Back to the Apocalypse

translator: xiin

editor: juurensha

“It’s ants! ” The psychic ability user cried out. They didn’t know what he had seen, but his expression turned extremely ugly.

“My son is still in there.” This cry came out from someone’s heart and lungs as they looked towards Zhang Qiucheng like an angry beast, gaze full of resentment. They waited for him to speak, so that they would know how to react.

“I’m going to save my eldest brother.” A teenager cried out in horror and rushed into the tunnel, disregarding everything else.

The person next to him quickly pulled him back. “Don’t go in. It’s dangerous! You have to be able to save your own life before you talk about doing anything else. Otherwise, your eldest brother won’t rest assured.”

There were noisy voices everywhere; deep brotherly feelings and loyal friends, but it was a pity that nobody took action. No matter how much their mouths moved as they shouted, regardless of how much they pointed at Zhang Qiucheng, or how much fear they held in their hearts, their spirits had tightened to the critical point. Their eyes darted everywhere, and their bodies filled with vigilance as they all stepped backwards as though retreat was the only way for them to escape from the scope of danger.

Bai Jing curved his lips coldly as he looked around at everything that was happening around them. His heart was silent. The bonds of sentiment were so weak during the end of the world; family and friendship were never as important as their own lives. However, it was funny that people always liked to bluff. They were all clearly scared to death and were obviously stepping backwards, but their mouths never ceased in looking for excuses for themselves. It seemed that as long as they could pin all the crimes onto Zhang Qiucheng, they would be able to safely hide behind him, and have Zhang Qiucheng take responsibility for them. After all, didn’t their relatives die while opening up a tunnel for them?

“What’s the situation inside?” Zhang Qiucheng’s expression did not change as he turned a deaf ear to the screams around him. He simply had the psychic ability users report on the situation. His trusted men and subordinates were ready to make a move beside him, standing there neatly well-trained, in sharp contrast to the messy crowd around them.

“It’s an ant colony with ants the size of a baby. There is a large number of them, their movements are very quick, their bodies hard. Only the head and joints are weak. They are afraid of fire.” The concise answer was like a balm of reassurance, quickly reducing the clamour of voices around them.

After Zhang Qiucheng heard this, his cold eyes flashed before he quickly returned to normal, his tone cold and emotionless as he asked, “What’s the situation in the tunnel?”

“There is a lot of soil. They have dug through less than half.”

“Collect firewood and ignite it. Fire ability users stand by, ready to attack.” The cold, vaguely mechanical voice issued a command, and everyone acted quickly. As for the people who were still stuck in the tunnel, everyone tacitly refrained from mentioning them. Compared to the spineless fear from just now, there was now a commander, and they knew the enemy’s weakness. Sacrificing the people in the tunnel became a matter of course, and nobody dared to raise any objections.

Bai Jing’s gaze darted around. He understood Zhang Qiucheng’s plan – he wanted to use fire to attack and force the ants to dig the tunnels for them Instead of using time-consuming human labour, he might as well use the local resources. It was really an intelligent method, but they didn’t know if it would cause any backlash on themselves.

Very quickly, the fire ability users had lined up at the entrance of the tunnel and piled up firewood taken from the surrounding mountains and forests.

“Save… Save me…” Someone escaped from the tunnel. His figure was awkward, his voice trembling, clearly displaying his fear.

Zhang Qiucheng nodded slightly, and the ability users at the entrance of the tunnel quickly rescued the man. The ants waved their claws from behind him, their black bodies covered with a hard armor like shell. Their slender antennae glittered in the dark with sharp lights as the bloody smell from the person who had just escaped drew them forward towards delicious food. They could not wait to rush forward.

It was a tidal wave of black insects; Zhang Qiucheng sucked in a cool breath under the light cast by the flashlight, and the crowd that had just settled down began to panic once again.

“Quick! Start the fire.” They didn’t know who it was, but someone roared instructions from the crowd.

“Boom!” The fire ability users launched attacks, and the heap of firewood caught fire. The light from the flames lit up the darkness of the night sky.

People who had still been frightened just now started to act quickly. They desperately threw more firewood at the fire as the ants’ sensitive antennae flickered everywhere. It became obvious that there was a type of dark red ants who seemed to be smarter. The heat from the fire forced them into retreat; even though food was near, their survival instincts made them unwilling to take such a risk, and they quietly hid where they could. Advance or retreat was dependant on opportunity. These ants were just like a cheetah looking for food, dangerous and unpredictable.

