Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System
Chapter 159: Seal the Vent, Seal the Madness

Chapter 159: Seal the Vent, Seal the Madness

March 20th, 10:23 PM — Longwan Mall, Service Wing

John Wang POV

——

"Ah... maybe I am going crazy," I muttered.

I slid on the gauntlets—Crushing Moon clamping tight around my forearms with a low, mechanical purr. The chambers spun. Slugs loaded. The weight of them settled into my bones like gravity, like ritual.

I raised both hands.

The Ghoul watched me.

It didn’t retreat.

Didn’t scream.

Just listened—like it wanted to hear the last thing I’d ever say to it.

"You don’t get to keep what you heard," I whispered. "That moan wasn’t for you."

And I shot.

BOOM—BOOM

The twin blasts tore through the vent at point-blank range.

The first shells blew open its face—bone, flesh, mesh, and pressure all ripping outward in a wet explosion.

The second burst caved in what was left.

Bits of white skull and grey tissue sprayed against the inside of the duct like paint. The scent of blood and scorched metal hit me instantly, hot and sharp, burned into the air.

The recoil kicked through my arms. Hard. But I didn’t move.

Didn’t blink.

The silence after was thick. Ringing.

Then—

"W-What the hell?!"

Liang Mei’s voice, shaky and too loud in the dark.

I looked down.

She was staring up at me from the hallway, hair mussed, eyes wide, face pale in the low light. Zhou Xue stood behind her, halfway crouched with a small combat knife clutched awkwardly in both hands.

But neither of them was looking at the duct.

They were staring at me.

Their eyes weren’t afraid of the noise. Or even the blood.

They were afraid of how calm I looked.

I stepped down slowly from the crate, smoke curling from the barrels of my gauntlets.

Behind them, the others were waking.

Tang Wei sat up fast, gun already in hand. Yifei shifted onto her knees, posture tense. Roulan pushed her blanket aside and froze. Qinglan stirred slightly but didn’t rise.

"What happened?" Tang Wei asked, clipped and low.

I didn’t answer immediately.

I wiped a bit of black ichor from my gauntlet with my fingers, then let it smear down my leg. The mesh vent above still smoked faintly with flesh stuck in the cracks.

"Target in the vent," I said evenly. "It’s dead now."

No one spoke.

Zhou Xue’s knife lowered just a little.

Liang Mei hadn’t moved.

The stares were heavy.

The scent of spent gunpowder still hung in the air. But under it... Something else lingered. The aftertaste of wrongness. Like whatever I’d killed hadn’t been the only thing bleeding.

[System Notification: Target eliminated — Stage 2 Ghoul (Stalker Variant)]

[+1000 ZKP]

[System Notice: Mental Drift Detected — Monitoring Status]

[Stability: 89% → 86%]

I didn’t blink.

Didn’t even notice it until the corner of my vision caught the change.

Then, quieter than I meant to, I said aloud:

"...Now it won’t remember her voice."

No one responded.

But I heard someone draw in a breath behind me.

A slow, careful one.

Like they were trying not to be heard.

The air in the room had shifted. Not panicked, not fearful—just... cautious. Like everyone had quietly realised something wasn’t right with me. Like everyone waited to see if I’d go any further.

But I didn’t.

Instead, I opened my system and pulled up the Utilities tab. My mind was still buzzing, too sharp in places, too numb in others. It was like adrenaline without the heat. Like I’d gone somewhere I wasn’t supposed to, and only now noticed the door behind me was still open.

[Purchase: Industrial Quick-Set Concrete Pump — Vent Sealing Model]

[Cost: 150 ZKP]

[Item will appear at your feet. Stand clear.]

The pump dropped beside me with a low hiss of compressed air. A thick hose uncoiled with it, already primed. The tank was squat, heavy, and designed for single-task sealing—press and flood. I stepped over to the stacked crates and raised the hose to the shredded ductwork.

No one stopped me.

No one said anything.

They just watched.

