My Damn Teammate Has One

The crimson droplets swirled like pomegranate juice, reflecting the serious gaze beneath the boy's tousled bangs.

"Remember, once it's synthesized, you have to get it inside the bullet as fast as you can. If you're too slow, we'll all die."

Su Huan held up a brass 9mm bullet as he reminded him.

Qi Xiaoba gripped the armrests with both hands and nodded. "I'm ready."

Su Huan gave Wan Xing a look.

She took a deep breath and poured the juice from the Blood-Thirsty Fruit into a glass bottle. Inside was a special genetic fluid extracted from more than a dozen zombies.

Similar to the materials collected from Night Demon.

But the amount taken from each zombie was extremely small, making it easy to overlook.

If Su Huan hadn't emphasized it, she wouldn't have bothered collecting enough to make this.

The two liquids met inside the bottle.

"Hiss..."

The crimson liquid changed color in an instant. A patch of black spread rapidly, as if it had been contaminated.

"Did it work?"

Wan Xing felt that something was off. The liquid in the bottle had a powerful attraction for her.

It was as if swallowing it would let her undergo some kind of evolution.

"Of course it failed."

Su Huan rubbed his little finger and looked at the bottle, his expression betraying a hint of apprehension.

Synthesizing a genetic agent wasn't as simple as mixing a few ingredients together.

It required someone with expertise in pharmaceuticals to oversee the process.

The proportions, the timing of the mixture, and even subtle changes in its physical properties all had to be adjusted.

Otherwise, you ended up with something like this.

—A failure.

The cost of failure could be great or small, but some failed products still had unusual effects.

Like this viscous, oil-black liquid.

Its full name was "Evolutionary Beast Inducer." Because it could strongly trick evolutionary beasts, it was very useful for luring them in or clearing them out.

But, as with many inventions, people didn't always use it for good.

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

It didn't take long for this simple agent to become widespread. Almost everyone capable of venturing out to scavenge had one.

Once everyone had one, it created a kind of nuclear deterrence.

Only by keeping one on hand could you stop worrying about a teammate screwing you over at a critical moment.

"Grip tight. Pour it out in three seconds. Xiao Ba, get ready."

Su Huan reminded him tensely.

A cold metallic glint appeared in Qi Xiaoba's eyes. The brass bullet on the table immediately floated into the air, and its bullet tip separated from the casing. It melted like ice cream, forming a narrow hollow inside the tip.

Wan Xing promptly let a drop of the black liquid fall from her hand.

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

"Snap!"

The droplet fell. The brass tip snapped shut at once, slipped back into the bullet casing, and landed in Su Huan's palm.

The strange attraction vanished instantly.

Looking at the pristine bullet in his hand, Su Huan smiled faintly. "It worked."

Heavy footsteps came from the dining car. Liang Kuan asked in puzzlement, "I just had a strange feeling."

Su Huan stood and patted his shoulder, which had grown even broader. "You weren't imagining it. But you're too late. Get ready—we're leaving in ten minutes. Don't go straight into Mojiang City, though. Stop at the outskirts, by the boundary."

"Are we heading out?"

"No."

Su Huan licked his upper palate, his eyes glinting coldly. "Tell Wang He to get ready. Bring twenty people. Tonight, we're going to bring back the forklift and the water purifier!"

7:20 p.m. The air was sweltering and still.

Clouds like cotton soaked in engine oil hung heavy on the horizon. In the twilight, the curved outline of the Water Plant's cooling tower was a dull iron gray.

Beyond it lay the calm Mojiang River. Clearly, temperatures in the thirties hadn't caused any serious changes to the great river.

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

But this was the most dangerous place in the entire region outside the city center.

In Su Huan's mind, the depths of the river were even more terrifying than the city center. Densely packed evolutionary beasts fought madly in the murky riverbed, devouring one another and evolving. Nobody knew how far they had evolved, or how many horrifying creatures lurked there.

There were too many unknowns.

That was why, even in the fourth year of the apocalypse, nobody was willing to go near these water sources.

"Thud, thud..."

Su Huan stamped on the thick steel plate beneath his feet and gathered his thoughts.

He wasn't planning to build a combat platform just yet, but he had deliberately made the roof flatter. Later, it would be easier to add another level and connect it to the rear carriage with a passageway, or install mechanical arms, machine guns, and other weapons.

He raised his wrist and checked his watch.

7:24 p.m.

About a minute left.

Su Huan pulled out the pistol he had seized, removed the magazine, checked it, then loaded it again.

He fired once toward the ground. After hearing the familiar sharp crack and confirming everything was in order, he pressed the special bullet into the magazine.

The train beneath his feet trembled faintly.

Su Huan raised the pistol and aimed at the sky above the Water Plant, angling it upward at forty-five degrees. He pulled the trigger.

"Bang."

The bullet shot from the barrel at an initial speed of 400. As it reached its highest point, its momentum faded, and it began to fall.

Its landing point was also the limit of its range.

Exactly one kilometer away, at the Water Plant.

Countless ragged gasps suddenly rose from the silent outskirts of the city, punctuated by a chorus of threatening growls.

A whirlpool appeared on the still river. Patches of murky, dark-red blood spread across the surface, while the horrifying scrape of scales churning underwater rolled through the depths.

The wild grass along the bank bent low, and the rustling gathered into a surging torrent.

That torrent was headed straight for the Water Plant on the shore.

At that moment, Gao Zhe sat in a room, chewing instant noodles. The gritty, grating crunch filled the room.

Beside him lay a man with a shattered skull. He was the last man left in the entire Water Plant.

Gao Zhe had spent the whole afternoon doing something pointless.

He had killed everyone in the Water Plant.

Except for the women.

They had killed themselves.

He had killed forty-four people. By the end, he had become numb.

He couldn't even tell whether he acted out of anger or lingering pity. He had simply grown accustomed to smashing in their skulls.

Suddenly, he stopped chewing.

Gao Zhe felt a tremendous pressure closing in around him. Instinctive terror gripped his heart like a giant hand.

He dropped the half-pack of noodles, smoothed the hairs standing up on the back of his neck, and picked up a steel bar before heading to the window.

He peered outside cautiously.

The sky was dark and heavy. Even in the faint light, he could make out the buildings beyond.

But for some reason, he felt that something terrifying was watching him from beneath every shadow!