Chapter 1 GO Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Elite Zombie

“Zhang Qian, why do you want a divorce? Why are you leaving me?”

“Because I’ve had enough! I’m sick of this slum, sick of eating filthy food every day, and sick of you!”

“I’ve been working day and night to support you and our daughter—what more do you want?”

“So what? Your so-called job is just running errands in a blacksmith shop. The money you make can barely buy food, let alone get us out of this slum. Do you really expect me and our daughter to live like this forever? Young Master Liu has promised me—if I go with his caravan, he’ll take me to the rich district in Vermilion Phoenix City. There, I’ll live a life of luxury. I’ve decided to take XiaoGuo and leave with him.”

——

TL Note: XiaoGuo (Little Guo)

A more intimate term to use among family..

——

“No… You can go if you want. I know you never truly loved me from the start. But you can’t take my daughter!”

Chen Ning roared and lunged forward, trying to pull his wife and the little girl apart.

But before he could reach them, the old, creaking door of their shack burst open with a loud bang. Several men in black uniforms stormed in. There were only a few, but each carried a cold, murderous aura. On their armbands was the insignia of a battle axe, with the letters “LIU” beneath it. Everyone in the slums knew that emblem—it was the crest of the Liu family’s trading caravan.

The guards entered first, then a well-dressed young man followed—a slicked-back hairstyle, white shirt, black trousers, and polished leather boots that gleamed even in the dim light.

Chen Ning’s heart sank. He knew at once who this man was—Liu Ming, the young master from the Liu family of Vermilion Phoenix City.

As soon as Liu Ming stepped inside, he wrinkled his nose at the stench of poverty that filled the room and quickly covered his face with a white handkerchief. He glanced briefly at Chen Ning, then looked past him as though he didn’t exist. His gaze landed instead on Zhang Qian.

His eyes roamed shamelessly over her curvaceous figure before he said casually, “Miss Zhang, my caravan has finished resupplying. We’ll be leaving soon. Have you considered what I said last night?”

Zhang Qian’s eyes burned with excitement. Looking at the elegantly dressed Liu Ming, she nodded without hesitation. “I’ll go with you. But I have one small request.”

Liu Ming frowned slightly. “Go on..”

Though she wore rags and her face was bare, Liu Ming could still tell at a glance that this woman was a natural beauty—one who, with a little polish, could easily become stunning.

In this lawless, post-apocalyptic world, someone like Liu Ming could easily have taken her by force without suffering any consequence. But he preferred women who kneel down to him willingly—force was only his last resort.

So he had simply announced his identity as the Liu family’s third young master, offering her the dream of a rich and luxurious life inside the city’s walls.

Ever since the global zombie virus outbreak centuries ago, most towns and small cities had fallen. The rich built massive walled zones, creating “Upper Class Cities,” while the rest of the world became sprawling slums. Ninety-five percent of people could struggle their entire lives and still never set foot inside a rich district. To the riches, the poor were nothing but laborers—livestock that kept their world running.

And as if poverty weren’t enough, the slums were constantly threatened by wandering zombies. A few strays could be handled—but a full-blown horde, thousands in number, could wipe out an entire settlement overnight.

Zhang Qian had married Chen Ning only because she had no other way to survive. But when Liu Ming appeared, offering her escape and comfort, temptation took over.

After a sleepless night, she made up her mind.

“Young Master Liu,” Zhang Qian said softly, “I’ll go with you. I’ll be your woman. But please—let me bring my daughter, XiaoGuo, with me.”

Liu Ming glanced at the timid three-year-old clutching Zhang Qian’s hand. Despite her dirty face, her delicate features hinted that she would grow up to be even more beautiful than her mother. His lips curled faintly. “Fine. Let’s go.”

“Thank you, Young Master Liu!”

Zhang Qian’s face lit up with joy as she pulled her daughter along, showing not even a trace of hesitation as she prepared to leave her husband behind.

Chen Ning’s expression twisted. Trembling with rage, he growled, “You can leave, but you will not take my daughter!”

“Daddy—!”

XiaoGuo began to cry, shocked by her father’s tone. She tried to run to him, but Zhang Qian gripped her hand tightly, refusing to let go.

Chen Ning loved his daughter more than his own life—she was the only thing that kept him going in this broken world. Seeing Zhang Qian dragging her away, he lost control and charged forward.

But before he could reach her, one of the caravan guards—a burly man with a thick beard—stepped in front of him. With a single kick, the guard sent Chen Ning flying backward. He crashed into a table, splintering it into pieces.

“Daddy!” XiaoGuo screamed, sobbing uncontrollably. But Zhang Qian’s face remained cold and expressionless as she tightened her grip.

