Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

A single explosion triggered a gruesome chain reaction outside the shipping yard. While Combustion didn't usually trigger fires, the dense collection of clothing lit up like firewood soaked with lighter fluid.

The fire quickly spread, creating a macabre chorus of screams. As the sick died, space freed up for zombies to run, instantly creating a riot as they pushed each other, trying to escape.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" Aaron yelled viciously, watching the fire unfurl.

"What have I done?" The man asked sarcastically, "I killed an impossible amount of—"

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt airborne, looked down, and saw a horde of screaming zombies crashing against the gates.

"H-Hey, wait up!" He panicked, "It's going to kill all of them! We just have to keep the fire at bay—and we're next to a fucking ocean!"

"LOOK AT THE PILE OF FISH!" Aaron growled, holding him by the collar, "Do you think we can get water out of the fucking bay, Bill!?"

"I can see the pile of fish; that's why I did it!" Bill yelled back, "The Cultivation God wiped all the fish out! We also collected water just fine for days before the idiots went fucking swimming!"

"Oh, you…." The red-haired soldier laughed ominously. He began walking across the shipping container wall to the corner.

Bill screamed, shook, and pleaded as he traveled 200 feet with zombies screaming and groaning below him. He could smell their burnt flesh, making him gag as they moved, trying not to hurl. "P-Please, Lieutenant Captain Levingstein!"

"Shut up and look!" Aaron yelled sarcastically, lifting the man like a lion cub and forcing him to look.

"W-What the fuck…." Bill stuttered in shock, increasing the anxieties of the panicked soldiers watching, "Why?"

Meridian Bay had developed clear blue waters that sparkled in the sun after the apocalypse. No traffic or pollution made them uniform with the tide, undeterred by unnatural influence. Its breathtaking grandeur inspired soldiers to swim, hoping to rejuvenate their energy.

Not anymore. Bill gazed upon a crimson ocean that almost had the undiluted color of real blood. Limbs and chunks of muscle and hair floated on the surface—it was gruesome.

Hundreds of flaming zombies crashed through the pier's railing, hoping to swim around. It attracted countless large fish, all capable of swimming in the deep-watered bay.

The ocean boiled with the swimming activity and feeding frenzy. No matter how many zombies crashed into the water, a fish could eat them.

"You get it now!?" Aaron yelled viciously, "All we have is the ice on the fish and drinking water to prevent this wall from melting. If it does, those things will rush in here like suicide bombers, setting fire to everything!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Bill cried, tears streaming down his face, feeling the fire's heat licking his skin. He moved from feeling like a hero to a genocidal zealot in an instant.

After growling, Aaron threw the man on the shipping container below him and swept his gaze across the battlefield, flames flickering in his eyes. He felt he was staring at the Sixth Circle of Hell, where heretics writhed in agony, feeling their skin peel away under searing heat.

As time ticked on, the flames spread throughout the land, consuming the dead and living without distinction—and sparing none. Zombies desperately sought refuge from the ferocious heat but found none. They had packed together, pushing toward the iron gates. So by the time enough died to let them move, flames surrounded them.

It wasn't much different for those in the back. Those in the rear couldn't sense danger severe enough to overwrite their primal urges. As a result, they continued pushing forward, packing the zombies and causing the fire to spread horizontally, creating a burning river.

"I want every rifle and competent sharpshooter up here—Now!" Aaron roared at the top of his lungs, "We need to prevent the flamers from reaching the city!"

"Yes, sir!" The Immortals yelled, moving quickly.

-

A fight light radiated from a ring on Kaze's index three times. While Calvin and Amy were curious, they knew better than to ask. So they pretended to ignore it.

"What are those?" Amy asked, seeing the soldiers unloading 50-caliber sniper rifles and handing them out.

"Simple, mortal weapons." Kaze smirked, "Weak as they are, they're useful now."

The soldiers stood on the wall, overlooking the sea of zombies through their scopes. While a 50 caliber sniper's recoil could break a mortal's shoulder, they confidently wielded them standing.

Boom!

A sniper pulled his trigger, and a large bullet shot across the firey sea, blowing out a flaming zombie's skull as they escaped the hellish pit, running toward the city.

"Wait, don't tell me…." Calvin said with shocked eyes, "They're preventing the fire from spreading to the city?"

"Cor~rect." Kaze smiled, "Any hope of retreat will be impossible if the burning sick reach the city, so they're going to try stopping them. While the effort may prove worthless, they will do anything it takes to survive, no matter how hopeless it gets."

Boom! Boom, boom, boom-boom-boom! Boom! Boom, boom!

With a hundred soldiers shooting zombies, the booming sound from sniper rifles melded like machine gun fire. Every shot dropped a running zombie, keeping their fires in the fire pit.

Meanwhile, a massive supply line of soldiers and civilians snaked through the shipping yard, connecting the fish pile to the wall. An emergency Immortal cut frozen fish with slash attacks, and people passed the boulder-sized chunks in a chain, moving them to the roof.

After using the ice to cool the top, the soldiers threw the fish down the wall. While the first wasn't impactful, a hundred chunks followed, getting dumped directly into the fire.

Due to the heat-resistant scales, they earned considerable time. Unfortunately, it came at a price.

-

"Gah, I can't see anything with this steam!" Denzel yelled, wiping his lens again, "I'm missing every other one!"

-

When the icy fish hit the fire, it created milky white steam that fogged up their scopes. As a result, numerous flaming zombies ran into the city, dying on cars, trucks, and shuttles.

Boom! Boom, boom, boom! Boom! Boom-boom-boom! Boom!

Despite their best efforts, flaming zombies ignited vehicles, rupturing their gas tanks and creating a chain explosion from packed cars. The fire quickly spread inside the city.

-

"Bring the drinking water!" Sandra ordered, "We only need to hold out until all zombies in the center die! We only need to buy time, so use everything we have!"

-

Calvin watched with a complex expression as the soldiers brought thousands of gallons of drinking water and started dumping it over the wall to quell the fire. "Is that wise?

The strongest would survive a battle with sick if the wall broke. However, with six thousand people, getting rid of drinking water is suicide for all."

"That's a sign of faith and respect." Kaze smiled pridefully, "These soldiers have absolute faith that their general will return soon."

"Another cultivator?" Calvin asked in confusion, "Does he have a water technique?"

"Yes, General Skye has plenty of water techniques." The emperor smiled amusedly, "And she's remarkable with them."

"Still…." Amy said nervously, "Water technique or not, this fire is spreading beyond control. The Qi necessary to stymie it is beyond the resources of the Mortal Plane."

"That's true—and yet, six thousand cultivators have thrown out their food and water without complaint." Kaze replied mockingly, "How strange."

A cloud of hot steam plumed the area, adding a milky texture to black smoke rising to the skies. The soldiers didn't hold back when pouring the water onto the fires.

Unfortunately, it didn't stop the flames for long. Within a few minutes, the fire burned through the moisture and continued burning, melting through the iron gate and crates.

-

"Get off the wall!" Eric yelled, "The gate has melted; the fire will reach the fish inside soon!"

The container hadn't melted because metric tons of frozen fish filled the crates, keeping them cool. However, once the fire reached the fish directly, it'd explode with steam and kill anyone on top.

All the soldiers' expressions turned grim as they got off the wall and took positions facing the walls. Now they had to wait for the containers to melt before seeing the other side.

They had used most of the containers for the wall. As a result, they were completely blind, facing fire from the front and murderous fish from behind.

Eric's team joined Riley's team and the Immortals, facing the wall, outlined in black smoke and an ominous reddish-orange glow. Their imagination made the gates of hell more terrifying than the burning city on the other side.