Chapter 47: You Talk Too Much (2/4)

Daylight had already broken.

Liu Mengchao stretched out his hand, shielding himself slightly from the sunlight streaming down from the sky. Yet the light still filtered between his fingers, falling gently across his face.

“The weather’s nice,” he remarked, turning to Saeko Busujima.

“Yes, perfect for an outing.” Saeko sat beside him, the shrine’s sword in her hands. Though her lips curved in a smile, her tone was icy cold. “Or for killing.”

Liu Mengchao followed her gaze. Below the shrine, a horde of zombies had gathered—shuffling shrine maidens in ceremonial garb, and middle-aged salarymen in immaculate suits. As they staggered forward, their decaying flesh sloughed off, dropping to the ground.

“I don’t care for this,” Liu Mengchao said, shaking his head. The scene before him now filled him with nothing but weariness.

“Neither do I.” Saeko slowly unsheathed her katana. The blade flashed cold and sharp in the sunlight, a glint of menace.

“It’s not time yet,” Liu Mengchao said, glancing at his watch.

5:59:00.

“When will it be?” Saeko pressed.

He didn’t answer. Instead, a premonition stirred within him, causing him to look up.

Light!

A blinding radiance burst suddenly in the sky above. Even Liu Mengchao’s phone responded, belching a curl of blue smoke.

A faint pop…

He glanced at the phone’s display, catching the last time it showed.

6:00:00.

“It’s now!” Liu Mengchao laughed aloud and leapt from the rooftop. Twin hidden blades sprang from his sleeves.

A dull thud.

Two zombies toppled beneath him, and twin blossoms of blood unfurled where he landed.

“Just in time,” Saeko observed, rising to her feet. A gentle breeze played with her flowing hair.

Blade unsheathed.

The beauty surged forth.

The Valkyrie had arrived.

In Saeko’s hands, the katana came alive. Each stroke sent blood mist spraying into the air, falling like a crimson rain.

“More! More!” Saeko’s figure danced through the blood-soaked deluge, her cries rising and falling—a macabre performance, like an opera born of carnage.

Liu Mengchao did not charge ahead. Instead, he moved behind Saeko, occasionally dispatching stray zombies with quick, efficient movements. When Saeko glanced his way, he nodded in affirmation.

“It’s time to go,” Liu Mengchao said, pointing toward their destination.

The Takagi estate.

Home of the president of the Patriotic Hearts Society.

Residence of the Lord of Tokonoma Domain.

At that moment, the electromagnetic pulse from the nuclear blast revealed its full power. All electrical devices ceased to function in an instant.

Including vehicles.

In a single flash, dozens of trucks stalled on the main street of Tokonoma City. Around them, the zombies they had once ignored now closed in.

“Everyone! Out of the vehicles!” Takagi Souichirou shouted from atop a truck. He had chased the murderers of his daughter all night, only to have fate intervene at the last moment.

“Arm yourselves! We’re heading home!” His gaze was imperious as he drew his sword and swung it with vigor, as if transported back to the Taisho era.

Japanese officers in yellow leather, brandishing katanas, shouting as they advanced.

“Attack! Attack! Let those Chinese live a little longer!”

Trained men disembarked one by one, some with guns, others with traditional swords.

“The first thing we must do is fight our way back!” Takagi Souichirou looked up at the towering mansion behind him and laughed. “Such a crude diversion!”

A diversion?

Not so, thought the Reincarnators.

Ye Yutian slumped over the steering wheel, gasping for breath.

“We made it!” His face flushed with excitement as he turned to the others in the car. “From now on, we’re teammates. We must survive!”

No one replied.

Only Li Xin managed a strained smile. Trust between people is as fragile as glass—once cracked, nearly impossible to restore.

But now, something more pressing demanded their attention.

“Fight our way back!” Qi Xiaoxiao leaned out the car window, staring at the distant Takagi estate.

“This must be Liu Mengchao’s plan: lure the tiger from the mountain, then strike at its lair!”

At her words, Takashi Komuro’s expression changed. A nameless dread crept through him, as if ants crawled along his heart.

Could it be that even his own betrayal—the phone call—had been part of Liu Mengchao’s scheme?

Truly…

“A devil who manipulates hearts,” murmured Makoto Itou at Takashi’s ear.

The Hummer’s engine rumbled to life at last.

“Let’s go!” Ye Yutian’s eyes gleamed with excitement. Nothing brings greater joy than surviving a brush with death. Now, only one night remained between him and escape from this hell.

The main quest from the Lord God: reach the Takagi estate and survive until dawn!

I can do this.

Ye Yutian spun the wheel, the Hummer accelerating toward the estate. The zombies had been drawn away by the commotion of Takagi Souichirou’s men.

A heaven-sent opportunity!

Ye Yutian felt a rush of exhilaration he’d never known—a struggle where money meant nothing, only killing and the thrill of survival.

As the Hummer sped on, Li Xin’s emotions surged just as wildly. He’d thought himself the strategist of the group, but now realized every step they’d taken had been within Liu Mengchao’s calculations—each move, each turn, a link in an unbreakable chain.

Is this what it means to be a true strategist?

A smile crept across Li Xin’s face. If he survived this horror film, perhaps Liu Mengchao would finally accept him. Under his leadership, survival was all but assured.

Survival…

Liu Mengchao raced toward the Takagi estate.

Saeko Busujima had already been surprised by him more than once, but to maintain such speed required extraordinary stamina.

“Liu Mengchao, what are you smiling about?”

“Hm?”

He shook his head, then smiled again.

The jackpot before him was growing madly, as if possessed. The Reincarnators must have escaped, or perhaps they too were heading for the estate.

For the final feast of points, their spirits surged.

That hope for survival, the struggle and the joy of living to see another day—such intense emotions made for wild swings in the jackpot total.

The number proved it.

Jackpot: 500,000!

Surge ahead.

Liu Mengchao scaled the estate’s wall, vaulted over, and landed in the back garden.

“Who are you!”

He glanced at the newcomer, frowning.

The man wore denim overalls, wielded an iron wrench, and sported a yellow hard hat. His white towel was stained with black grease.

“What do you think?” Liu Mengchao walked toward him.

“Stay back!” The wrench came swinging down.

A flick of the wrist—hidden blade extended.

A spray of blood arced before Liu Mengchao.

“You talk too much.”

Before the words had faded, the man crumpled to the ground.

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This is today’s second update…

The third will come at two in the afternoon…

I’ve been on cold medicine for a week and still haven’t recovered, damn it (‵o′)凸

Thanks to Crimson Nocturne, Moe is Justice, Dragon’s Lament, Xuanyuan the Maniac, Wのi, and Li Zai for your generous rewards~~~~~~