Chapter 21: CH 20

Goose (鹅 / é) City is a metropolis with a resident population exceeding 5 million and a flourishing economy. There are several vast new industrial parks prospering within its jurisdiction. 

There is a large industrial park near Goose City. Due to being scarcely populated and the high walls encircling it, the park was a very suitable place for refuge. After the apocalypse came, many people flocked here to seek asylum, turning it into one of the earliest large-scale bases of refuge. 

In the days to come, this base will undergo reconstruction and reinforcement in many ways, and a towering city wall will be built. It will develop into the famous Goose City fortress of the early apocalypse. 

This fortress just happens to be located between Hua City and Lu Island. Chu Qianxun plans to bring Gao Yan, Feng Qianqian, and the others to the relatively safe Goose City base on her way to Lu Island. This could be considered fulfilling the expectations of an old friend. 

After arriving at Goose City, she can continue eastwards and proceed towards Lu Island, killing two birds with one stone. 

The distance from Hua City to Goose City was originally less than 200 kilometers. Even if they went slowly, stopping throughout the journey, it wouldn’t take too long for them to reach their destination.

But since they had unintentionally picked up Ye Peitian, everyone in the car sensed Chu Qianxun’s impatience rise for no obvious reason. 

Unfortunately, as they got closer to Goose City, the city counties were more densely populated, and there were more smashed vehicles blocking their way, making the road even more difficult to traverse. 

“We’re not moving anymore, get out of the car.” Chu Qianxun stopped the car.

Everybody got out of the car, proficiently carrying all the supplies that they were able to hold on their backs. 

This is already the third car they have replaced. Whenever their car reached an area it was unable to move through, they had no choice but to exit the car and proceed on foot. 

Once they reached an area where the roads were clear of obstructions, Chu Qianxun could always use her picklocking skills to secure another car for everyone to ride. 

A sign on the side of the road had been struck by something and was badly misshapen. The severed limb of some unknown creature was still hanging on it.

There was not a soul in sight on the road ahead. Vehicles in various states of destruction were clustered together; the open doors occasionally swayed in the wind, making creaking noises. All of the cars were empty. The broken windows and dark brown-stained interiors clearly showed that a violent scene had occurred here a few days prior. The ground was messy, filled with debris and bloodstains, but there were no corpses in sight. 

The lack of corpses meant that either the people inside the cars had escaped alive, or they had already transformed into monsters. 

There is a high likelihood that monsters will appear nearby. 

Carrying a variety of weapons they’d collected along the way, they cautiously went through the gaps between the vehicles. 

There seems to be a woman standing alone in the stretch of green by the roadside. 

“She” is dressed in a light-blue, floral-patterned fishtail skirt, the skirt swaying gently in the wind. Unexpectedly above her neck are five fleshy petals spread wide open. Inside them, there is a ring of sharp teeth and two long tentacles.

Gan Xiaodan suddenly caught sight of this monster. She remembered that day the demon seeds befell, remembered seeing the appearance of this kind of monster eating people downstairs at the dormitory, and took a few steps back in fright. 

Chu Qianxun stopped her by the shoulder: “Don’t be afraid, this is a common monster that hasn’t advanced yet. It doesn’t have much speed or strength, you guys can kill it.”

When encountering common monsters along the way, Chu Qianxun will no longer dispose of them personally. 

The more you fight monsters, the more you can improve your own abilities. This also makes it easier for an ordinary person’s hidden capabilities to awaken. 

In these times, it is impossible for someone to protect others for a lifetime. If she overprotected her friends, it’s possible this might harm them instead. 

Jiang Xiaojie was eager to have a try. He stepped forward first, an excited smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. Five sharp icicles condensed in the air and hovered beside him. 

Jiang Xiaojie’s abilities are clearly improving day by day at a speed visible to anyone’s eyes.

Feng Junlei handed Feng Qianqian to Chu Qianxun and followed him, wielding a firefighter’s axe. 

Gao Yan, her nails prettily adorned with polish, wrung her hands before finally rushing forward with a sharp crowbar in her grip. 

“You go too.” Chu Qianxun nudged Gan Xiaodan. 

“I… I don’t dare.” Gan Xiaodan’s face went pale. 

“You don’t dare to go when I’m by your side. If I’m not here, will you just wait to die?” Chu Qianxun pushed her forward, “Now go!” 

