Marvel's Death Merchant

Sean tied Jim to a tree with a rope and then forced him to drink some water.

Jie Liang waited for a while, estimating that Jim's sweat had subsided, before taking some water and coming to the tree where Jim was tied up.

"Hi, Jim, do you still recognize me?" Jie Liang greeted Jim.

Jim chuckled dismissively: "I'm not crazy, I'm not so stupid that I don't recognize people."

Jie Liang smiled, squatted down, and looked Jim in the eye: "Were you digging graves in the mountains? You scared everyone! Everyone thinks you should calm down, but I don't think tying you up is a good idea. So, tell me, okay? Why do you want to do this?"

"I don't know. I forgot," Jim said, somewhat helplessly.

“It looks like you have heatstroke. So, if I let you go, what do you want to do? Continue with your work that you’ve forgotten the purpose of?” Jie Liang asked Jim calmly.

Jie Liang knew he was changing what was happening, and he was very confident in himself, which was why Tang Tian had let him enter the virtual world. After all, he was a former member of the Silent Team, something that needed to be considered. (To be continued...)

Chapter 187 The Changed Plot

“No. I think I should probably take a nap,” Jim replied somewhat timidly.

Jie Liang then fed Jim some water, and then stood up and said to Jim, “It’s shady here, isn’t it? You can rest here for a while. In a little while, I’ll have someone come and take you to dinner. There’s venison and fish. You definitely won’t want to miss it!”

Jie Liang returned to the camp and saw Rick. Rick knew where Sue had gone, so he asked, "How did it go? What did he say?"

Jie Liang smiled and replied, "He said he had also forgotten why he dug those pits in the first place."

Then, Jie Liang leaned close to Rick's ear: "But I feel like those are some graves! Do you believe in intuition? Load your gun and be careful!"

Night fell quickly, a campfire was lit in the camp, and Jim was released. The people prepared many dishes: fish soup, venison soup, and roasted venison, and of course, plenty of wine.

For the first time since the disaster began, everyone in the camp was able to enjoy such a delicious and plentiful dinner, and for the first time, they were able to eat so much.

Rick's family huddled together, chatting away, their faces beaming with happiness. Morales' family was similarly filled with laughter. Even the usually annoying Ed had a rare smile on his face, and Carol and Sofia, though still cautious, were clearly very happy too.

Sisters Andrea and Amy chatted and laughed with Jacques. The four bachelors, Dale, Jim, T-boy, and Glenn, sat closer together. The loneric Dixon brothers sat with Jie Liang, while Sean, still preoccupied, was invited by Jie Liang to sit beside him.

People have never been so happy since the disaster struck!

Amy suddenly stood up, but Andrea grabbed her arm and asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the bathroom! You're being too anxious!" Amy said frantically.

The people around laughed, and Andrea shook her head with a smile and let go of her hand.

The banquet continued.

Just then, the RV door opened. Amy stepped out, grabbed the door, and asked everyone, "Aren't we out of toilet paper?"

Suddenly, a zombie emerged from behind the door, grabbed Amy's hand, and lowered its head to bite.

"Ah!" "Bang!" Screams and gunshots rang out at the same time. Jie Liang's lightning-fast shot hit the zombie in the head, and the zombie fell to the ground.

Amy collapsed to the ground in terror, screaming incessantly. More walkers surged into the camp from the darkness.

Suddenly, chaos erupted, and those who had been immersed in happiness just moments before were thrown into panic. Children huddled in their mothers' arms in terror, while others frantically searched for hiding places. Screams echoed throughout the camp.

Rick, Sean, the Dixon brothers, and old Dale quickly stood up and followed Jie Liang, shooting at the approaching walkers. The other men grabbed sticks, axes, and shovels to fight the walkers hand-to-hand.

Jim was knocking down a walker with his baseball bat when another one lunged at him from behind. A gunshot rang out, the whistling wind from the bullet ruffling Jim's hair, and the walker fell to the ground. Jim glanced back at the fallen walker, then gave the shooter, Jie Liang, a grateful look. The walker he had just knocked down was trying to get back up. But Jim swung his bat and smashed it on the head again.

Amy was trapped among the walkers, and Andrea frantically rushed towards her. She helped Amy up and retreated into the camp, but was suddenly grabbed by a red-eyed walker. The two sisters screamed in terror.

Jie Liang shot down the zombie grabbing Andrea with a single shot, shaking his head helplessly. That stupid woman, Andrea, she's finished the moment she gets serious. What a waste of her gun.

As the walkers advanced, the group retreated continuously. Morales, wielding an axe and hacking at the walkers, slowly found himself surrounded. But before he could react, three walkers pounced on him simultaneously.

