《Doomsday: with unlimited warehouse system》


 Chapter 1 Rebirth Before Disaster

    ?"Did I get reborn?" David looked at the familiar but somewhat unfamiliar office, hardly believing his eyes. He clearly remembered being chased and trapped by a group of crazy zombies and being forced into a dead end. In the end, with no way out, he aimed the gun at his own head and pulled the trigger, firing thest remaining bullet. And now, everything seemed as if it had never happened. David looked at his clean and neat clothes and his intact body, his eyes filled with both shock and joy.


    He nced at the time in the lower right corner of theputer: March 2, 2040. Only then did he confirm that he had indeed been reborn, and that he had been reborn a month before the disaster urred. He stood up and walked to the window of the office, overlooking the world below. Outside, everything was normal, with blue skies and white clouds, and no zombies or mutants in sight. The streets were busy with cars and pedestrians, and there was no sign of the impending apocalypse. But David knew that a terrible virus would spread throughout the world in a month''s time.


    By then, at least 80% of the world''s poption would be infected with the virus and be terrible zombies. These zombies had no rationality and were extremely aggressive, like wild beasts. This would be the biggest crisis in human history.


    After the outbreak of the zombies, human civilization almostpletely copsed, with only a small number of survivors struggling to survive under the threat of mutants and zombies.


    "Only one month left, time is still tight, it looks like I have to prepare as soon as possible..." David''s rxed mood just now suddenly became tense again. Although he didn''t know if the zombie virus would break out again in this lifetime, and although he hoped the end wouldn''te, he didn''t dare to bet, nor could he afford to.


    As he was pondering, suddenly, a cold and emotionless electronic voice sounded in David''s mind:


    ["Congrattions, host, the Super Fortress System has been bound!]


    [You have obtained a battle-ready storage space of 50 million cubic meters! ]


    The doomsday countdown: 29 days, 15 hours, and 23 minutes. The novice mission has been released!"


    A series of messages stunned David for a moment, but then he was filled with wild joy. 50 million cubic meters? How big would that space be?!


    Is this the treatment of a reborn person? Starting with such a huge cheat! David was extremely excited in his heart.


    If he uses this storage space to store food, then when the end of the worldes, he will no longer have to worry about food issues, right? In the end of the world, food is the most important resource, without a doubt.


    After the copse of human civilization, humans lost a lot of arablend and pasture, and productivity was never the same again. Food is the most precious thing in the end times.


    Famine is amon urrence for people in the end times, and countless people have died of hunger. A beautiful woman can sell her body for a piece of bread, and good friends can turn against each other for a bag of rice,This kind of thing is ubiquitous in the end times.


    However, David soon encountered a problem. Although he had fifty million cubic meters of space, he didn''t have the ability to obtain so much food, and if he purchased arge amount of food, it would likely attract the attention of the authorities, Does he have to resort to stealing or robbery?


    If the matter is exposed, not to mention whether he will go to jail, he won''t be able to exin the storage space either. Suddenly, David remembered that the system had issued a novice task. With a thought, he summoned the system panel, and sure enough, he saw an unfinished task in the task bar.


    [Task: End Times Reserve!]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [The end times areing, please collect as many avable resources as possible into thebat readiness storage space!]


    All resources stored by you during this task period will receive a critical hit of 100,000 times. Task remaining time: 29 days, 15 hours, and 1 minute.] David was shocked.


    "So mean, if I store a ton of pork, it will be 100,000 tons of pork in the storage space?!" David was overjoyed.


    "Haha, it''s true that when youck something, you will get it." Thinking that time is precious, David decided to leave here immediately and start preparing reserve supplies. He was toozy to clean up his workstation and walk out the office door.


    Suddenly, he heard the surprised voice of his colleague behind him: "David, where are you going? It''s working hours now." However, David didn''t even turn his head.


    Although he knew that the end of the world wasing, he had no intention of giving any hints to these colleagues he had been with day and night. After surviving for several years in the end times,


    he had already seen through the wickedness of human nature. This time, he would not easily trust anyone again. The first thing David did after leaving thepany was to go to the restaurant he used to go to before the end of the world, and order arge table of dishes.


    Braised pork, sweet and sour pork, old duck soup, Dongpo pork knuckle... After living in the end times for many years, David had almost forgotten what meat tasted like.


    In Eschatological, it often takes David several days to barely eat a meal, and it''s usually some expired food. As soon as the waiter brings the dishes, David eagerly devours them.


    The moment the tender braised pork enters his mouth, David has an urge to cry. He hasn''t had such delicious food in years. Then David finds it a bit funny that after surviving for so many years in the end of the world, his heart has be cold and numb, yet he was moved by a dish of braised pork. However, David''s body is not really hungry now. He feels a bit full after only a few bites. But David didn''te to this restaurant just to satisfy his appetite.


    He wants to conduct an experiment. David looked around the private room and found no surveince cameras. So he put a te of Dongpo pork elbow that he hadn''t touched into his storage space.


    [You obtained one portion of Dongpo pork elbow, and the critical hit effect is 100,000 times!]


    [Congrattions on obtaining 100,000 portions of Dongpo pork elbow!]


    David was delighted. This mission was really helpful! He connected his consciousness to the storage space and found that there were indeed 100,000 portions of Dongpo pork elbow inside. David took one out, and it looked exactly the same as the one he had just put in. Moreover, time was frozen inside the storage space. So no matter how long David waited before taking out the food, it would still be steaming hot and not spoiled.


    "I wonder what will happen if I put this duplicated Dongpo pork elbow into the system space?" David wanted to see if the system would have any bugs. So he put the duplicated Dongpo pork elbow into the storage space again. But this time, nothing happened. It seems that the system also has its own judgment method. However, David was already satisfied with this result.


    Next, his n is to have a crazy loot and find a way to store a massive amount of food and resources in his storage space. David immediately made a long list of supplies in his mind. With a n in mind, David settled the bill hastily and headed towards his home.

 Chapter 2 Disaster Harbingers

    ?Recently, the theft of the Dawsonburg Laboratory in country S has attracted widespread attention. It was reported that the thieves are likely to be a group of extreme environmentalists. They stole the ancient virus stored in theboratory, causing panic among the public.


    After returning home, David casually turned on the TV and saw a news report from country S. "The ancient viruses from the permafrost deep below ake surface, and has a history of 50,000 years. Many people are worried that the virus may infect humans. Let''s hear from the expert opinion. We are fortunate to have invited Professor , a biological science expert..."


    David originally turned on the TV just to have some sound in the empty room, but he happened to see this news. This news immediately caught David''s attention. On the TV, Professor Hu, dressed in formal wear and sses, was talking confidently to the camera: "The possibility of the virus spreading between humans is very small, and there is no need to worry excessively..."


    Soon, the news report ended, and for most people, it was just a minor news item. Although  this pair of words "ancient virus" looked very sensational, no one really believed that the virus could cause serious consequences.


    However, David was impressed by this news. When this news was first released, it did not cause much impact. The news spread across the inte two days after it was released.


    The reason for the incident was aizen called "informant" who leaked a lot of information online. "Informant" imed to be a second-generation wealthy person from country S. He found that after the ancient virus was stolen from Dawsonburg,rge-scale influenza outbreaks urred in multiple cities in country S. Many high-ranking officials and wealthy people in country S in his upper circle have been leaving the country one after another or moving from busy cities to remote areas under the guise of vacation.


    "Informant" keenly sensed the unusualness among them and suspected that all of this was rted to the theft of the ancient virus in Dawsonburg. "Informant''s" information quickly spread on the inte, had a significant impact and caused panic among many people. The incident quickly gained more and more attention.


    In a past life, David also knew about this matter, but at the time, like many others, he didn''t take it seriously. Most people just saw it as a joke, something to talk about after dinner. The reason was simple: within a short day, this so-called "informant" was arrested and thrown into jail. The efficiency of the S-country police was impressive.


    ording to the information released by the police, the "informant" was not a rich second-generation at all. He was just an unemployed young man who spent his days ying games at home and was so poor that he could barely afford the rent.


    He admitted that his "disclosure" was just a prank to get attention. Plus, experts in various fields came out to refute his ims, and David, at the time, believed in the experts'' words. Now, seeing this news again, David couldn''t help but feel emotional.


    It seems that the arrival of doomsday was not without warning, but people simply didn''t pay attention at the beginning. Perhaps everyone deep down didn''t really believe that doomsday woulde. When things really happened, it was toote.


    David turned down the volume on the TV and took out his phone. He found the phone number of a real estate agency stored in his phone and dialed it. "Hello, is this Hengju Real Estate Agency? I have a house for sale here..." This house was left to David by his parents and was his most valuable asset.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David is not a wealthy person. He only receives a fixed sry of five or six thousand Dor each month, which is his only source of ie. After just a few years of work, he only has a little over 50,000 Dor in savings. This time, he needs a lot of money to stock up on supplies, and selling the house is his best option.


    After doomsday arrives, money will be worthless, and if he doesn''t spend it now, he won''t have the chance to spend itter. Moreover, his high-rise apartment is not suitable for long-term residence after the water and electricity are cut off, and he will eventually have to leave here. "The price can be set lower, and I will give away all the furniture and appliances. I only have one requirement, which is to pay the full amount in one go." If the buyer chooses a mortgage, David will have to wait for the bank to approve the loan, but time is running out, and he can''t wait that long.


    "In any case, the sooner it is sold, the better. I need the money urgently. If you can handle it within three days, I can increase yourmission by three percentage points."


    Finally, David and the real estate agent agreed on a time to visit the house. After hanging up the phone, David let out a quiet sigh. This house was where he had lived from childhood to adulthood, and it held all the memories of his deceased parents'' lives. Now, this house was going to change hands soon, and he was a little reluctant to let it go.


    There is no better way. Even if he couldn''t sell it, he would eventually leave this ce when the end came. David picked up a photo frame from the coffee table, which contained a family photo of the three of them. He wiped off the dust from the frame and put it into storage.


    A prompt appeared in his mind: "Non-resource items detected in storage, would you like to make a copy?" "No," David thought it was kind of funny. What would he do with a hundred thousand photos? Setting aside his feelings, David began his next n.


    He took out his phone and started downloading various loan apps. Since this house was still in his name, he was considered a high-quality customer in the eyes of these loan apps. The loan amounts offered to David by these apps were considerable.


    David didn''t hesitate and applied to all of them one by one. After borrowing more than five hundred thousand, David found that many apps were no longer offering him any credit. Davidughed helplessly. "It seems that the risk management of these apps is pretty good." But after all that, he managed to borrow more than five hundred thousand.


    David had no intention of paying back the money. Even if he wanted to repay, There was nowhere to pay back after a month. As for the house under his name, David estimated that he could sell it for around seven hundred thousand. Calcting this, he would soon have more than a million in cash.


    David couldn''t help but sigh with relief. Luckily, the system could increase the value of all stored items by a hundred thousand times. Otherwise, with so little money, He can only buy simple supplies for himself. But now, the value of his more than a million dors had increased by a hundred thousand times.


    Next, David took out a pen and paper and made a long list of items he needed to collect. Although food was the most important thing for survival in the Doomsday , it was not enough to just have food. Other supplies needed to be considered too. This was not a challenge for David, as he had umted five years of survival experience in the previous Doomsday. He knew exactly what were the most precious resources in the Doomsday.

 Chapter 3 Water Is The Source Of Life

    ?Three dayster. Today is the third day since David''s rebirth, and there are still about 27 days left until the end of the world. The sale of the house went much smoother than David had imagined. After the real estate agent listed David''s house at a low price on various channels that day, it immediately attracted buyers.


    The buyer was the owner of a smallpany who bought the house for investment purposes. Because the price David listed was low enough, and the city had developed very well in recent years, housing prices were continuously rising. This owner didn''t hesitate to buy the house after seeing the price, and in his opinion, he had hit the jackpot.


    The owner was not short of money, and payment was made very promptly. Afterpleting the transfer procedures yesterday, David received the full payment for the house early this morning. The house sold for about 700,000 yuan, as David had expected. Together with the 500,000 yuan he had borrowed previously and his own 50,000 yuan in savings, David now had a total of 1.25 million yuan in cash avable for him to use.


    This was the first time in David''s life that he had so much cash. Looking at the bnce in his bank ount, David wasn''t too excited. He knew that he had to spend this money quickly within a month. Only by exchanging this money for resources would it have value; otherwise, in a month, this money would be worthless.


    After the house was transferred, David talked to the buyer about "renting" the house for a month because he still had some things to deal with. The generous owner told David that he didn''t need to pay and let him stay for free for a month. Anyway, he had bought the house for investment purposes and didn''t n to live there. After David moved out, he would also rent out the house.


    This made David feel a little embarrassed, as if he had "mooched" off the owner. The homeowner''s money has already been spent, but as for the house ... it would be of little use in a month. But the owner was so easy to talk to, which saved David a lot of trouble, and he didn''t have to find another ce to live for the time being.


    Today, David got up early, had a simple wash, and had breakfast downstairs. Then he returned home, turned on hisputer, and began preparing the reserves of resources. He took out a notebook with a shopping list he made yesterday of the resources he needed to purchase.


    The resource that David put first on the list was undoubtedly water. Water is the source of life. A person can go ten days without food and not starve to death, but a person can easily die of thirst in ten days.


    After the apocalypse, the supply of tap water in cities will quickly bepletely cut off. Finding a clean and uncontaminated water source in a big city will be very difficult.


    David''s SJ City has a famous river. David remembers when he was young, the river was very clean and clear, but now it is murky. However, even such a murky river became a precious water resource after the apocalypse arrived.


    As the virus spread, not only did humans mutate into zombies, but many ordinary animals also mutated into exotic beasts with various abilities. Even small pet dogs can mutate into giant dogs over two meters long after being infected with the virus.


    Wild water sources are usually upied by these mutant beasts, which even consciously ambush around the rivers, attacking other creatures or humans whoe to find water. Moreover, some aquatic organisms in certain rivers have mutated and be very dangerous. Not to mention factors such as parasites, pathogenic bacteria, viruses, etc. in the water source. It is extremely dangerous and difficult for ordinary humans to approach these water sources. It can be imagined how precious freshwater is as a resource in the end times.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David looked at his notebook, pondering, "So how to solve the problem of water resources? Stockpile some bottled water?" Bottled water is not cheap, even the slightly cheaper purified water costs about two yuan per liter.


    Of course, David could not spend most of his money on buying water. Suddenly, an idea shed through David''s mind. "How did I forget about tap water?" Tap water is the cheapest water resource, costing only a little over two yuan per ton. Moreover, tap water is a very clean water sourcepared to the wild water sources. It can be boiled and used as drinking water and various other daily water needs. David''s water bill is paid every other month, which means that he won''t have to pay for this month''s water bill until next month. "In that case, I can even save on water expenses?"


    David immediately ran to the kitchen and turned on the tap. Under his mental control, the water flowing out of the tap was continuously collected into his storage space. And after the water resources entered the storage space, a ten-thousand-fold critical hit was triggered, and one liter of water instantly turned into ten thousand liters of water.


    David was overjoyed, but soon he ran into a dilemma. "I can''t just stand here and collect water all the time, can I?" Just then, the system prompted: "[Host can set this area as a resource collection point, and the storage space can automatically collect water resources.]" "There''s also this option?"


    After some mental maniption by David, the water flowing out of the tap disappeared into the void as if it had never flowed out of the tap, and entered David''s storage space.


    A bold idea shed through David''s mind. "What if I set this resource point in the freshwaterke..." SJ City has a huge freshwaterke, which is one of the main sources of fresh water for the SJ City Water Company, with at least tens of billions of tons of freshwater in it.


    However, David quickly shook his head and dismissed the idea. "If I were to drain a freshwaterke, it would probably make headlines worldwide." Moreover, having too much water is also meaningless. When his strength is sufficient in the future, he canpletely upy some key water resource locations, and then he will never have to worry about water shortages.


    David searched online and found that a tap left open 24 hours a day could flow about 30 tons of water. After the water resources entered the storage space, with the ten-thousand-fold critical hit, there were three million tons of water a day.


    As long as David lets the water flow for a few days, these waters will bepletely sufficient for his early development needs. Of course, David also prepared to stockpile some bottled water. After all,pared to tap water, bottled water can be directly consumed, and it is also more convenient to use.


    David opened a shopping website and ordered arge amount of purified water and mineral water on various tforms. He filled in the delivery address with a small warehouse in the suburban area of SJ City that he had rented before...

 Chapter 4 Crazy Purchase

    ?This warehouse was originally a ce for a furniture processing factory to store furniture and materials. However, that furniture factory has now gone bankrupt, so the warehouse has also be vacant.


    The owner of the warehouse was worried about not being able to rent it out, but David sessfully rented it. The warehouse is located in a suburban area close to the city, which is an industrial park. Few peoplee to this ce except for some workers who work nearby. Moreover, there are arge number of trucksing in and out here every day, so no one will notice how much material David is bringing in.


    After solving the water problem, the next thing to consider is food. If you were to ask what the most nutritious food with the richest nutrients in nature is, there is no doubt it is meat.


    Red meat contains almost all the nutrients and trace elements the human body needs. Humans can even get most of their daily nutritional needs from meat alone. Meat is also more satiating than other foods of the same volume and weight.


    David ns to order ten tons of pork, which is twenty thousand pounds of pork, from various sources. This amount is not particrlyrge and will not cause any market fluctuations or attract the attention of market regtory authorities. However, when these pork products are stored in the warehouse, they will increase by a factor of one hundred thousand, resulting in one million tons of pork.


    What is the concept of this amount? A person will probably consume about fifty tons of food in their lifetime. This one million tons of pork is enough for twenty thousand people to eat for their entire lives. Moreover, the fifty tons of food a person consumes in their lifetime is unlikely to be all high-energy foods like meat. Even if a person were to eat fifty tons of meat in their lifetime, they may not be able to eat it all.


    For a person with a normal appetite, one pound of meat per day is already considered a lot. In addition to pork, David also ns to purchase other meats such as chicken, duck, goose, beef,mb, and so on.


    As for seafood, David will naturally not miss out on fish, shellfish, shrimp, crabs, and the like. After the end of the world, most rivers have been polluted to varying degrees. The fish and shrimp in natural water bodies have mostly mutated. As for seafood, the ocean has be the territory of mutant beasts. Even the top experts in the previous world dare not easily venture into the sea. Therefore, seafood has be a luxury item.


    David calcted his expenses while purchasing various meats inrge quantities. Basically, David purchased everything that flies in the sky, runs on the ground, or swims in the water. Even if he didn''t buy too much, even if he only bought 100 kilograms, it would turn into 10 million kilograms after being stored in his storage space, thanks to its incredible capacity.


    The reason why he stored so much food was not only for himself. Even if he were to eat until he''s full, he would not be able to finish all the food he had stored in his storage space. After acquiring the system and storage space, David had his own ambitions. He now controlled the most important resource in the apocalypse.


    In this life, he wanted to establish his own base, just like the powerful people in his previous life. And these foods were prepared to feed the people in his base. After stocking up on meat, the next step was staple foods and cooking oil. For ordinary people, rice, flour, and oil were always the most in-demandmodities. Especially rice, it was the most basic food, easy to cook, and had a long shelf life.


    "Thirty tons of rice, flour, and various cooking oils." Thirty tons of grain stored in the storage space was equivalent to around three million tons. Then David added some misceneous grains such as corn, sorghum, and beans. With staple foods and meat, one''s food needs could be fully met. The problem of food reserves was basically solved.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Considering that food in the storage space would not spoil, David added about twenty tons of fruits and vegetables to his shopping list. Then came the salt and various seasonings. Salt not only served as a seasoning but also yed a vital role in human health. If the bodycked salt, symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, weakness, fatigue, and headaches could ur.


    Nerve cells and muscle cells could not function without sodium and could even be life-threatening in severe cases. In ancient times, saltkes, salt mines, and other salt-producing regions were always controlled by the government, and trafficking in private salt was illegal. Therefore, salt was definitely indispensable in David''s reserves.


    In addition to salt, David also purchased seasoning such as soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, monosodium glutamate, doubanjiang, tomato sauce, spices, and so on. When the apocalypse arrived, without industrial production, it would be difficult to obtain these seasonings. The goods in supermarkets or warehouses would soon be consumed or expired under the "guardianship" of zombies and mutants. David had only purchased a part of all the necessary supplies.


    To avoid unnecessary trouble, he nned to gradually purchase all these goods and store them in his warehouse within a month, then transfer them to his storage space. In addition to food, there were some misceneous items waiting for David to purchase. After dealing with all of these, a morning had unknowingly passed.


    David had been busy all morning and was already feeling a bit hungry. His stomach grumbled a few times in protest. He took out a portion of Dongpo Pork directly from his storage space. The fragrance of the food instantly hit his face, and the pork was still steaming hot, red, and translucent...


    David suddenly had a bright idea. "Hey, how could I forget about this feature of my storage space." So he took out his phone, opened a food delivery app, and began to order wildly. He added all his favorite foods to the list, and ordered dozens or even hundreds of each item. He didn''t stop until he had ordered from more than ten restaurants.


    "No hurry, I still have a month, take it easy." David not only ordered junk food like fried chicken and fries, but also expensive dishes like Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and caviar. Anyway, he didn''t feel any pain spending the money. Meanwhile, at a fried chicken restaurant a kilometer away from David''s house, the front desk received an order notification and picked up the phone to check it. They were instantly stunned.


    "What is this? A hundred servings of fried chicken?" The owner passing by was also stunned. He took the phone and checked it, and was also shocked.


    "A hundred servings of fried chicken, a hundred servings of chicken rolls, a hundred servings of crispy chicken legs... Am I seeing things?" After thinking it over for a while, the owner called to confirm the order and finally confirmed that the customer really wanted that much food.


    "Boss, what should we do?" The bewildered waiter looked at the owner, who was also solemn. For a moment, he even suspected that the customer was trying to make trouble.Anyway, the customer has already paid, so let''s get started.''''

 Chapter 5 Beautiful Neighbors

    ?About half an hourter, arge amount of takeout was delivered to David''s home. The whole room was filled with the smell of food, from fried chicken and roasted duck to braised meat and roasted pig''s feet... The living room was almostpletely filled with food.


    After the delivery person left, David began to put the food into storage space while it was still hot. He first put the one hundred servings of fried chicken into storage, and in an instant, one hundred servings became ten million.


    This critical strike ratio made David ecstatic, and he then put all the other food into storage. For the next period of time, David was happily busy.


    Takeout from various restaurants kept being delivered to him. David watched as these tempting delicacies were continuously ced into storage, feeling very pleased. After all, in the end of days, where would there be a chance to eat such food? Even the leaders of small bases in the apocalypse would have to eat spoiled and sour food during difficult times.


    As for delicacies, only the top powerhouses had the qualifications to enjoy them. With this hoard of delicacies, David was enjoying life while others were struggling to survive in the apocalypse.


    Just as David was busy, a call suddenly came in. David looked at the caller ID and saw that it was thepany''s general manager, Bill. David frowned but still answered the phone.


    "Hello! David, you have been absent for three days. ording to the rules and regtions, you are considered to have automatically resigned, and thepany does not need topensate you. You don''t need toe back in the future."


    David chuckled when he heard this. No wonder no one had contacted him in the past three days. It turned out that this was their n. Bill was David''s immediate superior, but he had only gotten his position as general manager through his connections with thepany''s higher-ups. He was an air-dropped general manager.


    Normally, Bill would boss around his subordinates, even though he didn''t understand thepany''s business. However, this didn''t affect him from pointing and instructing his subordinates every day. David happened to be the type who didn''t like to be disciplined, and he never let Bill have his way. He figured that being fired wouldn''t be a big deal anyway.


    Bill had been displeased with David for a long time, and he finally found an opportunity. David found Bill''s condescending tone a bit funny. Bill was just a small leader in thepany, and his proud general manager status meant nothing in the apocalypse.


    Whether this kind of person can survive for three days in the apocalypse is a question, and David was toozy to argue with him. So he hung up the phone directly and added Bill''s number to the cklist in one go.


    About two hourster, all the takeaway food was delivered, and David''s storage space was already full of all kinds of delicacies. Only then did he take out some food and enjoy a hearty lunch.


    In the afternoon, David didn''t have much to do. The supplies he ordered would arrive at his warehouse in two or three days. But David didn''t n to just idle around, he went out after lunch and took a taxi to thergest supermarket in the city: Love Home Supermarket.


    This is a high-end supermarket that takes a boutique route. Although the food and some products here are more expensive than ordinary supermarkets, the variety of goods is abundant, and the quality is guaranteed. David nned to go on a shopping spree in the supermarket. Items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, shower gel, shampoo, soap... although they are not essential for survival, they can greatly improve the quality of life.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    In Love Home Supermarket, Sally was wandering aimlessly. Her figure attracted the attention of many men around her. Although she was wearing a simple and loose casual outfit, she couldn''t hide her curvy body.


    Not only is Sally tall and has a perfect figure, but she also looks like a professional model at first nce. Her slender and straight legs are thought-provoking, plus a beautiful and delicate face, making the men around her look at her frequently. Sally has long been ustomed to these attention, and she automatically blocked out these gazes, shopping by herself.


    Suddenly, Sally saw a familiar figure, and her originally calm expression changed slightly. "Is it him?" The familiar figure in front of Sally was David. At this time, David was pushing a shopping cart filled with all kinds of goods, squeezing the cart full.


    David noticed that Sally was staring at him and was slightly stunned. Sally smiled at him friendly, and David also politely smiled and nodded at Sally. Sally was about to approach David to talk, but David had already turned and left.


    He seemed to be very busy, constantly putting goods from the supermarket shelves into his own shopping cart. Sally was stunned. "Did he not recognize me?" Sally is David''s neighbor, and they live across the hall from each other.


    In the city''s indifference, even neighbors may not know each other''s names after living for more than ten years. That''s how Sally and David were at the beginning, strangers to each other, and they wouldn''t even say hello when they asionally met in the hallway.


    One day, David suddenly knocked on Sally''s door. He told Sally through the door that she had left her key in the lock and forgotten to take it out. It was already around ten o''clock at night, and Sally became wary, thinking that he might have some bad intentions and want to trick her into opening the door. So Sally refused to open the door.


    David felt a little helpless and went back home on his own. Sally saw David return to his own door and close it through the peephole, so she opened her door half-doubtingly. As a result, she did find her key still in the lock.


    Sally was scared for a while and realized how lucky she was that David had reminded her. If someone with malicious intentions had found her key, the consequences would have been unthinkable.


    At the same time, Sally felt guilty. David had kindly reminded her, but she thought he had ulterior motives and didn''t even say thank you. After this incident, Sally had a good impression of David. Not only was he a person of good character, but he also looked quite handsome.


    She added David as a friend on WeChat in the homeowner group, but after a few simple chats, David didn''t say much. Sally had always wanted to thank David in person and apologize to him, but she didn''t know how to approach him. Unexpectedly, she met him in the supermarket today.


    She thought it was a good opportunity, but David just nodded at her and turned to leave. Sally felt a little inexplicably disappointed


    Sally feltplex emotions at the moment and wondered, "Could it be that I offended him with my previous reaction?" In fact, David had recognized Sally, as it''s hard for men to forget a beauty like her after just one nce. However, David was busy hoarding supplies and had no time to chat with her now.

 Chapter 6 Achievement Rewards

    ?If David remembers correctly, Sally, who looks young and beautiful, actually has her own clothingpany. Sally told David on WeChat that she learned how to manage and operate apany from her father and other elders in her family since she was young.


    Her family background is very powerful, making her a true "wealthy beauty". Although Sally actively added David on WeChat, he knows that there is a huge gap in their social status and he does not have any unrealistic fantasies about her. Furthermore, David has many things to do right now, so he has no intention to pay attention to Sally.


    "Hey, look at that fool, he has been running back and forth several times. I wonder what he is thinking. Is he trying to empty the supermarket?" A man pointed to David''s back and whispered.


    His voice also reached Sally''s ears. Sally was surprised to find out that the man''s "fool" was actually referring to David. Another man next to him said, "He must have been brainwashed by the fake news online. He is hoarding goods here, saying that an ancient virus has leaked and the end of the world ising."


    "Hahaha, is he crazy? The experts have already debunked this rumor a long time ago." The conversation between the two men also aroused the interest of the people around them, and everyone began to whisper about it.


    An olddy said, "I also noticed this young man. He wanted everything on the shelves and kept putting it in the shopping cart, and he was already crazy. "


    Another middle-aged man said, "I saw him in the underground garage just now. This young man even hired a small truck to transport all the things he bought. He is really interesting."


    The manughed and shook his head. "They are just full and have nothing to do. They can believe this kind of rumor about the end of the world. It reminds me of those people who hoarded salt more than ten years ago. I wonder if they have finished using up their salt now."


    The man next to him jokingly said, "The lower the IQ, the more they hoard." Everyone teased David with a mocking attitude.


    Recently, the rumor of the end of the world has spread widely on the Inte, and many people know about it. At first, these rumors did cause panic among some people. However, as the ''Informants'' who spread rumors was caught and experts personally came out to debunk it, the attention of this matter gradually decreased.


    Those who were affected by the rumors and hoarded supplies to deal with the end of the world were turned into aughingstock byizens online. Some even took out their phones and secretly filmed David. If this video was posted online, it would probably get some views.


    David did not care about the strange looks from those around him. He knew that these people would at most see him as a joke and not really care about him. In a day or two, these people will forget about him.


    Sally looked at David, who was sweeping various supplies in the supermarket, with aplicated expression. She really wanted to advise David, but she felt that their rtionship was not very close, and it seemed inappropriate to speak up.


    "Ah, he''s a good person. Why would he believe these rumors?" Sally felt a little sorry in her heart. Although she is simr in age to David, she has been in the business world for many years and believes her mentality is more mature than the average person.


    Sally shook her head and thought to herself, "Forget it. If he encounters any difficultiester, I''ll find a way to help him. It can be considered repaying the favor he did me before."


    Judging from the things David bought, he must have spent a lot of money. Sally knew that David was just an ordinary office worker who had only been working for a few years, and he probably didn''t have much savings. With this kind of extravagance, he might have spent all his savings umted over the years at the supermarket.


    David was unaware of Sally''s thoughts. After several trips back and forth, he finally filled the rented small truck with all the goods. He sat in the passenger seat of the truck and had the driver take him straight home.


    After arriving at the residentialplex, David gave the driver a tip and asked him to help move the items into his house. The various misceneous items he bought from the supermarket almost filled his entire living room.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After several hours of busyness, the two finally moved all the goods into David''s house. After the driver left, David closed the door and put all these items into his storage space.


    The system immediately sent several prompts to his mind:


    "[Congrattions! You have obtained 100 bottles of Port wine, and the 100,000-fold critical hit is in effect!]


    [Congrattions! You have obtained 10 million bottles of Port wine!]


    [Congrattions! You have obtained 100 boxes of toothpaste, and the 100,000-fold critical hit is in effect!]


    [Congrattions! You have obtained 10 million boxes of toothpaste!]..."


    David bought anything and everything he saw in the supermarket. Seeing the continuous prompts from the system, David suddenly suspected that he might have bought too much. 10 million boxes of toothpaste...it would take a long time to use all of them.


    Suddenly, the system sent another prompt:


    "[Congrattions! You have achieved the achievement: Storing more than 10,000 cubic meters of goods!] [Awarding achievement rewards...]


    [Congrattions! You have obtained: one gic enhancement potion and one alloybat knife.]"


    David was slightly stunned. He didn''t expect to get rewards for storing goods. He opened his storage space and found the two rewards that the system had given him. The gic enhancement potion enhances your genes, giving youbat power far beyond that of an ordinary person and greatly increasing your chances of awakening abilities.


    This gic enhancement potion was a transparent liquid in a simple package, a transparent ss test tube sealed with a wooden stopper. "Gic enhancement?" David knew that after the end of the world, many lucky people would awaken their own abilities.


    Unfortunately, David wasn''t one of them. He had never awakened any abilities until his rebirth, which had always been his regret. David could survive alone for many years in the end of the world, of course, he was not an ordinary person. But if he faced an ability user, he would have no chance of winning. And this gic enhancement potion could actually increase his chances of awakening abilities? This made David somewhat excited.


    David looked at the other reward: the alloybat knife.


    "[Alloy Combat Knife: abat knife made of special alloy material, with self-repair function. The de will not wear out until the de ispletely damaged, and it will always maintain its sharpest state.]


    David retrieved the alloy war sword from the storage space. It was apletely ck sword that looked nothing like ordinary steel. The handle was made of a material simr to animal skin, veryfortable to hold, and the de was about one meter long. When he held the sword in his hand, he found that this seemingly heavy sword was actually very light.


    David felt as if he were holding a bamboo sword in his hand, almost weightless. Despite its length, the sword''s center of gravity was just right when held in the hand. David swung it a few times and found it very easy to use.

 Chapter 7 Armor And Weapons

    ?"Good knife!" David had used many cold weapons before, and he could tell at a nce that this was a good knife. Moreover, David was very aware of how practical the repair function was.


    It is not difficult to sharpen a knife to a razor-sharp edge, as long as the sharpening skills are good, any knife can be sharpened to the point of being able to cut a hair in half. However, how long this sharpness can be maintained depends on the material of the knife. A knife with poor material, no matter how sharp it is, will quickly be dull after a short period of use, which is known as edge retention.


    In fact, in David''s n, he also intended to stockpile some weapons. As the saying goes, "If the neighbor hoards grain, I will hoard guns, and the neighbor will be my granary." Stockpiling arge amount of supplies, but without the corresponding strength to protect them, in the end, he will be fish on someone else''s chopping board.


    This alloy war knife and gic potion arrived just in time. In his previous life, David was deeply impressed by those powerful mutants. He had witnessed a fire-type mutant incinerate hundreds of zombies with just one move. And now, as long as he drank this gic potion, he could also be a mutant in the apocalypse.


    David retrieved the alloy war knife into his reserve space. As he did so, he couldn''t help but hope, "Can items obtained as rewards have a critical strike chance like supplies?" However, there was no change in the alloy war knife after it was retrieved into the space, and the system did not give any prompts. It seems that items obtained as rewards are not counted as resources by the system.


    After retrieving the alloy war knife, David took out the tube of gic potion. The cork of the potion bottle was not tight, and David easily pulled it out.


    After inquiring the system, he found out that the gic potion was to be taken orally. Smelling the bottle mouth, David did not detect any special taste. This tube of gic potion looked like mineral water, colorless and tasteless.


    Without much hesitation, David drank the entire potion in one go, not wasting a single drop. When the potion entered his stomach, a fiery feeling surged up from inside his body.


    David felt his breathing be difficult for a moment, his heart rate rapidly increasing, and hot air rushing to his brain. His muscles all over his body began to twitch constantly, and tremendous pain came from all over his body. This pain was like all the muscles in his body cramping at the same time. His bones were cracking, as if his body was being torn apart and reassembled.


    David gritted his teeth, and beads of sweat the size of beans had already fallen from his forehead. Fortunately, this pain did notst too long and ended after a few seconds. After the pain subsided, What follows is a feeling of relief like an empowerment.


    David looked at himself in the mirror and noticed that his body had undergone some changes. Even his height seemed to have increased slightly. He felt a explosive power within his body and his muscles and bones had be much stronger than before. Even his eyesight had been enhanced, allowing him to see things clearly even from a kilometer away. The strengthening effects of the gene medicine were truly powerful and immediate.


    At this moment, a prompt from the system sounded in David''s mind: "You have sessfully taken the gene medicine. Your physical fitness has greatly improved. You have gained immunity to viruses and will be permanently immune to most diseases."


    Upon hearing the system prompt, David''s eyes lit up. This meant that even if he was identally bitten by a zombie, he wouldn''t be infected and turned into one. And the immunity to most diseases was also very practical. At least he wouldn''t have to worry about catching colds or fevers in the future.


    To test his strength, David grabbed a wrench from his toolbox and with a gentle effort, he bent it ny degrees. The formidable strength surprised even himself.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Not only had his strength increased, but his agility, endurance, and physical condition had also greatly improved. David was very satisfied with the effects of the medicine. With such a powerful physical fitness,bined with hisbat skills honed in the apocalypse, dealing with ordinary zombies would be a piece of cake.


    Inspired by the alloy battle sword, David opened hisputer and searched online, finally finding a swordsmith studio called "February Tea House". This studio specialized in forging performance knives. Performance knives are knives made directly from high-strength modern alloy steel, with proper heat treatment, forged solely for the pursuit of extreme performance.


    With the blessing of modern technology, performance knives are often more practical than traditionally forged knives. After all, technology is constantly advancing, and modern tool steel, die steel, and powder steel are all powerful varieties that ancient people could hardly imagine. Modern steel mills have ultra-high-temperature melting furnaces, electromaic equipment,puter numerical control precision temperature control, just-right steel element ratios, and variousrge-tonnage hydraulic hammers...


    The steel produced by this process is difficult to surpass even by traditional swordsmiths with exquisite handcrafting skills. Interestingly, these performance knives that focus on practicality are often cheaper than traditional knives. The reason is that traditionally forged knives usually have unique textures and de patterns, higher aesthetic value, and some artistic value, known as "sentimental value".


    But for David, the appearance of the knife was not important. What was most important to him was durability and sturdiness.


    David ordered the top-performance knife in the studio, which cost over 6,000 yuan per knife, and he ordered 20 knives. With these 20 knives stored in the storage space, he now had 2 million knives, which was more than enough.


    David confirmed with the studio owner that all 20 knives were in stock and would be delivered within five days at thetest.


    With weapons secured, David thought about getting a set of armor as well. After some tinkering on theputer, he finally contacted a workshop specializing in armor. Although most of the armor they made was for movie sets or private collectors, making practical armor was not difficult for them.


    David expressed his requirements over the phone: the armor had to be puncture-proof, sh-proof, bulletproof, and as lightweight as possible without affecting his movements.


    The owner said this was not difficult, and suggested using modern materials such as Ker, carbon fiber, and some special alloys to make it. Of course, this would cost extra, and the owner quoted a price of 90,000 yuan.


    David agreed to the price, and even paid an extra 10,000 yuan for expedited shipping.


    Although the price was quite expensive, for David, buying this armor was like buying 100,000 sets, making it an incredibly worthwhile investment.

 Chapter 8 The Temptation Of City Nights

    ?The night in SJ city is as bustling and lively as ever. Even though it has been dark for a while, all kinds of neon lights still illuminate the city, and the roads are filled with continuous traffic.


    These past few days have been the best sleep that David has had in a long time. In the apocalypse, he is alone and cannot afford to sleep deeply at night. Any movement or sound could startle him awake. He has no choice but to be extra vignt to survive in this dangerous world.


    He also cannot casually join groups of people, as people''s hearts are unpredictable, and he could easily run into someone with malicious intentions. But during this period, David can enjoy afortable hot bath every day and sleep soundly in a soft bed until morning.


    This quality of sleep is a luxury in the apocalypse. However, tonight, it''s already around eleven o''clock, and David feels a little restless. He pulls back the curtains and looks at this sleepless city. David knows that for people with a rich nightlife, the night is just beginning. After nightfall, this bustling city is filled with indescribable temptations.


    Thinking of this, David feels parched and thirsty, with an agitated heart. "No, I have to go out."


    David decisively puts on his clothes, grabs his wallet, and leaves the house. He then goes to a food street not far from his home. The whole street is full of tempting food aromas, making David''s mouth water.


    He randomly finds a barbecue restaurant and orders arge pile of skewers and a few bottles of beer. The waiter looks surprised. "Sir, are you alone?" David orders a lot of skewers, mostly meat skewers, but he looks thin, not like someone with arge appetite. The waiter is worried that he won''t be able to finish his meal, and it will cause issues when he has to pay.


    "It''s okay, you can bring it out for me if I can''t finish it." The waiter nods and takes the order to the kitchen.


    After waiting for about twenty minutes, the waiter uses a tray to bring the grilled skewers to David''s table one by one. David has been salivating for a while and starts to wolf them down. Since using gic medicine, David feels that his appetite has increased a lot.


    Maybe it''s because this body''s strength has increased, the energy consumption has also increased. David was eating happily when suddenly, the sound of a beer bottle shattering caught his attention. The sound came from another table inside the barbecue restaurant.


    David turned to look and saw that the customers at that table were a few drunken men who looked to be in their twenties. One man had a red face and held a half-broken beer bottle in his hand as he pointed at a young-looking female server and cursed, "What the f*ck are you talking about? So many people are watching, who the hell touched you? Trying to frame an innocent person, huh?"


    The other men also red at the female server with unfriendly eyes. "Why do you like to talk nonsense so much when you''re so young?" "Call your boss over here, quickly."


    The female server was frightened by these big, strong men. She was just a college student who was working part-time here during the summer break, and had never seen such a scene before. Being surrounded by several drunken men, the girl felt both aggrieved and scared, and couldn''t control her emotions as tears streamed down her face.


    At this moment, a woman in her early twenties wearing an apron walked out from the front desk. "What''s going on, gentlemen?" The girl saw the woman and felt as if she had seen a savior, quickly hiding behind her.


    The girl whispered to the woman, "Bossdy, he touched me."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As soon as she finished speaking, the man holding the beer bottle shouted loudly, "Who the hell touched you? Don''t talk nonsense!" He was holding the beer bottle and appeared to be quite agitated.


    The bossdy looked at the big men in front of her with some difficulty. "I''m sorry, gentlemen. How about this, I''ll give you this meal for free, is that okay?"


    Clearly, the bossdy just wanted to settle the matter and avoid any trouble. The men looked the young and beautiful bossdy up and down, not hiding their lecherous gaze.


    The bossdy was petite with delicate features. The man holding the beer bottle said, "That won''t do. I didn''t touch her, but she insists that I did. Isn''t that unfair to me?"


    The others chimed in, "Yeah, she has no evidence and is using our big brother of molesting her for no reason. If this gets out, how can our big brother still mix in this street?"


    The man called "big brother" said, "Okay, we don''t need the free meal. I don''t need this little bit of money anyway."


    The man stared at the bossdy with a lewd look and said, "Since she insists that I touched her, then I might as well really touch her. That way, we''ll be even."


    The man took a step forward and leered at the bossdy with a lewd smile. "Or, let me touch you...?"


    The bossdy was frightened and took a few steps back. "What do you want? Do you believe that I will call the police?"


    David, who was watching on the side, had a general idea of what was happening.Shaking his head, he scanned the QR code with his phone to pay the bill and prepared to leave. Although David knew that he could easily handle these ruffians, his habit of not meddling in other people''s business had been deeply ingrained in him after surviving for many years in the post-apocalyptic world. All of his kindness and sympathy had been worn away by years of living in the post-apocalyptic world. As long as it wasn''t his own trouble, David would never intervene, even if it was just a simple task.


    David remembered a formerpanion of his who was caught and dismembered by a group of bandits as he tried to help a seemingly harmless little girl who led him into an ambush.


    One of the rules of survival in the post-apocalyptic world is to mind your own business and don''t show kindness. This was a lesson learned at the cost of David''spanion''s life. In fact, not only David, but the other customers in the barbecue restaurant also got up and left after witnessing the scene. The more conscientious ones paid their bills before leaving, while the less conscientious ones simply ran away without paying.


    As David was about to leave, he heard a familiar voice. "Wife, Zoe, what''s going on?" David turned around and saw a man in a chef''s uniform, slightly chubby with a round head and face, and skin whiter than a woman''s.


    "Arnold?" David was suddenly shocked. This man''s face and voice were extremely familiar to him. He was hisst teammate in his previous life - Arnold. David never expected to meet him here.

 Chapter 9 Old Friend From A Past Life

    ?Although the slightly chubby Arnold in front of David''s eyes ispletely different from the skinny Arnold in his past life''s memory, But David with these facial features and voice, David believes he definitely didn''t mistake anyone.


    In his past life, although Arnold was tall, he was skinny with a pair of sunken eyes that always carried a hint of mncholy, and he was a man of few words. He joined David because David gave him a box of biscuits when he was about to starve to death. At that time, David still had good intentions and was not as ruthless as heter became.


    So Arnold followed David from then on. He was a year younger than David ." Unexpectedly, Arnold awakened his ability to transform into a werewolf one day and became an extraordinary person with unlimited potential.


    David knew that Arnold was a person of loyalty and gratitude. The box of biscuits that David gave him saved his life, and Arnold always remembered it. Originally, David thought that with Arnold''s awakened ability, they could have a better life in the apocalypse.


    However, one day, the two of them identally wandered into a horde of zombies and were surrounded by them. Arnold had just awakened his ability and it had not yet grown, coupled with long-term hunger and weakness, he was helpless in the face of the zombie''s siege. In the end, Arnold used all his strength to throw David onto the rooftop of a nearby building. "Run fast!" These were thest two words Arnold said to David.


    However, he himself was engulfed by the zombies and was devoured alive. David survived by hiding on the rooftop for two days and nights. When the zombie horde dissipated, he wanted to find Arnold''s body, dig a grave for him, and erect a tombstone, but he only found a few bones. He was not even sure if they belonged to Arnold.


    From then on, David was alone, struggling to survive in the apocalypse. David saved Arnold''s life, and Arnold returned the favor by saving David''s life, but David always felt indebted to him. Arnold should have had a good life, at least better than David''s, now that he had be an extraordinary person. Unexpectedly, he met his formerrade here, and David was excited in his heart.


    Only Arnold stood in front of the shopkeeper and the girl:"Gentlemen, don''t be agitated. Let''s talk nicely." Arnold''s appearance did not scare these several strong men, after all, the chubby Arnold didn''t look very intimidating, and he had a friendly face that didn''t look like a ruthless character. In addition, they had the advantage in numbers, while Arnold was only one man and two women, and was weak.


    "Brothers, let me treat you guys to this meal." Arnold smiled and offered a cigarette to the man. Unexpectedly, the man pped the cigarette away. "Who the hell wants you to treat us? I''m not short of this money? You''re the boss, right? Make your wife kneel down and apologize to me, otherwise, I''ll make you three walk out horizontally today."


    Whether it was the effect of alcohol or something else, the man became agitated and started cursing loudly while waving the broken bottle. The other burly men also joined in the shouting. Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Arnold whispered to the woman behind him, "Wife, take Zoe and go call the police."


    Before Arnold could do anything, the man charged towards him with the beer bottle, shouting, "You want to call the police? I''ll make you regret it!" Arnold picked up a chair to defend himself, but before he could use it, he saw a figure sh by and the man holding the bottle was thrown back and hit the wall heavily.


    Surprised, Arnold turned his head to see a handsome young man standing beside him, it was David. Everyone was stunned, and no one could see how David had made his move.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Before the burly men could react, David lifted the man with one hand and mmed him heavily onto the table, shattering it to pieces. He then stomped on the man''s stomach with his foot, causing him to scream in pain.


    David then casually threw the man in front of the other burly men like trash. The man waspletely limp like a noodle and couldn''t move at all. In fact, David had held back, if he had mmed the man directly onto the concrete floor, he might have killed him.


    After taking the gene potion, David could easily kill a strong human being as easily as crushing an ant, without any special techniques, just brute force. The burly men were all stunned, with shocked expressions on their faces. After all, theirpanion was over two hundred pounds, but David lifted him like a small chick and mmed him with one hand, causing him to be seriously injured. What a terrifying force!


    The group of men suddenly sobered up and realized the danger they were in. Just as one of them pretended to make a phone call, David started counting down from ten. The burly men quickly helped their injuredpanion and tried to escape, but David suddenly stopped them.


    "Stop!" David remembered something. The burly men froze in fear and turned to face him, their eyes filled with panic.


    "Please buy the order before leaving, and also for this table," David pointed to the table that had just been smashed by the muscr man. The man lowered his head and silently took out his phone to scan the payment code, then showed it to David after finishing.


    David nodded. "Alright, you can go now." The man and hispanions were relieved and quickly left. Arnold came over and gratefully said to David, "Brother, thank you. Thanks to you, otherwise I would definitely be in the hospital today. My name is Arnold, what''s your name, brother?"


    "I''m David," David looked at the chubby version of Arnold and found it somewhat funny. The previous Arnold was dark and thin, and if it weren''t for his distinctive facial features and voice, David might not have recognized him. At this moment, Arnold introduced the two women beside him to David. Sophie and Zoe also thanked David repeatedly. They knew that if it weren''t for David''s intervention, they would have been in trouble tonight.


    David was quite surprised. He had never known that Arnold had a wife. Moreover, Arnold looked white and chubby, and his appearance was not outstanding. He never thought that Arnold could find such a beautiful wife. In the previous life, Arnold was tight-lipped about his past. David knew nothing about his profession, his family, or where he came from.


    Suddenly, David figured it out. When he met Arnold in the previous life, Arnold was alone, and his wife was not with him. In other words, Arnold''s wife had probably already encountered an unfortunate fate at that time.

 Chapter 10 Storage Space Upgrade

    ?However, it''s not surprising that separation and death be moremon after the apocalypse. No wonder Arnold, whom David met, was always silent and depressed in his gaze, and David thought he had always been that way. But now, the Arnold in front of David seemed quite cheerful, with no signs of depression.


    It''s not hard to imagine that he must have had a painful experience that caused his personality to change so much. No wonder Arnold never mentioned his past experiences. Even until Arnold''s death, David still didn''t know what he used to do. In his heart, David silently thought, "In my previous life, you saved my life, so I owe you one in this life."


    In his previous life, even in a life and death crisis, Arnold still thought of letting David survive. As an ability user, Arnold might have been able to get out of the zombie tide on his own if he had abandoned David. But he chose to give David the hope of surviving, simply because David once gave him a box of cookies.


    Arnold took out his phone and wanted to return the money that David had paid for the barbecue as a thank you. David didn''t ept it as a few hundred yuan had no meaning to him. After purchasing arge amount of supplies, he still had over ten thousand yuan left in his ount, and if he didn''t spend it all, it would be useless next month. "If you want to thank me, do business with me. I want to ask you to buy something for me."


    Arnold readily agreed. "Sure, brother David, tell me what you need."


    David said, "Prepare about ten thousand yuan worth of barbecue seasoning and charcoal for me on April 1st, and I''lle and pick it up. Remember to close the doors and windows and open them when I arrive." David''s request was a bit strange, but Arnold didn''t think much about it and agreed.


    After all, they usually closed during the day and only did business at night. David scanned them two thousand yuan with his phone. "This is a deposit." After paying the deposit, David left.


    For Arnold now, they just met and even if David wanted to get together, there was nothing left to reunite with. On the way back, David thought to himself, "Not bad, I didn''t expect Arnold to be good at barbecuing. Why didn''t I notice this skill in my previous life?"


    David was worried about how to handle the food he had stockpiled, as he wasn''t good at cooking. "Now that he had a cook, Barbecuing is great. I love it the most." David didn''t expect to reunite with his friend from his previous life in this way, making him feel very good tonight. ...


    Today is the 25th day after David''s rebirth, and there are only five days left until the end of the world. He is standing at the entrance of the warehouse he rented, waiting for the customized armor to be delivered. The twenty performance knives he ordered earlier have already been delivered and stored in David''s storage space.


    As for the supplies he ordered such as pork, grains, cooking oil, mineral water, vegetables, and fruits, they have been delivered one after another in the first 15 days. Since these supplies were delivered in batches, it didn''t attract anyone''s attention, and the delivery drivers thought David was running a foodpany.


    These days, David orders takeout worth thousands of dors every day, and sometimes he goes out to various restaurants to search for delicious food. When no one is paying attention, David stores the food in his storage space, makes a copy of it a hundred thousand times, and puts one copy back on the dining table.


    His storage space is now filled with all kinds of food. In short, David has been hoarding all kinds of supplies as much as possible for the past 20+ days. At present, David''s storage space has millions of tons of food and various supplies, which makes him feel very relieved.


    Today is the day when David''s customized armor is supposed to be delivered, but the studio encountered some technical difficulties during the process of making it. Fortunately, the boss was reliable enough to deliver it before the end of the world arrived. With the arrival of the armor, all the supplies David purchased online are finallyplete.


    Bored, David was scrolling through his phone, and at 10 o''clock in the morning, the armor finally arrived. The armor was packed in a specially made wooden box. After the deliveryman left, David unpacked the box by hand and a set of modern-looking armor appeared before his eyes. Since David requested ultimate practicality, the armor was not made in the style of ancient armor.


    The design of this armor is closer to that of modern riot gear used by the police. David put on the armor and found that it was very lightweight and the joints of the limbs were very flexible.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David was very satisfied, get what you pay for. Although the armor was expensive, its quality was really good. With this armor, even if David was pinned down by a group of zombies, the armor would be able to protect him for a while. Of course, this only applies to the early stages of the apocalypse.


    Zombies and mutants will continue to evolve and mutate over time, and their strength is not constant. David had discovered this cruel reality in his previous life. With the evolution of zombies, ordinary people like him might ultimately face extinction.


    Only superhumans can keep up with the speed of zombie evolution, and most ordinary humans are destined to be eliminated. Ever since the appearance of zombies and mutants, humans are no longer at the top of the food chain.


    After David stored the armor in his storage space, the system prompted him:


    [You have obtained a modern armor, and the critical hit effect is multiplied by 100,000!]


    [Congrattions, you have obtained 100,000 modern armors!]


    Instantly, 100,000 sets of armor appeared in David''s storage space. David discovered something interesting - he could summon the armor directly onto his body from the storage space.


    This meant that he didn''t have to wear the armor all the time, he could just summon it duringbat.


    Shortly after David stored the armor in the space,the system''s prompt sounded in his mind:


    [Congrattions, host, you have reached the S-level standard for material reserves, and your storage space is upgrading!]


    [Congrattions, host, your storage space is upgraded from 50 million cubic meters to 100 million cubic meters!]


    [You have received a reward: critical hit reward is extended for three days!]


    The system gave David a small surprise. "Extended for three days, which means that After the outbreak of apocalypse, I can collect supplies for three more days?"


    After the outbreak of apocalypse, David could only rely on money to purchase supplies.But after the outbreak, the order instantly copsed, and everything on the streets became ownerless. Whoever could kill their way out of the zombies would get those supplies. For a moment, David had a n in his mind.

 Chapter 11 The Grudge From The Previous Life

    ?Today is thest day before the arrival of Doomsday. In just a month, time has flown by. If nothing unexpected happens, the virus will fully outbreak tomorrow at noon, turning approximately 80% of the global poption into zombies. It goes against scientific knowledge, and the synchronized outbreak of the virus at the same time is incredibly eerie.


    The virus seems to have been coordinated, erupting simultaneously and turning countless humans into walking corpses and animals into terrifying mutants. Due to the suddenness of the virus outbreak, human society''s order instantly plunges into chaos and gradually copses.


    Everything happened too quickly, with almost no warning. The virus seems intelligent,unching a sudden attack on humanity. Moreover, this is just the beginning. Those who have natural antibodies won''t immediately turn into zombies. However, they can still be infected by zombie bites or scratches, leading to an exponential increase in the number of zombies within a short period.


    Although David knows that all of this is about to happen, he has no intention of warning anyone. Having wandered through the apocalypse for years, he has be too disillusioned with human nature. Even if he reveals everything he knows, no one would believe him, and it would only bring unnecessary trouble.


    Despite being a survivor, David doesn''t see himself as a "savior" or anything like that. He is well aware that this unexined sense of responsibility would only harm him.


    Tomorrow is Doomsday, yet David goes about his morning routine as if it were any other day. He fries two eggs, arge piece of meat, sprinkles some salt and pepper on it, and takes out a carton of milk from the storage space. A hearty breakfast is served.


    Enjoying the delicious meal, David feels no nervousness or unease about the impending crisis. He focuses on savoring his food, his eyes showing no signs of worry.


    As someone who has "died once," David can now remain calm even when faced with imminent disaster. During this time, he has been improving his stockpile list every day. After purchasing arge amount of food, he has been gradually acquiring additional supplies like fuel, generators, medicine, and clothing.


    After finishing breakfast, David checks his phone but doesn''t receive the expected message in his inbox. "Couldn''t find them? What a shame." Some time ago, David asked a few private investigators to help him find someone. The phrase "private investigator" sounds fancy, but most of their work involves investigating extramarital affairs or capturing evidence of infidelity through photographs. Therefore, their fees are not exorbitant, and several thousand dors are enough to hire one.


    The private investigators David hired operate in the gray areas of thew. To fulfill their clients'' requests, they asionally employ questionable methods, making their fees higher. In order to sessfully find that person, David hired several private investigators. However, until now, none of them have provided any feedback on their progress. "It''s no surprise. With just a name and vague physical characteristics, trying to find someone in the vast SJ city is like searching for a needle in a haystack."


    At first, David didn''t have high hopes; he was just giving it a try. The person he is looking for is named Adolf, an enemy from David''s previous life.


    In his previous life, David, with his decent strength and influence among ordinary people, formed a small team. Under David''s leadership, the team worked together, each with their own responsibilities, and lived a rtively good life in SJ City. However, one day, David''s people shed with Adolf, who happened to pass by their camp.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The reason was that Adolf took a liking to a girl in David''s team and wanted to take her away. The girl, of course, refused to go, but Adolf, in a fit of anger, chose to attack directly. Although Adolf was an ordinary person, he had a terrifying mutated dog with him, possessing fire-based abilities and formidable strength. The members of David''s team were all ordinary people, so the oue was predictable when faced with such a mutated dog.


    The team that David had painstakingly built waspletely wiped out. When David and Arnold returned to the camp after gathering supplies outside, they discovered that everything had turned to ashes. It was from the survivors near the camp that David learned the full story. This incident greatly affected David.


    Since then, he began to understand that ordinary people were like insignificant grass in this apocalyptic world. A group of people being wiped out by a dog, without any ability to resist, had a touch of irony. This was the enormous gap between ordinary people, mutated beasts, and ability users, like an insurmountable chasm.


    In fact, the top-level ferocious beasts among the mutated creatures were not inferior to powerful ability users among humans. As for ordinary people like David, they had no qualifications to bepared to them. Later, David learned that Adolf''s nickname was the "Dog King."


    Adolf himself was apletely powerless ordinary person, but that mutated dog was fiercely loyal to him. So Adolf relied on the dog to establish his own power in SJ City.


    After the apocalypse, some organizations studying abilities and mutated creatures ranked individuals based on their abilities. Surprisingly, this ordinary person Adolf, relying on the dog, surpassed many others and ranked first on SJ City''s list of powerful ability users. In a sense, it could be said that "a dog is better than a human."


    After the members of David''s team were killed, David secretly infiltrated Adolf''s base once and saw Adolf in person, noting down his appearance. But David never had the opportunity for revenge afterward. After being reborn, David certainly had no intention of letting Adolf off the hook. However, unfortunately, he only knew Adolf''s name and appearance and that he was from SJ City; he had no other information.


    Today is thest day before the arrival of Doomsday, which makes David feel a little regretful. However, he is not particrly concerned because, based on the trajectory of his previous life, he would eventually meet Adolf again. He will settle this grudge sooner orter. After breakfast, David begins to exercise.


    In the apocalypse, having a strong physique is more important than anything else. In his previous life, David maintained a regr exercise routine, which was why he was stronger than most ordinary people. Even after taking gic potions, David did not abandon this habit. While David is exercising, his phone suddenly rings.


    David picks up the phone and sees that it''s a call from the private investigator. His heart stirs, and he answers the call. "Mr. David, I''ve found the person you''re looking for. Are you avable now?" David''s mouth slightly curls up upon hearing this. "I''ll be right there."

 Chapter 12 Private Detective Adrian

    ?In the coffee shop, David is sitting across from a man in a suit. This man is one of the private detectives hired by David, named Adrian.


    Adrian wears sses and is tall and thin, presenting a polite and gentle demeanor. He hands a tablet to David.


    "Mr. David, please confirm if this is the person you are looking for," Adrian says. David looks at the photo of a bald man with a rugged face and immediately recognizes him as the person he''s been seeking.


    David nods with satisfaction. "Yes, it''s him." He will never forget Adolf''s face no matter how many years pass. Adrian breathes a sigh of relief upon David''s confirmation, knowing that this case has been closed.


    He continues, "Adolf is a nouveau riche. He made a fortune in coal mining a few years ago and now works in fire protection. He is currently unmarried and childless, but he keeps several mistresses." Adrian hands a file folder to David.


    "His detailed information is all in here. As for the dog you asked about, I heard that Adolf brought back a wolf hybrid yesterday from out of town, but I''m not sure if it''s the same dog you mentioned."


    David had entrusted Adrian with this task half a month ago, while Adolf''s dog was only brought back yesterday, so the information seems a bit mismatched. David takes out his phone and searches for what a "wolf hybrid" looks like and indeed, it looks exactly like the dog he remembers Adolf having. David now has a clear understanding.


    He takes the file folder and pays the remaining amount to Adrian in person. Adrian, upon receiving the money, smiles and extends his hand. "Mr. David, it''s been a pleasure working with you."


    However, David doesn''t shake his hand and says, "Hold on, I need one more favor from you."


    After David presents his request, Adrian looks hesitant. "Mr. David, this is a risky matter. Adolf has considerable influence in SJ City, and helping you acquire this informationes with its own risks."


    Without wasting words, David directly says, "Fifty thousand." Adrian immediately brightens up. "Deal!" Fifty thousand may not seem like a lot, but for Adrian, who spends his days investigating extramarital affairs, it is a substantial ie.


    Afterward, Adrian stands up and makes several phone calls outside the coffee shop. David remains patient, waiting. A few minutester, Adrian returns. "Mr. David, Adolf is about to head to a gas station in the north of the city. We should still be able to catch up if we leave now."


    David stands up and says, "Let''s go."...


    Near a gas station in the northern part of the city, Adrian''s car parks in an empty space. David sits in the passenger seat, waiting with Adrian.


    When Adrian sees a Land Rover Range Rover with the license te GJ314 entering the gas station, he immediately starts the car and follows behind. "That''s Adolf''s car," Adrian exins. The gas station is crowded with vehicles, and Adolf''s car is waiting in line at the entrance. Adrian''s car stops behind Adolf''s car.


    "Wait for me in the car," Adrian says as he opens the door. He holds a cup of c in his right hand and pretends to be making a phone call with his left hand. "Hello! Speak louder, I can''t hear you. The signal here is bad." Adrian takes a few steps forward, seemingly searching for a better signal. Just as he approaches Adolf''s vehicle, he suddenly slips and stumbles, falling near Adolf''s car.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Adrian''s c sshes all over him as Adolf''s car window is open. Adrian''s fall is so natural and graceful that it seemspletely genuine, without any trace of acting. His performance easily outshines those of young actors.


    "Oh, sorry, bro, it was an ident!" Adrian quickly apologizes to Adolf inside the car.


    "Fuck your mother!" Adolf, with c all over his face, pushes open the car door and grabs Adrian by the cor. "You four-eyed brat, are you asking for death?"


    Adrian puts on a mournful face. "I''m really sorry, big brother. It was a genuine mistake. Let me wipe it off for you." Adolf ps Adrian across the face, knocking off his sses.


    "Forget about wiping, just get the hell out of here." Adolf takes off his jacket and returns to his car, muttering, "What bad luck! Running into a loser like you. If it weren''t for the surveince here, I''d teach you a lesson."


    Adrian picks up his sses and returns to the car, dejectedly covering his face.


    Back in the car, Adrian rubs his face and mutters, "Damn, this bastard is so arrogant. If it were any other time, I''d extort him." He takes out his phone and checks. "Mr. David, it''s done. I''ve ced a tracker on his car. You can now track his location in real-time on your phone."


    David looks at the red mark on Adrian''s face and finds it somewhat amusing. Adrian probably didn''t expect to be pped like that. Who would have known that Adolf could be so aggressive?


    "Thank you for your hard work. I''ll add another ten thousand," David says. Adrian instantly feels much better upon hearing these words. "Mr. David, you''re truly generous." Although Adrian is curious about why David wants to track Adolf''s car, he doesn''t ask further.


    People in their line of work, they do their job and take the money, never sticking their noses where they don''t belong. At this moment, Adolf drives into the gas station, fills up his tank, and, perhaps due to a bad mood, throws the money out the car window as he pays, then speeds off.


    The gas station attendant stares at the money on the ground, momentarily frozen, her outstretched hand suspended in mid-air. After hesitating for a moment, she crouches down and picks up the money one by one. When she stands up, her eyes are slightly reddened, tears welling up. She turns away to wipe her tears and continues serving the next customer.


    Adrian in the car shakes his head. "Tsk, this guy is a real beast." David nods in agreement. "Indeed." Adolf''s arrogant and domineering behavior is just like in the previous world. If anything, he has be even worse after losing the restraints ofw in the apocalypse.


    ording to people in Adolf''s base, this ruthless Adolf treats others as less than human, using his dog to bully and dominate others, both men and women. In his base, he''s like a feudal lord. Anyone below him who dares to offend him even slightly risks being chopped up and fed to the dog.


    After bidding farewell to Adrian, David returns home. He checks his phone and sees that Adolf seems to be heading to his ownpany. The reason for tracking his car is because Adolf owns several properties in SJ City.


    Time is running out, and to avoidplications during , David ns to eliminate Adolf tonight. Tomorrow is the day the apocalypse arrives, and SJ City will descend into chaos, making it difficult to find Adolf. What David is truly concerned about is that fire-type mutant dog

 Chapter 13 The Mingyue Community In SJ City

    ?Others rely on their status and power, but Adolf relies on the power of his dog. Although the mutated dog of the fire species doesn''t look much different from a regr wolfhound, its terrifying strength has left a deep impression on those who have seen it. Some people have given this mutated dog a grandiose name - Hellhound.


    If David remembers correctly, the virus outbreak is expected to ur tomorrow around 9 a.m. At that time, the whole world will be plunged into this enormous disaster. Since Adolf managed to survive this catastrophe with the mutated dog, it means that he must be together with the dog tonight. The mutation of the dog probably urred shortly before doomsday arrived.


    David spends his time browsing the inte while observing Adolf''s movements on his phone. Adolf''s vehicle has been running all over the city of SJ almost all day, indicating that he is quite busy with his business. Around 8 p.m., Adolf''s car stops near a bar and remains stationary.


    It isn''t until around 10 p.m. that Adolf''s car finally leaves the bar and enters a vimunity called SJ Mingyue. Most of the people living there are influential figures in SJ City.


    David opens the information sent to him by Adrian on hisputer. Sure enough, the information shows that this vi is one of Adolf''s many residences. "It seems he''ll be staying here tonight." After determining the target location, David shuts down hisputer and leaves immediately. He hails a taxi and quickly arrives at the SJ Mingyuemunity. Since it is a vimunity, it is located far from the city center.


    The environment here is very quiet, and there are very few pedestrians on the road outside themunity. David walks directly to the main entrance of themunity and notices that people entering and exiting themunity are using facial recognition or ess cards. Beside the security booth at the entrance, a tall security guard keeps a close eye on thoseing and going.


    "It seems security is stricter in ces where wealthy people live." To avoid unnecessary trouble, David ns to see if he can blend in first. If that doesn''t work, he''lle up with another n.


    So he follows behind a resident of themunity and waits for him to swipe his card. David intends to slip in behind him. Unexpectedly, the security guard at the entrance stops him.


    The security guard seems to find David somewhat unfamiliar. He hesitates for a moment, salutes David, and respectfully says, "Sir, please swipe your card to enter themunity."


    David thinks to himself that the security in this high-endmunity is indeed dedicated, but he remains calm and casually responds, "I''m here to visit my friend, and I don''t have a card."


    The security guard asks, "May I know your friend''s name and which building he lives in?" David naturally answers, "Adolf, A105. Thest four digits of his phone number are 3255."Adrian provided David with all the information, which David has deeply ingrained in his mind. Since he enhanced himself with gic drugs, his memory has greatly improved. He can almost instantly recall any important information.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The security guard retrieves a registry from the booth and verifies that the information provided by David is urate. "Alright, sir, please register here," the guard says. David picks up a pen and quickly writes down a random name and ID number on the paper. Afterpleting the registration, the security guard opens the gate for David. "Please proceed, sir."


    David smiles and nods at him, sessfully entering the SJ City Mingyuemunity. "It seems the security in thismunity is just average." Although the vis here are worth tens of millions, and the residents are wealthy and influential, the security measures are only slightly stricter than in regr neighborhoods.


    If the security guard were to call Adolf to verify, David might have been exposed. However, David isn''t particrly worried about that situation. He has a way to enter thismunity; he simply doesn''t want to invite unnecessary trouble at the moment. After entering themunity, David sessfully locates Adolf''s vi following the information provided by Adrian.


    It is a three-story standalone vi. The vis in thismunity are spaced far apart, so neighbors don''t have to worry about disturbing each other. Additionally, there is a circle of trees surrounding the vis, providing some sound instion. This proves convenient for David''s next actions.


    Adolf''s vi is surrounded by an iron fence with anti-theft spikes.David bends his legs and effortlessly jumps over the nearly two-meter-high fence,nding steadily on the ground. He lowers his footsteps and approaches the vi slowly. Inside the vi, "Mr. Augustus, did you have a good time today? I''ve already arrived home... Oh, you''re too polite. It''s my duty." In the bedroom on the second floor of the vi, Adolf, with a rosyplexion, holds his phone and enthusiastically talks on the phone. "Alright, Mr. Augustus, rest early. I won''t disturb you further."


    Adolf''s face beams with joy, but the moment he hangs up the phone, the joy on his face freezes instantly. A chilling sensation rests on his shoulder, firmly pressed against his neck. Adolf can clearly see it with his peripheral vision--it''s a segment of ck de. Although the de is ck, it appears exceptionally sharp.


    Adolf sobers up instantly, feeling as if he''s in an icy cavern. He slowly raises his hands, not daring to make any unnecessary movements. "Brother, let''s talk things out." Adolf can''t fathom who this person is and how they silently infiltrated his home, holding a knife to his neck. Who sent him?


    Since the other person remains silent, Adolf doesn''t dare to turn around. He continues, "Brother, if you want something, just ask directly, and I''ll agree." Although Adolf tries to appearposed, his body begins to tremble involuntarily. His extremely pale face and the beads of sweat on his forehead betray the fear in his heart.


    Finally, David speaks, "Where is the wolfhound?" Adolf is somewhat surprised by David''s voice; he didn''t expect it to sound so young. But David''s words leave him puzzled. Wolfhound? Why would someone break into his home in the middle of the night with a knife for a dog?


    Moreover, how does this person know that he recently acquired a wolfhound? However, Adolf''s life is currently in the other person''s hands, and he doesn''t dare to ask too many questions. He quickly says, "The dog is in the basement on the ground floor. If you like, I can give it to you." David nods in satisfaction; his guess was correct. The mutated dog is indeed here.

 Chapter 14 A Small Puppy

    ?"Take me to the basement," David''s de lightly slid off Adolf''s hand. The phone in Adolf''s hand was split in half like a block of tofu. Adolf shivered, his hand trembling, and the severed half of the phone fell to the ground. His pupils dted instantly, feeling a chilling sensation in his heart.


    What a sharp de! If that cutnded on his neck... Adolf didn''t dare to think further, and any thought of trying to snatch the knife disappeared instantly.


    He obediently led David towards the basement. Although Adolf didn''t understand why David was looking for that wolf hybrid dog, he had to do whatever David said to save his life. David held the knife against Adolf''s back and followed him into the basement of the vi.


    The basement had been converted by Adolf into a wine cer. The shelves were filled with various expensive wines. As the two entered the basement, David heard the sound of a small puppy barking. It seemed to be disturbed by their footsteps and started whimpering.


    David immediately spotted a dog cage in the corner of the basement. The cage was out of cepared to the luxurious decor around it and appeared dirty and messy. David bypassed Adolf and approached the dog cage. Inside the cage was an unopened puppy.


    This little puppy looked no different from a rural dog''s puppy, short and chubby, with a round and cute appearance. Its fur had a mix of yellow and ck colors. The puppy had a robust bone structure, with round legs and body, giving it an adorable look. However, the environment in the cage was terrible, with the mat covered in excrement and urine. The puppy could only huddle in a rtively clean corner. It was evident that Adolf didn''t care much about this dog.


    If this dog wasn''t physically strong, Adolf might have let it die. If that were the case, there wouldn''t be a "Dog King" in SJ City. "Awoof! Awoof!" Sensing the presence of strangers, the little puppy nervously barked. Adolf saw David squatting next to the dog cage, with his back turned towards him, and felt an urge to make a move.


    "Brother, I bought this puppy from a friend at a breeding farm. They said it''s a crossbreed with a wolf, and it cost me tens of thousands. If you like it, you can take it." While speaking, Adolf''s gaze darted around, checking if there were any convenient weapons nearby.


    At that moment, David suddenly stood up and ced his hand on the knife handle. Adolf instantly felt something was wrong. He swiftly reached out and grabbed a bottle of red wine from a nearby shelf, intending to smash it on the back of David''s head. But in the next moment, all he saw was a sh of ck de. The de was incredibly fast, making Adolf''s movements seem like slow motion.


    Cold light shed, and Adolf suddenly felt his perspective spinning. In thest second of his life, he saw his headless body. Adolf''s head rolled to the ground, his face still frozen in an expression of fear. His body copsed to the ground, and blood gradually spread on the floor. The scent of blood filled the air, seeming to also frighten the little puppy, which kept whimpering in fear.


    "You got off easy." After beheading Adolf, David retrieved the alloybat knife into his storage space. In his previous life, Adolf had destroyed the team David had painstakingly built, so his swift death could be considered a favor. However, David was concerned that any unnecessary movement might attract unwanted trouble. AAfter this attack, SJ City''s once most powerful psychic will no longer exist..


    The feeling of changing the future feels marvelous to David. In the previous life, Adolf was a prominent figure in SJ City, and now he was taken down by David with a single stroke.


    David walked to the side of the dog cage and opened it, lifting the dirty little puppy out from inside. There was a bottle and arge bag of unopened importedmb milk powder next to the cage, presumably for feeding the puppy.


    David casually put the bottle in his pocket and stored themb milk powder in his storage space.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [You obtained one bag ofmb milk powder, critical hit chance increased by 100,000 times!]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 100,000 bags ofmb milk powder!]


    Themb milk powder instantly turned into 100,000 bags, but David didn''t mind, as people can also drink the milk powder, so it wouldn''t be a waste of space.


    When David held the puppy, it struggled vigorously in his hands. David gently calmed it down with his hand, and the puppy gradually became quiet. David carried it upstairs, found a towel soaked in warm water, and wiped the puppy clean. Then he mixed a bottle ofmb milk powder with warm water for it.


    When the temperature was right, David brought the bottle nipple to the puppy''s mouth. The still-closed-eyed puppy became excited as soon as it smelled the milk fragrance. Ittched onto the nipple and began to suck vigorously; it seemed really hungry.


    Looking at the cute and round little mutt in his arms, David couldn''t imagine that this was the mutated dog known as the Hellhound that dominated in the apocalypse.


    Fortunately, the puppy seemed to have been born not long ago and hadn''t formed a bond with Adolf. If it were an adult dog and had already developed an emotional attachment to Adolf, David would have to reconsider what to do with it.


    Although this dog wiped out David''s team in the previous life, he didn''t hold any grudges against it. Dogs were merely tools, and for dogs, there was no concept of good or evil. They only knew to obey their master''smands. And that was precisely what David valued. Compared to humans with diverse thoughts, dogs would never betray their master.


    Once this wolf hybrid dog sessfully mutated, it could be David''s most reliablepanion, better than any teammate. After finishing the milk, the puppy unexpectedly fell asleep peacefully in David''s arms. It was evident that with the help of the milk, it hadpletely let go of any wariness towards David and had no more defenses.


    David sat up while holding the puppy, preparing to leave. Before leaving, David also stored all the expensive fine wines from Adolf''s basement in his storage space. Adolf was truly a wealthy man, collecting rare and aged wines that couldn''t be found on the market.


    After taking care of everything, David walked out of Adolf''s vi with the puppy in his arms. As he left the entrance of SJ Mingyue Residential Area, the security guard seemed to recognize David and respectfully saluted him.


    The security guard looked at the puppy in David''s arms with curiosity but didn''t inquire further. David remained calm, smiled, nodded at the security guard, and then left the ce.

 Chapter 15 Meet Sally Again

    ?Adolf''s mansion was left untouched by David. Today is thest day before doomsday arrives, and even if Adolf''s body is discovered tomorrow morning, it doesn''t matter. Back home, the little puppy is still sound asleep. David sets up a bed for the puppy using some old clothes and ces it inside.


    The weather is still warmtely, so he''s not worried about the puppy getting cold. "Let''s give you a name," David says while looking at the puppy with its yellow and ck fur, feeling a bit uncertain. However, after observing for a while, he notices that the puppy has more ck fur. "Then I''ll call you Xiaohei (Little ck)."


    The sleeping puppy is unaware that its name has been casually decided, and it continues to sleep peacefully. David checks the time, and it''s already past midnight. "I should get some sleep too. There are many things to do tomorrow." David looks at the system panel.


    [Task: Doomsday Reserve!]


    [Doomsday is imminent. Please collect as many usable resources as possible to the prepared storage space! During this task, all resources you store will receive a 100,000x critical strike. Remaining task time: 3 days, 9 hours, 14 minutes.]


    The system provides a precise time.


    With the three extra days previously granted as a reward deducted, there are still 9 hours left until the outbreak of doomsday. This means the virus outbreak will likely happen around 9 a.m. tomorrow. Perhaps because he has already experienced it in his previous life, David doesn''t feel nervous.


    He lies down in his bed and quickly falls into a deep sleep, feeling very peaceful. ... The next day. Before the rm clock goes off at 8 a.m., David opens his eyes one minute early. He takes out his phone, which hasn''t even started ringing yet, and turns off the rm in advance. After getting up and freshening up, David feeds Xiaohei milk once again, then quickly leaves the house.


    David takes a taxi to LoveHome Supermarket once again. Due to limited funds before, David didn''t umte arge quantity of supplies. But now, with the reward of a 100,000x critical strike extended for three days, he must collect as many resources as possible during this time. LoveHome Supermarket is the first ce David chooses. After the virus outbreak, the goods in the supermarket will be ownerless.


    Today is the weekend, and the supermarket is crowded with people. This also means that there will be more people turning into zombiester, so strictly speaking, this ce is not safe. However, David knows that thebat power of zombies in the initial stage of the virus outbreak is not particrly strong. Moreover, he is quite confident in his ownbat abilities at the moment.


    Even awakening-level abilities are not necessarily his opponents right now. Plus, having years of understanding about zombies, David is not worried about getting into trouble. Ordinary zombies pose no significant threat to him. Once inside the supermarket, David strolls around aimlessly like an ordinary customer.


    Some supermarket staff recognize David and whisper among themselves. "Look, isn''t that the guy who bought a lot of thingsst time?" "Is he the one who believed in the doomsday rumors?"


    "He''s a good-looking young man, but it''s a pity his brain isn''t working properly." ... Although they speak quietly, David''s hearing has been enhanced, and he hears their conversation clearly. He shakes his head, not bothered by the attention he''s receiving.


    As David wandered aimlessly, a pleasant female voice suddenly sounded behind him. "David, what a coincidence to run into you again." David turned to look and saw Sally, his beautiful neighbor. "Hmm, what a coincidence," David nodded expressionlessly.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    In fact, Sally had noticed David wandering in the supermarket long ago. After much consideration, she made up her mind to approach him and strike up a conversation. She always felt indebted to David and couldn''t shake off the guilt unless she resolved the matter. Sally, dressed in casual loose-fitting clothes with light makeup, exuded a casual andzy charm. David noticed that several men passing by cast envious nces at him.


    Obviously, a beauty like Sally would attract attention wherever she went. But David didn''t feel anything special about it. In his eyes, Sally was no different from the other people in the supermarket¡ªthey were all just people on the verge of death.


    This supermarket had only one exit, and with arge number of people inside, only a few would likely survive after the virus outbreak. David had no intention of saving anyone, nor would he treat Sally differently because of her beauty. In the previous life, many powerful abilities in the apocalypse would have a group of young and beautiful women serving them. It was a normal urrence in the apocalypse, where beautiful women were easily obtained resources for the strong. However, David had little interest in such things. He looked down upon men who were controlled by their desires. Men needed self-discipline and self-improvement.


    "David, I haven''t had a chance to thank you forst time. How about I treat you to lunchter if you''re avable?" Sally initiated the invitation to David. "No need, I have other things to do."


    David decisively refused, his tone somewhat cold. Sally was stunned. It was the first time in her life that she had taken the initiative to invite a man to eat with her. Even when discussing business, she had never stooped so low.


    Blessed by the resources of her family, it was always others begging her. She never expected that her first invitation to dine with a man would be rejected like this.


    "If there''s nothing else, I''ll leave." David didn''t bother with her and intended to confirm the location of the supermarket''s warehouse. "You..." Sally choked, not knowing what to say for a moment.


    As she watched David turn and leave, Sally felt aplex mix of emotions. "Hmph, what a stingy man. Forget it!" Sally thought that she had offended David before, which led to his reaction.


    But upon reflection, she felt that she was in the wrong. "Sigh, it''s my fault. Who asked me to see him as a bad person back then?"...


    After leaving Sally, David chatted with a random supermarket employee for a few moments. From the employee, he confirmed the location of the supermarket''s storage area.


    While he was chatting with the employee, he suddenly heard a woman''s scream near the supermarket entrance. The sound came from the direction of the entrance, and many people curiously looked over, unaware of what had happened.


    David nced at his watch. It was now 9:12 a.m. "Is it finally happening?"

 Chapter 16 A Frenzied Woman

    ?At the entrance of the supermarket, Sally stood in shock, unable to believe the horrifying scene unfolding before her. Several meters away from her, a petite woman was overpowering a tall man, pinning him to the ground.


    Despite her small stature, the woman exhibited an incredible strength, rendering the man immobile. The man seemed bewildered, unsure of the woman''s intentions.


    The woman''s expression was ferocious, resembling a bloodthirsty beast. Her vocal cords emitted a hissing growl that sounded nothing like a normal human.


    In the next moment, the woman sank her teeth into the man''s face, tearing off arge chunk of flesh. "Help! Save me!" The man screamed in agony, desperately struggling to free himself. Finally, he managed to break free from the woman''s grip. However, she immediately pounced on him again, crazily biting his neck.


    The crowd gathered around, tightly packed and unable to move. Witnessing the gruesome scene, female bystanders let out screams. Several men rushed forward in an attempt to restrain the frenzied woman, causing chaos to ensue. Someone dialed the emergency hotline, while others called for an ambnce.


    The woman continued her frenzied assault, biting and tearing at the man, leaving his hands and face covered in blood and flesh. It took several men working together to subdue her. "Is she on drugs? This is insane!" "Holy cow, this is terrifying!"


    "Call the police!" "Is there a doctor? This guy is bleeding heavily." The onlookers engaged in heated discussions. Amidst themotion, Sally caught a glimpse of the heavily injured man. Her face turned pale, and her intuition told her she needed to leave. However, the entrance of the supermarket was blocked by the crowd.


    Suddenly, Sally noticed a middle-aged man beside her who seemed to be in distress. He was clutching his stomach and squatting on the ground, appearing extremely pained. His body began convulsing uncontrobly. The seizure didn''tst long and stopped after a few seconds. The man remained motionless on the ground, with only his shoulders twitching slightly. "Sir, are you okay?" Sally cautiously asked him. When the man raised his head, Sally was startled.


    Bloodshot eyes filled his sockets, and his pupils seemed to have disappeared, leaving only the whites of his eyes. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his expression was fiercely savage, emitting a hissing growl from his mouth. It was then that Sally realized this middle-aged man looked exactly like the crazed girl from earlier.


    "Roar!" Just as Sally was frozen in shock, the man suddenly stood up and lunged towards her. Sally let out a scream and instinctively pushed him away. Perhaps due to his unstable footing after standing up, the man stumbled and fell. Seizing the opportunity, Sally quickly stepped back several paces.


    The man promptly stood up again, but this time, Sally wasn''t his target. He lunged at the nearest man beside him, sinking his teeth into him.


    The man cried out in pain, frantically elbowing the assant''s back, but the middle-aged man showed no response as if he couldn''t feel pain. Sally felt her brain about to malfunction.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    First, the girl, and now this man--they both suddenly went berserk, losing their rationality like zombies in a movie. But it didn''t end there. Sally suddenly noticed that many people around her started exhibiting the same symptoms. They had pained expressions, their bodies convulsing uncontrobly. Meanwhile, people realized that the man who was initially bitten by the girl was now also experiencing convulsions.


    A few secondster, the man also stood up. He, who was weak and lying on the ground just now, now seemed like a powerful beast and pounced into the crowd. In the crowd, those who showed abnormal symptoms also stood up and behaved like wild animals, biting anyone they saw. The scene instantly turned chaotic. There were screams and shouts everywhere. Sally saw a young child of about ten years old being attacked by several frenzied individuals.


    Under their vigorous tearing, the child was torn apart. Sally witnessed this scene and felt her stomach churn, almost vomiting. The air was filled with a strong smell of blood, and the entire supermarket turned into a hellish ce in just a few minutes. "Run, they are zombies!" The other people in the supermarket finally realized it, and countless individuals started to run towards the exit, each for themselves. Everyone wanted to leave this hellish ce as soon as possible.


    In the midst of the crowded pushing and shoving, many people were trampled to death or injured, but people didn''t care anymore; they just wanted to escape from here. However, the more they pushed each other, the slower they moved towards the supermarket''s exit. "Damn it, stop pushing! If you push more, we''ll all die here." "Move aside, get the hell out of my way!" "Help, they''reing after us."


    "Mom, Mom!"... Swearing, shouting, and crying resounded through the crowd. Sally watched this scene and suddenly realized that it was impossible to escape through the supermarket''s main entrance. Fortunately, she was far away from the crowd and temporarily not targeted by those zombies. She forced herself to calm down and turned to run towards the inside of the supermarket.


    "I need to find a ce to hide." Sally had a habit of exercising regrly, and her physical fitness was decent. She narrowly evaded several zombies that tried to pounce on her. Suddenly, she seemed to think of something.


    "Oh no, David is still inside the supermarket. He definitely doesn''t know about the situation here." Sally hurriedly ran towards the interior of the supermarket and found David in the fresh produce section.


    At this moment, David was holding a cabbage in his hand, inspecting it. Sally approached him and grabbed David''s arm. "David,e with me quickly." David looked at her curiously. Sally exined anxiously, "There are... uh, zombies outside. You know about the rumors online recently, right? Zombies have really appeared!"


    David looked at her in astonishment. Of course, he wasn''t surprised by the zombies. He found it unbelievable that this woman''s first reaction after encountering zombies was toe back and inform him. Seeing David''s reaction, Sally thought he didn''t believe her. "I''m not joking. Zombies have really appeared. The entrance is blocked, and we need to find a ce to hide quickly."


    She tried to pull David''s hand and make hime along, but she found that David didn''t move. At this moment, a supermarket staff member not far from them copsed to the ground in pain, and their body started convulsing. Sally''s face turned pale. "Run, David! He''s turning into a zombie."


    Sally was so anxious that she was about to cry. David put down the cabbage in his hand and smiled. This woman was interesting. Even at a time like this, she didn''t abandon David and try to save herself alone. David extended his hand, and apletely ck alloybat knife appeared in his hand. He nced at Sally indifferently. "Follow me closely."

 Chapter 17 Lose Ones Sanity

    ?Sally was stunned as she watched the sword suddenly appear in David''s hand. Just a moment ago, she saw that David had nothing in his hand. In an instant, David seemed to perform a magic trick and pulled out a ck long sword from somewhere. Meanwhile, the employee who had been twitching on the ground had now managed to get up, with obvious signs of zombification on his face. Seeing the low-level zombie in front of him, David felt a familiar sensation returning. He had dealt with zombies every day in his previous life during the apocalypse, and he had grown ustomed to not seeing zombies for a while.


    After summoning the alloy sword, David then summoned his armor. Just like countless times before, he took out the armor from his storage space and neatly put it on. Sally was already baffled by the appearance of the sword in David''s hand, and now he suddenly had aplete set of ck armor on him, tightly wrapped. Sally was filled with shock in her eyes. She had thought David was just an ordinary office worker, but now she couldn''t understand the man in front of her at all. With the armor in ce, David approached the zombie, which was just a low-level one.


    At this stage, zombies were the weakest. They moved rtively slowly, had no intelligence, and relied solely on instinctive behavior like wild animals. With the protection of the armor, even if David stood still and let them bite, they wouldn''t be able to break through his defenses. The current zombies had not yet evolved sharp teeth and fangs. The only noteworthy aspect about them was their strength, which far surpassed that of ordinary humans. Perhaps due to the release of bodily restrictions by the virus parasitizing their brains, these zombies often exhibited strength several times greater than their former selves.


    "Roar!" The zombie in front of David let out a low roar and charged towards him. David raised his sword and performed a swift sh. The alloy sword, a product of the system, had a sharp de that effortlessly sliced through the zombie''s neck. The zombie''s head fell to the ground, and its body copsed. Destroying the central nervous system was the only way to kill a zombie, and a headshot was the most effective method.


    However, human skulls are rtively hard, and there is a risk of weapons getting stuck, so decapitation is also a good choice as it quickly renders the zombie incapacitated. Nevertheless, a decapitated zombie can still bite for about a minute. Just make sure not to get bitten by the severed head. After killing the zombie, David continued forward with the sword in hand. He was currently in the fresh produce area of the supermarket, deep inside. The chaos that urred at the supermarket entrance had attracted most of the people there, so there weren''t many zombies where he was. After taking a few steps, David noticed that Sally was still standing there, dazed.


    He furrowed his brow. "What are you doing? Hurry up and follow me." Sally snapped out of her trance and nodded as if awakening from a dream. "Oh, right." Just a moment ago, David effortlessly killed a zombie with his swift sword strike. Although it seemed effortless, his movements were incredibly fast, far beyond what an ordinary person could achieve. Sally couldn''t even clearly see his actions.


    Sally quickly realized that David was incredibly powerful, and following him closely might be her only chance of survival. A man was crouched on the ground with a woman who was convulsing violently, her arm covered in blood from a recent zombie bite. The man, covered in bloodstains, frantically pulled out his phone, seemingly attempting to make a call.


    Suddenly, the woman sat up abruptly and lunged at the man beside her. The man screamed in terror, dropping his phone to the ground. As the woman was about to bite his neck, the man used his arm to shield himself. She bit down on his arm, tearing off arge piece of flesh.


    "Ah!" The man let out a cry of pain. "What''s wrong with you, honey? It''s me!" The man couldn''t understand why his wife, whom he had been with day and night, had suddenly turned into this horrifying creature. After swallowing the flesh in her mouth, the woman opened her mouth again, ready to bite the man. At that moment, a sh of a de passed between the woman''s neck.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    A momentter, a smooth and clean cut appeared on the woman''s neck, blood gushing out. Her head fell into the man''s arms. "Ah, you... you killed my wife..." The man looked at David with bloodshot eyes. David looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Can''t you see that she turned into a zombie?" The man gritted his teeth, filled with hatred.


    "She... she was just sick. Why did you kill her? Why..." "Give me back my wife!" The man, who had lost his wife, lost his sanity for a moment and charged at David. But in David''s eyes, the man''s movements seemed slow-motion.


    He raised his alloy warde and swung it, effortlessly cutting the man in half. After dealing with the man in front of him, David expressionlessly waved his de, flinging off the bloodstains.


    "David..." Sally''s face turned pale, her voice trembling like a mosquito. Her legs and hands were trembling slightly. While Sally could understand David killing zombies, he had just killed a living person. Although Sally knew that the man had been bitten and would eventually turn into a zombie, as someone living in a society governed by the rule ofw, she found it difficult to ept the act of killing. Moreover, David''s indifferent expression frightened her. Killing seemed insignificant to him. Sally, after all, was an ordinary woman living in peacetime, never having witnessed such a scene. In this moment, the oppressive feeling brought upon her by this killing-machine-like man was not much less than that of the zombies.


    "What is it?" David nced at Sally indifferently.


    In that instant when Sally was about to speak up, David had already made up his mind. If she had any objections, he would not hesitate to leave her behind. Sally swallowed her saliva, her eyes slightly reddened, and her whole body trembled like a sieve, clearly disying her immense fear.


    However, it was unclear how much of her fear was from the zombies . Sally lowered her head, too afraid to look into David''s eyes, and shook her head slightly. "It''s nothing."


    David smiled, relieved that she was a clever woman, saving him the trouble. He didn''t say anything and continued walking towards the entrance of the supermarket.


    asionally missing content, please report errors in time.

 Chapter 18 Living Hell

    ?David conducted a thorough search of the supermarket, making sure not to miss any zombies hiding in corners. Sally followed behind him, trembling with fear, and she realized that within just a few minutes, there were almost no living people left in the supermarket.


    The man they encountered earlier seemed to be thest survivor in the entire supermarket. David wasn''t surprised by this. That''s the terrifying nature of the zombie virus¡ªit spreads incredibly fast. Some estimates suggested that after just one month of the virus outbreak, only around 20% of the world''s poption remained.


    It was an exaggerated number, and it would continue to increase over time. David skillfully killed the zombies in the supermarket, each strike efficient, precise, and deadly. There were no shy moves, just simple and swift kills. Soon, David and Sally reached the corner of the supermarket entrance. Both of them could smell the thick scent of blood in the air.


    As they turned the corner, David looked toward the supermarket entrance. Even though David had survived in the apocalypse for many years, he couldn''t help but furrow his brow at the scene before him. The entrance was piled with countless corpses, blood flowing like rivers, staining the ground red. Limbs, organs, and intestines were scattered everywhere.


    Dozens of zombies were "feeding," asionally turning the bodies into new zombies. They joined the ranks of the undead, dragging their maimed bodies. At first nce, there were no living people left at the supermarket entrance. It seemed that only a few lucky ones had managed to escape. But even if they escaped the supermarket, there were countless zombies waiting for them outside. "Wow!"


    Sally couldn''t hold it any longer and vomited. Even after emptying her stomach, she continued to dry heave. The zombies that were feeding were attracted by themotion caused by David. They abandoned their "food" and roared as they charged toward David.


    David showed no fear. He wielded his alloy sword and approached, killing one zombie after another as easily as cutting melons and vegetables. With each swing, a zombie fell. But the number of zombies was still too high. One zombie grabbed David from the side and bit his shoulder. However, David''s armor was a heavily customized piece, and human teeth posed no threat to it.


    The zombie''s bite had no effect and instead shattered its own tooth. While this zombie held onto David, others took the opportunity to swarm and grab his body. "David!" Sally eximed. She looked around, grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher, and wanted toe to David''s aid.


    But she quickly realized that David remained motionless, as steady as a rock. It was the powerful physical enhancement brought by the gic modification serum. Although surrounded by zombies, he showed no panic whatsoever, let alone the fact that these zombies couldn''t break through his defenses.


    David grabbed one of the zombies behind him and threw it over his shoulder, mming it hard onto the ground. Then, he stomped on the zombie''s head, crushing itpletely. Red and white substances sprayed out, blossoming into a bloody flower on the floor. Afterwards, David grabbed another zombie that had been clinging to his body and threw it away like a chick, knocking over a pile of zombies in the process.


    David turned his head and shouted to Sally, "Don''te over, take care of yourself." Sally watched as David effortlessly threw the over 100-pound zombie away, almost dumbfounded. Was this truly the strength of a human?<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After dealing with the zombies surrounding him, David continued his pursuit, swinging his alloy sword relentlessly. Like cutting wheat, the zombies fell one after another. Within just a few minutes, dozens of zombies were quickly eliminated by David. After handling everything, David walked to the supermarket entrance and nced outside.


    The streets were filled with fleeing crowds and stranded vehicles. Faint flickers of fire could be seen in the distance¡ªoverall, it was a scene of chaos. David closed the supermarket door to prevent other zombies from following them. "Aren''t we going outside?" Sally''s voice came from a distance. David shook his head. "Go outside? It''s not any better out there now, and I have other things to do."


    David walked to a zombie''s corpse and pressed the tip of his alloy sword against its forehead. As the de sliced through the skin, a white crystal appeared beneath it. "I didn''t expect even these stage zombies to have mutant crystals."


    David used the tip of his sword to pick out the crystal and carefully examined it in his hand. "No mistake, this is a mutant crystal, just a bit smaller." Some zombies and mutant creatures generate these crystals after undergoing mutations. Awakened individuals with special abilities can enhance their own powers by absorbing the energy from these crystals.


    The more powerful the zombie or mutant creature, the stronger the energy contained within the crystal. However, these crystals have no effect on ordinary people. Well, it''s not entirely urate to say they have no effect. If an ordinary person were to directly consume a mutant crystal, they could strengthen their physique and even have a minuscule chance of bing an awakened individual.


    But in doing so, the greater likelihood is that they would mutate into a zombie, and the process is excruciatingly painful. Therefore, it''s an extremely high-risk approach. So, it''s not a problem to say that mutant crystals have no effect on ordinary people. This post-apocalyptic world is just that unfair to ordinary people.


    In his previous life, David had also collected many mutant crystals, but he never attempted to consume them. Usually, he would sell these crystals to those awakened individuals in exchange for resources. However, there were also some unscrupulous awakened individuals who would simply snatch the crystals without giving anypensation. David had no way to deal with such matters, as awakened individuals were not someone he could afford to offend.


    David waved his hand at Sally. "Come here." Sally walked slowly to David''s side, unsure of what he was going to do. David handed her the alloy sword in his hand and then shook the mutant crystal in his hand. "Open the foreheads of these zombies, collect these crystals, and be quick about it."


    Sally was momentarily stunned. "Me?" David coldly said, "What''s the matter, unwilling?" Sally hesitated for a moment, lowered her head, and fell silent. After a brief silence, she picked up the knife and started searching for the crystals on the corpses scattered on the ground.


    At that moment, a voice rang in their ears, "Emergency notice, attention please!" Both of them were drawn to the voice on the television and looked up.

 Chapter 19 Mutant Crystals

    ?"Emergency notice: An unknown virus has erupted globally. Infected individuals experience brain death within a few minutes and subsequently the central nervous system is controlled by the virus, turning them into walking dead. The underlying mechanism is currently unknown. Residents are advised to stay indoors, close doors and windows, and await rescue."


    At the entrance of the supermarket where there was no signal, a sudden news broadcast started ying on the television. The news showed the disaster situation in various countries around the world. After watching the news, Sally realized that SJ City was not the only ce where the virus had erupted. Almost simultaneously, the catastrophe had struck worldwide, plunging all countries into paralysis due to the endless zombies.


    At this moment, Sally finally realized the severity of the situation. "Stop watching and get to work," David said to Sally. Sally hesitated and walked over to a corpse of a zombie. When she cut open the zombie''s forehead with a knife, she saw a translucent crystal shimmering beneath the skin.


    She reached out her hand, intending to remove the crystal. As soon as her fingers touched the zombie''s skin, a sticky sensation spread between her fingertips. There seemed to be no blood under the crystal-filled skin, only ayer of fatty tissue enveloping it. "Ugh!"


    Sally couldn''t help but vomit again while kneeling on the ground. However, this time her stomach was empty, and she could only dry heave. After vomiting, Sally turned to look at David beside her, her eyes filled with a plea. David stood there, expressionless, without any intention of helping.


    Somehow, Sally felt a wave of resentment surging up, and two clear tears slid down her cheeks. She had always been the privileged daughter of her family, never having done any kind of work like this. David spoke, "If you can''t do it, forget it, don''t force yourself." After saying that, David ignored her, turned around, and headed back into the supermarket.


    Sally watched David''s departing figure, tears streaming down her face uncontrobly. Crying, she picked up the alloy war knife and continued to scalp the zombies. Sally was not an ordinary person; she could manage apany and had some abilities herself. She was an intelligent person and understood the meaning behind David''s words.


    She had just realized that with David''s abilities, he could have saved most of the people if he had acted earlier. But David didn''t rush to take action, indicating that he didn''t care about the life or death of these people. Moreover, David had been stockpiling supplies in the supermarket recently; he must know something.


    If Sally hadn''t gone back to remind David, she would probably have already be one of those zombies. If she wanted to continue staying by David''s side, she had to prove her worth. The outside was now filled with zombies, and she had no chance of surviving on her own. Moreover, her parents were far away in another country and couldn''t provide any help. David was the only person she could rely on now.


    As for David, he began to sweep through all the goods in the supermarket. Anything on the shelves, David stored it all in his storage space. Even misceneous items like rice cookers, vacuum cleaners, dishcloths, and the like, he threw them all into the storage space.


    With nearly unlimited capacity in the space, even with a hundred thousand times the boost, the supplies in this supermarket couldn''t fill the entire storage space. Soon, the items on the supermarket shelves werepletely cleared by David.


    Then David went to the fresh produce section of the supermarket and packed all the vegetables, chicken, duck, fish, and other items into the storage space,David''s efficiency was high.


    [Congrattions, you have obtained one cabbage, with a critical hit multiplier of 100,000!]


    [Congrattions, you have obtained 100,000 cabbages!]


    [Congrattions, you have obtained one pound of pork, with a critical hit multiplier of 100,000!]


    [Congrattions, you have obtained 100,000 pounds of pork!]...


    The system''s notifications kepting, and the critical hit multiplier of 100,000 caused the supplies in David''s storage space to rapidly skyrocket.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Soon, David had swept away all the useful supplies in the supermarket. It took him less than half an hour to aplish everything. After storing the supplies in his space, David returned to the entrance of the supermarket.


    Sally was still busy collecting mutant crystals. Her eyes were red and swollen, indicating that she had just cried a lot. "How is the collection going?" "Just a few left," Sally''s voice sounded somewhat teary and aggrieved.


    David walked over to a nearby counter, sat down, and took out a pack of biscuits and a bottle of water to replenish his stamina. After the intense battle and gathering of supplies earlier, he had consumed a lot of energy.


    A few minutester, Sally approached David and returned the alloybat knife to him. Then she carefully ced dozens of mutant crystals on the counter from her pocket. "They are all here."


    David counted them, and there were a total of 35. These primary-level mutant crystals were not particrly rare in the post-apocalyptic world.


    After all, ordinary zombies could be killed even by slightly stronger ordinary people. However, not every zombie could produce crystals inside their bodies. Interestingly, zombies that could produce crystals inside their bodies usually had the chance to evolve into higher-level zombies.


    On the other hand, zombies that did not produce crystals inside their bodies were likely to remain ordinary zombies in theter stages. "Well done," David nodded and collected all 35 mutant crystals into his storage space.


    [Congrattions, you have obtained 35 mutant crystals, with a critical hit multiplier of 100,000!]


    [Congrattions, you have obtained 3.5 million mutant crystals!]


    David was astonished. Mutant crystals could also have critical hits? He had originally thought that such important resources would be restricted by the system, but he didn''t expect that even mutant crystals could have a critical hit multiplier of 100,000. In other words, he now had 3.5 million mutant crystals!


    David swallowed his saliva. Even the most powerful esper in his past life, in the city of SJ, never had such arge number of mutant crystals. "It''s a pity that these are the lowest-level crystals with limited effects. How great it would be to have higher-level crystals."


    Nevertheless, the harvest of so many crystals at once made David feel quite satisfied. He walked over to Sally and took out arge bottle of water and a bar of soap from his space. "Wash your hands."


    Sally took the soap and water, her facial expression already somewhat numb. David knew that experiencing so many things in just one day was indeed not easy for a girl. However, with time, she would gradually get used to it.


    He asked Sally, "Are you hungry?" Sally shook her head, but quickly nodded. Although she had no appetite at the moment, her stomach was indeed empty.


    David retrieved some food and drinks from his storage space and handed them to her. He checked his watch. "Rest for half an hour, and then we''ll set off." Sally responded with a soft "okay" and obediently nodded. She didn''t ask where they were going; right now, she just wanted to stay by David''s side.

 Chapter 20 Obtaining Mutated Crystals

    ?"Mom, how are things over there? Are you and Dad okay..." Taking advantage of a break, Sally made a phone call to her parents who were far away in another country. Although the world was currently engulfed in a zombie crisis,municationworks were still functioning for the time being, and phones and the inte were still essible.


    "Good to hear you''re okay. Take care of yourselves." Sally''s eyes became red, and her voice choked up. Although she learned that her parents were temporarily safe, the severity of the disaster weighed heavily on her, especially considering her parents'' advanced age.


    The possibility of never seeing her parents again made Sally feel suffocated. "Yeah, I''ll take good care of myself. I''m with my friends, and it''s safe here." After chatting with her parents for a while, Sally wiped away her tears and reluctantly hung up the phone.


    At that moment, David, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened his eyes. He nced at his watch and realized that Sally''s phone call hadsted for 36 minutes. However, David didn''t rush her; Sally''s actions had impressed him, and he had gained a certain level of approval for her.


    David nned to establish his own base in the near future. Originally, his initial n was to recruit individuals with supernatural abilities and various technical talents. In theory, ordinary people like Sally were not his top priority. However, Sally''s notification about the outbreak of zombies made David ultimately decide to bring her along.


    Moreover, Sally seemed to have good capability and adapted quickly. Plus, considering that Sally was apany owner, she had some management experience. In the future, when David establishes his base, her management skills mighte in handy.


    "Are you ready? If you are, we''ll set off." David asked Sally as she put away her phone.


    Sally looked at David apologetically and said, "Sorry for the dy. I''m ready now." David waved his hand, indicating that it was alright. Suddenly, Sally thought of something and curiously asked David, "By the way, don''t you want to call your family?"


    David paused and said, "I don''t have a family." Sally realized she had said something wrong and quickly apologized, "Ah... I''m sorry, I shouldn''t have asked." She regretted it, ming herself for being nosy.


    However, David''s expression didn''t seem to change much. "It''s fine, let''s go." David didn''t pay much attention to it. He stood up and walked toward the interior of the supermarket.


    Sally found it increasingly difficult to understand David. When he killed people, he had a cold and ruthless demeanor, like a bloodthirsty executioner. But when she talked to him, he seemed like a silent and reserved boy next door. Suddenly, Sally realized that David seemed to be heading in the wrong direction. She hurriedly followed him. "David, aren''t we going out through the main entrance?"


    David shook his head. "No, we''re going to the underground parking lot." Before the outbreak, David had already scouted this supermarket several times.


    He had nned the escape routes in the supermarket several times to ensure that he could escape unharmed even in the worst-case scenario. There was a freight elevator in the back of the supermarket that directly led to the underground parking lot of the mall. Normally, only supermarket employees knew about this freight elevator.


    David had rented a car and parked it in the underground parking lot of the mall several days ago. With zombies roaming outside, it was very dangerous to rely on just their legs to escape. Although he was confident in facing dozens of zombies at once, as the saying goes, many ants can bite an elephant. If he identally got surrounded by a horde, even with armor and gic potions, his chances of survival would be slim.


    When David brought Sally to the freight elevator in the back of the supermarket, Sally became even more convinced of her thoughts. David must know something to have made such detailed ns. However, Sally didn''t inquire further; everyone has their own secrets, and she wouldn''t actively ask unless David revealed them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As David pressed the elevator button, in the instant the doors opened, a zombie in work clothes suddenly burst out of the elevator and lunged at David. Sally was startled and let out a scream.


    David reacted swiftly, dodging the zombie''s attack with a sidestep, and then swiftly beheaded it with a knife. Carving open the zombie''s forehead revealed a perfectly formed mutated crystal inside.


    David stored the crystal in his storage space, and the system''s prompt sounded:


    [You have obtained one mutated crystal, critical strike effect increased by 100,000 times!]


    [Congrattions, you have obtained 100,000 mutated crystals!]


    One crystal went into the bag and instantly turned into 100,000 crystal cores, which was incredibly satisfying. The only regret was that the mutated crystal was too small, and its energy content was not substantial. "It looks like I need to collect more mutated crystals during these three days, and it would be even better if I can find advanced ones." As time goes by, zombies will continue to evolve.


    Zombies several yearster, even the most ordinary ones, are in an entirely different leaguepared to the present. As for mutated zombies after evolution, ordinary people are even less likely to be their match, only those with supernatural abilities can deal with them.


    Some zombies and mutant beasts that possess elemental powers also have mutated crystals with special colors. For example, the crystal of the fire element is red, and it provides additional benefits to fire-based ability users.


    They can obtain more energy from the crystals and even have a certain probability ofprehending the elemental skills possessed by the former owner. But no matter what, even these lower-quality mutated crystals are valuable in the post-apocalyptic world.


    David heard that some supernatural abilities rted to forging and crafting require mutated crystals to create special weapons and items. So, it''s definitely not a problem to stock up on a few mutated crystals. David retrieved his knife into the storage space and took the elevator down to the underground parking lot with Sally.


    The underground parking lot was very quiet, and the sound of David and Sally''s footsteps seemed particrly clear in this silent environment. The somewhat oppressive atmosphere made Sally feel a bit scared, and she instinctively moved closer to David. Only by leaning against David could she gain a sense of security.


    Soon, David found his car parked in the underground parking lot. It was a sturdy Jeep Wrangler with a high chassis, perfect for off-roading. Since David had a storage space, he didn''t need a vehicle that could carry a lot of goods; it just needed to be sufficiently sturdy.


    Just as the two were getting ready to get in the car, suddenly, David heard amotion of footsteps in the distance. "Hey, wait for us, young man!" David turned his head and saw five young people in work uniforms running towards them.

 Chapter 21 A Single Stab Still Does The Trick

    ?The five young men were all males, dressed in chef and waiter uniforms. The leader, a man in his thirties with a greasy chef''s uniform, said, "Brother, can you take us with you? We''re trapped here without a car and it''s too dangerous to go out."


    These men clearly knew about the situation outside, which is why they were hiding here. When they saw Sally''s appearance, their eyes couldn''t help but be drawn to her. It was inevitable, given Sally''s outstanding looks and figure. The chef pulled out a cigarette and offered it to David. "Brother, it''s chaotic outside now. Take us with you so that we can have some support on the road."


    David firmly refused. "No need. I''m going to pick someone upter, and this car can''t fit so many people. You guys figure it out on your own." As soon as David said that, the faces of those men instantly changed.


    The chef''s hand, holding the cigarette, froze in mid-air, and his expression turned sour. "Young man, don''t be too selfish. This car is so big, it can at least fit five more people." The chef looked at Sally and said, "Miss, please persuade this young man. We can''t just ignore others in need."


    Sally looked away and didn''t say anything. David smiled and said, "What''s it to you how many people can fit?We''re not familiar?" He said to Sally, "Get in the car."


    Sally obediently walked to the passenger side, opened the door, and got in the car. Seeing that the two of them were about to leave, the group became anxious. One of the young waiters pulled out a kitchen knife from somewhere. "Damn it, why are we wasting time talking to him? Let''s just take his car. With so many of us, are we afraid of one person?"


    He walked up to David, pointing the kitchen knife at him as he stood by the car door. "Kid, you asked for this. We could have left together, but you refused. Now, step aside and leave the keys and that woman, or I''ll kill you."


    David sighed. He didn''t want to resort to violence, but he regretted wasting his breath on these people. That''s how it was in the apocalypse--limited resources made people fight to the death over anything.


    "Hey, are you pretending not to hear me?" The waiter''s emotions grew more agitated. He raised the kitchen knife, ready to strike. Suddenly, the waiter''s face filled with terror as he noticed a long knife in David''s hand, appearing out of nowhere.


    David swung his hand swiftly and decisively. The man''s hand holding the knife was instantly severed, and his arm, along with the knife, fell to the ground, blood gushing out. "Ah! My hand!" The waiter let out a horrified scream. It all happened too fast, and the other chefs and waiters behind him paled in fear.


    The waiter, who had just been furious moments ago, now wore an expression of pure terror. He looked at David, and their eyes met. From David''s eyes, he saw a disregard for life and a chilling intent to kill.


    In that instant, he felt like he had plunged into an icy abyss, as if the person before him was the god of death emerging from a mountain of corpses. Before the waiter could even react, he saw a figure as fast as lightning sh by.


    In the blink of an eye, a knife urately stabbed into his heart. The waiter looked at David, pale-faced, as if he was looking at a monster.


    David pulled out the knife, and the waiter immediately copsed like a deted balloon, falling to the ground. "Someone''s been killed!" "Runing!" Finally, the remaining men reacted and scattered in different directions, fleeing for their lives.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Just as I thought, a direct stab did the trick," David thought to himself. He sheathed his alloybat knife and got into his car. His next destination was the nearby food street where Arnold''s barbecue restaurant was located. If he guessed correctly, Arnold and his wife should be hiding in the store.


    At this stage, the destructive power of the zombies was limited. As long as they locked the doors, the zombies wouldn''t pose any threat to them. Moreover, the food street mainly operated during the night market, so there weren''t many people around during the day. Therefore, Arnold and the others were rtively safe there.


    David started the vehicle and headed towards the food street... Xiangshan Food Street.


    Arnold anxiously held his phone, making a call. Besides his wife Sophie, there were two young men and women beside him. Arnold sighed, "It''s over, the emergency line is unreachable. We''re trapped here."


    The young man beside Arnold browsed the news on his phone, frowning. He sighed and said, "Arnold, ording to what I read online, this situation seems to be serious. It''s not just here, but zombies have erupted worldwide."


    Arnold nodded and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, but quickly realized that there were two women with them and put the cigarettes back. He paced back and forth in the room, unable to think of a solution for a while.


    "Right now, the entire SJ city is surely in chaos. There probably aren''t any spare police forces to rescue us." Everyone had worried expressions. If they didn''t receive help in time, they would be trapped here and eventually die. They didn''t dare to go out now. They had just witnessed a group of zombies brutally biting a pedestrian to death, a scene of utter misery.


    Arnold walked to the rolling shutter door and looked outside through the window gap. The few zombies were still wandering the street. He reassured everyone, "There aren''t many zombies here. Maybe if we wait a bit longer, they will leave on their own."


    Just then, they suddenly heard the roaring sound of an engine. They crowded around the window and saw an off-road vehicle forcefully crashing into the tables and chairs set up on the food street, sending the wandering zombies flying. The off-road vehicle raced to the other end of the street, executed a drift, and then turned around, charging at the remaining zombies once again. Under the violent impact of the off-road vehicle, the zombies either died instantly or lost their mobility.


    Arnold and the others were astonished. Just as they were curious about the driver of the vehicle, they saw the off-road vehicle heading towards their store. Finally, the off-road vehicle came to a stop in front of Arnold''s store.


    The car door opened, and a young, handsome man stepped out. It was David. "David! It''s you!" Arnold instantly recognized David and eximed in surprise.


    David smiled at him. "Arnold, I''vee to pick up the goods."

 Chapter 22 Hooligan

    ?Arnold was initially taken aback but then remembered that David had ced an order for barbecue seasoning and charcoal with him recently. Zoe hadined before that if it weren''t for David''s order, they wouldn''t have needed toe to the store today and wouldn''t be trapped there.


    Surprisingly, David showed up to collect the goods even in this situation, leaving Arnold a bit bewildered. Arnold opened the door and said with a smile, "David, my friend, the items are here. It''s dangerous outside, soe in first." At this moment, Sally also got out of the car and stood beside David. The others noticed the stunning beauty behind David.


    The young man behind Arnold couldn''t help but stare at Sally, tantly disying his unabashed gaze. Sally frowned, feeling ufortable with his gaze.


    David also noticed the young man and furrowed his brows slightly. Somehow, he felt that this young man in front of him looked familiar. The situation in the store was different from what David had initially nned. He had only intended to bring Arnold and his wife.


    Arnold noticed that the young man''s gaze was off and quickly intervened, "David, is this your girlfriend?" Before David could speak, Sally took the initiative to greet Arnold, "Hello, I''m Sally." Without rifying the misunderstanding that she was David''s girlfriend, she intentionally left it ambiguous.


    Arnold introduced the young couple to David, saying, "David, this is Zoe, our waitress in the store. I don''t know if you remember her." David naturally remembered Zoe. It was because Zoe had been harassed by a customer that Arnold and his group got into a conflict. Arnold pointed to the young man next to Zoe and said, "This young man is Angus, Zoe''s boyfriend."


    Angus appeared to be only eighteen or neen years old, very young. He had a shaved head and a tall stature. He was wearing a tank top that revealed his muscr body, indicating that he regrly worked out. When David heard the name "Angus," a small wave of turmoil surged within him.


    No wonder this young man in front of him looked so familiar. Angus was a somewhat well-known figure in the early days of the apocalypse. However, he wasn''t an ability user but the leader of a gang of thugs. Angus was physically strong, fearless, and ruthless.


    After the apocalypse, he formed a team and rampaged throughout SJ City, burning, killing, and looting. Freed from the constraints of thew, they became increasinglywless,mitting almost every imaginable atrocity.


    David heard that they took pleasure in killing and torturing survivors. However, it seemed that this gang had made too many enemies and waster wiped out by a powerful ability user. David didn''t want to bring Zoe and Angus with him, and after recognizing Angus''s identity, he was even more reluctant to have such a person in his group.


    During the conversation with Arnold, David learned that Angus was here to find his girlfriend, Zoe. He wasn''t particrly familiar with Arnold and his wife; they just happened to be trapped there.


    David instructed Sally to move the items he ordered into the car''s trunk. Although he could have stored these items directly in his storage space, he didn''t want to reveal his abilities in front of Angus for the time being.


    Arnold quickly stepped forward to help when he saw this. "Sally, let me do it. You can take a break on the side," Arnold''s wife Sophie also hurried over to assist. After a busy moment, they finally loaded everything into the car.


    David noticed that Angus seemed to have an odd look in his eyes when looking at him. But he quickly realized that it might be because of Sally.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David had a fit and muscr build, but when he wore clothes, he didn''t appear particrly strong. He seemed a bit slim, and his facial features leaned towards a gentle and harmless look. On the other hand, Angus, with his muscr physique and numerous tattoos, had a more intimidating presence.


    David felt somewhat helpless. If it weren''t for Arnold''s presence, based on Angus''s gaze alone, David would have already sentenced him to death. Although Arnold was his good friend from a past life, they weren''t that familiar in this life.


    If David unhesitatingly killed Angus, it would likely give Arnold a negative impression of him. While David was contemting, Arnold and the others had already moved everything David needed into the car.


    After some thought, David spoke to Arnold and Sophie, "I was supposed to pay you the remaining amount, but money doesn''t hold much value in this world now. My team needs manpower, so why don''t you two join us?"


    Arnold''s face immediately lit up with joy. It was exactly what he had been hoping for, as he was unsure how to leave this ce. However, Zoe and Angus''s expressions changed. From David''s words, it seemed that he had no intention of bringing the two of them along.


    Arnold also realized this and looked at Zoe and Angus. Although he wasn''t particrly close to Angus, Zoe was his employee, and after spending so much time with Arnold and his wife, they had developed some feelings for her. He would certainly feel guilty if he left Zoe behind like this.


    He looked at David with a pleading expression, and even his way of addressing him changed. "Um, David, can you bring Zoe and them along too?" David sighed inwardly. He knew it would turn out this way.


    Arnold was a warm-hearted person with a kind nature. It was evident from the previous life when he gave David the chance to survive. David didn''t want to trouble his brother from the previous life, with whom he had a close bond.


    "Well, let''s all go together. There''s strength in numbers, and we can take care of each other," David said, not in a hurry to deal with Angus. He had ways to expose Angus''s true nature. Ambitious individuals like Angus couldn''t hide it for long.


    Arnold and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief. They took David''s quick agreement as a misunderstanding of his earlier intentions. Angus''s gaze was erratic, asionally ncing at Sally, and it was unclear what he was thinking.


    After David and the others got into the car, David drove towards the residential area where he lived. He deliberately chose a road with fewer pedestrians. Nevertheless, they still encountered numerous crazed zombies running on the road. Panicked pedestrians were fleeing on both sides of the road, and there were corpses and blood everywhere, making one''s heart race with fear.


    Zoe and Sophie looked pale as they watched the situation outside the car window. asionally, reckless zombies charged towards the vehicle but were sent flying by David, sttering blood everywhere, causing both women to scream. Sally, sitting in the passenger seat, didn''t react much

 Chapter 23 Anguss Strength

    ?David drove the off-road vehicle recklessly, crashing through obstacles along the way. Even when faced with zombies blocking the path, he didn''t slow down and instead elerated to ram through them. Countless zombies foolishly approached, only to be violently thrown away by David''s aggressive driving.


    David knew he couldn''t slow down. If the vehicle got surrounded and broke down, it would be even more dangerous. The windshield quickly became sttered with blood. Although David''s intense driving terrified the passengers, he felt steady and ustomed to it. After all, in the apocalypse, speed limits and traffic lights were irrelevant.


    David didn''t have a driver''s license. He learned to drive after the apocalypse began. As the vehicle passed through the city center, the number of zombies decreased. The people in the car breathed a sigh of relief.


    Angus yed with a sheet metal hammer he found near Arnold''s shop, thinking to himself. He had picked up the long-handled sheet metal hammer as a weapon from a nearby auto repair shop.


    Angus looked at Sally, who sat in the front passenger seat, and discreetly licked his lips. His eyes flickered, and after a moment of contemtion, Angus asked, "Sally, were you a celebrity before? I think I''ve seen you on TV."


    Sally hesitated for a moment and replied, "No, I run a clothing business."


    Angusughed, "Then I must have mistaken you. I didn''t expect you, Sally, to be so beautiful and also business-savvy. Truly talented and attractive."


    Sally felt a bit embarrassed. "It''s just a small business."


    Angus continued, "David is really lucky to have such a beautiful and capable girlfriend." Sally''s face blushed instantly as she discreetly nced at David beside her. But David didn''t respond or show any expression, leaving Sally slightly disappointed.


    Angus noticed that David ignored him, feeling a bit annoyed. A barely noticeable hint of irritation shed in Angus'' eyes. Zoe''s expression also became strange. She felt something was off with Angus''s words, but she couldn''t pinpoint what. She nced at Angus with a trace of resentment, but Angus ignored her.


    For a while, the atmosphere in the car became heavy, and everyone fell into silence. Arnold held Sophie''s hand, anxiously gazing out the window, lost in thought.


    After about an hour, David sessfully drove the car back to his residentialplex. The gate of theplex was wide open, and the security booth was abandoned. Bloodstains were scattered around, but there were no signs of zombies.


    David drove the car into the underground parking garage. Perhaps due to the low poption in David''s residentialplex, there were no traces of zombies in the underground parking garage. David found a spot close to the building entrance and parked the car.


    Once everyone got out of the vehicle, they felt nervous again without the protection of the car. They anxiously looked around, afraid that a zombie might suddenly emerge from the shadows. "Let''s take the stairs," David suggested.


    If something happened to the elevator and they got trapped inside, it would be troublesome. At this time, there was no one who woulde to their rescue. "I''ll lead the way. I''ve had some training, and I can handle zombies if we encounter any," Angus volunteered, eager to take the lead. David smiled faintly, stepped aside, and gestured for Angus to go ahead.


    Angus swaggered past David and walked ahead. As he passed by David, he lightly bumped his shoulder against David''s chest, whether intentionally or unintentionally.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    With his muscr body and a powerful sheet metal hammer in hand, he looked the part. David knew that Angus was trying to demonstrate his strength and subtly reinforce his position within the team.


    Over time, Angus could potentially take over David''s leadership position in the team. Angus was indeed a natural-born leader. Although David knew that Angus probably didn''t understand power struggles, his actions were driven by vanity.


    However, David had to admit that Angus had the qualities of a leader. David and Sally both lived on the 5th floor, with their rooms across from each other. They made their way upstairs, and fortunately, the hallway was well lit, avoiding excessive fear. Just as they reached the corner of the 2nd floor, about to reach the 3rd floor, they suddenly heard a low growl.


    Suddenly, a zombie appeared in the hallway on the 2nd floor and rushed towards them. The zombie was wearing a ck dress, likely a young woman in her former life. Angus tightened his grip on the sheet metal hammer, let out a roar, and charged forward. He raised the hammer and struck the zombie''s head with a powerful blow.


    The zombie,cking intelligence, didn''t dodge the iron hammer and lunged straight at Angus. "Bang!" With a crisp sound, the hammer smashed fiercely into the zombie''s head, and it fell to the ground, blood staining the floor.


    Angus''s hands and body trembled violently. Under the influence of adrenaline, his heart raced, and his mind went nk. "Is it... dead?" He looked at the motionless zombie on the ground, then turned to look at the others. Angus''s expression gradually changed from nervousness to triumph.


    "Nice job, Angus. I didn''t expect you to be so capable. Your well-built physique wasn''t for nothing," Arnold praised.


    Angus chuckled. "Hehe, thanks for thepliment, Arnold. This zombie wasn''t much of a challenge. Since you were in the military, I bet you could handle it easily too."


    Arnold smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he couldn''t do it. Angus''s gaze turned to David, seemingly with a hint of provocation. David wasn''t surprised by this. After all, Angus was a local boss. If he didn''t have this level of ability, he wouldn''t be a gang leader.


    Moreover, the current zombies weren''t particrly strong, and ordinary people could easily kill them as long as they overcame their fear. Sophie also praised, "Angus, you''re really strong. With you protecting Zoe, she''ll feel safe."


    Zoe also looked at Angus with admiring eyes, which made Angus feel gratified. His face showed even more pride, and he confidently said, "These zombies don''t seem as terrifying as we thought. Everyone, rest assured, I''ll protect you all."


    Angus unintentionally nced at Sally but was disappointed by her indifferent expression. Sally was curiously looking at David, who showed no intention of collecting crystallized energy.


    "Does he want to keep it a secret?" Sally didn''t say much. Since David didn''t speak, she saw no need to say anything.


    Feeling annoyed by Sally''s continuous gaze, Angus turned around and continued leading the way with the sheet metal hammer. The group proceeded smoothly and didn''t encounter any other zombies.


    This wasn''t surprising since most people stayed at home when the virus broke out. It was normal to have few zombies in the hallway. Soon, they arrived at David and Sally''s doorstep.

 Chapter 24 There Are A Lot Of Supplies Stockpiled

    ?"We''re here. This is mine and Sally''s home," David pointed to the two doors in the hallway and said to everyone. The building they lived in had four units, with Sally and David''s house being opposite to each other, while the other two households were at the other end of the corridor.


    David walked up to his own door, took out the key, and opened it. In an instant as he opened the door, he swiftly retrieved arge amount of supplies from the storage space and piled them up in the room. All of this was done silently, without anyone noticing.


    David didn''t want to reveal his abilities in front of Angus for the time being, so he summoned the supplies beforehand, avoiding the need to exin their sourceter. Moreover, David had other intentions for summoning these supplies.


    After opening the door, David said to Arnold and the others, "This is my home. You four can stay here temporarily, and I''ll stay at Sally''s ce." Arnold and Sophie quickly expressed their gratitude, but Angus furrowed his brow. He said to David, "There are two sets of rooms for the six of us, and you two are upying one set while the four of us are squeezed into the other. That doesn''t seem quite fair."


    David''s expression turned slightly cold. He knew that Angus was deliberately causing trouble. Angus probably thought that David was inferior to him and was starting to push his boundaries. He just didn''t expect Angus to lose his patience so quickly.


    David took two steps forward, coldly staring at Angus with a calm tone that carried a hint of chill. "There''s nothing inappropriate about it. This is mine and Sally''s house, and I''ll live however I want. If you don''t like it, you can find your own ce."


    Somehow, Angus found himself hesitating to meet David''s gaze directly. He couldn''t quite exin why, but David''s eyes were not the fierce and menacing type. His gaze was calm like water, yet it gave off an intimidating sense of danger, sending shivers down one''s spine.


    For a moment, Angus doubted if he had misjudged David. David''s tall and slender figure didn''t resemble someone strong and formidable. When Angus first saw David, he was confident that he could take on three Davids single-handedly. But at this moment, for some reason, he was reluctant to meet David''s eyes directly.


    Seeing the tension between the two, Arnold quickly intervened to defuse the situation. "Angus, you''re in the wrong here. This is David''s house, and he''s letting us stay. We should be grateful."


    Arnold apologized to David with a smile. "David, sorry about Angus. He didn''t mean it that way. He''s just a hotheaded young guy. Don''t take it to heart."


    Arnold turned to Angus and said, "How about this, Angus? Sophie and I will take the secondary bedroom, and you can share the master bedroom with Zoe. How does that sound?"


    Angus snorted coldly. "It''s just a run-down house. What''s so special about it?" Angus lifted a hammer and walked to the other end of the corridor, knocking on a door. "Hey! Is anyone there? Speak up! I''ming in." After waiting a few seconds with no response, Angus directly swung the hammer at the door lock.


    Angus continued hammering on the door, eventually breaking it open. Arnold and the others exchanged nces. Angus walked in casually, and after about ten seconds, he stood at the door and shouted to Zoe, "Zoe,e over here. There''s no one inside, so we''ll stay here." Then, Angus showed a disdainful expression towards David. "See that? It''s not difficult to find a ce to live in this building. You can keep your own house."


    Zoe made an apologetic expression towards Arnold and Sophie, then she hurriedly went over to Angus. Angus pulled Zoe over and mmed the door shut.


    Arnold awkwardly smiled at David and said, "That''s just how he is. He''s a bit hot-tempered, but he''s not a bad person. Don''t mind him, David. I''ll talk to himter."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David simply said, "It''s fine." He didn''t even consider Angus worth paying attention to. However, he felt a bit regretful. Originally, he summoned those supplies in the room to tempt Angus. He didn''t expect Angus to be so impulsive and choose a room for himself, which went beyond David''s n.


