Chapter Twenty-Five: After the Tide of Rats (Third Update)

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Following the two or three-meter-wide gravel path, Liang Jing and Ling Qinghe quickly found the spot where Zhang Huke and the others were. Four small tile-roofed houses stood on either side, with a two-story building in the middle. The exterior was still unfinished, suggesting the previous owner wasn’t exactly well-off, as people had already begun living in the building before it was even completed. Not far from the building lay a small river, typical of the Jiangnan Province—about ten meters wide, with abundant reeds growing along the secluded banks. To the right, behind two of the tile-roofed houses, stretched a small lake no less than a square kilometer.

Liang Jing couldn’t help but smile wryly, wondering how Zhang Huke and the others had managed to find such a quiet and isolated spot. Yet this kind of place was also prone to the appearance of dangerous mutant creatures. Inside, he saw Zhang Huke, Liu Zhixiong, and the man surnamed Wang, along with Ah Yao. The four of them looked dazed and only seemed to come alive when they saw Liang Jing return.

“Boss!”

“Boss, you’re back.”

Liang Jing nodded but didn’t pay them much attention. He started getting busy with his own matters. After a day like this, his body was both exhausted and filthy—especially after dissecting the Steel-Brute Rat earlier, which had left him covered in blood and grime. A bath was in order before anything else.

He turned the tap, but only a few drops sputtered out, accompanied by a hissing sound. Liang Jing gave another wry smile. It seemed nothing here went as he wished—of all times, the water had to run out right when he needed it. Left with no choice, he picked up a plastic bucket and went out to fetch water from the nearby stream.

After washing up, he felt much better—refreshed and clear-headed. Only then did he hear the full story from Zhang Huke and the others, who now looked much improved. After Liang Jing had found a way to distract and hold back the tide of rats, they had run far enough to escape the rodents’ line of sight. In their panic, they’d followed a gravel path along the side of the road and ended up here, not even having time to think. Luckily, whether by fortune or because other mutant creatures had already been frightened off by the rat horde, they encountered no further danger. The group had tacitly checked and tidied the house, waiting for Liang Jing’s return. Of course, the mutant black-backed dog (a zombie) had been lurking in the shadows, trailing them. Regular monsters could still be dealt with, but they hadn’t realized it was there.

“Ling Qinghe, go make dinner. It’s getting late,” Liang Jing said after understanding the situation. The sky was already darkening, and unlike before the mutations, there were no electric lights—starting a fire was dangerous enough.

Ling Qinghe obediently agreed. There was still food in the house—rice and some common vegetables, with a decent supply of rice in storage. Liang Jing brought out two packs of evolution sausages and over two pounds of steel-ridge beast meat. Tonight’s dinner would be quite the feast—something not easily enjoyed even before the world changed. As a former underdog, Liang Jing rather liked this new world. Though more dangerous, he felt at ease and free from depression—his spirit unburdened.

“So, tell me what happened to you two,” Liang Jing asked the strong man surnamed Wang and Ah Yao.

Both men looked grim. Even when Liang Jing had returned alive, their expressions had only relaxed a little. They were still heavy and dispirited, clearly shaken by recent events.

“This is how it happened,” the strong man began. “Not long after you left, we and the newly joined short man with glasses headed straight for the Hualian Supermarket. At first, nothing much happened—the biggest danger on the road was a mutant spider, but with our numbers and some experience, we managed to take it down quickly… And then…” In the end, it was the strong man who spoke, recounting everything from leaving the administrative building to the appearance of the rat horde.

Hearing that these ordinary people had managed to cooperate and take down a mutant spider head-on, Liang Jing’s eyes lit up. Maybe humanity wasn’t as powerless as he’d thought—so long as you put your minds together, and your strengths weren’t too far apart, courage and cooperation could go a long way. Still, he felt some sadness. Out of so many people, only the strong man and Ah Yao survived. The others had been either swamped by the rats or split up and fled—no one knew what had become of them, but their chances of survival were slim to none. The afternoon’s rat horde had been unstoppable; only someone with Liang Jing’s physical abilities could hope to escape. The short man with glasses and his group had drawn the rats upon themselves by yelling in excitement after entering the supermarket. If the strong man hadn’t been decisive—ordering everyone to drop their belongings and flee at the first sign of danger—they would all have perished. A delay of even a second or two would have been fatal. At the very least, neither of them would still be alive. Liang Jing shuddered; thank goodness he’d seen through those worthless types early on and hadn’t recruited them. Otherwise, if something like this happened, his entire foundation would be wiped out, even if he himself survived.

