Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System
Chapter 86: The Breach

Chapter 86: The Breach

John Wang’s POV

March 17th, 2025 — 9:45 PM

Longwan University — Linbei Campus, North Lab Block, Outer Field

—

The air snapped sharply in my lungs as we tore across the open ground.

Boots hammering broken concrete. Shields up. Weapons low.

Mu Qinglan led the way, fast, brutal, swinging her bat once to clear a shambling dead that stumbled too close with a brutal smash.

The planter loomed ahead, cracked and half-swallowed by weeds.

Liang Qiu reached it first, shield braced, dropping into a low crouch behind the concrete, sliding across the gravel because of the momentum. "Ugh...." she gasped, catching her arm on sharp, rusted metal.

The others piled in after her — Chen Xun, Deng Hua, Guo Fan — dragging Zhou Xue into cover between them.

I skidded in last, shoulder to shoulder with Shen Yifei.

Breath steamed in front of us — short, sharp and hot.

Not much time left.

Gunfire spat again from the ruined North Lab lobby — sharp, panicked bursts of sound.

Inside, the screaming hadn’t stopped.

It was getting louder.

Worse.

I could feel it through the cracked ground under my boots — the slow, gathering rumble of the herd moving closer.

"Second sprint," I said, low and brutal. Mu Qinglan flicked a glance back at me. Blood already splashed across her knuckles and cheeks, but she was ready.

No hesitation.

She dashed from the planter, and with her tight, muscular legs, she rushed to the overturned bus with short, sharp steps.

I lifted my hand, counted down with two fingers — one.

Then we moved.

Exploding from behind the planter, straight into hell.

The second stretch was shorter, faster — but the dead were closer too.

Three broke off from the main herd, shambling fast toward us.

Liang Qiu smashed the first aside with a full-body tackle, shield crunching bone.

Mu Qinglan spun, cracking another infected across the jaw so hard its neck snapped sideways.

The third one veered for Zhou Xue, mouth wide, jagged teeth snapping at her.

My body moved before I could think — no hesitation.

I caught it by the back of the skull mid-lunge, dragging it down hard onto the concrete. Its head bounced once — a sharp, ugly crack — and then I drove my boot down on its throat, crushing it flat.

[John Wang Kill: Stage-1 Infected — ZKP +5]

System flicker.Ignored.

I jerked my head at Zhou.

"Go!"

She stumbled, caught herself, and kept running.

We reached the crumpled bus — rusty, half-tilted sideways, windows blown out.

Liang Qiu slammed into it first, back against the metal, shield up.

The rest of us pressed in tight, panting, bloodied.

Inside the North Lab lobby, muzzle flashes lit the broken glass.

Survivors — students, maybe — firing handguns, swinging pipes, screaming.

Holding a barricade that was already collapsing inward under the weight of a dozen infected pushing through.

We had seconds.

Maybe less.

"Form up!" I barked.

It made me feel like some kind of soldier, though I was mimicking both the shows I watched and the two years of mandatory conscription that became a distant memory.

Liang Qiu and Guo Fan braced shields in front.

Chen Xun and Deng Hua to the flanks, machetes raised.

Mu Qinglan stood loose, bat hanging casual, deadly.

Shen Yifei edged closer to me, spear trembling slightly — but she held it firm.

Zhou Xue huddled lower, knife gripped tight, face set.

I drew the Type-9K from my back, thumbed off the safety. This is where we would split up for a short time. Thanks to the system, I could see another opening, and the path towards my goal also flashed with GPS-style lights.

Cold metal. Warm hands.

I exhaled once, sharp.

"On my shot," I said.

No other signal.

No other plan.

We breach on instinct.

The zombies inside the lobby howled louder — the first of them smashing fully through the last barrier.

Survivors inside screamed desperately, creating a genuine sense of terror.

Too late for them.

But not too late for us.

I squeezed the trigger once.

In short, sharp bursts, 9mm rounds tore open the back ranks of the infected at the entrance.

The noise exploded like a bolt of thunder in the dead air.

"Move!" I roared.

And so it began.

——

The door didn’t so much open as collapse.

We hit it like a hammer strike — shields first, bodies next — the rusted frame giving way with a screech of tortured metal.

Inside, chaos.

