Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System
Chapter 191: Cradle of Flesh and Bone

Chapter 191: Cradle of Flesh and Bone

We stood back-to-back.

The new Stage 3 Brute stomped forward. Not running—stalking. It didn’t need to rush. It knew it could take a few hits. Knew most things wouldn’t survive past their second swing.

Too bad for it, I wasn’t most things.

Mu Qinglan leaned in, her shoulder brushing mine. Her breath was ice against my neck. "I’m going for the knees. You aim higher."

"No fancy plans?"

She grinned. "Just kill it."

The monster roared.

We moved.

Mu darted low. Her blade flashed in a sideways cut, frost coiling down the Brute’s thigh. The ice spread fast, cracking skin, hardening muscle. She twirled, blade up, cutting the same leg again—deep this time.

It stumbled giving me a chance as I charged, one fist cocked back, the other glowing as I flooded it with Fire Qi. The Primordial Tyrant Body Scripture responded like a living thing. It pulled Qi from my dantian, mixing it with Mu’s Ice and Yifei’s Fire, until it hissed inside my gauntlet like a furnace ready to burst.

The blow hit just below its jaw.

Something snapped.

A piece of tooth or bone. It reeled, roaring, and swung blindly.

I ducked, pivoted around its flank, and jammed the Crushing Moon into the back of its skull.

BOOM.

The blast ripped open a fist-sized hole. Black gore sprayed.

It didn’t drop.

"Tsk!"

I cursed.

It twisted, flailing. Mu Qinglan slid away under the swing and carved a frozen gouge down its arm.

Still not enough.

Its wounds smoked, then sizzled—healing.

My eyes narrowed.

"Fuck. It’s regenerating."

Mu didn’t answer. She was already sprinting away, baiting the Brute after her, legs flicking up blood with every step.

Shen Yifei launched from the side, her spear trailing fire. She stabbed clean through the Brute’s armpit and twisted, yanking back as the weapon erupted in flame. The burst tore open its shoulder.

That got its attention.

It spun to grab her.

Too slow.

I lunged from the rear, slammed my foot down, and jumped.

Up. Over its back.

Both fists crashed into the sides of its neck, and I unleashed another shotgun burst.

The head tilted.

Mu Qinglan came in again.

This time, she didn’t stop.

One clean vertical cut—her blade gleaming with frost and black ichor.

It split from the collar to the navel and collapsed like a snapped crate.

Silence for a beat.

Then the ground shook.

Three more Stage 3s breached the perimeter. One sprinted, fast for its size, knuckles dragging on the dirt. Another crouched low, its muscles rippling with unnatural coordination. The last was still mid-mutation—skin bubbling, bone stretching, but nearly there.

I ground my heel into the dirt.

No time to breathe.

"How long until we’re overwhelmed?" Shen Yifei called, flipping her spear and backing up toward us.

"Five minutes," I said. "Maybe less."

Jiang Roulan’s voice cut in through comms. "We’re down to our last arrows. Tang Wei says the rookies are holding, but they won’t last if anything stronger than Stage 2 gets through."

"Then we end this now," I muttered. "We break the ones here before the next wave mutates."

Mu tilted her head. "You planning to blow yourself up or something?"

"No." I took a deep breath. "I’m going to use everything."

The Scripture pulsed.

It drank Qi from every woman who shared a link with me.

Ice. Fire. Earth.

Then something else—faint, new. Lightning. Tang Wei? It flickered in me, unstable, but sharp. I accepted it.

Instead, I let it in.

My gauntlets crackled.

The Primordial Tyrant Body Scripture screamed inside my blood, refining Qi into something denser, heavier. My bones tightened. Skin flushed. Muscles surged with raw potential. The pressure built in my chest, like my heart was a second core.

My weak bond with Tang Wei made the wind element flow slowly... painfully burning my veins as it sank into my flesh.

I could take maybe ten seconds of this strain.

Any longer, I’d tear myself apart.

"Lan’er," I said. "Can you hold the side?"

She winked. "For you? Of course."

"Yifei, Roulan—cover fire. Zhou Xue, find high ground again."

