Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Yi Ye first encountered a gun when he was sixteen years old.

The zombies arrived without warning, catching everyone off guard. Soon after, the apocalypse began, and the once blue sky became a dreamlike memory. The ruined, red city was on its last legs, and when the strong wind blew, it uncovered bones among the wild grass.

Having lost his parents, Yi Ye wandered and hid, spending a long time alone in the vast, dead-silent city.

He foraged for food wherever he could, with expired canned food being a rare treat and moldy chocolates and biscuits considered precious finds. He had toughened his body to withstand a lot, living well, except when he ran into zombies while hunting outside.

Because he was only sixteen, his weapons were no more than a cleaver and an iron rod, far from ideal.

One day, he came across an old soldier.

It was unclear how he had entered the city, speaking in a Sichuan dialect. His arm had several bloody scratches from a zombie, already starting to decay and turn colors, not far from turning into a zombie himself. Yi Ye was on high alert and wanted to run the moment he saw the soldier, but the old soldier grabbed hold of him. He asked Yi Ye his name and how he’d managed to survive alone in the abandoned city, and about his parents.

Yi Ye could only answer the first question.

He’d never had a father, and at the age of five, his mother said she was leaving to make a lot of money, claiming she could earn hundreds of thousands a month, and promised to bring him a better life once she did. She then left him in the care of relatives. When the zombies came, the family’s youngest son had locked him in the basement.

He stayed in the basement for several days, starving and shivering until he managed to break the door open. But when he reached the living room, he found everyone lying in twisted positions on the floor, their blood drained, with flies and maggots crawling under their eyelids.

Everyone was dead.

The city was empty.

How had he managed to survive in this abandoned city alone?

It was a good question, and he also wondered why he hadn’t died. But he didn’t want to kill himself; suicide had no meaning. Living would allow him to do more things and wait for his mother, who might have already been eaten by zombies, to return. In any case, for this purpose, he had to live.

After listening, the old soldier looked at him with sympathy, his rough hand patting Yi Ye’s head before taking out two guns and all his bullets from his waist.

"I don’t want to become a man-eating monster. I’ll give you the gun and teach you how to use it, then you kill me, okay?"

Yi Ye held an assault rifle as wide as his small frame, his expression unusually calm as he asked, "How long will it take to learn? What if you start turning into a zombie before that?"

"Soon."

He taught Yi Ye how to load and cock the gun, pointing to another handgun and saying, "Aim here at my temple and pull the trigger, and I’ll die. Afterward, when you encounter other zombies, aim for their brains. The zombie’s lifeline is the crystal nucleus; only by shattering the nucleus can they truly die. But I don’t have many bullets left. After you kill me, you still need to find a way to leave this city."

"Head north, and there’s a base. You must go there to have any chance of surviving."

Yi Ye listened to him very attentively.

When he was still young, Yi Ye’s personality wasn’t particularly lively. Having no one to talk to but needing to maintain his ability to speak, he had grown accustomed to talking to himself. However, when faced with a real person, he didn’t know what to say and mostly listened. The old soldier didn’t mind, leaning his head back against the wall, closing his eyes, a look of relief as he awaited his liberation.

"Do it." He said.

Yi Ye held the gun, a seemingly calm boy, but his fingertips trembled.

He couldn’t muster the strength for a long time, his dirty yet handsome face turning pale, his lips colorless. He had never truly killed a zombie before, and now he was being asked to kill a rational human being.

He thought he couldn’t do it.

"Don’t be afraid," the old soldier’s voice was hoarse, "If you’re scared, close your eyes. In the darkness, the bullet and death won’t seem so terrifying. But after you pull the trigger, you need to run immediately, don’t look back, don’t watch me, just sprint forward as fast as you can."

"Until one day, when you get used to the action of pulling the trigger, maybe then you won’t need to run anymore."

"Will there be such a day?"

The veteran fell silent, and suddenly tears fell from his eyes as he let out a hoarse laugh. "Don't worry, there will be..."

*

Yi Ye wasn't sure why, but a distant memory suddenly resurfaced. Perhaps it was the familiar sensation of his finger curling around the trigger, surging like a tidal wave, dragging up a past he had long forgotten.

A hint of helplessness crossed his smile.

But the veteran wasn't wrong; Yi Ye had indeed grown accustomed to firing a gun a long time ago.

Although that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

The referee's whistle blew.

Immersed in the darkness, Yi Ye could hear the many voices around him. Whispering from the audience faintly penetrated the bulletproof layer, the ebb and flow of breaths in the crowd, and the contestants behind him shuffled their feet on the ground.

And then there was his own heartbeat.

Thump, thump, like a giant vibration.

In just a few short seconds, time seemed to stretch out endlessly, so much so that some of the spectators even began to yawn.

Before the eye mask was put on, the positions of the targets would be randomly shuffled, allowing each participant only 20 seconds to memorize the positions.

A few Alphas with decent potential had tried before, but even they found it hard to remember the exact positions, frequently missing five or six out of eight shots. This was more about luck than skill; a lucky run might earn you an extra hit, while a bad one could result in all misses.

"I should've bought tickets to the East arena instead. This event is so boring."

"Just wait a little longer, there are still three contestants left, aren't there?"

"This is just the qualifiers; the finals will probably be even more boring. I think only the guy from Melville Military Academy is worth watching."

...

"Hey, look over there, is something going on?"

The audience on the east side of the stands suddenly stirred, squinting their eyes toward the opposite side. A huge crimson banner was unfurled across the dense crowd, spanning almost half of the west side.

"[Yi Ye Lanli Must Win Bureau]—Damn! That's so arrogant!"

