Dark Civilization Volume 1 Chapter 18

Book 1 Chapter 18: Combat Guidance!

"Can he handle that?"

"Mutant beasts are far stronger than those zombies…."

The two youths who were with Yue Heng eyed Ye Chen suspiciously as he approached the mutant rat. With doubts hanging over their heads, they muttered their concerns towards Bai Long while occasionally stealing a few glances at Ye Zhu. As young men, they naturally had an interest in beautiful women.

Bai Long replied with a knowing smile. He had already seen the lion-sized corpse of the mutant dog slain by Ye Chen. What are the odds of him being bested by this pig-sized rat?

Ye Chen left the cover of the wall and walked over.

Mutant rats were beasts that possessed the strength of eight men. A few feet around the mutant rat laid corpses of five zombies with their heads equally smashed in. With their black blood spilled everywhere, the air reeked a rotten stench. The blood on their mangled bodies and limbs had long since dried, yet they festered with squirming maggots.

It took only a few steps before the mutant rat detected Ye Chen's approach through its sense of smell. Turning its head around, the mutant rat bared its fangs at what it perceives to be its next meal before lunging forth.

With a chilling glare, Ye Chen kept his axe aside before planting a straight kick into the charging beast's snout. He immediately followed up by whipping his hand out and clobbering the mutant rat's forehead with his fist.

*Crack!

With a bang, Ye Chen fractured the beast's skull, causing blood to ooze out from its head. Under the immense force of the blow, the bloodied rat was sent tumbling away. With its face soiled in blood, the mutant rat now looked even more savage.

With Ye Chen's current strength, a single punch of his was nothing to be scoffed at. If it weren't for him holding back forty percent of his strength, his punch would have undoubtedly caved in the mutant rat's skull.

"Bai Long!" Ye Chen suddenly shouted.

Hiding behind the wall, Bai Long who was prepared to witness an exciting show was jolted at the sudden call of his name. With a hint of confusion, he got up and walked over asking: "What's up?"

Ye Chen who completely disregarded the injured mutant rat at the corner, turned around and said: "It's all yours."

Bai Long was horrified. Before he could say anything in protest, the mutant rat had already struggled into a standing position and was already bolting towards him in a frenzied charge. With eyes soaked red with blood and grizzly teeth wildly thrashing, the rampaging beast was quite an alarming sight.

"s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t!" Bai Long scrambled to ready himself. He hadn't the leisure to bicker with Ye Chen. As he lifted his own fireman's axe, he prepared to engage the mutant rat.

Ye Chen backed off towards the wall and watched in silence.

"Brother, this kind of training, isn't it too dangerous?" Ye Zhu asked her brother with worry, a single glance was all it took for her to grasp his intent.

Ye Chen shook his head, saying: "Relax, I've already injured its head, wreaking havoc upon its senses. It should only be able to attack blindly from now on. Bai Long already has the strength of five men; he should be able to kill it just fine if he's careful."

Ye Zhu replied with an understanding "Oh.", and said no more. She believed her brother to a reasonable person.

At the moment, Bai Long and the mutant rat were locked in combat. It looks as though Bai Long's strategy primarily consisted of evasive maneuvers, incorporating dodge rolls, wall jumping and a few other pitiful tactics that prioritized his safety. Occasionally, he would retaliate with a counterattack, but the results were insignificant.

It didn't take long for Bai Long to exhaust most of his strength, causing his movements to dull. In the instant he was supposed to turn, he was a beat too slow. This delay gave chance for the mutant rat to land a swipe with its claws, splitting his flesh and causing blood to gush out profusely.

"Dammit!" Bai Long's eyes were clouded with a hint of rage, causing him to violently lash out with his axe. His reckless act of retaliation landed his axe deep into the mutant rat's back.

The mutant rat squealed in agony, the surge of pain cause its mad ferocity to intensify. It brandished its claw into a furious slap, aimed towards Bai Long's head. This slap was certain to rip off half his head!

*Shrrrk!

A haze of blood showered upon Bai Long's face, coating his face with viscous warmth.