“What happened to the short man with glasses and the others?” Liang Jing inquired.

“They were the first to rush into the supermarket, shouting and yelling, and almost immediately, a swarm of rats poured out. I’d say…” The strong man didn’t finish, but everyone knew their fate was sealed—rushing into the tiger’s den and making such a racket.

In the kitchen, Ling Qinghe listened and felt a wave of relief. Thank goodness she’d chosen to follow Liang Jing instead of listening to the short man with glasses. Otherwise, she’d be dead by now—a miserable end. The terror of the afternoon’s rat horde made her heart tremble; their overwhelming presence was like a locust plague, but even more devastating. She thought of Liang Jing’s heroic figure that afternoon and silently made up her mind once again, her hands and feet working all the more swiftly.

Just then, the strong man’s face showed a struggle; he seemed hesitant, then finally made up his mind. “Boss Liang, Ah Yao and I want to join your team. We have no other demands, as long as you treat us fairly. We’ll never betray you.”

Wang Meng now saw the world for what it was—ambition meant nothing without the strength to back it up. After two days of constant danger and heavy casualties, only he and Ah Yao remained. While Wang Meng believed in his own abilities, ordinary people still needed to rely on the strong. Without power as a foundation, in this savage and dangerous world, one wrong move and you’d be swallowed whole. He’d already discussed it with Ah Yao, who had no objections—their weapons were all they had left. Though Ah Yao respected him, the past two days had left him yearning for a truly capable leader to depend on. With that, Wang Meng sighed inwardly.

The young man with the steel spear, Ah Yao, looked at Liang Jing with hopeful eyes.

Hmm?

At that moment, Liang Jing was still pondering the issue of the rat horde in the supermarket. In his mind, something was off about such a massive outbreak. One had to admit, rats are extremely intelligent creatures; they’ve been around since the age of dinosaurs. There’s an old saying: if a new rat poison kills one rat in a city, soon none of the rats will ever touch food containing that poison again. Perhaps the mutant rats knew there was food in the supermarket and gathered there, sleeping during the day—only to be disturbed by the ruckus made by the short man with glasses and his group, triggering the horde. If that were true, then any food not yet collected and stored would be… Liang Jing dared not think further. With no one growing crops, food was becoming a nonrenewable resource.

Looking at Wang Meng and Ah Yao, Liang Jing was somewhat surprised. The rat horde incident wasn’t really their fault; they hadn’t done it on purpose—it was just bad luck. Still, he hadn’t expected Wang Meng to want to join. In Liang Jing’s team, everything was under his command, and he could see that Wang Meng had ambition and some ability: calm, decisive, and steady. It was just his bad luck he hadn’t awakened any special powers, and his misfortune to end up with teammates as foolish as the short man with glasses, and to stumble into such a terrifying rat horde.

“You can join, but let me repeat my two rules: first, you follow my orders; second, you do not betray the team,” Liang Jing stated. He was willing to accept them, but his terms needed to be clear.

“You all know my abilities. If you betray me, the consequences won’t be pretty. If you have any doubts or grievances, say them now—we can talk it out…” As for quitting or anything else, Liang Jing didn’t mention it. He believed as long as he was alive, they wouldn’t ask to leave.

“As for being treated equally, that’s impossible. For now, everyone is on the same level, but in the future, treatment will vary based on individual performance and ability. You have to earn your place. If you contribute nothing and drag the team down, no one will tolerate it.” As he spoke, Liang Jing deliberately glanced at Liu Zhixiong, whose head immediately drooped, lost in thought.

“No problem!” Wang Meng agreed decisively, asking no further questions. Ah Yao nodded eagerly in agreement.

Liang Jing nodded, accepting them into the group.