Apocalypse King System

"Bang..."

The man stumbled to the ground, then looked at Wang Meng with a mix of fear and anger as he ran ahead without turning back.

"You bastard, you won't have a good death..."

The man only managed to curse a sentence before the vine's tendrils behind him swiftly approached with a whistling sound.

"Ah..."

The man screamed in agony as the countless tendrils at the tip of the vine entwined over his exposed skin, crazily extracting his blood.

Meanwhile, an invisible life force seemed to be transmitted through the tendrils. The previously somewhat withered grayish-white vine also recovered a significant portion, appearing much less weakened than before.

The man widened his eyes, carrying a look of unwillingness. In just a short ten seconds, he was drained of blood, turning into a lifeless corpse. Then, the vine loosened its grip, and the man's body fell to the ground.

Listening to the agonizing cries of the man who had always been referred to as the second-in-command, his most trusted brother, Wang Meng's heart shuddered. In just a dozen seconds, he vanished, and Wang Meng ran even more frantically.

Soon, Wang Meng burst out of this section of the drainage ditch, then swiftly climbed up beside a road with remnants of walls. This place seemed like a small village from before the apocalypse, with no towering buildings left, only a few dilapidated houses standing on the plain.

"They're coming again..."

Wang Meng glanced back, cursing in his heart. He thought that after running so far, he should be out of the attacking range of that vine monster. However, to his horror, he could still see a long vine stretching towards him, like a terrifying specter.

Not wasting any time to think, Wang Meng sprinted towards a few small buildings in the distance.

The sound of tearing wind echoed in his ears as if it was right next to him. Wang Meng cursed his luck, wishing his parents had given him an extra pair of legs. With the mad dash for his life, he was now just a dozen meters away from the small buildings.

At this point, he could even feel the vines behind him almost at arm's reach, as if at any moment they could bind him up, suck his blood, just like the fate of several others before him.

"Ah!"

A roar erupted from him, expelling the last bit of energy. He burst through the wooden door of the small building and rushed inside, slamming the door shut and using his body to brace it.

A tremendous crash, and Wang Meng's massive body was almost thrown backward. The force from behind left him in terror.

The desperate will to survive made him press his back firmly against the wooden door, afraid that the next moment the door would be smashed open.

But after just one impact, the vines fell silent, leaving the room in an eerie stillness.

Wang Meng gasped for breath, feeling as if his lungs had exploded. The mad dash for his life just now almost exhausted him completely. If it weren't for the survival skills honed by long-term living in the apocalypse, chased by zombies, he might not have outrun the vine's attack just now.

Though the sound in his ears disappeared, Wang Meng dared not let his guard down. Gripping the shotgun tightly in his hand, he didn't relax in the slightest. Even in the most perilous moments just now, he didn't let go of this sole weapon in his hand.

The atmosphere in the room was eerily quiet, which unsettled Wang Meng. He could almost hear his own heartbeat, rapid and muffled.

In a moment of distraction, he saw a grayish-white figure suddenly reaching in through the side window. With the sound of shattering glass, Wang Meng fired his gun.

In that moment, he didn't even have time to react. He relied entirely on the instinctive reaction of his body to pull the trigger.

Bang...

The deafening and muffled gunshot echoed in the room, and most of the pellets scattered hit the vine tentacles that had just attacked from the window.

Unexpectedly, the vine, struck by a bullet, only retreated a few meters. On the grayish-white tentacles, there were embedded more than a dozen bullet fragments, along with blackened burn marks. Wang Meng could even see some reddish liquid resembling human blood oozing from the vine.

Bang, bang...

Two more gunshots followed as Wang Meng continuously pulled the trigger, splattering the vine with fragments and bloodstains. The recoil of the shotgun made Wang Meng's shoulder ache, but he dared not stop. He frantically kept pulling the trigger, emptying the chamber of bullets.

With his efforts, the vine, as thick as a car, was finally shot down to about a person's height. However, for the entire vine, it was just a small portion, causing it to retreat a bit, showing no significant damage.

Frantically attempting to reload the shotgun, Wang Meng found himself out of bullets. The vine, seemingly recovered from its initial shock, lunged at Wang Meng once again.

Wang Meng's pupils dilated, reflecting a segment of the grayish-white vine covered in bullet holes rapidly approaching him. At this moment, he had no more bullets to fire.

"What is this thing?"

Just as Wang Meng wore an expression of despair, awaiting his impending death, a crisp female voice suddenly rang out.

Outside the house, Liu Wanting grabbed onto the grayish-white vine, looking at this peculiar plant with a hint of curiosity.

Just now, riding on Little Gold, she was flying towards the direction of Tianhe City Botanical Garden. Even from a distance, she felt a strange life force, as if there was an extremely powerful creature in the distance.

Normally, a mutated animal with the flying ability of Little Gold could reach the Botanical Garden in a matter of minutes. However, this little fellow was always haughty, and it took a considerable round in the sky with Liu Wanting before finally landing.

"Don't allow this to happen again next time. I should have flown over myself if I had known."

Liu Wanting scolded the majestic giant eagle standing beside her. This eagle was as tall as a small mountain, with golden feathers shimmering all over, and it exuded an extraordinary aura.

Holding the grayish-white vine in her hand, it was strange that this vine monster had just wreaked havoc everywhere, killing Wang Meng's group quite thoroughly. However, when caught by Liu Wanting's seemingly delicate hands, it dared not move at all, trembling as if it had encountered a natural enemy.

The golden eagle disdainfully snorted, and its gaze, carrying a hint of anthropomorphic curiosity, focused on the Botanical Garden several kilometers away. There was a strange aura emanating from there, somewhat similar to Liu Wanting, but significantly different.

Or perhaps, after undergoing the tempering and sublimation of its owner's abilities, it was now completely different from other mutated animals.

"Who are you people?"

Wang Meng walked out of the room, looking at the scene outside with a dazed expression. This was even more horrifying and shocking than seeing that giant vine monster before.

A giant golden eagle, the size of a small mountain, towering over ten stories high, with wings that covered the sky, and claws the size of a small car, was standing right next to the small building where he was.

In the presence of such a colossal creature, Wang Meng felt incredibly small. Even the small building next to him seemed to shrink in size in an instant.

Liu Wanting turned around, looking at Wang Meng walking out of the room, her eyebrows lightly furrowed.

In an instant, Wang Meng's eyes widened. It had been so long since he had seen such a beautiful woman. She looked as if she hadn't been affected by the apocalypse at all—clean, neat, with snow-white skin, exuding the aura of a spirited military woman, a stark contrast to the dilapidated surroundings.

Wang Meng initially thought Han Yan, with her beauty, was a rare gem in the apocalypse. However, compared to the woman in front of him, it was like night and day.

The feeling was akin to an ugly girl crawling out of a mud pit, contrasting with a gorgeously dressed, stunningly beautiful girl. Wang Meng felt a deep sense of jealousy. He wondered where this military woman came from. Could it be that the military had established safe gathering places in other cities? Otherwise, how could she be so clean and have new clothes to wear?

"Where did you come from? Has the military established safe zones in other cities? Why hasn't anyone come to rescue us?"

Wang Meng swallowed a mouthful of saliva, asking tentatively. Mistaking Liu Wanting for a female soldier due to her military attire, and despite the intimidating presence of the golden eagle beside her, Wang Meng naïvely believed that soldiers were approachable.

"Hey, I'm talking to you. Why aren't you saying anything?"