Marvel's Death Merchant

After resting for a while, everyone looked around and realized they had left the city they knew and arrived at the side of a highway.

Looking at the road signs, they knew they were still a long way from their destination. (To be continued...)

Chapter 157 The Complete Virtual World (3)

Looking at the shallow, gently flowing river in front of them, the four people's mood changed from the initial gloom to a little more peaceful. The clear little river flowed quietly in front of them, as if it had not been affected by the virus.

"Is this water drinkable?" Louis pursed his lips, which were cracked from dryness.

“It should be possible. Look, there seem to be fish swimming in the river,” Francis replied.

Louis bent down and placed the empty water bottle into the clear river. After filling it with water, Louis drank it in large gulps and then lay down contentedly on the lush green grass.

Everyone lay on the grass, enjoying the rare good weather and beautiful scenery.

Just then, a deep male voice came: "We should leave. If we don't leave soon, we don't know what we'll run into." Bill looked around with his gun in hand. His soldier's intuition told him that this was not a place he could stay for long.

“What’s that?” Francis asked, staring at a point at the foot of a mountain in the distance.

Bill looked in the direction he was pointing and saw what looked like something at the foot of the distant mountain. He took out his military binoculars and looked at the target.

“A town!” Bill said, slightly excited.

“There’s definitely the supplies we need there.” Louis jumped up immediately.

“But that also means there are a lot of infected people waiting for you.” Bill’s words seemed to shatter everyone’s hopes. “But the town is small, and we didn’t see anyone moving around, so there are probably very few infected people or they have all been moved.”

"Shall we go over there?" Zoe asked.

Bill took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled the rich tobacco flavor through his lungs.

“Of course we have to go. How will we know what’s there if we don’t go?” Bill said calmly.

"Another adventure? Haha, I've been missing those things since I've had some close contact with them these past few days." Francis gripped his shotgun, seemingly quite excited.

Everyone stared at Francis as if he were an alien, but they were all used to it.

“Ignore this madman. He’s always like this, and we’re not going on a dangerous mission. We’re just looking for what we need and seeing if there are any survivors. After all, every extra person means more strength,” Bill said, looking at the others.

Survivors? Are there really any survivors? Bill wondered. It had been almost three weeks since the outbreak, and most of those infected had become crazed, infected individuals. Even if some managed to escape the first wave of the virus's spread, could they escape hunger and fear? Many had gone insane while trying to escape the infected—this wasn't an exaggeration. In this world of fear and hunger, only the strongest and bravest could survive. This world was filled with chaos; could the survivors really make it?

Bill shook his head, not wanting to think about these questions anymore, because weren't they survivors themselves? Their survival meant that others had survived as well.

The four people walked slowly along a country path. Because the path hadn't been maintained or cleaned for a long time, the bright red maple leaves on both sides had fallen onto it. The layer of red maple leaves, like human blood, covered the road, which had a unique kind of beauty.

When they reached the town entrance, they looked up at a sign overhead. It read: "Welcome to Hall Town."

"Let's go in and take a look." Bill led the group into this deserted, silent, unknown world...

Walking through the small town in late autumn, the sunlight danced and shone relentlessly upon the group. But it wasn't blinding, and it felt a bit chilly. The sunlight slanted across the lifeless earth.

Walking through the quiet town, a nameless fear crept into the four unsuspecting people's hearts. Fallen leaves piled up on the streets, and a few cars were scattered about. Everything seemed so desolate.

"Why does it feel like there's no one here?" Zoe asked nervously, gripping her loaded pistols.

“There are two explanations,” Francis said. “First, they might have all been moved.” Francis paused for a moment, “Second, they might all be infected and are now hiding in some dark corner watching their food.”

Louis, standing nearby, broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this. His hand holding the Woods submachine gun trembled. "I just hope it's the first one," Louis said.

"Haha, look how scared you are." Francis said to Louis, who was clearly frightened. "Even if there are infected people, their numbers won't be many. Look how clean the streets are."

Indeed, apart from fallen leaves, there was nothing particularly chaotic on the empty road. Only a few local birds, which didn't need to migrate south for the winter, were making incessant noises on the distant trees.

Although the group's voices were not loud, they were amplified infinitely in the empty town.

"Keep your voice down, let's hurry and find supplies." Bill, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up.

So the four of them slowly searched for something in the town.

"Look there!" Louis exclaimed excitedly, pointing to a small shop.

It was a small shop, like a family-run business, a rather ordinary two-story building. However, the shop itself was what really caught the attention of these four people. The shop's name was "Sidaer Gun Shop."

"We've found a place to resupply ammunition!" Louis jumped up excitedly.

