Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

Chapter 361 - 310: Transformation in Adversity

Silence, after Zhang Su finished speaking, only the sound of breathing remained in the room...

A moment later, Su Xiaoya murmured and asked, "Then... what happened afterward?"

"Have you ever gone out on a mission with Lei Youliang?"

Zhang Su did not answer but instead posed a question.

Su Xiaoya shook her head, then nodded, and said, "Does this trip to Celestial Horse Island count? He was the one who brought me here."

"Are there any female members in your Kuanzhuang combat team?"

Zhang Su asked again.

Su Xiaoya shook her head.

Zhang Su’s suspicion was confirmed. He didn’t continue asking and instead shifted the topic: "When someone attacks us, the only thing we can do is fight back. The conflict broke out, right in the Cyan Dragon Corps’ camp. That other group didn’t join in, the battle was just between the people we led and the ones led by Lei Youliang. In the end, we won."

"You won..."

Su Xiaoya echoed Zhang Su’s words, pouting, and said, "Then... what about Uncle Lei and them?"

"Shouldn’t you be most concerned about Su Lei?"

Zhang Su looked at Su Xiaoya with confusion.

"My sister!"

Su Xiaoya suddenly opened her eyes wide, jumped up from the bed, and said in disbelief, "How could my sister go with them, this... shouldn’t be!"

Zhang Su’s only question was answered. From Su Xiaoya’s reaction, it was clear that Lei Youliang never took women on missions; yet this time he took Su Lei. The chance of encountering him during this mission was great; was there not a deliberate arrangement?

There definitely was!

The only reasonable explanation was that Lei Youliang had somehow learned about Su Lei’s connection with him and wanted to use it to blackmail him. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned!

"Our victory means their defeat. In this world now, defeat means death."

As the words fell, Su Xiaoya collapsed onto the bed like a deflated doll, her mouth slightly open, staring at Zhang Su as if her soul had left her body, a few tears slipping from her eyes, dripping down her cheeks.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the room froze to the extreme.

Su Xiaoya blankly looked at Zhang Su, utterly at a loss for words. The only relative she had in this world was gone just like that?

Faced with this sudden calamity, she neither wailed nor attacked Zhang Su, because she knew it was pointless, yet she felt tremendous pain in her heart.

Zhang Su knew she was in pain, but this was a fact that had to be accepted. Everyone in Kuanzhuang had to accept it; refusing to do so left only the path of extremity.

Previously, he just felt that Su Xiaoya looked familiar. After knowing she was Su Lei’s sister, Zhang Su did not want her to go down an extreme path, so he personally came to tell her.

After a long while, Su Xiaoya softly spoke, "You’re joking with me, right?"

"I wouldn’t joke about something like this!" Zhang Su shook his head solemnly.

"Then you..." Su Xiaoya sobbed once, her eyes dull, and murmured, "Are you saying all this to send me off, to reunite with my sister?"

At this moment, she felt death approaching. Having survived three months under her sister’s care in the apocalypse, she had received rather good care, which seemed enough.

"Of course not." Zhang Su’s tone remained calm and earnest, "Before we came back, we went to Kuanzhuang."

"You..." Su Xiaoya jumped up and urgently asked, "Did you kill everyone in the village?"

Zhang Su could understand the girl’s feelings for her hometown; such a reaction was normal. He shook his head and said, "Do you know Yang Liehuo?"

"I know, Grandpa Huo!"

"Yang Liehuo knew in advance that Lei Youliang wanted to steal from the weapons warehouse and go against us. He didn’t agree with Lei Youliang’s plan, so he didn’t go to the camp with him. When we arrived at Kuanzhuang, we talked a lot with the people who stayed in the village and finally reached a reconciliation."

Zhang Su truthfully told Su Xiaoya about the matter.

"Reconciliation?"

Su Xiaoya’s expression was very peculiar, filled with disbelief and astonishment. She said in a restrained voice, "You killed my sister, killed Uncle Lei, and so many people. Why would Grandpa Huo reconcile with you?"

Su Xiaoya didn’t question Zhang Su; instead, she voiced her confusion. At fifteen or sixteen, it’s not so young for a girl. Under the influence of various novels and TV dramas, her thoughts were mature. In her view, if Zhang Su wanted her life, it would be as easy as pie, and there was no need to make up a story to deceive a little girl!

"I guess while you were in Kuanzhuang, being treated differently, you never knew what kind of life the other women in the village were living, right?"

Zhang Su took out a cigarette, lit it, and continued, "Because of your sister Su Lei, you had certain privileges, but those women didn’t. They were exploited, humiliated. You probably don’t know any of that, do you?"

