Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System
Chapter 161: They Won’t Crawl Away Again

Chapter 161: They Won’t Crawl Away Again

March 21st, 8:02 AM — Longwan Mall, North Wing Concessions

John Wang POV

—

The mall was quiet in the way that only dead buildings could be—lights flickering overhead, dust curling in the air like smoke, and the faint sound of metal expanding in the heat.

The system map flickered inside my vision. Still scrambled, showing signs of interference, but the trails I’d cached were enough. Two marked red paths. Both thin, like hairline cracks winding through concrete. One led west. The other deeper north.

We followed the northern line.

Tang Wei and Mu Qinglan took point. I walked third, right behind them, keeping eyes on both the path ahead and the high ceilings. Roulan and Yifei flanked the group, sweeping corners and broken store gates with silent discipline. Chen Xun, Liang Mei, and Deng Hua watched the rear.

We moved through the skeletal remains of the concessions hallway—broken drink machines, gutted stalls, paper wrappers curled into corners.

The deeper we went, the colder the air felt.

Not naturally cold.

Wrong cold. Like the walls remembered something and hadn’t let go of it.

I raised my fist. The group halted immediately.

"Blood," Tang Wei said, pointing with her shotgun.

She was right.

Just ahead, smeared across the base of a soda cart, was a single handprint. Grey. Not red. Fingers long and narrow—stained like someone had dipped them in ink and scraped their way past.

No dragging trail. Just one mark.

High up.

They had crawled. Not walked.

And they’d watched us from above.

My gauntlets clicked softly as I flexed them, adjusting my grip. The shotgun chambers in Crushing Moon were already loaded—four slugs and four buckshot. I wouldn’t hesitate this time.

Listening to the whirring chambers helped calm my mind as I traced the dots on the system, and the flickers of movement from my predator skill.

"Signs of a break-in here," Roulan muttered from the left. "Shelf knocked over. Wrapper torn. Looks fresh."

Chen Xun crouched by the trash bin, his fingers hovering over some blackened scrap. "This isn’t just rot. Something’s been feeding."

Not zombies, because they didn’t eat the wrappers.

They tore through people.

But these things?

They learned.

A dull thud echoed from above, as Shen Yifei’s spear thrust upward, penetrating the shaft... and a sticky white goo dripped from the penetrated metal.

The Ghoul groaned... but we couldn’t chase it.

Yifei held up a palm. "Movement. Vents above."

Everyone froze.

There—just a flicker. A blur shifting behind a vent grate high above the hallway. It didn’t move like a crawler. Too smooth. Too... slow.

"One contact," I said softly. "Eight meters. Moving along the pipe."

Tang Wei raised her weapon. "Permission to fire?"

"Not yet."

"Get ready..."

Tang Wei’s shotgun, Jiang Roulan’s Type-9k and the others using bows all drew and prepared, ready to shoot in the direction I pointed.

Behind.

Though the one Tang Wei mentioned was ahead, this one was trying to strike us from behind, a sneaky tactic.

However, with myself standing at the lead, and Mu Qinglan and Shen Yifei flanking me, watching the faint ripples of the one aiming to sneak attack.

I felt confident as it dropped.

Not toward her.

But behind us.

Straight down into the centre of the group.

The Ghoul landed hard.

A wet, meaty smack—its body collapsing like bone and muscle weren’t speaking the same language.

"Fire!"

Tang Wei was first—her shotgun barked with a thunderous crack, spraying buckshot into the creature’s torso. White flesh tore back, but it didn’t fall.

Roulan’s Type-9k rattled next. Short, controlled bursts. Two struck the left leg, one hit the shoulder, and tore chunks of grey-black meat out of its neck. No hesitation in her stance. No wasted motion.

With a loud rattle, she switched to full auto and melted the Ghouls’ flesh with her full clip with the muzzle flare turning the barrel red.

"Reloading!"

A volley of beautifully aimed arrows flew across my shoulders, brushing my face with feathers and cold air.

Chen Xun and Deng Hua pierced through the monster’s muscular thighs, then Zhou Xue landed with a thunk! Impaling the bastard’s chest and finally the Liang Girls shot each side of its body, through its shoulder joints.

If this were human, they’d be dead or pinned to the ground like a lab rat.

The Ghoul hissed.

Its body arched like it had no bones—its torso spun with unnatural rotation as it lunged toward Deng Hua, claws raised.

My gauntlets fired.

Da—Dang!

Four slugs brutally tore through its chest in a fist-shaped arc.