    Angus was just too eager. He wanted to be the most influential person in the team as soon as possible. That''s why he felt dissatisfied when David suggested that the four of them stay together.


    In David''s mind, he made an assessment of Angus: Although Angus had some strength, his thinking was average, and he acted too impulsively. He couldn''t hide his thoughts at all. Such a person could lead a small group, but wouldn''t achieve much in the long run.


    "You all can go inside and take a look. If you need anything, just call me," David removed a spare key from the one in his hand and handed it to Arnold.


    Arnold gratefully took the key and said, "Thank you. We really appreciate it." After Arnold pulled Sophie into David''s house, they were instantly stunned by what they saw. David''s room was filled with various supplies, such as canned food, bottled water, instant noodles, and sausages.


    The room was packed with all sorts of supplies, almost filling up the entire space. "Oh my god," Arnold and Sophie were amazed. They never expected David to stockpile such a huge amount of supplies in his home.


    David exined, "I saw some doomsday rumors circting online a while ago, so I casually stocked up on some things. I didn''t expect it toe in handy."


    Arnold chuckled and shook his head. Stocked up casually? He wished he could be as casual as David. "David, you really have foresight."


    Both Arnold and Sophie felt secretly grateful. It was fortunate that they chose to follow David. With all these supplies, they wouldn''t have to worry about food for a long time.


    David said, "You must be hungry. Take whatever you want to eat. Sally and I will go back to our room for now."


    Arnold hurriedly said, "Okay, you two rest. If you need any help, just let me know."


    David closed the door and said to Sally in the hallway, "Let''s go." Sally didn''t dare to look directly at David, and her cheeks were slightly flushed. She didn''t understand what it meant for David to stay in the same room as her. Could it be... the meaning she had in mind?


    Sally took out her keys from her pocket, and perhaps due to nervousness, she failed to insert them into the keyhole several times. She sneakily turned her head to nce at David. David was still looking out into the distance through the window in the corridor, maintaining his expressionless demeanor


    Sally took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. After opening the door, she secretly nced at David again. "At least this guy is quite handsome. It''s not like it''s impossible to be with him for the first time..." Sally''s mind was filled with various thoughts, and her heart was racing uncontrobly. Two blushes remained on her cheeks for a long time, unable to fade away.

 Chapter 25 Smart Black Cat

    ?After entering the room, David looked around Sally''s room. It was very clean, with all the furniture neatly arranged. The decoration style was minimalist, with a cool color tone dominated by ck, white, and gray, which surprised David. He had expected Sally''s room to be a typical girl''s room, filled with stuffed toys and such.


    After putting on a pair of slippers, Sally took out another pair from the shoe cab and handed them to David, apologizing, "Sorry, the house is a bit messy and I haven''t had time to tidy up." Messy?


    David looked at the neatly arranged furniture and spotless floor. If there was anything messy, it was the few books ced on the sofa.


    "I didn''t expect you to be so modest," David said as he put on the slippers and sat directly on the sofa, casually flipping through a book as if he were in his own home.


    He nced at the time on his watch; it was already past three in the afternoon. Normally, he should take this opportunity to kill zombies and collect mutant crystals. However, with the experience of living through another lifetime, David knew that today was not the right time.


    Because on the evening of the apocalypse, the first batch of superpower awakenings would ur. Generally, the early awakeners were individuals with strong potential for superpowers. The earlier the awakening, the greater the potential.


    Arnold, for example, awakened veryte. He didn''t manifest his powers until several months after the apocalypse. Generally speaking, those who awaken their powerster tend to have rtively weaker growth potential. Of course, nothing is absolute, and there are early awakened individuals who turn out to be useless, as well aste bloomers who are geniuses. Anything is possible.


    Unfortunately, Arnold didn''t have a chance to grow in his previous life, so David didn''t know how powerful he could be. In his previous life, David didn''t have the talent to be a superpowered individual, but this time was different. He had taken a gic potion that greatly increased the chances of awakening superpowers.


    David was looking forward to whether he would be one of the lucky ones in the first batch of superpower awakenings. When superpowers awaken, the brain experiences severe pain, whichsts for several minutes. That''s why David didn''t go out to hunt zombies.


    During a battle, those few minutes of pain could be deadly and severely hinder his ability to act. David sat on the sofa, picked up a book, and leisurely began reading.


    On the other hand, Sally was a bit perplexed. The current situation seemed to deviate from the plot she had imagined. David looked at Sally standing nearby and suddenly asked, "Can you cook?"


    Sally hesitated for a moment and nodded. "Yes, I can cook a little."


    David waved his hand, and some meat and vegetables appeared magically on the nearby table. "Let''s have you prepare dinner tonight. I want to see your culinary skills."


    Sally wasn''t surprised by the food appearing on the table. She had already witnessed David''s ability in the supermarket. Besides, she could tell that David wanted to keep his ability hidden from Angus and the others.


    Of course, Sally wouldn''t pry; she was a smart woman who knew what to say and what not to say. Moreover, she was currently the only person who knew David''s secret, and she felt somewhat pleased about it.


    "Okay, I''ll go prepare now," Sally said as she picked up the meat and vegetables from the table, getting ready to put them in the refrigerator.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Don''t worry, it''s still early. Take a break." As soon as David finished speaking, a cat''s meow suddenly sounded. David looked up and followed the direction of the sound. He saw a pure ck cating out of Sally''s room.


    The ck cat looked at David with a hint of confusion. Sally squatted down and gently touched the ck cat''s head. She exined to David, "Its name is C. I found it downstairs. When I found it, it was only palm-sized, but now it''s already one year old."


    David nodded and suddenly remembered something. When it came to pets, he realized that he had forgotten Little ck in the room. He quickly put on his shoes, opened the door, and knocked on the door across the hallway.


    Sally was puzzled, but suddenly saw David returning with a dog crate. Inside the crate was a puppy that looked like a local breed. "Is this your pet? So cute," Sally curiously looked at the little puppy.


    David nodded and said, "Yes, it''s called Little ck." David took a bottle and mixed some goat milk powder to feed Little ck. He realized that Little ck had already opened its eyes, while earlier in the morning, it hadn''t. Its body had also grown bigger and its bones were stronger.


    David was surprised. Could it be undergoing mutation? This growth rate was astonishing. David held Little ck in his arms, and it recognized David''s scent, appearing very excited.


    Its little tail wagged like a motor, and it stuck out its tongue, licking David''s hand non-stop. It seemed to be very hungry. When David put the nipple in its mouth, it immediately bit onto it and sucked eagerly, even biting through the nipple.


    Seeing its appearance, David simply got an iron bowl and poured milk into it. Little ck wagged its tail and happily drank from the bowl.


    After finishing the milk, Little ck felt satisfied and started exploring the house energetically, appearing very energetic. It soon noticed the ck cat that was curiously staring at it. Little ck ran happily towards it, extending its nose as if wanting to sniff the ck cat''s scent.


    Unexpectedly, the ck cat gave Little ck a smack on the head. Although it didn''t extend its ws, it had considerable strength, making a "smack" sound on Little ck''s forehead.


    "Ow!" Little ck let out a cry of pain and quickly ran away, hiding next to David''s leg, looking at David with a pitiful gaze. It barked at David twice.


    David nced at it, shook his head, and ignored it, continuing to read the book in his hand. The ck cat, moving lightly, jumped onto the sofa and sat next to David. It didn''t seem afraid of David, just curiously looking at him with its eyes.


    David also looked at it curiously. Somehow, he felt that the cat''s eyes seemed very intelligent. "Is it just an illusion?"


    "The eyes of this cat seem very clever." David stroked its fur, which was very smooth, and its bones and muscles were very strong. The ck cat made afortable sound and turned over, exposing its belly to David. "Meow!"


    Little ck became anxious and started barking loudly at the ck cat. The ck cat nced at Little ck with a contemptuous look.

 Chapter 26 Sallys Culinary Skills

    ?It was around six o''clock in the evening when Sally finished cooking. She brought the food to the dining table and softly called out to David, "We can eat now."


    David closed his book and stood up to wash his hands. As David got up, Sally noticed that the ck cat was sitting on top of the little puppy on the couch, pinning it down and preventing it from moving. The puppy whimpered helplessly under the weight of the ck cat.


    Sally eximed in surprise, "Coke, you can''t bully others!" She quickly approached and lifted the ck cat off, and the ck cat wagged its tail, walking lightly to David''s leg and stared provocatively at the little ck puppy.


    The little ck puppy let out a pitiful cry, but didn''t dare to make too much noise. Sally helplessly said to David, "Maybe I should keep Coke away. It seems to be unfriendly to your puppy."


    David casually replied, "It''s fine, let them y." The little ck puppy is a mutant dog and quite tough, so a little beating won''t bother it. Besides, the ck cat''s strikes weren''t heavy. David wondered if the little ck puppy understood his words as it gave him a resentful look.


    After washing his hands, David and Sally sat down at the dining table. Sally introduced the dishes she had prepared, saying, "I made stir-fried green peppers with pork, minced meat with eggnt, celery stir-fried with meat, and a meatball soup."


    David looked at the three dishes and the soup on the table. They were all home-cooked dishes and looked good. He picked up a piece of meat, tasted it, and his expression changed.


    Sally nervously and eagerly looked at him and asked, "How does it taste?"


    David remained silent for a moment and said, "Well, there is room for improvement."


    Sally''s face turned slightly embarrassed, and she also picked up a piece of meat to taste it. Her expression changed as well, "Uh, it seems a bit too salty... well, not just a bit, it''s overly salty." Sally put down her chopsticks and lightly pinched the corner of her clothes, feeling embarrassed.


    She hadn''t cooked in a long time. Normally, she had a busy schedule with her career and mostly ate out. "I''m sorry, it''s been a while since I cooked. It''s a waste of ingredients." Sally''s tone was full of guilt.


    She also knew that at this stage, all food was precious. With zombies roaming outside, this catastrophe might not end anytime soon. The official emergency notice also urged everyone to conserve food and water.


    She felt nervous, buried her head, and dared not look into David''s eyes. But to her surprise, David didn''t get angry. "It''s alright, take your time. Let''s have something else for dinner tonight." David had plenty of food stored in his storage space.


    Since he had already decided to let Sally stay with him, it didn''t matter if she wasted some ingredients to improve her cooking skills. Sally looked at David in disbelief, as if she couldn''t believe that these three words, "take your time," came from someone like David. He showed no dissatisfaction orints about her wasting a table of food. He even seemed...gentle?


    She couldn''t reconcile the cold and ruthless David from the supermarket with the person in front of her. David pushed aside the dishes Sally made and took out some already prepared dishes from his storage space. There was Dongpo pork, Peking duck, West Lake vinegar fish, and a pot of chestnut stewed chicken soup.


    The dishes were not only visually appealing and fragrant but also steaming hot, as if they had juste out of the pot. Sally was astonished. David took out a bottle of fine red wine and asked Sally, "Do you want to drink wine or something else?"


    Sally hesitated and replied, "Either is fine."


    David handed her a bottle of juice and said, "Then have some juice, it''s healthier."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After a busy day, David was very hungry and started enjoying the delicious food on the table. Seeing Sally not touching her chopsticks, he curiously asked, "What''s wrong? Doesn''t it suit your taste?"


    Unexpectedly, Sally''s eyes suddenly turned red. "Thank you, David. You''ve been so kind to me."


    David was speechless. Was this Stockholm syndrome? "Let''s eat."


    "Yeah..."


    Angus had broken the anti-theft door in the room and blocked it with a cab. He also ced an upside-down ss bottle on the cab as a makeshift rm. If someone pushed the door, the falling bottle would serve as a warning.


    At this moment, Angus''s stomach was growling, and he was extremely frustrated. He and Zoe searched through the room but couldn''t find any food. It seemed that the owner of this house didn''t live here regrly. The refrigerator was empty, and the furniture was covered in dust due to a long power outage.


    Both of them hadn''t eaten much all day and were now extremely hungry. Zoe thought for a moment and tentatively asked, "David and the others must have food. Should I go and ask them?"


    Angus frowned. "Shut up! I can''t bear to lose face. If you want to go, go by yourself and don''t bothering back to find me." Zoe felt wronged in her heart. She opened her mouth to say something but seeing Angus''s gloomy expression, she ultimately remained silent.


    Angus paced back and forth in the room, thinking for a while, and then opened the door. He cautiously looked around to make sure there were no zombies in the corridor. He walked to the door across from his room and knocked. "Anyone there? If no one''s there, I''ming in."


    With no response, Angus picked up a hammer, ready to break in. Unexpectedly, a middle-aged man''s voice came from inside the door. "No, no, someone''s here. Don''t do anything rash, or I''ll call the police!"


    The man sounded nervous. Apparently, the man on the other side of the door was aware of Angus''s "breaking and entering" feat and was quite wary of him.


    Upon hearing the voice, Angus instantly felt angry. "Damn, what bad luck." He looked at the staircase and hesitated about whether to go to other floors to search. But he was afraid that there might be zombies on other floors.


    It was already dark outside, and the hallway was equipped with motion sensor lights. The lights stayed on for a short duration and needed sound to activate. It was possible that making noise could attract zombies. Although Angus was reckless, he hadn''t reached the level of fearlessness. "Damn it, forget it. Let''s talk about it tomorrow." Angus, carrying the hammer, dejectedly returned to his own room.


    After securing the door again, Angus threw the hammer aside, feeling a nameless anger burning within him. He grabbed Zoe and lifted her horizontally, carrying her into the bedroom and throwing her onto the bed. He pinned Zoe down forcefully, but in his mind, he imagined Sally''s face.


    Sally''s exquisitely beautiful face and perfectly proportioned figure, every frown and smile seemed to possess immense charm that lingered in his mind. But soon, he thought of David. The mere thought of David being with Sally ignited an uncontroble rage in Angus''s heart.


    "i wonder what the two of them are doing now." Angus''s anger grew stronger. He grabbed Zoe''s neck with one hand, pressing her tightly underneath him, and roughly tore off her clothes with the other hand.


    "Hey, be gentle." Zoe felt uneasy with his rough treatment but seeing Angus''s gloomy expression, she didn''t say anything more.

 Chapter 27 The Night Of Awakening

    ?"Ah, honey, our barbecue restaurant that we worked so hard to start is gone, and we haven''t even finished paying off the loan," Sophie said, holding a steaming bowl of instant noodles, her eyes filled with mncholy.


    Arnold sat across from her, also holding a bowl of noodles, and he smiled helplessly. "You''re still thinking about the barbecue restaurant? It''s gone, let it go. At least we''re still alive, and we don''t have to worry about repaying the loan anymore."


    Suddenly curious, Sophie asked, "Why do you think David helped us like this? He''s not rted to us, could he really havee just to get some barbecue sauce?"


    Arnold also fell into contemtion. "I am no sure." He didn''t really believe that David would take such a big risk just to get barbecue sauce. But they had only met David once, and it seemed unlikely that he came specifically to rescue them.


    "But one thing is certain, David is definitely a good person, even though he may seem cold on the surface," Arnold continued. "We could tell from the way he helped us at the barbecue restaurant. Not many people would willingly get involved in that kind of trouble." Sophie nodded in agreement.


    Arnold continued, "We must repay him properly. If it wasn''t for him, we wouldn''t know how long we would have been trapped there." There wasn''t much food left in Arnold''s store, and with four people to feed, it wouldst them at most five or six days.


    At this moment, they looked at the room filled with mountains of food and felt a strong sense of security. Both of them were grateful that they chose to follow David. ... Around 9 o''clock in the evening.


    David stood by the window, gazing out at the lifeless city. Tonight, for the city of SJ, was still a sleepless night, just like before. Only this time, towering mes reced the neon lights, and the streets were filled with dismembered limbs and blood instead of bustling vehicles and crowds.


    Blood covered the entire city, and the streets were silent, except for the low growls of wandering zombies. David saw countless high-rise buildings light up with sporadic lights; he knew they were the lonely and helpless survivors. They were trapped in their own homes, waiting for official rescue that they didn''t know when woulde.


    In his past life, David was in a simr situation, believing that he could wait for rescue at home. Butter he realized that collecting food was easiest at the beginning of the apocalypse and became increasingly difficult as time went on. The zombies kept evolving, and various terrifying mutant creatures started to appear.


    Mutant creatures were even more frightening than zombies. At least the evolution of zombies could be observed, but mutant creatures could mutate in various directions. David had seen a giant beetle the size of a tank that could release powerful and deadly electric currents. He had also seen a gigantic butterfly, the size of a mountain peak, flying in the sky, casting a shadow like a mythical bird. Mutant creatures appearedter than zombies, but they posed a much greater threat to humans.


    "David, I''ve made the bed for you," Sally''s voice came from behind David. Sally''s house was a three-bedroom apartment. She had her own bedroom, and another bedroom was converted into a study. The remaining bedroom was usually vacant, only asionally used by Sally''s parents. So Sally offered the empty bedroom to David,plete with new bedding and sheets.


    "Thanks," David replied with a grunt. "You should get some rest." Sally walked over to David, standing close to him. David could catch a faint scenting from her.


    "What are you looking at?" Sally asked curiously.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David was about to respond when he saw a sh of red in the sky. "It''s happening," David whispered.


    Following David''s gaze, Sally saw that the sky suddenly turned eerie red. Above the dark clouds, it seemed as if the gates of hell had opened, filling the entire sky with a crimson hue.


    The sky flowed with a faint red glow, as if the eyes of the Grim Reaper were overseeing the entire earth. Sally''s mouth hung open as she stared nkly at the scene before her. David had witnessed this scene once in his past life. The appearance of this blood-red sky marked the awakening of the first batch of supernaturals.


    After a while, Sally snapped out of her shock. "David, do you know how this disaster came about? I read online that it seems to be a viral leak."


    David shook his head. "I don''t know either."  he genuinely didn''t know. It was certain that there was a mysterious virus inside the zombies that could be transmitted. But if this disaster was solely caused by the virus, how could the strange red light in the sky be exined? What about the various superhumans with different abilities?


    After the apocalypse arrived, scientists around the world, protected in their facilities, tirelessly researched zombies and superhumans. They wanted to unravel the secrets of the virus and understand the principles behind the constant evolution of superhumans and zombies. Unfortunately, until David''s rebirth, he hadn''t heard any news about progress in their research. Obviously, with the current level of human technology, the mysteries remained imprable. However, the David of his past life didn''t care much about these things. All he wanted was to survive; he didn''t have the energy to ponder over such matters.


    However, in this life, after solving the issue of survival, David''s curiosity about the cause of the catastrophe grew. He looked at his watch--it was 9:01 PM. Even after the red light appeared, he still felt no sensation in his body. "Could it be that even with the gene potion, I can''t awaken my powers? It shouldn''t be so unlucky, right?" David still felt a bit uncertain. The system described the gene potion as increasing the probability of awakening powers, not a guaranteed sess.


    Just as David was feeling anxious, suddenly, his brain was struck by a sharp, intense pain. It felt as if a thousand needles were piercing his mind, turning his brain into mush. The pain far exceeded David''s expectations.


    Even with his endurance, he couldn''t help but let out a stifled groan, clutching his head in agony.


    "David, what''s wrong?" Sally hurriedly supported David, her face filled with panic. "Don''t scare me, David. Wait, I''ll call an ambnce for you..." As soon as the words left her mouth, Sally realized that there were no ambnces anymore.Sally panicked, not knowing what to do.


    "I''m fine..." David forced himself to endure the pain, trying to reassure Sally.


    But , in the next second, Sally suddenly let out a scream. She crouched on the ground, clutching her head, with an expression of intense pain.

 Chapter 28 Space Ability User

    ?"My head hurts." Sally cried out in pain, her expression filled with agony, and she even fainted from the pain. Meanwhile, David had already recovered from the pain, which hade and gone quickly.


    David looked at Sally who had fainted and was initially stunned, but soon a look of joy appeared on his face. Sally was also an esper? The probability of an ordinary person bing an esper was not too high. Even the most ordinary espers were given special care in any base. Every esper had the potential for infinite growth and was a key force in fighting against mutated zombies and creatures. Unexpectedly, Sally turned out to be a potential esper.


    David carefully recalled his previous life. At the time of the virus outbreak, he was trapped in his house for a while. But he never saw Sally, who lived opposite him, nor heard of anyone awakening as an esper in the neighborhood. "So, in the previous life, Sally had unfortunately died at the beginning of the apocalypse, right?" David remembered meeting Sally at the supermarket during the virus outbreak. So, most likely,  she is dead at the start.


    At that time, everyone in the supermarket wanted to escape, causing a congestion and stampede at the entrance, and only a few managed to get out. David refocused his attention on himself. When the pain in his brain subsided, he felt a warm current rising from his shoulders. This warm current spread throughout his body, making him feel as if he had just taken a hot bath. And at this moment, his body also had a mysterious power.


    This power lurked in every corner of his body, and David could clearly sense it and manipte it. David condensed this power at his fingertips, and a small area above his fingertips seemed distorted, as if the light itself had been twisted. "It''s the power of space."


    David was surprised. He never expected to be an extremely rare spatial esper. Generally speaking, the type of esper one awakened as was determined by their own potential. "Could it be because I have a huge storage space that I awakened the spatial esper ability?" Spatial esper abilities could be considered one of the rarest among all espers.


    Spatial abilities not only had tremendous destructive power but also excellent survival capabilities. The teleportation ability of spatial espers made them elusive, and opponents could hardly touch them. Spatial espers were also among the few who were not afraid of giant hordes of zombies. Moreover, the destructive power of spatial espers ranked among the top in all esper abilities.


    David had heard of a spatial esper who created a miniature ck hole and killed thousands of zombies with a single strike. If there was any weakness of spatial espers, it would be that they were rtively weak in the early stages. In various aspects, early-stage spatial espers were weaker than other types of espers.


    David opened the window, condensed the spatial energy in his hand, and thenpressed and condensed it continuously, turning it into an incredibly sharp de. This was the only skill that David currently mastered: the de of Space. And for a long time, this would be his only skill.


    Unlike other types of espers, who couldprehend numerous skills at the first level, or obtain mutation crystals from zombies and creatures of the same type to absorb and potentially learn their skills, early-stage spatial espers could onlyprehend one skill for each level. As for learning skills through spatial mutation crystals? Not to mention that spatial creatures and mutations were extremely rare, each one was also an incredibly powerful existence.


    Even if they can''t defeat humans, they can still use their own abilities to escape. They are not that easy to kill. Under David''s mental control, the spatial de slipped out and slid in a straight line, neatly cutting open a gap in the canopy outside the window.


    When the spatial dended on the alloy canopy, it cut through it effortlessly as if it encountered no resistance at all. However, after flying for about ten meters, the spatial de''s energy was depleted, and it disappeared without a trace.


    "This level of destructive power is eptable," David nodded. After all, it was a spatial ability, and its killing power was quite impressive. However, the attack range is really small, only about ten meters. Moreover, the spatial de has a very limited attack range, approximately the size of a sickle, requiring a high level of precision.


    After releasing the spatial de, David felt a portion of his energy being drained. He estimated that he could release the spatial de about ten more times before his energy would bepletely depleted. It seems that the consumption of energy by the spatial de is exceptionally high.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    However, David wasn''t worried. After all, thete-stage potential of spatial abilities is infinitely powerful and is widely recognized as one of the strongest abilities. With the enhancement from the gic potion he took, his own strength far surpassed that of ordinary people. Now, with the addition of his ability, he was even more formidable. David looked at Sally, who had already woken up, with a trace of tears in the corners of her eyes.


    "What happened to me just now?" Sally touched her head and realized that the pain was gone.


    David asked, "How about it? Did you feel a strange energy inside you?"


    "A strange energy? I feel some warmth in my lower abdomen," Sally replied.


    Sally stretched out her hand, and a small electric spark suddenly appeared in her hand, startling her. Startled, she shook her hand, and the electric spark flew out of control. Coincidentally, itnded on David. He twitched and instantly felt a surge of electricity.


    Fortunately, it was just a small electric spark with average power, and his strong physique prevented him from being injured.


    "Ah, I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to," Sally panicked and quickly apologized.


    "I''m fine,It seems you have an electricity-based ability, which is impressive.Are you okay? ." David''s expression was somewhat helpless.


    "An ability?" Sally was puzzled. She extended her hand, and the electric spark appeared again, crackling.


    David was in a good mood; he had struck gold. Electricity-based abilities were extremely powerful, with both early andte-stage abilities being among the strongest in terms of attack power and range.


    David''s gaze towards Sally became increasingly satisfied. He didn''t expect that by impulsively bringing Sally along, he would gain an ability user. Soon, when Arnold awakened, his team would have three ability users.


    With three ability users, they would be more than enough to guard a medium-sized survival base.


    After exining everything to Sally, David instructed her not to showcase her ability in front of others for the time being and to keep it confidential. Sally nodded in understanding.

 Chapter 29 Sallys Heartfelt Confession

    ?Late at night, Davidy in bed, holding a book in his hands, quietly reading.  Sally was an avid reader, and their home had a collection of many books, which was a good way to pass the time.  Although the inte was still working, David didn''t feel like going online.


    The inte was currently flooded with distress calls and reports about zombie disasters happening all over the ce.  As someone who had been reborn, David wasn''t interested in this information.  He had far more knowledge than the average person.  As he read, David started to feel a bit tired.  He closed the book, set it aside, and prepared to sleep.


    "I should find some time to collect some mutated crystals while the storage reward is still multiplied by a hundred thousand," David nned.  His n was to clear out all the zombies in this neighborhood first and then leave.  He didn''t intend to stay in this neighborhood for long.  Soon enough, the city''s power system would copse, and the water supply system wouldn''tst much longer.


    Living a normal life in these high-rise buildings would be extremely difficult after the power and water supply were cut off.  "But this Angus is a troublemaker.  I need to deal with him quickly," David thought.  If it weren''t for not wanting to create a rift between himself and the Arnold couple, David would have gotten rid of Angus a long time ago.  He couldn''t just tell the Arnold couple that he was reborn and knew in advance that Angus was a bad person.


    David pondered his options when suddenly there was a knock at the bedroom door.  "David, are you asleep?  Can Ie in?"  It was Sally''s voice.


    "The door isn''t locked,e in," David replied.


    Sally pushed the door open, wearing a thin silk nightgown and holding a pillow in her arms.


    "What''s wrong?"  David looked at her and already had a good idea of what Sally wanted.


    Sally''s face turned as red as a ripe apple.  She held the velvet pillow tightly, her gaze drifting and unable to meet David''s eyes.  "Um, I feel a bit scared sleeping alone.  Can I sleep with you?"


    David sat up from the bed and walked over to Sally, looking at her seriously.  "Are you serious?"  If Sally hadn''t awakened her powers today, David wouldn''t have asked that question.


    In this apocalypse, it was quite normal for women with exceptional looks to trade their bodies for the protection of a stronger individual.  Women were a resource in this end-of-the-world scenario and had no ability to control their own destiny.  Although it was a harsh truth, it was an undeniable fact.


    For them, it was better to be by the side of a powerful person than to be captured and enved by others, right?  David didn''t mind having Sally by his side as an eye-catching decoration.  However, Sally was currently a potential and limitless thunder-based esper, which in some way qualified her to be seen by David in a different light.


    David hoped to develop her into a reliable ally rather than anything else.  Sally met David''s calm gaze, and at that moment, she felt as if his serene eyes were like an unfathomable vortex in the night sky, and she felt as though she was about to be drawn into it.


    Her face flushed red as she gazed deeply into David''s eyes, involuntarily taking a step closer.  Sally leaned her head against David''s chest, and he could feel her quickened breath and rapid heartbeat.


    In a soft and tender voice, she said, "David...  I like you..."  David instantly knew that there was no need for him to say anything more.  Although he never let his lower desires dictate his actions, it didn''t mean he wasn''t a man.  He gently embraced her, inhaling the fragrance from her hair and feeling the warmth of her body against his.


    Sally seemed to be electrified, as if her strength had been drained away, and she slumped in David''s arms. ...


    The next morning, David woke up early.  As he opened his eyes, he realized that Sally was tightly hugging him from behind.  He could feel her warm breath on the back of his neck.  He gently removed Sally''s hand and slowly sat up in bed, careful not to wake her.


    They had been engaged in their activities for nearly two hoursst night, so Sally must be exhausted and probably wouldn''t be able to get up for a while.  Although Sally was still in a deep sleep, a sweet and content smile adorned her face, as if she had dreamt of something wonderful.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David covered her with the nket and tidied the sheets.  As he looked at Sally''s delicate and doll-like face, a strange feeling arose in his heart.  Without thinking too much, David got dressed and quietly left the room.  After freshening up, David didn''t rush to have breakfast.  He checked the time and estimated that the Arnold couple should already be awake by now.


    He walked to the door, opened it, and peered into the hallway.  Confirming that there were no zombies in the corridor, David walked to the adjacent door and knocked.


    "Who is it?  Is it David?"  Arnold''s voice came from inside the room.


    "It''s me."


    "Just a moment, David."  Through the door, David could hear Arnold''s hurried footsteps, and soon enough, the door opened.


    "Good morning, David," Arnold greeted him.


    "How was your sleepst night?  Did you find itfortable?"  David asked.


    "It was great.  We slept really well," Arnold replied.


    Without further pleasantries, David went straight to the point.  "I came over to talk to you about something important."


    As soon as they heard the mention of an important matter, the expressions on Arnold and Sophie''s faces turned serious.  Arnold said, "David, go ahead.  We''re here to listen and follow your arrangements."


    Sophie looked at David curiously and asked, "What about Sally?   She didn''te with you?"   Sophie and Arnold tacitly avoided mentioning Angus and Zoe.   Yesterday, David had a small conflict with Angus, but after discussing it, they decided to stand by David''s side.


    After all, David was the one who saved them.   David replied, "It''s alright, Sally hasn''t woken up yet.   I''ll talk to herter."   Pausing for a moment, David continued, "What I want to say is, although we still have an adequate supply of resources for now, no one knows how long this disaster willst.   And the situation doesn''t seem very optimistic at the moment, so I think we need to conserve our food."


    Arnold and Sophie nodded, indicating their agreement.   "So, I n to allocate a fixed amount of supplies every day.   What do you think?"   David asked.


    Arnold quickly responded, "David, we''ll follow your lead.   These supplies were originally yours, so it''s up to you to decide how to distribute them."


    David nodded and said, "Good.   One of you should go and call Angus and the others.   I''ll give them some food as well."


    A hint of surprise shed in Arnold and Sophie''s eyes.   They thought that after yesterday''s incident, David would exclude Angus and the others.   They didn''t expect David to be so generous.   "Alright, I''ll go and call them," Arnold quickly said.

 Chapter 30 Angus Wrath

    ?When Arnold told Angus and Zoe that David was looking for them, Angus was initially nning to refuse.   However, when Arnold mentioned that David wanted to distribute some food to them, Angus hesitated.


    Zoe persuaded, "Angus, why don''t we go and see?   You haven''t eaten anything all day yesterday."   Angus fell silent.   Not only him, but Zoe hadn''t eaten anything all day either.


    Angus had originally nned to go outside today to see if he could find some food.   However, when he looked out through the window in the morning, his heart sank.   The streets were filled with wandering zombies, and there were dozens of visible zombies with the naked eye.   If he were to go out now, he would likely be surrounded and torn apart by these zombies.


    If things continued like this, he and Zoe would probably starve to death.   "Fine, let''s go and take a look," Angus finally decided after wrestling with his thoughts.   Arnold breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the two of them agreeing.   Deep down, he hoped that everyone woulde together and ovee the difficulties.


    In his view, they were all in the same boat, and there was no need to create conflicts over trivial matters.   Apanied by Arnold, the two of them walked through the corridor and arrived at David''s house.   "David, Angus and Zoe are here," Arnold announced as he led them into the room.


    As Angus stepped into David''s house, his face immediately changed.   He nced around in astonishment, realizing that the room was piled high with food.   Angus, who had been hungry all day, couldn''t help but have a gleam in his eyes upon seeing the abundance of food.   Zoe was equally astonished.   Neither of them had any idea that David had hoarded so much food in his home.


    David sat at the table and pushed a bag forward.   Inside the bag were four packs of instant noodles and four sausages.   David had carefully considered the quantity.   Although it seemed like a considerable amount at first nce, it would only be enough to keep the two of them from going hungry.   It wouldn''t truly satisfy their hunger.


    Normally, an adult would consume over 2,000 calories even if they were sitting idle all day, while these food items would provide a little over 1,000 calories when divided between the two of them.   David spoke to them, "Given the current situation, I hope everyone can unite."


    Angus looked at David, his expression slightly grim, his thoughts unknown.   David continued, "I can let go of what happened yesterday, but I hope that in the future, you can follow my arrangements.   If you agree, take this food.   If you think it''s unnecessary and want to go it alone, I won''t force you."   Angus clenched his fist, feeling torn inside.   He did need food, but taking the food meant he would have to bow down to David.


    It was even more unbearable than being pped in the face.   He didn''t think he was weaker than David. in fact, he believed he was stronger in many aspects.   Seeing a stunning beauty like Sally by David''s side had already fueled his jealousy.   Now, even the food waspletely in David''s hands.   Zoe looked at Angus expectantly, waiting for his response.   After a silence of about ten seconds, Angus suddenly rxed his clenched fist.


    "Fine, I agree," he said, walking up to David and picking up the bag of food.


    David told him, "If there are no special circumstances, food will be distributed every morning at 7 o''clock.   Remember toe and collect it."


    Angus'' face stiffened.    "Understood."    Seeing Angus''s disgusted expression, David found it amusing.


    He knew that Angus must be furious inside.    Angus was a strong-willed person who cared about his reputation.    Now he had to bow down to David for a few buckets of instant noodles, and in front of everyone.    David knew that Angus wouldn''t easily swallow his pride.


    After Angus left, David said to Arnold and Sophie, "There''s nothing else.    I''ll go back to my room for now."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Arnold asked, "David, do we have any ns for the future?    Is there anything we should arrange?"


    David thought for a moment.    He had plenty of things to do next, but none that Arnold and Sophie could help with.    "Not at the moment.    Let''s wait at home and see if the authorities will send rescue teams."


    Of course, David was just saying that casually.    He knew that rescue was unlikely.    The official military was overwhelmed with their own tasks and had no spare capacity to save civilians.


    Their priority was rescuing high-level officials, elites from various industries, and especially scientists in the fields of biology and virology.


    After David left, Arnold sighed.    "It seems that David is actually cold on the outside but warm on the inside.    Even though Angus defies him like that, he doesn''t take it to heart.    Not everyone can have such tolerance."


    Sophie also sighed.    "Ah, I''m just worried about Zoe.    Angus has a bad temper, and Zoe might suffer because of him."


    David distributed to Arnold and Sophie one pack of biscuits, one chocte bar, three buckets of instant noodles, arge bottle of water, a can of fruit, and a can of meat per day.    They even worried that they wouldn''t be able to finish it all.    This wasn''t exactly food rationing.    But Angus and Zoe only had instant noodles to eat.


    Arnold also sighed ,he knew that Angus had a problematic personality.    Zoe was a girl with a good character, reliable and hardworking, and both Arnold and Sophie liked her.  If it weren''t for Zoe, Arnold wouldn''t have spoken up for Angus yesterday.


    In Angus'' room...    "Damn it, who does he think he is?"    Angus kicked a chair, sending it flying five or six meters away.    "He wants me to remember toe and collect it.    Who does he think he is?    The boss?"


    Zoe spoke up, trying to persuade him.    "Let it go, Angus.    After all, it''s their food.    It''s already generous of him to give us a portion."    Even though Zoe was on Angus'' side, she thought David had already done his best.


    If David wanted to, he couldpletely ignore their well-being.    After all, David didn''t owe them anything.    But Angus clearly didn''t think so.    He grabbed Zoe by the cor.    "You''re siding with him?    Damn it, you''re my woman, and you''re taking his side?"    He pushed Zoe to the ground.    "Then get lost.    Go with him.    Why are you following me?"


    Tears instantly welled up in Zoe''s eyes.    "Angus, that''s not what I meant."    She approached and grabbed Angus'' hand, but he forcefully shook her off and pushed her to the ground again.    "Leave me alone."


    Angus grabbed the bag of food and walked into the bedroom, mming the door shut and leaving Zoe outside alone.    Zoe walked up to the door, trying to open it, but found it locked.    She stood there, tears streaming down her face.

 Chapter 31 This Is Life

    ?David said goodbye to Arnold and returned to Sally''s house. Sally was still asleep, so David decided to make himself breakfast. He went to the kitchen and took out two Angus steaks, preparing to cook a ck pepper steak.


    First, David used the back of a knife to tenderize the steaks. This is done to loosen the meat fibers, resulting in a tender and juicy texture and better vor absorption during marination.


    After tenderizing the steaks for nearly three minutes, David proceeded to marinate them with salt, onion juice, sugar, red wine, and ck pepper. While marinating, he took out tworge bottles of milk from the storage space and heated them in a milk pan. He poured the heated milk into two cups and fried a few eggs on the side. By this time, the steaks were almost done marinating.


    David ced a piece of butter in a pan and waited for it to melt before adding the steaks to be seared over high heat. The purpose of high heat is to quickly sear the surface of the steaks, sealing in the moisture. When the steaks were almost done, he poured the remaining marinade over them and covered the pan with a lid, simmering them over low heat.


    After a few minutes of simmering, David estimated that they were ready. He uncovered the lid, took out the steaks, and ced them on a te, drizzling them with the sauce. The enticing aroma filled the air, and David cut a small piece to taste. The vor exceeded his expectations, with the center of the steak being pink and tender, and the juices rich.


    David had used high-quality steaks, and even with a simple cooking method, he was able to create a delicious and appetizing meal. He ced the fried eggs and steaks together on a te, and added some sliced tomatoes and pickles for presentation. His mouth-watering breakfast was nowplete. Looking at his creation, David gave himself a perfect score for this homemade breakfast. The steak was vorful, tender, and visually appealing, easily rivaling those served in professional Western restaurants.


    In the past, David wasn''t skilled in cooking, but in the month leading up to the apocalypse, he started experimenting with cooking to ensure he wouldn''t have to eat poorly in the future. He even spent money to receive remote guidance from a professional chef online. This led to significant improvement in his culinary skills within a short period.


    At this moment, Sally woke up and came out of her room, coincidentally seeing David busy in the kitchen. "Mmm, it smells so good. What deliciousness are you making?" she eximed.


    David walked out of the kitchen holding two steaks,he say: "Pan-seared steaks. I made one for you too," Sally looked at the steaks, emitting steam and a rich aroma, and her eyes lit up.


    "Wow, they look amazing!" Sally approached David and hugged him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."


    David could clearly sense that Sally''s gaze towards him seemed different today. When she looked at him, her eyes sparkled with love.


    Having been ustomed to wandering alone in the apocalypse, David felt a bit ufortable with suddenly having a woman by his side, looking at him with such affectionate eyes. He looked at Sally with a tinge of disgust. "Did you brush your teeth? Don''te kiss me."


    "Hmph, you''re rejecting me? Then I definitely want to kiss you," Sally said yfully. When David wasn''t paying attention, she hugged him again and pecked his cheek twice. She held onto him tightly, just like a ko, refusing to let go.


    David showed a helpless expression. Since bing a superpower, Sally''s physical abilities had also improved significantly. Although they were just ying around, when she hugged David, he could clearly feel that her strength was much greater than that of an ordinary person.


    With this level of power, with a little training inbat skills, she could easily take down several adult men. Superhumans were like that, not only possessing special abilities but also having overall physical superiority over ordinary people.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Stop fooling around and eat breakfast. I have something to doter," David said.


    "Hehe, understood," Sally said, finally letting go of him and heading to the bathroom to freshen up.


    David sat down at the dining table and started enjoying his breakfast. Although it was just a simple meal, it made David feel grateful. In his previous life, he often went hungry to the point of feeling dizzy and blurry-eyed, sometimes going for days without finding anything to eat. It couldn''tpare to the present, where he woke up to such avish breakfast.


    "This is the life," David couldn''t help but exim. After they finished breakfast, Sally volunteered to wash the dishes. Meanwhile, David took out his phone and started studying on a map app, preparing to find the next stronghold.


    After Sally finished washing the dishes, she sat down next to David. "By the way, what do you have to doter?"


    David didn''t n to hide it from her. "I''m going out to collect some mutant crystals."


    Worry appeared in Sally''s eyes. "Then I''ll go with you. There are so many zombies outside, and I''m a bit worried if you go alone."


    After awakening their superpowersst night, they experimented with their abilities in the room. Being a new awakened individual, David didn''t have much experience either. However, fortunately, after awakening, it was as if his abilities became his instincts, and he could almost use them skillfully.


    Sally, on the other hand, could already control lightning proficiently. With the intensity of the lightning she released, instantly killing an adult or a zombie was a piece of cake. However, David decisively refused her offer.


    "No need, there''s something else I want you to do," David said, taking out 30 mutant crystals from the storage space and cing them on the table. With their current strength, they could absorb about 30 mutant crystals in a day. Absorbing more crystals would put an additional burden on their bodies, and the body needed some time to digest that energy. However, for newly awakened ordinary superhumans, whether they could obtain 30 mutant crystals in a day was already a question. The probability of finding crystals in a zombie''s head was about one in three.


    David had killed nearly a hundred zombies in the supermarket to obtain 35 mutant crystals. Newly awakened superhumans not only had less energy in their bodies but also recovered slowly. Usually, after releasing their abilities about 10 to 20 times, their energy would be depleted, and they would need a long time to recover. Moreover, it wasn''t guaranteed that every time they used their abilities, they could kill a zombie. So, a superhuman who could collect ten mutant crystals in a day was already considered very strong.


    However, David''s backpack contained a whopping 3.6 million mutant crystals, so he wasn''t worried about running out. These mutant crystals would allow him and Sally to quickly improve their strength in the early stages and create a gap between them and other superhumans.


    David said to Sally, "You stay at home today and absorb these mutant crystals. Then, practice your lightning ability."

 Chapter 32 A Pitiable Person Must Have Something Worthy Of Blame

    ?Sally asked, "Don''t you want to keep some for yourself? I don''t need that many." Last time, Sally had spent quite a while digging in the supermarket to collect 35 crystals. However, David had just given her 30 mutated crystals, which surprised Sally.


    David didn''t tell Sally about the storage space. His identity as a reincarnator and the existence of the system were his biggest secrets. He wouldn''t reveal a single hint, even to someone close to him. "You don''t have to worry about that. If you need more crystals, just ask me," he said.


    Sally felt deeply moved by his words. David thought for a moment and continued in a low voice, "There''s one more thing. I want you to keep an eye on Angus." Hearing the name "Angus," Sally furrowed her brow.


    "Speaking of Angus, I always feel like he''s not a good person," Sally remarked, and David smiled, acknowledging that Sally''s intuition was quite urate. Sally then asked, "You don''t trust him either?"


    David nodded, saying, "That''s right. That''s why I need you to watch over him. If he causes any trouble, you don''t have to show him any mercy."


    Angus was definitely no match for Sally. The gap between an ability user and an ordinary person was like an insurmountable chasm. Thebat ability of an ordinary person was simplyughable in front of an ability user. David''s concern was not for Sally but for Arnold and Sophie.


    "Yes, I understand. Don''t worry," Sally assured him.


    David has given Sally just about enough instructions He stood up, put on a backpack, and prepared to leave. The backpack contained some food, water, and medical supplies. Of course, he used the backpack to conceal his true intentions. Although he had storage space, he didn''t want to reveal it casually. "Then I''ll get ready to leave."


    Sally stood up and hugged David. "Come back soon, okay?"


    David patted her back. "Don''t worry, I''ll be back as soon as possible. Oh, and remember to feed the dog for me." Speaking of the dog, David looked at Little ck, who was still fast asleep in its doghouse.


    To his surprise, Little ck had grown significantly overnight. Its growth rate was astonishing. The original dog cage was barely able to contain it. As its size increased, Little ck no longer had the round and cute appearance it had before. It now looked more like a genuine wolfhound.


    "Arf?" Little ck seemed to sense someone looking at it. When it opened its eyes and saw David, it just turned over and continued to sleep.


    "Little ck is growing so fast," Sally eximed, amazed by the change in its size.


    David said, "It seems like it has undergone mutation, just like us."


    Sally was astonished. "Animals can mutate too? Does that mean they can develop abilities as well?"


    David chuckled. "That''s my guess. Otherwise, how could a dog grow so quickly?" David didn''t exin further, knowing that Sally would gradually learn more in the future.


    "Given its size, it should be able to eat meat now. You can try feeding it some meat today," David suggested to Sally, hoping that Little ck would develop a favorable impression of her. After all, Little ck was the number onebatant on the power rankings in SJ City.


    After finishing the instructions, David bid farewell to Sally and opened the door to leave. As he walked to the middle of the hallway, he suddenly heard the sound of a woman crying from Angus'' house. Since taking the gene potion, David''s physical abilities, including his hearing, had improved. Additionally, with his awakened abilities, his overall physical qualities had further enhanced.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Although the sobbing was faint, David''s exceptional hearing caught it. "What is Angus up to now?" Clearly, it was Zoe''s crying.


    David frowned. Usually, he wouldn''t bother with such matters. However, he could tell that the Arnold couple took good care of Zoe. After hesitating for a moment, David decided to see what was going on. He walked up to Angus'' door and gently knocked.


    "Who is it?" Zoe seemed startled from inside the room.


    "It''s me, David." Upon hearing David''s voice, Zoe let out a sigh of relief. She approached the door and opened it halfway, timidly looking at David.


    "David, is there something wrong?" Zoe lowered her voice. "Angus is sleeping. Are you here to see him?"


    David could sense that Zoe was somewhat afraid of him. He guessed it was because Zoe didn''t want Angus to know she was talking to him.


    Shaking his head, David replied, "I''m not looking for him. I heard you crying and came to see what''s going on." As David spoke, Zoe seemed to recall her sorrow, and tears started flowing again.


    "It''s okay. We just had an argument. He took the food to the bedroom and locked himself in, not letting me in," Zoe exined. David noticed a red handprint on Zoe''s face. "Did he hit you?"


    Zoe showed a panicked expression and quickly shook her head. But seeing David''s serious expression, she knew she couldn''t hide it and nodded. "It''s my fault. I disturbed him while he was sleeping."


    David couldn''t believe it. Zoe was quite timid. Not only had Angus hit her, but he also hadn''t given her any food. David couldn''t understand why she would still defend Angus.


    Shaking his head helplessly, David told her, "Go and stay with Arnold and Sophie. I have an empty room there. Let them prepare some food for you, and tell them I instructed them to. You''ll live there from now on. If Angus tries to bother you, let me know."


    To David''s surprise, Zoe showed a conflicted expression. She looked back at the bedroom where Angus was and then at David. "I''m sorry, David, but I still want to stay with Angus."


    David was amused by her response. "Do you have a problem with your brain? He hit you and didn''t give you food, yet you still want to be with him? Do you think he will treat you like a human if you keep sacrificing yourself?"


    Zoe lowered her head, wiped away her tears, but remained silent. Seeing her attitude, it seemed like she had made up her mind to stick with Angus. David was speechless and didn''t know what else to say. As they say, a pitiable person can be quite detestable. Since Zoe was so resolute, David no longer wanted to bother with her. It was her own choice.


    "Never mind, do as you wish." David turned around to leave, but after some thought, he reached into his backpack and took out a few bread rolls and a bottle of water, cing them in the cab Angus used to block the door.


    He gave these food items out of respect for Arnold. After setting down the food, David turned around and walked away, no longer paying attention to Zoe.


    "Thank you..." Zoe watched David''s departing figure, her expression somewhatplex.

 Chapter 33 The Psychic -Brother Knife

    ?After David left, he smoothly descended the stairs along the corridor. The hallway was quiet, and David didn''t find any trace of zombies. If someone didn''t know, they would have thought that the building had already turned into an empty one. However, as David descended the stairs, he asionally heard some faint soundsing from various rooms.


    David knew that those were the survivors hiding in the rooms. Zombies were sensitive to sound, so they stayed at home quietly, not daring to make too much noise. As soon as David walked out of the unit door, he immediately encountered two zombies.


    When these two zombies saw David, they became excited instantly, like beasts seeing their prey. They roared and rushed towards David. Watching their movements, David was slightly surprised. In just one night, these two zombies'' movements seemed much more coordinated than the zombies he encountered yesterday.


    The zombies he encountered yesterday seemed a bit sluggish, as if their limbs couldn''t keep up with their brains. But today, they could run like normal people. Moreover, their nails seemed to have grown longer, appearing quite sharp. "The speed at which these zombies are evolving is even faster than I imagined."


    In the previous outbreak, David mostly stayed at home during the initial period and didn''t notice these subtle changes in the zombies. David extended his hand, but this time he didn''t summon his alloy warde. He simply condensed the power of space in his hand, forming a spatial de rapidly.


    Davidunched the spatial de, distorting the surrounding light with the space, making the spatial de appear like a semi-transparent sickle. As the de swept through, one zombie''s head was instantly cleaved in two, and its body lost momentum, falling heavily to the ground.


    David''s hand didn''t stop, and he summoned another spatial de, slicing the other zombie''s head in half as well. Within a few seconds, he effortlessly killed both zombies.


    "Not bad, this spatial ability is quite useful inbat." It not only had strong destructive power but was also safer than close-quartersbat. David took out a mutated crystal and held it in his hand, slowly absorbing the energy within the crystal. This was a technique he discoveredst night for using the mutated crystal.


    When a portion of the energy in his body was consumed, the energy absorbed from the mutated crystal would be prioritized to replenish the energy in his body. The excess energy would then be used to enhance the user''s strength. In other words, the mutated crystal could be used to some extent as a "mana regeneration" item. However, at this stage, this usage was quite luxurious. David estimated that he was probably the only one doing this for now. Well, he had millions of crystals in his backpack anyway, so there was no need to be stingy.


    David walked up to the corpses of the two zombies and skillfully opened the skin on their foreheads. He found only one mutated crystal in each of the two zombies, and David stored the crystals in his storage space.


    [You obtained 1 mutated crystal, 100,000 times critical strike effect!]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 100,000 mutated crystals!]


    After receiving a 100,000-fold critical strike, a mutated crystal directly turned into 100,000 crystals, leaving David with a satisfied smile. No matter how many times he repeated it, the feeling of a 100,000-fold critical strike was always exhrating.


    "I can''t waste time; I need to collect more crystals today." David continued walking towards the residential area. There were many wandering zombies in the neighborhood, but they were rtively scattered, unlike the clustered groups on the streets.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As long as David was careful not to attract too much attention from the zombies, it was rtively safe. When he was in the supermarket, nearly a hundred zombies couldn''t pose a threat to him. Now, with awakened abilities, these zombies would find it difficult to pose a threat to him...


    Angus woke up from his sleep and looked out the window, realizing that it was just early evening. He reached for his pocket instinctively, only to remember that he had already smoked hisst cigarette.


    "Damn it!" Angus felt extremely annoyed without cigarettes to satisfy his craving. He absentmindedly threw the lighter onto the table. On the table, there were two leftover buckets of instant noodles, with a few cigarette butts mixed in with the soup, emitting a strange smell. Angus stared nkly at the ceiling.


    "No cigarettes, no food, nothing." He felt agitated and started to have random thoughts. Somehow, he started thinking about Sally again, picturing her beautiful face and alluring figure.


    "A woman like her, if I could have her even once, it would be worth dying for." Angus became more and more restless as he thought about it, so he took out his phone and started browsing videos. The inte was still essible, but now it was flooded with information about zombies and doomsday.


    Suddenly, a video caught Angus'' attention. In the video, several seemingly deranged men were torturing a woman in a room. The woman waspletely naked, her body covered in blood and flesh, continuously begging and screaming. The more the woman screamed in agony, the more excited the men became. Theyughed manically, torturing the woman in various cruel ways.


    The leading man among this group called himself "Knife Brother." There were two disheveled women beside Knife Brother, their necks adorned with dog cors, chained to Knife Brother''s chair like dogs. Knife Brother directed the filming phone towards himself.


    He revealed a cruel smile to the camera and pointed at the woman, saying, "This is the consequence of not listening to me." After saying that, hemanded his "brothers" to throw the woman from the upper floor. The woman pleaded in vain, but a group of people hoisted her up like a pig.


    They opened the window and directly threw her from the high-rise building. Judging from the video, it was at least seven or eight stories high. The woman let out a heart-wrenching scream, followed by a loud crash from below, abruptly ending her screams. In the room, Knife Brother cheered, and others joined in the cheering, lookingpletely like a group of lunatics.


    The zombies downstairs seemed to have smelled the scent of blood and quickly swarmed in, submerging the woman''s body. Angus watched the video with a pounding heart. "Damn, how can such a bloody video be uploaded so openly?" Perhaps it was because there were no longer people responsible for managing and maintaining the websites after the disaster. Such violent and bloody videos were openly disyed on the website''s homepage.


    "Wait a minute, the background in this video looks so familiar."


    At the end of the video, Knife Brother spoke to the camera, saying, "I am Knife Brother, an esper. I wee ambitious brothers to join my team and conquer the world together. We have cigarettes, alcohol, and women here. Looking forward to the brothers'' joining." Finally, Knife Brother left his address below the video.

 Chapter 34 Best Of Times

    ?Angus looked at the address left by Brother Knife and felt surprised. The address Brother Knife left turned out to be the same neighborhood where he currently resides, the same neighborhood where David and Sally live. And Brother Knife''s ce is just one building away from David and them.


    "No wonder it looks so familiar. It''s right next to us. But what exactly is a psychic?" Angus continued to look at his phone, and most of thements below the video were insulting Brother Knife. They called him inhuman and worse than animals. But Angus didn''t feel the same way. On the contrary, he admired Brother Knife to some extent.


    Since childhood, Angus had admired tough characters in TV shows and movies. Those gangsters who would do anything for their brothers, fearless and invincible, were idols in Angus''s mind. But Angus was expelled from school in junior high because he frequently got into fights.


    After entering society, Angus fantasized about creating his own sess through his toughness. However, due tock of education and skills, he struggled in society. His former school friends gradually moved on to higher education and stopped contacting him. The enormous gap made Angus feel miserable all these years.


    Angus was captivated by Brother Knife''s videos. He opened Brother Knife''s homepage and watched a video titled "Recruiting Heroes from All Over." In the video, Brother Knife was shirtless, revealing his muscr body. He effortlessly twisted and snapped a U-shaped lock into two pieces.


    Brother Knife casually tossed the broken lock aside, pped his hands, and pointed at the camera, saying, "Brothers, the world has changed. This is the worst of times, but also the best. The victors reign, the losers suffer. Join my team, brothers. We''ll fight together in times of trouble and share in good fortune. A man should make something of himself now and not cowardly hide at home like a waste."


    Brother Knife''s tone was domineering, his actions bold. He waved his hand and said, "Brother, remember this. It doesn''t matter if you''re a corporate executive, a big boss, a celebrity, or a billionaire... None of that matters here with Brother Knife. Understand? In Brother Knife''s world, strength is king. If you''re a dragon, you bow to me; if you''re a tiger, you lie down for me."


    Brother Knife''s videos mainly showcased his astonishing strength, with the purpose of recruiting more allies. Many of his videos were explicit and gruesome, causing difort. Simrly, each video left Brother Knife''s contact information and address below.


    Angus suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment. "Yeah, what kind of world is this? Why should I cower here eating instant noodles?" When he thought about having to face David every day, take orders from him, and depend on him for food, he felt pathetic.


    Who was David to put on a show in front of him? A weak loser like him, how could he have a woman like Sally? Why? Just because he stockpiled some food and had a house? So what? In the current world, even thew no longer exists, and property deeds are just pieces of paper.


    The supplies in that house, and Sally, who said that everything should belong to David? In an instant, Angus felt that he understood everything. He was excited, and countless ideas flooded his mind. He carefully considered these bold ideas and formed a n in his mind.


    Angus sent a friend request to Brother Knife and added a message: "Hello, Brother Knife. I have some important information to disclose to you." After sessfully sending it, Angus sat up on the bed, grabbed the two remaining buckets of instant noodles from the table, and walked out of the bedroom.He couldn''t wait to shout: "Is Zoe here?"


    Angus searched the room and found Zoe lying in another bedroom, instantly relieved. Zoe was an essential part of his uing ns, and if she ran away, his ns would be ruined. Zoe sat up on the bed and looked at Angus, a hint of nervousness in her eyes. Angus sat beside Zoe, wearing an apologetic expression, and gently embraced her. "Zoe, I''m sorry for this morning. I didn''t mean to do it. I was in a terrible mood at that time, and I couldn''t control myself. I truly regret it now that I''ve calmed down." Zoe was somewhat surprised. She didn''t expect Angus toe and apologize to her.


    Angus looked at Zoe earnestly. "Can you forgive me? I promise I won''t do it again in the future."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Zoe was deeply moved. "Well, I know you didn''t mean it."


    Seeing Zoe easily forgiving him, Angus immediately smiled. But soon, his smile froze on his face when he noticed several pieces of bread on Zoe''s bedside table. "Where did this breade from?" His expression immediately turned sour.


    "It... it was given to me by David. I ate two, and the rest is for you," Zoe replied.


    A shade of darkness shed in Angus'' eyes, but he quickly forced out another smile and gently caressed Zoe''s head. "Why keep it for me? You should eat it yourself. It''s my fault for not being capable enough and letting you go hungry. Don''t worry, I won''t let you starve again."


    Zoe was overwhelmed by Angus'' gesture. She didn''t understand why Angus suddenly had a change in character, but she spected that perhaps Angus had matured through the events of the past two days. Looking at the man before her, who made promises to her, Zoe''s heart was filled with happiness and joy. She was grateful that she had chosen to stay by Angus'' side.


    "Are you hungry? I''ll go make instant noodles for you," Angus fondly touched her head and headed to the kitchen with a bucket of instant noodles. As Angus turned away, his face instantly became incredibly dark.


    "Damn you, David! I haven''t evenid  , and yet you managed to seduce my woman. It seems like you really think highly of yourself, huh?" Angus seethed with anger, his fist clenched tightly, veins bulging. However, he quickly came to his senses.


    "Forget it, I just n to take advantage of this bitch." Next, Angus proceeded to make instant noodles for Zoe, followed by giving her a shoulder and back massage, portraying himself as a good man. After Zoe finished eating the instant noodles, Angus carried her to the bed.


    In the midst of Zoe''s shy gaze, Angus removed her clothing. Suddenly, Angus pulled out a few ropes and a roll of duct tape. "Darling, how about we y something exciting today?" he said, preparing to tie Zoe''s hands with the ropes.


    Initially, Zoe had some resistance, but considering how good Angus had been to her earlier, she hesitated. "Okay, but just this once," she reluctantly agreed.


    Soon enough, Angus had tied Zoe''s hands and feet with ropes, and he sealed her mouth with duct tape. Just as he finished securing Zoe''s limbs, his expression immediately changed, and the tenderness in his eyes vanished. He pped Zoe across the face with a loud smack. "Fuck you, you damn bitch, seducing other men behind my back."


    "Waaah!" Zoe suddenly realized something was seriously wrong. She started struggling violently, but her hands and feet were bound, leaving her with no means to resist.


    Angus grabbed her by the throat and delivered two punches. "So, you enjoy seducing men, huh? Later, I''ll make sure you have a damn good time."

 Chapter 35 Ten Million Crystallizations

    ?"Brother Knife, someone sent a message saying they have important information to disclose to you."                Brother Knife was lying on a lounge chair with his eyes half-closed, looking rxed.                Two women were massaging and kneading his legs beside him.


    Upon hearing the man''s words Brother Knife sneered and reached out to touch one of the women''s thighs, saying, "Important information?                Bullshit!                Ignore it."


    Brother Knife didn''t take the message seriously.                Ever since he posted those videos online, his private messages were flooded with insults from countless people, with all kinds of vulgar and offensivenguage.                As for those who genuinely wanted to join him, there were hardly any.


    Brother Knife had been troubled by this matter for the past few days.                He originally nned to establish his own team and make a name for himself in this post-apocalyptic world.                However, his "career" hade to a standstill.                After recruiting over twenty subordinates, he couldn''t find suitable candidates anymore.                Moreover, he was now facing a shortage of food.


    They had thoroughly searched the entire building, robbing innocent survivors of their food and women, killing many men in the process.                But with over twenty people under hismand, in order to gain their loyalty and maintain his image as a righteous and generous leader, Brother Knife never withheld their food, ensuring they were well-fed every day.


    "At the current consumption rate, the food will be depleted in about ten to twenty days."                Brother Knife felt somewhat worried.                There wasn''t much food left in the residentialplex, and he didn''t dare to venture outside to the supermarkets or convenience stores.


    "It seems we''ll have to explore the other buildings when the timees."                Going to the other buildings meant risking encounters with zombies.               Brother Knife was a strength-enhanced superpower, and he wasn''t afraid of zombies himself, but his subordinates didn''t possess hisbat abilities.                If he were to lose the subordinates he had painstakingly recruited, it would be a significant loss.


    While Brother Knife was lost in thought, the man next to him spoke again.                "Brother Knife, but this guy sent a photo and said he wants to offer his girlfriend to you."


    "Oh?"              Brother Knife''s interest was immediately piqued.                "That''s impressive.                Show me."


    "Okay."                The man quickly handed his phone to Brother Knife.                Taking a look, Brother Knife saw a photo sent by the other person.                It was a selfie.                The photo depicted a tall and muscr young man who appeared to be around eighteen or neen years old, but he waspletely bald withrge tattoos covering his arms.                Behind him was a young girlpletely naked, tightly bound to a bed, her mouth sealed with duct tape, and her eyes swollen from crying.


    Below the photo, there was a self-introduction from the sender: "Hello, Brother Knife.                My name is Angus, and I want to join your team.                This is my girlfriend, and I''m willing to offer her to you as proof of my loyalty in joining your team."                Angus also included his address, and to Brother Knife''s surprise, Angus lived in the same residentialplex, just one floor apart.


    Brother Knife''s eyes lit up.                "This kid is not bad.                He''s strong and ruthless.                A talented individual."                Brother Knife carefully looked at the girl in the photo andmented, "As for this girl, she''s average-looking, but her figure is decent.                She seems quite young, probably not older than eighteen."


    Brother Knife is notcking women at the moment.         The number of women he has been with in the past few days surpasses the total in his entire life.         However, the thought of these women being someone else''s girlfriends still stirs some restlessness in his heart.         ying with someone else''s girlfriend?         That sounds somewhat exciting.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    So he sent a message to Angus: "Do you have any major news to share with me?"         On Angus''s end, he was surprised to see that Brother Knife actually replied to his message, and he felt a sudden excitement.


    Angus wasted no time in sharing the situation on his end with Brother Knife, especially the information about David hoarding food.         He exaggeratedly described it, saying, "That kid has filled up the entire room with food.         It could probablyst them for several years without any issues."


    Just a few seconds after Angus sent the message, he immediately received a reply from Brother Knife: "Wait for me, bro.         I''ll bring some people over right away.         If there really is that much food like you said, I''ll give you a great credit and make you a core member."


    Upon seeing Brother Knife''s response, Angus was filled with excitement.         Little did he know, on the other end, Brother Knife was equally thrilled.         He had been worrying about the shortage of food, and unexpectedly, Angus provided him with such crucial information.


    "Even the heavens are helping me, hahaha."        Brother Knife was in a great mood, and he quickly said to the people around him, "Brothers, gather everyone.         We''ve got work to do."         ...


    As the sky gradually darkened, David checked his watch and saw that it was almost 7 PM.         Dozens of zombie corpsesy before him, all of them with their heads severed by the Spatial de.


    Along the way, David didn''t hesitate to use his crystallizations, releasing Spatial des while replenishing his energy with mutant crystallizations.         It felt like having unlimited firepower, freely unleashing the Spatial des and bombarding the zombies.         As he continued to use the Spatial des, his psychic abilities were also being trained and improved in the process.


    David''s control over spatial power greatly enhanced.         Not only did his uracy improve, but while the Spatial des flew, he could slightly control their direction and adjust their flight trajectory to track targets.         This significantly increased David''s skill hit rate.         Moreover, David felt that his energy level had also increased.


    From initially being able to release only ten Spatial des, he could now release around twenty before exhausting his energy.         The attack range and destructive power of the Spatial des had also greatly increased, from ten meters to the current twenty meters.         With such rapid progress, he estimated leaving many newly awakened psychic ability users far behind.


    Today, David alone consumed nearly a hundred mutant crystallizations in battle.         Where could an ordinary psychic ability user obtain so many mutant crystallizations?         He was very satisfied with his gains today.         Not only did his strength greatly improve, but he also collected over a hundred mutant crystallizations.         Under the system''s ten-thousand-fold critical strike, those hundred-plus mutant crystallizations turned into over ten million.


    David couldn''t even imagine how he would use up so many mutant crystallizations.         However, resources like mutant crystallizations were something he would never consider too much.         "That''s about it, time to head back home."


    After a day of battle, despite replenishing his energy with mutant crystallizations, he was starting to feel tired.         Moreover, nights were dangerous, and in poorly lit areas, there was a risk of zombie ambushes.         David didn''t want to end up in a difficult situation.

 Chapter 36 The First Three Days Belong To You

    ?In Angus''s house, it was crowded and bustling with people.                Over twenty men of different ages and appearances were in Angus''s living room, smoking and chatting.                They were all Brother Knife''s subordinates.


    Angus enthusiastically chatted with these people, trying to be familiar with them.                The men were polite to Angus, mainly because of his strong physique, giving him a tough image.                Moreover, they had heard that Angus provided Brother Knife with a very important piece of information.


    Anyone with keen eyes could tell that Angus''s position in the team would definitely not be low in the future.                It was possible that Brother Knife might even appoint him as the second-inmand.                After about ten minutes, the bedroom door opened, and Brother Knife came out with his pants on, apanied by a few of his men.


    In the bedroom, Zoey on the bed with empty eyes, staring at the ceiling.                Her gaze was hollow, and dried tears stained the corners of her eyes.                Her body was covered in bruises, and there were bloodstains everywhere on the sheets.                Zoey motionless on the bed, and if it weren''t for the slight movement of her chest, she would have looked like a lifeless person.


    Angus ttered, "Brother Knife, how about it?                Did you have fun?"


    Brother Knife smirked and patted Angus''s shoulder.                "Not bad, thanks for the hospitality, Angus.                Everyone had a great time."


    Angus smiled and said, "Brother Knife, don''t say that.                We''re all brothers now.                Brother Knife is being too polite."


    Brother Knife''s satisfaction with Angus grew as he looked at him.                He tightened his belt and said, "Alright, let''s get down to business."


    But Angus suddenly stopped Brother Knife, wearing a mysterious expression, and said, "Brother Knife can I discuss something with you?"


    Brother Knife halted his steps.                "Oh?                What''s the matter?                Just tell me, brother!"


    Angus had a sly smile on his face.                "Well, Brother Knife, do you remember that David I told you about?                He has a pretty girlfriend, and I''ve been interested in her for a long time..."


    Brother Knife burst intoughter and gave Angus a look of understanding.                "Oh, that''s it?                No problem!                Once we capture that woman, for the first three days, no one is allowed to touch her except for you.                That''s what I say."


    Angus was extremely excited in his heart and smiled profusely.                "Thank you, Brother Knife!                Thank you, Brother Knife!"


    "Let''s go then, I''ll lead the way!"                Angus took the lead and walked towards David''s house with the others.


    Suddenly, the group noticed a young man with a handsome face standing in the corridor.                The man held apletely ck knife in his hand and looked calmly at the group of over twenty people in front of him.


    "David, why is it you?"                Angus immediately recognized that the man in front of him was David.


    Angus felt a sense of unease seeing the knife in David''s hand, wondering where he got such a weapon.                And how did he inexplicably appear in the corridor?


    Looking at Angus, who was mixed among the crowd, David furrowed his brow.                When he went upstairs earlier, he heard a lot of noise and footstepsing from Angus''s room, which made him feel that something was off.                Now, there were more than twenty people crowded in the narrow corridor, and Angus seemed quite familiar with them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After some contemtion, David had a rough idea of their intentions.              Just as he suspected, Angus spoke to the man beside him, Brother Knife, saying, "Brother Knife, this is the David I told you about.              He has stockpiled a lot of supplies in his house."


    Angus pointed to the door behind David.              "The supplies are in that room.              The adjacent unit is where David and his girlfriend live.              I haven''t been inside, but I assume there are also considerable resources there."


    Brother Knife nodded and took a couple of steps forward, pulling out a solid iron rod from his waist.              He warned, "Kid, listen carefully.              Drop your knife, and I might spare your life. "


    The gleaming long knife in David''s hand made the people behind Brother Knife wary, so they hesitated to approach him.              While this group of people had no qualms about bullying the weak, when it came to a real fight with weapons, they were somewhat cowardly.


    Brother Knife also understood this and knew that he had to personally deal with David.              At this moment, Arnold and Sophie heard themotion outside the door.              They opened it and came out, only to find David confronting more than twenty people.              Arnold asked, "David, what''s going on?"


    From a distance, Brother Knifeid his eyes on Sophie when he saw Arnold and Sophie.              He assessed her from head to toe and said with a grin, "Heh, this girl looks pretty good.              Petite figure, just my type."


    Sophie seemed frightened by Brother Knife''s gaze and quickly hid behind Arnold.              Arnold protected her, his expression darkening as he drew a folding knife from his pocket.


    Meanwhile, Sally''s room door opened, and she also saw David and the others in a standoff with a group of menacing men, including Angus.              When Brother Knife saw Sallye out, his eyes went wide open.


    Brother Knife swore that he had never seen such a beautiful woman in his entire life.              She was even more stunning than those female celebrities on television screens.              He nudged Angus.              "Damn, Angus, my brother, is this David''s girlfriend you were talking about?"


    Angus chuckled, "Yes, Brother Knife, that''s her."              Brother Knife instantly regretted agreeing to Angus earlier.


    However, since he had made thatmitment in front of so many people, it would be difficult to back out.              He patted Angus on the shoulder and said with a smile, "You''ve got good taste, my boy.              This woman is indeed exceptional, but she''s yours for the first three days.              After that, she''s mine."


    Angus felt disappointed inside.              He had hoped to keep Sally for the long term, but he had already anticipated this oue.              With a woman as beautiful as Sally, how could Brother Knife let her slip away?


    Angus ttered, "Of course, Brother Knife has the final say."              The two of them seemed to disregard David and the otherspletely, discussing their.


    Sally was infuriated to see these two men openly discussing her "ownership" in front of her. She turned to David and asked, "David, what''s going on?"


    David replied calmly, "Angus betrayed us. He brought these people to rob us of our supplies. That man who looks like a pig should be their leader." David could have easily dealt with these people, but he chose not to act in order to let Arnold see the true nature of Angus.


    Indeed, Angus didn''t disappoint David. He quickly revealed his true colors. Although David didn''t know where Angus found these henchmen, it didn''t matter to him.

 Chapter 37 Crystallization Of Supernatural Beings

    ?"Damn, who are you calling a pig?" Brother Knife was furious after hearing David''s words. He didn''t expect that even facing the surrounding of over twenty people on his side, David and his group dared to act so arrogantly. "Just wait for me, kid. I''m going to break your legs and make you watch as your woman gets yed with."


    Others chimed in, cursing as well, "Brother Knife! Take him down!"


    "The brat''s about to meet his end, yet he still talks tough."


    "Brother Knife, get him!"


    Originally, Brother Knife was somewhat wary of the long knife in David''s hand. But at this moment, he was provoked by David. How could he lose face in front of so many underlings?


    He raised an iron rod and charged straight at David. Brother Knife''s gaze turned extremely fierce in an instant. "Once I strike you with this iron rod, I''ll definitely smash you into a pulp!"


    Brother Knife was supremely confident in his own strength. He believed that no one could withstand his blow. Just a few steps away from David, he suddenly moved. Brother Knife only saw a blurry figure sh by. Before he could even make out the opponent''s actions, he felt a heavy blow to his chest, as if he had been struck by an iron hammer.


    The iron rod slipped from Brother Knife''s hand and fell to the ground, making a crisp sound. Meanwhile, he was sent flying by David''s punch,nding among the crowd behind him.


    Brother Knife''s massive body instantly crashed into a group of people, and Angus was the first to bear the brunt. He was nearly knocked unconscious by Brother Knife''s obese frame. However, Angus didn''t dare toin and quickly joined the others in helping Brother Knife up. "Brother Knife, are you okay?"


    Struggling to get up from the ground, Brother Knife looked somewhat disheveled. He gazed at David with a terrified expression. The power behind David''s punch was horrifying. Mind you, Brother Knife was an awakened individual with a power-type ability, yet he was directly punched away by David,pletely defenseless. If it weren''t for his strong physique as an awakened being, that punch might have taken half his life.


    Moreover, David''s movements were incredibly fast just now. If David had used a knife instead of his fist, Brother Knife would likely be dead by now. "Could it be that this kid is also an awakened individual?" Brother Knife was filled with post-event fear. Cold sweat kept pouring down his back, and he instantly realized that he seemed to have gotten into big trouble.


    Everyone, including Angus, had a strange look in their eyes as they looked at David. They had witnessed Brother Knife''s strength, which was like that of a humanoid monster. And yet, David was able to send Brother Knife flying with a single punch. What kind of terrifying power was this?


    At this moment, David had already returned to Sally''s side and said to her, "Deal with these people. It''s a good opportunity to test your lightning intensity. Leave Angus to me."


    Sally nodded. Brother Knife and Angus had been disrespectful to her earlier, and she had been holding back her anger. She reached out her hand, and electric sparks flickered within her grasp, emitting a crackling sound.


    Brother Knife''s face immediately changed. "Damn! This woman is also an awakened individual, run!" He didn''t expect that this seemingly beautiful woman was actually an awakened individual, and furthermore, the most destructive type of elemental awakened individual.


    Justst night, Brother Knife came across a lot of information about supernatural beings online. Due to the awakening of abilities in many individuals, there was intense discussion online. Overall, the number of supernatural beings is very small, with only a few people awakening their abilities. Among the supernatural beings, those with abilities rted to strength, agility, and physical enhancement are the mostmon.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    On the other hand, elemental abilities and certain special types of supernatural beings are rtively rare. Brother Knife thought that although his ability was not powerful, it should be enough to dominate a small area. Little did he know that he would be so unlucky to encounter such a powerful supernatural being on his first encounter.


    At this moment, Brother Knife didn''t care about his reputation anymore. He relied on his physical prowess as a supernatural being and ran faster than everyone else. He just wanted to leave this ce as quickly as possible. However, no matter how fast he ran, how could he be faster than the speed of lightning?


    Suddenly, Sally released multiple bolts of lightning from her hand, and countless dazzling electric arcs flew towards the crowd. This is a characteristic of her lightning-based ability: with sufficient energy, she can simultaneously attack targets from multiple directions. Unlike David''s spatial de that cuts directly, lightning-based abilities are more effective when facing arge number of zombies.


    When the lightning from Sally hit the people, their bodies immediately began convulsing madly, falling to the ground and quickly losing their vitality. The whole processsted only a few seconds, and Sally''s move instantly killed more than twenty people, filling the corridor with a smell of burnt flesh. Due to David''s instructions, Sally spared Angus''s life, as he was the only one not struck by lightning.


    Angus waspletely frightened. He sat on the ground, looking at the charred bodies around him, his eyes filled with terror. He dared not escape, fearing that any movement on his part would lead to the same fate as Brother Knife and the others. Arnold and Sophie beside him were also stunned, as they had never expected Sally to be so powerful.


    David slowly approached Brother Knife and stood beside him. Brother Knife''s body was still twitching slightly, his face filled with fear. He truly deserved to be called a Physique of the superhuman, as he hadn''t diedpletely yet. David stabbed him in the heart with a knife, ending his life.


    The sight of David''s strike made Angus shudder in fear. He looked at David before him, feeling an immense sense of unfamiliarity. In his mind, David had always been an ordinary person, just someone who had been lucky enough to stockpile some supplies. But now, this David standing in front of him for the first time made Angus experience genuine fear from the depths of his heart.


    David ignored Angus and used his knife to make a cut on Brother Knife''s forehead. When the tip of the knife touched something hard, he flicked it with the tip, and a crystal was taken out from Brother Knife''s forehead.


    "As expected, there''s a crystal." This crystal seemed slightlyrger than the ones produced by ordinary zombies. David had heard before that supernatural beings, like zombies, also produce crystals. However, unlike zombies, supernatural beings have a 100% chance of producing crystals, not just a one-third probability.


    Just like the mutated crystals from zombies and strange beasts, the crystals from supernatural beings can enhance the user''s abilities when absorbed, and there''s a certain probability of learning the skills of the other person.


    However, Brother Knife doesn''t seem to be particrly strong, so David doesn''t expect his crystal to be much stronger than those from ordinary zombies. David cleaned the crystal and put it back in his storage space.


    [You obtained one mutated crystal, critical hit multiplied by 100,000!]


    [Congrattions on obtaining 100,000 mutated crystals!]


    After storing the mutated crystal, David''s gaze shifted towards Angus. The icy coldness in his eyes made Angus couldn''t help but shudder, as if he had fallen into an icy cave.

 Chapter 38 I Am Being Forced

    ?David asked in a cold voice, "Where is Zoe?"


    Angus hurriedly replied, "She... she''s in the room. Let me take you there." Angus quickly got up from the ground and led the way.


    Arnold, Sophie, and the others followed, their faces filled with worry, as if they had a bad premonition. They all followed Angus to his room. Angus stood at the bedroom door with his back to everyone, his hand hesitating on the doorknob. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind to open the door.


    As the door was pushed open, everyone frowned. They saw Zoe lying naked on the bed, covered in bruises and scars, with bloodstains on the sheets. Her hands and feet were bound, and her mouth was taped shut. It was unimaginable what kind of torture she had endured.


    "Zoe!" Sophie''s eyes immediately turned red, and she rushed forward to untie the ropes around Zoe''s hands. Sally also hurriedly came forward to help. She took off her jacket and covered Zoe''s body.


    "Zoe, what happened to you?" Sophie''s voice trembled with tears as she looked at Zoe''s miserable state. Zoe, who had been numb and hopeless, finally showed some signs of life when she saw Sophie and the others. She hugged Sophie and burst into tears.


    "Sophie, Angus is not human. He brought a group of people back and they took turns viting me. They... they even said they were going to kill Arnold and David and take away your supplies."


    Suddenly, Zoe realized that David and the others were unharmed and appeared here. "You... you''re all okay?"


    Arnold''s anger red up when he heard this. He rushed forward and kicked Angus in the body. Angus was kicked against the wall and let out a muffled groan, showing a pained expression.


    Arnold flipped him over and mercilessly punched him in the face, one punch after another. "Angus, you beast! You''re worse than a pig or a dog!"


    Angus''s face was covered in blood from Arnold''s beating, but he didn''t dare to fight back. He cried out, "Arnold, please stop, they forced me. If I don''t agree to their demands, they said they would kill me."


    Arnold didn''t stop his actions at all, instead, he hit even harder. "You dare to lie! I''ll fucking kill you."


    Angus''s appearance in the hallway didn''t look like someone who was forced. David stepped forward and stopped Arnold, pulling him up. Then he searched Angus''s pockets and found his phone. He first checked Angus''s calls and messages, and then looked through hismunication apps.


    After a thorough search, David finally found the chat records between Angus and "Knife Brother" on a video app called "titok".


    He handed the phone to Arnold, who, after reading it, couldn''t help but curse out loud, "This is what you call being forced? This fucking bullshit is what you call being forced?!"


    He stepped forward and stomped on Angus several times, feeling unsatisfied. Then he grabbed a stool and ruthlessly hit his head a few times. Angus was beaten half to death, muttering, "Please, stop... stop... I really was forced..."


    Sophie closed the bedroom door and, together with Sally, helped Zoe put on clothes. Zoe weakly got off the bed, her steps unsteady. Sophie couldn''t help but feel heartbroken, supporting Zoe and shedding tears uncontrobly. She had always treated Zoe like a younger sister since their time at the barbecue restaurant, and seeing Zoe in such a state was like a knife to her heart.


    After dressing Zoe with Sally''s help, Sophie and Sally led her out of the bedroom. David nced at them and sighed. "You two go back for now. Arnold and I will handle things here."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Zoe suddenly walked up to David, choked with sobs, and said, "David, I''m sorry. If only I had listened to you and lived with Arnold and Sophie, I wouldn''t have ended up like this. It''s all my fault."


    David sighed, his expressionplex. He had tried to convince Zoe earlier, but he hadn''t been able to persuade her. He never expected Zoe to be so devoted to Angus. But what surprised him even more was how cruel Angus had been to a girl who loved him so deeply.


    "Go and rest," David didn''t know how tofort her. What had happened to her was too cruel for a young girl, and he could only hope that time would heal the wounds in her heart. Sally and Sophie led Zoe out of Angus''s room.


    David said to Arnold, "Why don''t you go and rest for a while too? Your hand seems injured. I''ll deal with him." Arnold beat Angus too hard, injuring his own hand in the process. His knuckles had split open, and blood kept dripping.


    "I''m fine, David." Arnold''s eyes were bloodshot as he red at Angus like a ferocious beast selecting its prey. "I want to ughter this animal with my own hands." Arnold pulled out a folding knife and walked slowly toward Angus.


    "Arnold, no! Don''t kill me! I beg you!" Angus, lying on the ground and beaten half to death, was suddenly filled with fear. He used his hands to crawl and roll backward, trying to escape. But Arnold and David blocked the doorway, leaving Angus with nowhere to run.


    At that moment, two women''s screams came from outside the door. "Ah! Zoe!"


    David and Arnold rushed out upon hearing the voices. However, all they saw were Sophie and Sally. Zoe was nowhere to be found. Sophie sat on the ground, her face full of despair, while Sally looked pale and stared downstairs.


    Arnold hurriedly helped Sophie up, and David asked Sally, "What happened? Where''s Zoe?"


    Sally''s voice trembled slightly. "Zoe... she jumped off the building."


    David nced down through the internal window of the hallway and saw a gruesome scene below, wrinkling his brow.


    "What do we do, David?" Sally''s voice was tinged with a sob, and her body trembled uncontrobly. David embraced her, gently stroking her back.


    Suddenly, David heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and met Angus''s panicked gaze. Angus quickly turned and ran, seemingly attempting to escape.


    David casually threw a spatial de, instantly severing one of Angus''s legs. "Ah!" Angus let out a scream of agony and fell to the ground. Clutching his severed leg, he cried out in pain, "My leg! My leg!"


    David patted Sally''s shoulder. "You and Sophie go back first." Sally nodded, helped the distraught Sophie, and walked back into the room with her.


    Sophie appearedpletely lost, clearly deeply affected by the situation. Arnold stood up, ring at Angus, clutching the folding knife tightly, and slowly approached him.

 Chapter 39 This Is The Apocalypse

    ?David stood aside and watched as Arnold approached Angus, making no attempt to stop him.   He wasn''t worried that Arnold would get himself into trouble.   Angus didn''t have any weapons and had lost a leg.


    If Arnold could be killed so easily, he wouldn''t have lived long enough to meet David in their past lives.   David remembered when he first met Arnold in a previous life, back when Arnold hadn''t developed any special abilities yet.   However, even at that time, Arnold had already demonstrated superiorbat skillspared to ordinary people.


    David knew that Arnold had served in the military before, but he wasn''t sure which branch.   Despite Angus''s physical strength, losing a leg hadpletely robbed him of his will to fight.   Sometimes, physical strength wasn''t the decisive factor in determining the oue of a battle.


    "Arnold, please spare me.   I won''t dare to do it again," Angus pleaded, crawling backward with tears and snot mixing together, looking utterly miserable.


    Arnold didn''t respond to him.   When he was just a few meters away from Angus, he suddenly elerated.   He rushed forward and pinned Angus down, straddling him.   Angus began to struggle, but Arnold had the upper hand in terms of position.   With Arnold on top of him, Angus couldn''t exert any force.   In addition, with his leg severed, it was even more difficult for him to generate power from his lower body,pletely unable to break free from Arnold''s control.


    Arnold punched Angus in the nose with his left hand, causing Angus to cry out in pain.   Taking advantage of the moment when Angus closed his eyes in pain, Arnold revealed a small folding knife in his right hand and ruthlessly stabbed it into Angus''s chest.   Seeing Arnold''s precise stab, David''s eyes lit up.   The timing of that stab was perfect, bypassing Angus''s ribs and urately piercing his heart.


    Such a skillful stab could only mean that Arnold had a deep understanding of human anatomy.   When David met Arnold in their previous life, it was already some time after the apocalypse had begun.   At that time, David thought that Arnold''s abilities had been honed only after the arrival of the apocalypse.   Now it seemed that Arnold had been formidable from the very beginning.


    He wasn''t just a chubby barbecue restaurant owner on the surface.   David began to wonder what level of power Arnold would possess once he became an extraordinary being.   Arnold slowly pressed the knife further into Angus''s heart, and various emotions flickered in Angus''s eyes¡ªresentment, fear, and unwillingness.   He struggled desperately, trying to push Arnold off his body.   But the moment his heart was pierced, his strength began to rapidly fade away.


    The anger in Arnold''s eyes gradually dissipated, leaving only a coldness, like that of an indifferent executioner.   He and Angus locked eyes, witnessing the gradual disappearance of Angus''s life slipping away from his grasp.   Finally, Angus lost all his strength, his hands fell weakly, and his face still bore an expression of terror.


    At that moment, David felt as if he could sense Arnold going through a transformation.   This was a process that everyone who managed to survive in the apocalypse had to go through.   With the disappearance of civilization, order, morality, andw had all vanished, and humanity had returned to a state of savagery.   It was a struggle for existence, survival of the fittest!   To survive, one had to adapt to all of this.   This was the apocalypse, and no one could stay out of it.


    Arnold sat up from Angus''s corpse, his adrenaline slowly fading away, and his body began to tremble slightly.  David walked to the window in the hallway and nced down.  Perhaps it was the smell of blood emanating from Zoe''s body that attracted the surrounding zombies.  The zombies in the neighborhood had already been cleared out by David, but now a new group emerged from somewhere.


    David lifted Angus''s body and threw him directly from the upstairs window.  "Let''s deal with these bodies as well."  Looking at the scattered corpses on the ground, David decided to throw them down from the building and let the zombies take care of them.  It was the most convenient option.  He didn''t want these bodies to dpose and stink up the floor he lived on.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Arnold remained silent.  He quietly put away his folding knife and started helping David move the bodies.  One after another, they threw the bodies down to the ground.  The impact of the bodies hitting the ground produced a dull sound that seemed particrly jarring in the quiet neighborhood.


    After they finished their work, the hallway returned to its empty state, just like before.  Only the bloodstains on the ground and the lingering smell of burning indicated that what had just happened was real.  After throwing down thest body, Arnold sat down on the ground, looking somewhat exhausted.  Suddenly, he asked David, "David, do you have cigarettes?"


    David was taken aback since he remembered that Arnold never smoked.  He himself didn''t smoke either, but he had stored many cigarettes in the storage space.  Although David found it hard to understand, cigarettes were a valuablemodity in the post-apocalyptic world, so he had collected some.


    David took out an expensive pack of cigarettes and handed it to Arnold, along with a lighter.  Arnold leaned against the wall, and behind him was the spot where Zoe had jumped.


    With trembling hands, Arnold tore open the cigarette packaging, took one out, ced it in his mouth, and lit it.  "Cough, cough, cough!"  He started coughing violently, the experience he had just been through leaving him with mixed emotions.  He had taken too strong a drag.  "This cigarette really burns the throat.  David, sorry for wasting your cigarette."  Arnold threw the cigarette to the ground and extinguished it with his foot, returning the remaining ones to David.


    "No worries."  David took the cigarette.  He didn''t smoke anyway, and if it weren''t for therge storage space, he wouldn''t have bothered hoarding them.  Arnold stared ahead with empty eyes, murmuring, "I knew Angus wasn''t a good person.  Sophie and I had warned Zoe before, but Angus was her first love, and she couldn''t let go."


    As he spoke, Arnold''s eyes became slightly red.  "Zoe''s mother was in poor health, and she worked hard to earn more money for her mother''s medical expenses.  She was such a responsible and sensible child."


    David didn''t know what to say.  He wasn''t good atforting others.  He knew that Zoe''s death was a shocking and difficult-to-ept event for Arnold, Sophie, and Sally, who had never experienced the apocalypse.  But David had long grown ustomed to it.


    If it weren''t for the apocalypse, the worst oue for Zoe would have been getting dumped by Angus and feeling sad for a while.  But that''s how the apocalypse was¡ªanyone''s emotions and dreams were hardly worth mentioning in this world.  The cruelty and brutality of humanity were magnified to the fullest in this chaotic era, and foolishly kind-hearted people could easily pay with their lives.


    "What the hell is all this?"  Arnold suddenly broke down emotionally.  He held his head, grabbing his hair forcefully, and started crying.  But to David, his reaction was quite normal.


    At the beginning, the overwhelming feeling that countless dead bodies and a city full of zombies brought to people was fear. It was only when their loved ones died right in front of them that they could truly experience how cruel the apocalypse really was.

 Chapter 40 Little Blacks Awakening

    ?At night, David, Arnold, and the others sat together, and David exined to Sophie and Arnold what abilities were all about.


    "So, you''re saying that Brother Knife is also an ability user?"   Arnold asked.


    "That''s right," David replied.   He picked up a tissue from the dining table and casually stored it in his storage space, then took it out again.   The others noticed that the tissue in David''s hand suddenly disappeared and then reappeared.


    "I awakened a spatial ability.   I can store lifeless objects in another space and retrieve them whenever I want," David exined.   With his spatial ability as a cover, David no longer needed to exin the storage space to others.


    David told them that he awakened his ability a month before the apocalypse arrived.   So he started stockpiling various foods and resources inrge quantities.   That way, everything that followed could be exined.


    Arnold and Sophie looked amazed.   "How can we obtain abilities then?"   Arnold asked with a longing expression.   The events of today had a great impact on him.   He realized that if it weren''t for Sally and David''s intervention, he and Sophie wouldn''t know what fate awaited them.   In such chaotic times, if they didn''t have enough power to protect themselves and those around them, they would be helpless prey.


    But David shook his head.   "For now, it seems that only natural awakenings are possible."   David didn''t tell Arnold that ordinary people could also be ability users by consuming crystals.   Because the probability of an ordinary person bing an ability user through crystal consumption was probably less than one percent.


    Although David had heard that consuming crystals dropped by higher-level zombies or mutant creatures could increase the sess rate of bing an ability user and reduce the probability of death, it was only hearsay.   Once the awakening failed after consuming the crystal, the brain would immediately die, turning the person into an irrational zombie.


    For ability users, even if they ate mutant crystals like candy, it didn''t matter.   At most, they would have too much energy to absorb.   Butpared to swallowing, David preferred to absorb the energy from the crystals through skin contact.   In the end, both methods yielded the same effect.


    David only told Arnold and Sophie that consuming mutant crystals might turn ordinary people into zombies but didn''t tell them that it might awaken abilities.   He was mainly afraid that the two of them would make reckless decisions in pursuit of power.   Besides, based on his previous life, Arnold would eventually be an ability user, just a littleter.   So there was no need for Arnold to take such a risk.


    As for Sophie, David estimated that she was probably an ordinary person.   It was highly unlikely to have all four members of a team as ability users.   Just picking up Sally was already incredibly lucky for David.   He couldn''t expect all four of them to be ability users.


    "Oh, I see," Arnold''s expression seemed a bit disappointed.


    Davidforted him, "Don''t think too much about it.   Everyone has a chance.   Let''s eat first."   With a wave of his hand, the dining table was instantly filled with delicious food, all retrieved from his storage space.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    There was a variety of chicken, duck, fish, and meat on the table, as abundant as a Chinese New Year feast.  Looking at the steaming dishes on the table, David''s appetite soared.  He hadn''t eaten all day, and now he was starving.


    David picked up his chopsticks and started eating heartily.  Since bing an ability user, his appetite had be exaggerated.  His body needed a sufficient amount of energy to strengthen his physique and replenish his energy.  The other three initially had no appetite, but seeing how deliciously David was eating seemed to have infected them, and they also picked up their chopsticks and started enjoying the food.


    In no time, the table full of delicacies was devoured, leaving nothing behind.  After dinner, Arnold and Sophie returned to their own house, leaving only David and Sally in the house.  Sally was cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks, preparing to throw them away, while David sat in front of Sally''sputer.


    He wasn''t nning to surf the inte.  Nowadays, the information online was basically worthless.  He opened the map software and searched for the location of a cold storage facility.  After a search, he finally located a cold storage facility owned by apany called "Hao Cai" (Good Food).  Thispany was thergest cold chain logisticspany in SJ City.


    Thepany used cold chain transportation to supply fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, and staple foods like rice and oil to various supermarkets and restaurants in SJ City every day.  The cold storage facility was where Hao Cai stored the food.  All the food would be transported here first for storage before being distributed to various supermarkets and restaurants in SJ City.  If nothing unexpected happened, there should still be arge amount of food in the cold storage that hadn''t spoiled yet.


    "Tomorrow will be the second day.  The system gave an additional three-day ten-thousand-fold material crit bonus," David thought.  He had used the first day to collect mutant crystals, and now he had over ten million of them in his storage space, which was more than enough.  So David nned to gather some more food next.  Although the supplies in his storage space were already enough for several lifetimes, who wouldin about having too much?


    If he collected supplies bit by bit from various supermarkets in the city, it would be too slow, and there were still many zombies in the city.  To save onnd rental costs, the cold storage facility was located on the outskirts of SJ City, where even buses were rare.  It could be imagined that there wouldn''t be many zombies in the surrounding area.


    "It looks like I have to make a trip there tomorrow," David made a decision in his mind.  He was about to close theputer when he heard Sally''s exmation from the living room.  He also heard a few cheerful barks.  "David,e and see, Little ck...!"


    David quickly went to the living room and saw Little ck wagging its tail, bouncing around Sally, looking very excited.  When it saw David, it barked at him a few times, its proud expression seemed to say, "Look at me, look at me!"  Little ck opened its mouth and spewed out a zing green me into the empty space in front of it.  "Hmm?  Green me?"


    In his previous life, David had heard that Little ck''s mes were extraordinary.  Once the mes touched even a tiny bit of someone, they would spread like maggots on bones, burning the whole body, making it difficult to extinguish.  However, David didn''t expect the mes to be green in color, giving a somewhat eerie feeling.  No wonder others gave it the nickname "Hellhound."


    "Not bad, it seems you''ve also awakened," David crouched down and patted Little ck''s head.Little ck is very receptive, wagging his tail happily.

 Chapter 41 Another Mutated Beast

    ?After being patted on the Little ck head by David, Little ck ran over to Sally and rubbed against her leg.   David had heard that ordinary animals would experience a significant increase in intelligence after awakening as mutant beasts.   Little ck indeed seemed much smarter now.   It appeared to recognize the close rtionship between Sally and David, which was why it tried to please Sally.


    Sally felt delighted and crouched down to pat Little ck.   "You''re such a clever little fellow.   It looks like I didn''t feed you in vain today."   After showing off in front of both of them, Little ck called out to the ck cat on the sofa a couple of times, its eyes filled with pride and showiness.   However, the ck cat paid it no attention.


    Seeing that the ck cat ignored it, Little ck jumped onto the sofa.   It lifted its head and spewed a me toward the ceiling, seemingly showing off to the ck cat.   Just as it was unting its power, David grabbed its nape and lifted it up.   "No more breathing fire inside the house, got it?   If you burn down the house, I''ll definitely give you a beating."


    Little ck seemed to understand David''s words and let out a pitiful sound.   Sally said to David, "This little one has a huge appetite.   I fed it five kilograms of meat today before it got full.   I can''t believe such a small belly can hold five kilograms of meat."


    David replied, "Well, it''s normal for mutant beasts to have a big appetite.   I''ll put more food in the fridge for it in the future and try to keep it well-fed."   He wasn''t worried about Little ck''srge appetite.   Even if it ate ten kilograms of meat a day, David could afford to feed it.   However, it was somewhat nostalgic to think that Little ck''s living conditions as a dog might be better than those of most people.   He took out around fifty mutant crystals from his backpack and put them all in Little ck''s food bowl.


    In the post-apocalyptic world, mutant beasts were not united.   Different types of mutant beasts often fought each other.   Some mutant beasts would also hunt and kill mutant zombies, with the sole purpose of obtaining the mutant crystals in their brains.   These crystals could rapidly enhance their strength.


    Upon seeing the crystals in the food bowl, Little ck''s eyes sparkled.   It vigorously rubbed against David''s leg a few times and then rushed to the food bowl without dy, swallowing several mutant crystals whole.   David noticed that it stopped after swallowing about thirty crystals.   It seemed that like human mutants, there was a limit to the number of crystals they could absorb each day.


    After swallowing thirty crystals, Little ck guarded the remaining ones in the food bowl, resembling a miser protecting its treasure.   Unexpectedly, the ck cat suddenly jumped off the sofa and approached Little ck.


    "Coke, what are you up to?"   Sally felt worried seeing the ck cat seemingly wanting to pick a fight.   After all, the current Little ck was a mutant beast.   If it sprayed Coke with fire, it would be disastrous.   Before she could intervene, Coke suddenly turned into a ck shadow, as fast as an arrow, and swiftly passed by Little ck.


    David and Sally were instantly amazed.   "Such incredible speed!"   David considered himself not slow, but the ck cat''s speed was much faster than his.   In the next moment, the ck cat had already retreated from Little ck''s side and returned to the sofa.   Only then did the oblivious Little ck notice that its food bowl was gone.   It looked up and saw the bowl under the ck cat.


    "Woof woof woof!"     Little ck became anxious immediately and barked repeatedly at David, soundingpletely aggrieved.     However, David''s attention was focused on the ck cat.     Only mutated beasts would be interested in mutated crystals;     ordinary animals would not react to them.     Considering the speed of the ck cat earlier, could C also be a mutated beast?


    David sat down on the sofa and asked the ck cat, "Are you also interested in these crystals?"     It was unclear if the ck cat understood David''s words, but instead of eating the mutated crystals in the dog bowl, it walked over to David and rubbed against him with a slightly resentful look in its eyes.


    David instantly understood its meaning and took out several dozen mutated crystals from the storage space and ced them next to the ck cat.     The ck cat happily meowed and started purring.     It crouched down and picked up the mutated crystals one by one, swallowing them gracefully, with much more elegance than Little ck.


    A glimmer of surprise shed in David''s eyes.     "So, this ck cat is indeed a mutated beast."


    Sally was stunned.     "Ah?     Is C also a mutated beast?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    No wonder they didn''t realize it before.     C didn''t resemble Little ck at all.     Its appearance showed no visible changes, just slightly more robust than before.


    David returned the dog bowl to Little ck, and Little ck hurriedly grabbed its own bowl and ran to the corner of the living room, hiding it in the wall corner and protecting it with its body.     Then, Little ck yawned and fell asleep right away.


    David had heard that after consuming mutated crystals, mutated beasts would absorb energy while sleeping.     Looking at Little ck in this state, the energy of the mutated crystals seemed to be taking effect.     Even in its sleep, Little ck tightly guarded its bowl.     Seeing this, David shook his head.


    "This silly dog, can''t you see that others despise your bowl?"     Although C snatched Little ck''s bowl, it didn''t eat any of the crystals.     David spected that C was just jealous and didn''t really want to eat the crystals in Little ck''s bowl.


    However, David was still very happy.     Most mutated beasts that had lived with humans for a long time became loyal to their masters after evolving.     Unless their owners had treated them poorly or abused them in the past, with their intelligence, they would be even closer to their owners, actively staying by their side and protecting their safety.


    Adolf from the previous life was such a lucky example.     Now, both of these mutated beasts had a good rtionship with David, and they absolutely adored David because he had their favorite mutated crystals.     This was truly great news for David...


    In Sally''s room, in thete night, a sweaty Sally snuggled in David''s arms, and David hugged her from behind.     After the long ordeal they had just been through, both of them were slightly exhausted, and David felt a wave of drowsinesse over him.


    Half-asleep and half-awake, Sally suddenly called out softly, "David."


    "Hmm?     What''s wrong?"


    Sally snuggled closer to David, pressing her entire body against his chest.     "I feel so lucky to have met you."


    David guessed that Sally must have witnessed Zoe''s ordeal, which made her appreciate her current situation.     If it weren''t for David, How will she end up any better than Zoe?


    David shook his head and said seriously, "No, it should be said that meeting you is my luck."  David wasn''t just being polite;  he genuinely felt that way.  It was only because he had randomly decided to bring Sally along that his team now had an electrokic ability user and a mutated beast.  Wasn''t that lucky enough?


    Sally was deeply moved upon hearing David''s words.  She buried her head in David''s embrace, her face filled with a blissful expression of happiness.

 Chapter 42 To Go To The Cold Storage

    ?The next day, Sophie just woke up and saw Arnold doing push-ups in the living room.


    "45, 46, 47...  Ah, I can''t do it anymore.  It''s been a while since Ist trained," Arnold gasped for breath, lying on the floor.


    Curious, Sophie asked, "Honey, what are you doing?"


    Arnold replied, "I heard people online saying that people with good physical fitness are more likely to be superhumans.  I need to work hard too."


    Sophie smiled and said, "Ever since you left the army, you''ve gained quite a few pounds.  Now you''re thinking about exercising, but it might be toote."


    Upon hearing this, Arnold became dissatisfied.  "Ha, you look down on your husband, huh?  Then let me tell you the story of how I won first ce in the Army Martial Arts Championship back then."


    Sophie covered her ears and said, "I won''t listen, my ears are tired from listening."


    Arnold stood up and reached out to remove her hand covering her ears.  "No, you have to listen.  This time I''ll tell you some different details."


    "I don''t want to, you always say that."...


    In the hallway, David, who was about to leave, heard the yful banter between Arnold and Sophie and smiled with relief.  It seemed that after a night had passed, both of them were in a good mood, which was the best oue.  Zoe was no longer with them, but the survivors had to continue moving forward.  It was meaningless to immerse oneself in sorrow.


    David had his car keys in his pocket and walked downstairs along the stairs.  To his surprise, he encountered several zombies in the hallways on each floor.  He spected that these zombies were attracted by the corpses thrown downst night.


    David nced downstairs and confirmed that the more than twenty bodies thrown down yesterday had disappeared without a trace, not even a few bones left.  These zombies must have inadvertently wandered into this building.  When the zombies noticed David, they rushed towards him like mad.


    David didn''t hesitate and released sessive spatial des to kill each of these zombies, then collected their crystals.  After a whole day of fighting yesterday, David felt his strength improving rapidly.  "At this rate, I should be able to level up to a Level 2 superhuman soon."  Superhumans were categorized into levels 1 to 10 based on their strength, and beyond level 10, there were King-level, Emperor-level, and the legendary Saint-level.


    The reason for this level ssification was because there were natural barriers within the energy channels of superhumans.  Whenever a superhuman''s strength reached a certain level, they would break through these barriers and enter the next realm.


    Some said it was unlocking the meridians, while others said it was unlocking gic locks.  Regardless, these barriers were real and any superhuman could sense their existence.  Each breakthrough brought a tremendous increase in strength for the superhuman and the possibility ofprehending new skills.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    However, in David''s past life, he had witnessed the most powerful superhuman himself, and he was only at level 7.  That level 7 superhuman had effortlessly destroyed arge base with just one move, leaving a deep impression on David.  If a level 7 superhuman was already that formidable, how terrifying would superhumans above level 10 be?  As for the legendary "Saint-level" superhumans, David had never even heard of them, and he even doubted if superhumans of that level truly existed.


    If they did exist, their power would be incredibly terrifying.  Along the way, David easily killed all the zombies he encountered and arrived at the underground parking lot.  The Jeep he had rented was still parked there.  David took out the keys, started the vehicle, and saw that it hadn''t suffered much damage.  It still looked intact.


    Suddenly, David remembered something.  "Oh, how could I forget about this car?"  He opened the car door, got out, and stored the entire SUV in the storage space.


    [You obtained one SUV, critical hit damage multiplied by 100,000! ]


    [Congrattions!  You obtained 100,000 SUVs! ]


    Indeed, even vehicles were considered resources by the system.  In this way, even if the car was damaged, he wouldn''t feel distressed since he had 100,000 backup vehicles.  After making a copy, David summoned another car and got back inside.  Although he wasn''t familiar with the location of the cold storage, the vehicle''s GPS navigation system was still functional for now.


    David checked and found that the cold storage wasn''t far away, about a twenty-minute drive.  However, with zombies filling the city, David had no choice but to take a detour, avoiding areas with a high concentration of zombies, which would likely take more time.


    On the way, David drove recklessly, hitting any zombies that dared to block his path.  Since he had plenty of spare vehicles, he didn''t care if the car got damaged.  asionally, he could hear cries for help from the roadside, and there were even bold survivors who wanted to stop his car.


    David ignored them and simply elerated past them, treating them all like zombies.  Who knew what these people would do after stopping his car?  Along the way, David took detours, avoiding areas with many zombies, as well as roadblocks caused by broken-down vehicles and obstacles.  The twenty-minute drive took him forty minutes, nearly twice the expected time.


    The location of the cold storage was in an industrial park.  As he entered the industrial park, the surroundings suddenly became quiet.  With vast space and few people, David hardly saw any zombies along the way.  After all, there weren''t many workers in this area, and the zombies from the city center hadn''t reached here yet.


    David easily found the location of the cold storage.  The entrance gate of the cold storage was adorned with a stone que that read "Good Dish Cold Chain Transport Co., Ltd."  The gate was forcefully opened by David''s car, and he drove inside.  The first thing that caught his eye was an empty space.  On both sides of the empty space were two huge warehouses, with several trucks parked in the distance.  The warehouse entrances had many small tforms, likely used for loading and unloading goods from these trucks.


    If David''s guess was correct, these two warehouses should be where the food was stored.  He decided to check the warehouse on the left first.  He drove his car to the left warehouse, and there were fourrge characters written on the entrance gate: Warehouse No. 1.  David got out of the car, walked to the gate, and saw a small map posted on it, indicating the warehouse''s area divisions.


    David approached and took a look. The left side was the frozen storage area, the middle was the refrigerated storage area, and the right side was the room temperature storage area. After some consideration, he decided to go and check the room temperature storage area first.

 Chapter 43 Mutant Mice

    ?Following the directions on the mini-map, David walked towards the ambient storage area.  "Strange, how can there be no one in this ce?"  David felt curious.  Near the warehouse, he hadn''t seen a single survivor, let alone a zombie.


    In theory, although this ce had fewer people, there should at least be a few zombies around.  "Could it be that thepany happened to have a day off on the day of the zombie outbreak?"  However, David quickly dismissed this idea because cold chain transportationpanies usually operated year-round.


    The various supermarkets and restaurants in SJ City purchasedrge quantities of fresh food every day, so it was unlikely for this cold storage facility to take a break.  Nevertheless, the absence of even a single zombie here seemed somewhat eerie.


    Soon, David arrived at the ambient storage area of Warehouse No. 1.  The rolling shutter door of the warehouse was half-open, about half a person''s height.  Just below the partially opened shutter door, David discovered half a leg bone.  He moved the bone with force, and it was clear that it was a human leg bone.


    David carefully examined the bone and quickly concluded that the owner of this bone had definitely not been killed by a zombie.  The flesh on the bone had been gnawed clean, and if it were a zombie, it wouldn''t have been able to clean the meat so thoroughly.


    Bending down, David observed closely.  The leg bone was covered in various small bite marks, resembling the bite marks of some small rodent.  These bite marks looked fresh, and there were also fresh traces of blood remaining.  David spected that the owner of this bone should have died no more than a day ago.


    "Could it be mutated rats?"  Looking at the bite marks, David couldn''t think of any other creature besides rats.  Although any animal had the possibility of mutation in the post-apocalyptic world, the mostmon animals in the city were cats, dogs, and rats, weren''t they?


    David thought of a rat gue that had urred in the official refuge base established by the SJ City authorities in his previous life.  Thousands of mutated rats invaded the official base andpletely destroyed the stored food in the warehouses.  Although these rats were eventually sessfully eliminated, the base paid a great price.


    The mutated rats not only killed many survivors but also took the lives of several esper abilities.  The most deadly aspect was that they carried various viruses and bacteria, making much of the remaining food inedible.  Many survivors in the base died due to the rat epidemic.


    Withdrawing his thoughts, David walked up to the rolling shutter door and raised it with his hand, causing it to make a rattling sound.  As if in response to David''s action, a rustling sound came from inside the warehouse.


    "Indeed, there''s something inside!"  David pushed open the rolling shutter door, and the outside light instantly illuminated the dark warehouse, revealing a scene that made his scalp tingle.  The warehouse was stacked with various bags of rice, flour, and cooking oil, and these bags were now crawling with a dark mass of rats.


    These rats were startled by the sound and started scurrying around.  They formed a dense mass, numbering at least a thousand, and looked extremely eerie.  Moreover, these rats wererger than ordinary rats, with red gleaming eyes, appearing quite horrifying.  Clearly, they were a group of mutated rats.


    The bags of rice and flour in the warehouse had beenpletely ruined by them.  Many of the bags containing rice and flour had been bitten, with leaks everywhere.  David also caught a strong stench of rat droppings, which was nauseating.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    It appears that these mice have made this ce their stronghold, freely eating, drinking, and defecating here.  David instantly understood why there were no traces of zombies or humans in this area.  With this group of mutant mice around, even zombies would be gnawed down to their bones.


    After a brief panic, the mice finally noticed David''s presence.  They seemed provoked by the presence of this outsider David and began emitting shrill cries.  Dozens of mice that were closer to David charged towards him.


    "These mutant mice are indeed fierce."  It was evident that these mice were not afraid of humans at all and were even actively attacking David.  Not wasting any time, David quickly summoned his armor.  He raised his hand and consecutively threw out several spatial des, splitting the leading mice in half and killing them on the spot.


    However, the remaining mice had already reached David and he had no choice but to fight them head-on.  With each swing of his de, he killed one of the mutant mice.  But with theirrge numbers, small bodies, and agile movements, more than a dozen mice had climbed onto his body in an instant.  These mice were like mad creatures, crazily biting and gnawing at his armor.


    David''s armor was made of special materials, so even with the sharp teeth of the mutant mice, they could only leave scratches on it.  David grabbed a few mice that were crawling on him and threw them to the ground, causing the mice to emit squeals of pain.


    David quickly realized that he couldn''t continue to engage with these mice.  If he did, he would likely be surrounded by the group.  The dozen or so mice attacking him were just the advance party.  If the rest of the mice swarmed inter, even with his sturdy armor, it would eventually be breached.


    Seeing the swarm of mice behind him bing restless, David didn''t hesitate any longer and turned around, sprinting towards his off-road vehicle.  He managed to remove the dozen or so mice that were still diligently gnawing on his armor.


    "Stop biting.  Your teeth are already broken, yet you''re still trying to gnaw."  David couldn''t help but sigh at the ferocity of these mutant mice.  One of them even had its teethpletely broken, yet it still fiercely gnawed at David''s armor, disying an indomitable spirit.


    David grabbed the mice and threw them forcefully onto the ground, causing them to bleed profusely and die instantly.  He nced back and fortunately, the mutant mice inside the warehouse hadn''t followed them out.


    "It seems these mice have a strong sense of territory."  These mutant mice had no shortage of food and drink within their territory, so there was no need for them to provoke other creatures.  However, once someone entered their territory, they would fiercely attack the intruders.  After killing the dozen or so mice on him, David picked up the corpse of one of the mice and used a small knife to open its scalp.


    Indeed, beneath its scalp, there was a mutant crystal, although it was very small, roughly one-third the size of a zombie mutant crystal.  Nevertheless, every little bit counts.  David stored the crystal in his spatial storage.  As for the remaining mouse corpses, David didn''t rush to dispose of them.  He simply opened the car door and got in.  With therge number of mice present, he alone wouldn''t be able to handle them.  He had to go back and bring reinforcements.

 Chapter 44 The Unfamiliar Man

    ?At noon,Arnold was sweating profusely as hey on the floor.  He felt sore all over and had no strength left in his body.  He had been exercising at home all morning, and now his stamina was almost depleted.


    If it weren''t for his spontaneous decision to exercise today, he wouldn''t have realized how much his physical fitness had declined.  In the past, running ten kilometers was a breeze for him, but now doing a few push-ups and sit-ups felt like a matter of life and death.


    Sophie, seeing Arnold exerting himself so much, looked at him with concern and wiped his sweat with a towel.  Arnold gasped for breath and sighed, "Ah, I''m getting old.  I can''tpare to how I used to be."


    Sophie chuckled, "You''re only 23.  What do you mean by ''getting old''?  You''ve just beenzy and gained some weight in the past couple of years."


    Arnold felt embarrassed by Sophie''s bluntment, and his face turned red.  "Enough, can''t I have some dignity?"


    While the two were chatting, they suddenly heard a knocking sound at the door.  Arnold immediately became alert and asked, "Who is it?"  He swiftly got up from the floor and picked up a long knife that was ced on the table.  The knife was given to him by David yesterday, along with a set of armor for self-defense.


    A voice of a stranger came from outside the door, "Hey, brother.  I''m your neighbor, living on the same floor.  I mean, the one across from the unit that Angus broke into."


    Arnold suddenly realized that this floor had four households.  The unit Angus broke into was vacant, but there was someone living in the opposite unit.  However, that family had always kept to themselves and showed no intention of interacting with David and the others.


    David and the others also had no desire to proactively get to know the neighbors, so they were surprised when the person suddenly came knocking on their door.  "What can I do for you?"  Arnold''s voice carried a hint of caution.


    As he spoke, Arnold looked through the peephole of the reinforced door.  He saw a well-dressed man standing at the door.  Though he appeared well-groomed, his disheveled hair and weary face indicated that he was in a poor mental state.


    Apanying the man was a timid little boy hiding behind him.  "I''m sorry to disturb you, brother.  I didn''t want to be so shameless as to ask for your help, but my son hasn''t eaten anything for a long time.  I''m afraid he''ll have problems if he continues to starve.  Could you please give my son some food?  I don''t mind going hungry myself;  I only beg you to give my son something to eat."


    Arnold immediately understood the man''s purpose.  If his assumptions were correct, this man must have been at home on the day of Angus''s betrayal and heard about the whole incident.  Obviously, he had learned about David''s household having a considerable amount of supplies.


    If it were just the man alone, Arnold might have refused without hesitation.  However, seeing the pitiful little boy standing outside the door, Arnold''s thoughts wavered.  After a moment of contemtion, he sighed and said, "Buddy, I''m sorry, but I can''t help you.  I''m just a guest here, and nothing in this house belongs to me.  I can''t make that decision.  You should try asking someone else."


    Arnold still chose to refuse the man.     After experiencing what happened with Angus, he found it difficult to trust otherspletely.     Moreover, the man in front of him was a stranger.     Unexpectedly, the man knelt down in front of Arnold''s door.     With tears and snot streaming down his face, his voice trembled as he pleaded, "Please, brother, if you can give my son something to eat, I''m willing to do anything for you.     I can transfer all the money from my card to you."


    Arnold looked at this man several years older than him, calling him "brother" while begging to feed his own son, and he felt uneasy.     The man wore a branded watch and was dressed in upscale clothing, indicating that he was once economically well-off before the apocalypse.     However, after the apocalypse, the money in his bank ount became meaningless digits.     In order to provide a meal for his son, he was willing to abandon his dignity and kneel before Arnold''s door, pleading desperately.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Sophie''s heart softened, and she tugged at Arnold''s sleeve.     "Honey, why don''t we share some of our food with them?"


    David allocated a lot of food to Arnold and Sophie every day, more than they could consume.     "Sigh, these are David''s provisions.     Although they are allocated to us daily, we can''t just give them away freely."


    Arnold was torn inside.     Outside the door, the sight of his father crying made the little boy start crying as well.     "Daddy, I''m not hungry.     Let''s go back."


    The man hugged his son tightly.     "Son, it''s Dad''s fault.     Dad is sorry for letting you go hungry."     Hearing the conversation between the father and son outside the door, Arnold felt a lump in his throat.


    Suddenly, he recalled his former sergeant in the military.     After he retired, the sergeant was stabbed multiple times while trying to do a good deed.     The criminal escaped, and the girl he had saved also disappeared.     The sergeant was left disabled for nothing.


    But when Arnold visited him once, the sergeant said he had never regretted it.     He thought to himself, "Ah, how did I be like this?     Oh well, let me give them my food.     I can endure hunger for a day."     Arnold walked into the living room and grabbed some cookies, canned food, instant noodles, and other items.


    The strange man is outside the door,When the man saw no response from inside the room, disappointment appeared on his face.     He was about to get up and leave when the door suddenly opened.     Arnold stood at the doorway, handing him a bag of food.     "This is the only time.     I can''t help you next time."


    The man''s face lit up with excitement.     He quickly said, "Thank you, brother!     Thank you so much!     You''re my savior!"     Arnold felt somewhat ufortable with the man''s demeanor.


    "No problem, just go back quickly and don''t attract any zombies."


    "Yes, yes, you''re right, brother."     After the man left, Sophie noticed the heaviness on Arnold''s face and grabbed his hand.


    "Honey, I''ll give you some of the foodter.     I have a small appetite."     Arnold smiled helplessly.     "It''s not about that.     I''m thinking about how to exin this to David."     The two looked at each other, sighing deeply.


    Meanwhile, Sally, who had been watching the man and his child leave through the peephole, finally breathed a sigh of relief.     She witnessed the whole thing but didn''t intervene or stop Arnold.


    Sally was just following David''s instructions to protect the safety of Arnold and Sophie.  As for the matter of Arnold giving food to the man, she nned to tell David the truthter.  Just as Sally was preparing to return to the kitchen to continue cooking, she heard familiar footsteps in the hallway.


    Sally looked through the peephole and a sh of surprise appeared on her face.  It was David who had returned.  David had just reached the door, took out his keys, and before he could open the door, Sally opened it in advance.  She embraced David tightly and gave him a big hug.  "You''re back!"

 Chapter 45 Clark

    ?When David came back, C, who was sleeping on the couch, ran over to greet him.   C vigorously rubbed against David''s leg and they seemed very close.   Ever since David gave C several crystal treats, it has be extremely affectionate towards him.   David picked C up from the floor and examined it, growing more satisfied the longer he looked.   C had a robust physique and sharp ws, clearly a skilled hunter for catching mice.


    David said to Sally, "I''ll borrow C for a bit and take it out for a walk."


    Sally hesitated for a moment.   Although she didn''t know what David was nning to do with C, she replied, "You don''t even need to ask me;   it seems like C is more attached to you than to me.   It feels like you''re its owner."   There was a tinge of jealousy in Sally''s tone.


    David chuckled and said, "No worries.   I''ll let you feed it some mutant crystals next time, then it will be close to you."


    Saying that, David took out another mutant crystal and handed it to Sally.   "You stay at home today and continue absorbing the crystals, aiming to break through to Level 2 as soon as possible."


    Sally took the crystal and nodded obediently.   "I got it."


    David walked over to the corner of the room where Little ck was curled up, sound asleep.   Its body had grown evenrger, and its bones were thicker and stronger.   It looked like it had reached the size of a medium-sized dog.   It seemed that the mutant crystals it absorbed yesterday had produced excellent results.


    The dog cage was no longer able to amodate Little ck, so it had developed a habit of sleeping in the corner of the room.   David lightly kicked Little ck''s sleeping hindquarters.   Little ck opened its groggy eyes and looked at David.   When it saw David holding C in his arms, it immediately let out several jealous barks, sounding quite anxious.


    David said, "Little ck,e with me.   I''ll take you out for a walk."


    Little ck instantly perked up upon hearing that.   It had been nearly suffocating staying at home these past few days.   Typically, dogs need to be walked every day, especially energetic ones like Little ck.   But it had been cooped up at home these past few days, without a chance to go out, and it was feeling extremely restless.   Moreover, there was a cat in the house constantly eyeing it, making it difficult for it to move around freely.   Little ck immediately started bounding around, spinning in circles around David, looking extremely excited.


    Sally said, "Are you going out again?   I was just about to make lunch."


    David shook his head.   "Don''t worry about me.   I have things to take care of.   I''lle back to eat tonight."   With that, David prepared to leave with the cat in his arms.   Just as he opened the door, the door across from him opened as well.


    Arnold, who was behind the door, saw David holding a cat in his arms with a dog by his side and was momentarily stunned.   He smiled and nodded at David as a greeting.   Then, with a solemn expression, Arnold said, "David, let me confess something to you."


    Seeing Arnold''s serious expression, David thought something bad had happened.   "What''s the matter?"


    Arnold told David about giving food to the man earlier.   After a moment of contemtion, David said, "I didn''t think it was such a big deal.  The food''s on me. You two don''t have to go hungry."


    However, David continued seriously, "But I have to mention something to you.      Today is only the second day of the zombie outbreak.      Think about it, even if they are starving, Father and son won''t starve to death?      Their house can''t bepletely devoid of food, right?"


    Arnold suddenly wore a look of realization.      "Now that you mention it, something seems off."


    David shook his head.      When people don''t have food, as long as there is water, they can survive without any issues for at least ten to twenty days.      If their physical condition is better and they have more body fat, it''s even possible to survive for over a month.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Arnold was just too kind-hearted, and seeing the other party using the child as a shield softened him.      If any other teammate did the same, David would have kicked them out a long time ago.      But there was nothing he could do;      after all, Arnold had saved David''s life in a previous life.


    In this apocalypse, David only had this one truly loyal brother.      And he understood that the end of the world had just begun, so it would take Arnold some time to adjust his thinking.


    Although David wasn''t sure about the true intentions of this father and son, in the apocalypse, he always spected about strangers with the worst possible intentions.      "Be careful around this guy.      If hees again, don''t open the door."


    David''s intuition told him that something was off about this man.      But he wasn''t particrly worried because they had Sally, the esper.      No matter how many ordinary people came, Sally could handle them.


    "Yeah, we understand," Arnold felt somewhat guilty in his heart.      He knew that he had done a good deed with unintended consequences this time.      And the fact that David showed no resentment only increased his guilt.


    "Alright, enough talking.      I''m going out," David hurriedly walked downstairs with the cat in his arms, and Little ck followed behind wagging its tail.      Watching David''s departing figure, both Arnold and Sophie were stunned.      "Is David taking the dog for a walk?"...


    Inside the room, a man in formal attire handed a packet of biscuits to the little boy beside him.      "re, go ahead and eat."      This man was rk, the person who had just asked Arnold for food.


    rk took two biscuits out of the box and put them in his mouth, then handed the remaining biscuits to the little boy beside him.      "Dad, I''m not hungry."


    rk nodded at the little boy and patted his head.      "Go y."


    The little boy hesitated, as if he had something to say to rk.      rk asked with concern, "What''s wrong, re?      Do you want to tell Dad something?"


    After a moment of hesitation, the little boy finally spoke up, "Dad, you told me lying is wrong, but we still have so much food at home."


    rk smiled and patted his head.      "Good boy, lying is wrong, but now we''re trying to survive.      When your goal is to survive, whatever you do is right."      The little boy nodded, seemingly understanding.


    "Go y," rk affectionately patted his head.      rk went to the bathroom and neatly groomed his hair in front of the mirror.


    "   It seems the information I heard yesterday was correct.      This family indeed hoarded a lot of supplies."      Yesterday, Angus and that Brother Knife were shouting loudly at rk''s door, and rk even heard a woman crying.


    rk was curious at that time and pressed his ear against the door to eavesdrop on themotion from the other side.  In reality, it couldn''t be considered eavesdropping because the voices from the other side were loud, and rk easily heard their conversation.  He also learned about David hoarding a lot of supplies in his house.


    "That guy named David must be incredibly powerful.  More than twenty people couldn''t even defeat him."  rk had also learned about espers from the inte in the past few days, and he spected that David might be one of those legendary espers.


    "The food in the house won''tst long.  I need to think of a solution.  What should I do?"  rk fell into deep thought.

 Chapter 46 Shadow Cat Demon

    ?David drove towards the location of the cold storage.    A cat and a dog sat in the back seat, with C dozing off and Little ck constantly looking out through the window.


    Little ck was curious about everything outside the window.    Whenever it saw zombies chasing vehicles, it would let out an alerting bark and desperately scratch at the window.    It seemed like it wanted to go down and fight those zombies.


    With a cat and a dog in the car, David felt a sense of bnce.    Having both a cat and a dog was the goal of many people''s aspirations.    David looked at C through the rearview mirror and asked, "By the way, C, what ability do you have?"


    "Meow?"    Due to thenguage barrier, David''s attempt to have a conversation with the cat failed.    But he was genuinely curious about what abilities C possessed.    Although he knew that Little ck was undoubtedly a powerful mutant beast, C had only demonstrated extraordinary speed so far.


    "Could it be physical enhancement?"    Judging from C''s speed, it seemed to lean towards physical mutation.    With its agility alone, it could already defeat most Level 1 esper.    That was why David brought it along.    Many mutant beasts were not inferior in strength to espers.


    In the apocalypse, humans were not the favored side.    About an hourter, David arrived at the industrial park again, this time without using navigation and found the location of the cold storage with ease.


    David parked the car next to Warehouse No. 1.    As soon as he opened the car door, Little ck burst out like an untamed wild horse and frolicked in the open space.    However, it quickly stopped and alertly sniffed in the direction of Warehouse No. 1, clearly sensing something unusual.


    Little ck suddenly barked a few times towards Warehouse No. 1 and then looked at David, as if giving a warning.


    C also jumped out of the car and looked towards the location of Warehouse No. 1, its gaze vignt.    David noticed all the reactions of Little ck and C.    "Mutant beasts are indeed sensitive.    They''ve detected abnormalities so quickly."


    He waved at Little ck and C.    "Follow me."    C obediently followed behind David, and Little ck stopped its yful antics and walked beside David, its eyes fixed on the direction of the room temperature warehouse.


    David led the cat and the dog to the entrance of the room temperature warehouse.      Little ck barked even louder this time, looking excited and agitated, staring at the rolling shutter door inside.


    David lifted the rolling shutter door, and the warehouse was filled with mutant rats once again.    As the sunlight streamed into the warehouse, the mutant rats instantly became frenzied.    Especially when they saw C and Little ck, they regarded them as formidable enemies.    The mutant rats squealed loudly andunched a direct attack, rushing towards David like a ck tide.


    "Go, Little ck, C, show me your strength."    After hearing David''smand, Little ck became extremely excited and took the lead to charge out.


    "Silly dog, don''t get surrounded.    Use your fire breath, why are you charging in?"    David felt helpless.    No wonder they say that dogs meddle in the affairs of mice.    Little ck''s enthusiasm for catching rats was even higher than that of a cat.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Little ck had originally nned to charge into the group of rats, but after hearing David''s words, it calmed down.          It stopped not far from the front of the rat group and spewed a green me towards the mutated rats, instantly engulfing the leading troops of the rats in mes.          When the fire dissipated, it turned out that hundreds of rats had been burned to white bones, demonstrating the terrifying power of this green me.


    David was also amazed at this scene.          No wonder Adolf became the top-ranked esper in the SJ City Rankings with just a dog in the previous life.          The power of this green me was indeed a bit exaggerated, instantly incinerating the flesh and blood of the rats.


    In the previous life, David had heard that the mes from Little ck had a special burning effect on flesh and blood.          Once it touched a bit, it would spread throughout the body.          Unless the flesh and blood werepletely incinerated, the mes would not extinguish.


    Because of the characteristics of Little ck''s mes, many powerful espers died miserably under its mes.          It was said that only one esper survived after being hit by small ck''s mes.          In order to prevent the mes from spreading throughout his body, he severed his left hand, thus saving his life.


    After small ck spewed out a me and killed the rats, its wild nature seemed to awaken.          It ran excitedly, keeping a distance from the rat swarm while continuously spewing mes.          With each me, dozens or even hundreds of rats were burned to ashes.


    On the other hand, C, seeing small ck''s performance, didn''t want to be outdone.          It also charged out, moving as fast as lightning.          Just as David thought it was going to engage in closebat, he discovered a fluctuation of energy emanating from C.          As an esper, David was extremely familiar with energy fluctuations, and this was a precursor to releasing esper abilities.


    C summoned several dark shadows, which fell onto the rats, enveloping them like a ck mist.          Although these shadows had no attacking power, theypletely blocked their vision.          The rats were suddenly plunged into darkness and couldn''t see anything.          They became a group of headless flies, panicking and running amok in the warehouse, asionally bumping into obstacles around them.


    Coca-C charged into the group of blinded rats, like a tiger among sheep, starting a one-sided ughter.          Its ws were extremely sharp,parable to swords.          With each swipe of its ws, a rat would meet its end.          Some rats tried to attack C by relying on their sense of smell.          However, C was too fast, and all their attacks missed, posing no threat to it.          David looked on with a surprised expression.


    "Shadow-type esper?"          Shadow-type espers were almost as rare as spatial-type espers.          Unexpectedly, C possessed this kind of ability.          He had heard that shadow-type espers were always elusive and had extremely mysterious attack methods, making them a difficult type of esper to deal with.


