Marvel's Death Merchant

With a loud "bang!", a tremendous force surged from the gun. Jie Liang's right hand flicked mysteriously, twisting the force back in its direction. The muzzle first rose, then plummeted downwards, the bullet seemingly flung away by the force of Jie Liang's hand.

Jie Liang stared intently at the small insect without blinking. As the gunshot rang out, a bullet hole suddenly appeared where the insect had been, the center of the bullet hole perfectly aligned with the insect.

Just moments before, Jie Liang was filled with fear and anxiety about being in a world of zombies, but now he discovered that he possessed superpowers. At least he had some basic self-defense capabilities, which was some consolation.

After testing the gun, Jie Liang hid the grenade and M9 on his person, and held the shotgun in his hand. A surge of pride suddenly rose in his heart. As long as he had a gun in his hand, neither the living nor the zombies could stop him!

After leaving the abandoned military camp, Akira, relying on his memory, found the door Rick used to leave the hospital ward in the original film. Then, he groped his way up to the second floor in the dark, entered the building's corridor, and carefully searched it.

Rick's partner, Shane, had been caring for him at the hospital. When the disaster struck, he even tried to take the unconscious Rick with him. However, the collapsing soldiers were slaughtering patients in the hospital, and the resurrected walkers were attacking everyone alive. Shane realized he couldn't escape with Rick, so he ran away alone. But as he fled, he used an ambulance to block the door to Rick's room, and it was this ambulance that gave Rick a chance to survive.

Jie Liang searched the corridor, intending to find the ward blocking the ambulance. But after circling around, Jie Liang's heart sank. There was only one ambulance in the entire winding corridor, and it was leaning against the wall! Rick had already woken up and left! (To be continued...)

Chapter 173 Rick

The thought of being the only living person in the entire hospital building sent chills down Jie Liang's spine. He scrambled out of the building, nearly falling several times in the process.

Akuta, who had escaped, was extremely frustrated. What he had ignored on his way in, the overwhelming stench of decay outside the door kept assaulting his nostrils. Two rows of corpses lay side-by-side, leaving only a narrow path between them for a single person to pass through. Some of the bodies had their heads or feet protruding from the body bags, rotting and sticky, crawling with flies.

Faced with this scene, Jie Liang could no longer hold back. His stomach churned, and he vomited bile! Jie Liang's setting in the virtual world was that he hadn't eaten anything since waking up, so after vomiting, Jie Liang felt that he didn't even have the strength to walk.

However, looking at the two rows of corpses and the trucks filled with them beside him, Jie Liang felt that the corpses might stand up and pounce on him at any moment. Driven by fear, Su He used his last bit of strength to escape from the hospital.

Jie Liang ran to a secluded spot and stopped to think quietly.

Yes, when I saw the half-walker, I didn't see her bicycle. Obviously, Rick had already ridden it away. I was so scared when I first saw a walker that I overlooked such an obvious clue.

In other words, Rick had already left the hospital when he woke up.

Where would he go next? Akira tried hard to recall the events in his mind, because that was the basis for his survival.

When Rick woke up, he was shocked by the apocalyptic scene in the hospital. He didn't know what had happened, but it was clear that it wasn't a good thing.

Rick's first thought was of his wife and young son. So, he dragged his weakened body away from the hospital, wanting to return home to see his wife and child!

But the house was empty. Weak and heartbroken, Rick sat helplessly on the stone steps in front of his house. Somewhat exhausted, Rick vaguely saw a figure slowly walking towards him on the street.

Then, the Black father and son appeared. The Black boy touched Rick's back and gave him a shovel, while the Black man used his small revolver to blow the head off the walker that was walking towards Rick.

Rick then fell unconscious again, and the black father and son carried Rick back to the house where they were hiding.

That house must be right next to Rick's. The Black child appeared from behind Rick, while the Black man appeared from across the street. No father would let his son wander off alone in such a dangerous situation. Therefore, the house they're hiding in must be located in the direction the Black child appeared, in the same row as Rick's house, next door!

But where is Rick's house? Akira continued to ponder.

Rick left the hospital and walked to the location of the half-walker. He had been unconscious for a long time and was extremely weak. Walking a long distance left him feeling utterly exhausted. So he rode the half-walker woman's bicycle. His strength was nearly depleted, so even on the bicycle, he couldn't go very far. He managed to get back home by sheer willpower. Therefore, his home must be not far from the half-walker! Rick, in his haste to get home, would have taken the shortest route. So, if he connected the hospital's location with the half-walker's location, Rick's home would be right there!

