Edge of the Apocalypse
Chapter 25 - 23: Suppressed

Chapter 25: Chapter 23: Suppressed

That evening, the three of them gathered at Liu Ye’ye’s place for a hot meal of egg-fried rice. After a brief chat, they each returned to their own apartments.

After Zhou Jian Country left, Yu Dong gave Liu Ye’ye a door jammer.

"Remember to install this on your door tonight."

After teaching her how to use it, Yu Dong first went to 302 to straighten things up a bit. A little while later, he went straight back to his own room in 401.

He had rejected Liu Ye’ye’s invitation earlier today because he needed to return to his place on the fourth floor to train tonight. This was his personal base, and it wasn’t convenient to have the other two come up.

He didn’t plan on revealing the full extent of his preparations to Liu Ye’ye and Zhou Jian Country just yet.

Aside from the classic reason of keeping his trump cards secret, he actually had a deeper consideration.

’My food supply is more than enough for me to eat for three years. If Liu Ye’ye eats a little less, I could probably manage to support her for those three years as well.’

’But if we add Zhou... then the food will be nowhere near enough.’

’It would be best if both Zhou and Liu Ye’ye could find ways to get enough food for themselves. That way, I can keep my supplies as a final reserve.’

’Only a lack of food will give them the motivation to move forward together...’

Yu Dong was worried his own food supply would become the "two peaches" meant to kill three warriors—an object of desire that would ultimately sow discord and hinder the small team’s progress.

That wasn’t something he wanted to see.

People can endure hardship together, but not share prosperity.

Therefore, for the foreseeable future, Yu Dong would stick to the strategy of surviving together with the others.

’But I feel like I forgot something during the day... What was it?’

Yu Dong could only remember that it was something important.

He turned on a dim desk lamp and thought for a while under the faint light... but came up with nothing.

So, Yu Dong simply picked up his long spear and began practicing his thrusts.

His hands still couldn’t fully control the spear.

Only through day after day of practice could he gradually master this cold weapon, which had shone so brilliantly on ancient battlefields, and turn it into a deadly blade for killing zombies.

「Three hours later.」

Yu Dong was drenched in sweat from his training. Combined with the stench of blood and rot from killing zombies earlier that day, it was becoming unbearable.

He brought in one of the rainwater collection barrels from the balcony.

This was water collected from the rain three days ago. After some simple filtration, it had been left to settle in the barrel.

Yu Dong tossed in a water purification tablet. Once it had completely dissolved, he used the water to rinse off in the bathroom.

"Ahh, much better."

Cleaning oneself up always lifts the spirits.

Meanwhile, in the property management’s security office, the scene was entirely different.

Sister Zhang’s body, which had been dead for two days, had entered the bloated stage of decomposition. Lividity spots covered her entire body, her abdomen was swollen, and wriggling maggots had appeared in her nose, eyes, and mouth.

An unbearable stench emanated from it, filling the entire security office.

The smell of a decaying corpse is a genetically ingrained revulsion for humans, capable of triggering the strongest urge to flee.

Added to that was the vomit from Liang Mian and Jiang Xupeng, the accumulated excrement of three men over two days, and some food scraps... all combining into a complex and foul stench.

"Gagggg..."

Liangzi took a sip of water and felt like he was drinking sewage. There wasn’t a single spot in the room that didn’t stink.

"Brother Jun, we have to get out of here. This place stinks worse than a village outhouse. I’m about to pass out from the smell. I’d rather fight zombies than stay in here another second!"

Jiang Xupeng was also frowning. "Brother Jun, the opportune moment you mentioned... what is it? When is it going to arrive?"

The security office had terrible ventilation. With zombies roaming outside the community, they didn’t dare open a window. The environment had now deteriorated to an unbearable point.

Lin Xiaojun sat in a chair, the surveillance feeds of the entire community displayed before him. He lit a cigarette and blew out a puff of white smoke.

"Don’t be hasty... Our chance is coming soon..."

The surveillance system at Xiangti Bay Community had a backup generator. Even after the city’s power went out, it could keep the security office and cameras running for another 24 hours.

「Early the next morning.」

Liang Mian and Jiang Xupeng were still lying on the floor, sleeping groggily, when Lin Xiaojun prodded them awake with his baseball bat.

He tossed them two extendable batons.

"Aim for the zombies’ heads. Don’t hold back."

With that, he confidently pushed open the door to the security office and entered the property management’s front desk area.

Swinging the baseball bat, he smashed half the head off a female zombie!

Then, with a few more quick blows, he caved its head in, and the female zombie stopped moving.

Meanwhile, Liangzi and Jiang Xupeng were facing another female zombie together. Liangzi recognized her as one of the property’s concierges—a front desk attendant who had once been a pretty young woman.

Liangzi had even fantasized about having an office romance with her...

ROAR!!!

A roar shattered Liangzi’s fantasy. He and Jiang Xupeng, wielding the security-standard extendable batons, managed to knock the female zombie to the ground. They flailed with their batons but couldn’t seem to finish it off...

THWACK!

Lin Xiaojun turned and brought his bat down, punching a hole in her head. She went completely still.

"Lock the main door."

Liangzi quickly locked the main door to the property management office, shutting out the zombies in the community courtyard.

The entire Xiangti Bay property management office was actually divided into four areas.

One was the entrance and front desk area, the main space where residents handled their affairs. To the left was the manager’s office, and to the right was the property rental office, which was Sister Zhang’s office.

The final area was the security office, located behind a door in the front desk area.

The three of them had been hiding in the security office the whole time. Now, after killing the two female concierge zombies, they had taken over the front desk service area.

Sister Zhang’s office next door was empty, while the door to the manager’s office remained shut tight.

Seeing the main door to the property office closed, Jiang Xupeng let out a long sigh of relief.

"We’re safe... I can’t believe there were only two zombies out there. Yesterday there were seven or eight."

They had been able to see the front desk area on the security monitors, and it had always been crawling with zombies, scaring them from going out.

Liangzi said, "Finally, a breath of clean air. I was really about to suffocate from the stench in there."

At the same time, his estimation of Lin Xiaojun grew.

He knew that Lin Xiaojun had found the perfect moment to charge out, taking advantage of a time when the zombies had moved on.

If there had still been seven or eight zombies, they would have been dead for sure.

Although Lin Xiaojun was a bit strange and especially ruthless, he was able to keep them alive, and for that, Liang Mian was grateful.

"Brother Jun, it’s all thanks to you... Thank you for saving me."

Lin Xiaojun gave a nonchalant smile, his eyes fixed on the closed manager’s office.

"Don’t be in such a hurry. You’ll have a much better reason to thank me in a minute."

"Huh?"

Liang Mian and Jiang Xupeng both followed his gaze to the manager’s office.

Liang Mian knew a few things about the property office. He asked, "There aren’t any cameras in the manager’s office, are there? What’s in there?"

"Shouldn’t be a zombie... otherwise, it would have started clawing at the door by now." Jiang Xupeng also had a phone and had received the government notice.

A theatrical smile spread across Lin Xiaojun’s face.

"A reward... for brave men."

He walked over to the manager’s office and knocked on the door.

"Manager, if you don’t come out... I might just have to kick the door in~"

A moment later, the door creaked open, and a young woman in professional office attire tremblingly opened it from the inside.

Her curvaceous figure made the eyes of the three men light up.

Zhao Yun’s pale lips trembled slightly as she spoke:

"What... what do you want?"

Lin Xiaojun’s hand naturally settled on Zhao Yun’s waist as he pulled her into his arms.

"Manager Zhao, don’t worry. Us guys... we’re not bad people."