11 Chapter 9: Dispute

When Su Yu finished off the last greenskin monster, his wooden club was covered in green juice. He turned around to find that the entirety of the greenskin monsters had been annihilated in the battle. Only four from their side had died, and around seven or eight were injured, all currently dressing their wounds.

Su Yu himself had disposed of seven greenskin monsters, an impressive achievement that drew attention from all, including Ning Yan, who despite having little prior interactions with Su Yu, couldn't help but stare at him.

"Huff..." Zhang Zhongmou sat on the ground, took out a cigarette from his pocket and took a deep drag with his green juice stained hand.

A greenskin monster, its head smashed like a crushed watermelon, lay in front of him with a wooden club stuck in it. The club was Zhang Zhongmou's, indicating he, too, had killed a greenskin monster.

"Bro, want a smoke?" Zhang Zhongmou blew out a puff of smoke and offered to Su Yu.

Su Yu ambled over and shook his head.

Even though he had just killed seven greenskin monsters and his special power had grown stronger, healing his wounds faster, Su Yu didn't feel a semblance of excitement.

Four more people had died, the sight of the familiar gym teacher's horrifying death in front of him made Su Yu's heart tremble.

"What do we do with these bodies?" said a tall and sturdy student with a buzz cut, taking out a bottle of mineral water from his backpack, he drank a mouthful, wiped his mouth, and continued.

The melee hadn't lasted long and while they were victorious, some injuries were sustained. They decided to take a rest, bandage their wounds, and gather themselves. A few who had killed a greenskin monster for the first time as they went from being ordinary people to powers users expressed both exhilaration and shock as they felt the fluctuations of special powers within them.

A man dressed in a security uniform, holding a police baton, in his thirties with a grave countenance, glanced up at the sky and interjected, "In this place, no one knows what might happen next. Our primary goal now is to find a source of food and a rescue team. We're short on time, these bodies... we have to leave them here."

Qin Jiagui, who was severely injured in the recent battle, was bleeding heavily from his chest, now being treated by another student. He lifted his head after hearing the security guard and said, "That can't be. Their bodies might be devoured by other greenskin monsters if we leave them here. This... this is not acceptable!" He stood up abruptly, clenching his fists.

The security guard frowned and said, "So we should dig a hole and bury them? Keep in mind, we only have two days' worth of food. We do not have the time to deal with these bodies…"

Qin Jiagui glared at him, "Have you thought that perhaps... perhaps soon it could be you or I lying here... Do you want your body to be eaten by those monsters?"

The security guard exploded in rage, "What did you say? Are you cursing me to die?" He tightened his grip on the baton.

A conflict arose unexpectedly between the two, drawing the attention of everyone. Zhang Zhongmou quickly stood in between them, chuckling, and said, "How about a smoke? Come on, nothing is worth arguing over."

The security guard coldly shoved Zhang Zhongmou's hand away and stared down the unyielding Qin Jiagui, "Young man, didn't your parents teach you to respect your elders? I see our collective survival as my responsibility, remember we've over a thousand people in the school waiting for news. Should we waste our time on such an issue?"

Qin Jiagui retorted, "Why should I respect you when you have no respect for the dead?"

"You—" the security guard bellowed, all set to react physically.

Su Yu, who was twirling his hair thoughtfully, seeing the conflict about to escalate, immediately intervened.

Su Yu's sudden appearance took the security guard by surprise, making him pause his imminent attack.

Since the strange events began, Su Yu had made quite an impression, unintentionally invoking fear and respect from everyone, including the security guard.

"I won't elaborate on the bigger picture, but... we are all partners working towards a common goal. Both of you make valid points. The ground is solid, we don't have the right tools, it would take half a day to dig a significant hole, we really don't have the time to stay here... how about..."

Su Yu paused, running his fingers through his hair and proposed, "We place their bodies on the branches? It will keep them out of reach from the greenskin monsters. Once we find the rescue team, we can come back and give them a proper burial."

"As long as it doesn't cause much delay, I have no objections," hearing that the plan was only to move the bodies onto the branches, the security guard agreed, since it wouldn't be too time-consuming.

Tai Jiagui heard Su Yu's proposal and knew he was being pragmatic. Given their current circumstances, without proper digging tools, to dig a big enough hole to bury the bodies would indeed take half the day, leaving them with just two days' worth of resources. More than half the morning had passed, underlining the urgency.

Su Yu acted upon his words. Zhang Zhongmou, Qin Jiagui and the others started moving the bodies. They planned to place them well on top of a big tree to protect them from other monsters.

"Let me help." The tall, well-built student with the buzz cut volunteered.

Zhang Zhongmou asked for his name, only to find out he was a year senior to them. He was their school senior, Zhao Shichang.

"Let's move on once the bodies are settled," the security guard added, not wanting to prolong their stay due to the strong smell of blood all around them.

The four corpses were quickly placed in a towering tree's dense branches, and Zhang Zhongmou jumped back down.

"Alright, let's move out," the security guard who considered himself the de facto leader of the group due to being the oldest, announced, intending to guide the team.

Zhang Zhongmou gave him a sideways glance, clearly not too happy, and lazily asked, "Everyone rested yet?"

The security guard glared back and was about to retort when he suddenly felt something off. He turned to look in the other direction, Su Yu was quicker to notice, he clutched at his club and stood up.

Soft rustling sounds came from a bush on the other side. Everyone looked in that direction, only to see the bush part and a greenskin monster step out.

Although it was a greenskin monster, the one before them was different from the ones they had encountered so far.