Apocalypse Fighter

Chapter 31 - SWAT

But what about Anthony?

Without the stone, will Anthony be the same legendary gun shooter he was before? Will he survive the claws of the mutant creatures and live to see Steven grow from a child into a man?

But if I do not take it now, I will lose this precious opportunity…

The cruel end is soon coming. Instead of fighting others, taking the Carnelian is the safest, easiest way for me to get stronger.

All these thoughts were rushing through Richard’s head. Although he already had the activation potions, he did not know for sure how effective they would be. All he knew about the potions was based on legend.

What to do? How to decide? Take the crystal or not?

Richard was at a loss as to what to do, when suddenly Mary said, "We can't have it, Anthony. Take it back, please."

She held out her hand to shush Anthony’s protests.

"Now look," she said slowly but firmly, “I can see how much this crystal means to you, and I could not in good conscience take it from you. I also believe that blessings and misfortune often go hand in hand. The fact is that Steven has so many people love him, and this is very lucky; he is already so blessed. To take this crystal would be greedy and I can’t help feeling the universe would try to even out that luck.”

Like a flash of lightning, Mary's words brought Richard to his senses. She was right… it wouldn’t be right to take the crystal. The thought of its power had made him lose his reason and become short-sighted.

I have five years of experience living in the doomsday world; that must be more than anyone else. I will have countless opportunities to become stronger in the future, Richard thought.

It is hard to know the truth about the Carnelian. Even if I could solve the mystery behind it and get that shooting skill… who knows what would happen after that.

By the end of the third year of the doomsday, exposed multiple times to Radiation D, creatures worldwide mutated one after another. All kinds of bizarre, never before seen creatures appeared, as well as mutant humans, symbionts, mutant creatures, legendary element controllers, pro-gods, and even super-gods.

The end of the world was cruel. Even powerful people like Anthony needed friends or companions, or else they would not survive for long.

Richard’s goal was to dominate the end of the world and create the Last Paradise for his son, which would surpass the existence of pro-gods and super-gods. That meant having powerful allies and friends, as well as being strong himself.

Feeling the cold sweat trickling down his back, Richard looked at Mary with relief.

Today, if not for his wife’s wise words, Richard knew he could have been caught up in a whirlpool of greed.

“Mary is right. We can't take it.”

Richard pushed the Carnelian back into Anthony's hand and whispered, “Anthony, I can't go. In half an hour, something huge is going to happen that will affect the whole world. Stay and help me protect Steven.”

“Half an hour? Something huge? You mean the virus? There are already vaccines here, and why… Wait, something is wrong out there!”

Anthony suddenly turned around. He had a keen sense of danger, developed over years of high-pressure battle situations.

It was eerily quiet for a moment, like the moment just before a huge wave crashes into the sea. A powerful force was slowly coming towards the house.

“Click! Boom!”

The windows were broken from the outside and stun grenades spreading white-smoke were thrown into the house from all sides.

Before anyone had time to react, the dazzling white light flashed and filled the air. Everyone was in pain, covering their eyes and screaming in shock. Tears and snot were pouring down their faces.

“Go, go, go! Teams Alpha, Bravo, and Delta, in position! Targets have been surrounded. Standby  for permission to take the shot!”

The orders were brief and they moved perfectly together. A SWAT team of more than a dozen heavily armed men in black and blue uniforms stared coldly at the crowd. Their dark MP5 assault rifles all pointed in one direction: at Richard and Mary.

“Oh, my eyes, you… We didn't do anything. This is a mistake!” In the crowd, Henry Pope stood trembling, looking around in horror.

He had been drinking by himself and had his head lowered, so the flash grenade had only blinded him temporarily. His eyes recovered quickly and he tried to explain to an officer.

“Stand still! Don’t move! I said don’t move!”

The officer turned his muzzle on Henry instinctively, only to find that Henry seemed to be stunned or confused, and reached out to catch the gun.

This made the police officer very nervous. In his mind, he could hear the captain’s warning before they had left that morning, “In this mission, we’ll be up against a group of brutal bandits. If they make any attempt to attack, do not hesitate to shoot!”

A dull gunshot rang out, and Henry's fat body shook violently. His hands clutched at the hole in his chest as blood gushed out. His face looked utterly bemused.

“You shot me? How could you…?”

With a loud crash, Henry fell on his back, the floor shaking with the impact of his heavy body.

“Ah!! Murder! The police killed Henry!”

There were hysterical screams from the women in the group. The loudest was a tall girl named May Ginger, one of Mary's college classmates.

As she watched in horror at the scene before her, a yellow stream of urine came trickling down from between her legs, letting out a pungent smell.

“Shut up! Are you trying to get us killed?”

Janet was standing next to her, and when she saw May could not control herself, she stepped up and covered her mouth. With all her strength, she held May tight to stop her lashing out, ignoring the urine wetting her clothes.