Marvel's Death Merchant

The five of them worked together quite well, managing to hold off the zombies for a while without incident. Just as they were watching the horde of zombies gradually dwindle, they heard a whooshing sound, like a sharp knife. Leon turned around and saw that it was a green, tentacle-like thing that instantly bound Francis and pulled him towards the back of the horde.

"Damn it! What is that?!" Leon asked. He dared not fire indiscriminately, for fear of accidentally injuring Francis.

“It’s the Smokers,” Bill answered Leon. He then grabbed a nearby iron hook and charged into the horde of zombies. The hook was quite sharp, easily tearing chunks of flesh from each zombie. Every now and then, blood would splatter towards Leon. It was quite annoying.

"Help me!" Francis's voice came over, and Lyon also heard a series of coughs.

"Cover!" Leon shouted back, ignoring the zombies in front of him, and charged forward. He felt dizzy and nearly fell several times under the punches and kicks of the horde of zombies. Old Bill, however, was a sharpshooter and almost always saved Leon from danger.

At this moment, Leon also saw Francis after he was turned into a zombie; he had already been pulled up the stairs by that tongue-like thing.

"Damn it! Francis, are you even a man?!" I yelled. Suddenly, a surge of strength welled up inside me, and I started a lousy street fight with the zombies.

Francis, perhaps realizing he was a man, pulled out a dagger from somewhere and tried to cut the tongue binding him, but his hands were also bound, so it was almost useless.

"Ah!" Leon roared again, grabbed the iron hook, and began whipping the infected.

Finally, Leon killed the infected, piercing its neck with a "thud." No...it might not even be called a neck anymore; half its face was covered in enormous tumors. The piercing shot released a burst of green mist. The tongue loosened, and Francis immediately scrambled to his feet.

"Oh! This staircase is killing him." With that, the bastard ran up, pulled the iron hook off the Smoker, and ran back down to help Leon.

"Give me the gun!" Leon shouted at Louis.

"Here you go!" Louis said, tossing the P1911 pistol to Leon. Leon pushed aside the two zombies in front of him and killed the infected.

"Damn it! Come on, die!" Leon roared. Every shot hit the zombie's head, but Francis's pistol was almost out of ammo, maybe two magazines. Luckily, there weren't many zombies left. After Leon fired his last bullet, the remaining two zombies pounced on Francis. Francis happily sent them to hell.

"Hahaha, that was a blast killing people today!" Francis laughed as he walked down the stairs. Leon thought maybe God was jealous of him. The zombie under Francis's feet slipped, and the self-satisfied man lost his balance and tumbled down the stairs.

Leon shook his head helplessly and carefully walked down step by step. To be honest, it felt terrible to step on the infected. Even though he was used to it, the stench of blood in the air still made Leon nauseous.

"Ugh... what bad luck." Francis slowly got up. He patted his clothes, his face covered in blood splattered from the zombies, making him look like a ghost. Leon probably wasn't in much better shape.

"Are you all alright?" The elderly yet vigorous voice immediately revealed that it belonged to Bill.

"I'm fine, but I wonder how Francis is doing," Lyon replied casually.

"Oh! I'm hurt, my whole body aches terribly!" Francis's voice sounded like a pig being slaughtered. "Especially from that fall I just took."

"Come on, what's so painful about falling onto a carpet of infected people?" Louis joked.

"I'm asking if you've been scratched or bitten?" Leon said seriously.

“Oh, are you afraid I’ll get infected…actually…” Francis said, glancing at Bill.

“Yes, that’s right. The four of us, except for Zoe, were injured a long time ago, but for some reason… they haven’t shown up yet.” Bill said, showing the scratches on his arm.

As he said, they were all injured. But they were unharmed. Leon suddenly realized that they were people with a special constitution that was naturally immune to the mutant rabies virus.

Lyon recounted his past experiences, including Louis's account. After listening and being confronted by Louis, they naturally had no doubts.

The zombies in the stairwell were all dead, and the corpses were piled up like mountains, covering the ground, making Leon wish this were a Hollywood movie.

“Actually, we’re currently filming a zombie movie that we have no choice but to make,” Bill said, patting Leon on the shoulder.

At this moment, Leon knew that the rift between him and the four people might have disappeared. (To be continued...)

Chapter 169 Battle in the Virtual World (2)

Many years ago, on a night when I was a high school student, Leon vaguely remembered that the stars were twinkling but the moon was dim. His father took him to the hill behind their house to look at the sky. He asked him what he wanted to do, and he told his father that he wanted to be a policeman.

He remembered that the moon grew dimmer that night, and the stars were countless. The surroundings were utterly peaceful… And now, just like that night, it was supposed to be a peaceful and beautiful night, people laughing and talking, opening the door to feel like home. But accompanying them were screams and cries of agony, the blood appearing mysterious and alluring under the streetlights, though I have no idea where this city, already ravaged by the virus, got its electricity.

