Chapter 77 Internal Strife: Preparing to Blackmail Su Ze!

"You... you've been infected!"

Shi Jie's terrified scream was like a sharp knife, instantly piercing the brief silence in the Equipment Room.

Lü Jiahao, Yan Yang, and Zhang Ming's bodies stiffened abruptly.

"No... it can't be..."

Lü Jiahao clutched his blood-drenched arm, his face as pale as paper, his voice carrying a desperate sob.

"Brother Fan, save me... I don't want to die, I don't want to turn into one of those monsters!"

Yan Yang leaned against the wall, the three bloodstains on his shoulder shocking to behold; his lips trembled, unable to utter a single word.

Zhang Ming was in disbelief, his hand trembling as he touched the shallow bloodstain on his neck once more.

It seemed as if he wanted to make sure one last time.

However, when his fingertips touched that warm, sticky wetness, it was as if all his strength had been drained away, and his eyes instantly lost focus.

The fear of death, like a cold tide, instantly submerged them.

Zheng Qifan and the other two looked at their three injured companions, their minds going blank.

All his greed, jealousy, and fantasies were shattered by the cruel reality at this moment.

"Brother Fan! Save me! I don't want to die! Quick, go find Su Ze and ask for the zombie serum! He has the zombie serum!"

Suddenly, Lü Jiahao lunged forward, trying to grab Zheng Qifan's pant leg, but he was kicked away by a terrified Zheng Qifan.

"Stay back!" Zheng Qifan roared, his face also looking extremely terrible.

"Zheng Qifan! This is all your fucking fault!"

Yan Yang, on the verge of collapse, suddenly looked up, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at him as he hissed.

"You're the one who said it! You said mimicking the zombie cries would work! You're the one who ruined us!"

"Yes! It was you!"

Zhang Ming also snapped back to his senses, desperation driving him mad: "If it wasn't for your rotten idea, how could we have gotten hurt! How could we be dying!"

Under the threat of death, their former Dormitory friendship instantly disintegrated.

"Bullshit!" Zheng Qifan, having been poked in a sore spot, retorted in a fit of humiliation and rage.

"When we talked about this plan, weren't you all excited as well? Now that something went wrong, you're blaming it all on me?"

"We were tricked by you!"

"Either you find the zombie serum to save us, or you give us back our lives!"

Lü Jiahao and the other two hissed, struggling to stand up.

To the other three, that appearance looked exactly like the precursor to an imminent transformation into zombies.

Fear instantly overwhelmed everything else.

"They... they're about to turn!" Shi Jie shouted in terror.

He picked up a steel pipe from the ground and swung it around wildly, "Brother Fan! What do we do!"

Although the wound on Zhang Ming's neck wasn't deep, the shadow of death had driven him completely insane. "If you don't save us, we won't live, and you won't live either!"

As he spoke, he actually raised the iron rod in his hand and smashed it toward He Zhen, who was closest to him!

He Zhen's face changed drastically, and he instinctively stepped aside to dodge.

"They're crazy! They've gone mad!" Shi Jie screamed.

"They're going to mutate! They'll kill us!"

This scream completely ignited everyone's survival instinct.

Zheng Qifan looked at his three red-eyed, demon-like companions, and a thought exploded in his mind.

They were no longer companions.

They were infected... zombies-to-be!

"Do it!"

Zheng Qifan gave a violent shout and, without any further hesitation, raised the fire axe in his hand high and hacked it down fiercely toward Yan Yang's head!

He Zhen and Shi Jie also shuddered and instantly reacted.

Rather than waiting for them to turn into zombies and kill them, it was better to...

For a moment, in the cramped Equipment Room, the sound of tooth-aching thuds and bone-cracking echoed.

There were no screams, only suppressed gasps and frenzied attacks.

...

An unknown amount of time passed.

When the last thud fell, the Equipment Room finally returned to a deathly silence.

Zheng Qifan, He Zhen, and Shi Jie were covered in warm blood, leaning on their weapons and panting heavily.

They were also injured, but they couldn't be bothered with that now.

