The Strongest Way to Survive in the Apocalypse - Chapter 9：Fighting Wraiths

The house’s front wall caved in.

Li Qiang jumped to his feet, grabbing his sword in one hand and Li An in the other.

He then charged through the house and out through the back door, not even taking a look behind him. Gunshots and screams filled the air.

In their house’s garden, their mum, Li Ying, had installed a bunker in case of a natural disaster. His placed his sister down gently and spoke to her in a gentle voice.

“An-An, go inside and lock the exit. Only open it for my voice.”

Giving her one last pat on the head, he turned around and headed back to the fighting. It was a total disaster.

Several tanks and army jeeps had pulled up on the road in front of his house and had presumably blasted the front of his house in their fight with the Wraiths.

Over 100 soldiers were also doing battle with several Wraiths, their blurred images flashing across their ranks. Because of their proximity, they had abandoned their guns, in case of friendly fire, and were using their daggers to fight.

This didn’t work at all as their speed couldn’t compare to the Wraith’s and even if they managed to land a lucky strike, it glanced off their tough black layer of clothing, which covered every inch of their skin.

Li Qiang, surprising even himself with his insane strength, drove his leg into the ground and shot forward.

Li Qiang quickly found the answer to this.

‘The cultivation gave me more than just size.’

He arrived before the first Wraith instantly and slashed down with a two-handed grip. It whistled through the air and actually pierced the Wraith’s defence!

However, it came to a stop after penetrating about 2 inches into its shoulder and Li Qiang felt as if he met bone.

‘So, their anatomy is similar to humans.’

Li Qiang concluded.

Li Qiang also felt astounded by its tough flesh. He had received an increase of strength from cultivation, but still wasn’t able slice through more than 2 inches of its body, even with excellent sword. The Wraith ripped his shoulder back, freeing itself from the blade. It then assumed a stance, much similar to that of the Wraith Li Qiang fought on the way back from the pharmaceuticals.

Li Qiang shifted his grip to one hand and brought his sword down once again, much faster, but with less strength. The Wraith responded equally as fast, using its ‘fingertips’ to parry.This was another piece of information to Li Qiang.

Whilst their body was tough, their ‘fingertips’ were especially so, to the point that a full-on strike with his sword couldn’t damage them!

Li Qiang’s arms jarred, meeting the parry, but he deftly flicked his wrist and a long cut appeared on the Wraith’s throat. It immediately fell to its knees clutching its wounded throat and then lay limp on the ground.

Li Qiang wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed academically. Fighting, however, was a different story. Within this short fight, he had gathered several pieces of information.

Firstly, its anatomy was similar to a humans. Secondly, that its fingertips were extremely hard and to parry sharp weapons. Thirdly, that’s its body was very tough and hard to cut into. And fourthly, its throat was its weakness. It was softer than the rest of its body and had died extremely fast after having its throat cut.

Li Qiang looked to the next Wraith. By killing this first Wraith, though, he had attracted some attention from the soldiers.

“Hey, big guy, I need backu-kukkkk.”

A soldier called for help, then got a Wraith’s hand through his neck.

Li Qiang had always respected soldiers, his father being an ex-military man and was left with a bitter feeling seeing so many dead soldiers. This respect was partly the reason why he decided to help out in the battle. The other reason was to gather more information on the Wraiths.

He grabbed a lamppost from next to him and tore it out of the ground with ease.

Making a professional javelin thrower’s stance. he coiled himself up like a spring and then cannoned the lamppost at the nearest Wraith. It rocketed through the air and crunched into its side, making a huge impact. The Wraith got thrown backwards, hitting a building wall with a loud crack and then sliding to the ground. It stayed down.

Li Qiang smiled, gathering another piece of noteworthy information. They were much more susceptible to blunt force trauma than sharp objects. This was likely because blunt force transfers the force of a hit directly into the organs and bones, whilst sharp force seeks to separate the flesh.

Li Qiang looked over the remaining Wraiths and saw 5 left. There had originally been 9 and he had taken out 2 by himself. Another had been mobbed and held down by a group of soldiers and then one of them had shot it in the head. The final one had been worn down by many small stabs and cuts from the soldiers, and when it was too wounded to move around dodging, a soldier had filled its body with bullets.

“Aim for their throats or use blunt objects to fight!”

He shouted this deafeningly loudly while moving fast towards his next target.He led with a thrust, aiming straight for its neck. Alerted by Li Qiang’s heavy footsteps, it barely managed to twist sideways and avoid the killing blow. Seizing this opportunity, a soldier swung his rifle hard into the Wraith’s temple.

It didn’t go down, but stood still for a few seconds, as if dazed.

Li Qiang aimed with another thrust and this time killed it in one blow, almost separating its head cleanly from its body.

Now there was only 1 left. Taking his advice, the soldiers had mauled one of the Wraiths with countless rifle butt. As for the other, a soldier had gotten lucky and managed to stab its throat.Li Qiang and the soldiers surrounded the Wraith.

