18: Chapter 18 Wang Yalan is injured

The tall, thin man froze instantly, his outstretched hand stiffening in mid-air. The smug smile on his face instantly solidified, replaced by sheer terror.

He widened his eyes, staring fixedly at the pitch-black muzzle, as if a life-taking bullet would shoot out in the next second.

"You... how do you have a gun?"

The tall, thin man's voice trembled, and his legs couldn't help but shake slightly.

It was no wonder he reacted this way; in the Dragon Kingdom, where gun control was extremely strict, it was impossible for ordinary people to own them. He never expected that the young man in front of him could actually pull out a real gun.

"Know fear now? Sorry, it's too late!"

Chen Ze didn't waste any words and pulled the trigger directly.

"Bang!"

The deafening gunshot exploded amidst the ruins, like a thunderclap.

The tongue of flame from the muzzle flashed and vanished, the bullet carrying immense kinetic energy as it plunged into the tall, thin man's skull like a meteor, instantly spraying blood everywhere.

The tall, thin man didn't even let out a complete scream before his body, like a heavy sack of sand, fell straight backward. With a "bang," he slammed into the rubble-filled ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

His eyes were still wide open, with lingering terror remaining in his gaze, as if, even in death, he couldn't accept the reality that he had lost his life at the muzzle of a gun.

Lei Ge and the short man were completely terrified by this scene. They stood frozen in place, staring hollowly at their companion's corpse, as if their souls had been extracted by this sudden death.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Time seemed to pause at this moment. Even Lei Ge, a thug who had struggled in society before the apocalypse and feared nothing, had his heart completely gripped by fear at this moment.

He opened his mouth, but felt his throat too dry to make any sound.

The short man broke down first, collapsing to the ground with a "thump." He scrambled towards Chen Ze, begging with a sobbing voice.

"Big Brother, I beg you, don't kill me. I won't dare do it again. I... I'm willing to be your beast of burden!"

However, Chen Ze had no intention of letting them go at all.

His principle was: you can talk trash, you can have hostility towards me, but as long as you dare to take actual action against me, sorry, there is only one way out: death.

In the apocalypse, human hearts are unpredictable; kindness to the enemy is cruelty to oneself.

Chen Ze raised his gun again and pulled the trigger directly. The short man kneeling on the ground was hit instantly and fell backward without even a groan.

Seeing two brothers die right before his eyes, Lei Ge's pupils contracted sharply. At this moment, he grew desperate and fierce, directly raising his cleaver and charging at Chen Ze.

"Ah! I'll fight you to the death!"

The distance between the two wasn't far, and Chen Ze's arisaka type 38 rifle couldn't fire continuously. Just as he pulled the bolt again, Lei Ge had already rushed to close range.

Lei Ge's eyes were bloodshot, his face ferocious like a wild beast. Roaring, he raised the cleaver in his hand high, with the ferocity of someone burning their bridges, and slashed fiercely at the top of Chen Ze's head.

In his haste, Chen Ze couldn't dodge at all and could only barely hold the rifle barrel horizontally, attempting to block the blow.

At this critical moment, Chen Ze felt someone give him a hard shove. When he reacted, he realized it was Wang Yalan.

Wang Yalan used all her strength to push Chen Ze away, but that cold, gleaming cleaver landed straight on her shoulder.

"Ah!"

Wang Yalan let out a shrill scream and collapsed to the ground instantly. Blood gushed out from her shoulder, quickly staining her clothes red.

It all happened too fast. Chen Ze watched helplessly as the cleaver fell onto Wang Yalan's shoulder; the bright red blood was so blinding.

Having experienced betrayal by brothers and abandonment by a girlfriend, Chen Ze didn't know how long it had been since he had felt such heartache for someone else.

At this moment, emotions like anger, self-reproach, and worry surged into his heart like a tide.

If it weren't for Wang Yalan blocking in front, it would definitely have been him who got hit. Even if this woman might have had small ulterior motives of relying on him, compared to daring to use her body to block a knife for him, did those things still matter?

His eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins, like an enraged beast.

"Damn you! You're courting death!"

Chen Ze clenched his fingers into a fist and swung it violently, smashing it into Lei Ge's fat face. The latter flew backward like a kite with a broken string, groaning as he went.

Lei Ge had a large build, and such an attack wasn't enough to make him lose combat effectiveness. Just as he was struggling to stand up, the gunshot rang out.

"Bang!"

The pitch-black muzzle of the arisaka type 38 rifle spat out a tongue of flame, and the bullet leaving the chamber, carrying all of Chen Ze's fury, instantly plunged into Lei Ge's chest.

"Ah!"

Lei Ge wailed, his strong desire to survive causing him to burst out with a brute force. Ignoring the gunshot wound in his chest, he forcibly pushed himself up from the ground, stumbling as he tried to escape.

Seeing this, the murderous intent in Chen Ze's eyes intensified, and he raised the arisaka type 38 rifle again without hesitation.

"Go to hell!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Five consecutive shots, all hitting the target, until Lei Ge completely toppled to the ground and made no more sound.

"Wang Yalan! How are you?"

Chen Ze hurried to Wang Yalan's side, knelt on both knees, and carefully lifted her up gently.

Wang Yalan's face was somewhat pale, whether from fright or because of excessive blood loss, it was unclear.

"I... I'm fine!"

It could be seen that Wang Yalan was speaking by forcing herself to stay conscious. Her voice was weak and trembling, and every word she uttered seemed to use up all her strength.

Chen Ze gently pulled open her clothes, only to see a shocking wound. The depth of the cleaver's cut almost reached the bone, the flesh was rolled back, and blood was still continuously gushing out, staining the surrounding clothes a deep red.

Seeing this scene, Chen Ze's heart felt as if it had been fiercely twisted.

Such an injury, in the past, with a professional hospital, might not have been a big deal, but this is the apocalypse; where could one find professional medical personnel and medicine?

Seeing Chen Ze's grave expression, Wang Yalan weakly forced a smile.

"Is it very serious?"

She paused and continued.

"It's okay, you don't need to blame yourself. Consider it me repaying you for saving my life yesterday..."

Speaking of this, Wang Yalan suddenly furrowed her brows tightly; it was clear that the pain from the wound was becoming unbearable for her.

"Don't speak anymore now, save your energy!"

Chen Ze didn't say too many words. At this moment, he had already made a decision in his heart: this woman, no matter what, he would protect her safety.

Taking off his clothes to make a simple bandage on the wound, Chen Ze didn't dare to delay even a minute longer and immediately carried Wang Yalan and rushed towards the direction of the Blockhouse.

Feeling Chen Ze's warm chest and hearing the sound of his heavy breathing in her ears, a strange emotion suddenly surged in Wang Yalan's heart.

"Perhaps, dying in his arms like this would also..."

Wang Yalan murmured to herself, her voice as light as a falling feather. Before she finished speaking, her consciousness gradually blurred.