Apocalypse Chapter 80: Zombie Industrial Park

Chapter 80: Zombie Industrial Park

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

At exactly eight o’clock on the morning of May 26, Jiang Rong appeared outside the west gate of the Peace Base, leading a team of more than a hundred espers. By the time they arrived, Liu Heng and two hundred espers from the Peace Base were already waiting.

After a brief exchange, Jiang Rong’s team followed behind the Peace Base’s convoy, heading toward City W.

City W lay southwest of the Peace Base, more than three hundred kilometers away. By evening, the convoy finally reached its destination—the City W Pharmaceutical Industrial Park.

The industrial park was vast. Besides factories, it included supporting residential areas. Before the Great Crisis, nearly three hundred thousand residents living there had worked in the pharmaceutical industry.

Now, the entire park was deserted—no shadows of people anywhere. In the glow of the setting sun, the silhouettes of the residential buildings faintly reflected the park’s former glory before the crisis.

The convoy did not drive directly into the industrial park. Instead, it stopped outside a convention center near the park. The parking lot was packed with over a hundred vehicles, and small groups of people whispered quietly near their cars.

Guan Shao turned his head and said softly, “These are espers from the southern New Humans base and the northern Sovereign base.”

Jiang Rong furrowed his brow. “The Sovereign Base?”

He knew the New Humans base—it was a large southern base located over six hundred kilometers away. But the Sovereign Base… that name was unfamiliar. He hadn’t heard of it in his previous life. Judging by Guan Shao’s tone, it seemed to be another major base.

Guan Shao explained, “The Sovereign’s sphere of influence is in the northwest, over a thousand kilometers from us. They’re probably here to get a piece of the pie as well.”

Jiang Rong nodded slowly. “Understood.” But whether they got a piece of the pie depended on if everyone could work together to take the industrial park.

At that moment, Liu Heng’s voice came over the radio. “General Jiang, Captain Guan, let’s go meet the other base leaders.”

The main hall of the convention center became the meeting place for esper leaders. When Jiang Rong and his group entered, about a dozen espers were already seated. As heads of their respective bases, none were weak—each had at least second-level esper abilities.

Jiang Rong signed the roster under the Spark Base and his name. When he looked up, he noticed Guan Shao standing sideways, staring intently at the entrance. His face was grave, and a faint murderous glint flickered in his eyes.

Following Guan Shao’s gaze, Jiang Rong saw four or five espers walking in. The leader appeared to be a third-level esper. Even Jiang Rong, who was less sensitive to esper power, felt the pressure radiating from him.

The man was burly and walked with an imposing air. He wore a black cloak with golden tips on its edges. The first time Jiang Rong saw him, he felt an unpleasant chill.

“Which base are they from?” Jiang Rong asked. Liu Heng whispered beside him, “They’re from the Sovereign Base. The leader’s name is Gu Zefeng. He’s a rare dual-element esper, controlling both wind and fire, very powerful.”

Jiang Rong’s eyes widened in surprise. “Dual-element esper?” He had thought Guan Shao’s lightning abilities were already over the top. He hadn’t expected someone even stronger.

Guan Shao snorted. “Don’t listen too much to the rumors.”

Before Jiang Rong could ask more, Gu Zefeng strode toward Guan Shao. “Master Guan, long time no see. Didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Guan Shao sized him up and replied with obvious irritation, “Yeah, didn’t expect you to still be alive.”

Gu Zefeng laughed loudly. “Disappointing for Master Guan, I’m not only alive but untouchable now. I heard you went to some nobody little base? What a pity, Master Guan, you’re talented in both culture and combat. It would be normal for you to found a new base. Why settle for being under someone else’s?”

“How about joining Sovereign? If you come to Sovereign, we’ll call off all grudges. Just like before—you lead, I obey.”

Guan Shao said flatly, “In your dreams.”

Gu Zefeng clearly expected this answer and didn’t take it seriously. Instead, he shrugged and looked toward Jiang Rong. “You must be Jiang Rong from the Spark Base? Hello, hello. I’m Gu Zefeng from Sovereign. Your son is very cute—I listen to his broadcasts every day.”

Jiang Rong nodded. “Hello.”

Jiang Rong had thought Gu Zefeng would just exchange a few words and leave, but unexpectedly, he stepped forward, his face less than a foot away from Jiang Rong’s. He sized Jiang Rong up from head to toe, his smile growing wider.

“I’ve been wondering why Master Guan would stay at the Spark Base,” Gu Zefeng said. “If I had a beauty like you by my side, I’d be willing to stay at Spark too.”

