The Apocalypse 18
“What do you mean!?”
Huang Ziyu slammed his palm on the table in fury, standing up and glaring at Chen Yao.
Chen Yao let out a mocking laugh. “Do you really not understand what I mean?”
She casually reached out and twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers.
Since returning from the last mission to eradicate zombies, she and Huang Yuanmiao had swiftly begun consolidating power within the base.
They knew exactly who had framed their leader, but they couldn’t take direct revenge. Instead, they had to gradually seize control of the base’s decision-making, as if they had grown up overnight. No longer lingering on the fringes of power, they were now at its very center.
If Lu Mang were here, a single word from him might have been enough to replace the base’s leader.
But he wasn’t. Only his former subordinates remained, and Huang Ziyu’s face twisted with frustration.
His authority in the base wasn’t even as high as Chen Yao’s.
Chen Yao had quickly risen to the upper ranks by leveraging the momentum from the zombie eradication mission, while the mercenary guild had fallen entirely under Huang Yuanmiao’s control.
Though the base leader was his uncle, Huang Ziyu hadn’t been granted much power.
Lu Mang had only agreed to let this leader take charge because he was skilled in psychological warfare.
The old fox wasn’t blind—he had long seen through his nephew’s ambitions.
Huang Ziyu’s attempts to feign obedience and curry favor had only earned him a position even lower than Chen Yao’s.
His chest heaved violently with anger, his frustration barely contained.
A faint smile appeared on Chen Yao’s face, eerily similar to the mocking sneer Lu Mang had once worn.
Under her piercing gaze, Huang Ziyu suddenly felt like a clown jumping through hoops. Gritting his teeth, he shut his mouth.
The others in the meeting quickly stepped in to ease the tension.
Some of them were loyal to the leader’s faction and understood the underlying conflict.
Others, who remained neutral, were simply confused.
In the end, Chen Yao left after throwing down a final remark—if they didn’t agree, she wasn’t interested in discussing further.
The meeting had been about strengthening the base’s outer walls.
Huang Ziyu’s faction proposed reallocating personnel from fortifying the perimeter to reinforcing the inner city instead.
Chen Yao rejected the idea outright, showing no mercy in her words.
She openly questioned whether their brains had gone soft from too much peace—if the perimeter fell, the entire base would be doomed.
There were still countless ordinary people living just beyond the base walls.
As if to prove how foolish their plan was, an “Eagle Eye” ability user raised an alert just a day after the meeting.
This ability user had long served as a crisis scout, thanks to his unique skill.
But even he hadn’t expected to suddenly detect such an overwhelming number of zombies.
Closing his eyes, he could see a sea of red dots in his mind’s eye, each one representing a cluster of at least a dozen zombies advancing toward the base.
As soon as the news spread, panic gripped the entire base.
Tang Xi blinked in confusion. He and Lu Mang had been waiting at the base entrance, but now, the guards watching them had visibly paled.
They were only twenty minutes away from being granted entry.
It took at most two hours for a person to fully turn into a zombie. Once inside, they just had to wait out the time limit to be officially admitted.
Tang Xi hesitated.
[1551, are you sure Lu Mang’s identity won’t be exposed?]
1551: [The probability of exposure is less than 1%.]
He had only avoided a full body inspection by bribing the guards with supplies.
Otherwise, sneaking Lu Mang in would have been impossible.
For convenience, Tang Xi had even reverted to human form, though he kept a hat and mask on.
Beneath the hat, his cat-like ears twitched anxiously in response to the growing commotion.
The mask served a dual purpose—partly to prevent immediate recognition, and partly to conceal his lips, still flushed red from an intense kiss.
That morning, Lu Mang had pinned him down and kissed him for a long time.
Tang Xi had no idea what had suddenly come over him.
Yet after having his way with him, Lu Mang had calmed down considerably. Now, he obediently held Tang Xi’s hand as they moved through the crowd.
For a fleeting moment, Tang Xi almost thought Lu Mang had regained his human memories—that he was no longer just a zombie acting on instinct.
But the storyline never mentioned the Zombie King remembering his past life.
What he didn’t know was that Lu Mang had regained his memories.
It was just incomplete—just fragments, stirred by Jiang Wenshu’s words.
But as the Zombie King, his instincts still overpowered his rationality. If he weren’t holding Tang Xi’s hand, he would have already released his aura, forcing those reckless humans to stay far away.
When those fragmented memories resurfaced, he even felt a little jealous—jealous of his human self, who had been able to bully Tang Xi without restraint.
And annoyed that his human self had once scared the little kitten.
Lu Mang silently fumed, yet his grip on Tang Xi remained firm.
As time passed, the commotion in the crowd only grew louder.
Tang Xi listened carefully to the conversations around him and finally pieced together what was happening.
A zombie horde was approaching.
The base was preparing to shut its gates, but there were still people waiting in line to enter.
Arguments erupted, and in the chaos, someone nearly knocked into Tang Xi.
Lu Mang immediately shielded him, his expression turning cold. Instantly, the crowd instinctively moved aside, creating a vacant space around them.
A few gunshots rang out, and only then did the panicked crowd stop trying to push forward.
A voice called out from above, amplified by a loudspeaker: “Quiet! Quiet! We will not abandon a single civilian!”
