The Great Merchant in the Cataclysm

Translator: I’m Working Hard

Editor: Lightbubble

Chapter 45: The Local Forces

Zhang Mu and Yuan Rui looked around while walking on a desolate street. The dilapidated signs scattered around showed that this was once a flourishing city.

“In my memory, Huimin Street was very lively. Why is it so deserted now?” Yuan Rui looked around, but there wasn’t a soul in sight, only various bloodstains here and there.

Zhang Mu smiled coldly, “This prosperous place is so empty, even the walking dead aren’t seen. Only silly girls like you don’t know why.”

Yuan Rui seemed to understand something and exclaimed, “You mean!?”

Zhang Mu pulled her behind himself and whispered, “That’s right, all the walking dead have been cleaned up and there are two possibilities. One, all the walking dead have been eaten by mutated animals,” Zhang Mu stopped in the middle of his sentence and flashed his iconic smile as lights flickered in his eyes, “Or a powerful evolver has appeared, dominating this place and wiping out all the first-ranked walking dead at once.”

Yuan Rui was very confused. She looked around uncomprehendingly and asked in a low voice, “Is there really such an evolver here? Is he as powerful as you?”

“It’s hard to say who is more powerful, but there’s no doubt that, with all the bloodstains here, the second reason being the truth is highly likely.”

Zhang Mu looked towards the corner of the street and said slowly, “Who would’ve known that only ten days in, and there is already an evolver who can wipe out the crowd of walking dead in Xi’an City.”

Zhang Mu had never heard of this in his past life. Either the evolver hid deeply, either he was quickly overtaken.

“Where is the evolver who killed all the walking dead?”

Yuan Rui was about to continue when Zhang Mu waved his hand and interrupted her. Zhang Mu looked towards the street corner with a serious look and said, “It seems that we don’t need to look for them. They are coming.”

When Yui Rui followed Zhang Mu’s gaze, she heard the sound of trampling coming towards her from the distance.

All of a sudden, a group of people rushed out from the corner in a threatening manner with all kinds of weapons on hand. There were hammers, choppers, baseball bats, and even a door plank.

Although they all looked quite roughed up, none of them bored an emancipated look. The person who wiped out the walking dead seemed to be a good leader.

Yuan Rui stepped backward, but Zhang Mu grasped her arm and stood in front of her. Zhang Mu said calmly, “Don’t worried! See how I take care of them.”

Soon, Zhang Mu and Yuan Rui were surrounded by dozens of people. However, Zhang Mu showed an indifferent look as he waited for their leader to show up.

Trying to scare me?

You guys are not up to par!

Seeing Zhang Mu so calm, whispers sounded from within the crowd. The survivors they had confronted before had all been frightened into silence and had joined them tamely, but they didn’t see any fear in Zhang Mu’s eyes.

Suddenly, the mass separated in two. A tall, big man with curly brown hair walked up. He was taller than Zhang Mu and had a voice that boomed like the clap of thunder.

“You are not a survivor of Xi’an? Where are you from? What are you doing here?”

He asked three questions, each louder than the previous, making people’s ears tingle. Even his subordinates couldn’t stand it while Zhang Mu only stared at the man and said calmly, “I came from a nearby town and just wanted to rest in the city for a while.”

Seeing Zhang Mu’s poised appearance, the man couldn’t tell if Zhang Mu was lying. In terms of accent, Zhang Mu wasn’t a local. It was possible that he came from a different town.

The man thought that Zhang Mu was from a nearby town, but in fact, the so-called “small town” was Luoyang City. Zhang Mu had to lie because if others knew that it only took him 10 days to cross 500 kilometers and reach Xi’an City, people would either not believe him or regard him as a monster.

Zhang Mu tried to avoid clashing with the local forces, so he told a white lie.

Thinking for a while, the man shouted, “Friend, you should know what had happened to the world. You said you’re from a small town? Then you must have been lucky to not have met any powerful monsters on the way. It’s better to join us. As survivors, we can look after each other. What do you think?”

The man couldn’t see through Zhang Mu, but he understood that the people who faced danger fearlessly must have either extraordinary courage or absolute confidence. After all, he didn’t think that Zhang Mu could defeat them, moreover, he was confident in the power he had just obtained.

Zhang Mu looked up at him and laughed, “No, thanks. I won’t be staying long here, so I won’t join your team.”

The leader only frowned, but the people behind him were offended. A man pointed his weapon at Zhang Mu’s nose, “It’s your luck that our leader, Brother Lin, is willing to accept you. You know nothing because you haven’t encountered danger yet. Do you know-”

“Brother Lin” waved his hand and stopped the man. He stared at Zhang Mu’s indifferent face carefully and said with a low voice, “My friend, I won’t force you to join us against your will, but Huimin Street is under my control, you can’t take anything from here. After all, we are the people who have cleaned the danger in this area and we need the resources here to survive.”

The people around him tried to say something, but Lin Shui stopped them and pushed them to one side, giving way to Zhang Mu and Yuan Rui.

“Thanks.” Zhang Mu said to Lin Shui. He still looked cold and distant as they walked out from their encirclement.

The man who questioned Zhang Mu before asked Lin Shui unhappily, “Brother Lin, why were you so polite to him? He was just pretending to be calm! If you scare him with your ability, you can shock him easily.”

Lin Shui answered with a loud, but grave voice, “He brings me the same sense of danger as ‘that man’.”

Hearing what Lin Shui said, the crowd suddenly gasped, “Brother Lin, you mean ‘that man’?”

Lin Shui nodded slightly and the crowd was scared into silence. They did not even dare to say that man’s name and just whispered with fear in their eyes.