So, Akara followed his planned route forward, searching until he returned to the location of the half-dead woman. Then, he continued forward along that path.

After walking a short distance, Jie Liang discovered a corpse lying in the middle of the road.

Jie Liang approached the corpse. He noticed that the corpse's temple had been pierced by a bullet, and the exposed brain matter was still fresh. Jie Liang recognized it. This was the walker who had been shot in the head with the black man's small revolver. Rick's house should be not far ahead!

Jie Liang glanced around, a victorious smile playing on his lips, and raised the shotgun above his head with both hands.

“I know you’re here, friend!” Jie Liang called out loudly. “I mean no harm. I’m just tired of these walkers and want to find a living person to keep me company! If you don’t want my voice to attract all the walkers here, come out, friend!”

At this moment, Jie Liang naturally spoke fluent English, as his background had been designed by the Mechanical Emperor to be that of a person in this virtual world.

"Shut up! You idiot!" The door of a nearby house opened, and the black man pointed his gun at Su He. "Throw the gun over here! Don't do anything stupid!"

With a smile on his face, Jie Liang readily tossed the shotgun at the black man's feet.

“Walk over here slowly,” the black man picked up his shotgun and pointed it at Jie Liang. “Stop with that disgusting smile, or I’ll blow your head off!”

Jie Liang obeyed, shrugged, and put away his smile. With his hands raised, he walked step by step toward the black man.

The black man gestured for Akira to come inside with his gun, then closed the door. Perhaps thinking that the unarmed Akira posed no threat, he lowered the gun and looked Akira up and down with an incredulous expression.

“Are you an idiot?” the black man said. “Shouting so loudly in the street, you’re going to get us all killed!”

"Who exactly are you?" the Black man continued, "Where are you from? What do you want?"

“First of all,” Akara said slowly in a light tone, “I am a living person! I am not injured! I have not been bitten or scratched!”

The black man looked at Akira with suspicion.

“Secondly,” Jie Liang continued, “I’m from Atlanta, my name is Jie Liang, you can also call me Jie Liang. Then the virus broke out… I had nowhere to go. My car was parked on the other side of town, out of gas, and I was trying to find some gasoline.”

"Then, I heard a gunshot. I found this place and discovered the walker you killed. Its brains were so fresh! I guessed you must still be around here, so I decided to shout and see if I could force you out. Looks like I made the right bet!"

“You lunatic,” the black man said through gritted teeth, raising his gun at Jie Liang, “I should have shot you dead, you know? You should have found the gasoline you wanted and left this place!”

“I think,” Akira said sincerely to the black man, “that in such a crazy world, two people have a better chance of surviving than one! I’m being very sincere! I’ve even given you the gun! I’m not threatening you, you know!”

“Perhaps you’re right,” the black man said after a moment of silence, putting down his gun and sighing, “I don’t know if I’m lucky or unlucky today, but I actually ran into two living people!”

"Two living people?" Jie Liang asked. "So, besides me, you encountered other people here? There's more than just the two of us, right?"

At that moment, the Black child peeked out from the inner room.

"Can I come out now, Dad?" The Black child looked cautiously at Jie Liang and asked for permission.

“Yes, it’s alright,” the Black man said to his son. “This is Mr. Akira. Say hello to him.”

"Hello, Mr. Akira." The black child smiled at Akira.

“Hello, boy,” Jie Liang responded to the Black child, then looked at the Black man. “So cute, your son? You’re so lucky to be with your son!”

"Thank you!" the Black man said with some emotion.

“You said you met another person today,” Akira asked. “Is he still here?”

“Come with me,” the black man led Jie Liang toward a bedroom. “He can’t go anywhere. He’s injured and is unconscious right now!”

Jie Liang followed the black man into the bedroom. Inside, there was a bed with a scruffy-bearded man lying on it, his hands tightly bound to the headboard. It was none other than Rick Grimes, the star of the original film. (To be continued...)

Chapter 174 Rick Grimes

Rick lay on the bed, his clothes open, revealing the bandage wrapped around his chest. The bandage hadn't been changed in a long time and was very dirty.

“He was wearing the clothes that hospitals provide for inpatients,” Jie Liang said to the Black man. “Where do you think he came from? At a time like this… which hospital would let him stay? Or was he just wandering around like this, with bandages and a hospital gown, from the time the disaster broke out until we met him?”

“That’s really suspicious,” the Black man chimed in.

“He’s badly injured, and the bandages are quite old,” Akira continued. “We should take the bandages off and take a look.”