    Watching C kill in the midst of the rat swarm, David suddenly remembered something from the previous life.          He had heard about a famous "Shadow Cat Demon" in arge base in City D. The entire base provided it with delicious food and drink, fearing to upset it.          This "Shadow Cat Demon" was the most powerful presence in the entire base.          Moreover, this City D was located right next to SJ City.


    "Could that Shadow Cat Demon be C?"  Just as David was surprised, the cat and dog had already gone berserk in the rat swarm.  Within just two or three minutes, several hundred rats had already died at their hands.  David watched with a sense of satisfaction.  They were much more efficient than he was.


    "Indeed, you two are professionals when ites to catching rats."

 Chapter 47 Green Blood

    ?Within a few moments, with the power of C''s shadow abilities, the small ck mouse in Warehouse No. 1pletely vanished into the warehouse.  Looking at the mess on the floor, David became more convinced.  C was indeed the shadow cat monster.


    C walked over, rubbing against David''s leg.  David chuckled helplessly and crouched down.  Just as his hand was about to stroke the cat''s head, the little ck creature presented its head to him.  In response, David''s handnded on the small round head of the ck cat.


    The cat purred softly, its face filled with contentment.  Watching this scene, C quickly became dissatisfied and made a growling sound towards the little ck creature.  Observing the standoff between the cat and the dog, David sighed helplessly.  "C, do you know about the shadow cat monster?" he suddenly asked.  C froze in ce, then looked at him with a puzzled expression.


    In the next moment, David stood up and gazed inside Warehouse No. 1.  "Crazy, how could I possiblymunicate with C?"  With those words, he beckoned to the cat and dog and headed towards the warehouse.


    The deeper he went, the stronger the putrid smell became.  These mice had clearly been surviving here for quite some time.  The scattered white bones on the floor showed how formidable these mice were in terms of their attacking power.


    With each step David took, he crushed a bone.  The bone instantly snapped in half.  ck?  Normally, both the inside and outside of bones should be white.  However, on this bone that broke in half, David discovered that the broken part was ck.


    "Why is this thing ck?"  David muttered to himself, about to crouch down and examine it closely when he suddenly heard a cry from the little ck creature.  He quickly looked up, only to see the small ck cat continuously barking in one direction, while C behind him became alert.


    David hurriedly collected the bones in front of him, intending to examine them carefullyter.  After storing them away, he walked forward cautiously towards the direction the cat and dog were on guard.  Warehouse No. 1 had many containers, and what was inside those containers was unknown, but this ce was definitely not conducive tobat.


    As he moved forward, he gradually heard the sound of someone eating.  The sound was urgent and hurried, as if it were a person who hadn''t eaten anything for over ten days.  Could there be people here?  In this warehouse full of mutant mice, could there still be humans?


    Soon, David''s eyes revealed the answer.  In arger container, a thin and emaciated zombie was bowing its head, crazily gnawing on something, emitting an extremely foul odor from the entire container.


    David stood just outside the container, but it seemed that the zombie hadn''t noticed him.  Even the recent cries from the small ck cat didn''t divert its attention.  Ever since entering Warehouse No. 1, there had been white bones everywhere.  For this zombie to survive here, it must possess great strength.


    Quietly, David moved away to the side.  It was best not to provoke this zombie.  After searching for a while, David finally found a whole box of food in Warehouse No. 1.  However, the surroundings of this box were filled with the corpses of these mutant mice!  The bodies were piled together, ttened as if they had been stepped on, and they stuck to the ground, shriveled.


    Seeing this scene, David couldn''t help but furrow his brow.   The countless corpses around him reminded David that obtaining this box of food was not that simple.   But this was a whole box of food, a lifesaver in the midst of the apocalypse.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    There was no way David would give up.   Just as David took his first step forward, Little ck went crazy and let out a loud roar.   The next moment, without hesitation, Little ck spewed a mouthful of fire!   David quickly turned around!   When he saw the figure in the air sessfully dodging the mes of Little ck, he was instantly on edge!   It was the same zombie that was eating inside the container just now!


    At this moment, the zombiended steadily on top of the highest container, its hands and feet firmly on the ground, resembling a crawling creature, staring intently at David.


    This zombie seemed to have rushed over while still eating, with a human hand hanging from its mouth.   Crack!   The zombie stared at David, and seeing that David didn''t move, it continued to eat the hand right in front of him!   Just because the zombie didn''t attack David didn''t mean he was safe!   He couldn''t let his guard down.   In a ce like this, even a momentarypse of vignce could cost him his life!


    David quickly summoned his armor, and with a few clicks, his whole body was enveloped in armor.   Today, he had to secure the box of food behind him!   David nced at the zombie gnawing on the hand, calmly retreated, and approached the box step by step.


    The zombie saw David''s actions, swallowed thest bite of the hand, and roared loudly at David!   The next moment, seeing that David had no intention of stopping, the zombie lunged forward.   With a swoosh, the zombie charged at David at an incredible speed.


    Bang!   The zombie collided with David''s armor head-on.   It barely took a few steps back, vigntly staring at David.


    David breathed a sigh of relief.   Luckily.   The armor was sturdy enough.   He couldn''t even see a trace of this guy''s movement at the speed he just disyed.   It was unbelievably fast!   C, as a supernatural being with shadow abilities, was already considered very fast.   But unexpectedly, this zombie was several times faster than Coke!   Since this guy couldn''t break through the armor, he could just keep an eye on it and take the food away.


    With this method in mind, David began to execute it in coordination with the attacks of Little ck and Coke.   What surprised David was that this guy didn''t pay any attention to the attacks from Little ck and Coke at all!   It evaded their attacks while relentlessly attacking David!   With every step David took, he felt a tremendous impact from behind.


    If it were anyone else, they would have fallen countless times already!   But what frustrated David was that his armor, no matter how strong, couldn''t withstand the repeated impacts from this guy!


    "This is bad."   Sensing the changes in his armor, David felt uneasy.   He turned around and without hesitation, he raised his hand and threw several spatial des at the zombie charging towards him again!


    The spatial des were extremely fast, and the zombie clearly didn''t expect David to counterattack.   It hesitated for a moment and swiftly dodged, but still got hit by one de.   The zombie stood in ce, its right arm slowly oozing green blood.   "Why is it green?"   David looked at the color and felt somewhat uneasy.

 Chapter 48 Intermediate Crystal

    ?The green liquid slowly dripped from the zombie''s arm wound and fell to the ground.  David stared at the green liquid for a long time, unable to react immediately.


    In the previous world, there were zombies with green liquid, but that was about a month after the disaster.  How could the zombies mutate so quickly just on the second day after the disaster?


    A roar snapped David back to reality, and he quickly looked up.  The zombie''s gaping mouth was dangerously close, and he swiftly raised his hand,unching several spatial des in an instant.  Unfortunately, all the spatial des missed their target.


    The speed of this zombie was incredibly fast!  David''s body moved, his eyes desperately trying to keep up with the agile movements of the zombie.  He tightly clenched his fingers, searching for an opportunity to release the spatial des.  The other zombies outside had not yet mutated, and the consequences would be unimaginable if this mutated zombie was released here.


    The System''s Spatial Critical had only a little over a day left, and collecting the Mutated Crystals from mutated zombies was undoubtedly a great opportunity.  David''s eyes lit up as he called out to Little ck and C.  "Little ck, C!  Attack!"  Little ck let out a howl and unleashed mes towards the zombie''s figure.  The zombie moved quickly, and despite Little ck''s intense efforts, its attacks could only chase after the zombie''s shadow.


    Meanwhile, C made a move and instantly appeared in front of the zombie.  Without using its special ability, it lunged at the zombie''s face, catching it off guard.  The zombie never expected C to be so fast.  In the split second of its astonishment, Little ck''s mes were already dangerously close from behind.


    Now''s the time!  Seeing the zombie about to dodge, David didn''t hesitate for a moment and flung his spatial de directly at it.  One spatial de urately sliced through the zombie''s neck, while the rest pierced through its abdomen.


    The next second, Little ck''s mes covered the zombie perfectly.  In just a blink of an eye, a strong smell of burning flesh filled the air, causing David to furrow his brow.  C managed to reach David''s feet a split second before Little ck, leaning against it and emitting a low growl.  Little ck, who missed the opportunity by a hair''s breadth, looked at the scene with resentment, but didn''t dare to approach and could onlyin in a resentful tone from a distance.


    David lifted C and crouched down beside Little ck, rubbing its head.  "You both did a great job."  Little ck satisfiedly nuzzled David''s palm with its head, and its voice became more pleasant.  When David put C down, it nced quietly at Little ck.


    He walked towards the charred remains of the zombie.  On the ground, there was only one green-glowing mutated crystal lying quietly.  Not even a trace of the zombie''s body or ashes remained.


    This zombie was different from the mutated zombies David had encountered before.  Although this zombie had mutated, its intelligence was much lowerpared to the mutated zombies from the previous world.


    One could say it had none at all.  David picked up the mutated crystal, and with a thought, the green crystal disappeared from his hand.


    [You have obtained one Intermediate Mutated Crystal, Critical Hit Multiplier: 100,000x! ]


    [Congrattions!  You have obtained 100,000 Mutated Crystals! ]


    David heard the notification and felt delighted.  This mutated crystal was muchrger than the previous ones he had collected.  The effect of this intermediate mutated crystal was equivalent to a thousand low-level crystals.  Moreover, these colored intermediate crystals, when absorbed by superhumans, had the potential to trigger new abilities.  With little time left for the ten thousand-fold critical hit, if he could encounter mutated zombies during this remaining time, it would undoubtedly be a great benefit.


    With little time remaining, David approached the shipping container and gently lifted the lid.  Upon opening it, he saw a whole box of canned meat, rice, bread, and more in front of him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    With a thought, the entire box of non-perishable food disappeared in the next second.  At the same time, the system issued a prompt.


    [You obtained 50 cans of fresh meat, ten thousand-fold critical hit in effect! ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 5 million cans of fresh meat! ]


    [You obtained 50 pieces of bread, ten thousand-fold critical hit in effect! ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 5 million pieces of bread!]...


    The non-perishable storage area was not particrlyrge, and it didn''t take long for David to finish exploring it with Small ck and C.  He nned to go to the frozen storage area next, where he expected to find more food to fill their stomachs.  If lucky, there might be another wave of ten thousand-fold critical hits.


    As David and hispanions passed by the shipping container where the mutated zombie had stayed before, he nced inside and unexpectedly saw the corpses of several mutated rats!


    "This guy eats mutated rats?"  David recoiled in disgust and averted his gaze.  In the refrigerated storage area, David easily found two containers of inventory.  Looking at the frozen food inside the containers, he wasted no time in collecting them.


    Finally, he arrived at the frozen storage area.  The doorknob was covered with a thinyer of frost, indicating that the temperature inside was much colder than the refrigerated area.  David exerted some force before managing to open the door.


    As soon as he opened the door, a cold wind blew in, causing him to shudder involuntarily.  Small ck and C, following behind him, also sensed the temperature and huddled shivering behind David.


    With each step, David felt as if he was walking on ice.  Due to the catastrophe, all the personnel in Warehouse No. 1 had perished, and naturally, no one controlled the temperature here.  The further he walked, the colder the air in the entire area became.  However, the colder it was, the rarer the presence of the mutated rats.  These rats, despite being mutated, couldn''t withstand the cold temperature.


    Small ck couldn''t bear it any longer and let out a low growl.  David turned to look and couldn''t help but smile at the sight of Small ck and C trembling.  "You two wait for me outside."


    Upon hearing this, Small ck and C hesitated for a moment.  Although they wanted to apany David, they couldn''t endure the temperature inside.  In the end, they reluctantly returned the way they came.  Even if he left Small ck and C outside, David had nothing to worry about.  The strength of these twopanions was extraordinary.


    David continued walking towards the end.  The cold in this ce was nothing for his physical fitness.  When he reached the end, he pushed open a door in front of him.  Inside the room, he immediately saw boxes of fruits, vegetables, and a considerable amount of dairy products.


    As he was about to leave after clearing the room of food, he caught sight of an inconspicuous medical box in the corner.

 Chapter 49 Operating Table

    ?In the post-apocalyptic world, food is undoubtedly crucial, but survival requires more than just food; it also requires medicine. In this harsh living environment, many people do not die because of zombies but rather due to illness.


    Taking advantage of the 100,000-fold boost, David needs to find more medicine. He picked up the medical kit from the corner, but before he could open it, the entire room he was in began to shake violently! An earthquake? Impossible. This city hasn''t experienced an earthquake in hundreds of years.


    On the contrary, David felt that it was more like something massive walking. With a thought, the medical kit disappeared from his hands.


    [You obtained a medical kit, and the 100,000-fold boost is in effect!]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 100,000 medical kits!]


    David didn''t pay much attention to the system''s words. He pressed himself tightly against the door, and at the moment the system''s voice sounded, he saw something outside the door! He nervously swallowed a gulp of saliva.


    The feet outside the door were bare, stepping on the ground, causing violent tremors in the refrigerated storage area with each step. David only caught a glimpse of the owner of those feet for a second and dared not look any further.


    It was abination of a human and an animal, with the lower half of the zombie being human while the upper half resembled a rat! Even in David''s previous life, he had never seen something like this so early on.


    He stayed close to the wall, waiting for the thing outside to leave. After what seemed like several minutes, the thing finally departed. David didn''t dare to let his guard down as he cautiously walked out.


    In the corridor, every step the zombie took left a footprint. But due to the temperature, the footprints were quickly covered by frost. That''s why David hadn''t noticed the zombie when he entered.


    On the opposite side of the door David came out of, there was another door, but it was locked. David looked around, confirmed that the zombie wasn''t nearby for now, and his hand touched the lock. He pulled it forcefully, and the lock broke. David pushed open the door and entered.


    At the moment he entered, he understood why the zombie had a human and rat-like appearance. The room in front of him was like an operating room with a surgical table in the center. On the tabley a corpse and a rat''s carcass nearby. And on the table, there was also a syringe, halfway inserted into the corpse''s hand, as if someone had left in a hurry.


    David closed the door behind him and walked to the front of the surgical table. The corpse on the table was a normal human corpse that hadn''t undergone any mutations. The syringe in its hand contained green liquid. Even more bizarrely, the corpse hadn''t decayed yet! Every piece of skin on it was intact.


    David didn''t observe any further and instead focused his attention on some boxes in the room. They might contain medicine. With this possibility in mind, David walked towards the boxes. When he opened them, his eyes brightened! Indeed, they were medicines!


    Inside the boxes were bottles of medicine, and in the next moment, all the medicine bottles in the boxes were stored in David''s space. Likewise, these medicine bottles were also multiplied by the 100,000-fold boost! As David stood up and turned around, ready to leave, the entire room shook violently once again.


    This guy is not easy to deal with. While this zombie may have intermediate crystals on its corpse, David''s current abilities are still too weak. It would be too difficult for David to face this intermediate zombie alone.


    Just as David was nning to quietly wait for the zombie to leave, he heard the footsteps of the zombie approaching the room where he was. David looked around and quickly hid behind the boxes. Several boxes were stacked together, perfectly blocking David''s entire figure.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As David hid, the door was suddenly mmed open. The zombie rushed in and immediately noticed the corpse on the operating table. Its eyes lit up and without hesitation, it pounced on the corpse.


    David remained silent, listening to the sound of chewing. He patiently waited without any sense of urgency...


    It had been a while since David left the house. During this time, Arnold and Sophie stayed at home without any unusual urrences. Until now, they heard a series of knocks on their door from outside.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! "Is anyone home?" Sophie, lying in Arnold''s arms, was startled by the knocking sound. You see, zombies have good hearing, so they didn''t dare to speak too loudly at home, afraid of attracting zombies.


    "Honey, what..." Sophie showed a frightened expression.


    Arnold, on the other hand, stood up and reassured her, "I''ll go check it out." With that, he picked up a long knife nearby and walked to the door.


    Arnold looked through the peephole, and his expression becameplicated. Standing outside the door was the son of the stranger who hade asking for food earlier.


    "Kid, why aren''t you at home? What are you doing here?"Arnold asked cautiously.


    Tears welled up in the corners of the boy''s eyes as he spoke and wiped them away. "Uncle, my dad copsed at home, and I don''t know what to do. Can you help me check on him?"


    Sophie walked over and happened to hear the conversation. Looking at the boy outside the door, she felt sorry for him. "Honey, what should we do? He''s probably the only one left in his family."


    Arnold looked at the boy and hesitated. Moreover, the boy was crying outside the door, and at any moment, he could attract zombies and get torn apart.


    He wanted to help, but David''s words kept lingering in his mind. What if this was a deliberate trap by that man? But this was still a child! Would parents really put their own children in danger? Arnold gritted his teeth and opened the door. "Kid, let''s go and check on your dad. Stop crying." As he spoke, the boy sniffled and nodded.


    "Honey, I''ll go with you," Sophie held onto Arnold''s clothes and whispered. Arnold couldn''t bear to let Sophie go with him.


    He gently patted Sophie''s hand, turned around, went back into the room, put on the armor left by David, and said to her, "Stay at home and wait for me. If I don''te back, don''t open the door."


    With that, Arnold closed the door, took the long knife, and followed the boy. Sally, across, saw everything through the peephole.

 Chapter 50 Weird

    ?Sally silently watched the entire process through the peephole. Arnold was equipped with the armor and long knife given by David, and she would only intervene if absolutely necessary.


    On Arnold''s side, he followed the little boy all the way back to his house. The boy opened the door, and Arnold cautiously entered, but there was no one inside the house, let alone a fallen man.


    "Where is your father, young man?" Arnold turned to ask the boy. However, the boy closed and locked the door behind him. With wide eyes, he pointed to a room beside them and said, "He''s in there."


    Arnold frowned as he looked at the boy. He had mostly figured out that this was a trap. Using a child as bait, were they still parents?


    Arnold squatted in front of the boy and asked in a low voice, "Tell me the truth, young man. What did your father tell you?"


    The boy looked at Arnold, about to say something, but before he could speak, Arnold noticed the boy''s gaze slowly shifting upward. Not good!


    rm bells rang in Arnold''s mind. He quickly moved aside, and the next second, a chair smashed into the spot where he had been standing a moment ago.


    "Father!" The man clearly disregarded his son''s safety. He didn''t even pause to care about his son when the chair hit the boy''s hand. The boy was hurt and immediately started crying.


    "Don''t cry!" After reprimanding the boy, the man turned around and stared fiercely at Arnold.


    "What do you want?" Arnold stood up cautiously, on guard.


    The man''s lips curled slightly as he looked at the armor on Arnold''s body, clearly underestimating him. He took out an iron rod hidden behind the door and threatened Arnold, saying, "Give me all the food in your house, and I''ll consider sparing you. How about that?"


    The man greedily eyed Arnold, but Arnold''s face darkened. "I helped you before, and yet..." David was right, in the apocalypse, no one can be trusted.


    With a sneer, the man said, "If I still had food, do you think I woulde begging to you?" Without further ado, the man raised the iron rod in his hand and swung it towards Arnold!


    The iron rod struck Arnold''s armor, and he only felt a slight weight on his shoulder, nothing more. However, the man couldn''t hold onto the rod anymore; his entire hands were trembling uncontrobly.


    "Ah!" The man let out a roar and grabbed a fruit knife from the table, stabbing it towards Arnold''s eyes!


    Arnold was a retired soldier and had undergone numerous training drills on how to deal with knife-wielding criminals. In just a few moves, he quickly subdued the man on the ground.


    "Brother... Brother! I was wrong! I was wrong!" The man cried out in pain as Arnold pressed him down. Knowing he couldn''t win against Arnold, he quickly begged for mercy. Arnold coldly listened to his pleas.


    At the thought that if he killed the man, the child would be left without a father, Arnold wouldn''t hesitate to kill this treacherous man. On the battlefield, men like him would only betray theirrades!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Betrayal was something Arnold couldn''t tolerate the most! With a cold expression, Arnold released the man. As he was about to walk out the door, he heard a ng from behind.


    Arnold slowly turned around and saw the little boy holding a small knife, thrusting it towards his back...


    In the room where David was, a loud noise suddenly came from it. He trembled all over and cautiously poked his head out. When he saw what was in front of him, his eyes widened!


    On the operating table, the intact corpse that should have been devoured by zombies actually stood up! The violent noise from earlier must have been the zombie being kicked aside. The zombie red angrily at corpse  on the table.


    The zombie let out a roar, and the next moment, sharp ws appeared on its hands! It lunged at corpse on the table. Just as its ws were about to tear corpse apart, the body lightly jumped andnded behind the zombie.


    Another kick. The zombie was once again sent flying! But this time, the zombie collided right where David was looking. David''s mouth twitched as he saw the zombie move, but the next moment, it was firmly stepped on by corpse!


    corpse had left footprints on the zombie''s body! David clearly saw bite marks on corpse''s shoulder. After being bitten by the zombie, corpse should have turned into a zombie as well.


    But why... David widened his eyes suddenly. The body had already dealt with the zombie!


    He swallowed his saliva, already prepared to attack with his spatial de. corpse  looked at the dead zombie under its foot, repeatedly stomping on it in apparent dissatisfaction. After crushing the zombie''s flesh, it finally lifted its foot.


    corpse slowly turned around and locked eyes with David. It was a male body, and from its appearance, it seemed to be in its teens. If it were still alive, it would have been a young person just starting college life.


    To David''s surprise, the corpse nced at him as if disdainful, without attacking, and walked out directly.


    David stood up and looked at the departing figure of the corpse, feeling puzzled. "What is this? It came back to life, but everything seems different from the previous life."


    The appearance of the mutated zombie ahead of time and this corpse. Is there a connection between the two? Could it be because he disrupted the oue of the previous life and did something different before the disaster struck? David shook his head. The fact that the body didn''t attack him was a good thing. He couldn''t defeat this corpse; it was too powerful.


    David turned around and walked back to the incapacitated zombie. He lightly shed its forehead with a small knife, revealing an intermediate crystal inside. Like the previous one, this crystal had a faint green color. After storing it in his space, the crystal duplicated into a hundred thousand.


    When David walked out, Little ck and C saw him and hurriedly ran over. The cat and dog trembled as if they had seen something extremely frightening.


    David, apanied by them, left Warehouse No. 1, and the body had disappeared without a trace. Just as David was driving back to their residence and had just walked upstairs, he saw Arnold descending the stairs with a vacant look, And the long knife in his hand was covered with bloodstains...

 Chapter 51 Things Gradually Deviated From The Track

    ?"David?" Arnold''s eyes were empty as he looked up at David. David was slightly taken aback by Arnold''s gaze.


    In the previous life, Arnold had always been in the same state as he was now. "What happened?" David asked.


    Before Arnold could answer, Sally opened the door and walked excitedly towards David. "You''re back."


    As Sally approached, preparing to embrace David, she identally locked eyes with Arnold and shuddered.


    David sighed. He had a rough idea of what had happened. He patted Sally''s shoulder and whispered, "Take Little ck and C back first."


    Sally didn''t hesitate and immediately agreed. As David listened to the sound of Sally closing the door, he took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. It was the same pack he hadn''t finished thest time he gave one to Arnold.


    In the midst of the apocalypse, he was either on the road collecting supplies or hunting zombies. The pressure was overwhelming, and he thought, why not give it a try?


    Arnold also looked at the cigarette David handed him, hesitated for a moment, and then approached. He had chokedst time due to nervousness, but this time he wouldn''t embarrass himself.


    The two leaned against the fence. Arnold put the cigarette in his mouth, ncing at David cautiously before taking a puff. This time, he didn''t choke on the cigarette.


    David exhaled a puff of smoke and turned to look at Arnold, who also exhaled smoke. "Tell me."


    Arnold took a drag from his cigarette, recalling the scenes from earlier. "David, you were right. This disaster hase, and no one can be trusted. I... I killed that man and his child with my own hands!" As he spoke, Arnold''s voice grew quieter.


    Arnold hadn''t intended to harm the family. They were about to let them go. But the man fought desperately, insisting on keeping Arnold. The man was no match for Arnold, and by the time Arnold knocked him down again, the man was already half-dead. He even called his son to hold onto Arnold tightly.


    Arnold had wanted to pull the little boy away, but the man''s next words shocked him. "Brother, I can''t even feed my son with the little food we have. Can I trade my son for food?"


    Upon hearing those words, Arnold exploded. He forcefully pulled the little boy away, approached the man, and put an end to his suffering. Such a father, even if the little boy had stayed with him, would eventually abandon him. Arnold had initially thought of adopting the little boy with Sophie, but when he dealt with the man, the little boy rushed towards his own de.


    Arnold finished recounting the events and exhaled a smoke ring slowly. "David, that''s how it happened."


    David nodded and gently patted his shoulder. "It''s alright. Just rest well. There will be many more incidents like this in the future."


    David lifted his foot and walked towards the room where the man resided. Arnold followed him closely. Upon entering, David saw the bodies of the man and the boy. He frowned at the sight of blood scattered on the floor. "Zombies wille soon. You should go back."


    With those words, David bypassed the corpses and walked into the room. Arnold didn''t leave, nor did he respond to David''s words. He stood guard at the door with his machete in hand. David paid no attention to Arnold''s choice and carefully searched the room. It didn''t take long for him to discover arge box of food hidden inside. The box contained various eatables and drinks. With a wave of his hand, David stored them all in his space.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [You obtained 30 loaves of bread. Critical hit bonus: 100,000!]


    [Congrattions! You obtained 300,000 loaves of bread!]


    [You obtained 5 cans. Critical hit bonus: 100,000!]


    [Congrattions! You obtained 50,000 cans!]


    The voice of the system kept ringing in David''s mind. He didn''t stay in the room for long and quickly left the ce with Arnold. Less than a minute after they left, a dozen zombies rushed in and devoured the two corpses in the room, leaving only bare white bones behind.


    After finishing their meal, the zombies roamed around the entire building for a while before eventually leaving. David stayed in the room where Arnold and his wife were. He raised his hand and released a considerable amount of food and drink.


    Both of them stood there in astonishment. "David, with so much food, we won''t have to worry about eating and drinking, right?" Arnold eximed.


    However, David shook his head. "These things are only temporary. The disaster has just begun. It''s good to collect as much as we can now. But in a month, the zombies will undergo aplete mutation. By that time, it will be extremely difficult to find food. There isn''t much time left for the 100,000 critical hit bonus, so he must collect everything he can during this time."


    Suddenly, the sound of pounding came from outside the door. Sophie trembled and hid behind Arnold. Arnold was about to go and check, but David stopped him.


    David looked at him and shook his head. At this time, the zombies had just finished devouring the father and son. Whoever was outside the door might not be human, but more likely a zombie.


    But the next second, a voice filled with age came from outside the door. "Is... anyone there?" The voice was extremely eerie, sounding like an old man''s voice, but within each word, there was a hint of a young woman''s voice. The two voices intertwined, giving a chilling sensation.


    Arnold looked at David, about to say something. But David calmly raised his index finger and ced it in front of his lips. If they made a sound, whatever was outside would rush in the next second, exposing them.


    David had encountered talking andmunicative zombies before, but it was something from the previous life and hadn''t appeared this early. It increasingly felt like the situation was beyond his understanding. If these zombies appeared so early, who knew what even more terrifying things might appear in a month?


    After a while, the sound outside gradually faded away. David cautiously walked forward, confirmed that there was no one through the peephole, and then breathed a sigh of relief. "Remember, if someone else knocks on the door, don''t open it."


    After leaving those words behind, David departed and returned to Sally''s home. As soon as he entered, Sally rushed towards him and tightly embraced him.


    David gently stroked her beautiful hair and carried her to the couch. "How was it? Did you absorb it well?"


    Sally smiled proudly, stood up, and extended her hand. Lightning coiled around her fingers, obediently forming various shapes as she pleased. The lightning was highly responsive.

 Chapter 52 Healing Attribute

    ?"New abilities haven''t been discovered, but I''m getting better and better at controlling this lightning," Sally said while ying with the lightning at her fingertips.


    "Not bad." David supported his chin with his hand, looking satisfied with Sally. It only took about thirty low-level crystals to control the lightning so smoothly. If she used an intermediate crystal, the consequences would be unimaginable. However, it was a pity that each supernatural ability corresponded to a specific color, and Sally''s lightning attribute was represented by the color purple.


    The crystals they found today were all green, which was not suitable for Sally to absorb. Even if she absorbed them, it would be like absorbing air, having no effect at all.


    Green crystals... If David remembered correctly, those belonged to the healing category. Just like in the previous life, healing abilities and individuals with healing powers were extremely rare. If a team had a healer with supernatural abilities, that team would be almost invincible. The healer would be treated as a treasure, even as a tool.


    In the previous life, David had witnessed a healer with supernatural abilities being treated like a ve by an organization, trading crystals for their healing powers. In the end, the healer didn''tst long and died.


    David had considered adding a healer with supernatural abilities to his team. However, he had never found such a person. If he ever encountered someone like that, he would want to keep them hidden, let alone exposing them to the public eye.


    "What are you thinking about?" Sally looked at David, who seemed lost in thought, and walked over to hold his arm.


    David shook his head. "Nothing."


    With that said, he took out fifty low-grade crystals and handed them to Sally. "Continue absorbing these."


    Sally paused for a moment, looking at the fifty crystals in her hand. Just by going out for a while, David could collect so many crystals. How strong was David exactly?


    "Okay." Sally immediately agreed and turned back to her room, holding the crystals. She needed to be stronger quickly so that she wouldn''t hold David back in battle.


    After Sally went back to her room, David squatted down in front of Little ck. He caressed its furry coat and put a few crystals in its dog bowl.


    C  approached stealthily,When Little ck saw the crystals in the dog bowl, before it could feel happy, it noticed C''s posture and quickly protected its own bowl, staring at C with doggy vignce. C nced at it nonchntly and then rubbed against David''s ankle, making a purring sound.


    Looking at the cat and dog''s behavior, David smiled helplessly. Having this cat and dog aspanions in the world of the apocalypse was not boring. He took out a dozen crystals and handed them to C one by one.


    C happily meowed and started eating. It received more crystals than Little ck, as David wanted to see if C was truly the shadow cat demon. Little ck, on the other hand, looked at the amount in its bowl, then nced at C''s portion, and reluctantly started eating, feeling unhappy as ity on the ground.


    Several crystals, C quickly finished eating them. But David looked at C and wondered why it didn''t look satisfied after eating.Despite consuming several crystals, C showed no reaction whatsoever.


    "The demand is really high." David silentlymented to himself as he watched C rolling on the ground.


    He took out twenty crystals again. When C saw the crystals, it pounced on them directly. Startled, David eximed, and the crystals in his hand scattered on the floor.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "What''s wrong?" Sally, inside the room, heard the noise and opened the door with concern. At that moment when the crystals scattered on the ground, C moved, and all the crystals had already been eaten by it!


    "Such speed." David was dumbfounded watching C. He knew Shadow Cat Y??kai was fast, but this speed was so swift that he could barely even see its shadow. Thest time he saw C''s speed, it wasn''t this fast. It seems that absorbing those several crystals was indeed very effective.


    "C!" Sally eximed and hurriedly ran up to it, but David stopped her.


    On the ground, C finished eating the twenty crystals at once, curled up on the ground, emitting a faint white light. It was worrisome because C seemed to be in great pain, its whole body trembling slightly.


    C had been with Sally for quite some time, and seeing this scene, Sally couldn''t help but feel worried. David nced at C andforted Sally, saying, "It''s okay, C is absorbing the crystals."


    After hearing David''s words, Sally nodded, and her furrowed brows rxed. After eating the crystals, Little ck quickly fell asleep. David stayed by C''s side for a long time, but it still hadn''t finished absorbing them. In thetter half of the night, David gave up observing and went back to the room to rest with Sally.


    The next day, a loud noise woke David and Sally, who were still resting. Startled, David immediately got up from the bed, swiftly stood by the window, and cautiously peered out with one eye.


    A nearby house had been sted open? Thismotion attracted countless zombies in the vicinity. With a single nce, David saw that zombies from a wide range were swaying and heading towards the explosion site.


    "This is..." Sally murmured as she looked at the explosion site.


    "It''s hard to say, maybe it''s the work of superhumans," David spected.


    "Help! Is anyone there? Is anyone inside the house?" apanied by a woman''s screams, there was a series of knocking sounds on the door. Sally and David exchanged nces and walked to the door. Through the peephole, David saw a young woman followed by a zombie staggering along.


    The woman was pounding on David''s door like a lunatic, and the zombie behind her was getting closer and closer. "I know you''re inside, please, please open the door and let me in!"


    David just silently watched the scene, without making any response. He wasn''t a saint, and there was no need to save everyone.Moreover, she was an insignificant person.


    Sally remained silent as well, following David. She was learning more and more, especially about human nature. Several minutes passed, and the woman continued to pound on the door frantically. However, the zombie behind her remained motionless, just standing a short distance away, watching the woman''s actions.


    In the next second, the woman''s neck made a cracking sound, and the corners of her mouth curved upwards at an rming angle, lifting all the way to the position of her cheekbones. Even the skin on her body began to rapidly decay, but not a single piece of flesh fell off. There were even a few pieces of flesh hanging loosely on her body without detaching.


    Indeed, she wasn''t human. David calmly watched. Just as the woman was about to leave, she turned around and went to knock on Arnold''s door again.

 Chapter 53 Will Arnold Still Will Arnold Still Open The Door?

    ?"Is anyone there? Open the door..." This time, the woman''s voice sounded extremely sad. If it were someone else, they might have opened the door out ofpassion. But David continued to watch, his hand tightly gripping the doorknob. He wouldn''t open the door, but that didn''t mean Arnold wouldn''t.


    Arnold was a retired soldier, and his sense of justice always remained within him. Hopefully, he had learned a lesson from the incident with the father and son. After a few minutes, the woman looked at Arnold''s door, then nced at David''s door with a tilt of her head before finally leaving. David looked at Arnold''s firmly locked door and couldn''t help but feel satisfied.


    In the apocalypse, the only person you can truly rely on is yourself. With a single thought, David saw the unfinished task in his taskbar.


    [Task: Apocalypse Reserves!]


    "The apocalypse is approaching. Please collect as many usable resources as possible and store them in the emergency storage space! During this task, all resources you store will receive a 100,000x critical boost. Remaining time for the task: 0 days, 15 hours, 1 minute."


    Looking at the precise countdown, David furrowed his brow. It wouldn''t be easy to go out and search for supplies within this time frame. The recent explosion had attracted the attention of the surrounding zombies. Going out now, David could easily find himself surrounded by dozens of zombies with a single careless move.


    "David, are you there?" Arnold''s voice came in a low whisper from outside the door. David looked through the peephole, confirmed that it was Arnold, and then opened the door. Arnold walked in, already wearing the armor David had given him and holding a long knife in his hand.


    "what are you doing?" David asked, puzzled.


    "David, today I''m going out with you," Arnold said earnestly.


    Going out together wasn''t a bad idea. It would allow Arnold to gain more experience and increase hisbat effectiveness. David nodded and agreed. He turned to Sally and gave her a few instructions, asking her to temporarily stay with Sophie until they returned.


    C was still asleep when they left, so David didn''t bring C along. He only brought Little ck with him. Little ck looked at David not bringing C and was quite happy. It bounced along with David in excitement as they left. After the group had left, C, curled up inside the house, slowly opened its eyes. Its eyes emitted a faint green light. C let out a low purr, stood up, stretchedzily, and leaped lightly, disappearing outside the room.


    This time, David nned to visit thergest central hospital in the city. Interestingly enough, the central hospital was located next to the site of the explosion.


    "David, are there usually this many zombies around?" Arnold, sitting in the passenger seat, couldn''t help but ask as he watched the zombies being knocked aside along the way.


    David nced at him calmly and shook his head. "Just a small portion," he replied, stepping on the elerator, increasing the speed of the car.


    Behind their car, there were still many zombies chasing after them. However, their speed was far inferior to David''s, and they were quickly left behind. Without a target, the zombies wandered aimlessly on the streets.


    Central Hospital. Both of them were startled when they saw the sign hanging half off the roof. The once bustling central hospital had turned into a terrifying ce after the disaster struck. David parked the car not far away and locked it up.


    "David, did those zombies enter that shop?" Arnold pointed to a small store next to the hospital.


    That store happened to be the location of the explosion. But miraculously, the explosion had demolished the surrounding shops, yet that particr store remained unscathed.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David didn''t pay much attention to it. The fact that no zombies entered the hospital was a good thing. Taking advantage of the zombies outside beingpletely focused on that small store, David sessfully entered the hospital with Arnold.


    Inside the hospital, everything was in chaos, with machinery strewn about on the ground. Seeing the corpses of zombies on the floor, David didn''t hesitate and led Arnold around them, heading straight to the pharmacy. As they approached the pharmacy''s entrance, they discovered that the door couldn''t be pushed open, and even the windowsills were locked.


    Considering the timing of the zombie outbreak, the pharmacy shouldn''t have been closed. Could there be someone inside? Just as David was contemting this, Arnold and he exchanged a nce and, using his long knife, Arnold directly cleaved open the door in front of them.


    "David, this knife of yours is really good!" Arnold''s eyes lit up, looking at David with excitement.


    David nodded, showing no surprise, but rather an expected reaction. As they stepped into the pharmacy, a sense of danger immediately struck. David swiftly dodged a sudden attack!


    "Human... you''re humans!" A nearby doctor trembled, holding a surgical knife, pointing it at David and Arnold. Since the zombie outbreak, he had been hiding in the pharmacy, afraid to make a sound. Over the past three days, he had only eaten a piece of bread and drank a bottle of water. It was because he didn''t make any noise that he managed to evade the wandering zombies outside.


    David frowned and nced at the doctor, then began scouring the pharmacy for medications.


    [You obtained 10 bottles of ibuprofen, critical boost in effect:100,000x!]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 1 million bottles of ibuprofen!]


    [You obtained 20 bandages, critical boost in effect: 100,000x!]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 2 million bandages!]


    Arnold watched as the medications disappeared from David''s hands without feeling surprised. The doctor, on the other hand, holding the surgical knife, felt a sense of wonder at David''s actions. Since the zombie crisis erupted, all hismon sense and knowledge had been turned upside down. Everything he was witnessing in front of him seemed like a dream.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t a dream. After David thoroughly looted the entire pharmacy of medications, he wasted no time and prepared to leave with Arnold.


    "Take... take me with you," the doctor put down his surgical knife and spoke up.


    David didn''t stop, he walked out without hesitation. The door of the pharmacy had already been smashed by Arnold, which meant destroying one of the doctor''s only means of escape. Arnold, feeling guilty about it, stopped and stood at the entrance of the pharmacy. David sighed, patted Arnold''s shoulder, and whispered, "I don''t bring just anyone with me, understand?" Arnold trembled and nodded.


    "Go and search for more medications," David said, and he entered the pharmacy once again. Arnold didn''t hesitate either, he listened to David''s words and started wandering nearby.


    The moment David stepped into the pharmacy, he had an additional low-level crystal in his hand. When an ordinary person consumes a crystal, they either turn into a zombie or gain superhuman abilities. There was no need for him to keep useless individuals by his side.

 Chapter 54 Not Everyone Is Lucky

    ?A primary crystal dropped to the ground , The doctor looked at the milky white crystal on the floor, feeling confused. "What... What is this?" he trembled and asked.


    David responded calmly, "If you want toe along, eat this."


    "Eat... Eat this?!" The doctor was surprised, but he dared not speak too loudly, restraining his voice.


    David silently looked at him. The doctor had no choice. He had nopanions here, and outside were all zombies. If he didn''t eat the crystal, he would be eaten by the zombies outside.


    Looking at the crystal on the ground, the doctor swallowed his saliva and reluctantly picked it up. "If I eat this, can I go with you?" he asked tentatively. He was not stupid; he could tell that these two intruders had the ability to protect him. As long as he clung to their legs, he wouldn''t have to worry about surviving in this environment. And they must have food!


    The doctor gritted his teeth and quickly consumed the primary crystal in his hand. Gulp. The crystal went into his stomach, and he expected something to happen. However, after a minute passed, he didn''t feel anything unusual.


    The doctor''s eyes lit up, and he immediately startedughing. Excitedly, he said to David, "Hahaha, I... I''m fine. Can I go with you now?"


    David looked at the doctor and sighed silently. "What a waste of my crystal." As he spoke, a spatial de appeared in David''s hand.


    "What are you doing? You can''t go back on your word!" The doctor looked at the item in David''s hand, showing a fearful expression. Just as he was about to run away, he suddenly realized that his vision became extremely strange.David''s figure in front of him became extremely blurry, and then his hands, feet, and his entire body started losing control.


    The next moment, he let out a roar that didn''t belong to him. David looked at the zombie in front of him, swiftly decapitating it, rendering it motionless. He squatted in front of the zombie and lightly cut open its forehead, taking out a primary crystal. "Not everyone is lucky."


    [You obtained a primary crystal, critical hit of 100,000 in effect!]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 100,000 primary crystals!]


    Afterpleting everything, David walked out. After a few steps, he encountered Arnold who wasing back. Arnold had made a good harvest, with his backpack filled to the brim. Once they returned and stored everything in the space, they would have a substantial amount of supplies. Arnold looked at David, noticing there was no one else behind him, and understood everything without saying a word.


    "Let''s go," David said, leading the way. He looked at the zombies on the ground, which suddenly stopped moving.


    David pped his head and turned to Arnold. "Open their foreheads and take out the crystals."


    As he spoke, David squatted down and skillfully took out one crystal after another. Arnold was slightly stunned, looking at the numerous zombies on the ground, and followed David''s lead. In no time, the two of them collected nearly a hundred crystals. David looked at the crystals on the ground, and with a thought, all the crystals entered the space.


    "David, are we pick up leaks?" Arnold looked at David''s actions, slightly surprised.


    [You obtained 98 primary crystals, critical hit of 100,000 in effect!]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 11,800,000 primary crystals!]


    Listening to the system prompts one after another, David felt very satisfied. This trip was definitely worth it! At this rate, whether it was for himself, Sally, or Little ck C, leveling up rapidly was just a matter of a few clicks.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    With these thoughts in mind, David took out a crystal from his hand and threw it to Little ck beside him. Little ck lightly jumped and bit down on the crystal that David threw, swallowing it.


    David watched as Little ck consumed it and felt satisfied. Currently, as long as Little ck and C didn''t eat too many crystals, they could absorb them without needing to sleep. Bringing them along while leveling up was a perfect solution.


    Outside the hospital, David could see many zombies heading towards a small shop. But strangely, once these zombies entered the shop, they never came out again. Moreover, there was a strong stench of decay permeating the air. These zombies seemed to be different from them; they walked straight ahead without any hesitation.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, David led Arnold and Little ck into a nearby general store. It was evident that the store had already been looted, with empty shelves and a few of them even copsed on the ground. The whole store looked extremely messy.


    "David, what is this..." Arnold started to speak, but David had already walked in. Since these people had looted things in the chaos, they couldn''t return empty-handed now. The two of them, along with the dog, continuously moved around the store, not even leaving out the tiniest corners. Finally, they found a few abandoned candles in a small corner behind the counter.


    "David, just a few candles," Arnold held up the candles in his hand, feeling helpless.


    Although it was just a few, in David''s hands, with a critical hit of 100,000, these candles were no longer just a few.


    Without saying a word, David directly took the candles from Arnold''s hand. With a thought, he stored the candles in the space.


    [You obtained 5 candles, critical hit of 100,000 in effect!]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 500,000 candles!]


    Listening to the system prompts, David nodded satisfactorily. Candles were still very useful under certain circumstances.


    Looking at the empty store, David led Arnold and Little ck out. But just as they stepped out of the store''s entrance, David suddenly stopped.


    "David, should we go back inside the store?" Arnold whispered, slowly stepping backward.


    In front of them, the zombies that should have been heading towards that store all turned to look in David and the others'' direction.


    David calmly summoned his armor and looked at the approaching zombies. There weren''t many of them, so dealing with them was no problem. David clenched his fist and flexed his muscles.


    "Don''t panic, let''s go!" Fortunately, the number was notrge. Once the numbers increased, it would be really difficult to deal with them. As soon as he finished speaking, David charged forward with the spatial de in his hand!


    "David is so fierce!" Arnold looked at David charging forward and was momentarily stunned. The next moment, Arnold shouted, "David, I''ming too!"


    Little ck barked and followed Arnold, charging forward as well. The mes it spewed instantly incinerated arge number of zombies. Fortunately, they were all low-level zombies, so this number wasn''t enough to pose a threat. In no time, David, Arnold, and Little ck had taken care of all the zombies.

 Chapter 55 Another Shadow-Type

    ?Looking at the corpses of zombies scattered on the ground, David''s eyes lit up.    These bodies were full of crystals!    It was truly a fruitful harvest!


    A slight smile appeared on David''s lips as he called out to Arnold, who was covered in rotting flesh, beside him.    "Quick, dig out the crystals from their foreheads.    While the other zombies haven''t arrived yet, let''s collect all the crystals from these corpses.    It''s our current task."


    "Okay, got it."    Arnold gasped for breath, observing David who didn''t seem to be out of breath at all, and couldn''t help but wonder what he did before.    Facing so many zombies and not even breathing heavily afterward...    It seemed like he needed to step up his training!


    With that in mind, Arnold mustered up his courage and started collecting the crystals from the zombies on the ground, following David''s lead.


    Just as Little ck was about to pick up a crystal from the ground to secretly devour it, a pair of feet suddenly stomped on it.    Startled, Little ck jumped aside.    The feet directly crushed the crystal.    Little ck growled at the person, expressing its dissatisfaction.


    "Hey, Little ck, you''re so ugly and fierce.    Be careful, big brother might stew you and eat you."    The manughed and spoke to Little ck.


    Hearing the voice, David looked towards the man.    Behind the man were several fierce-looking youths who were picking up the crystals from the zombies David had defeated.    David and his team worked so hard to defeat the zombies.  These people actually want toe over and pick up the leak?.


    David let out a cold snort and stored the crystals he held in his hand into his storage space.


    [You obtained six primary crystals.    Critical hit effect active: 100,000!   ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 600,000 primary crystals!   ]


    "Boss, look at that person''s backpack on his back."    One of the man''sckeys nudged his arm and pointed at the backpack behind Arnold.    It was filled with things and seemed quite abundant and eye-catching.


    A slight smirk appeared on the man''s lips as he beckoned hisckeys and walked towards Arnold''s position.    "Hey!"    The man crossed his arms and stood in front of Arnold with an imposing stance.    "What''s in the backpack behind you?    Show it to us."


    Arnold frowned and took a step back.    "I advise you not to mess around."    He tightly gripped his long knife.    However, these people showed no signs of panic upon seeing his actions.


    The next moment, the man called one of hisckeys, a bespectacled young man, to step forward.    "Brother," he whispered.


    The man nodded and gave a signal to theckey.    "This one''s up to you."


    The young man nced briefly at Arnold and furrowed his brow.    "Brother, this is just an ordinary person.    Do we need to be so harsh?"


    As soon as he finished speaking, the man kicked the young man.    Despite the kick, the young man didn''t bend his leg and stood straight in ce.    "Stop with the bullshit.    When I tell you to attack, you attack.    Finish the person off and grab the belongings."


    Gritting his teeth, the young man remained silent.    He looked up at Arnold and apologized, "Sorry, it wasn''t intentional."    With that, the young man moved swiftly and appeared behind Arnold.


    "No!"   Arnold scolded, instinctively clutching the backpack behind him.   The young man''s hand had just grabbed Arnold''s backpack and was about to exert force, but he didn''t expect Arnold''s reaction to be so quick.   Seizing the opportunity while the young man was momentarily stunned, Arnold swiftly turned his body and his knee quickly struck the young man''s abdomen.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Ugh!"   The young man''s pupils widened as he hastily jumped back a few steps.


    "Damn it!   If you dare to lose, your little girlfriend might not make it!" the man''s voice came through.


    David stood nearby, listening to these words with disdain in his heart.   No wonder this situation seemed strange.   It turned out they were exploiting this young man''s weakness.   However, this person was actually an esper, and he seemed to possess shadow abilities simr to C.


    With that in mind, David''s mind flickered.   Holding the de of Space in his hand, he swiftlyunched an attack, shing towards the man''s neck.   Before anyone could react, the man''s head had already fallen off.


    "Boss!"   The firstckey to react shouted loudly, his eyes filled with fear.   Nobody had seen David''s actions.


    The young man stood there in confusion, gazing at the rolling head on the ground, unsure of what to do.


    Arnold looked at the dispirited young man and quickly approached David.   "David, what should we do next?"


    David nced at the corpses of the surrounding zombies.   They had collected most of the crystals from the zombies'' bodies, but there were still many zombies nearby.   When the head fell, the surrounding zombies must have already caught the scent.   It was time to leave.


    In the next moment, David''s ears heard the sound of zombies approaching.   He summoned the car and quickly sat in the driver''s seat.   "Get in."


    As he spoke, Little ck barked and agilely jumped into the car.   Arnold nced at the bewildered young man standing still, then turned to David.   "David, that kid is also an esper.   Maybe he can join us."


    Listening to Arnold''s words, David had considered the possibility.   However, there was no guarantee that he wouldn''t betray them.   ording to what the man had said, his girlfriend was still in their hands.


    David twisted the car key, and the car hummed to life.   Arnold quickly got into the car.   Just as they were about to drive away, the zombies swarmed out, rushing towards those men.


    "Ah!"   Subsequently, cries of agony rang out.   Just as several zombies were about to devour the bewildered young man who was frozen in ce, David drove the car and ran over them.


    "Get in," David kicked open the passenger seat, coldly saying to the young man.   A shadow esper, if cultivated properly, would be a formidable force here.


    As for this person, he could be tested for a while.   If he proved unsuitable, David had the capability to kill him on the spot.


    The young man stared nkly at David.   David clicked his tongue and said indifferently, "If you want to save your girlfriend, get in the car."


    As if the word "girlfriend" was his switch, upon hearing that, his eyes finally showed a reaction.   He nodded, quickly grabbed the car door, and leaped inside.


    As soon as the young man got in the car, David quickly started the vehicle and sped away.   The men left behind in the area were not as fortunate.   Among them, besides having physical strength, they had no other ability to fight against the zombies.   Faced with arge number of zombies, it didn''t take long for them to be devoured like snacks.

 Chapter 56 Mobile Armory

    ?David looked through the rearview mirror and saw that there were still many zombies relentlessly chasing the vehicle they were in.    Every now and then, a few zombies would suddenly appear from the front and pounce on them.    The car''s tires crushed the zombies'' heads, ttening them, and exposing the crystals on their foreheads.


    David sighed regretfully as he looked at the shiny crystals in the rearview mirror.    If it weren''t for therge number of zombies, he would have considered getting out of the car and scavenging for more.    After the car drove away, a zombie picked up the exposed mutated crystal.


    The zombie looked at the object in its hand and tilted its head in confusion.    Then, it unexpectedly took a bite!    After swallowing the crystal, its face turned red, and its decaying flesh started falling off.    It growled lowly and squatted down in extreme pain.    Soon after, the zombie''s body began to expand.


    In the next moment, the zombie exploded with a bang!    The other nearby zombies heard the noise and turned their heads in curiosity.    Upon realizing it was not a human, they shifted their attention back to the car.    Inside the car, the young man looked out the window as they passed by one deserted house after another, furrowing his brow.


    He looked at David, who was driving, and spoke up, "Can you help me rescue my girlfriend?"    David nced at the young man in the rearview mirror and said indifferently, "I don''t do things without expecting something in return."


    In this zombie-infested world, no one would help an unrted person without reason, and David had his own motives for helping this young man.    His Shadow-type ability was very useful.


    The young man furrowed his brow and replied, "Name your price, and I''ll agree to it."


    Straightforward enough.    David couldn''t help but appreciate this person''s character.    He just didn''t expect that the leverage he had was the young man''s girlfriend.


    David smiled faintly.    The car continued driving until they reached an area where there were no zombies.    With a sudden brake, David drifted the car.


    His hands rested on the steering wheel as he looked ahead and said, "Regardless of anything, promise me first, and then I''ll help you rescue your girlfriend."


    "Regardless of anything."    The young man hesitated.


    After a few seconds, he nodded in agreement.    Guided by the young man, David drove to the ce where the other man and his group resided.


    By the time they arrived, it was 5:09 in the afternoon.    There were only a few hours left before the end of the Ten Thousand Critical Hits enhancement.    Since it was a base, the food stored there would not be scarce.


    As soon as the three men and the dog got out of the car, the young man reminded them, "There are quite a few people inside, and my girlfriend is locked in the innermost room."


    "Let''s go inside," David said cautiously, ncing around.    If they stood around chatting for too long, they might attract zombies.


    The other two nodded and walked inside.    Just as they took a step forward, a clicking sound was heard, and a small handgun was aimed at David''s temple.


    "A gun!"    David looked at the gun pressed against his head but didn''t feel afraid;    instead, he felt excited.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As long as he obtained a gun, it would multiply into a hundred thousand once in his inventory.    Even the guards at this base had guns, and there would be no shortage of firearms inside.    If he could get his hands on all of them, David would have a mobile arsenal!


    "Who are you people?" the man at the entrance questioned.    He hesitated slightly when he saw the young man.


    " kid, what are you doing here?    Weren''t you with the boss?" the man interrogated.


    The young man stepped forward and calmly replied, "The boss asked me to bring these two people back first."


    With that, the man scrutinized David, expressing his doubt, "Neer?    You seem average."    As he spoke, he slowly lowered the handgun.    He walked behind the young man, without a word, and lifted the young man''s sleeve.


    Then, he took out a syringe from his pocket and injected it into the young man''s arm.    The young man watched the whole process but only furrowed his brow.    Afterward, the man took a new syringe and approached David.    Like the young man, he lifted David''s sleeve.


    David watched as the serum was slowly injected into his skin, but his body didn''t feel anything amiss (immune to toxins).    Arnold was also injected with the serum.    The three followed behind the man cautiously.    Arnold leaned close to David''s ear and whispered, "David, this serum..."


    David remained silent and silently shook his head.    He hadn''t figured out theposition of the serum yet, but for now, it seemed harmless.    The next moment, when David saw that everyone inside was holding a gun, he was truly amazed.


    [Mission: Apocalypse Reserves!   ]


    "The apocalypse is imminent.    Please collect usable resources to the emergency storage space.    During this mission, all resources stored will receive a critical hit boost of a hundred thousand times.    Time remaining: 0 days, 6 hours, 1 minute."


    David nced at the transparent panel in front of him and then refocused his attention.    The remaining six hours were more than enough.    He wanted all the firearms here!    Firearms were extremely valuable in the apocalypse, not only for self-defense but also as a means of exchange.    With firearms, he could say that he had taken a step toward bing a king in this world.


    "What are you looking at?    Get lost!"    One of the men, ufortable with David''s stare, scolded him directly.


    The man leading the way approached, blocking David''s path, and said in a calm tone, "You''re new here, be careful."


    Upon hearing the words "new here," the man who scolded David''s face darkened, and he fell silent.    He turned his head, and the leading man warned David, "Don''t stare randomly."


    The man red at David and continued walking ahead.    David didn''t say anything but quietly followed behind the man.    For some reason, his body began to feel a bit warm.


    Is it because of the serum he received just now?  When he turned his head to look at the young man, the young man showed no reaction, and even Arnold was the same.

 Chapter 57 Be On Fire

    ?Is the serum only effective on him?  It shouldn''t be like that.  David lowered his gaze and pondered for a moment.  When he raised his gaze again, he had already arrived in front of a room door.


    "Go in."  The leading man nced at David and coldly said to the young man.  The young man''s eyes lit up upon hearing this, and before entering the room, he intentionally nced at David a few more times.


    There were many rooms here, and it seemed that the entire building had been turned into their base.  The room in front of them was Room 303.  "Hey, you two,e with me," the leading man said coldly.


    He nced at the little ck dog that had been following them all the way and impatiently asked, "Is this the dog you brought back?"


    "What''s the use of this thing?  Isn''t it just for stewing and eating at the critical moment?"  The leading man spoke and saw the little ck dog snarl in discontent, prompting him to sneer.


    He muttered, "Quite spirited."  The man turned around and continued to lead the way.


    The little ck dog quickened its pace and walked up to David, rubbing against him with its furry body.  It let out a low whine.  David reached out and patted it, whispering, "It''s okay, little ck, we''ll endure a bit longer, and we''ll make you happyter."  The little ck dog seemed to understand David''s words, wagging its tail happily.


    The group continued walking forward until they finally stopped at Room 309.  The leader turned around and said, "I don''t know why the boss chose you, but from now on, you can only listen to us here.  You''ll stay here, and once you collect twenty crystals, you''ll get your guns."


    As he spoke, the man proudly swung the gun in his hand.  "See this?  I collected thirty crystals for this.  You''ll make do with twenty!  Now scram!"  With that, the man snorted and walked away.


    "David, what do we do now?"  Arnold asked as he saw the manpletely leave their sight.  David remained silent, and a few more men appeared in their line of sight.


    The men red at them and then entered Room 308.  The entire building had an unknown number of people and firepower.  Engaging them head-on might lead to victory, but they would also sustain injuries.  It would be better to make use of other means...


    With that in mind, David turned around and opened the door to Room 309.  As the door opened, a foul stench filled the air.  "Th-those are zombies?"  Arnold looked at the bodies lying in the room and spoke slowly.


    David furrowed his brow.  In the center of the room, there were two zombie corpses.  What was horrifying was that the decaying flesh on these corpses had been dug out, leaving only a few rotten pieces of meat clinging to the bones, barely holding on.


    David walked inside and closed the door.  The two of them squatted beside the zombie corpses.  The marks on the corpses didn''t resemble bite marks;  they looked more like they had been cut off with a de.  Could it be that these people here were eating zombie flesh?


    However, David quickly dismissed the thought from his mind.  In the previous world, even supernatural beings turned into zombies after eating zombie flesh, let alone ordinary people.  What were these people doing with the rotten flesh of zombies?


    [Task: Doomsday Reserves!   ]


    [The doomsday is approaching.    Please collect as many usable resources as possible and store them in the reserve space!    During this task, all the resources you store will receive a 100,000 times critical boost.    Remaining time for the task: 0 days, 5 hours, 0 minutes.]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After an hour had passed, the system issued a warning sound.    David stood up and walked towards the door.    He couldn''t waste any more time here;    there were still many machines waiting for him to collect.


    Arnold saw David leave and hurriedly followed suit.    Room 303 was not arranged like Room 309.    The interior of Room 309 was furnished for normal human living, while Room 303 only had a bed, a chair, and a small cab.    Compared to the other rooms, Room 303 was the smallest, barely the size of a bedroom.


    The young man sat on the only chair, holding the hand of the girl on the bed.    He trembled and said, "Darling, it seems like we have a chance to escape."


    On the bed, the girl''s hands and feet were bound by chains.    Tears slowly streamed down from the corners of her eyes, her gaze vacant as she stared at the ceiling.


    Suddenly, the girl spoke, "I...    I don''t have the strength anymore."


    Upon hearing these words, the young man trembled all over, his hands holding the girl''s hands shaking.    "No, you can still survive!"


    The young man stood up in excitement, and the chair fell to the ground.    He gasped heavily, his chest rising and falling.    The next moment, his expression calmed down, transforming into a face filled with apology.  "I''m sorry, I forgot.    You don''t like it when I act like this,"


    he quickly said as he helped the girl up from the fallen chair.    When the young man held her hand, a faint green light shimmered in the palm of the girl''s hand.    This power slowly flowed into the young man''s body, unconsciously healing the injuries within him.


    "David, over here," Arnold stood in front of Room 201''s door and waved to David.


    David walked over to Room 201.    The two of them looked inside through the window.    Many people were sleeping in the room, and within this room, numerous boxes of military equipment were stacked.    There were about ten boxes in total!    David''s eyes lit up.


    He squatted beside the little ck dog, patting its head gently and saying, "Little ck, it''s up to you now.    Do you understand what I mean?"    As he finished speaking, he pointed towards the door of Room 201.


    The little ck dog jumped happily, and as it walked towards the door, David and Arnold took cover in a nearby location.    In the next moment, a burst of me spewed out from the little ck dog''s mouth!    Instantly, the door of Room 201 was charred, and even the person leaning against the door was engulfed in mes.


    "Ah!    Fire!    Fire!"    The people in Room 201 shouted.


    David stood aside and quickly beckoned to the little ck dog.    The little ck dog looked dissatisfied but still walked over to David.    Once themotion started here, the zombies outside would immediatelye over.    They needed to act fast, take away these military supplies, and then rescue the young man and his girlfriend.    Today''s task would bepleted.    After the two of them and the dog found a safe spot, footsteps could be heard in the stairwell.


    "Hurry up!  Move everything out from inside!" the man who was leading earlier shouted.  The surroundingrades watched as the fire grewrger, and none of them dared to move forward.  The man scolded and kicked two men inside directly!

 Chapter 58 A Fruitful Harvest

    ?The man watched as only one or two of hisrades moved things out, and he shouted in frustration, "Damn it!   Hurry up, all of you!"   If these ten boxes of weaponry were burned, he wouldn''t know how to exin it to the boss when he returned.


    But why hadn''t the boss returned at this time?   Just as he was thinking, someone ran up from downstairs, their face covered in blood, and shouted at the man, "N...  Not good!   The zombies are charging in!"


    The man''s heart trembled.   "Damn it, they chose this time toe!"   After a brief hesitation, he said to the people nearby, "You must move the things out."


    Then he turned to the man who had delivered the message.   "Youe with me, we''ll stop the zombies!"   After saying that, the man quickly ran downstairs.   The man who delivered the message hesitated for a moment, unable to say what he wanted to say.   Once the two men left, David, who had been hiding nearby, had a sudden idea and came out.   "I''ll help!"


    He said loudly, and as his hand lightly touched one of the boxes of weaponry that had been moved out, his consciousness shifted, and it instantly stored the items in his space.   Even if he walked directly away now, no one would notice.   Moreover, he had only run over, right?


    [You have obtained one box of weaponry.   100,000x Critical Strike in effect!  ]


    [Congrattions, you have obtained 100,000 boxes of weaponry!  ]


    Listening to the system''s prompts, he became even more excited.   It was just based on the number of boxes;   he hadn''t seen what was inside yet.   With this 100,000x Critical Strike, he wondered how much he would ultimately gain.


    Ignoring the mes around him, David rushed in directly.   In the first second of entering the room, as soon as he touched a box of weaponry, it was instantly stored in his space.   As the people in the room rushed out, David quickly stored the second and third boxes in his space.


    "Brother, are you okay?"   The man who had just rushed in saw David standing still and asked with concern.


    David lowered his head and said softly, "I''m fine."


    He was about to die of happiness.   As soon as these three boxes of weaponry entered his space, they instantly turned into 300,000 boxes of weaponry!


    "That''s good then.   These mes are really strange;   not even water can put them out."   The man spoke while picking up a box of weaponry in front of him.   He looked at the boxes in the room and expressed doubt.


    "We''ve already moved so many boxes, I don''t know why they''re still rushing us."   Watching the man run out, David silently stored another box of weaponry in his space, and then moved one out.


    David ced the weaponry on the ground and casually stored another box in his space.   Arnold, who was nearby, had already noticed all of David''s actions, and he couldn''t help but twitch his mouth.   "David, aren''t you afraid of being discovered with such tant actions?"


    In this back and forth, David had already stored six boxes of weaponry in his space.   The remaining four boxes had also beenpletely moved out by them.


    "Weren''t there supposed to be ten boxes?   Why are there only four?"


    "Yeah, what''s going on?"


    "How is it possible that there are only four boxes when the mes didn''t even reach the boxes inside?"


    "Maybe they''re still inside.    Hurry and go in and find them, or the boss will kill us!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Just as everyone was puzzled, the person who delivered the message from downstairs rushed up.    "Quick!    Go down quickly."    Before he could finish speaking, the messenger''s face suddenly changed, and his neck made a cracking sound.    The next moment, he turned into a zombie!


    "Damn it!"    With a curse and a bang, someone holding a gun blew off the zombie''s head.    The crystallized object on the zombie''s forehead fell off, and the person who fired the gun picked it up and called out to hisrades behind him, "Don''t bother with the remaining six boxes, go down and help!"


    With that, David pretended to follow them downstairs, but instead, he walked at the back of the group and stored all four remaining boxes in his space!


    [You have obtained four boxes of weaponry.    100,000x Critical Strike in effect!   ]


    [Congrattions, you have obtained 400,000 boxes of weaponry!   ]


    Listening to the system''s voice, David was very satisfied.    He, along with Arnold and Little ck, arrived at the door of Room 303.    As the door was opened, David raised his hand, and his small knife immediately blocked the iing attack.    The young man recognized David and quickly withdrew his hand.    "Are you here to rescue us?"


    David didn''t answer his question but looked at the girl lying quietly on the bed.    The girl was wearing a white dress and was bound by chains, looking very disheveled.    David raised his hand, and the chains around the girl''s wrists and ankles were instantly undone.    "Put them on and let''s leave quickly."


    With such amotion, the downstairs area was already filled with zombies.    Moreover, it was nighttime, and the sound of people being killed by zombies downstairs would attract even more zombies.    It wouldn''t be long before no one downstairs would be alive.    The young man lifted the girl and followed behind David and the others.


    As soon as they reached the stairway door, they encountered several zombies head-on.    Little ck opened its mouth, and the zombies were instantly turned to ashes.    Taking advantage of this opportunity, David summoned a vehicle and sat in the driver''s seat.


    Arnold quickly opened the vehicle and jumped in.    "Kid, give me your hand!"    He reached out his hand to the young man.    Biting his lip, the young man held the girl around the waist with one hand and grabbed Arnold''s hand with the other, using the leverage to jump onto the vehicle.


    At that moment, dozens of zombies swarmed in.    The car windows were quickly closed, and numerous zombies pounded on the windows frantically.    Sitting in the driver''s seat, David couldn''t see anything in front of him.


    "Hold on tight!"    David shouted, pulling the handbrake and pressing the elerator to the maximum.    The next moment, the car rushed out at top speed.


    Outside, a man who was fighting the zombies suddenly turned his head and came face-to-face with the car that had just driven out.    His eyes brightened, thinking the car would stop.    But it didn''t.    Before he could say anything, the car ran over him.


    "David, there seemed to be a living person standing in front just now," Arnold looked back.    He saw numerous zombies gathered in the spot where the car had run over someone, burying their heads to feed on something.    David nced at the rearview mirror indifferently without answering.


    At this moment, he didn''t care whether they were living or dead.   In the back seat, the young man held the girl.   However, the girl''s eyes had remained closed ever since they left the bed.


    "Kid, How''s your girlfriend...?"   Arnold nced at the girl in the young man''s arms and asked casually.


    Upon hearing Arnold''s words, the young man clenched his fist secretly, then rxed it.   "She''s fine."


    Arnold nodded without asking further.   David, sitting in the driver''s seat, silently watched it all.

 Chapter 59 Intelligent Zombie

    ?David drove the car and returned with the two of them downstairs.   They looked out of the car window and noticed that there were already over a dozen zombie corpses lying silently on the ground downstairs.


    [Quest: Apocalypse Reserves!  ]


    [The apocalypse is imminent.   Please collect as many usable resources as possible for the contingency storage space!   During this quest, all resources you store will receive a critical hit bonus of 100,000 times.   Time remaining for the quest: 0 days, 3 hours, 0 minutes.]


    The system''s voice suddenly rang out.   The group got out of the car, and David stored the car away.   He then proceeded to dig out the crystals from the foreheads of the dozen or so corpses using a knife.


    One sound after another, the crystals dropped to the ground.   David kept digging while Arnold picked up the crystals behind him.   The young man held the girl and silently watched behind the two of them and the dog.


    "David, there are a total of twelve."   Arnold spoke and handed the collected crystals to David.


    David nodded and epted the crystals.   While digging the crystals, he could still smell the burnt scent lingering on the zombie corpses.   These scents didn''t seem like they were caused by mes, but rather as if they were charred by lightning.


    These dozen or so zombie corpses were probably the work of Sally.   With a thought, David made the twelve crystals in his hand disappear.


    [You obtained 12 primary crystals, 100,000 critical hit bonus in effect!  ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 1.2 million primary crystals!  ]


    After putting away the items, David slowly walked up the stairs.   Just as he stepped onto the stairs, he heard low growlsing from upstairs.   The walls of the entire stairwell were covered in zombie blood and decaying flesh.


    When did Sally''s abilities be so terrifying?   Soon, as he reached the top of the stairs, he instantly knew his guess was wrong.   As soon as the group reached upstairs, their bodies froze in ce.


    In front of them, a massively built zombie held a small-sized zombie in its hand and tore it apart.   It held the zombie without hesitation, tearing off chunks of rotting flesh.   After tearing them off, it examined them carefully.   Only when it saw that the flesh was good did it eat it.   Watching this scene, David''s heart trembled.


    This zombie was conscious!   Just as he was thinking this, the zombie swallowed the flesh and slowly turned its gaze toward David and the others.   When it met David''s gaze, it didn''t behave like a regr zombie, charging towards them upon seeing humans.


    Instead, this zombie smiled at David!   Its mouth awkwardly curved upward, revealing its yellowish-white teeth.


    David shivered and quickly summoned his armor, holding a alloy battle de in his hand, remaining vignt.


    Why would intelligent zombies appear at this time?   Today was only the third day since the disaster broke out, and only ordinary-level zombies should be appearing.


    It wasn''t just the zombie in front of them;   even the corpse in Warehouse No.1 earlier.   Where did it go now?   Soon, David dismissed his thoughts and focused on the zombie in front of him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    This zombie hadn''t appeared for long.   They had encountered only ordinary-level zombies on their way back.   If they were lucky, this zombie was a mutated one.   In the next second, David''s left hand moved, and several spatial des appeared around his left hand.


    The young man on the side looked at the spatial de next to David''s hand, slightly startled.  He was also an esper like himself?  David pointed his hand towards the zombie, and several spatial des swiftly pierced out at an incredible speed.  The zombie looked at the spatial des, while David observed its dodging movements, his eyes instantly lit up.  When the zombie dodged the spatial des, its lower body moved first, while its upper body seemed sluggish, dyed by a second.


    As a result, two spatial des pierced through the zombie''s upper body.  "Ah!"  The zombie held its wounds in pain, emitting a scream that sounded strangely human.


    Inside the room, since David left with Arnold and Little ck, Sophie had been staying with Sally.  Even if there were any movements outside the door, they didn''t go out.  The zombie''s wail happened to reach Sophie and Sally''s ears.


    Sophie was startled and instinctively grabbed Sally''s arm, afraid.  "Sally, is there someone outside?"


    Sophie treated Sally like her own dear friend, just like an older sister.  Sally understood Sophie''s kindness and naturally treated Sophie well.


    Sally gently patted Sophie''s hand andforted her.  "Sophie, don''t worry.  We''re waiting for David and the others toe back in the room.  The zombies won''te in."  Sally appeared calm on the surface, but she was actually very alert.


    Outside the door, David and Arnold had already engaged in a fight with the zombie.  Little ck watched the two fighting the zombie and didn''t know whether to breathe fire or not.  It paced back and forth, looking anxious.


    The zombie''s movements became faster and the coordination between its upper and lower body improved over time.  This was a bad situation for David.  While attacking the zombie, he also paid attention to its injuries.


    The zombie appeared covered in wounds, but its one vital spot was well protected.  Arnold gritted his teeth and rushed forward, tightly embracing the zombie.


    "David!"  Arnold shouted, and David, wielding an alloy war de in his hand, decisively swung it towards the zombie''s neck!  The zombie instantly panicked.  It never expected Arnold to recklessly hold onto it.  At the moment it saw David''s alloy war deing down, it didn''t struggle but chose to bite Arnold.


    No good!  David thought.  He quickly conjured a spatial de with his left hand.  It was toote!  There was no time to throw the spatial de now.  He didn''t expect the zombie to go for Arnold.  Even if he distorted space, he couldn''t make it in time.  Just as the zombie was about to bite Arnold, the figure of the young man suddenly appeared behind the zombie.  He swiftly raised his hand and with a swift motion, the zombie''s head dropped to the ground with a thud.


    David halted his action, and Arnold quickly let go of the zombie, wiping off the filth on his body with disgust.  "David."  Arnold wiped while walking over.


    David looked at him with a deep gaze, then turned to the young man and asked, "What''s your name?"


    The young man nced at the girl leaning against the wall not far away and calmly replied, "Brian."  Brian finished speaking and walked towards the direction of the girl.


    By this time, the girl had already awakened.  Her lips were pale, and she looked extremely exhausted.  But she made an effort to speak.  "My name is Lily."

 Chapter 60 Lily

    ?Lily had fair skin, with straight long hair falling on her chest.        Her face was pale, and her mncholic eyes expressed a sense of sadness.        The corners of her mouth slowly curled up, and a cold voice spoke again, "Thank you for saving us."


    As she finished speaking, Lily''s hand slowly intertwined with Brian''s hand.        David looked at Lily, feeling an indescribable sense of familiarity.        It felt like he had seen this person somewhere before.        Familiar, yet unfamiliar.


    "David, this kid said his girlfriend''s nickname includes the character ''mei''..."        Arnold leaned in close to David''s ear and whispered.


    Before David could respond, Lily smiled and calmly said, "My nickname includes the character ''mei,'' and Brian calls me that."        As she spoke, her hand touched Brian''s palm, and his tightly furrowed brow rxed.


    Upon hearing Lily''s words, David''s eyes brightened.        A nickname with the character ''mei''--why did that sound so familiar?        In the previous life, there was a girl in his team who had such a nickname.        She joined the teamter, and instead of telling them her nickname, she insisted on being called ''xiao mei'' .


    And that girl happened to be a healing-type esper.        Having a healing-type esper in the team was highly valued.        But the good times didn''tst long.        At that time, the crystals needed for healing abilities were in short supply.        In a wave of zombies, xiao mei sacrificed herself.        Several other brothers also died in that wave.


    David carefully observed Lily once again, and when he saw the faint mole beside her eye, he became even more certain.        Although Meimei from the previous life didn''t have that mole when she joined the team, David saw it clearly one night when he caught her secretly crying.        It seemed like she covered the mole with something.


    Feeling David''s gaze on the mole beside her eye, Lily felt slightly ufortable.        She walked behind Brian as if to say something, but David spoke first.        "You''re a healing-type esper, aren''t you?"


    As soon as the words fell, both Lily and Brian''s expressions turned solemn.        She was shielded by Brian, who spoke cautiously, "What do you want?"


    Seeing Brian''s protective stance, David faintly smiled.        "If I wanted to take your girlfriend away, I would have done it already.        I don''t need to wait until now."


    Brian''s face froze.        He wanted to say something, but Lily cautiously peeked out from behind him and asked in a low voice, "I''m a healing-type esper.        What do you want?"


    "Lily!"        Seeing Lily expose their identities, Brian became anxious.        But when his eyes met Lily''s, he immediately faltered.


    How interesting.        David watched their interaction and shook his head helplessly.        He turned around, walking and saying, "Follow me."


    Brian and Lily exchanged nces for a few seconds, and in the end, Lily took the initiative and asked Brian to follow.        Before leading the two into the room, David squatted in front of the zombie he had just killed and took out the mutated crystal from its forehead.


    Considering the tremendous power and the burnt smell of lightning, David spected that this particr zombie was of the lightning attribute.        He gently cut open its forehead with a knife, exposing a purple crystal.


    David felt delighted and quickly took out the purple crystal.  It was indeed of the lightning attribute!  Unfortunately, this zombie seemed to have just mutated and had forgotten to use its lightning ability when things got intense.  The purple crystal, once absorbed by Sally, would give her a considerable boost.


    With a thought, David stored the purple crystal in his space.


    [You obtained a mid-level crystal, critical hits increased by 100,000! ]


    [Congrattions!  You obtained 100,000 mid-level crystals! ]


    [Quest: Apocalypse Reserves! ]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "The apocalypse is approaching.  Please collect usable resources to the best of your ability and store them in the emergency storage space!  During this quest, all resources stored by you will receive a 100,000x critical hit bonus.  Remaining quest time: 0 days, 1 hour, 0 minutes."


    There was only one hour left for the 100,000x critical hit bonus.  In this final hour, he wouldn''t be able to collect much.


    "You are a spatial esper," Lily''s voice suddenly sounded.


    David didn''t turn his head, just made an affirmative sound and stood up, leading the two into the room.


    "David!"  Sally''s eyes lit up as she saw David return.  She quickly walked towards him and hugged his arm.


    The next second, when she saw Lily entering the room, her expression immediately turned wary.  But in the second after that, when Brian walked in and held Lily''s hand, Sally visibly rxed.


    After closing the door, David took out a green mid-level crystal from the space.  Lily and Brian''s eyes widened when they saw the green crystal.


    Before Lily could finish speaking, David silently put the crystal away.  He had thought that he would have to wait a long time before he could use the healing crystal, but it unexpectedly came to him with a rare healing esper.


    Even without a healing esper, David''s team was already strong.  Having a healing esper would make them even stronger.  "I can provide you with the crystal, but my condition is that you and your boyfriend must be loyal and follow me."


    After David finished speaking, the expressions of the two suddenly changed.  Lily''s face alternated between pale and red, and she tightly clenched her clothes corner, showing hesitation.  However, just like healing crystals, healing espers were also rare.  Even in their previous organization, they didn''t have any healing crystals.  If they refused David now, they might never have another chance.


    "But..."  Lily frowned and nced at Brian.


    Brian gently patted Lily''s hand and whispered, "It''s okay, leave it to me."


    Turning his head, Brian said to David, "We also have a condition."


    David raised an eyebrow and said, "Go ahead."


    "You can''t treat Lily as a ve," Brian''s words came out, and Sophie immediately added, "Young man, how could we possibly treat a girl as a ve?  You and her can stay with David."


    Sophie''s words didn''t reach Brian''s ears;  he wanted to hear David''s answer himself.  And David simply smiled and agreed, "No problem."


    David wouldn''t treat a healing esper as a ve.  Upon hearing his response, Lily and Brian didn''t show excessive happiness but nodded calmly.  "We will stay, and in return..."


    Brian''s words were interrupted by David.  "You can choose any room around here.  As for food and other supplies, they will be distributed every day at 7 am unless there are unexpected circumstances."

 Chapter 61 New Task Release

    ?"You guys find a room and remember not to leave this building," David said, handing over a healing crystal.  Brian nced at the crystal and swallowed the words he wanted to say.


    Lily looked at the crystal in Brian''s hand and gently tugged at his sleeve, whispering, "Let''s go.      It''s already good enough to have obtained the crystal.      They wouldn''t dare to think too much about food and shelter.      We''ve learned enough from the previous organization;      they''re reluctant to trust anyone too much."


    David watched the two leave the room, then turned to Arnold.      "Let''s bring them some food tonight, enough for two people."      Arnold nodded.      After giving a few more instructions, Arnold returned to the room with ck and Sophie.


    As soon as they opened the door, the system''s prompt sounded.


    [Mission: Doomsday Reserves! ]


    ["The doomsday is approaching.      Please collect as many usable resources as possible and store them in the emergency storage space.      During this mission, all the resources you store will receive a hundred thousand times critical hit.      Time remaining: 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes. "]


    [Mission Complete!]


    "Congrattions onpleting the mission.      Please choose whether to open thepletion reward package."


    As the voice fell, a transparent panel appeared in front of David.      It had two options, "Yes" and "No."      David continued walking forward and chose "Yes" in his mind.


    "Congrattions on receiving: 1 dose of gene-enhancing potion, 1 pair of night vision goggles!"


    He was familiar with the gene-enhancing potion, but did the night vision goggles work just as their name suggested?      He didn''t have to worry about the darkness at the moment, as regr zombies had poor eyesight.      However, with the appearance of mutated zombies, the night vision goggles came in handy.


    Opening the inventory, he found the pair of night vision goggles right there.      With a thought, the goggles automatically fitted onto his eyes.      With the goggles on, David looked out the window.      What seemed pitch ck before now appeared as bright as day in his eyes, perfectly clear.


    David took a few steps forward and leaned against the window, sticking his head out to look at the nearby tall building.      He could clearly see a zombie standing on the building not far away.


    Sally was curious about David suddenly putting on the goggles.      It seemed that David''s spatial abilities were quite convenient.      Even the goggles could be worn directly on the eyes without needing to put them on manually.


    Just as Sally was about to walk up to the window and say something, the night vision goggles happened to catch the sight of the zombie looking in their direction.


    "Don''t move," David said in a calm voice, quickly hiding himself below the window as well.


    "Ah?"  Sally was startled for a moment but quickly followed David''s actions.


    She watched David''s nervous demeanor and was about to move towards him when a sound came from above her head.  Something was at the window!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    At that moment, right above Sally''s head, outside the window, the zombie that should have been on the tall building suddenly appeared.  It looked into the pitch-ck room and tried to reach out and open the curtains, but the curtains were on the inside.  The zombie let out a dissatisfied growl and wandered outside the window for a while before finally quieting down.


    Sally listened to the noise above her head, not daring to even breathe.  She remained on high alert, fearing that the zombie would break in directly.


    After what seemed like an eternity, David stood up.  He carefully looked towards the tall building again, and the zombie had returned to its original position.  David breathed a sigh of relief and closed the curtains.


    Seeing things at night was something he hadn''t experienced in his previous life.  This zombie seemed to be on guard duty, and if it noticed anything suspicious, it would likely notify itspanions.  Countless zombies would then flock towards their location.  The night was indeed too dangerous.  The growth rate of the zombies had been increasing rapidly.


    David looked at Sally and reached out to pull her up.  Sally''s legs were weak, and she struggled to stand with David''s help.  But just a few seconds after standing up, she slumped softly towards David.


    "David," she murmured his name.


    David made a sound of acknowledgment and directly cradled her in his arms.


    With the night vision goggles on, David had unimpeded vision in the dark room.  After gentlyying Sally on the bed, David took out a candle and lit it, cing it by the bedside.


    "You went out for a while and actually found candles?"  Sally eximed in delight.


    David gently stroked her head and whispered, "Not only did I find candles, but I also got something good."  As he spoke, David took out a crystal imbued with lightning powers.  A crystal emitting a faint blue glow came into view.


    Sally eximed, "This crystal is so beautiful!"  Without realizing it, she reached out her hand towards the crystal imbued with lightning.  For some reason, this blue crystal had been enticing her to absorb its power.


    David observed Sally''s actions but didn''t stop her.  Instead, he handed her the crystal.  As soon as Sally''s hand touched the crystal, it began emitting a blue light that gradually enveloped her body.  She slowly closed her eyes and absorbed the energy from the crystal in her hand.  Soon, Sally''s forehead and body began sweating profusely.  David took out a towel and carefully wiped away the sweat.  After a while, Sally''splexion started turning pale, and she let out a painful groan.


    "Ah!" Sally screamed, and David''s heart skipped a beat. He quickly covered her mouth with the towel. If her scream attracted nearby zombies and David wasn''t there, Sally would be their snack. Sally tightly bit down on the towel, curling up on the bed. She held her stomach and sweat had soaked the entire bedsheet.


    David looked on nervously but was powerless to help. This was something Sally had to experience during the absorption process, and he couldn''t do anything for her. About half an hour passed, and the voice of the system resounded.


    [Congrattions, you have obtained a Level 2 Lightning Ability User. Now, the second task is being released!]


    [Task: Crystal Storage!]


    [There is one month remaining until the first major zombie outbreak. Please collect as many mutated crystals as possible and form your own team during this time. All the resources you store during this period will receive a hundred-fold critical boost. Task remaining time: 29 days, 21 hours, 5 minutes.]

 Chapter 62 Telekinesis

    ?Listening to the task announced by the system, David''s eyes lit up!  A hundred-fold critical boost?  Though it wasn''t as enticing as a ten-thousand-fold boost, it was still enough!


    The term "first major zombie outbreak" got David lost in thought.  In his previous life, he had only managed to survive for five years before dying.  The zombie outbreak five yearster was simply unbeatable.  In this life, however, he wanted to see what the scene of the major zombie outbreak would be like.  Lost in his thoughts, David turned to Sally, who had already finished absorbing a purple crystal.  She took deep breaths, feeling the changes in her body, and her eyes sparkled.


    "David, I think..."  Sally''s voice reached David''s ears, and he turned to look at her.


    "Finished absorbing?  Any changes?"  David asked, his face filled with anticipation as he looked at Sally.


    Sally''s face turned slightly red, and she nodded as she got up from the bed.  She slowly raised her hand, and a sizzling sound emanated from it.  Sally''s gaze suddenly became sharp, and in the next moment, lightning surrounded the television in the living room!


    "Boom."  Sally whispered a word.


    The television in the living room was instantly sted by lightning, turning into a pile of dust on the floor.  David was shocked to witness this!  Telekinesis!  This meant that Sally''s mental abilities were bing stronger.  Being able to attack through objects could be the best solution if someone were taken hostage.


    David thought to himself, already looking forward to seeing the results if Sally absorbed more lightning crystals.


    Immediately, David took out thirty lightning crystals from the space and ced them on the bed.


    "These are for you.  Take your time to absorb them," he said as he stood up, patting Sally''s shoulder, who was still in astonishment.  He whispered, "Don''t absorb them all at once.  It would be too much of a burden for you.  Take it slowly, no need to force yourself."


    Hearing David''s words, Sally nodded with lowered eyes, feeling happy inside.  She watched as David walked out and then turned her attention to the crystals on the bed.  She needed to absorb them quickly so that she could go out with David!


    Sally absorbed two crystals in one breath.  She immediately sat cross-legged on the bed, experiencing waves of pain and burning sensations coursing through her body.  Afraid of making a sound, she half-opened one eye and grabbed the nearby towel, covering her mouth.


    The pain on her body was unbearable, and Sally couldn''t help but asionally let out cries.


    Outside the room, David walked out and closed the door behind him.  Little ck approached, rubbing against David''s leg.  Looking at its appearance, David smiled helplessly.  "Alright, I''ll feed you now."


    With that, David took out thirty crystals and ced them in Little ck''s bowl.  It was then that he noticed the c was gone!  He hadn''t even realized when it had disappeared, as all his attention was on the night vision goggles provided by the system.  David anxiously waited for a few seconds, and suddenly, a meow came from the window.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Upon hearing the sound, Little ck quickly swallowed the crystal it was eating and then protected its bowl.   Seeing Little ck''s actions, David could guess that it must be C outside the window.   He approached, wearing the night vision goggles, and carefully lifted a corner of the curtain.   Once he confirmed it was C, David opened the window.


    As soon as the window opened, C jumped in lightly.   Once inside the room, C walked proudly towards Little ck.   David hurriedly closed the window curtains and looked at C.   It was already lying next to Little ck, disdainfully looking at it.   C''s fur had regained some of its brightness.


    Where had C been during this time?   David wondered as he walked over.   He crouched down, reaching out to touch C''s head.   C followed the position of his hand and rubbed against it.   Little ck looked on unhappily, deliberately crunching on the crystals in its bowl.


    C paid no attention to the noise and continued to enjoy rubbing against David''s hand.   After a while, David didn''t find any wounds on C''s body.   Well, how could a shadow cat possibly get injured when it went out?


    David took out thirty elementary crystals.   As he watched C contentedly eating them, David stood up.   There was only one month left, and it would be great if he could find various types of ability crystals during this time.


    However, these crystals were all on mutated zombies, making it quite difficult to deal with them.   ording to what he knew, the first group of awakened ability users would have the Five Elements, Strength, Speed, Space, Shadow, Healing, Lightning, and the rarely awakened Time.


    The timeline had changed after his rebirth.   Arnold survived in this life, and David gained abilities early.   The butterfly''s wings were starting to make subtle adjustments.   The second group of ability users would awaken after a few months.   There were many different types of abilities among the second group, too many to count.   However, rtively speaking, the abilities awakened in both batches couldn''t bepared.


    In the previous life, David encountered mutated zombies for the first time after the first group of ability users awakened.   But this time, it was happening too quickly.


    While David was pondering, knocking sounds came from outside the door.   David looked through the peephole.   It was Brian, holding Lily in his arms.   Brian knocked a few times, and when no one opened the door, he lowered his voice and said, "It''s me, Brian."   With those words, the door in front of him finally opened.


    At the moment Brian''s eyes met David''s, a hint of me shed across his face but quickly disappeared.   After closing the door, Brian ced Lily on the sofa.


    David looked over at Lily on the sofa.   Her lips were pale, and she was trembling, with a paleplexion and sweat all over her body.   Her brows were furrowed, and she looked as if she was on the brink of death.   "Are the crystals you gave her really effective?"


    Brian clenched his fist, gritting his teeth and speaking in a low voice.   Seeing Brian''s restrained appearance, David couldn''t help but chuckle.   Was he afraid of him?   David sat down on a nearby chair, crossed his legs casually, and said, "I just picked them randomly.   The crystals are indeed real, but whether Lily can survive or not depends on her own fate.   Not everyone can bear the power of ability enhancement after absorbing the crystals."


    "You!"   Brian moved, his fist about to swing towards David.


    The next second, lightning was all around Brian, burning him to ashes if he even moved!  Sally fingers around the lightning, slowly out of the room, said faintly.  "You can''t touch him."

 Chapter 63 A Level 2 Healing-Type Esper

    ?Sally coldly looked at Brian, and with a slight movement of her hand, the lightning around Brian approached him even closer.        As long as he made a slight move, he would touch the lightning surrounding him.


    Brian nervously swallowed his saliva.        In terms of speed, the Shadow ability was definitely not inferior to the Lightning ability.        However, Sally was now a Level 2 Lightning ability user, and dealing with Brian, a Level 1 Shadow ability user, was more than enough.


    "Young man, you''re really anxious," David said calmly.        Sally walked towards David and stood behind him.


    Brian looked at the two of them, clenched his fists tightly, and gritted his teeth, saying, "If anything happens to Lily, I will make sure you pay!"


    Just as the three of them were deadlocked, Lily, lying on the sofa, slowly opened her eyes.        She looked at Brian, surrounded by lightning, and nervously called out to him, "Brian."


    Brian heard her voice and turned around excitedly.        However, as soon as he moved, he immediately touched the lightning surrounding him.


    "Ah!"        Brian was instantly struck by the lightning all over his body!        He held his injured arm and fell to the ground, sitting there paralyzed.


    Sally didn''t expect Brian to really move, and when she saw him injured, she quickly retracted the lightning.        "I...        I didn''t mean to," she said in a low voice.


    David gently patted her back,forting her, "It''s okay, it''s not your fault."        Whileforting Sally with his words, his eyes remained on the fallen Brian.


    Brian had marks of electric burns all over his body.        Lily''s heart tightened, and she immediately moved.        She fell off the sofa and dragged her weak body towards Brian.


    Just as she held Brian''s hand, a gentle green light spread from her body to Brian''s body.        As the green light spread, it miraculously healed every wound on Brian''s body.        In no time, all the injuries on Brian''s body disappeared.


    "What is this, David?"        Sally looked dumbfounded at the scene.


    David exined, "This girl, like you, is also an ability user, and her ability is healing."


    She was like a nurse.        A Level 2 healing ability user could already heal so quickly.        It was unimaginable what earth-shattering changes would ur when she reached Level 10.


    Brian stood up slowly and quickly lifted Lily.        Thest time he saw Lily use her ability was in the previous building.        At that time, Lily and he had just demonstrated their abilities in front of that group of people for the first time.        Since then, Lily had been treated like a ve, constantly healing them.


    that group of people wouldn''t let Lily go ,until Lily was no longer able to release her healing power.        It was because Lily was under their control , Brian wasn''t capable of taking her with him, so Brian had to be controlled by them.        And the substance they used to control Brian was that vial of reagent.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Brian''s eyes were filled with tears of excitement.  Lily looked at him and smiled helplessly, reaching up to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes.  "Why are you crying?  I''m perfectly fine."


    Brian made a nasal sound, then carefully ced Lily on the sofa.  He turned to David and bowed deeply.  "Thank you."


    David raised an eyebrow.  In the apocalypse, saying thank you seemed childish.  He supported his chin with both hands and spoke slowly.  "I don''t need your thanks.  I just want you to remember what I told you both."  After exchanging a few words with Brian and Lily, David let them return to their own room.


    The next day, David and Sally were sleeping embraced on the bed when the first light of day broke, and the sound of irregr knocking on the door echoed through the room.  Xiao Hei and Ke Le stood alert behind the door, prepared for battle.


    David instantly opened his eyes, sitting up.  This sound made his heart unconsciously beat faster.  His intuition told him that this definitely wasn''t the sound of someone knocking on the door.


    Sally, who was sleeping beside him, also woke up.  She hurriedly put on her clothes and exchanged a nce with David, remaining on guard.  David touched her hand, gesturing for her to wait inside the room, while he cautiously went outside.


    David waved to Xiao Hei and Ke Le, and the cat and dog moved aside, preparing for what was toe.  With a thought, the armor in the room was summoned and covered his body the next second.  He wore the armor and held an alloy sword in his hand.  When David looked outside through the peephole on the door, he saw nothing.  Something wasn''t right.  How could there be no one?


    David carefully looked outside, feeling a chill run down his spine.  He quickly shifted his gaze to the window!  The curtain had been opened a small slit at some point, and a pair of eyes were fixed on his, seemingly saying, "I''ve found you."  David''s whole body froze, and the next moment, the window suddenly shattered!


    Inside the room, Sally''s body trembled, and she quickly got out of bed and rushed out.  When she saw the zombie standing at the window, she was instantly disgusted.  This zombie''s body, whether on the upper body, arms, or thighs, was filled with muscles, and its appearance was almost indistinguishable from a normal person!


    The only difference was that the muscles on its body were like rotten flesh, emitting a nauseating odor.  The zombie curled its lips and climbed down from the window.  With every step it took, it left a bloody footprint on the ground.  Its gaze was fixed on Sally, as if it had found some delicious food!


    David slowly moved to Sally''s side, but before he could say anything, the zombie''s body was already in motion!  Seeing this scene, David quickly raised the alloy sword in his hand, blocking the zombie''s body.  The sh between the sword and the zombie emitted a metallic sound!  David''s hand trembled, and he took a few steps back.


    "David, are you okay?"  Sally quickly supported him.


    David panicked and said, "Quick, don''t hesitate, use your lightning!"


    As he spoke, the zombie pounced again!  In the instant that David evaded, he swiftly threw out several spatial des!  However, the des only left a few scratches on the zombie''s body and didn''t prate!


    This was a level 3 or higher zombie!

 Chapter 64 Level 3 Zombie

    ?Level 3 zombie!   Whether it''s physical fitness or attack power, it exceeds that of an ordinary person.   Currently, David''s level has not reached the high level of Level 3, so he can only face an inevitable defeat when dealing with it!   In the previous life, David could only think about how to escape when faced with such a situation.   But now it''s different, he has a powerful assistant.


    "Little ck!"   David shouted, and Little ck barked, opening its mouth and spewing mes towards the zombie''s position!


    Little ck''s mes easily dealt with ordinary zombies, but it was unknown what effect it would have on a Level 3 zombie.   However, the Level 3 zombie wouldn''t let Little ck spray it so easily.   As soon as the mes were released, the zombie quickly dodged to the side.   Coke meowed and charged at the zombie.   In an instant, Coke appeared on the left side of the zombie.   The zombie raised its hand to grab it, but in the next second, Coke appeared on the right side of the zombie!   The zombie was torn between trying to catch the elusive Coke and dodging Little ck''s attacks, and it began to struggle.


    A good opportunity!   David felt delighted, and he quickly grasped several spatial des in his hand.   He turned his head and looked at Sally, who was looking at him.   They exchanged a nce, and Sally immediately understood David''s intention.


    With a thought, several lightning bolts instantly surrounded the zombie.   "Gather!"   Sally murmured, and the lightning quickly tightened around the zombie!


    At the same time, David swung the spatial des he held in his hand!   Just when everyone thought they would seed, the zombie raised its hand and opened a spatial door, walking through it!


    A door?   Could it be...   Before David could react, Sally shouted, "David, be careful!"   David''s back felt a chill. Almost instinctively, he rolled to the side, but even though he was fast, he was still heavily hit from behind, as if being punched.


    David rolled to the side and vigntly looked at the zombie in front of him.   He reached back and touched the spot where he had been struck.   It was burning hot, but fortunately, he had his armor on, so he didn''t suffer any damage.   This armor was amazing;   it could even withstand the attacks of a Level 3 zombie.   But feeling the heat, he feared that if it were a Level 4 zombie, it would be unable to withstand the attack.


    The corners of the zombie''s mouth curled up slightly as it stared at David with a greedy gaze, just as it had looked at Sally before.   In the eyes of an evolved zombie with the same level of ability, an ability user of the same level was like a great tonic.   If consumed, it would greatly enhance its own level.


    And this zombie was just like David, an ability user of the Spatial element.   Just then, the door of the room was knocked twice.   The sound entered David''s ears, and he trembled.


    This time, it definitely wasn''t a zombie!   It was a person!   He only hoped it wasn''t Arnold.   In the previous life, Arnold died protecting him, and in this life, he didn''t want to witness that scene again.


    David clenched his teeth, gripping his alloy sword tightly in his right hand and squeezing in the air with his left hand, summoning several spatial des.   Almost simultaneously, Sally cooperated with David''s movements and discreetly covered the ground beneath the zombie with lightning.   The zombie looked at David charging towards it with a contemptuous gaze.   It raised its hand, about to easily grab David.  Suddenly, a sizzling sound came from below.


    The zombie''s pupils dted, and it suddenly looked down at its feet, but it was already toote.    Sally shouted and exerted her maximum power.    With a swish, the lightning at the zombie''s feet formed a cage-like structure, engulfing the zombie with electric currents!


    The zombie was electrified and let out a loud roar.    It hadn''t lost consciousness yet but struggled to create another spatial portal to escape.


    David saw its movements and shouted, "Trying to escape?!"


    Immediately, David activated his spatial des.    With a swish, he chopped off the zombie''s limbs and head!    The zombie''s head fell heavily to the ground.    Seeing this, David quickly approached, holding the zombie''s head with his alloy sword and lightly sliced open its forehead.    As the skin on the forehead was cut open, a crystalline object shining with tinum light came into view.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "So, this is the spatial crystal?"    David murmured.    Only when he took out the crystal did the zombie truly die.    It was his first time seeing a spatial crystal.    The light emitted from it was actually tinum-colored.    With a thought, David stored the crystal in his spatial storage.


    [Congrattions, you have obtained one intermediate-level crystal, critical strike multiplier in effect!   ]


    [Congrattions, you have obtained one hundred intermediate-level crystals!   ]


    Hearing the final number, a hint of regret appeared in David''s eyes.    If it were a hundred thousand times critical strike, he would have had a hundred thousand spatial crystals by now.    With a sigh, David shook his head helplessly.


    [Congrattions, host.    You have reached the S+ level standard for resource reserves.    Your storage space is upgrading!   ]


    [Congrattions, host.    Your storage space has been upgraded from 100 million cubic meters to 200 million cubic meters!   ]


    [You have received a reward: System upgraded to Level 3!   ]


    System upgrade?    David was stunned.    Just as he was puzzled, a sudden surge of heat enveloped his body.    After the intense heat subsided, a piercing pain spread throughout his body.    David held his stomach and slowly squatted down.


    Sally was caught up in the joy of defeating the zombie when she noticed David''s condition.    The smile on her face froze instantly.


    "David!"    She hurriedly approached and supported David.


    Just as she was about to help David into the room,  zombies suddenly appeared at the window that had been broken during the fight.    The noise from the battle must have attracted the zombies.    Upon seeing the zombies, Little ck jumped out and stood in front of them, opening its mouth.    A burst of me engulfed the iing and the stacked zombies below, reducing them to ashes.


    "We can''t stay in this room," Sally thought, so she had no choice but to take David to Arnold''s room.


    As her hand touched the door of the room, C approached and rubbed against her feet.


    "C?"    C lightly leaped and opened the door for Sally.    As the door opened, zombies were already waiting outside.


    When the zombies saw Sally, they all charged towards her.    Sally''s heart tightened, and she instinctively took a step back.    C barked and leaped into the air.    With a few swift movements, the heads of the zombies in front of them all fell to the ground.

 Chapter 65 System Upgrade

    ?In less than a second, more than a dozen zombie heads thudded to the ground.     C was standing by Sally''s feet, licking its lips.     If it weren''t for the bloodstains on C''s ws, Sally would have seriously doubted whether the zombie heads at the door had actually fallen by themselves.


    "C is so fast!"     Sally eximed in her mind.     Taking advantage of the zombies''ck of mobility, Sally quickly supported David and walked to Arnold''s door across the hall.


    Thud, thud, thud.     "Sister Sophie, it''s me, Sally," Sally knocked on the door while suppressing her voice.     At this moment, Sally''s footsteps were all on zombie corpses, and the floor was covered in bloody footprints.


    A voice came from inside the room, and after a few seconds, Arnold, wearing armor and holding a long knife, opened the door.     When Arnold saw Sally supporting David, his eyes lit up, and he quickly opened the door wider.


    "Sally,e in."     After the door was fully open, Arnold finally saw the trail of zombie corpses in the corridor.     Could it be that Sally had killed all these zombies?     That was too impressive!


    Arnold, with a shocked expression, was about to close the door when a dark figure quickly darted inside.


    "What the hell!"     Arnold was startled and took a closer look.     It turned out to be ckie.     He patted his chest while closing the door.


    Sally carefully ced David on the sofa.     David''s forehead was covered in sweat from the pain, and Sally felt sorry for him.     She quickly grabbed a tissue and gently wiped the sweat off his forehead.


    "What happened to David?"     Arnold approached and asked with concern.     Looking at the dense sweat on David''s forehead, Arnold thought of the terrifying scene outside the door and curiously asked, "Sally, did you do all those zombies outside?"


    As he spoke, Coke, lying on the ground, twitched its ears.     Sally continued wiping the sweat off David''s forehead and answered Arnold''s question.     "It wasn''t me, it was C."


    "C?"     Arnold looked suspiciously at C lying on the ground.     Since when did C have this kind of ability?     Just as he was puzzled, David, lying on the sofa, slowly opened his eyes.     The moment he opened his eyes, David felt a wave of headache.


    "David!"     Sally helped David up, shouting his name excitedly.     David nced at Sally and then looked around.     This was his home, right?     Thinking of that, the scene of fighting zombies just now shed in his mind.


    The system has been upgraded.     David''s eyes lit up, and he called out the system.


    [Ding!    ]


    [System upgrade is 10%plete.     Please wait patiently.]


    Only ten percent left?     David was stunned.     But the pain in his body hadpletely disappeared, and he could even feel the changes within himself.     Especially in terms of physical fitness, he had be even stronger.     David stood up from the sofa and nodded lightly at Arnold and the others.     "Don''t worry, I''m fine now."


    Arnold breathed a sigh of relief.    "That''s good.    I thought something happened to you."


    David was about to speak when the system''s voice suddenly sounded.


    [Ding!   ]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [System upgradeplete!   ]


    [Congrattions, the system has been upgraded to Level 3.]


    [Newly developed feature one: Automatically identify the attributes of acquired items.]


    [Newly developed feature two: Can have a tenfold critical strike outside of mission states, but cannot ovep with mission critical strikes.]


    [Newly developed feature three: To be discovered.]


    Identify the attributes of acquired items?    That''s really good.    David didn''t know much about supernatural abilities, so this feature was important to him.    But as he read the next two features, his face darkened.    These two features were rather useless, and David felt like he was being fooled.


    Especially feature three, which wasbeled as "to be discovered."    David silently withdrew his attention from the system and turned to Sally in front of him.    "Let''s go back and take a look."


    Sally nodded and thanked Arnold before following David out of the door and returning to Sally''s home.    David''s face darkened as he looked at the shattered window with arge hole.    It was no longer suitable to stay in this house.


    David turned his gaze to the zombie corpses on the ground.    He couldn''t figure out how this particr zombie had discovered that someone was living in this room.    After contemting for a while and unable toe up with an answer, he could only shake his head and start tidying up the room.


    "We can''t stay in this room anymore.    We need to find another one," David said as he tidied up.    Sally nodded and joined in the cleaning.    It was easy to clean up the room;    as long as David had a slight thought, he could store everything in his own space.


    Sally watched as David finished cleaning the room in less than half an hour.    "You cleaned up so quickly," she said in astonishment, holding her suitcase.


    David nodded lightly and gently touched Sally''s suitcase with his hand.    With a gentle thought, her suitcase was instantly stored in his space.


    [Detected...]


    Before the system''s prompt could finish, David directly dismissed its option.    "Let''s go."    David reached out his hand and grabbed Sally''s hand, surprising her.    They walked towards the door.    He chose a location not too far away, where an elderly couple had nned to stay.    When they arrived at the door, it was closed but not locked.


    David pushed lightly, and the door opened.    He quickly checked and found that the lock on the door was intact.    It seemed that this elderly couple had opened the door and run out in fear during the zombie outbreak.


    After the two entered, they locked the door.    The room was neatly arranged, as if it was regrly cleaned.    On the cab, there were the elderly couple''s wedding clothes, and beside them, there was a household register.    David picked up the household register and found that the couple had a son named Charles.    It seemed like quite an artistic name.


    In the previous life, before the zombie outbreak, this elderly couple had taken care of  David.    David paid attention to their affairs, but he never knew they had a son.    After all,  David had never seen their son visit them.    David put the household register back, took out the luggage from his space, and ced them in their usual positions.

 Chapter 66 Successfully Reached Level 3

    ?"Leave it to me, I''ll take care of it," David said as he took the items from Sally''s hand and ced her aside.    Then, he took out some ingredients and ced them on the table, saying to her, "If you really want to help, why don''t you study your cooking skills?"


    After all, Sally''s cooking skills didn''t seem that great.    Blushing slightly at David''s remark, Sally murmured, "Last time was definitely a mistake."


    However, David was willing to believe in her and gave her another chance.    This time, she had to perform well and not waste David''s ingredients.


    Determined, Sally stood up and carried the ingredients into the kitchen.    While David finished arranging everything, Sally continued to work in the kitchen.    David took a chair and ced it behind the door, blocking it with the chair.


    Then, David sat on the sofa and took out the spatial artifacts.    He had been wondering since the system upgrade if the duplication could be doubled again.    Thinking about it, he started the process.


    However, when he tried to store the duplicated artifacts back into the space, the system didn''t provide any prompts.    It seemed that the system wasn''t foolish enough to let him exploit this loophole.


    He had to obtain crystals the proper way.    David sighed and took out the crystals from the space.    Looking at the five crystals in his hand, he started absorbing them one by one, without any hesitation.


    When he absorbed the first crystal, he felt a resistance from his body against the foreign energy.    But as he absorbed the second and third crystals, the resistance within his body began to ept the power of the crystals.  Soon, as David absorbed thest crystal, a tremendous change urred in his entire body.


    In the kitchen, Sally had been recording the cooking process with her phone.    She looked at the boiling dish in the pot and carefully tasted it with a spoon after blowing on it.    Satisfied, she turned off the stove and transferred the dish to a te.


    This time, David would surely be pleased with the dish.    Filled with anticipation, Sally carried the dishes and walked out of the kitchen.    As she reached the living room, she saw David sitting motionless on the sofa.    She ced the dishes on the table and approached David.    Just as she stood in front of him, David finished absorbing the crystals and opened his eyes.


    "David?"    Sally called his name softly, looking at him.    David looked up with joy and embraced her.


    David had reached Level 3!    Just by absorbing five spatial crystals, he had advanced from Level 1 to Level 3.    Although he had fewer than a hundred crystals left, if he continued at this rate of advancing two levels for five crystals, he would easily reach Level 10.


    But the next moment, David dismissed this thought.    Things couldn''t be that easy.    He released Sally from his embrace, looked at her apologetically, and lightly kissed her cheek.    "I''ve reached Level 3," he whispered.


    Sally froze midway through ying with her hair, unable to believe what she was hearing.    Meanwhile, David raised his hand and lightly pinched the air beside him, opening a spatial door.    He could tear open a door with a wave of his hand in any situation, and this door could lead to any ce within ten meters of his sight.    With another wave of his hand, the door disappeared.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    This skill is perfect for both escaping andunching unexpected attacks on enemies,Sally looked at David''s actions in surprise and said, "Isn''t this simr to that zombie?"  She didn''t finish her sentence, but David nodded.


    Sally smiled and quickly pushed him to the dining table.  "This is what I made today, please taste it," she said, handing David a pair of chopsticks.


    David smiled faintly and epted them.  Under her gaze, he picked up a piece of beef in front of him.  As the beef entered his mouth, the smile on David''s face stiffened.


    Concerned, Sally immediately asked, "What''s wrong?  Did I make it too salty again?"  David bit into the beef and slowly raised his head to look at her, then smiled and said, "It''s perfect."


    David was teasing her, and Sally''s face immediately turned red.  She hummed and lightly patted David''s shoulder, saying, "If you tease me again, I won''t cook for you next time!"


    Hearing this, David couldn''t help but want tough, but he quickly appeased Sally, saying, "Okay, okay, I won''t tease you anymore."


    He put down the chopsticks and leaned closer to Sally''s ear.  "It tastes really delicious this time," he whispered, lightly blowing on Sally''s ear.  Seeing her scold him yfully, David couldn''t help but feel a strange sensation.  It felt as if they were not in a post-apocalyptic world, but living a normal life as a couple.


    If the zombie outbreak hadn''t urred, would he be with Sally?  David shook his head, dispelling the thoughts from his mind.  He stood up and served a bowl of rice for Sally.  They took turns serving each other food, and soon they finished the dishes on the table.


    [Quest: Store Crystals! ]


    [One month left until the next major zombie outbreak.  Please collect mutated crystals and form your own team during the remaining time.  All resources you store during this period will receive a 100x critical hit bonus.  Time remaining for the quest: 29 days, 10 hours, 0 minutes.]


    Looking at the top right corner, the system''s notification and the remaining time were disyed.  It was time to go out and collect crystals.  David stood up.  "I''m going out for a while."  After giving a few instructions, he was about to leave with C and Xiao Hei.  However, Sally quickly walked over and hugged him from behind.  Sally buried her chin in the nape of his neck and gently pleaded, "Can I go out with you this time?  I don''t want to stay home alone."


    David paused for a moment.  He had originally nned to take Brian with him.  The purpose was to test Brian''s character and whether he could be used for a long time.  Bringing Sally along was not a bad idea either, considering she was already at Level 3.  It was time to take her out for realbat.  David turned around and embraced Sally, whispering, "Alright, I''ll take you with me."


    Seeing David agreeing, Sally was about to feel happy.  But the next moment, David handed her a set of armor.

 Chapter 67 The Building

    ?Looking at the armor in her hand, Sally was momentarily stunned, unsure of what David was up to.  In her memory, she had never seen this type of armor before.  The armor was dark blue in color, soft to the touch, andpletely different from ordinary armor.  Even with a nce, she could faintly see a radiant glow emanating from the armor.


    "Find some time to dismantle this Winged Armor.  The mysterious feather silk inside might be helpful for your electric abilities," David exined briefly.  Sally obediently nodded and put the Winged Armor in the bedroom.


    David approached Brian''s door and lightly knocked.  He whispered, "It''s me."


    After a moment, the door clicked and opened.  Brian''s head poked out, but before he could speak, David said, "Get ready, we''re going out."


    "Going out?"  Brian furrowed his brows.  He wasn''t opposed to going out, but he was worried about leaving Lily behind.


    Following up, David added, "Bring Lily to Arnold''s ce.  Let Arnold and Sophie take care of her."  Brian hesitated for a moment, seemingly trying to remember who Arnold was.  But soon, his expression settled, and he nodded, turning back into the room.  When he came out with Lily, it was already two minutester.


    David arranged for Arnold and his wife to take care of Lily and asked them to help her replenish her physical abilities.  As an esper, Lily required a high level of physical fitness when using her abilities.


    Ever since Lily experienced that painful tormentst time, her body had be weak.  She couldn''t even reach half of her previous physical capabilities.  This was the main reason why Brian had always taken such good care of Lily.  As an esper, he didn''t want to see Lily lose her physical strength, as it would be painful for him.


    "David, don''t worry, we''ve got it covered," Arnold patted his chest and smiled.


    David nodded.  Considering that Sally and he would be leaving, leaving no strong espers behind, he decided to leave Little ck behind.


    Before leaving, Little ck clung to David''s leg, reluctant to let him go.  Helplessly, he left behind five crystals, and only then did Little ck agree to his departure.  This guy was just too greedy.  The streets were filled with wandering zombies, but they were all low-level zombies that held no allure for David.


    What David was looking for were the mutated zombies.  Only mutated zombies were more likely to carry the crystals that espers needed.  C quietly nestled in Sally''s arms, while Sally kept her eyes focused ahead.  Whenever a zombie emerged, David drove past them expressionlessly, directly running them over.


    In the back seat, Brian supported his chin with one hand, gazing out the window, lost in thought.  David drove the car and arrived at the entrance of a building.  The group got out of the car, and David swiftly retrieved it.  He turned to face the approaching low-level zombies and calmly said, "Let''s go inside."


    With that, David took the lead and entered the building.  Sally and Brian quickly followed suit, and once inside, they closed the door, leaving the pursuing low-level zombies outside.


    David looked at the familiar building and sighed.    If it weren''t for the apocalypse, he might still be working peacefully in this building.


    This building was the tallest in SJ City, and standing on the top floor allowed a panoramic view of the entire city.    However, reaching the top floor was not easy as the building had already been upied by zombies.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David calmly watched as dozens of zombies swarmed towards the first floor.    He summoned his armor without panic and quickly drew his alloy sword.    He stabbed a nearby zombie in the heart, temporarily disabling it for a few seconds.


    With a swift motion, David pulled out the sword, precisely cutting open a wound on the zombie''s forehead.    A crystal fell to the ground.


    David swiftly picked it up and with a thought, it disappeared into his storage space.


    [You obtained one primary crystal, critical hit multiplier activated!   ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained one hundred primary crystals!   ]


    [Attributes: None.]


    David''s lips curled slightly upon hearing the attribute notification.    Sally and Brian quickly joined the fight.    Dealing with zombies was much easier for superhumanspared to ordinary people, especially with two third-level superhumans present!


    Sally stood in ce, manipting lightning to attack the zombies.    A single strike from her lightning caused a zombie to copse.    C let out a cry and swiftly swiped its ws across the fallen zombie''s forehead, causing another crystal to drop.


    The coordination between David and the cat was excellent, and they quickly dispatched a dozen zombies.    Brian''s efficiency was slower, but he managed to kill nearly ten zombies.    He nced at David, his face filled with astonishment.    Near David, the corpses of the zombies had piled up like a small mountain, and the putrid blood constantly pooled on the ground, forming a dark pool of blood.


    Brian swallowed nervously,pletely impressed by David''s immense strength.    After killing a zombie, he turned towards the entrance of the staircase''s secure passage.    Just as he was about to push the door to the second floor, David furrowed his brow, and in an instant, he was by Brian''s side.


    "Move!"    David shouted loudly, pushing Brian to the side.    At the same time, he leaped away from the door.


    What''s happening?    Brian looked at David in confusion, not knowing what was going on.    And at that moment, a loud noise suddenly rang in his ears as the door of the secure passage was shattered, and wood chips flew everywhere!    Following that, a group of zombies rushed out from the broken door with a menacing appearance.


    Amongst these zombies stood an extremely tall and savage-looking one.    Its flesh had long decayed, and the putrid blood continued to seep from its rotten body.    Its head had half of its skull missing, with only two eyeless sockets and a torn mouth remaining.    It turned its eye sockets, finally fixing its gaze on David.


    The towering zombie emitted a piercing sound towards David, as if it had spotted its prey, its eyes filled with a desire to kill.    David looked up, his brows furrowing involuntarily.    He noticed that this creature had an eye, a brown crystal eye.    Under the faint sunlight, the crystal emitted a subtle radiance, instantly catching David''s attention.    Judging from the color and texture of this crystal, he knew it was not an ordinary one.    It might even be a new type of crystal he had never seen before.    While David was contemting, the towering zombie suddenly moved its feet and appeared in front of David in an instant.


    "Be careful!"    Brian and Sally shouted loudly.    Only then did David react, Secretly say not good! Just as he was about to wield his alloy short sword, the towering zombie slowly raised its hand and pointed directly at David''s forehead.

 Chapter 68 Two Crystals

    ?Thump.   David watched as the hand was raised high, his mind urging him to move, but for some reason, his body wouldn''t respond!


    [Ding! ]


    [Detected one Shadow Crystal! ]


    [Ding! ]


    [Detected one Mental Crystal! ]


    Two crystals!


    Not only a Shadow Crystal, but also a Mental Crystal!   The voice of the system sounded just in time, pulling David''s consciousness back.   He quickly stepped back, grabbing Sally''s waist and pulling her aside!   The zombie heavily smashed its fist on the ground, producing a loud noise and thick smoke.   When the smoke cleared, arge hole had appeared on the ground.   If that punch hadnded on David, he would have been crushed.   No matter how many armors he wore, they wouldn''t be able to save his life.


    David released Sally only to find that the zombie had already started moving.   Oh no!   David frowned, unable to react in time.   He directly opened a spatial portal and disappeared with Sally in an instant.   Just a second after they left, the zombie appeared in their previous location and once again swung its fist heavily!


    Boom!   A deep pit appeared right in front of them.   Meanwhile, David and Sally emerged from another spatial portal not far away.


    "David, what do we do?"   Sally asked anxiously, standing behind David with a serious expression.   The strength of this zombie far exceeded her imagination.   The terrifying punches earlier made her realize the danger.   However, David''s face remained calm.   He had seen too many zombies and knew that each one had a fatal w.   At the same time, he remembered the moment when the tall zombie pointed at him earlier.   It felt like his mental consciousness was being controlled by the other party.


    After thinking for a moment, David understood that the tall zombie possessed the ability to control the minds of others using the Mental Crystal.   It could manipte a person''s consciousness in a short period of time to create an opportunity for attack.   However, David quickly discovered a loophole in this ability.   It could only control one person''s mind at a time, and the duration of control could be influenced by external sounds.


    It was the system''s voice that had helped David break free from its control just now.   Thinking of this, David looked up at the tall zombie again.   It still stared at David with a provoking expression on its face.   Brian had arrived by David''s side at this time. "This zombie''s strength is too terrifying.   I''m afraid...   we''re no match for it."


    David, still expressionless, tightly gripped the alloy dagger in his hand and said to Brian, "Listen to mymandster!"   After speaking, he opened a spatial portal and rushed towards the tall zombie, causing Brian and Sally to be even more nervous.   David chose to engage in closebat with such a terrifying opponent?   Even so, Brian stared at David with utmost concentration, ready to attack at any moment.


    A crack tore open in the void, and David raised the alloy dagger and stabbed it towards the tall zombie''s chest.   David''s goal was simple: to confirm once again if his spection was correct.   If it was true, then his n could be executed perfectly.   Watching David approaching, the tall zombie''s mouth stretched open in a torn smile, seemingly mocking David''s insignificance.   Then, it raised its hand again and pointed at David''s forehead.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David felt a buzzing sound ringing in his ears, and his entire body immediately stiffened in mid-air.  However, he wasn''t anxious.  Instead, he invoked the system in his mind.


    [Ding! ] As the system''s voice sounded, David''s body became agile again, but the tall zombie''s fist also appeared before his eyes.  Without much thought, David performed an aerial somersault, evading its strike.


    Afternding, David said to Brian, "The opponent can control human consciousness, but I have a way to counter it!  When it raises its hand, you strike!"


    "Sally, use your electric power to cover Brian!"  David calmly stated his n.


    It can be said that in this n, David ced himself in the most dangerous position.  Even though he could use the system''s voice to break free from the tall zombie''s mental control, if he hadn''t called upon the system in time, the zombie''s fist would have unhesitatinglynded on him.  Victory or defeat hung in the bnce.


    Among the three present, only he possessed such reaction speed and ability.  As Brian listened to David''s exnation, he immediately understood.  He hadn''t expected the strength of this zombie to belong to the mental category, posing such a terrifying threat to superhumans.  If it weren''t for David continuously engaging with it earlier, he and Sally would likely have be lifeless bodies lying there.  At the same time, he knew that David''s arrangement was meant to ensure their safety.


    Unable to help it, Brian looked up at David''s back, a feeling of gratitude spreading within him.  After pondering for a moment, he had originally intended to say something, but David, like a gust of wind, charged towards the tall zombie once again.  This time, David''s speed was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, he reached the front of the tall zombie.  Watching David, the tall zombie raised its fist once again and aimed it at David''s head!


    "Boom!"  A loud boom resounded as David jumped several times, leaving the original spot and appearing behind the tall zombie.  Raising the alloy dagger, he thrust it towards its back.  The alloy dagger instantly prated the tall zombie''s body, and a putrid blood flowed out.


    The tall zombie roared in anger, evidentlypletely provoked by David''s attack.  It swiftly turned around, raising both fists, intending to deliver a heavy blow to David!


    "Be careful!"  Sally shouted to David with a worried expression, her heart racing.  David looked up at the enormous fist descending from above and quickly opened a spatial portal, disappearing from the spot.  Just as he reappeared, the tall zombie''s fists struck the ground, creating two deep craters.


    "Roar!"  It let out another furious roar, ring at David intently.  Due to its anger, the brown crystal that served as its eye began to emit a stronger glow.  David knew that he hadpletely enraged this creature.  It might soon use its abilities to control his own body.  Sure enough, the tall zombie slowly raised its finger once again.


    Seeing this, Sally didn''t hesitate and directly waved both hands toward the tall zombie.  "Boom!"  A purple lightning bolt instantly exploded from the top of the tall zombie''s head, striking its skull and raising a thick white smoke.  The tall zombie seemed to feel some pain, turned around, and stared fiercely at Sally.  Then it let out a low growl and began to charge towards her.

 Chapter 69 Encounter That Corpse Again

    ?David nced in surprise at the unexpected effect of Sally''s lightning attack.  He nodded silently and quickly shouted to her, "Keep using the lightning attack!"  Sally nodded, tightly sping her hands together.  Sweat glistened on her fair face as she concentrated, her forehead covered in a thinyer of perspiration.  However, just as she was about to unleash a new lightning strike, the towering zombie grabbed a nearby iron table and hurled it forcefully towards her.


    Reacting swiftly, David opened a portal using his spatial maniption ability and shed to Sally''s side, pulling her aside.  This prevented Sally from releasing her lightning attack in time.  Taking advantage of the opportunity, the towering zombie took menacing steps and charged towards Sally and David.  Brian, seeing the situation, raised his seven des to hinder its movement, giving David some time to react.


    However, the towering zombie was a Level 3 zombie, and Brian was not capable of dealing with its strength.  As soon as Brian reached the towering zombie, he was knocked down by a powerful punch.  Fortunately, he was only hit by the force of the punch, or else he would likely have met his end there.  It was at this moment that David regained hisposure and recalled the significant impact of Sally''s lightning attack.  He improvised his n.


    He decided to let Sally take charge of the main attack while he searched for an opening around the towering zombie.  It was crucial to avoid its mental control.  Even though the towering zombie was only a Level 3, its strength was amplified by the dual crystals.  That''s why David had been eyeing the brown crystal in its eyes.  If he could get hold of it, the towering zombie''s power would weaken significantly.


    David took out a primary crystal and had Sally consume it in advance to ensure she had ample energyter.  Sally nodded and quickly moved to the side to start absorbing the crystal.  By this time, Brian had also gotten up from the ground and stood next to David.  "What''s the n now?" he asked, knowing he couldn''t match the towering zombie''s strength and putting his hopes on David.


    "First, buy Sally some time," David said in a deep voice.  The spatial de materialized in his hand.  Without wasting any words, David once again charged towards the towering zombie.  But this time, he didn''t intend to confront it head-on.  With Brian''s assistance, they continuously harassed the zombie.  The real showdown would begin when Sally finished absorbing the crystal.


    The spatial de struck the towering zombie''s shoulder, producing a crisp sound as the de scraped against bone.  The towering zombie raised its hand, preparing to unleash its mental control.  David quickly performed a backflip, disappearing from its sight.  Brian followed David''s lead, constantly jumping around the zombie, waving his des.


    After a moment, Sally finally finished absorbing all the crystals.  At this moment, both her physical and mental strength had reached their peak.  Gazing at the towering zombie, which was engaged with David and Brian, Sally let out a soft shout.  Suddenly, a lightning bolt thicker and more robust than before materialized in the void!  The lightning snaked through the air, directly striking the towering zombie''s shoulder!


    Another thunderous roar echoed as the lightning forcefully tore arge gash in its shoulder, causing ck blood to spray out like a fountain.  David silently nodded, not expecting Sally''s awakened lightning ability to be so formidable.


    Brian also stared at Sally in astonishment, unable to conceal his amazement.  The towering zombie reached out and touched the bloodied wound caused by the lightning.  The blood seemed to agitate it, making it growl softly.  It stared intensely at Sally, quickly raising its finger and pointing it towards her.


    "Get out of the way!"    David shouted and threw the spatial de in his hand.    The tall zombie had no choice but to dodge David''s attack by turning his body.    But at that moment, his finger suddenly pointed strangely at David.


    "Oh no!"    David cursed inwardly.    He hadn''t had a chance to prepare.    If he was controlled by the tall zombie at this moment, given the distance between them, he believed he wouldn''t have time to dodge.


    Just then, Brian leaped over from the side and stood in front of David.    Instantly, the tall zombie''s finger pointed at Brian''s forehead.    Brian felt as if his body was immobilized, unable to move no matter how hard he tried.


    At the same time, the tall zombie''s fist appeared in front of Brian''s eyes with no room for evasion.


    "Boom!"    Brian was struck hard in the chest by the punch!    He flew up in the air like a kite with a broken string andnded heavily on the ground.    He felt his body scattered, filled with pain.    He struggled to stand up, but as soon as he got up, he fell heavily to the ground again.    His lower leg had fractured from the previous fall.


    David''s brow furrowed.    Clearly, Brian had just defended against the tall zombie''s mental control for him.


    "Meow!"    Coke, who had been by Sally''s side, suddenly let out a low growl and rapidly expanded its body!    With a light leap, it arrived in front of the tall zombie and joined the fight.    Sally no longer hesitated and lightning bolts kept exploding above the tall zombie''s head one after another.    In just a moment, it forced the tall zombie to kneel on the ground.


    "A perfect opportunity!"    A murderous intent shed in David''s eyes as he prepared to raise the spatial de for a deadly blow!


    But at that moment, the ss door of the building slowly opened.    A pale corpse walked in mechanically.    The three of them were startled by the sudden appearance of an inexplicable corpse.    The corpse nced at David and walked to the tall zombie''s side.


    "Roar!"    The tall zombie roared at the corpse, and Coke in front of it also gradually shrank.    The corpse''s face gradually turned red, and its head slowly turned backward, while its body remained motionless in ce.    The tall zombie''s head twisted 360 degrees!


    The corpse stood beside the zombie, raised its hand, snapped its fingers, and thudded.    The tall zombie''s head rolled to its feet.    It squatted down slightly, and its finger lightly brushed the forehead, revealing a crystalline object emitting a faint yellow light.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Wearing oversized shoes on its feet and holding the crystal in its hand, the corpse walked toward David.    This corpse was incredibly powerful.    David looked at the corpse, unable to move a muscle.    The corpse approached him, brought its face close, sniffed David, and then its eyes brightened and its mouth slightly curved upwards.    Subsequently, it handed the mental crystal it held to David!


    Looking at the offered crystal, David was momentarily stunned.    Why would this corpse give him the crystal?    While contemting, David''s hand involuntarily reached out and epted the crystal from the corpse''s hand.    As soon as David''s hand touched the corpse''s hand, he felt a chilling coldness.    The mental type!    The only ability that can control people is in the mental aspect!


    David was deeply shocked.    He maintained his outstretched hand until the corpse left, and then he regained control of his hand.    Breathing a sigh of relief as he watched the disappearing corpse, David lowered his gaze to the mental crystal in his palm, full of doubt.


    Is this corpse an enemy or a friend?  If it''s an enemy, a slight movement of its hand could instantly kill David, but if it''s a friend, what is its intention?  With a thought, David stored the two crystals in his hand into the spatial storage.


    [You obtained one intermediate crystal, critical hit multiplier in effect! ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained one hundred intermediate crystals! ]


    [Attribute: Shadow type! ]


    [You obtained one intermediate crystal, critical hit multiplier in effect! ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained one hundred intermediate crystals! ]


    [Attribute: Mental type! ]


    Immediately after, David settled Sally and Brian on the side to rest.  Then he began digging out the crystals from the fallen zombies one by one.  Taking advantage of the fact that the surrounding zombies had been eliminated and no new ones woulde for the time being, he quickly collected the crystals from the ground.


    [You obtained one hundred and sixty primary crystals, critical hit multiplier in effect! ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained sixteen thousand primary crystals! ]


    [Attribute: None.]


    Then, David hurriedly went to collect the crystals at the entrance of the building.


    [You obtained sixty primary crystals, critical hit multiplier in effect! ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained six thousand primary crystals! ]


    [Attribute: None.]


