The Little Merman in the Apocalypse 5
In the desolate night, the remnants of once-thriving buildings could barely be seen, the city reduced to ruins.
Broken walls and debris, prosperity no more.
Yet, the scene inside this supermarket was vastly different from the outside.
The exquisitely decorated second floor was piled high with food and daily necessities, eliminating any worry about supplies needed for the apocalypse.
On a brown leather sofa, Sang Biao lounged with his legs crossed, leisurely drinking.
His hair was cropped short, his face rugged.
The scar that ran from his forehead to his cheek made him intimidating.
He casually rested his legs on the coffee table, a relaxed posture that nonetheless exuded a sharp aura.
“Boss, the people are here.”
Huang Mao whispered into the man’s ear, and two young, pretty girls emerged from behind him.
They looked slightly different from their previous disheveled state, now exuding a fresh scent of body wash after a bath.
“What are you standing around for? Go on!”
Huang Mao scolded them for not reading the room.
The girls nervously clutched their skirts as they sat next to Sang Biao, pouring him more wine.
The man rubbed his stubble with a wicked grin, not in a hurry, savoring the good things slowly.
The two girls were too naive, looking bewildered.
“Xiao Mei, teach them how to serve a man.”
A woman approached gracefully, her white long dress accentuating her curves, her bright red lips adding a touch of sensuality to her face, exuding the unique charm of a mature woman.
Xiao Mei’s face briefly flashed with extreme disgust, quickly suppressed.
But she dared not defy, putting on a fawning smile.
Huang Mao leaned against the wall at the door, smoking, his eyes shadowed under his messy hair.
He chewed on an unlit cigarette repeatedly, his right hand in his pocket, fingers rubbing as if plotting something.
He looked up, the clock on the wall pointed to 1 AM.
Xiao Mei slowly moved in front of Sang Biao, who was almost unable to contain himself, eager like a child wanting to hug her.
Having been with the man for over half a month, she had long figured out his thoughts and pushed his arm away.
The woman coquettishly whined, appearing weak.
“Brother Biao, I’m not feeling well~”
Worried he wouldn’t believe her, Xiao Mei bit her lip and clutched her stomach, “Really, I’m not lying to you.”
Sang Biao clicked his tongue, his gaze sharp like an enraged tiger.
He stared at Xiao Mei for several seconds until her shoulders trembled slightly, cold sweat forming on her back.
Sang Biao’s face darkened, waving her away.
“Bad luck, get out of my sight, don’t bother me.”
Xiao Mei sighed in relief, stood up, and exchanged a glance with Huang Mao outside the door, blinking.
He nodded back nonchalantly, as if it were just a normal silent interaction.
Sang Biao didn’t notice, worried about being disturbed, he had sent away all his men, leaving only the clever Huang Mao to guard.
On the supermarket’s first floor.
An elderly woman, around seventy, dressed simply, her features marked by time.
Her hands were rough yet warm, tightly embracing her granddaughter.
The child wore a pink dress adorned with small white pearls, like a little princess, her former liveliness frozen in that moment.
Her little face, once supposed to be rosy and healthy, now appeared pale.
The carefully braided pigtails hung beside her cheeks.
The child’s eyes were tightly shut, as if lost in a deep dream, unresponsive to everything around her.
“Sweetie, don’t sleep, let Grandma feed you.”
People around silently averted their eyes, having grown immune to such partings since the apocalypse, though some soft-hearted girls quietly wept.
They couldn’t bear to tell the old woman that her granddaughter had long passed away…
Feeling drowsy, a yawning man, Xiao Liu, looked around.
“Who’s still eating?”
No one responded.
He suddenly noticed the elderly woman sitting there hadn’t moved for a long time, as if frozen.
“Ma’am, are you asleep?”
There was still no response to his call.
Xiao Liu rubbed his ears and eyes, noticing the elderly woman’s thin shoulders had slumped, her clothes now too loose to show any supporting frame.
It was as if… her insides had been hollowed out.
He swallowed, a sense of foreboding prompting him to grab a mop and stand up.
“Are you okay? Say something!”
The noise he made woke his wife beside him.
“Honey, what’s wrong?”
Xiao Liu himself was unsure how to reassure her.
“Stay here, don’t move. I’ll go check on that grandmother and granddaughter.”
The man walked slowly, gripping the mop tightly as a weapon.
As he got closer, the chewing sound became clearer, coming from the old woman’s embrace.
Something was moving under the clothes, blood had long soaked the old woman’s body, including the floor beneath her.
Xiao Liu’s eyes widened, terror-stricken as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out, an indescribable fear completely seized his heart.
The man instinctively stepped back, his body trembling uncontrollably, even his fingers turned cold.
He forced himself to speak despite the hair-raising sensation, his voice slightly shaking.
“Are you… are you okay? Do you need help?”
A child’s face emerged from under the old woman’s clothes, devoid of whites in its eyes, still chewing on viscera.
“Ah!”
No one expected a zombie crisis to erupt from within the supermarket, everyone frantically fleeing.
Naturally, no one heard the gunshots from upstairs.
Sang Biao’s eyes hadn’t closed, a blood flower blossomed on his chest, and he died.
Huang Mao kicked him to the trash bin, spitting harshly.
“Pah!”
He had long been displeased with Sang Biao.
Xiao Mei nestled in Huang Mao’s arms, her face changed drastically.
“Something seems wrong downstairs…”
The thick, pungent smell of blood spread far, chaos erupted with loss of control, fleeing, tearing, and wailing.
A large group of zombies launched an organized attack.
At the top of the supermarket.
The man’s sharp brow ridge, his dark eyes calm and unruffled.
He stood like an emotionless statue, silently observing the massacre and bloodshed unfolding below in the supermarket.
