Chapter 43: So You're That Unlucky Bastard?

The next morning, after eating and drinking his fill, Chen Yuan packed up his tent. The tent couldn't be stored if there were any living things inside. In other words, the advanced zombie no longer had the chance to get back up and bite him. Of course, the inside was a bit of a mess. Fortunately, the tent's floor was corrosion-resistant, which saved him a lot of trouble.

He placed the plasma cannon in his backpack, then added three canisters of deuterium, only then feeling a true sense of security.

He pushed open the main door. A bone-piercingly cold wind poured into the building. The outside temperature had now dropped to negative seventy-five degrees Celsius. Walking outside in this temperature without a thermostatic suit would leave a person frozen solid in moments.

Tieniu cleared the path ahead, with Tiedan following closely by his side.

First stop: the Xingyao Shopping Mall, the camp of the Fenghuo Squad.

He hadn't wanted to go to this place originally, but now that he needed materials, he couldn't be so picky. Besides, he also wanted to see what was left of this camp after they had lost thirty to forty of their members.

He walked out of the alley and onto the main street. Looking in both directions, it was dead silent. He couldn't see a single soul. He looked up. The sky was even dimmer than before. If this were the north, at least you could see the sun in the winter. But ever since the Ice Age began, he hadn't seen the sun once. To be precise, it felt as if the entire sky was shrouded in a thick, gray fog, completely obscuring the outside world.

He shook his head and began to walk forward.

The Xingyao Shopping Mall wasn't far, only a few kilometers. For him, it was a short trip.

After about an hour, the five-story shopping mall appeared before him. This time, however, he didn't head for the underground parking garage entrance. Instead, he had Tieniu clear a path straight for the main doors.

"Tiedan, scan the surroundings."

「Report, Master. No zombies, no threats detected.」

Chen Yuan nodded. That made sense. This was the Fenghuo Squad's camp, after all. Even if there had been zombies, they should have been cleared out by now. If not, they would have rushed out to bite him already.

Soon, under Tieniu's brutish advance, a path was cleared, ending directly at the mall's main entrance. However, when Chen Yuan arrived, he found that the large doors were locked from the inside. They were wrapped with several loops of iron chain and reinforced with wooden planks, obscuring most of the view inside. It seemed the Fenghuo Squad had sealed all other entrances, leaving only the underground garage for access.

Chen Yuan rubbed his chin and decided to just break in violently. He didn't have a very favorable impression of this squad anyway.

"Break the door!"

「Roger.」

Tieniu lowered its head slightly, aiming its two massive offensive horns at the gold-trimmed, tempered glass doors. After taking a few steps back, its four legs suddenly burst with power, and it charged forward.

A deafening CRUNCH echoed out, the sound wave radiating in all directions. The instant the sharp horns collided with the glass, a large hole was punched through the incredibly tough tempered panel at the point of impact. A spiderweb of cracks radiated outwards, quickly covering the entire surface of the three-meter-high, two-meter-wide door.

Tieniu stood its ground, swinging its head up and down, completely tearing open a hole large enough for a person to walk through, shredding the wooden planks inside into splinters.

Chen Yuan nodded slightly and stepped inside.

He glanced at the mall directory at the front desk. Excellent. 'Zhou Xiaofu' is on the first floor. Saves me from climbing the stairs.

Clank, clank, clank...

The sound of Tiedan and Tieniu's metal feet on the clean tile floor echoed crisply. The center of the five-story building was a hollow atrium. Standing on the first floor and looking up, he could see that the glass ceiling, meant for natural light, was completely covered in a thick layer of snow. The searchlight from his dogs illuminated a corner of the mall, making it feel vast and unsettling.

After walking about halfway around the atrium, Chen Yuan stopped. Just as he was about to have Tieniu break down another door, a clamor of footsteps came from the end of the corridor. Tiedan's head-mounted scanner swiveled in that direction, and its voice sounded out.

「Report, Master. Twenty-three individuals are approaching. Threat detected.」

Chen Yuan nodded slightly, his expression unchanged. Tiedan had made such a loud noise breaking down the door; in this silent environment, it was impossible not to be noticed. And since this was the Fenghuo Squad's camp, it was only natural that they would have patrols. More importantly, the interior of the mall was dim, and the searchlight on his robot dog's head was basically screaming, "I'm here! I'm here!"

Chen Yuan stood quietly in place. After about ten seconds, more than twenty figures poured out from the end of the corridor. Perhaps because the searchlight was too bright, they all instinctively shielded their eyes the moment they rounded the corner.

The man in the lead was tall, but he walked with a strange gait.

Wang Meng frowned and said in a deep voice, "Who's there?!"

Chen Yuan smiled and patted Tiedan's head. The robot dog slowly lowered its head, dipping the searchlight's beam.

Only then did Wang Meng get a clear look at what was standing opposite him...

One man and two robot dogs?

It felt as if a bolt of lightning had shot through his brain. He recalled his brother's words.

"It's you?!" he exclaimed.

He raised the mountain axe in his hand and led his men, surging forward menacingly.

Thump-thump-thump-thump...

Their footsteps were chaotic and disorderly. The iron pipes and steel knives in their hands glinted coldly in the reflected light.

Finally, the two groups stood off at a distance of five meters.

"How are you here?! Where is my brother?!" Wang Meng asked bluntly.

Chen Yuan just smiled leisurely and asked in return, "So you must be the unlucky bastard Wang Hao was talking about? The one who got his family jewels broken?"

Wang Meng's face twitched violently. The matter had passed, and his teammates had all been understanding. But to have it brought up in public now made his face burn with shame. It wasn't guilt or self-reproach, but a matter of pride.

The team members behind him also had strange expressions, all of them trying to stifle their laughter. Come to think of it, our vice-captain is a bit unlucky...

Wang Meng's face shifted between shades of green and red. But compared to losing face, he was more concerned about his brother's situation. He had left with thirty or forty men yesterday, but after waiting all night, they hadn't returned. He had been preparing to lead a search party today when he had run into the main culprit.

"You've seen my brother?"

The corner of Chen Yuan's mouth hooked up. He nodded. "I saw him. Last night. And the thirty or forty members of your squad with him."

Hearing this, Wang Meng's expression grew tense. He quickly asked, "Where are they?!"

Chen Yuan shrugged. "Eaten by zombies, of course."

"You're fucking lying! My brother would never be eaten by zombies!" Wang Meng roared, spittle flying from his mouth.

Chen Yuan frowned with a hint of disgust. Good thing I'm standing far away...

"Kid, you'd better start talking, or you're not walking out of this mall today."

"Yeah, talk! Where's our captain?!"

"Spit it out, don't make us get rough!"

...