Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System-Chapter 237: Mowing the Lawn- II

Clang!

The crisp sound of metal clashing against metal echoed.

Luminous red sparks flew across the sky, and my arm tensed with a dull ache the moment I stopped the curved blade.

"Haa..."

I observed the Stage Four Blade type...

An emaciated corpse with dried skin, no mangled flesh, and clothes that remained on its body was little more than strips of black tattered fabric fused with the body.

Though the zombie looked more human, the abnormal mutation remained, from the elbow down, with calcified bones forming the curved blades.

"You’re much easier to fight..."

Compared to the brute from the other night, a stage four blade type didn’t make me feel nervous.

It watched me through cold, red beaded eyes...

"Li Ya, Tang Wei, don’t move."

I didn’t want to keep protecting them while fighting this thing.

With a clank, my right gauntlet formed into a blade, and I slashed at the zombie.

The zombie screeched, lifted the bone blade and stopped me, forcing our blades together.

Hot sparks flew at my face, spreading from the edge as our blades ground against each other. Its speed wasn’t that much slower than mine, but the power it put into its attacks was overwhelming.

"Hmph!"

Its technique is much more advanced than before.

The zombie twisted its blade with a flick and lowered itself, then lunged at me with a burst of speed.

The curved blade swept across the air, and I felt an intense pressure on my face—its attack was quick and powerful. "Tch."

With a flash of light, I crossed my blades to deflect the blow.

Deng!

A cold shock spread across my hand as if I’d struck an iron bar.

I’d blocked it, but the impact numbed my wrist.

Shit...

This thing is too strong.

Not for me, but Li Ya, Tang Wei and the others might die if they made a mistake.

Filled with irritation, I kicked it in the gut, sending the zombie flying back twenty feet.

It crashed to the ground violently. Mud splashed, and dust rolled into the air.

"Stay there!"

Before it could get back on its feet, I rushed towards it. Feet sinking into the wet mud, as the sky rippled with thunder and a distant crackle from the lightning that snapped down like an ion cannon.

I raised my right hand, pulled the trigger and shot the creature. The four buckshot rounds cut through the air with a hiss, leaving a trail of smoke behind them.

But it flipped on its hands and used its feet to propel itself directly upwards as if the ground itself were a springboard. The shot passed below it, missing by only a few centimetres.

It landed on its feet, crouched low and roared while dashing forward with its blade ready.

"Cheeky bastard!"

The zombie jumped over me.

As if gravity didn’t exist, the creature sailed over my head. I turned to face the enemy, but the zombie ignored me and rushed towards Li Ya and Tang Wei, displaying its intelligence.

It knew I was the most dangerous.

"Li Ya, Tang Wei, fight!" I yelled.

I could see what was going to happen from my position. If it reached them both eventually, the bastard would kill or wound one of them. Instead of lingering, I spat on the ground and rushed after it.

"Take this!"

A burst of shots rang out.

Boom!

Four slug shells flew through the air and smashed against the zombie’s right leg.

The impact sent the zombie rolling across the ground. Its skin tore, and flesh splattered everywhere along with a deformed knee, the fiend struggled to get up.

"Tch."

I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand.

Li Ya didn’t wait for any orders and darted forward, her steps like a swan avoiding the mud, before a mighty overhead swing came down on the zombie.

Shua!

Her halberd cleaved into the zombie’s chest.

Tang Wei followed up Li Ya’s attack, dashing forward like a gust of wind, shotgun raised and with a foot on the zombie’s arm, she shot at its shoulder joint. She blasted its arm, causing a mist of flesh and gore to scatter across the wasteland. Her feet sank into the mud, and she pulled the trigger again.

And again.

And Again...

After her fourth shot, the zombie’s left arm separated from the socket, and the slugs destroyed most of the blade type’s face, causing a hiss to sound.

But it wasn’t dead.

"Li Ya!" Tang Wei shouted, trying to pull her leg out of the mud while using her right foot to push against the corpse’s shoulder.

I rushed to their side, grabbed Li Ya’s waist, and used my right arm to block the sudden thrust.

