Chapter Eighty-One: Human Nature Is a Cycle

They raced toward the armory. One of the men following behind Ergouzi hesitated for a long while before he finally couldn't hold back any longer and spoke up.
"Brother Ergou, Fly... he's actually lying to you!"
"No matter how this ends this time..."
Ergouzi turned his head, cutting him off.
"I know. Fly wants to protect his brother..."
"He's planning to use both our lives to pay the price."
The man behind him stared in shock.
"If you know that... then why?"
Shaking his head, Ergouzi replied, "This life of mine was saved by Fly in the first place..."
"I've had these extra years as a bonus. Today, it's time to pay him back."
The man behind him clearly couldn't understand Ergouzi's reasoning.
A debt of gratitude for saving a life?
On Zombie Star, that's a ridiculous joke.
How many people, just to survive, have thrown their so-called saviors into the fire?
On a world ground down by years of hopelessness, human nature is worthless.
"Brother Ergou, you once said... better a miserable life than a glorious death!"
Ergouzi was silent for a moment, then sighed. "That's right, it's better to live than die well."
"If this were ten years ago, I'd run no matter what happened today."
"Run, and there's at least a sliver of hope; stay here and there's nothing but death!"
"If Fly dared block my way, dared to trick me, I'd blow his brains out without a second thought..."
"So what if he once saved my life? If he tried to take it back, I'd kill him..."
"If you want to live, you have to be ruthless... Look at Zombie Star now—the only ones living well are beasts... they've lost their humanity!"
Hearing the harshness in Ergouzi's voice, the others couldn't help but swallow nervously.
"So why now?"
Ergouzi gave a bitter laugh. "I'm tired of living. I don't want to keep going..."
"Every day, just living for the sake of living!"
"It's pointless..."
"Twenty years ago, when the Zombie Star virus broke out, I could do anything, use any means just to survive."
"Ten years ago, I blew up an entire survivor camp over a moldy piece of bread—left not a soul alive!"
"Three years ago, I joined the Corpse Hunters. For the first time, I could eat my fill, no longer lying awake at night scared of mutant attacks... Life finally seemed to hold some hope, and I wanted to hold on even more."
"It was then that I met Fly and his brother... Those two had such a bond! Even on the brink of starvation, they'd save the last crumbs for one another!"
"When the virus broke out, I was the only one in my family immune to the airborne strain."
"My parents, my wife, my daughter... overnight, they all turned into zombies and tried to tear me apart!"
"I escaped, and lived another twenty years!"
"But aside from this life, I have nothing left."

Sometimes, when things went quiet, I couldn't help but ask myself: what was I really living for?
No family, no friends, no hope.
It was then I began to envy Fly and his brother.
They both had someone to live for.
But me, all these years, I never found that reason...
Two years ago, some factions from the west attacked!
Fly took a bullet for me—saved my life.
Suddenly, I found a reason to keep going.
I wanted to repay him... hahahaha!
What do you think? Isn't that a ridiculous reason?
The people who had survived since before the outbreak fell silent at Ergouzi's words.
The children born on Zombie Star in the last twenty years couldn't understand such foolish, laughable thoughts.
For them, nothing was more important than survival... and living better was the ultimate goal in life.
But Ergouzi didn't care what others thought, and said quietly,
"But don't worry..."
"This time, as long as we take out Lakan's three men..."
"You'll all be set for life."
"Three forbidden men and their turf up for grabs... they'll need hands!"
"There'll be newcomers, and each of you will be in charge of dozens, maybe a hundred men."
"And there'll be plenty of new warehouse guards..."
"That means you might get your hands on real meat, eh?"
"Didn't you see Fly's brother? Every three months, he manages to bring back a slab of meat. If I got lucky, I could have a taste..."
"Oh, that fat, that aroma, that flavor... tsk tsk!"
"Enough, if I keep talking I'm going to drool... hahahaha!"
As Ergouzi spoke, the young men under twenty immediately lit up with excitement.
Their morale soared, and they started shouting.
To be an officer! To be as respected as Ergouzi and Fly!
To eat meat as a warehouse guard!
To finally have a chance at something they'd never even dreamed of—how could they not be excited?
The older ones, though, remained silent.
They knew full well that Ergouzi said all this just to boost morale.
To make them willing to gamble with their lives!
But Ergouzi, for the sake of a laughable debt, had chosen to die.
It had been years since anyone had seen such foolishness on Zombie Star...

Yet Ergouzi's actions, unwittingly, touched a fragile chord deep inside those who remembered life before the disaster.
In their eyes, there was even a hint of envy as they looked at him.
...

When Ergouzi and his men returned, clutching crates of grenades and homemade explosives,
the battle was still at a stalemate.
Suddenly, there was a tremendous crash in the mess hall.
Everyone looked over in unison.
Half of Ye Hai’s body was shattered, and he was thrown out by sheer force.
Clutching Teach and Nangong, he rolled across the ground.
This sight instantly spurred both the First Defense Army and the Talan Army!
For them, nothing was more important than protecting their commander and chief of staff.
Their only purpose for resisting the enemy here was to keep Teach and Nangong safe.
But they never expected, after fighting off the enemy in front, to be attacked from behind.
Three terrifying mechs were now advancing relentlessly toward Teach and Nangong.
Even with Ye Hai shielding them, it was still a close call.
This scene shook the First Defense and Talan soldiers to the core.
They immediately turned their guns, abandoning their positions, and charged to rescue Teach and Nangong.
The allied army, seeing them suddenly withdraw, thought their enemies had finally broken and were fleeing...
Their spirits soared, and with a surge of courage, they leapt from cover and charged forward, weapons raised.
Now the Veronica Combat Squad was in dire straits.
With only a hundred-odd guns, they couldn’t hope to stop the surging tide of enemies.
Helplessly, they could only fight and retreat.
With the allied charge,
the artillery line was instantly cut off from the front.
Some at the cannons even drew their guns, abandoned their posts, and rushed ahead with the others.
Only a bit over a hundred men remained, laboriously pushing the heavy artillery forward.
Fly and Ergouzi exchanged glances, their faces alight with wild joy...
"This is our chance..."