The screams and the sound of their bullets falling were like a funeral dirge, each note rousing and each one taking a bloody life. I don't know how many times this had happened, the third or the fourth time? The "tap-tap" of the gunfire was almost inaudible to me; this peaceful night, accompanied by gunfire, felt like hell.

“Bill! I’m almost out of bullets!” Zoe shouted. Leon had hardly thought that they were almost out of bullets, even though it had only been a few hours since they left the police station.

“Oh… these infected are disgusting…” Leon complained.

"Hey bro, too late for disgust now, little guy behind you!" Louis suddenly shouted. Leon almost instantly stumbled backward like an ordinary zombie, and without a second thought, he shot the guy dead. Since sniper rifles are inconvenient for close combat, he usually uses a Desert Eagle or the P1911 that Francis gave him.

"There's a gun shop in the mall up ahead, let's go there to reload!" Bill shouted, stepping back to load his M16, leisurely lighting a cigarette as he did so. "Back up to that bus that's leaving!" Bill then stepped forward again.

"Let's go! Get on the bus, it'll be easier for us to defend there!" Zoe agreed, and the group, under the cover of Bill and me, retreated into the bus with the open door. After confirming they were all inside, Leon and Bill abandoned their shooting and ran onto the bus as well.

With only one door to guard inside the bus, the wave of zombies was quickly dealt with. The last few were then killed by Francis, who apparently found a brick somewhere; it seems he's not only a motorcyclist but also a thug. Well, perhaps the concepts of motorcyclist and thug aren't so different.

Bill lit a cigarette and leaned back comfortably in the car seat. Zoe looked out the window, lost in thought. Louis cleaned up the bodies lying by the car door and carried them out. Francis returned a little while later.

“I think we need to change our strategy.” Bill took out his cigarette, shook it lightly, and put it back in his mouth. “Our ammunition probably won’t last us until we reach the mall.” After Bill finished speaking, I checked my magazines as well. There were only two sniper rifle magazines, and a total of three magazines for the Desert Eagle and P1911.

"Then what should we do?" Zoe asked, looking at Bill very seriously. After such a hellish ordeal, I think this girl must be quite mentally strong.

“Francis, you know how to drive a tractor, right? Start the engine.” Bill finished speaking, tossed aside the half-smoked cigarette, and crushed it with his foot. Leon was puzzled. Did he need a car? But on this road… oh right, that’s a bus.

“Bill, how many times do I have to tell you? I’m not driving a tractor!” Francis said, looking annoyed.

"To me, that roaring vehicle is just a tractor. Okay, enough talk. Start the engine and use your car-stealing skills."

“But this bus won’t go very far. Veteran, would you like to ride the bumper cars?” Louis asked, spreading his hands.

“We just need to get to the mall,” Bill replied, just as Leon had thought. “Then they’ll go to Mercy Hospital, leave this hell, and never come back.”

"Boom!"

Accompanied by rousing music playing on the bus, they drove away from there.

Francis was driving and yelling hysterically. To be honest, he'd rather fight the infected than listen to Francis's pig-like singing.

Led by Bill, the zombies became excited to the song, and Louis even started dancing. Bill sat to the side, shaking his head helplessly, muttering, "I knew I'd be killed by you guys sooner or later, I definitely would be killed by you!..."

"Everyweeksthesame!"

"stuckinschool, solame"

"myparentssaythati'mlazy!"

"Whoosh!!" Francis cheered, swaying excitedly from side to side in his seat to the beat of the music. The bus, like a bulldozer, shoveled through the surrounding vehicles.

Leon, helpless, leaned against the car window and shot at the pursuing zombies. He fired two shots, but Bill stopped him, telling him to conserve his ammunition. Leon then took out a Molotov cocktail and threw it far away. In an instant, the zombies were engulfed in flames.

"gettingupat8amit'scrazy!"

"tired of being told what to do~~"

"sounfairsouncoil.thedaytolong!"

The music continued, while Leon and Bill threw two Molotov cocktails at each end of the car window, blocking the zombies' path behind them.

“Francis, how much further?” Bill asked, while Leon admired the beautiful wall of fire behind the car, and the sight of zombies engulfed in flames, roaring and struggling desperately, only to collapse helplessly on the ground, a scene reminiscent of flying into flames.

"Hahaha." The burly man laughed. "We'll be there in half a minute!"

The music stopped half a minute later because Francis crashed his car into a gun emplacement in the mall. They were all thrown around, and the front of the car was probably damaged, so the music stopped.

“Oh… Francis, I’m warning you I’ll kill you, you tractor driver, if I’m late!” Bill cursed as he got up from the ground.

"Ah...haha...a momentary lapse...a lapse!" Francis raised his hands and laughed, revealing his yellow teeth.

