Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System
Chapter 100: The Silent Battle against Time

Chapter 100: The Silent Battle against Time

I watched silently as the monster’s eyes shimmered, causing me to flinch. The laser beam I expected didn’t follow, but its head shone and tendrils hovered in the air.

"What...?"

The next moment, I realised what it did.

The zombies around it — at least fifty in sight, more beyond the fog — jerked violently once. Then their heads snapped toward me.

All of them.

Not just running.

Charging.

But not like animals this time. Like men. Like wounded, mad soldiers.

They didn’t groan. They hissed.

Some picked up broken bricks.

Others bent to grab snapped chair legs. Stones. Pipes.

One even pulled the cracked arm off a street mannequin and held it like a club.

Not random.

Not clumsy.

I took one step back and narrowed my eyes.

"Shit."

They were moving like the dead had memory — half-forgotten echoes of hunting, of teamwork, of violence. Their arms swung wide, then straightened. Like they were imitating something they didn’t fully remember.

The Command-Type pulsed once — like a heart made of fog and madness.

’System... I need a weapon that suits me! NOW!’

[Query: "Weapon Suited to Host Attributes" — Confirmed]

Time almost froze as the mass of fifty zombies looked more fearsome than the horde of hundreds with Shen Yifei the night before.

My Type-9K was still upstairs with Yifei... I grit my teeth.

A sudden weight appeared on my forearms, nearly buckling my knees.

Heavier than I expected.

I glanced down to see a pair of massive black gauntlets encasing my hands and forearms. The fingers were slender — nimble, responsive — like I wasn’t wearing anything at all. But the knuckles were thick, reinforced with a dark alloy that shimmered faintly with pressure.

Above each knuckle were four small chambers — matte, with a burnished bronze tint — each one clicking as it rotated into place. They looked like they housed shells... shotgun-sized, maybe slugs or buckshot. I wasn’t sure yet.

Further up, just above my wrist, a raised dome pulsed faintly. From the centre of it, a short blade extended forward above my fist — a narrow, forward-angled fang made from the same black alloy, but its edge glowed faint gold.

I could feel it — the pull. My Titan Marrow Core surged once, then again, and I felt the flow of Earth Qi shift. It moved smoother than before, as if the gauntlets weren’t just tools, but extensions of my limbs.

The Qi flowed into the blades, into the chambers, humming in resonance.

Heavy. Balanced. Alive.

"What the fuck are these!?"

I muttered, but the crisp whirring of the rotating barrels made my lips curl into a smile.

’So fucking cool.’

[Right?]

"Huh?"

The female voice of the system returned. It sometimes spoke during the tutorial, and it made me curious about the woman’s existence. This system couldn’t be some magical thing, so I wondered why it sounded familiar and nostalgic.

[New Weapon Acquired]

Name: Twin Gauntlets — "Crushing Moon"

Type: Martial Weapon (Unique)

Rarity: ★★★★★

Requirements: Strength 5.0+ | Titan Marrow Sutra Compatible

Qi Affinity: Earth-Aligned

Weapon Type: Gauntlet-Blade Hybrid

Special Traits:

• [Shotgun Core] – Fires a burst of either [Buckshot] or [Slug] from wrist chambers. Cooldown: 10 seconds.

• [Titan Conduction] – Channels Earth Qi to reinforce strikes, increasing penetration and force.

• [Bonebreaker Frame] – Designed for users with enhanced physical durability; nullifies muscle fatigue and strain.

• [Upgradeable]

• [Growth Type]

Note: Blades absorb Qi passively during combat, sharpening with each kill. Weapon evolves as the user does.

[Current Loadout: 8x Buckshot Shells Loaded]

"This is so sweet! What about ammo?" John’s eyes focused on the freaky command type and leaned back, amused by the stage one zombies acting like humans.

It made his blood surge.

[How to Replenish Shells]• 1 Metal + 1 Plastic = 1 Shell• 10 ZKP = 1 Shell• 1 Metal + 1 ZKP = 1 Shell• 1 Plastic + 1 ZKP = 1 Shell

[Shell Type can be changed at any time][Shells are universal — choose Buckshot or Slug when firing]

[Reload Method: Automatic]• Gauntlets reload every 10 seconds if chambers are empty.• No manual action required.

[Optional Feature: Shell Stockpile]• You can purchase shells in advance, automatically consumed when the chambers reload.• Preloaded shells cost the same as crafted. No extra cost.

[Repair Cost: 100 ZKP — Fully restores durability and integrity]

"System! Convert my Metal and Plastic into shells."

The response wasn’t immediate.

I stepped to the edge of the rooftop. Felt the wind brush my chest. The heat rising through my skin. That tight, vibrating pulse beneath my ribs. The beat of my heart, the throb of my Titan Marrow Core—slow, heavy, hungry.

