Joining

Liu Feng stood on the rooftop, gazing into the distance. His remaining supplies would only last him two days.

After thinking it over, Liu Feng decided to compromise and join Han Bing and his people.

For the past five days, Han Bing had brought his men to kneel outside the wall every afternoon, desperately begging Liu Feng to lead them.

If they came again today, Liu Feng would agree.

Sure enough, at the same time as always, Han Bing arrived downstairs by car with several of his men.

Thud! Thud!

Just as they had for the past five days, everyone dropped to their knees before Liu Feng, with Han Bing at their head.

"I've been waiting for you. Take me to have a look at your territory."

Liu Feng slowly came down from the rooftop and helped Han Bing and the others to their feet.

"Boss Feng! Have you made up your mind?"

Han Bing was overjoyed. The way he addressed Liu Feng had gradually changed from "young man" to "Boss Feng"!

Although every one of them was older than Liu Feng, strength ruled in the Apocalypse World.

Liu Feng was a Gene Warrior. That alone made him worthy of their respect.

"Yes."

Liu Feng nodded slightly, then sat in the front passenger seat and followed them back to their territory.

There was no knowing what lay in another person's heart.

Although Liu Feng had agreed to join them, he still kept his guard up.

If anything unexpected happened, he could summon the Iron-toothed Insects immediately!

After they had driven for about two hours, Han Bing pointed at an abandoned factory ahead. "Boss Feng, that's our territory."

Liu Feng followed his gaze.

A wall of bricks and wood, slightly taller than a person, surrounded the factory on all four sides. There was no entrance or exit; the only way in or out was to climb over it.

Piles of abandoned cars outside the wall blocked the zombies' path. Inside stood a sheet-metal factory building with its roller shutter tightly closed.

Liu Feng shook his head. Never mind a zombie horde—even a small group of a few hundred zombies would leave this territory in a desperate situation!

More importantly, as far as Liu Feng knew, Han Bing and his people had only a limited number of weapons.

Most of them carried clubs, machetes, or axes!

"Open the door! Welcome Boss Feng!"

Han Bing eagerly hurried over and knocked on the door.

The roller shutter soon opened.

More than twenty people stood at the entrance, their eyes shining as they looked at Liu Feng.

They had already heard that Han Bing had met a Gene Warrior and might be able to bring him into their group.

"He's the Gene Warrior? He's so young!"

The only two women in the territory looked Liu Feng up and down.

A child fathered by a Gene Warrior had a ten percent chance of becoming a Gene Warrior too!

"He doesn't look any different from us."

"Is he really as powerful as the boss says?"

"Now that we have a Gene Warrior, we won't have to fear harassment from other factions anymore."

Everyone talked over one another.

"I have an announcement. From this moment on, Boss Feng is the king of our territory!"

"If anyone dares disrespect Boss Feng, I'll shoot them dead!"

Han Bing's stern gaze swept over everyone present as he made his fierce declaration.

"Boss Feng!"

"Boss Feng!"

Liu Feng walked past them, carefully observing each person.

Their clothes were ragged, their hair unkempt, and their faces filthy. Some even gave off a strange odor, as though they had not bathed in months.

The factory's interior was an even worse mess, with sheets and bedding scattered all over the floor.

With supplies so scarce, many people could only lay cardboard on the floor to sleep on.

All the food and drinking water were locked away in a designated area, guarded by armed men around the clock.

"Boss Feng, you can sleep in my room."

Han Bing pointed to the factory's second floor.

"All right."

Liu Feng reluctantly nodded.

The scene before him was nothing like what he had initially imagined.

Had he known it would be like this, Liu Feng would never have agreed to join.

Boom!

Suddenly, a thunderous explosion rang out.

Several men rushed inside in a panic and reported to Han Bing, "Boss, someone blasted through the wall with a heavy weapon! The noise attracted a lot of zombies!"

Han Bing frowned, displeasure showing on his face.

The man immediately caught on and slapped himself across the face. Then he turned to Liu Feng. "Boss Feng, someone blasted through the wall with a heavy weapon! The noise attracted a lot of zombies! What should we do now?"

"Come outside with me and take a look."

Liu Feng inwardly groaned. He had yet to enjoy any benefits, and already he had to get to work.

Han Bing and the others grabbed their weapons and rushed outside behind Liu Feng.

A modified off-road vehicle was parked outside the wall.

The vehicle had a large frame, with so many steel plates welded onto its exterior that it was almost completely sealed.

Numerous spikes had been fitted to the steel plates, and even the wheels had iron rods covered in spikes.

As long as it had enough horsepower, a modified vehicle like this could charge straight through a crowd of zombies.

Looking closer, Liu Feng saw that both sides of the vehicle were indeed stained with blood. Bits of flesh still hung from some places, making for a gruesome sight.

Five pickup trucks were also parked outside the wall.

Each pickup carried five people, all armed. One of them was even holding a rocket launcher.

He was probably the one who had blasted through the wall!

"Boss Feng, their leader is Long Tai. He used to be a murderer, then got his hands on a batch of weapons from an armory. He's been terrorizing the White City area ever since. Even the people from the settlement don't dare cross him."

"He's also the one who threatened to kill us all unless we gathered supplies for him."

Han Bing explained in a low voice.

Liu Feng studied the people before him. They were clearly a small armed gang with considerable fighting power.

"Han Bing, your deadline is up. Where are the supplies I told you to collect?"

Suddenly, the roof hatch of the off-road vehicle opened, and a tattooed bald man climbed out.

"You're demanding too many supplies. If we give you everything, how are we supposed to survive?"

Han Bing spoke up.

"What does your survival have to do with me?"

Long Tai rubbed his bald head, his lecherous gaze quickly settling on the two women in the crowd.

"Boss, those two chicks look pretty good. We can take them back and have some fun!"

"Why waste words on them? If they don't cooperate, kill them all!"

"One grenade from me, and they're all dead!"

Several burly men on the pickups shouted threats.

Watching this scene unfold, Liu Feng once again gained a profound understanding of what the Apocalypse World meant: the strong preyed on the weak.

Either you plundered others!

Or others plundered you!

Human lives were worth less than resources!

Reality was that cruel!

"I'll handle this!"

Liu Feng patted Han Bing's shoulder, signaling for him to step back.

"Han Bing, I'm not wasting any more breath on you. Hand over all your survival supplies and those two women, and I'll spare your lives!"

Long Tai spoke with overbearing arrogance.

"I won't waste my breath on you either. Leave your guns, and I'll spare your lives."

Liu Feng looked at them calmly. Even with more than a dozen guns trained on him, he felt no fear at all.

While Long Tai and Han Bing had been talking, Liu Feng had already quietly summoned the Parasitic Insects.

By now, more than half of Long Tai's men were under the Parasitic Insects' control.

(End of chapter)