Chapter 48: The Young Man’s Handsome Strength

A hand grenade spun through the air toward Luffy, who stood motionless, unwavering. The explosion erupted, engulfing him in a cloud of dust.

A deafening roar filled the air as shrapnel flew in all directions, shaking the entire floor. Even Zeng Hongsen and the others downstairs felt the tremors.

“What the hell just happened?” Zeng Hongsen exclaimed in astonishment.

“Was that a grenade?” Mabi was equally shocked, momentarily speechless.

The middle-aged man, the leader here, named Shi Zhenxiang, sneered mockingly. “So what if you’re wearing power armor? Didn’t you get blasted to pieces all the same? Acting arrogant before me was a death wish. Now you’re dead, and there’s no one left to even clean up your remains—you’ll just become food for us.”

He let out a crazed, arrogant laugh, clearly pleased with himself. But as the smoke cleared and the dust settled over the cracked, shrapnel-littered floor, a young man emerged, standing with hands clasped behind his back, unscathed. Not a hair on his head, nor his face, armor, or limbs, showed the slightest damage. A faint, sacred aura of dragon energy radiated from him.

Shi Zhenxiang’s laughter abruptly died. His eyes bulged, tongue pressed against his teeth, utterly stunned and speechless. He felt a stinging humiliation—he’d been thoroughly slapped in the face by this youth. Not even a grenade could kill him; it was as though he’d just been dealt a heavy blow. Worse yet, a sense of mortal danger crept over him—this boy was too dangerous.

“Damn it, attack!” Shi Zhenxiang roared frantically. His men raised their submachine guns and unleashed a wild barrage at Luffy, while Shi Zhenxiang himself drew a pistol and fired repeatedly.

His face twisted with ferocity, refusing to believe this youth couldn’t be shot dead. Yet the faint golden light surrounding the young man shielded him from every bullet, as if he were a deity. Every round clattered harmlessly to the ground. When their magazines were empty, the gunmen stood dumbfounded, at a loss.

Shi Zhenxiang was so terrified he dropped his pistol. A warm, sour-smelling wetness spread beneath him as fear overcame him.

Luffy strode to stand before Shi Zhenxiang. “Does eating people thrill you? How disgusting. You dare prey on your own kind, yet lack the courage to go out and kill zombies. Truly inhuman.”

With a resounding slap, Luffy sent Shi Zhenxiang flying, a tooth spinning from his mouth. Shi Zhenxiang crashed into the wall and slumped to the floor. The sultry woman nearby shrieked and cowered, trembling with fear.

“My face… my tooth…!” Shi Zhenxiang wailed in agony. But Luffy had no intention of ending his punishment there. Such a vile man deserved to be tormented, to grasp that cannibalism was a crime against humanity, deserving only death.

“You bastard, how dare you strike our boss!” a black-clad thug charged in from the corridor, swinging an iron pipe at Luffy with all his might.

“Looking for death,” Luffy’s eyes turned cold as he spun and drove his fist into the attacker’s abdomen.

With a muffled thud, the thug bent double like a shrimp and was hurled into a wall, which cracked from the impact as he slid to the ground.

Without sparing the thug a glance, Luffy turned to Shi Zhenxiang and flicked his finger, sending a drop of dragon energy flying toward him.

In an instant, flames erupted from Shi Zhenxiang’s body. He let out a blood-curdling scream as the fire consumed him. Luffy walked away, leaving a trail of roaring flames in his wake. Every black-clad thug caught fire, as did the sultry woman.

Anyone who had eaten human flesh had to die. Such deeds were abhorrent, beyond the pale of humanity. Witnessing it was enough to sicken, to horrify, to defy imagination.

Like a god of fire, Luffy left only ashes in his path.

Descending to the lower floor, he made his way to the seventh story, reaching the room where Zhao Liying and her sister were hiding. The steel door was battered and misshapen from Shi Zhenxiang’s earlier attempts to break in. Their twisted minds had been set on assaulting Zhao Liying, but, fortunately, they had failed.

Luffy summoned the first layer of his Dragon Aura Domination Technique, golden energy swirling around his fist as he struck the door.

With a thunderous boom, the thick steel door wailed and burst open under Luffy’s blow. He seized the battered door and wrenched it aside.

A startled scream sounded from within. But when the girls saw it was Luffy, their fear gave way to nervousness and unease—they couldn’t tell if he was friend or foe. After all, they were simply hoping for luck, and seeing him fighting zombies downstairs suggested he might be a good person. Those who cowered inside buildings, afraid to even face a zombie, who instead preyed on their own kind—those were the true villains.

Before them now stood a youth clad in dark silver armor, who had just torn open a steel door with his bare hands. Heroic, handsome, his eyes shone bright with spirit, his physique robust.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here to save you. Come with me,” Luffy said calmly. Seeing his former idol in person brought him a small thrill—she was even more beautiful than on television. It turned out that celebrities were just like ordinary people; in the flesh, they no longer seemed so unattainable. Still, her bearing was truly exceptional.

“Thank you,” Zhao Liying replied, gazing at the young man, sensing an inexplicable warmth—she could tell he meant them no harm. She shouldered her backpack, took her sister’s hand, and stepped forward.

“You’re welcome. Actually, you were my idol once. I always thought you acted so well on TV,” Luffy said, though not as excitedly as he might have in the past. He’d never been a fanatic, and now, in the apocalypse, seeing his idol only made him want to save her, with no ulterior motives.

“Thank you!” Zhao Liying was surprised to learn the youth was a fan. His extraordinary demeanor astonished her further—he’d just torn open a steel door with his bare hands, like a superhero. There could be no safer companion.

Luffy led the way outside, Zhao Liying and her sister following close behind. “What about Shi Zhenxiang and the rest of those villains?” Zhao Liying asked.

“They’re all dead,” Luffy replied coolly, descending the shadowy stairs. The heat wafting up from below was the residual warmth of the flames he’d left behind.

“Oh, you’re really amazing,” Zhao Liying nodded, genuinely impressed.

“Thank you, big brother!” the little girl piped up. “My name is Hua Qianyu. What’s your name?”

“I’m Luffy,” he answered, walking ahead. The little girl looked about fourteen or fifteen, fresh-faced and adorable.

“Luffy, like in One Piece?” Hua Qianyu asked excitedly.

“No—Luffy of the apocalypse,” he said with a smile, continuing down the stairs.

“Boss, how are Zhao Liying and her sister?” Mabi and Zeng Hongsen rushed up from below.

And so it went, the story continuing on.