    David hadn''t even seen how that corpse outside the door had acted, but arge number of zombies outside the door had already fallen.

 Chapter 70 Early Termination Of Work

    ?That corpse was really strong, and David collected the crystals.   He originally nned to go upstairs and take a look, but after this battle, their fighting strength had been weakened.


    David didn''t know the situation upstairs, and he hesitated to continue going up with the injured.   "Let''s go back for now," David said to Sally and Brian.


    "Are we just going back like this?"   Sally took a step forward and spoke.   David nced at Brian and nodded, and Sally understood what he was worried about, so she held back her words.


    "Let''s go," Sally replied with lowered eyes. She had thought she could apany David to collect more crystals, but unexpectedly, they encountered such a tough situation shortly aftering out.   Ultimately, it was because her strength was not enough.   She needed to go back and absorb more crystals!


    David approached and helped Brian up.   "About that..."


    Brian spoke softly, "Thank you."


    Listening to Brian''s gratitude, David didn''t say anything.   He just kept supporting him and moving forward.   David drove the car and took everyone back home.


    As soon as they opened the door, Lily turned her head and saw Brian''s injuries.   The smile on her face instantly froze.   "Brian!"


    Lily ignored her own weakness and hurriedly ran to Brian''s side.   She crouched down and immediately noticed his severely broken leg, causing her eyebrows to furrow.


    "Lily."   Brian looked at Lily''s appearance, wanting tofort her, but she interrupted him.


    "Don''t worry, I can heal you."   Lily said, closing her eyes.   She ced her hands on Brian''s leg, and with a focused mind, a faint green light emitted from her hands.


    David crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, silently watching.   Lily''s healing ability was only at level two, and Brian''s injury was a broken bone.   Could she heal it?


    As David thought, Lily''s healing ability at level two could only stop Brian''s bleeding and heal the surface wounds.   However, for the deeper injuries within the bone, her current abilities were still insufficient.


    "What should we do?"   Lily tried again and again to heal Brian''s leg, but it was in vain.


    Seeing Lily''s expression, Brian felt sorry and said, "Lily, it''s okay, just a minor issue."   As he spoke, Brian gently rubbed Lily''s hair.


    "But..."    Lily hadn''t finished speaking when David, who was standing beside them, calmly took out two healing crystals.  "Absorb them."


    David said coldly.    He still held some doubts about this couple.    Two crystals would test whether Lily''s healing abilities could level up.    Even if they did level up, would a third-level healing ability be able to treat deep bone injuries?


    Tears welled up in Lily''s eyes as she bit her lip and took the crystals handed to her by David.    "Thank you," she said through gritted teeth, expressing her gratitude.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Turning her head, Lily said to Brian, "Wait for me, I''ll be right back."    Brian nodded in response.


    Lily held the two crystals in her hands and walked into a nearby room.    Just before she entered the room, she unintentionally nced back at Brian.    When David looked in Lily''s direction, she had already closed the door.


    David squinted slightly and nced at Brian.    Then, he tugged on Arnold''s sleeve and took him to the side.    "I''ll go back for a while.    If something seems off or if Lilyes out having healed Brian, let me know immediately."


    As soon as David finished speaking, Arnold''s face turned serious for a moment, and he agreed to David''s request.    David returned home with Sally, a cat, and a dog.


    "I''m sorry..." as they entered, Sally gently tugged at David''s clothes and whispered.


    David turned his head, looking puzzled at Sally.    He held her face in his hands, gazing at her with concern.    Sally''s presence gave him a different feeling in this post-apocalyptic world, something he had never experienced in his previous life.


    Sally looked up at him with a pitiful expression, and then she hugged David directly.    "It''s all my fault.    If I were stronger, we wouldn''t have had toe back so soon."


    Hearing her words, David chuckled helplessly.    He rubbed Sally''s head tenderly and said softly, "What are you talking about?    It''s not your fault."    After that, he held Sally horizontally in his arms and carried her back to the room, carefully cing her on the bed and covering her with a nket.


    Sitting by the bedside, David said, "Just rest well for now and don''t push yourself too hard."    He gently brushed his hand over Sally''s forehead, feeling a tingling sensation in his heart.


    Sally''s eyes were tinged with a faint red color as she softly responded, "Mm."    If the apocalypse hadn''te, perhaps there wouldn''t have been a chance for him and Sally.    Once Sally fell asleep, David left the room.    He didn''t close the door, fearing that something unexpected might happen.


    After leaving the room, David sat on the sofa in the living room and took out ten spatial crystals from his space all at once.    The room was devoid of any light due to the curtains blocking out the outside.    The white glow emitted from the spatial crystals in David''s palm was more intense than yellow.    Without hesitation, he absorbed the ten spatial crystals, one by one.


    David didn''t feel any difort after absorbing the ten crystals.  Could it be that he had reached a limit?  David was stunned for a moment, then took out forty spatial crystals at once.  He only had a total of one hundred spatial crystals, and he didn''t know if he would encounter any spatial mutation zombies after consuming them all.  It was only when he absorbed twenty crystals that David''s body reacted.


    David cried out in pain.  He clutched his abdomen and rolled to the ground, sweating profusely on his forehead within a minute.  It hurt so much.  This time it was even more painful than before.  It felt like it was going to take his life directly!


    In agony, David covered his stomach and bit his lip, refusing to make any noise, afraid of disturbing Sally who was resting in the room.  After about half an hour, the pain in David''s body subsided.  He took a deep breath, stood up, and twisted his body, which immediately produced cracking sounds.


    "Feels good."  David sighed and looked at the remaining twenty crystals on the sofa.  He spected that he hadn''t reached the limit yet.


    The next moment, David picked up the crystals from the sofa and continued absorbing them.  This time, each time David absorbed one, his bones made cracking sounds.  With each crystal absorbed, it felt as if his body was being scraped by a knife.  As long as there was no limit, David was determined to absorb all the remaining twenty crystals!

 Chapter 71 Activating System Discovery Function 3

    ?David absorbed the crystals one by one, and his whole body was drenched in sweat as if he had been through a great ordeal.  His face was flushed, and his arms had turned red.  His legs werepletely immobile, and he couldn''t even move them slightly.


    David continued to endure the pain until he absorbed the remaining twenty crystals.  After thest crystal was absorbed, David suddenly felt a huge relief, and his whole body rxed.


    [Ding! ]


    [Your spatial ability has been upgraded to Level 4.  Activating System Discovery Function 3.]


    [Function 3: Know Yourself and Others.]


    [Can detect one''s own condition and the physical qualities, ability types, and levels of others, etc.]


    [Usage limit per day: 3 times]


    David was momentarily stunned by Function 3, but quickly shifted his attention to himself.  His hands were trembling slightly, and the muscles on his arms were very pronounced.  He had greatly improved in terms of physical fitness.


    David''s mouth curled up slightly.  The feeling of being Level 4 was different.  But what about his skills?  With a thought, David held a spatial de in his hand.  He walked up to the window, leaned against it, and carefully lifted a corner of the curtain.  There were already many zombies on the street, and soon David''s gaze fell on arge-sized zombie.


    "System, scan."  David summoned the system.


    With a beep, a panel-like object appeared in front of David.


    [Level 4 Zombie]


    [Attribute: Lightning]


    [Skills: Unknown]


    It was indeed a mutated zombie!  David''s heart stirred, and he gently moved the spatial de in his hand, aiming through the open corner, and shot it at the Level 4 zombie!  In less than three seconds, the spatial de pierced through the zombie''s forehead.  A glowing crystal dropped from its forehead.  The spatial de instantly took the life of the Level 4 zombie!


    Impressive!  David was amazed.  Just as he was about to pick up the lightning crystal, a confused zombie walked towards it.  It picked up the crystal from the ground and held it in its hand!


    What''s this?  David''s gaze followed the zombie.  The zombie kept walking forward and disappeared into an alley, out of David''s sight.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    In the room, Sally felt a chill all over her body.  She sat up from the bed, gasping for breath as she looked around.  She had been having a suffocating dream, and since the apocalypse, she only felt at ease when she slept with David.  Shey back down, but as soon as she closed her eyes, all she could see were zombie faces.


    Unable to sleep, Sally reluctantly sat up.     She looked around the dark room and felt a sense of emptiness.     A pair of slippers was ced by the bed, but she didn''t put them on.     Instead, she stepped on the floor directly.     She touched the wall and walked out slowly.     David had pulled open a corner of the curtains, allowing a beam of light to enter.


    "David?"     Sally spoke softly.


    David heard the voice and turned his head.     He closed the curtains and walked towards Sally.     "Why are you awake?"


    As he spoke, David embraced Sally, and Sally gently held onto his back, resting her chin on his shoulder, taking a deep breath.     Suddenly, Sally felt something and eximed, "You''ve leveled up?"


    David smiled faintly and released Sally from his embrace.     He nodded.     "Just now, I reached level four."     Sally''s face showed a hint of regret.     In the short time she slept, David had surpassed her by one level.     After hesitating for a moment, Sally reached out her hand to David.     "David, I think I can do it too."


    David paused for a moment, then took out ten crystals from the space and ced them in her hand.     "Take it step by step," David advised.


    Sally tightly gripped the ten crystals and walked back into the room.     She had to be stronger so as not to burden David.


    Meanwhile, in CJ City, inside a rented house, a woman stood in high heels.     Her face was heavily made up, and she wore professional attire with the top buttons undone, revealing a glimpse of the undergarment.     She stood by the window, holding a cigarette between two fingers, exhaling smoke rings.     "These zombies are changing faster and faster" she said casually, her gaze fixed on the zombies outside the window.


    Behind her, a man sat on the sofa, holding the TV remote control and impatiently pressing the buttons as it made a crackling sound.     The woman turned around, looked at the man coldly, and said, "This damn TV is broken like this, can''t you be quiet?"     With disdain in her eyes, she nced at him and crushed the cigarette butt on the nearby table.     She crossed her legs and sat on the edge of the bed.


    In the room, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows.     He reached out his hand, took the remote control from the man, and ced it aside.     "Danny, stop fidgeting.     Your sister is already looking down on you."


    Danny, as the man was called, was stunned, looking at his empty hand, he sighed.     He casually replied, "It''s been a week, not watching TV, not knowing what''s happening outside.     What else can we do?     All we do all day is kill these zombies, and our supplies are running low."


    Snap!     The woman, with her legs crossed, lightly kicked the pile of crystals beside her.     Although the room was filled with a small mountain of crystals, they were all low-level ones.     Danny nced in the direction of the sound, meeting the woman''s gaze.     He helplessly pulled the corners of his mouth, shrugged his shoulders, leaned back on the sofa, and muttered.


    "It''s just the way it is."     The man standing next to Danny patted his shoulder, seeing the awkward atmosphere and quickly spoke, "Don''t argue.     At this time, we should go out and gather supplies."


    The man stretchedzily, yawned, and picked up a small knife from the side.  He took the lead and walked out of the room.  The woman picked up seven pieces from the bed, lifted her skirt that covered the shoes, and inserted the seven pieces into the slots next to the shoes.


    Danny looked at the two of them and sighed helplessly.  He packed his belongings while picking up a few crystals from the floor and stuffing them into the backpack he carried on his back.  Muttering something under his breath, he walked out of the room.  After they left the room, an elderly person sat in a rocking chair and slowly opened their eyes.

 Chapter 72 Arnold Has Awakened

    ?After Sally returned to the room with the ten crystals, she began to absorb them.   The door was not closed, and David sat on the living room sofa, observing Sally''s condition.


    "Meow."   C walked over and rubbed David''s ankle with its head.


    "Hey, C."   David said and picked up C.   Seeing C looking pitiful, David smiled helplessly, guessing that the little guy was probably hungry.   With a thought, he took out ten shadow crystals from space and ced them in front of C.   As soon as C saw the crystals, its eyes lit up.


    David smiled faintly and put C down.   Just as he settled C, Little ck hurriedly walked over.   While David was giving crystals to C, Little ck had been watching eagerly.   If C had something, how could it be left out?   Little ck made a low humming sound in dissatisfaction and imitated C by rubbing its head and body against David.


    "These two troublemakers."   Davidined and took out twenty primary crystals.   So far, he hadn''te across any zombies with the same attribute as Little ck.   If he could find zombies with crystals on their foreheads and collect them, Little ck''s upgrade would probably be even faster.


    When Little ck saw the crystals, it quickly ran and brought its own dog bowl.   It carefully ced it on the ground and watched as David put the crystals into the bowl.   After happily spinning a few times, Little ck finally started absorbing the crystals.


    After about an hour, the cat and the dog in the living room had absorbed the crystals and fallen asleep.   When David looked towards the room, Sally had finished absorbing all ten crystals in front of her.   She was now exhausted and fell asleep on the bed.


    David stood up and walked into the room.   He carefully picked up Sally again, ced her back on the bed, and adjusted her sleeping position.   After covering Sally with a nket, he walked out.


    Just as he stepped out of the room, he heard a knocking sound on the door, apanied by Arnold''s voice, "David, it''s me."


    David walked over.   Unbeknownst to David, just a second before the knocking sound, C, who was sleeping on the sofa, slightly opened its eyes.   As soon as David opened the door for Arnold, C closed its eyes again.


    "David."   Arnold''s eyes lit up when he saw David.   David nodded and let Arnold in.   After entering, Arnold ryed the task David had given him, "That Lily, even aftering out, couldn''t heal the injuries of that young man."


    Listening to Arnold, David nodded.   It was expected that the injuries couldn''t be healed.   It seemed that a few crystals weren''t enough for an upgrade.   If there had been an upgrade, Lily could have easily healed Brian''s minor injuries with a flick of her finger.   But for now, Lily couldn''t upgrade yet. David''s gaze turned indifferent, then he looked at Arnold.


    The second batch of awakenings is also approaching, and it''s time for Arnold''s werewolf attribute to emerge.   "If anything feels offtely,e find me promptly," David said.   Arnold hesitated.   What could possibly make him ufortable?   Although he didn''t understand what David meant, he nodded in agreement.


    Ten days quickly passed.   During this time, David had been hunting zombies outside.   However, all the zombies he encountered were low-level ones, and he had only seen three second-level zombies.   Even those three zombies had primarily low-level crystals.


    "David,e and see Arnold''s condition!"   The knocking on the door continued.   David woke up abruptly from his sleep, opened the door at a fast pace, and raised a finger to his lips to silence Sophie''s voice.


    After David had cleared out most of the nearby zombies recently, he couldn''t guarantee that zombies wouldn''te from elsewhere.  It was better to be cautious.  Sophie looked at the red tint in David''s eyes and lowered her voice.


    "David, something''s not right with my husband."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Arnold''s transformation had started early in the morning?  Did the second awakening time vary from person to person?  David nodded and carefully closed the door, following Sophie back inside their home.  As soon as he entered, David was startled by the mess on the floor.


    And there was Arnold, kneeling on the ground.  He looked extremely distressed, and even his hands had begun to transform into ws.


    "David," Arnold spoke with a hint of a wolf''s tone.  Seeing this, David felt that something was off.  In the previous timeline, he hadn''t witnessed Arnold''s awakening.  On the day Arnold awakened, David had gone out for a while, and when he returned, Arnold told him about it.


    Sophie stood beside them, furrowing her brow, seeking David''s help.  "David, look at Arnold''s condition, please help him."


    Seeing Arnold''s painful expression, Sophie was deeply concerned.  She had tried to approach him but was growled at and pushed away.  Arnold struggled and insisted that she call for David''s help, so she went to fetch him.


    David frowned.  He couldn''t help with this task.  He could only guard the door.  If anything unexpected happened, he could intervene.


    Arnold''s awakening this time waspletely normal.  Bing an Awakened was a necessary path for him.


    "Sophie, don''t worry.  Arnold will be fine.  I''ll stay here and keep an eye on him," David reassured her.  He sat down nearby, just a few steps away from Arnold.


    Arnold started to transform into a full werewolf, lifting his head and letting out a howl.  As Arnoldpletely transformed and became uncontroble, he began attacking things around him.


    After half an hour, Arnold gradually regained his senses.  He looked around at the chaotic environment and froze.  Then he turned his head and looked at David sitting calmly beside him.  He spoke, "David, I..."


    Before he could finish his sentence, David stood up with a gratified expression and said to him, "Congrattions, you have sessfully awakened."


    "I...  I awakened sessfully!"  Arnold eximed excitedly.  He had finally awakened!  Seeing everyone around him with superhuman abilities, he often felt useless to David.  It made him eager to join them.  Now, he had finally awakened!  It was fantastic!


    Arnold lowered his gaze and looked at his werewolf state.  He quickly went to find a mirror and returned shortly with a furrowed brow.  "But, David, how can I revert this?"


    David sighed and said, "Focus your consciousness and think about returning to your original form."


    Arnold nodded, closed his eyes, and furrowed his brow.  After a while, his werewolf form gradually receded.

 Chapter 73 To Have The Spoils Taken

    ?When Arnold''s werewolf formpletely receded, he looked at David with excitement and said, "David, I did it!"  David looked at him and coughed lightly.


    Sophie, who was nearby, looked at Arnold, and her expression turned slightly concerned.  Arnold touched his head and nced down, immediately blushing.  When he had just transformed into his werewolf form, all the clothes he was wearing had already beenpletely torn!


    Now he stood in front of David and Sophiepletely naked.  "I...  I''ll go put on some clothes!"  Arnold said and quickly ran off.


    This version of Arnold was unlike the previous one.  In the previous life, Arnold had just awakened his werewolf abilities when he was destroyed by the horde of corpses.  The current Arnold was more than capable in terms of physical strength and crystal supply.


    After Arnold changed into new clothes and came out, David nned to take him out to gain some experience and test his werewolf abilities.  He immediately discussed this n with Arnold, who readily agreed.  After arranging Sophie to share a room with Sally, David prepared to take Arnold out.


    "David," just as they closed the door, Lily''s voice came from behind.  David and Arnold turned around to see Lily supporting Brian as they walked slowly towards them.  Brian''s injuries had mostly healed during this time, and he had no problems walking normally.  Over this period, the two of them had interacted with David''s group and realized that David didn''t intend to treat them as "ves."  Their impression of David had improved significantly.  After all, they were benefiting without having to exert much effort, which still bothered them a little.


    Lily gently pinched Brian''s arm, and he stepped forward, saying to David, "David, are you going out?  Take us with you."  Brian still had some injuries, but it was time for Lily''s healing magic to be used in practicalbat situations.  Healing magic was like having a mage in the team.


    "Let''s go," David said, leaving a brief remark before turning and leaving.  The two brightened up and quickly followed.


    Arnold walked alongside David and approached him, whispering, "David, that young man still has injuries.  Are you sure about bringing him along?"  As he spoke, Arnold flexed his muscles, showing off his strength.  "David, with these muscles of mine, I can easily take on ten zombies at once."


    Watching Arnold''s actions, David smiled faintly.  "They will eventually have to cooperate with us.  Taking them along is helping them."  While the current zombies were only at the primary stage, it would be beneficial to take them out for some experience.  It was likely that when the zombie outbreak reached its peak, they would be able to hold their ground.


    Arnold nodded in agreement, finding David''s words reasonable.  In this apocalyptic world, only by bing strong themselves would they have a chance to survive.


    David was helping them.  With the group in tow, David didn''t need to drive.  They made their way from the apartment to the central square.  Arnold had already transformed into his werewolf form, and he looked at the corpses of the surrounding zombies with an excited expression.  "This is amazing!"  Previously, he had to hack at zombies one by one, but now that he had be a werewolf, a single swipe was enough to make a zombie''s head explode.  Arnold shouted and rushed towards the new wave of approaching zombies.


    David stood in ce, holding a dozen spatial des in his hand, and shot them into the horde of zombies.  Within moments, dozens of zombies were impaled by David''s spatial des, hanging on the wall like skewered kebabs.  He threw another spatial de straight towards a zombie''s forehead!  When the spatial de touched the crystal, the crystal fell off the zombie''s forehead with a resounding sound.


    Brian still had injuries, but David lent him an alloybat knife.  As long as he avoided any sudden movements that would aggravate his joint injury, his wounds wouldn''t rpse.  Brian swiftly dispatched a dozen zombies with the alloybat knife.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Ah!"  Lily stood in ce, and suddenly a zombie rushed towards her from behind.  She screamed in fear.  In the next second, Brian shed in front of her and thrust the alloybat knife without hesitation.  Taking advantage of the few seconds when the zombie lost mobility, he quickly retrieved the crystal from its forehead.


    "It''s alright," Brian gently reassured Lily.


    Not far away, Arnold finished off the zombies in front of him and couldn''t help but mutter.  He walked up to David andined, "This couple really makes others envious."


    David, picking up crystals from the ground, replied, "If you say that, I might have to tell Sophie."  Upon hearing this, Arnold quickly shut his mouth and hummed a tune to himself.  Just as the group was about to finish up, Arnold suddenly shouted.


    "Hey!"  The "old man" running over from the side heard Arnold''s voice and without thinking, directly picked up the crystals from the ground and consumed them!


    "Not enough, one isn''t enough!"  The old man murmured while picking up two more crystals from the side.  After consuming the two crystals, he finally showed a satisfied expression.  Within moments, the old man''s body began to transform into that of a young man.


    Arnold looked dumbfounded at this scene.  David, on the other hand, wasn''t concerned about the transformation but rather the fact that this person had eaten the crystals they had worked hard to obtain, and three of them at that.  Just as the man had transformed into a young person, a zombie rushed out from a nearby alley at an incredible speed.


    "Come on, I''m not afraid of you now!"  The man looked excited as the zombie charged towards him.  Immediately, he picked up two crystals from the ground and stuffed them into his mouth.  In the next second, his figure grew as tall as the zombie!


    Boom!  The man collided head-on with the zombie.  He fiercely thrust his elbow into the zombie''s abdomen, causing the decaying flesh to burst open, leaving arge hole!


    "Roar!"  The zombie let out a roar, opening its blood-filled mouth, ready to bite the man.  Just as the zombie was about to bite him, the man moved, not only avoiding the zombie''s mouth but also dislocating its jaw with a backward strike!


    "That won''t do."  The manughed.


    Immediately, he swung his fist, punching through the zombie''s body, creating arge hole.  As his hand was about to grab the zombie''s forehead, the zombie suddenly disappeared from its original position.  When it reappeared, it was already behind the man!

 Chapter 74 Why Should I Help You

    ?"Damn it!" the man shouted as he turned around, only to be struck by the zombie''s fist.         "Ah!"         With a scream, the man was sent flying.


    Boom!         The man''s enormous body crashed into a nearby building, causing it to copse.         "Damn, this guy is so strong?"         The man''s face disyed an expression of disbelief.         He coughed up blood, barely managing to stand with his hands supporting the ground.         Before he could stabilize himself, the zombie quickly charged towards him.


    "So fast!" the man eximed in shock.         He quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the zombie''s attack.         Before he could react, the zombieunched another attack!         The man''s heart tightened, and he clenched his fist, blocking the zombie''s punch head-on.         The decaying flesh on the zombie''s fist instantly exploded.         Taking advantage of the moment the zombie''s fist broke, the man delivered a powerful kick to its body.


    In the next second, the zombie was sent flying backward!         As the man regained his bnce, his body suddenly shook.         It wasn''t good;         time was running out.         Oh no, he couldn''t defeat this thing on his own!         While he was thinking, the zombie had already risen slowly and was charging towards him with great speed.         He was in trouble.


    "Damn it, why aren''t those guys here yet!" the manined.         Boom!         He raised his hand and took a blow from the zombie.         In his panic, he noticed David calmly picking up crystals from the ground!


    This guy.         While the fight was intense on this side, he waspletely disregarding it and picking up crystals over there?         The man''s face darkened, and he forcefully pushed away the zombie in front of him.         He shouted loudly towards David, "Hey!         Little brother, lend a hand!"


    The voice was loud, and David naturally heard it, but he chose to pretend not to.         David calmly continued picking up the crystals one by one from the ground.


    "Hey!" the man scolded.         He could clearly feel his body gradually returning to its original size.         In less than a minute, he would revert to being a normal human.         At that time, he would undoubtedly be the prime target for the zombie!


    "Hey, it''s just crystals!         Help me, and I''ll give you as many crystals as you want!" the man shouted loudly.         If David didn''t help him soon, he was afraid he would really die here!


    Upon hearing the man''s words, Arnold nced at him disdainfully.         His eyes were filled with contempt.         "David, how did this cowardly person survive in the apocalypse?" he said to David.


    David listened and smiled faintly.         He stood up straight, turned around, and walked towards the man.         He took a few steps forward, and the man''s eyes lit up when he saw David''s movement.         Wasn''t he moved by the crystals?         Just as the man thought David was going to help him, David merely walked a few steps, picked up the crystals from the ground, and stored them in his space.


    [You obtained a primary crystal, critical hit effect multiplied by 100!        ]


    [Congrattions on obtaining 100 primary crystals!        ]


    [Attributes: None!    ]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David looked around, making sure he had picked up all the we crystals, before he answered Arnold  :"Not only did he take crystals, but he also absorbed them right in front of we, consuming we things, and now he wanted we help?     It was simply an absurd request."


    Arnold sighed helplessly and said, "But David, he seems to be in trouble."       Following Arnold''s words, David looked at the man.       Indeed, the man''s body had started shrinking, and the zombie in front of him had a smug smile on its face.


    The man looked despairingly at the zombie in front of him and cursed, "Damn it!"       At that moment, hepletely reverted to his normal human size.


    At the same time, a figure quickly approached, and three gunshots echoed through the entire square.       Hearing the sound, the man was initially startled but eventually smirked.       "Finally, you''re here!"


    Upon saying that, the man saw a woman walking out from the side, holding a gun.       Following her was a man who shouted at him, "Danny, you''re too fast!"


    Danny helplessly smiled at him.       "It''s kind of slow"  , He then touched his sore arm andined, "If you guys hade anyter, I would have died here."


    The man smiled, tossed a primary crystal in front of Danny, who caught it and immediately consumed it without hesitation.       The woman in front, holding her gun, fired a few shots at the zombie''s forehead.


    Bang!       The zombie moved its body and evaded the bullets.       "Shadow element?       Interesting," the woman said, with a smirk on her face.       She put away her gun and took out a dagger hidden beside her shoe.       Turning to the man, she said, "Stop chatting, let''s get to work."       The man nodded, took off his sses, and ced them on the ground.       When he looked up again, he seemed like a different person, with a fierce and ruthless gaze.       The two of them quickly engaged with the zombie.


    Relieved, Danny sat down beside the sses.       He took out a chocte bar from his pocket and started eating it while turning his head to look at David.       David stood in ce, hands in his pockets, silently observing the fighting scene in front of him.


    Arnold stood on the side, watching the two fighting the zombie, and kept sighing in admiration.       "This girl is really fierce, isn''t she?       Not only does she pack a punch, but her aura is also so fierce.       She must have a background in martial arts."       Listening to Arnold''s words, David silently nodded in agreement.


    After about five minutes, as the two were about to defeat the zombie, David walked over to a c , crouched down in front of it, and whispered a few words.       Then, the c  made a meowing sound and gently leaped away, out of everyone''s sight.       When David returned to Arnold''s side, Arnold curiously asked, "David, what did you say to the c ?"


    For some reason, it seems so excited from its appearance.       Could it be something thrilling?       Arnold scratched his head in confusion.       David smirked mysteriously at Arnold and said, "You''ll find out soon enough."


    As soon as he finished speaking, a loud rumble came from ahead.       The giant zombie fell to the ground.       "That was fast!"       Arnold eximed in surprise.       Not far away, the woman approached and lightly cut open the skin on the zombie''s forehead with a dagger.       Just as she was about to extract the crystal inside, suddenly, a shadow shed like lightning and disappeared!       When the woman looked again, the zombie''s crystal had also vanished!       The woman gave an angry cry!

 Chapter 75 Take Back What Was Lost

    ?The woman angrily looked back and locked eyes with David, who was patting C''s head.     And in C''s mouth, it held the crystal of the zombie!


    "[Detected crystal of the Shadow element!    ]"


    C obediently ced the crystal in David''s palm.     David''s heart stirred, and the crystal in his hand was stored in his pocket dimension.


    [You obtained one Intermediate Crystal, Critical Hit x100 in effect!    ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained one hundred Intermediate Crystals!    ]


    [Attribute: Shadow element!    ]


    What was lost must be reimed.     David ran his hand through C''s fur, satisfied.     Arnold, who was watching the scene, was dumbfounded.     So, this was what David had asked C to do.     But it seemed like the other party was quite angry.


    Arnold slowly turned his head towards the woman.     She was not just angry;     her gaze was fixed on David as if she wanted to kill him.     "Return the crystal!" the woman scolded.     However, David acted as if he hadn''t heard and turned to leave.


    Just as David turned around, a dagger swiftly attacked him from behind!     David nced lightly, slightly tilting his head to dodge the dagger.


    ng!     The dagger flew and mmed into an iron door, deeply embedded several centimeters.     Looking at the dagger, David calmly said, "Your people took my things, so I took something from you.     Isn''t that fair?"


    With those words, David turned his head and gave a cold nce at Danny, who was sitting on the ground.     The woman angrily turned her head towards Danny.     "What is going on?     We''ve been out for a day, and we''ve encountered only low-level zombies along the way.     Finally, we encountered a mutated zombie, and even if we defeated it, someone took the crystal away.     How can I swallow this anger?"


    Danny awkwardly smiled.     "I just took a few of their low-level crystals."     The man walked to Danny''s side, picked up the sses from the ground, and put them back on.     He calmly said, "It was a few of them."


    Danny stammered, "Maybe four, I don''t remember."     Seeing that the woman was about to explode, Danny hurriedly added, "It was a critical moment for me.     If I hadn''t consumed those crystals, I would have died!"


    "Who asked you to arrive sote?"     Danny muttered softly, afraid to speak out loud.


    "You useless piece of trash!"the woman scolded.     Then she turned to David and said, "It''s just a few low-level crystals.     Give us back that crystal, and we''ll return the low-level crystals to you!"


    After speaking, the woman directly threw six low-level crystals from her pocket onto the ground.     David stood with his hands in his pockets, disdainfully saying, "I want only this one."


    As soon as he said that, the woman exploded, "You brat, do you think I''m a pushover?"     The woman swiftly moved with extreme speed and charged towards David.


    As the woman was about to reach David, David calmly tore open a spatial rift beside him and stepped inside.     In the next second, he appeared next to Danny.     C was licking its paws on his shoulder.     The woman''s fist swung empty, and when she looked at David again, her gaze became even more vignt.     "Are you an esper?"


    David stood behind Danny and coughed lightly.      Startled by the sound, Danny jumped.      He quickly turned around and discovered David standing behind him.      The man with sses instinctively took a step back and observed David, saying, "You are an esper with the Spatial element, right?"


    David didn''t want to waste time with them.      He had collected enough today, and it was time to go back.      With his hands in his pockets, he turned to leave.      "Stop right there!"      The woman, Monica, had somehow retrieved her dagger.      She scolded and charged forward with the dagger in hand.


    The man with sses pushed his sses up his nose and shook his head helplessly, saying softly, "Monica, you''re no match for him.      Come back."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Monica, who had already charged halfway, froze upon hearing his words.      "Damn it."      She stayed in ce, tightly gripping the dagger in her hand, watching as David and his group walked away in the distance.


    After David and his grouppletely disappeared from sight, Monica let out a deep breath.      With a solemn expression, she turned around and walked over to the man''s side.


    "How powerful is he?"      Monica asked coldly.


    The man pushed his sses and said, "He is a fourth-level esper with the Spatial element."


    "Fourth level," Monica muttered.


    Upon hearing the man''s words, Danny eximed in surprise, "Fourth level!      If he''s such a powerful esper, then why didn''t he help me when I asked for it earlier?"


    The man turned his head and looked at Danny as if he were looking at a fool.      After Danny took his crystal,  still expected him to help?      Wasn''t that wishful thinking?      "Not just him, even the people around him are not ordinary," the man said, lowering his head.


    When David and his group were present earlier, he saw a Healing esper on the scene.      There was also a Shadow esper and a werewolf.      Even that cat, licking its paws, was not someone they could mess with.


    "For the incident in CJ City, we should report it," the man shrugged and turned to leave.


    "When are we going back?"      Monica asked, lowering her head and touching the dagger in her hand.


    The man nced at her and reassured, "Don''t be impatient.      You can''t defeat him so easily."      Upon hearing this, Monica''s hand paused, and she sheathed the dagger next to her shoe.      She nodded and quickened her pace, walking ahead.


    "If we don''t leave soon, the zombies wille again."      The man''s mouth slowly curled up, and he hastened his steps.      Seeing the two of them in a hurry, Danny fell silent for a moment and then jogged over to the man''s side, asking in a low voice.


    "Brother, when will you lend me your sses?"


    "Get lost."


    "Okay then."


    On the way back, David remained silent.      In his mind, he kept specting about the identities of the three individuals he had just encountered.      It was evident that they belonged to an organization.      During the fight earlier, David noticed their skilled coordination.      So he made a mental note of their appearances.      Perhaps there would be opportunities for further contact in the future.


    Before going upstairs, Brian watched David''s figure and pondered for a moment before quickening his pace.      "David," he cautiously spoke up.


    David didn''t turn around but responded as he walked, "Let''s talk when we get back."


    Brian nodded and continued walking with his head down.      After they entered the room, David didn''t go to his own room but followed Brian and Lily into their room.


    After the door was closed, Brian and Lily skillfully ced chairs behind the door to prevent any unexpected situations.    David sat on the chair with one hand resting on the table, silently observing as the two of them finished handling their tasks.    Once they were done, they exchanged a nce and sat down.

 Chapter 76 Finagle

    ?


    Brian looked up and met David''s gaze, hesitating for a moment.  Seeing Brian''s hesitation, Lily covertly nudged him with her elbow.  "Got it," Brian said in a low voice to Lily.


    Then he turned to David and said, "David, I wanted to ask you for some crystals.  Not just for myself, but for Lily too."


    As David heard this, his fingers rhythmically tapped on the tabletop.  He raised an eyebrow and scanned both of them.


    "Oh?"  During this time, it was a kind of probation for them, and if they made any wrong moves during this period, David wouldn''t keep them around.


    Brian pursed his lips and continued, "Brother, we want to get stronger and continue following you without being a burden."


    The idea was good, but David wondered if it was genuine.  He nodded and then turned to Lily.  "And what about you?  Do you think the same?"


    Lily nodded quickly when asked.  "I think the same.  David, you''re getting stronger, and if we don''t get stronger too, we won''t be able to stay by your side.  Besides, you saved us..."


    Brian spoke a few more words afterwards, but David didn''t pay much attention.  Those words were just tired clich¨¦s.  David silently stared at the two of them, their hands intertwined, biting their lips nervously, afraid to meet David''s gaze.


    After a few minutes, two crystals, one for Shadow and one for Healing, appeared on the table with a soft clink.  "Take them," David said as he stood up.


    Both of them were pleasantly surprised.  They quickly expressed their gratitude.  "Thank you, David!"


    David raised his index finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet.  They nodded, immediately closing their mouths.  David looked at them for a moment and sighed.  "I hope you don''t disappoint me."  With those words, David turned and left.


    Although David tried to help Brian and Lily as much as possible, he still had a trace of wariness towards them.  In this apocalyptic world, there were too many deceitful people.  And considering what the two of them had experienced before, they naturally had a deeper sense of cunning than ordinary people.


    Even so, David didn''t reveal any of his thoughts.  His top priority was to improve his own strength.  Only by bing stronger could he treat those with ulterior motives as nothing more than clowns.


    After David left, the fear on Lily''s face vanished in an instant.  She held the crystals in her hands and sighed.  "He only gave us two.  Can it make me level up?"  With that, Lily slumped onto the sofa.


    Brian hurriedly approached and massaged Lily''s shoulders.  "Be content.  David is very cautious, so getting two crystals is already good enough for us."


    Hearing Brian''s words, Lily could only sigh helplessly.  She initially thought that their performance by David''s side in these past few days would be enough to deceive him and obtain more resources for their team.  But today, they were denied as soon as they asked.  Although the healing crystal in her hand was valuable, it didn''t satisfy her appetite.


    As awakened individuals in this post-apocalyptic world, the two of them had been infiltrating various small team organizations.  Their goal was to gain ess to these teams and seize all of their resources for themselves.  With their excellent acting skills, they had been quite sessful so far.  That was also why they were able to awaken their abilities.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Brian and Lily made up their minds to deceive David and obtain his resources by any means necessary.   Once they seeded, they nned to flee together and continue their scamming activities.   The thought of it felt exhrating.


    "If we manage to deceive David and get all his resources, our strength will definitely increase significantly," Brian said, massaging Lily''s shoulders.   "After all, in this apocalypse, strength is everything.   We will be the most powerful awakened individuals in the apocalypse."


    Both of them had a greedy look in their eyes.   This was also why Brian had helped David fend off the mental control of the towering zombie before.   Once they gained David''splete trust, they would seize the opportunity.   They fantasized about dominating the post-apocalyptic world and relished the idea.


    "Heh heh heh, I didn''t expect my dear David to be so ruthless.   I like it!"   Brian imagined David''s figure in his mind and smirked with disdain.


    Outside the door, David exuded a cold aura as he listened to their conversation.   At his feety a corpse of a zombie.   Coincidentally, a zombie had approached when he was about to leave earlier.   After dealing with the zombie, he had overheard their conversation before he could leave.


    As he listened further, David''s expression gradually grew darker.   These two had deceived him quite a bit.   David smiled self-mockingly, collected the crystals from the floor, and turned to leave the room.


    Sally was chatting with Sophie when the door suddenly opened.   She became instantly alert.   "Let me go check."   She stood up and walked toward the living room.   When she saw David, her sense of vignce immediately dissipated.


    "David!"   Sally called out and hugged him.   Sophie, who heard the sound, also came out.   "David, you''re back.   Is everything alright?"   Before she could finish her sentence, David nodded.


    "Arnold is already home.   Let me take you back."   Sophie, being an ordinary person, could be in danger in the building, as there could be zombies.   Last time, Sophie came alone to find Arnold and luckily didn''t encounter any zombies.


    After escorting Sophie back, David and Sally leaned against the sofa, cuddling.   "Did you gain anything on this outing?"   Sally leaned against David''s chest and whispered.


    David lowered his head and gently caressed her cheek.   "I gained quite a few crystals."   Butpared to the massive critical hits before, it was still far off.   David''s consciousness stirred, and a transparent panel appeared before his eyes.


    [Quest: Store Crystals!  ]


    [There is one month left until the first major zombie outbreak.   Please collect as many mutated crystals as possible and form your own team.   During this time, all the resources you store will receive a hundredfold critical hit bonus.   Remaining quest time: 18 days, 6 hours, 5 minutes.]


    Mutated crystals?   David was momentarily stunned as he looked at the information on the panel.   His warehouse had plenty of basic crystals, but mutated crystals with different attributes were scarce.


    Finding new blood for his team in this chaotic world was incredibly difficult.   David furrowed his brow.   The person in his embrace moved and sat up.   David lifted his gaze and met Sally''s eyes.   Sally didn''t say anything but simply reached out and smoothed David''s furrowed brow.


    "A furrowed brow adds a few more years to your appearance," Sally whispered, suppressing her voice.

 Chapter 77 Reagent

    ?


    Sally''s fingers gently brushed David''s forehead as their eyes met.    She swallowed nervously.    Just as she hesitated for a moment, David suddenly leaned in and kissed her.


    "Um!"    Sally widened her eyes in shock, then slowly closed them, holding onto David tightly as they gradually immersed themselves in the moment.


    The next day, as the sun rose, David opened his eyes.    He got up and leaned down to nt a kiss on Sally''s tired face.    After putting on his coat, he left Little ck at home and walked out with c .    There was still some time before the zombie outbreak would ur, and even with a hundredfold critical hit, he wanted to make the most of this time to collect more crystals.


    As for Lily and Brian, at least they hadn''t done anything harmful to the team''s interests yet, so they would be kept for now.    When more suitable people came along, if these two didn''t confess, they could be discarded.


    Today, David went out alone, apanied only by his c.    He intended to try his luck on his own.    Before he even reached the staircase, a captivating figure caught his eye.


    David frowned, concealing a spatial de up his sleeve.    At the staircase, Monica stood impatiently, wearing a ck dress, her brows furrowed.    She had been waiting at the door for an hour, even before dawn.    She had taken care of several zombies attracted to the area.    Hearing footsteps, she turned to see the person she had been waiting for.


    "Long time no see," Monica forced a smile on her face despite her internal displeasure, waving at David.    However, David just nced at her and walked past her without a word.


    That brat!    He actually ignored her?    Monica''s mouth twitched, feeling annoyed at David''s departing figure.


    "Hey!"    Monica raised her voice.


    A few zombies slowly approached from the side.    Before Monica could act, David swiftly threw his spatial des, instantly killing them.    He then took out his alloy battle knife and skillfully removed the crystals from the zombies'' foreheads.


    Monica watched his actions from behind, feeling disdainful.    "Is that all you care about, crystals?"    David ignored her and finished collecting the crystals, putting them into his spatial storage.


    [You obtained four primary crystals, critical hit multiplier in effect!   ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained four hundred primary crystals!   ]


    [Attributes: None!   ]


    As he took a step forward, Monica warned, "Even if you collect so many, do you know that there''s a limit to how much one person can absorb in a day?"


    David replied calmly, "I know."    After speaking, he continued walking ahead.    Watching David''s retreating figure, Monica didn''t know what to say.    This brat gave her a sense of mystery.    Throughout the day, Monica quietly followed behind David, asionally speaking a few words to him, but he didn''t respond to any of them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David was like a crystal addict, constantly collecting without stopping.    Even if a Level 3 zombie suddenly appeared, David''s Level 4 ability made it easy for him to deal with it.    Throughout the entire journey, Monica didn''t make a move, maintaining the role of an onlooker.


    Until nightfall, David had a thought and put on a pair of sses over his eyes.    Instantly, the scene he saw became as bright as daylight.    Monica looked at the sses that David suddenly wore and curiously asked, "Where did you get those sses?"


    David sighed.  "You''re really annoying."  Monica''s face darkened upon hearing thisment, and she closed her mouth.


    David had no intention of leaving yet.  Remembering something, he walked towards the location of Warehouse Number One.  As he entered the warehouse, there was no terror like before;  instead, it was surprisingly peaceful.  Apanied by that, however, was a strong stench of decay.  The floor was covered in the bodies of mutated rats.


    Monica looked at the scene, disgusted, and covered her nose.  She was about to say something but remembered what David had said earlier and decided to keep her mouth shut.  As they entered Warehouse Number One, David had a clear goal in mind and walked straight towards the cold storage area.  The cold storage area was as icy as before.  He made his way to the end of the room, pushed open the door, and walked right in.


    The room was arranged the same way asst time, with the wall still bearing the zombie that had defeated David.  He walked forward, noticing the fallen reagent on the ground, and picked it up.  The reagent in the test tube was half injected, with half of the blue liquid still inside.  Last time, this syringe was inserted into the arm of the zombie.


    David always felt that this reagent could be the key to the revival of that corpse, but why didn''t the corpse take it away?  Instead, it was left behind.  Was it intentional, or was it forgotten?


    David stared at the reagent for a long time before putting it away in his storage.  One second, two seconds, three seconds.


    This time, David didn''t wait for any prompts from the system.  Could this thing really be different?  It seemed like he had received some incredible news, as David''s heartbeat suddenly elerated.


    Monica stood aside, watching David''s expression change repeatedly since he picked up the reagent.  She was puzzled and about to speak when David turned around, bypassed her, and walked out.  Helplessly, she had no choice but to follow him.


    An hourter, the corpse stood in front of the operating table, staring at it without shifting its gaze.  Suddenly, it kicked over the table, searching for something in the entire room.  In the end, it didn''t find what it was looking for.  As it was about to leave, its gaze fell on the lock of the room''s door.  It reached out and closed the door, then picked up the fallen lock from the ground, forcefully pressing it back onto the handle.  The lock firmly attached to the door handle as if it had been welded on.


    At night, David became even more cautious in his actions.  Zombies were more formidable in their movements during the nightpared to during the day.  Therefore, when David intended to lead people out, he wouldn''t choose nighttime.  "I''m going back.  Are youing with me?"  David asked in a low voice as he leaned against an obstacle.


    Monica replied, "Have you thought about what I told you today?"  Upon hearing this, David paused.  It seemed that he hadn''t taken anything the person said to heart today.


    Monica looked at David''s bewildered expression, and her mouth twitched again.  This guy had taken everything she said today as nonsense.


    Helplessly, Monica spoke up.  "The three of us are from the same organization.  We have already reported your situation to the organization, and they invite you to join us."

 Chapter 78 Abraham

    ?


    "Did you hear me clearly?"  Monica impatiently said.


    "Oh," David responded casually and turned his head to continue walking forward.


    Monica was stunned.  Invitation, and all he said was ''oh''?  "Hey, kid, don''t you even want to ask about our organization?"


    Hearing Monica''s words, David whispered, "What''s the name of your organization, and what benefits would I get if I join?"


    Monica nodded with satisfaction.  This was the normal response.  "You don''t need to know the name, but as for the benefits, like I said, there aren''t many talented individuals like you.  As long as youe, we will do our best to provide you with whatever you need.  What do you think?"


    That''s it...  David sighed and replied, "Thanks, but no thanks."


    Monica stood frozen in ce, shocked.  David turned around and suddenly noticed a zombie standing behind Monica.  He swiftly threw out his spatial de.  Monica saw David''s action and quickly rolled aside!  Was this guy trying to kill her?!


    When she looked again, she realized that David''s spatial de wasn''t aimed at her but at the zombie behind her!


    Monica swallowed nervously as she watched David collect the zombie crystal.  It was close.  If it weren''t for this guy, she might have lost her life due to a momentarypse of concentration.  A momentarypse was a big taboo!  Monica regretted her mindset and stood up again.


    "Thanks," she said, walking over to David and handing him a primary crystal.  David nced at the primary crystal in Monica''s hand, raised an eyebrow, and epted it.  He was quite reasonable.


    "You''re wee.  Consider it even," David said, waving the primary crystal in his hand.


    "Back already?"  A man sat in a chair, holding a cup of tea and looking at Monica, who had just returned.


    Monica responded with a faint "Hmm" and sat down next to him.  "So, did he agree?" the man asked.


    On the couch, Danny quietly lowered the book in his hands and looked at the two people on the table.  Monica shook her head.  "He refused me."


    The man smiled calmly, as if he had expected this oue.  Hearing Monica''s words, Danny burst intoughter.  "Wow, there''s actually someone in this world who rejected our Monica sister."


    As the words fell, Monica red at him.  "Even if any of you go, it would be useless," Monica coldly snorted and said.


    Creak...  Creak...  The rocking chair in the corner suddenly started moving, and the three of them became tense.  The old man in the rocking chair picked up the cane beside him and slowly stood up from the chair.


    "Abraham, howe you''re up?" the man said respectfully.


    The person known as Abraham smiled and said, "I''m not that old.  If it weren''t for that experiment, I would still have the same appearance as all of you."  As he spoke, he pounded his body, and it made cracking sounds.  Hefortably stretched his back with a yawn.


    "I''m going out for a while," Abraham said, leaning on his cane and slowly walking out.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After he left the house, Danny finally spoke up.      "I heard that during that experiment, Abraham captured many people with abilities..."      Before he could finish, Danny noticed the look in the man''s eyes and quickly shut his mouth.


    "Don''t mention it again next time," the man said.


    "Alright," Danny agreed and kept his mouth shut.


    Meanwhile, David returned homete, and Arnold, concerned, had put on armor and grabbed a sword to go outside.      Just as he stepped out, he ran into David who had juste back.


    "David?"      Arnold''s eyes lit up.      "You finally came back," he said as he approached him.


    David looked at his posture and asked, "Where are you going?"


    Arnold smiled and pulled David into the house.      "You don''t know, Sally was so worried."      As soon as David entered the house, Sally rushed towards him.      She looked up at David with a slightly annoyed expression, still showing the urgency in her eyes.


    "Why did you stay out for so long?"      Sally patted David''s chest.


    Seeing Sally''s appearance, David couldn''t help but feel sorry for her.      He gently touched Sally''s head and said, "But I''m back now, right?"


    After saying a few words, David took Sally back to the room.      It took a lot of effort to calm Sally down before the two of them finally went to sleep.      In the middle of the night, David couldn''t sleep soundly.      Since the apocalypse, his sleep had be fragile.      After several failed attempts, he couldn''t fall asleep and had to get up.      He took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.


    David gently opened a slit in the curtain and looked outside.      In his previous life, he never had the chance to smoke at night and enjoy the scenery like this.      Either he was collecting resources or being chased by zombies with Arnold.      Unfortunately, they were eventually overwhelmed by the zombies.


    As David pondered, he blew out a smoke ring.      When he looked downstairs, he suddenly saw the figure of an old man.      The old man had white hair and was slowly walking forward with a cane.      There were constantly zombies trying to approach him, but they seemed to fear him and didn''t dare to take another step closer.


    This old man...      David only pondered for a moment when the old man suddenly turned around and looked at him!      As their eyes met, David felt something was wrong and quickly pulled down the curtain.


    Downstairs, Abraham looked at the descending curtain with a faint smile.      This kid has good vignce.      He turned around and walked outside.      Raising his hand, he snapped his fingers.      Bang!      The surrounding zombies instantly exploded one after another in ce!


    If David had witnessed this scene, he would definitely have the system check Abraham''s level.      However, when David lifted the curtain again, Abraham had already gone far away.      David wore his night vision goggles and looked at the scattered bodies of zombies on the ground, his brow slightly furrowed.


    It was obvious that the old man''s strength was not low.      He scanned the area but couldn''t find the old man .      David reluctantly let the curtain down.      If he had been a bit earlier, he could have witnessed the old man in action and used the system to check his level.      Unfortunately, at the moment the old man looked at him, the expression in his eyes was clearly unfriendly.      Was he an enemy or a friend?


    "Brother, Abraham is back," Danny gently poked the sleeping man and whispered.      The man abruptly opened his eyes and sat up.      He went outside and indeed saw Abraham on the rocking chair.


    Although Abraham''s eyes were closed, his mind was still alert.    The man was about to speak, but Abraham, lying on the rocking chair, spoke first.    "Go back and sleep.    This kid is quite good.    It''s better to be a friend than an enemy."


    The man was shocked to hear Abraham''s words.    He was the first person to receive such high praise from Abraham.

 Chapter 79 Lily And Brian Went Ahead As Planned

    ?


    Abraham looked up at the man and spoke again, "Encountering someone with such power, I really don''t know if it''s a lucky thing or not.  Don''t just stand there, hurry up and find a way to improve your strength.  Otherwise, when the dayes and we truly be enemies with that kid, we''ll likely be in a difficult situation."


    Listening to Abraham''s words, the man''s brow remained tightly furrowed.  He hadn''t expected this young man to bring such a potential crisis to them.  He nodded and left Abraham, returning to his own room.  Sitting in the room, the man turned his head to look outside the window, and a cold gleam appeared in his eyes.


    Watching the man''s departing figure, Abraham let out a soft sigh and then turned his gaze back to the night outside.  His cloudy eyes looked towards a distant building that faintly appeared in the darkness.  Then he nced at the wandering zombies on the street.  "That kid is really a good seed.  I hope I can extract that power in time.  Otherwise..."


    Abraham shook his head gently, recalling the aura emitted by David earlier.  Without hesitation, he stood up and realized that the others were in their own rooms.  He pushed open the door and walked towards the building.


    Early in the morning, as soon as David opened his eyes, he smelled the aroma of food.  "Growl..." his stomach started growling.  Getting out of bed, he casually grabbed a piece of clothing and put it on, then headed for the kitchen.


    At this moment, the sunlight outside was shining on David through the French windows.  Feeling the long-lost warmth, David''s mood inexplicably lightened.  After all, due to the apocalypse, this world was mostly covered by dark clouds, making warm sunlight a scarcemodity.


    Clearly, it had be a raremodity in this world.  He arrived in the kitchen, where Sally, dressed in pajamas, was busily working.  Her petite figure, entuated by the soft pajamas, was enchanting.


    Watching Sally skillfully stir the eggs in the pan, David smiled.  He approached Sally from behind and hugged her.  Her faint fragrance immediately entered his nostrils.


    Sally turned her head and smiled at David''s handsome profile.  "Why did you get up so early?  Go back and sleep a little longer.  I''ll call you when the food is ready."


    Sally yfully tousled her hair, then turned her head and lightly kissed David''s lips.  For Sally, the pursuit of three meals a day and the changing seasons were the only pursuits she had in this post-apocalyptic world.


    "You cook so deliciously.  I can''t wait," David said as he looked at the golden fried eggs.  Hearing his words, Sally smiled happily.  One of David''s hands was tightly holding hers, while the other skillfully stir-fried the food in the pan.  Even the simplest home-cooked dishes became delicious and appetizing in Sally''s hands.  So, most of the team''s meals were taken care of by Sally alone.


    Actually, Sally''s cooking skills were not always excellent.  It was just that with the arrival of the apocalypse, various ingredients became scarce and demanding.  Every time she cooked for the team, she cherished these hard-toe-by ingredients.  Over time, Sally became adept at preparing various home-cooked dishes that were not only easy to make but also had great taste, aroma, and appearance.  Everyone who tasted her dishes would excitedly give her a thumbs-up.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Alright," Sally said as she turned off the stove.  David listened and released his grip around her waist.  Watching Sally te the food and then turn to walk towards the dining room, David quickly took the te from her hand and ced it on the table.


    Sally smiled gently, enveloped in a sense of happiness.  The two of them sat at the dining table, and David served a bowl of steamed rice in front of Sally.  "You''ve worked hard.  Please eat," David said with a smile.


    Sally murmured in agreement and began to eat.  As David looked at the appetizing dishes on the table, he couldn''t resist any longer.  He picked up his chopsticks and picked up a piece of meat.  When the meat entered his mouth, his eyes lit up.  Before he could even exim, a shrill scream suddenly came from the entrance.  "Ah!"


    David furrowed his brow slightly.  Sally also turned her head towards David at the first moment, whispering, "That sound seems to be Lily."  David nodded, agreeing with her guess.  That sound was not just simr to Lily''s, it was Lily''s voice.


    Just as David set down his utensils, they heard a series of knocks on their door.  "Help!  Help!"


    "David, please save me!"  Lily''s voice became more and more desperate, as if she had encountered some danger.  Sally became nervous all of a sudden, preparing to get up and investigate.


    "No need to worry.  Sit down and enjoy your meal.  We shouldn''t waste such delicious food," David said, looking up at Sally.  Then he nonchntly picked up a piece of spare rib and put it in his mouth.


    "But..."  Sally looked at David''s calm and unruffled expression, not a hint of urgency, wanting to say something.  But as soon as she opened her mouth, David reached out and pulled her back to her seat.  David smiled, shook his head, and gestured for Sally to continue eating without saying anything more.


    Helpless, Sally could only pick up the ss of milk in front of her with a puzzled expression.  David had long known about Brian and Lily''s conspiracy.  So, he naturally understood what they were nning this time.  He wasn''t in a hurry, quietly sitting there, listening to Lily''s cries for help.


    After calling out for a while, Lily saw that David still hadn''t made any movement to open the door.  A wicked expression suddenly appeared on her face.  She hadn''t expected David to be so heartless, not even opening the door for her.  Last night, she and Brian had nned for the whole night, intending to strike a heavy blow to David this time, giving them an opportunity to seize all the supplies.


    So early in the morning, Brian quietly lured over hundreds of zombies here, with the goal of using the zombie horde to besiege them, rendering David and the others defenseless.  At that time, she and Brian could directly take action and make their escape.  But now, the rampaging zombies outside were slowly approaching her.  However, David remained motionless.  This made her feel a sense of urgency.

 Chapter 80 Carry Out According To Plan

    ?


    Upon hearing Lily''s screams, Arnold and Sophie in the other room were also taken aback for a moment.     However, they quickly rxed.     "These young people, making such a racket in broad daylight," Sophie sat on a chair and nced at the door, expressing her dissatisfaction.     Arnold nodded in agreement, sitting in front of Sophie.     "The terrifying thing about doomsday is human nature."


    When Lily and Brian had first arrived, the circumstances were already suspicious.     As they recalled the scene when David brought them here, they felt something odd.     Combined with Lily and Brian behavior on regr days, they didn''t even have the thought of opening the door to inquire.     In their view, David noting forward must have a reason.


    Since that was the case, they didn''t need to lend a helping hand.     After all, David held a much higher position in their hearts than Brian and Lily.     However, after waiting for a while, Lily continued to scream incessantly.     The banging on the door grew louder, and even Brian joined in.     This made Arnold furrow his brow.


    Not to mention that it was disturbing David and Sally, it probably attracted quite a few zombies in the vicinity as well.     So, Arnold said to Sophie, "I''ll go out and see what they''re causing a fuss about."


    After saying that, Arnold stood up and opened the door.     Brian and Lily still had anger on their faces.     They had been pounding on David''s door for so long, clearly indicating that he didn''t care about them at all.     Just as Brian was about to burst into a tirade, he turned his head and saw Arnold standing at the door.     He quickly hid his expression of anger and instead showed panic and fear.     Running up to Arnold, Brian swallowed and said, "Help!     There are suddenly many zombies outside.     Lily and I barely made it here alive!"


    At this moment, Lily stopped banging on David''s door and stood beside Arnold.     "Arnold, I don''t know how we angered David.     He still hasn''t opened the door for us.     If it wasn''t for you showing up in time, the two of us would probably be dead in the hands of the zombies soon," Lily said, tears streaming down her face.


    Watching their pitiful and panicked appearance, Arnold showed no sympathy on his face.     On the contrary, he wore a grim expression because he had heard the underlying me in Lily''s words.     He wasn''t the only one who caught on;     Sophie, who was slowly walking up behind, also picked up on it.     "Is it necessary for you to make such a loudmotion early in the morning and disturb everyone''s rest, even if there are zombies around?     It''s not like you need to make such a ruckus."


    Sophie didn''t give them any leeway in her words.     In her opinion, David was their backbone, and every decision he made had its own reasoning.     She would never allow anyone to insult him.


    Seeing Arnold and Sophie''s unfriendly expressions, Lily paused for a moment.     A trace of killing intent shed in her eyes, but she quickly covered it up with tears.     Brian also lowered his head, doing the same.     In all the times they had wandered in various small groups, when had they ever been subjected to such humiliation?


    However, if they revealed any ws now, all the effort they had put in early in the morning would be wasted.     So, regardless of the circumstances, they had to wait for David to appear.     "We''re really sorry for the inconvenience.     The situation was urgent, and we had no choice but to disturb everyone," Brian apologized with remorse.


    Then he looked towards David''s room, puzzled, and asked, "Is David not in the room?   Wait, I just smelled the aroma of fooding from inside the room."   He knew David must be inside the room, so he asked knowingly, wanting to use Arnold and Sophie to lure him out.


    Just as he finished speaking, the door to David''s room slowly opened.   David then walked out with Sally.


    "Are you two looking for me?"   Sally asked Brian calmly, looking at him.


    Seeing Davide out, both of them felt relieved and quickly walked over, saying, "David, you finally came out.   There are suddenly a lot of zombies outside, and we need to find a way to deal with them quickly!"


    As Brian spoke, he secretly examined David''s expression.   When he saw David raise his head and look outside the door, a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips.   Brian knew that David had taken the bait.


    Quickly, Brian gave Lily a secret signal, indicating that she should act ording to the original n.   Lily took a nce at the approaching zombies at the door.   David nodded slowly and said, "You''re right, but...   I''ll leave these zombies for the two of you to deal with."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Saying that, David threw a crystal on the ground, gesturing for them to pick it up and consume it.   Seeing the scattered crystals on the ground, Brian and Lily were stunned in ce.


    What does this mean?   They couldn''t believe that David would ask them to deal with these zombies.   Shouldn''t it be him leading Arnold and others to hunt and take advantage of the situation?


    Arnold and Sophie were also puzzled but remained silent, watching Brian and Lily.


    "David, the two of us are incapable of dealing with so many zombies.   It''s better for you to take action.   It''s a good opportunity for us to learn," Brian realized and quickly waved his hand, suggesting.


    David smiled faintly after hearing that.   He had already guessed what these two had in mind, but he wasn''t in a hurry because he wanted to see how they would y along.   It was like watching a free show.   "So if you consume these crystals, your strength will increase.   Isn''t that what you want?"   David said with deep meaning.


    Brian hesitated for a moment, looking at David in disbelief.   Lily clenched her teeth and quickly bent down to pick up the crystals from the ground.   "Thank you for the crystals, David, but these crystals are not enough for the two of us to consume."   Lily wasn''t picky and decided to try and ask David for more.


    Sally, seeing this, immediately furrowed her brows.   "Hehehe, since that''s the case, then improve your strength in realbat," David said with a smile.


    At the same time, zombies outside the door continued to rush in.   The frontmost zombie turned its eyeballs and, with a piercing friction sound, stared at the group.   David exchanged a nce with Arnold, who understood his intentions.   Arnold grabbed Brian and rushed towards the zombie.   "Come on, true strength is honed in battle!"


    Before Brian could react, he was pulled by Arnold and brought in front of the zombie.   The zombie growled lowly and opened its mouth, biting towards Brian''s neck.


    "Uh-oh!"   Brian startled, quickly lowered his body and leaped to the other side, narrowly avoiding the zombie''s attack.


    "David, Brian was injured not long ago and hasn''t fully recovered.   I''m afraid he..."   Lily looked at Brian, who was fighting hard, with a worried expression, and said to David.


    David nodded, pondered for a moment, then turned to look at her and said, "Makes sense.   Then you go help him!"


    During their conversation, a zombie rushed towards David.  David swiftly dodged to the side, causing the zombie''s target to instantly shift to Lily.  Lily screamed and immediately ran towards Sophie.  "Sophie, sister, please save me!"


    Sophie nced at her and slowly walked over to David and Sally''s side,pletely ignoring her plea for help.

 Chapter 81 Can I Try On Your Glasses?

    ?


    Lily was immediately dumbfounded by the sight of the approaching zombies.   She stared at them nkly, and her anger started to burn within her.   She hated David, and she hated everyone here.   She swore to find an opportunity to kill them all!


    But her immediate priority was to deal with the zombies in front of her.   Just as she was at a loss, Brian swiftly rushed towards her after evading an attack from a zombie.


    "Open up quickly!" he shouted at Lily, and the seven des in his hand instantly pierced the back of the zombie.   A ck, putrid smell instantly filled the air.   Watching Brian kill the zombie in front of him, David nodded with a smile.   More and more zombies poured in from outside, to the point where even Arnold joined the fight.


    Brian protected Lily while facing off against wave after wave of ferocious zombies.   Soon, he was nearly exhausted.   He secretly kept an eye on David, his gaze filled with a murderous intent.   If it weren''t for the fact that they hadn''t obtained the supplies yet, he would have rushed up and killed the guy long ago.


    Watching the two of them in a sorry state, David shook his head.   He knew that the people in this world were strange and unpredictable.   Everyone had their own agenda, making this eerie and ever-changing world even more dangerous.


    For those who had designs on him, he would slowly torment them.   He knew that if he wanted someone dead, he had to drive them to madness first.   When they were on the brink of insanity, that would be the starting point of their death.   In David''s eyes, Brian and Lily were approaching that point.   He even began to take some interest in them.


    As more and more zombies appeared, Arnold also began to struggle.   David gestured to Sally, and she nodded in response before rushing into the midst of the zombie horde.   David continued to watch Brian and Lily''s poor acting skills.   With Sally joining the battle, the entire battlefield underwent an obvious change in an instant.


    Sally wielded lightning bolts that resembled dancing dragons, constantly striking at the zombies.   The sound of thunderous explosions and the agonized cries of the zombies rang in everyone''s ears.   Under Sally''s maniption, the lightning bolts simultaneously hit the zombies, and in the blink of an eye, arge number of zombies fell to the ground.   David looked at Sally and nodded in satisfaction.


    Brian and Lily finally had a chance to catch their breath.   They sat in ce, breathing heavily.   When they saw Sally standing there, constantly unleashing lightning, they were shocked!   They hadn''t expected Sally to be so formidable, instantly dealing with the zombies they had struggled to attract.


    At the same time, Brian looked at David.   When he noticed David smiling at him, he awkwardly smiled back and then stood up from the ground.   He walked over to David''s side.   "David, will Sally get hurt?" he asked, furrowing his brow and pretending to be concerned.


    Implicitly, he wanted to get David involved in the fight so that he and Lily would have a chance to plunder the house.


    David shook his head.   "To her, these zombies are like ants.   I''m not worried at all.   The reason I let Sally join the fight is that I know the power of her level-three ability. Thunderstrike,It''s immensely powerful.   These low-level zombies are no match for her.   Even if anything unexpected happens, I can step in and deal with it at any time.   Additionally, I want her to gain some practical experience through this opportunity and improve her own strength."


    Upon hearing David''s words, Brian waspletely helpless.   As long as David was around, he and Lily couldn''t make a move.   So, he could only helplessly furrow his brow and nced at Lily behind him.   She wore a gloomy expression but had no solution either.   David noticed their expressions and simply smiled faintly, not bothering to look at them again.


    Soon, Sally and David managed to kill all the zombies.   The air became filled with a foul smell.   At this moment, David walked slowly to the center of the battlefield, with the system''s voice continuously sounding in his ear.


    [Ding!   Congrattions to the host for obtaining one primary crystal!  ]


    [Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical hit and obtaining one hundred primary crystals!  ]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [Ding!   Congrattions to the host for obtaining ten intermediate crystals!  ]


    [Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical hit and obtaining one thousand primary crystals!  ]


    After this battle, David stood there and gained tens of thousands of crystals.   He couldn''t help but smile as he looked at Brian and Lily.   If it weren''t for them attracting so many zombies, he probably wouldn''t have obtained this much loot.   Meanwhile, the two of them could only awkwardly smile, trying to conceal their inner anger and disappointment.


    After clearing the battlefield, everyone returned to the bedroom.   "David, we were impulsive today.   We''re really sorry," Lily spoke up first.


    David simply smiled and looked at her.   "Just rest at home, Lily.   I''ll take Brian out."


    After saying that, he nced at Arnold and Sally again, gesturing for them to keep an eye on Lily.   They silently nodded.   Brian didn''t know what David had in mind, but to conceal their true identities and ns, Brian had no choice but to follow David outside.   The two of them walked in silence on the street, one in front of the other.


    The cold wind on the street howled in their ears.   When they reached a row of houses, David stopped and looked towards a corner, then spoke up, "Come out, hiding in the dark is not a good habit."


    Upon hearing David''s words, a figure in the darkness hesitated.   He had hidden in the farthest corner, relying on the concealed wall.   However, he didn''t anticipate that David had night vision goggles, allowing him to see everything clearly.


    Danny listened to David''s words and his face darkened.   He reluctantly held the back of his head with both hands and walked out.   "Can you see me?"   Danny said, ncing at the sses David was wearing.   He vividly remembered that thest time he saw David, he didn''t have these sses.   Could it be that his sses were the same as his brother''s, capable of...


    With these thoughts in mind, Danny took a few steps forward, appearing in the sight of both of them.   Brian became wary upon seeing him, but Danny simply nced at him casually and smiled, "Bringing someone along this time, huh?"


    David didn''t answer him but shifted his gaze to a convenience store.   The store''s doors and windows were intact, and even the entrance was locked, looking undamaged.   In this apocalyptic world, it was rare to see a shop in such good condition.


    "Hey, can you let me try on your sses?"   Danny approached David and asked.


    David hesitated for a moment.   Why did this person immediately fixate on his sses?   "No, you can''t," David directly refused.


    Danny showed a hint of disappointment and then asked, "That''s fine if you won''t give them to me.   Just tell me what your sses can do."   As he finished speaking, Danny''s eyes showed anticipation as he looked at David.

 Chapter 82 Theres Plenty To Eat

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    The function of sses?  David lifted his eyelids and nced at Danny, but he didn''t directly answer his question.  Instead, he looked at the window of a small shop and pushed his sses up on his nose.  With a calm expression, he said, "You''re thinking too much.  These are just ordinary sses."


    As David finished speaking, he shifted his gaze towards the small shop.  Danny heard his words but clearly didn''t want to believe them.  If what David said was true and these were just ordinary sses, then David must be nearsighted.


    With that in mind, Danny became even more curious about David''s sses.  He approached once again and whispered to David, "If you tell me the purpose of these sses, I''ll give you ten crystals.  How about that?"  Saying this, Danny touched the crystals in his pocket.


    David nced at him indifferently, then turned his head again.  Crystals?  He was indeedcking crystals, but what hecked were crystals with superhuman abilities.  He had as many of these basic crystals as he needed.  He didn''t know how many he had obtained during the time of the tenfold critical strike.


    David looked at the small shop, intending to go inside and take a look.  He started moving and walked to the entrance of the small shop.  "Crystals won''t do the trick.  Last time, I asked for some crystals, but I have to get them back."


    Watching David''s actions, Danny rubbed his head and murmured discontentedly, "If he won''t tell me, there will be a chance for me to find out."


    As he finished speaking, Danny walked forward and followed behind David.  David reached out and touched the lock on the door of the small shop.  The lock was fastened from the outside.  It was uncertain if there was anyone inside.


    David held the lock in his hand and looked at it for a couple of seconds.  However, Danny couldn''t wait any longer.  He stepped forward and took the lock from David''s hand.  Then he took out a small iron wire.  "It''s just unlocking a lock, such a simple thing..."  As Danny spoke, he manipted the wire, and with a clicking sound, the lock opened.


    The lock fell to the ground with a sound.  Looking at his masterpiece, Danny turned around proudly and said to David, "How about it?  I helped you once, so shouldn''t you tell me about your sses?"


    Upon hearing this, David gave him a disdainful look.  "I never asked for your help."  Immediately after, David cautiously pushed open the door of the small shop.


    Creak...  It''s unclear whether it was due to being closed for too long, but when the door was pushed open, it made a creepy sound.  Then, a gust of cold wind blew out.  David felt a shiver, and goosebumps appeared on his arms.  Brian hissed and rubbed his arms.


    Danny, who was following behind, had already positioned himself behind Brian.  He carefully looked inside, and the environment inside the small shop was intact, without any signs of zombie invasion.  The shelves were still filled with food, and on the counter, there was a person crawling.


    David furrowed his eyebrows slightly, turned around, and closed the door.  Such a good ce couldn''t be essed by zombies.  "Look for things and block the door."  David said to Brian in a calm tone.


    Brian nodded and in the darkness, he ced some heavy objects behind the door.   Meanwhile, David walked towards the counter.   He quietly approached the counter and looked at the person lying there.   He clenched his teeth and was about to reach out his hand when Danny walked over.


    Noticing Danny''s arrival, David quickly changed his mind and retracted his hand.   He turned his head and pointed at the person in front of the counter.


    Danny was taken aback for a moment and it took him some time to notice the figure on the counter.   "Someone?!" he eximed, covering his mouth in surprise.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Without waiting for David to answer, Danny reached out his hand towards the figure.   His fingers tapped the person''s arm.   No response on the first try, nor on the second.


    Danny and David looked at the person, specting whether they were dead.   Finally, after Danny poked once more and was about to give up, the person made a hesitant sound.


    "Uh..."   The person rubbed their eyes, partially opening them as they sat up straight.   "Who''s there?"   Perhaps due to not having spoken for a long time, their voice had be hoarse, making even talking quite difficult.


    When they saw the two people standing in front of them, they were initially confused, but their eyes lit up, and they excitedly got up from the counter.   They extended their hands, wanting to shake hands with David, but David evaded and instead, the person reached out and shook hands with Danny.   Danny looked at the man with confusion.


    "I''ve been trapped here for a while.   It''s too dangerous outside, and I can''t get out on my own.   Please, take me away from here.   I''m on the verge of copse in this confined space!"   The man''s gaze towards Danny grew increasingly excited, as if he had grasped a lifeline.


    Danny looked at the scattered trash on the ground and the man''s disheveled hair, suddenly understanding.   At the same time, he sensed the presence of superhuman abilities from the man.   He asked, "Are you an awakened superhuman?"


    As he spoke, he withdrew his hand from the man''s grasp with some disdain.   Upon hearing Danny''s question, David also looked at the man with curiosity.   As a superhuman, he was fully capable of killing zombies.   So why would he be hiding alone in this ce?


    However, David soon realized the reason.   The aura emitted by the man was extremely weak, indicating that he had recently awakened and had not yet grasped the intricacies of his superhuman abilities.


    Indeed, the man scratched his head and said, "I awakened my abilities unintentionally three days ago, but there was no one to guide me, and I don''t know how to use them.   I can only use some simple self-defense abilities for now."


    Danny nodded.   Looking around, he asked again, "Do you know what''s happening outside these past few days?"


    "Yes, I know.   I heard terrifying sounds at the doorst night, as well as cries for help from humans."


    David nced at the man.   He knew that those must have been scenes of zombies attacking humans.   "What''s your name?"   David asked calmly.


    The man hurriedly replied, "Duke."


    As the two of them chatted, David turned around and began to observe the environment inside the store.   It was a small family-owned shop, and there weren''t many supplies on the shelves.   Some food had already been opened and the packaging was discarded on the floor.   Several bottles of drinking water were already empty, indicating that it wouldn''t sustain the man for much longer.


    David couldn''t help but feel that this guy was somewhat lucky.  Being trapped here with food and drink was rtivelyfortablepared to other survivors.  At the same time, David noticed clear signs of the skylight on the roof being opened.  Presumably, the man couldn''t bear the oppression and wanted to escape through the skylight.  However, the level of danger outside eventually made him hesitate.  David nced once again at the slightly excited expression on the man''s face.

 Chapter 83 Duke

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    David didn''t know if he could trust this person''s words.   Perhaps he had been deceived by Brian and Lily too many times.   David now had doubts about anyone he looked at, questioning the authenticity of their words.


    Duke felt ufortable under David''s gaze.   After hesitating for a moment, he spoke up, "Bro...   you...   looking at me like this makes me uneasy."


    David responded with a faint "Hmm" and then shifted his gaze to the room door behind the counter.   He walked towards the door and stood in front of it after a few steps.


    Before he could open the door to go inside, Duke approached him, smiling, and said, "This is where I''ve been sleeping for over two months, so it''s a bit messy."


    Saying that, Duke personally opened the door for David.   Inside the room was filled with clutter.   However, in the middle of the mess, a small cleared space had been organized, big enough for one person to sleep.   In that space, there was only one pillow and a thick nket.


    "Damn apocalypse, damn zombies!   Once I fully master my abilities, I''ll definitely kill all these beasts!   Otherwise, I wouldn''t have been suffering here!"   Duke looked at the environment inside and instantly recalled the hardships he had endured during this period.   He vented his frustration.   But David treated his words as if they went in one ear and out the other.   His so-called heartless boss should have died a long time ago.   Where was the chance for him to seek revenge?


    David walked inside and inspected the boxes ced in the room.   When he opened them one by one, he discovered that they were all stocked goods from the convenience store!   On the floor, a box of trash was sitting in the corner.   The packaging of the garbage inside the boxes was identical to the food on the store shelves.


    Duke walked in and sighed.   "If it weren''t for the food and water here, I probably wouldn''t have survived.   Even so, I only eat one meal a day, barely making it this far."


    David still ignored his words.   Instead, Danny walked in and gave him a thumbs up.   "Brother, you''re the god of luck in this chaotic world!"


    "God of luck?   Chaotic world?"   Duke was confused.


    Then Danny reached out and ced his hand on Duke''s shoulder.   He led Duke to the side and began exining the outbreak of the zombies in detail.


    Meanwhile, David continued to explore the room, extending his hand and storing all the remaining supplies in his space.   Although the supplies were not abundant, they were still precious in the apocalypse.


    After a while, all the remaining supplies in the room had been stored in David''s space.   He turned his head and looked at Duke, who was shocked by Danny''s words, before leaving the room.   The stock in the room has been collected, and the shelves are next.  The supplies on the shelves are also not much, and they are some basic living supplies.


    David looked at the supplies with a flicker of thought.


    [Ding!   ]


    [Congrattions, you''ve obtained 10 rolls of toilet paper, critical hit multiplier in effect!   ]


    [Congrattions, you''ve obtained 1,000 rolls of toilet paper!   ]


    [You''ve obtained 20 candles, critical hit multiplier in effect!   ]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [Congrattions, you''ve obtained 2,000 candles!   ]


    [You''ve obtained 30 bars of soap, critical hit multiplier in effect!   ]


    [Congrattions, you''ve obtained 3,000 bars of soap!   ]


    Just as Duke was still immersed in panic and fear after listening to Danny''s words, he turned around and noticed that the room and the supplies on the shelves had suddenly disappeared.    Confusion appeared on his face.    What just happened?    In the blink of an eye, these things vanished into thin air.    He looked at David perplexed and asked, "What happened to these supplies?"


    David looked at him with a faint smile.    "Sorry, I took all these things."    The reason for doing so was that David wanted to test what kind of person this guy named Duke really was.


    Upon hearing David''s words, Duke''s expression immediately turned dark.    He had assumed that David and Danny would take him away from this cursed ce.    In that case, these supplies would have no use for him.    But now that they hadn''t mentioned anything about leaving, if he continued to stay here alone without supplies, how would he survive?


    "Then you need to give me an exnation."    Duke looked at David, his meaning implied.


    David understood his intention but didn''t answer directly.    Instead, he smiled slightly and said, "That''s thew of survival in the apocalypse.    You need to learn to adapt."


    At that moment, Danny walked over to David with a bitter smile and whispered, "This guy has his eyes on you now.    I tested him earlier, and there shouldn''t be any major issues."


    During their conversation, Danny had been observing Duke''s micro-expressions.    When he noticed that Duke had a look of surprise and confusion the whole time, Danny nodded subtly.


    "This is the real reaction of a normal person who has been trapped here for several days."    Danny was saying this when Duke clenched his teeth and pulled out a long sword from the shelf.    Holding the sword, he looked at David and said, "Either you take me out of here, or you return all my supplies!    Otherwise, I''ll fight you like a man, even if it costs me my life!"


    Hearing Duke''s words, David was slightly surprised.    He didn''t expect this guy to have such spirit.    Just then, they heard a chaotic shuffle of footsteps outside the door.    David frowned, knowing that the nearby zombies had been attracted by their presence. He coldly replied to Duke, "You overestimate your own strength.    In my eyes, you''re not even my match."


    As soon as he finished speaking, Duke didn''t hesitate and swung his sword towards David.    "Let''s see about that!"    Danny shook his head helplessly.    Just as the sword was about to strike, David raised his foot and kicked Duke hard in the abdomen, causing him to double over in pain, clutching his stomach on the ground.    "I told you, you''re not worthy."


    David looked at him, having already grasped a basic understanding of this guy.    When he kicked Duke, he could clearly feel that he had charged purely relying on brute force.    He hadn''t even activated his special abilities.    It seemed that he hadn''t fully grasped the mysteries of his powers, confirming David''s suspicions.


    "You guys...    are bullying me!"    Duke sat on the ground with a mournful face, throwing the sword aside.    He looked like a wronged little girl.


    "Heh, brother, this is the current state of the outside world.   You''re still considered lucky to have encountered us today.   If youe across others, forget about these supplies, your life would probably be in danger."   Danny spoke to Duke at the right moment.


    Upon hearing Danny''s words, Duke''s mood calmed down a bit.   At that moment, the footsteps of the zombies outside the door became clearer and clearer.   The group became cautious, afraid to make even the slightest noise.   However, David abruptly opened the door and immediately saw a horde of zombies preparing to surround them.   Each zombie bared its teeth, emitting a decaying odor that filled the air.   David turned around, his gaze filled with profound meaning, as he stared at Duke.

 Chapter 84 The "Beauty" That Descended From The Sky

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    David looked at Duke, who seemed frustrated but couldn''t quite get angry, and found it quite amusing.   As the zombies approached, he raised an eyebrow and said to Duke, "Zombies areing.   Aren''t you going up there?"


    With those words, David nced at the approaching zombies.   Nearly fifteen of them charged towards Duke upon seeing him.


    "Damn it!"  Duke cursed loudly and disdainfully raised his middle finger at David. , then wielding his long sword, he decapitated one zombie after another.   David crossed his arms and leaned calmly against the door.   Many zombies looked in their direction, and as they charged straight towards them, Brian stood before David, holding a long knife.


    Whenever a zombie approached, Brian swiftly struck, cleanly severing the zombies'' heads.   It was Duke''s first encounter with so many zombies, and his stamina quickly diminished.   Within a few minutes, he started panting heavily.   "Why are there so many of these damn zombies?"


    Duke''s strength finally gave out, and he leaned his sword against the ground, barely supporting his body.   He turned his head and met David''s smile.   His lips twitched.   Was this guy mocking him?   Anger surged within Duke, and he quickly regained hisposure.


    David, looking at Duke''s expression, sighed helplessly.   He lightly flicked several spatial des with his hand, swiftly stabbing towards the zombies around Duke!   The few zombies behind Duke, who had not been dealt with, were all eliminated by David''s spatial des.   When Duke turned to check, there were already several corpses lying at his feet.


    The surrounding zombies were quickly dealt with.   When Duke dealt with thest zombie, he was covered in zombie blood.   There were even pieces of decaying flesh hanging from Duke''s body.   He looked down at his dirty clothes and frowned.


    Duke raised his hand, shaking off the rotten flesh from his clothes in disgust.   He never expected that he would end up dealing with zombies and even be covered in the stench of decay.


    He looked towards David, about to speak, but David took a step forward, bypassed him, and walked towards the way back.   "Hey," Duke caught up and called out, following David''s side.   "What about my supplies?"


    Before he could finish his sentence, David calmly said, "If you haven''t killed enough yet, feel free to raise your voice a bit more!"


    Duke was stunned by his words.   Did he just kill those zombies in the store?   After a few seconds of daze, David had already walked away.   Duke looked over and instinctively wanted to shout.


    Remembering what David had said, he quickly covered his mouth.   Then, he hurriedly caught up, walking alongside David and whispered again, "My supplies...   Can you at least give me some back?   I can''t just watch myself starve to death here alone, right?"


    Hearing this, David nced at him and replied, "Your supplies?   Is this store yours?"


    Duke was taken aback.   This store wasn''t his.   He was just an employee, a humble worker who happened to take refuge here during the apocalypse.   He would probably have be a lifeless body in the apocalypse if not for finding shelter here.   But on the other hand, he hadn''t seen anyone in this store, so even if he imed it was his, no one would suspect.


    "It''s mine," Duke lied.


    David faintly smiled, "Since you''re the owner of the store, how could you not know that the skylight on the ceiling was welded shut and couldn''t be opened?   If you''re going to lie, at leaste up with a better reason."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Duke''s face darkened after hearing David''s words.      In the next second, he pointed his sword directly at David and said, "Just give me back my supplies, or else I''ll take action."


    At this moment, Duke was truly anxious.      If he was left alone in this ce, he had no idea how to survive.      He knew the value of life at this moment and how precious it was, something that everyone aspired to.


    David stopped and slowly turned around.      Duke''s sword was pressed against his throat, but there was no trace of fear on David''s face.      What would happen even if the sword was pressed against his throat?      As long as he died, all the things Duke had taken from him wouldn''t be able to return to their original ce.      That''s why Duke didn''t dare to harm him.


    David stared into his eyes and said, "You want to try it?"      As he spoke, David was about to take a step forward.      Duke watched his movement and panicked, instinctively taking a step back.      After all, he was just an ordinary citizen.      Where would he have ever killed someone with a knife?


    "Don''t you want to live?"      Duke scolded.      Just as he finished speaking, a loud noise came from a nearby building.


    Boom!      Following that, the floor-to-ceiling window upstairs suddenly shattered, and a figure fell straight down.      Coincidentally, the figurended exactly where David had been standing.


    David looked up and his mouth twitched.      He didn''t want to get involved.      Just as David raised his hand, Duke thought he was going to catch the falling person.      But in the next second, David opened a portal next to him and walked right into it.


    Huh?!      Duke was shocked as he watched David''s actions.      As the falling person got closer and closer, he gritted his teeth and reached out his hand.      Not far away, David emerged from the portal.      He silently watched as Duke reached out his hand, and he rubbed his temples with a headache.     Duke is like Arnold in character.


    And in the next moment, Duke''s hand stably caught the falling person.      The person seemed weightless as theynded in Duke''s hand.      Just as Duke was bewildered, the person in his hand suddenly turned their head and looked at him.


    The "person" in his hand revealed a wide smile, showing a set of big white teeth.      The corners of its mouth reached up to its eyes.      asionally, an unknown liquid dripped from its mouth, emitting a nauseating smell.


    "Oh my god!"      Duke''s face darkened, and he shouted loudly.      He quickly let go of the thing in his hand and took several steps back.      "How disgusting..."      There was still some of the liquid that the thing had vomited on his sleeve.      The liquid had a green color, resembling snot, which was extremely disgusting.


    Duke disgustedly took off his jacket, revealing a white vest underneath.      His figure was very good, and the vest outlined his entire body in an attractive way.      Danny stood next to David and admired Duke''s physique.


    Meanwhile, David had his hands in his pockets and his gaze fixed on the zombie.      The zombie''s appearance resembled that of a young girl with long hair covering her face.      The wind asionally blew her hair, revealing the horrifying look underneath.


    The zombie''s body was bent like a spider, with all four limbs supporting it on the ground, as it stared intently at Duke''s movements.


    At the same time, from the decaying odor emanating from it, David faintly detected a hint of disinfectant smell, which puzzled him.      Could it be that this creature had escaped from a previousboratory experiment?

 Chapter 85 Make The Most Of Every Persons Abilitie

    Thebination of zombies and animals.  How is that possible?  Just as David was distracted, the zombie quickly charged towards Duke!  At that moment, Duke, who already had the previous sword in his hand, fiercely stared at the approaching zombie.  "I thought it was a person, turns out it''s a zombie!"  Duke said angrily.


    "My coat is expensive!" he scolded, waving his sword and actively thrusting it towards the zombie.  Just as the sword was about to pierce the zombie''s body, the zombie suddenly leaped!  The entire figure of the zombie jumped onto Duke''s head, and that wasn''t all!


    The next second, from the zombie''s mouth, it actually spewed out spider silk!  The spider silk spread towards the surrounding buildings, quickly forming arge web above Duke''s head.  Duke looked up and his pupils widened in shock.  "How is this different from the previous zombie?  How can this zombie also spit out silk?"


    Just as Duke sensed that something was terribly wrong, David gave Brian a signal with his eyes.  Brian nodded, holding a long knife, and in the next second, he disappeared from his original position.  When he reappeared, Brian had already cut off the silk on Duke''s head with his sword!  The surface of his sword was covered in densely packed white threads.  With the destruction of the web, the zombie lost its bnce and fell directly from the silk.


    "Roar!"  It angrily roared at Brian as if reproaching him for destroying the web it had just woven.  Spider webs are a spider''s home.  Brian''s actions were equivalent to destroying its home.  With the zombie''s roar, its eyes turned bloodshot, and it slowly stood up.  Its entire body was covered in silver-colored fuzz.  With a closer look, it looked even more like a spider.  The zombie made a move and quickly charged towards Brian.


    Seeing this, Duke shouted, "Brother, I''ll help you!"  With that said, he held his sword and rushed towards the zombie.


    David stood not far away, frowning as he watched the fight between the zombie and Brian, as well as Duke.  This was thebination of a spider and a zombie.  If Little ck were here, as long as it could spray a little on the zombie, the zombie would instantly be burned to death.  Why go through all this trouble now?


    "Aren''t you going to help?"  Danny, who had somehow taken out a lollipop and was sucking on it, supported the back of his head with both hands as he watched the fight in front of him.


    David nced at him and asked, "Do you guys take turns to watch and follow me every day?  Is that fun?"  Just as he finished speaking, Danny hurriedly exined, "We''re just concerned about you.  If you''re in any danger, we can help you immediately, right?"  Hearing this, a slight smile appeared at the corner of David''s mouth.


    Danny looked at his smile and felt a chill.  "Why...  why are you smiling?" he asked.


    David replied, "I''m in trouble right now.  Are you going to help me or not?"


    Oh no, Danny''s face turned dark.  If only his words had a retract function, he would definitely take back what he just said.  Didn''t he just dig a hole for himself?  "You''re not in danger at the moment," he said, looking away and slowly moving his feet.


    David chuckled.  "Isn''t it right in front?" he said, then pushed Danny forward into the open space gate.  Immediately after, another space gate appeared in front of the zombie!


    "Bastard!"  Danny eximed as he narrowly dodged the web that was spat towards his face.  The three of them quickly engaged inbat with the zombie.  Meanwhile, David took out a pack of sunflower seeds from the pocket dimension, stood aside, and enjoyed the fight.  Munching on the seeds, he watched the battle unfold.  What a delightful spectator experience...


    Inside the room, Arnold was lying on the bed with Sophie.  Their clothes were partially removed when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.  "I''ll go check," Arnold said, looking at Sophie''s flushed cheeks.  He hastily put his clothes back on and walked out.


    Sophie sat up, dissatisfied, and began to put her clothes back on.  As she approached the door, Arnold cautiously opened it.  To his surprise, it was Lily who hade looking for them.  Lily stood outside the door, peering in.  She didn''t see Brian''s presence.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "What do you want?"  Arnold asked.


    Just as he was about to let Lily in, David''s warning fromst time shed through Arnold''s mind.  It immediately made him change his mind, and his expression turned colder.


    "Arnold, have you seen Brian?  I can''t find him," Lily furrowed her brows and asked.


    "Brian?"  Arnold pondered for a moment, then shook his head coldly.  "I haven''t seen him.  It''s dangerous outside.  You should go back quickly."  With that, Arnold was about to close the door.


    However, Lily took a step forward.  Seeing that the door was about to m into Lily, Arnold quickly opened it again.  "Arnold, I''m alone in the room, and I don''t have any means to protect myself.  Can I... e in?"


    As Lily said those words, Sophie happened toe out of the room.  Sophie paused for a moment and met Lily''s gaze.  Seeing Sophie, Lily walked in, smiling as she took hold of Sophie''s arm.  "Sophie, I want to eat what you cooked."


    Remembering what happenedst time, Sophie''s face remained expressionless as she responded, "Weren''t you looking for your boyfriend?  Why do you suddenly want to eat?"


    Hearing this, Lily hesitated for a moment, then replied with a smile, "Yes, but he should be fine."  She then ced her hand on her stomach and looked at Sophie with a pitiful expression.


    "But, Sophie, I''m really hungry," Lily said.  Arnold red at her, then turned to look at Sophie, who furrowed her brows and deliberately kept her distance.


    Since the incident with the previous zombie, both Sophie and Arnold had be more cautious of Brian and Lily.  Unexpectedly, this time Lily hade to them voluntarily, and she seemed particrly enthusiastic.  After a brief thought, Sophie reluctantly agreed.


    "Fine, I''ll make something for you," Sophie said, giving Lily a meaningful smile.  She then turned and walked into the kitchen.  Lily smiled at her and then turned to look at Arnold.


    Biting her lip and appearing hesitant, Lily walked up to Arnold.  "Arnold, thank you for letting me in."


    Looking at Lily, Arnold felt like she was different from the Lily he had just met, yet still the same.  As Lily took another step forward, Arnold bypassed her and said, "No need to thank me.  Just keep your distance."


    Before Lily could respond, Arnold spoke first, "I''ll go help my wife.  Don''t wander around.  Just sit on the sofa and wait."  With that, Arnold nced at her and walked towards the kitchen.


    As Arnold walked inside, Lily closed her slightly opened mouth and her expression changedpletely.

 Chapter 86 Sit In A Chair And Watch The Battle

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    Lily sat down on the sofa, her gaze fixed on the kitchen door.      Inside the kitchen, Sophie was making noodles when she heard Arnold''s voice behind her.      "Let me do it."


    Arnold walked up to Sophie, reaching out to take the kitchen utensils from her.      Looking at Arnold''s figure, Sophie asked in confusion, "why did youe in?"


    Arnold put the chopped green onions into the pot as he replied to Sophie''s question, "It''s not safe outside."


    Ever since David mentioned it, that girl Lily''s gaze had changed, and just now, it felt like she was flirting with him.      If he stayed outside for a few more minutes, who knows what that girl might do.      Arnold sighed at the thought.      Sophie observed Arnold''s expression and approached him, leaning closer to his ear, she whispered, "Husband, that Lily girl really seems to have some issues.   she was so affectionate with her boyfriend, One minute she was worried about finding him, but the next she turned to me and said she wanted to eat my noodles."


    Arnold turned his head, about to say something, but his eyes caught a glimpse of a figure standing outside the door.      His heart skipped a beat, and calmly, he gently tugged at Sophie''s sleeve, signaling her to look outside.      Sophie looked puzzled, but when she saw the figure outside the door, she was almost scared.


    "Wife, you should continue cooking.      Lily wants to eat what you make," Arnold said, giving Sophie his ce.


    Sophie nodded and took over the role of the chef.


    Meanwhile, Lily stood outside the kitchen, listening for only a few seconds.      She was unaware that someone inside could see her.      After not hearing any useful information, she turned and left the kitchen door.


    Boom!      David, munching on his sunflower seeds, watched as the zombie caught Brian''s fleeting trace and punched him, sending Brian flying into the nearby wall.      The impact created a deep dent in the wall.      This guy really doesn''t know how to adapt.      David sighed while tossing the sunflower seed shells into the trash bin he had brought out.      Danny, who was fighting the zombie, noticed David''s leisurely demeanor and the fact that he had a chair to sit on.      Why was David so rxed?      Just as Danny nced at David, the zombie in front of him quickly charged, and Danny quickly dodged the attack.


    "Damn it!"      Frustrated with his torn clothes, Danny furrowed his brow.      He looked at the zombie and silently took out a crystal from his pocket, swallowing it directly.


    In the next moment, when he moved again, his speed was several times faster than an ordinary person''s!      David watched Danny''s actions and raised an eyebrow.      Not bad, that speed is impressive.      Then he saw Danny already behind the zombie''s neck.


    Danny pulled out a knife and held it against the zombie''s neck, his lips moved slightly.      The next second, the zombie''s head rolled off and fell to the ground.


    David stood up from his chair and watched as Danny was about to extract the crystal from the zombie''s head.      He opened a spatial portal and walked in.      Immediately, he appeared beside Danny.


    David reached out his hand and took the crystal first as Danny was focused on cutting open the zombie''s forehead.   Danny''s smile froze when he saw the crystal being taken suddenly.   He turned to look at David''s previous position and then spoke to David beside him.


    "I dealt with this zombie, give me back the crystal," Danny said, extending his hand towards David.   However, David silently stored the crystal in his spatial storage.


    [You obtained a mid-level crystal, Critical Hit x100 in effect!  ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained 100 mid-level crystals!  ]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [Attribute: Spider Mutation!  ]


    David smiled satisfactorily at the Spider Mutation attribute.   However, Danny was highly displeased with that smile.   Before Danny could finish his sentence, David cut in, "Weren''t you protecting me just now?"


    "Protecting you?"   Danny was taken aback.   It was true that he had said that before.   But what did that have to do with the crystal?   David continued, "Since you were protecting me, the crystal should rightfully be handed over to me."   Hearing this, Danny was left dumbfounded.   Damn, he fell for it!


    David looked at Danny''s darkening expression, smiled, and then took out a low-level crystal, handing it to Danny.   "Consider this protection fee."


    Exchanging a mid-level crystal for a low-level one?   Danny twitched his lips.   Seeing Danny''s disdainful look, David frowned.   "Fine, I''ll take it back."   He was about to retrieve the low-level crystal.


    Danny quickly reached out his hand and took the crystal from David.   "I never said I didn''t want it."   A low-level crystal was better than nothing.   Danny sighed helplessly as he held the low-level crystal in his hand.


    "Hey, food!"   Duke walked over with an annoyed expression.   He had just lost a jacket, and now, if he couldn''t retrieve his food, how would he survive in this apocalyptic world?


    To his surprise, David just nced at him and said, "Food?  How much are you gonna pay for it?"


    Duke furrowed his brow and said, "Give me back everything that was in the store just now."


    Hearing this, David rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment.   "Well, the price might be quite high."


    "Price?!"   Duke was shocked.   "It wasn''t yours to begin with.   How dare you talk about the price with me?"


    David smiled lightly.   "Well, it wasn''t yours either, but once it''s in my possession, it naturally bes mine, right?"


    With those words, David looked at Duke hesitatingly.   He had his hands in his pockets and added, "However, I see that you don''t have any money right now.   I can give you a way to have a ce to live and food to eat.   How about that?"


    A ce to live and food to eat.   Duke looked at this cunning person in front of him.   Could he really offer such good conditions?   Duke looked at David with a mixture of belief and doubt and asked, "What are the conditions?"


    David looked at Duke and smiled.   This was the time when he needed manpower.   Lily and Brian were already in an untrustworthy stage, and Brian hade out today to make him believe in him.

 Chapter 87 Be Part Of A Team

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    As for what Brian and Lily were thinking, David didn''t know.   But as long as their actions were harmful to his team, he would eliminate them without hesitation.


    With these thoughts in mind, David looked at Duke.   In his eyes, Duke was like a newborn baby, just beginning to understand and navigate this world.   It wouldn''t be difficult to bring someone like him under his wing.   David''s lips curled slightly as he said, "Work for me."


    Duke was stunned, wondering what this meant.   He was about to say something when David preempted him, adding, "Of course, if you''re not willing, I suggest you go feed the zombies right now."


    Those words hit Duke, and his face turned dark.   "I can survive without these supplies!" he wanted to say.   He believed he could still make it.   However, as he looked around the surrounding buildings, he trembled.   After the recent battle, he had somewhat understood the power of the zombies.   When he peered into the buildings, he swallowed hard.   Smoke filled the air, and only a flickering streetmp illuminated the scene.   Inside the buildings, numerous eyes were fixed on the four of them, as if watching prey, waiting for the right moment to strike.   These eyes were both high and low.


    Duke turned in a circle and realized that he had weapons, which allowed him to fight against the zombies.   However, even the lowest-level zombies, if there were enough of them, would eventually overwhelm him.   He would surely die here.


    "Have you made up your mind?"   David said, and with a thought, a vehicle was summoned from his storage space, appearing before them.


    "A car?!"   Duke eximed.   Seeing this, Danny and Brian had already gotten into the car.   Based on their previous experience, Danny knew that when David brought out a car, it meant they were going to escape.


    David looked at Duke without responding.   He simply nced at the time, waiting for Duke''s answer.   As soon as the car appeared, the surrounding zombies began to stir, as if they were about to charge out.


    If Duke didn''t provide an answer within three seconds, David would get in the car and leave, and countless zombies would flood out.   Duke would undoubtedly be one of them.   Watching the seconds tick on his watch, David silently counted down in his mind, "3, 2, 1..."


    At the moment he reached "1" in his mind,Duke wavered.   "Fine," he said through gritted teeth, clenching his fist.   In the end, hepromised.   David nodded, turned around, and quickly got into the car.


    "Roar!"   As soon as David jumped into the car, hordes of zombies surged forward!   Countless zombies, young and old, even those as young as toddlers, charged out.   David shouted at Duke, "Stop standing there!   Get in the car!"


    With that, David swiftly started the car, its engine roaring.   At the moment the car began to move, Duke grabbed onto it and jumped on.   He held onto the exterior of the vehicle, with a zombie''s hand tightly grabbing his clothes.   "Damn it, my clothes were just ruined earlier.   They can''t be ruined again!"   If they were ruined, he would have nothing left to wear!


    Duke picked up his sword and decisively chopped off the zombie''s hand that had grabbed his clothes!   But in an instant, before he could get inside the car, more and more zombies rushed forward, grabbing onto his clothes once again.


    "Darn it!    Is there no end to this?"    Duke gritted his teeth and directly took off his shirt.    "Here, take it all if you want!"    The zombies grabbed at his clothes, losing their bnce and falling backwards.    Seizing the opportunity, Duke didn''t hesitate and quickly got into the car.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Bang!    He swiftly closed the door.    Thud.    An arm of a zombie fell into the car.    "So persistent."    Duke shivered, clutching his arm, and disdainfully nced at the arm on the floor.    David, sitting in the driver''s seat, looked at him through the rearview mirror before focusing on driving.


    David quickly stepped on the elerator, and within an hour, they were back downstairs.    After getting out of the car, David used his mind to retrieve the car and store it in the space.


    Rubbing his arm, Duke looked up at the building in front of him.    "This is..."    Before he could finish his sentence, David and the others had already started walking towards the building.    Duke quickly moved and followed them.


    When David reached Arnold''s room door, he remembered something and turned to look at Danny.    "Why are you following me?"


    Danny smiled, hands in his pockets.    "I''m just here to protect you, aren''t I?"


    Suspicious, David muttered to himself, "You shouldn''te in, just leave quickly."    With that said, he knocked on the door.    "It''s me."


    Footsteps could be heard from inside, and soon Arnold opened the door.    "David!"    Arnold''s eyes lit up, and when he turned his head, he noticed Danny following behind David, as well as Duke with his bare arms.


    "Come in," David said calmly.    Duke quickly moved and was the first to enter.    Brian followed closely behind.    Just as Danny was about to go in, David stepped in before him, and without hesitation, he closed the door.


    Danny looked at the closed door in front of him and chuckled helplessly.    "Quite vignt."    He sighed and turned to leave.    Just as he turned around, his pocket buzzed.    He took out his phone and impatiently answered the call from Monica.  "Monica, what''s up?"


    "Is it done?"    Monica coldly asked.    There was a zombie''s roar from the other end of the phone, but it abruptly stopped after just two seconds.


    As Danny spoke, he walked forward.    "It''s done, but it failed."


    Inside the room, when Lily heard themotion, she put down her chopsticks and looked up.    However, her first nce wasn''t at Brian but was drawn to the shirtless Duke.    Duke was clearly someone who exercised regrly.    Whether it was his chest muscles or his abs, there was no b on his body.    Such a physique would make any girl marvel at its perfection.


    Lily swallowed nervously.    She was captivated by the sight, even David didn''t notice the way she was observing.    After two seconds, she snapped out of it.    Instead, she stood up and walked towards Brian, linking her arm with his, and scolded, "You, where did you go today?    I woke up and couldn''t find you anywhere."

 Chapter 88 Exposure

    ?


    Lily appeared to be holding Brian''s arm, but her gaze secretly nced at Duke beside them.     On the other hand, Duke couldn''t help but get goosebumps when he identally made eye contact with Lily.     It didn''t feel good to be stared at while not wearing a shirt.     He then looked at David and said, "About that..."


    Before he could finish his sentence, David sat on a nearby chair and asked Brian, "When you came out, didn''t you say anything to your girlfriend?"     David intentionally emphasized the words "your girlfriend" to remind Lily that she was Brian''s girlfriend.


    As expected, when Lily heard these words, her face immediately darkened.     She instinctively lowered her head and hurriedly exined, "Oh...     I remembered now.     Brian did tell me before, I just forgot..."     Her words made Brian swallow the words that were on the tip of his tongue.


    "Is that so?"     David looked at Brian, whose expression had changed, and nodded.     At that moment, the atmosphere in the room froze for a moment.     David spoke first, "Well...     Since back, you take your girlfriend and rest."


    Lily looked up at David and hurriedly said, "David, I have something I want to ask you."     As she spoke, she started walking forward.     And as she walked, she purposely leaned towards Duke''s position, with impure intentions.


    David stood up, and just as Lily pretended to twist her ankle, he positioned himself directly in front of Duke.     Lily nced over and quickly straightened up.     She twisted her foot forcefully, feeling a sharp pain in her ankle.


    Lily cried out in pain and fell to the ground.     "Ouch!"     Lilyy on the ground, frowning as she touched her ankle.


    "Lily, are you okay?"     Brian quickly approached and helped her up.     David exchanged a nce with Arnold, and Arnold went to the door, cautiously looking outside through the crack.


    "Shh."     Arnold raised his index finger to his lips.     The people in the room saw Arnold''s gesture and closed their mouths, quieting down.     Through the peephole, he saw zombies gathering outside.     Although most zombies had poor eyesight, their hearing was extremely sensitive.


    "Groan, groan..."     The zombies wandered aimlessly, asionally twisting their heads.     When they looked in this direction, Arnold quickly crouched down to prevent the zombies from seeing his eyes through the peephole.


    Lily covered her ankle, cold sweat slowly trickling down her forehead.     She looked up and nced at David, unable to help but snort.     Just because of that snort, the silence that was about to prevail outside the room disappeared.


    The next moment, a sudden noise erupted.     Bang!     Arnold''s back hit the door, and with the sound, he felt a push from behind.     Something was pounding on the door from the outside!     Bang!     Three consecutive knocks on the door made everyone inside the room nervous.


    David remained calm, sitting in the chair, his gaze constantly observing Lily''s facial expression.     When Lily looked at him, he found it amusing how her face alternated between blushing and darkening.     This girl was still very young.     The outside of the door quieted down, and Arnold rxed the tension he was bearing against the door.     However, he didn''t leave the door.     He continued to lean against it, afraid that the zombies might surprise them.     If the zombies invaded the room, it would be rendered useless.


    Lily looked at Arnold leaning against the door, hesitated for a moment, and her eyes flickered.      Just as she was about to say something, David''s hand moved slightly and whoosh, a spatial de firmly pressed against her throat.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Gurgle.      Lily looked at her throat, nervously swallowed a mouthful of saliva.      She turned her head and met David''s gaze.    David supported his chin with one hand and held the spatial de with the other.


    If Lily dared to make any more noise at this moment, David would not hesitate to eliminate her!      Lilyy in Brian''s arms, and he lowered his gaze to see David''s spatial de.      Lily''s hand tightly tugged at Brian''s clothes.   Brian looked on calmly, without any reaction.


    Damn it!      Lily clenched her teeth tightly, and in an instant, she openly showed her anger in front of David.      Outside the room, a zombie leaned against the door, its head conveniently avoiding the peephole.      It sniffed in confusion, then raised its hand and tapped the door in front of it.      When there was no response, it stood up and left.


    At night, Brian and Lily had just returned to their room when Lily raised her resentful gaze and stared at Brian.      "What''s wrong?"      Brian asked.


    "Why didn''t you help me when you just stood there?"      Lily''s words carried a hint of anger.      She didn''t expect David to hold the spatial de against her in front of Brian.      In that moment, she felt the proximity of death.      What made her even angrier was that Brian didn''t say a word throughout the whole incident.      He just stood there, letting David manipte him.      If this got out, how could she, Lily, face others?


    Looking at Lily''s anger, Brian smiled faintly, reached out and rubbed her head, and exined softly, "If both of us were exposed, we wouldn''t gain any advantage in front of David, no matter what.      In that case, forget about resources, even our lives would be in danger.      I was trying to create an illusion for David, to make him rx his guard against me.      This way, I can always find an opportunity."


    Listening to Brian''s exnation, Lily fell silent for a moment, then nodded.      She admitted that Brian''s words made sense.      If they both revealed their true identities in front of David, it was highly likely that they would bepletely wiped out.      They had been undercover until today, and they had to ensure that at least one person could continue the mission.


    "That David is so despicable!"      Lily paused and rubbed her arm, speaking fiercely.


    Brian smiled again.      "David may be arrogant, but soon those arrogance will be ours."


    Now that he knew David suspected them both, Brian wasn''t worried.      He knew he still had an ace up his sleeve, and that was Sally.


    Lily was well aware of David and Sally''s rtionship, even though Sally was a level three lightning-based esper.      As long as she used some strategies, she could easily manipte Sally.


    Deception was an essential tactic in Brian''s mind, and he had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. Unfortunately, he hadn''t used them in the right ce.      But before using that strategy again, Brian nned to present David with a new game.

 Chapter 89 Did Nothing

    ?


    This game is very simple, it''s about domestic violence.  He ns to regain David''s trust once again through Lily, even though he knows David is full of suspicion towards them.  But what if the two of them join forces to stage a tragic y?


    Brian shared his ideas with Lily and assured her that he wouldn''t be too harsh if they started acting.  However, as soon as Lily thought about David''s abundant resources, she nodded.  She was willing to do anything to get hold of those supplies.


    ncing at the time, Brian knew he shouldn''t waste any more time.  This time, he focused his target on the neer, Duke.  To make the act more convincing, they intentionally created some noise in the room.  Lily even shed a few tears.  Once all of that was done, it waste at night.


    Opening the door and walking into the hallway, Brian quietly approached Duke''s room.  When he heard only faint snoring inside, a smirk appeared on his face.  He then took out a wire and skillfully inserted it into the lock.  At the same time, he ced a towel on the doorknob to prevent any noise when opening the door and startling Duke.  After the door was unlocked, Brian signaled Lily, who sighed and stealthily entered Duke''s room.


    The night passed quickly, and the next morning, Brian woke up early, knowing that a good show was about to begin.  He walked into the bedroom, drank a ss of water, and finished it in one gulp.  At the same time, he heard a few knocks on the door from outside.  He smiled, set down the ss, and walked towards the door.  Without hesitation, he opened it because he knew it was Lily knocking.


    Indeed, when Brian opened the door, he saw Lily in disarray.  Her eyes were red from crying, and her face appeared swollen, evoking a sense of pity.  All of this had been prearranged by Brian.  Satisfied, he nodded and led Lily towards Arnold''s room.


    "What''s going on?"  David, who was called by Brian to Arnold''s room, sat on a chair, watching Lily faintly weeping on the sofa, and asked.


    Inside the room, Duke looked bewildered, observing this scene.  Lily sniffled, turned to Duke, and tremblingly said, "I...  I just...  entered the wrong room."


    "He...  he..."  Before Lily could finish her sentence, everyone''s gaze shifted towards Duke.


    Duke hurriedly exined, "No, when I woke up, she was already on my bed, and..."  He didn''t finish the rest of his sentence.


    Last night, Duke noticed that David had ced a bottle of cocktail in his food.  For Duke, it was like a regr beverage that wouldn''t make him drunk.  He had only consumed two bottles before falling asleep.  But when he woke up the next day, he found someone else in his bed!  That person was Lily, and she waspletely naked.  What surprised him even more was that when Lily came inst night, he didn''t feel a thing!


    Just as Lily was about to move, he swiftly covered her body with the nket and immediately jumped out of bed.  Even more shocking was the fact that he was left with only his underwear!  He hadn''t taken off his clothesst night!  Just as he was feeling that something had distorted his perception, Lily woke up.  After Lily woke up and tearfully said a few words to him, she ran out before he could ask any further questions.


    Instead, he was called out by David, leading to the current situation.     Duke pinched his brow and met David''s gaze.     "Brother, I really didn''t do this."


    "  My underwear is still on, and if something like that were to happen, clothes would need toe off...     I''m not that kind of person."


    David stared at Duke''s expression.     At this moment, he believed Duke even more.     As for Lily...     a thought about Lily''s intentions from yesterday shed through his mind.


    Then, David stood up, walked over to Duke, and put his arm around his shoulder, leading him to the side.     "Did you really not..."     He didn''t finish his sentence before Duke exined, "I really didn''t do it."


    David smiled helplessly and said, "I was asking if you really didn''t hear here in."


    Duke hesitated for a moment and shook his head.     "No, I didn''t hear a single sound!"


    David lowered his gaze, pondered for a moment, and patted Duke''s shoulder.     "I understand."


    Turning around, David nced at Lily and said calmly, "You can go back now."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Lily tightly grasped her clothes and gritted her teeth, ring at David.     When David met Lily''s gaze, he couldn''t help but smile.     Then, he walked over with his hands in his pockets and leaned down, looking at Lily.


    Lily imed that Duke hadid hands on her, but there were no visible scratches on her body.     Regardless, wouldn''t Lily resist?     David stared at Lily''s corbone for a few seconds, and Lily hurriedly tugged at her clothes to cover her corbone.


    "David...     What are you looking at?"     Lily said nervously.


    David straightened up and said, "These little tricks might work on others, But for me, you should give up.     Brian, take her back."


    If it weren''t for the fact that Lily was a healing-type person, David wouldn''t have let her stay until now.     Lily hesitated for a moment, then looked at Brian, who reacted in the same way.     He didn''t expect his wless and secret n to be discovered by David so quickly.     Helplessly, he could only pretend to be angry, red at Duke, and left with Lily.


    "David, is this really the right thing to do?"     Duke walked over and asked.     David sat down, rubbing his finger joints.


    "She deserves the consequences," David said with a smile.


    "Ah," Duke sighed and casually sat down next to David.     "Am I too young?     These young girls are much more scheming than me."     As he finished speaking, he turned his head and looked at the others who were staring at him.     "What I said is all true."


    David smiled, stood up, and without saying a word, returned to his own room.     Duke stayed at Arnold''s ce and started chatting with Arnold.


    At night, David suddenly opened his eyes upon hearing a sound.  The sound came from upstairs.  There shouldn''t be anyone upstairs!


    "David...  What was that sound just now?"  Sally opened her eyes, rubbed her eyes, and sat up straight.  Seeing David sitting there without answering her, just as she was about to speak again, David grabbed her hand.  At the same time, thumping sounds came from upstairs once again, followed by the sound of things falling.


    No, there clearly was someone upstairs.  David became tense.  He let go of Sally''s hand, uncovered the sheets, and summoned his armor, preparing to go upstairs and see what was happening.


    "David."  Sally grabbed his hand and furrowed her brows.


    David turned his head, caressed Sally''s head, released her hand, and held it in his own palm.  "Wait for me here, okay?  I''ll be right back."


    Before Sally could reply, David walked out of the room, grabbing Little ck who was sleeping and heading outside.  As soon as David left, themotion upstairs became even more frequent.


    Sally''s body tingled, and she tightly covered herself with the sheets.  "Meow."  C jumped onto the bed, stepping on the sheets and slowly walked up to Sally''s side.  It nced at Sally, then turned around andy down next to her.  Looking at C, Sally gently stroked it, as if telling C not to be afraid because she was there.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll protect you no matter what happens."  Saying that, Sally hugged C in her arms.


    After David walked outside, Little ck opened its eyes drowsily, realizing that it was being carried by David, and made a mumbling sound.  It seemed like aint, yet also a sign of happiness.  Seeing Little ck wake up, David gently put it down.


    David held an alloy battle sword in his hand and made his way to the upstairs room.  As soon as he reached the room, a scream came from inside."Ah!"  David listened to the sound and furrowed his brow.

 Chapter 90 One Punch Can Take Down Three Guys Like You

    ?


    "Ah!              Get lost!"              Just as David was contemting, screams echoed once again inside the room.              Shortly after, low growls could be heard from the staircase.              The zombies had arrived.


    "Little ck."              David crouched next to Little ck, patting the dog''s behind, and pointed towards the staircase.              "I''ll leave these things to you."


    With that said, Little ck barked and slowly made his way towards the staircase.              As Little ck reached the stairs,  stared at the approaching zombies and unleashed a mouthful of mes without hesitation!              Meanwhile, David leaned against the door, holding a steel battle sword in his hand.              He swung the sword while listening to themotion inside the room.


    Soon, Lily''s voice seemed to be muffled, followed by the sound of something being thrown to the ground.              After a while, cries could be hearding from the room.              asionally, a few zombies would climb in through the balcony.              However, they were all low-level zombies, and David quickly dealt with them using his spatial de.


    Half an hourter, click.              Just as David finished dealing with a zombie, the door behind him suddenly opened.              Brian walked out from inside, and his peripheral vision caught sight of David, causing him to chuckle lightly.              But quickly, he concealed the smile and reced it with a cold sense of anger.


    He turned to look at David, preparing to say something.              "David..."              Before he could finish his sentence, David''s gaze shifted past him, towards the room.              The room was in chaos, with everything that was once neatly arranged now scattered on the floor.              Various random itemsy strewn about.              The only figure was bound tightly with ropes, sitting on the ground.       Her mouth was stuffed with a cloth.


    Lily''s hair was a tangled mess, and there were even bruises on her body, giving her a disheveled appearance.              She turned her head and saw David''s figure.              "Whimper!"              Her eyes brightened, and she crawled towards the door with great difficulty.


    David shifted his gaze,nding on Brian.              He calmly said, "Take care of this."             With that, David turned around and left.


    "Ugh!"              Lily, seeing David leave, struggled to stand up.              She took a step forward, but her legs gave way, and she fell to the ground again.              Watching David walk away, Brian hurried over to support Lily, who was in pain.


    "Why hasn''t this trick worked?"              Lily said with a cold expression.              To make David believe, she even inflicted a few wounds on herself.              She thought that would make David truly believe her.              But she never expected him to be so heartless and have Brian Take care of this.


    "He truly is an unforgivable guy!"              Brian also looked helpless.              This time, they had endured all the suffering for nothing.


    Click.              David returned, locking the door.              "David, what happened upstairs?"              Sally looked at David cautiously and asked.


    David lifted a corner of the nket andy down.              Before he closed his eyes, he noticed the c lying on the bedside table and reached out to embrace Sally.              With one hand gently patting Sally''s back and the other stroking her head, he whispered, "It''s nothing, just two cats ying upstairs and attracting the zombies."


    Listening to David''s words, Sally half-believed.              She murmured in agreement and closed her eyes in the soothing luby of David''s voice.              At the same time, images of what had just transpired between them reyed in his mind.              He couldn''t help but feel sorry for them.              They had schemed and plotted tirelessly, but in the end, it was all in vain,They brought it all on themselves.


    David has never regarded people like Brian and Lily highly.              In his eyes, they are merely two clownish figures.              The reason David kept them around was to see what other tricks they had up their sleeves.              Perhaps they would continue concocting melodramatic schemes and acts of self-sacrifice.              That would be quite entertaining for David.              After a faint smile appeared on his face, David began to fall asleep.


    The next day, as David was about to leave with Duke, they passed by Arnold''s room, and David heard a faint voiceing from inside.              Despite being quiet, David''s hearing abilities surpassed that of an average person.


    "only need one today?"         Arnold was taken aback but still handed Brian a portion of food.              Although he had retired from the military, he could still detect a faint smell of blood from Brian.


    "Thank you," Brian said, expressing his gratitude, and left the room with the food.              By the time he stepped out of the door, David and Duke had already left.              If he looked down the hallway now, he could still see David and Duke, with Little ck following behind them.


    "Bro, is this the dog you raised?              Why is it so big?"              Duke looked at Little ck, raising a question.              He had seenrge breeds of dogs in his life, but David''s dog seemed mutated or something.


    Before David could answer, a zombie lunged towards Duke.              "Roar!"              The zombie opened its gaping mouth, ready to bite Duke.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "You¡ª" Duke was about to thrust his long sword forward ,Suddenly a me of fire went faster than the sword, turning the zombie in front of him into ashes!


    "What the hell?"              Duke looked at Little ck in astonishment.              "No way, this dog is so powerful?"              This me actually incinerated the zombie, leaving only crystallized remains!


    Duke was excited, his eyes shining as he observed Little ck up and down.              Meanwhile, Little ck, under his scrutiny, wore a proud expression on his dog face.


    Watching the interaction between Duke and Little ck, David shook his head helplessly.              He picked up the crystallized remains and stored them in his spatial storage.


    [You obtained a primary crystal, critical hit multiplier in effect!             ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained one hundred primary crystals!             ]


    [Attributes: None!             ]


    A faint smile appeared on David''s face, but the next moment, the sound of the system notification rang out again.


    [Ding!      ]


    [Quest: Store Crystals!             ]


    [There is one month left until the first major zombie outbreak.              Please collect mutated crystals and form your own team during this remaining time.              All resources you store during this period will receive a hundredfold critical hit multiplier.              Time remaining for the quest: 10 days, 10 hours, 5 minutes.]


    Ten days, David frowned.      Time passed quickly, and the original twenty-nine days had now be only ten days.      And his team, the avablebat power, amounted to only seven members!      And two that I can''t trust.    One of them, a newly awakened junior esper.


    Feeling a headacheing on, David rubbed his temples and nced at Duke, who was still sizing up Little ck.      Before he could finish his sentence, David''s ears twitched, and he heard the sound of high heels approaching from behind.


    Swish!      David tightly gripped his alloy war de and swiftly turned around.      The alloy war de stopped precisely one centimeter away from Monica''s neck.      Monica looked at the alloy war de and smirked with satisfaction.      Then, she noticed Duke not far away.      "Not bad, newpanions in just a few days,"  Seizing the opportunity, she asked, "I wonder if you have..."


    Before she could finish her sentence, David retracted his war de and coldly interrupted, "Not interested."


    Watching David''s back, Monica silently wiped away a red mark on her neck.      "There''s something you''ll definitely be interested in," she said, stepping on her high heels and catching up to David''s pace.


    Duke heard the voice and looked over.      He raised an eyebrow and straightened his posture.      What a beauty!      Monica''s figure had everything one could desire, exuding the charm of a mature woman.


    Gulp, Duke swallowed a mouthful of saliva.      David nced at him and said, "Stop staring.      She can knock out three of you with one punch."

 Chapter 91 Wholesale Market

    ?


    "What?"             Duke looked at David with a bewildered expression, questioning him with his eyes.             Such a stunning beauty, could she really knock out three guys with just one punch?           Not to mention three guys, even if she asked him to go through fire and water for her, he would dly do it!


    David looked at Duke''s infatuated expression, disdainfully rolled his eyes at him, thinking he had no future.            David walked forward, patting the head of  Little ck, and left with the dog.


    Monica followed behind, and Duke quietly approached her, hesitantly speaking, "Beauty, can we exchange contact information?"


    Upon hearing Duke''s words, Monica turned her head and gave him a cold nce.             Duke froze in ce, dumbfounded, watching Monica walk away.             "She, she actually ignored me?"


    Duke''s face darkened for a moment, but then he raised his eyes, filled with surprise.             "The beauty finally paid attention to me!"             Duke was thrilled, almost jumping up to cheer.             He hurriedly caught up, shamelessly staying by Monica''s side without saying a word, silently observing her.             David, who was walking in front, turned back and was at a loss for words.


    This guy, isn''t he afraid of death?             Though Monica''s a beauty, But her face was already showing disgust.             Not only that, even Monica''s tightly clenched hands by her side showed her restraint towards Duke''s behavior.             David looked at Monica, fearing that Monica might lose her temperter and feed Duke to the zombies.


    The group continued walking, and based on David''s memory, they arrived at arge wholesale market.             The name of the market was shattered into two halves on the ground, but it could still be vaguely seen that it was the "Duty Wholesale Market."


    The Duty Wholesale Market was thergest wholesale market in the city.             It had a wide variety of food, drinks, clothing, and daily necessities.             However, no one knew how much remained in the market after the outbreak of the zombies.             As the group entered, immediately a foul smell assaulted their senses.


    "Oh damn, what''s this smell?"             Duke disgustedly pinched his nose, then he looked at Monica beside him.


    Seeing that Monica had no reaction, he asked with concern, "Beauty, do you want..."


    "Get lost."             Before he could finish his sentence, Monica coldly interrupted him.             David, holding his nose with one hand, continued walking forward.             The entire market floor was filled with bones and sticky fluids.             One could imagine the horrifying scene that had taken ce here.


    The wholesale market itself is a gathering ce for people, and when the zombies broke out without any psychological preparation, the people in the market were like food in a pot, waiting to be devoured by the zombies one by one.    What''s strange is that David had walked through almost half of the wholesale market, but hadn''t seen a single zombie.    Did they hide or was there another conspiracy?


    Just as he was thinking, Duke''s voice came from beside him, "This is strange.    Why is it so quiet here?"    David nodded, realizing that Duke had also noticed the abnormality.    The two continued to wander around the wholesale market for a while and then stopped at the entrance of a clothing store.    The ss windows and doors of the shop were shattered, and the sign had fallen from the front, covered in dust.


    Duke took the lead and went in.    Soon, he came out holding a brand new camouge suit.    "Wow, this camouge suit is great, and it''s a military modified version!"


    "Wearing this suit,bat power is maxed out!"    Duke unfolded the suit and showed off to David.


    David looked at Duke''s excited expression and smiled faintly.    He wasn''t focused on these clothes right now, but rather on the surrounding environment, filled with vignce.    In his mind, he believed that abnormal situations must have hidden dangers.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Seeing David''s reaction, Duke quickly put away the camouge suit and packed it into his backpack.    The two continued to survey the surrounding area.    Suddenly!    David looked towards an alley not far away.    In the corner of the alley, an old person with white hair was crouching on the ground, trembling.


    Slowly, the old person sensed movement beside them and turned to face David.    When she saw David, her eyes lit up as if she had seen a glimmer of hope.    "Young man, please help me," the old person said, struggling to stand up.


    As the old person rushed towards David, he stepped back cautiously.    The zombies had been outbreaking for so long, how could an old person with white hair survive for so long?    Was it due to luck?    Or was she hiding in this corner?


    David didn''t believe that the old person in front of him was human.    Even if she was human, her intentions couldn''t be pure.    As he stepped back, David took out an alloybat knife from his space.


    The old person''s eyes darkened as she noticed thebat knife in David''s hand.    She stopped in front of David and looked at him with a pleading expression.    "Young man, please help Grandma.    Grandma hasn''t had anything to eat for a long time."    Her voice was old and hoarse, evoking a sense of pity.


    David looked the old person up and down and suddenly saw a trace of bloodstain on her.    It was on the edge of her clothes, almost imperceptible unless carefully observed.    "Olddy, you..."


    Before David could finish his sentence, Duke walked over with a cry.    He patted David''s shoulder and whispered, "She''s just an olddy.    What are you afraid of?"


    David had intended to say something, but Duke had already walked towards the old person.    David smiled lightly.    He wasn''t afraid at all.    Since Duke wanted to take the spotlight, he could give it to him.    It could be seen as a test as well.


    David stood with his hands in his pockets, watching Duke''s actions.   Duke slowly walked over to the old person.   He circled around them, then propped his chin on his hand and furrowed his brow as he observed them.   After a moment, he shook his head in confusion and asked, "How did you manage to survive all by yourself for so long?"   Hearing Duke''s question, David nodded inwardly.   He didn''t expect this guy to be so vignt and notice something strange about the old person.


    "I''ve been scavenging here.   Otherwise, I, this old bone, would have perished long ago," the old person said, starting to cough violently.   At the same time, they discreetly nced at Duke.


    "Tsk tsk tsk, didn''t expect the olddy to have some skills.   Since that''s the case, you can continue scavenging here!"   Duke dropped these words and turned away, his gaze towards David bing serious.


    The implication was that Duke was telling David that the old person was not normal.   Of course, David could see the oddity in the old person, but he simply nodded slightly and didn''t say anything. He wanted to see what Duke would do next.


    "Young man, you must be apassionate youngd.   Please save me!"   The old person said again when they saw Duke leaving, their expression showing a hint of anger.


    However, Duke seemed to ignore their words and continued walking ahead as if he hadn''t heard them.   When it came to this mysterious old person, Duke wouldn''t easily offer his help.   This was also consistent with the survival rules David had told him at the very beginning of the apocalypse.

 Chapter 92 Old Man Becomes Beautiful Woman

    ?


    "Hey, young man?"       The old person muttered and slowly turned their head to look at Duke.


    "Just a moment ago, I praised you for having apassionate heart.       Why did you run away?"       The old person said, straightening their body.       They looked at the indifferent expressions of the people in front of them and knew that they couldn''t continue the charade.       Slowly, the hunched posture disappeared, reced by a tall figure.


    Then, she extended her hand and touched her own face.       Rip!       The wrinkled face was torn off, revealing a beautiful female face.       The woman disdainfully discarded the old person''s skin to the side and looked at Duke.       "I was so close to seeding.       How did you figure it out?"


    Duke looked at her, his face still serious.       He calmly said, "The hands of the old person aren''t as delicate as yours."       He had assisted too many elderly people and seen enough to know that an old person''s hands would never be as fair and tender as a woman''s.


    The woman listened and paused.       She raised her own hand and looked at it, satisfied as she touched it.       "Even so, it doesn''t matter because you all will die here next."     As she spoke, the woman sharply scanned David and the others.       She raised her hand and snapped her fingers.       After a second, the sounds of zombie roars echoed through the air.


    "This is bad."    David quickly turned around, and the exit behind him mmed shut.       Meanwhile, the woman had vanished, but the old person''s skin remained on the ground.


    "I''lle back for youter and turn your faces into masks!"       The woman''s voice resounded from above.


    David looked up and his eyes widened.       Behind the woman stood a zombie!       And that zombie had its arm wrapped around her waist!       Clearly, the zombie had carried her up there!       Why would a zombie...


    "Hey!"       Just as he was thinking, Duke''s reprimanding voice suddenly came in his ear.       When David turned his head, a zombie was standing less than a meter away from him.       Slowly, the zombie''s head began to slide down.       With a thud, the zombie''s head fell heavily to the ground, emitting a dull sound.


    David took out his alloybat knife and calmly retrieved a crystal from the zombie''s forehead.


    [You obtained a primary crystal, critical hit bonus in effect!      ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained one hundred primary crystals!      ]


    [Attributes: None!      ]


    "Hey."       Duke walked over as David stood up.       He ruffled his hair and looked at David, who was slightly opening his lips, and said triumphantly, "I know, no need to thank me.       I''m just repaying you for saving my lifest time."