It lunged forward, aiming for Li Qiang.A soldier managed to connect on a wild swing, glanced off its shoulder and disrupting its momentum. Li Qiang took advantage and landed a heavy kick on its lower stomach.

It flew backwards onto the ground, where it was mobbed on by soldier, each of them crashing their rifle butts down on its body. As the final Wraith died, the crowd of men were silent, but the sound of heavy breathing was audible.

“Glory to the Army!”

A soldier shouted this and thrusted his gun into the air as celebration. This celebration spread like wildfire and after a short few moments all of the soldiers were laughing and shouting in jubilation.

Killing merely 9 Wraiths was more than just 9 enemies killed. It was hundreds of soldiers saved. The Wraiths speed and resistance to sharp objects made it a nightmare to kill, as they would be within the soldier ranks almost instantly, rendering guns ineffective.

They had received reports that, on average, 15 to 30 soldier lives were needed to kill 1 Wraith!

In contrast, they had lost less than 40 men and had killed 9 Wraiths!This was obviously a cause for celebration. A man, whose uniform was adorned with badges and stripes, approached Li Qiang. He came to stop before Li Qiang and held out a hand as greeting.

“I am Captain Lu Sheng.”

Li Qiang looked down at him for a moment then grasped his hand with his own. It was like an adult holding a child’s hand.

“Li Qiang,”

“Li Qiang. Good name. I have an offer for you, Li Qiang.”

Lu Sheng drew back his hand and placed it on his shoulder, looking him in his eyes. If he didn’t look so serious, Li Qiang would have started getting goose bumps.

“Join the army. With your arrival, the military will have 25 out of the countries 49 known Rank 5 Organic Threats and our influence in the government will increase hugely. We will pay you handsomely and your families and friends’ safety will be guaranteed.”

Li Qiang was intrigued. He didn’t know what a Rank 5 Organic Threat was, but he could infer that they were people with inhuman strength like himself. What surprised him even more was Lu Sheng’s straight forward attitude, not shocked at Li Qiang’s strength or asking any question further into his background. He decided to avoid answering Lu Sheng’s offer and probe for more information.

“What is a Rank 5 Organic Threat? Why would you be able to influence the government?”

Lu Sheng’s eyes squinted.

“Ah. So you are in the dark about the superhuman part of society. Li Qiang, you are not unique. There exists 49 Rank 5 Organic Threats in China, each of them classified as such because of their destructive, killing or intellectual power. Rank 5 is actually drawn from our weapons classification. Rank 1 being close range cold weapons, Rank 2 being long distance cold weapons and weak guns, such as pistols and handguns. Rank 3 is the broadest classification, being most normal guns and machine guns. Rank 4 is where the weak explosives such as grenades are held as well as powerful guns such as sniper rifles and the elite machine guns. Rank 5 is where small-scale tactile missiles and weaker bombs are held. In essence, we regard people like yourself as a moving missile! Of course, we don’t believe you can do as much damage as a missile could, with your mere fists. However, if we were to arm you with custom-made bullet-proof armour and the top of the range equipment, that is a different story.”

Li Qiang thought of himself coated with bullet-proof armour, and UZI in both hands, charging around the battlefield. He would wreak carnage!

Lu Sheng paused and drew out his phone and showed Li Qiang a list of names.

“China has ranked the Rank 5s in this order.”

Li Qiang squinted and read the top name on the list.

“Dong Zhou?”

Lu Sheng nodded; his eyes showed complex emotions towards this name.

“He is currently ranked 1st in China, and 3rd in the World,”

He put his hand back into his pocket.

“Unfortunately, he isn’t with the military. Rank 5s are very useful in boosting one’s influence and in the turbulent and dangerous times of today, they prove very useful. Li Qiang, what do you think? Come over to the military. We will treat you well and protect your family.”

Li Qiang didn’t answer. He was overwhelmed by this sudden enlightenment into further into the secrets of the world. He had always suspected that the world hid supernatural beings, but to have it confirmed was still unexpected.

“Lu Sheng, I will have to refuse. I do not want to part from my family and according to law, one cannot enter the army before 18. I am 17 this year.”

Lu Sheng’s eyes, which hadn’t batted at his previous feats of power, goggled.

“17! What do your parents feed you!”

Looking at Li Qiang with an odd glint in his eye, he sighed and then turned away.

“Furious Tiger Squadron, listen up! I want us to split into 6 teams. Teams A, B, C and D will scour the scour the area for any more of those slippery f*ckers. Light up your flare and wait for reinforcement upon contact. Do not engage until 2 other teams have converged on your location. Aim for their throats or use blunt objects when in combat. Team E gather the dead. Team F, man the tanks and follow me back to the Camp!”

Lu Sheng’s voice rang out like a drum, issuing orders.

“Li Qiang, we will meet some other time and talk for longer. If you change your mind, meet me in the Shenyang Military Camp.”

Lu Sheng shouted departing words as he was driven off in his jeep. The soldiers of the Furious Tiger Squadron scattered, following his orders, efficiently and smartly.

Li Qiang headed back into his residence and knocked on the entrance of the bunker.