These people didn’t seem to be part of the same faction as the gate guards—their uniforms were different. Once they arrived, the guards who had been acting arrogant before suddenly became hesitant and subdued.
Reassured by the promise, the crowd gradually regained order.
Tang Xi stood on his toes and caught sight of an emblem on the chests of those maintaining order—it was the badge of the mercenary teams.
Hadn’t the zombie horde already been wiped out? Why was another one appearing?
Could this be a new wave?
Tang Xi blinked in confusion.
After waiting for two hours, he finally led Lu Mang to collect their base resident IDs.
He was hoping to see a trace of nostalgia on Lu Mang’s face once they stepped inside the base.
But Lu Mang didn’t spare a single glance at his surroundings—his entire focus was locked onto Tang Xi.
In his eyes, only Tang Xi was truly alive. Everyone else was just walking slabs of fresh meat.
Tang Xi’s first plan to trigger his memories had failed. Unwilling to give up, he took Lu Mang to the place they used to live, hoping it would help him remember.
Lu Mang didn’t know why, but he just didn’t want to let him know that he had already remembered a little.
Their old home was in a high-end residential area, off-limits to ordinary people for safety reasons.
When the security guard at the entrance stopped Tang Xi, Lu Mang grew visibly agitated.
Unable to control himself, he released his oppressive aura. The guard instantly froze, unable to move.
Tang Xi quickly grabbed Lu Mang and pulled him away—he didn’t want to attract attention.
But just as they took a few steps, a familiar voice called out from behind.
Huang Yuanmiao walked over. “Hey, what are you guys up to over there?”
He had just received news about the incoming zombie horde and was on his way to a meeting. Normally, he wouldn’t have stopped for something unrelated.
Yet, for some reason, his feet moved toward them on their own.
He eyed Tang Xi and Lu Mang suspiciously, an uneasy voice echoing in his mind.
Lu Mang withdrew his aura, and the guard immediately shouted, “T-They’re acting really strange!”
Huang Yuanmiao nodded. “You can go.”
The guard ran off as if relieved of a heavy burden.
Tang Xi:…
He tried to adjust his voice, speaking in a low tone.
“We just got lost. We’ll leave now.”
What surprised him was that even upon seeing an old acquaintance, Lu Mang showed no reaction at all.
Huang Yuanmiao let out a casual “Oh,” and waved them off. “Alright, then go.”
Tang Xi hurriedly turned around, pulling Lu Mang with him, ready to leave.
“Do you really think you can fool me that easily?”
Huang Yuanmiao’s voice suddenly rang out from behind them—cracking, like he was on the verge of tears.
Tang Xi’s eyes widened as he turned back, tilting his head in confusion.
Huang Yuanmiao, a fully grown man, stood there looking like an abandoned dog—he was only missing a tucked tail.
A wave of guilt washed over Tang Xi, as if he had just dumped a stray animal on the street.
Awkwardly, he fumbled to remove his sunglasses. “I wasn’t trying to hide it from you on purpose.”
Huang Yuanmiao took a deep breath. “Did you just get back?”
Tang Xi nodded. He noticed Huang Yuanmiao’s hands were shaking.
He could understand. After all, two people who were presumed dead had suddenly returned—it made sense to be overwhelmed.
But then, he watched in disbelief as Huang Yuanmiao, in his excitement, started banging his head against the wall.
Tang Xi: …Yeah, something’s definitely not right.
For a moment, he seriously considered grabbing his poop scooper and ran away.
But then Huang Yuanmiao, red-eyed, called out to them, “Come with me to see Chen Yao and the others… at least let them know you’re safe.”
The last part was barely more than a whisper.
Tang Xi nodded. This was, after all, one of the reasons he had brought Lu Mang back to the base.
He knew Huang Yuanmiao had already noticed that something was off about Lu Mang. But he was kind enough not to mention it.
Right now, Huang Yuanmiao felt like he was being torn apart by two overwhelming emotions.
Half of it was the anxiety caused by the zombie horde, and the other half was the surprise of Lu Mang and Tang Xi’s return.
Although he was in a hurry, he didn’t take them directly to the meeting place.
That day, many people had witnessed Lu Mang being pierced through the heart in the midst of the zombie swarm.
Now was definitely not the right time for him to appear.
Tang Xi was quietly taken to meet Wei Xuncheng and Yi Feng. The moment these two grown men saw them, their eyes turned red, and they choked up, unable to form complete sentences.
The last person they met was Chen Yao.
Tang Xi was almost pulled into a full embrace by this tall and commanding woman.
But Lu Mang stopped it in time, looking at them with clear displeasure.
Just moments ago, another fragment of memory resurfaced in his mind. If not for these scattered memories, he definitely wouldn’t tolerate anyone getting that close to Tang Xi in front of him.
No one present questioned Lu Mang’s current identity, they tacitly avoided the topic.
After a brief reunion, everyone gradually calmed their emotions and turned their attention to a more pressing matter.
Chen Yao sneered, “The higher-ups are scared shitless by the zombie horde outside.”
Yi Feng adjusted his glasses and frowned. “Now they finally remember to push the mercenary teams forward.”
This was the same group that had been shouting about restructuring the guild not long ago.
How ironic.
Tang Xi raised his hand weakly. “Maybe… I have a way to make the zombie horde retreat.”
Immediately, several pairs of eyes locked onto him.
Author’s Note: The next chapter will wrap up this world!