The group had used up most of their ammunition during the past few days of fighting, and without resupply, their journey ahead would be extremely difficult.

"Let's go. Hurry up. Be on guard," Bill urged the slow-moving Francis.

The shop's entrance was a small, open door. They carefully opened it, and suddenly a piercingly loud "ding-ding-ding" sound came from it, assaulting their ears. The tense people instantly raised their guns towards the source of the sound. Looking closely, they saw it was a bell attached to the door to alert the shopkeeper when customers arrived.

It was a false alarm, but fine beads of sweat were still on their foreheads.

Stepping into the store, I observed that it was very clean, but the merchandise shelves were covered with a thin layer of dust. It seemed that no one had been there for a long time.

Looking at the dazzling array of guns in the cabinet, a long-lost joy finally spread across the faces of the four men. They quietly selected their preferred weapons from the cabinet.

“It just feels different to hold something that’s free,” Francis said, holding a brand-new shotgun.

"Be careful, the shop owner might call the police if he comes." Louis said with a smile, looking at Francis, who was grinning foolishly to the side.

"Heh, if he comes back, I'll shoot him right now." Francis said, pointing his brand-new shotgun to the side and imitating the sound of a gunshot. "Bang." Francis smiled as he looked at the gun he so cherished.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from where Francis had just pointed his gun.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!" A frantic scream came from the dark corner. An infected person, covered in blood, with pale skin and tattered clothes, rushed out of the darkness and pointed directly at the four dumbfounded people.

It all happened so suddenly; they were completely unprepared, neither mentally nor with their weapons. They stood there dumbfounded, watching the infected rush towards them.

Bill was the first to regain his senses from the sudden incident. He decisively fired a shot at the charging infected man with his M16 assault rifle.

"Bang!" A bullet struck the infected man squarely in the forehead. The infected man stopped as if the power had suddenly gone out, but due to inertia, he still ran a few steps and fell to the ground, knocking down Louis, who was standing there dumbfounded.

“Oh~s——－h——－i——－t.” Louis hurriedly pushed away the infected person who had fallen on him, and looked up at Bill. A wisp of smoke rose from the muzzle of Bill's M16.

“Could you hurry up next time? You’ve made me dirty again,” Louis said, looking at Bill.

"You should be grateful. If it weren't for Bill, you would have been killed by that infected person long ago," Zoe said to Louis with a smile. "Bill saved your life again."

Louis stood up with a sullen look on his face, dusted himself off, and looked disdainful.

Suddenly, bursts of frantic roars rang out from all directions outside the shop, and they grew closer and closer.

"Oh! What's going on now?" Louis felt a chill run down his spine when he heard the shouts.

“It must have been caused by the gunshots earlier,” Bill said calmly. “Let’s get out of here, it’s not safe.”

The group quickly grabbed the ammunition they had just collected and left the small shop.

“Go that way!” Bill said, pointing to a small department store ahead.

Without considering the potential dangers, the group rushed into the small department store. Indeed, the real danger was behind them… (To be continued…)

Chapter 158 The Complete Virtual World (4)

Leon's final consciousness descended into this virtual reality world, where the Machine Emperor had assigned him the identity of an American soldier. He had already survived many crises, began his own battle after the virus outbreak, and was fortunate enough to encounter Bill and others.

"Bang!" Leon punched the zombie hard in the face, and it staggered back a few steps. I immediately drew my pistol and fired more than ten shots at its head.

"Hiss..." Leon gasped for breath, his hands bleeding and even turning blue.

The zombie's head was completely smashed. Brain matter was splattered all over the ground. "Damn it!" Leon sighed, looking at the two rows of teeth marks on his hand—no, the teeth marks were no longer visible; a chunk of flesh had been bitten off Leon. His hand was instantly a bloody mess.

"Ah..." Leon gasped for breath, clutching his wound, watching the blood gush out like a fountain.

"Oh no, this is terrible!" Another person rushed in from outside, and Leon immediately aimed his P1911 at him. "Hey! Sergeant... wake up! Zombies don't make such pleasant sounds." Leon recognized him immediately; it was the fat man he had rescued. "Sergeant Leon, your hand..."

Before he could finish speaking, Leon understood: he was about to become that damned thing. "I..." Leon's heart sank. Although death wasn't real in the virtual reality world, he didn't want to die yet.

"Sir, what's wrong with your friend?" Another person rushed in, tall and thin, a Black man dressed in a plain white-collar suit. He carried an old MP5 assault rifle. "Ah... sir, you're injured! You... you're going to get infected!" the Black man said in a panic.

Leon stared at him for a moment, then suddenly sighed, "You can leave." He placed the P1911 aside. "Take all my weapons and ammunition." As he spoke, he laid down the guns and ammunition he was carrying. "At least, before I become that thing, let me die in peace." With that, Leon raised a pistol with his free hand and pressed it against his temple.