"Isn't that the uniform from Imperial Honor Military Academy? What are they thinking??"

"Victory my ass, hitting two targets would be an achievement."

"Young Master Kaiser... are you satisfied now?"

A military academy student smiled obsequiously at the red-haired youth beside him.

Kaiser glanced at the banner and clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. "Didn't they say it would span half the arena? Why is it so short?"

"We negotiated with the staff, but they wouldn't allow it. This is the maximum. And..." the student muttered in a low voice, "The longer the banner, the more embarrassing it gets, right?"

"What did you say?" Kaiser's voice deepened.

"No, no, no!"

Kaiser sneered coldly, not bothering to waste more words. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed another banner appear on the east side of the stands.

In blue and white, it read: "Congratulations to Yi Ye Lanli on your victory."

Compared to Kaiser's cheer, this sentence seems much more subdued.

The man looked confused. "But this isn't it, Master Kaiser? You only asked us for one banner, didn't you?"

Kaiser furrowed his brow. Who could have done it?

But he quickly found the answer.

Bush Meihua stood by the entrance in the distance, meeting Kaiser's gaze and nodding at him with his usual insincere smile.

Kaiser: I knew it was this jerk.

Almost immediately, two huge and conspicuous banners were unfurled inside the venue.

Suddenly, a group of Imperial Honor Military Academy students appeared, wearing headbands across their foreheads. Bold brushstrokes spelled out "BETA Freedom Society" on them. Though there weren't many of them, they waved cheering sticks and struck unified poses, silently cheering on the competitors in the arena.

The scene was striking, like a tightly coordinated dance group that could debut on the entertainment scene right away.

Several drones rose into the air, capturing the breathtaking scene of the audience from all directions, and then focused their lenses on the side profile of the black-haired youth.

Within the limited frame, the young man's features were sharp and handsome. His black hair hung close to his neck, and his long tied-up hair draped over his left shoulder. A perfect blend of beauty and masculinity exuded intense charm from within.

His grip on the trigger was like a slow-motion scene from a classic film.

The movement of his finger joints was captured in detail by the camera and broadcast to every corner of the empire via the terminals.

Zooming in closer.

For a moment, the audience thought they saw the corner of his mouth twitch.

And then—

Bang!

Bang bang bang!

Eight rapid shots, each decisive and crisp.

The crowd froze, then immediately glanced up at the scoreboard. Against a black background with red letters, the final scores appeared clearly.

8 shots, 8 targets.

All hit.

And every single one was a perfect ten.

The air seemed to solidify, abruptly erasing all sound. Silent, the world lost its voice.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!!"

A scream set off waves of cheers. The frenzied shouts shot into the sky like a rocket ignited for launch. Was it the ground or their hearts that were trembling? Almost everyone stood up, wearing expressions of disbelief or excitement as they welcomed the miracle brought by the youth!

"Ten! Ten! Am I seeing things?!"

"Is he really shooting blindfolded? How is this possible?!"

"The lens was on him the whole time. If he wasn't blindfolded, do you think we wouldn't notice? Plus, the eye patches are communal!"

"This is our Imperial Honor Military Academy student! You all better open your eyes wide and see clearly. This is the strength of an Imperial Honor Military Academy student!!"

A mighty roar overlapped and echoed, and words could no longer describe the emotions of everyone present. Excited, they turned their gazes toward his back. Never had they been more eager to see him without the blindfold.

Yi Ye removed the blindfold, his black hair parting to reveal a full and smooth forehead.

He looked at the eight targets, all hit dead center, and raised an eyebrow as expected. The gun twirled in his fingers twice before he casually placed it back on the table.

His demeanor was calm, almost too laid-back.

However, when he looked up and saw the banners on either side, his smile froze. Kaiser had told him he’d bring in a cheerleading squad and to wait and see, but…

This was too much!

Kaiser was still waving triumphantly to him from the audience seats. Wasn’t this guy embarrassed at all?!

Yi Ye hesitated, but the camera was still zoomed in on him, like it was trying to capture every pore. Unable to handle being watched, Yi Ye quickly covered his face and left the stage.

As he stepped down the stairs, a figure suddenly blocked his path.

Eugene stood backlit, forcing Yi Ye to squint and look up. Yi Ye immediately thought he was there to mess with him and cut in, "Did you come here because you missed shooting me in the head earlier? Let me tell you, any trouble here will be broadcast live."

"You're very skilled."

Yi Ye was surprised; he hadn’t expected Eugene to say something like that. So, he was like Kaiser, into strong people? Actually, Yi Ye didn’t want to pick a fight with him. He was thinking of how to resolve the conflict when Eugene suddenly bent down closer.

With his hands in his pockets and his broad shoulders making his muscular back bulge under his uniform, Eugene’s tall and imposing figure instantly cast a shadow over Yi Ye.

Yi Ye instinctively sidestepped backward, unaccustomed to being so close to a dangerous individual.

"With such great marksmanship, have you ever killed anyone?"

"……Huh?"

"Simulated duel, I’ll wait for you."

Eugene dropped these mysterious words and turned away.

Yi Ye was left confused. This guy was different from Kaiser. Kaiser was purely hot-tempered, but Eugene was messed up, exuding an antisocial vibe.

Sick, needs treatment, Yi Ye thought, keeping his distance would be best.

Once all the contestants had finished their matches, the results were quickly announced, and as expected, Yi Ye ranked first. Some audience members were indignant, while others congratulated him. Opinions were mixed, but Yi Ye didn’t care. He quickly returned to the locker room to change into his uniform, all the while messaging Kaiser and hurrying toward another venue.