Ark 3 - The wrong type of king? Then overthrow him!

Because of the birth of a new enemy Xu Dan's punishment had to be postponed. There were now more important things to take care off. So the criminals were just kept under lock and key in their own home for the time being, while two guards were positioned infront of their door to watch over them.

On the other side the chief didn't hesitate long before sending out a special team of powerfull ability users to scout the area and gather information. The rest of the people were told to stand by and await further instructions. Shu Ning and Zhao Yang as well were ordered to go home and get some rest while they waited for the team to return. So they could only helplessly watch as the Base started bustling with activity and the two of them could only take the child and the rest of their little group, meaning Hu Jin and Shu Juan, towards Shu Ning's home.

It was only three days later when Shu Ning received the message to meet up in the chief's office. He had been just about to take the little Shi Yong out shopping with him when a stern looking female came knocking on his door. The woman did not say a word only handing him a piece of paper and then swiftly turning away and hurrying off again.

Now Shu Ning was standing in front of the chief's mahagony desk, having left the child in Shi Juan's care once more. Next to him Zhao Yang, Nian Zhei and a few other people had gathered inside of the small space as well to await the Base leader's orders. Without further ado the man in question crossed his hands underneath his chin and looked at each of their faces in turn. Taking a few seconds to study the person's expression before moving to the next one.

"You are probably wondering why you were all called here on such short notice. To put it bluntly, it is because I trust all of your skills the most. There are a lot of great ability users inside of this Base, but no team is as experienced in combat or as capable in working as a team as all of you. Unfortunately, the team I had send ahead to scout the area never returned. They have most likely been killed by zombies. That's why we need people I can fully trust and that can trust each other to have one another's backs. I know that this is a dangerous mission and that a lot of you won't return from it, but you guys are the only hope we have in defeating this new enemy. Go and exterminate the zombie king for us and bring back the safety we laboriously build up inside of this Base. My son will take over command. That's all. You are dismissed."

"Yes, sir."

After the people soluted to their chief they started to fill out of the room to pack their belongings and meet up at the main gate again. After some time only Zhao Yang, Shu Ning and Nian Zhei were left of the crowd. The latter was patiently leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for his boss to finish his business and leave together with him. But to his surprise Zhao Yang just waved him off, waiting for the other to leave the room before turning his attention towards the male at his side.

"Shi Wei. Please give me a few more minutes of your time. I would really regret for us to leave on this dangerous mission without you knowing...."

Shu Ning leisurely leaned one hip against the desk while he waited for the man to finish his sentence. When nothing more came forth even after a few minutes he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and tilted his head at the other in question.

At last the other male moved again, just not as Shu Ning had expected. With one long stride Zhao Yang stood in his space, only inches remaining between their chests. Shorty afterwards his hips were grasped in a tight hold and slightly dry lips decended on his. Surprized, Shu Ning's eyes widened as Zhao Yang's tongue started fumbling around with his before becoming more self assured and starting an erotic dance. His knees started weakening so he had to brace himself on the wooden table, making Zhao Yang take a step forward and bring their bodies flush together.

With a gasp Shu Ning pushed the other male away from his body when a wave of recognition passed through his core. His cheeks were flushed red from oxygen deprivation and his pupils were blown wide in surprise as he looked into Zhao Yang's dark eyes.

Shu Ning: "Alpha. I already thought so before but now I am certain. This person is Sun Zhilong from the previous world, isn't he?"

Alpha: "How is that possible?"

Shu Ning: "I do not know, but I am very sure of it. Scan his soul for me just to be sure."

Alpha: "Scanning..... 10%...... 50%...... 99%......."

Shu Ning: "And?"

Alpha: "........ Yes. (ï¿¢_ï¿¢;)"

Shu Ning: "I do not understand. Why does this person appear in every world I take? Is this a coincident? No, there is no such thing."

Alpha: "Maybe he is following you?"

Shu Ning: "That is even more impossible. For one, he does not know in which world I will end up in next and secondly there is a huge barrier his soul would need to pass through."

Alpha: "That must be true love then. (=^･ω･^=)"

Shu Ning: "Stupid little system. True love doesn't exist and no love in the universe could be big enough to breach such a robust barrier just to follow their love. He does not even know me, so how can he truly love me. Let's not talk about it anymore, there is a zombie I need to slay."

Alpha: "Aye aye...... (Ｔ＿Ｔ)"

A cough at his side pulled Shu Ning back to the present. When he looked in the direction of the noise he was met with the amused smile of the chief who was just placing a stack of documents back onto the desk. Guiltily he noticed the slightly crumbled edges of the paper and awkwardly shiffted in place.

Shu Ning send a quick glare at the unresponsive Zhao Yang before saluting to the chief and then hurrying out of the room. Outside the door Nian Zhei took one look at his skewed colar and red complexion before breaking out into a teasing grin. With an annoyed sigh he tidied up his clothes, took some time to calm down and then continued his path through the corridor and back home to pack up some important belongings.

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The zombie king turned out to be long limbed, slender with long blonde hair and fairly young. And more importantly female. So more like a zombie queen. The girl also didn't have the telltale markings of a zombie and looked completely human on the outside. Only the cruel and intelligent eyes and the stagnant atmosphere around here gave her status away. That and the army of undead that listened to her every command.