Jiang Xiaojie already engaged the monster in combat. The monster whipped its blood-red tentacles from side to side as it attacked, manipulating its human limbs in strange, uncoordinated movements. 

Gan Xiaodan tremblingly took a few steps forward, looking back at Chu Qianxun with red eyes. 

“Go!” Chu Qianxun scowled impatiently, “Land a cut on it with your knife today, or else I’ll throw you to the road.” 

Tears sprung from Gan Xiaodan’s eyes. She waved the kitchen knife in her hand and dashed forward while crying. 

The monster was besieged by everyone, suffering several injuries. It let out a shrill cry. 

Gan Xiaodan rushed towards the monster, crying even louder than the monster, and haphazardly slashed at it with her knife. 

Unable to stand Gan Xiaodan’s high-pitched screams, Feng Qianqian covered her ears. A few coins floated around her, slowly elongating into slender and sharp needles in the air. 

The long needles flashed in the sky for a moment and made a whooshing noise as they cleaved through the air. They plunged into the heart of the “flesh flower” and pierced through the monster’s chest. 

Chu Qianxun watched the one-sided fight unfolding in front of her. 

Common monsters have low attack power. As long as you can overcome the fear in your heart, it’s not so difficult to defeat them.

She threw a glimpse to the side at Ye Peitian. Ye Peitian stood there silently, not interested in joining the fight. 

Of course Chu Qianxun wouldn’t mind Ye Peitian’s business. 

The slower Ye Peitian’s abilities improved, the more at ease she would be.

Boom, boom, boom, the sound of enormous footsteps came. 

The colossal figure of a Dull Walker appeared at the end of the road. 

The action here attracted this powerful first-order monster. 

Chu Qianxun drew her blade and crouched into a sprint, blurring into a black line to welcome the huge monster. 

Among the group, she is the only one capable of facing a Tier One monster at the moment. 

But there was one person keeping up behind her.

Chu Qianxun’s speed was already near the peak of Tier One, but this person is only a few steps slower than her. 

“I’ll help you.” A low voice said succinctly. 

“Be careful, it can suddenly accelerate. It’s very strong, its weak point is its navel.” Chu Qianxun explained. 

Unexpectedly, there came a day when she and Ye Peitian would fight side by side. A strange type of feeling arose in Chu Qianxun’s heart. 

The black-clothed girl charged into that huge, overweight monster, accurately stabbing her blade into the Dull Walker’s belly. 

The Dull Walker raised its big, fat hand and swatted down with its palm. 

Chu Qianxun nimbly dodged, circling around the Dull Walker’s fat body. 

A slab of sand rose in the sky, crashing into and covering the Dull Walker’s eyes. 

Chu Qianxun seized the opportunity as the Dull Walker’s vision was blocked, springing into the air and fiercely stabbing it in the navel multiple times. 

You are reading story Apocalypse Arrival at novel35.com

The Dull Walker wailed loudly, abruptly squatting down on its legs.

It’s going to sprint!

Chu Qianxun reflexively withdrew to dodge. 

Oh no! Her heart thumped. The Dull Walker’s sprint was directed towards Jiang Xiaojie and the others. 

The ordinary people among them cannot be opponents of the Dull Walker, 

This Dull Walker’s sprint could casually squash them into meat pies. 

The Dull Walker moved into the iconic action of preparing to sprint, but couldn’t run forward. 

A pair of large hands formed from yellow sand extended from the ground under its legs, holding the Dull Walker by the ankles. 

Ye Peitian’s palms were clenched in the air before him as he stared at the Dull Walker, sweat seeping from his forehead. He only held on for a moment, and the fists made of yellow sand crumbled apart. 

But this moment caused the Dull Walker to stumble, its massive body crashing down onto the road. 

The Dull Walker has a huge body and a bloated belly. Once it fell, it wasn’t easy to get back up. 

Its body rolled along the road, crushing trees and street signs along the way.

Chu Qianxun refused to let it go, closely following in wait for a chance to attack its belly.

Finally, after a long back-and-forth battle, this huge Tier One monster was slain. 

Jiang Xiaojie and Feng Qianqian had rushed over to help, but their abilities had exhausted mid-battle, and they had to take a break.

Only Ye Peitian had persevered to accompany her to the end. 

He had continuously used his still-weak sand control ability to cleverly assist Chu Qianxun. 