Dust and blood clogged the destroyed lobby. The air filled with the stench of sulphur, piss, and rotting meat... maybe even human fear. A faint light from the flickering fluorescent tubes buzzed from the half-broken ceiling.

Half a dozen students fought desperately — bats, broken pipes, one or two handguns flashing in the dark.

They were already losing.

A pack of infected tore through a half-collapsed barricade — the survivors falling back clumsily, one of them screaming as a zombie latched onto his arm.

No time to pity them.

"Clear the door!" I barked.

Mu Qinglan surged left, bat snapping out in brutal arcs — clean, fast, mechanical.

Shen Yifei stuck to my right, spear jabbing with short, desperate thrusts — raw but improving.

I smashed the nearest infected aside with the stock of the Type-9K, then kicked another square in the knee, dropping it low before cracking its skull with the butt.

Blood sprayed across my jacket, but it didn’t matter.

One minute.

Maybe less.

That’s how long it took to clear the lobby threshold, at least enough to hold, for now.

But the outside wasn’t still.

Not anymore.

I flicked my eyes back through the busted door.

And felt it.

A deep, rumbling sound.Like the earth itself was breathing.

Across the ruined field, through the shattered buildings, a tide of grey and black bodies poured toward the North Lab.

Hundreds...

No, it was thousands.

The herd.

The real wave.

Coming straight for us.

"Shit..."

The students inside were already scrambling, dragging barricades toward the hallway, screaming orders that no one followed.

Not my concern.

I grabbed Liang Qiu’s shield — yanked her closer.

A zombie’s mouth biting down where her thighs were a moment ago, the cute girl’s cheeks alternating between pale and pink as she stomped on the zombie, missing half its face.

"You five move now!" I barked. "Get deeper inside. Find Liang Mei. Secure the back halls."

Liang Qiu nodded fast, dragging Chen Xun, Deng Hua, and Guo Fan with her.

Zhou Xue hesitated a half-second longer, torn, before following.

Mu Qinglan didn’t move.

She stayed planted in front of me — eyes burning cold fire under the broken lights.

"You’re staying," she said.

It wasn’t a question.

I nodded once.

The noise of the dead grew louder — fists slamming against the battered walls, the windows rattling under the impact.

We didn’t have time for words.

Mu Qinglan moved without warning.

One second, she was standing there — bloodied, breathing hard — the next, she grabbed the front of my jacket, fisted the fabric tight, and dragged me down into her. Our mouths pressed together, rough, clumsy, urgent.

The taste of her—sweat, blood, smoke—hit me sharp.

No softness.

No carefulness.

Her tongue brushed the corner of my mouth — not asking, more like devouring — and I met it, teeth grazing, breath flowing into each other’s mouths. Her forehead bumped mine once, hard enough to hurt.

I tasted the sweet copper on her breath.

The subtle fear hidden under it.

One heartbeat.

Two.

Then she pulled herself back, as if tearing herself away, her breath ragged and sharp, hands slipping down my jacket for a lingering moment.

"Don’t you fucking die," she muttered against my skin.

Rough. Almost broken. Then she dropped her hand, spun on her heel, and sprinted after the others into the dark. Leaving me standing there, blood on my lips, the taste of her sweet saliva fresh in my mouth.

Shen Yifei shifted beside me, cheeks flushed, spear clutched tight, pretending she hadn’t seen anything.

I checked the Type-9K — slammed the mag back in hard.

Outside, the roar of the dead grew louder — the screech of fences breaking, the low thunder of a thousand footsteps shaking the cracked concrete.

It would only be a few minutes now... the zombies were in waves, but the number was a horrifying amount.

"Let’s step out, and run inside when we need to."

"Mm...."

II shifted my weight forward — heart hammering hard — and stood at the door.

Neither of us was immune... and this was dangerous.

But I shook my head.

Set my stance.

Looked at Shen Yifei once — sharp, clean.

"You scared?" I asked.

She swallowed and lifted her chin, peeking at me from time to time.

"A little," she said. "But I’m not running."

I turned my gaze back to the shattered door, where death was gathering like a storm front.

"Good," I said.

"Because neither am I."

And we waited for the world to break.

"Do you want a kiss too?" I joked, hoping that her nerves would lessen.

Shen Yifei flushed even harder, nearly tripping over her spear.

"Idiot," she muttered under her breath — but she didn’t move away.