There was a bloodlust now. The kind that made my hands twitch. The kind that didn’t want mercy.

"Can you convert the shells without my focus?"

[In what way, Host?]

"Slugs for Stage-2s and Brutes. Buckshot for anything else—Stage-1s or people."

[Auto-Conversion Preference Set]

[Default Shell Type: Buckshot]

[Trigger Swap: Target Classification Detected]

[Stage-2, Brute-Type: Switching to Slug]

[Stage-1, Human or Unarmoured Target: Buckshot Selected]

[Shell Stockpile: 150 Shells]

[Conversion Complete — Resources Consumed]

I nodded once.

It wasn’t kindness that made me pick slugs for monsters. Just efficiency.

But for humans, buckshot worked better. Crude, messy. More damage across the body. Less fatal if aimed low, but it could ruin flesh in a way you don’t walk off.

I remembered what happened back in the dorms before Mu Qinglan chose me.

The ones who tried to drag me down.

And now, after I’d held her—slept with her—changed her?

Something changed in me, too.

Foolish? Maybe. But I couldn’t trust people easily anymore. And I wasn’t planning to lose the ones who leaned on me.

Not now.

Never.

The first infected charged at me with a broken chair leg swinging low.

I didn’t dodge.

My foot dug in, heel grinding stone, and I jumped from the ledge and smashed forward using a palm-first, slamming the gauntlet into his chest. His ribcage folded in on itself like paper. The shotgun core flared.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM.

The burst buckshot tore out in four sprays, wide-angle, low recoil. Four more infected behind him disintegrated mid-sprint — arms, necks, jaws gone. Wet matter slapped the concrete like meat from a butcher’s block.

’This isn’t normal buckshot... is it!?’

[Who knows?]

[Stage-1 Infected Killed — ZKP +5][+5][+5][+5][+5]

The notifications barely registered.

My Titan Marrow surged. Earth Qi rushed from my core, humming through the Crushing Moon like it wanted to be let loose again. The gauntlets vibrated in tune — the dome above my wrist pulsing gold as the inner barrels hissed and began to reload.

"Come on then."

Twenty more were moving.

Not fast. But steady. Shoulder to shoulder, teeth clacking, arms outstretched. One wielded a mop. Another had a twisted electrical wire wrapped around his forearm like a whip. The Command-Type had given them just enough to mimic us — just enough to be wrong.

I stepped into them.

Low guard.

Right fist up.

The second shell-charged burst wasn’t ready yet — but I didn’t need it.

My fist shattered the first skull with one straight jab.

The shockwave behind it cracked a second one’s collarbone. I twisted, backhanded the third infected so hard his jaw flew off like a snapped hinge.

One grabbed me from the side.

Too late.

I flexed.

The gauntlet’s knuckle guard compressed — clang — and I elbowed backwards.

His skull broke against my shoulder.

Another came at my chest with a broom handle like a bayonet.

I ducked under it, spun, and used the blade above my wrist like a chisel — stabbing forward through his throat. The Qi-enhanced edge burned through tendon like hot iron through ice. He didn’t even gurgle. Just dropped.

[Stage-1 Infected Killed — ZKP +5]

I kicked him into the next wave. They stumbled.

I didn’t.

I stepped forward again — both arms moving in rhythm.

Gauntlets up.Left jab. Crack.Right cross. Crunch.Knee to the gut. Body folded.One-two-three slugs to the skull.

My stamina didn’t dip.

Titan’s Marrow rolled with every impact. Physique at 7.2? I couldn’t feel pain anymore. The cold air burned in my lungs, but I didn’t slow.

SHK-CHNK.

Shells reloaded.

[Auto-Reload Activated — 8x Buckshot Shells Restored]

Good timing.

I could feel the music from my favourite hell slayer playing... a common theme.

The only thing they feared was me.

AND

Big Fucking Gauntlet Division.

The next row was twenty deep — crowding the courtyard now. Bottlenecking through the gate. Too many at once.

Perfect.

I swung both arms wide, Qi flaring through my spine and into the weapons.

"Let’s clear the fucking room."

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The twin shotgun cores fired at once. Eight buckshot bursts in a cone.

Meat vaporised.

Heads popped like fruit under steel boots.

Flesh ripped from bones — limbs flailed — three bodies were thrown clean off the ground, cartwheeling into the far benches.

Steam hissed off the barrels.

Silence behind the blast. Only bodies.

I stood there, gauntlets still raised, the sizzling heat from their bright red barrel.

Breath steady. Vision clear.

But it wasn’t over.

They kept coming, and I snapped my arms as if reloading a shotgun.

I smiled.

"Let’s Dance."

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