Chapter Three: Forsaking the Code of Chivalry

Du Huaishan’s hands froze midair.

His dark red pupils contracted, and he swiftly grabbed the cavalry rifle at his side, twisting his waist as he turned, kneeling to aim toward the direction of the sound.

In an instant, a rotting hand claw parted the thicket, and a creature, looking like a ragged oversized doll scavenged from a garbage heap, squeezed out, its entire body covered in eerie green decaying flesh.

Its enormous head lifted its body more than two meters tall; two black eyes, each the size of a tennis ball, rolled about before finally locking onto the puddle.

Accompanied by infantile laughter, the monster’s jaw opened at an unnatural angle, stretching its mouth and splitting its face, revealing jaw muscles crawling with maggots and teeth yellowed and greasy!

To hell with your laughter!

Bang!

Before the monster could finish its grotesque chuckle, Du Huaishan pulled the trigger, aiming squarely at the creature’s torso.

His marksmanship was poor, lacking any formal training; he could only improve his accuracy by targeting the largest area.

The bullet grazed the monster’s waist, splattering streaks of black blood, but the wound began to heal at a pace visible to the naked eye.

“Wow…”

Like the four-legged creature before, this thing was oblivious and senseless, its face twisted in a bizarre smile, resembling a stray dog that had found a bone. It stumbled and rushed toward Du Huaishan at speed.

Danger closing in, Du Huaishan did not dodge, but quickly cycled the bolt.

The crisp sound of a brass shell ejected, another round chambered, trigger pulled, and another shot rang out.

At a distance of barely ten meters, the bullet struck the monster’s thick thigh, bursting a mass of flesh and blood. Already top-heavy, it stumbled and crashed to the ground.

Much weaker than the four-legged monster!

“Clang!”

Without a word, Du Huaishan tossed the rifle aside and drew his knife. Striding forward, both hands gripping the military blade across his chest, he charged like a knight, stabbing in fury!

After surviving his first deadly battle, he had learned two things:

First, his new body’s baseline strength was weak; even after a round of monstrous augmentation, chopping power remained limited. Far better to use stabbing attacks—less effort, and with the added weight of his armor, more lethal.

Second, the four-legged monster had a military knife lodged in its head during combat, proving these creatures were not like zombies—they did not fear decapitation.

Heart!

He had pierced the heart to kill the four-legged monster!

But—

As Du Huaishan rushed forward with his military knife, his blood-red pupils suddenly dilated. Reflected in them, besides the toppled monster, was another identical creature!

Another one!

He tried to stop, but the momentum of a full-armored sprint was too great; failing to halt would mean he’d fall himself.

So, in the eyes of the two monsters, Du Huaishan, knife in hand, made a curve like a quadratic function, doubling back to the puddle’s edge, grabbing his rifle as he fled at full speed.

The monsters, too, had no sense of honor!

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In the woods, Du Huaishan spat a curse, running desperately, paying no mind to the pounding pursuit behind him.

Fleeing from two monsters—no shame in that!

Though Jiangcheng Sports Academy was the nation’s top martial arts university, their sanda instructor’s first practical lesson was:

Run!

Never believe in nonsense like “I’ll fight ten men” or “disarm a blade with bare hands”—the teacher had demonstrated in class.

As long as physical ability is roughly equal.

If one person bears your punch or kick and doesn’t faint, they can grab you, then another comes to finish you off, and it’s over.

Don’t think you can dodge—the enemy can dodge too.

Disarming a knife barehanded is extremely dangerous.

A criminal can make countless mistakes, but you only need one, and you’ll end up dead.

Given the current situation,

Du Huaishan could barely handle one monster, let alone two—it was best to run.

But he was clad in full armor, carrying two military knives and a cavalry rifle, having eaten barely anything all afternoon and only drunk some water. He couldn’t muster much speed.

After weighing his options, he refused to abandon his armor—it was his only asset in close combat with monsters.

He needed to head for a narrow section of vegetation!

Glancing back, he saw the two monsters nearly tripped by the thicket, and an idea formed. He stopped, fired a shot to delay one, then ran toward a dense forest he remembered.

He had barely changed direction when, suddenly, rapid hoofbeats sounded from his right.

Damn it!

Could it be another pack of four-legged monsters?

Du Huaishan felt his heart sink.

He braced himself to transform and fight to the death.

In a flash, the woods exploded with streaks of colored light.

A silver wire shot out, striking the brainy monster’s rear skull; it seemed to be a steel cable by the reflection.

A hissing sound, like a spray can, echoed.

He saw a figure, following the steel wire through the air, clad in bright red corded armor and a horned silver helmet, reminiscent of a war god general from ancient times, the white cape billowing behind, emblazoned with a dragon, a tiger, and a golden shield.

When two meters above the monster,

A long, ringing cry, and the figure drew a massive blade from his back. The shining edge traced a white arc through the dense forest, slicing down like a whirlwind.

Du Huaishan could hardly imagine the force of that strike; his pupils reflected only the monster’s silhouette, split in two as blood sprayed skyward.

At the same time—

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Bang! Ratatatat!

Gunfire erupted behind him in succession, hundreds of rounds forming a web of bullets that engulfed the other monster.

Even with its freakish self-healing, it was riddled with bloody holes and collapsed to the ground.

As it began to regenerate and rise,

Hiss, hiss—two more jets sounded.

Two soldiers in cloth armor followed the steel cables, drawing their military knives and, wielding fierce winds, struck down. Black blood splattered, and the monster was quartered.

Those arriving afterward took out a red box, collecting the glowing, blood-soaked heart of the creature.

The armored man emerged, bathed in blood.

With a twist of his wrist, the blade rotated half a turn, flinging pus and blood clean from its edge.

“First Cavalry Brigade, Reconnaissance Battalion, Second Platoon Commander: Chang Sui’an. And you, young brother—are…?”

Sheathing his blade, Chang Sui’an slung his machine gun, a yellow patch with a red stripe and star on his shoulder, his iron boots thudding as he approached, appearing in his thirties, voice deep and resonant.

The military!

Out of caution, Du Huaishan simply gave his name: “Du Huaishan.”

“You’re not a New Dun City garrison?”

Du Huaishan shook his head.

Hearing no unit number, Chang Sui’an understood. Looking at the youth before him—armed with two military knives, rifle, and clad in armor—he found it intriguing.

“Where are the others?”

“Our convoy—all dead.”

At these last words, the entire Recon Platoon displayed varying emotions—some faces darkened, some turned sorrowful.

Others,

Perhaps hardened to the harshness of life and death, showed no ripple of emotion, choosing only silence.

They had arrived too late.

“Phew!”

Chang Sui’an suddenly blew his whistle, neck veins bulging, his weathered, battle-worn face growing cold and stern, like a beast roused to anger:

“The demon that attacked your convoy—what level of disaster? Where is it now?”

“That one… I killed it.”

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