Lyon got up without saying anything, got out of the car, and we were in the mall lobby. There were no lights, and the lighting was very dim, so I could only see the general area.

"Leon, here you go." Francis laughed and tossed me something. I caught it and found it was a tactical flashlight. "Haha. You should cover your whole body with these, the zombies will be scared of you, haha." Leon ignored the idiot and attached the flashlight to his Desert Eagle.

“Bill, do you know which floor the ammunition shop is on?” Leon asked, changing a magazine in his Desert Eagle.

“Well, if I’m still smart enough, I’d like to be on the third floor,” Bill said, patting his forehead.

“Okay, let’s go.” Leon shouted, leading the way up the stairs opposite.

“Actually, I think he’s a fanatic.” Louis shrugged at Francis, clearly referring to Leon. Francis then picked up a shotgun and fired a shot at Louis’s back with a “bang,” and the zombie fell to the ground riddled with holes.

“I’ve noticed you’re quite careless,” Francis said before going upstairs with Bill.

“Oh…you scared me,” Louis said, glancing back at the zombie corpse, giving it a casual kick, and then catching up with them.

Then flames shot up, and all sorts of infected were wiped out.

They were all stunned for a moment. Zoe was the first to pray for the world, and then one after another they all knelt down, put their fingers together, and prayed to God.

Soon, Lyon heard a faint sound, little by little, which grew louder and louder as time went by.

"It's crying." Zoe suddenly looked up. (To be continued...)

Chapter 170 Battle in the Virtual World (3)

Leon had been deep in thought lately, and the world felt increasingly unreal to him. Suddenly, a series of chilling cries echoed from the darkness, reminding Leon of fragmented memories from the past.

The intermittent sobbing in the darkness sent a chill down their spines, making it impossible to tell whether it was a human or a ghost.

“Survivors?” Zoe asked softly, breaking the eerie silence and making the crying clear.

“A survivor who can make such a terrifying sound, I think he must be an infected person.” Francis licked his lips.

“Oh, if only it were New Orleans chicken wings.” Louis uttered in his strange high-pitched voice, like a child, with a helpless and comical expression on his face.

Leon admired the two for being able to joke around after slaughtering a large number of infected. Leon had thought that only battle-hardened people could do such things without any consequences.

“Whether she’s a survivor or some other monster, if she lunges at you, shoot immediately, no matter what she is,” Bill said calmly, as composed as ever.

“Ha, Bill, you look like an alligator,” Louis joked, even though they didn’t find it funny at all.

Bill nudged Louis in the stomach with his fist and said, "Listen! Rookie, since the Vietnam War, the thing I hate most is blacks, and meeting you and having to be your comrade is the worst thing that's ever happened to me besides a black president. You're going to kill me sooner or later, kill me!" Bill said angrily as he walked away, while Louis made a bewildered, innocent expression. To be honest, his expression was more ridiculous than his words.

“Bill, the crying sounds like it’s coming from the third floor,” Zoe said, cautiously looking around.

The stairs from the second to the third floor were quickly found. Francis gestured to Zoe, saying, "Ladies first." He wanted others to test the waters first, but Leon, without a second thought, led the way up.

The third floor seemed even darker, with several shadowy figures staggering about in the darkness. The crying was even more distinct, accompanied by rhythmic rustling sounds, as if someone were scratching the wall with fingernails. It was hard to imagine how hard those fingernails must have been.

“Hey… over there,” Louis said quietly. Pointing to the door on the left side of the corridor, Leon held up his Desert Eagle. With his tactical flashlight, he could see the door, which was about twenty meters away from them.

The twenty-meter distance felt like an eternity to me. They walked cautiously, as if afraid of disturbing something. The zombies around them didn't bother them out of pity, but Leon didn't seem to be doing well either.

Bill and Leon came in, while the others stood guard outside.

Leon gently pushed open the door, and dust swirled wildly in the light. He looked around; it seemed to be a warehouse. The sound came from deep within, seemingly endless. The crying was ethereal, eerily ethereal, as if her cries echoed from all directions, like 3D sound. As the light spread, Leon saw the source of the crying.

“Leon. Watch out.” Bill pressed down on his gun to block the light from shining on it. “Look at those red lights.” Leon saw them. Two red lights were flashing in the darkness.

"What's wrong?" Leon asked, puzzled. He thought the red light might just be a reflection from the earring.

“And then, the claws,” Bill said. “Look at her hands.” Leon carefully shone his light on the area in front of the crying girl, and in the corner of his eye, he could see her lower body—claws at least five inches long. They were scraping the ground with a sickening sound, making Leon have no doubt that those claws could tear a person apart alive.

“She’s mutated, and she’s a monster more terrifying than a tank,” Bill said, stubbing out his cigarette on the ground.