The incoming claw that was reflected in Bai Long's pupils was unexpectedly sent flying, sundered by the sudden descent of an axe. By his ear, he heard a voice lecturing: "Have you realized the mistakes you've made? First of all, you wasted all your energy doing those ridiculous dodges. Second, your strikes were indecisive, greatly reducing the impact of each hit. Lastly, you didn't aim for its vulnerabilities!"

Bai Long was flabbergasted, it was a situation where he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Although he had already deduced that Ye Chen set him up to fight the mutant rat in order to train him, he didn't expect this cold-blooded deviant to stand there and point out his mistakes without even finishing off the mutant rat….

"Watch!" Ye Chen suddenly urged.

Without a moment to respond, Bai Long diverted his gaze upon Ye Chen's axe. Immediately, it was sent into motion and was cleaving towards the mutant rat.

The mutant rat let out a piercing shriek before swiping its claw towards the cleaving axe. As things were, the claw would undoubtedly slash upon Ye Chen's arm before the axe could reach its mark.

Bai Long endured his instinct to scream.

In that instant, he witnessed something he would never forget as long as he lived. With a subtle flick of the axe, the claw was deflected outwards and immediately after, the weapon was plunged dead center into the mutant rat's cranium!

*Ker-splat!

The head exploded into a shower or blood.

Bai Long gawked at the scene in a befuddled daze. It took a few moments before he managed to utter: "How is that possible?"

Ye Chen withdrew his axe before calmly replying: "There's nothing here that's impossible. I merely used a portion of my strength that was roughly equal to yours. There are at least dozens of techniques which you could use to handle the situation just now. You don't necessarily have to imitate what I did, a swift kick would also enable you to counter that claw swipe. You could try techniques like catching your weapon with your other arm……and so on."

Bai Long was dumbfounded; these techniques were simplistic in theory. However, when a person is cast into a dire situation, how could he be bothered to think about such things?

It was similar to how a person would reacts to the sudden a.s.sault of a knife wielding a.s.sailant; he would probably shut his eyes and hold out both hands to protect his head. It was either that or just outright fleeing from such an a.s.sailant. Would anyone think of interrupting the attacker with a swift kick in the gut followed by a sweeping kick to take him off his feet?

Surely, this called for an incomparably focused and calm mind in order to make such split second decisions in a life or death situation.

"Alright, we're leaving as soon as we're done with the corpses. This place reeks too heavily of blood, it'll attract a horde of zombies over before long." Ye Chen calmly announced before turning to leave.

Bai Long stared vacantly at the corpse by his feet, offering a bitter laugh.

Ye Chen retreated to a corner and placed his ear on the ground. Immediately, he was made aware of numerous footsteps closing in on their location. This was something he did quite often. Through numerous instances, he trained himself to comprehend his surroundings by listening to the volume and pace of each footstep he heard. It afforded him the insight of whether the ent.i.ties closing in were mutant beasts, zombies or human.

In the apocalyptic world, the sounds of a human's footsteps were cautious, light and full of hesitation.

The footsteps of mutant beasts were generally nimble and agile, other times ponderously heavy.

Zombies on the other hand, moved at a steady pace, almost like a machine. Whether they were shuffling about or sprinting, they constantly maintained a pace that was neither hurried nor languid.

After monitoring the vibrations, Ye Chen furrowed his brows. The thick stench of blood had clearly attracted more than a hundred zombies nearby, and more were still approaching from further away.

"Pack up, quickly!" Ye Chen commanded.

Bai Long instantly doubled his efforts. The two youths hurriedly came forth to help the others. Yue Heng stared wordlessly at the mutant rat lying there in a pool of its own blood before shifting his gaze carefully upon Ye Chen's coldly frowning face. Finally, he cautiously approached beside Ye Zhu and asked her in a meek tone, saying: "Are you guys REALLY human?"

Ye Zhu scrutinized the young man's expression. His face seemed to brim with an expression which conveyed: "It's alright to tell me, my lips are sealed."

"What does your heart tell you?" Ye Zhu was considerably troubled on what to say.

"You're not!" Yue Heng shook his head with a profound confidence.

Ye Zhu smiled in reply. She did not offer to explain further, their strength had indeed surpa.s.sed the realm of what's considered human. It could be said that they were already embarking towards the next evolution of mankind….