The black man walked to the bedside and touched Rick's forehead with his hand.

“He has a fever,” the black man said, slightly flustered. “People bitten by zombies will get a fever. When the fever reaches a certain level, they will die, and then after a few hours, they will stand up again and bite anyone they see!”

"You'll know once you untie the bandages," Akira said calmly.

So, the black man and Jie Liang together unwrapped the bandages from Rick's body. The wound, located on Rick's left rib, not far from his heart, was round and had mostly healed. It was clear that the wound had originally been very deep, extending all the way into his chest cavity.

“It wasn’t a bite,” Akira said to the black man after thinking for a moment, “it looks more like a gunshot wound.”

“We can’t let our guard down,” the Black man said to Jie Liang. “Just in case, we have to keep him tied up.”

Next, the Black man brought water and new bandages to clean, disinfect, and re-bandage Rick's wounds.

It was getting dark when the Black man cleaned Rick's wounds. The Black child, along with Jie Liang, covered the windows with thick felt and lit candles for light.

“At night, the light will attract the walkers,” the Black boy explained to Jie Liang.

Jie Liang and the black boy returned to the bedroom where Rick was placed. The black boy had already bandaged Rick's wounds. Facing the unconscious Rick on the bed, the black boy was clearly a little scared. He grabbed a baseball bat and nervously guarded the bedside.

Just then, Rick opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling, clearly still not quite recovered from the shock. Then he turned his gaze to the left. The black boy, gripping a baseball bat, watched Rick nervously, eager to try; while Jie Liang winked at Rick and gave him a friendly smile.

Rick turned his eyes to the right. The black man was washing his hands; he met Rick's gaze and clearly noticed that Rick was awake.

“We changed your bandages,” the Black man said to Rick while washing his hands. “They were filthy.”

"How did you get injured?" the black man asked Rick seriously, wiping his hands.

"I was shot," Rick replied weakly.

"A gunshot wound?" the black man questioned Rick. "Only a gunshot wound?"

“What,” Rick retorted, “isn’t being shot bad enough?”

“Listen to me, friend, do you know the rules? I ask, you answer, no lying!” The black man looked at Rick and said, word by word, “Have you ever been bitten before!?”

"Biten?" Rick asked doubtfully.

“Yes. Bitten,” the Black man explained. “Or scratched!”

“No,” Rick replied, “I was just shot.”

The black man slowly reached out his hand towards Rick's forehead with a serious expression. Rick instinctively dodged away and looked at the black man with a puzzled expression.

"Don't move, let me take your temperature." The black man said, placing his hand on Rick's forehead and repeatedly feeling Rick's body temperature with his palm and the back of his hand.

“It feels much lower than before,” the black man said to Jie Liang after glancing at Rick.

“If your fever hadn’t gone down when I took your temperature just now,” the black man said, looking at Rick, “you would be dead by now!”

Rick looked at the black man with a cautious gaze after hearing this. The black man took out a small knife, opened it, and waved it at Rick and Jie Liang.

“Take a good look at how sharp this knife is,” the black man warned. “Anyone who dares to do something foolish, I’ll use it to cut their throat!”

As he spoke, he held the knife to Rick's head. Rick watched as the blade tightened around his body. The black man flicked the knife, cutting the ropes binding Rick's hands.

Rick took his hand off and rubbed his wrist.

“Once you can move,” the black man said to Rick, “you can get down and walk around.”

The Black man walked to the door, patted his son, and said, "Come with me."

“Although we’ve only just met,” Jie Liang said to Rick with a smile, “he’s not a bad person.”

“I can tell,” Rick replied cautiously.

“Don’t be nervous,” Sue said to Rick. “My name is Jie Liang, you can call me Jie Liang. I feel that we will have to work together for a long time to come.”

“Rick Grimes. You’re from Atlanta, aren’t you?” Rick extended his right hand to Jie Liang.

“You’re right, Mr. Grimes,” said Jie Liang, shaking hands with Rick.

"Just call me Rick." Rick smiled amicably.

Jie Liang chatted with Rick for a while, and the atmosphere became more relaxed. Rick felt a bit more energetic and wanted to get out of bed and walk around. He took off his dirty clothes, put on a blanket, and slowly got out of bed. Jie Liang wanted to help Rick, but Rick refused. Rick, who was of medium height, looked to be no more than 1.8 meters tall, about 10 centimeters shorter than Jie Liang.

Jie Liang and Rick went outside, where the black father and son were preparing to eat.