"Bang!" "Bang!" Two gunshots rang out. Jie Liang waved to Morales, indicating that he would take care of the remaining one himself.

With everyone's valiant efforts, the zombies' offensive was gradually contained. Then, as the gunfire slowly subsided, the zombies were finally wiped out.

"Is anyone hurt?" Rick shouted through the camp, panting.

The still-shaken people looked at Rick and shook their heads. Rick looked closely and saw that he recognized many familiar faces. Only then did he relax and sit down on the ground.

“Now I know why we were digging the hole during the day. I dreamt we were attacked, and many of us died,” Jim murmured in confusion. “But… it seems the outcome has been changed!”

That night, the men with guns in the camp took turns keeping watch in pairs, patrolling the area around the camp. The others went back to rest.

All night long, the occasional sudden scream would startle someone, only to be woken from a nightmare. An endless horde of zombies suddenly appeared in the darkness, terrifying them.

As dawn broke, everyone got up and ate the food from the previous night for breakfast. The atmosphere was very somber; it seemed no one had slept well.

Afterward, the men in the camp began to dispose of the walker corpses. They used pickaxes to drive each walker's head through, then piled the bodies together and burned them.

Then the men gathered together, and Rick said with a serious expression, "We can't afford another one like this! We're almost out of ammunition!"

"Do you have any good ideas?" Moore asked with a stern face, a question that was also of concern to everyone else.

“I discussed it with Jie Liang yesterday. We need to retrieve the weapons I left in the city,” Rick paused and said. “Before I came to Atlanta, I ransacked the police station’s armory. There were several guns and a lot of ammunition! They were all in that bag. I dropped them on the street when I was attacked in the city. We can get them back!”

“No, Rick,” Jie Liang said firmly. “You saw how many walkers were gathered there. It was too dangerous. Besides, it’s been two days and two nights. Those guns might have been taken by someone else long ago. In such a big city, we can’t be the only survivors.”

Jie Liang glanced at the faces of the group and continued, "Find weapons at weapon shops, police stations, even military bases or shooting clubs! Any place like that will have enough weapons for us!"

“But we don’t know where these places are!” Rick said urgently.

“Isn’t Jacques working in the Atlanta City Planning Office?” Jie Liang asked, glancing at the others. “Call Jacques over.” Glenn then went to fetch him.

A minute later, Jacques arrived at the meeting place and asked, puzzled, "Is there anything I can do?"

“Yes. The camp is running low on ammunition, and for basic safety, we need to go into town to get some. A police station, or a gun shop, something like that. You and I are from Atlanta, so perhaps we can offer some advice to the team.” Jie Liang said earnestly to Jacques, “Where are some places like that that aren't too dangerous?”

Jacques looked at everyone in surprise, somewhat uncertain: "I know places like this, but I don't know where the danger is lower. In my opinion, all places within the city are equally dangerous."

“Alright, the nearest option!” Jie Liang changed the terms.

“That won’t work either. The police stations are all located in the bustling eastern part of the city, in the city center, arranged longitudinally from north to south. It doesn’t make much difference to us,” Jacques explained to Su.

The group exchanged bewildered glances, prepared to take the risk—this was the foundation for their survival. (To be continued...)

Chapter 188 Returning to the City

Jacques looked at everyone and said solemnly, "Nowhere is safe! They're all pretty much the same! But if you're collecting weapons, you might as well go to the Atlanta Police Headquarters! It's not far from where I work, and I pass by there every day!"

"Great, anyone want to come with me?" Jie Liang said with a smile to everyone present. "First come, first served, choose your gun!"

"I'll go!" Rick touched his nose and was the first to raise his hand.

Then, Moore, Daryl, T-boy, and Glenn all raised their hands to indicate that they were willing to go.

"Jim, don't you want to go? Didn't you want to find a hose for the RV? And we'll need other parts later!" Jie Liang specifically invited Jim, "For everyone's sake! Only you can handle this!"

Jim looked at the others, thought for a moment, and then nodded in agreement.

“Sean, what about you? We need you, come with us!” Jie Liang continued to invite Sean. Sean should be separated from Lori so that he would slowly change his opinion.

“No, I’ll stay here. The camp needs protection too, doesn’t it?” Sean said guiltily, looking at Jie Liang.

In broad daylight, after just repelling a group of zombies last night, what protection did they need? Jie Liang knew why Sean was staying at the camp. But he couldn't do anything too deliberate, since, in the eyes of others, Sean's reasons were quite valid.

“Alright, in that case, Dale, Morales, Sean, and Ed will be in charge of guarding the camp!” Jie Liang set the final tone.

So, everyone started packing their gear and set off.

They took their weapons, several empty backpacks, and toolboxes. They also prepared two plastic fuel drums and a long hose, as the camp's gasoline was running low.