Pei Yue’s black shirt fluttered in the howling cold wind.
The veins on his pale skin were black, indicating his non-human identity.
Aside from that, he lacked the rotting skin and twisted body typical of zombies.
Xiao Zhou was protecting his wife as they fled, the scratch on his ankle hidden by his pants gradually turning black, beginning to mutate.
The man held the woman in his arms tightly, even as the whites of his eyes showed bluish-purple lines, he instinctively shielded her, his breathing unsteady as he urged.
“Juan’er, don’t look back, keep running.”
Just as they thought they were about to safely enter a large mall without attracting the zombies’ attention.
A steel bar flew through the air, piercing Xiao Zhou’s head, killing him instantly.
“Husband… ah!”
The woman went mad on the spot, her scream not far-reaching but enough to draw nearby monsters rushing over.
Without exception, she was devoured by zombies, the steaming flesh not wasted, leaving only a skin that stained the ground red.
The nauseating scene fell into Pei Yue’s eyes.
“Boring…”
He strolled away.
The well-tailored black suit pants wrapped around his strong long legs.
Suddenly, a wave of heat, Pei Yue looked down with interest.
A cute little girl, only five years old, was crying so hard she could barely breathe, her face still chubby with baby fat, dripping with blood, though it wasn’t hers.
She was clearly on the verge of collapse, her wide eyes filled with tears, swollen and red.
“Big brother, save me.”
As the zombie king, Pei Yue’s appearance was not much different from a normal person.
He was used to being mistaken for one.
The man tilted his chin slightly, a lazy, playful smile on his lips.
“Don’t be afraid.”
He bent down to the little girl’s level, his deliberately feigned smile exuding friendliness.
The man’s fingers spread open, loosely resting on the back of the little one’s head.
“I’ll help you, so you won’t suffer anymore.”
The unsuspecting little girl didn’t understand the underlying meaning of his words, only assuming Pei Yue was willing to protect her.
With just a slight grip, he could crush the girl’s entire skull.
“Humans, truly amusing…”
A lamb in dire straits seeking help from the hunter.
Just as he was about to make his move.
A bullet aimed at Pei Yue’s temple whizzed by, carrying a breeze, something an ordinary person wouldn’t notice.
But the man, moving at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, became a blur.
Not only did he dodge the bullet’s trajectory, but he also hurled the stirred-up cement mixture at Chu Weilin, who was sniping from the rooftop.
The two locked eyes from afar, a fierce confrontation unfolding once more.
In the laboratory.
Assistant Xiao Zhou shook his dizzy head, finally waking up.
Facing Qiao Han’s icy expression, he would rather faint again.
The little merman Su Luo was in even worse shape, his light blue tail lifelessly wrapped around the seaweed roots.
His delicate face lay on a shell, unwilling to move.
The assistant scratched his head in confusion.
“What did I miss again?”
There was another person behind him, whom Xiao Zhou respectfully addressed.
“Ms. An, hello.”
An Lan, the base leader.
Her hair was cut to ear length, neat and stylish, like carefully sculpted lines, highlighting her exquisite features and slender face.
She appeared competent and independent, yet retained a feminine grace.
The woman was tall, her model-like figure perfectly wrapped in a sophisticated business suit.
The tailored suit had smooth lines, its dark color understated and steady.
She walked with firm steps, her face always bearing an indifferent expression, a calmness and composure born from weathering storms.
“Dr. Qiao, I thought the time I gave you was sufficient.”
Before the man could explain, An Lan ordered someone to inject Su Luo with the Catalyst.
She needed this non-aggressive male merman to quickly enter a pseudo-mating season to complete the reproduction task.
In an instant.
The boy’s cheeks flushed with an ambiguous red, his long lashes trembling, eyes misty.
“Ugh… I feel so uncomfortable… hot.”
Su Luo’s soft voice carried a clear sob.
He pitifully lay against the cold glass wall, seeking help from Qiao Han, revealing a slender, beautiful collarbone.
The boy dizzily shook his head, seeing a gentle green female merman introduced into the tank.
He realized An Lan’s intention, whimpering as he hid in his little nest.
Qiao Han’s eyes instantly turned cold, his facial lines taut.
“Ms. An Lan, he’s not of age yet, and he’s timid, he’ll be frightened. Your approach is incorrect!”
An Lan remained unfazed, having seven armed personnel leap in, overpowering Qiao Han with overwhelming force.
“Sorry for the intrusion, take the doctor down to rest.”
The man was forcibly dragged away.
Assistant Xiao Zhou also left, casting a worried glance at the dazed little merman before departing.
The female merman named Youni was several years older than Su Luo.
Her eyes were a clear emerald green, her skin covered in smooth scales, a faint green like beautiful jade.
She tried to approach, but the boy only wanted to hide pitifully.
Youni gently probed, patiently soothing him like an older sister.
“Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.”
The woman’s soft voice was like the ocean’s whisper, making one unconsciously lower their guard.
Su Luo slowly lifted his somewhat bewildered porcelain-white face, unaware of how enticing he looked at that moment.
Youni was surprised by the boy’s beauty, gently holding his hand.
Su Luo’s ears turned crimson, his words mumbled.
“Sister, I…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Fortunately, the female merman showed no impatience, staying by the boy’s side.
“Hmm?”
Su Luo glanced at An Lan, who was observing them from the best vantage point on the second floor.
The bullet in the woman’s hand was loaded, like a silent warning and threat.
The boy’s lashes trembled repeatedly, his fingertips curling into his palm.
“Sister, I’m scared…”
Youni narrowed her eyes slightly, swaying her body to shield Su Luo from An Lan.
“Don’t worry, I’m here. Leave everything to me.”