Chapter Twenty-Four: Forming the Team

“I’m heading out to take care of some things today,” Ma Yi said to Liu Wen as he ate. Now that everything had been laid bare, Liu Wen would be his wife in the days to come, so he made sure to let her know when he went out.

“Alright, go ahead. Take care of yourself,” Liu Wen replied, nodding. Her spirits had clearly lifted lately, and a gentle smile was often on her face.

Hearing her words, Ma Yi felt a touch embarrassed, thinking she’d misunderstood his intentions. He hurried to explain, “It’s business—a proper matter.”

She smiled, eyes soft as she gazed at him. “Go on then, but be careful.”

Everyone at the table watched their cryptic exchange. Liu Wen’s mother, Chen Fang, looked at Ma Yi with a knowing, cheerful smile. She was truly the mother of both Liu Wen and Liu Xue; even if you combined the two sisters, it would only make up a part of her character.

“Alright, don’t worry,” Ma Yi replied, awkwardly nodding as he shoveled food from his bowl—a large metal basin, now that Ma Yi’s appetite had grown.

After breakfast, Ma Yi left for the neighboring villa, took Ruhua with him, and set out. He left Tie Zhu to guard the home in the villa complex. Ma Yi trusted him completely and was entertaining a new idea he wanted to try.

Hammer stayed on his turf, sitting beside a pile of bones—some human, some the ashen remnants of zombies. Lately, Hammer had even begun eating zombies. It seemed that the survivors who had lasted this long had learned the harsh rules of survival in the apocalypse; it wasn’t so easy for zombies to catch them anymore.

When Ma Yi arrived, Hammer barely acknowledged him, but the sight of Ruhua made Tie Zhu bristle like a wild beast, instantly getting to his feet and roaring at Ruhua, ready to pounce but at the same time backing away to maintain a safe distance. In his mind, Ma Yi counted as one of his own, as did Tie Zhu and the three of them who shared this territory. They squabbled, but it was never to the death. Ruhua, though—a powerful, threatening outsider—put Tie Zhu on edge.

“Relax, Hammer. I have no ill intentions—your big brother’s here to discuss something with you.” Ruhua’s voice echoed directly in Hammer’s mind. This ability to communicate telepathically was something Ma Yi hadn’t mastered, so dealing with these creatures was much easier with Ruhua as his interpreter.

Hammer looked at Ruhua, then at Ma Yi, confusion written all over his smooth head. He recognized the sound “Hammer” as the name Ma Yi had given him.

“I plan to assemble a powerful force. Will you join me?” Ma Yi said, with Ruhua relaying the message to Tie Zhu.

At first, Tie Zhu looked at Ma Yi with disdain. After all, when Ma Yi had beaten him before, he’d teamed up with Tie Zhu; it wasn’t enough to make him submit.

“We’re best friends, aren’t we? From now on, we’ll advance and retreat together.” Ma Yi spoke passionately.

“He says, if you want him to submit, you’ll have to defeat him,” Ruhua translated slowly. Ma Yi paused, glanced at Ruhua, and, seeing this was truly Hammer’s meaning, didn’t waste words—he simply started pounding away.

Even before his evolution, Ma Yi could handle Hammer with self-taught moves; it was only because Tie Zhu helped that Hammer had stood a chance. But now, Ma Yi was evolved and fought with ease. The already battered street became even more ruined, low buildings reduced to rubble under Hammer’s blows.

Ruhua watched from the sidelines as Ma Yi relentlessly attacked and Hammer was forced to defend. They fought for twenty minutes, and Hammer never landed a single real blow. Sometimes, Ma Yi would send Hammer flying into a storefront with a sweeping kick, leaving the place looking as if a shell had exploded. Another time, a roundhouse kick swept Hammer into a gaping hole in the pavement, cement cracking outward. Hammer would bounce up, only to be sent flying again by Ma Yi’s foot.

“He says he gives up—he’s convinced,” Ruhua finally called out after another ten minutes.

Ma Yi stopped, walked over, and pulled Hammer from the ruins, dusting him off with a wry smile. “If you’d just agreed from the start, you could’ve spared yourself the beating. You must have been itching for it.”

“He wants to learn your techniques!” Ruhua added, excited after seeing Ma Yi’s display of strength.

“I’ll teach you when we get back,” Ma Yi promised.

“By the way, are there any other tough characters holding territory nearby?” he asked Hammer.