Followed by the four buckshot ripping the surface of the Ghoul’s flesh, revealing the vile, gooey black innards that looked like rotten meat and vegetables. The force sent the creature flipping midair, back cracking against the concrete floor.

Its limbs twitched. It hissed. But it was trying to crawl now—no balance, no coordination.

"Qinglan!"

She was already moving.

The Endless Night sang through the air, a blur of blue steel in her hand and beside her, Shen Yifei’s legs shifted rapidly, dashing with her spear.

One step. Two.

Then the Ghoul tried to rise—and she severed it at the waist.

SHLIK-CRACK.

The body buckled backwards, with its upper half slammed into a wall. The bottom flopped sideways, twitching before falling still.

As it bounced off, Shen Yifei leapt from the ground.

Her legs lifted in the air as she penetrated its head with a brutal thrust, while stomping on the monster’s chest with both feet. She pushed herself off with a faint flip... landing a few steps beside me, a masterful and agile display.

"Enemy down."

"Nice moves, Yifei." Mu Qinglan’s hoarse voice sounded as she looked at Yifei with a nod.

It was rare for her to acknowledge other...

[Stage 2 Ghoul Eliminated – Stalker Variant]

[1000 ZKP | 500 EXP]

[Skill Up!]

[Point-Blank Discipline Reached Level 3!]

Qinglan breathed hard, her sword dripping. Her stance was wide, firm, not trembling.

She looked back at me.

"Still hate that they run," she muttered.

I walked up beside her and nudged the torso with my boot.

Still twitching.

I extended the Crushing Moon blade and drove it through the skull.

Now it was still. Although it was dead from the moment I saw the system message, it made me feel disgusted.

"Let’s turn back, the other one won’t wait for us."

We regrouped in silence, taking the arrows from the flesh...

Deng Hua checked his shoulder where a claw had grazed him—light bleeding, nothing deep. Tang Wei reloaded her shells, with a grin as she pumped the forend.

Chen Xun picked up his arrow from the corpse and wiped the tip clean, but it slipped off and became soggy, like a melted chocolate bar.

But the tips were deformed, something inside the Ghoul’s body melting the steel.

"Damn..."

"Well, we’ve been lucky none of them have broken so far." Deng Hua comforted Chen Xun, who held his broken arrow.

We regrouped in a few moments, although not a military group... our synergy and the trust each one of them showed in my calls improved greatly.

At least that’s how it felt... with our calm and adjusted movements.

I watched Mu Qinglan for a moment. Her breathing slowed. Her grip on the Endless Night eased, but her eyes were still sharp.

"They’re not invincible," she said.

"No," I agreed. "Just dangerous."

The system map was updated again. For a split second, one red dot flickered south—then vanished.

"Is it running?"

It was deliberate.

Like a trail.

"Maybe it wants us to follow..." I answered Tang Wei, looking at the dots... the Ghoul was leading us towards a swarm of smaller red dots.

A room of Crawlers.

Chen Xun squinted at the blood. "That looks... placed."

I nodded. "It’s baiting us."

Ahead, a stairwell door creaked open slightly—just enough to be noticed. A single blood smear trailed down the stairs, into the darkness.

Basement access.

Subterranean level.

Old parking, storage, maybe sub-generator halls.

Too many paths.

Too many blind corners.

I stopped the group.

"This is a lure," I said. "It’s not just escaping. It’s waiting."

Tang Wei stepped beside me, shotgun lifted. "Then what do we do?"

"We control the terrain," I said. "We don’t go in like last time."

Mu Qinglan stared at the stairwell, then nodded. "Then we turn the trap around."

And we started planning.

The first thing I did was buy a large amount of flares, and flashbangs from the system and though we had some nightvision goggles... I thought it might be best to use our natural eyes to fight this... adding high vision torches that could strap onto our clothes.

The total cost me quite a bit...

[High Grade — Combat Torches x 10] (2,000)

[Top Grade safety Flares x 20] (1,000)

[Shotgun Bayonet/Torch x 1] (1,500)

[Type-9k Light/Suppressor Module x 3] (3,000)

[High Grade Bow Scope/Laser Dot x 5] (2,500)

[Top Grade Flashbangs x 5] (5,000)

[Total Cost: 15,000 ZKP]

[Remaining: 12,550 ZKP]

Once the items appeared in small boxes from thin air, everyone but Jiang Roulan, Shen Yifei, and Mu Qinglan looked stunned.

"I know it’s weird, but if you can trust me now, I will tell you everything."

Now it was time to earn their trust and... make things easier for me in the future.