Recently, a man calling himself Sheriff has been making a formidable impression.
The chat channels are abuzz with discussions about this figure known as Sheriff.
ID 45346: "Have you heard? There's this guy named Sheriff who's been recruiting people and expanding his influence lately."
ID 34534: "What's remarkable about that? Didn't Zhou Yu and Niu Yao do the same thing before, building their own factions?"
ID 45346: "Clearly, you haven't been keeping up with the news. Did your village just get internet access? Niu Yao's faction was completely annihilated by Sheriff!"
ID 453536: "What? Niu Yao's team had over a dozen members. Annihilated? How is that even possible?"
ID 646754: "I heard about it too. Sheriff seems to have plenty of resources. He took two or three men with him in the middle of the night, threw Molotov cocktails and grenades into Niu Yao's villa, and burned them alive."
ID 355663: "Good heavens! That's horrifying! So, is Sheriff expanding his influence now to dominate everything?"
ID 94785: "It's only logical. But I've heard the conditions under Sheriff are quite favorable. It doesn't matter if you have combat supplies or not—just show up, and you'll receive food and water."
ID 346533: "Really? I only have a fruit knife on me. Would Sheriff still take me in?"
ID 234546: "Of course. I saw it with my own eyes—a survivor with no supplies went to Sheriff, and he was accepted without hesitation."
...
ID 12315: "Hello everyone, I'm Sheriff. I can assure you that as long as you join our family, we will stand together as one. We will support each other, help each other, survive together in this apocalyptic world, and seek the dawn of hope! Here are my coordinates [240, 850]. I'll be here, awaiting your arrival sincerely!"
In the chat channels, other survivors were discussing Sheriff.
Unexpectedly, Sheriff himself appeared and issued a recruitment call.
This shocked many survivors.
After Niu Yao was eliminated and replaced by Sheriff, Zhou Yu grew increasingly uneasy.
After all, Sheriff wasn't too far from him.
It was only a matter of time before they clashed.
Zhou Yu's close confidant was worried that this day might come sooner than expected, so he advised Zhou Yu to strike first.
Zhou Yu sat in a leather chair, swirling a glass of wine.
He was deep in thought.
Sheriff's influence had grown so rapidly that in just a few days, it was already catching up to Zhou Yu's team.
If he didn't act decisively to eliminate Sheriff now, it would be too late once Sheriff's power was fully established.
After comparing the strengths of both sides, Zhou Yu finally made up his mind. He agreed to his confidant's suggestion and prepared to launch an attack against Sheriff one night.
So, on that night, Zhou Yu's men poured out in full force.
They lay in ambush at Sheriff's base.
Zhou Yu, his face covered, waited for the right moment. When Sheriff sent some of his men out on patrol, Zhou Yu gave the signal.
In the darkness, a dozen men rushed in.
But they found Sheriff sitting in the living room, sipping tea and smiling at them.
It was clear he had been prepared.
Sheriff was a middle-aged man with slicked-back hair and a beard.
The years had left some marks on his face, adding a mature charm to his already handsome features.
Zhou Yu, seeing Sheriff's composed demeanor, felt a sudden pang of unease. He realized he might have walked into a trap.
Before he could speak, a sharp pain shot through his back.
He grunted and quickly dodged forward.
Turning around, he saw an assassin who had appeared out of nowhere, holding a sharp knife dripping with Zhou Yu's blood.
Then, several men in Zhou Yu's team suddenly turned on their unsuspecting comrades and killed them.
Before Zhou Yu could figure out what was happening, most of his men had fallen.
Only a few traitors remained, standing behind Sheriff with their knives.
Zhou Yu muttered to himself, "Impossible. Teammates can't directly harm each other. How did you do it?"
The confidant who had suggested the night raid on Sheriff now stood behind Sheriff.
Hearing Zhou Yu's question, he stepped forward and smiled.
"Zhou, it's true that teammates can't harm each other. But what if they're not really teammates?"
The traitors removed their masks, revealing faces unfamiliar to Zhou Yu.
Only then did Zhou Yu realize that, at some point, his men had been replaced by Sheriff's spies.
Bleeding profusely, Zhou Yu pointed at the betraying confidant and cursed venomously with his dying breath, "You treacherous scum! You'll die a horrible death!!"
With a thud, Zhou Yu fell, his life extinguished with hatred.
Zhou Yu's confidant, seeing him dead, wasted no time. He ran to Zhou Yu's side, gathered all his supplies, and presented them to Sheriff with a flattering smile.
"Sheriff, the task is complete. These are all of Zhou Yu's supplies. Please inspect them!"
Sheriff accepted the supplies and nodded.
After Sheriff took the supplies, the confidant rubbed his hands together and said, "Sheriff, now that Zhou Yu is dead, could you, uh, fulfill your promise to me about the supplies? But of course, I'm also one of your people now. I'm loyal to you!!"
Sheriff smiled faintly.
To the traitor's astonishment, Sheriff plunged a knife into his chest.
The man had thought he would rise to greatness under Sheriff.
He never expected this outcome.
He looked at Sheriff in disbelief, trying to speak, but blood quickly filled his mouth, silencing him.
Sheriff looked down at the body before him and said coldly, "I don't tolerate traitors. If you could betray Zhou Yu today, you could betray me tomorrow. So, your death is the best choice."
"Clean up the bodies in the yard and feed them to the zombies."
After instructing his men to handle the battlefield, Sheriff walked into the courtyard without a second glance at the dead Zhou Yu and his men.
The next day, news spread that Zhou Yu's faction had been wiped out by Sheriff.
This once again shocked many survivors.
Sheriff had taken down two rival factions in a row. This Sheriff was no ordinary man.
Even Chen Du was somewhat surprised.
He had interacted with Zhou Yu and Niu Yao before.
Given the amount of supplies they had been able to bring to auctions, their strength had been considerable.
Yet, in no time at all, Sheriff had wiped them out.
Chen Du didn't know what had happened, but he assumed Sheriff must have had powerful combat weapons, maybe even firearms.
Otherwise, how could he have taken down Zhou Yu and Niu Yao so quickly?
As Chen Du pondered these questions, a private message popped up.
He opened it and saw a somewhat familiar ID.
ID 12315: "1945, I'm Sheriff."
Chen Du frowned.
Why was Sheriff suddenly reaching out to him?
Right now, Sheriff was like a harbinger of trouble. Chen Du wanted nothing to do with him.