Chapter Twenty-One: Deep into Enemy Territory! The Madman's Trusted Lieutenant!

“Haha, Old Hu’s skills are pretty impressive!”
“But he’s still a long way from matching me!”
Madman let out a wild laugh, boasting about his own strength. With a twist of his foot, he charged into the horde of zombies ahead. Chen Yi followed closely, his twin blades flashing like a gust of wind—each slash dispatching a zombie with clean, efficient movements.
“Watch your back!”
Hu Sanhan called out in warning, but Chen Yi, unhurried, simply sidestepped and thrust the blade into the head of a lunging zombie. Blood and brain matter splattered as the creature collapsed instantly.
“No need for your reminder,” Chen Yi replied, his heart grateful but his expression feigning disdain.
Meanwhile, Madman’s sharp claws danced with a chilling gleam among the dense swarm. His movements were so agile and fierce he resembled a giant gray rat darting through the zombies—his figure nearly impossible to track.
The three coordinated with such tacit understanding that, in no time, they and their men had cleared a huge swath of zombies from the area.
But as the number of zombies grew, Chen Yi realized this approach would not hold; their tactics had to change.
“This won’t do,” Chen Yi called out. “We need to spread out and break them up. Fighting them all together just slows us down.”
“We’ll do as you say, Chen!”
Madman echoed loudly, signaling his men to scatter as instructed.
Chen Yi climbed to higher ground and directed the battle with a calm, clear mind. He sent Hu Sanhan and a portion of the group to attack from the west, while Madman’s team advanced from the east. Chen Yi himself led a reserve in the center, ready to support either side as needed.
In that moment, Chen Yi became the undisputed commander of the field.
As their forces spread and the fighting drew further apart, the zombies’ ability to mass together was gradually neutralized. The number of zombies converging in any one area diminished sharply, and their strategy of divide and conquer soon wiped out the rest.
An hour later, the area around the base was completely cleared—only a faint metallic tang of blood lingering in the air.
After the tense battle, everyone returned inside the base, relief softening their faces with the look of survivors who had just cheated death.
Suddenly, Madman burst out laughing, his sly voice jarring the silence.
Everyone stared at him in confusion.
“Haha, Chen, you’re quite the tactician!”
“If it weren’t for you, who knows how long we’d have been hacking away at them?”
“Damn! Why are there so many zombies in the East District?”
Madman cursed as he laughed, looking at Chen Yi with open admiration. As soon as he finished, his gaze shifted deliberately to Hu Sanhan, a mocking smile curling his lips.
“Old Hu, what a pity! A commander like you, and now you’re under my thumb.”
Hu Sanhan’s face darkened instantly at the words. The anger in his eyes was unmistakable as he looked at Madman, but he said nothing, turning his face away.
“Alright, alright, just kidding,” Madman said. “We’re all on the same side now—what’s yours is mine.”
Seeing Hu Sanhan so stung only delighted Madman further, though he quickly waved it off, feigning generosity.
After a brief rest, Madman approached Chen Yi. “Chen, it’s time to come with me,” he said. “Let me show you my base. From now on, you’ll be with me—it’s far better than working for certain other people.”
Chen Yi nodded, following Madman out of the Bright Base.
But before leaving, Chen Yi quietly brushed a character, “Yun,” onto the dust of a table behind them, just within Hu Sanhan’s line of sight.
After they left, Hu Sanhan noticed it. From their prior interactions, he understood that Chu Yunxi of New City Base was Chen Yi’s woman.
He immediately grasped Chen Yi’s intent: to relay a message to Chu Yunxi so that New City Base could coordinate their next actions.
Meanwhile, Chen Yi followed Madman to what appeared to be a derelict industrial district, though in truth it was tightly secured.
Madman’s base was hidden here.
Upon entering, Chen Yi sensed the unusual atmosphere—four guard posts patrolled the perimeter, with strict defensive lines and each man armed with automatic weapons.
This alone proved that Madman’s base was a dominant force in the East District. After all, before the apocalypse, Madman had been an underground arms smuggler. The end of the world had given him the perfect stage to unleash his insanity.
“Boss!”
As Madman returned, those in the base’s core area greeted him in unison. Madman acknowledged them with a nod, his eyes brimming with pride as he looked at Chen Yi.
At that moment, Chen Yi surveyed the base. Suddenly, Madman slowed his steps and led Chen Yi into a spacious training room.
“Come, meet my right-hand men.”
Madman gestured toward three figures training inside.
First was a man nearly two meters tall, his muscles taut as steel as he wrestled with a heavy punching bag.
“This is Scorpion—my best hand-to-hand fighter,” Madman introduced.
Scorpion’s gaze flicked briefly to Chen Yi, cold and indifferent, before returning to his training. A moment later, his massive fist hammered the bag, as if to issue a wordless challenge.
Next, a petite girl drew Chen Yi’s attention. She skillfully mixed several vials of differently colored liquids, concocting a blue formula that looked anything but ordinary.
Sensing his gaze, Madman pointed her out, “That’s Viper, our poison specialist.”
Viper glanced up, her eyes bright with curiosity. “Do you have any special abilities?” she asked.
“You’ll see soon enough,” Madman replied for Chen Yi.
Finally, a figure emerged from the firearms range. This man seemed unremarkable except for the sniper rifle he carried with casual confidence.
Madman clapped him on the shoulder. “This is Iron Wolf—my sharpshooter.”
The title alone made Chen Yi take note. He knew that in this new world, anyone who’d survived as a sharpshooter must have received unique enhancements—be it heightened hearing, vision, or even a preternatural sixth sense.
Some snipers, it was said, could spot the faintest motion from a kilometer away. Such talents were priceless in this apocalypse.
Iron Wolf nodded slightly, accepting the introduction without objection and showing no hostility toward the newcomer. Instead, he simply stated his principles:
“Just follow orders. I don’t waste words.”
Of these three, Iron Wolf was the only one Chen Yi didn’t know well. The other two were all too familiar. In his previous life, after Madman fell to Hu Sanhan’s revenge, Scorpion and Viper each led their own factions, their infamy undiminished.
If Madman’s power was to be wiped out for good, these three would have to be eliminated as well.
Madman, hands on his hips, grinned broadly at all three. “This is Chen—his codename for now is ‘Maestro’! I think highly of him; he’s a born leader. From now on, he’ll be directing our battles.”
Scorpion’s eyes narrowed with a trace of defiance as he glared at Chen Yi. Viper covered her mouth with a light laugh, her eyes filled with keen interest.