"Whew, fuck, finally shook them off."
Having caught up with the group, Fan Shang breathed a sigh of relief.
He quickly got off his bike. With his physique already beyond human limits, he wasn't particularly worn out and was nowhere near his limit.
But while he hadn't reached his limit, his bicycle certainly had one.
Fan Shang touched his bicycle. Even the chain was hot.
Then several more vehicles came up behind him.
It was the fat guy and his two lackeys, along with... the college girl?
He froze for a moment when he saw the college girl riding up on an electric scooter.
It wasn't that Fan Shang was making a fuss over nothing. Given where she'd been standing back there, he'd pretty much assumed she was doomed.
Yet not only had she survived, she'd actually caught up. How could he not be surprised?
But Fan Shang soon figured it out.
One glance at the missing college boy who had been behind her told Fan Shang everything he needed to know.
He didn't say anything, though. This was the apocalypse, after all. In the Weird World, things like that happened all the time.
She'd only been trying to survive. Who was in any position to judge anyone else?
Fan Shang didn't consider himself that much of a hypocrite.
Yes, she'd gotten her boyfriend killed to survive, but hadn't Fan Shang killed people to survive too?
He had. He'd killed plenty.
With that thought, Fan Shang looked away and turned his attention to the fat guy and his two lackeys.
Honestly, he'd been surprised to see the college girl survive, but he wasn't surprised at all to see the fat guy alive.
The guy had been the first to follow when he saw Fan Shang run, so his survival was hardly strange.
What did puzzle Fan Shang was that the guy seemed familiar, as though he'd seen him somewhere before.
As Fan Shang looked over, the fat guy looked at him too.
The guy was slumped over his vehicle, panting heavily. Clearly, shaking off the eerie creatures chasing them had exhausted him.
But his eyes were filled with shock and confusion as he looked at Fan Shang, as though he were looking at some kind of monster.
Clearly, Fan Shang's cycling speed had thoroughly stunned him.
Are you fucking kidding me?!
How the hell couldn't I catch a guy on a bicycle when I was driving?
Fan Shang had no intention of clearing up his confusion and simply looked away.
Deep down, though, he was glad he'd chosen to improve his physique.
Good thing I upgraded my physique earlier. I'm finally safe now.
Fan Shang silently thought to himself.
Then he looked at the panel before him, where a line of text had appeared.
[Ding! Host has been detected escaping the Cat-Faced Ghost's pursuit. Survival points +500. Would you like to claim them?]
Fan Shang was just about to claim them when a sudden commotion caught his attention.
He heard voices.
"Holy shit, aren't those the guys who stayed behind to get that supply bag? They actually survived. I thought they were all dead..."
"Did they get that bag of supplies? I saw it back then-it was stuffed full. The whole bag was packed! Fuck, if I'd known, I'd have stayed too!"
"Stayed, my ass. Are you blind? Can't you see only five of them came back? Twelve people stayed behind. Look at how they're panting. They obviously ran into danger."
"Danger? You're right. I know that girl. She was with her boyfriend earlier, but he's not on her scooter now. Guess he bit it. Still, if they ran into danger and escaped, they must've gotten plenty of supplies, right...?"
As they spoke, the people around them began looking at Fan Shang and the others differently.
In their eyes was...
Greed.
They wanted the supplies Fan Shang and the others had.
And so they began moving closer.
Fan Shang's expression didn't change in the slightest.
There was neither fear nor surprise.
Because this was normal. This was human nature: kick someone when they were down, then finish them off.
So Fan Shang didn't condemn them. He merely watched the people closing in on him in silence, raising the bone cleaver in his hand slightly.
The blood still clinging to it sent a rusty scent wafting through the air.
Fan Shang's message was clear: if they wanted his supplies, they'd better be prepared to die.
Seeing this, the survivors approaching Fan Shang clearly realized he was no pushover.
They all backed away.
Supplies were valuable, but their lives obviously mattered more.
Taking a blade over the few supplies in Fan Shang's flat hiking backpack could prove fatal in the Weird World.
