Chapter 25

Absorbing the giant monster, Mal obtained the Iron Fist ability, his health fully restored. He transformed back into Anderson's form, walked out from the pile of wrecked shelves, and returned to his black brother's side. The surrounding zombies had already been cleared, and Jerry was still nervously holding his pistol, completely unaware of Mal's return. Mal patted him on the shoulder from behind, startling him so much that he almost fired his gun. Fortunately, Mal was quick to react, pressing down the gun barrel just in time. With a bang, the bullet hit the ground.

"Anderson! You're alive, did you defeat that monster?!" Jerry exclaimed happily upon seeing Mal. Mal smiled proudly and said, "That kind of thing could never kill me! But you, you've become braver, haven't you, to have cleared out the remaining zombies?"

Jerry scratched his head, a bit embarrassed, and said, "Not really, when you were fighting the monster, most of the zombies were already dead. I only took out two, and I used up all my ammo. That was the last shot..." Mal patted his shoulder, encouraging him, "That's still impressive. How's your brother?"

At the mention of Johnny, Jerry's expression darkened. He squatted down and lifted Johnny, who was lying on the ground, and said, "Johnny is getting weaker, and the blood from his wounds is turning black. I'm afraid..." As he spoke, Johnny began to cough violently, and the blood he coughed up contained small, writhing black tissues, clearly indicating that the infection was worsening.

Johnny grabbed Mal's hand, trembling, and pleaded, "Mr. Anderson, my brother and I have received so much help from you. We shouldn't trouble you anymore, but... I know I won't survive. Jerry is the only family I have left. You are strong, I beg you to take him back and take care of him for me!"

Mal firmly held Johnny's hand and comforted him, "Don't give up! I came here to collect zombie blood to make a cure for the virus. I know a very skilled doctor who can definitely heal you!" Johnny shook his head weakly, "Mr. Anderson, thank you, but I know I won't last much longer. I provoked you earlier to appear tough so that Scarface would respect me. I'm sorry, please forgive me. Jerry is a good kid, I beg you to take care of him..." As he spoke, Johnny suddenly noticed movement at the supermarket entrance, his eyes widening as he struggled to push Mal and Jerry away!

"Bang, bang, bang"—several gunshots rang out, and Johnny's body was riddled with terrifying blood holes. He slowly fell to the ground, his eyes dimming. Black blood slowly flowed out, staining the rubble-strewn floor.

"Brother!" Jerry shouted, hugging Johnny's body and shaking it violently, but Johnny did not wake up. Mal stood up, clenched his fists, and glared fiercely at the supermarket entrance. A man walked in, holding an assault rifle—it was Scarface David, who had fled earlier.

"Anderson, you're impressive, you even took out that monster!" Scarface David pointed his gun at Mal and laughed, "How many grenades did you use? You looked so relaxed, you must have some left. Why don't you hand them over to me?"

"You bastard!!!" Jerry's eyes turned red, and he stood up, ready to fight Scarface David. Scarface didn't give him a chance, firing at Jerry. Mal saw the danger and quickly shielded Jerry, taking two bullets in his shoulder and thigh. "Anderson!" Jerry cried, hurriedly holding Mal to prevent him from falling. Mal patted his head, comforting him, "It's fine, just a minor injury."

"Wow, Anderson, you're so noble, still protecting others even when you're about to die?" Scarface David looked at the zombie corpses and weapon debris on the ground, taunting, "In this place, every bullet increases your chances of survival. I don't want to waste them. How about this: if you hand over everything you have, I'll spare your lives. What do you say?"

"Scumbag!" Mal's forehead veins bulged as he gritted his teeth and cursed. This Scarface David had no qualms about bombing his loyal Isabella to death for his own safety, and now that the zombies were cleared, he was back to bully his own people!

Scarface David, hearing Mal's curse, not only didn't get angry but laughed, "You're right, I am a scumbag! I don't even feel like a human, but so what? I'm alive! I've survived until today with these inhuman methods! And you're all going to die! Stop talking and give me what I want!"

"Hmph..." Mal laughed in anger, pointing to the backpack on the ground, "My weapons are all in there, including four grenades. You can have the stuff, but you have to be alive to take it!" As he spoke, Mal crouched down, using his legs to launch himself forward. The distance between him and Scarface was only about twenty meters, and with Mal's current speed, he could reach him in three seconds. Scarface David, surprised that Mal could still move so quickly despite being shot, panicked and fired a stream of bullets at Mal. Mal transformed back to his original form, his hands turning into iron fists. He shielded his face with one hand and charged through the hail of bullets, reaching Scarface David!

