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At 1:30 a.m., an SUV rolled to a stop on the road outside the supermarket warehouse.
Four shadowy figures climbed out of the car, moving furtively. Each of them carried weapons—machetes and iron rods.
It was Hammerhead and his crew.
"At this hour, everyone inside's probably asleep," Hammerhead muttered.
"Let's take the place in one go."
"Kill all the men."
"As for the women… heh heh…"
The corner of Hammerhead's mouth curled upward.
The others chuckled along with him.
In the apocalypse, this was how you were supposed to live—without restraint.
Manami Kento had too many damn rules. Following him around was boring as hell.
"Move!"
"Let's finish this quick."
"The night's too long to waste. Should be spending it with women."
Hammerhead took the lead, striding toward the warehouse.
…
Inside the warehouse, Julian wasn't asleep.
He had just finished feeding someone and wandered into the freezer to grab a bottle of ice-cold beer.
Nothing beat a cold beer at a time like this.
As he passed the big monitoring screen, the motion-capture system triggered an alert.
Julian glanced over.
"Oh? These guys again."
He smiled faintly.
Hammerhead's shiny bald head was unmistakable. Julian recognized him immediately.
Even during the day, Julian had felt something off about the guy.
Sure enough, he showed up in the middle of the night to raid the place.
"Master, want me to deal with them?" Mafuyu volunteered.
After today's feeding, she felt stronger again.
"No need."
"I'll handle it myself. Besides, I was just about to step outside and take a leak."
Julian grabbed his beer in one hand and a Tang saber in the other, then casually opened the door and walked out.
The four men outside were still figuring out how to break in when the door suddenly opened.
They froze.
The hell? He came out on his own?
"Kid, perfect timing!"
Hammerhead sneered at him. "How many people you got inside? Call them all out!"
"Tonight I'm telling you straight—this place belongs to me now."
Julian took a sip of beer and smiled.
"Well… counting me, there are three people in the warehouse."
"But it's the middle of the night. No way I'm letting my women come out here and feed the mosquitoes."
"What?!"
"Only three people?"
Hammerhead blinked, stunned for a moment. Then his face lit up with delight.
That meant taking the place would be easy.
A whole warehouse of supplies…
And two drop-dead gorgeous women…
"Hahaha!"
"Kid, why don't you just surrender now?"
"Maybe if I'm in a good mood after having my fun, I'll let you be my little brother."
He suddenly noticed the bottle in Julian's hand.
"Hey… is that ice-cold beer?"
His eyes gleamed.
"This place is awesome."
"You want a cold beer?" Julian asked, walking a few steps closer with the bottle.
"Of course!" Hammerhead grinned.
"In a world like this, being able to drink ice-cold beer—that's what makes life worth living."
"Come on, bring me a few bottles."
With four men on his side, he didn't take Julian seriously at all.
"Sure."
"If you want one that badly…"
"I'll treat you to a bottle."
Julian suddenly stepped forward and smashed the beer bottle straight into Hammerhead's head.
Crack!
The bottle exploded into shards.
Blood instantly ran down Hammerhead's bald scalp.
Julian hadn't held back at all. Hammerhead's head spun as the world tilted around him.
"Shit!"
"You dare sneak-attack Brother Hammerhead?!"
"Get him!"
Tanaka shouted, and the other three rushed forward with their weapons.
Calmly, Julian drew his Tang saber and gripped the handle with both hands.
Then he swung.
The blade flashed.
Tanaka, who charged in first, was sliced clean in half at the waist.
His eyes widened as he watched his upper body slowly slip downward.
But there was nothing he could do.
Despair.
Nothing but despair filled his eyes.
The other two lackeys saw the scene and were instantly terrified out of their minds.
But they had rushed forward too quickly—they couldn't stop now.
One slash.
Two slashes.
Two heads shot into the air.
Blood sprayed from the empty necks like crimson fountains.
At that moment, Hammerhead finally regained his senses, clutching his head.
When he saw the three corpses beside him, the machete slipped from his hands.
Now he finally understood why Julian could occupy this warehouse alone.
With skills like that, even ten more people wouldn't be enough to kill him.
"Big brother! I was wrong!"
"I didn't recognize greatness when I saw it!"
"Please—spare my life!"
Hammerhead dropped to his knees and started banging his head against the ground.
There was already a huge gash on his scalp, and now even more blood poured out.
From a distance, his head looked like a cracked watermelon.
"You know," Julian said casually, "my biggest strength is holding grudges."
"You wanting my warehouse? That's nothing. Anyone would think the same."
"But the way you looked at my women…"
"Yeah. That's a problem."
"Still, I'm in a good mood today. So I'll give you a chance."
"Whether you live or die depends on you."
The moment he finished speaking, Julian swung his blade.
Both of Hammerhead's legs were cut clean off at the knees.
"Mmph—!"
Hammerhead instantly understood what Julian meant.
Cutting off his legs… forcing him to crawl away.
It meant Julian wouldn't chase him.
Whether he lived or died really depended on himself.
So even with both legs severed, Hammerhead didn't dare scream. He was terrified of attracting zombies.
If he could endure the pain… crawl back to the car…
There was still a chance.
"Alright then. Time to see how hard you can try."
"Oh—and a little parting gift."
Julian reached into his pocket and pulled out a Bluetooth speaker.
Hammerhead's body stiffened.
What the hell?
Why a Bluetooth speaker?!
Julian smiled and turned it on.
"You are my little, little apple…"
The speaker blasted the song at full volume, loud and clear in the silent night.
Nearby zombies wandering the streets began turning toward the sound.
"You bastard! You set me up!"
Hammerhead clenched his teeth so hard blood seeped from his gums.
But now he had no ability to fight back.
"Yep," Julian said with a grin. "I did."
"Come bite me if you can."
He tossed the Bluetooth speaker onto the ground not far from Hammerhead.
"I'm heading back. Take your time crawling!"
With that, Julian picked up his saber and strolled back into the warehouse.
Now Hammerhead had two choices.
One—crawl twenty meters and turn off the speaker.
Two—crawl fifty meters straight to the car.
The car and the speaker were in opposite directions.
He could only choose one.
Hammerhead's mind twisted in agony.
If he went to shut off the speaker, he'd lose precious time escaping.
But if he didn't, the noise would draw more and more zombies.
There was no time to think.
Grinding his teeth, Hammerhead started crawling toward the car parked by the road.
"Grrraaa…"
There had already been quite a few zombies wandering near the warehouse.
The supermarket lobby nearby was packed with them too.
With the catchy rhythm of Little Apple blasting through the night, a massive horde was drawn in.
Before Hammerhead even made it halfway—
dozens of zombies had already surrounded him.
"....."