Before he finished speaking, Gu Zefeng’s hair suddenly stood on end, and in the next moment, a burst of orange-yellow flames erupted from his hair. He yelped, staggering backward. “Ah, Master Guan, that was way too harsh! I just waxed my hair!”

While complaining, he ruffled the top of his head. The flames shifted from orange-yellow to pale yellow before quickly snuffing out with a whoosh. Gu Zefeng glanced greedily at Guan Shao.

“Master Guan, you really shouldn’t show off your powers in front of me. You know, I can’t always control myself.”

Guan Shao stepped half in front of Jiang Rong, blocking the way with a cold voice. “Don’t push me to act.”

Grinning, Gu Zefeng spread his hands. “Master Guan, are you sure you can take me on right now?”

Espers in the hall turned their attention to the tense standoff. Guan Shao’s fists clenched tighter and tighter, his muscles tensing rapidly. Just as the atmosphere thickened between Guan Shao and Gu Zefeng, Jiang Rong stepped forward, placing himself between them.

“Captain Gu,” Jiang Rong said firmly, “we’re here to cooperate, not to pick fights.”

Gu Zefeng raised a brow but smiled brightly, withdrawing his powers. “Oh? Then maybe Master Guan should listen to your leader. Look at how big-picture he is.”

With that, Gu Zefeng whistled cheerfully and strode past Guan Shao, deliberately bumping into him hard as they passed. Though Guan Shao’s face remained expressionless, Jiang Rong could tell he was on the verge of exploding. Once Gu Zefeng left, Jiang Rong lowered his voice to ask, “You know Gu Zefeng?”

Guan Shao replied calmly, “He used to be in the military too. We were teammates once. I’ll need to tell everyone to be cautious around him. The reason we gathered everyone here today is to leverage our combined strength to clear out the abnormalities in the industrial park.”

Just then, An Ran clapped her hands, and a large screen behind her lit up with drone footage. The streets of the industrial park’s residential area teemed with movement. On closer inspection, many of the figures were just white bones; others were covered in rotting flesh. They—or rather, they—shuffled back and forth, occasionally emitting harsh growls.

At this sight, the espers present gasped sharply. Jiang Rong recalled the last time he’d heard Zhou Xing’s angry voice on the radio cursing his subordinates. Back then, Zhou’s team claimed to have encountered zombies, which nobody believed. But now, the ironclad evidence was right before their eyes. Zombies were real—and not just a few.

An Ran said, “According to drone reconnaissance, there are at least 250,000 zombies inside the industrial park. We have 1,300 people here. We need to clear them out within three days. Does anyone want to back out?”

One thousand three hundred against two hundred fifty thousand—that meant each person would have to face nearly two hundred zombies. Impossible for ordinary people, but everyone here was a battle-hardened esper. The mission, though daunting, was not impossible.

Liu Heng raised his hand. “Captain An, can I ask if any of our previous brothers are still alive? Have the drones detected any signs of them?”

Before they arrived, over six hundred espers had entered the park, and Liu Heng refused to believe they were all lost. An Ran was silent for a moment, then answered, “The drones have not detected any esper activity inside the park. I believe they’re still alive but trapped. There are too many zombies, and they can’t break through. So once inside, be vigilant and try to contact the earlier teams.”

An esper near Jiang Rong muttered under his breath, “Stop joking. How could six hundred people leave no trace at all? If even one were alive, there’d be signs. With so many zombies wandering around the residential area, who knows what else might be lurking inside.”

That concern was on everyone’s minds. On the surface, it seemed all they had to do was wipe out the zombies. But no one knew what awaited deep in the residential zone. For now, they had to take it one step at a time and listen closely to An Ran’s orders.

The 1,300 espers would split into eight groups to enter the park through eight entrances. Conveniently, there were eight bases present—each assigned to guard one entry point.

Shooting Star was assigned to the park’s southeast second entrance. From the map, it wasn’t large and was far from the residential area. It seemed An Ran had carefully considered each base’s combat strength and assigned the largest and strongest teams to the highest-risk spots. Her allocation was reasonable, and no one objected.

After receiving the orders, Jiang Rong and Guan Shao stood to leave the hall. As they passed by Gu Zefeng, he suddenly whistled at them. “Master Guan, don’t die, alright?”

Guan Shao lowered his eyelids, hiding the murderous intent in his eyes. “You too. Don’t die—we still have unfinished business.”

 

 

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