True Apocalypse Game

BANG! With a muffled report, the final bullet blew a zombie’s head apart. The muzzle was already hot and smoking.

Shen Feng put on a mask, jumped down from the pickup truck, and walked over to a still-struggling zombie. He grabbed its hair, forcing its face up to meet his, and carefully studied its eyes.

A glimmer of intelligence still shone in the zombie’s eyes, though it was now much fainter.

Shen Feng could feel the strange magnetic field was still present. The remaining Symbiote zombies with undamaged brains were maintaining their telepathic link, combining their residual brainpower to form a single, sentient consciousness.

He didn’t know the minimum number of zombies required for this connection, but he understood there was likely no upper limit.

’I just wonder if these self-aware Symbiote zombies would be willing to be assimilated by other Symbiotes?’

The zombie Shen Feng held in his grasp looked like a man in his thirties with glasses. A strange smile spread across its face as it continued to speak:

"You... can’t esca—"

Before it could finish its sentence, Shen Feng had already pulled the trigger. A bullet pierced the zombie’s brain, utterly destroying it.

He then got up and walked toward another Symbiote zombie. It gave a sinister chuckle and said:

"Killing me won’t—"

PFFT... The sound of the suppressed gunshot was like a bird’s chirp. It too was silenced by Shen Feng before it could finish.

Shen Feng then continued to hunt down the remaining Symbiote zombies. For the ones struggling on the ground, the moment they uttered a single word, a bullet to the head would immediately follow.

After changing magazines twice, fewer than ten living Symbiote zombies remained.

Shen Feng raised his gun and aimed at a Symbiote zombie that looked like a young woman. For the first time, a look of terror appeared on its face, and it said:

"No... stop..."

Hearing this, Shen Feng couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

’So it can feel fear after all.’

’It seems the Symbiote zombies aren’t immortal.’

It was like a self-aware ant colony, with each individual zombie as its foundation.

Once the majority of zombies belonging to a single Symbiote were eliminated, or wiped out completely, that collective consciousness would cease to exist.

A nascent consciousness, no matter how insane, would still fear the coming of death.

"Name," Shen Feng said coldly. At the same time, he pulled a grenade from his pocket and shoved it directly into the mouth of a nearby zombie.

The young-woman-like zombie froze, seemingly not expecting Shen Feng to ask for its name. After a moment of rapid thought, it said:

"Angie."

This was a typical female name in Mexico. The Symbiote was clearly trying to present itself as female to win Shen Feng’s sympathy.

Shen Feng’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He continued:

"Identify the others in your Symbiote... I’ll burn the rest."

The zombie calling itself Angie immediately raised its severely fractured arm and quickly pointed out eight of the mangled, writhing zombies on the ground.

Apparently, this Symbiote was down to only nine zombies, including Angie.

With a cold expression, Shen Feng beckoned to Reyes and the others, who were a short distance away.

The three of them had been extremely confused, not knowing what Shen Feng was doing. At his summons, they immediately drove the pickup truck over.

Shen Feng pointed at the nine mangled zombies, including Angie, and said:

"Give me a hand. Get them onto the truck. I have questions for her."

The three men froze, baffled as to why this man from Asia wanted to load zombies onto the truck. What could he possibly have to say to them?

And the most terrifying and vicious kind at that—a zombie Symbiote!

Elu immediately shouted:

"Why are we loading this thing? You’ll just attract more zombies and get us all killed!"

Shen Feng gave the noisy man a deep look and was about to do something when Reyes quickly cut in:

"No, we have to take this Symbiote zombie! This gentleman from Hua Country is right! Regular zombies won’t go anywhere near a Symbiote. Taking them with us can protect us!"

Colin, who was standing to the side, also agreed. The two of them immediately jumped out of the truck and began loading the mutilated Symbiote zombies.

Most of them were just half-bodies, but thanks to the powerful life force of the Evil Spirit Virus, they were still alive—or at least their brains were undamaged.

Elu looked like he wanted to say more, but after hearing Reyes, he also started loading the zombies, muttering curses under his breath.

Soon, all nine of the remaining Symbiote zombies were loaded into the bed of the pickup. It was packed full, looking like a truck overflowing with corpses.

Shen Feng leaped directly onto the roof of the truck, surveyed the scene in the distance, and said:

"Turn right at the intersection ahead. There’s a large supermarket two blocks away. We’re going there."

The pickup immediately started up and headed in the direction Shen Feng indicated.

This time, no one argued.

The earlier gunshots and explosions had been deafening and would definitely attract other zombies. The only reason none had appeared yet was likely due to the suppressive magnetic field of the zombie Symbiote.

But now its magnetic field was much weaker, and the other regular zombies would probably arrive soon.

This place wasn’t safe. It was best to find a new hiding spot.

