Back to the Apocalypse

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & Juurensha

The morning passed just like that. After Li Ran explained it to him, Xu Feng finally understood what Xiao Sa had meant and immediately became energized. It was like he’d been injected with chicken blood, and he immediately wanted to rush back and report to his team.

Bai Jing gave Xiao Sa an amused look, then looked at Xu Feng. He found himself marvelling at how this man had managed to live up until now. This man’s character was really one that remembered who fed him and not who beat him; everything was splendid as long as he was given some sunshine.

Xiao Sa’s expression was composed, his manner imposing and dignified. He gave off a shockingly strong presence.

“Brother Sa--” Xu Feng wasn’t stupid. He knew that his own arrogance had been forgiven and immediately started to show his caution. He was like a big dog as he hung his head and drew circles on the ground.

Xiao Sa obviously wouldn’t haggle with him regarding these things. Xu Feng’s strength was pretty good and most importantly, he was obedient. Other shortcomings could be overlooked for the time being. There would be a hard battle to be fought during their trip to the Capital this time, so Xiao Sa didn’t concern himself over his private affairs. However, since Xu Feng had chosen to follow him, certain rules still needed to be established. Since he was going to be part of Xiao Sa’s team, he would make sure the team knew his word was law!

“I won’t keep useless people on my team." Xiao Sa’s eyes were cold, and his lips moved slightly as he issued these words without a trace of any emotion in his voice.

Xu Feng and Li Ran were both surprised. Hadn’t Brother Sa already agreed?

Xiao Sa looked at them coolly. His indifferent eyes were merciless as the pressure of a high level ability user spread outward, instantly filling up the limited space in the room with a sense of suppression.

Facing the pressure straight on was suffocating. Li Ran’s face turned white; at the end of the day, he was still just a kid. Faced with Xiao Sa’s strong pressure, cold sweat seeped out from his forehead, and his body began to tremble.

Xu Feng recovered first. He had a careless personality, and he was occasionally insensitive and rough, but it didn’t mean that he was stupid. While Xiao Sa’s frankness surprised him at first, after thinking about it for a moment, he could understand. Not to mention that it was now the end of the world, even in a peaceful society, nobody would support others for nothing. Xiao Sa’s words were reasonable.

Xu Feng was honest and straightforward. He was no longer confused after he’d thought things through. He looked solemnly at Xiao Sa and promised, "Brother Sa, you can rest assured. Although our team isn’t big, everyone does their job and earns their keep."

Xiao Sa stared at him for a long time, until Xu Feng’s heart sank, then sank even further, his hands and feet turning cold, and the palms of his hands growing damp with cold sweat. Only when his body trembled, and he was almost unable to hold on did Xiao Sa finally withdraw his pressure, a trace of respect flashing through his eyes. Xiao Sa was very clear that he had just released the pressure of a level three ability user. For the several level one ability users, it was really not bad that they’d been able to hold on until now.

The pressure on the three of them released, and they collapsed on the sofa. They discovered at this moment that their clothes were completely soaked through.

Wu Guoan was internally horrified, his heart assailed with huge waves of shock that were hidden beneath his current weak expression. He believed that this was absolutely not Xiao Sa’s ultimate strength. As a boss of the triad who was cunning enough to always have multiple ways out, Brother Sa must still have some hidden trump cards. This was a true powerhouse.

Wu Guoan dropped his gaze. His body was still trembling, and even now, he could still feel that terrifying, chilling sensation lingering. He was both happy and scared; he had even dared to play some small clever tricks under Xiao Sa’s nose. Fortunately, Brother Sa didn’t hold it against him. Wu Guoan felt like he had just escaped from a terrible calamity and shored up the resolve in his heart.

Although Xu Feng and Li Ran felt exhausted, their expressions were calm. In their eyes, regardless how strong Xiao Sa was, it was a matter of course. Xu Feng used to be one of Zhou Ji’s subordinates and had always respected Xiao Sa, while Li Ran had grown up hearing stories about Brother Sa. At this moment, besides admiration and surprise, in their hearts rose up an unprecedented desire, which was worship and yearning for the strong!

Xiao Sa was silent for a while as he waited for them to recover and calm down before speaking sharply, "In the future, people in the team will have a limited supply of two meals a day. If they want to eat well, they will have to make an exchange for it with contribution points. I’ll speak about the ugly things first - if anyone dares to play both sides, I’ll deal with all of you together."

Xu Feng and Li Ran’s eyes were bright. They truly hadn’t anticipated that Brother Sa would provide two meals a day. This was simply an unexpected stroke of good fortune! They had originally thought that when Brother Sa said he wouldn’t keep useless people around, he was disdaining their team for being useless. Xu Feng was shocked, then hurriedly replied, "Brother Sa, don’t worry. Our team obeys me and will definitely be loyal to you."

Xiao Sa was too lazy to respond; for some things, words weren’t enough. He continued lightly, "Little Jing and I are going to the Capital. We’ll stay in K City Base for a few days. Who is in your team, and what can they do? Give me a count. I can provide food for them all from today onwards, but you have to remember that not only do I hate betrayal, I also don’t accept disobedient people! If anyone refuses to follow my rules..."

