by Tai Baiyang
There were several inconspicuous grey feathers lying on the bloodied flesh. Picking one up, he carefully observed it under the sun.
Suddenly, his pupils contracted. Head raising, he turned to survey their surroundings.
"Are they vultures? I didn’t think the locks to the zoo would be undone so soon. Did they escape on their own, or did somebody enter the zoo to free them?"
Zhang Mu agonised over the thought so intently his hand covering his nose dropped, as though mindless of the foul smell pervading the air. From his memories, he recalled that it was only past the third month did the mutated animals that had evolved once break free from the zoo before dealing severe damage to the city.
The timestamp definitely had been three months later, Zhang Mu wouldn’t remember wrongly, because he’d already been out on his Era Merchant mission by then. It was only after he returned did he find out that quite a few of the major bases were attacked by mutated animals, resulting in heavy losses.
Zhang Mu was planning to deal with it after he had returned to Luoyang City as it was, after all, humanity that had suffered the loss; he couldn’t bear not to. However, in these few short months, vultures had already been released. Seeing how they were able to slaughter the mutated swines, these elite creatures that had survived must be stronger and more merciless than the others in the zoo. Their strength as well as intellect must also be very superior.
By the time Zhang Mu reverted back, he had a darkened expression on his face. He flipped onto the mutated wolfdog's back swiftly and said to Yuan Rui, "Luoyang City might be in trouble!"
Looking at Zhang Mu's gloomy face, Yuan Rui didn't dare reply.
Under Zhang Mu's urgings, the mutated wolfdog travelled at full speed, leaping powerfully to land on the top of the smashed vehicles and weaved through them very quickly.
Let’s hope that the trouble Luoyang City’s met with isn’t one that’s too severe, Zhang Mu silently thought.
Chapter 63: Seeing Wang Liang Again
Half a day later, Zhang Mu finally saw the familiar sign above the entrance of the toll station. He felt nervous.
What happened in Luoyang City?
The zoo held a large number of mutated animals. At the very beginning, they might have gathered together according to their races, but soon after, they would be enticed by the desire to evolve and would have attacked each other for cores.
In such a situation, mutated animals didn't even care about the crystals within the walking dead's necks, not to mention ordinary humans. After all, humans were just some good meals in their eyes, but the cores from other mutated animals could allow them to evolve! Therefore, before the weak mutated animals in the zoo had all been devoured, they wouldn't even walk out from there themselves.
However, Zhang Mu was sure that the feathers were from vultures!
There were only two possibilities: some changes had occurred amongst the animals or someone had upset the balance in the zoo. Maybe it was a crowd of walking dead, but it might also be an evolver!
The first wasn't very plausible, because he didn't remember any special mutated animal from the zoo in his last life. Perhaps it was the latter possibility: a walking dead crowd or an evolver had broken into the zoo. Due to the things Zhang Mu had done in Luoyang City, history changed and things had started to go down a different path.
Zhang Mu felt a headache because his advantage from coming from the future was disappearing.
He jumped down from the back of his mount and walked into the city. He felt no fear because he had changed, too. Now, even if he was surrounded by walking dead, he could kill his way out without much effort.
There might be some strange mutated animals in the city, but the Bloodvine Demon Lotus meant hell to all creatures! With it, Zhang Mu didn't really care about animals.
The only thing he was worried about was the people in Luoyang City. If too many had been killed, even reconstructing the city would be hard to accomplish, not to mention defending against evolved enemies in the future.
Zhang Mu didn't care about people who were strangers to him. However, he was still human. This fact was engraved in his very bones. Since he was probably the only person who could solve this problem, he would take the responsibility.
He didn't consider himself a "savior". He also had his own plan. If Luoyang City couldn't be rebuilt as soon as possible, many of his plans would fall to nothing.
Currently, most mutated animals and walking dead were still in the first rank so Zhang Mu had the confidence to clean them all up. He could collect crystals and animal cores and help other people to survive at the same time.
...
Zhang Mu walked into the city and was soon shocked.