At Sir John's instruction, Moore mounted his Harley, while Daryl sat behind him with a crossbow. The others boarded the truck they had driven back in, driven by Rick. Jacques sat in the passenger seat, leading the way.

Once the truck entered the city, it slowed down to minimize engine noise. The Dixon brothers led the way on their Harleys, also keeping their speed low.

They were forced to detour several times due to zombies blocking their path, wasting a significant amount of time. By the time they reached their destination, it was already noon.

Atlanta's police headquarters is a seven-story building. The upper floors house the various leadership offices and departments of the regional police force, while the lower floors are the offices of the various operational units and teams.

In the United States, police officers are generally armed, and in addition to the firearms issued by the police department, they often carry personal firearms. Some officers, unwilling to use the standard police-issue firearms, even refuse to collect their issued firearms, simply registering their personal firearms.

However, certain operations require heavy firearms and automatic weapons, which must be temporarily obtained from the armory. Therefore, for security and convenience, the armory is located on the basement level. This is Akara's objective.

Fortunately, the streets where the police headquarters was located were very clean, and there were no zombies wandering around.

Jie Liang divided the men into two groups: T-Zai and Jim, protected by Moore, went directly to the police station parking lot to find gasoline and usable car parts; Jie Liang, Rick, and Daryl went to find weapons and ammunition. Jacqueline and Glenn were responsible for staying in the safer car to keep watch and report any developments.

Jie Liang and his two companions searched the lobby meticulously. This revealed the terrifying nature of American gun culture; they found six different types of handguns and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition among the numerous desks in the lobby alone.

One of the USPs caught Akara's attention, even though it only had a 12-round magazine. But it came with a silencer!

"Good stuff!" Daryl said enviously as he looked at it.

“Yes, with your marksmanship… you can now basically do whatever you want, and you’re no longer afraid of the gunshots being too loud and attracting zombies!” Rick chimed in with a laugh.

Jie Liang smiled, tacitly agreeing with their assessment. Although his marksmanship was superb, the loud noise of guns had always prevented him from firing, fearing it would trap him in a hail of corpses. No matter how good his aim, he wouldn't be able to withstand the mountain of corpses; the more he fired, the more likely he was to die. With this USP, however, Jie Liang no longer had this worry and could display his unparalleled marksmanship at any time. Even more conveniently, it used standard 9mm ammunition, just like his M9.

The three then found the entrance to the basement and planned to go in to find the equipment vault.

"Bang!" "Bang!" Two gunshots suddenly rang out from the street.

"What happened! Who's shooting?" Rick asked into the walkie-talkie, his face contorted with anger. Daryl, standing beside him, looked equally agitated.

"Oh my god, walkers, a lot of walkers! A man is being chased by walkers, and he's heading straight for the police station!" Glenn's panicked voice came through the walkie-talkie.

Jie Liang snatched the walkie-talkie from Rick and asked urgently, "Approximately how many walkers are there? From which direction did they come?"

"There are several hundred of them, and they came from the east!" Glenn reported in a panic over the walkie-talkie.

The police headquarters is located at the northwest corner of an intersection, with its main gate facing southeast. Trucks and Harleys are parked one after the other on the east side of the intersection, where the entrance to the police station parking lot is also located.

"You and Jacqueline lock the doors and hide in the back immediately. Make sure the walkers don't see you!" Jie Liang quickly gave the order, then ran towards the door as fast as he could. Rick and Daryl followed closely behind.

Akira pushed open the glass door of the police station and, sure enough, saw a man running towards him. The sudden opening of the door startled the man.

"Come in!" Jie Liang beckoned to the man.

Seeing this, the man didn't have time to say anything and quickly slipped into the police station. Jie Liang found an iron bar, used it to pry open the door, and blocked the swarming zombies outside.

After entering the police station, the blond man, panting heavily, leaned on his leg to rest, gripping his gun tightly in his hand and watching Jie Liang and the other two warily.

Jie Liang and the other two were speechless as they looked at the man.

"Who are you? Why are you attracting a bunch of zombies like this? Are you trying to kill us?" Daryl angrily questioned the man.

"I'm sorry, I just came out to find something to eat. I accidentally disturbed the zombies." The man, who looked like a policeman, apologized to Jie Liang and the other two in a humble but not arrogant manner.

"What's the point of saying all this now? We're all stuck here!" Rick snapped at the man impatiently.

“It’s not here!” Jie Liang explained calmly. “The walkers came from the east and are currently drawn to the police station entrance, so our car, which we parked on the west side, is still safe. We can leave through the back door of the police station. As long as we’re fast enough, the walkers won’t be able to catch us.”