Chapter 196: Sui Town’s ‘Protection Money’

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Ji Zan grabbed Fu Shinan and rolled on the ground to dodge the bullet. Immediately, he picked up a stone and hurled it at the bald-headed man’s wrist.

The bald-headed man hadn’t expected a small stone to hurt him. To his surprise, Ji Zan’s attack was unexpectedly powerful, causing him intense pain and making the gun fall to the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, Fu Shinan immediately took control of the man nearest to the fallen gun and handed the firearm to Ji Zan.

The others were dumbfounded. One of them slapped the man named Li Hu on the back, shouting, “Damn it, Li Hu, you’re betraying Brother Dong?”

Li Hu was bewildered, his mind blank, not understanding what had just happened. He responded angrily, “Why are you kicking me, you short potato? Have you gone crazy?”

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The bald-headed man, Wang Dong, was equally perplexed. Li Hu was his best friend, and they had grown up together without parents. They had been involved in the underworld even before the apocalypse. After the apocalypse, Li Hu had saved his life. He couldn’t believe Li Hu would betray them.

Ji Zan had already picked up the gun, and Fu Shinan had severed her connection with the controlled man. The two of them exchanged a silent but synchronized glance.

Ji Zan inspected the gun and then looked at them, saying, “This is a standard police issue. Where did you guys get it?”

These men only had one gun among them, which they had scavenged from a pile of corpses. Now that they had lost the gun, they posed no threat. Wang Dong, although puzzled by Li Hu’s betrayal, was still furious and gave Li Hu another slap. “Damn it, I thought you were loyal! You’re just a backstabbing scum.”

Li Hu, with a wronged expression, replied, “Brother Dong, I don’t know what happened! My mind went blank earlier… Something’s not right with these people. Could they have some kind of sunerpatural ability?”

Fu Shinan had been concerned about Man Yu and the others’ safety and didn’t want to waste any more time. She bluntly said, “Enough with the talk. If you don’t want to die, then get lost.”

Wang Dong sneered and said, “You think you can scare us with an empty gun? Damn it, that gun’s been out of bullets for a long time!” The attack he had launched earlier had used his teammate’s ability. He then shouted, “Attack!”

The surroundings immediately turned chilly as several ice spikes of varying lengths came hurtling toward them. The attack was powered by their ice-based ability, similar to bullets but nearly impossible to detect if you weren’t paying close attention. Wang Dong smirked, waiting to see how these people would meet their demise. However, to his surprise, the ice spikes mysteriously stopped and slowly melted away.

The ice-based ability user standing behind Wang Dong also widened his eyes in disbelief and attempted to produce more ice spikes. But the same thing happened again. “How is this possible? My ability isn’t working!”

Fu Shinan couldn’t help but sneer. With Ji Zan around, did they really think they could use their abilities?

Ji Zan glanced at the ice-based ability user and said slowly, ‘Your ability is quite impressive. I’ll take it.” With those words, he moved like lightning and rushed towards the person.

Ji Zan possessed the power of wind manipulation. Before the ice-based ability user could react, Ji Zan had already twisted the person’s neck, ending their life. He swiftly checked the body and absorbed the ice-based ability. Then, with three punches and a couple of kicks, he knocked the gang of people down. Despite their earlier arrogance, the struggles of surviving in the post-apocalyptic world had left them physically weakened.

Wang Dong, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, was now kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down his face as he begged for mercy. “Big brother… spare me! I was blind and didn’t recognize your greatness. I have an 80-year-old mother to take care of and a child still nursing… please spare my life!”

Ji Zan delivered a kick to Wang Dong and retorted, “Is that so? Your family seems to be doing quite well!”

Wang Dong was kicked back but quickly knelt on the ground again, his smile more forced than genuine tears. “Big brother, you saw through us. You really have sharp insight! When we said we’d eat you, it was just a scare tactic. Don’t let my fierce appearance fool you; I’ve never killed anyone before. We were forced to do this. If we can’t find food and women, we’ll all die…”

Fu Shinan’s voice was icy as she interrupted, “Who are you finding food for?”

Wang Dong hastily replied, “For the people of Sui City! If we don’t provide them with food, we can’t enter the city. There are too many zombies outside Sui City, and staying out here means certain death. Only by entering the city do we have a chance. But to enter, we have to pay a ‘protection fee.’ We had no choice but to come this far and try our luck.”

‘You mentioned Sui City? How far is it from here?” Liang Xuanchen walked over quickly, his face filled with excitement.

Li Huo glanced at the distance and said cautiously, “About seventy to eighty miles…”

“That’s not too far! This is great news! We see hope!” Liang Xuanchen became even more excited and grabbed Ji Zan, saying, “Mr. Ji, let’s set off right away!”

Ji Zan nodded and then asked, “How many people are in Sui City?”