"Exploited? Humiliated? By whom..."

"Of course, by Lei Youliang, and some other combat personnel! This matter is very complicated, and it’s hard to explain clearly to you. Just understand that we have reconciled, and that’s enough!"

Su Xiaoya was silent for a while, then quietly asked, "Can you tell me what actually happened?"

Zhang Su repeated the events of the day, ending with, "Lei Youliang’s ambition was immense. The other people in Kuanzhuang, including you, were merely his pawns. As long as he could achieve his goals, he didn’t care who was sacrificed. Unfortunately, he met me, and he met the elites of Celestial Horse Island."

"Today, there could have been ten thousand solutions to resolve the differences, but he led Kuanzhuang’s combat team down the most extreme path. Sorry, but I must consider the safety of my companions, so please accept my condolences."

Su Xiaoya quietly listened to Zhang Su for seven or eight minutes, replaying all the events in her mind. She felt an indescribable feeling; the rights and wrongs, positions, and morals in this matter were too difficult to judge.

"Tomorrow, Yang Liehuo will bring everyone from Kuanzhuang here."

Zhang Su saw Su Xiaoya was silent, and he dropped another bombshell.

Upon hearing this, Su Xiaoya’s eyes widened in shock, saying, "The reconciliation you mentioned—is it a merger? Are all the people of Kuanzhuang merging into Celestial Horse Island? Don’t they, aren’t there any... who want revenge?"

"There are." Zhang Su spread his hands and said, "An old woman with a particularly filthy mouth was killed by me on the spot."

"Ah... Grandma Yun."

Su Xiaoya covered her mouth, staring at Zhang Su with terrified eyes, wondering if this person was a devil; how could he do that?

In the apocalypse, due to her age and her sister Su Lei’s protection, as well as Lei Youliang’s special care, she hadn’t witnessed many tragedies. The stories she heard tonight finally exposed her to the real cruelty of the apocalypse.

"I killed that old woman, and no one objected. Do you know why?"

Zhang Su squinted his eyes.

"W-why?"

Su Xiaoya instinctively asked.

"Because her death could save the people of a village! That old woman made the same mistake as Lei Youliang; Kuanzhuang’s combat personnel were all dead. I went to rescue the remaining people of Kuanzhuang. I didn’t want the fight with Lei Youliang to affect the innocent. The old woman disregarded her situation, spouted spite; do you think I went to save people just to be cursed at?"

"I offered the people of Kuanzhuang shelter and a place, allowing them to survive. Yet she dared to jump out and curse me, digging her own grave!"

Su Xiaoya suddenly realized, listening to Zhang Su’s words, her mind seemed to construct bridges, and everything she couldn’t understand before became clear. Recalling the bits and pieces Lei Youliang said to her, and comparing them with reality, she couldn’t help but feel a chill.

"I... I think I understand a bit that Uncle Lei led people to confront you in the camp, at least he didn’t care about my safety, right?"

"Indeed not. His goal was to annihilate everyone we sent to the camp and then attack Celestial Horse Island. If his plan had been successful, and he wiped out our team, when he led his people to Celestial Horse Island, do you think remaining here as a hostage would lead to a good end for you?"

Zhang Su said with a peculiar expression.

"I really didn’t expect him to be such a person. It’s a pity my sister agreed to be with him."

Su Xiaoya hugged her knees, burying her head low, her mood incredibly low.

"I told you all this mainly because you’re young. To be honest, I couldn’t bear to kill you, so think it over yourself, whether you want to stay on Celestial Horse Island or leave alone, it’s up to you."

After speaking, Zhang Su stood up. Because he felt a little guilty toward Su Lei, he told Su Xiaoya a lot. At that time, he could see Su Lei was reluctant to have a conflict, but there was no chance to talk it over in detail.

Reaching the door, he turned around and said: "By the way, some of the women from Kuanzhuang—I guess you could call them your aunts—are particularly eager to pick up a weapon and join the training and combat team. I’ve specially established a reserve team. If you’re willing to stay, you can consider joining it, to equip yourself with the ability to protect yourself, so you won’t just wait to die without shelter."

"Reserve Team? Can I join it?" Su Xiaoya found it unbelievable. Weren’t women only supposed to do dirty, heavy labor?

This was completely different from Kuanzhuang’s policies.

"Of course you can. It’s all about transforming in adversity or dying passively. The choice is yours!"

"Transforming in adversity... dying passively..."

It took Su Xiaoya quite a while to react, and when she raised her head, the door was already closed.