They looked at the three mangled corpses on the ground, and a complex emotion mixed with lingering fear, disgust, and the grief of seeing their own kind perish welled up in their hearts.

Six people had come out, and now only three remained.

"Now... what do we do?"

Shi Jie dropped the steel pipe in his hand, his voice trembling; he didn't dare look at the bodies on the floor.

He Zhen also slumped onto the ground, his face full of despair.

Zheng Qifan's chest heaved violently as he wiped the blood from his face.

"It must be because our imitation wasn't good enough... we were too nervous..." he muttered to himself, as if trying to convince himself.

"Still... still practicing?" Shi Jie heard this and was scared out of his wits, "I'm not going! You can beat me to death, but I'm not going!"

Zheng Qifan ignored him.

He knew that there were only two paths left before them.

Either they bite the bullet and go out to kill zombies, slowly accumulating copper coins to trade for supplies with Su Ze.

Or, they could only continue to practice...

Neither path was any good.

Suddenly, a flash of insight crossed Zheng Qifan's mind.

This secret...

Even though they hadn't succeeded, they... knew it.

"There's another way." Zheng Qifan's voice was hoarse, yet it carried a hint of eerie excitement.

Both He Zhen and Shi Jie looked up at him.

"We don't have to take the risk ourselves." The corners of Zheng Qifan's mouth slowly curled into a sinister arc.

"We can blackmail Su Ze!"

"What?" Both He Zhen and Shi Jie were stunned.

Zheng Qifan's eyes grew brighter and brighter, "He relies on being able to mimic the sounds of zombies to move freely among the zombie hordes."

"Because of that, he can unscrupulously scavenge supplies at night, accumulate so many things, and keep so many women!"

"Think about it, if this secret were made public and many people learned it, how could he maintain his advantage? How would he keep all those women?"

"He absolutely! Absolutely doesn't want anyone to know about this!"

He Zhen and Shi Jie's breathing gradually became rapid.

They understood.

This was Su Ze's lifeblood!

"As long as we use this as leverage..."

Zheng Qifan's voice was very low, filled with seduction.

"That Su Ze has so many supplies and so many women; would he be willing to let everything go to waste? Just a little bit leaking from between his fingernails would be enough for us to live very comfortably!"

The flames of greed were reignited in He Zhen and Shi Jie's eyes.

That's right!

This was much safer than going out to risk their lives against zombies!

"If he dares to try and silence us..."

Zheng Qifan's mind raced, and a plan he considered foolproof emerged.

"I'll go talk to him! You two watch from a distance at the stairwell! If he dares to make a move, you immediately leak his secret on the Public Channel!"

"Make him wary of the consequences!"

He Zhen and Shi Jie's eyes also lit up bit by bit.

That's right!

This idea... seemed really feasible!

He Zhen's Adam's apple bobbed; greed began to override his fear as he revealed a morbid smile: "Yeah, Brother Fan is right. Even if we only ask for a little bit, it'll be enough for us to survive!"

"More than that!"

Shi Jie's courage also grew, and he excitedly added,

"We can blackmail him every now and then! From now on, we won't have to do anything; we'll just wait in the Dormitory for him to deliver supplies to our door!"

"By then, with plenty of supplies, will we still be afraid of not finding women? We have three empty spots in our Dormitory; we can find three pretty girls to fill them! Won't life be wonderful?"

The three of them grew more excited the more they thought about it, as if they could already see a beautiful future where they were surrounded by women and living in luxury.

The fear and guilt from just killing their companions had long since been washed away by this immense temptation.

"Then... how much should we ask for?" He Zhen rubbed his hands together and asked eagerly.

Zheng Qifan pondered for a moment, a ruthless expression appearing on his face.

"Let's see his attitude first! If he's very afraid of the secret being exposed, we'll directly ask for fifty percent of his supplies!"

"If he wants to go down fighting... we'll back down to thirty percent... or even just ten percent! That would still be enough to sustain us for a long time!"

"Exactly! Get it in our hands first! There will be plenty of opportunities to slowly blackmail him later!"