Chapter 24: Purifier (Part 2)

Volume 1 “Year of Calamity”

The special operations team naturally joined the Yushan Fortress group, especially with that Warrior Armored Assault Vehicle. An Sheng was somewhat of a military enthusiast – he had only seen this domestically produced new assault vehicle online before, and this was his first time seeing the actual thing up close.

Although the vehicle had been overturned by that Mutated Creature, military manufacturing guaranteed quality. Aside from some minor scratches, its functionality remained completely unaffected. But an armored vehicle was still an armored vehicle, with considerable weight. Even in his Demon State, it took An Sheng tremendous effort to right the vehicle.

When the special ops team encountered Pighead Three, they naturally expressed amazement again. But having An Sheng the Mutant as reference, they had learned to adapt – after all, this was the apocalypse, and all sorts of strange things were possible. The search team members were overwhelmingly delighted by the special ops team’s joining.

However, when they learned that the soldiers couldn’t temporarily contact their superiors, everyone became quite disappointed. But like An Sheng, they shared the same mindset – they had already grown accustomed to life at Yushan, and even without rescue teams, they still believed they could survive quite well. Supported by this conviction, everyone gradually came to terms with the temporary lack of rescue.

The material search task was completed after 2 PM, with required bedding, canned meats, and vacuum-sealed foods with longer shelf lives making up the bulk. Of course, several large boxes of feminine products were also included.

But this wasn’t a long-term solution. To secure sustainable food sources, farming and animal husbandry needed to be established quickly. Around 4 PM, the search team safely returned to Yushan Fortress. Old Zhang and the other veterans were the most delighted to see the five soldiers returning with them.

“This is our shelter – the former site of the invader’s military fortress,” Old Zhang warmly introduced their new home to the soldiers. For this old veteran, seeing these soldiers felt absolutely heartwarming.

Looking at the elderly, children, and women with joyful faces in the fortress, Nie Chong couldn’t help but marvel: “Old squad leader, I genuinely admire you. Managing to lead so many survivors out under such difficult circumstances – you’re a true hero!”

Nie Chong wasn’t being complimentary. Along the way, An Sheng had told him much about Yushan Fortress’s situation, particularly about Old Zhang. An Sheng deeply respected Old Zhang from the bottom of his heart, and had naturally shared all of Old Zhang’s deeds from the catastrophe to the present.

Since the appearance of the “Red Tide,” Zombies and Mutated Creatures had run rampant, while communications were disrupted by unknown interference, cutting off contact with the outside world. These soldiers had also overcome numerous difficulties to organize themselves.

Nie Chong’s search team had departed a month ago from a temporary base established by the Theater Command Headquarters, with the mission of searching for survivor traces. Along the way, they had found some survivor shelters, but the conditions inside could only be described as appalling.After the catastrophe, most cities became playgrounds for zombies and mutated creatures, while survivors could only huddle inside sturdy buildings, barely clinging to life. Over time, the darker aspects of human nature festered, especially without the constraints of order. Coupled with prolonged oppression and fear, humanity’s beastly instincts were continually unleashed.

In a shelter in City C, Nie Chong witnessed what could truly be called hell on earth. That shelter was controlled by over a dozen burly men. Due to scarce resources, these men had resorted to using the elderly and children as reserve food, while women were reduced to tools for their pleasure.

When the search team discovered the place, many of the weak, elderly, and children had been tortured beyond recognition. Countless had been driven mad or even taken their own lives. That’s why, when Nie Chong and the others first encountered An Sheng, they reacted with such wariness. Sometimes, humans were more terrifying than zombies and mutated creatures—more devoid of bottom lines.

“I’m really nothing special. The fact that we’ve survived and are living this well is all thanks to Xiao An. Without him, we’d have died eight times over.”

This was Old Zhang’s frequent refrain, and it was an indisputable truth. Thanks to Old Zhang’s sound decisions and An Sheng’s formidable strength, the residents of the tube-style apartment building managed to escape the city and reach Yushan Fortress alive.

An Sheng felt somewhat embarrassed by the praise and quickly urged Old Zhang to distribute supplies to everyone in the fortress. Meanwhile, he pulled Nie Chong aside. An Sheng still had reservations about the so-called Purifiers Nie Chong had mentioned, sensing vaguely that these self-proclaimed Purifiers might become a significant problem.

“Captain Nie Chong, I’d like to hear the details of your encounter with the Purifiers.”

“Brother An Sheng, you can just call me Nie Chong. I was actually hoping to discuss this with you as well. This was our first time encountering Purifiers, and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure if you’re like them. Their use of superpowers differs from yours. Among those we encountered, some could control fire, others could manipulate objects, and one particularly powerful individual could even command lightning. It was that person’s surprise attack that caused heavy casualties in our Special Forces Team. However, when they use their superpowers, they retain their original human forms, unlike you, who transform into that… you know.”

Nie Chong recounted everything he knew to An Sheng, eager to learn more about what An Sheng truly was. Having witnessed An Sheng’s strength and the mutated creature that submitted to him, Nie Chong felt that An Sheng might be the key to dealing with these so-called Purifiers.After a moment of thought, An Sheng spoke slowly: “I gained the ability to transform into a Demon after being infected by contact with the Blood Rain, which you call the ‘Red Tide.’ Strictly speaking, I should be considered a Mutated Creature. Pighead Three possesses the same ability as me. When we fight, we emit crimson steam—what’s known as Pheromone. Over the past few months, I’ve roughly understood the function of Pheromone. Just as animals mark their territory with their scent, Mutated Creatures rely on the Pheromone they emit to demarcate territories and warn others of their kind. As for those so-called Purifiers you’ve encountered, they’re clearly not the same type as us Mutants.”

Beside them, the burly machine gunner Liu Pengyu slapped his forehead as if struck by a sudden realization. “Oh! Now that you mention it, I think I remember—when those Purifiers were chasing us, they suddenly stopped. I vaguely saw a dense red mist appear. I thought it was some kind of superpower one of them had, but now it seems a Mutant must have fought them.”

“Nie Chong, I’d like to ask you to help take care of everyone at the Fortress. I’ll leave Pighead Three here to assist you. I need to go check the city center, and I’ll have to borrow your Armored Assault Vehicle. The modified trucks we have are complete garbage compared to your military armored vehicles.”

An Sheng had long coveted this Armored Assault Vehicle. Now that he’d seen it in person, how could he resist the urge to take it for a spin? More importantly, ever since learning of the Purifiers’ existence, he’d felt a vague sense of crisis. It was worth noting that after his mutation, An Sheng’s premonitions of danger had always been accurate.