A sharp blade sank into my gauntlet with a loud bang. I shook my head, annoyed at how persistent this beast was.

It had just lost an arm, a leg and half its face, but still fought us.

"Die!"

With a twist of my hand, I plunged the sword through its chest, then pulled on Li Ya. She slipped into my arms, as the thick scent of her body filled my lungs.

Sweet, yet with a musky tang.

"Phew... Oh? What a cool core." I flicked the core from its chest in the air, but my arms were full.

The star-shaped crimson core flung in an arc before landing in Li Ya’s cleavage... her front zipped combat suit half open.

"Its hot!?" She gasped as the crystal bounced, then slipped between the bronze pillows, not huge, but enough to keep it lodged inside. "Hmmm? Hey~ Pervert, do you want the crystal or my tits?"

The answer was obvious...

"Both." Tang Wei chuckled, reaching out and taking the crystal from Li Ya’s chest. The crystal filled her entire palm. "It’s still throbbing slightly. Is this thing like their heart?"

"Well..." I let Li Ya down and stepped back, checking the map. "It’s something along the lines of their brain and heart? If you ingest that your strength and ability with bladed weapons would probably improve."

"Oh?"

"Amazing!"

Both women appeared interested in the crystal, but they didn’t pursue it further. Tang Wei handed it to me and smiled bitterly. "Is this similar to the things you’ve been crushing up for the new members to eat?"

"Yeah, but if anyone ate this as it is... they would probably mutate and become a zombie."

"What!?"

A voice sounded from the communication devices.

Of course, I knew it was Jiang Siwan listening to what we did or said during the mission.

"You’re joking right? How could people mutate from ingesting something?" She asked. It sounded like she didn’t want to believe me, as it sounded crazy to me, too, when the System explained this.

[Blade Type Core - Stage 4]

Red Core

Effects: Increase Strength incredibly, Increase Physique slightly, chance to improve blade-related skills

Requirements: Stage 3 or higher.

——

"Siwan, where did it come from?"

I didn’t bother with being polite since she sneakily kept listening to us in secret.

"Eh? W-Well it came from a zombie... but.... Ah?"

The change in her voice as she realised it made me smile, it seemed the thought never occurred to them. "Well, you wouldn’t know, because the danger of cores below Stage Two has little danger, since you’ve been diluting them between 100 and 200 people, then the threat is diluted too."

"..."

Li Ya and Tang Wei also looked at me while I rolled the crystal in my palm with a smile.

"Then what about swallowing a Stage Three core, how dangerous is that?" Jiang Siwan asked with a serious tone.

"Well... I can only go off my poor experimentation and rough estimates, but I can give you an example... is that okay, even if it’s not scientific?" There wasn’t any reason to hide this information from her.

"Please."

Even Li Ya and Tang Wei watched me with expectant eyes.

"Well, say the normal human has zero resistance to the virus, and stage one cores only carry one unit of the virus. Then a stage two core has ten units of the virus... BUT if a human manages to reach Stage 1 or 2. their resistant to the virus increases explosively... so the biggest danger is swallowing a core before you start evolving."

It would be more difficult to explain if I didn’t share my information and data with Siwan... They didn’t even classify them in stages.

Thankfully, I could buy a cheap set of detectors that show these things.

"Then... diluting the lesser cores is best to improve humans to a level?"

"Yes, but Siwan, once someone reaches Stage Two or Three, you’ve realised that you need more, right?"

She and her father were stage four, so it was apparent they ate a large amount of undiluted cores.

"Mm..."

"So, for those who need more, I will provide some help when they’re ready. This core would probably be fine for your father or a a lovely lady of similar strength, however I wouldn’t offer it to you for nothing."

Siwan didn’t respond, but she probably understood what happens when you start swallowing these after evolving...

Bloodlust.

Carnal desire.

Hunger

Thirst...

It amplifies the needs of a human to the limit and beyond—the stronger the core you swallow, the more intense the desire.

This chapter is updat𝙚d by f(r)eew𝒆bn(o)vel.com