He could remember a residential district here before, but it had been converted into a human settlement during the time he had been gone. Wooden barricades blocked his way and people came up to him and asked, "Hey, you. Where are you from?"
They were two burly men, but they should just be two ordinary people, not evolvers. Little Black had shrunk and hid in Zhang Mu's pocket, so they just stared at the mutated wolfdog but didn't seem too worried about its presence.
It... it shouldn't be like this!
Shouldn't there be only broken walls? Shouldn't he come here and save them like a hero? Zhang Mu had prepared to see a city run over by mutated creatures, but... the people in this city had already built a refuge? And it looked pretty good!
When Zhang Mu was lost in thought, the two men pointed the knives in their hands at him and continued in an unhappy tone, "Hey, man? I'm asking your question!"
Zhang Mu's attitude really annoyed them. Although they were ordinary people, after they became the gatekeepers of this base, no one had dared to ignore them. Ordinary people would present them gifts before entering and evolvers would also be polite to them.
Zhang Mu's mind returned to the real world when his eyes caught the cold lights that reflected upon the weapons. He didn't mind them but studied their knives with attention.
They were standard knives from the Era store.
There was already a sub-merchant here. Interesting.
Zhang Mu grinned. It should be the man from whom he stole the position of first sub-merchant. That person should be the second sub-merchant of Luoyang City now.
Zhang Mu didn't feel guilty, because if he hadn't done so, he wouldn't become have become stronger.
That man was a mysterious entity in his past life. A small character like Zhang Mu hadn’t even entitled to meet him.
"Are you listening?! Don't think that you can be unscrupulous in our territory! I know you are a tamer-type evolver, but we have our own tamers, too! Don't pretend to be something important!"
One of the men raised his knife and put it under Zhang Mu's nose.
If Zhang Mu hadn't stopped his mount, it would have already pounced on the man. It didn't understand what its owner was thinking, but still stopped and only bared its fangs, threatening the man with a low rumble.
Even so, the two men weren't scared.
Why weren't they afraid of the wolfdog? Who gave them the guts?
Zhang Mu was curious. There were tamer-type evolvers in this base, but it seemed that these two hadn't treated them seriously.
Thinking about it again, it wasn't surprising that they didn't think of tamers as powerful. At this period of time, most tamers could only control one creature at a time. They didn't represent much of a threat in other people's eyes.
Facing the man, Zhang Mu fearlessly stretched out his hand and pushed the knife aside. He sneered, "Tell your leader to come see me and I don't like weapons pointed at me."
"Who do you think you are? You want to go against us? Just with this dog? You..." The man stopped because his throat had been clasped. Zhang Mu's physical capabilities were far greater than the both of them. Under their frightened gazes, Zhang Mu grasped the two men's throats, lifting them into the air.
They struggled to free themselves but only ended up wasting thei
r energy. As their faces became pale and their legs vainly kicked in the air, Zhang Mu casually threw them to the ground.
"Can you call your leader now?" Zhang Mu said with an indifferent look. The mutated wolfdog growled at them, staring at them like they were slabs of meat. Seeing this, one of the men instantly seized the whistle hanging from his neck and blew it with all his strength.
As the sound echoed in the air, several people came out from the buildings and stared at Zhang Mu who was pretending to be innocent.
Amongst them, a man hesitated a bit when he saw Zhang Mu. Zhang Mu also noticed him. He grinned and said, "Wang Liang? Long time no see!"
Chapter 64: Identity Revealed
"Boss Wang, you know him?"
The people around Zhang Mu instantly paused and turned to look in Wang Liang’s direction.
The impression Zhang Mu had left on Wang Liang was way too deep. Zhang Mu had had, at that time, a sword in a hand, and had beheaded all walking dead around him in a single second on his own.
It had been too earth-shattering a scene for him.
If a man was saved when he was on the verge of death, the impression he would develop for his savior would be one that was unparalleled.
"Yes, he saved my life once."