Pain exploded in Chen Ning’s chest. He struggled to rise, blood spilling from his lips. Still, he glared at Liu Ming and Zhang Qian, his voice hoarse and trembling:

“Give me back my daughter!”

The bearded guard was surprised that the man could still struggle to his feet, shocked by the resilience of his body. But this also filled him with vexation; to be so slow in dealing with a lowly plebeian would surely make Young Master Liu think of him as incompetent. 

As this thought arose in the bearded guard’s mind, a murderous glint flashed in his triangular, snake-like eyes. He narrowed them, watching Chen Ning approach again. His hand went to the shotgun slung at his waist—the kind used to blast through zombies at close range.

Zhang Qian panicked. “Don’t kill him!” she cried.

But the guard didn’t even glance at her. He only takes orders from Young Master Liu.

Zhang Qian turned to Liu Ming in desperation. “Please, don’t kill him! I don’t want my daughter to watch her father die right in front of her—it’ll traumatize her for life!”

Just then, Chen Ning charged over recklessly. The bearded guard, without hesitation, pulled out his shotgun, its dark muzzle pointed at Chen Ning.

Liu Ming finally spoke, his tone indifferent. “Liu Lei. Leave the dog alive.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

The guard shifted his aim, then smashed the butt of his shotgun across Chen Ning’s face.

With a sickening crack, blood sprayed from his cheek as he hit the ground hard.

Lying in a pool of blood, Chen Ning stared toward his daughter, his voice barely a rasp:

“Give her back… give me back my daughter…”

Liu Ming glanced at his pocket watch. “We’ve wasted enough time here. Let’s go.”

Zhang Qian carried her crying daughter and followed the group out.

“Don’t take her away… please…”

Chen Ning tried to crawl after them, but his injuries and grief overwhelmed him. Darkness claimed him, and he lost consciousness.

When he opened his eyes again, an old man sat beside the bed.

“Chen Ning, you’re awake! I thought you weren’t going to make it,” the man said with relief.

It was Zhao Xing, his neighbor and fellow worker at the Bull Ironworks. A kind soul who, upon hearing the commotion, had found Chen Ning half-dead and brought him home.

Chen Ning grabbed his arm weakly. “Lao Zhao… my wife and daughter—where are they?”

——

TL Note: Lao Zhao (Old Zhao)

A more friendly term to use among friends.

——

Zhao Xing sighed. “She’s gone, Chen Ning. Zhang Qian left with Young Master Liu’s caravan. I always knew that women weren’t made for this kind of life. She married you only because you are the best choice in this tiny place. Honestly, I’m just surprised she took Xiao Guo with her. Everyone knows how much that girl means to you.”

Chen Ning’s face went pale. His heart felt hollow.

Zhao Xing placed a bowl of vegetable soup beside the bed. “Listen, brother. Your wife and daughter may be gone, but you’re still alive. In this damned world, that’s all we can do—stay alive. Drink this. You’ve been unconscious for two days. If you don’t go back to work tomorrow, Lao Tian will fire you. You understand what that means—no work, no food, and you will die from starvation.”

He hesitated, then added quietly, “And if you die, you’ll never see your daughter again. But if you live… maybe, just maybe, you’ll find a way to reach Vermilion Phoenix City and see her once more.”

At those words, Chen Ning’s eyes snapped open. The despair that had swallowed him began to fade, replaced by a spark of determination.

Yes. If he stayed alive, there was still a chance. A chance to find her—and bring her home.

He picked up the bowl and drank greedily, choking as tears mixed with the bitter soup.

The next morning, Chen Ning returned to the Bull Ironworks.

The owner, Tian Li Niu, was a fat, bald man weighing over two hundred pounds—one of the few people with status in Blackwater Town.

He had dozens of workers working for him, and his blacksmith shop primarily forged common swords and weapons. Of course, they also repair guns. While they weren’t capable of fixing complex firearms, issues like a broken wooden rifle stock were absolutely within the Bull Ironworks capabilities.

When Chen Ning showed up, Tian Li Niu smirked. “Well, well, look who’s back. I thought you weren’t coming anymore. You skipped two days of work. Half a month’s wages gone—no complaints, right?”

The other workers looked at Chen Ning sympathetically. Tian Li Niu was infamous for his stinginess and cutting pay over the smallest things.

Chen Ning gritted his teeth. “No complaints,” he muttered.

But inside, his heart sank. Even if he worked his whole life, he’d never earn enough to leave this slum—let alone challenge the Liu family and take back his daughter.

He needed to change.

Just then, a deafening explosion shook the ground. Everyone’s faces immediately went pale, murmuring roses, questioning the source of the blast, wondering if a zombie horde had finally descended upon Blackwater Town.