    The words David wanted to say couldn''te out as he looked at Duke''s expression.       After holding it in for a few seconds, he finally said, "You''re insane."


    With that said, David disregarded Duke''s darkened face and looked around.       With a nce, he saw nearly forty to fifty primary zombies.       But Monica, at this moment, was nowhere to be found.   A smirk formed on David''s lips, He still had to thank the woman from earlier for summoning the zombies.       She was practically delivering a gift to him!


    "Little ck!"       David shouted.       All forty to fifty primary zombies turned their gaze towards him.


    "Roar!"    In an instant, all the zombies'' attention was focused on David!    Before the zombies could reach David, Little ck barked and jumped in front of him, opening its mouth wide.    A burst of mes spewed out, instantly incinerating dozens of zombies at the front!    After the zombies were burned to ashes, only the crystals remained.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Listening to the wonderful sound, David''s gaze gradually became greedy as he looked at the remaining zombies.    "Hey, take one more step forward, and you won''t have that pretty face anymore."


    The woman sat in a chair with her legs crossed.    She had changed her clothes by now.    At the moment, she was wearing a light blue dress, and there was a slit along the edge, revealing her long, white legs.    Behind the woman, a junior zombie was massaging her shoulders.    There was another zombie by her side, serving her tea.


    Monica stood not far away and turned to look at the woman.    "You are a mind controller, a second-time awakened with extraordinary abilities.    Your awakened ability is control, without limitations on the objects you control.    The extent of your control depends on the power of the awakened person."


    As the words fell, the woman''s expression gradually turned cold.    She clenched the tea cup tightly, and the veins on her hand bulged.    "What is your purpose?" she asked warily, looking at Monica.


    Monica replied indifferently, "You are worthless, I have no interest in you."


    The woman became angry upon hearing Monica''s words.    She forcefully threw the tea cup at Monica, but Monica easily dodged it by leaning slightly.


    Seeing the woman''s face turn red, Monica said, "Trying to show off in front of me?    Don''t you have any estimation of your own abilities?"    She sneered and turned to leave.


    With a swish, the woman stood up from the chair.    "Attack!    Tear her apart!"    The surrounding zombies obeyed the woman''smand, swiftly charging towards Monica.


    Monica calmly walked forward, and when the zombies were less than a meter away from her, with a swish, she took out her weapon.    Smash!    All the zombies behind her fell down!


    Monica leaped lightly, even though she was wearing high-heeled shoes, shended behind the woman without making a sound.


    The gun was pressed against the mind controller''s temple.    Feeling the cold hardness of the gun, the woman''s rm bells rang loudly in her mind.    Before she could speak, Monica spoke first, "Retract your little tricks, or the consequences won''t be as simple as a threat."


    The woman nervously swallowed and nced at the zombies.    The next moment, the zombies lowered their heads and walked towards the dark corners.


    "Are you...    satisfied?" the woman asked fearfully.


    Monica retracted the gun and coldly said, "Your arrogant personality will soon teach you a lesson.    If you don''t believe me, I''ll give you a chance to stay alive!    Don''t forget to thank me properly when the timees."    With that, Monica turned around and left with a smile.


    The woman watched Monica''s figure and gritted her teeth.    "Bitch!"    She clenched her fist tightly, and the veins on her hand bulged.    "Just you wait, I''m not someone to be trifled with.    I will show you how formidable I am! "With that in mind, the woman, with a slight smile on her lips, turned and walked into the darkness.


    Meanwhile, on David''s side, he hadn''t finished killing yet when the remaining zombies suddenly turned and fled.


    "Finished collecting."    Duke held dozens of crystals with his clothes and handed them to David.

 Chapter 93 Upgraded Red Light

    ?


    David withdrew his gaze and turned his head, only to suddenly see Monica standing behind them at some point.  Where had this woman just gone?  Why did she appear right after the zombies left?  While thinking about this, David''s hand touched the crystals in Duke''s arms.


    [You have obtained 50 primary crystals.  Critical strike chance: 100x.]


    [Congrattions, you have obtained 5,000 primary crystals! ]


    [Attributes: None! ]


    Listening to the system prompts, David nodded silently.  Over the past few days, he had collected a considerable number of crystals.  The crystals in the system''s inventory were now stacked like a small mountain.  ording to the system''s prompts, the time until the first zombie outbreak was getting closer.  He had to use these crystals to form his own team to ensure a foolproof approach to the zombie outbreak.


    With that in mind, David called out to the system in his mind.  "System, how much time is left until the mission ispleted?"


    [Ding! ]


    [Mission: Store Crystals! ]


    [There is one month remaining until the first zombie outbreak.  Please use the remaining time to collect as many mutated crystals as possible and form your own team.  During this period, all the resources you store will receive a 100x critical strike bonus.  Remaining mission time: 7 days, 10 hours, 5 minutes.]


    Seven days, the final seven days.  His team was still like rubbish at the moment.  Would they really be able to survive on the day of the zombie outbreak?  It wasn''t just him who needed to level up, but every person in the team.  Only when everyone became stronger would there be a chance of surviving the zombie outbreak.


    Lost in his thoughts, David patted Little ck''s butt.  "Let''s go, Little ck."  Little ck let out a whimper, seemingly unhappy about David patting its butt, but still followed David and moved forward.  As they passed by Monica, David paused for a moment, nced at her intentionally or unintentionally, and continued walking forward.


    Duke jogged over and said to Monica, "Beauty, would you like to join us?"


    Monica gave him a disdainful look and walked ahead, surpassing him and standing behind David.  Seeing Monica''s actions, Duke thought Monica was impressed by his charm, and a smile quickly appeared on his face.  "Beauty, wait for me."


    Duke wanted to shout out, but afraid of attracting zombies, he could only suppress his voice and run forward while calling out, looking back at David, Monica, and Little ck who were still standing in ce, gazing at the sky.


    "What are you looking at?"  Duke scratched his head and looked up at the sky.  In that moment, he was shocked.  Before entering, the sky was still normal.  But now, the sky was filled with boundless blood-red color, and the colors reflected on the ground had turned into a blood-like crimson.  The most terrifying thing was the sun hanging in the sky.  It was slowly being covered by the blood-red hue until the sun waspletely devoured.


    "Oh no," David muttered as he looked at the scene.      The  first  time he saw this scene was during the first mutation of the zombies.         But before that, he had already encountered many mutated zombies.


    "Roar!"         Without much time to think, a zombie suddenly leaped from behind.         The overall appearance of the zombie was no different from a regr one.         But as its body emerged in the blood-red sky, it began to undergo changes.         The zombie''s body emitted a series of cracking sounds.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Oh my god, what is this..."         Duke didn''t finish his sentence.


    David had already summoned the car.         Instead of focusing on the zombie, he sat in the driver''s seat.         "Get in the car!" he shouted.


    Monica sensed something was wrong as she watched the changes happening to the zombie''s body.         She quickly turned around and got into the car.         Duke was dumbfounded, staring at the zombie.         It wasn''t until Little ck gave him a fierce kick and he fell to the ground that he reacted.


    "Damn!"         Just as Duke got into the car and closed the door, the zombie crashed into it!         It was so fast that after being exposed to the light, its speed was more than three times that of a regr zombie!


    David watched the zombie relentlessly chasing them through the rearview mirror.         Seeing that the zombie was about to jump onto the car, he released one hand and quickly tore open a portal in front of the car.         With determination, he drove into the portal!         The car entered the dimensional gate, and the zombie missed its target.         The next moment, the car appeared in a distant location, far away from the zombie.


    "What''s going on?"         Duke muttered.


    Monica''s gaze remained fixed on the window.         On the streets and squares, many zombies were being illuminated by the red light, gradually undergoing changes.         However, some zombies, despite being exposed to the light, remained at the basic level and didn''t undergo any transformation.


    Watching this scene, Monica muttered to herself, "Red light...         It came so soon?"         She recalled Abraham''s previous spection that before the first zombie outbreak, red light would appear on the horizon.         However, she didn''t expect to see it so soon.


    David also stared at the awe-inspiring red light, his brow furrowed.         He had already seen the red light in his previous life and knew its power.         Not only could it cause some zombies to undergo significant evolution, but it could also incinerate humans into fireballs.         Its terrifying power haunted all superhumans.


    However, Duke, wearing a curious expression, looked at the red light and said, "I wonder what humans will be after being illuminated by the red light."


    David chuckled lightly and said, "It will make you taste the fear of death in an instant.         By then, you will be one of the zombies in this world."


    As David spoke, both people in the car turned to look at him.         Meanwhile, Out the window, a man was running.  The red light shone on the face of the man, with an expression of great excitement.         He thought it was a step towards further advancement, but he didn''t realize it was just the first step towards bing a zombie.


    David gestured for the two to look outside the window.         When Duke and Monica looked out, the man had already started to burn.         After thebustion, he turned into a zombie.         In the end, he could only remain as a basic-level zombie.         Even under the illumination of the red light, he couldn''t further evolve into a mutated zombie.


    The red light this time is like a awakening for humans.     Zombies standing under the red light are equivalent to choosing a trial, and the red light will select suitable zombies for upgrades.     Upgraded zombies will have special abilities, while those not chosen will remain as basic-level zombies.


    David drove quickly back downstairs.     He drove the car inside and only opened the door when he could safely exit without being illuminated by the red light.     Standing in the stairwell, he looked up at the red light in the sky, furrowing his brow.     He didn''t know how long this red light wouldst or if it would be the same as in his previous life.


    However, regardless of the circumstances, David knew that the most important thing for him now was to enhance his own strength.     Only by improving his strength could he fearlessly face anything in the apocalypse.

 Chapter 94 Not Affected By Red Light

    ?


    David had a thought and decided to park the car.  "Beauty, we can''t go out right now.  You should stay here for a while!"  Duke said to Monica.


    However, Monica''s gaze remained fixed on the red light in the sky.  This matter had to be reported to the organization, along with the conversation she overheard in the car.


    Slowly, Monica shifted her gaze to David who was standing beside her.  This person seemed to know a lot.  In the next second, David turned his head and coincidentally met Monica''s gaze.  Just for a second, David voluntarily averted his eyes and took the first step up the stairs.


    "Beauty?"  Duke extended his hand and waved it in front of Monica.  Monica looked at him calmly and nodded.  Just as David had said, if they were to go out at this moment, they would turn into zombies.  So, she could only stay here for now.


    As David went upstairs, before reaching the top, a man slowly descended the stairs.  The man had dark circles around his eyes, bloodshot eyes, an unshaven face, and looked exhausted.  Surprisingly, David lived on the same floor as this person, yet he had no recollection of him.  They exchanged a nce and then both averted their eyes.


    The man passed by Duke and the others.  Duke nced at the man and asked David, "Howe I didn''t know that there are other people besides us in this building?"


    David nodded but didn''t pay further attention to Duke''s words.  However, Duke''s next statement reminded him again.  "But wait, didn''t you say that after the red light shines on us, we all turn into zombies?  That guy doesn''t seem to be affected at all!"


    "Not affected?"  David turned his head in surprise.


    Duke nodded and pointed in the direction the man had left.  "I saw him walk into it."  David quickly ran to the corridor and looked outside, just as Duke had described.  The man from earlier was walking under the red light without undergoing any changes.  It was as if the red light had no effect on him at all.  This was a situation David had never encountered before.


    Who exactly was that man?  David rubbed his temples, feeling a headacheing on.  Due to Duke''s proactive nature, he wanted to take Monica back to his room to protect her.  In the end, David entrusted Monica to Sophie, instructing Arnold and Sophie to take good care of their distinguished guest.  Before Duke left, he gave David an annoyed re, as if David had interrupted his romantic endeavors.


    David chuckled helplessly and instructed everyone not to leave the house until the red light subsided.


    Returning home, as soon as David stepped inside, he didn''t see Sally''s figure.  It was only when he entered the room that he saw her.  Seeing Sally lying on the bed, he realized something at that moment.  His heart tightened suddenly, and he quickly turned around.


    "What?"  David flipped Sally over, and her forehead was covered in dense cold sweat, even soaking her clothes.  Beside Sally, a few crystalsy quietly on the bed.  Combining the crystals with Sally''s appearance, David figured out most of what was happening.


    Everyone had a limit to how much they could absorb, and Sally was breaking through that limit!  David took a tissue and carefully wiped the cold sweat off her forehead.  Gentlyying Sally back down, he held her hand and stood guard by her bedside.


    After an uncertain amount of time, despite the strange sky outside, the room remained shrouded in darkness behind the curtains, with the view unchanged.


    Sally slowly opened her eyes and, upon waking up, looked at the ceiling, unable to distinguish whether it was day or night.  She was about to move when she noticed someone by her bedside.


    David tightly held her hand and, sensing her movement, opened his eyes.  "Awake?" he asked.


    Sally looked at him, a bit confused.  "You''re back?"


    David nodded and approached her, embracing her tightly.  "Breaking through the limit is very dangerous.  You were too reckless."  Hearing David''s words, Sally smiled and hugged him back.  "I think it''s worth it.  I just wanted to try."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As the words fell, David released her and had a displeased expression on his face.  "It''s too dangerous.  Don''t do something like this again."


    If she had failed in breaking through, what David would be holding might have been a lifeless body.  Sally''s heart warmed at David''s gaze.


    "You were worried about me?"  Sally leaned closer, yfully asking.


    David yfully tapped her nose and said, "I was scolding you."


    As Sally smiled, she quickly nted a kiss on David''s lips.  "Consider it a reward for your concern."


    David looked at her, momentarily stunned.  He licked his lips that had just been kissed and then hugged Sally tightly again.  The two of them fell onto the bed together.


    After three hours of intimate connection, David, shirtless, looked at Sally, who had fallen asleep.  He gently kissed her forehead and considerately covered her with a nket before leaving the room.


    David sat on the couch, and with a thought, he took out forty primary crystals from space.  He looked at the forty crystals shimmering before him.


    Without hesitation, David consumed all of them in one breath.  He covered his chest and fell to the ground in pain.  After about half an hour, David slowly stood up from the floor.  Having absorbed all forty crystals, he instantly felt refreshed and clear-headed.  However, there seemed to be no sense of fatigue.


    Could it be...  David''s eyes lit up, and he took out ten more crystals.  Looking at the crystals, he swallowed his saliva.  Each additional crystal he consumed carried an element of risk.  If he made a mistake, when Sally woke up, she would see a lifeless body.


    With these thoughts in mind, David picked up the first crystal and began absorbing it.  After finishing one, he felt no difort at all.  David felt delighted and continued to absorb the remaining crystals.  "The tenth one."


    Looking at thest crystal in his hand, David gritted his teeth and absorbed it.  Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his body made a loud noise.


    Thump!  His heart suddenly trembled!  David clutched his chest and fell to his knees.  "Hoo...  hoo."  He gasped for breath, mouth wide open, taking inrge gulps of air.  Drip!  Sweat dripped from his forehead onto the floor.


    In the room, the sound of David''s heavy breathing could be heard clearly.  At this moment, his heart rate began to elerate.  Thump, thump¡ªthe sound of his heart echoed in David''s ears, unusually clear and alert.


    Suddenly, David''s heart tightened, as if a needle had pricked it.  He bit his lip, suppressing any sound, and naturally fell to the ground.


    [Ding! ]


    [Host''s physical body detected undergoing a qualitative change, which can greatly enhance the host''s own strength! ]


    [Duration: Ten minutes! ]

 Chapter 95 Self-Inflicted Calamity

    ?


    After the system prompt, a progress bar appeared before David''s eyes, showing 50%pletion.


    "Damn it!"                    David gritted his teeth and uttered these words.                    He was in excruciating pain, but instead ofining about it, the system gave him a progress bar, allowing him to visually see how much longer he had to endure this agony.


    David couldn''t help but clench his teeth even tighter, tightly gripping his fist as he endured the intense pain.


    (Ding!                   ]


    [Final tempering of the host''s physical strength and power is in progress, estimated time: three minutes!                   ]


    Upon hearing the system''s words, David''s face darkened.                    Just when he thought he couldn''t be more tormented by the pain in his body, the system managed to infuriate him.                  Two minutester, as the progress bar reached 99%, it was only one percent away frompletion.                    Terrifyingly, the progress bar suddenly stopped moving!


    The next moment, David''s body made a loud cracking sound.                    At the same time, the progress bar reached 100%.


    (Ding!                   ]


    [Congrattions, you have upgraded your spatial ability to level four and unlocked a new skill!                   ]


    [Level Four Spatial Skill: Telekinesis!                   ]


    [Take anything from space: Spatial ability users can use their minds to manipte space and take an object they have seen through the gaps in space.                    However, remember, you can only use it three times a day!                   ]


    Level four spatial ability?                  Take anything from space?                    David was momentarily stunned.                    Soon he realized that at this moment, his spatial ability had reached the same level as the system.                    In other words, his spatial ability had be much stronger.                    After understanding this, David looked at the "Take anything from space" on the panel and nodded in satisfaction.                    Literally, this skill was very convenient for him, especially when it came to retrieving rare crystals.


    Suddenly, a sound came from upstairs.                    David furrowed his brow but didn''t pay it any attention.                    He walked to the window, pulled up a chair, and carefully lifted a corner to see the still vivid red light outside, as if there was no sign of it subsiding.


    "Abraham, what is..."                    The man looked at the situation outside the window and asked in confusion.


    Abraham tightly gripped his cane, nervously looking at the red light outside.                    "Close the curtains.                    No one is allowed to go out today without my permission."


    As soon as he finished speaking, Danny, holding a lollipop, chimed in.                    "But Monica went out this morning."


    "Where did Monica go?"                    Abraham frowned and asked.


    Danny casually replied, "She went with David."


    Upon hearing the name David, Abraham''s brow slowly rxed, saying, "If she''s with David, then it''s fine.                    You two stay here and don''t go out."                    After speaking, Abraham leaned back on the chair behind him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The man approached and said, "Abraham, I don''t understand.                    Why is Monica safe when she''s with David?    "Before he could finish his sentence, Abraham nced at him lightly and replied, "Because he has the power."


    The man fell silent upon hearing Abraham''s words.                    After a few seconds, he nodded and turned back to his room.                    Danny sat on the sofa, watching the man''s retreating figure, and smiled:       "Brother is angry again.                    He always gets angry when ites to David."


    Saying that, Danny tilted his head back and looked at Abraham, who had closed his eyes.                    "Abraham, is David really stronger than my brother?                    I think he''s just cunning ."


    Listening to Danny''s words, Abraham didn''t say a word.           He closed his eyes,   sleeping or awake.           Danny looked at Abraham in silence for a few seconds.           Then he sat up straight and continued eating the lollipop in his hand.


    Back in the room, David realized that Brian and Lily hadn''t been doing much these past two days, so he went to Arnold''s room to inquire about them.           When Arnold heard David asking about the two, he thought for a moment and said, "They have been inside the room all these days, Even a meal only needs one serving."


    "Yeah, I don''t know what they''ve been up to," Arnold added.           He had been curious to find out, but he remembered David''s warning and decided to let it go.           He knew that if anything went wrong, David would be the one to clean up the mess.           The world was already chaotic enough, and he didn''t want to add any more trouble for David.


    Listening to Arnold''s words, David knew that these two guys were still trying to y the sympathy card.           So he thought for a moment, smiled, and walked up to their room door.           He reached out his hand and knocked on the door, "Knock, knock, knock!"


    Upon hearing the knocking, Brian immediately jumped off the couch in the room and quickly tied Lily up in the corner with a rope:  "Act pitifulter.           This time we must make David fall for it no matter what!"


    While binding Lily''s hands and feet, Brian instructed her.           Lily nodded and a look of misery appeared on her face.


    Listening to the faint conversation inside the room, David raised his foot without hesitation and kicked the door.           "Bang!"           The door was forcefully kicked down by David, and he walked in.           Brian, who was standing in front of Lily, turned around upon hearing the sound.


    Seeing the scene before him, David smiled knowingly.           He didn''t expect these two to be so dedicated, always prepared with props for their performance.           As soon as Lily saw David entering, she desperately tried to shout for help.           However, Brian had gagged her mouth with a cloth, making it impossible for her to speak clearly.


    At this moment, Brian stared at David coldly and said, "Our business doesn''t concern you!"           This was part of Brian''s calcted n to reverse the situation.


    "Oh?"           David listened to Brian''s words and nodded silently.           "Concerned?           If I were concerned, you wouldn''t be alive in this world.           Don''t forget, you''re not even worthy of being my opponent," David nced at him disdainfully.


    At the same time, he looked out the window.           The noise from earlier had already attracted a considerable number of zombies.


    Brian was clearly infuriated by David''s words.           He had been unable to seed in front of David all this time, and his pent-up anger made him loathe David even more.           Now, hearing David''s words, he couldn''t hold back any longer.           "I told you, our business is none of your concern!"           Brian shouted at David and pointed his finger at him.


    This actionpletely enraged David.           He had never liked being pointed at by others, so he shook his head helplessly, swiftly drew his alloy short knife, and rushed towards Brian like a gust of wind.


    "You..."  Brian looked at David in disbelief, and in the next moment, he copsed to the ground like a puddle of mud.  Clearly, David ended his life with just one knife.  As Lily watched Brian die in front of her, she trembled uncontrobly.  This oue waspletely unexpected for both of them.  At that moment, the sounds of the struggle,bined with the scent of Brian''s blood, attracted arge number of zombies towards their location.

 Chapter 96 The Red Light Never Ceases

    ?


    The zombie opened its blood-stained mouth, revealing terrifying, jagged teeth that made Lily instinctively step back in fear.        She couldn''t understand why David, at this moment, still hadn''t turned around to look at her.        Little did she know, David was standing just behind the nearby wall.        The zombies were slowly making their way up the stairs, and David couldn''t retreatpletely.        Fortunately, these zombies were not targeting him, so he remained quietly leaning against the wall.


    As Lily let out a scream beside him, the zombies rushed into the room where they were.        The scream didn''tst long, but in those few seconds, Lily exerted all her strength to cry out.        After about half a moment, the sound of the zombies slowly faded away.


    David cautiously peeked out and breathed a sigh of relief.        The zombies were gone, leaving only Brian and Lily''s partially open door swaying back and forth.        David let out another breath and walked forward.        The door was covered in fresh bloodstains.        He pulled out his alloybat knife, prepared for any unexpected situations.        He ced a hand on the area inside the room that wasn''t sttered with blood, exerted a gentle force, and the door creaked open slowly.


    Once the room was fully revealed, the scene inside was nauseating.        Brian and Lily''s bodies were nowhere to be seen;        they had probably joined the majority of zombies and left.        If he was lucky, he might see their transformed appearances in future zombie hunts.        The floor inside the room was sttered with blood everywhere;        there wasn''t a clean spot to be found.        Among the blood, numerous strands of hair were mixed in.


    Furthermore, David could see a disgusting mixture of flesh fragments and blood.        Even David felt a bit ufortable witnessing this scene.        Just as David turned around, he met Monica''s gaze.        Monica stood there calmly, wearing high heels and crossing her arms.


    David rubbed his forehead and asked, "How did you get up here?"


    Monica looked at David and tossed her hair.        "What''s wrong?        Any objections?"


    David smiled faintly.        He naturally knew Monica''s strength as a formidable woman, but he didn''t pay much attention to her either.        The reason he asked was to prevent her from causing unnecessary trouble for him here.        During the battle of doomsday, women sometimes only served to distract people.        Who knew Monica would be so arrogant, seemingly full of confidence in her abilities.


    David nced at her, his lips curling up with a hint of amusement, and then he lightly clucked his tongue and walked away with his hands in his pockets.


    The red glow in the sky had already diminished significantly, and the sun was slowly emerging.        Judging by the situation, the red glow would likelypletely recede within an hour.        Monica  stood in the corridor, looking up at the changing sky.        After hesitating for a moment, she still spoke up.


    "Abraham said this red glow won''t go away."        Just a short while ago, Monica had reported this matter, and they hade to this conclusion.        She wasn''t worried about staying here indefinitely;        rather, she found the sudden appearance of the red glow very peculiar.


    "It won''t go away?"        David looked at Monica with confusion.        From Monica''s words, he caught a crucial keyword.        He had never heard of this person called Abraham.


    "Is Abraham your leader?"        David asked, questioning her.        Monica turned her head, nced at him, and remained silent before walking downstairs.


    "How petty of you to expect me to be a part of the organization without even telling us that"      David grumbled as he walked downstairs.


    As David was walking down the stairs, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure.     It was the man who was illuminated with red light and did not react.      The difference this time was that the man was wearing a hat, which was pressed down so low that only a glimpse of his chin could be seen, as if he did it intentionally.      The man''s hands hung by his sides as he slowly descended the steps, stooped over.


    Arnold''s room was on this floor, and Monica had already left the staircase.      For some reason, when David saw the man''s appearance, he felt a sense of alertness.      He couldn''t let the man walk out of the staircase directly.      Taking advantage of the situation, David continued to walk a few more steps downstairs.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Just as the man passed by David, a low voice reached his ears.      "The red light will never cease."      Thump!      David''s heart trembled, and he quickly turned around to look at the man.      Their eyes met.      In the next second, the man slowly raised his hand.      His hand was not like that of a normal person, it resembled a withered branch, with only skin and bones remaining.      He lifted his hat slightly, revealing his face with dark circles under his eyes.


    Immediately after, the man looked at David and slightly opened his lips.      Before he could speak, both of them heard footsteps.      The man''s face changed, he tightly closed his mouth, gave David a mysterious smile, lowered his hat again, and turned away.


    "Wait..."      David stepped forward, but before he could catch the man, Duke''s voice came from behind.      "What are you doing here?"      Duke looked at David and questioned him.


    At the same time, the man had just passed Duke and continued walking upstairs.      Seeing the man''s figure, David frowned, and his pace quickened.


    A thought suddenly shed through David''s mind.      Could it be that the red light had some enhancing effect on that man?      Lost in thought, Duke approached and tapped David''s shoulder.      "What are you thinking?      Go back.    The zombies areing."


    Duke reminded him in a low voice, although his gaze was lowered, he kept a close eye on the approaching zombies.      David didn''t finish speaking, he just nced at Duke lightly and walked away.      The two of them returned to the room where almost everyone was present, except for C and Xiaohei.


    "Why are we all gathered here?"      David entered the room and asked puzzled.


    Arnold nced at everyone and asked, "David, what should we do about Brian and Lily?"      Arnold knew very well about the abnormal behavior of the two, and now the situation around them was bing increasingly dangerous.      For the safety of everyone, he felt that he had to reveal everything about the two.


    David understood Arnold''s words, nodded, and casually said, "Brian is already dead.      As for Lily, I believe she will continue to plot against us."


    Upon hearing David''s words, the people present were momentarily stunned, but then their expressions returned to normal.      In their eyes, Brian''s death was deserved, and Lily had brought her own misfortune upon herself.      Hearing what David said, David revealed the actions they had taken in the past two days and their intentions.


    "Damn, I didn''t expect them to repay kindness with enmity!"


    "Yes!      It was David who saved them in the first ce."


    "The human mind is soplex.      Thanks to David''s timely discovery, otherwise we would have been in a terrible situation because of them."


    The group began to discuss indignantly, while Sally sat beside David, tightly holding his hand, her expression filled with anger.      If it weren''t for David, they would probably have be wandering survivors in the apocalypse, or even dead.


    At that moment, Monica walked over to the window near the door and raised her head to look inside the room, where the curtains were notpletely closed. When she saw the scene before her eyes, she was instantly petrified! Without hesitation, she shouted loudly at the people in the room, "Run!"

 Chapter 97 Encountering Mutated Zombies Affected By The Red Light

    ?


    "Run!"   With a loud shout from Monica, she swiftly opened the door and rushed out, agile and quick.


    David''s heart skipped a beat as he also felt a strong presence at that moment.   Without any hesitation, he immediately took care of everyone and urged them to run.   The people inside the room finally realized something was wrong and rushed towards the door.   Just as thest person, Arnold, dashed out, there was a loud noise from inside the room.   It seemed like something had broken the window and rushed in!


    David picked up an alloy short knife and approached the door.   The closer he got, the heavier and clearer the breathing sound became in his ears.   Something had entered.   He turned his head and looked at Monica.


    Monica furrowed her brows tightly, already gripping a seven-headed weapon, in a state of alertness all over her body.   Although she had only faced this woman in front of her three times, given the current situation, she knew it was no joke.


    Sally had also walked up to David''s side by now.   She nced at Monica beside her and raised her hand, causing several purple lightning bolts to leap from her fingertips.   The lightning flickered, appearing powerful.   Monica was slightly surprised but continued to cautiously watch ahead.


    David also tightened his grip on the alloy short knife and stood guard next to Sally.   Just when everyone was tense, there was a crackling sound from inside the room, indicating movement.   David turned his head and waved his hand at Arnold.   Arnold nodded and went ahead, patting Duke''s shoulder before walking with Sophie towards the back.


    This time, Arnold understood David''s silence very well.   Immediately after, David lowered his gaze, patted Sally''s shoulder, and gestured towards the room.   His unspoken meaning was for Sally to leave this ce first.   After all, they didn''t know what kind of monster was in front of them, and he had to protect Sally''s safety.


    Sally nced at David, then looked at Monica beside her.   She resolutely shook her head.   David gave a helpless smile, knowing that Sally was getting stubborn with Monica.   He decided not to say anything further, just lowered his head and quietly told her to be careful.


    Sally nodded, and the purple lightning on her fingertips began to snake around.   David had great confidence in Sally''s abilities.   As a third-level electrokic, she was capable of confronting most of the zombies.   Monica watched this scene, raising an eyebrow.


    Just then, a hand suddenly reached out from the room and grabbed the doorframe!   Monica''s heart trembled, unable to react in time.


    Just as the hand was about to reach her, David raised the alloy short knife and fiercely swung it at the hand.   Instantly, a severely decayed hand was severed and fell to the ground.   Then Sally conjured a bolt of lightning in the air, directly reducing it to ashes.


    Monica finally breathed a sigh of relief, and her gaze at Sally became serious.   She hadn''t expected Sally''s reflexes to keep up with David''s pace and that her strength seemed to be on par with her own.


    At this moment, Arnold had led everyone to close the room, leaving only David, Sally, and Monica in the corridor.   The low growls of the zombies asionally echoed.   David had already realized that the zombie was nearing the door!


    "Follow up with my attackter and unleash your lightning!"      David whispered to Sally.


    Sally nodded with a smile.      Then David turned to Monica and said, "Let''s fight side by side this time.      Let me see your strength."


    Monica rubbed her arm and raised an eyebrow at David, implying that he should just watch.      So the three of them continued to wait at the door for the appearance of the zombie.      But the zombie seemed to be ying hide-and-seek with them.      After more than ten minutes, there was still no sign of it, which instantly furrowed David''s brow.      If this continued, they wouldn''t know the zombie''s location and couldn''tunch an effective attack.


    Monica made a bold decision.      She quickly reached into the room, attempting to draw the attention of the hidden zombie.      David watched her actions, tightly gripping the alloy short knife in his hand.


    Before Monica could fully retract her hand, the zombie inside the room suddenly protruded its head.      When it saw Sally and David, its mouth split open.      "Found you."


    David''s whole body stiffened!      At the moment the zombie raised its hand, he swiftly embraced Sally''s waist and quickly pushed her away!


    When David stood steadily in the corridor, holding Sally, the zombie had already stepped out, and its hand had created arge pit where they had just been.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "This zombie just spoke?"      Sally stared at it in disbelief, not expecting that a zombie could speak and that it sounded so fluent, almost like a normal human.


    David observed the zombie closely.      It appeared no different from an ordinary zombie, but after experiencing the red light, its size had increased several times.      It was even taller than the room''s doorway.


    "This zombie is not low-ranking, be careful," David whispered.      It was more than just not low-ranking.      This zombie''s stage seemed to have mutated a second time on top of being a mutated zombie itself.      Otherwise, how could it speak?      How could it suddenly attack?


    An intelligent zombie was quite troublesome to deal with!  The zombie looked at the chattering pair in front of it, imitating the appearance of humans, and licked its lips.      "Food, food..." it muttered, then in the next second, it charged towards David and Sally''s position!


    "Attack!"      David shouted at Hong and Sally.      Immediately, he summoned his armor and wielded the alloy war de, firmly blocking the zombie''s attack with his hand!


    "Crack!"      Sally raised her hand, and a dazzling lightning bolt appeared above the zombie''s head.      Her gaze was determined as she focused her consciousness, rapidly striking the zombie with several bolts of lightning!


    "Ah!"      The lightning struck the zombie, causing it to cry out in pain, taking a few steps back.      The areas where the lightning hit its body emitted wisps of burnt smoke.


    "Lightning!"      The zombie touched the painful areas and roared in anger.    turned and looked at Sally,    In the next moment, the zombie rushed forward.


    Oh no!    David quickly tore open a spatial rift beside Sally and used telekinesis to push her inside.    Sally only felt a force pushing her, and when she appeared again, she found herself inside the room!


    "Sally?"    Arnold looked at the sudden appearance of Sally in front of him, surprised.    Then, as if realizing something, he quickly asked, "What''s happening outside?"


    Meanwhile, Sally stood still, looking around the room.    How did she end up being sent here directly?    Did David''s abilities level up again?


    Outside the room, David watched Sally disappear and let out a sigh of relief.    He was just testing his luck, but unexpectedly, his abilities had also advanced with the arrival of the fourth level.


    "Where is she?"    The zombie became even angrier when it saw the person vanish.    In the next moment, it disappeared and reappeared behind David at an incredible speed.


    "Hey!"    Monica, who had been waiting for an opportunity, raised her gun and quickly aimed at the zombie behind David, pulling the trigger.


    Bang!    The bullet urately hit the zombie''s eye.    "Ah!"    The painful cry of the zombie came from behind David.    David quickly turned around, ring fiercely at the zombie in agony.    He could sense that the aura and reactions of this zombie were different from ordinary ones, and it was even faster.


    Is this the zombie''s second awakening?    Taking advantage of the zombie''s pain, David quickly distanced himself from it.    The corridor was not suitable for a fierce battle.    If things escted, the entire building might copse.


    But outside...    David looked up at the sky.    His pupils dted.    When did the red light recede?    As the zombie recovered, and before it disappeared again, David rushed out while shouting, "Go downstairs and fight!"


    With that, Monica saw David jump directly from the corridor!    Fortunately, it wasn''t a high floor.    Plus, considering David''s current physical condition, jumping down from the corridor was no problem for him at all.


    Davidnded and rolled with the momentum before swiftly getting up.    He turned his head, and Monica followed suit, carefully jumping down from the balcony.

 Chapter 98 Are You A Mobile Arsenal

    ?


    David looked at Monica''s rxed appearance and couldn''t help but feel some doubt in his heart.     What did this person do before the zombie outbreak?     Ordinary people couldn''t possibly have such skills.


    Monica noticed David observing her and frowned.     Then her gaze fell on the zombie behind David.     She raised her hand, aimed, and pulled the trigger.     A series of fluid and smooth movements.


    David turned around and looked at the zombie whose left eye had been hit upstairs, but now it waspletely unharmed.     He frowned, wondering what kind of supernatural zombie this was.     Just as he was thinking, the system immediately provided him with an answer.


    [Ding!    ]


    [Detected one crystal each of the metal and defense attributes!    ]


    Metal and defense attributes?     David''s eyes lit up.     The metal attribute alone was already valuable.     And now there was an additional defense attribute.     It was like adding riches to wealth and icing on the cake.


    David licked his dry lips, touched the alloy war de in his hand, and saw the gleam in the zombie''s eyes.     As the zombie was about tounch an attack, David curled his lips, lightly squeezed and held several spatial des in his hand.     Then, he raised his other hand and tore open a spatial rift next to him.     He shot all the spatial des into the rift!


    Whoosh!     When the spatial des reappeared in his line of sight, they had already shot out from behind the zombie!     The zombie felt a chill behind its back and quickly turned around.     Seeing several spatial desing towards it, it widened its eyes.     As it tried to quickly dodge, it narrowly avoided one or two spatial des, but the rest of the des pierced straight into its body.


    "Ah!"     The zombie''s eyes were filled with bloodshot veins.     Sharp ws suddenly appeared in its hands, and in the next second, it disappeared from its original position.     David felt a chill behind him and instinctively pulled open a spatial rift to rush into it.     At the moment he entered, the zombie''s ws barely missed him!


    When David appeared in the next location, the zombie''s figure moved again.     It teleported once more behind David, seemingly never-ending.     He narrowly dodged the zombie''s ws and jumped away to a nearby spot.     The zombie roared and quickly charged towards him again.


    "Hey!"     Monica nervously shouted, continuously pulling the trigger and shooting at the zombie''s head, bang-bang-bang!     If something happened to the person the organization wanted in her hands, it would be troublesome.     Several bullets hit the zombie''s head, but it didn''t cause any damage.     The zombie''s head, at this moment, was as hard as iron, blocking the bullets.


    The sound of the bullets falling on the ground reached David''s ears, and his gaze shifted to the gun in Monica''s hand.


    The zombie was already charging towards them.     David scolded and entered the spatial rift once again.     When he came out, a box of military equipment had appeared beside him.     He turned to Monica and said, "Everything is here, it''s up to you!"


    With that said, as the zombie was about to reach them, David tore open a spatial rift and walked into it.     The zombie''s attention was entirely focused on David, and it didn''t notice the things he had moved out.


    David deliberately led the zombie to a distant location, while Monica carefully approached the box of military equipment that David had brought out.


    Monica hesitated for a moment as she looked at the box from the outside.       But when she opened the military supply box in front of her, she was left speechless.       Inside, there were indeed firearms, and even hand grenades!


    Monica looked at them and swallowed nervously.       She couldn''t help but wonder if this person was a walking arsenal.       She turned her head and looked at David, who was controlling the zombies, and found herself at a loss for words.


    Quietly picking up a rifle, Monica aimed at the back of the zombie and fired, "Bang!       Bang!"       The sound of the rifle was much louder than that of a handgun.       And the rifle had much greater power.       The shots hit the zombie and caused damage.       The bullets prated the zombie''s body.


    Without dy, Monica quickly grabbed a hand grenade, pulled the pin with her teeth, and rolled it towards the zombie''s feet.


    "What the hell?       Is this woman disregarding my life?"       David watched as the hand grenade rolled towards him, and his heart trembled.       Instinctively, David turned around, skillfully tore open a spatial rift, and rushed in for his life.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    At the moment when David''s spatial rift disappeared, the zombie reacted.       Just as it was about to leave, the hand grenade at its feet exploded!       Bang!       The hand grenade exploded!       The zombie didn''t even have a chance to scream;       its entire body was blown apart!       There was a ck mark on the ground where the grenade had exploded.


    As David stepped out of the spatial rift, he happened to witness the scene.       He let out a long breath and looked at the two crystals on the ground, picking them up.


    "[You obtained one medium crystal, critical hit chance increased by 100%!      ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained one hundred medium crystals!      ]


    [Attribute: Metal!      ]


    [You obtained one medium crystal, critical hit chance increased by 100%!      ]


    [Congrattions, you obtained one hundred medium crystals!      ]


    [Attribute: Defense!      ]


    Listening to the system''s prompts, David smiled satisfactorily.       He looked down at the dark ground and eximed, "There were even hand grenades,Those guys at the Armory were truly rolling in wealth!"


    Monica approached holding the rifle.       She nced at David indifferently.       This was the first time she had encountered such a powerful zombie.       She didn''t expect that in the end, it would be destroyed by one of David''s hand grenades.


    Pinching her brow, Monica pondered for a moment before asking, "Do you sell these?"


    David turned his head and looked at her.       "Sell?"       His eyes lit up as he thought of another way to obtain crystal rewards.       Organizations like the one Monica belonged to shouldn''t becking in ability crystals, right?


    With that in mind, David cleared his throat lightly and said, "They can be sold, but the price depends on whether you can afford it."


    Monica nodded calmly and replied, "There should be no problem with the price."


    Upon hearing this, David couldn''t help but smile.       After saying a few words, Monica''s face darkened.


    After hesitating for a moment, Monica said, "I need to discuss this with my colleagues."


    David smiled:  "You better get back before there''s any red light"    With that, he looked up at the sky.       The sky was calm, The red light is gone,with the sun hanging high.       Monica nodded, handed the rifle to David, and turned to leave.


    Watching Monica''s departing figure, a slight smile formed at the corner of David''s mouth.       She could be his major client!       If he maintained a long-term cooperative rtionship with her, his resources in the apocalypse might be more and more abundant.

 Chapter 99 Make An Exorbitant Request

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    There are still many weapons in the space.   David''s team is small and naturally doesn''t need so many weapons.   It''s better to sell them and make a morefortable living.   Otherwise, these weapons will just gather dust in David''s space.


    After Monica walked away, David didn''t stay downstairs for long.   The red light had just disappeared, and there were probably many awakened and upgraded zombies by now.   If he stayed downstairs, more mutated zombies woulde looking for him as a tasty meal.


    Thud, thud.   David returned to the front of his room and knocked on the door.   "It''s me," he said calmly.   David turned around and nced at the state of the room behind him.   The door had already been smashed by the zombie, and the threshold was in shambles.


    Taking advantage of no oneing to open the door, David walked into the room.   It was also a mess inside, with furniture and ceilings destroyed.   Inside the house, there was the food David had brought for Arnold''s family.   Just as he entered, Sally happened to open the door.


    "David?"   Sally looked at David''s back and cautiously stuck her head out, looking around hesitantly before finally stepping out.   She followed David''s back and entered the house.   As soon as she entered, she was stunned by the mess in front of her for a few seconds.


    After David entered the house, he walked straight into the room with a clear goal in mind.   When he saw the intact food, he used his telekinesis to collect all the food into his space.   The room was beyond salvage, but at least the items were still there.   It was not a total loss, but it was a pity that his home was ruined.


    Thinking about it, David sighed and turned around, only to meet Sally''s gaze.   Thump!   David''s body shook, and he ced his hand over his heart.   "When did youe over?"   Sally looked at David''s reaction and chuckled, covering her mouth.


    David never expected to be startled by her.   Sally looked at David''s reaction with delight, finding it even amusing.   And David, seeing her like this, helplessly said, "Stopughing.   We can''t stay here.   Let''s go back first."


    As he spoke, he walked forward, took Sally''s hand, and walked outside.   As they walked out, they noticed the door was left open.   David turned his head and nced at Sally.   Sally''s gaze looked somewhat flustered, and she quickly lowered her head.   After entering the house, David closed the door behind them.


    "David, are you alright?"   Arnold saw David and quickly walked up, his face filled with concern.   David shook his head.   "I''m fine."


    Hearing David''s words, Arnold looked him up and down, and just as David said, there were no injuries on his body.   Arnold heaved a sigh of relief.   "I told you, David couldn''t possibly have any problems."


    Arnold smiled and looked at Sophie, but before Sophie could speak, Duke, who was leaning against the wall with crossed arms, spoke first.   "Arnold, you weren''t like this just now.   You were really worried about David''s condition and said you wanted to go out and help."


    As he finished speaking, Arnold''s ears turned rare red, reproaching him, "You, how could you bring up my business?"


    Duke tugged at the corner of his mouth, shrugged, and casually nced at David before turning his head away.           David, observing the two of them, smiled and said, "Stop messing around, we might need to find a new base soon."           The recent events have been overwhelming, and this building is already on the verge of copse.           No matter how sturdy the building is, it may not withstand the relentless attacks of the zombies.


    "A new base?"           Arnold questioned with a puzzled voice.           David looked at him and nodded.


    Immediately after, Duke supported his head with both hands and said, "In this situation, how are you going to find a intact house?           Both the buildings and houses have been destroyed by the zombies."


    David wanted to lead everyone to find a new base, but it''s not that easy.           Moreover, the zombie outbreak is imminent.           If they don''t find a new base before that, they might not be able to withstand the uing outbreak.


    David pondered for a moment, his gaze bing solemn.           "I will figure it out, so don''t worry."


    Duke nced at David without saying anything and silently looked out the window.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "you''re back," a man turned his head and saw Monica, who had just entered the room, and said softly.


    Monica made a sound of acknowledgment and asked, "Where''s Abraham?           I need to talk to him."


    Monica  looked at the empty rocking chair with confusion"Abraham never leaves the room, so why is he not here when he returned today?


    Before the man could answer, Danny spoke first.           "Abraham?           As soon as the red light outside disappeared, he went out, probably went back for a while."


    "Went back?"           Monica was slightly shocked.


    Abraham has been with them for a long time and has never left their side.           Now that Abraham is gone, it indicates that something serious has happened.           But without Abraham, there''s no way to discuss the matter concerning David.


    Monica furrowed her brows.           The man nced at her and asked, "What happened?"


    Monica turned her head and met the man''s eyes.           After hesitating for a moment, she decided to speak up.           "That guy earlier, he has weapons."


    "Weapons?"           Danny eximed, standing up in disbelief.           He looked at Monica with an incredulous expression.           "He really has weapons?"


    Monica gave him a disdainful look and continued speaking to the man.           "He mentioned that he''s willing to sell them to us, but the price..."           Monica hesitated for a moment.           Because the price David quoted was simply outrageous.


    The man said, "But go ahead and tell me."


    Monica nodded and replied, "He says he needs 10,000 primary crystals from us in exchange for a box of weapons."


    Upon hearing this, Danny sprayed the water he was drinking out of his mouth.           "Ten thousand?!"           The man turned his head and stared at him sharply.


    Danny swallowed his saliva and closed his mouth.           The man remained calm and asked, "Is there room for negotiation?"


    Ten thousand is definitely not a small number.           It''s almost unrealistic for them to gather ten thousand primary crystals so quickly.           David is being extremely demanding.           The man''s gaze shifted, adjusting his sses on the bridge of his nose.


    "I haven''t asked yet," Monica spoke up.


    The man nodded and said, "I understand.           Abraham doesn''t know about this yet, but I think I can talk to him and see if we can get a lower amount."


    "Why is the red light appearing again?"           Danny stood by the window and suddenly eximed.

 Chapter 100 Red Light Reappears

    ?


    Danny looked at the scene outside the window and voiced his confusion, "The red light just disappeared, and now it''s back again."


    The man and Monica exchanged nces upon hearing his words, then they both stood up and walked to the window.   They lifted a corner of the curtain, and indeed, it was as Danny described.


    Outside the window, the sun that used to hang high in the sky and illuminate the ground was now covered by red light.   The entire ground was bathed in an eerie red glow, making them more vignt.


    Danny''s eyes lit up as he looked outside the window.   Downstairs, there was someone who seemed unfazed by the red light and walked out.   As soon as the red light touched his body, it immediately burst into mes.   It started with his shoulders, then spread to his entire upper body, lower body, until the zing mes engulfed him entirely.


    "Ah!"   The person let out a scream before dying, ultimately turning into a zombie.   Humans under the red light seemed to be cursed by some kind of evil.   Even death became a luxury, as they could only transform into decaying corpses.


    Danny let the curtain fall and nced at the two who were still looking outside the window.   He crossed his arms and walked over to the sofa, opening a bag of potato chips.


    Upon hearing the sound, Monica turned to look at him and said, "What''s the situation?   Only you can still eat."


    Danny put a chip in his mouth and chuckled, "The body is the capital for survival."


    Before Monica could respond, the man patted her shoulder and shook his head.   Then he whispered, "The matter of the firearms may have to be dyed for a while.   We can''t go out as long as the red light persists."


    With those words, Danny chimed in, "Yeah, Abraham told us to stay put when the red light appears before he left."


    The man nodded towards the red glow, and Monica turned to sit down.   She sat on the bed, crossed her legs, her gaze distant and lost in thought.


    Meanwhile, outside a building, before the red light illuminated the area, Abraham had already stepped into the building.   Abraham turned around, looking at the crimson sky, furrowing his brow.   Then, he leaned on his cane, took out a small card, and swiped it on the card reader by the door.


    Drip!   The card reader made a faint sound.   With a click, the revolving door of the building started to operate.   Abraham followed the revolving door and walked inside...


    "David, this red light..."   Arnold also noticed the red light outside the window.


    "The red light?"   David paused for a moment, then hurriedly walked over.   He lifted the curtain and was shocked by the sight outside the window.   Indeed, there was the red light.   Why did it appear again?


    In the previous era, the red light only appeared once, and its durationsted less than a day.   But now, it kepting and going, and they didn''t know when it would happen again.   After pondering for a moment, David addressed everyone in the room:"For now, let''s make do and stay here."


    Everyone listened withoutints.            David nodded and distributed several primary crystals to everyone for absorption.            As soon as they received the crystals, their eyes brightened, and they immediately began absorbing them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Inside the room, everyone except Sophie was an ability user.            When Sophie didn''t know what to do, David suggested, "Sophie, why don''t you go check on Arnold?"


    It was Arnold''s first time absorbing primary crystals, so it was good to have someone watching over him.            Sophie nodded, her face filled with excitement, and followed behind Arnold.            As everyone started absorbing the crystals, David ced ten more primary crystals on the table.


    Afterpleting everything, David sat on the sofa with twenty primary crystals in front of him.            As he looked at the twenty crystals, he felt a bit troubled.            So far, the spatial crystals had not appeared.            If he could obtain one, it would have an exponentially greater effect.


    When David picked up the first crystal, the red light from outside the window seeped through the curtains, casting a faint red glow.            Looking at the faint red light on the ground, David suddenly remembered the man''s words: "The red light never ceases."


    David carefully pondered this sentence.            He wanted to know what it meant.            Who was that person and what was their identity?            Lost in thought, David felt fortunate that the faint red light didn''t affect anyone inside the house.


    Shortly after, David began absorbing the crystals one by one.            He quickly absorbed all twenty crystals.            Just as he finished absorbing them, David let out a sigh of relief, stood up, stretched, and then heard Duke''s groaning.            He paused and turned to look at Duke.


    At that moment, Duke was clutching his stomach, curled up on the ground, beads of cold sweat constantly forming on his forehead.            His lips had lost their normal color, reced by It''s pale lips.            David nced at him but didn''t approach.            He walked over to Little ck, stroked the Little ck  circling around him, and smiled.            "Are you hungry?"


    Little ck seemed to understand David''s words and jumped towards him, saliva almost dripping onto the floor.            David smiled and put a dozen crystals into the dog''s bowl.            Little ck was quite satisfied as it turned around and started eating.


    David shifted his gaze and focused on C.            Looking at the sleeping C, he felt that there were many secrets hidden within it.            He approached and ced some crystals in front of it.            Then he sat on the sofa.            After a few moments, when everyone was almost finished, Sally was the first to approach.


    "I''m done."    Sally said, her face slightly flushed, as she sat down next to David.


    "How about you?            Do you feel anything?"            David asked.


    Sally shook her head.            "No upgrade, but I feel much stronger in terms of my overall physical condition.            That''s enough.            Physical fitness is still crucial."


    Before David could speak again, Arnold excitedly walked over.            He stood in front of David, full of excitement.            "I feel a surging energy inside me.            Does that mean I''ve leveled up?"


    With those words, Arnold couldn''t wait to demonstrate it to David.            Rip!            As Arnold transformed, all his clothes burst open!            Looking at Arnold in his werewolf state, David nodded in satisfaction.            The werewolf''s figure had grown even taller.


    "David, I can now easily jump several stories high, and look at my muscles!"            Arnold said, exerting all his strength, revealing one developed muscle after another.


    As Sophie couldn''t help but exim, "Amazing," David watched and echoed, "Impressive."            Seeing that everyone was almost done, David stood up and tried to reach out and pat Arnold''s shoulder, but he couldn''t reach.            Seeing this, Arnold silently crouched down.

 Chapter 101 Look For A New Base

    ?


    David coughed awkwardly and instructed, "I need to go out for a while, I''ll leave this to you."     With that said, he turned his head and nced at Duke, who was still struggling.


    Arnold patted his chest and replied, "Leave it to me."


    David nodded and opened the door, walking out.     He nned to go upstairs to find the man and rify how much he knew about the red light.     Although David didn''t know which room the man was in, the only thing he could be certain of was that it wasn''t on the same floor as them.


    "I can only search slowly," David murmured.     He summoned his armor and held an alloy battle sword in his hand.     This was the most critical moment, and if any unexpected situation urred, he needed to be alert and prepared to handle it.


    Equipped with his gear, David walked up the stairs.     He searched room by room for signs of upancy, passing by Brian and Lily''s room.     The bloodstains inside the room had long dried up, and the scattered flesh on the floor became even more evident.     David quickly averted his gaze, turned around, and continued to the next room in search of the man.


    Meanwhile, in the stairwell, the man wearing a duckbill cap walked heavily, pressing the cap low.     As he walked out of the stairwell, he didn''t notice David''s presence as he had left through another stairwell.     The man leisurely took out a key, opened the door of the third room from the left, and entered cautiously, closing the door behind him.


    On David''s side, he searched floor by floor for the man but couldn''t find him.     When he reached the rooftop and saw the empty tform, he furrowed his brow.     How could he not be here?


    Standing at the entrance, David looked at the red light on the ground but didn''t take a step forward.     Letting out a long sigh, he turned away from the rooftop.     Returning to the room, Duke had already finished absorbing the energy and his eyes were bright, excitedly discussing something with Arnold.


    Arnold noticed David''s return and quickly greeted him, "David, you''re back."     Then, he nudged Duke.     "Duke seems to have leveled up too!"


    David''s lost eyes lifted his head when he heard this.     Before more powerful zombies appeared, he had to improve his own strength to the maximum and establish his own team.     Only then would he have the capital to confront the apocalypse and ensure his survival in the long run.     David knew that the uing tasks were crucial, and he had to seize the time toplete them.


    There was still much for David to do.     However, the most urgent matter at hand was to find a new stronghold, as it was their refuge and the most important facility for survival in the apocalypse.


    "Hey," just as David was contemting, Duke''s voice came through.


    David turned to look and saw Duke extending his hand towards him.     "What''s the matter?"


    Duke shook his hand and said, "Give me a bit more of that thing, I still want Crystal!"


    Want it?     This kid was getting too full of himself.     David immediately rejected his request.


    Duke looked dissatisfied and said, "Why not?"


    Listening to his question, David replied calmly, "If you don''t want to die so soon, you can keep asking me.       If you still want to live, absorbing the amount I give you every day is enough."       With that said, David turned his head and looked out the window.       Thump!       His heart trembled as the red light receded.


    David stood up, picked up the nearby coat, and prepared to leave.       Duke walked over and asked, "What do you mean?"


    David nced at him and said, "That''s what I mean literally."


    Then, David gave some instructions to Arnold.       Just as he was about to leave, his hand was already on the doorknob, and at the moment of opening the door, Duke spoke up, "I''ll go with you."


    David raised an eyebrow, didn''t refuse, and nodded.       The two of them went out.


    Inside the room, C slowly opened its eyes, "Meow."       C meowed and stood up.       It nced at the crystal in front of it and absorbed it in a few moments.       Before Sally coulde over, C disappeared from the spot.


    "C?"       Sally looked at the vanished spot where C had been and was momentarily stunned.      Recently, C has been mysteriously disappearing.       But in the end, C would definitelye back home.       Moreover, it always appeared after David returned.       Could it be following David?


    Sally pondered for a moment but felt that something was off.       If David wanted to take C with him, he wouldn''t just leave directly.       She walked to the window and watched the two people who had already walked downstairs.


    Sure enough, C wasn''t following behind them.       Where did C go?       Downstairs, the two had barely taken a few steps after exiting the stairs when the sound of zombie roars reached their ears.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David swiftly raised his de and quickly dispatched several low-level zombies.       Thump!       One after another, their heads fell to the ground.


    As David swiftly killed several zombies, Duke naturally refused to be left behind.  As the red light dispersed and the sun gradually appeared in the sky, shadows of various objects, including the zombies, became visible on the ground.


    At that moment, a zombie roared and charged towards the two of them.  David was about to raise his alloy short knife to deal with it when he heard Duke''s furious roar, "Die!"


    David turned his head and saw Duke clenching his fist tightly, smashing the fragmented shadow of the zombie.  With a loud "bang," the zombie''s body, which was already swinging its severed arm, suddenly exploded with an ear-piercing sound.  Witnessing this, David quickly dodged behind an abandoned billboard, avoiding being sttered with foul-smelling blood and flesh.  Looking at the zombie that had been crushed into a pile of meat by Duke in an instant, David frowned slightly and nced at Duke.


    At that moment, Duke seemed to be intoxicated by the pleasure of ughtering zombies, with a hint of excitement on his face.  But in David''s eyes, it was a sign of Duke being too bloodthirsty.  Moreover, it was Duke''s first time consuming a crystal and gaining special abilities, and he had expended his energy so recklessly for a low-level zombie.


    To David, this was not a wise move.  It was important to note that activating special abilities had a fatal weakness.  As the energy was depleted, physical strength would greatly diminish, resulting in a direct decrease inbat effectiveness and even death on the battlefield for the ability user.


    Every ability user cherished the opportunity to use their abilities and would not use them unless they encountered particrly formidable zombies.  For example, David, even though his level was about to reach level six, still carried an alloy short knife when he went out.  That way, he could kill zombies without depleting his energy.  After all, crises were everywhere in this world, and for survival, every survivor had to leave themselves an escape route.


    But obviously, Duke had overlooked this point.  "You better not consume your energy like this next time, or I''m not sure if you''ll end up being one of the zombies," David advised him.


    Listening to David''s words, Duke nced at him, his pride still intact.  In his view, he had already activated the power to crush everything, so why not enjoy killing to his heart''s content?  Moreover, he believed that as long as David continued to provide him with crystals, his strength would undoubtedly surpass anyone else in the room.


    However, because only David had crystals at the moment, Duke didn''t reveal his true thoughts but instead concealed his intentions and nodded.  "I understand.  I will remember it next time."  He then nced at the zombie that had been turned into pulp, a hint of disdainful smile on his lips.


    The two of them continued on their way, encountering scattered zombies along the path, all of which David swiftly dispatched with his alloy short knife.  Although Duke was eager to use his own special abilities, he could only think of the crystals on David''s person, swallowing his saliva and silently following behind him.


    Before long, David led Duke to the entrance of a tall building.  Looking up, the building had around fifty floors, but due to relentless zombie attacks, it appeared dpidated, with many of the windows mysteriously shattered.


    Duke looked at the building with some confusion and asked, "Why are we here?"


    With a calm expression, David didn''t answer Duke''s question but instead gripped the alloy short knife and walked straight into the building.  Seeing this, Duke, although puzzled, followed inside.


    Pushing open the weathered ss door, which was covered in cracks and even had dried ck bloodstains, the two of them entered the building one after the other.  The entire tower had a gloomy atmosphere due to theck of signs of human habitation.  In some hallways, there were already dposed and putrid corpses.  Observing the torn limbs and bite marks on these bodies, David immediately understood that this was the work of zombies.


    To be on the safe side, David tightly gripped his alloy steel knife, fearing that a zombie might suddenly appear from a room or corner.  Although he had more than enough strength to deal with a few zombies, he didn''t dare to be careless.  After all, being careless in such a situation would be ying with his own life.


    Having already died once, David had no desire to experience the taste of death again.  Ignoring the ground floor lobby, David went straight to the second floor.  The situation on the second floor was simr to the lobby, with several bodies of women lying around, torn apart by zombies.  Seeing that each of them fell in the direction of the entrance, David guessed that at the moment the zombies appeared, they had tried to struggle and escape.  However, the oue was already known¡ªthey had failed.


    Duke frowned as he looked at the bodies, wishing he could go out and teach those zombies a lesson right away.  Bypassing the corpses, David pondered for a while in several rooms on the second floor but found that they were all offices and not suitable as a hiding ce for their team.


    Their main objective foring out this time, as the red light faded away, was to find a new stronghold for their team.  Their previous location had beenpromised, which David considered extremely dangerous.  If he wanted to ensure the team''s permanent survival in the uing battles, he had to quickly find a new base.


    Shaking his head at the spacious offices, David continued to the third floor.  Unfortunately, it seemed that each floor of the building had the sameyout.  After going up to the tenth floor without finding a suitable stronghold, David realized that Duke had also understood the purpose of their expedition.


    "This kind of building is semi-public;  there are simply no hidden ces," Duke said, wrinkling his brow.  "Instead of searching here for a base, it''s better to take a look in the alleys outside.  We might find some unexpected rewards there."  Duke''s judgment was not wrong.  Compared to this building, the residential houses in the alleys seemed more suitable as a stronghold and were sufficiently hidden.


    David had naturally thought of this option, but after careful consideration, he felt that other surviving teams might have the same idea.  In that case, multiple teams would end up living under the same roof, and conflicts would be inevitable.  In this world, people with ulterior motives were everywhere.  David had to avoid all risks and ensure that their team was secure enough.  That''s why he came to this building that everyone else overlooked.


    After circling the tenth floor, David suddenly spotted a car key on a table, and a spark of inspiration ignited within him!

 Chapter 102 Parking Lot Became The New Base

    ?


    "Parking lot!"      When David saw the bunch of car keys, those words immediately came to his mind.      The parking lot belonged to an underground structure, which offered significantly greater securitypared to buildings on the surface.      Moreover, based on his memories from his previous life, arge building like this should have at least four entrances and exits in the parking lot.      This meant that if their team encountered danger, they would have four escape routes, greatly increasing their chances of survival.


    With this in mind, David didn''t hesitate anymore and quickly said to Duke, "Let''s go to the underground parking lot.      Maybe we''ll find the base we''re looking for."


    "The underground parking lot?"      Duke was initially puzzled when he heard David''s words, but then he immediately understood David''s idea, which filled him with admiration.      It wasn''t an ordinary person''s ability to maintain a clear mind in such chaotic and oppressive circumstances.


    Soon, the two of them arrived at the underground parking lot.      The lighting inside was intermittently dim and bright, and all kinds of cars on both sides were already covered in dust.      David cautiously observed the surroundings while holding an alloy short knife, and Duke assumed a stance ready tounch an attack at any moment.


    After a while, they reached the innermost part of the parking lot where the lighting remained unaffected and functional, allowing David to see the surroundings clearly.      On both sides, there were still many cars parked, butpared to the cars they had seen when they entered, these were noticeably high-end and luxurious: Ferraris, Porsches, Bugatti Veyrons, and even two modified off-road vehicles.


    Seeing these luxury cars, which would cost a fortune on normal days, discarded here like trash, David couldn''t help but smile bitterly and shake his head.      In his previous life, he couldn''t afford a single one of these cars, but in this world, he could own any car he wanted.      It wasn''t about bing wealthy;      it was about the fact that the number of survivors in this world was dwindling.      Being alive already meant having ess to immense wealth.


    David continued to observe for a while, nodding silently.      He believed they could utilize the terrain here to establish a stronghold, ensuring a safe hiding ce for their team members.      Moreover, the most important thing was that he didn''t see any corpses here, which meant that no zombies had been in this area.      It was clearly an absolute safe zone.


    "Huh?      Why is there another door here?"      David suddenly noticed an inconspicuous corner where there was a steel door of the same color as the wall.      If one didn''t observe carefully, they wouldn''t notice this door at all.


    David walked towards the door, discovered that it wasn''t locked, and gently pulled it open.      Stepping inside, he was somewhat surprised to find a three-bedroom apartment.      This surprised him.


    An apartment with three bedrooms and a living room in the underground parking lot?      How is this designed?      However, when David entered the bedroom, he understood why someone would build a three-bedroom apartment in the underground parking lot.      He saw a maid''s uniform and a set of expensive-looking suits scattered untidily on the bed.


    Wow!     So this is a "hidden" room built by some big boss just for his mistress!      This made David full of admiration for this cunning big boss.      Being able to choose this location was also a stroke of genius.      The original spouse would never have expected her husband to enjoy himself not in a hotel or an office but in the underground parking lot.      However, now this ce belonged entirely to David.


    Looking at the dust on the table in the room, David spected that the wealthy boss who owned this ce hadn''t been here for quite some time.        It was even possible that he had be food for the zombies.        David couldn''t help but feel delighted at the stroke of luck he had in finding such an excellent location with high security.


    "This is it!"        David surveyed the room and expressed his satisfaction.        Duke also inspected the room and was equally pleased.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Now all we need to do is bring Arnold and the others here, and This is our new base for the team," David said.


    There were still five days left until he had to find a base for the team.        Initially, David thought five days wouldn''t be enough time, but to his surprise, he managed toplete the task in just half a day, which relieved him.


    If he didn''t find a suitable base within these five days, ording to the system''s prompt, David would likely bepletely exposed to the zombie horde and wouldn''t have any more chances to respawn.        So he had to seize this rare opportunity for rebirth and fulfill his unfulfilled wishes from his previous life.


    After a moment of contemtion, David instructed Duke, "You stay here and wait.        I''ll go back and inform the others.        We don''t have much time;        we''re moving here today."


    Although Duke hesitated for a moment upon hearing that David wanted him to stay alone, he eventually agreed.        Seeing this, David hurriedly retraced his steps, preparing to inform Arnold and the others.


    Meanwhile, as the red light on the horizon disappeared, Danny finally put down the few remaining potato chips in his hand.        He got up and walked slowly to the window, ncing at the window across the street, only to find that the two people who were observing the red light had vanished.


    "I don''t like red in this world," Danny sighed and shook his head.        Hearing Danny''s words, Monica couldn''t help but roll her eyes.


    In this world, red only appeared in two situations: bloodshed and red light.        However, whenever either of these two urred, it meant destruction.        Not only Danny, but all survivors wished to avoid encountering this color their whole lives.


    "Easy for you to say, but can you avoid it?        In this world full of ughter, we can only passively ept it.        If therees a day when we can ept it proactively, I hope it''s for victory, not death," Monica replied.        The man sitting in the corner remained expressionless, while Danny nodded with deep meaning.


    "By the way, did you say David is offering ten thousand primary crystals for a box of military supplies?"


    "Yes," Monica nodded in response.


    "Although I''m curious about where that kid got military supplies from and even want to buy it right now, we have to wait for Abraham toe back before making a decision.        After all, it''s ten thousand primary crystals.        Although we''re not short on them, we can''t be so extravagant," Danny said, and Monica understood his meaning.        She knew that only Abraham could make such a decision, so they silently waited for Abraham return.

 Chapter 103 Abrahams Secret

    On the other side of the city, inside an equally dpidated building, an old man stood before a doubleyered security door, leaning on a cane.   With a "beep," the identity verification seeded, and the double doors slowly opened.   The sight inside the secure door was in stark contrast to the decrepit building.


    Inside was a massiveboratory, various experimental equipment neatly arranged on tables, and containers of different colors filled with liquids bubbling away.   And in each of these liquids, without exception, were ck objects.   Approaching one of the containers, the old man pushed his wire-rimmed sses and furrowed his brow, a hint of seriousness appearing on his face.


    "It''s running out of time.   I must hurry to extract more energy," the old man murmured, shaking his head.


    This old man was none other than Abraham, and the objects immersed in the liquid before him were actually corpses of zombies.   Not only in the liquids but also in some cryogenic chambers and on surgical tables, there were neatly arranged zombie bodies.   From their appearance, these zombie bodies were particrlyrge and seemed different from ordinary zombies, most of them being high-level ones.


    Abraham collected these zombie bodies from various ces.   The reason he collected their corpses was that he discovered a little-known secret from these high-level zombies.   It seemed that enormous energy was hidden within them.   This energy was potent and could even directly trigger the mutation of humans, granting them incredible abilities.


    For example, Abraham sessfully obtained teleportation abilities by extracting energy from a high-level zombie corpse.   That was why he could leave the base ande here when the red light appeared.   His teleportation ability allowed him to move to a location twenty meters away in the blink of an eye.   During the movement, he couldn''t be targeted, not even by something as terrifying as the red light, which couldn''t harm a hair on him.


    However, Abraham had never revealed this secret to Danny, Monica, and others.   After conducting several experiments, he discovered that the energy extracted from the zombie bodies wasn''t easy to control.   The acquired abilities were also not very stable.   This would pose potential risks to those who absorbed this energy.


    Abraham knew that if he revealed this secret to Danny and the others, they would surely experiment on themselves in an attempt to gain these abilities.   But as the only elder among them, Abraham didn''t want them to be guinea pigs.   Originally, he nned to wait until he had more time to thoroughly study and research in theboratory.   However, the sudden reappearance of the red light made Abraham immediately realize the urgency of the situation.


    Moreover, he had a vague sense that a wave of higher-level zombies was about to descend.   For the survivors like them, it would be a devastating massacre.   Therefore, before that happened, he needed topletely understand this energy and stabilize it, making it fully absorbable by those with abilities.   Only then would they have a chance to survive.


    "God bestows great tasks upon worthy individuals," Abraham muttered as he put on hisb coat.   "I hope I have enough time."   With that said, he picked up a surgical knife from the operating table and began his research on the zombie bodies...


    Back at the original base, David quickly informed everyone about the discovery of the new base.


    "Great!     Now we don''t have to worry about finding a ce to stay!"


    "Yes!     Only then can we focus on practicing and improving our abilities."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Arnold and Sally eximed happily.     Although they were at level three, they couldn''t control their abilities very well yet.     At this stage, their abilities were still unstable, so a secure stronghold was crucial for both of them.     Sophie nodded repeatedly and started packing her belongings, and everyone else became busy as well.


    David didn''t have many things, and most of the important items were carried by the system, so he didn''t have much to pack.     Seizing the opportunity, he crouched down to stroke Little ck''s fur.     "Little ck, we''re moving to a new ce.     Are you happy?"     After consuming the crystals, Little ck seemed more understanding, immediately grasping David''s words and wagging its tail excitedly.     This brought a smile of contentment to David''s face.


    In the monotonous life, he was grateful not only for Sally''s presence but also for thepany of Little ck and C.     Otherwise, he might have developed depression in this constantly anxious life.


    And C?     David was thinking about it when he suddenly realized that he hadn''t seen C since he entered the room.     He quickly turned his head to search for it.     At that moment, C''s voice came from the windowsill.     "Meow!     Meow!"


    David let out a sigh of relief and walked over, reaching out and picked up C.     "Little one, where did you go?     You scared me for a moment."     Listening to David''s words, C simply looked at him and twitched its whiskers twice before letting out another "meow."


    David had always had a big question in his mind about C.     He felt that there must be some secret about C that he didn''t know.     However, even after spending so much time together, he hadn''t discovered what that secret was.     Just then, Sally walked out of the bedroom carrying a box.


    Seeing David holding C, she was slightly surprised and asked, "When did Ce back?"     This question left David somewhat confused.     When did Ce back?     Did it go out when he left?     He quickly asked, "Did C go out after I left?"


    Sally nodded, but then immediately shook her head.     After David left, C did disappear, but she didn''t see C following David outside.


    Seeing this, David was also puzzled, and his curiosity about C deepened.     Meanwhile, C remained curled up in David''s arms, lookingpletely content.


    Soon, everyone finished packing their belongings.     As David had instructed earlier, to quickly reach the new base, each person only carried essential items.     After double-checking, David nodded and handed C to Sally while letting Little ck follow Arnold.     Then they left the room.


    As they were leaving, David deliberately circled a few floors, trying to find the man.     The secret of the red light remained unresolved, a knot in his heart.     He had to find a way to get answers from that man.


    However, even after circling a few floors, David couldn''t find any trace of the man''s residence.     Helpless, he decided to leave first ande back when he had time.     After all, settling everyone else was the most important thing at the moment.     And so, the four people, one dog, and one cat set off toward their new base.

 Chapter 104 Newborn

    ?


    Several people walked on the road and encountered a group of fiercely murderous zombies.         However, at this moment, Arnold, who had already gained superpowers, stood up without hesitation.         In an instant, he transformed into a werewolf form, his muscles bulging like small mountains, and the ferocious aura emanating from him was even stronger than that of the zombies.


    "Die!"         Arnold roared angrily and rushed towards the zombies without hesitation.         With a few heavy blows, he turned all the zombies into a pile of flesh.         Witnessing Arnold''s terrifying strength, not only Sophie and Sally, but even David were secretly amazed.


    "Wow!         Arnold''s werewolf form is so powerful!         He can instantly kill zombies?"         Sally said admiringly.         Previously, before Arnold awakened his superpowers, he was just an ordinary person in battle, with attack power no different from an average person.         It even took him some effort to deal with zombies.         So now, the power he disyed was a stark contrast, shining brightly in front of everyone.


    Although David was also shocked by Arnold''s superpowers, he knew that if they encountered zombies of a slightly higher rank, Arnold would probably have a hard time dealing with them.         Because based on the superpowers Arnold had obtained, it was a power explosion type of ability.         In other words, it relied solely on the brute force unleashed by his own body in battle.


    However, higher-ranking zombies differed from ordinary ones in that they possessed some human intelligence, allowing them to employbat techniques and strategies.         In that case, Arnold''s power-based superpower would not have an advantage.


    But David also knew that power-based superpowers had one advantage, which was that power was constantly generated within the cells, It''s like having an infinite energy bar .         This was very different from Duke''s activated superpower.         So when David saw that Arnold was using his superpowers to kill zombies throughout, he didn''t try to stop him.


    Soon, after killing a dozen or so wandering zombies, David led them to the underground parking lot of a building.         As they entered the parking lot and looked at the surroundings, Sally was the first to ask with confusion, "Is this underground parking lot our new base?"


    David nodded and continued walking.         Upon receiving confirmation, Sally became even more puzzled.         Because she knew the criteria for choosing a base, it not only needed to be concealed but also required an ample number of escape routes, including backup routes.         Only when these conditions were met could they avoid being trapped when facing danger.


    However, no matter how Sally looked at this underground parking lot, she felt that it did not meet these two conditions.         So she spoke up again, "David, I think we should look for another ce again.         Although this ce is underground, based on my experience, it is not the safest ce."


    After speaking, Sally had a serious expression.         In this crisis-ridden world, she didn''t want to joke with her own life.         Sophie and Arnold looked around the environment with the same sense of confusion, waiting for David''s answer.         It was already quite difficult for them to survive until now, so every step they took and every decision they made had to be wless.


    Upon hearing Sally''s words, David shook his head under the flickering lights.         If it came to experience, he had more experience than anyone else.         After all, he had thebined experience of two lifetimes, and he was extremely familiar with all of this.         He knew that Sally was right, but she also overlooked the most important question, which was defense.


    When they encounter danger, they naturally want to attack.  However, if there is an impregnable defense, can it reduce the need for aggression?  After all, initiating an attack will inevitably lead to bloodshed and sacrifice.  This underground parking lot is located beneath a fifty-story high-rise building and epasses the entire crust.  It can be considered an absolute natural defense.  Even if the defense is breached, the parking lot''s four exits are sufficient to provide alternative escape routes.  Moreover, there are several hundred cars fully fueled and ready to be activated at any time.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Attack, defense, and mobility.  These are three indispensable factors in the zombie world.  And this underground parking lot brings together these three factors.  David shared his idea with the others.  Upon hearing David''s exnation, they immediately realized its significance.


    Sally was so amazed that she couldn''t even speak and could only admire David, silently giving him a thumbs-up gesture, saying, "I have to say, you''re the most formidable person in our team."


    David smiled faintly and continued leading them forward.  Soon, they arrived at the deepest part of the underground parking lot.  Approaching the concealed security door, David surveyed the surroundings to ensure there were no threats and then knocked on the door.


    "Watchword," Duke''s voice came from inside.  This was the code word David and Duke had agreed upon before he left.  Only by uttering the watchword could the door be opened.


    "Newborn," David whispered.


    Then, with a click, Duke inside opened the security door, and the group hurriedly entered.  Seeing this concealed three-bedroom apartment, they were once again surprised.  They never expected David to have discovered such a hidden ce.


    As soon as Little ck entered the room, it immediately began its "exploration" of the new home.  It sniffed around here and scratched at things there, exhibiting a curious demeanor.  Meanwhile, C jumped out of Sally''s arms and leaped onto the sofa.  After assuming afortable posture, C let out a "meow" towards the others, seemingly proiming that this would be its territory from now on.


    Observing this, David chuckled and began organizing the others to tidy up the house.  It seemed that the previous owner treated this sanctuary as their own home, so everything inside was neatly arranged, and there wasn''t much clutter.  Moreover, some appliances, kitchen utensils, and daily necessities were brand new, so they didn''t need to clean anything.  They disposed of some torn stockings, high heels, and expired banana-scented condoms.


    They started assigning rooms since there were only three bedrooms for five people.  Sally and Sophie shared one room, Duke and Arnold shared another, and the remaining room was upied by David himself.


    No one had any objections to this arrangement.  After all, David currently held the most authority in their small team.  Without him, they would probably have perished outside long ago.  The group then began returning to their respective rooms to pack their belongings, while David went back to his own room.


    Lying on the bed, David stretchedzily.  After a day of fighting and searching for a stronghold, his body was somewhat weary.  However, the good news was that the issue of the stronghold had finally been resolved.  Just as he was about to lie down and rest for a while, the mechanical voice of the system once again rang in his ears.

 Chapter 105 Build A Supreme Defense Base

    [DING!      Congrattions, host, you have obtained 50 primary crystals!     ]


    [DING!      Critical strike multiplier activated!     ]


    [DING!      Congrattions, host, you have obtained 500 primary crystals!     ]


    These primary crystals were all picked up by David while killing zombies just now.      As he looked at the increasing number of primary crystals, David felt a sense of security.      In this world, crystals were a circting currency.      As long as he had crystals, he could guarantee all his needs.


    Of course, David didn''t n to use the crystals for food and drink.      They were too valuable.      In other words, based on the current exchange rate, one primary crystal could be exchanged for a significant amount of food.      David believed that besides himself, no one else in this world was as wealthy as him.


    While David was contemting, the mechanical voice of the system sounded again.


    [DING!      Host has found a new Base for the team.      Mission aplished!     ]


    [New mission initiated: Consolidate the spatial functionality of the new stronghold and create a supreme defense system.]


    [Missionpletion countdown: 7 days, 18 hours, 53 minutes, 42 seconds.]


    Listening to the system''s voice, David furrowed his brow slightly.      "Consolidate the spatial functionality of the stronghold and create a supreme defense system?"      He paused for a moment and immediately understood.      If he guessed correctly, this mission should be based on his spatial abilities as determined by the system.      In other words, it meant using his abilities to transform the base into a fortress in the apocalypse.


    In fact, David had considered this before, but he had been too focused on finding a new base these past few days, so he hadn''t given it much thought.      Now that they had found the new stronghold, it was natural for him to start reinforcing it.      However, over seven days was more than enough time for him.      In fact, David believed that if he wanted to, he couldplete this mission before the deadline.


    With this in mind, David didn''t rush andy down on the bed to rest.      After all, taking care of his body was essential, especially in this world filled with violence.


    On the other side, as Monica watched the disappearing red light on the horizon, she became restless.      She had been waiting for Abraham for nearly a whole day, but she still hadn''t seen him return.


    As a result, their n to purchase weapons from David had to be put on hold.      However, Monica suddenly wondered if someone had beaten them to David''s stockpile of weapons.      If that were the case, their wait would have been in vain.


    You see, in this world, if you possessed a box of weapons, you were like a god.      Having weapons symbolized power.      Although Monica believed that their group''s strength shouldn''t be underestimated, having weapons would provide them with a greater sense of security.


    "Why hasn''t Abrahame back yet?      It''s almost dark," Monica stood up and paced anxiously.


    At the same time, she was also very puzzled.      Although Abraham would asionally go out alone, it was usually for a short time, and he would always return within a few hours.      But today, he had been out for so long without returning.      Could he have encountered some danger?<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    With these thoughts, Monica immediately panicked!    The red light had just dispersed, and there were wandering zombies everywhere outside.    If Abraham had truly been targeted by the zombies, the oue would be unimaginable.


    Seeing Monica''s serious and nervous expression, Danny, on the other hand, calmly returned to the sofa and continued opening the remaining bag of potato chips to eat.


    Observing this, Monica became displeased.    "Abraham hasn''t returned yet, and you''re still eating potato chips?    Don''t you worry about Abraham''s safety?"


    Danny picked up a chip fragment and put it in his mouth, producing a crisp sound.    He smiled and said, "Don''t worry, Abraham is highly skilled and unpredictable.    You don''t need to worry about him ,you''re concerned about your own safety.    He won''t be in danger.    Instead of anxiously waiting here, why not enjoy the rare moments of beauty in life?"


    Danny gestured with the bag of potato chips, inviting Monica to have a piece as well.    This only angered Monica even more!    She knew that Abraham was also a hidden master, but the situation outside was tooplex now!    The reappearance of the red light and the discovery of high-level zombies in the recent battle indicated that the danger level in this world had increased by another level.


    What would they do if higher-level zombies appeared?    Monica didn''t have the leisurely attitude of Danny.    After a pause, she spoke again, "Forget it, enjoy the beauty of life yourself.    I''m going out to search.    Maybe I''ll have some gains."    Without further hesitation, she turned around and disappeared from the room.


    Seeing Monica leave, Danny wasn''t concerned.    He also knew Monica''s personality, and once she had made up her mind, he couldn''t change it, no matter what he did.


    Meanwhile, in the third room on the left of the third floor, a man wearing a duckbill hat and a ck cloak slowly walked out.    Standing at the doorway, he surveyed his surroundings, finding no one, and then headed towards the staircase.


    As the sky gradually darkened, David began to wake up.    At that moment, there was a knock on his bedroom door.    "David, it''s time to eat," Sally''s voice came from outside the door.    David answered and got up, leaving the room.


    He entered the dining room, not knowing when Sally had already prepared dinner.    Everyone was sitting at the table, waiting for David.    Looking at the dishesid out on the table, David rubbed his belly, suddenly feeling a wave of hunger.


    "David, start eating!    Sally has been busy making this for the whole afternoon.    It smells so delicious that it makes one''s mouth water!"    Arnold eagerly eximed, looking at the braised pork ribs on the table.    David nodded and picked up his chopsticks to take a piece of rib.    The others followed suit and started eating.


    "Sally''s culinary skills are truly amazing.    This steamed fish is so delicious!    And this herbal chicken soup is so nourishing!"    Arnold praised Sally''s cooking while eating.    David also didn''t hold back and gave Sally a thumbs-up.


    Hearing these exaggeratedpliments, Sally smiled happily, feeling a warm and nostalgic sensation in her heart.    Since the red light descended and the zombie outbreak urred, she hadn''t experienced the feeling of eating together like this.    So she watched the others eating greedily, and it seemed like she was seeing the scene of her and her family eating together in the past.


    After a while, the table full of dishes waspletely devoured by everyone.    David patted his satisfied belly and then took out several dozen crystals and ced them on the table.    The n was for everyone to absorb these crystalster and see if they could make any breakthroughs.


    Everyone nodded happily and took several crystals, holding them in their hands.   Duke was especially excited.   After receiving the crystals, he quickly returned to the house and started absorbing them.   Watching his impatient behavior, David silently shook his head.

 Chapter 106 Hellhounds At The Commanding Level

    ?


    In this world full of crisis, gaining strength quickly is naturally the desire of every survivor.    However, if one is too eager in their heart, they often end up sabotaging themselves at a critical moment.


    In the previous life, David had seen too many people who destroyed themselves because they were too obsessed with gaining power.    So, after being reborn, David constantly reminded himself that everything must go through a process and not to be impatient.    He was particrly worried about Duke''s behavior at the moment.


    However, he knew that Duke, who was obsessed with power enhancement, would not listen to him at all, so he could only shake his head helplessly.


    After seeing everyone return to their rooms, David shifted his gaze to Little ck and C.    Little ck was still happily gnawing on a big bone, looking contented.    However,pared to before absorbing the crystals, both Little ck''s size and aura had be much stronger, even showing signs of transformation.


    This was an extremely unexpected development for David.    If Little ck could be his spirit beast, it would be a significant boost for David.    In the previous life, there were instances of ability users obtaining spirit beasts, and with the help of the spirit beast, their strength skyrocketed, even being able to confront high-level zombies head-on.


    David squatted down, smiling as he rubbed Little ck''s head, and said, "Little ck, eat more and grow stronger quickly.    Then the two of us can dominate the world together!"    As if understanding David''s words, Little ck happily continued gnawing on the bone and wagged its tail towards David.


    "Meow!"    Suddenly, at this moment, C, who had been lounging on the sofa, suddenly meowed at David.    And from the sound, there seemed to be a hint of dissatisfaction.    This made Davidugh wryly and quickly sat on the sofa.


    He rubbed C''s chin gently and said in a gentle tone, "C, are you jealous?"    C only nced at David with its head raised, then arrogantly stretched out its paw and licked it,pletely ignoring David.    This instantly made David feel awkward.


    Wow!    Now even C was acting like this?    But recalling thest time when he saw the shadow of a demon cat in C Behavior, David nodded with deep meaning.    If C could really activate the abilities of the demon cat, it would be an incredible existence for him.


    With the changes in the rules of this world, spirit beasts were also ssified into different levels: Awakened, Commanding, Transcendent, Totem, Sovereign, Demon King, and Void.


    Initially, spirit beasts that acquired abilities were at the Awakened level.    After long-term absorption of crystals or self-transformation, they could gradually upgrade their level and be stronger.    However, there were some exceptionally talented spirit beasts that could reach the Commanding or Transcendent level upon gaining abilities.    But such spirit beasts were extremely rare and hard toe by.    Therefore, David had high expectations for C.


    David took out twenty crystals from his pocket and ced them in front of Little ck and C.    Then he returned to his room.    Little ck wagged its tail happily and quickly absorbed all the crystals, while C stood up and began to absorb the crystals only after David entered the room.


    And this scene was clearly observed by David, who was watching from the crack in the door.    "Sly cat, You don''t like crystals, do you?    Why do you seem to enjoy them more than Little ck?"    David looked at C, who was in a state of bliss, and chuckled.


    Before moving, he discovered that the ten crystals previously ced on the table had suddenly disappeared.  He initially thought someone else had consumed them, but based on his understanding of them, David quickly ruled them out.  Instead, he became suspicious of C.  So, he staged a little act to see what C had been up to in his absence, but to his surprise, he caught him red-handed.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Continuing to observe C''s every move, David noticed that after consuming the crystals, his entire body began to expand, emitting a surprising sense of pressure.  After a few minutes, C returned to his previouszy state, lying on the sofa and continuing to sleep.


    Suddenly, C seemed to sense something and turned his head towards Little ck.  This immediately raised David''s alertness, and he quickly looked in Little ck''s direction.  After consuming the ten crystals, Little ck''s body suddenly grewrger, and even his eyes faintly emitted a green light.  Opening his mouth, a hotter and more dazzling green light glowed continuously, clearly indicating an upgrade facilitated by the crystals.


    This left David momentarily stunned.  He quickly pushed open the door and approached Little ck, squatting down to carefully sense his changes.


    Sure enough!  Just as David had guessed, Little ck had evolved from an awakened Hellhound to amanding-level Hellhound!  His strength had once again reached a new level!


    "Well done, Little ck!"  David eximed excitedly as he rubbed its head.  At this moment, the others had also finished consuming the crystals and walked out of the room.  David hurriedly shared the good news of Little ck''s promotion to amanding-level beast with everyone.


    Everyone gathered around Little ck, wearing expressions of astonishment, eager to take it out and experience a battle with it.  Little ck wagged its tail with excitement, circling around the group.


    "This is amazing!  Little ck has exceeded our expectations!  He''s amanding-level beast!"  Sally happily eximed while holding Little ck.


    Arnold and Sophie also looked at Little ck with excitement and joy.  As for C, who was lying on the sofa, it simply let out a gentle "meow" while wearing a slightly displeased expression, then closed its eyes and dozed off.


    At this point, David inquired about everyone''s experiences after consuming the crystals.  Arnold and Sally mentioned that they hadn''t upgraded, which didn''t surprise David since they had justpleted their previous upgrades.  However, he was surprised to learn that Sophie had unexpectedly gained an ability.


    "Sophie, what ability did you acquire?"  David eagerly asked.


    Sophie nodded, then closed her eyes slightly and raised her hands.  In an instant, the tips of Sophie''s feet left the ground, and in that moment of levitation, shimmering starlight suddenly showered down from the sky.  The starlightnded on each person, and they felt an inexplicable surge of power spreading through their bodies.  Arnold even witnessed his wounds from battle healing at a visible rate.


    "A healing ability?!"  David eximed in astonishment, feeling the surge of power.

 Chapter 107 Stellar Healing

    ?


    Listening to David''s words, everyone present looked at Sophie with some surprise.    They all knew what it meant to have healing abilities.    In a battle, offensive abilities, defensive abilities, and healing abilities were the three essential powers.    As long as they had these three abilities, they had a high chance of winning the battle.


    In David''s five-person team, both he and Duke possessed offensive abilities, while Arnold''s werewolf ability not only had attack power but also provided decent defense.    The only thing missing was a healing ability.    After all, injuries were unavoidable in battles, and at such times, having an awakened healer would be crucial in turning the tide and even determining the oue.    Now, Sophie perfectly filled the gap in their team, making them a well-rounded unit.


    "That''s great!    Now our team''s offensive system isplete!"    David looked at Sophie excitedly.    Sophie also looked around at everyone with a hint of excitement.    While everyone awakened their abilities, she had always remained an ordinary person.    Just when she thought she would remain that way for the rest of her life, she suddenly awakened her own ability.    And from David''s words, she could sense the importance of her ability.


    "Sophie, give your healing ability a name.    How about...    Ster healing?"    David recalled the moment when Sophie used her ability, and the falling dots of light resembled stars, which led him to suggest that name.


    "Ster healing...    That''s good!    I like that name!"    Arnold pped his thigh and agreed.    Sally also pondered over the name and nodded in agreement.    Sophie naturally had no objections, so she nodded to confirm the name of her healing ability.


    "Hmm?    Where''s Duke?    Why hasn''t hee out of his room?    Sophie, we must let him know about this great news."    At that moment, Sally suddenly noticed that Duke was still inside his room.    She walked towards his room and knocked on the door.    However, despite several knocks, there was no response from inside, which puzzled Sally.


    David hesitated for a moment, seemingly anticipating something, and quickly walked over to kick the door open.    The scene inside the bedroom immediately appeared before everyone''s eyes.


    Duke had copsed on the ground like a pile of mud, with traces of blood at the corners of his mouth, seemingly unconscious.


    "Duke!"    Arnold immediately rushed over, lifted Duke up, and checked his pulse.    He nervously looked at David and said, "His pulse is very weak, and his internal energy seems to be in disarray."


    Everyone became tense.    David quickly went over and carefully observed Duke''s condition.    His face was pale, and his internal energy surged as if it was about to burst through his skin.


    With just a nce, David understood the reason.    Duke had consumed all ten crystals at once, causing his body to be unable to bear the power of the crystals, resulting in a bacsh.    As energy storage devices, the crystals contained a vast amount of energy surpassing that of the human body.    The consumer had to finish consuming one crystal before moving on to the next, otherwise, it was easy for the energy to umte and exceed the body''s capacity to withstand.


    It was evident that Duke had consumed all ten crystals at once, leading to an unbearable burden on his body.    David furrowed his brows.    Although he knew idents were bound to happen sooner orter given Duke''s temperament, he didn''t expect it to happen so quickly.


    However, the most important thing now was to release the excess energy within Duke''s body and prevent it from shattering his organs.    Without hesitation, David activated his spatial de and made a shallow cut on his skin.    Instantly, arge amount of vigorous energy surged out from the wound, even faster than the speed of blood loss.


    Everyone watched anxiously, fearing that Duke might have some ident.   After ten minutes, the excess energy inside Duke''s body finally dissipated, and his breathing gradually stabilized.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Sophie, please use your Ster healing once again to heal his wounds," David instructed Sophie.


    Sophie nodded and quickly raised her hands, performing a prayer-like ritual as she activated her ability.   Suddenly, star-like lights descended upon Duke, and in the blink of an eye, the wound inflicted by David''s spatial de closed uppletely.   At that moment, Duke regained consciousness, relieving everyone''s anxiety.


    "What...   what happened to me?"   Duke looked at everyone surrounding him, a bit confused.   He remembered that after consuming the crystals, he was about to leave, but suddenly felt a whirlwind-like force surging within his body, causing unbearable pain, and then everything went dark before he fell to the ground.


    Arnold exined the events to him.   "If it weren''t for David''s timely intervention, you might not be here with us anymore."   Arnold sighed as he spoke.


    Upon hearing Arnold''s words, Duke''s face turned red, and he looked at David with embarrassment.   "Thank you..."


    David sighed as well and said, "Strength cannot be improved all at once.   Don''t do such foolish things again in the future.   I don''t want to lose a brother."   He patted Duke on the back and then left the room.


    Watching David''s departing figure, Duke felt a sense of guilt.   Following David''s instructions, Duke continued to rest in the room to recover from his weakened state.   The others gathered in the living room, contemting their own abilities.


    Observing this, David nced at Little ck and had a sudden idea.   Little ck had already reached themanding level as a hellhound.   He wondered about itsbat prowess.   With this thought in mind, he decided to take Little ck out for a test, which would not only allow it to gain somebat experience but also acquire some crystals.


    With this n in mind, David casually found an excuse and left the room with Little ck.   Seeing David and Little ck leave, C, who had been lying on the sofa, suddenly opened its eyes and nced at their figures.   Then, taking advantage of everyone''s inattention, it leaped out through the door crack.


    In the underground parking lot, David surveyed rows of luxury cars and ultimately chose a modified off-road vehicle.   With a sixteen-cylinder engine, top-notch off-road suspension, and massive wheels, it exuded a sense of power just by its appearance.   Since the underground parking lot was attended by valets, all the keys were kept in a dedicated key storage room.


    David quickly located the key to the modified off-road vehicle, inserted it, started the vehicle, and revved the engine.   The sound of the powerful engine echoed through the area.


    "Driving a luxury car is so satisfying!"   David eximed as he caressed the carbon fiber steering wheel.   Then, he pressed the elerator once again, and the vehicle roared out of the underground parking lot.

 Chapter 108 Monica In Crisis

    ?


    David drove the modified off-road vehicle with Little ck, racing through the city streets.    The exhrating roar of the engine and the gusts of wind outside the car window filled David''s heart with excitement.


    In his previous life, David was just an ordinary worker whomuted by bus every day.    Sometimes, he even had to walk home to save money.    Whenever he saw people driving luxury cars with beautiful women by their side, he couldn''t help but feel envious.    He always thought that when he became sessful, he would buy a luxury car and experience the feeling of showing off.    Unexpectedly, in this life, he fulfilled his wish by driving a luxury car.


    The only difference was that there wasn''t a beautiful woman sitting in the passenger seat, but Little ck.    Little ck was also very excited, wagging its tail vigorously.    As they passed through one street after another, David carefully observed the surroundings, trying to find some single and wandering zombies.    Just as he slowed down and turned a corner, a faint putrid and bloody smell suddenly permeated the air.


    Based on his experience from numerous battles with zombies, David immediately recognized that the scent came from a zombie.    Little ck also seemed to have detected the scent and became restless and anxious, barking loudly at the window.    "Woof!    Woof!    Woof!"


    To avoid alerting any potential threats, David quickly signaled Little ck to remain silent, then drew his alloy dagger and got out of the car. Little ck also leaped out of the car window.    Following the stench of decay, David arrived at the entrance of a roadside convenience store.    It was a 24-hour store, with a flickering signboard and a chaotic interior.


    David gently pushed open the door and walked in.    Rows of copsed shelves and scattered damaged food items indicated that nobody had been here for a long time.


    David continued to follow the scent further inside.    At that moment, Little ck suddenly let out a low growl in a specific direction.    David immediately turned his gaze to where Little ck was looking.    He saw a low-level zombie feasting on the body of itspanion, and the putrid smell in the air became even stronger.


    The zombie also noticed David at the same time, emitting a chilling sound.    It slowly stood up, discarding a severed arm in its hand and quickly charged towards David.    Seeing this, David remained calm and said to Little ck, "Little ck, take it down!"


    As soon as he finished speaking, Little ck roared angrily and sprinted towards the zombie like an arrow leaving the bow.    When it was two or three steps away from the zombie, Little ck kicked off with its hind legs, instantly soaring into the air, while opening its mouth to reveal sharp teeth.


    In the blink of an eye, Little ck pounced on the zombie.    With its immense strength, it sent the zombie flying five or six meters away.    The low-level zombie opened its decaying mouth, intending to devour Little ck, but Little ck didn''t give it a chance.    It unleashed a green me from its mouth, directly engulfing the zombie.    The zombie let out a sound of agony, which gradually faded away until it turned into a puddle of blood.


    [DING!      Congrattions, host, you have obtained a primary crystal, and the critical hit effect is active at a 100x multiplier!     ]


    [Congrattions, host, you have obtained one hundred primary crystals!     ]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As the zombie turned into blood, the voice of the system followed.      David nodded silently and walked towards Little ck.   "Good job, Little ck!      You truly deserve to be a leader-level Hellhound!"      David praised excitedly while patting Little ck''s head.


    He originally thought that it would take some time for Little ck to kill the zombie, but unexpectedly, it was resolved in less than a minute.      This made him truly appreciate Little ck''s strength.      And this was only a leader-level Little ck, what if it were a Divine King or Demon King level?      David started to look forward to Little ck''s final transformation.


    Little ck continued wagging its tail, excitedly rubbing against David''s pants, as if saying that it could handle a whole pile of these things at once.      After that, David continued to search nearby with Little ck, and within half an hour, they encountered more than a dozen low-level zombies.  However, without exception, they were all burned to ashes by Little ck''s Inferno.


    David obtained several hundred primary crystals as a result.      This made David instantly understand the pleasure of having a beastpanion.      He didn''t have to fight himself;      he just followed behind and collected crystals for free.      Only those who experienced it would know the feeling of taking advantage.      Continuing their search, David also gained a rough understanding of Little ck''sbat power.      Any low-level zombie couldn''t withstand its charge.


    "I just wonder what would happen if we encounter high-level zombies."      David thought to himself.      However, as he looked at the darkening sky, to avoid any unexpected situations, David decided to call it a day and head back home.      But just as he was about to start the off-road vehicle, the sound of a fight suddenly reached his ears.      Moreover, amidst the sounds of fighting, there seemed to be a woman''s voice.


    This immediately made David alert, thinking that other survivors might be in danger.      He quickly got out of the vehicle with Little ck and rushed into an alley.


    At this moment, in a small alley, Monica frowned as she looked at a tall high-level zombie in front of her.      She had initiallye out to find Abraham and to see if anything had changed in this world after the Second Red Light.      Unexpectedly, shortly after leaving, she encountered this zombie.


    She originally thought it was just a low-level zombie, but after a few rounds, Monica suddenly realized that this zombie''s strength was beyond her imagination.      Not only could it attack and defend, but it could also adjust its tactics based on her fighting style.      This immediately made Monica understand that she had encountered a tough opponent today, and judging by the situation, this zombie seemed to be even stronger than her.


    Trapped in the narrow alley with no escape route, and with the zombie relentlessly pursuing her, sticking to her like a piece of adhesive, Monica could only continue to fight it.


    Slowly, Monica''s stamina began to deplete, and she was on the verge of being defeated.      Despair surged within her as she could not believe that such a powerful high-level zombie had appeared in the world after the Second Red Light.      Its strength could even rival that of a Level 3 esper.      As she exhausted herst bit of energy, she leaned against the wall and smiled bitterly, watching the zombie approach her step by step.      She seemed to see the end of her life.


    "Farewell...      to this world," Monica whispered softly, then closed her eyes, waiting for the final death.      But just at that moment, a familiar voice suddenly reached her ears!

 Chapter 109 Spiritually Intelligent Zombies

    ?


    "Little ck, attack!"    Upon seeing David, who arrived just in time, giving themand, Little ck charged towards the zombie.    Its speed was so fast that it left behind afterimages.    David, holding an alloy dagger, followed closely behind Little ck with a serious expression.


    "David?"    Seeing that it was David who came, Monica was initially puzzled, but then she felt a sense of reassurance.    Ever since David saved herst time, whenever she saw him, she felt a sense of safety.    It seemed that as long as David was around, she didn''t have to worry about anything.


    At this moment, David quickly arrived by Monica''s side and asked, "Are you okay?"    Monica shook her head bitterly.    She couldn''t believe that in just two days, David had saved her twice in her most dangerous moments.    This made her feel touched deep inside.


    "As long as you''re fine.    Stay here and don''t move," David nodded and said, then he picked up the alloy dagger, preparing to help Little ck subdue the zombie.


    "Wait, David!"    Seeing this, Monica quickly stopped him.    "What''s wrong?"    David paused and asked in confusion.


    "This zombie is different from ordinary zombies, and its strength is even stronger than that of a high-level zombie.    I suspect...    it might be an intelligent zombie," Monica said with a frown, revealing her conjecture.


    During the previous battle, Monica vaguely sensed the difference in this zombie.    It not only possessed intelligence but also understood tactics and could adapt on the fly.    This immediately reminded her of the descriptions she had read in the illustrations about intelligent zombies.    Otherwise, with her current strength, although she couldn''t kill a high-level zombie, she shouldn''t have ended up in such a miserable state.


    "An intelligent zombie?"    Upon hearing Monica''s words, David furrowed his brow instantly.    He was well aware of the existence of intelligent zombies and their terrifying nature.    The destruction of the previous world could be attributed to the sudden appearance of arge number of intelligent zombies, rendering countless survivors helpless and ultimately leading to their demise.


    In fact, David had some doubts earlier.    He knew that Monica''s strength should not be underestimated, so how did she end up defeated by this zombie?    Moreover, judging from herplexion, it seemed that she had already exhausted all her strength.


    However, at that time, David didn''t have time to think too much.    He was focused on quickly dealing with this zombie, which made him overlook a careful observation of it.    Therefore, he stopped his footsteps and stood aside, observing the battle between Little ck and the zombie.    Little ck, who had grown into amanding-level hellhound, naturally possessed formidable strength.    Its hind legs pushed off the ground, leaping towards the zombie, while opening its mouth and shooting out a green me at extreme speed.


    However, the zombie, upon seeing this, directly rolled on the ground, skillfully dodging Little ck''s hellfire attack.    Even while rolling, it took the opportunity to assess Little ck''snding position.    Just as Little ck was about to touch the ground, the zombie suddenly rushed forward with astonishing speed, even surpassing Little ck .


    Before Little cknded, it decisively threw a punch!   The punchnded directly on Little ck''s abdomen, forcefully sending it flying more than ten meters away!   Little ck, hit by the blow, let out a muffled groan and crashed into the wall, shattering some bricks and stones.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Little ck!"   David''s heart tightened, and he quickly ran towards Little ck.   He saw Little ck lying on the ground, curling up its whole body, with a pained expression on its face.   Obviously, the punch had caused significant injury.


    Seeing Little ck, who had just grown to the level of a leader, losing its fighting ability with a single punch from the zombie, David became furious.   In this world, there weren''t many people or things that could apany him.   Arnold was one, Sally was one, and even Duke was one.   But only Little ck and C were the bestfort in his heart.   So now that Little ck was seriously injured, how could he sit idly by?


    "You bastard!   I''m going to kill you!"   Instantly, a strong killing intent surged from David''s body.   He looked like a bloodthirsty demoning out of hell, wielding an alloy short knife as he rushed towards the zombie.   The zombie, on the other hand, stood still, watching David with a contemptuous smile.   It seemed to be mocking how a mere human dared to fight against an intelligent zombie.   Wasn''t this seeking death?


    But David didn''t care about what the zombie was thinking.   In his eyes, as long as it harmed Little ck, it had to die!   The alloy short knife in his hand emitted a dazzling light, and at the same time, David decisively activated the Space de, preparing to give the zombie a deadly blow with all his might.   However, just as he was about to approach the zombie, the zombie unexpectedly extended its arm and forcefully blocked the attacks of the alloy short knife and the Space de!


    This caught David by surprise!   He couldn''t believe that this guy could block his attacks with its arm.   After all, his alloy short knife and Space de had killed countless zombies, even some high-level ones.   How could it be that they lost their power when facing an intelligent zombie?


    This resistance, also scared Monica, who was watching from the side.   The zombie stared at David with its eyeless sockets, its facial expression bing increasingly varied.   It looked at David as if he were a clown.   Then, it quickly raised its right hand and aimed for David''s heart with its razor-sharp nails.


    Seeing the knife-like nails on the zombie''s hand, David knew that if it reached his heart, his life would be over.   Without thinking too much, he immediately opened a spatial portal and teleported himself behind the zombie, narrowly evading its deadly attack.


    Gripping the knife, David took two steps back cautiously, keeping a close eye on the zombie.   The zombie also turned around and stared at him, shaking its head continuously.   David''s brain spun rapidly as he recalled how the supernatural beings in his previous life had killed these intelligent zombies.


    As far as he knew, the skin of intelligent zombies was extremely tough, especially on the arms, chest, thighs, and face.   These four areas were practically imprable to ordinary weapons, as any contact with them would instantly render the weapons useless.   That was why in his previous life, when intelligent zombies appeared, no matter what the superhumans did, they couldn''t resist them, ultimately leading the world to destruction.


    "That''s not right!"   David suddenly whispered as he recalled his past life.   "As long as it''s a zombie, it must have a weakness.   I just need to find its weakness and attack!"


    David remembered that in his previous life, some surviving scientists discovered through dissecting intelligent zombies that although their skin was tough, they also had weak spots.   As long as these weak spots were found, the zombies could be killed.   So David observed the intelligent zombie in front of him and began to contemte.

 Chapter 110 Reach An Impasse

    ?


    While David was observing the intelligent zombie, the zombie was slowly approaching him.  Compared to regr zombies, the intelligent zombie had a steady and powerful stride, with well-defined muscle lines visible on its body.


    As the intelligent zombie walked, it opened its mouth and emitted a piercing sound.  David forced himself to calm down and carefully observed every part of the zombie''s body: the arms, chest, ribs, waist, ankles...


    No matter where David looked, he could see ayer of skin that resembled hardened steel.  It was evident that this wouldn''t be his weak point, which made David increasingly impatient.


    Seemingly sensing David''s helplessness, the intelligent zombie continued to make sounds, and there was even a hint of excitement in its demeanor.  In its eyes, this human before it was undoubtedly going to die today!


    Meanwhile, Monica was on edge as well.  Originally, she wanted to divert the attention of the intelligent zombie, giving David some time to adjust.  However, her strength had not fully recovered yet.  She could barely stand against the wall and could only anxiously watch David, hoping he would act quickly.


    The piercing sound of the zombie grew closer to David, and he felt as if he could smell the putrid stench emanating from its decaying body with every blink of his eyes.  He kept his eyes slightly closed, contemting every part of the intelligent zombie.


    As he listened to the increasingly near piercing sound, David seemed to have an idea.  Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked at the mouth of the intelligent zombie.  At the moment when it opened its mouth to make a sound, he saw apletely different red flesh inside, devoid of any skin protection.


    This spot was also connected to the intelligent zombie''s brain.  Byunching an attack here, he could undoubtedly destroy its brain, thus depriving it of its intelligence and achieving a lethal blow!


    "I found it!  His weak point is inside the mouth!"  David excitedly shouted.


    At the same time, the intelligent zombie reached David and thrust its hand straight toward his chest!


    Seeing this, David suppressed his excitement and quickly opened a portal using his spatial abilities.  The void tore open, leaving a rift, and as a blurred figure passed through, David appeared next to Monica.  The intelligent zombie''s lethal strike missed its mark.


    "I found it!  His weak point is inside the mouth, where there is no skin protection!  Only by attacking there can we reach his brain and kill him!"  David excitedly eximed to Monica.


    Upon hearing David''s words, Monica instantly understood.  Just now, she had also been observing the intelligent zombie, continuously searching for its weak point.


    After hearing David''s words, Monica looked at the zombie''s mouth.       Sure enough, it was a crimson color, and she could even see the tremors of the brain behind it.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    At that moment, Monica felt a sense of admiration for David.       To be able to analyze the zombie''s weak point amidst such a crisis was not something an ordinary person could aplish.       However, a new problem arose.       The intelligent zombie was too powerful.       If they wanted to attack its weak point, they had to engage in closebat and even have someone to divert its attention.


    However, besides Monica, the only one by David''s side was Little ck.       But at this moment, Little ck was still curled up on the ground, clearly affected by the previous attack.       It wouldn''t recover anytime soon.       Monica herself was exhausted, unable to do much.       When David appeared beside her, she couldn''t hold on any longer and sat on the ground.       In other words, only David remained.


    "How about we retreat and call for backup?"       Monica suggested, analyzing the situation at hand.       However, David furrowed his brow and shook his head.       He knew that if they didn''t deal with the intelligent zombie right now, it would pose an even greater threat to the survivors in the future.       After all, zombies were constantly evolving.       If given time to strengthen itself once again, even a group of superhumans would be helpless against it.       Therefore, they had to kill it today!


    Without hesitation, David took a step forward, gripping his alloy dagger tightly.       At the same time, he analyzed the environment in the alley.       Due to the narrow space, when he used his spatial abilities to teleport, he could only move in three directions: forward, backward, and up.       He couldn''t move sideways.       This made it easy for the intelligent zombie to see through his attack route and predict his position.


    But at this moment, David didn''t have time to consider all of that.       He had to give it a try.       David opened a portal, a bright light shed, and when he looked again, he was already above the intelligent zombie''s head.


    David''s sudden appearance immediately drew the attention of the intelligent zombie.       It slowly raised its head and looked at David above, still emitting the piercing sound.


    "Here''s my chance!"       David tightly gripped the alloy dagger and exerted all his strength to thrust it into the zombie''s open mouth.       However, the intelligent zombie reacted even faster.       In the instant the dagger was about to touch its mouth, it quickly turned its body.


    The alloy dagger collided with its skin, creating a series of sparks and the sound of metal shing.       David quickly retracted the dagger and used his spatial abilities to move once again, this time appearing directly in front of the zombie.


    Feeling the pain in his hand, David was somewhat surprised.       He hadn''t expected this creature''s defense to be so formidable.       Even the alloy dagger couldn''t do anything to it, and its reaction speed surpassed that of lower-level zombies, even surpassing some awakened superhumans.


    "Darn it!"       David said in a deep voice.       It was clear that someone needed to divert the attention of the intelligent zombie while he seized the opportunity to attack.       But now, he was the only one capable of fighting, and David found himself in a dilemma.


    Monica frowned and nervously watched David.       Just then, a furry figure suddenly shed on the wall, apanied by a familiar voice that David knew all too well.       "Meow~"


    David was taken aback.       "C?"       He quickly followed the sound and looked towards the wall.       Indeed, he saw C sitting on the wall, seemingly yawning and looking at David.


    "C, how did you get here?       It''s too dangerous.       Leave quickly!"       David quickly said to C, fearing that the intelligent zombie would notice it and attack.       It would only make his situation worse.       However, to David''s surprise, after hearing his words, C nced at him as if annoyed.       This instantly confused David.

 Chapter 111 Its Just A Little Cat!

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    "Meow~" C called out to David and then turned to face the intelligent zombie. Suddenly, a chilling beam of light emitted from its pair of blue eyes, which left David even more confused.


    As David observed the overwhelming killing intent emanating from C''s body, he felt a sense of familiarity with this aura. It seemed like something he had encountered in his past life. Before David could think further, C let out a deep roar and swiftly pounced on the intelligent zombie. Its speed was twice that of Shadow, and it even left a trail behind in mid-air. The intelligent zombie, having noticed C, turned its rotted and disfigured face towards it and stared intensely, as if it had encountered a formidable opponent.


    "Meow!" C extended its ws in mid-air, and several steel-like spikes instantly emerged from its palms. At the same time, cold light appeared, and its ws carried a thick killing intent.


    "What''s going on? How can C be so strong?" David stood still, astonished by C''s transformation. He had known that C was keeping secrets from him, but he didn''t expect it to be this fierce. Its entire presence even surpassed Shadow''s. Nervously, he continued to watch C''s actions. C swiftlynded on the intelligent zombie''s body, and its spike-like ws immediately pierced into it.


    "Scratch!" A piercing friction sound echoed, and David quickly focused his gaze. He saw that C had torn open several wounds on the intelligent zombie''s brown, steel-like skin. ck blood was oozing out of the wounds.


    The intelligent zombie seemed to feel pain and continuously emitted angry sounds. Then, it extended its palm and swung it towards C''s body. However, after sessfully attacking, C did not pursue further. Instead, it lightly leaped into mid-air, rendering the intelligent zombie''s attack instantly ineffective.


    The intelligent zombie seemed to have never suffered such a big loss before. Being bullied by a little cat was an unbearable humiliation. It extended its palm to grab C, who was suspended in mid-air, attempting to crush it. But how could C regard it seriously?


    "Meow!" Witnessing this, C let out another low roar, and its fur suddenly stood on end, as if it had exploded. Its entire body rapidly expanded at a visible speed! The muscles on its limbs swelled like coiling dragons. In just a few dozen seconds, the originally petite C had be evenrger than Shadow! Combined with the terrifying muscles on its limbs, it now looked like a mutated tiger, emitting an even stronger killing intent!


    C stared at the extended hand of the intelligent zombie and continuously growled. Just as the zombie''s hand was about to grab C, without hesitation, C extended its ws and fiercely pped it!


    "Boom!" A loud roar resounded as C forcibly broke the intelligent zombie''s arm. Due to the excessive force, the entire body of the intelligent zombie was pped against the wall by C. The red brick wall instantly formed arge hole, and debris continuously fell onto the intelligent zombie.


    Seeing this p from C, David couldn''t help but utter a horrified voice. "This strength... even a mutated water buffalo wouldn''t be able to withstand it!"


    Monica had long been shocked and sat on the ground with her mouth wide open. She couldn''t believe that a small and delicate cat could be so terrifying, appearing like a demon king.


    C''s p had immense force. After a while, the intelligent zombie slowly stood up from the rubble. It had lost one arm and had many cracks in its defensive skin. The intelligent zombie stared fiercely at C, let out a roar.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    C''s palm strike was extremely powerful. After a while, the intelligent zombie slowly stood up from the rubble. By now, it had lost an arm and its defensive skin was cracked in many ces. The intelligent zombie stared at C with anger and roared, then swiftly charged towards C. At the same time, its nails on the palm grew out one by one, aiming for C''s chest. Just as it was about to reach C, he instantly appeared behind it and swung his fist towards its back.


    "Bang!" C didn''t give the intelligent zombie any chance to react. His punchnded directly on its back, causing the zombie''s mouth to open wide in pain as its body plummeted to the ground like a runaway kite.


    Seeing the opportunity, David knew it was time to act. He opened a spatial portal and teleported next to the intelligent zombie, raising his alloy dagger and thrusting it fiercely into its mouth.


    Instantly, the sound of agonizing moans filled the air. The intelligent zombie attempted to struggle, but David held the alloy dagger in its mouth and gave it a 360-degree rotation, instantly blending its head into a pool of blood.


    Now, the intelligent zombie couldn''t produce any sound from its mouth, and its struggling body suddenly fell silent. After confirming itsplete death, David withdrew the alloy dagger and shook off the ck bloodstains. He let out a long sigh of relief. Finally, with thebined effort of him and C, they killed the intelligent zombie. To be precise, it was C who delivered the fatal blow.


    Given C''s currentbat abilities, dealing with the intelligent zombie was an easy task. David just didn''t want to prolong the battle and seized the opportunity to kill it in one strike. At this moment, C returned to his petite appearance.


    "Meow~" C let out a meow towards David as if nothing had happened,pletely different from the intense killing aura it had moments ago.


    This left Monica bewildered as she stared at C. If you say it''s cute, it just smacked an intelligent zombie with one paw. If you say it''s not cute, well, it''s just a little kitty! So, watching C stroll around, Monica instantly fell in love. Having such a littlepanion by her side meant not only being able to cuddle with it daily but also having a fighter who could take on ten enemies at once. Who wouldn''t love that?


    So Monica looked at David with envy, hoping he would let her enjoy spending a couple of days cuddling with C. At that moment, C slowly walked towards David and let out a meow before heading straight to the side of Little ck. Little ck, who was vaguely waking up from unconsciousness, still hadn''t opened its eyes, likely due to its injuries.


    Approaching Little ck, C looked at it with a disdainful gaze. "Meow!" Then it extended its paw and pped Little ck''s head. Only then did Little ck slowly open its eyes. Seeing C''s contemptuous expression, Little ck seemed to understand something and lowered its head in a submissive manner, afraid to look at C.


    Meanwhile, C continued to stare at it, as if saying, "Is this all the skill you have? How embarrassing!"

 Chapter 112 The Cool And Aloof Lady Sells Cuteness For The Cat

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    Looking at Little ck''s pitiful appearance in front of C, Davidughed. At the same time, he finally remembered why he felt so familiar with the aura emanating from C earlier.


    In his past life, David had personally witnessed some powerful Spirit Beasts whose aura was exactly the same as C''s just now. Moreover, when he first sensed C, he felt that it would evolve into a Demon King-level existence in the future. Although its current strength had not reached the level of a Demon King, it was already far superior to Little ck.


    With this in mind, David focused his senses on C''s level. As soon as he focused his psychic power on C, its aura surged like ake, vaguely possessing some extraordinary power.


    "Mmm, Transcendent level?" Finally, amidst this aura, David determined C''s level and couldn''t help but be greatly surprised!  Little ck had just entered the Sovereign level, but C had already surpassed it by a long shot and entered the Transcendent level.


    Helplessly, David looked at the pitiful Little ck and chuckled twice. With such power disyed, Little ck wouldn''t dare to make a sound, would it? David couldn''t help but sympathize with Little ck.


    At this moment, Monica regained her strength and slowly stood up from the ground. The first thing she did after standing up was run to David and ask, "Can I keep the kitty for two days?" She lifted her head with an expectant expression, waiting for David''s answer.


    Looking at Monica''s eager gaze, David once again smiled helplessly. He knew that Monica had been blinded by C''s surface cuteness. On the other hand, as Coke''s summoner, David understood the principle that a beast should not be separated from its master. Otherwise, the invisible bond they had established woulde to an abrupt end, and there might even be a situation where the beast no longer recognized its master.


    So David shook his head, firmly rejecting Monica''s request. Seeing David''s refusal, Monica immediately pouted her lips and then reached out to grab David''s arm, shaking it while acting coquettishly. "Big brother David, you''re handsome and kind. Just let me y with the kitty for two days! Pretty please!"


    As she spoke, Monica even stomped her feet shyly. As a woman who always portrayed a cool and aloof image, Monica had never acted coquettishly in front of anyone. The reason she was willing to lower her dignity and act cute for David was simply because she liked C too much. After all, it seemed that no girl could resist the temptation of such a furry creature.


    But David''s self-control was strong, and he still shook his head. This made Monica''s face instantly turn red... Goodness! She had even abandoned her cool and aloof persona to act cute and coquettish, and he still didn''t agree? Did he really not care about her face?


    However, helplessly, if it weren''t for David appearing in time to save her, she would probably have gone to the Lord of the god to act cute. So she could only sigh lightly and then look at C again, full of reluctance.


    "Just as the red light receded, what are you doing here? This is the most dangerous time," David paused and looked at Monica inquiringly. He was somewhat confused about why she hade out at this time.


    Upon hearing David''s question, Monica sighed again. "I came out to look for Abraham."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Abraham?" David asked, and the image of that old man appeared in his mind.


    Monica nodded and continued, "Since thest time you mentioned trading ten thousand primary crystals for a box of military supplies, our team took note of it. However, the final decision lies with Abraham. In order to quickly replenish our arsenal, I decided to go out and find Abraham. But I didn''t expect to encounter this guy shortly aftering out." Monica nced at the in intelligent zombie.


    After listening, David nodded and said, "I will save the military supplies for you. When you have collected ten thousand primary crystals, you cane to me. Whenever you want, he can provide them, but the prerequisite is that you must have ten thousand primary crystals."


    It wasn''t that David was too much of a merchant, but supplies had be the most precious thing in this world. Although he could obtain many through system crits, he didn''t want to give them away for free. He knew that people''s hearts were unpredictable, and if someone coveted his supplies and resorted to means, he would be in trouble.


    Monica naturally understood the unspoken meaning behind David''s words, so she didn''t say much and just nodded.


    After a brief thought, David said to Monica, "If you decide, you cane to the parking lot of the Bauhinia Building when the timees." Originally, David didn''t n to reveal the location of his team''s small base, but considering that they might have many future transactions and Monica''s character, he decided to tell her. After all, he was about to improve the defense system of the new base, and even if someone had malicious intentions, they would have a hard time.


    "Bauhinia Building... I got it," Monica replied, reverting to her usual cool demeanor, and bid farewell to David. Her top priority now was to find Abraham, and the sky was gradually growing darker. She didn''t want to encounter another freak like the intelligent zombie.


    Before leaving, Monica nced at C once again, her eyes filled with fondness. As Monica walked away, David approached C and little ck. little ck had also recovered and was able to move normally, although it still had a pitiful look on its face when facing C. C continued to meow at little ck, as if it were a small leader scolding someone.


    Seeing this, David quickly said, "C, little ck has just reached the Lord-level, don''t expect too much from it." Hearing David''s words, C reluctantly closed its mouth and rubbed against David''s leg.


    Watching this guy who could easily p away an intelligent zombie, David felt extremely excited. He casually collected the crystals. With C by his side, no matter how dangerous the situation, he now had a way out. And he believed that as time passed, C''s level would continue to rise and eventually reach the level of a Demon King. At that time, C would be an unrivaled existence!


    With that in mind, David picked up the two familiars and walked towards the off-road vehicle. "You''ve both worked hard today. I''ll make delicious food for you when we get home!" After saying that, he ced little ck and C in the passenger seat, stepped on the elerator, and the off-road vehicle roared as it headed towards the Bauhinia Building.

 Chapter 113 This Cat Is A Bully

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    With C''s extraordinary form revealed, David gained greater confidence in surviving in this world. Moreover, with little ck awakening as a Lord-level familiar, he believed that it wouldn''t be long before it could grow into a super familiar on par with C.


    Upon returning to the new base, it was alreadypletely dark. After parking the off-road vehicle, David carried little ck and C to the entrance. "Knock, knock!"


    "Slogan!"


    "Newborn."


    The security door instantly opened, and Arnold stuck his head out, looking at David with some concern. "David, where were you? Why did youe back sote? Everyone was getting worried." As the core of the team, David was the backbone of everyone. So when they saw the sky turning dark and David hadn''t returned yet, everyone was anxious, fearing that he had encountered some danger outside. Even Arnold was about to go out and look for David, but Sally stopped her, saying that they should trust David''s strength. Arnold could only pace anxiously inside the house, waiting for David, and everyone in the living room breathed a sigh of relief when they saw David return unharmed.


    "Did you encounter any danger?" Sally asked quickly, noticing David''s slightly disheveled appearance. She spoke with concern while examining him, her eyes filled with worry.


    David smiled slightly and shook his head. "No, I just took little ck and C out for a walk. I also wanted to test the power of little ck as a Lord-level Hellhound."


    David didn''t mention the encounter with the intelligent zombie today. He didn''t want to worry everyone excessively, which could affect his own level advancement. After all, this was a crucial moment for them to level up, especially Sophie and Arnold. Sophie had just be an esper, and Arnold had just mastered the ability to transform into a werewolf. If they were distracted, it could undermine their progress. Hearing David''s exnation, Sally nodded in agreement.


    "By the way, how is Duke?" David suddenly remembered Duke, who had fainted due to excessive crystal consumption.


    "He''s much better now. With Sophie''s Ster Healing, he''s no longer in any serious condition. He''s probably sleeping now."


    David nodded. Although Duke was too eager for quick progress and pursued power excessively, his team currently needed more manpower, and David didn''t want to go out and search for new members at this time.


    After discussing some other matters with everyone, David returned to his bedroom. He initially wanted to reinforce the defense system of the new base tonight. However, considering that with the appearance of the second red light, there would likely be more formidable opponents like the intelligent zombies, they might be busier. Resting became the most important thing at this time. If he didn''t rest well, hisbat effectiveness would naturally decrease. He didn''t want to die miserably at the hands of zombies due to exhaustion. So without overthinking, he quickly freshened up and fell into a deep sleep as he copsed onto the bed.


    At this moment, C squatted at the bedside, slowly opening its eyes. As soon as its eyes opened, without a second thought, it extended its ws and fiercely scratched little ck ''s head. Startled, little ck instantly woke up with a start, looking around cautiously and even assuming a fighting stance.


    But when it saw the disdainful expression on C''s face, its ears drooped, and its eyes filled with a sense of grievance. Its momentary show of power disappeared. C licked its paw lightly, then let out a soft meow towards little ck before standing up and walking towards it.


    Then, taking advantage of the situation, ity down on the belly of little ck. Resting its head on the soft belly of little ck, C yawned contentedly and closed its eyes.


    But this frightened little ck! It was fine when C beat it up in front of so many people in the afternoon, but now it was using it as a pillow? This was simply bullying!


    Helplessly, little ck had to stay still, even reducing its breathing sounds, afraid of waking up C. If it did, it would be subjected to a series of bullying from the evil cat.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    On the other side, in a dpidated building, a voice filled with age and a hint of unwillingness came from aboratory. "Why! Why is it that I have studied every part of the zombie''s body and still cannot grasp the secret of its energy!"


    Abraham stood in front of the operating table, holding a surgical knife, looking somewhat helpless at the countless dissected zombie bodies before him. Despite his extensive research, he still couldn''t uncover the mystery of their energy. This instantly left him feeling disheartened and depressed.


    "Ah! Perhaps it''s because I''m getting old and my abilities are not enough. Maybe only someone destined can obtain this secret."


    Sighing, Abraham put down the surgical knife in his hand and shook his head. Due to the nature of the zombie bodies, he needed utmost concentration and mental strength during his research.


    Furthermore, he needed to possess powerful crystal energy within himself to resonate with the hidden energy within the zombies, in order to unearth this secret. However, now in his eighties, his crystal energy had gradually weakened with age.


    Standing in front of the zombies, he couldn''t sense any resonance of energy. Shaking his head once again, Abraham took off hisb coat. He nced at the sky, now filled with stars. Unbeknownst to him, he had been in theboratory for the entire day.


    Thinking about Monica and Danny still being at the base, he realized that further dy might cause them to worry. So, Abraham turned around and left theboratory. Before leaving, he nced once more at the zombie bodies in theb and gently closed the door.


    Under the moonlight, Abraham returned to the base. Monica, Danny, and the others had been anxiously waiting for his return. When they saw Abraham walking in, they hurriedly approached him.


    "Abraham, where did you go? Are you okay?" Monica was the first to support him and ask.


    Abraham smiled gently and said, "I''m fine. I just wanted to get some fresh air but ended up getting lost. It took me quite a while to find my way back based on the terrain."


    Upon hearing Abraham''s exnation, Danny spoke up, "As long as you''re okay. In the future, please let us know before you go out. Otherwise, if something dangerous happens to you, we won''t be aware." Abraham naturally understood that they were concerned for his well-being and nodded with a smile.


    "Oh, Abraham, there''s something we want to discuss with you," Monica paused and then spoke up.


    "What''s up?" Abraham sat down on the sofa, rubbing his legs which were sore from standing for too long.


    "We''ve talked it over with Danny, and we think we need to acquire some firearms."


    "Firearms?" Abraham was puzzled upon hearing Monica''s words.

 Chapter 114 Preliminary Reinforcement Base

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    Monica nodded and said again, "The red light suddenly appeared again, indicating that there are higher-level zombies in this world. If we don''t strengthen our defenses, it will be difficult for us to protect ourselves." She then proceeded to exin the encounter with the intelligent zombie they had today.


    "Intelligent zombie?" Danny frowned instantly upon hearing Monica''s words and asked.


    "Yes, the intelligent zombie''s power has surpassed that of ordinary high-level zombies, and it is even more terrifying than some special-tier zombies. Its skin is as tough as iron, reaching a terrifying level of defensive ability, and it can adjust its tactics based on the attacker''s attack patterns. If David hadn''t intervened today, I probably wouldn''t have made it back," Monica recounted, recalling the life-and-death moment from earlier, still feeling a chill.


    At that time, if David hadn''t suddenly appeared, she might not have made it out alive. After listening to Monica, Abraham also furrowed his brows, deep in thought. He naturally understood the significance of the red light appearing for the second time, but he didn''t expect it to happen so soon.


    With that in mind, Abraham thought that it was indeed necessary to consider the matter of purchasing firearms as Monica mentioned. Moreover, their current stockpile of supplies was running low, and if they didn''t replenish them in time, they probably wouldn''t be able to hold on for much longer. If a wave of intelligent zombies were toe, relying solely on their own abilities wouldn''tst long at all. "You''re right, we do need to replenish our firearms. However, in this chaotic world, who would be willing to sell us precious firearms and supplies that are equivalent to life?"


    Apart from their awakened abilities, the only reliance for survivors now was firearms and other weapon supplies. Moreover, awakened individuals with abilities were only a minority, and most survivors were still in an unawakened state. This meant that if they wanted to survive, they had to rely on firearms. Abraham couldn''t understand who would be willing to sell them these precious items.


    "David, David can sell us the firearms he has," Monica said without hesitation.


    "David?" Abraham couldn''t help but feel puzzled. "I''ve already talked to him about it, as for the price..."


    "Ten thousand primary crystals," Monica said, observing Abraham''s expression all along, afraid that it would startle him.