Another type of black ant whose body looked stiff with sharp, bloodstained claws and teeth seemed to subconsciously charge through the fire barrier as though it didn’t exist. Its six legs were hard and metal-like, and it crawled rapidly towards the scent of fresh blood. Even though it was on fire, its arms and legs broken, and its body skewed to one side, it still crawled forward constantly until it was thoroughly dead and unable to move any further.

The first wave of insects was quickly wiped out, and it seemed to inspire the crowd. Nobody was in the mood to rescue the lives that had been lost in the tunnel; they simply kept cutting down the trees around them and adding wood to the fire. As long as the fire barrier remained, they could achieve victory.

Another group of ants crawled out, and the ability users acted at the frontlines, constantly attacking and alternating in teams to throw long-ranged attacks. The current situation appeared good, but nobody dared to take it lightly.

“Ah… Help me…” A scream rang out from the mountains behind them.

“No… There are monsters…” Soon after, another voice sounded.

The tree-cutting teams ran and crawled backwards as panic reflected in everyone’s face.

“Mu… Mutant plants!” The fire at the entrance to the tunnel illuminated the surrounding area clearly. They could see that a huge sugarcane had curled up its legs as it stretched back. The crowd did not even have time to react when the figure of a human disappeared without a trace. Even the sugarcane that attacked had also disappeared.

They could not see where the enemy was, and determine the source of the crisis. There was a strange sense of tranquillity everywhere; there were wolves in front of them and tigers behind them, causing a huge shadow to hang over everyone’s heart.

Zhang Qiucheng’s expression turned extremely bad. He turned to look at the psychic ability users standing to the side, “How’s the situation in the tunnel?”

Knowing his intentions, Huang Wenqiang answered succinctly, “The inside of the tunnel is chaotic. There are rocks blocking the way in the middle and a lot of ants. The nest is at the bottom of the tunnel.”

“Can we force our way through?” This was the question he most wanted to know the answer to.

“Yes, but you will need ability users to open up the way, and rocks will have to be removed from places where the tunnel has collapsed.”

Now that they knew the specific situation, Zhang Qiucheng looked towards Bai Jing. He believed that Xiao Sa and Bai Jing definitely must have heard Huang Wenqiang’s words. Since they were now on the same boat, it was time for them to make a move.

Bai Jing laughed coldly. He naturally understood Zhang Qiucheng’s plan, but it wouldn’t be so easy to make them do manual work. Zhang Qiucheng clearly wanted them to open up the road for them. Was he a fool? He was treating them the same way as he treated those cannon fodders.

After some bargaining, two boxes of ammunition and three boxes of bullets exchanged hands, and Bai Jing no longer had any scruples. After removing a modified Hummer from his space and strengthening the outer shell, Zhang Qiucheng’s eyes flashed. He understood Bai Jing’s intentions in an instant, and his expression darkened for a moment before he managed to recover his usual unruffled appearance. He hastily ordered all his subordinates to get into their cars.

Xiao Sa didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about Bai Jing’s pettiness. He very consciously sat in the driver’s seat and waited for his great wife to give the orders.

“In a moment, I’ll use a space screen. You just need to drive straight through and ignore the dirt on the road. I’ll first put it into my space.” If Zhang Qiucheng wanted him to open up the way for them, he must be prepared to bear the consequences. There was no friendship lost between them and Zhang Qiucheng, and their relationship was driven by mutual interests. Bai Jing felt fully justified in his trickery, but it would still be somewhat helpful for the people behind them. With Zhang Qiucheng as a buffer, their chances of survival would be much greater.

Xiao Sa nodded. He was confident about the Hummer’s performance and using it to resist the ants’ attack was a trivial matter. His thoughts were actually similar to Zhang Qiucheng’s – compared to the unknown mutated plants, he also preferred to face thousands of ants.

The Hummer shot forward as soon as he stepped on the gas. Zhang Qiucheng’s vehicle followed closely behind. Bai Jing looked at the rearview mirror, and a grim smile appeared on his face, causing Xiao Sa to shiver inexplicably as he stepped down on the gas pedal.

The vehicle whistled as it shot through the tunnel, crushing ants under its wheels and splashing brains everywhere. Bai Jing let out a small, relieved breath. Fortunately, they had met with big ants this time. If it had been rats, mosquitoes, or birds, things would not have been as easy as now. Fortunately, he had the space screen. Bai Jing looked back at the cars behind him and watched as the dense crowd of ants rushed to climb onto the body of the cars behind them. Bai Jing very unreasonably found pleasure in others’ misfortune – he just knew that this fellow Zhang Qiucheng would definitely choose to follow their car closely.

juu: geez zombie monster ants, the worst