Night of the Apocalypse

Shen Qiu quickly climbed over the dividing wall under the watchful eyes of someone hidden. Gripping the uneven wall, he began his descent, and when he was only two or three meters from the ground, he jumped down. After landing smoothly, he immediately sprinted forward.

Although Shen Qiu had awakened some abilities, those guys had the advantage of numbers, were armed with firearms, and were well-trained. If a fight broke out, the odds were high that he’d be the one to fall. So, distancing himself from them was the wisest choice.

At that moment, the seemingly unremarkable puddle began to ripple. From it emerged a slender youth, wearing a gray combat uniform with ear piercings. He smirked slightly and muttered to himself, “Haven’t seen such an interesting prey in a while.”

After speaking, the young man skillfully climbed the wall and jumped over it. Upon landing, he pulled out a silenced pistol from his waist, his grin widening as if he had Shen Qiu cornered.

In truth, he had had plenty of chances to ambush Shen Qiu earlier, but he deliberately held back. He wanted to avoid his teammates and enjoy the spoils alone, convinced that the large backpack Shen Qiu carried must hold valuable treasures.

At that moment, Shen Qiu was sprinting through the complex alleys when he suddenly felt a sense of dread, hearing faint footsteps behind him. His instincts screamed danger, and while running, he subconsciously turned into a narrow alley on the right.

Bang!

A shot hit the corner of the wall he had just passed, chipping off a small piece of it.

“Missed! Interesting!” The youth chasing him became more excited and quickened his pace.

As the youth reached the corner, he was met with a surprising sight—he collided directly with Shen Qiu. A flicker of shock crossed his face. Normally, prey being chased would be consumed by fear and focus solely on fleeing. The fact that Shen Qiu had turned back to ambush him caught the youth off guard.

Sensing extreme danger, the youth quickly raised his gun to aim at Shen Qiu. However, Shen Qiu reacted faster, kicking the gun out of the youth’s hand. As the gun flew into the air, Shen Qiu swung his mechanical blade, aiming to decapitate the youth with a lethal strike.

The youth, realizing the threat, leaned back just in time to dodge the fatal blow. He quickly pulled a military knife from his waist. But at that very moment, Shen Qiu reached out with his left hand and caught the falling gun.

The youth’s expression changed, but it was too late!

Bang! Bang!

Shen Qiu fired two quick shots. Although the gun was out of bullets after two shots, it was enough—both bullets hit the youth directly in the chest.

But in the next second, there was no blood as expected. Instead, the youth’s chest rippled like water, and the two bullets passed straight through him, exiting from his back.

“An Awakened!”

Shen Qiu’s eyelid twitched. He hadn’t expected to encounter an Awakened, and one with a fairly developed ability at that.

The youth’s eyes gleamed with malice, but he quickly regained his composure, suppressing his impulse. Instead of launching another attack, he stepped back, creating distance between them. From their brief exchange, he could clearly tell that he wasn’t a match for Shen Qiu. If not for relying on his special ability, he would likely already be on the ground.

The youth then raised his hand and pressed a wireless communication device clipped to his collar, speaking into it.

“Captain Ozark, I’ve encountered a tough one. Need backup at Ninth Street.”

“Kaon, hold on, backup is on the way,” a cocky voice replied from the communicator.

Shen Qiu’s mind raced, and he quickly turned and fled. It wasn’t that he feared Kaon, but the guy was skilled and extremely cautious. Shen Qiu wasn’t confident he could take him down quickly. If he got tangled up for too long, Kaon’s teammates would surround him, which would be trouble—especially since some of them were likely Awakened as well.

Kaon watched Shen Qiu flee, his smile growing even more sinister. There was no way he would let his prey escape. He maintained a safe distance and pursued.

Shen Qiu ran as fast as he could, but Kaon was like a mad dog, relentlessly chasing after him, refusing to let go. No matter how far Shen Qiu ran, he couldn’t shake him off.

A major reason for this was that Shen Qiu was wearing slippers, which seriously hampered his movement. If he weren’t afraid of stepping on sharp objects, he would’ve tossed the slippers away long ago.

Bang! Bang!

A few bullets struck the ground behind Shen Qiu, sparking as they hit.

Shen Qiu’s heart raced, and he quickly glanced back. He saw three men and one woman in matching combat uniforms catching up with Kaon. The shots were fired by a bearded man holding a submachine gun.

Shen Qiu immediately picked up speed, weaving through the narrow alleyways. He was starting to feel like he’d seen a ghost—how did Kaon’s teammates catch up so fast?

“Abi, keep shooting!” Kaon urged constantly.

“I want to, but I’m out of bullets. We’ve been stuck in this hellhole for too long, and the ammo ran out ages ago!” Abi responded with a grim expression.

“Beta! Do you still have bullets?” Kaon asked angrily.

“No, I’m out too. But don’t worry, Kaon, that guy’s not getting away! Watch this!” The only female in the group, with red-dyed hair, raised her right hand.

In an instant, her entire hand ignited in flames, which quickly condensed into a fireball.

“Die!” Beta shouted as she hurled the fireball at Shen Qiu with all her might.

Sensing the danger, Shen Qiu quickly darted into a nearby building.

Boom!

The fireball hit the corner of the building and exploded with tremendous force.

Shen Qiu’s heart sank further—two awakened beings were after him. This was turning into a serious problem.

The only good news was that they had stopped shooting at him, which most likely meant they were out of bullets. That was a small relief in an otherwise dire situation.

As Shen Qiu pondered his next move, he suddenly burst out of the dense residential area. He abruptly stopped, almost losing his balance and falling forward. In front of him was a shallow river, and he nearly tumbled right into it.

He glanced around quickly, his eyes lighting up as he noticed something. To his right, a bit further off, there was a stone bridge, with a dark underground tunnel entrance beneath it where the river flowed into.

Without hesitation, he sprinted along the riverbank toward the bridge.

Kaon and his team soon emerged from the residential area as well. They spotted Shen Qiu right away and chased after him without a moment’s hesitation.

“That bastard can really run! When I catch him, I’m definitely cutting off his legs!” Beta’s face twisted with fury.

Shen Qiu glanced back and saw that Kaon and the others were closing in fast, causing his heart to race even more.

He continued to run at full speed, getting closer and closer to the tunnel entrance. As he approached, Shen Qiu leapt into the river, wading through the knee-deep water and disappearing into the underground passage.

Not long after Shen Qiu entered the tunnel, Kaon and his team arrived at the river. Without a second thought, they jumped in and followed him into the underground tunnel.

“Haha, kid, you’re really dumb! Running into the water? If you don’t die today, who will?” Kaon said excitedly before crouching down and placing his hands in the water.

“Imprison!”