    Upon hearing this price again, Danny chuckled helplessly. "You call that a negotiation? I guess David just gave you a fixed price."


    Monica red at him angrily and said, "What''s wrong? Not satisfied with the price?"


    "Otherwise, why don''t you go and negotiate with David for a lower price? I''d like to see how much you can bring it down," Monica said angrily. Monica knew that purchasing a box of firearms with ten thousand primary crystals was somewhat unimaginable, but there was no other choice. If she had the opportunity to haggle with David, she would at least try to bring it down by two hundred crystals.


    After being reprimanded by Monica, Danny could only awkwardly close his mouth. The two of them looked at Abraham, waiting for his response. After thinking for a while, Abraham finally nodded. "In this world, primary crystals are not important; life is the most important thing. What use are these external possessions if we don''t even have our lives?" Abraham, who had lived for half a lifetime, naturally understood the bnce between crystals and life.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Tomorrow, hurry up and bring ten thousand primary crystals to buy that box of weapons from David. Otherwise, we might really run out of time!" Abraham murmured softly, seemingly thinking of something, as he turned to look at the pitch-ck night outside.


    With Abraham''s agreement, Monica nodded and decided to go find David with ten thousand primary crystals the next morning. This way, she could also see the little kitten. Just thinking about C melted Monica''s girlish heart.


    Early the next morning, David woke up. Seeing Little ck and C still curled up sleeping next to his feet, he smiled. To avoid disturbing the dreams of these two little fellows, David quietly got out of bed.


    After a simple wash-up, seeing that the others had not yet woken up, he went alone to the underground parking lot outside the base. Today, he had to prepare the defense system for the new base. After circling around the base, David noticed that not only were all three sides surrounded by thick load-bearing walls, but even the roof was covered with ayer of heavy steel tes. It was probably done to enhance the support when the underground parking lot was built.


    This made it easier for David. ording to the current situation, he only needed to set up defenses in front of the base, at the entrance.


    Without further ado, David directly took out ten specially reinforced steel tes from the warehouse system and, using his abilities, expanded the steel tes around the entrance. And at a distance of ten meters from the base, he used twenty steel tes for a secondyer of defense reinforcement. This way, the steel tes acted as load-bearing walls,pletely enclosing the base.


    Not even zombies, let alone powerful weapons, could easily destroy this steel te defense system. After all, these steel tes were made from a special fusion of materials. In the previous era, they were generally used as decks for spacecraft, not only possessing great strength but also capable of withstanding temperatures of over a thousand degrees.


    After working for an hour, David finally finished setting up everything. From a distance, these steel tes surrounded the base like a tent. And to enhance the base''s concealment, David painted the steel tes the same color as the walls. In the dim lighting of the underground parking lot, these steel tes were practically indistinguishable if one didn''t look carefully. They had seamlessly blended with the surrounding environment.


    Looking at his masterpiece, David finally felt relieved. The experience with the intelligent zombie yesterday made him cautious. If their base were to be attacked by those creatures, the few of them would probably be unable to resist no matter what.


    Although everyone in their group had activated their abilities, apart from himself, the other three were at most second-level. The strength of an intelligent zombie far exceeded that of a second-level esper, which is why David hoped Little ck would quickly evolve into a transcendent-level Hellhound.


    With Little ck and C, their team would have sufficientbat power. By then, they would have the confidence to fight against not only intelligent zombies but also stronger zombies.


    "Just so diligent early in the morning? We have free ess to weapons now, and yet you''ve made the base so sturdy. You really think ahead!" As he was thinking, a voice suddenly echoed in the parking lot. David quickly turned his head to see a charming figure slowly approaching him.

 Chapter 115 An Unstoppable Girl

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    The figure emerged slowly from the darkness and approached David. Upon recognizing the visitor as Monica, David wasn''t surprised at all. He knew she woulde to find him sooner orter, which is why he had given her the location of his new base yesterday.


    David smiled faintly and said, "I don''t want to be a frog in lukewarm water in this world. My life is precious!"


    Upon hearing David''s words, Monica nodded and walked up to the steel te defense that David had personally constructed. She lightly tapped on it with her slender finger. The steel te produced a crisp and resilient sound, indicating its strong defensive capabilities. Monica couldn''t help but be amazed. Finding such highly defensive steel tes in a world where resources were extremely scarce was unimaginable for most people. Yet, David had used thirty of them. Monica couldn''t help but be shocked by David''s abundant wealth.


    "No wonder he''s willing to sell valuable weapons. It seems he has plenty of good stuff!" Monica muttered to herself. She turned around and walked up to David, cing a box she was carrying on the ground. She entered the password and instantly, ten thousand neatly arranged primary crystals began to shine before David''s eyes.


    "These are ten thousand primary crystals. And the weapons?" Monica pointed at the crystals on the ground and asked.


    Before leaving, Abraham had specifically instructed them to bring back the weapons as quickly as possible. So when Monica saw David, she didn''t waste any time and got straight to the point. Looking at the ten thousand primary crystals, David nodded with a smile. In his mind, he thought that only Monica''s team could afford to be so extravagant and bring out ten thousand primary crystals.


    Although they were only primary crystals, they were still highly sought-after treasures. While ordinary people couldn''t be Ability Users by ingesting them, they could significantly enhance their physical attributes. Ability Users could also improve their own abilities and evolve by consuming them multiple times.


    Although the primary crystals were insignificantpared to the intermediate crystals or spatial crystals in David''s warehouse system, they were still treasures that every survivor coveted. After all, no one else could casually produce tens of thousands of primary crystals like David could.


    "Indeed, you has a lot of wealth! To casually bring out ten thousand primary crystals like this, it''s truly enviable," David subconsciously praised Monica''s team.


    But upon hearing these words, Monica couldn''t help but stare at David in frustration. Wealthy? Envious? Shouldn''t she be the one saying that to David? Someone who can sell weapons, do theyck this kind of thing?


    Although Monica didn''t know the extent of David''s wealth, she knew for sure that he was a well-off individual. Otherwise, he wouldn''t casually use thirty highly defensive steel tes like that.


    Suddenly, Monica had the idea of recruiting David into her team, but she dismissed it immediately. A rich person like him already had everything he needed. Why would he want to join her team?


    After putting away the ten thousand primary crystals, David said, "Wait here for me. I''ll fetch the weapons." He then entered the house.


    After setting down the ten thousand primary crystals, David directly retrieved a box of weapons from the warehouse system. Then, after some thought, he also picked up a heavy machine gun. Since Monica would be his major customer from now on, give them bigger deal.


    Looking at the supplies piled up in his warehouse system like a mountain peak, David felt that even if he didn''t give them to her and left them here, it would be a waste. Carrying a box of firearms and a heavy machine gun, David walked out of the room.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Seeing David in this manner, Monica stood still in astonishment. Wow! The heavy machine gun is out too? This is too extravagant!


    cing the supplies on the ground, David smiled and said, "This is the box of firearms you wanted, and I''m also giving you a heavy machine gun. How about that? Am I a considerate friend?"


    At this moment, Monica finally understood that the heavy machine gun was a gift from David to her. Opening the arms box, all the listed items were revealed: 10 high-explosive grenades, 10 anti-personnel mines, 10 anti-tank mines, and 6 Desert Eagles...


    Seeing these weapons, Monica was dumbfounded. She didn''t expect this box of firearms to be so abundant. It could practically arm a toon.


    "I told you I wouldn''t let you lose out. These things are treasures that money can''t buy now. Buying them means you''ve made a profit." David Watching Monica''s astonished expression,  said with a smile.


    It has to be said that Monica wholeheartedly agreed with David''s words. Not to mention all these items, even just these ten high-explosivendmines would require a substantial fortune. Coupled with the additional gift of the heavy machine gun, Monica felt that this deal was worth it! She instantly became happy because with these items, thebat power of their squad would directly rise to a new level!


    After closing the arms box, Monica couldn''t contain her excitement. "By the way, where''s the little kitty? Why haven''t I seen it?"


    Pausing for a moment, Monica looked around, trying to find C''s figure. This time, she came not only to purchase the arms box but also to cuddle the little kitty she had been thinking about. Hearing that C was still sleeping, Monica couldn''t help but feel disappointed.


    The two of them chatted about other things, and when Monica nced at the time, she was ready to leave. If she returnedte, Abraham would worry. So, she bid farewell to David and prepared to leave. But looking at the box of firearms and the heavy machine gun on the ground, her lips twitched involuntarily. These two itemsbined must weigh at least 200 pounds, and the heavy machine gun alone is 100 pounds. Yet, she was just a little girl! Although she could carry them, she still wanted to take care of her image.


    Seeing Monica''s hesitant expression, David immediately understood. "What''s wrong? Can''t you carry these things? Otherwise, shall I send them back for you?"


    "But let''s make it clear first, the shipping fee is 100 primary crystals." David revealed a cunning look as a merchant.


    Monica looked at him with disdain in an instant and then said, "Can''t I carry them? What a joke. After all, I am a superhuman. Can this little weight stop me? Besides, do you know what it means to be an unstoppable girl?"


    Saying that, Monica bent down, lifted the arms box with one hand, and slung the heavy machine gun over her shoulder with the other hand, leaving David with a graceful figure. This made David burst intoughter. "This girl, she''s really fierce!"

 Chapter 116 Black Iron Base

    ?


    When Monica left, the people in the base finally came out. As soon as they stepped outside, they were stunned by the sight before them. Goodness! Thirty pieces of alloy steel tes appeared before their eyes, and unaware of the situation, they thought they had entered an underground bunker.


    "David, did you do all of this?" Arnold asked incredulously as he tapped on the steel tes. David smiled and nodded, leaving Arnold even more amazed.


    "Wow! With this defense in the base, even the Zombie King would cry and leave. David, you''re truly awesome!" Arnold eximed, giving David a thumbs-up.


    Sally and Duke also looked at him in astonishment. They couldn''t believe that in just one morning, David had reinforced the defense of the base to such an extent.


    You see, each of these alloy steel tes weighs at least a thousand kilograms, and David effortlessly arranged them. The group couldn''t help but have a renewed appreciation for David''s strength. As they looked at everyone''s astonished faces, David smiled faintly. What he had done now was just physical defense for the base. Although it could withstand some low-level and even high-level zombies, it probably wouldn''t be very effective against intelligent zombies like the ones with higher intellect.


    At the same time, the voice of the system sounded in his ears.


    [ Ding!]


    [Congrattions, Host, onpleting the initial upgrade of the base''s physical defense system!]


    [Triggered new mission: Upgrade the base to an Apocalypse base!]


    [Time: 8 days, 15 hours, 53 minutes]


    Upon hearing the system''s voice, David frowned slightly. "Upgrade the base to an Apocalypse base?" The system detected David''s confusion and spoke again in his ear.


    "The Apocalypse base is the most formidable base during the apocalypse, capable of withstanding all apocalyptic cmities, including zombie attacks."


    "Survivors in the Apocalypse base can enhance their own supernatural abilities based on the fortress''s level of advancement."


    "From low to high, the Base can be upgraded to six levels: ck Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and King."


    As David listened to the system''s exnation, he gradually understood. He then asked quietly in his mind, "How can I upgrade the base?"


    He knew that upgrading the base would definitely require some resources. If it was only crystals, he had no need to worry because the amount of crystals piled up in his warehouse was astounding. However, he vaguely felt that upgrading the fortress wouldn''t be as simple as just crystals. After all, it was a matter concerning the survival of the survivors and their hiding ce.


    "To upgrade the base to the ck Iron level, 10,000 primary crystals are required."


    "To upgrade the base to the Bronze level, 10,000 intermediate crystals are required."


    "To upgrade the base to the Silver level, 10,000 advanced crystals are required."


    Upon hearing the system''s pricing, David couldn''t help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. Spending 10,000 primary crystals to upgrade the base to the ck Iron level was eptable to him, but the Bronze level required intermediate crystals, and the Silver level required advanced crystals...


    David couldn''t help but think, "Is this an upgrade or a robbery? These are high-level crystals! Even as a resources tycoon like him, the number of advanced crystals in his warehouse was extremely limited. Furthermore, David knew that the higher the base level, the higher the quality of crystals required. Who knows, maybe a King-level base would require all sorts of special crystals."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David thought he could live carefree in this world, with crystals all around him. But after the system''s offer, he fell silent because he realized, in an instant, that even if he gave everything he had, he could only upgrade his base to the ck iron level.


    However, considering the importance of the Doomsday base, David nodded silently. The higher the level of the base, the stronger the support for their team members. They wouldn''t even need to consume crystals to upgrade their abilities. When David calcted it, he found it worth it.


    So he decided that in the days toe, he would hunt zombies diligently to obtain crystals. There was no other way. The road ahead was long and arduous, and great responsibilities would fall upon them. To ensure the strength of his team, he had to be fullymitted.


    At this moment, David decided to spend 10,000 junior crystals to upgrade his base to the ck iron level. He looked at his base and silently called out to the system.


    [Ding!]


    [Host''s intention to spend 10,000 junior crystals detected. Upgrading the base to the ck iron level fortress.]


    [Please confirm, host!]


    "Confirmed!" David decisively affirmed in his mind.


    [Ding!]


    [Base is currently upgrading!]


    David stood aside, observing the changes in the base. Suddenly, a surge of energy emerged from all around. This energy quickly enveloped the entire base. After a few minutes, the energy dissipated.


    [Ding!]


    [Congrattions, host. Base upgraded to the ck iron base!]


    The system prompt of the base being upgraded to a fortress resonated in David''s ears, prompting him to eagerly look. In an instant, the ordinary base seemed to have a subtle metallic feel. Not only the walls but even the load-bearing walls emitted a faint metallic glow. However, the appearance of the fortress still appeared to be covered in cement, without any noticeable changes if not observed carefully.


    With this upgrade, David sessfully transformed his base into a ck iron fortress, further improving its defensive capabilities. Seeing the upgradepleted, David smiled. It had to be said that spending those 10,000 junior crystals was worth it. Just these metallic load-bearing walls could withstand many attacks for their team.


    Entering the fortress, David noticed that the interior remained mostly unchanged. However, as soon as he stepped inside, an invisible aura instantly infiltrated his body. This aura was asfortable as the flowing of a spring or a murmuring stream.


    Suddenly, under the influence of this aura, David felt a sudden ripple in his heartstrings. "Did I reach level six?" Feeling the ripple in his heart, David was surprised. He didn''t expect that a ck iron-level Base would grant him such a boost. It instantly elevated him to level six, exciting him. If things continued like this, leveling up their team would be like child''s y.


    The others also heard David''s words and quickly approached, their faces filled with astonishment. "You''ve be a level six superhuman?" David nodded.


    Sally stared at David, her eyes seemingly wanting to dissect him. Arnold, Sophie, and Duke looked at David as if he were a monster.


    David smiled faintly and said, "Don''t look at me with such strange eyes. I only leveled up by one level." But his words instantly sparked anger. How could you call bing a level six superhuman "just" leveling up by one level?

 Chapter 117 Building An Apocalypse Vehicle

    ?


    Invisible to others, David made a decisive move. After a moment of contemtion, he realized that upgrading the Base would require more crystals of different levels. Therefore, he decided to take his team out hunting today. It would be a good opportunity to assess the strength and cooperation of the team members.


    Now that all the members of the team had awakened their abilities and be supernaturals, David felt it was time to hone their skills through realbat. After sharing his thoughts with the others, they all nodded in agreement.


    Especially Arnold, since bing a second-level supernatural, he hadn''t fully showcased his werewolf power. So when he heard David''s suggestion, he was eager and ready to give it a try.


    Sophie and Sally also looked excited. Only Duke seemed burdened, with a trace of anxiety on his face. David immediately understood his concerns and walked up to him, patting his shoulder reassuringly, saying, "During the battle, you can control the enemy''s shadows from a distance. Stay behind us, and we''ll protect you. We are a team, and we won''t let anything happen to you."


    David knew that Duke was still recovering from overdosing on low-level crystals, so he was probably worried that his condition would hinder the team during realbat. That''s why he spoke thoseforting words. Hearing David''s reassurance, Duke lifted his head excitedly, looked at him gratefully, and nodded heavily.


    After awakening his supernatural abilities, Duke''s confidence had swelled, believing that he could defeat any zombie with his powers. But when he witnessed David saving him yesterday, he abandoned that idea because he knew his strength was insignificantpared to David''s.


    Seeing everyone''s eager expressions, David began to prepare the team to go out and find zombies. Just as they were about to leave the underground parking lot, David looked at the cars and had a sudden idea. If they traveled on foot to search for zombies, it would undoubtedly consume a lot of time and limit their mobility. This would greatly reduce their efficiency and increase the risk of not being able to escape danger in time.


    So David decided that they would all drive to search for zombies. This would not only increase their operational efficiency but also allow them to evade higher-level zombies when encountered. However, before that, David decided to give these cars a major overhaul.


    In his past life, David had seen ordinary people, without awakened abilities, fearlessly driving their modified cars into hordes of zombies, surpassing some esper in bravery.


    Therefore, David stopped everyone and focused on a modified version of an off-road vehicle. He then secretly retrieved some steel tes, bays, long spears, and other weapon devices from the warehouse. In front of everyone, he carried out a series of modifications on the modified off-road vehicle.


    As they watched David busily work, everyone became curious about what he was up to. After half an hour, David wiped the sweat off his face and looked satisfied with his masterpiece.


    Only then did the others understand what David had been busy with earlier, and they looked at the enhanced version of the off-road vehicle in astonishment. Mounted on the front of the vehicle were several steel spears over a meter long, exuding tremendous killing power. Dozens of short knives were also attached to the wheels and sides of the vehicle, and even an alloy steel te was added to the roof. Overall, the off-road vehicle appeared extremely domineering, giving off a hint of a doomsday war machine.


    "Oh my god! This isn''t just an off-road vehicle, it''s a zombie killer!" Arnold eximed as he looked at the war vehicle, unable to resist touching it. The other three also stared in shock at the menacing beast before them. They believed that if this thing charged into a horde of zombies, it would wreak havoc.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Soon, the four of them got into the apocalyptic war vehicle. Just as they were about to set off, little ck, wagging its tail, ran out from the Base.


    Upon seeing ckie, David immediately scooped him up and brought him into the car. He believed that this realbat experience would greatly enhance little ck''s strength.


    Perhaps it would even allow him to level up again and be a more powerful hellhound. David had expected C toe along as well, but after waiting for a while with no sign of it, he shook his head.


    "That guy probably snuck off somewhere again." Without waiting for C, David started the war vehicle and sped out of the underground parking lot. The weather was good today, with warm sunlight and a gentle breeze. Looking at the lush trees in the distant mountains, they felt a sense of tranquility. Enjoying thefortable breeze, they all felt a sense of nostalgia as if transported to a different world.


    Since the zombies descended upon this world , they hadn''t experienced the warmth of the sun like they used to. So, when they suddenly felt the warmth of the sun, their hearts were filled with longing.


    "I wish this world could return to how it was before. That would be so nice!" Sally said absentmindedly as she leaned against the car window.


    "Until the zombies are eradicated, we may never return to the happiness we had before," Arnold bluntly revealed the harsh reality to Sally, which left her feeling a bit disheartened.


    "Damn zombies! They destroyed our homnd and killed our families! I''ll make sure to kill a few more!" Sally clenched her fists tightly, speaking with intense hatred. The others also wore expressions of anger, wishing they could encounter the despicable zombies right now and vent their frustrations.


    Under David''s driving, the war vehicle swiftly traversed every street of the city. The broken buildings lining the streets made the world appear even more deste.


    Everyone knew that this ce was once prosperous, with tall buildings, beautiful scenery, and bustling crowds. People lived in a lively and extravagant world, happiness radiating from their faces. But now, they had long departed from this world.


    During the drive, scattered zombies would asionally appear on the road. Upon seeing them, David decisively steered towards them and charged. In an instant, these zombies were mercilessly ughtered by the long spears and short knives on the war vehicle. This exhrated everyone, and dozens of low-level crystals instantly found their way into David''s pocket. With that, David led the team to continue their journey.


    Suddenly, an incredibly piercing roar erupted from a building.

 Chapter 118 Titan Zombie

    ?


    Upon hearing the sound, everyone''s hearts skipped a beat! David immediately stopped the car and carefully listened to the sound, which was growing louder and clearly filled with a hint of anger. Moreover, the sound was distinctively different from the usual zombie noises. It seemed like a type of zombie they had never encountered before. The furrowing brows of everyone turned to David, silently asking for his decision. David, too, was puzzled as he strained his ears to listen to the sound. Whether in his past life or the present, he had never heard this kind of zombie sound before.


    After hesitating for a moment, David spoke to the others, "Since we''ve encountered it, let''s test its strength. Be ready for anything." He decisively drew his alloy short knife and opened the car door, stepping out.


    Hearing David''s words, the others also became alert. Although they sensed that this zombie was extraordinary and undoubtedly stronger than some low-level zombies, it was often the formidable prey that brought out their strength. They all got out of the car, cautiously following behind David. ording to David''s earlier arrangement in the car, they formed an arrow-shaped formation. David took the lead with his knife, with Sophie and Sally on his left and right sides, respectively. Arnold and Duke followed at the rear. This arrangement was made because Sophie was a healing ability user, and Sally''sbat ability was noticeably weaker. By walking beside them, the three could be well-protected. little ck, leading the way with its scent, was at the front.


    In this manner, the five of them maintained their formation and slowly made their way towards the building. Pushing open the dpidated ss door, they were met with the corpses of low-level zombies, mangled in an extremely brutal manner. It seemed as if they had been torn apart by something, with their bodies broken and in pieces.


    This immediately left David perplexed. "Could it be other ability users?" he spected in his mind. However, when he thought about the piercing and terrifying sound from earlier, he shook his head. Observing the gruesome state of these zombie corpses, he didn''t believe it was the work of ability users. Ability users who hunted zombies emphasized speed, uracy, and ruthlessness. They would never exert such effort to severely injure a zombie. Apart from wasting time, it could lead to a decrease in stamina and a subsequent decline in their abilities.


    Therefore, David remained firm in his belief that the mastermind behind this was deeper within the building and certainly not an ordinary character. With this in mind, David heightened his caution and continuously surveyed his surroundings. They proceeded along the stairs, slowly advancing to the second floor.


    Suddenly, as they passed through a hall, the same enraged roar from earlier echoed from inside. ckie, at the forefront, had its fur instantly bristle, and the aura of a hellhound burst forth. Having already identified the enemy''s location, David didn''t hesitate andmanded, "little ck, go!"


    Upon hearing David''smand, little ck sprinted toward the massive silhouette in the hall. little ck let out a series of growls, swiftly pouncing onto the figure, and David quickly followed suit.


    However, when they saw the scene in front of them, they were instantly shocked and rooted to the spot. They witnessed a huge zombie, standing in the hall, with a strange gaze fixed upon them. In its hand, it held the arm of another zombie, while the corpses of five or six low-level zombiesy in a pile of shredded flesh at its feet. Seeing this horrifying sight, the group was momentarily stunned, ovee by fear.


    Zombies eating zombies? It was something they had never witnessed before. They raised their heads to examine this brutal creature. The zombie''s physique was particrly robust, with muscles still visibly exposed despite the rotting flesh. It stared at them with an excited expression.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The zombie dropped the decaying arm from its hand and emitted a grating sound of grinding teeth, as if considering them as fresh food, ready to feast upon them in the next moment. David furrowed his brow upon seeing this creature, and a name popped into his mind: Titan Zombie!


    Instantly, David''s brow furrowed even more tightly. He had heard of Titan Zombies in his past life. They were named "Titans" due to their incredibly strong defense, seeminglycking any weak points on their bodies.


    What''s more, Titan Zombies could enhance their own rank by devouring lower-level zombies. In David''s past life, he had only heard about them but never encountered one. ording to descriptions from some esper, anyone who had encountered a Titan Zombie did not return alive, even some powerful esper met the same fate.


    As a result, very little was known about Titan Zombies. Looking at the behemoth before them, David decisively activated his spatial de. He seemed to anticipate that a fierce battle was about to begin, and he had to give it his all.


    Arnold immediately activated his werewolf mode, while Duke took a step back, maintaining enough distance to ensure the use of his shadow control abilities. After all, as a superhuman of the self-control category, engaging in closebat would be suicidal.


    Sally stood guard beside Sophie, doing her best to protect the only healing superhuman in their team. The imminent battle was about tomence, with the Titan Zombie still staring at them and emitting a grating sound. Without giving them time to react, the Titan Zombie took a big step and charged toward them. It seemed impatient to feast on fresh food.


    "Go, Little ck!" At the same time, David quickly gave themand to Little ck! Upon receiving David''smand, Little ck roared and leaped directly at the Titan Zombie. At the same time, green mes of hell erupted from its mouth. The Titan Zombie seemed unperturbed by the sudden attack, extending its massive hands and viciously swatting at Little ck. Its speed was so fast that the group had no time to react!


    "Boom!" A thunderous sound rang out as Little ck was instantly sent flying by the Titan Zombie, the force of the blow even causing the surrounding air to tremble. Seeing this, David quickly opened a spatial portal and moved Little ck to the ground. However, even so, Little cky on the ground, howling in pain and with an expression of agony on its face.


    asionally missing content, please report errors in time.

 Chapter 119 The Zombie With Top-Notch Defense

    ?


    "Little ck!" Seeing Little ck injured, David couldn''t help but feel a tightening in his heart and quickly ran over. As he approached Little ck, David carefully held it in his arms and examined its injuries. He saw that at this moment, Little ck had traces of blood oozing from the corners of its mouth after enduring the blow from the Titan Zombie earlier. Its breath was unusually weak, as if the energy inside its body waspletely disrupted. This made David''s heart tighten with worry.


    it hadn''t been long since Little ck became amanding-level Hellhound. If it suffered serious injuries at this time, it would pose a serious obstacle to its future upgrades. It might even...


    David didn''t dare to think further, looking at Little ck, who had always been by his side, now barely clinging to life. David felt like his heart was bleeding.


    "Meow!" At this moment, the sound of C''s voice suddenly came. David turned his head and saw that C had somehow arrived at the entrance of the hall and was now walking towards him. Aftering to David and Little ck''s side, C looked at Little ck lying in David''s arms and let out a gentle "meow," then reached out a paw and nudged Little ck. Seeing no response from Little ck, C seemed to panic and kept circling around Little ck.


    "Meow!" C called out to Little ck, but unfortunately, Little ck still didn''t respond. Now, C seemed to realize something, and its presence instantly swelled up, a strong and oppressive aura filling the entire hall.


    "Meow! Meow!! Meow!!!" C, with blood-red eyes, stared at the Titan Zombie and let out furious roars. It seemed to believe that the guy in front of it had killed its best friend. Although C would often bully Little ck on ordinary days, as familiars, their bond was very deep. So when C saw no response from Little ck, the first thought that came to its mind was that Little ck had been killed by the Titan Zombie in front of them!


    Without hesitation, filled with rage, C leaped towards the Titan Zombie! In mid-air, it transformed into its extraordinary state, and its ws quickly emerged with a "whoosh." Seeing a little cat suddenly appear, the Titan Zombie first stared at it curiously, then seemed to smile.


    Then, it swung its fist again, aiming to strike C in the air. Due to transforming into its extraordinary state, C''s size had more than doubledpared to before. Moreover, it was in mid-air, making it an easy target for the Titan Zombie. And this punch was even more powerful than the previous one, so the Titan Zombie''s fist quicklynded on C''s body.


    However, unlike Little ck''s situation earlier, C wasn''t knocked away by the punch. Instead, it extended its ws and firmly grabbed onto the Titan Zombie''s fist, revealing its sharp fangs.


    "Meow!!!" C''s anger had reached its peak, and its voice seemed to carry raging mes. Although this punch didn''t send it flying, it still caused significant damage to C. Enduring the pain, C extended its sharp ws and fiercely swiped at the Titan Zombie''s arm.


    "ng!" The sound of metal collision instantly rang out. Only a few scratch marks were left on the Titan Zombie''s body from C''s attack, but it didn''t cause substantial damage.


    "The defense is so terrifying!" David couldn''t help but be shocked. Even the intelligent zombie had formidable defense, but it was still broken by C''s powerful w. Looking at it this way, the defense of the Titan zombie was far superior to that of the intelligent zombie.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David''s guess was not wrong. The primary attack method of the intelligent zombie relied on its own intelligence to predict the opponent''s attacks and adapt its tactics ordingly, so its greatest strength was in its brain.


    The Titan zombie, on the other hand, was different. Its main fighting style relied on its brute strength and the power that erupted from within its body. This required close-quartersbat. To better kill its opponents, its defense had naturally been honed to the highest level.


    ncing at the scratches on his arm, the Titan zombie suddenly twisted its wrist and tightly grabbed C in its hand. "Meow!" C instantly let out a howl and struggled relentlessly in its grasp.


    While C struggled, the Titan zombie clenched its other fist and raised it high above its head, as if it was about to smash it down on C. Perhaps due to excitement, the Titan zombie continued to make sounds, and a hint of killing frenzy appeared in its bulging eyes.


    "Oh no!" Seeing this scene, David became tense. C and Little ck were his two loyal beasts, and he couldn''t bear to see them get hurt. Moreover, Little ck was still unconscious at the moment, and if anything happened to C, his heart would probably shatter. Just then, he noticed the sunlight shining through the hall''s floor-to-ceiling windows, directly onto the Titan zombie''s body, and its shadow slowly appeared on the ground.


    Seeing this, David quickly shouted to Duke, "Duke, take action!" Duke''s heart was already filled with anger, and upon hearing David''s voice, he didn''t hesitate to unleash his powers!


    Suddenly, he clenched his hands tightly toward the shadow of the Titan zombie on the ground! Instantly, the raised arm of the Titan zombie froze in mid-air. Seeing Duke''s sess, David finally breathed a sigh of relief.


    But before he could celebrate, Sally suddenly eximed, "No! Shadow damage won''t affect him!" This made David quickly turn his head and saw that after being hit by Duke''s shadow damage technique, the Titan zombie''s body only paused for a moment before lifting its fist again to strike at Coke, just like before. Duke also suffered the bacsh of this force and was instantly rebounded into the wall.


    Duke''s body hadn''t fully recovered yet, and he spurted out a mouthful of blood. Seeing this scene, David didn''t have time to react and directly opened a portal, rushing towards C .


    At the same time, Arnold activated his werewolf mode and followed David, charging forward. Sally, on the other hand, guarded Sophie and urged her to activate "Ster Healing," quickly healing Duke and Little ck.


    In the blink of an eye, David reached the side of the Titan zombie, then raised the Space de and forcefully shed it on its arm. This strike was a powerful blow that David had gathered, and its force was so great that it even caused the invincible Titan zombie to feel a slight pain, causing its grip on C ''s right fist to slowly loosen.

 Chapter 120 Secondary Evolution

    ?


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, C also managed to break free and leaped into the air, creating a distance of five to six meters between itself and the Titan zombie.


    David quickly opened another spatial gate and teleported to C''s side. He nced at the pale-faced Duke and looked somewhat nervous.Fortunately, at this moment, both he and Little ck were bathed in Sophie''s Ster healing, allowing them to regain some of their abilities in a short amount of time. David frowned as he looked at the Titan zombie. The sh it had made on his body had caused him some pain, and blood was seeping from his tiger''s mouth.


    "This guy''s defense is incredibly strong!" David couldn''t help but mutter to himself.


    At the same time, seemingly provoked, the Titan zombie suddenly roared in anger and charged towards David. Its hundreds of kilograms of weight stomping on the floor caused the entire hall to tremble.


    "C, get out of the way!"David quickly shouted to C and rolled to the other side. However, in doing so, hepletely exposed Sally, Sophie, and Duke to the Titan zombie''s attack. The three of them had weakbat abilities.


    Especially Sophie, who was the team''s only healer. If something happened to her, it wouldpletely disrupt David''s formation n. Without thinking too much, David clenched his alloy short knife, gritted his teeth, and rushed towards the charging Titan zombie. Regardless of the circumstances, he had to protect the safety of the three individuals!


    At the same time, C was also furious. Its cat ws, sharp as knives, sprang out once again: "Meow!!" Together with David, it pounced on the Titan zombie''s back.


    "ng!" The sound of metal friction resounded on the Titan zombie''s body. David mercilessly swung his alloy short knife on the zombie''s arm, while C climbed onto its back and wildly waved its ws. This move seemed to have some effect as the Titan zombie''s speed noticeably slowed down, but its anger grew increasingly intense.


    Without giving David time to react, the Titan zombie lifted its fist and smashed it fiercely toward David. Seeing this, David quickly twisted his footing, and the fistnded heavily on the ground near his nose. The marble floor instantly formed arge pit from the impact. However, the Titan zombie was clearly not satisfied and extended its left hand, intending to pull C off David''s back.


    At this moment, Arnold activated his werewolf mode and charged towards the Titan zombie with a howl. "Boom!" With Arnold''s powerful strike, the Titan zombie was sent flying more than five meters away, causing the tables and chairs in the hall to shatter under its immense body.


    C also leaped high in an instant andnded on David''s shoulder. Seeing that C was unharmed, David finally rxed. He then looked at the fallen Titan zombie with a serious expression. The zombie slowly climbed up from the ground and moved its shoulders a couple of times before emitting a piercing sound. However, this time, the sound seemed to carry a hint of anger, and its eyes were filled with intense rage. David knew that they had thoroughly angered this creature.


    Through the previous battle, David realized that confronting the Titan zombie head-on was simply impossible. They could only find a way to outsmart it. He quickly surveyed the surrounding environment and saw that apart from some desks and chairs, there were no other unnecessary items in the hall. Most of the area was empty, without any objects ced around.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David had a sudden idea. The Titan zombie was tall and weighed over a hundred kilograms, which provided him with enhanced defense but also some disadvantages. One of those disadvantages was his speed. Moving with such arge body was rtively difficult.


    David noticed this during the Titan zombie''s movements. On the other hand, their team members were smaller in size, lighter, and fasterpared to the Titan zombie. So why not use their advantage in speed to engage with him?


    With this in mind, David quickly said to Arnold and C, "Arnold, attack from the right, C, attack from the left. After attacking, switch positions to avoid closebat! We need to use our speed and agility to keep it upied!"


    Upon hearing David''s words, Arnold nodded, and C let out a "meow." Looking at the slowed-down Titan zombie, David tightly gripped his alloy short knife, and Arnold assumed a position ready to charge.


    Just as the Titan zombie lifted its foot to move, David had a sudden thought: "Now, go!" He immediately rushed towards the Titan zombie like a gust of wind.


    Arnold and C also leaped towards the sides of the Titan zombie. When they reached the front of the Titan zombie, David swung his knife fiercely towards its chest, leaving a sparking gash on its body. The Titan zombie probably didn''t expect humans to suddenly attack him, so it angrily raised its fist and aimed to strike David.


    Seeing this, David quickly opened a spatial gate behind him and appeared there, delivering another powerful strike with his knife. Arnold and C swiftly changed positions after their attacks. This made it impossible for the Titan zombie to urately hit its targets, and it could only keep striking the floor with its fists. Before long, the floor beneath its feet shattered, revealing the underlying steel reinforcement.


    The Titan zombie waspletely enraged. After three roars, it became even more frenzied. Its skin emitted a red glow, which grew brighter and covered its entire body in an instant.


    David immediately signaled for Arnold and C to stop and observed the changes in the Titan zombie. Under this blood-red glow, the Titan zombie''s skin seemed to resemble the mud in a swamp. Not only did blood continue to flow from certain areas, but ayer of red skin began to grow on its arms.


    "Secondary evolution?" David eximed in surprise. He hadn''t expected the Titan zombie to reach the stage of secondary evolution. This meant that its defense would be significantly enhanced, and their attacks would be even more challenging. David furrowed his brow, contemting strategies.


    At this moment, Duke and Little ck slowly recovered from their injuries under Sophie''s Ster Healing. They stood up again, preparing to join the battle.

 Chapter 121 Do You Understand The Damage Of A Heavy Machine Gun?

    ?


    Seeing Duke and Little ck join the battle, David''s confidence grew. Now they could quickly attack the Titan zombie from multiple angles and directions.


    Taking advantage of the evolution gap of the Titan zombie, David began to make arrangements. "Arnold, continue attacking from the right. C and Little ck, attack from the left. Sally, step back and protect Sophie. If anyone gets injured, Sophie should immediately start Ster Healing. Duke, listen to mymands and act ordingly."


    Upon hearing David''s instructions, everyone nodded. C and Little ck let out a low sound. Seeing Little ck return to his side, C extended his cat ws and tapped his head, as if reminding Little ck to be cautious. At this moment, Little ck was fully activated in Hellhound mode, and his eyes emitted a terrifying green glow as he stared at the Titan zombie.


    Initially, Little ck had been reckless and got injured because he hadn''t fully grasped the Titan zombie''s strength. Now he became cautious, keeping a watchful eye on his opponent.


    The Titan zombie emitted another piercing sound, and a hint of disdain and contempt appeared on the faces of the people before it. At this moment, it had undergone secondary evolution, and the hardness of its skin had significantly increasedpared to before, resulting in defense several times stronger than before.


    This was the terrifying aspect of the Titan zombie¡ªit could convert the energy stored in its body into defensive strength on its outer skin. Through this method, it could elevate its defense to a horrifying level. The blood that had flowed out earlier was the energy it had stored when devouring lower-level zombies. So now, the Titan zombie''s strength was even more terrifying than that of a fourth-level superpower.


    Feeling the weight and majesty of the Titan zombie, David tightly gripped his alloy short knife. He understood that the Titan zombie was bing increasingly difficult to deal with. Their only solution was to surround it, even if they couldn''t cause substantial damage to its body. At least they could create an opportunity, and that opportunity was David''s goal.


    As they watched the Titan zombie slowly move towards them, David gave themand, and the trio¡ªDavid, Arnold, C¡ªcharged at it. They had to take the initiative and attack before the Titan zombieunched its assault, in order to seize control of the situation.


    David employed the same technique, swinging his alloy short knife fiercely at the Titan zombie''s chest. However, this time, there was no sound, and the moment the alloy short knife touched its skin, it seemed to be maically attracted, making it impossible for David to pull the knife back no matter how hard he tried. The same was true for Arnold''s werewolf attacks and the attacks from C and Little ck.


    "Terror! This defense is too terrifying!" David''s heart trembled. In the corner of his eye, he saw the Titan zombie''s fist, as big as a sandbag, appear above his head.


    The Titan zombie gazed at David with a yful expression in its eyes and then ruthlessly smashed its fist toward his head. This startled everyone, and they desperately tried to intervene and help David, but the Titan zombie''s movements were too fast, giving them no time to react.


    "David, be careful!" Sally anxiously shouted to him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    At this moment, David cursed inwardly and without hesitation activated the Space de, swinging it with all his strength towards the descending fist! A deep and muffled sound exploded in David''s ears like a bell ringing! Immediately, the space around him distorted intensely, forming an air vortex. Due to the tremendous impact, David was flung against the wall, his ears ringing. After a moment of daze, David finally reacted and looked at the Titan Zombie.


    Although David''s strike bought him some time to escape, it didn''t inflict any damage on the Titan Zombie. On the contrary, the recoil was so powerful that it left him internally rattled. However, it made him realize that the Space de wasn''t maically attracted when it touched the Titan Zombie''s skin.


    David felt it might be due to the nature of the space element. With this realization, he now had a handy weapon to contend with the Titan Zombie. He quickly stood up, ring fiercely at the Titan Zombie and shouted, "You beast! Today, I''ll butcher you!"


    David admitted that since his rebirth, he hadn''t experienced such humiliation. In an instant, his anger soared, and he unleashed all his firepower! Without any hesitation, he charged at the Titan Zombie, crashing into it recklessly! The Titan Zombie seemed to recognize the power of the Space de and constantly waved its hands to defend itself, which created opportunities for Arnold and the others. Soon, they engaged the Titan Zombie in a guerri warfare using their speed advantage.


    Suddenly, Little ck fiercely bit the ankle of the Titan Zombie, catching it off guard and causing it to stumble. Seeing this, David quickly shouted at Duke, "Duke, now!"


    Duke, who was already prepared, immediatelyunched the Shadow Control technique against the Titan Zombie, even though he would experience a bacsh. However, Duke believed there was a reason  David''s request. Instantly, the Titan Zombie''s body stiffened, tilting in mid-air, exposing its neck.


    Seeing this, David didn''t hesitate and retrieved a heavy machine gun from the space. "You beast! Today, I''ll make sure you die! Do you understand the damage of a heavy machine gun?"


    David relentlessly pulled the trigger, spraying bullets onto the neck of the Titan Zombie. Although he knew the neck wasn''t the weak point of the Titan Zombie, it seemed to be the only breakthrough pointpared to other areas. The blue-glowing heavy machine gun, like a bloodthirsty war god, ferociously showered the Titan Zombie''s neck with bullets.


    The Titan Zombie had no chance to move and its body was constantly hit by bullets. Wisps of white smoke rose from its armored skin as the heavy machine gun took effect. Seeing the results, David quickly signaled Duke to stop and retrieved ten high-explosive grenades from the arsenal!


    At this moment, due to the force of the bullets, the Titan Zombie''s body was pushed to the window, with no room to retreat. David pulled the pins of the ten bundled grenades while walking forward. When he reached the front of the Titan Zombie, he released all the grenades.


    "Die!" David hung the bundle of high-explosive grenades on the Titan Zombie''s body, his tone icy. Then, lifting his foot, he exerted all his strength and kicked fiercely against the Titan Zombie.

 Chapter 122 Defense Crystals

    The sound of shattering ss instantly resounded! David''s kick was a culmination of the full strength of a Level 6 esper, unexpectedly kicking the Titan zombie out of the hall. Then, the Titan zombie sneered, and his entire body started falling downward. At that moment, the Titan zombie suddenly extended itsrge hand and fiercely grabbed David''s arm.


    "Damn it!" Caught by the Titan zombie, David had no strength to struggle due to the previous powerful strike. Arnold, Sally, and the others were shocked when they saw this!


    They immediately wanted to rush over to grab David. However, the falling speed of the Titan zombie was too fast. Before they could reach David, he and the Titan zombie crashed towards the ground.


    The Titan zombie tightly grasped David, staring at him with a strange expression. It seemed determined to take him down as a shield, even if it meant dying together. At the same time, wisps of white smoke started emanating from the high-explosive grenades on its body, which wouldpletely explode in a few seconds.


    "You damn beast, you think you can use me as a shield? Dream on!" David stared fiercely at the Titan zombie and immediately manifested the de of Space in his hand. At the same time, he opened a spatial portal. As the de of Space shed toward the Titan zombie''s arm, half of David''s body had already entered the spatial portal.


    The de of Space struck the Titan zombie''s body, producing a series of sparks. Its grip on David''s hand also slightly loosened.


    Seeing this, David quickly mustered thest bit of strength to break free from its grasp and then shed! He entered the spatial portal. At the moment the portal closed, the high-explosive grenades suddenly began to explode!


    "Boom!" The sound of ten high-explosive grenades detonating caused the entire building to tremble slightly! The people in the hall quickly stabilized themselves and rushed to the balcony, looking down below. They saw a white smoke mixed with red spreading. The white smoke was from the nitrous fumes generated by the explosion of the high-explosive grenades, and the red was the blood mist from the Titan zombie''s body being blown apart. However, the expressions on everyone''s faces were filled with sorrow because when they looked at that blood mist, they seemed to think of something they couldn''t ept.


    "David! David!" Sally knelt on the ground, frantically shouting as she looked at the ground. After calling several times with no response, tears slowly streamed down her delicate face.


    "David, don''t scare me, okay? Answer me quickly, David!" Sally seemed to anticipate something, crying and calling out David''s name.


    Arnold and Duke also wore expressions of profound grief on their faces. They didn''t want to ept this reality, but falling from such a height, coupled with ten high-explosive grenades exploding nearby, even an iron man would have no chance of survival. Instantly, they started ming themselves, regretting that they didn''t run faster earlier, otherwise the situation wouldn''t have turned out like this. As they looked at the lingering blood mist below, everyone''s mood sank to the extreme.


    And at that moment, a faint cough suddenly came from below. The hearts of the few individuals shook! "Stop mourning, I''m not dead! Damn it! This bastard is really cunning!" Upon hearing this familiar voice, the group was momentarily stunned before their faces immediately lit up with excitement. They could tell that this voice belonged to David.


    Being able to speak and curse, does this look like a dead person? Sally quickly got up from the ground and ran downstairs, with the others following closely behind. It turned out that at the moment the high-explosive grenades exploded, David hadpletely entered the spatial portal. Originally, he was supposed to teleport behind the others.


    But who knew that the power of the high-explosive grenades was too great, directly shaking the space and causing his teleportation location to change, sending him to the ground. Fortunately, hepletely avoided the damage from the explosion of the high-explosive grenades.


    Soon, Sally followed the sound and rushed to David''s side. At this moment, he was leaning against a scrapped car, coughing continuously.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "David, are you okay?" Sally squatted down and asked worriedly.


    After a moment, David waved his hand and slowly stood up."I''m fine, I was just choked by the smoke from the high-explosive grenades."


    After confirming that David didn''t have any life-threatening injuries, Sally let out a deep sigh of relief:"It was too dangerous just now, don''t do something like this again." Before David finished coughing, Sally said angrily. "I won''t allow you to joke with your life."


    "Anyone in our team can be absent, but not you. Besides, there are still many things... that I haven''t told you." As she spoke, Sally''s expression suddenly changed. From the anger just now, she slowly blushed and became shy.


    This made Davidugh helplessly and said, "I remember, next time I will definitely call you, and we can have a good chat." David pointed to the sky above.


    "Eww! Don''t say such things!" Sally quickly covered her mouth and said.


    At this time, Arnold and the other two arrived. "David, are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?"


    After confirming that David was fine, everyone let out a sigh of relief. David was too important to them, even though they had be empowered individuals who could stand on their own and kill zombies. But in their hearts, David was the strongest and wisest person. Moreover, the reason they were able to awaken their powers and be empowered individuals was because of David.


    Walking to the location where the Titan zombie exploded earlier, David saw pieces of ck and red flesh and limbs. The once towering Titan zombie was reduced to a pile of flesh by the high-explosive grenades. Seeing the blood-red ground, the voice of the system rang in David''s ears.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for obtaining a Defense Crystal!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundred times critical strike and obtaining a hundred Defense Crystals.]


    "Hmm? Defense Crystals?" Listening to the system''s words, David was somewhat puzzled. It was the first time he had heard of this type of crystal. So, he silently asked the system in his mind about the function of the Defense Crystals. After learning that they could strengthen the defense of any object or person, David nodded inwardly and didn''t delve into it further. He then found his alloy short knife and held it in his hand.


    At this moment, Little ck and C also came down and, upon seeing David, they approached his feet. It seemed that they also thought David had died earlier, and now they were clearly excited.


    Even C, who was usually aloof, kept circling around David''s legs, showing no intention of leaving.

 Chapter 123 Mysterious Laboratory

    ?


    However, observant David noticed that Little ck seemed to be constantly looking towards the middle floor of the building and sniffing around with his nose, as if there was a special scent on that floor.


    This piqued David''s curiosity. Little ck, being a hellhound, had a sense of smell hundreds of times stronger than ordinary dogs, so he could detect even faint special odors in the air. Even if it was several blocks away, it was no problem for Little ck. Therefore, David also looked curiously at that floor of the building, feeling a slight interest. Whatever caught Little ck''s attention couldn''t be ordinary. It might be some crystals of exceptional quality. So, David decided to go and investigate.


    "You guys wait in the car, I''ll go back and get something." After casually giving a reason, David took Little ck back into the building. The reason he didn''t tell the truth to Arnold and the others was that David was afraid there might be other higher-level zombies upstairs. If that was the case, they would have no energy left to fight again after just going through a battle. He did this to protect the lives of his team members.


    After all, in his view, some difficulties were meant to be borne by David alone. If his entire team were to perish, he would regret it in this life. Hearing what David said, Sally was skeptical but still nodded and returned to the car.


    C also had a puzzled expression and stared at David''s figure for a while, then softly called out and jumped into Sally''s arms.


    Entering the building once again, Little ck continued to sniff ahead, diligently searching for that special scent. David followed behind him, holding the short knife with a cautious expression, afraid of encountering another Titan zombie. If that happened, the best course of action would be to quickly run with Little ck.


    Although David had plenty of high-explosive grenades in his storage system, he didn''t want to experience the sensation of being choked again. Following Little ck through one floor after another, Little ck stopped at the stairs on the 38th floor of the building. He wagged his tail towards David, indicating that the special scent wasing from here.


    At this point, David could also smell the faint scent in the air. However, he felt that this scent was somewhat peculiar. It was like the smell of a corpse, while also resembling the smell of certain chemical substances. This made him even more puzzled.


    After ensuring there was no danger in the surroundings, David slowly walked to the entrance of this floor. When he saw that the door here was a high-security door that required a card to enter, David''s eyebrows slightly furrowed. Because he knew that such doors were not typically installed in regr ces. They were only installed in secretiveboratories and important bases that required confidentiality and ess control.


    In other words, this ce could be aboratory or an important secret base. After contemting for a moment, David decided to go in and take a look. "Little ck, wait here obediently. If there''s any danger, run away quickly. Understand?"


    David didn''t n to bring Little ck inside. If there was really danger inside, he didn''t think it was a wise choice. Besides, if there was danger outside, Little ck staying outside could quickly ry the information to him, ensuring his safety.


    Listening to David''s words, Little ck crouched down obediently and nodded, raising its ears attentively, cautiously observing the surroundings. At that moment, David activated the Gate of Space. The powerful Gate of Space could surpass any obstacles and enter any space that Road Far desired. Therefore, a security door could not stop David from entering.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As a dazzling halo appeared, the Gate of Space slowly materialized in front of David. He leaped towards the gate and disappeared into the void, while the Gate of Space gradually closed, leaving only Little ck outside.


    Another dazzling halo appeared, and David slowly walked out of the halo behind the security door. There were two huge ss doors behind the security door, with little ck and yellow biohazard symbols affixed to them. This instantly made David understand that this was likely a secretboratory.


    However, David had no idea what they were experimenting on. He slowly pushed open the ss doors and walked inside. In the instant he opened the ss doors, the faint scent of decay and chemical substances in the air suddenly rushed into his nostrils.


    This made David involuntarily furrow his brows tightly and quickly covered his nose with his hand to avoid the strong odor from harming his body. After entering through the ss doors, David continued to walk forward. Ahead of him was a spacious corridor with various shelves embedded in the walls on both sides, disying a wide variety of chemical substances.


    David continued to move forward, and there was still a huge ss door ahead. The little ck and yellow biohazard symbol was affixed to it as well. This made David sigh with emotion. The size of thisboratory was unexpectedlyrge. It had taken him more than ten minutes just to walk from the security door to this point.


    Suppressing his inner doubts, David continued forward. After walking for about ten minutes, David finally arrived at the center of theboratory. However, as soon as he stepped into this area, he was stunned by the sight in front of him.


    In front of him was a spacious hall filled with various experimental instruments, as well as chemicals and equipment for experiments. In the middle of the hall, there were a dozen or so ss jars of different sizes, filled with yellow liquid. Looking at the darkening color of the liquid inside, David spected that the rotten odor in the air earlier must havee from here.


    At the same time, David noticed that these liquids seemed to be soaking something. He quickly approached for a closer look and discovered that the liquids contained the corpses of zombies. This surprised him once again.


    "How could there be so many zombie corpses here?" David couldn''t help but ask. At the same time, he carefully observed these corpses and found that they varied in rank. There were low-rank and high-rank zombies, as well as some intermediate-rank zombies.


    "Could there be people in this world who have a hobby of preserving zombie corpses?" David became more and more bewildered. He had no idea what thisboratory was used for, or even what these zombie corpses soaked in yellow liquid were used for. He began to wander around theboratory, hoping to find some clues.

 Chapter 124 The New Ability "Decay"

    ?


    Suddenly, as David approached a corner of theboratory, arge operating table in front of him instantly caught his attention. "There''s even an operating table? How strange."


    At the same time, as David approached the table, he noticed that something seemed to be lying on it. Upon closer inspection, David realized that it was not a person lying on the table, but a corpse of a zombie. Moreover, the zombie''s body appeared to have been dissected by someone, with cuts covering various parts of the body, and certain parts had even been severed and neatly ced aside.


    Examining the neatly arranged pieces of flesh and missing organs, David once again found himself puzzled. He never expected that there would be people dissecting zombies in this world. In the previous world, he had heard from some survivors that there were scientists who hired supernaturals to capture zombies for the purpose of conducting dissecting studies in search of a powerful energy source.


    However, this im had always been regarded as a rumor, and no scientist had ever sessfully extracted energy from a zombie. So, David looked at the dissected zombie with a faint shake of his head, then prepared to turn and leave. But just as he was about to turn away, he suddenly felt a faint energy fluctuation in the void. Although the energy was weak, David, being a spatial ability user, was able to sense it.


    This made David immediately stop in his tracks and look back at the zombie on the operating table. "What''s going on? How can there be energy fluctuations? Where is iting from?"


    Approaching the table, David carefully examined the zombie''s body and the surrounding area, filled with curiosity. Just as he approached the corpse, he sensed an even stronger energy fluctuation. "Wow, it''sing from the zombie''s body?"


    "Could it be that there is really some mysterious energy contained within the zombie''s body?" Now David waspletely interested. He carefully observed the zombie''s body and concluded that it was a low-level zombie.


    At this moment, all four limbs of the zombie had been severed, and some rotten organs had been cut out. Only the heart remained intact. David leaned closer to the heart, focusing his senses. As a spatial ability user, he could clearly perceive any energy fluctuations in the surrounding space. At the moment he approached the zombie''s heart, he could distinctly feel waves of concentrated energy emanating from within.


    "This is it!" eximed David excitedly. Although he didn''t yet know how to harness this mysterious energy, he felt a surge of inexplicable excitement. After thinking for a moment, David activated his spatial de. Since the corpse was already in pieces, another cut wouldn''t make a difference.


    The spatial de shimmered with faint light as David carefully sliced through the heart of the corpse. After a few minutes, he sessfully extracted the heart from the body. As he looked at the heart, David furrowed his brows. He realized that the heart showed no signs of decay, and even the blood vessels on it were clearly visible. If it weren''t for the fact that David had personally dug it out from the zombie''s body, he would have believed it was a normal human heart.


    As he looked at this peculiar heart, David instinctively reached out and touched it with his fingertip. As soon as his fingertip made contact with the surface of the heart, he felt a warm sensation, which spread slowly from his fingertip to his arm and then throughout his body.


    Soon, the warm sensation began to intensify, and it seemed to flow through David''s veins and acupoints, causing them to tremble.


    "Energy, it''s really energy!" Feeling this sensation, David suddenly opened his eyes and eximed excitedly. As a Level 6 ability user, his perception of energy far surpassed that of an ordinary person, so he immediately recognized it as energy.


    Just then, the voice of the system also sounded in David''s ears.


    [Ding! Congrattions, host, on leveling up to be a Level 7 ability user!]


    "What? Leveled up again?" Hearing the voice of the system, David shouted in excitement. He didn''t expect that this inexplicable power would directly bring him a level upgrade. But before the system''s voice disappeared, it continued to sound in his ears.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [Ding! Congrattions, host, on acquiring one Primary Crystal!]


    [Congrattions, host, on triggering a hundredfold critical hit and obtaining one hundred Primary Crystals!]


    [Ding! Congrattions, host, on acquiring the attack-type ability¡ªDecay!]


    "A new ability? And it''s in the attack category?" David was instantly bewildered. He knew that he was an awakened spatial ability user, and ording tomon sense, an ability user could only awaken abilities within a single category. So why did he suddenly gain an attack-type ability?


    The system seemed to understand David''s confusion and immediately exined.


    "Because the host sensed energy obtained from the enraged zombie, it activated the host''s second ability slot."


    "In the future, different ability slots will be activated based on the source of energy obtained by the host."


    "Note: Up to three ability slots can be activated, andter on, it is possible to stack the same type of ability slot."


    Upon hearing the system''s exnation, David suddenly realized. It turned out that different energy sources could activate different ability slots for the ability user. Since his previous awakening of abilities was rted to a spatial zombie, the first ability slot he activated was for the spatial category. Now, because he came into contact with the corpse of an enraged zombie, naturally, the ability slot activated was for thebat category. Once he understood, he inquired about the function of the ability [Decay].


    [Ding! Answering the host!]


    "This ability is the ultimate skill of the enraged zombie. When activated, any object touched by the host will decaypletely within thirty seconds!"


    "After use, there is a cooldown time of ten seconds, which will gradually decrease based on the host''s level."


    "Wow! Any object? Does that mean there are no limitations?" Understanding the implied meaning behind the system''s words, David clenched his fist tightly and said excitedly.


    For David, this was already an incredibly powerful attack-type ability. Whenbined with his spatial gate, he could freely attack any enemy. Judging from the name "enraged zombie," David felt that this skill must have significant power.


    With these thoughts in mind, David decided to experiment and test the extent of its power.

 Chapter 125 The Base Is Upgraded Again!

    ?


    David reached out his hand towards an iron rack nearby, simultaneously silently chanting the word "Decay" in his mind.


    Suddenly, David felt a flicker in his mind! An inexplicable power surged from within his body to his fingertips. This power was surging and seemed to carry a hint of malevolence as it headed straight for the iron rack.


    "Hiss~" A piercing sound instantly resounded as white vapor emanated from the iron rack upon contact with David''s hand. Then, the iron rack began to rapidly decay, as if it had been doused with some kind of chemical. In less than a minute, the steel pipe, which was originally as thick as a child''s arm, turned into a puddle of ck iron liquid.


    "What the... This ability is too terrifying, isn''t it?" David eximed in astonishment as he looked at the iron liquid on the ground. He didn''t expect this skill to be so brutal, capable of instantly corroding and decaying even iron objects. If he encountered some low-level zombies, they would have been reduced to a pool of rotten blood long ago.


    Suddenly, David felt delighted. With this ability, he would save a lot of energy when dealing with low-level zombies. When he unleashed this ability just now, he could clearly feel that the energy consumption was minimal.


    However, the power was incredibly potent. For an ability user, it was the most efficient ability. After all, inbat, besides abilities, an ability user''s stamina was the most crucial factor. It determined the duration and efficiency of an ability user''s fights, enabling them to hunt more zombies and protect themselves.


    After searching theboratory and finding no other energy sources to extract, David opened the spatial gate and walked out. Little ck, who had been squatting at the door, wagged its tail and barked happily when it saw Daviding out.


    "Little ck, I''ve had quite the harvest today!" David reached out and rubbed Little ck''s head, excitedly saying.


    Little ck seemed to understand David''s words once again and jumped up excitedly. David walked out of the building, and then he got into an off-road vehicle.


    "Did you find anything inside?" Sally, who was in the passenger seat, asked while caressing the sleeping C in her arms.


    "I didn''t find anything, just an empty building." David didn''t mention theboratory or the fact that he had upgraded to a Level 7 ability user and acquired another attack-type ability.


    Seeing David''s calm expression, no one suspected anything. So, David started the car, stepped on the gas pedal, and headed towards the base. Upon reaching the base, David parked the car and then arrived at the entrance of the base. Other people, exhausted from the battle, went inside to rest and replenish their stamina.


    Little ck also followed C and slowly walked inside. Seeing that there was no one around, David began to survey his base. Although the base had already been upgraded to a ck iron base, with significantly improved defense and concealment, David felt unsatisfied.


    Living in a world full of constant crisis, David had to make his hiding ce even stronger. So, he summoned the defensive crystal. Looking at the shiny triangr crystal in his hand, a thought shed through David''s mind. He decided to see if he could use it to upgrade his base''s level and directly called upon the system in his mind. "System, how many defense-type crystals are needed to upgrade the ck iron base to a bronze base?" David inquired.


    [Ding! Answer, host!]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [To upgrade the ck Iron Base to Bronze Base level, it requires twenty Defense Crystals!]


    [To upgrade the Bronze Base to Silver level, it requires thirty Defense Crystals!]


    [The host can continue in a simr manner for subsequent upgrades.]


    Listening to the voice of the system, David nodded silently. After the hundredfold critical strike, he now had 100 Defense Crystals in his storage. This meant that he could only upgrade the base by three levels to the Gold level at most. However, David didn''t n to spend all the Defense Crystals because, strictly speaking, these crystals were of medium rarity. It means they could not only enhance the defense of buildings but also provide support to vehicles and even the human body.


    Without hesitation, David spent twenty Defense Crystals and upgraded the Iron Base to the Silver level.


    [DING! Congrattions to the host for upgrading the ck Iron Base to the Silver Fortress!]


    [Defense Crystals are rare, so only dozens are required for upgrades.]


    The voice of the system quickly resounded in David''s ears.


    At the same time, David looked up at the base in front of him. Suddenly, a silver light shed through the void, quickly enveloping the entire base. Under the coverage of this silver light, the Base emitted faint ripples of energy waves in the void, and its overall color continuously changed. From the initial dark color, it transformed into a more concealed and dark shade, resembling the night.


    Even standing right in front of it, David couldn''t sense the presence of the base at all. At the same time, he felt an invincible force emanating from within the base.


    "So, this is the Silver-level base? It''s amazing!" Sensing this prating power, David couldn''t help but marvel. With the existence of a Silver-level base, he believed that the defensive strength of their team''s shelter would greatly increase, ensuring the safety of the team members.


    Among their group, both David and Arnold possessed abilities that had some defensive capabilities. On the other hand, Duke, Sally, and Sophie were pure mages and rtively vulnerable. Thus, their own defensive capabilities were naturally weaker. With the protection of the Silver-level base, their defensive power would indirectly improve. Seeing the sessful upgrade to a Silver-level base, David decided to test its effect on the human body.


    He took out another crystal from the storage and began to absorb it. A white aura slowly emerged from the crystal and quickly prated David''s body through his skin. Immediately, David felt as if an extremely powerful force was surging within him. Gradually, this force permeated from his body to his skin, forming a thin energy shield on the surface.


    Although the energy shield was thin, David felt as if he was wearing a thick suit of armor. Even if he were to be hit by a bullet, it probably wouldn''t break through. Moving his body, David also discovered that the energy shield was as smooth as silk, not hindering his movements at all. Now, David was thoroughly delighted.

 Chapter 126 Steal A Car

    ?


    Now, David is not only a Spatial Ability user but also an Attack Ability user, and he possesses formidable defensive power. This greatly enhances hisbat strength.


    Feeling thefortable and warm sensation of the energy shield against his body, David slowly returned to the base. At this moment, the team members inside the base had already returned to their rooms to rest and recuperate.


    So David also went back to his room andy on the bed to restore his energy. After all, in this world, energy determines all the actions of an Ability user...


    When Monica returned to the base carrying a heavy machine gun and a box of firearms, Abraham and Danny couldn''t help but be taken aback. Whoa! those who didn''t know might mistake her for an armed robber.


    "The firearms are back?" Abraham asked as he sat on a chair.


    Monica dropped the box on the floor and ced the heavy machine gun on the table. "This box is the firearms we bought. It''s so heavy! It almost killed me!" Monica shrugged her shoulders and sighed.


    "Why did you also bring back a heavy machine gun? Did you buy it with crystals too? That must have cost a lot of crystals. Our team''s crystals aren''t abundant now, so let''s save them whenever possible. Although this thing is powerful, it''s also heart-wrenching to use crystals. So, how many crystals did you spend on this heavy machine gun?" Danny said with some heartache after circling around the heavy machine gun.


    A box of firearms requires 1,000 primary crystals, so Danny guessed that the more powerful heavy machine gun would require at least 10,000 crystals, which made him cringe.


    "Look at you being stingy. This heavy machine gun was given to us for free by David, without asking for crystals," Monica exined slowly after ring at Danny.


    "What? This heavy machine gun was given to us for free by David?" Danny eximed in surprise.


    Abraham beside him also showed a hint of astonishment. A fiercely powerful heavy machine gun given for free? This seemed too domineering. Hearing that the heavy machine gun was obtained for free, Danny''s previous feeling of heartache gradually disappeared. He then reached out to pick up the box of firearms.


    "Hmm?" Just as Danny reached out his right hand to grab the handle of the firearms box, he paused for a moment. When he tried to lift the box with a bit of force, he couldn''t lift it. This instantly left him bewildered in ce. He then exerted more strength, slowly lifting it up. This astonished Danny once again.


    Isn''t it just a box of firearms? Why is it so heavy? Curious, Danny opened the box of firearms. Immediately, he was stunned by the sight of various weapons inside the box. High-explosive grenades, Desert Eagle... one weapon after another appeared before Danny''s eyes. This made him turn his head and look at Monica in astonishment, asking, "Are these the firearms you bought with 1,000 crystals?" Monica nodded in confirmation.


    Now Danny couldn''t sit still anymore. He pped his thigh, his whole body filled with excitement. Initially, he thought spending 1,000 crystals to buy a box of firearms from David was a bit of a bad deal. But he didn''t expect the box to contain so many amazing things. Not to mention the high-explosive grenades, just a Desert Eagle alone was worth 500 primary crystals. When he did the math, they not only didn''t suffer any loss but also made quite a profit.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Abraham, standing beside him, was also shocked by David''s unique business acumen, but he also felt a sense of security. With these firearms by their side, their team''s defensive and offensive capabilities were greatly enhanced.


    However, Abraham still had a heavy-hearted expression on his face. Ever since the failed attempt to extract zombie energy from theb yesterday, he had been feeling a bit down. Because he had been contemting who could absorb the powerful energy inside the zombies. Obviously, it wasn''t him. Monica and Danny weren''t either. After pondering for a while with no clues, he shook his head and looked out the window...


    After resting on the bed for a few hours, everyone in the base came out of their rooms. Sophie and Sally went into the kitchen to prepare dinner, while the three men sat together ying cards, which was their only form of entertainment in their daily lives. Otherwise, being stuck in this world, they would eventually be bored to death.


    After a while, Sophie and Sally came out carrying several dishes. The three men quickly went over to take the tes and ced the food on the dining table. C and little ck, seeing this, also slowly approached. They picked some spare ribs and chicken wings and put them in C and little ck''s food bowls. Then they all started to enjoy the meal.


    It had to be said that Sophie and Sally''s cooking skills were really good. They devoured the sweet and sour spare ribs, even sucking the bones clean. They wished they could eat the entire bone like little ck. Watching the three of them wolf down their food, Sally couldn''t help but feel a long-lost warmth.


    After dinner, they continued to rest in their rooms, and David walked out of the base alone and arrived at the underground parking lot. Just as he approached his off-road vehicle, he suddenly noticed a dark figure sh by in his peripheral vision.


    "Who?" Without hesitation, David drew his alloy dagger and asked in a cold voice towards the darkness. As he heard David''s voice, the figure slowly materialized in the darkness. As he approached, David realized that this person was the same man he was looking for on the second floor earlier.


    "It''s you?" David asked with a puzzled expression. However, at the same time, he continued to hold the alloy dagger tightly, remaining extremely vignt, without rxing in the slightest.


    The man nodded, smiled at David, and said, "What''s the matter? Why did youe looking for mest time?" It was evident that this man knew why David was looking for him.


    "Just some minor matters. How did you know about this ce? What are you doing here?" David said coldly.


    Before determining the man''s intentions, David had to remain cautious. There were too many untrustworthy individuals in this world who could deliver a fatal blow at any moment. So, David had to be careful. Even though he knew some background information about this man, he couldn''t afford to take it lightly.


    Seeing David gripping the dagger tightly with a cautious expression, the man smiled helplessly. Then, he pointed to a nearby pickup truck and said, "I just wanted to steal a car. I didn''t expect you to find out."


    "Steal a car?" Following the man''s finger, David saw a small pickup truck. He then stared at the man for a while and realized that there was no intention to kill in his eyes,This reassured David.

 Chapter 127 Stargazer

    ?


    Upon seeing David rx his guard, the man named Charles gave a faint smile and introduced himself, "I''m Charles, and you must be David, right?"


    Hearing Charles suddenly mention his name, David was taken aback. As far as he could remember, he had never mentioned his name to this man before. They had only briefly met, so how could he know his name?


    David looked at him with confusion and asked, "How do you know my name?"


    Charles smiled again and replied, "There are some things in this world that cannot escape the eyes of us stargazers." After speaking, Charles looked up at the sky outside the parking lot exit. His eyes deepened, as if the stars in the sky were reflected in them.


    "Stargazer?" David paused upon hearing this name. In his previous life, he had heard of this name and knew that Charles was also a supernatural being.


    A stargazer was someone who could deduce things based on the changes in the stars. In other words, they used the stars for divination, making them a type of mage-like supernatural being. With this understanding, David realized why Charles would know his name.


    ncing at the pickup truck in the distance, David slowly spoke, "Don''t you have a team? Are you the only one living in this world?" He knew that most people who managed to survive in this world formed groups and rarely acted alone. Because acting alone would increase the risks significantly.


    Upon hearing David''s words, Charles silently nodded. "Stargazers have always walked their own path. If we talk aboutrades and friends, then only the stars in the sky are there."


    David thought about it and it made sense. After all, stargazers constantly relied on the changes of the stars to divine the unknown. Considering that, it was not an exaggeration to say that the stars were their only friends.


    Just then, David suddenly remembered the incident of the second red light a few days ago. The reason he went downstairs to find Charles at that time was to rify this matter. So he looked at Charles and said, "You can take the pickup truck, but you have to answer me a question."


    Saying that, David took out the key to the pickup truck from the warehouse and shook it in front of Charles. When they set out this morning, David had stored all the keys from the garage in his warehouse. He did this to prevent any survivors from finding their way here and stealing the vehicles.


    Seeing the key in David''s hand, Charles pondered for a moment and then nodded. "Go ahead, ask your question. As long as it''s something I know, I''ll answer."


    David didn''t hesitate and went straight to the point, "Do you know why the second red light suddenly appeared?"


    Upon hearing David''s question, Charles was taken aback. He looked at David, and it seemed like he recalled something unpleasant from the way David was looking at him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After a pause, Charles sighed helplessly and said, "I was also surprised by the sudden appearance of the second red light. So, I conducted a divination based on the positions of the stars overnight. I seem to have obtained some answers." David focused his attention and listened attentively.


    "Based on previous patterns, a first red light would bring forth some low-level zombies, asionally mixed with a few mid-level ones, but only in small numbers. However, after the second red light appeared, the number of low-level zombies in this world decreased significantly, reced by arge number of high-level zombies and some zombies with supernatural abilities. These high-level zombies feed on the low-level ones, devouring their energy to be stronger. Therefore, I believe that the appearance of the second red light signifies the arrival of even more terrifying zombies, possibly even the legendary Zombie King," Charles exined, with a slight furrow on his brow, as if he anticipated some gruesome scenes.


    "High-level zombies? That makes sense!" Upon hearing Charles'' words, David nodded inwardly, finally understanding why they encountered a Titan zombie earlier in the day. It was all because of the second red light''s appearance.


    "Could the Zombie King really appear?" David pondered and asked this question.


    "He will, without a doubt. It''s only a matter of time," Charles replied firmly.


    At the same time, Charles kept his gaze on David, continuously assessing him. After a moment, his face suddenly showed a shocked expression. "You''re actually a Level 7 supernatural being?"


    David openly nodded, surprising Charles even more. Since Charles had been focused on answering David''s questions earlier, he hadn''t paid much attention to David himself. Thus, he had always assumed that David was just an ordinary awakened supernatural being. But after conducting a divination, Charles discovered that David''s strength and inspiration far surpassed that of most individuals.


    "Yes, your power is formidable," Charles nodded and acknowledged.


    However, David wasn''t in the mood to listen to Charles'' praise at the moment. His greatest concern was the high-level zombies that appeared after the second red light. These zombies would pose a significant threat to the survivors. Remembering how he almost lost his life today in the attempt to kill the Titan zombie, a chill ran down his spine.


    "What about us survivors? Will there be any changes, like bing stronger?" David contemted and asked. In his view, there was a delicate bnce between the loss of ranks and the strength of supernatural beings in this world. When one side improved, it would cause the other side to rise as well. This was a secret he had learned from other supernatural beings in his previous life.


    Shaking his head helplessly, Charles replied, "No, if we want to be stronger, we can only rely on our own efforts. It''s impossible to achieve through the rules of this world. Besides, the appearance of the second red light was too mysterious. I haven''t fully divined its secrets yet." Charles sighed, feeling both resigned and puzzled.


    Charles was already a Level 4 stargazer, possessing formidable abilities that allowed him to divine anything he wanted to know. However, when he tried to divine the second red light, it was as if he had encountered a thick wall. No matter how he observed the changes in the stars, he couldn''t ess the secrets behind that wall.


    Seeing Charles'' worried expression, David didn''t inquire further. At the same time, an idea arose in his mind. The system had already assigned him the task of forming a team, and currently, their team only had five members, one short of a standard team. Therefore, he decided to immediately recruit Charles into their group.

 Chapter 128 New Members Added To The Team

    ?


    Looking at Charles, David pondered for a moment before saying, "Perhaps with the help of others, you can better utilize your abilities as a stargazer. After all, this is a world where strength is magnified through unity. Only by standing together can we unleash greater power."


    Finishing his words, David quietly observed Charles, hoping to catch a glimpse of any change in his expression. True enough, upon hearing David''s words, Charles paused for a moment, and aplex expression appeared on his face. He naturally understood the underlying meaning of David''s words. However, he was just a stargazer, someone who could foresee events and divine the darkness, but he had a fatal w¡ªhe had nobat abilities.


    After all, stargazers were supportive supernatural beings, or in other words, fragile. They couldn''t charge into battle like tanks. Even if they stood at the rear of the team, they could only rely on others for protection. Charles was well aware of this weakness.


    This was also why Charles had always been alone. He had considered joining certain squads before, but as soon as the other party learned that he was a stargazer, their faces immediately showed disdain and contempt.


    Clearly, no one wanted to have a burden in their team that would significantly diminish theirbat effectiveness or even lead to the team''s downfall. No one was willing to risk their lives for someone else. So, for all this time, Charles had been wandering alone.


    Now, upon hearing David''s words, Charles shook his head self-deprecatingly, sighed, and said, "I''m just a stargazer without any offensive power. No one needs me, and I''m used to being on my own, not relying on others."


    Listening to Charles, David spoke again, "In my opinion, your abilities can surpass those of any other supernatural being. This is an unknown world, and none of us know what kind of zombies will appear tomorrow. No one knows how this world will change. But you can, you can use your abilities to foresee what will happen in advance. Isn''t that yourbat strength? Combat strength isn''t necessarily about wielding a weapon; sometimes, wielding the unknown is the most terrifying power."


    As soon as David finished speaking, Charles suddenly lifted his head, looking at him with surprise. "Wielding the unknown... is the most terrifying power..." Charles murmured these words quietly. No one had ever said such things to him before, and no one had been willing to acknowledge his abilities. In the eyes of others, he was only a burden, a defenseless weakling, someone whose existence would only be aughingstock.


    But in David''s eyes, everything had changed. For the first time, he heard someone recognize him, and Charles felt a surge of excitement. His once lifeless gaze suddenly became bright.


    David saw all of this and seized the opportunity to continue, "If you''re willing, I hope you can join my team. I need you, and my team needs you."


    Finishing his words, he looked at Charles with sincere eyes. Charles lowered his head, and tears welled up in his eyes. He had waited for decades in this world just for this sentence, "I need you." And now, he finally heard it. He no longer had to wander alone in fear in this world, nor did he have to contemte the vast darkness on his own.


    With that, he raised his head, his eyes filled with excitement, and nodded at David. "Thank you. It''s an honor for me." After saying that, he reached out his hand towards David.


    David smiled slightly and reached out his hand, shaking hands with Charles. "Wee to my team. From now on, we''re family. We will face dangers together and solve difficulties together. In this process, each one of us is the support for the others."


    Charles nodded heavily. At this moment, his excitement couldn''t be described in words.


    "Oh, by the way, you can absorb these three crystalster. They can enhance your physical defense. Consider them as a gift for joining the team." Thinking that Charles was a  mage with nobat power, David quickly took out three defense crystals from the warehouse system and handed them over.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As Charles looked at the three shimmering crystals in his hand, he was amazed. Feeling the warm sensation emanating from the crystals, he immediately understood that their quality must be extraordinary. He looked at David in surprise. Giving such precious crystals as a gift right after they met? And they were even defense crystals? That was too generous.


    If Charles were to find out that there were dozens more of these crystals in David''s warehouse system, as well as millions of primary crystals, his worldview would likely be shattered. But Charles didn''t suspect a thing. He nodded while holding the three crystals and put them into his pocket.


    At the same time, David called out the other members of his team. Everyone was surprised to see this unknown man suddenly appear. David smiled and pointed at Charles, introducing him to the others. "Charles, the stargazer. He can foresee the future and now he''s a member of our team. Wee, everyone!"


    After speaking, David pped happily. Charles smiled and nodded at everyone.


    "stargazer,That''s a cool ability!" Arnold walked over curiously and introduced himself, "I''m Arnold, a werewolf awakened with special abilities."


    Others also introduced themselves one after another.


    "Duke, shadow ability awakened."


    "Sally, mutant lightning ability awakened."


    "Sophie, healing ability awakened."


    At the same time, they looked at Charles with friendly eyes. Although it was their first time meeting him, they understood that as long as David chose someone, there would be no problem. After all, they had alsoe together through David''s selection process. So they had absolute trust in David.


    "I hope everyone will take care of me in the future." Charles politely said, listening to everyone''s exnations. At the same time, he looked at David with curiosity in his eyes.


    David naturally understood his thoughts and spoke slowly, "David, spatial ability awakened." He paused for a moment and then added, "Level 7 Awakened."


    "David, when did you reach Level 7? That''s incredible!" Arnold eximed in surprise upon hearing that David was already a Level 7 Awakened. The others also looked at David, their faces filled with disbelief.

 Chapter 129 Embers Team

    ?


    Charles was even more shocked. He had thought that David''s power would be at most Level 5. He didn''t expect him to have already reached Level 7. In the current world, this level was considered that of a strong individual. Charles couldn''t help but nod secretly in acknowledgment of David''s strength.


    In response to the surprise and inquiries from the others, David just smiled faintly and didn''t exin too much. After all, the existence of the system was too mysterious.


    However, the others still shook their heads in disbelief, unable to fully believe that all of this was real. After all, the advancement of an Awakened''s level was extremely difficult. Besides requiring a sufficient number of crystals, one also needed to have enoughbat potential. Both were indispensable. So, some Awakened individuals remained at Level 1 for many years after awakening their abilities. Some even passed away without any progress in their level. From their perspective, upgrading seemed asmonce as eating for David.


    After a pause, Charles suddenly asked, "By the way, what''s our team''s name?"


    Upon hearing Charles'' question, everyone realized that they hadn''t given their team a name yet.


    "Let''s call ourselves ''Berserkers''! The Berserkers who sweep everything!" Arnold struck a pose of a charging werewolf as he suggested.


    "Oh, that name is somon!" Sophie nced at Arnold disdainfully and said, "How about something else?" This made Arnold a bit embarrassed as he scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly.


    David also forgot about this matter. Usually, when establishing their own team, they would have a resounding name. It would not only enhance the team''s aura but also instill fear in their enemies. He lowered his head and pondered for a moment before looking up at everyone and saying, "How about we call our team ''Embers''?"


    "Embers?" Hearing David suggest this name, everyone hesitated for a moment.


    "Yes! Let''s say we are the remnants of the embers in this world. Although our power is weak, one day we will be a zing me with this feeble strength!" David quickly exined the meaning behind the name.


    "Be a zing me... I like it! This name is better than ''Berserkers,'' right?" It''s profound and sounds good! I love it!" Everyone quickly epted the name for their team.


    Charles also contemted the name quietly, and a surge of emotions rose within him. Just ten minutes ago, he was just a speck of ember in this world. But now, this speck of ember had encountered a torch. It made his life feel more meaningful.


    After deciding on the team name, everyone led Charles into the base. Since the base was a three-bedroom house, David temporarily cleared the storage room, added a spare bed and some daily necessities, and used it as Charles'' temporary bedroom.


    "I apologize for making you adjust for now. I will find a better solution for you in a few days," David said somewhat apologetically, but Charles didn''t mind at all. For him, having a ce to sleep in this world was already enough.


    At this moment, Little ck and C seemed to sense the arrival of a new teammate and immediately ran out of the bedroom. They approached Charles, sniffed him to remember his scent, and then wagged their tails at him.Looking at these two little animals, Charles also felt a warm sensation in his heart..


    And so, David''s team went from the initial five members to six. This was a significant progress for David. After he left Charles'' room, the voice of the system rang in his ears.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for recruiting new members, reaching a team size of six!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for naming the team!]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host forpleting the initial team building goals!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for receiving a system reward - Escape Mist Fruit x1]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundred-fold critical hit and obtaining 100 Escape Mist Fruits.]


    "What is an Escape Mist Fruit?" Curious about the system''s announcement, David asked.


    The voice of the system exined again in his ears.


    [The host can throw this fruit to create a mist when in danger, obscuring the enemy''s vision and allowing for escape.]


    [The miststs for one minute.]


    [During this minute, the mist can block any enemy attacks from all directions.]


    [Note: The mist only obstructs the enemy''s vision and attacks, it has no effect on the host.]


    Listening to the system''s exnation, David silently nodded. The function of the Escape Mist Fruit was simr to that of a smoke bomb. However, what made it different was that it could block the enemy''s attacks, any attack to be exact. It meant that any abilities from other Awakened individuals would be ineffective against the mist.


    With this in mind, David felt that the Escape Mist Fruit was quite powerful. Not only could it help with escape, but it could also provide defense. If heunched an attack from within the mist against enemies, it would trulybine offense and defense.


    Satisfied with the thought, David nodded and ced one hundred Escape Mist Fruits in the storage room. He then went to the underground parking lot and looked at the rows of vehicles before him. Suddenly, a bold idea arose in his mind. He wanted to utilize the resources he had to turn these cars into invincible doomsday war machines.


    Through the battle with the Titan Zombie, he had realized the importance of mobility for their team. Without convenient transportation, their efficiency and timing in attacks would be severely affected. They might even be unable to escape in critical moments. Therefore, he decided to create a doomsday car fleet specifically for their team.


    David started searching in the parking lot. It didn''t take long for him to select six vehicles: three off-road vehicles, one pickup truck, and two Porsche sports cars. One of the off-road vehicles was the one he had previously made some initial modifications to.


    David nned to transform them into fully equipped vanguard assault vehicles. The remaining two vehicles were specifically chosen for Arnold and Duke. As for the pickup truck, it was the one Charles had initially wanted to "borrow."


    David intended to transform it into a resource rescue vehicle that could store supplies and provide rescue for stranded vehicles. The two Porsche sports cars were chosen for Sally and Sophie, as they were the fastest. If any danger urred, they would have the most timely means of escape.


    Three assault vehicles, one resource rescue vehicle, and two escape vehicles. David looked at these six cars with satisfaction and nodded. He then started taking out various tools and materials from the storage room to begin the modifications. David believed that with this car fleet, thebat effectiveness of their team would greatly improve.

 Chapter 130 Pink Apocalypse War Vehicle

    ?


    Inside the base, after tidying up the room, Charles took out the three defensive crystal formations that David had given him. Looking at these three sparkling diamond-shaped crystals, he had a thought and began to consume them. Three wisps of faint white smoke quickly evaporated from the crystals and permeated his body through the skin. As soon as the smoke entered his body, it rapidly spread throughout him.


    Wherever the white smoke went, Charles could clearly feel a warm current passing through. This warm current was like a gentle spring breeze, like a murmuring stream, bringing a sense offort wherever it went. This surprised him greatly. He never expected these three crystals to bring him such afortable feeling. In the past, he had consumed other crystals, mostly low-level ones, which didn''t give him any sensation or help with his abilities.


    But these three crystals clearly felt different. After the warm current flowed through his body, Charles could feel slight vibrations in his organs, gradually transmitting to the surface of his skin. Astonishingly, a faint protective barrier formed on his body. When he lightly tapped the protective barrier with his finger, Charles could hear a crisp sound. The sound seemed as strong as steel, making him feel invincible just by listening to it.


    Now, Charles couldn''t contain his excitement anymore. He stood up and carefully examined the protective barrier. The shimmering and colorful shield truly amazed him. Previously, he enjoyed wandering outside, but now he finally had a safe ce. This protective barrier undoubtedly increased his defense significantly. Even without offensive capabilities, such a powerful defense provided a sense of security. Feeling the strength of his body, Charles couldn''t help but show an excited smile.


    At the same time, Charles was also curious about David. What kind of person could possess crystals with such great power? However, he had no intention of using his abilities on David. Doing so would undoubtedly indicate ack of trust in him. Charles respected a team that could amodate him, so he didn''t n to harm David with these matters.


    Suddenly, Charles heard the sound of grindinging from outside the base. It seemed like someone was hammering something. This piqued his curiosity, and he pushed open the door and walked outside the base. Immediately, he saw six vehicles neatly arranged in the underground parking lot, including the pickup truck he had his eyes on. Beside the six vehicles were piles of supplies, such as alloy steel tes, short knives, long guns, iron chains, and more.


    David, holding a hammer, was continuously pounding on an alloy steel te. Charles walked over with confusion, approached David, and crouched down, asking, "What are you doing?"


    Seeing Charles, David smiled and revealed his n to build an apocalypse war vehicle.


    "Apocalypse war vehicle?" Charles slightly trembled at the name and showed an excited expression on his face. The reason he wanted to steal a pickup truck here was to build a versatile war vehicle that could protect him. This way, he could rely on the vehicle to travel outside. Unexpectedly, he had the same idea as David.


    Immediately, Charles rolled up his sleeves and began helping David. Due to limited materials, David''s modification n was rtively simple. They first attached alloy steel tes around the vehicle to increase its defense. Then, they welded long guns, short knives, and iron chains around the vehicle, significantly enhancing their offensive capabilities.


    At the same time, David also added approximately one-inch-long iron nails to the wheels of each vehicle, ensuring that they could destroy any obstacles while driving. With Charles'' help, the modification n progressed quickly. Two hourster, the six vehicles werepletely transformed by the two of them. They exchanged smiles as they looked at the renewed and imposing six war vehicles. With these vehicles, their future operations would encounter far fewer difficulties.


    After some thought, David said to Charles, "Can you use your abilities to predict any vulnerabilities in these vehicles?"


    Upon hearing David''s request, Charles nodded and closed his eyes. In that moment of closing his eyes, a dazzling halo instantly appeared behind him. The halo was densely engraved with peculiar patterns, and each pattern was surrounded by radiant stars. At this moment, Charles was floating in mid-air.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Then, the halo slowly began to rotate, and the stars surrounding the patterns started to scatter, enveloping Charles in an instant. Suddenly, David felt as if Charles was strolling through the gxy, able to see through any cosmic mysteries.


    After about a minute, the stars around Charles suddenly dimmed, and the halo behind him slowly disappeared into the void. Finally, the halo vanishedpletely, and Charles descended gently to the ground.


    "How is it? Could you predict it?" David asked eagerly.


    Charles nodded and immediately described the images he had just seen. Listening to Charles, David nodded thoughtfully. He then picked up his tools and reinforced some parts of the vehicles based on Charles'' description.


    Finally, when Charles nodded in approval, David stopped satisfactorily. Now, his apocalypse war vehicles had receivedprehensive reinforcement, covering all the vulnerabilities.


    "From now on, our team will be a car family. No more walking every day." Thinking back to their previous missions, where their team had to rely on their legs for transportation, David couldn''t help but smile. At this moment, other team members heard themotion and walked out of the base. When they saw the six colossal vehicles, they were instantly dumbfounded.


    "Oh my God, are these modified apocalypse war vehicles?"


    "So cool! With these vehicles, I can kill an average of 100 zombies per minute."


    "Amazing, we finally don''t have to walk anymore."


    The group of people gathered around the apocalypse war vehicles, filled with excitement, their hands unable to resist touching the vehicles, especially Sally and Sophie. When they saw the two Porsche sports cars that David had modified, their eyes lit up.


    To cater to their girlish desires, David even prepared two pink stickers andpletely wrapped the cars with them. From a distance, it was full of girly vibes.


    "David, you''re amazing! I love this car so much," Sally couldn''t help but exim as she looked at the pink war vehicle, her girlish heart overflowing.

 Chapter 131 Rat Clan

    ?


    Looking at Sally''s excited expression, David smiled and said, "These war vehicles were modified by Charles and me. They will be a great tool for us to hunt zombies in the future. With these vehicles, our Ember Squad will undoubtedly be the most powerful team in this world." After speaking, David scanned the crowd with a determined look.


    The others were moved by David''s words, and their gazes became resolute. Next, David asked everyone to take the vehicles for a test drive in the underground parking lot. At the same time, David retrieved various supplies from the warehouse and loaded them onto Charles'' pickup truck. After all, this truck was designated as a rescue vehicle, so it was necessary to have some rescue supplies on hand.


    Seeing David pulling out arge amount of supplies from seemingly nowhere, Charles was instantly dumbfounded. Each item was incredibly precious in this world. There were iron chains, steel tes, hydraulic presses, small diesel engines, and even a radar system. This made him even more curious about David''s identity. Were there still such wealthy people in this society? Looking at his own empty hands and the need to steal a car, Charles couldn''t help but bitterly smile.


    Meanwhile, on another street in the city, a young man with bleached blond hair kicked over a trash can by the roadside andined, "Damn it! This ce is so poor that not even dogse here! I''m really unlucky today! Dirk, we''ve been searching for so long and found nothing. Today''s outing is a big loss."


    Beside the blond man stood a skinny guy named Dirk, who also wore a resentful expression. "Exactly! If we go back empty-handed today, our boss will beat us to death! Damn it! We should have gone south to scavenge!" Dirk sighed helplessly.


    The two brothers had been out for a whole day but hadn''t found any supplies. They thought this area would be a hiding ce for survivors and nned to search thoroughly. However, to their surprise, they searched through half the city, and there was not even a pair of worn-out slippers in sight. If their boss found out, they would surely be beaten mercilessly. Just thinking about their boss''s fierce and ruthless appearance sent shivers down Dirk''s spine.


    Like David and his team, they were also survivors in this eerie world. However, they didn''t directly fight against zombies ore into contact with any strange creatures. Their way of acquiring supplies was simple and brutal¡ªlooting.


    They often sneaked into the homes of survivors and took all the supplies they had hoarded. Therefore, in this world, they had a name: the Rat n. The name urately described their survival situation¡ªthey had nobat power but were everywhere, and they enjoyed entering other people''s dwellings to steal their supplies.


    Dirk was a member of the Rat n in this world, but he was rtively lucky to have joined the main squad. His daily job was to help his boss loot supplies and receive rewards in return. Today, he was following his boss''s orders, taking his attendant out to work.


    However, to his surprise, they hadn''t found any hiding ces for survivors after searching for half a day. This made him suspicious. He had been to this area before, and although the situation was unfavorable, he could always find some useful supplies. But today, no matter how he searched, he couldn''t find any supplies.


    "Damn it! I''m really unlucky today!" Dirk spat and cursed. Just then, he suddenly heard the roaring sound of car enginesing from somewhere nearby.


    "Brad! Is that the sound of a car?" Dirk stood still, perking up his ears to listen carefully.


    Brad, his youngerpanion, also listened attentively for a while, then his face lit up with excitement. "Dirk, that''s definitely the sound of a car engine! No doubt about it!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Now, the two brothers werepletely thrilled. They knew that zombies would never drive cars; only humans, the survivors of this world, could do that.


    "Hahaha! It''s true that when you search too hard, you find nothing. But when you least expect it, ites effortlessly! I can''t believe I''ve encountered it here. We won''t go back empty-handed now," Dirk eximed. He drew a short knife from his waist and held it in his hand, then led Brad in the direction of the roaring car engine.


    "David, the thrill of speeding is so exhrating! It''s been a while since I''ve felt this kind of excitement!" Arnold sat in the off-road vehicle, stepping on the elerator madly. The modified off-road war vehicle, under his control, raced like a wild horse. David smiled faintly as he watched Arnold''s excellent driving skills.


    At that moment, Charles, who was by their side, suddenly furrowed his brow and nervously looked at the entrance of the underground parking lot. David also noticed Charles'' unease and quickly asked, "What''s wrong?"


    Charles continued to stare fixedly in the direction of the entrance, as if his eyes could prate through any obstacles and see what was happening outside. After a brief pause, he finally said, "Someone ising."


    Upon hearing that someone was approaching, everyone immediately grew tense. Arnold also quickly got out of the off-road vehicle and assumed a ready-for-battle posture.


    "How many people?" David asked with a serious expression.


    "Two men," Charles confirmed. His ability allowed him to predict any movement within a radius of ten miles, so their actions couldn''t escape his notice.


    "Two people? And both men?" David''s face showed a hint of confusion upon hearing Charles'' words. He initially thought it might be Monica, as only Monica knew about his new base, but when he heard that it was two men, he immediately dismissed that thought.


    "Can you predict their strength?" David pondered for a moment before asking again. Charles shook his head helplessly and replied, "As a Level 4 Stargazer, I can''t predict their true strength yet. But based on their aura, it doesn''t seem very strong."


    Upon hearing Charles'' response, David breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he looked up towards the entrance and unsheathed his alloy short knife, ready for action. In this world, he had to be fully alert and prepared, regardless of whether the enemy was strong or weak. Otherwise, it would be too costly to make a mistake. The others also positioned themselves forbat, their expressions cautious as they kept a close eye on their surroundings.

 Chapter 132 Making Threats

    ?


    "Dirk, do you feel like this ce is eerie? Could it be a trap?" Brad asked in a low voice while exploring the surroundings.


    "Don''t forget, we are the Rat n. Wherever it''s eerie, we should go. No risk, no reward. Fortune favors the bold. Just follow me!" Dirk patted Brad''s shoulder and confidently said, embodying the role of an older brother. With that, the two of them continued cautiously moving forward, crouching.


    Before long, they arrived at the entrance of David''s new base, which had been upgraded to a Silver Base. Its remarkable concealment made it invisible to ordinary people. Even if the two of them stood at the entrance, they couldn''t see that it was a base.


    Looking around at the emptiness, Brad scratched his head, looking confused. "Something''s not right, Dirk. I heard the sound of car enginesing from here, but there''s no one around. Could they have discovered us and left?"


    Hearing Brad''s words, Dirk also looked puzzled. Based on his experienced intuition, he was absolutely certain that someone had been here, even lived here. However, the empty environment in front of him left himpletely perplexed.


    "It can''t be. We heard the sound with our own ears. Could we both have misheard?" Dirk began to mutter.


    Just then, Brad suddenly noticed several cool-looking war vehicles parked not far away. His eyes lit up, and he jogged over to David''s off-road vehicle. "Holy shit! These cars are so cool! Are these even cars? They''re like post-apocalyptic war machines!"


    Brad couldn''t resist touching and admiring the off-road vehicle that David had personally modified, his face filled with envy. Dirk also approached, his eyes shining as he looked at the nearby Ferrari.


    "Hahaha! I never expected to find a Ferrari in this dump! Looks like we''re going to strike it rich today! We''ll each take one car and present it to the boss. Then the big boss will surely reward us with the position of deputy squad leader!" Upon hearing Dirk''s words, Brad nodded eagerly like a chick pecking at grains. He then opened the car door and prepared to sit inside to fully experience the war vehicle.


    "So damn cool!in my whole life, I don''t care about women, I only love cars. Today, we must enjoy ourselves." Saying that, Brad pulled open the car door, ready to sit inside and savor the moment. However, as soon as he opened the door, he froze. He noticed a gleaming dagger suddenly appear at his waist, pressing against him as if a slight force would pierce through his entire body. Instantly, fear washed over him, leaving him motionless and a look of panic on his face.


    "Dirk, I... I..." Brad quickly pleaded for help from Dirk.


    Dirk, who was circling around the Ferrari, couldn''t help but burst intoughter upon hearing Brad''s voice. "Look at you, all worked up over an off-road vehicle? What''s there to be excited about? And now you can''t even speak properly? As long as you stick with the big boss and wait until the day I be the captain of our squad, the big boss will give you luxury cars every day!"


    But Brad, at this moment, had no interest in listening to Dirk''s empty promises. He slowly raised his head and suddenly saw David sitting in the driver''s seat, with Arnold and Charles standing in the back row. Seeing three figures, whether human or ghost, suddenly appearing before him, and realizing that they seemed well-prepared, Brad couldn''t bear it any longer. With a loud cry, he turned to run<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    However, David was faster. He extended his foot and kicked Brad''s back forcefully. Instantly, Brad was sent flying several meters away like a kite with a broken string andnded on the ground.


    "Dirk! Dirk! There''s a ghost! There''s a ghost!" Brad crawled on the ground while his eyes were filled with fear, staring in the direction of the off-road vehicle.


    At this moment, Dirk also sensed that something was wrong. He quickly walked over to Brad''s side and helped him up. "What''s going on? Where did a ghoste from in broad daylight? Stop talking nonsense, or I''ll beat you up!"


    Dirk tried to appear calm and spoke to Brad, but his eyes kept scanning the surroundings, fearing that something might suddenly appear. Just then, he heard the sound of footsteps echoing in the underground parking lot. The sound seemed like someone''s footsteps, and it sent a slight shiver down his spine. Dirk tightly gripped the dagger in his hand and held it in front of him protectively.


    Meanwhile, David emerged from the darkness and approached Dirk. Behind him stood Charles, Duke, and other members of the team.


    "Are you guys humans or ghosts?" Dirk, feeling somewhat panicked, asked as he stood up.


    David smiled faintly and nced at him, saying, "To survive in this world, everyone is a ghost." Then his voice suddenly turned extremely cold as he questioned them, "Who are you? What do you want?"


    Seeing these people suddenly appearing and being able to speak normally, unlike the mechanical zombies, Dirk instantly realized that they were living humans. He rxed and the sense of horror he felt earlier disappeared instantly. In his view, as long as they were humans, there was nothing to fear.


    So Dirk dusted off himself lightly and looked at David disdainfully, saying, "Who am I? It might scare you if I tell you. We are the Rat n, the terrifying group that everyone fears in this world. How about that? Are you scared? If you''re scared, hand over all your belongings and these cars to me."


    After saying that, Dirk even gestured a decapitation motion towards David. It seemed like as long as David didn''t agree, he could kill them on the spot. Hearing Dirk''s words, Davidughed. In that brief moment, he had sensed the aura from Dirk and realized that he was just an ordinary person, not an awakened ability user. Since he was just an ordinary person, he was in apletely different league from them, the ability users. So why should he be afraid? David looked at Dirk with a yful expression and said, "The Rat n? A group that specializes in stealing, right?"


    David was familiar with this organization. However, they had always been despised by all survivors because of their reputation for doing anything and everything to get what they wanted. So David''s gaze towards Dirk was full of disdain. How could a lowly ant dare to talk tough in front of him? Did he really think that he, a Level 7 ability user, could be ignored?

 Chapter 133 You Want To Compare Weapons With Me

    ?


    Although Dirk, as a member of the Rat n, didn''t possess any awakened abilities, he still acted arrogantly in front of David and his group. He didn''t even consider David and the others as a threat. The reason he was so confident was that he came prepared. Since they frequently went out to loot supplies, they sometimes encountered battles. As a result, their leader had given them some life-saving equipment, including a small revolver holstered at Dirk''s waist.


    Dirk knew that the revolver would be useless against zombies. However, if they encountered humans, even if they were advanced ability users, they would obediently  in front of him. So, at this moment, he slowly retrieved the revolver from his waist and yed with it in his hand.


    Dirk spun the revolver, producing a crisp sound as he chambered a round. Then, he nced at David and pointed to the revolver in his hand, implying that he was armed and unafraid.


    Seeing Dirk draw the revolver, Brad also realized the situation. He straightened his posture and looked at them with a proud expression. "You scared me earlier, but my big brother has a revolver. Do you? I advise you to be sensible and hand over all your valuable possessions. Otherwise, when I, Dirk, get angry, I''ll blow your heads off one by one, just for fun."


    Sally, feeling Brad''s lecherous gaze upon her, wrinkled her brow in disgust. She then looked at Brad with cold eyes.


    Seeing Dirk''s worn-out revolver, David couldn''t help but sneer. "I never realized it, but it turns out that every Rat n member now carries a weapon."


    Upon hearing David''s words, Dirk became even prouder. He raised his hand and waved the revolver, once again saying, "Kid, don''t underestimate us Rat n members just because we have a humble status. We don''tck any weapons. Take this revolver, for example. Do you have one? Be a good boy and hand over your valuable items. Maybe, if I''m feeling generous, I''ll let you touch it."


    Everyone couldn''t help but burst intoughter. Ignorance might not be terrifying, but stupidity certainly was. They never expected a Rat n member to unt a worn-out revolver in front of David.


    They all looked at Dirk with sympathy, their faces showing a pitying expression.


    "Tsk tsk, indeed a member of the Rat n, short-sighted and ignorant!" Arnold shook his head mockingly.


    Upon hearing this, Dirk instantly became unwilling. Short-sighted and ignorant? He was a trusted subordinate of the leader, how could he tolerate such an insult? He immediately red at Arnold, filled with anger, and said menacingly, "Kid! Watch your mouth and show some respect. If you provoke me, believe me, I''ll blow your head off first!"


    As a Level 2 ability user, Arnold wasn''t impressed by Dirk''s words. His expression of disdain became even more pronounced.


    "Hey! Are you deaf or something? Didn''t you hear what my big brother said? Show me that stinky face again, and I''ll beat the crap out of you right now!" Saying that, Brad swiftly charged towards Arnold, swinging his fist to strike his face.


    This time, not only Arnold, but everyone burst intoughter. It was pure foolishness for an ordinary person to boast about their fists in front of an awakened werewolf. It was like asking for trouble. Immediately, everyone eagerly watched the scene unfold.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Arnold alsoughed disdainfully. Just as Brad''s fist was about to touch his face, he suddenly shed and disappeared from the spot. Brad''s punch immediately hit empty air.


    "Are you scared, kid? If you have the guts, don''t hide. Let me teach you a lesson!" Brad thought that his fierce punch had scared Arnold, so he stood in ce, looking smug.


    At that moment, Arnold appeared behind Brad, reached out and patted his shoulder, and smiled, saying, "See this punch? Are you scared?"


    With that, Arnold clenched his right fist and swung it fiercely towards Brad''s abdomen. A muffled sound followed, and Brad, who hadn''t reacted in time, felt as if his abdomen had been struck by a lotive. His internal organs seemed to shatter, causing intense pain. He immediately curled up on the ground in agony, rolling around. His previous arrogance vanished in an instant.


    "Ouch! It hurts! It hurts! He''s killing me! He''s killing me!" Hearing Brad''s cries of pain, Dirk''s face instantly revealed a hint of killing intent.


    "Do you think you can get away with this? How dare youy a hand on my little brother? I''m going to kill you right now!" Dirk eximed, raising his revolver and aiming it at Arnold. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.


    "Bang!" The sound of a bullet being fired instantly rang out. Arnold, seeing the situation, sneered once again and disappeared from the spot. His physical body couldn''t withstand bullets, but as an awakened werewolf, his speed was unparalleled.


    Seeing that the shot fired missed the target, Dirk grew even angrier. He had traveled far and wide, bullying countless survivors, and every time, his revolver had managed to scare them off. Even when facing some ability users, as long as he showed his revolver, they would obediently speak a few kind words. After all, in this world, firearms still held a dominant position.


    "You fucking don''t take me seriously?" Dirk held his gun and continuously searched for Arnold''s figure.


    Watching this scene, David let out a faint smile. He knew Arnold was teasing Dirk, otherwise, with his strength, he could have pped him to the ground long ago. Considering the security of the base, David didn''t intend to engage with these two individuals for a long time. It could attract the attention of other zombies or untrustworthy individuals, and he wasn''t fond of dealing with trouble.


    So he shouted to Dirk, who was bing increasingly furious, "Hey, you want topare weapons with me, right? Have you seen this?" As he spoke, David secretly retrieved a heavy machine gun and an AK from the warehouse system.


    Now, Dirk stood there in a state of confusion. He looked at the heavy machine gun and AK in David''s hands, then nced at his own revolver. He was dumbfounded. I only have a revolver, and you just pulled out a heavy machine gun and an AK. You''re not ying fair!

 Chapter 134 You Are The Devil!

    ?


    Looking at the heavy machine gun and AK in front of them, Dirk and Brad fell silent. After swallowing their saliva and clearing their throats, Dirk slowly tucked his paint-chipped revolver back into his waistband and smiled, saying, "boss, it''s a misunderstanding, all just a misunderstanding! Don''t take it to heart."


    Saying that, Dirk once again showed a apologetic smile to David. People who can survive in this world have sharp minds. Although Dirk is the lowest-ranking rodent in this world, years of plundering have allowed him to quickly assess the pros and cons of a situation. How can his small revolverpare to a heavy machine gun and an AK? It would be foolish to pretend otherwise and invite trouble upon oneself. A real man knows when to yield and when to stand tall.


    Dirk immediately lowered his head, perfectly illustrating this principle. On the other hand, Brad nced at David, and his expression did not show fear upon seeing the weapons. Instead, he became even more restless, gazing at the modified war vehicles parked not far away.


    In Brad''s eyes at this moment, neither the heavy machine gun nor the AK caught his attention. The only thing that interested him was these magnificent and imposing post-apocalyptic war vehicles! When he drives these vehicles on the road, not only the rodent n, but anyone who sees them will be envious. It''s the perfect tool to show off!


    As Brad''s excitement grew in his heart, hepletely disregarded David''s words. He even thought that this young man was just a verbose guy who kept preventing him from driving his beloved post-apocalyptic war vehicle.


    Watching Dirk''s submissive expression, David smiled faintly and said, "Misunderstanding? In my eyes, there is no such thing as a misunderstanding. Since you guys have shown yourselves, shouldn''t you bear the consequences of your actions? After all, this ce is not where you cane and go as you please."


    As he spoke, David raised the heavy machine gun in his hand and coldly surveyed the two men. This made Dirk shiver with fear. Based on his years of experience, he believed that the killer in front of him was probablypletely set on killing today. On top of barging in without any courtesy, it was bound to leave a bad taste in his mouth. Vaguely, he felt a chill rising in his heart as he looked into David''s eyes.


    After briefly contemting, Dirk was about to try using his silver tongue to persuade David, the killer. But before he could open his mouth, Brad couldn''t help but speak up. He looked at David disdainfully and said, "Why are you so long-winded? It''s just that the two of us brothers said some unpleasant things. Are you going to be so petty about it? If it weren''t for my boss Gary not being here today, would you even have a say? I advise you not to scare us brothers with that thing in your hand and simply give us a car. We''ll call it even today!"


    After speaking, Brad nced at the weapon in David''s hand with a nonchnt expression. However, this statement instantly shocked Dirk, freezing him in ce. Wow! He wanted to kneel down and beg David for forgiveness, but this guy was trying to make David even angrier? Was Brad an idiot or what? At that moment, Dirk felt that his teammate was truly a fool! He looked at David, at a loss for what to do.


    After Brad spoke those words, a slight smile appeared at the corner of David''s mouth. He turned his gaze towards Brad, revealing a yful look. How dare they tantly stand in his way and attempt to rob him? David acknowledged that he had never encountered such a courageous warrior before. But since he hade across one today, he would make sure to show him the consequences of his actions.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    With his eyes fixed on Brad and his thoughts drifting towards the menacing doomsday vehicles nearby, David decisively pulled the trigger of his heavy machine gun. Rat-tat-tat! The heavy machine gun roared to life, with blue mes flickering and shells ttering on the ground. The sound of the gunfire intertwined with the noise of the bullets being fired, creating a suffocating sense of despair.


    Explosive gunfire echoed through the underground parking lot as bullets rained down on Brad. After a minute, David released his finger from the trigger and looked at the lifeless, bloodied corpse lying on the ground.  heavy machine gun had sent Brad straight to another world.


    David shook his head gently and turned to Dirk, who was trembling uncontrobly, his legs shaking like straw. Dirk never expected that David would kill Brad right in front of him. Instantly, an extreme sense of fear engulfed him. He stared at David with wide, terrified eyes, his face drenched in cold sweat. Meanwhile, David still held the heavy machine gun, its white smoke not yet dissipated. He looked at Dirk and gave a faint smile.


    "Oh my God! Devil!" It was David''s smile that drove Dirk insane. It also stirred his strong survival instinct. Without hesitation, Dirk swiftly pulled out three smoke grenades from his waist and threw them on the ground. Thick smoke instantly filled the parking lot. Taking advantage of the dense fog, Dirk didn''t think twice and crawled and rolled away from that hellish ce. Arnold rushed out to chase after him, but David stopped him.


    "No need to pursue him," David suddenly said to Arnold. "He''s just a lowly ant, incapable of causing much trouble."


    Arnold nodded and retreated. After escaping from the underground parking lot, Dirk kept running without stopping. He asionally nced back, fearing that the killer David might suddenly chase after him. After running through five streets, he finally stopped in an abandoned residential building, gasping for fresh air. Wiping the cold sweat off his face, Dirk''s trembling continued. However, along with the fear, an intense anger surged within him. He couldn''t believe that this young man, David, could be so ruthless. How could he just kill a living person without any qualms? Was that even fair? If this news reached their Rat n, how could Dirk maintain his position?


    "This guy is just in rude" Dirkined. At the same time, he remembered his fully equipped appearance just moments ago and came up with an idea. If he let his leader, Gary, know that this young man was a walking arsenal, wouldn''t he be overjoyed?


    Their leader, Gary, was someone who valued all kinds of resources as life itself. That''s why he sent them out every day to search for supplies. Dirk spected that if Gary learned about this, he would personally take action. They could not only seize all the supplies from that guy, but also avenge Brad!


    The prospect of aplishing two goals at once excited Dirk. "Kid, you''ve messed with me. Are you qualified for it? Let''s have a showdown and see who''s tougher!" After saying this, Dirk''s eyes shed with cunning, and he immediately ran towards the Rat n''s base.


    asionally missing content, please report errors in time.

 Chapter 135 Gary

    ?


    After Dirk escaped using the smoke bomb, David slowly put away his heavy machine gun and AK. While he understood the principle of not revealing wealth, he also knew that certain individuals needed to be dealt with decisively to deter thempletely. He had changed since before, bing ruthless and cold-blooded, his signature traits.


    Furthermore, relying on their rat n''s power, it was delusional for anyone to think they could fight against Ember Squad. So, after Arnold hung Brad''s body outside the parking lot, David continued with the final modifications on the remaining vehicles.


    In a suburban underground basement, a damp and cold air filled the room. The walls were covered in moss, and the dim overhead light flickered dangerously. At the far end of the basement, a chair adorned with a skull pattern was ced in the center.


    At this moment, a man with a delicate and sinister appearance sat on the skull chair. It seemed as though he had never seen sunlight, with his pale skin appearing even more ghastly against the ck robe he wore. He lifted his eyelids, gazing at Dirk who stood respectfully below him.


    "boss, Brad was killed today, and I almost didn''t make it back to see you! You have no idea how audacious those people were. Not only did they kill Brad, but they also tried to attack me. If I hadn''t run fast enough, I would''ve been finished there. I still can''t help but shudder when I think about it!" Dirkmented, prostrating himself on the ground with a mournful face.


    At the same time, Dirk recalled David''s appearance with the heavy machine gun, causing his body to tremble involuntarily once again. Listening to Dirk''s words, Gary slowly raised his head and looked at him. Suddenly, a gleam of interest appeared in his narrow eyes.


    "Oh? Who are they?" Gary yed with his long fingers and spoke softly.


    "boss, judging by their appearance, they should also be awakened ability users. And those guys are incredibly wealthy. Not only do they have dozens of modified apocalypse vehicles, but they also possess heavy machine guns and AKs. If it weren''t for my fear of that heavy machine gun, I would have brought back a few vehicles for you," Dirk exined.


    "Is that so?" Hearing Dirk''s words, Gary''s face instantly radiated excitement, and his eyes revealed a greedy gleam. He had survived in this world for several decades, building his fortune through plundering others'' resources. In his eyes, all the resources in this world should belong to him. When he heard Dirk mention the presence of vehicles, heavy machine guns, and AKs, his excitement surged.


    "bossr, I wouldn''t dare to deceive you! I genuinely witnessed them with those weapons. I must say, they were fantastic. Just grabbing one of those would enable us to dominate this city. Who would dare to provoke us then? The fools who offended us will pay the price," Dirk said, his eyes sneaking nces at Gary''s changing expression.


    When Dirk saw a hint of excitement on Gary''s face, he became even more thrilled. Because he knew that his words had deeply captivated Gary. If he wasn''t mistaken, Gary would personally lead them to seize the group''s resources. With Gary present, why would they fear those individuals? They would surely return the humiliation they had suffered earlier. Thinking of this, a subtle smile of satisfaction appeared at the corner of Dirk''s mouth.


    "Do you remember their location?" Gary couldn''t wait to get his hands on those resources and hastily asked.


    "Remember, remember! It''s in an underground parking garage. I made two trips back and forth there, so I definitely know the way," Dirk quickly replied.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Upon hearing Dirk''s words, Gary slowly stood up. Excitement caused a patch of greenish-brown snake scales to suddenly appear on his arm. The scales trembled up and down, making a rustling sound. This characteristic was a manifestation of his excitement.


    "Great! Take me there now. I want to see which fool dares to bully my subordinate. It''s time for our Rat n to leave a legendary mark on this city."


    Gary''s scales trembled even more intensely, and the sound became increasingly piercing. At the same time, a charming woman and several burly men emerged slowly from the darkness, following him. Seeing this, Dirk quickly stood up and led them towards David''s underground parking garage.


    "Kid, once my boss takes action, your days are numbered!" Dirk led the way, speaking maliciously. This made him unconsciously quicken his pace...


    After over an hour of effort, David finally finished the reconfiguration of the severalbat vehicles. The redesigned vehicles not only had significantly increased attack power but also much stronger defensepared to before. Looking at his masterpiece, David proudly pped his hands. With these big guys, their team would no longer have to exert as much effort when going out on missions or hunting zombies.


    At this moment, Charles also emerged from the base. Looking at thebat vehicles that had been strengthened by David''s reconfiguration, Charles couldn''t help but feel admiration for him. He never expected that this person before him couldpletely reconfigure five or six vehicles within a few hours, and each one turned into a formidable behemoth. As a result, he increasingly felt puzzled about David, but at the same time, his respect for him grew. After all, he was already a member of the Embers squad, and David was their leader. If David hadn''t reached out to him, he would probably still be wandering alone outside.


    "How do you like my skills?" David smiled and asked Charles.


    "Not just good, it''s almost on par with some professional mechanics," Charles praised, to which David responded with a faint smile.


    Next, David put away all the repair tools and neatly parked the severalbat vehicles at the entrance of the base. This way, if there were any emergencies, they could quickly get into the vehicles and take action. With everything arranged, David and Charles prepared to return to the base.


    However, at this moment, Charles frowned once again and sighed with a bitter smile. "This guy is really persistent. Why is he here again?"


    Hearing Charles'' words, David instantly understood. He then looked somewhat helpless as he nced at the entrance of the parking garage.


    "No, he has brought someone else, and the aura emanating from that person is very powerful," Charles paused and nervously added.

 Chapter 136 My Boss Is Extremely Formidable

    ?


    "Mm? Two more people?" Hearing Charles'' words, David immediately understood that the person from earlier must have found some help and returned to attack again. And based on Charles'' description, it seemed to be an awakened superpower wielder.


    This made David shake his head in disbelief. He never expected this Rat n member to be so persistent, hovering around them like a fly.


    "Don''t worry, our team isposed entirely of esper individuals. What is there to fear?" David patted Charles'' shoulder reassuringly.


    When the Embers squad joined forces, they could even take down a Titan zombie, let alone awakened esper individuals. For an awakened individual to surpass the power of a Titan zombie, their level of awakening must be above Level 7. However, in this world after so many years, besides himself being Level 7, David had never encountered anyone above Level 7. He knew that this world was incredibly stringent when it came to the advancement of superpowers. It not only required great opportunities but also arge supply of crystals. Without either of these, a sessful advancement was impossible.


    Therefore, David didn''t pay much attention to these individuals. He stood in the middle of the underground parking garage, waiting for their arrival. Charles silently stood beside David, observing the scene.


    Suddenly, a piercing friction sound resounded in the underground parking garage. David furrowed his brows, staring intently in the direction ahead, his face disying a hint of confusion. At the same time, two figures shed at the entrance of the underground parking garage.


    "What a nice ce this is! Cold and deep, perfect for our Rat n to dwell." Suddenly, an extremely sinister voice emerged from the darkness, followed by a man dressed in a ck robe slowly walking out. Behind him were a young woman and seven to eight burly men, with Dirk among them.


    "That''s the guy!" Dirk quickly stepped forward and pointed at David, saying to Gary, "boss, that''s him!" Anger filled his voice, as if he couldn''t wait to rush forward and teach David a lesson.


    Following Dirk''s finger, Gary slowly raised his head to look at David. In his narrow eyes, a chilling light shed, giving people goosebumps.


    Feeling Gary''s icy gaze, David felt goosebumps rise on his body as he imagined a snake crawling on his skin. Both from Gary''s gaze and the aura emanating from him, David felt like he was facing a cold-blooded snake lurking in the darkness.


    "Could his awakened ability be rted to snakes?" A doubt arose in David''s mind. However, at the same time, he lifted his head without hesitation and met Gary''s gaze.


    Upon seeing this, the scales on Gary''s body rubbed against each other more intensely. The sound echoed in the enclosed underground parking garage. Upon hearing the sound, Arnold, Duke, Sally, and Sophie immediately walked out from the base. When they saw the sudden appearance of a man exuding a chilling aura, they became cautious.


    They also noticed the seriousness on David''s face and quickly understood the situation, walking to his side. David and Arnold stood in the front, while Charles, Duke, Sally, and Sophie stood behind them.


    The positioning of the team inbat was previously requested by David. This way, the mages in the team could be tightly protected, helping them create distance for their attacks and ensuring their personal safety. Everyone looked at the sinister man in front of them with caution, assuming a ready-for-battle posture.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As Gary saw the sudden addition of several people, a faint smile appeared on his face. He was already a Level 6 esper and had rarely encountered opponents stronger than him in regr battles. Although he knew that the people in front of him were also awakened espers, he didn''t pay much attention to them.


    At this moment, Gary lifted his hand slightly, and from the wide sleeves of his robe, a small snake with peculiar patterns emerged. The snake wrapped around his arm and slowly crawled up, finally coiling on his shoulder, its crimson tongue flickering as it stared at the group.


    Seeing this snake, David confirmed his spection that this person had indeed awakened a snake-based ability. Moreover, he could also raise snakes, indicating that his level couldn''t be too low. David focused his gaze on him, carefully sensing the level emanating from him.


    "A Level 6 esper?" Soon, David sensed his level.


    At the same time, Gary slowly spoke, "Did you kill my subordinates? As the saying goes, you should ask for my permission first. I''m here today to settle this matter. So, tell me, what do you want to do? I advise you to be sensible, or else it won''t show any mercy when it gets angry."


    As he spoke, Gary nced at the snake coiled on his shoulder and revealed a faint smile. The snake seemed to possess a spiritual connection, emanating a strong aura.


    David naturally understood the implied meaning of his words. He smiled faintly and said, "What''s this? Your son got beaten up and came crying to daddy? I spared your dog''s life earlier, but it seems you can''t understand humannguage." With that, David turned his head to look at Dirk beside him, his eyes full of amusement.


    With his boss by his side, Dirk no longer appeared as timid as before. Proudly raising his head, he fearlessly looked at David and said, "Do you really think you''re so great? With my boss here, you''re nothing but rubbish! While my boss isn''t angry yet, hand over all the supplies on you obediently. Otherwise, you''ll regret it when my boss gets mad!"


    Dirk had a smug expression on his face, looking at David. Then, as if he remembered something, he quickly added, "Let me tell you, my boss is fierce! Hand over the heavy machine gun and AK you had earlier, or else! " As he spoke, Dirk''s eyes kept ncing at the modified war vehicles, revealing the same envy as Brad before.


    Hearing Dirk''s arrogant words, Davidughed again. Today, he truly witnessed what it meant to be apdog, boldly confronting him with a Level 6 big brother. Did he really think a Level 7 esper like himself was nothing?


    Arnold behind him couldn''t contain his anger at these words. Without further ado, he transformed into his werewolf form.


    Gary, upon seeing this, once again emanated a sinister gaze from his narrowed eyes, followed by a cold smile at the corner of his mouth.

 Chapter 137 Shut Him Up

    ?


    As a Level 6 esper, Gary could naturally discern Arnold''s level.    When he saw that the other party was only a Level 2, his eyes were filled with disdain.    He knew that as a Level 6 esper, he could easily defeat a Level 2 esper.


    So Gary looked at Arnold contemptuously and said, "A puny ant like you isn''t worth my time."    With that, he waved his hand, and a woman dressed in a ck robe emerged from behind him.    The woman had an extremely slender figure, and her narrow eyes were just like Gary''s.    However, the light in her eyes was not only cold but also carried a hint of charm.    The woman walked slowly towards Gary with a respectful expression on her face.


    "Rosa, I leave this guy to you.    Don''t disappoint me," Gary said, and the snake on his shoulder immediately emitted a piercing sound when it stared at Arnold.


    "Don''t worry, master.    I will offer his flesh to the snake spirit," Rosa said in a deep voice, then lifted her head to look at Arnold across from her.


    At this moment, Arnold hadpletely revealed his werewolf form, with muscr and powerful limbs like a dragon and wolf ws that resembled steel des.    There was even a wild wolf''s aura emanating from his body.


    However, Rosa, like Gary, didn''t pay any attention to him.    She extended her pale and slender finger, casually brushing her hair aside, and walked step by step towards Arnold.


    David was also captivated by this woman named Rosa.    Judging from the aura emanating from her, David deduced that she was a Level 4 awakened esper.    The aura she emitted was just as cold and ferocious as Gary''s, like a venomous snake in the wilderness preparing to capture its prey.


    This made David immediately understand.    Rosa should be Gary''s disciple, and both of them awakened snake-type abilities.    He immediately became worried about Arnold.    Although Arnold''s strength and speed were top-notch, the level suppression doomed him to be unable to defeat Rosa.    Seeing her casual demeanor, David''s eyebrows furrowed.


    Meanwhile, Rosa continued to approach Arnold, her fingers twirling her hair.    Observing Arnold''s arrogant appearance, he roared and charged at her.    David was about to intervene, but he realized that Arnold had already rushed in front of Rosa.


    As Arnold lunged towards her, Rosa''s lips curled into a cold smile.    She raised her right hand, and herrge sleeve fluttered, emitting a faint ck aura.    This aura was particrly eerie, as if it had a spiritual connection, directly rushing towards Arnold.


    "Oh no!    It''s toxic gas!"    David became instantly nervous when he saw the ck aura.


    However, Arnold seemed topletely disregard the toxic gas and still intended to rely on his speed and strength to confront Rosa head-on.    He continued to advance, and the toxic gas surrounded his entire being.


    In an instant, Arnold felt the toxic gas entering his body through his seven orifices.    Once inside, the gas began to rampage wildly, flowing through his meridians.    With each passage, an unbearable stinging sensation coursed through him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    This surprised Arnold, and his speed began to slow down.    However, the toxic gas in his body showed no mercy.    Soon, his body started to numb, and finally, his legs gave way, and he copsed to the ground.


    The entire process took less than three minutes, and Arnold was defeated by Rosa.    This instantly shocked the members of the Embers Squad!    They never expected Arnold to be defeated so quickly by a woman.    Moreover, Arnold didn''t even have a chance to approach her before she knocked him down with a single move.


    Although Arnold is only a Level 2, his strength and speed are excellent.   Even some Level 3 awakened individuals cannot gain any advantage against him.   That''s why he rushed towards Rosa without hesitation earlier.


    At the same time, Charles quickly rushed over to rescue Arnold, and then Sophie directly activated Ster healing.   Instantly, a shimmering power of stars emerged from the void and enveloped Arnold entirely.   Seeing Arnold already affected by the poison, Rosa smiled faintly, and her contemptuous expression on her face grew stronger.


    "Hahaha!   Well done, my proudest disciple!"   Gary apuded from behind, and the little snake on his shoulder let out a piercing hiss.   Meanwhile, his triangr eyes looked at Arnold, revealing a hint of eager greed.


    Seeing Arnold being knocked down so quickly, Dirk''s face instantly showed excitement.   He proudly looked at David and said, "Kid, do you understand the power of our Rat n now?   While our boss is still calm, hand over everything to me quickly!   Otherwise, your fate will be the same as his!"


    With that, Dirk once again reached for the worn-out revolver at his waist.   Then he raised his head leisurely and said to David again, "You think you''re so tough?   Scaring me with a heavy machine gun?   Try scaring me again.   If I get serious, not only you but everyone here will obediently die!"


    As he spoke, Dirk straightened his back and kept ying with the revolver in his hand, as if he could shoot a bullet at David at any moment.   David, who was pondering about the opponent''s true strength, found Dirk''s voice rather noisy.   His brows furrowed tightly as he said to Duke, "Make him shut up!"


    Duke understood David''s intention, and since Arnold was defeated and unconscious, he was particrly angry.   The lights in the underground parking lot happened to hang above Dirk''s head, casting his shadow on the ground.   Without hesitation, Duke reached out his hand towards Dirk and his eyes showed a thick murderous intent.   "Shut your mouth!"


    As Duke spoke, and palm clenched tightly!   Dirk, who stood in ce, felt as if his body was being squeezed between two oing trains.   Invisibly, a powerful pressure suddenly appeared, making it impossible for him to breathe.   Then his body was forcefullypressed by this invisible pressure, and a mouthful of blood instantly sprayed from his mouth.   Soon, he copsed on the ground like a puddle of mud.


    Witnessing this, the several men behind Gary were instantly stunned, wearing a bewildered expression, not knowing what had just happened.   But suddenly remembering that David told them to shut up earlier, they quickly covered their mouths with their hands, afraid that they might end up lying here next.

 Chapter 138 Instant Death

    ?


    At this moment, Dirky on the ground, his face twisted in extreme pain.  He didn''t expect that his boss was here and would dare to attack him.  He quickly looked towards Gary with a pleading expression.  However, Gary only nced at him after Duke''s remote attack, and then ignored himpletely.  Instead, he looked at Duke with a hint of curiosity.


    "I didn''t expect you to be a Shadow Maniptor, very suitable to be my vessel.  But your level is too low, it''s somewhat regrettable," Gary sighed and shook his head when he realized that Duke was only Level 1.


    Hearing Gary''s words, Duke''s face turned pale.  He didn''t expect this guy to boast and im to use him as his vessel.  He coldly said, "Watch your tone!"


    "Hahaha!  You have quite a temper, I like it," Gary said with a smile, then signaled Rosa again.


    As an awakened snake-type esper, Gary needed to shed his skin once a year.  Unlike ordinary snakes, his process of shedding was unique and required finding a human vessel to contain his soul.  The selection of his vessel was extremely strict, requiring an awakened esper with abilities like a mage.  This way, they could quickly merge with his soul and fully unleash his power.


    Seeing Duke''s performance just now, it deeply impressed Gary.  So he looked at Duke again andughed softly, "I didn''t expect you to be such a spirited guy, I like it even more."


    While Gary was speaking, Rosa also walked towards him again, gently flipping her hair with slender fingers and revealing a seductive expression in her eyes.  Since Duke was standing behind David, she walked to David''s side first, looking up at this somewhat handsome young man.


    Rosa''s smile became even more seductive, and her mouth extended a long tongue as she licked her lips, whispering to David, "Your scent is so captivating, I''ll y with youter.  I don''t mind taking you back, and then you''ll be my ve."


    After saying these two sentences, Rosa nced at David again, her eyes bing even more enticing.  David remained calm in the face of her words.


    Just as she brushed past him, David suddenly spoke, "Do you know what death tastes like?"  With that, a hint of killing intent appeared at the corner of his mouth, and a spatial de instantly manifested in his hand.


    Upon hearing David''s words, Rosa suddenly froze.  Then, she felt a strong murderous intent spreading behind her.  She immediately realized that danger was approaching and quickly tried to turn around and dodge.  But how could a Level 4 esper like her escape from a Level 7 esper''s attack?


    In addition, David''s esper abilities were in spatial maniption andbat.  Whenbined, both his speed and fighting powerpletely overwhelmed Rosa.  Seeing a glint of coldness in David''s eyes, the spatial de in his hand instantly pierced through Rosa''s chest.


    The spatial de pierced through Rosa''s body, emitting a dull sound.  Instantly, extreme pain appeared on Rosa''s seductive face.  She tried to struggle, but David didn''t give her a chance.  He gathered his strength and threw a powerful punch, hitting her abdomen mercilessly!


    David exerted the full force of several thousand pounds, directly pouring it onto Rosa.     Suddenly, her body floated in the air like a broken kite, blood gushing from the wound pierced by the spatial de, while the blood floated in the air.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Boom!"     A heavynding sound instantly exploded in the underground parking lot!     Afternding, Rosa felt as if every bone in her body shattered, and she instantly felt excruciating pain.     She quickly turned her head to look at Gary, uttering unclear words.