Ma Yi followed Hammer, with Ruhua at his side. They crossed three blocks, ignoring the ordinary zombies too frightened to make a sound. Soon, Ma Yi spotted another J-class zombie. Unlike Ma Yi and Tie Zhu, who looked like bodybuilders, this one was oddly fascinating—a huge belly like a successful businessman paired with explosive muscles.

Clearly, not all zombies followed the same pattern; Ma Yi, Tie Zhu, and Hammer looked the “normal” type, but there was plenty of variety among J-class zombies.

Still fuming from his earlier beating, Hammer charged at his neighbor without hesitation. Ma Yi and Ruhua watched as the two monsters brawled in a wild, uncoordinated fight. Any zombie tough enough to be Hammer’s neighbor had to be formidable. They were evenly matched, both with silvery-white skin. If one were stronger, the other’s territory would have been lost by now.

Ruhua, following Ma Yi’s instructions, signaled that he wished to negotiate, but after ten minutes, neither side would yield, both bearing wounds. Ma Yi stepped in, not choosing sides, but pummeling both at once. Afterward, Hammer looked at Ma Yi plaintively—weren’t they supposed to be allies now? Why beat him, too? Ma Yi only wanted to show off a bit, but seeing Hammer’s look, he was forced to coax him with kind words.

By midday, Ma Yi had gained three silvery-white zombies behind him: Hammer, Fatty (the big-bellied one), and Windchaser, an S2-class zombie. Though not very large, Windchaser’s claws could pierce Hammer’s skin but were useless against Ma Yi. Though all had silvery skin, there were still power gaps.

To subdue Windchaser, even Ruhua joined the fight. Windchaser couldn’t harm Ma Yi, but was a bit faster than him. Ruhua, however, easily outpaced the S2, her tail blade sharper than Windchaser’s claws.

In addition to these three, there were five evolved zombies—two J-class and three S-class. Ma Yi assigned two to Fatty, three to Windchaser. As for Hammer, Ma Yi intended for him and Tie Zhu to stay and guard the villa complex, ensuring his family’s safety. With Ruhua also stationed at the villa, their safety was certain.

Staring out at the dense horde of zombies—tens of thousands—Ma Yi was surprised that there were so many just in P City. But it made sense; each township had over a hundred thousand people, and P City’s population was over two million. All these zombies had been gathered by Ruhua, whose control extended only three kilometers for now.

Outside Nanshan Villa, the fields at the foot of the mountain were packed with zombies, encircling the twin peaks for nearly two kilometers. Ruhua still couldn’t perfectly control such a huge number; once she mastered it, she could arrange them like soldiers standing at attention, forming various formations.

Chen Yuanshan and the others had come to understand why Ma Yi had grown so tall and strong—it turned out he was a mutant zombie. At first, they were terrified, but seeing that Liu Jing and Hu Li, who were close to Ma Yi, hadn’t turned into zombies, they relaxed a little. Those who had evolved themselves felt a bit more confident, thinking Ma Yi had simply evolved earlier. But now, faced with Ma Yi, Liu Wen, and Liu Xue, their stance became far more humble—Ma Yi wasn’t just early to evolve; he wasn’t human at all, but a true monster. No matter how strong they became, in his eyes, they were insignificant, easily crushed.

Ma Yi didn’t mind being watched as he trained Tie Zhu and the others. Watching Tie Zhu swing a car weighing over a ton as if it were nothing made Chen Yuanshan’s heart race. That wasn’t some mere object of a few dozen kilos but thousands of pounds! His own strength was nothing in comparison. Seeing Tie Zhu’s miserable defeat at Ma Yi’s hands made it clear why Ma Yi could command so many powerful zombies—he was simply stronger.

With Ruhua’s help in communication, she also trained alongside Ma Yi. As for Liu Xue, Hammer and Fatty behaved themselves as they watched from the sidelines. Windchaser, who hadn’t actually been beaten by Ma Yi and was a bit dissatisfied, naturally saw living humans as food.

When Ma Yi saw Windchaser heading toward Liu Wen, he erupted. In a flash, he blocked Windchaser, his massive fist raining down a barrage of blows. No matter how Windchaser tried to run, Ma Yi would instantly appear in front of him. In this burst of speed, Ma Yi was at least twice as fast as Windchaser. He ignored Windchaser’s cries for mercy via Ruhua’s translation, and only stopped after breaking every bone in Windchaser’s body. Luckily, at their level, recovery was much faster; otherwise, it wouldn’t be a matter of being crippled for half a month, but dying outright.

This time, Hammer and Fatty witnessed Ma Yi’s true power and became much more obedient.