The fact that Wang Liang made known that Zhang Mu had saved him before without shame had Zhang Mu’s view of him improving. On the surface, even if Wang Liang wasn’t the leader of their base, he was definitely someone powerful enough to have a say in things, so Zhang Mu admired him mentally as he admitted to such a prestige-sweeping confession.
"Ah, you’re Boss Wang savior! So sorry brother. Hey guys, lower your weapons.” One of the youth in blue T-shirt among them lowered his weapon first as he said to the others. The others’ gazes, too, became friendlier, though it was curiosity that tinged their gazes the most.
"He must be very strong to be able to save Boss Wang. No wonder that he was able to disarm Zhang Long and company so easily. Phew, their attempt to block him had been futile even when armed with the best weapons in our base." A man with his upper body unattired said, seemingly very dissatisfied with their base’s weapon allocation.
The two gatekeepers upon hearing that flushed a bright red. They didn't dare say anything however. They had personally witnessed Zhang Mu's abilities, and were thoroughly frightened by his strength.
"My benefactor, you didn’t tell me your name the last time you saved me. You don't want me to call you benefactor all the time, do you?" Wang Liang joked with a smile and walked over to Zhang Mu.
"I'm Zhang Mu."
Zhang Mu too looked at Wang Liang, all smiles. Wang Liang did leave him a very good impression. His character as well temperament was quite suited to lead; Wang Liang was an associate he could partner with in the long-term.
"I’ll call you Brother Mu then." Wang Liang said, looking at Zhang Mu as he smiled. The vibe he was getting from Zhang Mu was too elusive, and on top of that, Zhang Mu looked older than he actually was.
Zhang Mu didn't mind such an address much, after all, he was a twenty-seven year old adult so there wasn’t anything wrong with acknowledging being called "brother".
"Li Zi, can you show this girl around? There is something I need to discuss with Brother Mu."
Wang Liang looked at the Yuan Rui behind Zhang Mu and instructed the youth dressed in a blue shirt to bring Yuan Rui around their base.
"Yes, Brother Wang!" The youth in blue shirt nodded, replying swiftly
"Mhm, Yuan Rui, go ahead and take a look around, I need to discuss some matters with Boss Wang." Zhang Mu said. Yuan Rui nodded obediently. She was also filled with curiosity about this base after not seeing so many people for such a long time.
"Brother Mu, let's walk and talk."
Wang Liang gestured for Zhang Mu to follow as he led the way. They found a relatively remote path and strolled slowly, but none of them spoke.
Wang Liang’s feeling at the moment was a little mixed. He had seen a second sub-merchant in Luoyang City later and had largely figured out what Zhang Mu's true identity was. And with that, he also realised that Zhang Mu probably cheated him that time.
The Sub-Merchant he met later did tell him that the so-called Strength Potions’ existence was real, but that he didn't have the ability to purchase them. Also, it would be futile to consume them without purchasing a set of five units. Hence, he resorted to purchasing only food and weapons for self-defense. Later, the sub-merchant only left the weapons at their base because he didn't need them anymore after awakening his evolution ability.
However, when Wang Liang told the second sub-merchant the quote Zhang Mu had given him for the Strength Potions, he saw a wave of shock flashing in the sub-merchant's eyes. Though the second sub-merchant didn't tell him the real price, he had a gut feeling that the price Zhang Mu quoted him was far above what it was worth.
"Why, are you done contemplating the quote I gave you previously?" Zhang Mu said, breaking the silence first. He knew that it was better for him to initiate the conversation.
"Uh, Brother Mu, the quote you gave me previously is... too high. I didn't know how terrifying a crowd of walking dead was at that time, and such a crowd was definitely stronger than just a multiplication in their numbers. It was only when I really brought people to clear the crowd that I realised it was definitely not an easy task. After our previous meeting, I felt that congregating normal civilians was too useless, and so I opted to gather evolvers instead. I organised about two hundred evolvers within three days, and the myriad of abilities had me all dazed; we were confident. However, when we really went to clear a crowd of about a thousand walking dead, we lost our calm; we lost terribly. If it weren’t for the Second Sub-Merchant’s appearance then, at least half of us would be dead."