None of them were stupid.
So they surrounded the others instead.
But although the fat guy was panting, his two lackeys were guarding him. With three of them together, the crowd was wary.
Naturally, they chose the easiest target, and their attention finally shifted to the college girl.
Their greedy gazes, as though they wanted to devour her, made her legs tremble. Clutching the supplies against her chest, she backed up a few steps and nearly stumbled to the ground.
"Wh-what... what do you want...?"
The college girl spoke fearfully.
She'd thought she was safe after shaking off the eerie creatures, only to find she'd walked into a wolves' den.
With her boyfriend around earlier, she hadn't really felt it. Now she realized that the people before her all but wanted to eat her alive.
"What do we want? Don't be scared, campus belle Jiang Yu. We're all classmates. We won't go too far. We don't want anything else, just to borrow some supplies from you."
The Tall, Thin Man spoke.
Then he swept his greedy gaze over Jiang Yu's entire body. Her schoolgirl outfit, sneakers, and little white socks, paired with her curvy figure and college-girl status, made her the very pinnacle of innocent allure.
Her family was fairly well-off, and she had a tall, imposing boyfriend. As Jiang Yu's university classmate, he'd never dared have any designs on her.
But now her boyfriend was dead, and they were in the Weird World...
"Of course, we're not bad people. If our campus belle Jiang Yu doesn't want to lend us anything, we won't force her. We're classmates, after all. But that's assuming we really are classmates.
"I happened to overhear our adviser saying there might be a problem with your academic credentials, Jiang Yu. So you wouldn't mind us checking them, would you?"
The Tall, Thin Man spoke with a lecherous expression.
At the first half of his words, Jiang Yu had thought he would let her go. But after hearing the second half, her face turned ashen.
A trace of despair flashed through her eyes.
How could she not understand what he meant?
Checking her academic credentials? Who would believe that bullshit?
He clearly had no intention of letting her go. Even if she handed over the supplies, they had no intention of leaving her alone.
Only then did Jiang Yu finally understand what a true apocalypse was.
Clutching the supply bag, Jiang Yu kept backing away, but one careless step sent her stumbling to the ground.
At that, everyone around her closed in.
The despair on Jiang Yu's face deepened.
She wanted to fight back, but she was just a girl, weaker than the others and without a weapon. How was she supposed to fight off four or five people?
With that thought, she looked pleadingly at Fan Shang.
He was alone too, just like her. If it was him-if it was him, surely he could protect her?
But when Jiang Yu looked over, she found Fan Shang merely watching in silence.
He had no intention of saving her.
As always, in the apocalypse, the only person anyone could rely on was themselves.
She looked at the fat guy next. Seeing Jiang Yu's gaze turn toward him, he hurriedly looked away.
It was as though he was terrified she'd notice him.
At that, a flash of venomous resentment crossed Jiang Yu's eyes.
Why? Why won't you save me?!
But Fan Shang knew nothing of this. Of course, even if he had, he wouldn't have cared.
After all, Fan Shang didn't consider himself a good person, though he wasn't a bad person either.
If she were someone he knew, he would naturally lend a hand. But he barely knew Jiang Yu. Why should he risk his life to save her?
He had no obligation!
Besides, he had something more important to deal with now.
"Hiss!!!"
A hiss suddenly rang out beside Fan Shang.
He looked down to see Little Black staring in a particular direction, fur standing on end.
At the sight, every hair on Fan Shang's body stood up. A terrible premonition shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
He knew Little Black never bristled for no reason-only when something terrifying appeared.
Sure enough.
The instant Little Black's fur stood on end.
A line of bloody text appeared in Fan Shang's vision.
[My name is Fan Shang. By the time you read this, I am already dead. I should have paid more attention. I should have been more careful. If... if I had hacked her head apart, none of this would have happened. I should have hacked her head apart. I should have hacked Wang Xiaoxue's head apart. Damn it, I can't die yet. I can't die yet. I still... I still haven't found her. I still haven't found Little Li. I should have... hacked her head apart.]
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