    "Master..." she barely said before Rosa''s head tilted and she ceased to breathe.


    David flicked off the bloodstains from the spatial de and looked at her lifeless body, saying indifferently, "Don''t think that just because you''re a woman, I won''t kill you."     His voice was icy, as if it came from the depths of an ancient ice cave, filling the entire underground parking lot with a chilling atmosphere.


    Gary watched his most talented disciple instantly killed by the young man before him, without even a chance to fight back.     His face initially showed a horrified expression, but the next moment, absolute anger surfaced on his face.     It caused the scales all over his body to rub against each other violently.     The little snake on his shoulder instantly raised its triangr head, its bloody red tongue fixed on David as it emitted a sound.


    "You killed my most beloved disciple, I promise this will be the thing you regret the most," Gary stared at David intensely.


    At the same time, Gary began to assess David''s strength.     However, since David''s power was one level higher, Gary naturally couldn''t perceive it.     In addition to his extreme anger, his mind was instantly clouded.


    "Attack!     The one who kills him will be the Deputy Squad Leader of the Rat n," Gary said to a dozen burly men behind him.


    Upon hearing this, these men instantly became excited.     Although they weren''t esper, each of them appeared as sturdy  , and they all carried various weapons.   One look tells you they''re not to be messed with.


    In the blink of an eye, these men charged towards David.     Meanwhile, Sally promptly filled in Arnold''s absence and rushed over.     Little ck and C also leaped out of the base and charged directly into the crowd.


    David held an alloy short knife in one hand and the spatial de in the other, constantly maneuvering through the crowd.     Every time he raised his hand, a spray of blood blossomed.     Little ck was particrly fierce, fully disying its hellhound strength.     It pounced on the head of one of the men and ruthlessly bit into his neck.     Instantly, the underground parking lot echoed with continuous cries of pain.


    In just a few minutes, the previously arrogant dozen men all fell to the ground.     Some were in by David with a single strike of the alloy short knife, while others had their necks forcefully bitten off by Little ck.


    Sally and C stood together, and three or four bodiesy at their feet as well.     The parking lot instantly filled with a strong smell of blood.


    Gary, looking at his subordinates being eliminated so quickly by these few people, clenched his fist tightly.     The ck robe on his body swelled as the aura emanating from him expanded.     The little snake on his shoulder even jumped directly to the ground, assuming a posture ready to attack David at any moment.

 Chapter 139 Battle Of The Dragon And The Tiger

    ?


    "Damn it!      Do you all really treat me,  as a rat?      Today, I''ll make sure you know what terror means!"      With so many of Gary subordinates taken out by David,  couldn''t bear it any longer.      Without hesitation, his entire body instantly floated in mid-air and charged towards David.      The little snake also wriggled its body and crawled menacingly towards him.


    Seeing this, David quickly spoke to the embers team, "You''re no match for him, step back and leave the rest to me."      Upon hearing David''s words, everyone nodded and took a step back.      Although they wanted to help, they knew that rushing in at this moment would be tantamount to sending themselves to their deaths.      It wouldn''t assist David, and it might even burden him.      Meanwhile, Arnold, after Sophie''s Ster healing, slowly expelled the toxins from his body, and his consciousness began to recover.


    In the midst of the conversation, Gary reached David''s front.      He suddenly extended a pair of hands with sharp nails, making a gesture as if he was going to dig into David''s chest, seemingly determined to forcefully extract David''s heart as revenge for Rosa.


    Seeing this scene, David immediately opened a portal in space and vanished on the spot.      Startled by the sudden disappearance of his prey, Gary paused for a moment, freezing in mid-air.      The little snake beneath his feet straightened its body and continuously spat out its bloody red tongue, searching all around.


    "Kid, I''ve found you!"      Relying on the powerful sense of smell of snakes, Gary quickly locked onto a direction in the void and spoke coldly.


    At the same time, Gary extended his palm and lunged forward.      This caught David off guard, as he suddenly remembered how sensitive the sense of smell of snakes could be.      As soon as he appeared from the void, they would instantly detect his position.


    Therefore, David quickly opened another portal in space and disappeared into the void once again.    Then, he charged out from the void behind Gary, still holding the alloy short knife in one hand and carrying the spatial de in the other, thrusting towards the back of Gary''s heart.


    David had to rely on the mobility and speed of the spatial portals to deliver the quickest strike to Gary.      Otherwise, as soon as he appeared, Gary would immediately lock onto him.      That would be quite troublesome for him.      At the same time, Gary once again caught sight of David''s position and quickly turned around, raising his arm.      Utilizing the snake scales on his arm, he forcefully blocked David''s attack.


    The spatial de struck Gary''s snake scales, causing a burst of sparks to sh.      This surprised David slightly.      He hadn''t expected this guy''s scales to be so tough, capable of withstanding his spatial de''s attack.


    Gary, who took the blow, was suddenly shaken!      Immediately, a surge of blood rushed up to his throat.      However, to conceal any weakness, he forcibly swallowed it down.


    "Is this young man really this strong?"    Gary perceived David''s strength as the reason behind his attack, without realizing it was a matter of hierarchy.    As they fought, the snake beneath Gary''s feet suddenly leaped high, opening itsrge bloody mouth, and lunged towards David''s cheek.


    "Watch out!"    Sally immediately shouted nervously.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Suddenly!    In the corner of Sally  eye, she caught a glimpse of a blur.    She quickly turned her head to examine and discovered that C had pounced towards the snake.


    "Meow!"    C let out a roar and in the blink of an eye, shot towards David''s feet like an arrow.    Then, it leaped high again, biting towards the snake.    Because the snake''s attention waspletely focused on David, it didn''t notice C''s sudden attack.    It was instantly knocked down by C.    Only at that moment did it react and began wriggling its body, engaging in a battle with C.


    A fierce battle ensued on one side of the underground parking lot, without the threat of the snake.    David could finally fight with full force.    He retracted the spatial de, took a step back, opened another portal in space, and disappeared on the spot.


    After swallowing the blood that surged up, Gary paused briefly.    Then, he pulled out a short sword made of snake bones from his sleeve.    The segments of white snake bones were distinct and the shape was chilling to look at.    This snake bone sword was his personal weapon that he only used in times of danger.    He never expected it woulde to this today.


    Next, David continued to swiftly shift his position using the spatial portals,unching an attack on Gary each time.    However, with the snake bone sword in hand, Gary managed to barely cope.    But due to the suppression of hierarchy and David''s agility, it was extremely challenging for him.


    On the other side, C battled the snake, disying formidable momentum.    The extraordinary level boosted C''s power, and each strike was fast, urate, and ruthless, mercilesslynding on the snake.


    Little ck also rushed over trying to assist C, but it was scared off by C''s fierce re.    Finally, after a turn, C seized an opportunity during the snake''s crawl and revealed its sharp ws, forcefully striking its body.    Instantly, C''s sharp ws cut several bloody gashes on the snake''s body, and blood began gushing out from the wounds.


    The snake seemed to sense the pain, and its tongue flickered more frequently, emitting increasingly piercing hissing sounds.    C pursued the advantage, striking again without mercy.    This made the snake instantly fearful and it hastily prepared to escape by wriggling its body.    However, as soon as it turned around, it saw a menacing figure standing in front of it, ring at it with a face full of killing intent.


    It was Little ck.    "Woof, woof, woof!"    Little ck barked furiously at it while extending its ws, swatting it back towards C.    Cunched another attack, causing the snake''s eyes to increasingly panic.    No matter where it ran, it would be caught by the chasing Little ck.


    Then, the snake returned to C''s side once again.   For a moment, it seemed to be caught in a stalemate.   The situation was equally worrisome for Gary.   After enduring David''s continuous rapid strikes, cracks had started to appear on the snake bone sword in his hand, and wounds were gradually umting on his body.   Ultimately, in abined attack of David''s spatial de and alloy short knife, Gary''s snake bone sword instantly snapped into two pieces and fell to the ground.   He watched his snake bone sword, crafted from thousand-year-old snake bones, be useless.


    Gary finally experienced the terror of the young man before him.

 Chapter 140 Abyssal Venomous Sting

    ?


    "Who are you?"         Gary eximed in fear, stepping back with the broken snake bone sword in his hand.         In this fight, he instantly realized the terrifying nature of the young man before him.         Not only did he surpass him in speed and strength, but his techniques were also incredibly cunning and brutal.         This made him doubt the identity and rank of the young man.


    Listening to Gary''s words, David smiled lightly, then lowered his head to wipe the alloy short knife.         "I''m David, just like you, a survivor of this world," David said coldly, revealing his name.


    Gary pondered over this unfamiliar name, swearing that he had never heard of him.         Since the apocalypse, he had led his team, the Rat n, and practically knew the names of every powerful esper in the city.         However, he had never heard of the name David.


    In reality, it wasn''t Gary''s fault.         David usually acted extremely low-key, and very few people knew about him.         Just then, a piercing hissing sound rang out.         Gary quickly turned his head in the direction of the sound.


    Between their conversation, C had used her Cat''s Eighteen Fists technique, knocking out the little snake directly.         Now, C was pressing its head with her palm, grinning at it.


    This sudden scene made Gary''s heart skip a beat.         Looking at his subordinates lying on the ground and his broken snake bone sword in hand, he couldn''t hold back anymore.         As one of the survivors in this world, he had survived for a hundred years relying on his own strength.         But seeing everything he had worked so hard to umte being destroyed by David, a me of anger ignited within him.


    "David, huh?         I''ll make you realize that being a survivor in this apocalypse was a wrong decision.         Next, I will show you the true power of the Snake Spirit!"         Gary dered, a sinister expression appearing on his face, along with an imperceptible smirk.


    Seeing this, David frowned slightly.         In that instant, he sensed a tremendous aura emanating from Gary.         This aura didn''t seem toe from a human but from some kind of creature in the natural world.         So, he shifted his gaze towards the little snake being restrained by C.


    Sure enough!         Under the impact of Gary''s aura, the little snake fiercely writhed its body, suddenly swelling to more than ten times its size and gaining even more power than before.


    "Hiss~" The little snake let out a vicious hiss, raising its triangr head forcefully.         It instantly broke free from K''s restraint.


    "Meow!"         C let out a cry and quickly took a step back, cautiously staring at it.


    "Hiss~" Immediately after, the body of the small snake swelled as if inted, instantly transforming into arge snake.         It went straight towards Gary after breaking free from C''s grip.         Gary, seeing this, immediately bit his finger, drawing blood.         In an instant, as the blood fell in the air, therge snake opened its mouth wide and precisely swallowed it into its belly.


    "Awaken, Snake Spirit!        Deal with this enemy and show everyone the terrifying power you possess!        Hahaha!"        Gary stood in ce, raising his hands high andughing maniacally.


    After consuming the blood, the patterns on therge snake''s body became even more pronounced.        Suddenly, a dagger-like bone spike grew from its triangr head.        The spike looked exceptionally sharp, capable of piercing through any object.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Hiss~" After this transformation, therge snake no longer appeared as pitiful as when it was subdued by C.        Its aura was now surging with overwhelming intensity.        It stared fixedly at David, its crimson snake tongue continuously tasting the air for various scents.


    Seeing this, David knew that trouble was brewing.        From Gary''s strange gestures earlier, he could tell that he was performing some kind of mysterious ritual.        This ritual allowed him to summon a creature with abilities simr to his own, in other words, a spirit familiar.        By harnessing the spirit familiar, he could gain assistance in battle, and the summoned spirit familiar would be much stronger than ordinary beasts.


    David stared at therge snake, the alloy short knife and spatial de appearing in his hands once again.        At the same time, he instructed the people behind him:"This is that guy''s spirit beast, formidable in strength.        Be cautious!"


    Upon witnessing David''s caution, everyone immediately understood the urgency of the situation and nodded in agreement.


    Then, David gestured to C and Little ck, instructing them to protect Sophie.        Little ck and C seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation and obediently ran to stand in front of Sophie.        Now, only therge snake and David remained on the battlefield.


    Therge snake continued to stare at David, emitting ear-piercing sounds, its voice filled with boundless anger and insatiable greed.


    "Hiss~" Suddenly, therge snake fiercely hissed at David twice, then dragged its enormous body and charged towards him.        At the same time, its bone spike shed with a cold gleam, surrounded by a faint dark aura, the toxin secreted by its body.


    "Hahaha!        Dare to act arrogantly in front of me?        Let''s see if you can withstand the Abyssal Venomous Sting of the Snake Spirit!"        Garyughed maniacally.


    "Abyssal Venomous Sting?"        David immediately understood that this must be the ability of the Snake Spirit, so he looked at the dense toxic gas surrounding the spike.        Then he swung both knives and charged forward.        Soon, David and therge snake engaged in a rapid battle.


    The spatial de in David''s hand shed diagonally, directly tearing through the void, creating ripples of spatial fluctuations.        The snake spirit''s body was agile, evading David''s attack in an instant, while simultaneously changing angles and thrusting its venomous spike towards David from another direction.


    Seeing this, David inwardly shouted, "This isn''t good!" and immediately retracted the spatial de, using the alloy short knife in his right hand to block.        At the same time, he quickly retrieved a sh grenade from his storage and threw it at the Snake Spirit while swinging the alloy short knife.


    Suddenly, a bright white light exploded in the underground parking lot!        The Snake Spirit lowered its head to avoid the sh.        Taking advantage of this, David forcefully swung the alloy short knife and managed to strike the venomous spike based on his intuition.


    "ng!"        The sound of metal collision rang out!        David felt a tingling sensation in his hand, and the alloy short knife almost slipped from his grasp.        This surprised him greatly.

 Chapter 141 Blood Sacrifice

    ?


    David never expected that the venomous spike of the Snake Spirit would be so resilient, able to withstand his alloy short knife.  In that moment when the Snake Spirit lowered its head, David quickly retracted the alloy short knife and stomped forcefully on the ground.  Utilizing the recoil, he leaped into the air andnded on top of a car, while the light from the sh grenade slowly dissipated.


    Standing up, David stared intently at the Snake Spirit.  After his strike with the alloy short knife, he noticed a gaping wound on its venomous spike, from which more poisonous gas was slowly seeping out.  However, the Snake Spirit seemed to have been shaken by David''s attack, now shaking its head to regain rity.


    "Give up, for you are powerless against the mighty Snake Spirit!  If you submit to me now, I will let the Snake Spirit bless your body and make you my glorious subordinate," Gary, who was watching the battle, saw this scene and sneered, speaking to David.


    "Hmph!  Be your subordinate?  In your dreams!"  David disdainfully replied to Gary.


    At the same time, David looked at the Snake Spirit again, contemting how to deal with it.  He initially intended for Duke to use shadow techniques to control the Snake Spirit while he delivered a fatal blow.  However, the creature seemed to have recognized Duke''s ability earlier, refusing to step into the light where its shadow would be exposed.


    "What a cunning creature!"  David rubbed his sore hand and said.


    During their previous encounter, David understood that he couldn''t engage the Snake Spirit in closebat if he wanted to defeat it.  He needed to maintain distance and attack from afar.


    After all, he didn''t know the potency of the Snake Spirit''s venom.  If he recklessly approached, he might end up being struck by its venomous spike, which would only lead to more trouble.


    Now that he had a battle n in mind, David mustered up his confidence.  With a wave of his hand, a spatial portal quickly opened before him.  Then, with a leap, he jumped into the portal and disappeared.


    The Snake Spirit had already regained its senses and had been continuously watching David, its crimson snake tongue flicking in the air.  The moment David disappeared, it became cautious, continuously testing the air with its tongue, attempting to locate its vanished opponent.


    "No need to search, I''m right here!"  Suddenly, David manifested from above, holding the spatial de in his right hand, and viciously swung it towards the Snake Spirit''s vital spot.  However, due to the Snake Spirit''s keen sense of smell, it already knew his position the instant David appeared.  So as David swung his de down, the creature twisted its body intensely, narrowly evading his strike.


    "Boom!"  The spatial de struck the ground with a tremendous roar.  But David wasn''t finished yet.  He had already anticipated that the Snake Spirit would quickly pinpoint his location.  So, the moment hended, he swiftly raised the alloy short knife once again.


    "sh!"  The alloy short knife sliced through the air, producing bursts of sonic booms as it mercilessly cleaved towards the Snake Spirit.  Another crisp metallic sound resounded as David''s strike directly hit the creature''s body.  Upon contact, sparks erupted between the alloy short knife and its skin.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Hiss~ Hiss~" The Snake Spirit seemed to feel pain from David''s attack and began coiling its body while letting out hissing sounds.  Witnessing the effectiveness of his strike, David felt overjoyed.  He once again opened a spatial portal, disappearing from his original position.  Then, taking advantage of the Snake Spirit''s reaction, he suddenly appeared behind it and viciously swung the alloy short knife once more.


    "Hiss~ Hiss~" The strike once again hit the serpent spirit''s body, and a miserable sound instantly escaped its mouth.   Seeing his serpent spirit continuously attacked by David, Gary, standing aside, had an incredibly dark expression on his face, mixed with anger.


    At this moment, blood began to seep from the corners of Gary''s mouth.   As a hybrid of human and serpent, he shared a physiological and mental resonance with the serpent spirit.   Whenever the serpent spirit was harmed, he would feel the pain as well.   Therefore, David''s two strikes indirectly struck him.


    "Damn it!   How dare you insult the great serpent spirit like this!"   Gary gritted his teeth and spoke through clenched jaws.   Suddenly, a colder aura emanated from him.   He extended his index finger into his mouth and bit down hard, causing ck blood to flow from his fingertip.


    The serpent spirit seemed to sense the scent of the ck blood and immediately became excited.   It swiftly swam towards Gary''s side and opened its mouth wide towards his finger.   Gary''s hand was instantly bitten by the serpent spirit, and the ck blood flowed into its body.


    "Since that''s the case, don''t me me for using the blood sacrifice."   Gary looked at David with an icy gaze, a smug expression appearing on his face.   Observing Gary''s peculiar action, David furrowed his brow.


    "Blood sacrifice?"   David recalled this somewhat familiar name and suddenly remembered what this ability was about.


    In his previous life, David had seen some espers who used their own blood to summon a stronger version of their spirit beasts.   Because it required sacrificing oneself, this ability was called blood sacrifice.   In other words, it involved feeding one''s spirit beast with their own flesh and blood to awaken its hidden potential and enhance itsbat power.


    David never expected that this ancient and legendary method was still being used by someone.   He stared intently at the serpent spirit, tightly gripping his dual des.   At this moment, after consuming Gary''s blood sacrifice, the serpent spirit instantly doubled in size.   The abyssal spines on its head also grew thicker, and the venomous aura emanating from the spines became even more intense.   The color of the venom changed from ck to purple, a sign of intensified toxicity.


    Soon, the serpent spirit slowly released Gary''s fingers from its mouth.   It then turned its head again, facing David''s direction, with a chilling gleam in its triangr eyes.


    "Hiss!!!   Hiss!!!"   The serpent spirit spat out its serpent-like tongue, and its hissing sound was even more imposing than before.   This made the other members of the team tense up.   They could also sense that the serpent spirit''sbat power had increased significantly.   Beside them, C, upon feeling this aura, even activated its transcendental state.   Its fur bristled, and it stared intently at the serpent spirit, growling softly.


    The air in the underground parking lot suddenly became tense.   Gary nced triumphantly at the serpent spirit beneath his feet, then cast a nce at David.   He knew that the ughter had just begun.

 Chapter 142 Fire Attack

    ?


    Soon, the serpent spirit, having consumed the blood sacrifice, charged towards David once again.  Its speed was even faster than before, moving at twice the previous speed.  Its massive scales rubbed against the ground, stirring up clouds of dust.


    David immediately became fully alert, cautiously watching its movements.  Just as it was about to reach him, David opened another spatial portal and disappeared from his original position.


    This time, instead of appearing in a different direction, David reappeared ten meters away from the serpent spirit.  He knew that engaging in close-quartersbat with the beast was not a viable option.


    Although David was a Level 7 esper, capable of overpowering a Level 6 esper like Gary, the serpent spirit was, after all, a wild beast.  Its level was slightly higher than Gary''s.


    Instead of rushing into an attack, David chose to maintain a distance and observe the serpent spirit''s every move.  Upon seeing David appear in another location, the serpent spirit hissed and once again dragged its massive body towards him.


    Compared to before, the serpent spirit''s speed was noticeably faster this time.  In the blink of an eye, it reached David''s vicinity.  Before David could open a spatial portal, the serpent spirit suddenly opened its mouth wide, revealing its sharp teeth, and lunged at him.


    "Uh-oh!"  David muttered under his breath and quickly rolled on the ground, taking cover behind a car, narrowly evading the serpent spirit''s attack.  Unfortunately, the car in front of him suffered the consequences as the serpent spirit bit arge hole through its roof.


    Charles, Sally, and Sophie instantly became tense.  They had never expected the serpent spirit''s power to be so terrifying.  Arnold, who was regaining consciousness, opened his eyes and anxiously stared at David, who was leaping around on the car.  Although they wanted to help, they knew that their abilities were no match for the serpent spirit.  They could potentially be a liability to David.  They had been instructed to remain in their positions and provide assistance when needed.  Everyone watched David''s battle with serious expressions, their hearts pounding.


    Seeing David dodge the attack, the serpent spirit twisted its body andunched another assault towards him.  David continuously dodged, utilizing the parked cars as cover, while also contemting his countermeasures.  He noticed that although the serpent spirit was fast and powerful, its elongated body hindered the effectiveness of its attacks.


    The serpent spirit''s main offensive power resided in its head, while its rear body, apart from its thick scales, was practically ineffective.


    David formted a n.  "Strike at the serpent''s weak point," and in this case, the weak point was the serpent''s rear body.  If he continued to engage with the front half of its body, he wouldn''t gain any advantage.  Only by attacking the serpent''s rear half could he find a breakthrough.


    As David sprinted forward, he suddenly halted, then somersaulted in mid-air.  Utilizing the spatial portal, he disappeared from the serpent spirit''s line of sight.  Simultaneously, he reappeared behind the serpent spirit.  Raising his space de high, he fiercely swung it towards the vulnerable spot on the serpent''s scales.


    "ng!"  The sound of metal shing resounded as the space de struck the serpent spirit''s body, but it didn''t inflict any damage.  The serpent spirit tilted its head and coldly stared at David.


    David, who had anticipated this oue, remained calm and immediately fetched a can of gasoline from the warehouse.    Opening the gasoline can, he quickly poured all of its contents onto the seven inches of the snake spirit.    Instantly, the underground parking lot was filled with a strong gasoline smell.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Next, David retrieved a shbang grenade from the warehouse and shouted loudly to Duke, "Shadow Magic !"


    While speaking, David had already thrown the shbang grenade high into the air, and at the same time, he swiftly moved to the side.


    Just as hended, the shbang grenade in the air suddenly emitted a bright light.    The shadows of nearby objects were instantly cast on the ground, including the shadow of the snake spirit.


    Duke, who had been waiting on the side, immediately raised his hands and fiercely grabbed the shadow of the snake spirit.


    "Hiss!    Hiss!"    In an instant, the snake spirit was firmly immobilized by Duke''s Shadow Control Magic.    Duke exerted all his strength in this grab, even needing Sally''s assistance.


    Meanwhile, David took out a windproof lighter and, as it ignited, he coldly stared at the snake spirit, quietly saying, "In the presence of humans, a beast will forever remain a beast.    Goodbye."


    After speaking, David threw the lighter, still ame, at the snake spirit.    Hiss~~ As the lighter touched the gasoline-soaked body of the snake spirit, arge me erupted.    The fire quickly spread and soon engulfed the entire snake spirit.


    "Hiss!!"    The snake spirit seemed to be in excruciating pain from the burning mes.    It struggled to break free but was forcefully held in ce by Duke''s Shadow Control Art, leveraging the strength of everyone present.    The fire grewrger, and the scales on its body began to crackle.    David could almost smell the scent of charred flesh in the air.


    "Damn it!    This is so infuriating!    How could it end up like this?"    Gary, seeing this scene, was instantly filled with anger.    He hurriedly tried to move and rescue the snake spirit.    However, before he could take a step, Little ck and C rushed forward, preventing him from moving any further.


    But Gary''s body was already extremely weak;    how could he withstand the attacks of two animal spirits?    Soon, he was pinned down by a pounce from Little ck.


    Charles, seeing this, quickly approached and drew a short knife from his waist, pressing it firmly against Gary''s neck.    The fire continued to burn on the snake spirit''s body.    After a moment, the mes finally subsided, and the snake spirit, which had been struggling desperately, became motionless.


    Duke let go of his hands and started to breathe heavily.    He had exerted almost all of his strength to suppress the snake spirit.    Consequently, he was now in a weakened state.    Sophie immediately activated Ster Healing to assist Duke.


    Looking at the dark corpse of the snake spirit, a cold smile finally appeared on David''s lips.    He then walked over to Gary''s side.

 Chapter 143 Even Theft Has Its Principles

    ?


    Looking at Gary''s weakened body, David noticed that the scales on his body had turned dark.        He spected that it was the result of the snake spirit''s reciprocation.        A faint smile appeared on David''s lips.        The snake scales were Gary''s only defense, and now that he had lost that advantage, he was as helpless as a fish on a cutting board.


    David nced at him and said, "Not every survivor is as pitiful as you imagine.        If you''re from the Rat n, then you should stay in the dark and damp sewers where you belong.        Crossing paths with our Embers Squad, you can only me yourself."        David never showed mercy towards those who overestimated themselves.


    Hearing David''s words, a hint of malice appeared in Gary''s triangr eyes.        "Why should the Rat n forever live underground?        We are all survivors in this world and have the right to enjoy the sunlight outside.        No one is supreme.        In this world, as long as you''re alive, you must enjoy everything you deserve."


    David couldn''t help but sneer at his words.        Did being alive give you the right to enjoy everything?        He silently shook his head.        Remembering the humble fate from his previous life, David believed that if you wanted to obtain and enjoy everything, you had to rely on strength.        This was a world of survival of the fittest, where the weak would eventually be defeated by the strong.        It wasn''t a matter of ming fate but rather one''s own fortune.


    After being reborn, David''s first priority was to continuously strengthen his own power.        He killed zombies relentlessly to obtain crystals.        He searched for resources tirelessly to ensure his survival.        He formed the Embers Squad to provide warmth and support for survivors in this world.        Everything he did was to prove to this world that he was powerful and deserving of it all.


    But what about the person in front of him, who relied on theft and robbery?        Using his cunning schemes to snatch the resources upon which other survivors relied.        Although he was also surviving, a long-standing saying from David''s previous life resonated in his mind: That is, even in theft, there is a principle.        Without the "principle," it would be a disgraceful act of greed endangering lives.        The same principle applied,Even in this absurd world, there was still a principle, and that was strength.        Only with strength could one reign supreme!


    So David looked at Gary and said coldly, "You think this world is too simple.        If you could live another life, I believe you wouldn''t utter these words.        This world belongs to the strong, a world where might makes right.        Ants like you are destined to be ughtered."


    Hearing David''s icy and ruthless words, even Charles and the others couldn''t help but break into a cold sweat.        They watched David''s figure under the dim light, as if they were seeing a proud and formidable god of ughter!


    Meanwhile, Gary secretly lifted his head and observed David''s every move.        When he noticed that David was lost in thought, a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips.        He quickly raised the revolver that had fallen from Dirk and aimed it at David.


    This sudden turn of events made everyone present tense up!        They couldn''t believe that even when facing death, this guy was still resisting.        Worried expressions filled their eyes as they looked at David.


    "David, be careful!"        Sally anxiously shouted to David.


    In fact, David had already seen Gary''s small movements before he made them, but he just shook his head slightly.


    "Hahaha!   I won''t die in this world!   Even if I die, I''ll make sure you apany me to the underworld!"   When Dirk fell to the ground, his revolver slipped to Gary''s feet.   So when he was lying on the ground just now, he casually grabbed it and hid it behind his back.   He had been waiting for this opportunity, waiting to deliver the final blow to the person who defeated him.


    Looking at Gary with a crazed smile on his face, David furrowed his brow and said, "Sorry, I''ve already died once.   So I won''t try the taste of death again."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    At the same time, Gary pulled the trigger.   A spinning bullet shot out of the barrel at high speed, heading straight for David''s forehead like a meteor falling from ten thousand meters high.


    Sally was instantly frightened and wanted to rush forward, but she knew it was toote.   "David!" she could only shout his name desperately.


    Arnold, Sophie, and the others also showed a hint of fear in their eyes.   They seemed to anticipate what would happen next.


    Just as the bullet was about to touch David''s forehead, he suddenly closed his eyes and softly said, "Stop."


    Instantly!   The air within a five-meter radius of David seemed to freeze in ce.   Dust particles floated silently in the air, without any movement.


    The entire space was momentarily paused by David.   And the bullet also stopped right at his forehead.   David raised his hand, gently took the bullet, and flicked it in the air.


    Simrly, the bullet became a suspended object in mid-air.   Everyone was astonished, unable to believe that David had the ability to pause space.


    Gary''s mouth gaped in terror, trying to continue pulling the trigger, but no matter how hard he tried, his fingers had no strength.   David smiled, reached out and took the revolver from him, pointing the muzzle at Gary.


    David awakened the spatial ability, so during his conversation with Gary just now, something seemed to strike a chord in his heart, stirring ripples.   Then he felt as if he had plunged into an endless void, and a profound understanding of space rushed into his mind.   And this mystery was the power to freeze space.


    The pitch-ck muzzle pointed at Gary, spreading fear in his eyes.   In this moment, he seemed to experience a terror he had never felt before, as he looked into David''s eyes.   He felt that David''s gaze was like an endless abyss, emitting chilling killing intent.


    At this moment, Gary admitted that he was scared.   "Please, spare me..." he struggled to move his Adam''s apple, trying to plead for mercy from David. But no matter how hard he tried, under the effect of the frozen space ability, he couldn''t utter aplete sentence.


    What''s more, David wouldn''t give him that chance.   Looking at Gary, David no longer hesitated.   "Die."   With a light shout, the sound of the firing pin striking the revolver in his hand resounded.   Then a bullet suddenly shot out.


    At the same time, the frozen space ended.   The bullet that had been floating in mid-air slowly fell to the ground.   However, along with it, another bullet stained with blood fell to the ground as well...

 Chapter 144 Beast Pill

    ?


    Looking at Gary''s lifeless body, David had an expressionless face, and his eyes seemed even colder. ording to his words, this was originally a dog-eat-dog world. And for someone like him, who had humble power, his fate was destined to disappear from this world.


    This made David couldn''t help but sigh at these guys. They truly lived up to their name as rats n. They were the most insignificant existence in the world, to the point where not even their deaths would evoke sympathy from others. After witnessing his boss being shot dead by David, Dirk, who had been knocked out by Duke, suddenly woke up. He looked at David with fear in his eyes and quickly crawled away with all his limbs.


    "Don''t! Don''t kill me!" Dirk pleaded to David out of his instinct for survival, fearing that a bullet would end his life.


    Seeing this, Charles stepped forward, a cold light shed across his neck. He raised his hand and the knife fell. A pool of red blood flowed from Dirk''s neck.


    Watching Charles finish off Dirk, David nodded expressionlessly at him. He didn''t want to exterminate the weak. Instead, he understood the importance of eradicating the roots when cutting grass. This world was inherently dangerous, and he didn''t want to bring any hidden dangers to himself and his team. Being such a captain would be extremely irresponsible, and he absolutely couldn''t y with the lives of his team members.


    Decisiveness in killing was the first survival rule taught by this world to every survivor. The others secretly nodded at Charles'' actions. In their eyes, even if Charles didn''t kill Dirk, someone else among them would have done it. Suddenly, the backbone members of the rat n, including their leader, ally in the underground parking lot, cold corpses.


    [Ding! Congrattions, host, for obtaining a high-grade crystal!]


    [Ding! Congrattions, host, for obtaining a medium-grade crystal!]


    At the same time, the voice of the system echoed in David''s ears. Wow! He obtained a high-grade crystal and a medium-grade crystal?Upon hearing the system''s voice, David became delighted. At the same time, he realized that the high-grade crystal should havee from Gary, while the medium-grade crystal came from Little Qing Rosa.


    However, David looked at the bodies of the others with some disappointment. Perhaps because they were not Espers, David didn''t obtain any crystals from them. Just as David was contemting, the system''s voice suddenly rang in his ears again.


    [Ding! Congrattions, host, for obtaining a Beast Pill!]


    Hearing this sound, David was stunned. Beast Pill? At the same time, he noticed a faint glow emanating from the body of the snake spirit. He quickly approached and took out his alloy dagger, decisively cutting open its body. And then he saw it, a round, egg-sized shining object suddenly appearing before his eyes.


    David carefully held it in his hand, realizing that this should be the Beast Pill mentioned by the system. However, he didn''t understand what use this thing had. The system, as if understanding his thoughts, began to exin.


    [Beast Pill: Obtained from the body of a beast, it contains the essence of the beast and can promote the beast''s evolution.]


    [It can also randomly grant the beast special abilities.]


    [Note: Beasts of different levels have different properties for the Beast Pill.]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After hearing this exnation, David immediately understood. In simple terms, the Beast Pill contained the essence of a beast within it. Any beast that consumed it could gain a level increase ording to its own circumstances and also had a chance to obtain different special abilities. This truly surprised David.


    David didn''t expect such a thing to exist in this world, so he shifted his focus to C and Little ck. After a brief thought, he felt that it would be better to deal with the corpses in front of him first. It would be quite a downer to have them lying in front of his base.


    So they began to clean up together. After loading all the bodies onto the pickup truck, Charles threw them onto the street outside. Looking at the bodies, David knew that the scent of blood in the air would soon attract some zombies. He had a clever idea and let Little ck guard the area. When the zombies appeared, he would alert them. This way, they could set up an ambush and gain some experience points.


    "Little ck, the experience of our team depends on you. You have to stay alert!" David patted Little ck''s head and reminded him.


    Seeing David entrusting such an important task to him, Little ck wagged his tail and started patrolling near the bodies. The others returned to the base one after another.


    "That big snake from earlier was so terrifying!" Sitting on the sofa, Sally couldn''t help but tremble when she remembered the sudden evolution of the snake spirit.


    "Yeah! I didn''t expect the rat n to have such powerful individuals." Sophie also sat down and agreed.


    The reason they were so amazed was that they hadn''t experienced any major situations before. Even if there were, they would be protected by the others and couldn''t participate in the fight at all. So when they saw the snake spirit, they were instantly shocked.


    At this moment, Arnold poured a ss of whiskey and smiled at the two, saying, "What''s the big deal? Compared to the Titan Zombie, that snake is nothing. We can kill the Titan Zombie, let alone a pesky snake."


    Upon hearing Arnold call the snake spirit a pesky snake, everyoneughed, and the atmosphere of worry dissipated. Duke suddenly stood up and said, "If it weren''t for David, we would have probably died both times."


    His words made everyone nod in agreement. Duke was right. If it weren''t for David, they would have likely be food for the zombies long ago. Every time danger came, wasn''t it David who stepped forward? Wasn''t it David who turned the tide in the most critical moments? So they couldn''t help but look at David, their eyes filled with gratitude.


    They were grateful not only because David had saved their lives time and time again, but also because he had brought them the sense of security that was mostcking in this world. They could now sit together like a family, chatting andughing, and it was all thanks to David.


    Seeing the expressions of the others, David smiled and said, "We are a team, and there''s no need to discuss who deserves credit. In my eyes, each and every one of you is indispensable to our team. Without you, I would probably have died in this world long ago."


    Upon hearing David''s words, everyone felt moved in their hearts. Charles, who had just joined the group, felt this even more so. It was the first time sinceing to this world that he had felt such a sense of gratitude. At this moment, David took out fifty low-grade crystals from the warehouse system and handed them to everyone, instructing them to break through their own levels as soon as possible.

 Chapter 145 Transcendent Hellhound

    ?


    Upon hearing David''s instructions, the five of them nodded and each took ten low-grade crystals back to their rooms. The reason for this was that during the intense battles with the Eyesore and the snake spirit, David realized a weakness hidden within the Embers team, which was that the members had generally low levels.


    This meant that when facing opponents of higher levels or stronger power, only David himself could pose a real threat. He also knew that if they didn''t seize the opportunity to solve this problem, it would be a great challenge to the fighting capability of the Embers team. It could even directly lower their team''s fighting power, making enemy like sitting ducks in the face of danger. Therefore, in order to prevent such a situation from happening, David had to ensure that the team members broke through their level bottlenecks with the help of crystals.


    Soon, Sally excitedly walked out of her room first. She looked at David and eximed, "I leveled up! I''m now a Level 4 esper!" Before her words could settle, the others also came out of their rooms, their faces filled with excitement.


    It turned out that, under the insights gained from the battle, each member of the Embers team had increased theirprehension, vaguely crossing the bottleneck of leveling up. With the ten low-grade crystals that David had given them, they could instantly break through this bottleneck.


    "This is unbelievable! I wondered why my heart was constantly being stirred during the battle. It turns out I leveled up," Arnold said in amazement as he felt his stronger body. The others also experienced the profound changes within themselves and were filled with joy.


    This made David nod in appreciation. He didn''t expect them to level up so quickly. He decided to take advantage of the momentum and once again took out 100 low-grade crystals from the storage space and handed them to the five of them. He reminded them that this was theirst chance to level up using the low-grade crystals, and they had to make good use of it. He wouldn''t provide them with any more in the future; they would have to find their own way to obtain crystals. Being strong from within was true strength. Everyone nodded in agreement.


    They knew that after using twenty low-grade crystals, if they wanted to level up by consuming crystals, they would have to use medium-grade crystals or even hunt zombies to improve during battles. So, with confidence on their faces, they believed they could quickly break through their current levels once again.


    Next, they sat in the base,ughing and chatting, sweeping away the crisis-filled atmosphere of their daily lives. They suddenly felt that this world hadn''t been invaded by zombies and it wasn''t an apocalypse. The long-lost warmth filled the base and was evident on everyone''s faces. As they chatted, Little ck, who had been keeping watch outside, suddenly started barking wildly. So they took the opportunity to go out and deal with some low-level zombies, with Sally and Duke handling them. The purpose was to train theirbat abilities.


    Although Duke was a long-range esper, with the help of shadow maniption, he could also perform close-range kills on enemies. Soon, there were more zombie bodies around Gary''s corpse. David also obtained a dozen low-grade crystals. He distributed all these low-grade crystals to the members of the team because they needed them more than he did at the moment.


    It was already dark when David called Little ck back. "Great job today, Little ck! I''ll stew a big bone for youter!" David said, patting Little ck''s head.


    Upon hearing that it would be given a big bone, Little ck instantly became happy, wagging its tail and spinning around David. On the other hand, C, who was loungingzily, showed a disdainful expression. It nced at David and then went back to sleep on the sofa.


    At the same time, David took out the Beast Pill he had obtained from the snake spirit''s body. Looking at the still-glowing Beast Pill, David pondered. ording to the system''s exnation, if a beast consumed this Beast Pill, it could level up and also obtain random special abilities.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    It was obviously tailor-made for C and Little ck. However, David hesitated, unsure whom to give the Beast Pill to. He looked at C, who waszily napping on the sofa, then nced at Little ck circling around him. After a brief moment of contemtion, he decided to feed the Beast Pill to Little ck.


    After all, C had already reached the Transcendent level, while Little ck was still at the Commanding level. There was a one-level difference between them, resulting in an imbnce of power. In the previous battles, it was mostly Little ck who faced suppression from the opponents, and it was only when C made a move that the crisis was resolved.


    This inadvertently increased the risk of injury for C. As David''s precious beast, he didn''t want C, who could only be a Void-level beast, to face any danger. The loss would be too great for him. So he decided to share some of the future dangers with Little ck, which would also help alleviate the pressure on C.


    At the same time, David also felt that C''s advancement was much faster than Little ck''s. Even without the Beast Pill, C''s strength was already unmatched by ordinary beasts. Thinking of this, David no longer hesitated. After cing the Beast Pill in his palm, he called Little ck over.


    "Little ck,e here quickly. Once you eat this Beast Pill, you can level up! You will be a Transcendent-level Hellhound!" Upon hearing David''s words, Little ck quickly approached, sniffed the Beast Pill in his hand, and then opened its mouth to swallow the entire pill.


    Just as the Beast Pill entered Little ck''s body, the radiance emitted from the Beas pill increased. Little ck''s visible changes were happening at a rapid pace. Not only did its size double, but its fur also became even tougher. Its teeth became sharper as well. It even grew two terrifying fangs that made people shudder. In the blink of an eye, Little ck exuded an endless aura from the void.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host''s beast, Little ck, for leveling up to the Transcendent level!]


    Sure enough, the system''s prompt quickly sounded in David''s ears. Although he had anticipated this result long ago, seeing Little ck truly level up, David couldn''t hide his excitement. With this, Little ck and C were even closer to the Demon King level. When they both became Demon King-level beasts, he would truly have an invincible force. David excitedly rubbed Little ck''s erged head, his face filled with anticipation.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host''s beast, Little ck, for obtaining a random special ability!]


    [Random special ability in progress!]

 Chapter 146 Shirley

    ?


    [Ding!]


    [Congrattions to the host''s beast, Little ck, for obtaining the Void ws ability!]


    The system''s voice rang in David''s ears once again. "Void ws?" Upon hearing the name of this skill, David was momentarily stunned. He instinctively looked at Little ck''s ws. After the system''s announcement, Little ck''s ws suddenly became extremely powerful, and its meaty paws exposed sharp ws that resembled short knives. The ws seemed unstoppable, shining with a chilling light that seemed capable of tearing through the void.


    "Wow! Little ck, you''ve got an upgrade!" David eximed excitedly to Little ck.


    At this moment, Little ck seemed to sense its own transformation. It lowered its head to look at its ws and then exerted a little force, leaving deep scratches on the floor. This caused David''s mouth to twitch. This was his bedroom! How could Little ck just start scratching around? Although it had a little conscience, it wasn''t much.


    "Little ck, you''re in the wrong here. I know your Void ws are powerful, but do you really have to show them off in my room? Although you can sleep anywhere, I can''t afford to lose my bedroom, my friend!" David said with a feigned annoyance to Little ck.


    However, Little ck was immersed in the joy of its upgrade and didn''t pay attention to David''s words. It even turned around and targeted David''s wardrobe. Raising its paw, it seemed ready to swipe again.


    This made David quickly stand up and stop it. "Little ck, you can''t destroy my bedroom. Otherwise, we''ll both be sleeping on the streets. You can sleep anywhere, but I can''t afford to lose this ce, buddy!" David said with a wry smile.


    After hearing this, Little ck wagged its tail and put down its paw, then walked confidently to C. C was still sleeping at this moment. When Little ck approached and looked up, it raised its paw and scratched C''s head.


    "Meow!!!" Startled awake by Little ck''s sudden scratch, C let out a deep roar. It then raised its head and stared coldly at Little ck. Little ck continued to wag its tail, seemingly showing off its sessful upgrade. However, C only gave it a nce and immediately pounced on it, executing a series of eighteen consecutive cat paw strikes!


    This frightened Little ck, and it screamed in fear. Seeing Little ck''s pitiful state, David couldn''t help butugh. "C became a Transcendent level a month ago. What are you showing off for?"


    In the following period of time, David trained with the members of the team in various ways. Under David''s guidance, Each team member took 20 primary crystals and their levels were elevated to a new tier. Charles made rapid progress and became a Level 6 Stargazer, while Sally reached Level 4, and Duke and Arnold both advanced to Level 4. Sophie also became a Level 3 healing mage.


    Looking at the levels of his team members, David felt a sense of satisfaction. Twenty-four hours had passed since the second red light appeared on the horizon. The sky had returned to its usual faint blue, but upon closer inspection, a faint crimson hue could be discerned within this blue.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    At this moment, in a corner of the city that remained in ruins, a tall buildingy deste, with ckened soil where no grass grew. As the wind blew, a gentle "whooshing" sound could be heard. Suddenly, a wild deer popped its head out from the sewer, only to be tightly grabbed by the neck as soon as it saw the outside world. No matter how it struggled, it couldn''t escape from the powerful hands holding it.


    "Quite plump. We can have a roasted rabbit today," a voice suddenly sounded. A man wearing a ck cloak and a straw hat smiled as he looked at the wild rabbit in his hand.


    "I don''t like roasted food. This is a critical time for skincare. It would be best if you stewed it and added a couple of carrots," a soft and gentle female voice followed.


    A fair-skinned young woman in tightbat attire with short hair, adorned with two cute cat pendants hanging from the hilts of her dual daggers, looked at the man and spoke. Beside her, an older man with graying beard patted his beard and said, "Shirley, finding something to eat is already good enough. We don''t have the luxury to be picky."


    Upon hearing their conversation, the man holding the rabbit pondered for a moment before speaking again, "In that case, let''s have half of it carbonized and the other half in a stew."


    "After all, Shirley is the only princess in our team. We can''t let the princess suffer," the man said with a smile directed at Shirley.


    After speaking, the three of them walked towards a base constructed of steel. The oval-shaped base was adorned with satellite antennas, and even in the center, there was a mounted machine gun. In the open area surrounding the base, slight mounds could be seen at one-meter intervals¡ªminefields with over thirty buriedndmines. Inside the living room of the base, various monitoring devices were ced on the table. The nine-pointed star on the devices disyed the nine locations of the city. There was even a screen showing the footage of the red light that appeared twenty-four hours ago.


    At this moment, the man had returned to the kitchen to start cooking, while the old man sat on the sofa, closing his eyes to rest. Shirley, on the other hand, sat in front of the screen, switching between the views of the nine locations. Surviving in this world for so many years, her daily tasks consisted of hunting zombies and using satellites to monitor the city''s every move. Though it was dull and tasteless, it was the best choice for her. She was a member of the Phoenix Rising squad.


    The man from earlier was the captain named Duane, a fifth-level gold-type esper. The old man was the vice-captain named Alvin, a fifth-level fire-type esper. The Phoenix Rising squad had a total of ten members, and apart from Duane and Alvin, the other team members were mostly around the third level in terms of their abilities.


    Shirley herself was a fourth-level water-type esper. As per Duane''s instructions, the other team members were distributed in different bases, while the three of them stayed in the main base to observe the situation outside. This was done because the Phoenix Rising squad had a daunting mission from its inception¡ªto uncover the secret behind the appearance of the red light in this world. Despite several decades having passed and multiple rotations of team members, they still hadn''t discovered the secret of the red light.


    At this moment, Shirley looked at the screen, idly ying with the cat pendants hanging from her dagger hilts.

 Chapter 147 Promise

    ?


    "I''m stuck staring at this damn screen every day. This life is so boring. I want to go to a concert, go karaoke singing, and have hot pot. How long is this damn life going to continue?" Shirley muttered with a sad expression. At her age, she should be enjoying herself, going shopping with friends, dancing at clubs. But now she had to strive for survival in this world.


    "Sigh, as long as we''re alive." Shirley let out a sigh, the disappointment evident on her fair cheeks.


    Suddenly, a hawk flew in through the window andnded on Shirley''s shoulder. Looking at the hawk, Shirley softly spoke, "Sky fire, where have you been causing mischief again?"


    Upon hearing Shirley''s words, the hawk named Sky fire pped its wings twice and let out a soft cry. Hearing that sound, Shirley smiled.


    "Did you go out to y with friends? You know, you''re amander-level beast, while they are just ordinary birds. How can they match you? But I guess it''s true, you also need friends if you stay here all the time." Shirley sympathetically reached out and stroked the feathers on Sky fire''s body, slowly speaking.


    This hawk was her beast partner named Sky fire, and it had also reached themander level. It was Shirley''s onlypanion in daily life. At the same time, she nced at the screen, where the nine locations remained quiet. asionally, a few low-level crystals passed by, without causing any ripples.


    Suddenly, at the bottom of the screen, three figures appeared. One of the men stood there, directing a man and a woman in killing zombies. There was a ck dog by the man''s side, wagging its tail around him.


    "Beast?" Shirley eximed in surprise as she saw the ck dog, even though it was only on the screen. But because Sky fire was amander-level beast, Shirley was particrly familiar with this aura. She even felt that the level of this beast might be higher than Sky fire''s. Moreover, looking at the man''s demeanor, he seemed to be a formidable person.


    This instantly confused Shirley. She didn''t know that such a person existed in this city. Although she had seen other awakened ability survivors before, most of them were around the second level. The aura they emitted was not as powerful. But looking at this man, Shirley could clearly sense a surge of power.


    "How strange, who is he?" Shirley muttered as she looked at the screen.


    At this moment, Captain Duane shouted from the kitchen, "Shirley,e help me serve the food!"


    Shirley responded with a sound, temporarily setting aside her doubts and running into the kitchen. There, she saw a wild rabbit in Duane''s hands, transformed into two dishes¡ªone grilled and one stewed. As she smelled the aroma of the meat, Shirley couldn''t help but smile.


    "It smells amazing!" Shirley''s eyes gleamed as she smelled the delicious scent in the air. Being able to enjoy such food in this world was like finding water in the desert.


    "We should be grateful that we can still enjoy such delicacies in this world. It''s a blessing from above," Alvin said slowly, looking up at the sky outside.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After hearing those words, Duane and Shirley nodded in agreement. They believed it was indeed a blessing from above. Since the apocalypse, too many people had died in this world, and the survivors lived each day in dire circumstances. There was no food, no water source, and no resources to protect their lives. In the face of this world, they were defenseless, like prey that could be hunted by zombies at any moment. So they were grateful that they could still sit in a sturdy base and eat rabbit meat and drink soup.


    After reflecting for a while, the three of them finally started eating. Duane picked up a rabbit leg and ced it in Shirley''s bowl. "Shirley, eat more. You need strength," Duane said with a smile.


    Shirley nodded without hesitation and started eating. As she savored the tender and stic meat of the rabbit, she nodded in approval. "It''s so delicious! Captain, did your cooking skills improve again? We''re so lucky to have you as our captain!" Shirley said with her mouth full of meat,plimenting Duane.


    "Hahaha!" Hearing Shirley buttering him up, Duane couldn''t help butugh.


    "You mischievous girl, always saying nice things to me. If you ck off during the next surveince of the outside, I''ll give you a punishment!" Duane said, causing Shirley to pout.


    Duane said this because thest time it was Shirley''s duty to monitor the zombie situation outside, she ended up ying around instead. As a result, a group of zombies surrounded their base. If Duane hadn''t noticed in time, it wouldn''t have been long before more zombies were attracted. At that time, the three of them would have been surrounded by zombies.


    "Captain, I only cked off once! Why do you keep bringing up this matter?" Shirley said, and Alvin furrowed his brows first upon hearing Shirley''s words. He put down his chopsticks and sternly said to Shirley, "If it weren''t for Duane''s timely discoveryst time, the three of us would have been besieged by zombies. Have you forgotten that the rule of survival in this world is to be vignt? Don''t think that making a mistake once means it''s not a mistake. If we want to survive, we cannot afford to make even a single mistake." Seeing Alvin starting to lecture again, Shirley became a bit frustrated.


    Every time Alvin spoke, Shirley felt like she was in a ssroom listening to a teacher''s lecture. She could only nod helplessly.


    "I got it, I won''t ck off next time." Seeing Shirley''s expression, Duane smiled.


    "It''s okay. When you truly grow up, you will understand the wisdom behind Alvin''s words. You''re still young, and as long as we protect you, it''s enough. You won''t have to be on duty anymore; I''ll handle it," Duane said, doting on Shirley as she was the youngest member of the entire Phoenix Rising team.


    Shirley herself knew this well, so she put down the rabbit leg in her hand and quickly stood up, shaking her head. She said to Duane, "Captain, you already work hard enough for our team on regr days. How can you sit in front of the screen every day? Don''t worry, I promise you I won''t make any more mistakes in the future. Otherwise, you can punish me by making me copy the Book of Changes a hundred times!"


    Seeing Shirley''s serious expression, Duane nodded with a smile.

 Chapter 148 Who Is He?

    ?


    So Shirley quickly told Duane and Alvin about the scene she had seen on the monitoring screen.


    "What? A powerful stranger?" Hearing Shirley''s words, Duane instantly became serious. He had suspected that the inexplicable second red light appearance this time might involve the participation of an esper. But he didn''t expect a strange esper to appear so soon.


    ording to Shirley''s description, this person had a formidable presence, had their own team, and even had a beastpanion, with the lowest level being at themanding level. This lineup was enough to make anyone envious. Could it really be this stranger?


    Upon hearing Shirley''s words, a look of confusion appeared on Alvin''s face, followed by a sense of relief. His right hand, which was holding the dragon-headed cane, slowly rxed.


    "Shirley, quickly bring up the video of this person!" After pondering for a moment, Duane hurriedly instructed Shirley. Seeing her captain so serious, Shirley also became nervous. She nodded and quickly stood up, walking to theputer. She rewound the time by five hours, and the screen disyed David''s image once again.


    At this moment, David faced a group of zombies but didn''t attack. Instead, he used his own presence to create an absolute battleground. Then he let Duke and another person enter this battleground and started training against the zombies. Little ck remained crouched by his side, constantly on alert for the surroundings.


    Although David didn''t make a move throughout, the strength he exuded and his absolute authority left Duane shocked. From the first glimpse of David''s back, Duane felt that this man was not an ordinary person. The more he looked down, the more serious his expression became.


    He realized that no matter from which angle he looked, the strength of this man on the screen surpassed any member of their Phoenix Rising team. This instantly astonished him.


    "There''s actually an esper with such formidable strength in this world? Not only does he have abat team, but he even has a powerful beastpanion. Who is he?" For a moment, Duane''s brow furrowed tightly.


    Leading the Phoenix Rising team, Duane had been monitoring every detail of this city for more than a decade. It could be said that he had seen every survivor here, and he knew the abilities of each one of them. He even knew everything about the Rat n that always hid in the sewers. Yet, this man on the screen was particrly unfamiliar to him. No matter how he tried to recall, he had no memory of this person.


    "Could he be rted to the appearance of the second red light?" Duane wondered in his mind. He spected that this strange man might havee from a mysterious ce, namely a wormhole. He had heard about such a legend from the previous team captain.


    It was said that when the red light appeared, a wormhole would also appear in the sky. This wormhole was extremely hidden, and only esper level 7 or above could find it. At the other end of the wormhole was a mysterious world, inhabited by various incredibly powerful espers and various resources that could help people survive in the apocalypse.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    But at the same time, it also concealed various dangers, which could be divided into two categories. One was the treacherous espers who harbored ill intentions, seeking to use their formidable power to dominate this world. The other was the high-ranking zombies who guarded the resources, attacking any survivors that appeared.


    However, bing a level 7 esper was an extremely difficult task. There were also others who used some special methods to detect the position of the wormhole, causing harm to the survivors.


    When Duane first heard the captain tell this story, he didn''t believe it at all. The captain looked at his youthful face and smiled, then reached out and patted his shoulder, saying, "There are too many unknown horrors in this world. Slowly, you will discover them. When the dayes that you can witness these horrors with your own eyes, I hope you will stand up like a warrior. Remember, the terrifying thing is not these horrors, but human nature. When the dayes that you are willing to gaze into the abyss of human nature, I hope you will still have the courage you have now." Duane remembered that when the captain said these words, his eyes were filled with decline and disappointment, but also with a hint of determination.


    Then, in the evening of that day, the captain mysteriously died during a zombie siege. The entire team was left with only Alvin and Duane. At the time, Duane didn''t understand what the captain meant by those words. But after seeing his lifeless body, he seemed to understand what the captain had said. In the face of horror, one must stand up bravely like a warrior.


    Duane watched David''s figure and slowly stood up. Although he didn''t know if this young man was the one behind the second red light appearance, he didn''t want to miss any opportunities. Otherwise, he would never be able to face the captain''s spirit in the afterlife. So Duane silently nodded and took note of David''s location.


    "Captain, what''s going on?" Shirley had been by Duane''s side the whole time, so she saw every change in his expression. This instantly made her confused.


    You see, normally Duane wasn''t a suspicious person. Why was he acting so unusually today? Moreover, Shirley seemed to sense an indescribable fear in his reaction just now. This made her unable to help but look at the man on the screen. Who was he, the person who could make their level 5 Gold Esper captain inexplicably fearful? Could his strength surpass even that of the captain?


    But in Shirley''s eyes, Duane''s strength was already at the ceiling level for survivors. How could anyone surpass him? So she stared at Duane, her face full of puzzlement.


    At this moment, Duane spoke up, "Shirley, for the next few days, keep a close eye on this stranger from home. I may be gone for a while. Remember, if you encounter danger, immediately let Sky fire notify the nearby members of the other teams. They will arrive within two minutes."


    Upon hearing that Duane was going out and even wanted her to stay at home, Shirley immediately understood that Duane must be going to search for some clues. She nodded and readily agreed.


    Meanwhile, Alvin, who had been silent by their side, suddenly stood up. Holding his dragon-headed cane, he seemed to be taking a leisurely stroll as he slowly walked out of the base. Once outside the base and making sure that neither Duane nor Shirley noticed him, a series of sparks spread around Alvin. Then he disappeared within the midst of these sparks...

 Chapter 149 Alexander

    ?


    Suddenly, a spark appeared in the void, and Alvin emerged from it, leaning on his cane. As he took his first step with his right foot, the spark disappeared as if it had never been there. He had arrived at a deste area on the eastern edge of the city.


    This ce had been hit by a severe wave of zombies in the past, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of people. The atmosphere here was particrly heavy with gloom. Over time, no survivors were willing toe here, and instead, it became a roaming ground for some low-level zombies. Just as Alvin was talking, a wandering low-level zombie suddenly noticed his presence and immediately growled, rushing towards him.


    Seeing this, Alvin simply raised an eyebrow and nced at the zombie, then extended the dragon-headed cane in his hand towards it. Suddenly, a dazzling burst of mes erupted from the cane, engulfing the zombie in a sea of fire. No matter how it struggled, it was futile. The mes were overwhelming, and in less than a minute, the zombie waspletely consumed, leaving only a pile of white bones.


    After taking a quick look around and confirming that there were no other threats, Alvin continued walking towards the deepest part of this deste area, leaning on his cane. After walking for more than ten minutes, he arrived at a dpidated courtyard. The sinister aura here was even stronger than when he first entered, and even on the surface, wisps of ck aura were seeping out. Just a single nce at it would probably cause spiritual devastation, resulting in immediate death.


    Alvin paid no attention to these sinister auras and simply stepped on them as he walked towards the courtyard. As he reached the entrance, he saw two intermediate-level zombies chained on both sides. Upon seeing someone approaching, the two zombies continuously growled and roared in anger. However, they were restrained by the iron chains, and no matter how they struggled, they were instantly pulled back by the chains.


    This made Alvin shake his head and mutter, "Alexander is still like this! Why did he have to y with these guys? If one day these beasts break free from their restraints, it won''t be good." He sympathetically nced at the two zombies and then pushed open the door and entered.


    Originally, this was an abandoned courtyard that had long been in ruins, and naturally, no one lived in the rooms. However, what appeared before Alvin was a luxurious decoration. The floor was adorned with arge number of agate, and even the walls had a unique charm. And in the four corners of the room, various precious green nts were ced. There were Dragon Spines and Phoenix Waists, among others. Although they were slightly inferior to Dragon Spines and Phoenix Waists, they were still something ordinary people couldn''t afford.


    Alvin stood in the middle of the room with his eyes slightly closed. After a while, he suddenly spoke, "Alexander, we''ve known each other for a few years now. Is your guard still so high? I''ve been standing here for the duration of an incense stick, don''t you n to say something?" A slightly dissatisfied voice echoed in the room.


    "Hahaha! It''s my fault for being thoughtless. I hope Alvin won''t take it to heart." Laughter instantly filled the room, but after waiting for a while, no one appeared.


    But all of this was already a familiar scene for Alvin. He listened to the voice and casually nced into the void. He stood in ce, gripping his dragon-headed cane, and said, "The matter of the second red light almost exposed some clues to that kid Duane. Fortunately, a young and foolish person appeared at thest moment, diverting his attention."


    Upon hearing Alvin''s words, Alexander seemed momentarily stunned, then smiled and asked with confusion, "Oh? Duane''s judgment is so urate? This was a wlessly arranged matter between the two of us, how could he possibly have figured it out? Alvin, are you being too cautious?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    ncing at the void once again, Alvin snorted in disdain at Alexander''s words. "Hmph! Alexander is underestimating my rtionship with that kid Duane. I''ve watched him grow since the establishment of Phoenix Rising, and I know him better than anyone. But speaking of which, the captain of Phoenix Rising should have been mine. It''s just a pity...."


    Alvin shook his head helplessly, recalling a scene from over twenty years ago in his mind. It seemed as if the invisible Alexander had seen through Alvin''s thoughts and smiled lightly as he spoke, "Twenty years ago, it was your own decision. If it weren''t for your misjudgment, causing the reinforcements to arrive, how could things have turned out like this? It''s not quite appropriate to say such things now, is it?"


    Hearing Alexander''s words, a hint of anger instantly appeared on Alvin''s face. The dragon-headed cane in his palm was instantly covered in purple mes. The mes flickered and danced like demons in the fire.


    Alvin hadn''t expected that his casual mention of the past would be turned into a joke by Alexander. He could even hear the contemptuous mockery in Alexander''s words. Despite this, he slowly closed his eyes and lowered his head.


    Alvin knew that after making that decision twenty years ago, he had forever be a pawn in Alexander''s hands. He had never seen Alexander, nor did he know his true face. Sometimes he wanted to escape from Alexander''s grasp, but as soon as that thought arose, it was as if Alexander had already sensed it and immediately sounded the rm. This time was no exception.


    "Alvin, I believe that over these decades, you must have learned many lessons. I assure you, I will find a way to get that kid Duane off the captain''s position. Congrattions in advance, Alvin, for taking full control."


    Although Alvin was already in his fifties, his desire for power had not diminished but rather increased. So upon hearing Alexander''s words, he fell into silence.


    "By the way, I heard that Duane is interested in that young and foolish guy. If I''m not mistaken, he should be going to meet him soon. Don''t forget to prepare a weing gift for them. Only then can you show your true sincerity. Hehehe..." After saying that, Alexander disappeared as if he had never been there, and the voice abruptly ceased, leaving Alvin standing alone in the room.


    The scene shifted to the courtyard of ruins. A handsome young man sat on a bamboo chair, his legs crossed. A meaningful smile appeared on his face as he watched the image appearing in the void, showing Alvin inside the courtyard.


    "I wonder what surprises you will bring me for the sake of the captain of Phoenix Rising. I''m bing more and more excited!" The young man chuckled and then picked up a bag of chips, taking a chip and putting it in his mouth.

 Chapter 150 Be Missing

    ?


    As the members of the Embers squad continued to level up, David conducted a series of practical exercises with them. Whenever they had time, he would drive the apocalypse vehicle through the streets to help them search for zombies. At this stage, if they wanted to further level up, they had to rely on higher-level crystals and umtedbat experience. And all of this had to be earned through their own efforts.


    Although there were endless crystal resources in David''s warehouse system, he believed that if he wanted his squad to be powerful, he couldn''t always lend a hand to each of them. In this world, he could provide assistance in times of crisis, but he would never give handouts. Therefore, each member of the squad had to earn their strength through their own efforts.


    Only in this way could the Embers squad be a truly fearsome force in the apocalypse. David was pleased to see that through the past few days of practical training, thebat capabilities and skills of each member had improved significantly. Their attack methods had be more diverse, and they could even utilize the different awakened abilities of each team member for coordinatedbat.


    For example, when Arnold activated his werewolf ability, he could rely on Charles'' stargazer ability to detect the movements and strength of the enemy in advance. Meanwhile, Duke could use his shadow maniption to control the enemy, allowing Arnold to execute more precise attacks. However, these tactics could only be effectively used against opponents who were evenly matched. If they encountered enemies with higher levels and greater strength, these tactics would be greatly restricted.


    However, David wasn''t in a rush because he knew that this kind of thing couldn''t be rushed. It had to be a gradual process. Moreover, the team members had just recently leveled up, and each person still needed time to adjust to their newfound abilities. If they were too impatient, it could lead to unintended consequences.


    What surprised David the most during these days of practical training was that everyone seemed to have learned to be decisive in killing. When encountering zombies, they would immediately strike and kill them without leaving any chance for the zombies to survive. Even Sally, who was naturally gentle and prone to hesitation, had be ruthless. This was truly unexpected for David.


    After all, they were living their days on the edge of a knife, and if they showed mercy to their enemies, it could give them an opportunity for a deadly counterattack. It would be a situation where the farmer is bitten by the snake. As he watched the team grow continuously, a sense of confidence gradually arose in David''s heart. He believed that as long as the Embers squad existed, there would always be a ce for them in this world. After all, the apocalypse was a paradise reserved for the strong.


    And the Embers squad would be the builders of this paradise.


    On this day, David drove the apocalypse vehicle back to the base with the squad members after another practical mission.


    "That zombie today was too cunning. If I hadn''t acted quickly, he might have escaped. Thanks to Duke for catching his shadow in time, otherwise, we wouldn''t have been able to catch up to him," they were still discussing the scene as they got out of the vehicle.


    David turned off the engine and slowly got out of the driver''s seat. As he got out, his gaze instinctively turned towards the entrance of the base. When he saw that there was no movement, a sense of unease suddenly arose in his heart. Previously, when they returned from their practical missions, ckie and C would run out to greet them upon hearing the engine of the vehicle. But today, there was no sound or movement in the entire underground parking lot except for the voices of a few people.


    "What''s going on?" David''s mind was filled with confusion.


    At the same time, the others also noticed that something was wrong. "Why didn''t Little cke out to greet us today? And where''s C? Did these two oversleep and forget our return time?" Sophie spected to Arnold.


    The group quickly pushed open the door and returned to the base, searching every corner of the rooms, but there was no sign of the two. This left everyone puzzled.


    "This shouldn''t be happening! They never leave without us. If we''re not with them, they won''t go anywhere," Sally continued searching the room while speaking. Arnold also went to the parking lot to search again, but the result was the same ¨C there was no sign of the two familiars.


    This made David furrow his brow instantly. He knew their habits too well. Normally, they wouldn''t leave unless they were out on a mission together. Especially C, who would ratherze on the sofa all day than go out. So why had they suddenly disappeared?


    David quickly turned to Charles and said, "Use your ability to see where they went."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Charles looked nervous as well, but he nodded and immediately activated his Stargazer ability to trace their whereabouts.


    Soon, Charles put down his hands and opened his eyes. Then, with a hint of doubt in his gaze, he said to David, "I saw an esper entering here, and after that, C and Little ck left the base with that esper and disappeared."


    Charles described the scene he had just witnessed. An esper had appeared here, and C and Little ck had disappeared with them. Hearing Charles'' words, everyone became tense. They couldn''t determine whether this new esper was a friend or a threat to their squad.


    Moreover, they had a vague feeling that the esper who could take away C and Little ck wasn''t an ordinary person. If that was the case, what was their intention in taking them? Could the two of them be in danger? The thought immediately raised concerns in everyone''s hearts.


    Having spent so much time with C and Little ck, they not only saw them as members of the squad but also as their own family. If anything happened to them, it would greatly affect everyone in the squad.


    David''s expression became extremely serious. His attachment to C and Little ck was deeper than anyone else''s. However, he didn''t panic right away. Instead, he calmed himself down and pondered carefully. After a moment of silence, he asked Charles again, "Can you trace the person''s aura?"


    Charles shook his head, but then added, "I can track that person based on C and Little ck''s aura." Upon hearing this, David didn''t hesitate and immediately instructed Charles to start tracking. They followed Charles'' lead and began their search for C and Little ck.


    From David  perspective, regardless of what had happened, the safety of C and Little ck was of utmost importance. Only by finding them could they confirm if they were harmed. So the most urgent task is to find the location of C and Little ck.


    As for the esper who took C and Little ck away, David didn''t care at all. He knew that no matter the esper''s level or strength, if they dared to harm C and Little ck, he would return the favor a hundredfold. So the group, led by Charles, got back into the car and began searching based on the auras of C and Little ck.


    "This is top-grade spirit beast meat, and you two are really lucky. Even Sky fire, I''m reluctant to give it to him. Shirley always scolds me for being stingy," Duane said. He was sitting on a scrapped machine tool in an abandoned factory, holding a fresh piece of spirit beast meat in his hand. C and Little ck were by his side, staring at the meat with anticipation.


    Duane tore off two pieces and threw them to C and Little ck. Little ck immediately stuffed it into its mouth and swallowed the whole piece of meat in one gulp. Then it looked at Duane''s hand again. On the other hand, C was calmly chewing and savoring the spirit beast meat. Seeing the contrasting behaviors of the two Spirit beast, Duane chuckled.


    "You guy, eat in such a hurry? Look at how refined the kitty eats. Only this way can you fully digest the spirit beast meat," Duane said to Little ck with a smile, and then he tore off another piece and threw it to Little ck. At the same time, he asionally nced at the entrance of the factory, seemingly waiting for something.


    Ever since he saw David on the surveince screen, he became curious about this squad and wondered if their appearance was rted to the Second Red Light. So he followed the detected location and arrived at the underground parking lot base.


    Just as he arrived there, he saw C and Little ck before his eyes. Upon seeing the familiars, Duane had an idea. He wanted to meet David, so he decided to take the two Spirit beast with him, expecting David toe to him personally. Perhaps then he could learn some secrets about the Second Red Light.


    Duane tempted C and Little ck with the spirit beast meat originally prepared for Shirley and Sky fire. Sure enough, under the lure of the delicious meat, the two Spirit beast quickly followed him out of the underground parking lot and arrived at the abandoned factory.

 Chapter 151 First Meet

    ?


    Looking at these two guys, Duane sat calmly on the scrapped machine tool because he knew that the young man would soon find his way here.


    "Here it is." Soon, David stopped the car in front of the abandoned factory. The starry glow in Charles'' eyes suddenly brightened. He could clearly sense the scent of C and Little ck emanating from the factory.


    Upon hearing Charles'' words, David was the first to push open the car door and get out. The others followed suit and stood at the entrance of the factory. After surveying the surroundings, they discovered that there were no ambushes nearby.


    "David, do you think someone might be hiding inside?" Arnold frowned and asked.


    David shook his head. "Currently, we don''t know what this person wants by taking C and Little ck, and we don''t even know his identity. We don''t know anything about the situation inside. We''ll only find out once we go in."


    With that, David took a step forward and began walking towards the factory. The others followed behind him in the order of their previous battle squad. It seemed that this factory had been abandoned before the apocalypse arrived.


    There were piles of scrapped steel and even a few discarded trucks at the entrance. The smell of rust filled everyone''s nostrils. It was evident that this factory used to be an ironworks. The group walked slowly into the workshop, constantly scanning their surroundings, afraid that the stranger would suddenly ambush them.


    Soon, they reached the center of the workshop. Inside, various shapes of steel and dozens of discardedthes were scattered around. At this moment, Charles once again used his ability and looked towards the northeast corner. Following Charles'' gaze, David also stared intently and indeed saw a man sitting on athe, calmly staring at them. It seemed that he had noticed their presence long ago. And at his feet, C and Little ck were still devouring the spirit beast meat.


    "C, Little ck!" Sally eximed when she saw the two guys. Upon hearing the familiar voice, C and Little ck raised their heads and looked at them.


    The two guys softly called out to them and then continued to lower their heads to eat the spirit beast meat. This surprised everyone. What''s going on? Why didn''t C and Little cke to them when they saw them? Could it be that this man cast a spell on them and controlled them? This made everyone even more nervous.


    At this moment, Arnold couldn''t help it and directly transformed into a werewolf. He looked at Duane sternly and said, "Release C and Little ck immediately! Otherwise, I won''t spare you!" After speaking, he made a move as if he was going to rush towards him.


    "Stop." Seeing this, David quickly said to Arnold. Arnold stopped in his tracks and looked at David with confusion. The enemy was right in front of them, so why wait and not attack? Not only Arnold but also the others didn''t understand David''s actions.


    "He didn''t harm C and Little ck." After a pause, David looked at C and Little ck and said to Arnold. He knew these two spirit beasts too well. If they had been harmed, they wouldn''t be behaving like this. Instead, he saw how Little ck was wagging his tail.


    David knew for sure that there was no danger happening, but it only made him more puzzled. So he looked up at Duane while also sensing his awakening level. Soon, he obtained Duane''s awakening level. Level 5? But what element''s ability did he awaken? David had no idea.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    However, looking at Duane''s non-aggressive aura, David felt that this person probably wasn''t a bad guy. Nevertheless, David kept a close eye on Duane, being extremely cautious. He even quietly reached for his alloy short knife, ready to strike if he misjudged and needed to kill him immediately!


    Seeing David and the others appear, Duane smiled and tossed thest two pieces of spirit beast meat to C and Little ck. Then he stood up and looked at David, saying, "You must be the captain of your team, right?"


    David nodded and continued asking, "Who are you, and why did you bring C and Little ck here?"


    After confirming that the young man in front of him was indeed the team captain, Duane couldn''t help but sigh inwardly. He sensed his aura the moment David entered, inferring that David''s level was higher than his own. This also made him think that David might be rted to the  second red light appears about. After all, an esper with such strong abilities would likely have means to change certain world rules.


    So Duane continued, "It''s not my fault. They insisted on following me. They ate up all my spirit beast meat, and you shouldpensate me for somethingter." Saying that, Duane smiled and looked at David. Both Duane and David were kind espers in this apocalypse, and there was no killing intent in Duane''s words.


    "Spirit beast meat? What''s that?" Duke was the first to ask.


    "It''s the flesh and blood of some spirit beasts. When a spirit beast eats it, it can strengthen its bones and aura. If it''s meat from a higher-level spirit beast, it might even help the spirit beast directly level up." Duane exined straightforwardly.


    David naturally understood what spirit beast meat was. Because spirit beasts were especially difficult to hunt, their flesh and blood were priceless, with even a small piece costing tens of thousands. Not to mention this person openly taking out a pound of it. David guessed that he was probably a wealthy individual.


    Listening to Duane''s exnation, Duke pondered for a moment and asked again, "If spirit beast meat is so good, why did you give it to C and Little ck? Do we know each other?" In his view, if someone suddenly started being nice to them for no reason, they must have ulterior motives, except for David, of course.


    "Good question. We don''t know each other." Duane nodded, took two steps forward, and continued, "I came here this time to ask you about the Second Red Light. It''s rted to thews and direction of this world, and I hope you can tell me what you know."


    Duane looked at David, his gaze bing more determined. This made David suddenly understand that this guy thought he knew the reason for the appearance of the Second Red Light. That''s why he used spirit beast meat to lure C and Little ck out and then led them here. However, this question was also a knot in his own heart, so he naturally couldn''t inform Duane.


    So David shook his head and said, "I''m sorry, but I don''t know anything about the Second Red Light. You''ve got the wrong person." After speaking, David called C and Little ck over and gestured to leave the ce.

 Chapter 152 Confrontation

    ?


    Seeing that David was about to leave, Duane immediately spoke again, "Every survivor in this world should abide by the principles of the apocalypse. If anyone dares to disrupt it, I will use my life to protect it."


    As Duane said these words, his expression became particrly solemn. Ever since the apocalypse descended upon this world, he had been monitoring every move in this world with his Phoenix Rising team, all for the purpose of ensuring that this world wouldn''t continue to decay. He admitted that even if he wasn''t the savior of the apocalypse, he was willing to give everything, even his life, for this world.


    Upon hearing Duane''s words, David stopped in his tracks and looked at him intently, saying in a deep voice, "Do you think you can change this world just by yourself? This world is inherentlywless, and what you''re guarding is nothing more than your memories of the previous world. If you truly want to do something for this world, why not kill more zombies and increase your level? Without strength, you will always be a castaway in this world." David''s tone was cold as he spoke to Duane.


    At the beginning of the apocalypse, David had the same thoughts as Duane. However, after experiencing various deceitful schemes, David realized that if he wanted to protect this world, bing stronger was his only way. Otherwise, he would eventually fall under the feet of zombies. At that time, it would be difficult enough just to survive, let alone protect the world. David admired Duane''s lofty ideals. However, in his eyes, Duane''s strength was simply too weak.


    At this moment, Duane looked up at David. He didn''t expect to hear these words from a young man''s mouth. So he said to David once again, "Strength, you say? Well, let''s have a fight then. Perhaps you will make me realize what true strength is."


    Duane naturally knew that his level was lower than David''s, but upon hearing David''s words, his fighting spirit was instantly ignited. He also wanted to see the strength of this young man before him and whether he was the mastermind behind the Second Red Light.


    As soon as Duane finished speaking, he drew two ck daggers from his waist, then swiftly charged towards David. Seeing the opponent''s action, David remained calm. He knew that the other person was testing his strength. Arnold, at this time, didn''t want to fall behind either and quickly prepared to confront Duane and teach him a lesson.


    "Arnold, you don''t need to intervene in my business. I''ll let him see the strength of our Embers team," David said, and upon hearing this, Arnold stopped in his tracks and nodded at David. The others also rxed as they looked at David with confidence. They knew their captain could easily overpower this strange individual.


    While they were contemting, David pulled out his alloy short knife and charged towards Duane. His speed was so fast that it even stirred up a whistling sound throughout the abandoned factory. In the blink of an eye, David reached Duane.


    "Such incredible speed!" Duane couldn''t help but be amazed as he looked at David''s afterimage. He then raised the daggers in his hand and unleashed a move called "Chasing Stars, Shattering Moon," shing towards David''s shoulder.


    Seeing this, David merely shifted slightly and raised his alloy short knife, blocking Duane''s dagger. Duane quickly flipped his wrist, causing the dagger to spin in his hand in a strange manner. Then he thrust it towards David''s abdomen, utilizing his maximum speed and strength.No matter whether it was speed or strength, it was the maximum limit he could unleash.


    However, in David''s eyes, this level of attack had no effect on him at all. So as Duane''s dagger was about to touch his clothes, David directly opened a portal using his spatial abilities, and in an instant, he teleported behind Duane.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Huh? Disappeared?A spatial ability awakened?" Seeing the empty space in front of him, Duane immediately realized that David''s awakened ability was rted to space maniption.


    At the same time, David stood behind him and whispered, "To recognize my awakened ability means that you still have some strength, but... it''s toote."


    Hearing David''s voice, a wave of determination surged through Duane''s heart. Without hesitation, he swung his dagger in a move called "Arc of the Sky," shing towards David. As Duane swung the dagger mid-air, it was suddenly blocked by David''s hand. Their palms and the dagger collided, producing a crisp sound. Meanwhile, David''s awakened defensive ability and the extent of his physical prowess, which surpassed ordinary individuals, had already exceededmon knowledge. So, a mere dagger was insignificant in his eyes.


    But to Duane, this was simply a terrifying disy. After all, he was a Level 5 awakened esper of the Metal element. He had exceptional skills in using metal weapons, even infusing hisbat intent into the dagger to synchronize his mind with it, thus increasing the dagger''sbat effectiveness. The attack he just used, "Arc of the Sky," was a technique he had devised himself, somewhat simr to a surprise attack that could deal the heaviest damage when the opponent was caught off guard.


    Yet, even so, it was easily countered by David''s bare-handed technique. Duane furrowed his brow as he looked at this terrifying young man. David lifted his eyelids and nced at him, softly saying, "I told you, your strength is too weak. In my eyes, your Level 5 ability means nothing."


    After speaking, David looked at the ck dagger in his hand and then murmured two words, "Corrode." As soon as the words fell, an extremely ferocious aura suddenly surged out from his palm. This aura instantly enveloped Duane''s dagger.


    In just an instant, the aurapletely corroded the dagger into ck liquid. The liquid flowed continuously on the ground through the gaps between David''s fingers, making a "drip-drip" sound. Duane couldn''t help but inhale sharply. It actually instantaneously corroded and melted the dagger made of his own refined iron? What kind of terrifying power was this?


    Momentarily stunned, Duane let go of the hilt of his dagger and looked at David. "I have to admit, your strength is indeed formidable. So you are capable of controlling the Second Red Light, esper. Am I right?" At this moment, Duane''s concern still revolved around the changes the Second Red Light brought to thews of this world.


    Hearing Duane say that, David couldn''t help but twitch his lips. Then he said again, "I''ve told you, the Second Red Light has nothing to do with me. Simrly, I am also searching for the reason. This world isn''t just you alone trying to unravel the truth."


    After speaking, David no longer intended to entangle himself with this individual and gestured to leave the ce.

 Chapter 153 Skeletal Zombie

    ?


    Listening to David''s words, Duane watched as he turned to leave. At this moment, he realized that this young man in front of him was not the one controlling the Second Red Light. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have spoken those words. So, who could it be? Duane''s mind was filled with doubt once again.


    Just then, a chaotic noise suddenly came from the entrance of the abandoned factory. Upon hearing the sound, David paused, and his eyebrows furrowed instantly. He wasn''t the only one; the team members and Duane also heard the sound and immediately became tense.


    They knew that this piercing sound came from the zombies. The sound grew closer and louder, indicating that a considerable number of thirty or so zombies were approaching, and there even faintly echoed the powerful growl of a high-level zombie in their midst.


    "What''s going on? How did so many zombies suddenly appear?" Charles''s expression tightened as he spoke.


    Duane approached at this time, looking puzzled as he gazed toward the faint sounding from the factory entrance. Seeing Duane approaching, Arnold''s face immediately darkened. They hadn''t encountered any zombies on their way here, so how did so many suddenly appear when they arrived? Arnold believed that this matter must be rted to Duane. Perhaps he had set up an ambush, waiting for them to enter.


    At this moment, Duane also sensed Arnold''s icy gaze. He quickly said, "I didn''t summon these zombies, and besides, I don''t have the power to summon so many zombies."


    Hearing Duane''s words, Arnold hesitated for a moment but remained vignt. Meanwhile, David pondered for a moment and nodded, saying, "It has nothing to do with him. It seems that some esper has summoned them here!"


    David knew that Duane indeed didn''t possess that kind of power; otherwise, he would have noticed during their previous sh. Summoning such arge number of zombies required a powerful psychic esper with awakened abilities, and none of them had that kind of ability. David furrowed his brow. In the void, he seemed to catch a glimpse of the maniptor behind the zombies.


    "Who could it be? What does he want?" David''s mind raised a question.


    At the same time, the sounds from outside the factory grew closer, and the chaotic figures slowly appeared at the entrance. Soon, thirty to forty zombies stood at the entrance, fully exposed to everyone''s view. These zombies rotated their eyeless eyeballs, hungrily fixating on the group, seemingly eager to pounce on them as their next meal. The group quickly took a step back upon seeing this.


    However, David stepped forward and stood in front of everyone. Arnold, Duke, and Charles also surrounded Sophie and Sally, assuming a fighting stance. Duane, without hesitation, also took a step forward, standing side by side with David. David didn''t say anything to this unfamiliar man, simply ncing at him before looking back at the group of zombies.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Suddenly, a fiercely enraged growl erupted from the zombies! Then, a skeletal figure, about two meters tall,pletely devoid of flesh except for a white skeleton, emerged from the zombie horde. It held a bone knife in its hand. Its skeletal frame was unusuallyrge, not resembling the typical shape of a zombie, and the aura emanating from within its skeleton was several times stronger than that of an ordinary zombie. It raised the bone knife, sneering coldly at the people in the factory. This immediately made everyone''s hearts tighten!


    "skeletal zombie?" Duane blurted out immediately, his expression bing particrly grave. The only remaining knife in his hand was tightly clenched. David was puzzled upon hearing Duane''s words because he had never heard of zombies with that name before.


    "This is a mutated form of a high-level zombie. I''ve seen it in the guidebook before, but I never expected it to suddenly appear. If I remember correctly, the skeletal zombie is a highly skilled attacker. It can match the speed and strength of a Level 5 esper. Due to theck of brain and physical constraints, it can continue fighting without pause. Just that alone is enough to exhaust any esper who battles it," Duane exined, addressing David''s confusion by rying the information he had read in the guidebook.


    "Oh? An attack-oriented zombie?" David said, suddenly understanding after Duane''s exnation.


    Duane nodded, his expression serious. "You could say that, but its attack power is beyond our imagination." From the former team captain, Duane had heard rumors about the skeletal zombie''s strength, which could even nullify some esper abilities. Once engaged inbat, it wouldn''t stop. It was an eternal fighting machine. He couldn''t understand, however, why this high-level zombie, the skeletal zombie would appear at this moment.


    Meanwhile, in a house five kilometers away from the abandoned factory, an old man rubbed his cane''s dragon head handle before watching a seal inscribed with the word "pardon" slowly turn to ashes in the air. The old man then slowly moved his feet, leaning on the cane. Sparks suddenly appeared behind him. When the sparks extinguished, the old man''s figure disappeared from the spot.


    "If you''re sending a gift, you must show sincerity," a voice floated lightly from the void.


    The zombies at the factory entrance twisted their bodies and started squeezing through the door. Their eyes gradually became zing hot as they waved their severed limbs, constantly snarling and making piercing noises at the group. The skeletal zombie held its bone knife high, seemingly giving orders.


    Seeing this, Duane became tense as he remembered that this was the sign of the skeletal zombieunching an attack. As soon as the bone knife fell, he would immediately enter a state of battle. He quickly assessed the factory environment and said to David, "We''re probably going to fight this guy. I''ll try to hold him back while you take your team and leave as soon as possible. I can hold him off for a maximum of one minute. If, within that minute, you can''t lead your team out of here, we will all die."


    After speaking, Duane swiftly took out a ck iron box from his pocket and crouched down on the ground. David looked at Duane with a faint smile. He didn''t know what tricks this guy had up his sleeve to restrain the fighting machine, but listening to his words filled him with admiration. Curiously, he watched as Duane opened the ck iron box.

 Chapter 154 Treasure Trove

    ?


    Duane''s lips moved slightly as he recited a series of obscure and difficult-to-understand incantations. Surprisingly, the ck iron box visibly expanded at a rapid pace. Duane quickly opened the ck iron box, revealing various objects inside. His hand reached for a golden bell.


    The bell had a vibrant color and emitted a faintly sacred aura that was not to be desecrated. On the surface of the bell, arge character was engraved in a peculiar font. David stared intently and finally realized that it was the character "restrain."


    After taking out the golden bell, the ck iron box returned to its original size, and Duane put it back into his pocket. David understood that this box was Duane''s hidden treasure, containing various magical artifacts and treasures that were his assets in this world. It became clear why Duane had boldly stepped forward to face the formidable skeletal zombie. He had this treasure trove, which gave him confidence and fearlessness.


    This piqued David''s curiosity about what treasures were inside the box. However, the most important thing now was to deal with the approaching horde of zombies.


    As they pondered, the skeletal zombie viciously swung down its bone knife. For all the zombies, it seemed like a signal to attack! Dozens of zombies, gnashing their teeth and waving their limbs, rushed into the factory, madly charging towards the group.


    Witnessing this, Duane didn''t hesitate and bit his right index finger, then smeared the blood that seeped from his fingertip onto the golden bell. As soon as the blood touched the bell, it began to tremble slightly. Therge "restrain" character on the bell started to emit a faint glow.


    Then, Duane gently flicked the iron ball inside the bell. The bell instantly produced a crisp sound. The sound spread throughout the factory, forming visible ripples in the void, directly rushing towards the horde of zombies. Upon touching the zombies, the ripples immediately softened, causing the agitated horde to quiet down instantly. Their forward steps halted, and they stared ahead expressionlessly, seemingly indulging in something mesmerizing.


    The skeletal zombie, unable to move, stood in ce, attempting to swing its bone knife with force. However, the friction between its bones emitted a "ck ck" sound, rendering it powerless.


    "I''ve subdued them, but it will onlyst for one minute! Hurry, leave now, or none of us will escape!" Seeing the once-aggressive zombies calm down, Duane quickly informed David.


    While speaking, Duane continued to smear his fingertip''s blood onto the bell, making it even more vibrant in color and its sound clearer. David no longer hesitated. He knew that the others wouldn''t stand a chance against the skeletal zombie here. Rather than waiting here to die, it was better to seize this opportunity and leave quickly.


    David instructed Arnold, who was by his side, "Arnold, take everyone and leave this ce as quickly as possible, the farther the better!"


    Upon hearing David''s words, Arnold wanted to say something, but suddenly, from the horde of zombies, a piercing "ck ck" sound rang out. He quickly turned his head to see the skeletal zombie, which had lifted its bone knife over its head, seemingly about to initiate another attack.


    "Don''t hesitate, go!" David immediately realized that Duane''s bell wouldn''t hold the zombies for much longer, so he urged Arnold once again.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Arnold understood David''s intention and nodded. He immediately led the team members and jumped out of a nearby window. Following David''s instructions, C and Little ck were also taken away by Arnold and Duke. Now, only Duane and David remained in the abandoned factory.


    At this moment, Duane furrowed his brow. His right hand, holding the bell, began to tremble slightly, as if he was being counteracted by the skeletal zombie across from him. Meanwhile, the movements of the skeletal zombie appeared much smoother now, and it could even move its steps.


    "Hurry! Its power is too strong, and I can''t hold on anymore!" Duane barely finished his words when the light on the bell suddenly dimmed, and the divine-like sound that had filled the air abruptly ceased.


    Then, a resounding explosion erupted! Duane''s bell shattered into pieces and fell to the ground. The horde of zombies instantly lost their threat. The skeletal zombie let out a roar and viciously swung down its bone knife once again!


    "Another one of my treasures ruined!" Duane couldn''t help but curse and took a step back. He then pulled out a brown iron box, took out a machete from it, leaving David even more curious about this guy''s treasure trove.


    Meanwhile, David also unsheathed his alloy short sword and mercilessly shed at an approaching low-level zombie.The zombie fell to the ground, convulsing uncontrobly. Duane showed no mercy either, wielding the mighty machete and cutting through the zombies as if slicing melons and vegetables. In the blink of an eye, four or five low-level zombies met their demise under his de.


    Impressed, David nodded inwardly. The two of them rushed into the horde of zombies one after the other, engaging in a frenzy of ughter. With swift and clean movements, all thirty zombies were quicklyid to rest on the ground. The stench of blood permeated the entire factory.


    Taking a deep breath and looking at the pile of zombie corpses on the ground, Duane turned to David and asked, "Why didn''t you leave earlier?" When he had subdued the horde of zombies earlier, he knew that David had enough time to leave safely. In the face of danger, preserving one''s life was the top priority for every survivor in the apocalypse. So he couldn''t figure out what the young man was thinking.


    Upon hearing Duane''s question, David smiled faintly and casually replied, "You saved my team members. It wouldn''t be right for me to leave . Besides, this guy isn''t someone you can handle alone."


    In reality, this was just an excuse David made on the spot. The reason he didn''t choose to leave earlier was that the allure of the skeletal zombie was too strong. He wanted to see what kind of crystallization it could yield. That''s why he decided to stay.


    Duane raised an eyebrow in response, then quickly turned his gaze to the zombie. He then said to David, "You should have left. Those were just small ants. This is the most troublesome opponent." A bitter smile appeared on his face for an instant.

 Chapter 155 Puppet

    ?


    David remained nomittal regarding Duane''s words. Staying here with Duane was purely suicidal. However, the rewards of killing the skeletal zombie and his curiosity about Duane''s treasure trove made David itch with anticipation. What kind of esper was Duane exactly?


    Based on the current situation, David believed that Duane must have awakened as a metal-type esper. This would exin why his control over metal was significantly stronger than that of an ordinary esper. When David corroded one of his daggers using his corrosion ability, Duane simply picked up a piece of scrap metal and reshaped it into the form of a dagger using his telekinesis. Although not as good as his previous Adamantium dagger, it still appeared incredibly sharp and emitted a cold gleam.


    This made David decide to stay and observe. Perhaps this person could be his next ally. So David said to Duane, "Since we''ve encountered it, there''s no reason to leave. How about we have a littlepetition and see who can kill this zombie first?"


    After speaking, David smiled slightly at Duane and immediately manifested his Spatial des in his hands. The next second, he raised the dual des and rushed towards the skeletal zombie. A surge of overwhelming battle intent raged within him, to the point that Duane couldn''t react in time and only saw David whisk past him like the wind.


    "Impressive!" Duane couldn''t help but marvel and a hint of excitement appeared on his face. It was a joy to fight alongside a powerful warrior and truly experience the thrill of battle. He gripped the machete and steel dagger in his hands, following David as they charged towards the skeletal zombie.


    In the blink of an eye, David arrived in front of the skeletal zombie. He swiftly swung his Spatial des, aiming for its neck with a ferocious strike. The Spatial des erupted with an ethereal and elusive trajectory, appearing faintly in the void, while the de emanated a chilling light. Meanwhile, the skeletal zombie had already entered an undying battle state.


    At the moment David raised his Spatial des, the zombie burst into madughter and swung its bone knife to parry the attack. The Spatial des shed with the bone knife, causing space to distort suddenly, apanied by faint explosive sounds.


    David wasn''t surprised by this turn of events. He had only used one-third of his strength with that strike. He simply wanted to assess the opponent''s abilities and whether they were worthy of the title of abat zombie. After this strike, the skeletal zombie seemed to enter a fanaticalbat mode. It forcefully pressed down its bone knife and suddenly stepped forward, trying to corner David in the corner of the factory.


    With a light leap backward, David created some distance between himself and the zombie. He understood the zombie''s strategy, attempting to force him into a corner to gain the upper hand. But David wouldn''t let it seed so easily. He employed a "dog walking" tactic, retreating while enticing the zombie to chase after him.


    The bone knife in the hands of the skeletal zombie unleashed swift and fierce attacks, aimed at David''s vital points. However, every single strike was effortlessly resolved by David. Watching the zombie''s desperate efforts, David couldn''t help but shake his head.


    Just then, Duane finally caught up. Observing the skeletal zombie''s relentless swings of the bone knife, he didn''t hesitate. He immediately used his machete to perform a "Mount  Splitting" move directly towards the zombie.


    "Beast, don''t be so arrogant, go to hell!" With a furious roar, Duane''s machete emitted a resounding ng. The skeletal zombie realized the danger and quickly turned its head to face Duane. But instead of evading, it altered the trajectory of its bone knife in a sinister manner, aiming directly for Duane''s airborne body.


    "damn! This guy is so damn cunning!" Duane eximed as he saw the bone de approaching. His heart tightened, and he quickly had to retract his Ironbreaker sword. While sheathing the sword, he crouched down and leaped into the air. The bone de of the skeletal zombie grazed his scalp closely.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Duane was instantly drenched in cold sweat from the fright. He didn''t expect the strength of this guy to be even more terrifying than the legends. He was stronger than some awakened esper abilities. As hended, the skeletal zombie ceased its attack on David and charged towards Duane instead.


    This made David stop in his tracks, standing there with an amused expression, observing their battle with interest.


    The skeletal zombie''s fighting spirit remained fierce, and its bone de became increasingly ferocious. Each strike pushed Duane to the point of barely being able to defend himself. Just as Duane executed a carp jump to narrowly evade a "ground-sweeping sh" from the skeletal zombie, he turned his head and nced at David.


    Seeing David standing there, watching the show, Duane couldn''t help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Good Lord! I''m here, in a miserable state, being beaten up by this animal. And there you are, savoring the spectacle?


    Helpless, after another somersault, Duane promptly opened the ck iron box from his pocket again and quickly reached inside with his right hand. He pulled out a straw man about the size of a palm.


    "Oh? Another treasure?" David remarked, even more intrigued now.


    Duane held the straw man in his hand, bit his finger again, and then dropped his fresh blood into the heart cavity of the straw man.


    "Serve my purpose!" Afterpleting these actions, Duane solemnly uttered these  words, and decisively threw the straw man in front of the skeletal zombie.


    Instantly, the palm-sized straw man rapidly expanded. In the blink of an eye, it grew to the size of a full-grown adult. The transformed straw man rushed forward, confronting the skeletal zombie''s attacks, engaging in a fierce battle. This finally gave Duane a moment to catch his breath.


    "Puppet?" David suddenly spoke as he watched the straw man fiercely fighting against the skeletal zombie. He didn''t expect that Duane''s treasure trove would still have this kind of treasure. The so-called Body Puppet was when an esper could summon objects to act as their puppets to aid them inbat. The strength of the summoned puppet varied based on the summoner''s level of power.


    In his previous life, David had seen some espers summon small animals like cats, dogs, or weasels as their body puppets. However, this was the first time he had seen someone like Duane summon a straw man that could expand in size.


    "This guy is a living treasure trove!" David couldn''t help but exim, watching the straw man. At the same time, he secretly made up his mind. He was determined to take away two treasures from Duane today, considering them as gifts for staying behind to fight alongside him.

 Chapter 156 What Is This Operation?

    ?


    The puppet straw man summoned by Duane continued to fight the zombie fiercely. Although it managed to withstand the bone de attacks, David could clearly see that its defense was strained.


    After all, Duane was only at Level 5, which meant the strength of the straw man was at most Level 5 as well. However, this Level 5 strength was quite mediocre, and the straw mancked intelligence. On the other hand, the skeletal zombie''sbat power was astonishing, making them clearly mismatched opponents.


    Duane was well aware of this. Taking advantage of the time the straw man in its battle with the skeletal zombie, he approached David.


    "The straw man won''tst much longer. We need to find a way to deal with it quickly. I don''t want to waste another one of my treasures," Duane said with a tinge of sadness. He had already destroyed a golden bell, and if the straw man was destroyed as well, it would be a bloody loss for him. These treasures were hard-earned in this post-apocalyptic world, and not only were they powerful, but they were also incredibly rare.


    Listening to Duane''s words, David nodded. He had been observing the skeletal zombie''s attack patterns. He noticed that it onlyunched attacks against one person at a time. This meant that there would always be one person in a spectator role. He acknowledged that the skeletal zombie''sbat power was formidable for a regr esper, but in doing so, it exposed its own weaknesses in the process.


    So, David pondered for a moment and said to Duane, "I''ll engage it head-on, and you look for an opportunity to support." Hearing David''s words, Duane was momentarily taken aback. Him engaging the skeletal zombie head-on? He admitted that the young man before him was strong, but the opponent was an undyingbat-oriented zombie. Not to mention the strength alone, the never-ending battle was enough to exhaust anyone. That''s why he chose to summon the straw man as a substitute.


    Duane expressed his concerns to David, "The strength of the skeletal zombie should not be underestimated. Can you handle it?"


    David smiled faintly. "When ites to survival, even if I can''t, I have to give it a try. Haven''t we all survived like that? Isn''t that right?" After speaking, David walked towards the skeletal zombie without hesitation. Observing the determined figure of the young man, Duane couldn''t help but be amazed. In that moment, he seemed to see the silhouette of a savior in the apocalypse. He quickly became extremely cautious, tightly gripping his Iron breaker sword, and waiting for David''smand.


    Soon, after the straw man blocked one attack from the zombie''s bone de, it could no longer withstand the pressure and instantly shrank back to its original size, falling to the ground. However, the skeletal zombie''s fighting spirit remained high, and it swung its de towards the motionless straw man on the ground.


    This instantly pained Duane''s heart. He had intended to step forward and snatch his treasure from the skeletal zombie''s de. But as soon as he took a step forward, he saw David rush forward like a beam of light.


    "ng!" The spatial de in David''s hand collided with the skeletal zombie''s bone de. Then, David picked up the straw man, swiftly stuffed it into his pocket, and only then did Duane breathe a sigh of relief.


    David then spun his alloy dagger in his left hand, swiping its de across the ribs of the skeletal zombie. "sh!" A piercing sound instantly resounded as the alloy dagger left several scars on the exposed ribs of the zombie. Enraged by the strike, the zombie forcefully thrust its left arm towards David''s arm.


    A smirk appeared on David''s lips as he decisively let go of the alloy dagger in his hand, assuming a stance to catch the iing arm of the skeletal zombie. Instantly, the tremendous force unleashed by the zombie was effortlessly neutralized by David.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "What an immense power!" Duane, who was observing from the side, couldn''t help but exim. At this moment, David raised his head and locked eyes with the skeletal zombie, which seemed to be filled with mockery and disdain within its empty eye sockets.


    David''s lips curled up slightly, and he whispered two words, "Corrosion!" As soon as the words left his mouth, a fierce malevolent aura burst forth from his palm, instantly enveloping the zombie''s arm.


    In the next second, David saw a drop of white liquid trickle out from between his fingers. The corrosive ability that could melt Duane''s iron dagger ,effortlessly entangled in the zombie''s bones.


    The skeletal zombie seemed to feel pain and immediately let out an angry roar. It swung its bone de with its right hand once again, aiming for David''s skull. David activated the portal of space, instantly appearing behind the skeletal zombie.


    "Boom!" The bone de in the skeletal zombie''s hand struck the abandonedthe nearby, producing a loud rumbling sound. Seeing that its attack had missed, the zombie quickly pulled out its bone de and charged at David from behind. Compared to before, its speed and strength had noticeably increased, possibly due to anger.


    Meanwhile, David calmly used the portals of space to shuttle back and forth. As a Level 7 esper, he could easily overpower everything in this area. However, he wasn''t in a hurry; he wanted to see the true strength of the skeletal zombie. Undyingbat? A fighting zombie? David considered them all rubbish.


    Watching David disappear and reappear through the portals of space, Duane nodded in astonishment. He had already been conquered by the young man''s strength.


    At this moment, the skeletal zombie fiercely swung its de at David once again. However, this time, David didn''t dodge but instead, after activating the portal of space, he moved the portal right in front of the skeletal zombie. It immediately plunged into the portal, charging forward. After a spatial fluctuation, the zombie suddenly appeared in another part of the factory.


    Watching as half of the zombie''s body was exposed, David smiled faintly and decisively pulled out a high-explosive grenade from the storage system. He didn''t want to waste too much time here anymore.


    "ng!" David pulled the pin of the high-explosive grenade and unhesitatingly threw it towards the zombie. Duane, witnessing the grenade rapidly flying towards the skeletal zombie, was stunned in ce.


    "A grenade? This guy is using a grenade to st the zombie? What kind of move is this!" In the midst of Duane''s astonished gaze, the entire body of the skeletal zombie emerged from the portal of space, and the high-explosive grenade happened tond on its head.

 Chapter 157 Weakness

    ?


    The high-explosive grenade spun in the air, and the white smoke swirled like a rotating windmill. The skeletal zombie slowly lifted its head, its hollow eyes curious as it stared at the grenade.


    Then, in the next second, "Boom!" A deafening explosion instantly resounded! The intense st shook the entire abandoned factory, causing the discardedthe to tremble violently, raisingyers of dust. Duane quickly took cover behind an iron rack, attempting to avoid the powerful shockwave.


    After a moment, the abandoned factory returned to silence, and the smell of gunpowder in the air gradually dissipated, leaving only a faint white smoke floating in the air.


    "Is it resolved?" Duane cautiously poked his head out from behind the iron rack, gazing intently. At the same time, David was also looking, his face disying a rxed expression as the dense fog slowly dissipated. He was well aware of the power of the high-explosive grenade, which would undoubtedly cause significant damage to the zombie.


    Just then, a deep growl emanated from within the smoke. "Roar! Roar!" Duane was instantly startled. Following that, the skeletal zombie slowly emerged from the smoke. However, this time, one of its arms had been blown off by the high-explosive grenade, and only half of its skull remained, while its ribcage had been almostpletely shattered, leaving behind only bone fragments.


    Duane couldn''t help but gasp in disbelief. He never expected this creature to possess such tenacious vitality. It had been directly hit by a high-explosive grenade, yet it was still able to survive.


    Meanwhile, David merely raised an eyebrow, seemingly thinking that the high-explosive grenade had forced the skeletal zombie to reveal its true strength. When facing other zombies, as soon as the high-explosive grenade appeared, the battle would immediately end. Who would have thought that the skeletal zombie could withstand it?


    Following the principle of seizing the opportunity, David decisively drew his spatial de and charged towards the skeletal zombie. He knew that the current zombie''s strength should have significantly declinedpared to before. However, as soon as he approached the zombie, he made an unexpected discovery.


    The skeletal zombie seemed to have undergone a mutation during the explosion. Its bones were covered with a protectiveyer, emitting a metallic glow when seen up close. Moreover, its aura had be particrly domineering,pletely different from before.


    "Indeed, it has be stronger." David became slightly more interested and swung his spatial de at it without hesitation. A crisp collision instantly reverberated throughout the abandoned factory.


    David''s strikended forcefully on the skeletal zombie''s neck, but it didn''t seem to have much effect, only creating a shower of sparks.


    "The defense is so formidable!" Duane couldn''t help but exim. Meanwhile, the skeletal zombie began to move once again. It grabbed hold of David''s spatial de and forcefully flung him into the air. David floated in mid-air as the zombie let out a "hehe"ugh. Then, with a powerful push from its legs, the zombie charged towards David in mid-air.


    "Oh no!" Duane inwardly cursed upon seeing the situation and quickly wanted to rush up to help. However, David remained calm and slowly opened a spatial portal. Just as the skeletal zombie''s fist was about to make contact with him, he disappeared in the air using the spatial portal.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Afternding, David didn''t hesitate and took out a Desert Eagle from the warehouse system. He fiercely pulled the trigger, firing the gun at the airborne skeletal zombie.


    "Bang!" The sound of firing pins hitting echoed as 11.43mm bullets rained down on the skeletal zombie like a storm. However, these bullets, upon impact with the zombie, only created dazzling sparks before being deflected in various directions.


    However, at the same time, David also discovered some weaknesses in the skeletal zombie. He noticed that although the entire skeletal structure of the zombie was covered in a metallic shield, there were still some exposed areas. When the bullets hit these parts, they instantly shattered the bones, causing the zombie to twist in pain.


    "It''s time to end this," David said softly. While the skeletal zombie was still in mid-air, he said to Duane, who was nearby, "I''ll leave the metal shield on its body to you." He said this because David knew that Duane awakened the ability to manipte metal, allowing him to produce a series of reactions with metal.


    Upon hearing David''s words, Duane immediately stepped out from behind the iron rack and looked at the skeletal zombie in the air, a faint smile appearing on his lips. In today''s battle, he had only used his treasure trove, and he hadn''t fully demonstrated his metal maniption ability to David yet. He knew he couldn''t hide it any longer. He raised his right hand and made a strange gesture toward the body of the skeletal zombie.


    Suddenly, Duane shouted out loudly! Immediately, David saw a white smoke billowing up from the skeletal zombie''s body. Then, ck liquid quickly flowed out from its skeletal frame. It was evident that Duane had used his ability to melt the metal shield on its body.


    Seeing this, David didn''t hesitate. He directly took out a heavy machine gun from the warehouse system and aimed it at the now defenseless zombie. He decisively pulled the trigger!


    "Da-da-da!" The heavy machine gun spewed blue mes, and bullets rained down upon the skeletal zombie like a storm.


    The skeletal zombie instantly let out a painful howl. Its entire body writhed violently, and its bones began to shatter and fall apart under the barrage of bullets.


    Watching David wielding the heavy machine gun with a fierce expression, Duane''s mouth hung open in shock. First, the high-explosive grenade, then the Desert Eagle, and now he pulled out a heavy machine gun? Wasn''t this guy a walking arsenal?


    Duane was dumbfounded by David''s audacity. The heavy machine gun continued to pour out bullets, each one urately hitting the zombie''s body. In no time, the heavy machine gun emptied its magazine of a thousand rounds. Setting down the heavy machine gun, David looked up at the skeletal zombie. Its body showed no signs of movement anymore, and it quickly fell from mid-air with a "boom," its fragmented bones scattering all over the ground.


    David approached the skeletal zombie and found that it had already lost any signs of life. It was clearly dead. At this moment, Duane also arrived by its side, shaking his head slightly as he looked at the mangled corpse.

 Chapter 158 Terrifying Level

    ?


    Duane paused and looked up at David. "You win," he said, his eyes filled with a hint of admiration. It was not an exaggeration to say that David was the most powerful esper he had encountered in the apocalypse. He epted his defeat wholeheartedly.


    But David didn''t really care about Duane admitting defeat. He had approached this with a yful attitude and didn''t take the oue to heart. After all, in his view, he would always be the ultimate winner.


    "In the apocalypse, there is no winning or losing. Being able to survive is the greatest victory," David said slowly to Duane. Hearing this, Duane nodded in agreement. He acknowledged that David was right.


    At that moment, the mechanical voice of the system suddenly sounded in David''s ears.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for obtaining a high-grade crystal!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundred-fold critical hit!]


    [Congrattions to the host for obtaining one hundred high-grade crystals!]


    Hearing the system''s voice, David smiled slightly. One hundred high-grade crystals meant that he hadn''t stayed here in vain. He already had a considerable number of high-grade crystals stored in his warehouse, but David felt that if he wanted to survive in this world, he had to seize every opportunity to acquire crystals. Only with sufficient resources would the hope of survival be greater.


    But before David could fully enjoy his happiness, the system''s voice sounded again in his ears.


    [Ding! Host detected killing of a zombie, acquired zombie ability - Skeletal Enhancement!]


    Huh? Skeletal Enhancement? Hearing this voice, David couldn''t help but be stunned. He hadn''t expected any other gains besides high-grade crystals. A faint smile once again appeared on his lips.


    Naturally, Duane had no idea about David''s unexpected gains. He looked at the remains of the skeletal zombie and said slowly, "Since the Second Red Light appeared, there have been more high-level zombies in the world. These zombies are different from regr high-level ones; they possess strength, speed, intelligence, and even absolute defense. That''s why I wanted to investigate the Second Red Light."


    David naturally understood Duane''s words. He had encountered intelligent zombies and titan zombies. Today, he had killed a skeletal zombie. The world seemed to be more and more bizarre after the Second Red Light. Like Duane, he was also trying to find the reason behind it, but so far, they hadn''t made any progress.


    "However strange this world bes, we survivors are still the masters of this world. Instead of specting here, it''s better to go home and improve our strength," David said, preparing to leave. He couldn''t wait to return to the new ability he had recently acquired within the base.


    Seeing David about to leave, Duane quickly called him and reached out his hand.


    "What?" David pretended to act as if he didn''t know what Duane was talking about.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Give me back my scarecrow. It was something I had worked hard to obtain," Duane said, his expression showing a hint of sadness as he remembered the shattered golden bell. Those treasures were his hard work and his guarantee of survival in the apocalypse.


    Seeing this, David simply resorted to being mischievous. "What scarecrow? I didn''t see anything. Don''t use me falsely," he said, ignoring Duane''s bewildered expression, turning around, and swiftly leaving the factory.


    "What... what just happened?" Duane looked at the suddenly disappearing David and stood there in shock. After a moment, he finally reacted and realized that his precious scarecrow had probably been taken by that guy. It made Duane''s mouth twitch, feeling a pang of pain.


    "This guy... he''s really cunning! Isn''t this straight-up robbery?" Duane couldn''t help but hold his treasure chest tightly, afraid that David might suddenly reappear and loot him again.


    "Alvin, is this the gift you gave to that kid? It seems like you''re not very interested in the position of Phoenix Rising squad leader," Alvin stood in the courtyard, leaning on his dragon-headed cane, while Alexander''s voice came through from the void. There was obvious anger in his voice.


    Alvin slightly closed his eyes, a hint of shame on his weathered face. He hadn''t expected Duane and that kid to be able to kill the skeletal zombie. It had cost him one hundred high-grade crystals to summon that high-level zombie, and yet it was resolved so quickly by the two of them?


    "Alexander, that kid''s strength is at least Level 7 or above; otherwise, he wouldn''t stand a chance against the skeletal zombie," Alvin pondered and said.


    Alvin knew that the strength of the skeletal zombie wasparable to that of a Level 6 esper. If it had only been Duane, a Level 5 esper, he wouldn''t have been a match for the zombie at all. The reason they were able to kill it was because David''s strength surpassed that of the skeletal zombie. This surprised Alvin as well.


    "Oh? Is that your excuse for failure? You should know that I''m not someone who likes to hear excuses," Alexander''s voice rang out, and suddenly, a red lightning bolt shed across the sky! The red lightning coiled through the clouds like a dragon, as if it wanted to tear the sky apart. The two high-level zombies chained at the entrance became incredibly furious upon hearing the thunderous sound. They struggled against the chains, roaring angrily.


    Seeing this, Alvin felt a pang of anxiety. Although he had never seen Alexander''s true form, he was well aware of his ruthless methods. So Alvin quickly bent down and said, "Give me three days, and I will give you a satisfactory answer, Alexander." As he spoke, he tightly gripped the dragon-headed cane in his hand, and his body trembled slightly.


    At some point, the two high-level zombies at the entrance broke free from their chains and were now surrounding him, scrutinizing his every move. The stench of rotting flesh and their incredibly violent and malevolent aura immediately made Alvin realize that their level was likely above Level 8, making them terrifying zombies! This made him even more nervous, afraid that he might say something wrong and anger Alexander. In that case, he would be a meal for these two zombies.


    "My patience is limited. I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer in three days. If you mess up again..." Alexander paused, seemingly emitting a faintughter.


    This caused the two zombies beside Alvin to open their bloody mouths wide, revealing long, jagged teeth right in front of his eyes. It seemed like they could easily devour him with a single bite.


    "Alexander, rest assured, I won''t disappoint you this time." Alvin Suppressing the fear in his heart, quickly reassured him.

 Chapter 159 Mandy

    ?


    "It''s good that you understand!" Alexander sneered coldly, and a gust of wind blew through. The two zombies returned to their chains at the entrance, and the red lightning in the sky slowly dissipated within the clouds.


    After realizing that the surroundings had be silent, Alvin finally let out a heavy sigh of relief. The palm of his right hand, which was gripping the dragon-headed cane, was soaked with sweat. Every time Alexander appeared, he could feel a terrifying sense of oppression. That''s why he willingly became Alexander''s puppet in the apocalypse, not just for the position of Phoenix Rising squad leader, but also because of Alexander''s terrifying power that was shrouded in mystery.


    As someone who understood the rules of survival in the apocalypse, Alvin decisively chose to attach himself to Alexander. He looked up at the distant sky, and suddenly, a sharp light gleamed in his eyes. An eerie aura slowly enveloped the dragon-headed cane in his hand.


    "I want to see how capable you really are this time!" Alvin viciously smashed the cane into the ground, causing the stone pavement to instantly crack and a loud rumble to echo. Then, Alvin turned around and walked out of the courtyard, slowly disappearing into the white mist.


    "Hmph! What a useless old man! If it weren''t for the fact that you still have some value, I would have fed you to my two pets already!" A young man in the void looked at Alvin''s disappearing figure and sneered. Afterward, he casually picked up a floating potato chip.


    He shook it and realized it was empty, which made him feel even more disappointed. "Forget it, forget it. I''ll enjoy a feast of potato chips after that guy is taken care of." After saying that, the man lightly swiped his finger, and a rift suddenly appeared in the void. A woman''s voice immediately came through the gap...


    Back at the base, several members of the Embers squad were anxiously pacing inside the house. When they saw David return unharmed, the worry on their faces disappeared.


    Sally quickly approached with a concerned expression and asked, "Why are you back sote? Everyone was worried about you."


    David reached out and rubbed Sally''s head, smiling as he replied, "I got dyed with something, that''s why I came backte."


    Arnold also stepped forward and asked, "David, did you deal with that bastard?" David nodded in response.


    With that, everyone finally felt relieved. After briefly discussing some other matters, David retreated to his room to study the Bone Enhancement ability.


    As David focused his mind, a heavy and profound aura instantly rushed into his body from all directions. Feeling this iron-like aura, David''s mind calmed down, as if he was enveloped in a thick armor.


    At the same time, David could feel a faint "cracking" sound emanating from every inch of his bones. Then, a cool sensation, as if his bones were wrapped in metal, spread over his skeleton. After about three minutes, this cool sensation slowly dissipated.


    David slowly opened his eyes and heard the voice of the system.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for strengthening the bones throughout the body!]


    David lifted his arm and moved his body, and sure enough, he could clearly feel his bones, like strands of steel. Even when his joints moved, he could sense a tight and solid sensation.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "It truly is the ability of a high-level zombie. It has enhanced the defense of my bones!" David eximed with excitement. With this enhancement, his defensive ability as an esper had been further sublimated, and even a faintyer of metal coating appeared on his skin, just like the bone armor of the skeletal zombie he encountered earlier.


    David never expected to have such an unexpected gain today. At the same time,He also found  the straw man he had snatched from Duane''s grasp in his own hands. After taking it out, David carefully examined it. The small straw doll, about the size of a palm, had facial features drawn with red cinnabar ink, and two straw-made ponytails on its head, vividly depicting the image of a little girl.


    This made David somewhat disdainful of Duane. Such a beautiful little girl buried in his hands was truly a precious treasure. Thinking of Duane''s actions earlier, David followed suit and bit his finger, dripping a drop of blood onto the straw doll''s body.


    Suddenly, the straw doll trembled violently and then bounced on the ground, once again turning into the size of an adult. Its facial features also became lively, constantly tilting its head to observe David in front of it. Seeing its cute and endearing appearance, David couldn''t help but smile. He originally thought that this treasure only recognized Duane, but now he found out that it could also be bound by his blood.


    Looking at the straw doll''s tilted head, David thought for a moment and said to it, "From now on, you''ll be my substitute puppet. Let''s give you a name... Mandy!"


    Upon hearing the name Mandy, the straw doll''s ponytails suddenly shook, and then it looked at David, tilting its head in another direction. Apparently, it was quite satisfied with the name. This action surprised David. He didn''t expect that it could understand his words. Could it also have some intelligence?


    So David threw the TV remote control beside him onto the ground and said to Mandy, "Pick up the remote control."


    Upon hearing David''smand, Mandy''s body stiffened for a moment before slowly turning to look at the remote control on the ground. Then, it bent down, picked it up, and ced it in David''s hand.


    This immediately filled David with excitement. At the same time, he realized that it was probably because of his own level that he possessed a bit of human consciousness. And as for his strength, it would also increase along with his level.


    David nodded in satisfaction as he looked at Mandy. He thenmanded it to return to its original size and put it back into his embrace. Although he took this treasure from Duane, he didn''t feel guilty at all. After all, he saved that guy''s life, so it wasn''t excessive to take some treasures from him, right?


    Besides, Duane''s treasure trove was filled with countless items, and the absence of one wouldn''t have any impact on him. With this in mind, David epted Mandy as his treasure with a clear conscience.


    If Duane knew what David was thinking at this moment, he would probably want to bring out all his treasures and give David a proper lesson.


    Davidy on the bed, recalling everything that happened today. He realized that he wasn''t the only one curious about the Second Red Light; there were others searching for the underlyingws of the apocalypse. This made him aware of the importance of strength. If his strength wasn''t formidable enough, he might find himself in a passive situation in the uing apocalypse.


    Therefore, David secretly made up his mind to further improve his strength. Only by doing so could he continue to secure his ce in the unknownws of the apocalypse.

 Chapter 160 Someone Got Here Ahead Of Me?

    ?


    "Strange, why are men always so secretive, disappearing without a word?"  Monica wandered around the base in search of Abraham and Danny''s figures, but she couldn''t find them anywhere, which made herin.


    Ever since the second red light appeared, Abraham and Danny would inexplicably disappear for a while, leaving Monica puzzled.


    Just then, Danny walked in through the door.  "You called me?" he asked, pushing his sses up while looking at Monica.


    "Where have you been?  Why didn''t you tell me?"  Monica asked, hands on her hips, with a hint of unhappiness on her fair cheeks.


    Danny scratched his head and chuckled.  "I just went out to clear my mind.  Being cooped up in the base all day can drive you crazy.  By the way, where''s Abraham?  Haven''t seen him around," Danny asked, looking at the empty bamboo chair in the room.


    "Sigh, who knows.  It''s already noon, and Abraham hasn''t returned.  I''m worried something might have happened," Monica expressed her concerns.


    Danny pondered for a moment and shook his head.  "Abraham is capable, he can handle ordinary low-level zombies without a problem.  Besides, he must have had a reason for going out, maybe to clear his mind too."  Saying that, Danny sat down on the sofa and instinctively reached for something with his right hand, but as if suddenly remembering something, he smirked and pulled his hand back.


    "Don''t worry, I went out to observe just now, and the streets are filled with low-level zombies, no high-level ones at all.  So Abraham won''t encounter any danger," Danny reassured Monica, finally putting her at ease.


    As the apocalypse grew more and more mysterious, their survival team had to ensure the safety of every member.  Otherwise, if they ended up as a small, powerless team, Monica would be in for a hard time.


    After a pause, Monica said to Danny, "I envy David''s team.  They not only have an abundance of resources but also an apocalypse vehicle.  Unlike us, our most powerful weapon is bought from others.  If this continues, we might as well rename our team the ''Leg-Hugging Team.''  Maybe we can join David''s team and increase our chances of surviving the apocalypse."


    With these words, a hint of envy appeared on Monica''s face.  When Danny heard this, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, but quickly rxed.  He continued to smile and said to Monica, "What''s this?  Our little princess misses David?  Should I go talk to him and reserve a spot for you?"


    "You''re talking nonsense, absolutely not!"  Monica retorted, and Danny''s words immediately made her blush.


    Ignoring it, Danny turned his head and looked out the window.  Faintly, a faint shimmer shed behind his lenses.


    Meanwhile, inside the dpidated building''sboratory, after Abraham opened theboratory door, he immediately sensed an unfamiliar scent.  It seemed like someone had been here.  This immediately put him on high alert as he carefully examined every corner of theboratory.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    When Abraham realized there was no one else present, he approached the operating table.  On ity the same zombie corpse.  As he looked at the body, he let out a silent sigh.  ording to his spection, arge number of high-level zombies had entered this apocalypse after the second red light, making their team''s situation increasingly dangerous.


    Even though they had acquired firearms from David, they could only withstand the threat temporarily and couldn''t defend themselves for a long time.  If they wanted to truly protect themselves in the uing dangers, the best way was to improve their own level of strength.


    Looking at the zombie corpse on the operating table, Abraham knew it was his only option.  Today, no matter what, he had to extract the energy from the corpse.  He ced his hands on the body and closed his eyes, carefully sensing the surging energy within.


    "Hmm?  What''s going on!"  Abraham suddenly opened his eyes, surprised, and then furrowed his brows.  During the energy sensing process just now, he discovered that there was no trace of energy fluctuation inside the zombie''s body.  He thought maybe his psychic power wasn''t urate enough, so he quickly sensed again, but the result remained the same.


    This made Abraham''s expression immediately turn serious.  In the previous attempts, he could clearly sense the surge of energy, but this time, there was no trace at all.


    "Could it be...  someone got here ahead of me?"  Abraham recalled the unfamiliar scent in theboratory earlier and couldn''t help but be shocked.  This was the zombie secret he had painstakingly uncovered, how could someone else know about it?  What''s more, the energy within the zombie''s body, though abundant, was extremely difficult to extract.  He had tried five or six times without sess, but now it had been taken by a stranger.  This truly surprised him.


    Various figures shed through Abraham''s mind, but he quickly dismissed them.  Finally, he thought of one person¡ªDavid.  Although he hadn''t met David many times, he knew from Monica that he was exceptionally powerful, especially awakening spatial abilities that allowed him to traverse through space.  In that case, it was very likely that David had crossed the obstacles and entered theboratory.


    "This young man is indeed formidable.  He was able to extract the energy from the corpse so cleanly," Abraham eximed.  He didn''t hold any ill will towards David, but he believed that this energy should have been used by his own team.


    In the apocalypse, the possession of resources determined the strength of a team.  Every team would go to great lengths to acquire all the supplies, and energy naturally fell within their targets.


    Looking at the now valueless corpse, Abraham felt a sense of regret.  However, a thought urred to him¡ªhe could use this opportunity to get to know David.  Sometimes,munication between teams could be a means of acquiring resources, and there might be unexpected gains.  So he quickly left theboratory and hurried back to the base before it got dark.


    Monica remained by the window, watching the sunset and waiting for Abraham to return.  When she saw Abraham''s figure entering through the door, she breathed a sigh of relief.  Seeing Monica, who seemed slightly exhausted, Abraham smiled apologetically and exined that he had just gone out to get some fresh air.  This made Monica wonder why men liked to go out for fresh air for no reason.


    "What about Danny?"  Abraham didn''t see Danny''s figure and asked.


    "That guy just came back not long ago, I guess he''s probably already asleep by now."  Hearing that Danny had just returned, Abraham instinctively looked towards the door of his bedroom.  Sensing the calm atmosphere inside, Abrahamy back on the bamboo chair and closed his eyes to rest.

 Chapter 161 Gold Base

    ?


    After returning to the base, Duane reflected on the recent battle.   He was increasingly sensing the changes in thews of this world, which led to more high-level zombies appearing.   This unexinable sense of crisis furrowed Duane''s brow.


    He had initially thought that finding David would solve the mystery of the second red light, but to his surprise, David was just like him¡ªa survivor searching for answers.   This left Duanepletely clueless.


    Shirley sat in front of the monitoring screens and became puzzled as she watched one of the screens.   Suddenly, a red lightning bolt struck down from the clouds, creating an eerie sight.


    "Red lightning?"   Shirley couldn''t help but mutter.   Hearing Shirley''s voice, Duane quickly walked over.


    "Captain, why would there be red lightning?   Could it be rted to the second red light?"   Shirley asked, confused.


    As they both looked at the winding red lightning, Duane was just as perplexed.   Even though this was the apocalypse, where strange phenomena were not umon, he had never seen lightning like this before.


    "Perhaps Alvin might know something.   Where is Alvin?"   Duane thought of the more experienced Alvin, but he couldn''t find him anywhere after searching around the base.


    Seeing this, Shirley said, "Alvin went out early in the morning to inspect the base in the northern district.   He should be back by now."   Checking the clock on the wall, it was already past five in the afternoon.   Just as she said that, they heard the sound of a cane striking the ground, and Alvin slowly walked in from outside.


    "It''s just a natural phenomenon, nothing to make a fuss about."   Alvin casually remarked, seemingly understanding Duane''s thoughts.   At the same time, he nced at the red lightning on the screen, a faint trace of coldness appearing on his face.


    Upon hearing Alvin''s words, Duane nodded and didn''t say anything more.   As an elder member of the Phoenix Rising team, Alvin had always earned Duane''s respect as the captain.   If it weren''t for Alvin stepping up when the previous captain sacrificed himself, the Phoenix Rising team might not have survived to this day.   After briefly ncing at the red lightning, Alvin returned to his own room.


    "It''s strange.   Alvin feels different today."   Watching Alvin close the door, Shirley muttered softly while fiddling with the cat essory on the hilt of her knife.


    Early in the morning, David woke up and, after a simple wash-up, headed outside while the others were still asleep.


    Looking at the silver-grade base, David decided to upgrade it to a gold-grade base.   There were five days left until the system mandated the transformation of the base into an apocalypse base.   Now, David realized that the rules of the apocalypse were changing, and the world was bing more mysterious in theter stages.   He had to seize the opportunity to fortify the team''s shelter.


    "System, upgrade the silver-grade base to a gold-grade base," David softly requested the system while standing in ce.


    [Ding!   Upgrading to a gold base requires forty defense system crystals!  ]


    [Detected that the host has fifty defense system crystals remaining!  ]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David nodded, and then the triangr defense system crystals appeared before him.   "Upgrade!"   David decisively said.


    [Ding!   Upgrading the base to a gold grade!  ]


    [Ding!   Congrattions to the host for upgrading the base to a gold-grade base!  ]


    Soon, the sound of the systempleting the upgrade rang in David''s ears.   As David looked at the base in front of him, he saw a sudden sh of golden light.   Then, that light quickly spread to every corner of the base, leaving a faint golden texture wherever it touched.


    David approached and knocked on the base with his hand, causing a heavy metallic sound to resonate.   Compared to the previous silver-grade base, the gold-grade base had be more formidable.   David took out the spatial de and swung it forcefully at the wall.


    "ng!"   Sparks flew, but David carefully observed and found no traces left on the wall.   Obviously, the defense had greatly improved.   Satisfied, David nodded.   This way, their team had a bit more reliance when facing stronger zombie attacks.


    In the apocalypse, the strength of survivors was crucial.   But even more important was the establishment of a shelter.   A shelter with strong defenses could protect survivors'' safety at any time.   That''s why David''s first priority after the previous base was destroyed was to find a new base.   Looking at the golden base before him, David suddenly noticed a faint golden defense coating on his bones and skin, which surprised him.


    "Is there a resonance?"   David suddenly realized that his bone reinforcement ability must have formed some kind of connection with the gold base, causing a resonance at this moment.   In other words, his physical defense should be on par with the gold base.


    After a brief thought, David once again swung the spatial de without hesitation, chopping down on his forearm.   Another metallic collision sound rang out, but the spatial de, upon touching David''s forearm, immediately rebounded back.   The golden coating on his forearm flowed like running water, perfectly shielding him from this "self-harm" attempt.


    "Not bad!"   David smiled with satisfaction.   This meant that his defense ability had made a breakthrough into a new stage.   Combined with his Level 7 rank and spatial ability, David felt that he could now protect himself in the apocalypse, but he didn''t stop there.


    Now as the captain of the Embers team, it was his responsibility to protect all the team members.   So his current level was still far from sufficient.   What''s more, he needed to help each team member improve their own level and strength.