The concrete hissed as it sprayed—foamy and white at first, then hardening as it met metal and debris. It spread through the vent’s interior, layering over the blood, the bones, the mesh. It didn’t erase what had happened.

But it would bury it.

By the time the tank sputtered empty, it had completely sealed the vent. No air. No sound. Just a hardened wall where a face used to be.

[Stability: 86% → 90%]

Good.

Next, I opened the catalogue again.

[Purchase: Advanced Environmental Purification & Cooling Unit — Compact Model]

[Cost: 1,000 ZKP]

[Installation Time: 2 minutes]

[Storage Compatible: YES]

The machine blinked into place beside me—a sleek rectangular unit with smooth black plating and recessed vents. It emitted a low hum as it came online, filtering the stale, blood-tainted air and recycling it through layered filtration and micro-compression.

Cool air passed over my skin.

I felt... cleaner. A little clearer. My fingers stopped shaking.

Zhou Xue was the first to speak, her voice quiet. "What is that?"

"An Air filter and cooling device."

She didn’t question it.

She just nodded, eyes flicking once toward the now-sealed vent before she moved back toward her bedroll.

One by one, the others did the same.

Even Liang Mei, though she hesitated, just for a second. Not in fear or doubt. But like she was trying to decide if she should say something. In the end, she didn’t. She lay down beside Roulan and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

Tang Wei, though, didn’t move.

She waited until the others settled.

Then rose.

And walked toward me.

I knew from the weight of her steps that this wasn’t casual.

Her palm struck my cheek. Not hard. Not gentle either. Just enough to get my attention.

"You’re not okay," she said.

I blinked once.

"I’m fine."

"No. You’re not."

Her voice wasn’t angry. Not emotional. Just steady.

"You were talking to it."

I opened my mouth, but she cut me off.

"Not shouting. Not threatening. Talking. Like it was human. Like you forgot what it was."

I looked down at my hands. The gauntlets were still warm.

"You looked like someone else," she continued. "Like your mind had wandered somewhere, and you hadn’t noticed."

I didn’t argue because part of me had.

She exhaled, then stepped back.

"You’re still in control," she said, "but not by much. Don’t let it slide again."

She didn’t wait for a response.

Just turned around and walked back to her watch spot, her silhouette vanishing against the crate-stacked wall.

I sat down beside the ammo case.

Opened a new mag.

Started filling it.

Click. Slide. Tap. Stack.

[Stability: 90% → 92%]

I’d come back.

But I’d taken a step somewhere dark to do it.

And I knew it wouldn’t be the last.

The room fell still again.

Not the silence of rest, but the kind that came after something just barely passed without breaking. People shifted. Blankets rustled. Someone cleared their throat. The type of quiet that didn’t come with peace, but exhaustion.

I looked at the air scrubber. It was still humming, casting a pale blue glow across the far wall. The recycled breeze it pushed out felt sterile and safe, but temporary.

That thing had crawled into our vent to listen.

Not to strike. Not to feed, but only to listen and repeat what it heard.

And if one did it, more could.

I sat there for a while longer, finishing the last few magazines, before opening the system one final time. I’d need more. Larger models. Stronger defences. Permanent reinforcements back at base.

Because if they could think...

Then they could plan.

And if they could plan...

They’d be back.

And next time?

I refused to patch up cracks after it was too late.

A soft rustle to my right.

I didn’t look—just felt the faint shift of air as Liang Mei sat down beside me, her knees pulled up to her chest.

She didn’t say anything at first. Just watched my hands work. The gentle clink of brass and steel filled the space between us.

Then, quietly: "You’re not really going to stay up all night, are you?"

"I’ve done worse," I murmured.

She didn’t laugh, but her mouth tugged into the ghost of a smile.

"John," she said after a moment. "Are you always like this... so busy?"

I shrugged. "It keeps me grounded."

She nodded, eyes half-lidded. "Then keep filling those mags. I’ll sit here until I fall asleep."

And she did.

Quiet. Still.

Just her presence and mine.

In the hum of the purifier and the steady rhythm of bullets sliding home, something fragile began to feel steady again.

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