The pickup sped along, quickly reaching the entrance of the supermarket and crashing right through it.

Shen Feng had scavenged here before, so he was fairly familiar with the layout. He directed the truck to the very back of the store, down an escalator, and into the basement-level grocery section before finally stopping.

Without any orders from Shen Feng, the zombie Symbiote calling itself Angie began continuously emitting brainwaves to drive away any regular zombies.

Once they were hidden in the underground supermarket, their surroundings quickly fell silent.

At the same time, the sounds of zombies running and shuffling could be heard from the streets outside. Judging by the direction, they were all heading for the street where the fried chicken shop had been.

If they hadn’t left, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Even with an armored vehicle, they wouldn’t have survived the zombie horde.

Reyes and Colin shot Shen Feng an admiring glance, deeply impressed by his accurate judgment.

But Elu surveyed their surroundings and complained with a frown:

"Are we just going to hide here forever? This is a basement! There isn’t even a convenient exit. The last store was better. Why didn’t we just take the armored car and leave? Once we’re out of Mexico City, we’ll be safe!"

Reyes and Colin exchanged a look but ignored Elu’s complaints.

Unexpectedly, Elu wasn’t satisfied and turned to Shen Feng.

"Hey, Asian, who the hell are you? How can this zombie Symbiote talk to you? And what’s with all the weapons in that chicken shop? Are you with the Sinaloa Group? Let me tell you, we Ceta guys aren’t afraid of you!"

As he spoke, he seemed to feel a sudden heat, scratching his neck. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and was about to take a few drags.

The Ceta Group was Mexico’s third-largest drug cartel, described by the Eagle Country Government as "Mexico’s most technologically advanced, best-trained, and most dangerous drug cartel." Clearly, there was a reason these three had survived this long in the apocalypse.

"Elu, don’t smoke! The smell will attract zombies!" Reyes said with a frown.

Elu himself was aggressive and reckless. This hadn’t been a major issue while they were holed up in the store, but now, upon contact with other survivors, his character flaws were immediately exposed.

Elu gave a sinister chuckle, patted the assault rifle hanging on his chest, and said:

"Who knows when a zombie will chew us down to bone fragments? What’s the harm in having a smoke? If things get bad, we’ll go back and get the armored car. I saw it has rockets too."

As he spoke, he acted as if all the weapons in the fried chicken shop already belonged to him.

Shen Feng, as if he hadn’t heard the argument, turned to the zombie Symbiote in the truck bed and said with a blank expression:

"A few questions. The one who infected this world, the Apostle of the Master of the Void—is his name Shen Feng? Where is he now? What are the Tree of Void and the King of Kings you mentioned? Has the Master of the Void already left this world? How are zombie Symbiotes created? How did your consciousness come to be?"

From the side, Elu chimed in as if he were watching a comedy:

"Haha, Asian dude, you’re saying all that to this Symbiote zombie? How could she possibly understand? This zombie girl is actually pretty hot, too bad you already blew her lower body to—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the man from Hua Country beside him had already raised his gun. Without even glancing at him, Shen Feng pulled the trigger.

PFFT... The bullet instantly pierced Elu’s forehead, leaving a clean, round hole in the front but blowing the back of his skull apart.

Elu hit the ground with a THUD. Startled, Reyes and Colin immediately straightened up, raised their guns, and aimed them at the young man from Asia.

But in the next instant, they suddenly felt a piercing pain in their heads, followed by a wave of dizziness. Their guns clattered to the floor.

Terrified, the two men scrambled to pick up their weapons but didn’t dare make another move. They knew this was definitely the work of the mysterious man from Hua Country!

"Dispose of his body and guard the entrance," Shen Feng said without turning his head, his voice devoid of any emotion.

He had just used the fragment of the Sacrificial Stone to emit a powerful mental pulse, attacking the minds of Reyes and Colin as a warning.

The two men exchanged a look, understanding they had no choice but to obey.

Besides, Elu had been repeatedly asking for it. He got what he deserved.

They began dragging Elu’s body toward the entrance of the underground supermarket to stand guard.

Witnessing this scene, the zombie Symbiote named Angie seemed to understand that the human before it was even more cold and ruthless than a zombie. It didn’t dare refuse him. It slowly began to speak:

"That is correct. The Apostle of the Master of the Void, the eternal Son of God, the master of this node in the Cosmos, is Shen Feng. He is also the king of all the living dead."

Hearing this, Shen Feng couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

’Just as I suspected.’

But he still had to ask, not quite ready to give up hope:

"This Shen Feng... what does he look like?"

As he spoke, he pulled off the disposable medical mask he was wearing.

The moment they saw Shen Feng’s face, all nine Symbiote zombies stopped writhing. A look of utter shock appeared on their faces as they stammered:

"Di... Divine Apostle!?"