The workers rushed outside. The town’s makeshift gate—meant to keep zombies out—had been blown apart.

Military trucks rolled in, their engines roaring. In the largest truck, an iron cage was welded to the back. Inside, chained and thrashing, was a towering zombie over two meters tall—its green flesh rippling with unnatural muscle.

A collective gasp spread through the crowd.

Tian Li Niu’s eyes widened. “Heavens… that’s a fourth-stage zombie—a Predator!”

Chen Ning stared, awe-strucked by the large zombie in the distant truck’s iron cage. Its head was rotted, its entire body a sickly green, yet its muscles appeared remarkably solid. Its arms, in particular, were exceptionally thick and muscular—so massive they seemed almost disproportionate to its frame.

He had heard that zombies can evolve, and humans categorize them into levels:

Level 1: Walkers — slow, have strength of a normal human

Level 2: Stiffs — have strength of two men, but slow and sluggish.

Level 3: Chargers — have strength of a normal human, but moves faster than normal human, deadlier

Level 4: Predators — combining both speed of chargers and brute force of stiffs. Very deadly. Even the empire’s soldiers have a hard time facing them.

Level 5: Hellhounds — these creatures had already diverged significantly from human form, showing clear bestial traits, attacking with savage claws and razor-sharp teeth.

Level 6: Frieza — evolving from their Hellhound brethren, these were half-human, half-beast, wielding a powerful tail and possessing high intelligence, capable of gathering smaller groups of wandering zombies.

Level 7:  Titans — these monstrosities typically arose from masses of fused corpses, towering over three meters tall and weighing more than a ton. Headless, yet their bodies are covered in eyes, they possessed unrivaled strength, able to shatter common city walls and other fortifications.

In truth, far more advanced tiers of elite zombies existed, though they remained unknown to the common folk dwelling in slums like Chen Ning.

This imperial army before them, clearly an elite force, was likely engaged in capturing high-tier elite zombies for scientific study. Humanity’s very survival hinged on ceaseless research into these elite undeads, understanding their nature to devise strategies, and only then, perhaps, achieving their ultimate annihilation.

The trucks stopped. A bald officer jumped down, followed by disciplined soldiers—all silent, all deadly.

“Who’s in charge here?” the officer barked.

“I—I am!” A nervous middle aged man hurried forward—Town Chief of Blackwater Town Xu Liang. “Major, sir, I’m the town chief. How can we assist you?”

“Prepare lunch for a hundred men. Immediately.”

Xu Liang hesitated—food was scarce—but he dared not refuse. The army before them are battle-hardened Imperial warriors. They had clashed with the undead countless times, slaying hordes of zombies, and undoubtedly, would spill human blood without a flicker of hesitation. “Y-yes, Major! Right away!”

The bald officer ignored him and turned to the Bull Ironworks. “Who’s the owner?”

Tian Li Niu stepped forward quickly, bowing. “I am, sir.”

The bald major spoke coldly, ‘While eradicating a horde of zombies, my unit suffered severe weapon damage. Do you have any weapons? Hand axes or machetes would suffice.

Hearing this, Tian Li Niu knew a profitable venture had arrived, and a wide grin split his face as he confirmed they had hand axes and daggers.

Though these Imperial warriors were fierce and arrogant, their constant hunting of zombies brought them substantial rewards from above. They were, in essence, wealthy patrons, especially when it came to outfitting themselves with weapons.

“We need fifty axes and fifty daggers. Quality must meet standard. If any fails inspection… I’ll test them on your neck.” the bald major stares coldly at Tian Li Niu.

Tian Li Niu paled but nodded frantically. “Yes, Major! You’ll have the best weapons we can make!”

“Can anyone here repair rifles? We have about a dozen damaged stocks.” The bald major then inquired, 

“Yes, absolutely! We’ll have them as good as new.” Tian Li Niu quickly responded, 

Turning to his second-in-command, the major ordered, “Hand over the damaged firearms. I expect them to be repaired within the hour, or you’ll face the consequences.”

Wiping beads of cold sweat from his brow, Tian Li Niu bowed repeatedly, his voice a torrent of assurances: “They’ll be fixed, sir, absolutely fixed!”

As the soldiers unloaded damaged rifles for repair, Chen Ning watched in silence.

Even the town’s richest and most powerful men—Tian Li Niu and Xu Liang—were bowing like dogs before this officer.

That was when Chen Ning understood.

If he stayed here, he would always be nothing.

If he wanted his daughter back—if he wanted power—he needed to change everything.

He stared at the bald major, aura of confidence radiating from him.

For the first time, a new fire burned in his chest.

He would join the empire’s army.

He would become someone who held life and death in his hands.

He would make Liu Ming and Zhang Qian kneel before him and beg for mercy.