Scarface, not expecting Mal to be so fierce, his mental defenses collapsed. He didn't even notice Mal's transformation, screaming and dropping his gun, crawling out of the supermarket. Mal didn't let him escape, chasing after him and kicking him to the ground. He walked up, grabbed Scarface by the head, and lifted him off the ground.

Mal's iron fists, though not sharp, were incredibly hard, like five iron bars clamping down on Scarface's head, causing him to cry out in pain and beg for mercy: "Anderson, I'm sorry! I apologize! I deserve to die! Please spare me... I can give you money, I have a lot, all stolen, hidden in the safe zone, only I know where. If you let me go, we can split it... no, no, you take 70%... no, no, all of it, all of it, please spare me!"

Mal, intent on killing him, suddenly smelled a foul odor and looked down to see that Scarface David had urinated on himself! Mal sighed, sometimes the more outwardly fierce a person is, the more they fear death. Mal lost his desire to kill him and coldly said, "If you want to live, don't talk to me, talk to Jerry. If he forgives you, I'll spare your life!" He then threw Scarface David to the ground.

Scarface David crawled to Jerry, begging and crying. Although Jerry hated him, seeing his pitiful state, he felt a pang of sympathy. He also thought that even if Scarface hadn't fired, Johnny would have died from the infection, and he hesitated. But this hesitation gave Scarface David a chance to suddenly attack, grabbing Jerry and wrapping his arm around his neck, threatening Mal, "If you come any closer, I'll kill him! Hand over your weapons!"

But as he spoke, Scarface David was stunned to find that "Anderson" was nowhere in sight. In the next moment, Jerry easily broke free from his grip, staring at him with eyes full of anger.

What's going on? I had him in my arm, how did he escape? Scarface David was puzzled, looking down at his hands and seeing that his arms were twisted at strange angles, broken at the elbows, hanging limply.

"Aaaaaah..." Seeing his broken arms, Scarface David felt excruciating pain and screamed. A hand touched his shoulder, and a voice sighed behind him, "Sigh, indeed, a dog can't change its nature. Showing mercy to you is like hurting other innocent people!" Scarface David was still trying to understand what "a dog can't change its nature" meant when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg, losing his strength and falling to the ground. He looked up to see Mal, who had transformed back into Anderson's form, standing beside him.

Mal walked to Jerry, handed him the pistol, and said, "I've broken his arms and legs, the rest is up to you." Jerry took the pistol, walked to Scarface David, wiped away his tears, and fired several shots into Scarface David's body until his bullets were exhausted, then returned to Mal's side, head down.

Mal didn't look at Scarface David's fate, reaching out to pat Jerry's head, "Feeling better?" Jerry nodded, then shook his head. Mal sighed, "This messed-up world is like this. If you want to survive, you have to be strong!" Jerry, tears in his eyes, nodded firmly.

Mal picked up the backpack, took out a syringe, and began collecting zombie blood samples in the supermarket. Lagrange had asked him to bring back at least ten types of blood, giving him twenty syringes and test tubes. Mal had planned to visit several places to collect more, but unexpectedly, he easily filled all twenty test tubes in this mutated zombie nest, completing his mission to the max.

He picked up the black crossbow and put it in the backpack, then left the supermarket with little Jerry, following the path back to the overpass, climbing up the rope, and returning to the safe zone.

...

In the silent supermarket, full of zombie and human corpses, one of the bodies moved, seemingly not dead and slowly waking up. However, his arms and legs were broken, and he couldn't sit up no matter how hard he tried, cursing, "Damn Anderson, damn Jerry, you think I'm dead? Luckily, I was wearing a bulletproof vest I took from a Marine. I'll crawl back and make you pay!"

This revived body was clearly Scarface David. Although his arms and legs were broken and several of his ribs shattered by bullets, he still survived with the resilience of a cockroach!

Scarface David struggled to turn over, every small movement causing excruciating pain, but driven by the will to survive, he slowly crawled toward the supermarket entrance. Just as he was about to reach the door, one step away from leaving the supermarket, he suddenly found he couldn't move forward. He turned his head with great effort and saw a zombie pulling on his broken leg!

"Damn it, weren't all the zombies cleared? Where did this thing come from?!" Scarface David shouted in anger, trying to kick and hit, but his broken limbs didn't respond! The zombie slowly approached David, the moonlight revealing its pale face. Scarface David's eyes widened in terror, and he trembled, uttering the zombie's former name, "Johnny?!"

"Johnny" no longer recognized Scarface David. In its eyes, the human writhing on the ground was just a large piece of food. It bent down, picked up Scarface David's head, and opened its mouth, which dripped with black blood and pus, and bit down hard on his neck!

"No!!!!" The abandoned infected area echoed with Scarface David's screams.