Apocalypse: Transmigrated with an Overlord System
Chapter 232: The Beast Tide That Turned Back (02)

Chapter 232: Chapter 232: The Beast Tide That Turned Back (02)

All around him, the same pattern repeated.

Guards pushed citizens out of the way. Ability users abandoned their squads. Anyone slower, weaker, or injured was tossed aside. The so-called "East River Brotherhood" crumbled like ash in a storm.

One man with a lightning-type ability blasted a path forward through the crowd, but he turned to dust under the talons of a flying vulture-beast a second later. A young couple tried to escape with their child, but Lang Yao saw a scaled lizard leap from a rooftop and crush them all with one swing of its tail.

He didn’t flinch.

He kept running.

People screamed, begged, called his name—but he didn’t stop. If someone blocked his path, he shoved them toward the monsters. If a gate was closing, he kicked others aside to get through.

Behind him, the beasts howled.

And they chased him.

Not just the base. they were chasing him like he was some kind of meat.

It didn’t make sense. Other survivors were running in different directions, but the beasts stayed locked on him. Even the strongest monsters in the horde seemed to follow his scent like hounds tracking prey.

"What the hell is going on?!" he gasped, stumbling as he turned down an alley. His coat snagged on a broken plank and tore further. His boots were soaked in blood—some his, most not.

He leapt over a broken crate, ducked under a burning beam, and burst through the back gate of the base.

He was in the forest again.

But the beasts still followed.

"Why?! Why are you chasing me?!"

His lungs burned. His body screamed for rest. But he couldn’t stop.

And then a memory hit him like a slap.

The corpse of the Fire Wolf pup.

His heart dropped.

"No way... it can’t be..."

But it made too much sense. The beasts were mad. Beyond reason. And he was the one who had taken the pup’s body from its den. He was the one who tossed it out like garbage.

He still had its scent on him.

They weren’t just wild beasts anymore.

They were grieving.

They were avenging.

Lang Yao stumbled forward and almost collapsed—but he forced himself upright.

"I have to get rid of the smell!" he gasped, looking around.

The forest was thick, dark, and the night sky above offered no help. Shadows danced from distant fires still raging inside the base. His eyes darted in desperation.

And then he saw it.

A large puddle, thick and dark.

At first, he thought it was just water, maybe wet mud.

But when he got closer, the stench hit him like a brick to the face.

"Ughh—what the—?!"

He gagged violently. The air around it was foul. Rotten. Almost solid in its thickness.

It wasn’t mud.

It was shit.

Massive. Piled. And old.

Some mutated beast must have marked its territory here.

Lang Yao’s lips trembled. "You’ve got to be kidding me..."

He turned his head to the side to throw up, dry heaving from the unbearable stink. His pride screamed in protest. His stomach flipped. But he had no choice.

He heard the crashing behind him.

The beasts were getting closer.

So he jumped.

Right into the puddle.

The cold, sticky muck splashed all over him. He almost screamed from the feel of it. The stench was so thick, it clung to his tongue. He choked, coughed, and dry-heaved again, nearly fainting.

"Disgusting! F*cking disgusting!" he muttered, tears leaking from his eyes.

He rolled in it. Smeared it into his coat, his boots, his neck. Covered himself in the foulness.

When he looked up—two massive wolf-like creatures stood at the edge of the clearing.

They sniffed the air.

One of them stepped forward.

Lang Yao froze, trembling like a leaf.

They approached the puddle.

Sniffed again.

Then—retched.

One of the beasts groaned and turned its head sharply. The other let out a weird whining noise, like its nose had been burned. Then, without warning, they both turned around and ran away.

Lang Yao blinked in disbelief.

More beasts arrived a moment later.

Same reaction.

The smell was too overpowering.

It masked the scent of the pup’s blood completely. All they could smell now... was shit.

One by one, they turned and retreated, crashing into the forest in different directions.

Lang Yao slumped into the puddle, too exhausted to move.

His hands shook. His body was soaked in filth. His skin itched, burned, and stung. He had cuts all over, bruises on his legs, a deep scratch on his shoulder. His chest rose and fell like a dying animal.

But he was alive.

Barely.

He looked up at the stars, and laughed—a broken, dry laugh full of madness.

"This... This is what I’ve become..."

He had come to crush someone else’s dream.

And now he lay in shit to save his own life.

The great Lang Yao, feared captain of the East River Base, who boasted of power and strategy—reduced to this.

Not a warrior.

Not a leader.

Just a desperate man, crawling through filth.

Behind him, the East River Base was burning. The gates had long since collapsed. Survivors had scattered into the wilderness. The base lord had already escaped with the elite guards. Most of the powerful ability users had vanished the moment the beasts arrived.

There would be nothing left by morning.

Only ash.

Lang Yao sat there until his body went numb.

Covered in stink and drenched in fear. He didn’t even know what direction to go. But one thing was clear now.

Liora had to pay for this. She was the reason for his downfall. If she hadn’t acted like a selfish bitch, he would never have ended up like this. He would still be a respected captain.

Lang Yao spat on the ground—only to gag as it mixed with the taste of the foul air.

"Damn it all..."

Lang Yao spat again, eyes bloodshot, his voice a raw growl.

"That damn whore... rotten little witch... walking around like she’s queen of the wasteland..."

He dragged a hand through the filth in his hair and snarled, "Acting all high and mighty—if that bitch hadn’t stuck her nose where it didn’t belong, I’d still have my goddamn base!"

He slammed his fist into the dirt.

"Fucking righteous, crystal-core-hugging bitch—thinks handing out scraps makes her some kind of savior?"

He laughed, bitter and ragged. "I’ll shove that smile down her throat. Burn her base to the f*cking ground. Make her crawl like I did—naked, crying, in shit."

His voice dropped to a venomous hiss.

"You’re gonna pay, Liora. You’re gonna f*cking beg."