Night of the Apocalypse

In an instant, the water submerging Shen Qiu’s feet suddenly solidified like cement, directly immobilizing his legs.

Shen Qiu couldn’t move.

“Haha!”

“This time, you’re dead for sure!” Beda shouted excitedly.

Shen Qiu turned his upper body and tilted his head to look at Kaon and the others, revealing a slight smile.

“Really? It’s not certain who’s going to win yet.”

Abi and the others, seeing the smile on Shen Qiu’s face, instinctively sensed danger. They immediately shouted, “Beda, quick, kill him!”

But before Beda could unleash her power, Shen Qiu’s pupils suddenly contracted, and his whole body flickered with lightning.

In an instant, terrifying electric currents spread wildly through the water.

“Ah~”

Kaon and the others let out painful screams, their hair standing on end in that moment.

Once Shen Qiu finished releasing the electricity, he immediately regained his freedom, with the restraints on his feet disappearing completely.

Shen Qiu looked at Kaon and his group, seeing that they were already lying limp in the shallow water. Except for Kaon and Beda, who were still conscious, the other three had passed out, foaming at the mouth. It seemed that awakened individuals had enhanced physical abilities, but even so, the two who remained conscious were temporarily unable to move.

Shen Qiu, holding his mechanical blade like the Grim Reaper, waded through the water step by step toward them, flashing a charming smile and said, “Chasing me… was it fun?”

“You—let’s talk this out! Don’t kill us!” Kaon’s face filled with fear as he hastily begged for mercy.

Beda, also begging for mercy, added, “Let’s talk! If you kill us, our captain won’t let you go.”

“You think threats work on me?” Shen Qiu raised his mechanical blade, about to strike down.

“Wait! If you spare me, I’m willing to give you the treasures I have!” Kaon quickly pleaded.

Beda, startled, seemed to realize something and looked at Kaon in shock.

“If you’re dead, those treasures will still be mine,” Shen Qiu said, completely unmoved.

“I can also tell you a secret if you let me live,” Kaon blurted out, clearly desperate.

“Fine. I’ll give you one chance. If the secret is valuable and true, I’ll spare you. But if you try anything clever, I won’t hesitate to dismember you bit by bit so you can experience the process of dying slowly,” Shen Qiu warned, his gaze fixed on Kaon.

“Swear it,” Kaon said, still a bit uneasy.

“I swear, as long as you tell me the truth, I’ll let you go! If I break this oath, may I be struck by lightning,” Shen Qiu responded without hesitation, making the vow on the spot.

“There’s a vial in my pocket called the Truth Serum. This serum can extend the activity of human cells, giving new life to those on the brink of death. I stole it from a laboratory in the city center. Normally, the lab is inaccessible, but on the west side of the lab, there’s a collapsed statue. Near it is a large sewage outlet—you can enter from there. There’s plenty more inside,” Kaon confessed everything.

After hearing this, Shen Qiu turned to look at Beda.

“Alright, what about you? How do you plan to save yourself?” he asked.

“As long as you let me live, I’ll do whatever you ask. My whole life is yours,” Beda pleaded desperately. Having just awakened her abilities, she was on the path to power and couldn’t accept dying so soon.

After hearing Beda’s words, Shen Qiu raised his mechanical blade and, with a single strike, cleaved Kaon’s head clean off. Blood dyed the entire river red.

Even in death, Kaon’s eyes remained wide open, filled with disbelief.

“You broke your word and killed him!” Beda cried out in terror.

“Sorry, but I never show mercy to my enemies. Doing so would only put me in danger,” Shen Qiu replied coldly.

“No, please don’t kill me!” Beda pleaded even more desperately, her face filled with fear.

But it was futile. Shen Qiu swiftly swung his blade and decapitated her.

Afterward, he quickly and efficiently killed the remaining three who were still unconscious.

Then, Shen Qiu knelt beside Kaon’s corpse and searched it. Sure enough, he found a well-sealed vial containing a dark green liquid. This was likely the Truth Serum that Kaon had mentioned.

Of course, Shen Qiu wasn’t going to trust Kaon’s words blindly. He knew he needed to find another way to verify the effects of this strange serum. In this world, where its inhabitants had turned into something neither human nor ghost, who knew if the serum could be trusted?

Shen Qiu continued searching through Kaon and the others’ bodies. After a short while, he found a mess of random items: a military knife, cigarettes, a lighter, and a phone.

The most valuable item, however, was a green circular module he found on Beda’s body.

Shen Qiu stuffed the circular module into his backpack and then took off Kaon’s soaked shoes to replace them with his own.

As for their clothes, Shen Qiu thought for a moment before stripping down a complete set of combat gear, wringing out the water, and stuffing it into his backpack.

Although the clothes were wet, it didn’t matter. As long as he found a place to dry them, they would be fine later! He certainly couldn’t keep wearing a bathrobe; that would be too inconvenient for movement.

After finishing these tasks, Shen Qiu waded out of the cave and climbed ashore.

Suddenly, a round of applause erupted.

Shen Qiu froze, turning to look up at the stone bridge above the cave entrance.

There stood a man with flowing blonde hair, dressed in a blue military uniform, wearing a sickly smile. Upon closer inspection, he had an emblem of a hawk embroidered on the right chest of his uniform, with two stars sewn onto his shoulder.

Shen Qiu immediately gasped, becoming alert.

“Blue Alliance! Major General!”

“Good eye! Allow me to introduce myself; I am Major General Beluk!”

Beluk brushed aside his bangs and looked Shen Qiu up and down, revealing a playful smile.

“What do you want?”

Shen Qiu asked, staring at Beluk in a deep voice.

“What do I want? Don’t you know?”

“Oh, it seems like you have me figured out?”

“Pretty much, but it’s not impossible for me to let you go. It just depends on whether you know how to be sensible.”

“What does it mean to be sensible?”

“Leave your things behind, and you can walk away.”

Beluk flashed a radiant smile as he spoke.

Shen Qiu stared at Beluk and replied calmly, “I’m sorry, but those things are mine. No one has ever been able to take what’s mine from me.”

“Then that’s a pity. You can go die!”

Beluk elegantly drew a long sword forged from titanium steel and leaped down, slashing towards Shen Qiu.

Shen Qiu looked up at Beluk, who was descending from the sky, and treated him like a formidable opponent, raising his mechanical knife to block the attack with all his strength.

Clang!

At the moment of impact, a tremendous force surged through Shen Qiu via the mechanical knife.

It felt as if he had been struck hard; the skin on his right hand split open, and he was pushed back.

At that moment, Shen Qiu’s expression changed drastically, and disbelief flickered in his eyes. This guy’s strength was absurdly high.

No, this wasn’t right!

Shen Qiu immediately realized that this guy was also an Awakened one, and he was a strength-enhanced type.

At this moment, Beluk didn’t give Shen Qiu any time to catch his breath. He elegantly stepped forward, and with a sword strike as swift as the autumn wind, he directly swept toward Shen Qiu.

Shen Qiu’s pupils constricted sharply. He covered the entire mechanical knife with flickering lightning and actively braced to block!

Clang!

The two weapons clashed once more.

Lightning burst forth!

Shen Qiu was forced to retreat again, and he could hear the bones in his arm crackling.

However, Beluk also felt a tingling sensation throughout his body. He immediately displayed an amused expression and said, “Little cutie, not bad, you have some skills. But don’t use your hobby to challenge my expertise; that would be overestimating your abilities!”