Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

Zhang Xiao frantically sprinted forward, trying to dodge the attacks coming from behind him.

It was quite frustrating. He had found a small supermarket that hadn't been looted. Keep in mind, it had been over a month since the apocalypse started. In the city, finding an unscavenged supermarket was as lucky as receiving Buddha's favor!

Yes, Zhang Xiao was a believer in Buddha.

However, Buddha didn't favor Zhang Xiao. At least, not completely.

While Zhang Xiao was desperately stuffing items into his backpack, he unintentionally spotted a young boy at the entrance.

Not even ten years old. At that age, in Zhang Xiao's eyes, he wasn't the least bit intimidating!

So, Zhang Xiao made a 'quiet' gesture at the boy, but he didn't expect...

"Brothers, someone dares to fucking rob our stash! Grab your weapons and kill him!"

With a dumbfounded look on Zhang Xiao's face, a gang of young kids swarmed out from every corner of the alley!

Their appearances and clothes were dirty, but that couldn't hide their true nature!

These kids were actually all Level 1 professionists!

God knows how such small children killed zombies and mutant beasts. Leaping up to smash zombie skulls? Just imagining that scene was too much!

Before Zhang Xiao could react, a variety of skills, flying kitchen knives, and rocks were hurtled his way!

This is really damn frustrating!

Watching the endless stream of "long-range attacks" from behind, Zhang Xiao was utterly helpless.

It was a simple fact: the combat strength of professionists couldn't be judged by age. As a Level 1 professionist, he was only one person!

Behind him, the Level 1 baby army had more than ten members!

Even if adults were indeed stronger than children under the same physical conditions, it was nowhere near enough to compensate for the disparity in numbers!

Zhang Xiao had no choice but to run!

Luckily, as an adult male, Zhang Xiao's legs were at least longer than the children's.

Long legs meant faster running.

When Zhang Xiao had no choice but to throw away his backpack, the pursuing baby army finally stopped.

Childish yet serious shouts came from behind.

"Next time, if you fucking dare come to our turf, I'll beat the shit out of you!"

I'm not stooping to the level of a bunch of brats!

Zhang Xiao lowered his head, silently grumbling... or rather, comforting himself.

However, it wasn't until Zhang Xiao looked around at his surroundings that he realized why the brats had stopped chasing him.

Damn it, I've run into the mountains...

...

"Boss, let's make a deal."

Zhang Xiao hesitated for a moment, then crawled out from Lin Zi and said to the group of children brandishing weapons with a bitter smile.

Zhang Xiao had no choice. Originally, this place was not a mountain forest, but due to the rapid expansion of mutant plants, this suburban area had long been covered in green.

And anywhere covered in green was a forbidden zone for humans!

Just as cities constructed of steel had become forbidden zones for mutant beasts!

Although the apocalypse hadn't started long ago, a strict dividing line had slowly emerged.

And it would only get stricter!

Because this was fundamental to preventing large-scale conflicts between humans and mutant beasts.

Hearing Zhang Xiao's words, the leading boy sneered.

"What? Not running anymore? Keep running, I'm not chasing!"

Seeing the boy sizing him up, Zhang Xiao gave a bitter smile.

Humans' adaptability is strong!

In less than two months, it was enough to establish an unwritten order, or so-called 'unspoken rules'.

Quietly placing the steel saber on the ground, Zhang Xiao took a deep breath.

"Toll."

The boy in front sized up Zhang Xiao's protective suit, and said with an air of feigned maturity, "It's not enough!"

"Don't you fucking go too far! You want my protective suit too? Do you know how long I scrimped just to get two pieces of equipment? Even the entrance fee for the Central City Assembly Site isn't as much of a rip-off as you guys!"

Zhang Xiao immediately flared up!

「Ten minutes later.」

Zhang Xiao stood stripped bare on the spot. His steel saber and protective suit lay on the ground.

The leading boy nodded.

"We're going to escort you out. No objections to that, right?"

Zhang Xiao naturally had no objections to this.

Of course, Zhang Xiao wouldn't harbor any resentment either.

Because this sort of thing was something every group in the city would do; it was one of those unwritten rules. And being alone, he had no way to contend with these people, even if it was a group of kids living on the city's edge—the baby army!

"No problem, I understand the rules. But I hope you guys follow them too!" Zhang Xiao nodded.

"Of course! We're not as shameless as you adults!" The leading boy rolled his eyes.

"Fine!"

Zhang Xiao took a deep breath. Just as he was about to step out of the mountain forest, a hand unexpectedly landed on his shoulder!

"Holy shit, save me!"

The sudden touch didn't give Zhang Xiao time to figure out what creature had touched him. His instincts, honed in the short time since the apocalypse began, made him dash towards the baby army.

After all, compared to the unknown, the baby army before him seemed more reliable.

As Zhang Xiao neared the baby army, he noticed they were far more composed than he was.

Only then did Zhang Xiao turn his head to look at the creature that had touched him.

Clearly, it was a human.

Though his clothes were dirty and his hair long and messy, it was definitely a human!

To think I was so startled by a human that I jumped around in panic, not even managing to cover my privates properly in my haste! Zhang Xiao was seething with anger.

Just as he was about to loudly curse the strange man who had popped out of nowhere, the kid king beat him to it.

"Hey, you there, the guy who came from Lin Zi! If you want to pass through our area, you need to pay a toll!"

"A toll?" the strange man spoke. "How much?"

"TSK!" The kid king snickered. "What antique crawled out from under a rock? Who uses money nowadays? I mean magic crystals. Do you know what magic crystals are?"

"Oh, magic crystals, I know."

As the strange man finished speaking, he slowly started walking forward, observing his surroundings.

"Right, this is Mudanjiang City, right?"

Possibly due to the strange man's calmness, those around him were slightly puzzled. The kid king hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"The changes are really drastic, huh!" a sigh escaped the strange man. Then, a sound came from the woods behind him!

Moreover, the sound was quite loud!

Under everyone's shocked gaze, a massive dog, nearly ten meters tall, emerged from the mountain forest behind him!

Ten meters tall—this height even exceeded the trees at the edge of the mountain forest!

Its grey-white short fur stood up like steel needles, its ferocious, wide mouth held a mutated wild pig, and atop the dog's head, a small, pitch-black creature resembling a lizard was perched.

"Mo-monster!"

Zhang Xiao and the group of wide-eyed kids stared at the sudden appearance of Cyclops, and gasped sharply. Some of the less brave ones immediately collapsed to the ground!

Damn it, what level is this mutant beast?!

Zhang Xiao glanced at the strange man, who remained composed, then at the massive dog that had quietly followed, and swallowed hard.

"Right, about that toll you mentioned earlier, exactly how much is it? If it's too much, I won't be able to afford it!"