Xiao Sa’s words trailed off, leaving them to fill in the blanks. Xu Feng patted himself on the chest and assured him, “Brother Sa, don’t worry. I understand the rules. Although the team is small, it’ll definitely act in the group’s best interests. If you tell us to do one thing, we definitely won’t dare do anything else. If you tell us to catch dogs, we absolutely won’t go catch chickens!"

After listening to Xu Feng’s distasteful jokes, Xiao Sa just directly skipped over them. Regardless of what Xu Feng said, none of it was important in the face of his power. Xiao Sa gave him a cold look, "Talk about the important things. Who is in your team?"

Xu Feng laughed dryly, feeling somewhat inadequate as his originally small eyes darted around. He dragged on for a while before finally speaking honestly, "There are thirteen people in our team. There are nine ability users in total. Other than Xiaoxiao, Aunt Liu, and Zhou Hua, all of them can go hunting.”

Xiao Sa pondered the situation for a moment. According to Xu Feng’s words, there were ten people in his team who could be used, which was better than he had imagined. He calmly nodded his head and said, “Go on, be more specific.”

Xu Feng saw that Xiao Sa showed no signs of anger, and his tongue loosened up immediately. He began to speak in detail about his team, his face wreathed with a warm smile. It was obvious that he felt deeply for his team. Having experienced life and death together, along with enduring hardships and being able to survive until now, he was deeply thankful to the heavens and was also grateful for his team’s unity!

In Xu Feng’s team, Xiaoxiao was an eight-year-old girl who was also a water ability user. When they had met Xiaoxiao, her mother had already been scratched by a zombie. In order to make Xu Feng agree to look after Xiaoxiao, her mother had displayed the incredible love of a mother and chosen to take on the zombie alone to give everyone else a chance to live on. From then on, Xu Feng owed her a favour, and Xiaoxiao became an unshirkable responsibility.

Aunt Liu and Uncle Liu were a couple. They could be considered extremely lucky - when the apocalypse broke out, their son happened to be around to protect them and helped them escape. Despite Uncle Liu’s advanced age, he refused to admit to being old, and his body was still in good health. He even managed to develop an earth ability and followed them out every time they went hunting, saying he didn’t want to be a burden on his son.

Liu Jianguo was their son. He was a good, filial son and also a fire ability user. The main reason why these people could form a team together was because they were all unwilling to give up on each other. Zhou Hua was Wen Binyi’s burden; the two of them were a couple. Wen Binyi was a lightning ability user while Zhou Hua was a water ability user. When they met, Zhou Hua’s leg had been broken, but seeing as how the two of them didn’t want to share any details, Xu Feng hadn’t asked any further since it couldn’t be a good memory. After that, they joined the team as well.

There was also Sang Min, Hu Yan, and Pei Pengjun. Although they had no abilities, their fighting capabilities were quite good, and they exercised hard every day, putting in several times the amount of effort that the others did. Even Li Ran had to admit that he felt ashamed when he watched them - even though Sang Min was a woman, she was fierce and vicious when she attacked, and many ability users couldn’t compare to her.

There was also Kong Danzhi and Shu Ruo, an ice ability user and a plant ability user...

All of them worked really hard and tried their best to live on!

Xu Feng finished his careful report and added sadly that their team used to have many more people, but as they went on, they died here and there, and only these few were left now. To tell the truth, if they hadn’t encountered Brother Sa, eking out an existence was becoming more and more difficult, with food becoming more and more scarce. He really didn’t know how they could live on, or whether he would encounter death when going out to hunt on a certain day, dying in some unknown place...

After knowing the specifics of their situation, Xiao Sa was quite satisfied. Although there were several burdensome people, when considering the overall strength of the team, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. According to Xu Feng, these people were all very good. They needed to go to Beijing this time, and although strength was important, their character was even more essential. The waters in the Capital were too deep, and the situation was unclear to them at present. He really didn’t want to end up capsized in the murky sewer.

Xiao Sa thought about it for a while, then made the final decision, "Okay. Go and bring everyone over for me to take a look."

“Yes!” Xu Feng answered loudly, his voice ringing through the room. After that, he stood up and performed a badly executed military salute.

Xiao Sa waved his hand, hinting for him to hurry up and get the hell out.

Xu Feng left happily, not minding Xiao Sa’s attitude at all. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he left, feeling foolishly pleased.

Li Ran was also full of joy and hurried to follow behind Xu Feng. He also couldn’t wait to tell everyone the good news.

“Wait!” Bai Jing stopped him, then pointed to the kitchen and said with a smile, “Take some of it with you and come back when you’re full. Don’t be shy."

Li Ran hung his head awkwardly, a suspicious red glow lighting up his face. He must have been a little embarrassed thinking about his previous small schemes.

Bai Jing laughed, “We’re all going to be in the same team in the future. There’s no need to be polite. These are all daily necessities, and every member of the team should get their share. If you want something even better, you guys will have to work hard."

“Thank you, Young Master Jing!” When Li Ran heard him say this, although his cheeks were red, and he looked embarrassed, he quickly slipped into the kitchen and packed up today’s food.

Bai Jing looked at the amount and felt that it might not be enough, so he brought out some extras before allowing him to leave.

Shortly after Xu Feng and Li Ran left, Wu Guoan also disappeared. Bai Jing curved his lips and glanced at Xiao Sa, thinking that their method of using a stick followed by a date was really quite effective!

Xu Feng’s team sounds so ... sweet~