"Hey!" the fat man shouted, almost lunging forward to snatch the gun from Leon's hand, saying, "Mr. Leon, have you forgotten your mission?"

Upon hearing this, Leon suddenly remembered the task the Mechanical Emperor had assigned him: to provide him with the half-finished antidote. Leon immediately took it out and handed it to the fat man: "Listen, this is the hope of the entire United States. Take it safe and deliver it to the research institute. You must keep it safe! Take this and go. The sooner the better, hurry!" Leon almost wanted to push him.

"Is this... alcohol?" the black man asked, scratching his head, while the fat man took several steps back.

"Fatty, what do you think you're doing? Take this."

Bomer's face darkened. "Louis, go get that bottle." He then shoved the black man named Louis.

"Hey! You're hurting me!" the black man yelled, walking over.

"Leon, you bastard. This is the antidote. And you're not going to use it to save my life?" The fat man walked over with a stern face, and Leon probably guessed what he was up to.

"Fatty! What do you think you're doing?! Bomer George! You can't do this!" Leon roared. Even if he died in the virtual world, he could still be resurrected. However, he and Louis pinned down Leon's arm, and Leon, who had been dazed after being bitten, was now unable to move under their weight.

Despite my best efforts to avoid it, the fat man's large hand still forced Leon's mouth open, and then poured the antidote into it. "Sergeant, am I right? This is the antidote. If it were poison, I think you would have drunk it without worry," the fat man said with a smile, looking as kind and approachable as ever.

"Even though it was poured into his mouth, Leon still wouldn't swallow it. The fat man suddenly covered my mouth with his hand, pressing Leon down so he couldn't spit it out."

"Cough cough... cough!... You..." Leon coughed, pointing weakly at the fat man, unable to say anything.

"Sorry, Sergeant. But I left half a bottle. I think you understand." The fat man and Louis released me.

"Hmph!..." Leon snorted coldly, feeling an intense pain in his head. He collapsed to the ground, everything going black.

Leon Scott Kennedy, under the arrangement of an artificial intelligence in a virtual world, is a soldier in a city in the American South. He's also called Sergeant Leon. Now, Leon doesn't know how many days he's been unconscious. When Leon opens his eyes, he's lying in a bed. But it's not his room. Leon initially thinks it might just be a dream—yes, a terrible nightmare. But from the sight of zombies roaming the streets outside the window, Leon realizes this is an absolutely real dream, a world where someone is testing him.

Leon found a machete at the doorway; the handle was about two centimeters long, and the blade was about five centimeters long. He swung it a few times and found it quite handy, so he put it on. Leon clearly remembered that during his training in the real world, he could use this machete to slice through this sandbag in one stroke; Leon's combat ability was enough to rival those special forces soldiers.

Actually, zombies are quite stupid. Even during the day, Leon only needs to crouch by the car, and few zombies will bother him. This is something Dr. Charles taught me.

But to conserve bullets, Leon had to switch to a machete. However, zombies are different from humans; killing someone only requires a cut to the neck, while with a zombie, you need to cut off its entire head.

Lyon remembered this street; there was a police station at the end of it. He wondered if he could go there to resupply ammunition.

With Leon's abilities, one or two zombies couldn't do anything to him. The streets were full of abandoned vehicles, and many department stores and supermarkets had been looted. Leon found two bottles of cola to drink.

The police station arrived quickly. I carefully counted the zombies around me, shooting them one by one, and not one escaped.

Leon looked around; the area was full of corpses. He thought it was safe and was just beginning to relax when he heard a long, mournful cry, like a crow's call. Leon instinctively aimed at the source of the sound, but there was nothing there. That high-frequency sound couldn't have come from a human. Leon grabbed his gun and, glancing around nervously, headed towards the police station.

"Bang." Leon kicked open the tightly closed door of the police station. The door wasn't locked, there were no lights inside, and the air smelled musty and rotting. Leon leaned against the doorway and shone his strap-on flashlight around, checking several times just in case. He didn't find any zombies inside. Opposite the door was a staircase; he wondered if it was safe upstairs.

Even though it was daytime, the light inside was still very dim. As soon as Leon stepped inside, another cloud of dust rose up.

"Cough, cough, it stinks..." Leon pinched his nose. The air here wasn't just smelly, it was also pungent. Leon stepped in with his other foot. Another cloud of dust rose. Leon looked around to make sure no one was dead, then closed and locked the police station door. Leon didn't want any zombies coming later; the entire police station was now almost completely dark.

Bill and the others went to find food elsewhere, while Leon stayed behind. (To be continued...)