing away the evildoers and restoring stability to Tianma Island!"

Yu Wen had been waiting for this moment. After Skinny Monkey fell, he held the microphone and walked to the middle of the field, loudly announcing the result.

Everyone was watching the duel, but he had to clarify the nature of this event. It wasn't a duel at all, but a trial by the Yama King of the invading bandits—righteous, fair, and public, but not equal, because the Yama King was one against nine!

"Yama King, Yama King..."

Following Yu Wen, Zhang Su's number one fan, Lu Yubo, immediately followed up, taking the lead in shouting.

Amidst the cheers, Zhang Su slowly closed his eyes. He certainly wasn't enjoying the honors and flattery, but regulating his emotions.

Nowadays, zombies were as strong as mad dogs, so it was better not to be too reckless. A feeling of leisure and tranquility rippled in his heart, and then he pressed his palms down toward the crowd, signaling everyone to be quiet.

With the infection of his emotions, the fanatical state of the people gradually faded; the effect was very good.

But there was one exception! Tachibana Mai stood in the crowd, her eyes flashing with sharp light, looking at Zhang Su in disbelief. Just now, her mind, or rather her soul, had been subjected to an impact like a tidal wave. Fortunately, her dam was strong enough, so she hadn't been affected.

This made her feel incredible, and she looked at Zhang Su with curious eyes.

Before this, she had had similar strange feelings, but hadn't taken them seriously, because the emotions of the surrounding crowd were very excited and would definitely affect her, especially that kind of angry murderous intent, which was easy to transmit.

But the feeling just now was clearly different. Everyone was in a state of excitement, and suddenly a wave passed over, and people quieted down. Then that invisible wave impacted her heart, trying to soothe her restless inner self!

What was going on? This was very wrong...

"Two days have passed, and he has grown again!" Tachibana Mai reached a judgment that shocked her.

Besides Tachibana Mai, there was also a dog that had noticed the problem.

To be precise, the Corgi Lucky had felt the fluctuation of the emotional waves even earlier than Tachibana Mai. It sat at the edge of the arena, very close to Zhang Su, and could always intuitively feel the waves of emotional fluctuations.

It was just that Lucky didn't think it was Zhang Su, but very happily thought it had gained some kind of ability, sticking out its tongue and smiling happily.

Zhang Su didn't know Tachibana Mai's thoughts, and certainly wouldn't notice the abnormality of the Corgi Lucky.

He said loudly to the crowd: "As enemies, I had to deal with the Flying Wolf Gang members with harsh means, but as fellow humans, I have an obligation to bury them. Bo-zai, take some people to find a place to dig nine pits; don't let them rot in the wilderness!"

"Brother Su, Da Zhuzi has already taken people to get busy."

Lu Yubo pointed into the distance.

Zhang Su didn't need to ask to know that this was all Yu Wen's arrangement. He nodded at him, then looked at the three people, including Xie Guangfa, who were watching the battle.

Feeling Zhang Su's gaze, Xie Guangfa shook all over, his face bitter: "I suppose the Yama King won't spare my life. Don't bother doing it yourself, just dig one more pit; I'll take care of it myself."

Having failed the other party's assessment, it was very likely he would be seen as an accomplice, and he probably wouldn't have a good end, so it was better to be self-aware, Xie Guangfa thought.

Hearing Xie Guangfa's words, the two remaining remnants of the Flying Wolf Gang beside him were almost crying. They thought, *Don't seek death like this, okay? What if there's still room for maneuver? You don't want to live, but we do... *

Complex expressions appeared on the faces of the surrounding people. They didn't expect Xie Guangfa to make such a decision; everyone was trying to live, but he was actively seeking death.

Perhaps this was a way of retreating to advance?

But looking at him, it didn't seem like it.

"I never said I wanted you to die!"

Zhang Su walked slowly toward Xie Guangfa, brushing the dirt off his body, and said: "You Flying Wolf Gang people are like f*cking beggars; you probably don't have any supplies. The three of you will count as the only spoils of war!"

Could they live?

The eyes of Xie Guangfa and the other two lit up. If they were to be treated as spoils of war, so be it; as long as they could live, anything was fine!

"Thank you, thank you Yama King for your mercy. I am willing to work like an ox or a horse to repay you."

"Me too, me too!"

Ning Jianshe and Qian Guangwei bowed and cupped their hands repeatedly.

"Don't get happy too early. The three of you didn't pass the assessment and can only enter Tianma Island as prisoners. Your personal freedom will be restricted until I determine that the three of you have no problems. Understand?"

Judging from his observation of their emotions, Zhang Su felt that these three had no major problems, but you can know a person's face but not their heart; the necessary measures couldn't be skipped.

"Willing to obey any disposition."

"I'm willing too!"

"No, no problem."

The three had no objections to this; having picked up their lives, they were too happy to care.

The dust had settled, and the finishing work didn't need Zhang Su to be responsible. He looked at the crowd and waved his hand toward Tianma Island: "Brothers, let's go up the mountain to rest for a while, and then we'll arrange subsequent matters!"

Following the order, people turned and walked toward the cars, still wanting more. Everything they talked about was the duel just now, which would become a topic of conversation for many days.

From arriving at the foot of Tianma Island to the end of the trial, perhaps because the great battle a few days ago had cleared the surrounding zombies very cleanly, there was only that small group of zombie attacks, and it had been calm ever since. Even with everyone shouting, it hadn't attracted more zombies.

It gave people a feeling that after arriving at Tianma Island, everything was getting better!

Of course, this was indeed just a feeling, an illusion brought about by coincidence.

(End of chapter)