"Damn Teammates Each Have One"

The crimson droplets shimmered like flowing pomegranate juice, reflecting the earnest eyes beneath the boy's tousled hair.

"Remember, once the synthesis is complete, you must wrap it inside the bullet head at top speed. If you're too slow, we'll all die."

Su Huan held a brass 9mm bullet in his hand, offering a stern warning.

Qi Xiaoba gripped the armrests tightly and nodded. "I'm ready."

Su Huan signaled to Wan Xing.

The latter took a deep breath and poured the juice extracted from the Blood-Thirsty Fruit into a glass bottle; it contained a special genetic fluid that had required the remains of over a dozen zombies to harvest.

It was similar to the materials collected from the bodies of Night Demons.

However, because the amount found on each zombie was extremely scarce, it was easy to overlook.

If not for Su Huan's insistence, she never would have managed to scrape this much together.

The two liquids converged inside the glass bottle.

"Hiss..."

The crimson liquid changed color in an instant, a speck of pitch-black spreading rapidly as if the substance had been contaminated.

"Did it succeed?"

Wan Xing felt a strange sensation; the liquid in the glass bottle exerted a powerful pull on her.

It felt as if, by swallowing it, she could achieve some form of evolution.

"Of course it failed."

Su Huan pinched his little finger, staring at the bottle with a look of faint trepidation.

Synthesizing genetic agents wasn't as simple as just throwing a few materials together.

It required someone with a profession related to alchemy or pharmacology to maintain control.

They had to fine-tune the ratios, the timing of the fusion, and monitor the subtle changes in physical properties.

Otherwise, you ended up with the result before them.

--Failure.

The cost of failure could be large or small, but some failed products possessed rather unique effects.

Take this viscous, oil-black liquid, for example.

Its full name was "Evolutionary Beast Inducer," and because it carried a strong evolutionary deception, it was incredibly useful for clearing out or luring in Evolutionary Beasts.

But like many inventions, people didn't always use it for the right reasons.

"Flesh Party Invitation," "Dinner Bell," "Evolutionary Beast Summoner," "Doomsday Happy Water," "My Damn Teammate Has One"...

Soon, this simple agent became widespread; almost everyone capable of scavenging had one on hand.

When everyone possessed one, it created a form of nuclear deterrence.

Only by holding this thing could you stop worrying about your teammates sabotaging you at a critical moment.

"Hold it tight, pour it out in three seconds. Xiaoba, get ready."

Su Huan reminded him tensely.

A cold, metallic glint appeared in Qi Xiaoba's eyes. The brass bullet on the table suddenly hovered in mid-air, the bullet head detaching from the casing and melting like ice cream to form a narrow cavity inside.

Wan Xing dropped the pitch-black liquid at the perfect moment.

As the liquid swirled at the mouth of the bottle, that attraction rooted in genetic instinct reached its peak.

"Snap!"

The liquid dripped in, the brass bullet head snapped shut, and it was resealed into the casing, falling into Su Huan's palm.

That eerie sense of attraction vanished instantly.

Looking at the brand-new bullet in his hand, a faint smile curled on Su Huan's lips. "It's done."

Heavy footsteps approached from the dining car as Liang Kuan asked, puzzled, "I just had a strange feeling."

Su Huan stood up and patted his shoulder, which had grown even thicker. "Your intuition was right, but you're too late. Get ready; we leave in ten minutes. Don't drive directly into Mojiang City—just stop at the boundary outside."

"Are we heading out?"

"No."

Su Huan licked his upper palate, a cold light flashing in his eyes. "Tell Wang He to get ready later. Take twenty men. Tonight, we're going to bring back both the forklift and the water purifier!"

19:20, sweltering and windless.

Dark clouds like oil-soaked cotton wool pressed down on the horizon. In the distance, the curved silhouette of the Water Plant's cooling tower shimmered with an iron-gray hue in the twilight.

Further out lay the calm Mojiang River. Clearly, temperatures in the thirties weren't enough to cause any significant change to this great river.

It quietly nourished the land on both banks, just as it had before the apocalypse.

Yet, this was the most dangerous place in the entire region, second only to the city center.

In Su Huan's mind, the depths of the river were even more terrifying than the heart of the city. Highly dense clusters of Evolutionary Beasts were locked in a frenzied slaughter at the bottom of the murky river, devouring one another to evolve. No one knew to what extent they had evolved or how many horrific entities lurked within.

There were simply too many unknowns.

That was why, even four years into the apocalypse, no one was willing to approach these water sources.

"Tap, tap..."

Su Huan stomped on the thick steel plating beneath his feet, steadying his focus.

Although he had no immediate plans to build a combat platform, he had intentionally made the roof of the vehicle flat. Whether he decided to add another layer later to serve as a passage to the rear carriage, or install mechanical arms, machine guns, or other weaponry, it would be far more convenient.

He raised his wrist and checked his mechanical watch.

19:24

There was about a minute left.

Su Huan pulled out the captured pistol, ejected the magazine, checked the chamber, and reloaded.

He fired a shot toward the ground, and upon hearing the familiar crisp report, he confirmed it was functioning properly before sliding the special bullet into the magazine.

A faint vibration traveled up from the train beneath his feet.

Su Huan raised the pistol, tilted it forty-five degrees toward the sky above the Water Plant, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang."

The bullet, reaching an initial velocity of 400, tore out of the barrel. As it reached its apex, its kinetic energy faded, and it began its descent.

Its landing point was also its maximum range.

It was exactly one kilometer away, at the Water Plant.

The silent outskirts of the city suddenly erupted with countless heavy gasps, and intimidating low growls rose one after another.

The calm surface of the river suddenly swirled into vortexes. Patches of dark red, murky blood welled up on the water, and the terrifying sound of scales scraping against each other churned from beneath the surface.

The wild grass along the riverbank flattened, the rustling sounds converging into a torrential flood.

And this flood was pointed directly at the Water Plant on the shore.

At this moment, Gao Zhe was sitting in a room, chewing on instant noodles; the crunching sound was coarse and jarring.

Beside him lay a man with a shattered skull—the last man in the entire Water Plant.

He had spent the entire afternoon doing something utterly meaningless.

He had killed everyone in this Water Plant.

Except for the women.

They had committed suicide.

He had killed forty-four people, becoming numb by the end.

He couldn't even tell if it was out of anger or some lingering shred of pity; he had simply developed a habit of crushing their skulls.

Suddenly, the chewing stopped.

Gao Zhe felt an immense sense of oppression surrounding him, and an instinctive fear gripped his heart like a giant hand.

He tossed the half-eaten bag of noodles aside, smoothed down the hair standing up on the back of his neck, and grabbed a steel bar as he walked to the window.

He peered outside cautiously.

The sky was pitch black, though the faint light allowed him to make out the buildings outside.

But for some reason, he felt that under every shadow, a terrifying presence was watching him!