Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

The roughly made wooden door of Wen Yu's room let out a CREAKING sound, startling him awake.

Wen Yu squinted and saw Sun Ruixing.

"You're back?"

Stretching leisurely, Wen Yu propped himself up and surveyed the battered figure before him.

Sun Ruixing had obviously endured a tough battle; his protective suit was torn to shreds, and a large chunk of flesh had been clawed off his face by a zombie.

Sun Ruixing nodded at Wen Yu. "I just got back. I went to Li Dalong's place, but no one was there. I asked a random person and found out your location."

The events of the afternoon were common knowledge. Besides the death of Er Gang—that beast of a Level 2 professionist—the most eye-catching development was the arrival of a powerful expert, Wen Yu, at the camp.

"I guess I'm somewhat of a celebrity here now!" Wen Yu remarked with a self-deprecating sigh and lay down on the bed again.

Sun Ruixing looked at Wen Yu, then asked hesitantly, "Um, where is Bai Xiao'an?"

I knew it. It's definitely about this troublesome matter, Wen Yu thought. He replied directly, "Sun Aotian took him. Oh, by the way, Sun Aotian is a Level 2 professionist in this camp. Bai Xiao'an's sister hooked up with a powerful expert, so you don't have to worry about Bai Xiao'an's injuries."

"Did Bai Feifei go willingly?"

"Of course!"

"That's good, that's good."

Seeing Sun Ruixing nod in satisfaction, Wen Yu was taken aback.

"You came back nearly dead, and you didn't even get Bai Feifei. Don't you feel it wasn't worth it? You didn't go to save her purely out of sympathy, did you?"

Sun Ruixing looked at Wen Yu strangely and asked, "How could I have done it for Bai Feifei? I'm old enough to be her dad, okay?"

Wen Yu rolled his eyes. "Li Quan'an is old enough to be her dad too. Weren't they just as lovey-dovey in Hualin Town?"

"People are different. I didn't really think that much about it!"

Sun Ruixing sighed and sat down next to Wen Yu's bed.

"When I saw Bai Feifei, I thought of my daughter; they're about the same age. My daughter is all alone in Yanjing City. I originally thought there wouldn't be any problems, but seeing the situation in Chaihe Town... I don't dare to imagine anymore."

Hearing Sun Ruixing's words, Wen Yu silently took out two cigarettes. He gave one to Sun Ruixing, and they began to smoke.

"Girls really have it rough in this shitty world!" Wen Yu sighed unexpectedly. Sun Ruixing's words had touched him.

A father's love is like a mountain. Wen Yu could feel the depth of Sun Ruixing's love for his daughter in his words. It's an emotion I haven't felt for over ten years...

"So, for people like her, I help when I can. I'm terrified that if Yanjing City is also like this, and if no one reaches out to help... I dread to think what kind of treatment my daughter would face," Sun Ruixing admitted.

After hearing Sun Ruixing out, Wen Yu, uncharacteristically, refrained from any sarcastic mockery.

Wen Yu pursued absolute power. People like him were the sky for humanity, the bedrock of its survival in a disaster, and the means by which humanity could eventually counterattack.

However, the continuation of humanity never relied on such individuals. It depended on the countless ordinary people—those Wen Yu often dismissed as weaklings, ants, and cannon fodder.

The reason these people could survive was due to the countless sacrifices made by their own kind, by the many 'saints' like Sun Ruixing.

Wen Yu wouldn't become such a person himself, but that didn't stop him from admiring them.

Good people shouldn't be despised, no matter the occasion, time, or place.

"Did you get into the town today?"

Seeing the distant look in Sun Ruixing's eyes, Wen Yu knew the man was thinking about his daughter again and deliberately broke his reverie.

"I only glanced from a distance. The situation is pretty much as Li Dalong described—it's very bad."

"We'll go check the specifics tomorrow. By the way, you don't have a place to stay, do you? You can make do on the floor here tonight."

When did Wen Yu become so approachable? Sun Ruixing wondered, looking at him in surprise.

"Alright."

Sun Ruixing was decisive. He lay down directly on the floor and, a short while later, his snores filled the room.

Wen Yu looked at Sun Ruixing's wounds, then gazed up at the ceiling, slowly losing himself in his thoughts.

In my past life, I'd met people like this too. I even benefited from their kindness. But their fates all had one thing in common: they died quickly. Good people can be trusted. Just like how I dare to let Sun Ruixing sleep on my floor. I know that as long as there isn't an extreme conflict of interest, Sun Ruixing would never harm anyone. But in the apocalypse, being a good person isn't easy, and they really don't live long. This is a lesson learned from the experiences of countless people. With my past life's experience, I naturally wouldn't fall into that trap. However, I won't actively harm people like Sun Ruixing. They are reliable comrades-in-arms, people you can trust your back to. But not good teammates. There's a fundamental difference between a comrade-in-arms and a teammate.

Pushing these messy thoughts aside, Wen Yu deactivated his combat state and then summoned Cyclops.

The little Soul Beast was in high spirits, still bouncing with energy. It seems that from now on, the combat state can be considered my default mode, Wen Yu mused. Still, without the little Soul Beast on my shoulder, I always feel like something's missing.

"Cyclops, go guard the door."

Cyclops whimpered pitifully. I've been hungry all day, he seemed to complain, and now, late at night, I still have to stand guard!

Ignoring Cyclops's complaints, Wen Yu lay down and fell asleep.

「The night was deep.」

Within Chaihe Town, three ragged figures moved stealthily, hunched over as they navigated the silent clusters of buildings.

A voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Brother Li, what do we do?"

After a moment, the man called Brother Li replied, "There's nothing we can do. This afternoon, we all got battered trying to force our way into town. Xiao Fang was even eaten by a zombie. Now we're trapped here and can't get out for the time being."

"If you ask me, we should never have left the camp," a complaining voice chimed in—it was the third man.

The atmosphere instantly grew awkward.

These three were none other than Li Quan'an and his men, who had fled Zang Pengfei's settlement.

Under the cover of darkness, Li Quan'an's face was ashen.

The human heart is truly unfathomable! Li Quan'an thought bitterly. I went to such lengths to bring my most trusted subordinates out of Hualin Town, yet barely half a day after leaving the camp, they're already complaining. Everyone has their own agendas, and human nature has always been inscrutable. That's why there's no such thing as an absolutely loyal subordinate! Not a single one!!

"Brother Li, look! There's a light up ahead!"