Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System
Chapter 138: The Approach

Chapter 138: The Approach

It took twenty-two minutes to reach the mall.

Tang Wei’s old military van handled better than it looked. The engine coughed like a dying smoker, but it held steady over cracked pavement and broken debris. Windows reinforced with scrap metal. Rust around the wheel wells. She must have kept it hidden for weeks.

"I’ve had her since before the Fall," Tang said from behind the wheel, eyes on the road. "Kept her under a tarp in the substation parking lot. Guess it paid off."

In the back, no one answered. Just a few nods. Weapons were checked. Belts tightened. SMGs cradled or slung low. Yifei stared out the window, face unreadable.

The city watched us through hollow windows and cracked glass. We passed burned storefronts, overturned bikes, and a bus turned on its side. Somewhere in the distance, something moaned — not close. Not far.

Just enough to remind us the dead were still listening.

I sat by the rear door, gear strapped tight, gauntlets resting across my lap.

Qinglan had claimed the passenger seat without asking. Yifei sat directly behind me, silent, eyes closed like she was meditating. Liang Mei stayed near the back, holding her bow across her knees like she didn’t trust anyone else to touch it.

The others were quiet and focused.

When we finally reached the perimeter, Tang Wei slowed the van behind a half-collapsed bookstore across the street from the mall’s southern face. From this angle, the building didn’t look dead. Just abandoned. Glass cracked but mostly intact. Signs still hanging. A few storefront banners flapped in the breeze.

We moved up on foot.

Tang Wei led us through the side alleys, staying low. I took the point once we cleared the last corner. Two minutes later, we were on the roof.

The ascent was slow. Tang Wei found the fire escape still intact, though one landing was partially collapsed. We climbed single file, checking for trip lines, loose panels, and pressure plates. None. Either the place hadn’t been trapped yet, or whoever set the bait hadn’t expected a team this careful.

The roof was wide, concrete cracked from age and weather, broken glass scattered from old skylights. A ventilation unit sat off-centre, humming faintly. The upper access stairwell door was broken and damaged. Reinforced doors warped. Someone had used it before.

We regrouped near the roof ledge.

"If there is no response on the headset after twenty minutes, get in touch," I said. "No noise unless we make it first."

Qinglan stretched her arms above her head, rolling one shoulder.

"Make sure you don’t get hurt..."

Yifei clicked her spear into place behind her back. "We’ll make less noise than your heels."

"Mm." Qinglan didn’t smile. Just adjusted the sword at her hip. "Try not to die before we split."

I looked at them both and couldn’t help but worry, thank god I split them up.

The rooftop was wide and broken. Skylights shattered long ago. One vent unit still worked — low hum, like something breathing underground.

We took positions by the access hatch.

Team One would enter first — me, Tang Wei, Yifei, and Roulan.

Team Two — Qinglan, Deng Hua, Zhou Xue, Liang Mei, Liang Qiu, and Chen Xun — would wait. Hold position until we give the signal. No room for errors in timing. If we triggered a nest too soon, we’d be split before either group hit the ground.

I looked across the rooftop.

Qinglan leaned against the ledge, one leg up, blade resting in the crook of her arm. She didn’t speak. But when I met her eyes, she nodded once.

It was time.

I crouched near the ledge and checked the comm.

"Lan’er."

Her voice came back immediately. "I hear you."

"Wait for the signal."

"...Don’t take too long."

When I stood, she met my eyes.

Maybe for the first time, I noticed how much emotion she showed through her ice-blue eyes, fear, worry, anxiety, affection and her growing love.

"I won’t. Please be safe, Lan’er."

"Nn, I will, John."

The door creaked louder than it should’ve.

Tang Wei pushed it open with her shoulder, shotgun raised. The hinges screamed. Metal grated against rusted concrete. Something scurried across the far corner and vanished behind the ventilation shaft.

Yifei and Roulan slipped in after her. I followed last, letting the door swing back on its own. It didn’t close properly.

Inside, the air felt wrong. Still, but heavy. A layer of moisture clung to the walls — not from rain, but from something else. In places, dark streaks trailed toward a cracked drain.

Twenty days shouldn’t have done this much.

The upper stairwell wound down three flights before it reached the third floor. Graffiti, old warnings, and smeared handprints covered the walls. A few dried streaks of blood along the rail.