Chu Qianxun stepped on the Dull Walker’s massive corpse, digging out the green demon seed with her knife. 

She sat aloft and looked down. Ye Peitian’s face was pale and covered in sweat, his hands on his knees as he bent down and panted.

Chu Qianxun couldn’t help but concede that this Ye Peitian was clearly a fighting genius, regardless of his position.

He had zero combat experience and his sand control ability was still very weak. However, he can quickly refine his skills during battle, instinctively grasping every little opportunity through clever use of his ability.

As expected of the man who terrifies the whole world. 

The sky gradually darkened. 

Chu Qianxun once again found a pickup truck, parking it in a relatively secluded place by the roadside for the night.

After tossing about like that during the day, everyone was exhausted.

Chu Qianxun took the first night-watch shift. 

She sat on the car roof and consumed the demon seed she’d acquired during the daytime. She felt a slight shift in her body, then this wondrous feeling rapidly calmed down. 

It’s critical! Chu Qianxun clenched her hand. 

She couldn’t help but reach out and touch the two second-order demon seeds hidden in the inner pocket of her jacket. 

She inwardly began to think over when she should cross into Tier Two. 

Upgrading tiers is extremely dangerous. Any saint has the possibility to turn into a monster while moving to the next rank. 

The early tiers were a little better, but as the ranks increase, this probability gets more and more large. 

Chu Qianxun drew back her hand. She couldn’t upgrade so hastily. 

If she turned into a monster here, not only herself, but Gao Yan, Feng Qianqian, and the others would all be finished.

Chu Qianxun looked down from the roof of the car. 

In the still of the night, without the light of the moon or stars, most of the men were faintly snoring, having already fallen asleep on the open ground in front of the car. 

Only one pair of eyes was open in the darkness, staring blankly at the dim night sky above. 

“You… why aren’t you sleeping?” Chu Qianxun whispered. This Ye Peitian seemed to sleep very little, she didn’t know what he was always thinking about. 

When Chu Qianxun was on night watch yesterday night, he had also been sitting and gazing at the moon all night like this.

“There is no moon tonight.” The man answered in reply. His voice was very low, as if he was immersed in his own world and just thinking aloud. 

Chu Qianxun extended her head from the car roof, just in time to meet that pair of eyes glimmering in the darkness. 

“I’m really afraid that all of this is just me dreaming. And when I open my eyes and wake up, I’ll still find myself in that pitch-black room.” Ye Peitian said softly. 

Chu Qianxun felt a little uncomfortable hearing this. She knew she had labeled this man as a human demon early on. She instinctively rejected him to some extent and was reluctant to acknowledge him. 

But as a matter of fact, he hasn’t done anything yet. Today, he put in all his effort to help Chu Qianxun kill the monster and acquire its seed. 

Chu Qianxun rummaged through her backpack, pulling out a tactical glow stick. She snapped it and shook it until it lit up, then tossed it to Ye Peitian. 

“If you’re afraid of the dark, just take this to sleep. It will glow all night. 

Ye Peitian caught the glow stick without speaking. He held the flickering yellow stick of glowing light, slowly withdrawing his whole body into his blanket. 

That warm yellow light seeped through the seams of his fingers, driving away the darkness and illuminating the space within the blanket. 

He slung his hand over his forehead. 

Even with his eyes closed, he can still feel that shining light. 

Ye Peitian slowly shut his eyes at last. 

He didn’t know how long it had been since he had truly slept. 

Except for the times he was dead, he seemed to have no right to rest. 

In those painful days of repeated torture, 

Ye Peitian nearly found himself on the verge of falling apart several times. 

Perhaps he was still in that dark warehouse, already completely insane, and this warmth he had encountered was just an illusion? 

Before falling asleep, he thought this in his heart. 

TL/N: Previous translations referred to this chapter’s main monster as a “Blunt Walker,” but I’ve changed it to “Dull Walker” because this monster is, well, dull. As in stupid. Like how I felt when I realized why it was named that xD

Translated this while stranded in the airport at 4am cuz my flight was canceled ;-; I’m on spring break so I might post a few more chapters, but no promises! I’ll definitely get another chap up on Tuesday though.

You can find story with these keywords: Apocalypse Arrival, Read Apocalypse Arrival, Apocalypse Arrival novel, Apocalypse Arrival book, Apocalypse Arrival story, Apocalypse Arrival full, Apocalypse Arrival Latest Chapter