At hearing that, Zhang Mu was interested. He gestured for Wang Liang to pause and asked, "The Second Sub-Merchant? He called himself Second?"
Wang Liang smiled bitterly. "Yes. Our personal relationship isn’t too bad. You are the First Sub-Merchant, aren’t you? I think you are the reason that he calls himself the Second Sub-Merchant.”
Zhang Mu didn't expect that the original First would call himself the Second Sub-Merchant because of him. The Second Sub-Merchant must have remembered him after he saw all the Era general goods in Luoyang City cleared.
However, Zhang Mu wasn’t particularly mindful about it now, for he was only a little curious about, rather than fearful of, the current Second Sub-Merchant. Zhang Mu scratched his head awkwardly, continuing: "Let me put it this way, the price won’t decrease, but I have them in stock at the moment, so if you buy the potion, I can give you ten complementary sets of weapons. What do you think about that?"
Seeing how Wang Liang was still irresolute, Zhang Mu decided to drop the bomb on Wang Liang that was going to have him floored: "You know I'm the Number One Sub-Merchant, but do you know what it means? It means that I have the right to buy all the goods from the Era Merchant and leave nothing for the Second Sub-Merchant. Do you understand what I mean?"
Zhang Mu looked at Wang Liang, smiling. Wang Liang instantly felt like he was up against a cunning old fox instead of a human.
Chapter 65: Done With the Deal
Zhang Mu knew what Wang Liang was thinking. He knew that the price was too high. However, he was left in shock once Zhang Mu had laid all his cards on the table.
Wang Liang had hoped that Zhang Mu could reduce the price, because he had a good relationship with "the Second". He implied that if the price wasn't reduced, he could also buy the potions from the other sub-merchant. Of course, he would also pay a lot of crystals, but the price would still be better than Zhang Mu's.
However, Wang Liang was now driven to the wall because Zhang Mu had the power to monopolize the potion trade and leave nothing for others. In this case, Wang Liang could only buy strength potion from him. Zhang Mu had promised to compensate Wang Liang with ten set of weaponry, but he did it as a favor without troubling himself. After all, he wanted to
continue trading with him in the future; there was no need to strain their relationship.
Even so, Zhang Mu would earn ten times the initial cost in crystals from the deal. For 300% of profits, merchants would dare to commit any crimes, even at the risk of failure. 1000% of profits? That would be incredible!
Wang Liang hesitated. He wasn't sure if Zhang Mu was lying or not, but he couldn't take the risk. The Second thought highly of Zhang Mu. He may really have the monopoly over potions.
"Have you decided? Give me one thousand crystals and I can help you increase your speed by two times. Remember, you are an earth-type evolver. If you can become two times faster, you will be able to protect yourself when you use your ability. Don't you think it is worth it?"
Zhang Mu tempted Wang Liang, trying to break his psychological barrier, "I can offer you ten sets of weapons, including lances and shields. You can let ten strength-type evolvers defend with the shields and let the others perform their abilities safely behind the defense. Imagine it, with them, you can slaughter walking dead like you’re reaping wheat!"
Wang Liang listened and nodded, then looked at Zhang Mu and smiled bitterly, "Brother Mu, you have helped me before. This isn't a trap, right?"
Zhang Mu shrugged his shoulders and said, "It depends on whether you think they are worth the cost. Am I right?"
It was indeed true, but Wang Liang still instinctively knew that something was wrong. He consoled himself by telling himself that Zhang Mu just wanted his crystals.
"If you keep hesitating, I will raise the price after visiting the Era store. After all, prices are also rising within the Era store. Don't say that I didn't tell you at that time."
"Ok, ok, I will buy it with one thousand crystals, but you need to compensate me with twenty sets of weapons!" Wang Liang thought for a while and said. He ground his teeth, "It's not easy to collect one thousand crystals, and theoretically, it is the wealth of the whole base. I need to give everyone an explanation."