Shu Ning cursed in his heart as he barely managed to avoid a fireball flying in his direction. His knive was unfortunately lost in all this turmoil so he formed an isicle inside his palm and thrust it into the chest of his aponent before whirling around to take care of the next enemy. The queen was standing just barely out of his reach and everytime a strang of lightning or any other ability came anywhere near her they got swallowed by black mist.

"Fucking hell. Boss, let us take care of these small fries. You go and handle the kin.. I mean queen."

Nian Zhei was obviously exhausted from the continued onslaught of undead. A pile of corpses were already lying around his feet and his clothes were drenched with blood and sweat. But evethough he had taken down so many of their enemys already there seemed to be no end to them.

In the beginning they had arrived with about fifty highly talented individuals which had been reduced to less than twenty in mere seconds. The strength of the black substance that the queen could form at will had taken them by surprise. Before the fight had even truly begun, most of the humans had been pierced by dark spikes comming out of their shadows and dropped dead onto the hard ground. Now it was only Nian Zhei and a handfull of other humans who were fighting at their side, so it was no surprise that they were loosing ground rather quickly.

Shu Ning had just froze a zombie in the middle of it's attack when Zhao Yang approached his side. The man was surrounded by a barrage of lightning which zapped any zombie stupid enough to get to close to his person. Together they made their way through the circle of undead untill the stood eye to eye with the zombie queen.

The woman grinned devilishly at them and then outstretched her arm into a beckoning gesture. The mist around her grew in density and with a teethy smile she formed it into more black spickes that she fired in their direction.

Shu Ning jumped to the right to avoid the sharp objects and quickly formed a transparent barrier around Zhao Yang's body. The male used this oportunity to run straight through the dark weapons and slashed his sword at the females throat.

The queen just laughed at their attempt and flicked her wrist at the larger man. In seconds the fog had the metal weapon surrounded and redirected it's path passed the girl's skin. With a grace that shouldn't be possible for such a big person, Zhao Yang whirled around the zombie and shot off a lightning ball towards her back.

With a sizzle it evaporated a bare millimeter from her skin and Shu Ning watched in horror as Zhao Yang got flung away. With a heavy feeling inside his chest he ran towards the queen, ducking low when another barrage of spikes flew at him. With quick movements he placed his palms onto the ground and froze the ground underneath her feet. Then he launched a transparant disk at her which seperated into five when she tried to catch them with her fog.

The queen screamed in pain when the sharp edges of a barrier burried itself deep into her leg and another one ripped open the side of her arm. Using the opening the injuries created, Zhao Yang got up from the ground and send a net of purple lightning at her.

The ability quickly burned through the female's clothes, skorching the form underneath. Before anyone could rejoice at their advantage through, the queen grabbed at the strands of lightning and ripped a hole into the net. With shock the present human's all watched as it fell onto the ground and melted the ice still holding her into place.

Zhao Yang leaped over to Shu Ning to regroup but before they could so much as glance at each other the undead was already onto them. They were just getting ready to jump apart again when a tug at their feet made them stumble. Looking down a ring of water chained their legs together, making their movements clumsy and uncordinated.

Using his ice and barrier ability, Shu Ning hurriedly created a layer of ice underneath their bodies. So when the queen's hands hit the transparant globe that was forming around them, they only slid a few meters across the bumpy ground. With a grown and a tangle of limbs they roled back onto their knees in preparation for another attack.

Shu Ning flinched when an earpiercing cry came from the other side of the field. Glancing in that direction to make sure Nian Zhei was alright he noticed Xu Dan standing next to the female undead, wearing an expression of utmost terror. Seeing the other boy standing not to far off Shu Ning finally understood the ring of water keeping them in place before. It seems that the other had desperately followed them here to get rid of them both.

Screaming again Xu Dan send water ball after water ball at the zombie queen without any effect and when the female continued to approach him he turned around to try to flee. He did not get far though as the woman jumped forward to grab the boy's arm and hold him hostage. When the wailing and struggling of the human got too much for her she pinned him onto the ground and bit down.

Shu Ning picked himself up from the ground and ran over to the two struggling bodies. An icicle in his hand he lunged at the female, pushing the weapon between her shoulder blades. With a sickening sound the skin gave way and dark blood splattered onto the human underneath her. The queen lashed around her as she staggered away from them and Zhao Yang send another barrage of lightning towards her.

When Shu Ning looked down at Xu Dan's form he was met with a barely concious human. The boy's face was wet with tears and snot and his clothes were completely shredded or barely recognizable underneath all the blood. On one side his arm lay powerless and twisted and on the other only a stump remained where the other appendage should have been.

Clicking his tongue in irritation, Shu Ning took out a slightly graying liquid from his pocket and plunged a kneedle into Xu Dan's neck. Once the solution completely dissapeared into the body he stored the bottle away again. This was one of the earlier developed vaccines that he had the foresight of taking with him. After hearing about Shi Yong's nightmare from the child, he somehow knew that something like this could very well happen.

Shu Ning turned back towards the fight still going on behind him and witnessed Zhao Yang plunge his sword into the queens abdomen. The female was completely nacked as all her clothes had been burned to ashes and her injuries were oozing big splotches of blood. In her weakened state she could barely keep upright but instead of dropping onto the ground she slowly stumbled forwards.

Seeing that Zhao Yang could also barely stay on his feet Shu Ning surrounded the other male with the thickest barrier he could create. When the female descended onto the larger male he used her inatention to sneak closer to them, turned her head into an icecube and then shattered it with his bare fists. Finally the queen's body slummed onto the ground and didn't stand up again.