No bodies.

Just stains.

I glanced at Yifei. Her fingers were tight around the spear grip, but her face stayed calm. Roulan was focused, breathing slow. Tang Wei moved like she’d done this a hundred times — each corner cleared, every landing checked twice.

On the third floor, we found a closed door.

No light from the other side.

Yifei tilted her head slightly, listening.

Then a whisper.

"I hear breathing..."

She didn’t mean ours.

Roulan stepped forward, SMG raised, ready to cover.

I pressed one hand against the steel and gave it a slow push.

The mall’s third floor opened in front of us like a gaping mouth.

It was darker than expected. Most of the overhead lights were dead. A few flickered faintly near the far end of the corridor, casting long shadows across busted tile and collapsed shop signs.

Luckily, each of us wore a helmet with night vision that I bought for everyone, along with these tactical outfits that cost 1000 points each.

Dust floated in the air.

Not stirred.

Not moving.

Just there.

The silence wasn’t peaceful. It was crouching. Holding its breath.

We moved in.

The floor was soft in places. Some kind of moss or mould had spread across the edges of the walkway, like the building had been sealed too long. A shattered display window revealed a clothing store gutted from the inside. The mannequins were gone. Racks overturned.

Still no bodies.

No sound.

No undead.

Too clean.

Tang Wei glanced at me. Her lips pressed into a thin line.

"This isn’t normal."

"I know."

I tapped my comm twice.

"Lan’er. We’re in."

A soft crackle, then her voice.

"Copy."

I looked at Tang Wei, then at Roulan. Yifei stepped ahead, angling her spear down the far corridor.

She didn’t speak, but her shoulders had stiffened.

Whatever had happened here...

It wasn’t just rot and time.

Something was watching.

I tapped the side of my headset again.

"Lan’er. It’s clear enough."

Her response came a second later, low but steady.

"Understood."

I looked at Tang Wei. She nodded, then moved up the corridor with Roulan. Yifei stayed beside me, eyes scanning every broken sign and glass shard like they were tripwires.

The place still felt wrong.

I could hear the lights. Not the hum — the flicker. That weak, uneven buzz where bulbs were still trying to stay alive. It made the silence worse.

Yifei moved ahead.

I stayed by the stairwell door just long enough to hear the click of the comms again — faint background noise, a soft intake of breath on the other side.

Mu Qinglan’s team had started moving.

——

Rooftop — Five Minutes Earlier

Mu Qingaln POV

——

I stood close to the door, one hand resting on the hilt of my blade. The others were behind me, mostly quiet, listening for the signal. Zhou Xue checked her weapon again, clicking the magazine into place with too much force. Liang Qiu muttered something under his breath and got no reply.

Liang Mei adjusted the strap on her chest twice, then again. Her hands wouldn’t stop twitching.

I didn’t speak until John’s voice came through the comm.

"It’s clear enough."

I exhaled.

"Understood."

Then I turned.

"Let’s go."

No extra words. No theatrics. I just wanted to get things done. Deng Hua took the lead, Zhou Xue right behind him. Liang Qiu moved on his rhythm, quiet, careful. Chen Xun stuck near the back with Liang Mei, who hesitated at the first step.

I waited.

When she didn’t move, I stepped beside her and leaned in slightly.

"You’re here because he gave you the chance. Don’t waste it."

Liang Mei nodded. Swallowed hard. Then followed.

The stairwell down to the third floor was narrow, with concrete chipped at the corners. Someone had kicked a dent in the wall — maybe rage or fear. It didn’t matter.

As we descended, the tension in the group shifted.

Less talking and movement.

Just the thud of boots, the soft scuff of fabric, the creak of old gear.

We reached the access door to the third floor on the north side.

I stopped them just before the push.

Glanced at Deng Hua. He nodded. Pulled the door open slow.

The mall swallowed us in silence.

The smell hit immediately — not just rot, but damp plaster and something chemical.

I shifted my grip on the blade as I stepped through. My boots didn’t echo.

Across the open floor, I saw John’s team already moving. He gestured toward a store up ahead.

"Contact’s yours if it shows," he called.

I gave him a nod and followed.

Whatever was waiting in here, it hadn’t shown itself yet.

But it would.

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