With the swipe of my fingers. I bought ammunition, arrows, whatever was needed and tossed it to them. "Don’t hesitate use the Type-9k’s!"

I stepped forward alone.

Toward the Brute, that was mutating.

Its spine twisted—flesh split. A second jaw opened under the first.

I didn’t wait for it to finish.

I ran.

The Qi in my legs detonated. Earth and Ice fused, locking in my footing. Fire and Lightning surged through my fists.

I jumped high. Too high.

The Brute looked up.

Too late.

My gauntlets slammed down.

Double impact. One in the chest. One to the temple.

It didn’t scream.

Its skull collapsed in, like a sack of thick tar.

The body hit the ground half a second after I did.

The other two Brutes reacted fast.

One roared, charging with a heavy metal door fused to its arm.

The other tried to flank.

"Not today."

Shen Yifei intercepted the flank. Her spear burned with Fire Qi drawn from me. The tip pierced the zombie’s eye and burst in a flash of red, staggering it.

The first Brute reached me.

I didn’t dodge.

I met its swing with my fist.

A blast exploded from the point of contact. The bone fused with muscle in the Brute’s hand shattered, while my gauntlet creaked, almost cracking.

However, the Brute’s shoulder collapsed inward.

It screamed.

I roared louder, pressing in, punch after punch, until its spine gave.

Then it dropped.

"Status!" I shouted, dashing at the second one.

"Rear’s holding," Tang Wei said. "Barely."

"One left," Shen Yifei panted, backing off.

Mu dashed past me, her sword glowing with cold.

She didn’t hesitate.

She drove it through the last Brute’s neck and twisted.

The head slid off a heartbeat later.

Silence.

Real silence.

Only the wind whistling over bent tracks and ruined metal.

I dropped to one knee.

My arms trembled.

My Qi burned low.

The System pinged.

[John, the threat has diminished; get some rest.]

[Stage 3 Threats: 0]

[You have gained 11500 EXP]

[You have gained 6600 ZKP]

[You have gained the skill "Brawler"]

[Jiang Roulan’s Affection Increased]

[Tang Wei’s Affection Increased]

[Zhou Xue’s Affection Increased]

I exhaled once, a long breath to calm myself. Lightness flooded my head. I dropped onto my ass, arms resting on my knees.

Seven massive yellow cores. Four smaller ones. A scattering of green and red. They steamed in the open air like butchered organs left to cool.

"Status on everyone?"

"Alive," Roulan answered.

"Barely," Mu muttered. Her sword dragged behind her, carving a line in the dirt. "I think I pulled my shoulder."

Shen Yifei knelt beside one corpse, pried out a green core, then stood. Her twintails were soaked with blood and sweat. She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, looking at me from the corner of her eye.

"Depot’s quiet. But for how long?"

I turned toward the main terminal. Broken windows with smoke leaking from the upper level. No movement yet.

Didn’t trust it.

"Mu. Yifei. Check the control tower. Zhou Xue, regroup with the archers. Roulan, secure the east platform and watch for movement on the streets."

"Alone?" Roulan asked.

I looked her in the eye. "You’ve got Qi-enhanced tonfa and the best eyesight here. You’ll be fine."

She didn’t argue.

The others moved without delay.

I stood again, boots grinding against broken stone and caked blood. The depot smelled like death. Old and fresh. Smoke. Oil. Rotten flesh. But it was ours now.

For the moment at least... then I heard it.

A soft ding.

My visor blinked.

[New Side Quest Available – Origin of Infection: Train Depot Terminal]

[Objective: Investigate the Source of the Mutations]

I tapped the interface, and the map shifted, highlighting a metal hatch near the far end of the platform. Hidden beneath a half-flipped vending machine.

’Can we succeed without danger?’

[Of course, John! It’s not a challenging quest, but essential for you.]

’Why?’

[The source and method they evolved...]

Because this voice had never guided me wrong before, I couldn’t help but trust her. So I pulled the panel over and wedged a pipe into the hatch.

Clack!

It opened!

The seal was rusted, but not broken.

Beneath it, faint traces of heat and something that resembled Qi.

I didn’t smile.

I just clenched my fists and turned toward the group.

"Yifei. Lan’er. Change of plans. We’re going underground."