    After circling around the golden base for a while, David gathered all the team members and continued with their outdoorbat training.   The difference this time was that he brought Little ck and C along, allowing these two little ones to participate and gain experience levels.


    With amand, Little ck leaped onto the war vehicle, excited to go out.   C, on the other hand, remained elegant, climbing into Sally''s arms and grooming its fur before casting a disdainful nce at the restless Little ck.


    David chuckled lightly at this and stepped on the elerator, driving out of the parking lot.   Along the way, they encountered scattered zombies, all of which were quickly dispatched by the team members.


    Soon, David drove the war vehicle to a ruined area of the city.   The wind blew with an eerie chill, There seemed to be a faint smell of decay in the air, instantly sharpening the team members'' focus.

 Chapter 162 The Eerie Old Man

    ?


    "This ce is strange," Charles got out of the car and looked at the ruins in front of him, furrowing his brows.


    David nodded, carefully sensing the chilling evil wind that whispered around his ears.   Unlike the winds in other ces, the malevolence in this wind was particrly heavy, as if it came from a pile of corpses.   David looked up and suddenly saw a low figure slowly emerging from a thick mist.


    "We have a situation!"   Arnold was the first to notice the figure and immediately joined Duke in surrounding Sophie.   David decisively drew out his alloy dagger, holding it tightly in his hand as he cautiously stared at the figure.   The figure continued to approach the group and soon emerged from the dense fog.


    As David looked closely, he realized that the figure was actually a hunched old man.   The old man had white hair, wore an outdated suit, and his face was filled with wrinkles like awork of ravines.   His old hands were covered with age spots, and his thick, elongated nails resembled eagle ws.


    At that moment, the old man stopped, slightly struggling to lift his head and gaze at the group.   "Cough, cough!"   After a momentary pause, the old man suddenly coughed twice, then looked at David and asked, "Young man, how do I get to the funeral parlor?"


    The old man''s voice was extremely hoarse, as if his throat had been wrapped in sandpaper, making it particrly ufortable to listen to.   After speaking, the old man stared at David with his murky and hollow eyes, seemingly filled with sorrow.


    Before David could respond, the old man took two more steps forward, sighed lightly, and continued, "My daughter was only eighteen years old, and she was bitten to death by zombies.   It''s not easy for a lonely old man like me to survive in this world.   To let her leave with dignity, I must take her to the funeral parlor.   It''s myst wish."


    "Cough, cough..."   The old man spoke as if there was no one else around, his coughing intermittently apanying his words.   While coughing, he slowly raised his palm to cover his mouth, as if afraid that the next second he would cough up blood from his body.


    Hearing the old man''s words, Sally instantly felt a wave ofpassion.   She didn''t expect to encounter such a pitiful survivor in the apocalypse.   The death of his only daughter must have caused immense pain to the elderly man.


    Having experienced various separations and farewells, Sally could no longer contain her inner sympathy and quickly said to him, "Old man, there is no funeral parlor here.   Let us see if there are other ways we can help you!"


    Upon hearing Sally''s words, the old man looked up at her again, seeming to ponder for a moment before saying, "You are kind-hearted people.   I thank you on behalf of my daughter.   Then, please follow me.   If we''re toote, my daughter''s body will start to decay."   Saying that, the old man coughed sadly twice, shook his head, and then turned to leave.


    Seeing this, Sally couldn''t help but take a step forward and follow him.   "Hold on!"   David quickly grabbed Sally''s hand and said in a deep voice. But Sally seemed to be under some sort of spell, attempting to break free from David''s grip.


    "Not good!"   Sensing something amiss with Sally, David immediately activated a void space and pushed Sally inside, preventing her from approaching the old man.


    David stared at the old man, his expression serious.   Meanwhile, the old man seemed to sense Sally''s halt, so he stood still, turned around, and looked at David.


    "Young man, won''t you help this old man?   I only have this one daughter, and now that she''s gone, I don''t have much time left either.   Grant me this one wish," the old man said, staring straight at David, seemingly waiting for his answer.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Old man, don''t y tricks here!   I advise you to leave right away, or..."   Arnold also noticed the strangeness of the old man and bluntly retorted.   However, before he could finish his sentence, the old man once again covered his mouth and coughed twice.   This time, Arnold stood frozen on the spot, mouth agape.


    "I know you''re kind-hearted, soe with me," the old man smiled at Arnold and spoke.


    Following that, Arnold, just like Sally, couldn''t help but take steps towards the old man.


    "Duke, stop Arnold!"  David quickly said to Duke.


    Upon hearing this, Duke immediately used shadow maniption and instantly bound Arnold''s shadow, keeping him in ce.  Despite that, Arnold continued to mechanically step in ce, hisplexion turning pale and devoid of color.


    "Hypnosis?"  David looked at Sally and Arnold, who were both standing still and stepping mechanically, and said with confusion.  He could clearly sense that both of them were in a hypnotic state, their bodies controlled by the old man.


    This made David''s expression even more serious.  He carefully observed the old man and noticed that he emitted not only a human aura but also a scent of decay.  Charles also noticed this and spoke, "Necromancer?"


    After a moment of contemtion, David shook his head.  The term "necromancer" referred to someone whose body was infused with a certain power, causing them to exist in a semi-dead state.  However, the old man in front of them, despite being slightly sluggish in his movements, showed no signs of being a corpse in his words or actions.  Even the scent of decay emanating from his body didn''t resemble the stench of a corpse.


    This immediately puzzled David, but the most important thing now was to find the source of the old man''s hypnotic technique.  Otherwise, their entire team might be helpless pawns in an instant.  He couldn''t afford to take that risk.  So, he carefully recalled every detail about the old man''s behavior: his speech, coughing, and the moment they were hypnotized.


    "I understand!"  David suddenly looked up at the old man, and his eyes emitted a piercing cold light.  The old man had been constantly asking questions, implying that he was waiting for their answers.


    As soon as Sally and Arnold responded to his questions, the old man coughed twice, and they were immediately hypnotized.  In other words, his method of hypnosis involved allowing the other person to respond to his questions, and then triggering the hypnosis through coughing,pletely putting the person into a hypnotic state.


    Realizing this, David quickly said to the three people beside him, "Don''t answer!  Don''t answer any of his questions!  That''s the trigger for his hypnosis!"


    Upon hearing David''s words, the three immediately closed their mouths and stared fixedly at the old man.  At that moment, David opened a void space, enveloping everyone inside, attempting to iste them from any external sounds.


    Seeing this, the old man hesitated for a moment, then a hint of anger appeared on his deeply wrinkled face.  He red at David with resentment in his eyes, and the veins on his forehead surged like coiling dragons.

 Chapter 163 Rotten Spider

    ?


    "Young man, I advise you to be sensible.   Ruining my n, not even a deity can save you!"   The old man''s demeanor suddenly turned extremely malicious, abandoning his previous kind and gentle attitude.


    Seeing the old man reveal his true nature, David decisively activated his Void des, judging from the aura.   He felt that this old man was not someone to be trifled with, probably at a simr level to him, around level seven.   However, the stench of decay emanating from him sent shivers down one''s spine.


    Without uttering a word, David turned his head to look at Sally and Arnold, only to find them still expressionless, stepping in ce just like before.


    "Charles, find a way to break his hypnosis!"   David said to Charles beside him.   He didn''t know how harmful the old man''s hypnosis was to the human mind.   If it caused mental intrusion, it would be troublesome.


    Charles nodded and began to trace the origin of the old man''s ability, attempting to find any trace or clue.


    Meanwhile, the old man, still hunched over, stared fixedly at David.   It seemed that David was an unforgivable sinner in his eyes.


    "It seems that you are truly an ignorant fellow!   Since that''s the case, I''ll make you regret appearing here!"   With those words, a peculiar sound suddenly emanated from the old man''s throat.   The next moment, his mouth opened extraordinarily wide, the muscles at the corners of his mouth tearing apart, revealing crimson flesh.


    Then, a horrifying scene unfolded before David''s eyes.   Countless spiders with strange patterns crawled out of the old man''s mouth like a tide.   Each spider was covered in a disgustingyer of mucus, and some even appeared rotten.


    Quickly, around a hundred spiders gathered at the old man''s feet, constantly wiping their sharp teeth and scrutinizing David and the others.


    Seeing this, David couldn''t help but feel a chill run down his spine.   He finally understood why the old man emitted that strange stench of decay.   It turned out that his body was infested with so many rotten spiders.


    At the same time, David recalled the slight movement of the old man covering his mouth while coughing earlier.   Presumably, he was afraid of revealing the presence of the parasitic spiders in his body, which would ruin his n.


    "This old man is truly sinister!"   Duke looked at the densely packed rotten spiders on the ground, and his body hair stood on end.


    "These are spiders in an extremely advanced stage of decay.   They have strong venom and are adept at parasitizing the human body, reproducing by consuming the organs."   Sophie looked at the decaying spiders and immediately spoke.


    David nodded, then looked at the old man again.   Now that his scheme had been exposed, David was no longer prepared to give him a chance to live.   He stepped out of the void space, holding his Void des and Alloy Dagger, and charged towards the old man.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Hahaha!   I''m an immortal survivor.   Let my spiders have some fun with you first!"   The old man''s mouth dripped with blood as he looked at David with a ferocious expression.   Then, the rotten spiders under his feet made a piercing sound and swarmed towards David.


    David knew that to deal with the old man, he had to first deal with this group of decaying spiders.   During his charge, he grabbed a high-explosive grenade from the warehouse.   After pulling the pin, he threw high-explosive directly at the decaying spiders.


    "Boom!"  A loud explosion suddenly rang out, and the dust on the ground rose more than ten meters high.  Using the Spatial Gate, David instantly appeared on a giant rock, observing the situation beneath the dust.  As the dust dispersed slowly under the blowing wind, the scene before David made him furrow his brows.


    He noticed that some of the decayed spiders, after being blown in half by the high-explosive grenade, actually regenerated into two separate spiders!  The original hundred-plus decayed spiders instantly multiplied by more than twice.  The expression on the old man''s face became even more twisted, and the blood dripping from the corners of his mouth had stained the ground beneath him.  With a smirk of amusement, he stared at David, lightly snapping his fingers in the air like a w.


    "Let my spiders indulge in ughter!"  Upon receiving the old man''smand, the swarm of spiders once again surged towards David, their momentum stronger than before.  The air was filled with a highly oppressive force.


    Instead of evading, David plunged into the swarm of spiders and began the ughter.  The Space de and Alloy Dagger in his hands continuously carved arcs in the air, each apanied by the sound of "crack" as the spiders shattered and the stench of their putrid blood.  Numerous decayed spiders were cleaved in half by David''s des, only to painfully struggle on the ground for a moment before splitting into twoplete entities and charging at David once more.


    In that instant, David understood that a frontal assault wasn''t a viable strategy;  it would only lead to more and more decayed spiders.  He looked towards the old man standing behind the swarm of spiders and deduced from what had transpired earlier that the old man possessed the ability to release the decaying spiders parasitically within his body.  However, hecked any offensive or defensive capabilities himself.  Otherwise, he wouldn''t have continuously maneuvered himself alongside the swarm of spiders to maintain a safe position.  The best course of action was to eliminate this instigator, the old man himself, as doing so would naturally disperse the decayed spiders.


    With this thought in mind, David shouted to Duke, "Deal with these spiders.  I''ll go meet that old man!  Remember not to kill them, lure them into the ruins!"


    Duke nodded in response and drew abat knife he had prepared for such training, charging directly into the swarm of spiders.  His extensivebat training allowed him to possess formidable close-quartersbat skills.


    At the same time, David nced at Charles, who was still tracing the origins of the hypnotic technique.  He then swiftly entered the Spatial Gate and headed straight for the old man.  When the old man saw David approaching, a flicker of fear shed across his eyes.  He opened his mouth again, and another wave of decayed spiders crawled out.


    David hadn''t expected that this man''s body harbored so many decayed spiders.  He put away his dual des and picked up a wooden stick from the rubble nearby, rushing forward.  The wooden stick whirled fiercely in David''s hands, every strike precisely hitting the decayed spiders and sending them flying dozens of meters away with tremendous force.  This not only denied the spiders the opportunity to divide but also cleared a path between him and the old man.


    As David closed in, the old man realized the danger approaching.  He hastily took two steps back and, with a malicious tone, said to David, "Lay a finger on me, and you will regret it!  My daughter will be here soon, and none of you will survive!"

 Chapter 164 Woman In A Red Robe

    ?


    A sinister smile reced the fear on the old man''s face.     Without hesitation, David''s alloy dagger gleamed!"Splurt!" A thick ck fluid sprayed from the old man''s neck.     His eyes widened as he stared at David, still wearing a chilling expression.


    "My daughter...     will kill...     all of you..."     The old man''s Adam''s apple moved as he mumbled incoherently.     The next second, his entire head rolled on the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.     Some of the decayed spiderlings emerged slowly from his body.


    At the same time, the hundreds of decayed spiders that had been entangled with Duke suddenly stopped their attack.     Each trembling spider emitted a piercing noise.     Then, their bodies suddenly exploded in a series of sts, and their organs sttered on the surrounding rubble.


    Clearly, there was a connection between these decayed spiders and the old man.     As soon as the source was eliminated, they immediately perished.     The air soon became filled with the pungent stench of decay, making it feel like standing among a heap of rotting flesh.


    Meanwhile, Charles, whose body had been suspended in the air, suddenlynded.     He opened his eyes, and a myriad of colorful stars shimmered in his gaze.


    "How about it, have you traced the method to break the hypnotic technique?"     David quickly asked.


    Charles nodded.     Using his celestial divination, he had traced some of the old man''s vague memories, capturing the means to shatter the hypnotic spell.     He walked up to Sally and Arnold, recalling the strange gesture of the old man in his mind, and slowly replicated it.


    With a loud shout from Charles, the two of them jolted!     Then, as if just waking up, they groggily opened their eyes.


    "David, where is that old bastard?     I want to kill him!"     Arnold, just awakened, clenched his fists and said fiercely.


    Sally, still with a frightened expression, recalled what had happened moments ago.     Obviously, they had only been hypnotized by the old man, while their consciousness remained awake.


    Seeing that Sally was only slightly shaken and unharmed, David felt relieved.     He turned to Arnold and said, "That guy has been taken care of."     Hearing David''s words, Arnold finally breathed a sigh of relief.


    At that moment, Charles furrowed his brow and wore a puzzled expression as he walked up to David.     He said, "When I was tracing the old man''s memories, I seemed to have glimpsed the shadow of a woman in a red robe.     It felt like she noticed me and kept coldly smiling at me."


    "A woman in a red robe?"     Charles''s words immediately heightened David''s attention.     He recalled that before he killed the old man, he had repeatedly mentioned his daughter seeking revenge.     Could this woman in the red robe be the old man''s daughter?     David spected.


    "Can you sense her level of strength?"     David asked Charles.


    Charles shook his head and said, "Her power is terrifying.     Just a single nce sent shivers down my spine.     If I hadn''t closed my eyes in time, I might have been crushed by her gaze alone."     Hearing Charles''s terrifying description, everyone felt a tinge of fear.     To be able to crush Charles within his celestial divination was truly a horrifying existence.


    David nodded, understanding that this woman in the red robe was a formidable individual, likely at least Level 7 or higher.     Without dwelling on it further, David prepared to lead the team out of this ce.     It was too dangerous here, and if that woman in the red robe appeared, David believed she would be a formidable opponent.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Just as they boarded the armored vehicle, a colder and more chilling gust of wind suddenly swept through!     Within this cold breeze, there was even a faint floral scent mixed with the lingering stench of decay, instantly making everyone tense.


    "Killing my father and thinking you can leave?     Well, then you can all stay as my dinner."     Suddenly!     A seductive voice emerged from the cold wind, followed by a vague red figure appearing before them.


    "Oh my god!     What is happening?"     Arnold was shocked by the sudden appearance.


    David didn''t hesitate and immediately stepped on the elerator.     The armored vehicle let out a deep roar and swiftly drove in the direction they came from.     In that voice from earlier, David distinctly felt an immensely formidable aura.     This allowed him to quickly determine that the neer was an eighth-level being.


    At the same time, David knew that the opponent was not human but a revenant.     In other words, she was an eighth-level revenant.     This made David extra cautious.


    In this apocalypse, reaching the eighth level as an esper was already a formidable existence.     Those at the tenth level or even god-level were like lords of the apocalypse!     However, to this day, David had not encountered an esper above the eighth level.     The god-level existed only in legends.


    Meanwhile, the level of revenants matched that of espers, and their strength naturally surpassed that of espers of the same level.     That was why, upon sensing this aura, David chose to leave.     The first rule of survival in the apocalypse was self-preservation.


    In David''s own words, it was about ensuring there were green mountains left, not fearing ack of firewood.     The armored vehicle continued to race forward, and the red figure slowly materialized in the thick mist.     It was the same red-robed woman that Charles had seen during his divination.     She gazed at the dismembered body of the deceased old man, her face filled with a tinge of sorrow.


    Then, she lifted her head and looked in the direction David had left, speaking fiercely, "Killing my father, you all...     will die!"


    Within the ruins, a slightly elderly figure leaned on a cane, standing to the side.     He watched the Embers Squad depart and sneered.     The dragon-headed cane in his hand gradually revealed ayer of blue mes.


    "You think you can just leave like that?     You underestimate her power too much."     A cold wind blew, instantly dispersing the thick mist surrounding the figure.     Alvin stood there with a smile.


    Indeed, Alvin has managed to summon this father-daughter duo.     "You''re quite ruthless!"     Another ethereal figure beside himughed.


    "Alexander, this time, no matter what, I will kill this young man named David.     Then, leave the position of Phoenix Rising Squad Captain to me."     Alvin spoke to the shadowy figure.


    "Hahaha!     Alvin, you''re exaggerating!     Your business is my business.     After all, we''re partners, aren''t we?     Without you, I wouldn''t have unlocked the Second Crimson Radiance so quickly.     Don''t forget, we''re on the same boat, hehehe..."     Alvin chuckled lightly, listening to Alexander''s words.

 Chapter 165 Psychic Corpse

    ?


    Alvin lightly flicked his finger, and a faint blue me suddenly emerged on his fingertip.  The me flew towards the red-robed woman and instantly entered her body.  This intensified her already enraged emotions, and she flew towards the direction David had left.


    At this moment, David and his team had already left the ruins.  The armored vehicle roared with its powerful engine, swiftly traversing through every street.  Suddenly!  At a turn, the cold wind that had been present in the ruins struck again, even more ferocious than before!


    "Not good, that person is following us!"  Charles furrowed his brows, sensing the external aura.  Upon seeing this, David firmly pressed down on the elerator, attempting to break through the cold wind.


    "You can''t escape from the palm of my hand, hahaha!"  The voice of the red-robed woman suddenly resounded in everyone''s minds.  This caught David off guard!


    "Telepathy?"  David immediately recognized the ability of the red-robed woman.  The other team members also realized it and looked out the window with serious expressions.  This ability to infiltrate the human brain and release certain signals within it was undoubtedly a telepathic ability.


    David didn''t expect that this red-robed woman not only reached the eighth level but also awakened telepathic abilities.  The voice kept hovering in everyone''s minds,bined with her piercingughter, causing a dizzying sensation.


    Seeing this, David knew that today they had crossed paths with a formidable adversary, and telepathic abilities were a long-range power.  Espers with this ability could invade a person''s consciousness regardless of obstacles.  Even if the armored vehicle''s speed was fast, it probably couldn''t escape the enemy''s control.


    So David made a firm decision and immediately mmed on the brakes.  "Since we''ve encountered each other, there''s no reason to avoid a fight!"  David retrieved his dual des, pushed open the door, and stepped out.


    The others quickly followed suit, getting out of the vehicle and assumingbat-ready postures.  Little ck and C seemed to sense the danger and kept scanning the surroundings.  The cold wind on the street grew stronger, and the thick mist spread as if surging up from the ground.


    David stared straight ahead and, with a thought, activated his Bone Enhancement ability, instantly covering his entire body with a faintyer of golden defense.


    "Be cautious, the opponent is at the eighth level and has awakened telepathic abilities.  Avoid direct confrontation at all costs."  David observed the surroundings while briefing his team members.


    Upon hearing that the opponent was at the eighth level, everyone was momentarily stunned, their expressions growing more serious.  Just at that moment, the red figure appeared again from within the thick mist.  Everyone immediately focused all their attention and stared intently at her.


    "Hehehe, I thought you were all a bunch of cowards!"  The red-robed woman slowly walked out from the mist, and only then did the others get a clear view of her.  They saw that her face was pale, her long hair draped down, and there was a butterfly hairpin clipped at her temple.  Her crimson robe looked particrly eerie, resembling a waterfall of blood.


    The red-robed woman looked at David with a faint smile and continued, " You killed my father, and now you want to run?"  Saying this, a tinge of sadness once again appeared on her face.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "If I don''t kill him, we will die.  Killing him is the rule of survival in the apocalypse."   David looked at her coldly and said.


    Upon hearing David''s words, the woman in the red robe instantly became furious.   "What a survival rule!   Today, I''ll show you what a terrifying rule is!" she eximed.   With that, she opened her red lips slightly and began uttering a series of strange symbols.


    Upon seeing this, Arnold and Duke immediately rushed towards her, attempting to disrupt her ability.   However, as soon as they took a step forward, the woman in the red robe suddenly opened her eyes wide, and blood instantly flowed out of her torn eye sockets.   She stared intensely at the two men, a dangerous and eerie expression forming on her lips.


    Arnold and Duke had just taken a step when they both forcefully coughed up blood.   They stood frozen in ce, seemingly devoid of any consciousness.


    "Arnold!"   "Duke!"   Sally shouted loudly upon witnessing the scene.   At the same time, white lightning surged from her fingertips, poised to strike the woman in the red robe.   However, in the next second, she too coughed up a mouthful of blood, bing identical to the two men.


    "Uh-oh!   Their consciousness has been invaded!"   David eximed.   Without hesitation, he opened a spatial portal and charged towards the woman in the red robe.   He had to interrupt her release of abilities in a timely manner, as the consequences would be unimaginable.


    The woman in the red robe also noticed David''s actions.   She swung her enormous red sleeve, and a waterfall made of congealed blood surged towards David.   He quickly evaded it, causing the red cascade to collide with a nearby cement wall.


    "Boom!"   The sturdy wall instantly copsed!   Charles couldn''t help but gasp, realizing the terrifying strength of the woman.   As the debris flew around, David slowly distanced himself from her.   With his current Level 7 ability, he would undoubtedly face some pressure if he engaged in a direct confrontation with her.


    However, David had calcted and decided to stay and fight her, taking into ount the arsenal of weapons he had amassed in his storage system, as well as his newly acquired bone reinforcement ability.   He believed he had the strength to confront her.   So, he stared intently at her, attempting to find a w.


    Meanwhile, inside the Phoenix Rising team''s base, Shirley was somewhat bored as she stared at the screens, unable to suppress a yawn.   She immediately regretted the promise she made to Duane, vowing to monitor the screens every day.   Even an old man would grow tired staring at these screens all day, let alone someone like her, who was at the age of indulging in whimsical thoughts.   So, she casually clicked the mouse, switching between the surveince screens.


    "Huh?   Where did this little kittene from?   So cute!"   A little kitten suddenly appeared on the screen, instantly piquing Shirley''s interest.   As a self-proimed cat lover, she couldn''t resist the charm of a cute kitten.   She had even secretly brought a stray kitten inside from outside, but the next day, Alvin, who didn''t like small animals, picked it up and threw it out.   This deprived her of the only joy in her apocalyptic life.


    As she gazed at the kitten on the screen, Shirley''s eyes lit up.   However, she quickly noticed that there was a man standing next to the kitten.   Looking at the man, Shirley became puzzled because she remembered seeing this familiar figure not too long ago."Why is this man appearing again?"

 Chapter 166 Butterfly Hair Clip

    ?


    Looking at David''s figure, Shirley''s attention immediately shifted to him.        "What is he doing?   "        Shirley kept moving the camera, observing the surroundings around David, and suddenly she saw the woman in the red robe.


    At the same time, David swung his spatial de and charged at the woman in the red robe again.        His speed was so fast that Shirley''s screen started tog.


    "So fast!"        Shirley couldn''t help but marvel, instantly losing any trace of drowsiness.        She focused intently on every move David made.


    The spatial de in David''s hand whistled as it aimed at the woman''s waist.        She smiled slightly and raised her sleeve, instantly conjuring a waterfall of blood.


    David quickly performed a mid-air somersault, narrowly avoiding the blood waterfall.        At the same time, he hurled his alloy dagger fiercely towards the woman''s forehead.        "Whoosh!"        The alloy dagger sliced through the air like a released arrow, heading towards the woman in the red robe.


    David''s movement was fast, urate, and ruthless, leaving her no time to react.        She could only instinctively raise her sleeve to block."ng!"        The alloy dagger collided with her sleeve but was forcefully repelled.


    However, David''s attack had caused a gash in the woman''s sleeve, and an endless stream of blood gushed forth.        Shirley widened her eyes as she witnessed this scene.


    The quick thinking from David and the formidable strength of the woman left Shirley utterly shocked.        She never expected such powerful figures to exist in the apocalypse.        She wanted to inform the team leader, Duane, and Alvin about the situation, but she realized they had already left the base and hadn''t returned.        So she had to watch the screen alone.        Meanwhile, she could sense the hostility emanating from the woman in the red robe and silently cheered for David, someone she had never met before.


    After all, to every survivor in the apocalypse, an individual victory represents a victory for all survivors.        Moreover, David had a cute little cat by his side, which made Shirley even more focused.


    The woman in the red robe raised her sleeve and drank all the flowing blood, instantly giving her pale cheeks a tinge of color.        She lifted her head and continued to smile at David.


    "Instead of struggling in vain, why not embrace death wholeheartedly?        Rest assured, I will make sure you and your friends diefortably.  "Hearing the woman''s words, Charles quietly reached for the dagger at his waist, his expression bing solemn.


    "Don''t act rashly;        you''re no match for them," David quickly stopped Charles''s movement.        He didn''t want his teammates to make reckless sacrifices at this moment.


    But instead, David''s action piqued the woman''s interest.        "Oh?        I didn''t expect you to be concerned about yourpanions'' safety.        I advise you to take care of yourself," she said, her gaze towards David filled with deep meaning.


    At this moment, David didn''t have time to listen to her nonsense.        He needed to quickly deal with this Eerie corpse.        Otherwise, Sally and the others wouldn''t know when they could break free from the control.        Even if he was struggling in the fight, David believed that as long as there was a slight chance, he had to seize it firmly.        This was the survival rule of their Embers Squad.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    So David rushed towards the woman in the red robe once again, but this time his speed was even faster.   In the back-and-forth movement of the Space Gates, he pushed his speed to the limit.


    The woman in the red robe continued to sneer, lifting her sleeves and causing streams of blood cascades to appear in the void, rushing towards David again and again.   Every time David was about to make contact, he would enter the Space Gate and then slowly approach her, attempting to deliver a heavy blow with the Space de.   Just as the woman in the red robe lifted her final blood cascade, David instantly appeared behind her.


    "Now!"   David shouted loudly, making a powerful and dominant move with his sword, aiming directly at the woman in the red robe''s shoulder.   The woman in the red robe immediately realized the danger and quickly turned around, raising her sleeve-covered right hand.   The Space de tore through the void, creatingyers of space ripples, and collided with the woman in the red robe''s sleeve.


    The tremendous recoil caused David''s hand to ache, almost losing grip of the Space de.   He gritted his teeth and leaped into the air,nding on the ground.   Looking at the slight bleeding from his hand, David was shocked by the terrifying defense of the woman.


    After being struck by David''s attack, the woman in the red robe staggered back two steps, and another slit appeared on her sleeve, allowing more blood to flow out like a stream.


    "You''ve cut my father''s gift to me," the woman in the red robe murmured, her face showing a hint of sadness.   "You will pay a heavy price for this!"   She suddenly lifted her head and stared at David, her eyes filled with a horrifying expression, as if her beloved toy had been destroyed.


    "Enter my world, and I will make you experience a fate worse than death!" the woman in the red robe said sternly.   Then both of her sleeves lifted up, and thend beneath her feet was instantly covered by a blood cascade.   Buildings, streets, and even Charles and Sophie disappeared, leaving only the woman in the red robe and David standing there, feeling the eerie bloodiness.


    David immediately realized that this was a space created by the consciousness of the woman in the red robe.   Charles and Sophie, looking at David enveloped by the blood cascade, became extremely anxious and shouted his name loudly.


    C and Little ck also growled lowly around the space.   However, this space isted everything from the outside, so David couldn''t hear any sound.


    At this moment, the woman in the red robe gently took off the butterfly hairpin from her hair.   She held it in her palm and lovingly caressed it, with two lines of tears slowly flowing from her eyes.


    "Do you know?   This is the birthday gift my father gave me, and I love it the most.   Look at the wings of this butterfly, they are so beautiful!"   The woman in the red robe looked at the butterfly hairpin in her hand, a gentle smile appearing on her face.   This puzzled David, unsure of what she was nning to do.


    "This butterfly represents me.   My father wanted me to fly freely in the sky like a butterfly.   He was the greatest father in the world."   The woman in the red robe continued to speak to herself, carefully holding the butterfly hairpin and showing it to David.   As David''s gaze touched the butterfly hairpin, unfamiliar images suddenly shed through his mind!   A little girl in a red dress, a man in a white polyester shirt.   The little girl happily chasing a butterfly in the field, and the man following behind her with a doting expression.

 Chapter 167 Young Girl

    ?


    "What''s going on?  Why are these images suddenly appearing!"  David vigorously shook his head, trying to make these unfamiliar images disappear from his mind.  But no matter how hard he tried, these images remained as if they were ingrained memories.


    "Daddy, look!  The butterfly is so beautiful!"  The little girl excitedly eximed to the man.


    The man smiled and nodded.  "We are the most beautiful butterflies!  Daddy hopes that you can also fly freely like it in the sky without worries."


    With that, the man took out a hairpin from his pocket and ced it in the girl''s hand.  "Butterfly, happy birthday!"  The little girl jumped up in excitement, hugging the man tightly.


    David''s gaze quickly shifted from the hairpin to realize that it was the same butterfly hairpin held by the woman in the red robe.  "Could it be her childhood memory?"  David suddenly realized.  And that man was the old man he had just killed.


    Meanwhile, David also learned the woman''s name, Butterfly, from his father.  But this only made David more puzzled.  He couldn''t understand why she wanted him to see her childhood experiences.  Was there another hidden agenda?


    So David looked up at the red-robed woman across from him.  She had her head lowered, tightly clutching the butterfly hairpin in her hand, with drops of blood tears falling from her eyes, making a "drip-drip" sound on the ground.


    In the next moment, she suddenly raised her head and looked at David, a glimpse ofpassion appearing in her eyes.  Although it shed by, David keenly caught it.  This made David immediately realize that the woman seemed to have some secret.  But before he could further contemte, the images in his mind started moving again.


    However, the scene had shifted, and now it showed the little girl lying on the ruins with a terrified look in her eyes.  The man was being trampled underfoot by a hunched figure.  Around this figure stood decaying corpses with hungry eyes fixed on the little girl.  This made David''s heart tighten, and he stared intently at the figure.


    But the mist surrounding him was too dense, preventing him from clearly seeing the figure.  He could only see a hunched silhouette.  At this moment, the lips of the figure moved as if about to say something.  But suddenly, the scene disappeared inexplicably from David''s mind.


    "What''s going on!"  David was momentarily stunned, then looked at the red-robed woman.  She had an extremely pained expression on her face, and a faint blue me appeared on her chest, flickering as if burning something inside her.  She reached out to extinguish the me but immediately recoiled in pain.


    At the same time, the coldness returned to the woman''s face.  She lifted her head, locked eyes with David, and a sinister smile curved on her lips.  "Wee to my world.  Here...  I will...  kill you!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After uttering these chilling words, the red-robed woman charged at David like a gust of bloody wind!  Seeing this, David quickly dodged to the side, trying to evade her attack.  But at this moment, he realized that he was standing in a pool of blood, unable to move no matter how hard he tried.  As the red-robed woman drew closer, David quickly retrieved two steel tes from his storage system and swiftly stacked them together, creating a makeshift shield that he ced in front of him.


    "Boom!"  The red-robed woman crashed into the steel tes, and the tremendous force immediately transmitted to David''s body.  He felt a sharp pain in his chest, and his entire body began to slide backward rapidly.  The golden defensiveyer on his body shimmered from the impact.


    After sliding for several meters, David finally came to a stop, feeling the intense impact he had just endured.   He knew that if it weren''t for the golden defensiveyer on his body, he would probably have met his end there.   At the same time, the red-robed woman halted her steps, blood swirling around her.   The blue me on her chest grew more and more intense, adding a touch of pain to her angry expression.


    "Seek revenge and hate...!"   She struggled to move her throat, producing intermittent sounds, and then charged at David again, as if driven by madness.   Before David could recover, he tried to dodge but realized that he was surrounded by cascading bloodfalls, leaving him no chance to evade.


    In his desperation, David recalled the scene from his father taking out the butterfly hairpin in his mind.   He quickly shouted, "Butterfly, is the hairpin your father gave you still with you?"


    Upon hearing his voice, the red-robed woman paused, immediately stopped in her tracks, and then opened her palm, carefully looking at the hairpin in her hand.   Seizing this opportunity, David swiftly evaded her and found himself in a rtively open area.   Meanwhile, she stood motionless, holding the hairpin and repeatedly muttering, "It''s here!   The hairpin my father gave me is here!"


    She cradled the hairpin against her chest, and suddenly, David understood something.   He realized that the hairpin was something that could calm her down, as it held sentimental value due to the deep bond between father and daughter.   It could even make her stop attacking him in an instant.


    So David continued, "Don''t disappoint your father.   You should be the butterfly freely soaring in the sky, not in the state you are in now.   If your father knew, he would be heartbroken."


    Having said that, David carefully observed the changes in the red-robed woman''s expression.   As expected, whenever her father was mentioned, a happy smile appeared on her face.   Not only did it reduce the hostility emanating from her, but even the faint blue me on her chest began to weaken.   David immediately deduced that this me controlled her aggressive intent.


    Meanwhile, in the ruins, a dark figure spoke with a hint of mockery while observing the images appearing in the void.


    "Alvin, you did say that she was the most sessful corpse you''ve cultivated.   That''s quite a boast, isn''t it? "Upon hearing Alexander''s words, Alvin''s expression darkened.   In order to turn the red-robed woman into the most formidable corpse, he personally killed her father and turned his body into a decaying spider parasite.   This was done to unleash the rage within her and enhance her strength.   However, he never expected that David would awaken her subconscious memories, which took him by surprise.

 Chapter 168 Flame

    ?


    However, Alvin''s surprised expression quickly turned into anger.  How could his painstakingly cultivated corpse creature be so easily defeated by a young man?  He sneered and flicked his fingers again, causing a more intense blue me to instantly ignite at his fingertips.


    Meanwhile, in the bloody space, the woman in the red robe still held the hairpin in her hands, looking dejected.  Suddenly, the mes on her chest, which had been slowly weakening, burst into a bright me!  The woman in the red robe seemed to be in great pain, howling as her body contorted violently.  The hairpin in her hand slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground.


    Immediately after, the blue me spread throughout her body, causing her to appear as if she had just been pulled out of blood, with crimson blood dripping continuously.  The smell of blood was extremely foul, simr to the rotting smell of a zombie.  David''s heart tightened instantly, knowing that her corpse creature aura had erupted.  As a result, she would enter a state of full-blown eighth-level corpse creature mode.


    Indeed, under the lingering stench, the woman in the red robe mechanically raised her head, her already torn eye sockets filled with blood, her pupils and eyeballs blending into a single blood-red color.  The wide sleeves of her robe kept trembling, oozing ck blood.  As the blood flowed to the ground, a white smoke rose immediately, apanied by a sizzling burning sound.


    The woman in the red robe stared at David and slowly uttered a word before transforming into a mist of blood and rushing toward David.  David frowned and immediately picked up the alloy short knife from the ground while opening a portal.  In the instant the blood mist approached, he swiftly leaped into the portal, traversing to another direction.  However, as soon as hended, the blood mist reversed direction and continued to charge at him.


    David quickly took out a high-explosive grenade from the warehouse system, pulled the pin, and decisively threw it towards the blood mist.  "Boom!"  A violent explosion sound instantly resounded!  The blood mist was scattered by the st of the grenade, but it quickly recondensed and charged at David once again.


    "Wow, even a high-explosive grenade doesn''t work!"  David said in a deep voice.  He relied on the gilded defensiveyer on his body and wielded his dual des, charging forward.


    In the blink of an eye, David collided with the blood mist formed by the woman in the red robe.  David first attempted to disperse it with a mid-air strike.  But as soon as the alloy short knife touched the blood mist, it automatically dispersed, only to recondense as soon as David retracted the knife, surrounding him in the middle.


    Feeling the putrid and rotten smell around him, David simply sheathed his dual des and began pounding the blood mist with his fists, one punch after another.  Immediately, David''s punches took effect, smashing the blood mist into pieces.  However, it quickly recondensed again, like an indestructible cockroach.  This left David feeling somewhat helpless.


    Meanwhile, outside the bloody space, Sophie guarded Sally, Arnold, and Duke, anxiously looking at the tightly sealed space.  Charles, who had activated his ability, floated in mid-air, surrounded by a string of dazzling starry gxies.  After a moment, hended on the ground and shook his head, "No, I can''t see what''s happening inside at all."


    Charles had initially wanted to use his Stargazer ability to glimpse the situation inside the bloody space, but this space was particrly mysterious.  No matter how he traced and spected, he couldn''t catch even a glimpse of it.  This made him, usually calm andposed, somewhat anxious.


    Currently, the only members of the team withbat capability were David, Sophie, and the three of them.  They didn''t know what was happening with David now, and if something unexpected happened to him, their Embers squad would be in serious trouble...


    Charles dared not continue thinking further, so now he could only pin his hopes on David.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    On the other side, Shirley stared at the huge bloody space on the screen with a puzzled expression.  She felt as if it had appeared out of thin air, trapping the man and the woman in the red robe inside.  This instantly made her feel nervous.


    At this moment, Duane pushed open the door and returned to the base.  Seeing the captain''s return, Shirley quickly recounted what had just happened to him.  After listening, Duane quickly looked at the screen and immediately saw the massive bloody space.  His eyebrows furrowed at once.


    Although he had only met David briefly, he already considered him to be someone like himself.  Now that David was in danger, he couldn''t stand idly by.


    He quickly said to Shirley, "Stay in the base, I''ll be right back."  With that, he prepared to rush to the street where David was.


    Shirley followed suit, and Duane reluctantly had no choice but to bring her along.  David continued to smash the blood mist with his fists.  Every punch was a full-force strike, but even so, the blood mist didn''t diminish much.


    So David took out Mandy from his pocket.  After biting his finger, he dripped his own blood onto her.  Instantly, Mandy began to swell.  Without waiting for David''smand, she rushed directly at the blood mist and quickly engaged in battle with it.


    David finally had a moment to catch his breath.  He scrutinized the changes in the blood mist while pondering the situation with the woman in the red robe.  He noticed that the strength of the me on her chest seemed to control her consciousness.  If the me was intense, her corpse creature consciousness would overwhelm her normal consciousness, turning her into a state of rage.  In order to control the blood mist, they needed to control the me on the woman''s chest.  And now, the goal was to make the woman in the red robe revert to her original form, only then would there be a chance to deal with the me.


    So David looked at the butterfly hairpin that had fallen to the ground.  He walked over and picked it up, feeling the warmth from the woman''s touch still lingering on it.  David held up the butterfly hairpin and said to the mass of blood mist, "Your hairpin is with me.  Don''t you want it?"


    Upon hearing David''s words, the blood mist immediately stopped in mid-air, and Mandy''s fists also froze, tilting her head as she observed it.


    Then, the blood mist quickly transformed back into the form of the woman in the red robe.  She looked at the hairpin in David''s hand, her face filled with anxiety, and said, "Quickly return my hairpin to me."


    David didn''t immediately return the hairpin to the woman in the red robe.  Instead, he looked at her and said, "Let me put it on for you, like your father did."  With that, David slowly walked up to the woman in the red robe, enduring the putrid smell of decay, and reached out to ce the hairpin on her forehead.

 Chapter 169 Butterfly

    ?


    Afterpleting everything, David looked at her again and said, "Don''t forget, your father said you are the most beautiful butterfly."      As soon as David said these words, the woman in the red robe stood still in amazement.      The blood-red color in her eyes began to gradually fade away, and the foul smell of decay and the ferocious aura of a corpse slowly disappeared.      The woman in the red robe reached out her hand and touched the hairpin on her head.      Instantly, a hint of happiness appeared on her face.      It seemed that she remembered the scene when her father gave her this hairpin, and her hand trembled slightly.


    "Let me see what you want to say, and I will help you," David recalled the hunched figure who was about to speak earlier and said to her again.      At the same time, he looked at the mes on the woman''s chest.      Indeed, the mes were now covered by her normal consciousness and were very weak.


    Upon hearing David''s words, the woman in the red robe raised her head slightly and looked at him, then nodded slowly as if understanding.      The color ofpassion reappeared in her eyes.      Instantly!      A series of shing images appeared in David''s mind once again.


    David gave Mandy themand to guard him, then closed his eyes and carefully examined these images.      There were still the little girl, the man in a well-fitted shirt, and the butterfly hairpin taken out of a pocket.      Soon, the scene with the hunched figure appeared again.


    David focused his mind and concentrated all his attention.      He wanted to know what the person hiding in the darkness had said.      The little girl stared at the figure in fear and started crying, begging him to release her father.      The hunched figure slightly opened his lips, and David strained to listen.


    "I will turn your daughter into the most perfect corpse.      As for you, you will be the nest for these spiders.      You should thank me because I gave you a chance to survive in the apocalypse, hehehe..."      The hunched figureughed twice, then pulled out a huge decaying spider from the void and threw it into the man''s mouth.      The man tried to resist, but no matter how he struggled, it was in vain.      He could only watch in astonishment as the rotten spider crawled into his body through his mouth.


    The little girl was terrified and bent down to the hunched figure, pushing the me in her palm into her own body.      Immediately, the little girl stopped crying and became dull.


    "Come with me, and I will make you reborn," The guy with the hunchback After speaking, the little girl obediently stood up and followed the hunched figure, leaving the ce.


    Seeing this, David slowly opened his eyes and suddenly understood everything.      The hunched figure had turned the red-robed woman''s father into a decaying spider parasite and turned her into a corpse.


    At the thought of this, David couldn''t help but curse inwardly.      What kind of beast would harm their own kind like this?      He looked up at the woman in the red robe again and saw that she was also looking at him.      She softly said, "Help me seek revenge..."


    David nodded, finally understanding.      When he encountered the woman in the red robe earlier, she was constantly calling for revenge, not for herself, but hoping that he could help her seek revenge.      However, under the control of that me, she had no choice but to disy an attacking state.


    Thinking of this, David lowered his head and looked at the weakening me on the woman''s chest.      He furrowed his brows and decisively reached out his hand to extinguish itpletely.      In the moment the me was extinguished, the woman in the red robe copsed to the ground, her whole body limp.


    David quickly reached out his hand to catch her, feeling her weakness, and gently ced her on the ground.  At this moment, the woman in the red robe hadpletely dissipated her ferocious aura, and a faint blush appeared on her pale cheeks.  She struggled to open her eyes and smiled at David.  Then she lifted her hand, took off the butterfly hairpin from her hair, and held it in her palm, with a look of intoxication.


    "Father, your butterfly has flown back to you..."  After saying these words, the woman''s smile remained forever on her face.  At this moment, David was deeply moved as he looked at her.  In this cruel apocalypse, every survivor would do anything to survive, but in the woman in the red robe, he saw the brightest aspects of humanity and felt the warmth of a long-lost loved one.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David slowly stood up, silently noting the hunched figure in the darkness.  "Butterfly, I will help you and your father seek revenge," David said as he looked at her lifeless body.


    At the same time, the voice of the system rang in David''s ears.


    [Ding!  Congrattions, host, for obtaining the psychic ability - Mind Invasion! ]


    Listening to the voice of the system, David silently nodded.  He knew this was the gift the butterfly had given him.  And at this moment, the body of the butterfly began to emit a dissipating mist of fragmented blood, gradually disappearing in the air, and the bloody space slowly receded.


    Seeing David walking out unharmed, Charles and Sophie finally let go of their worries.  Little ck also approached, wagging its tail around David.


    "Captain, are you alright?"  Charles walked up and asked.


    David shook his head and then looked at Sally and the others.  At this moment, the three of them had finally freed themselves from the control of the butterfly''s consciousness and regained their senses.  They quickly gathered around and asked what had happened in the bloody space.


    David just smiled faintly and then looked at a drop of blood mist in the sky, whispering, "Butterfly...  has flown back to that field."


    The others were puzzled by David''s inexplicable words.  However, seeing the crisis resolved before their eyes, they all breathed a sigh of relief.


    Just as the members of the Embers squad were preparing to get in the car and leave, a voice suddenly came from the distance, "Brother, where is that monster?  I''ll help you deal with her!"


    Listening to this familiar voice, David smiled and turned around to see Duane rushing over like a gust of wind, holding the machete in his left hand and the treasure chest in his right.  When he arrived in front of David, he looked around but couldn''t find any trace of the monster.  He asked in confusion, "Where''s the monster?"


    David spread his hands and said, "It''s been taken care of."  Hearing that David had already dealt with the monster, Duane also breathed a sigh of relief.


    "As long as it''s taken care of.  But I came all the way here to help you, although I didn''t do much, but you owe me a favor for this.  Remember to repay me," Duane said, ncing at David.  He noticed that David was staring meaningfully at the treasure chest in his hand.  This instantly reminded him of the incident where David "stole" his scarecrow.  So he quickly stuffed the treasure chest into his embrace and said, "Are you trying to get your hands on my precious again?  Not this time!"

 Chapter 170 The Fickle Kitten

    ?


    Looking at Duane cautiously looking at him, David smiled.   At this moment, Shirley also approached David. Looking at this man whom she had only seen on the monitoring screen, Shirley curiously nced at him and then confidently asked, "Where''s your little kitty?"


    Upon hearing the little girl''s question, David was momentarily stunned.   Seeing this, Duane quickly introduced Shirley.   When he heard that she was a member of the Phoenix Rising squad, David nodded and said with a smile, "Are you here specifically to see C?"


    "C?"   Shirley instantly recognized that as the name of the little kitty, so she nodded.   Meanwhile, C heard David calling its name and slowly poked its head out of the armored vehicle.


    "Meow~" Upon hearing C''s meow, Shirley walked over with a pleasantly surprised expression.


    "What a cute little kitty!"   As a Beastmaster, C''s fur was already smoother and more lustrous than that of an ordinary cat.   Coupled with its current level, it was particrly endearing.   Shirley''s eyes instantly lit up with excitement, and she reached out to stroke C''s fur.


    C, in turn, abandoned its usual aloof demeanor and snuggled against Shirley''s face, clearly enjoying the attention.   This made David couldn''t help but chuckle.   On ordinary days, when he wanted to pet C, the cat wouldn''t give him the time of day, but now it changed its tune for a woman?


    "What a fickle creature," David said to himself with a wry smile.


    Meanwhile, Duane looked towards the location of the bloody space from earlier and remembered the red-robed woman he saw on the screen.   He said once again, "We must quickly find out the secret of the second red light, or else these terrifying monsters will continue to increase."


    Listening to Duane''s words, David nodded.   He naturally knew that there was a close connection between the appearance of the butterfly and the second red light, otherwise, how would it suddenly appear?   Based on the blue me on her chest, David concluded that there must be a maniptor behind her.   And this maniptor should be rted to the second red light.


    At this moment, David suddenly thought of what Duane had told him before about his Phoenix Rising squad monitoring the apocalypse for many years.   It meant they could see any corner of the world at any time.   So he pondered for a moment and said to Duane, "Perhaps your apocalypse monitoring facility can find some clues.   When the woman in the red robe appeared, the maniptor behind her must have been nearby."


    Upon hearing David''s words, Duane instantly understood what he meant.   Before their Phoenix Rising squad was established, they had installed dedicated military cameras on every street in this city.   These cameras could work twenty-four hours a day without the need for cables, relying solely on radio waves.   With the advent of the apocalypse, these cameras gradually became their tool for monitoring the world, setting their squad apart from other survivor squads.   Whenever they wanted, they could ess the footage from any location.


    Duane nodded.   "I understand.   I''ll go back and check everything within a five-kilometer radius."   After saying that, he called Shirley to prepare to leave.


    If what David said was true, then the secret of the second red light that had puzzled him for a long time might slowlye to the surface.   Shirley hugged C and happily stroked its fur.   Hearing that they were going back, a trace of reluctance appeared on her face.   As a seasoned cat lover, she rarely had the opportunity to fully enjoy petting a cat, and now she was leaving before she could fully indulge herself.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Watching Duane''s anxious expression, Shirley reluctantly let go of C.   "C, I''lle to see you again, so don''t miss me too much," Shirley said to C with a hint of sadness.


    Watching this familiar girl, David simply smiled and said, "You''re always wee toe and y with C."   Upon hearing David''s permission, Shirley regained her happiness.   She waved goodbye to C and left with Duane.   David also left with his team and headed towards the base...


    "Hmph!   Is this the corpse you cultivated?   You didn''t expect her to betray you, did you?"   Amidst the ruins, Alexander''s ethereal figure nced disdainfully at Alvin.   His patience was almost worn out by this old man.


    The repeated failures filled Alvin with a sense of murderous intent as he sensed Alexander''s anger.   He quickly lowered his head and exined, "The butterfly is indeed the most powerful corpse in this world, but that kid was too formidable.   He managed to sever my control over her, allowing him to seed."


    Recalling the scene of David extinguishing the me, Alvin couldn''t help but feel angry.   He didn''t expect this young man to have such keen observational skills, discovering the bridge between him and the controlled butterfly so quickly.   At the same time, Alvin felt a pang of pain.   It wasn''t because David had decapitated the butterfly''s father, but because he felt that the butterfly''s death was undeserving.


    "You don''t need to exin to me.   This is the second time you''ve messed up this matter," Alexander''s tone suddenly turned icy cold, and the rubble on the surrounding ruins floated in the air, piece by piece.


    "You should know that I don''t like people who can''t solve their own problems.   In my eyes, you''re already of no use."   With that, Alexander raised his ethereal arm and made a gentle gesture.   Countless pieces of rubble instantly shot toward Alvin like arrows, moving at a speed that left him with no time to react.


    In the blink of an eye, Alvin''s body was tightly enveloped by the pieces of rubble, and his dragon-headed cane fell to the ground with a "snap."


    "Alexander...   please, give me...   one more...   chance!"   Alvin said in a terrified voice, feeling the pressure of the rubble on his organs.   It seemed that with just a little more force from Alexander, his body would explode immediately.


    "A chance?   What guarantee do you have?"   Alexander''s words remained cold and sharp, and more pieces of rubble kept approaching Alvin.   In Alexander''s eyes, Alvin was nothing more than a clown who would do anything for the Phoenix Rising squad.   The second red light had already been activated, and he could easily activate the next three red lights using his own abilities.   Therefore, Alvin had lost any value to him.   On the contrary, Alvin knew too many of his secrets, and keeping him alive would be a potential threat.


    "I guarantee it with my own life!   Give me one more chance, and I will definitely kill David!"   Alvin struggled to breathe, the rubble pressing against his lungs with immense force, as if a truck were crushing him.


    "Oh?   It seems like Alvin is quite confident this time!"   Alvin''s words instantly piqued Alexander''s interest.

 Chapter 171 Wasteland World

    ?


    Originally, Alvin''s life was in Alexander''s hands, easily disposable at his whim.  But upon hearing that Alvin was willing to kill David at the cost of his own life, a cold smirk appeared on Alexander''s lips.


    "Perhaps I''ll give you one more chance.  You might actually be able to kill that despicable kid," Alexander pondered.  These words were undoubtedly a lifeline for Alvin, who eagerly nodded in response.  In the face of staying alive, Alvin would agree to anything Alexander said without hesitation.


    "Since that''s the case, considering your service to me, I''ll give you one more chance.  But if you fail to deal with David again, don''t me me for being ruthless," Alexander emitted a sinisterugh.  With a wave of his hand, the rubble tightly enveloping Alvin fell away, leaving him slumped on the ground, gasping for breath.


    "This time, I will personally kill that kid!"  Alvin expressed his determination once again.  His mind conjured up an image of David, and he crushed a stone into powder in his hand.


    "I await your good news," Alexander said, and his ethereal figure dissipated like a gust of wind, disappearing into the ruins.  Watching him depart, Alvin slowly stood up.  Suddenly, a dazzling me erupted from the top of his dragon-headed cane.


    "David, this time I will make sure you die!"  After leaving the ruins, Alexander arrived at the courtyard of that silent ce.  The two highly-ranked zombies, previously agitated, immediately lowered their heads upon sensing his presence.


    Alexander''s ethereal figure nced at them and then raised his hand, pulling two men out of thin air.  These two men wore tattered clothes and had terrified expressions on their faces, clearly ordinary people who had not awakened any abilities in the apocalypse.  Alexander had casually grabbed them on his way back here.


    "Don''t...  don''t kill us!  We can do anything!  Please don''t kill us!"  The two men pleaded prostrated on the ground, resembling dogs before Alexander''s figure.


    "You both are a waste of the world''s air by being alive.  How about bing food for my pets?  That way, you still have some value," Alexander said contemptuously, observing their abject appearance.


    The two previously dormant highly-ranked zombies, now infuriated once again, frantically struggled to break free from their iron chains, reaching out their skeletal hands towards the two men.  Witnessing this scene, the two men were instantly frightened to their core, hastily standing up and running backward.


    "Hmph, trying to escape?"  Alexander sneered, snapped his fingers, and the iron chains on the two highly-ranked zombies fell to the ground.  Freed from their restraints, they chased after the fleeing men like starving wolves.


    As the two zombies pursued them, their torn mouths emitted a chillingughter.  In the blink of an eye, they caught up to the two men.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "No, please!"  The sound of two agonized screams echoed as the zombies bit off their heads, then crouched on the ground and began feasting.  Observing this gruesome and terrifying scene, Alexander nodded in satisfaction.


    Alexander stepped into the courtyard and made his way to the back gate.  Pushing it open, a distinct aura, unlike that of the apocalypse, rushed in from outside.  This aura was deste and even carried a thick sense of gloom.  Looking up, an endless barrennd without boundaries came into view.  Seeing this deste wastnd, a smirk appeared on Alexander''s lips.


    The reason Alexander had gone to great lengths to activate the Second Red Light was not only to bring forth more high-ranked zombies but also because of the destend thaty beyond it, known as the Wastnd.  Within the Wastnd, countless treasures awaited the lucky survivors to scavenge.  Each of these treasures was formidable enough to terrify any esper.


    Obtaining these treasures would bring Alexander one step closer to dominating the apocalypse.  However, the Wastnd was not just a paradise of treasures;  it was also a terrifying graveyard.  Each treasure was guarded by a highly powerful zombie mutant.  Only a strong esper could defeat them and im the treasure as their own.  Otherwise, they would be a meal for these zombie mutants.  Opportunities and dangers coexisted, and in the Wastnd, strength was paramount.


    Alexander was not the first person to seek treasures in this ce.  When the apocalypse arrived, some lucky individuals had chanced upon the secret of the Wastnd after the fortuitous Second Red Light.  They had then gone mad, flooding into the Wastnd from the world of the apocalypse, each hoping to obtain an item that would allow them to survive in the apocalypse.


    However, none of them had emerged alive.  The zombie mutants within the Wastnd were far more terrifying than those in the world of the apocalypse.  They showed no mercy, devouring these treasure seekers without hesitation.  As a result, the secret of the Wastnd had remained hidden all these years, until Alexander unintentionally stumbled upon it in a book, sparking his interest.


    Alexander toyed with a dark green circr jade pendant in his hand as his ethereal figure became increasingly elusive.  This pendant was obtained after his first entry into the Wastnd, following the defeat of an iron zombie mutant.  With this pendant, he sessfully raised his level to ten, bing a terrifying presence in the apocalypse.


    Taking onest look at the scarrednd, Alexander put away the jade pendant and suddenly found himself holding a shadowy longsword.  He took a step forward, entering the Wastnd once again.


    Back at the base, Duane immediately sat in front of the monitoring screen.  He set the search range within five kilometers of the Bloodspace and carefully examined every frame on the surveince footage.  He knew David''s spection was correct.


    The person who controlled the actions of the woman in the red robe must be within this range, possibly not far from their battlefield.  Otherwise, it would be impossible to repeatedly ignite the woman''s fighting spirit.  Suddenly, every street, every alleyway, appeared vividly in Duane''s mind.


    Suddenly!  In front of a ruined building, Duane seemed to catch a glimpse of two dark figures¡ªone ethereal and elusive, the other seemingly aged.  This immediately piqued Duane''s interest.  He continued to click on the screen, erging the surveince footage.  However, even at maximum zoom, he could only vaguely see these two figures, surrounded by a rising mist that obscured their specific appearance.  This furrowed Duane''s brow in frustration.

 Chapter 172 Enhance Spatial Blade

    ?


    Duane could clearly see that the slightly aged figure seemed to deliberately avoid the surveince angles of the cameras.  No matter how he adjusted the cameras, he couldn''t get a full view of the person.


    "Could someone know about the presence of these cameras?"  Duane immediately had this question in his mind.  However, he quickly dismissed it himself.  These cameras were installed for military surveince purposes and were positioned in hidden locations.  It was impossible for anyone to know about them except for the internal personnel responsible for their instation.  Outsiders were unaware of the existence of these cameras.  This only deepened Duane''s confusion.


    At this moment, Shirley sat boredly beside Duane, swinging a cat pendant on the handle of her knife.  Her mind was filled with memories of C from earlier.  If it weren''t for Duane being in a hurry to return, she could have spent more time with the little cat.


    But seeing Duane''s serious expression upon his return, Shirley naturally didn''t dare say anything.  So, she could only sigh helplessly and mutter to herself, "When Alvines back, I must talk to him about adopting another kitten."


    Upon hearing Shirley''s words, Duane''s mind suddenly shook.  "Alvin?"  A hint of surprise shed through his eyes, but he quickly regained hisposure.


    Meanwhile, inside the Embers team''s base, Davidy on his bed, recalling everything that had happened today.  When he thought of the look of happiness on Butterfly''s face before she died, he couldn''t help but be moved once again.  This apocalypse had brought too much suffering to humanity.  He realized that at some point, death had be a release for the people in this world, even a reunion with their loved ones.


    Lost in thought, David remembered the psychic ability of consciousness invasion he had obtained.  He knew it was a gift left by Butterfly, hoping that he could help her by killing her enemy.  The image of the hunched figure resurfaced in David''s mind.


    This made David clench his fist inwardly.  He would find this despicable person no matter what!  He not only sought revenge for Butterfly but also aimed to eliminate any aberrations in this apocalypse!


    David acknowledged that he was not the savior of the apocalypse.  However, if he wanted to survive in this world, he had to eliminate anyone who posed a threat to him.  He didn''t understand why the person had suddenly attacked him, but now that he had revealed his murderous intent, David wouldn''t wait for the person toe knocking on his door again.


    Lost in thought, David''s mind stirred, and the ability of consciousness invasion came to his mind.  This was a psychic ability in the realm of consciousness invasion.  That meant David now possessed a new ability in addition to his spatial and defensive abilities, making him an awakened individual with three different abilities.


    At the same time, the voice of the system rang in David''s ears.


    [Ding!  Congrattions, host, for acquiring Consciousness Invasion! ]


    [This ability allows the host to invade the consciousness of others and control their actions.]


    [Note: This ability is auxiliary and has limited offensive capabilities.  It will gain significant offensive capabilities once the host reaches Level Ten.]


    Listening to the system''s exnation, David silently nodded.  From his experience of Butterfly invading his consciousness and showing him those images, he knew that this ability was auxiliary in nature.  However, as Butterfly was only at Level Eight, she hadn''t reached the level where consciousness invasion could be used to harm him, thus causing no damage to him.


    Inparison, David still believed that his spatial ability should be the focus.  After all, the spatial portals and spatial des derived from this ability were his mostmonly used tools inbat.  If he could further enhance this ability, the power he could unleash would be increasingly terrifying.


    This was also rted to David''s level.  He had already reached Level Seven, just in the middle of the esper level sequence.  But ording to the current rules of the apocalypse, more and more high-level zombie beasts had appeared, including the enigmatic and powerful figure with the hunched back.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    If David wanted to stand firm in the apocalypse, seek revenge for Butterfly, and increase his chances of survival, he had to raise his level.  With this in mind, David unhesitatingly retrieved thirty high-grade crystals from the warehouse.  cing the crystals in front of him, David began to calm his mind.


    As David''s level continued to increase, the number of high-grade crystals he needed for each level also increased.  Looking at the thirty high-grade crystals, David unhesitatingly absorbed all of them into his body!


    Suddenly, the immense power contained within the thirty high-grade crystals surged through David''s body like a raging beast.  David gritted his teeth and endured until this power spread throughout his entire body.


    [Ding!  Congrattions, host.  Your level has increased to Level Eight! ]


    Soon, the voice of the system rang in David''s ears again.  Instead of hurriedly opening his eyes, David continued to wait for the system''s voice.  He knew that each time he leveled up, his abilities would receive new enhancements.


    [Ding!  Congrattions, host.  You have received the Spatial Ability Enhancement reward! ]


    As expected!  David heard the voice he wanted to hear, and it was the reward for enhancing his spatial ability.  Only then did he slowly open his eyes.


    [Host, please choose the ability you wish to enhance from the following options.]


    [Option One: Enhance Spatial Portals, allowing the host to simultaneously open two portals for free movement.]


    [Option Two: Enhance Spatial des, increasing the critical hit rate of the spatial des by twenty percent.]


    [Host, please make your selection promptly! ]


    Looking at the two options that appeared before him, David pondered.  Option One would increase the number of spatial portals, allowing him to open two portals simultaneously, making his position in battle even more unpredictable.  Option Two would enhance the properties of the spatial des, increasing their critical hit rate by twenty percent and inflicting more severe injuries with the des.


    After analyzing for a moment, David decided to choose the second option.  His main method ofbat relied on his alloy dagger and spatial des.  Although both des had considerable power, they were slightly inferior when facing formidable opponents.  By increasing the critical hit rate of the spatial des by twenty percent, he could ovee this disadvantage and deal heavy damage to powerful opponents through critical strikes with the spatial des.


    Although it was only a twenty percent critical hit rate,bined with the sheer ferocity of the spatial des, their power already surpassed that of any weapon.  This also made his fighting style more aggressive, and each strike he made carried a bleeding effect.


    "Enhance Spatial des!"  Without any hesitation, David decisively made his choice.

 Chapter 173 Ruler

    ?


    [Ding!  Host''s choice to enhance the Spatial des has been detected.  Enhancement in progress! ]


    [Ding!  Congrattions, host.  Enhancement sessful! ]


    As the voice of the system sounded, the Spatial des slowly materialized in David''s hands.  A faint blue de quickly passed through a visible white halo, continuously tempering the de and causing the Spatial des to emit a resounding vibration.


    David held the handle of the de, and a power capable of tearing through everything surged through his entire body.  He swung the de towards the void.  "Boom!"  Sparks quickly erupted, and a ck spatial rift suddenly appeared.


    "Increasing the critical hit rate by twenty percent truly allows it to tear through space!"  Looking at the spatial rift, David couldn''t help but nod.  With this enhancement, the power of the Spatial des had significantly increasedpared to before.  Furthermore, ording to the system''s prompt, as his level and strength improved in the future, the critical hit rate of the Spatial des would continue to strengthen.  This would gradually unleash David''s full potential.


    Satisfied, David retracted the Spatial des and entered his personal warehouse system.  Through his continuous efforts and the system''s critical hit blessing, the warehouse was now filled with various resources piled up like mountains.  Looking at these valuable items, David began to contemte.  Obviously, he couldn''t possibly use up all these resources at the moment.  While they wouldn''t go to waste or expire, they were still rare and precious.


    If other survivors found out that David was so extravagant during the apocalypse, their eyes would probably pop out with envy.  After inspecting for a while, David decided that he should find an opportunity to properly manage these resources.  Leaving the warehouse system, David calmed himself down and began to train and refine his physical body.


    On the other side, Monica was leaning against the window, bored as she looked out into the apocalyptic world.  "Abraham isn''t here, and that guy Danny has disappeared again.  Sigh!"  She paused for a moment and couldn''t help but sigh.


    "Creak!"  Suddenly, the base door was pushed open, and Danny slowly walked in from outside.  ncing at Danny, Monica''s face showed a hint of displeasure.


    "Where have you been these past few days?  Why are you being so secretive?"  Monica''s voice just fell when she sensed Danny''s weakened aura.  This startled her, and she quickly walked towards Danny.


    "Are you injured?"  Monica asked with concern on her face.


    At this moment, Danny''s face was pale and devoid of color.  Weakly ncing at Monica, he casually said, "It''s nothing.  I just identally encountered a high-level zombie."  After speaking, he staggered towards his own room.


    Monica hurriedly walked up to support him and led him to the bedroom.  "You look so weak.  I''ll make some herbal medicine for you."  Saying that, Monica quickly entered the kitchen.  In a short while, she returned with a bowl of herbal concoction.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Danny finished drinking the potion, and hisplexion improved significantly, which put Monica at ease.  She intended to inquire further about what had happened, but Danny smiled slightly and said, "I''m fine now, I just need to rest for a while."


    Monica nodded and gave a few instructions before leaving the room.  As she departed, Danny suddenly frowned and spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning extremely pale once again.  He slowly lifted his clothes, revealing a fist-sized hole in his chest.  Blood continued to gush out from the wound, presenting a gruesome sight.


    "Damn it!  I didn''t expect to be ambushed by a Thundering Zombie!"  Danny gritted his teeth.  Upon entering the Deste Land, he had immediatelye across a golden silk armor, guarded by a high-level Thundering Zombie.  It took dozens of rounds of intense battle before he managed to repel it.


    However, just as Danny was about to pick up the golden silk armor, the Thundering Zombie unexpectedly underwent evolution.  Its aura skyrocketed instantly, and a bolt of lightning shot out from its mouth.


    Danny had sensed something was amiss and tried to dodge, but the lightning was too fast.  Before he could react, it pierced through his chest, dealing a severe blow to his strength.  Fortunately, he had obtained the golden silk armor and quickly retreated from the Deste Land.


    Feeling the excruciating pain in his chest, Danny gathered all his energy to focus on the wound.  Soon, visible to the naked eye, new flesh and blood began to grow, covering the wound.


    After half an incense stick''s worth of time, Danny''s wound hadpletely healed, and his face regained a healthy color.  After a short period of further recuperation, his energy had fully recovered, returning to his initial state.


    Danny smiled faintly, adjusted his golden-rimmed sses, and conjured the golden silk armor from the void.  As he looked at the armor woven from golden threads, a thought crossed his mind, and he donned it.  The golden silk armor was extremely lightweight, like a feather, but its defensive power was formidable.  It could even withstand ordinary attacks from some Espers.  This instantly elevated his physical defense by a level.


    Feeling the changes in his body, Danny rose from his seat and walked to the window.  The streets were still in ruins, with scattered zombies roaming about.  However, as Danny''s gaze fell upon them, a powerful aurapelled them to immediately kneel in his direction.


    "Heh," Danny chuckled lightly, observing the zombies bowing their heads in submission.  During the advent of the apocalypse, he had conceived the idea of ruling this world.  In his eyes, it was a world for the strong, where only those with great power deserved to stand upon the ruins.  The weak could only be ants beneath his feet.


    However, after activating the Second Red Light, Danny discovered the presence of someone seemingly even stronger than himself: David.  Invisibly, Danny perceived David as the greatest threat to his dominance over this world, something he absolutely could not allow.  He knew that one day he would trample David underfoot¡ªit was only a matter of time.  At that moment, he would be the sole helmsman of this eerie world, while the surviving humans would be his subjects.  With this in mind, a faint smile appeared on Danny''s face.  He tightened his fist, and an agonized cry erupted from a zombie on the street, reduced to a pile of flesh.

 Chapter 174 Alvins Anger

    ?


    After the incident with the Red Robed Woman, David had been focusing on refining his own strength.  He not only became familiar with the critical hit attribute of the Spatial de but also mastered the auxiliary ability of Consciousness Invasion.  He could now infiltrate the consciousness of others within a hundred meters and control their actions for three minutes.  Furthermore, as his level and strength increased, the distance and duration of the invasion would gradually extend.


    In addition to his personal training, David also led the members of the Embers team on dailybat drills.  He knew that improving his own strength alone was not enough.  Only by raising the abilities of every member of the team could they all have a chance to protect themselves.


    After a few days of intense training under David''s demanding regime, the team membersined, but not a single one of them voiced any grievances.  They understood that it was for their own good, so they focused all their energy on the practicalbat drills.  After all, they didn''t want to experience a situation where David had to fight alone again.


    In a concealed room in the city, Alvin, a young member of the Phoenix Rising team, sat in front of a monitor, watching the footage of David and the team training every day.


    As Alvin watched David''s figure, he clenched his fists tightly, and his Dragonhead Cane beside him began to heat up.  It was this young man who had repeatedly embarrassed him in front of Alexander, and in the end, he had to sacrifice his own life.  How could he tolerate such humiliation?  His hatred towards David grew even stronger.


    Feeling the intense heat emanating from Alvin, the other members of the Phoenix Rising team looked at him in confusion and asked, "Alvin, are you feeling unwell?"


    Upon hearing their words, Alvin suddenly turned his head towards them, and a ferocious killing intent flickered in his weary eyes.  In the next moment, hisrge hands mped around the person''s neck like a vise, and mes instantly spread across his palm.


    "Alvin!"  The young team member''s eyes filled with fear as he looked at Alvin in disbelief.  He never expected that this respected elder would suddenly attack him, but the mes "leaped" onto his body and engulfed himpletely.  He struggled desperately to escape Alvin''s grasp, but the mes were too intense.  In the blink of an eye, he turned into a pile of ck ashes on the ground.


    Alvin released his grip, his anger still evident on his face.  He nced at the screen disying David''s image, then picked up his Dragonhead Cane and walked out of the base slowly.


    This time, he was determined to eliminate David no matter what!  Otherwise, he would not only lose his position as the leader of the Phoenix Rising team but also his life.


    After breakfast, the members of the Embers team once again left the base to prepare for their dailybat training.


    "These battles have been so exhrating!  I feel like I''m getting more proficient in my Werewolf mode," Arnold said as he stretched his arms.


    Duke nodded in agreement with Arnold''s statement.  During the past few days ofbat training, he had developed more functions with his Shadow Arts.  Now he could simultaneously control three enemies with his shadows, and the duration of his control had also significantly increased.


    This made Duke look at David with a considerable amount of respect.  If it weren''t for David leading them through the city, constantly searching for zombies and keeping a watchful eye on each team member during battles, none of them would have improved their abilities.  Sometimes, David even acted as their sparring partner, fighting against them without holding back.


    However, every time they were easily defeated by David, left lying on the ground without any chance of retaliation.  But even so, David mercilessly made them stand up and continue fighting.  After each battle, they were covered in bruises.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "He''s someone you can both love and hate!"  Duke whispered as he looked at David.


    Seeing the significant improvement in the strength of his team members, David felt a little relieved.  Although the past few days ofbat training had been tough, he had to persevere with the team.  Each member had reached a critical period for leveling up, and only by engaging in more battles could they quickly reach the highest level.


    David stepped onto the war vehicle and pressed down on the elerator.  The team members climbed aboard and they began to drive out of the parking lot.


    "I hope we encounter some high-level zombies this time.  Low-level ones are nothing in front of me!  I can punch them one by one, just like cutting vegetables!"  Arnold said gleefully, waving his fist from the back seat.


    Hearing his words, Sophie gave him a disdainful re.  "You still want to hunt high-level zombies?  Perhaps you''ve forgotten thest time the captain had to carry you back."  As soon as Sophie said this, Arnold''s face turned red instantly.


    In theirstbat training, they unexpectedly encountered a high-level zombie.  Full of fighting spirit, Arnold charged at it without hesitation, hoping to defeat it with his fists.  However, the opponent''s strength turned out to be overwhelmingly dominant, and it struck him down with a single palm.  He instantly lost consciousness.  It was David who eventually killed the zombie and carried him back to the base.


    Thinking about this, Arnold scratched his head awkwardly and chuckled.  Seeing Arnold''s reaction, the others couldn''t help butugh.


    "The next time I encounter a formidable opponent, I''ll definitely show David my true strength!  Besides, we can''t let David clean up after us every day!"  David chuckled at Arnold''s words.


    The Embers team''s overall strength was gradually improving, and their respect and acknowledgment of David had reached its peak.


    The war vehicle slowly left the parking lot, and the sunlight outside instantly shone through the windows.  Everyone closed their eyes and enjoyed the rare warmth.  It was the moment they looked forward to the most in this post-apocalyptic world.


    However, at that moment, David suddenly frowned, a foreboding feeling creeping into his mind.  He quickly tightened his grip on the steering wheel and the team members in the vehicle were startled, immediately opening their eyes.


    "What''s wrong?"  Charles asked anxiously.  The war vehicle stopped on the side of the road after crossing a green area.


    David stared at a thick fog not far away, his expression serious.  In that fog, he sensed a strange presence.  It carried a strong aura of hostility and was rapidly approaching him.

 Chapter 175 Provocation

    ?


    Everyone at this moment noticed the dark shadow, and immediately became cautious.  Little ck and C also walked to David''s side, their fur standing on end.  This made David realize instantly that the other party meant harm.  The ck shadow drew closer, and before it fully emerged from the thick fog, a deep, old voice sounded.


    "David, this time I will take your life."  Upon hearing this voice, David couldn''t help but furrow his brow.  He hadn''t expected the other party to know his name, indicating that they were prepared.


    At the same time, David recognized the hunched figure;  he seemed to have seen it somewhere before.  Before he could continue his thoughts, the dark figure emerged from the fog and appeared before the members of the Ember Squad.


    The person was none other than Alvin.  In order to preserve his own life, he had to personally kill David.  Looking at the elderly man before him, David immediately sensed his strength.  An eighth-level esper awakened, but which series of abilities he awakened, David did not know for the time being.


    Alvin lifted his eyelids and nced at the members of the Ember Squad, finally fixing his gaze on David.  A sinister smile crept up on his lips, and with a cold voice, he said to David, "Remember this day well, for it will be your doomsday.  Hahaha!"


    As Alvin spoke, he burst intoughter, and the thick fog surrounding him suddenly turned into mes burning in the air.  The mes grewrger and gradually engulfed Alvin''s entire body.  Combined with his gloomy and cold smile, it made everyone feel as if he were a demon emerging from a raging fire.


    "A fire-based ability?"  David also quickly deduced Alvin''s awakened ability series and expressed his surprise.  In the apocalypse, the five elemental series of abilities¡ªmetal, wood, water, fire, and earth¡ªformed the basis of all abilities, making espers who awakened these series stronger than other espers.


    "You''re smart, to have figured out my awakened ability so quickly.  But the dead don''t speak," Alvin disdainfully replied upon hearing David''s words.


    David dared toe alone to find David, relying on his awakened fire-based ability and thebat experience umted over the years.  In Alvin''s eyes, this young man was simply not worthy of being his opponent.  If it weren''t for the butterfly''s sudden betrayal, he believed David would have been a lifeless corpse long ago.


    Seeing this old man''s arrogance, Arnold immediately stepped forward and said, "Old man, don''t rely on your age to act superior.  I advise you to leave now, or else you might get beaten upter.  Don''t think we young peopleck martial ethics."


    Arnold was confident in his own fighting power at the moment.  Even though he knew the opponent had awakened a fire-based ability, he still didn''t consider him a threat.  On the contrary, he urged the other party to leave quickly.  Otherwise, if others heard that they were bullying an old man, it would tarnish the reputation of their Ember Squad.


    Alvin slowly shifted his gaze to Arnold and then pointed with his cane, which had turned as red as moltenva, and said, "Young man, let''s start with you."


    Arnold couldn''t sit still in the face of Alvin''s disdainful gaze and provocative actions.  He looked at David and said, "David, how about letting me deal with this old guy first?"


    David pondered for a moment and nodded.  "Stay safe and don''t prolong the battle.  The reason I agreed to Arnold''s request for the first fight is because I also want to see the true strength of this eighth-level elder.  And more importantly, I want Arnold to temper his inted confidence."


    With David''s consent, Arnold ripped off his clothes, revealing his muscr physique.  He approached Alvin and said once again, "Remember, the Ember Squad is not to be trifled with!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After speaking, Arnold transformed into his werewolf form.  His muscles instantly grewrger, resembling a fierce dragon coiling around his body.  With a low roar, Arnold couldn''t wait any longer andunched a werewolf assault towards Alvin.  Dust was stirred up like a gust of wind as he dashed towards Alvin, reaching him in the blink of an eye.  He raised his right hand, exposing sharp wolf ws, and made a shing motion towards Alvin''s chest.


    Alvin simply smiled faintly at Arnold''s attack.  He didn''t even consider opponents of this level as a threat.  However, he didn''t mind letting the other party witness his true strength.  Just as Arnold''s wolf ws were about to touch Alvin''s robe, Alvin struck the ground forcefully with his dragon-headed cane.


    Instantly, a more intense me erupted from the ground beneath his feet.  The mes surged aggressively, approaching Arnold who was right in front of them.  Seeing this, Arnold quickly retracted his arm and executed a werewolf kick, aiming fiercely at the other side of Alvin''s body.


    But as if the mes had anticipated Arnold''s attack route, they immediately changed direction and blocked his strike.  At the same time, the mes touched Arnold''s right foot, entwining around it like a slithering snake.


    "Not good!"  Arnold inwardly eximed.  He fiercely shed at the entwined me on his leg, trying to sever its grip.  However, the agile me changed direction the moment Arnoldunched his attack and began rushing towards his abdomen.


    "Puh!"  The me struck Arnold''s abdomen, and he felt as if a raging fire had been injected into his body.  Every organ and entrail seemed to be scorched with searing pain.  Before he could evennd, he spat out a mouthful of blood in mid-air.


    Seeing Arnold about to crash onto the ground, Sophie immediately summoned a cluster of starry clouds to catch him mid-air, while Duke leaped up to save Arnold.


    "Arnold, are you okay?"  Charles quickly approached to check on him.


    Spitting out another mouthful of blood, Arnold slowly stood up.  "Damn it!  I didn''t expect this old man to have some tricks up his sleeve!  If I hadn''t been careless, I wouldn''t have been ambushed by him!  I''ll continue fighting him for another three hundred rounds!"  Arnold said, spitting out a mouthful of bloody phlegm and preparing to charge again.


    "Arnold, don''t go!"  David intervened at this moment.


    "David, I..."


    "It''s alright, you''ve done well enough," David nodded at him.  He knew that if Arnold went up again, he would still be beaten up by the opponent, possibly sustaining serious injuries.  The reason Arnold wasn''t severely injured at the moment was that the other party hadn''t gone all out;  it seemed like they were just warming up.  But David knew that the ultimate goal was himself.


    At this moment, Alvin looked at David and once again smiled in a sinister manner.

 Chapter 176 Came With A Vengeance

    ?


    Alvin''s intention today was clear - to kill David.  He didn''t consider his subordinates as opponents capable of challenging him.  Leaving Arnold alive was simply a way to let David witness his true power.  Otherwise, he would have easily crushed him with a single move.


    Arnold wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and still wanted to charge forward.  David sternly said, "You are not his match.  His target today is me.  Take this time to heal your wounds.  Leave the rest to me."


    David took a step forward and stood in front of Alvin.  In the previous battle, he had already roughly deduced Alvin''s attack style - using his ability to manipte fire for offense.  He could even give consciousness to the mes, allowing them to follow his intentions.  Moreover, the mes he summoned could serve both offensive and defensive purposes.


    This ability surprised David, but as he looked at Alvin, the smile on his face grew even stronger.  It was this young man before him who had nearly caused him to die at the hands of Alexander.  Even the eighth-level corpse butterfly he had painstakingly cultivated ended up losing its life because of him.  This ignited a burning rage within Alvin''s heart, considering David an unforgivable individual.


    "Captain, look!  Is that person...  Alvin?"  Inside the Phoenix Rising Squad''s base, Shirley eximed in astonishment as she looked at the screen disying David and the elderly man across from him.  Hearing Shirley''s words, Duane quickly approached.  As he looked at the familiar figure on the screen, he immediately confirmed that it was indeed Alvin.


    "How could Alvin end up fighting David?"  Duane felt a hint of confusion in his heart.  With a furrowed brow, he continued to gaze at the two figures on the screen.


    As Alvin''s anger burned within him, a blue me suddenly erupted from the ground!  This blue me resembled a tsunami, constantly devouring the surrounding air.


    "A blue me?"  David looked at the me, his heart tightening.  He carefully examined Alvin''s figure - the hunched back, the gloomy aura...


    David''s eyebrows furrowed suddenly!  He had seen these scenes in the memories of the butterfly.  This figure, this aura, he would never forget.  It instantly reminded David of the tragic fate of the butterfly.  It turned out that the mastermind behind it all was this unforgivable individual.


    "It was you who turned the butterfly''s father into a rotting spider parasite and transformed her into a corpse, right?"  David clenched his fist secretly and asked coldly.  He would never forget the plea of the butterfly before her death.  He also swore to avenge this unfortunate father and daughter.


    Upon hearing David''s question, Alvin Adrian nced at him strangely and said, "It was you who chopped off her father''s head.  Have you forgotten?  If it weren''t for me, they would have died in this world long ago.  I gave them a new life, and you killed them.  You are the murderer who killed them!"


    Alvin grew angrier as he spoke, and the blue me continued to lick around him.  David only sneered at Alvin''s words.  He killed the butterfly''s father and daughter?  If he hadn''t helped them find release, they would have forever been the other party''s puppets.  Was that kind of miserable existence considered a new life?


    Davidughed coldly.  He raised his head and stared at Alvin with icy determination.  Then, he took a slow step forward and said to Alvin, "Save your repentance for when you meet the father and daughter in person!"  As he spoke, the de of Space manifested in his right hand.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Without waiting for Alvin to speak, David charged towards him.  He wasn''t the savior of this world, but when it came to fulfilling his promises, he had to follow through.  It was his motto in life!


    David came with great momentum, and the de of Space in his hand resonated, apanied by the sound of space shattering and tearing inch by inch.  "Since that''s the case, I''ll send you to hell as well!"


    Alvin roared in anger, and his dragon-headed cane transformed back into a molten form as he charged towards David.  The de of Space shed with Alvin''s molten cane, producing a crisp sound!


    David gripped the de with one hand, his gaze icy as he stared at the culprit who had killed the butterfly''s father and daughter.  He then retracted the de of Space and swung it with force once again.  "Boom!"  The de of Space unleashed a 20% critical hit, striking the molten cane with another resounding roar!  After receiving this critical hit, the molten cane was shed open, and droplets of moltenva began to flow out.


    Alvin quickly stepped back and once again mmed his cane heavily into the ground.  Instantly, the moltenva that dripped onto the ground began to rapidly expand and transform, forming the shape of a fierce tiger in the blink of an eye.  This moltenva tiger let out a deafening roar and leaped high into the air, pouncing towards David!


    At that moment, the team members behind David were shocked and stunned in ce.  They hadn''t expected this old man to be so formidable, capable of transforming moltenva into the shape of a tiger and manipting it in battle.  This raised the tension in each of their hearts, especially Sally, who looked at David with worry, fearing that he would be harmed by the approaching tiger.


    Without hesitation, David drew Mandy and pricked his index finger, allowing droplets of blood to fall onto her.  "I leave this beast to you!" he said to Mandy before tossing her into the air.


    Instantly, Mandy rapidly expanded and immediately engaged inbat with the moltenva tiger.  Meanwhile, David opened a portal in space and charged towards Alvin.  He had already decided to eliminate this damned individual immediately!


    As Duane watched Mandy and the moltenva tiger battle each other on the surveince screen, his mouth twitched.  He couldn''t understand David''s thought process.  How could he allow his beloved Mandy, in her straw body, to fight against the moltenva tiger?  Wasn''t he asking for trouble?


    Duane would feel heartbroken even if he used the scarecrow once, but now that his precious doll was in David''s hands, it seemed he didn''t care at all?


    Duane couldn''t help but curse David''s ancestors in his heart, but he also keenly sensed that Alvin was determined to kill David.  It seemed that they harbored deep-seated enmity, and the only way to resolve it was by killing him and extinguishing his burning hatred.


    This made Duane furrow his brow once again.  Until now, he didn''t understand why Alvin regarded David as his enemy.  Could it be because of some secret?  Duane thought of the faint silhouette beneath the camera that day.  It made his heart skip a beat!  If his spection was correct, it would have fatal consequences for him.

 Chapter 177 Once Again, The Sight Of The Pyrocorpse

    ?


    Duane''s tension grew even tighter, and he immediately decided to head to the battlefield of the two men.  He took Shirley with him and rushed to the street where David was located.


    On the other side, Mandy continued to fiercely battle the moltenva tiger.  As David''s level reached nine, Mandy''s strength also surpassed the ninth level, and her own prowess was enough to overwhelm any opponent.


    However, considering that Mandy was made of straw, Davidmanded her not to directly confront the moltenva tiger but instead to keep entangling with it.  Even so, arge portion of the straw on Mandy''s body was burned off by the ferocious attacks of the moltenva tiger, but it did not affect her fighting capabilities.


    Taking advantage of this moment, David reached Alvin''s presence.  He held only the de of Space in his hand, but the aura emanating from his body was enough to overwhelm everything around him.


    Seeing David charging once again, Alvin showed no sign of retreat and swung his cane towards him.  "ng!"  The crisp sound of metal colliding rang out, apanied by a series of never-ending sparks exploding on this street.


    David was determined to kill, while Alvin exuded a thick aura of murder.  The two continuously swung their weapons at each other''s weak points.  However, despite Alvin''s formidable fire-based abilities, his eighth-level rank slightly paled inparison to David''s ninth-level strength.


    During the attacks, Alvin continuously manipted the moltenva on his cane to assault David''s body.  However, unbeknownst to Alvin, David had a gilded defensiveyer protecting him.  As soon as theva made contact with him, the defenseyer emitted a faint golden light, blocking the attack.


    This astonished Alvin!  He hadn''t expected this young man''s physical defense to be so terrifying that even his Abyssal Lava couldn''t prate it.  Helplessly, Alvin could only rely on theva and fire to defend himself continuously.


    But David''s determination to kill him had already solidified.  Each swing of the de of Space became more ruthless than thest!  Critical hits were constantly triggered by David, and his attacks repeatedly shattered Alvin''s defensiveva.  Alvin quickly retreated, attempting to create distance between them.


    In that moment, Alvin truly realized the terror of David''s strength.  Gasping heavily for breath, bloodstains already faintly visible on his robe, David''s expression remained emotionless.  Without giving Alvin a chance to catch his breath, David directly opened a portal in space and charged towards him once again!


    Alvin, who hadn''t recovered his breath, saw David''s figure sh before him once more and immediately lost hisposure!  He weakly raised his cane, attempting to block the de of Space as David shed down from above.  However, he underestimated the power of David''s attack.  With a "crack" sound!


    David forcefully severed Alvin''s cane, the de crossing his chest, causing arge amount of blood to spray out.  Alvin felt as if his hands were bearing the weight of ten thousand pounds, and he stumbled and fell to the ground.  "Puh!"  A mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth.  As he looked at the fallen Alvin, David''s eyes were filled with disdain.


    "A killer must pay with their life.  I''ve taken the revenge of the butterfly father and daughter," David calmly uttered these words.  He raised the de of Space and brought it down towards Alvin''s face.  The whistling debined with the chilling radiance emanating from it immediately filled Alvin''s eyes with fear!  In desperation, he immediately manipted the moltenva tiger to pounce towards David''s back!


    "Roar!"  The moltenva tiger revealed its sharp ws and viciously swiped at David''s back.  A trace of disdain appeared on David''s lips as he twisted his wrist and executed a move called "Look Back at the Moon," instantly cleaving the moltenva tiger in half.  The tiger let out a painful howl and transformed into two pools ofva sshed onto the ground.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Witnessing his moltenva tiger being in by David''s single strike, Alvin felt a pang of pain in his heart.  Seizing this opportunity, he leaped backward andnded on amppost, crouching down and taking heavy breaths.


    David''s strike had severed his meridians.  If he hadn''t forcibly sealed the wound with his aura, he would have likely died under David''s de.


    Alvin''s entire body began to tremble as he stared fixedly at David.  He had initially thought that he could easily crush David with his own strength, but the current desperate situation was something he hadn''t anticipated.


    Seeing Alvin being pushed to a dead end, the members of the Embers squad finally breathed a sigh of relief.  Meanwhile, with Sophie''s Ster Healing assisting him, Arnold had also recovered from his internal injuries.


    Arnold had observed the fight between David and Alvin earlier and silently nodded his head.  He now understood why David didn''t let him continue fighting Alvin.  With his current level of strength, he could probably only engage with the moltenva tiger.


    David nced up at Alvin, who was perched on themppost, his eyes still sinister and terrifying.  Even his teammates felt chills running down their spines.  They had never seen David in this state, resembling a killing god whose sole purpose was to end his opponent''s life.


    Alvin took a breath and concentrated more aura on his wound.  "Kid, you''ve sessfully angered me!"  Alvin slowly stood up, and his strength began to recover.


    "Did you really think this old man is so easy to bully?  Hahaha!  I''ll show you my true power!"  Alvinughed maniacally,pletely changing his appearance from his previously disheveled state.


    David paid no attention to Alvin''s words.  Compare their strength?  As someone who had experienced rebirth, he would never ept defeat based on strength alone.


    "Come out!  Pyrocorpse!  Let these fools witness your terrifying power!"  Alvin raised both hands high as if performing a certain ritual.  As he spoke, arge amount of moltenva spewed out from his wound without restraint.


    Soon, Alvin''s entire body was tightly enveloped by the moltenva.  His body underwent a grotesque transformation in that moment.  On one side, his skeletal structure appeared white and bare, while the other side was a burning flesh.  One could even see his heart pulsating inside.


    "A corpse?"  David immediately understood the sinister transformation Alvin had undergone.  This guy before him had actually transformed himself into a pyrocorpse.  Shaking his head, David couldn''t believe that someone would resort to such inhumane methods against him.


    As the pyrocorpse, Alvin''s body had grown to two meters in height.  Exposed ribs stood erect, each gleaming with sharp and icy light.  His once murky eyes turned pitch-ck, exuding an eerie depth, and a mass of red mes reced his pupils.  "This is my true power!  Apocalypse...  I am the apocalypse of this world!"

 Chapter 178 Renegade

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    Alvin stood on themppost,ughing maniacally!  The mes on his body licked away his remaining flesh, and the blood that flowed out evaporated instantly.  As he watched the now deranged Alvin, David''s mind stirred, and without hesitation, he raised the spatial de and charged at him.  He didn''t care how deranged this guy before him was;  today, he had only one belief: to kill him!


    In his pyrocorpse form, Alvin, with eyes ame, continued to emitva from his pupils, and the mes on his body grew more vigorous, exuding an overwhelming aura of devouring everything.  Extending his hand, Alvin took hold of a sharp rib bone and sneered at David before rushing towards him.  In an instant, the two engaged inbat once again.


    As the pyrocorpse, Alvin''sbat prowess was significantly stronger than before, and his bone de was incredibly unpredictable, striking at David''s vital points.  The ribs protruding from his body elevated his defense to another level, repeatedly blocking David''s attacks.  They shed in the air, with countless sparks and drops of me falling to the ground.


    As they witnessed the intense battle between the two, the members of the squad once again felt their hearts tighten.  Arnold, driven by the desire to fight, wanted to rush forward and assist David.  However, remembering his own performance earlier, he couldn''t help but dismiss the thought.  Charging in now would undoubtedly be troublesome for David.  The others understood this as well, so they anxiously watched David, clenching their fists.


    Mandy lifted her head and looked at David in the sky, her twin ponytails swaying.  Her expression appeared much more rxedpared to the other members of the squad.  As David''s puppet, she naturally knew the true strength of her master, so she wasn''t worried about their battle at all.


    Seeing the ribs protruding from Alvin''s body, David seized the opportunity and sliced off one of them with his de.  Alvin suddenly felt a sharp pain in his body and quickly steadied himself, swinging his bone de.


    David had already anticipated this move, and he effortlessly blocked it with his spatial de.  Then, he lifted his leg and delivered a powerful kick to the remaining ribs of Alvin.


    "Crack!"  Several cracking sounds echoed as David''s kick shattered three of Alvin''s defense ribs, leaving only a single isted one without any protective function.  Feeling the intense pain in his body, Alvin stared at David in terror.  While his pyrocorpse form was only at level eight, due to his special cultivation over the years, his strength was on par with a level nine esper.  Particrly, the six defense ribs he had meticulously honed were exceptionally tough.  Alvin hadn''t expected David to destroy all his years of painstaking training with just two strikes.


    "Damn it!  Today, I must kill you!"  Alvin endured the pain and rushed at David like a madman.


    A cold smile curved on David''s lips as he retracted his spatial de and delivered a fierce punch to the oing body.  "Thud!"  The punch struck heavily against Alvin, who felt as if he had been hit by a lotive.  He crashed onto the ruins like a kite with a broken string.  The sound of intense impact with broken stones resonated as arge pit with a diameter of two meters formed where hended.


    David drew out an alloy dagger and swiftly swung it downward, aiming for Alvin''s chest.  "Ssh!"  Blood sprayed out from the wound, and the mes on Alvin''s body immediately extinguished, reverting him to his normal human form.


    "I said, killing requires paying the price."  David withdrew the alloy dagger and looked at him.  After this strike from David, Alvin''s body had be extremely weak.  He struggled to lift his head and gazed at David with eyes filled with unwillingness.


    At this moment, Duane also arrived with Shirley.   Standing by Alvin''s side, Duane''s eyebrows instantly furrowed.   David looked at his gloomy expression and guessed the rtionship between the two, so he said, "I''ve taken care of a renegade for your Phoenix Rising squad, no need to thank me."   With that, David sheathed his alloy short knife and turned to leave.


    Seeing Alvin barely hanging on to life, Duane felt a mix of emotions.   After all, Alvin was the vice captain of his squad and someone he had watched grow up.   He never imagined that Alvin would turn out to be a traitor.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Why did you do this, Alvin?"   Duane asked in a deep voice.


    Looking at Duane, Alvin once again showed a disdainful expression.   Swallowing a mouthful of blood, he struggled to speak, "Did you really think the Phoenix Rising squad was yours?   Without me, you would have died in this world a long time ago."


    Listening to Alvin''s words, Duane remained silent.   Shirley, by his side, frowned as she looked at Alvin amidst the ruins.   Taking a breath, Alvin continued, "If you had given up the captain position to me from the beginning, the Phoenix Rising squad would have be the most powerful squad in the apocalypse!"


    "You''re not deserving of that captain position!"   Duane still kept his head low and didn''t respond.   He didn''t care about what Alvin said.   Right now, he only cared about two questions.   He raised his head and looked at Alvin as he asked, "Did you kill Adrian''s squad?"


    This was Duane''s first question, buried deep in his heart for ten long years.   Adrian''s squad was the first captain of the Phoenix Rising squad and Duane''s mentor.


    "Adrian?   He was a coward.   I killed him to clean up the waste in this world!   Shouldn''t waste be eliminated?"   Alvin said without concealing his words.


    Duane''s mind tightened, and he clenched his fists tightly.   "The Second Red Light, is it rted to you?" he gritted his teeth and asked the second question, which had been the truth he had been investigating these past few days.


    Upon hearing the mention of the Second Red Light, Alvin visibly paused.   After a brief moment of contemtion, he smiled and looked at Duane, then opened his mouth to speak.


    "Regarding what you said..."   Before Alvin could finish his sentence, a steel pipe suddenly flew towards him from a distance!   It happened so quickly that not even David had time to react.


    Duane quickly drew his machete to defend himself, but as soon as he touched the handle, he heard a dull thud.   He lowered his head to see the steel pipe lodged in Alvin''s throat.   Alvin writhed, his throat full of shock, as he looked in one direction before tilting his head and losing his breathpletely.


    David immediately pulled out his spatial de and stared at the direction the steel pipe came from.   Duane also rushed over, wanting to investigate.   However, in the distance, there was only a dark cloud, and no one else could be seen.


    "This person''s strength surpasses ours," David surveyed the surroundings and said.   Whoever could kill Alvin in front of so many people must be extraordinary.   Could there be a bigger puppeteer behind the scenes?   A surprising spection arose in David''s mind.

 Chapter 179 This Guy Is Really Stingy

    ?


    This instantly made David vignt, constantly observing every detail around him.    The other members of the team also felt an invisible pressure and assumedbat stances.


    Little ck and C even transformed directly and started roaring towards the distance.    All of this indicated that the enemy''s strength surpassed everyone present.    After observing for a while and seeing no movement around, David put away his spatial de.    He knew that the other side only wanted to kill Alvin and had no interest in them.


    Duane also sheathed his machete and walked back to Alvin''s body.    Looking at his former teammate and elder, Duane''s heart was filled withplex emotions.    However, there was no trace of sympathy on his face.


    Just because Alvin had killed the former captain of the Phoenix Rising squad, Adrian, Duane would never forgive him.    He never expected that the man who had brought him back from the orphanage ,would die at the hands of his own team member.    Duane felt a sudden pain in his heart.


    Shirley, equally at a loss, stared at Alvin''s body with a face filled with sorrow and indignation.    Seeing the two in such a state, David walked over to Duane and said, "This is the rule of the apocalypse.    Whether they are enemies orrades, we can''t see it with our naked eyes.    In the fog, there will always be eyes watching us."    After speaking, David patted Duane''s shoulder.    At the same time, he looked up at the sky and whispered, "May you live your life as a free butterfly."


    At that moment, the system''s voice suddenly sounded in David''s ears.


    [Ding!    Congrattions to the host for killing an eighth-level zombie!   ]


    [Congrattions to the host for obtaining a defense crystal!   ]


    [Ding!    Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical strike and obtaining one hundred defense crystals!   ]


    "A defense crystal?"    David nced at Alvin''s body with some surprise, but he quickly understood.    Alvin''s eighth-level zombie form focused on physical defense, simr to a zombie.    It was only natural to obtain defense crystals.


    David watched as a hundred defense crystals entered the warehouse system, and his heavy heart finally felt some relief.    With these hundred defense crystals, he could further upgrade the base.


    Duane also reacted at this moment.    He had obtained the answer he wanted, even though it made him angry.    Alvin had been killed by David, which was equivalent to avenging his captain.


    "I almost found out the secret of the Second Red Light.    What a pity!"    Duane shook his head.    If he had another minute, he believed he could have extracted the secret of the Second Red Light from Alvin.    However, that powerful esper behind the scenes thwarted his idea.


    "It doesn''t matter.    The truth will alwayse to light," David said calmly.    Duane nodded and shifted his gaze to Mandy, who was watching him from a distance with her head tilted.    Instantly, his mouth twitched because he saw a piece of Mandy''s body burned by fire.


    "I think you should give her back to me.    If you keep tormenting her like this, I''m afraid I''ll be heartbroken," Duane said to David with a resentful expression on his face.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Upon hearing Duane''s words, David quickly had a thought, and Mandy returned to her normal size.  He then swiftly tucked her into his arms, as if nothing had happened.


    David''s seamless movements made Duane feel as if he had rehearsed them many times, all to guard against him.  Seeing his precious Mandy once again in David''s pocket, Duane could only force a bitter smile.  If he could defeat the guy in front of him, he would have snatched Mandy back by now.


    After a pause, Duane bent down and lifted Alvin''s body, saying to David, "Thank you for dealing with the traitor in our team.  I''ve noted this favor, so if you ever need help, feel free to find me."  After speaking, Duane nodded at David and prepared to leave.  Leaving Alvin''s body exposed in the wilderness was something Duane couldn''t do.


    "Really?"  Duane''s words immediately piqued David''s interest.  Duane nodded earnestly, and David''s eyes lit up.  "Actually, I have something I need your help with.  While you''re at it, return this favor to me."


    "What is it?"  Duane asked, pausing in his steps.


    As they spoke, David''s gaze drifted towards the corner of the treasure chest peeking out from Duane''s arms, signaling him with his eyes.  Duane was momentarily stunned, but he quickly understood!


    Wow!  He''s still thinking about my treasure?  Does this guy have a conscience?  Duane promptly shook his head and decisively said, "That''s not possible!"  After speaking, he carried Alvin''s body and hastily fled the scene with Shirley.  Their speed was so fast as if they were afraid that David would catch up and take their belongings.


    Watching Duane disappear in a sh, David couldn''t help but shake his head.  " this guy is really stingy!"


    "Worthless!  He couldn''t even kill a David.  He deserves to die!"  In the courtyard, Alexander''s ethereal shadow sat on a high-backed chair.  Thinking back to the moment when Alvin almost revealed the secret of the Second Red Light, he was filled with anger.  Fortunately, he intervened in time and killed Alvin;  otherwise, it would have brought him more trouble.


    After a moment, Alexander quieted down, and the anger on his face subsided.  Alvin was nothing more than a pawn to him, and his death had no effect on Alexander.  Instead, it made him more interested in David.


    "Awakening both spatial and defense abilities at the same time?  I have to admit, you''re quite a genius."  Recalling David''s every move just now, a trace of admiration emerged on Alexander''s face, but it was immediately overshadowed by disdain.  His level had already reached ten, and if he continued to delve into the wastnd and find higher-level treasures, his level would continue to rise.


    By then, surpassing David would be effortless, and Alexander''s desire to rule the post-apocalyptic world would be within reach.  In that case, not to mention killing one Alvin, even if there were thousands, Alexander would consider it as easy as blinking.  At the same time, he thought of the several members of David''s team and secretly nned to find an opportunity to make them his spies.  If he could cultivate one Alvin, he could cultivate a second one.


    "Heh!  How can a mere Davidpare to me?  I''ll show you the true horror of the apocalypse."  Alexander sneered, stood up, and walked to the back door of the courtyard.  Opening the door, the gloomy cold wind and destend greeted him.  Looking around, he saw a scene of devastation.  Without much thought, he stepped forward and entered the wastnd world.

 Chapter 180 Base Remodeling Function

    ?


    After Duane and Shirley left, David returned to the base with the team.


    "That old guy today was brutal, actually transforming himself into a zombie!"


    "Yeah, how can there be people like that in the world?"


    Arnold and Sophie couldn''t help but shudder at the thought of Alvin''s twisted appearance earlier.


    "In the apocalypse, some people will do unimaginable things for survival," David exined.  He knew that Alvin''s actions were normal for someone who craved power in the apocalypse.  However, in his eyes, it was particrly extreme.


    "From now on, each of us needs to improve our level and strength," Charles pondered aloud.  Throughout the battle today, it was mostly David who was involved, and although they wanted to help, their strength was far below Alvin''s.  This made Charles immediately realize their shorings.


    It was impossible to let David bear the burden of every battle alone.  As team members, they had to step up at critical moments.  Charles'' words were met with agreement and nods from the rest of the team.  Now, their method of leveling up was no longer just absorbing low-level crystals, but umting experience through battles to increase their levels.  Thebat training they had undergone during this period had improved the level of each team member, but they still fell short of their ideal level.


    Seeing everyone lost in thought, David smiled and said, "Leveling up is something that can''t be rushed.  Be careful not to be too hasty.  When yourbat experience umtes to a certain extent, your level will naturally increase."


    Listening to David''s words, Charles nodded.  He was also determined to participate in morebat training to increase his own strength.


    After a pause, David remembered the defense crystals he obtained from Alvin''s body.  After a hundredfold critical strike by the system, the quantity had reached one hundred.  Adding the leftovers from before, there were a total of one hundred and ten defense crystals in the system''s warehouse.


    After some consideration, David decided to continue upgrading the base.  As their only refuge in the apocalypse, the importance of the base was self-evident to each member of the team.  Coincidentally, Arnold was eager to go out and continue hunting for zombies, so David allowed them to drive the war vehicle and engage in small-scale hunting around the parking lot.


    As the other members of the team left the underground parking lot, David also walked out of the base and stood in front of it.  Looking at the faint golden glow emanating from the diamond base, David''s mind stirred, and sixty triangr defense crystals appeared in his hand.  Feeling the power emanating from the crystals, David decided to upgrade the base to a diamond level.  Compared to the golden level, a diamond-level base had higher defense and better concealment.


    David was also grateful for obtaining the defense crystals from Alvin.  Otherwise, upgrading the base to a diamond quality would require at least tens of thousands of advanced crystals.  Even though he was a resource-rich individual and could easily produce so many advanced crystals at any time, it still pained David.  Each crystal in the warehouse was obtained at the cost of his life.  Using so many at once would even make andlord feel distressed for a while.  Fortunately, with the one hundred defense crystals from the critical strike, David felt much more at ease.


    "System, upgrade the golden base to a diamond base."  After a moment''s pause, David decisively spoke to the system.


    [Ding!     Detected that the host wants to spend sixty defense crystals to upgrade the base to a diamond level!    ]


    [Please confirm, host!    ]


    "Confirmed!"     David said in a deep voice.


    [Ding!     Sixty defense crystals have been deducted.     Upgrading in progress!    ]


    As the system''s voice sounded, the sixty defense crystals in David''s hand immediately disappeared.


    [Ding!     Congrattions, host, the base has been sessfully upgraded!    ]


    Soon, the sound of the base upgradepletion echoed in David''s ears.     At the same time, a dazzling white light shed before David''s eyes!     The light quickly descended, causing strange ripples to appear on the previously golden walls of the base.     These ripples resembled sunlight refracted on a crystal ball, radiating light from all directions.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David quickly approached to inspect and discovered that the previously smooth walls of the base now had numerous intricate facets.     Each facet emitted a faint colorful glow, and upon closer inspection, he could vaguely see the glowing structures inside.


    This immediately made David think of diamonds, and he instantly understood.     The diamond-level base had beenpletely covered with a thickyer of diamond material on its exterior.     Diamonds were the hardest substance in the world.


    "This is great!     With this, the defense of the base will reach a terrifying level!"     David eximed excitedly as he touched the incredibly smooth facets.


    But before he could finish his excitement, the system''s voice rang in his ears again.


    [Ding!     Detected that the host''s base has reached the diamond level.     Activating the base remodeling function!    ]


    "Hmm?     Base remodeling function?"     David asked with some confusion.


    [Yes, host.     Only a diamond-level base can activate this function.]


    [In this function, the host can remodel various aspects of the base.]


    [The remodeled base does not affect its defense, and the changes take effect immediately.]


    The system exined again, seemingly understanding David''s confusion.     Listening to the system''s exnation, David understood.     No wonder he had never heard of this function before;     it required a higher level.     So he asked the system again, "How can I remodel it?"


    [The host can remodel the base by consuming corresponding resources!    ]


    As it spoke, a translucent information temte appeared before David.


    [Special Alloy Gate: Twenty alloy steel tes]


    [st-Proof ss: Three hundred rounds of 7.62mm caliber bullets]


    [Mutated Rhino Skin Flooring: Five hundred sheets of mutant beast skin]


    [Multi-functional Bedroom: Three hundred pieces of wood, one hundred alloy steel tes]


    [Multi-functional Living Room: Four hundred pieces of wood, one hundred fifty alloy steel tes]


    Looking at theplete list of base remodeling projects before him, David couldn''t help but nod.     ording to the disy, he found that the projects were essential in the apocalypse, and each one belonged to the special category, clearly tailored for the post-apocalyptic world.


    Although the prices were a bit expensive, it was nothing for David with his warehouse system containing thousands of various resources.     He could easily produce hundreds or even thousands of items.     If he wanted, the system''s ten thousandfold critical strike ability would allow him to obtain more resources at any time.     Coincidentally, he had been contemting how to clear out some of the inventory in his warehouse, and the opportunity for base remodeling was presented to him.     So David looked at each remodeling project and began to seriously consider his options.

 Chapter 181 Show Off The Results Of The Renovation

    ?


    David''s base was amon three-bedroom, one-living roomyout, but it was twice the size of a regr room, spanning over three hundred square meters.     Not only was the living room spacious, but the other rooms were also quite roomy.


    Apart from upgrading the base''s level, David had never made any improvements to the base before.     Hecked ideal materials and didn''t know where to start.     Now, with the base remodeling function, these problems were easily solved.


    Walking into the base, David surveyed everything inside.     Based on his memories from his previous life, he knew that for a base to be the strongest sanctuary for survivors in the apocalypse, it needed to have functional facilities beyond basic shelter.     It required living quarters, remodeling workshops, weapon workshops, and various other facilities.     Only then could the base unleash its maximum potential in the apocalypse.


    After inspecting each room, David opened the remodeling panel once again.     Soon, his attention was drawn to the weapon workshop.


    [Weapon Workshop: Helps the host remodel weapons and upgrade their power!    ]


    [Requires ten Desert Eagles, ten alloy steel tes, and five hundred rounds of 5.56mm caliber bullets]


    Upon reading the description, David decided to start with this remodeling project.     While he had a decent number of weapons in his warehouse system, they were mostly conventional andcked exceptional powerpared to the abilities of a Level 1 esper inbat.


    David believed that if he could remodel them, they would undoubtedly be formidable killing machines.     He understood the principle that anything from the system would be top-notch.     So, with a thought, the blueprint for the weapon workshop appeared before his eyes.


    Then, the system''s voice came once again.


    [Ding!     Ten Desert Eagles, ten alloy steel tes, and five hundred rounds of 5.56mm caliber bullets have been consumed!    ]


    [The weapon workshop is under construction!    ]


    Suddenly, the design blueprint before David disappeared, followed by a deduction of the corresponding resources from the system''s warehouse.


    [Ding!     The weapon workshop has beenpleted!    ]


    Soon, the sound of thepletion of the weapon workshop echoed in David''s ears.     At the same time, a separate space appeared in a corner of the bedroom.


    David walked over to inspect it and found not only a machine tool but also various tools that he couldn''t name hanging on the walls.     Looking at the weapon workshop, David nodded in approval and then took out a Desert Eagle.


    "Remodel the Desert Eagle!"     David gently ced the Desert Eagle on the machine tool and said softly.     As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a white aura swirling around the Desert Eagle.     Under the influence of this aura, the Desert Eagle trembled slightly, and soon the white aura dissipated, leaving a faint glow on the gun''s surface.


    [Ding!     The Desert Eagle has been remodeled!    ]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [Magazine capacity increased by thirty rounds, bullet firing speed doubled, and a ten percent increase in critical hit rate!    ]


    Hearing the voice of the system, David held the remodeled Desert Eagle in his hand.    As expected, after the modifications in the Weapon Workshop, the Desert Eagle now felt considerably lighter in weight, and the magazine was more prominent.    Despite these changes, the gun didn''t feel cumbersome at all but rather exuded a sense of dominance.


    Outside the base, David aimed the Desert Eagle at a wall in the underground parking lot and pulled the trigger.    The Desert Eagle emitted a cloud of smoke and produced a loud bang!    At the moment the bullet was fired, sparks ignited at the muzzle, and the bullet rapidly shot toward the wall at supersonic speed.    In the blink of an eye, the bullet struck the wall, resulting in a resounding roar!


    As the dust settled, David approached to inspect the thick cement wall, only to find that the Desert Eagle had created a fist-sized hole in it!    The steel reinforcement inside the wall was also shattered by the impact of the bullet.    Looking at the hole, David couldn''t help but take a sharp breath.    He hadn''t expected the remodeled Desert Eagle to possess such immense power.    If it were fired at a zombie, there would undoubtedly be carnage.


    Returning to the Weapon Workshop, David spent some resources to create five more Desert Eagles.    With each member of the team now equipped with one, theirbat effectiveness would be significantly increased.    Then, David ced an alloy dagger on the machine table.


    [Ding!    Modifying the Alloy Dagger requires consuming ten pieces of steel, and five low-grade crystals.]


    Without hesitation, David confirmed the modification, and the alloy dagger, just like the Desert Eagle before, was instantaneously remodeled.


    [Ding!    Alloy Dagger modificationplete!   ]


    [Sharpness increased by 15%, destructive power doubled!   ]


    Observing the gleaming de, David nodded in satisfaction.    With these physical enhancements, he could greatly reduce his reliance on esper abilities in future battles, thereby saving a significant amount of energy.    Next, David spent twenty alloy steel tes to remodel the base''s main gate into a special alloy gate.    Together with the base''s current diamond level, it could be said that the base had be impregnable.    Even if attacked by high-level zombies, it would likely remain unscathed.


    At this moment, the other members of the team returned to the base.    Upon seeing the transformed base walls, everyone was astonished.


    "Damn!    This base would make the zombies cry even in the midst of an apocalypse!"    Arnold eximed, knocking on the diamond walls of the base.


    Everyone approached to inspect, their expressions filled with amazement as they looked at David.    David simply smiled faintly and then took out the five remodeled Desert Eagles.


    "I made some small modifications to these Desert Eagles.    Each of you can have one for self-defense."    David handed the guns to his teammates, and they carefully examined them in their hands.    Besides the increased magazine capacity, they couldn''t discern any special features.


    Duke aimed at a scrapped car in the distance and fired.    Once again, the deafening roar echoed through the parking lot, followed by an explosion.    The bullets, with a 10% critical hit rate, pierced through the car, reducing it to a zing fireball.    Everyone stood frozen in ce, witnessing the scene.


    What''s going on?    Is this even a gun?    It''s more like a doomsday cannon!    Recalling that David had said he made only minor modifications, the team couldn''t help but twitch their mouths.    They hadn''t expected their captain to be so extraordinary.    This wasn''t just a modification;    it was like a research and developmentboratory for new weapons!    Who would believe that a single bullet could destroy a car?    The team members looked at their Desert Eagles, treating them like precious treasures as they carefully cradled them in their arms.

 Chapter 182 New Puppet

    ?


    The destion of the apocalypse continued to spread across this once bustlingnd.     In the suburbs, within an abandoned farm, a skinny young man cautiously poked his head out of a haystack, his eyes scanning the surroundings like a rat, illuminated by the moonlight.


    After a moment, the man whispered to the bald man beside him, who was crouching in the grass, "Boss, the intelligence was wrong.     There''s not a soul here!     Damn it!     We traveled all this way for nothing!     Not even a hair to be found!"     The skinny man stood up from the grass, spitting out in frustration.     Hearing hispanion''s words, the bald man nced around and confirmed that indeed, there was no sign of activity.     He stood up as well.


    "Sigh!     It''s getting harder and harder for us Rats n to survive!"     The bald man put away hisrge machete and sighed.


    Both of them were survivors in this post-apocalyptic world, ordinary people without awakened abilities.     Consequently, they naturally became members of the Rats n.     However, they hadn''t joined any Rat n faction and instead established their own "Murder God Gang."


    The bald man, Eamonn, was the leader of the" Murder God Gang", and the skinny man, Brad, was his right-hand man.     Their gang consisted only of the two of them.


    "Boss, I heard that Gary, the boss of the local Rat n, was killed not long ago.     That guy was a formidable esper!    " I wonder who was skilled enough to take him down," Brad said, recalling the news he had heard a few days ago about the death of Gary, the leader of thergest local Rat n.     He shook his head in disbelief.


    "Yeah, Gary was incredibly powerful!     To be able to kill him, the other person must be no pushover.     I''d guess their level is at least Level 9!"     Eamonn replied.


    "Level 9 esper?"     Brad couldn''t help but take a sharp breath, his face filled with astonishment.     Level 9 awakening was like divine existence to ordinary people like them.


    Seeing Brad''s astonished expression, Eamonn gave him a disdainful nce and said, "Look at you!     Don''t forget, even though we haven''t awakened any abilities and don''t have any underlings right now, once we have the opportunity, we''ll recruit Gary''s subordinates.     Then, the two of us will be the new Gary!     Our Murder God Gang will be the biggest Rat n faction in the area.     Who would dare to provoke us?     Even espers would have to give us some face."


    Hearing Eamonn''s words, Brad became instantly excited.     He didn''t want to spend his days stealing from ordinary people or hiding from zombie attacks.     In this post-apocalyptic world, who wouldn''t want to have immense power and establish their own formidable force?     Just the thought of having hundreds of underlings excited Brad to the point where he couldn''t contain himself.     As the two of them prepared to leave and continue scouting, a sudden gust of eerie wind swept through the farm.     The wind was chilling, apanied by a veil of white mist.


    "Boss, why is it foggy in the middle of the night?"     Brad scratched his head, puzzled by the sudden fog.     Eamonn, equally baffled, stared at the mist without knowing what to do.


    Suddenly, within the mist, a faint figure emerged.     The figure took steps closer and closer to the two men.     Under the cold moonlight, the presence of this figure was especially eerie, sending shivers down their spines.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Boss!   It''s a ghost!"   Brad pointed at the shadow, his legs trembling, and the hairs on his body standing on end.   At this moment, Eamonn also felt a tinge of fear, although he remained calmer than Brad.   He had encountered plenty of eerie things in the apocalypse, so without a second thought, he turned and ran.   In desperate situations, running was the best option for ordinary people like them.   However, their legs felt as heavy as lead, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn''t lift their feet.


    The shadow looked at the two men''s disheveled appearance and sneered, "You two are fortunate to encounter me today!" The voice was chilling, and it was none other than Alexander.


    "Boss!   It''s a talking ghost!"   Brad''s forehead was covered in cold sweat as hey on the ground, full of fear, clutching the wild grass, trying to quickly escape from this eerie figure.


    Eamonn, on the other hand, realized that he had encountered a powerful individual.   No matter how much he struggled, he probably wouldn''t be able to escape the clutches of this person.   With this thought, he immediately calmed down, turned around, and asked Alexander, "Who are you?   We''re just ordinary people, we have no grudges with you.   Why are you targeting us?"


    As he spoke, Eamonn tried his best to suppress the terror in his heart.   He had encountered many espers with awakened abilities in the apocalypse and was familiar with the aura they exuded.   Looking at the dark figure before him, he suddenly felt an overwhelming force, as if a mountain was pressing down on his chest, making it difficult to breathe.   Brad was experiencing the same, already lying on the ground, gasping for air.


    "You''re the first ones to question me.   You should be taught a lesson!"   Alexander''s voice suddenly turned ice-cold.   He waved his blurred hands lightly, and the two men felt an immense pressure on their chests,pressing their hearts.   Unable to bear it any longer, they forcefully coughed up blood.   Eamonn''s legs gave out, and he copsed to the ground, clutching his chest, groaning in pain.


    "You can call me Alexander.   There are only two choices before you today.   Either be my subordinates, and I can help you awaken your abilities and assist you in recruiting other espers, or die," Alexander nced at the two men, a cold smile on his lips.


    "The decision is in your hands.   You have thirty seconds to consider.   I believe that you''ve survived this long because you''re intelligent."   Hearing Alexander''s words, Eamonn immediately knew that there was no escaping today.   It was either be a subordinate of the dark figure before them or die.   Given these two options, he naturally chose to be Alexander''s subordinate.   It was his only choice.   Moreover, the other party could help him awaken his abilities.   No matter how he weighed the options, it was the most advantageous for the two of them.


    Before Brad could say anything, Eamonn quickly stood up and knelt before Alexander, saying, "Alexander, the two of us are willing to be your loyal subordinates!"   Seeing his boss kneeling on the ground, Brad also endured the pain and knelt before Alexander.


    "Hehehe, you two are indeed intelligent."   This oue was already within Alexander''s expectations.   Death was a taboo for everyone in this world.   Only strength was the endless pursuit of every individual.   Watching the person recing Alvin appear, Alexander let out a coldugh.

 Chapter 183 Is This Your Life During The Apocalypse?

    ?


    "Remember, from now on, you are my people, Alexander," Alexander said as he waved his sleeve, and an extremely dark cold wind instantly enveloped the two men.    Eamonn and Augustus looked puzzled, unsure of what to do about the chilling wind.    The next moment, the cold wind grew stronger, forming two small tornadoes thatpletely surrounded them.    Suddenly, two dazzling lightning bolts exploded in the wind, striking the two men mercilessly.    They had never seen such a sight before, staring wide-eyed as the lightning swiftly passed through their bodies.    The wind surrounding them then transformed into two massive blood pools, emitting a nauseating rotten smell that filled their nostrils.


    "After bathing in the blood of decay, you will be espers in the apocalypse!    Enjoy this unforgettable taste!"    Alexander said with a maniacalugh.    Subsequently, the two men slowly sank into the blood pools.    Despite their struggles, they couldn''t escape the swarm of blood that closed in around them.    Soon, they werepletely submerged in the blood, and there was no movement or sound.


    At this moment, Alexander took out the circr jade pendant and lightly tapped its edge with his finger.    The pendant emitted a crisp sound, seemingly counting down.


    After a moment, Alexander stopped his actions and looked at the blood pools.    Eamonn and Augustus slowly emerged from them, covered in putrid blood.    The blood dripped to the ground, producing a "plop, plop" sound that coincided with the earlier tapping of the circr jade pendant.    As they looked at the blood dripping continuously from their bodies, a hint of crimson appeared in their pupils.    Once the blood dissipatedpletely, they felt a powerful force coursing through their bodies.


    Eamonn lifted his arm, and the muscles on his body had be as strong as small mountains, emanating an extremely ferocious aura.    Augustus experienced the same transformation.    The two of them were astonished by the changes in their bodies and then looked up at Alexander.


    "You are now Level 6 espers.    This is my reward to you.    As long as you work diligently under me, I will make you the most powerful individuals.    At that time, the entire world will belong to the two of you," Alexander said meaningfully as he looked at them.


    "What?    We''re Level 6 espers?"    Eamonn''s face was filled with astonishment upon hearing Alexander''s words.    He couldn''t believe that in the blink of an eye, he had gone from being an ordinary person to a Level 6 esper!    The terrifying speed of this upgrade made his whole body tremble slightly.


    "Boss, we''re already Level 6 espers?    That''s incredible!"    Augustus couldn''t contain his excitement any longer, his voice filled with enthusiasm.    He extended his finger and waved it towards a distant haystack.    Instantly, the haystack was struck by lightning and burst into mes.    The immense power filled him with excitement once again.    Observing their exhrated expressions, Alexander sneered in disdain.


    In the past few days, apart from leading the team in realbat training against zombies on the streets, David had been constantly studying the system''s remodeling functions.    In addition to the weapon workshop, he expanded the base to include the first floor of a building.    There, he established a greenhouse to grow various vegetables and fruits.    With the system''s assistance, these nts grew rapidly, maturingpletely in just a day or two.    This allowed the team members to enjoy a taste of freshness in this post-apocalyptic world.


    However, Monica was feeling frustrated.    Her teammates Danny and Abraham had been mysteriously absent these past few days, leaving her alone in the vast base.    This made her feel a sense of loneliness as she climbed onto the balcony and looked at the ruins outside, reminiscent of David.    "Staying here is boring anyway.    I might as well go find that guy and see if there''s anything interesting happening.    Plus,I can also y with  C."


    The thought of C instantly cheered Monica up.    She immediately set off from the base towards David''s location, encountering a few scattered zombies along the way, which she swiftly killed.    Slowly, she arrived at the underground parking lot.


    At that moment, David had just returned with the team from outside, and as the war vehicle came to a stop, he caught sight of Monica.    Was this girl here to buy weapons again?    David smiled as he looked at her.


    After entering the base, Monica approached David.  Seeing David, whom she hadn''t seen for a while, Monica smiled and asked, "Where''s C?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David couldn''t help but twitch his mouth at her question.  Seriously?  Did shee all this way just to pet the cat?  Just then, C slowly descended from the armored vehicle.  It nced at Monica, let out a light meow, and walked toward the base.  This instantly deted Monica''s excitement.


    Seeing Monica''s disappointed expression, David chuckled and said, "Maybe if you buy some firearms, I can let you hang out with C for a while.  That guy is more snobbish than me."


    Hearing David''s words, Monica deted like a punctured balloon.  Since spending so many crystals on purchasing firearmsst time, their team''s resources had dwindled.  Now, they couldn''t even afford to buy a Desert Eagle, let alone the fact that Abraham and Danny were always disappearing.  She didn''t have any power or authority anymore.


    "Sigh!"  Monica let out a soft sigh and then looked at David''s base.  Instantly, she was stunned in ce.  The walls of the base reflected a subtle light, resembling a gigantic diamond cut surface.


    This piqued Monica''s curiosity, and she quickly approached and touched it.  The hardness was solid, and she could even feel a hint of warm power as she touched it.


    "This is your team''s base?"  Monica asked in astonishment.


    "What''s the matter?  Any problem?"  David casually replied.


    "This is amazing!  You''ve made the walls as hard as diamonds!"  Monica shook her head, finding it hard to believe.  It reminded her of her own base''s construction, and she realized it couldn''tpare.


    A sense of envy suddenly spread in Monica''s heart.  She knew David was wealthy, but she never expected him to use diamonds for the base walls.  If this got out, it would surely drop everyone''s jaws!


    Seeing Monica''s expression of being inexperienced, David smiled.  Although the diamond base seemed impressive to others, it was far from reaching David''s ideal level.  If he hadn''t been busy with weapon remodeling these past few days, he would have continued upgrading the base.


    Next, David showed Monica the greenhouse on the ground floor of the building.  Seeing various ripe fruits and vegetables, Monica couldn''t hold back any longer.  Seriously?  While others were barely surviving during the apocalypse, this guy was enjoying fresh watermelons every day, and seedless ones at that?

 Chapter 184 gene fruit

    184 gene fruit


    After impressing Monica with his base, David looked at her astonished expression and gave a faint smile. He had always regarded Monica highly. After all, during the initial outbreak of the apocalypse, only a few people awakened as espers. The majority of the remaining poption hid in their homes, praying that the zombies wouldn''te knocking, even deluding themselves into thinking it was all just a dream. But when they finally realized it was an unprecedented human catastrophe, they fell into utter despair. Only a few daring individuals ventured out to scavenge for food and supplies, and most people starved to death in their homes out of fear.


    Although Monica had her own team and sessfully awakened her ability, she was among the first group of people to encounter the zombie outbreak. David never expected that such a seemingly fragile woman could survive the endless ughter and rely on her own abilities to reach where she was today. This was, in fact, the ultimatew of the apocalypse: the adaptors would eventually prevail, while the weak would perish.


    At this moment, Monica squatted on the ground and pointed to a melon being watered with drip irrigation. She asked, "Is this the gically modified melon you mentioned?"


    David had roughly introduced the different fruits and vegetables in the greenhouse to Monica earlier.  Of course, he didn''t mention his own system and instead attributed it all to special gic modifications.


    David nodded and said, "That''s right, it''s a gene fruit. Not only does it taste good, but it also enhances human stamina, improves gic makeup, and can even help espers level up."


    David walked over, bent down, picked a melon, and ced it in Monica''s hand. Looking at this gene fruit, which appeared no different from a regr melon, Monica couldn''t help but feel confused. How could such an ordinary-looking fruit be so powerful?


    Monica examined the gene fruit in her hand and asked again, "How do you eat this? Do I just take a bite?"


    Although Monica looked puzzled, upon hearing David say that this fruit could enhance human stamina and even assist in leveling up, she immediately ced it near her mouth, ready to take a bite.  With the deteriorating situation in the apocalypse, she had long realized the importance of strength.


    Seeing Monica so eager, David quickly said, "If you don''t want to be poisoned and die, you better hold on."


    Upon hearing David''s warning, Monica quickly moved the gene fruit away from her mouth. She looked at David with even more confusion, thinking that this guy was definitely messing with her.


    David chuckled, turned around, and took out a bottle of transparent liquid. Taking the gene fruit from Monica''s hand, he poured the liquid over it, then handed it back to her, saying, "Now you can eat it safely."


    Knowing the preciousness of resources in the apocalypse, when constructing the greenhouse, David had intentionally added toxicity to the fruits and vegetables grown with the help of the system. Only after being washed with the transparent liquid in his hand could the toxins bepletely eliminated.  Otherwise, anyone who ate the gene fruit without being cleansed would be fatally poisoned within a minute.


    David didn''t want others to take advantage of the things he had painstakingly grown during the apocalypse. As Monica looked at the gene fruit David had washed, she nced up at him, then hesitantly took a bite. "Crunch!" The crisp sound echoed through the greenhouse as the juicy and tender gene fruit instantly enveloped her taste buds with its sweetness.


    "This gene fruit is so delicious!" Monica''s eyes brightened, and she excitedly eximed. Since the apocalypse began, this was the first time she had tasted such a delicious fruit. She was instantly surrounded by a sense of overwhelming happiness.


    "Don''t just stand there, start moving. That way, the gene fruit can prate your organs more quickly, and its effects will be maximized," David instructed. He also picked a fruit, washed it with the liquid, and began eating it without hesitation.


    Then David took off his shirt and started jogging in the greenhouse. Seeing David''s muscr physique, Monica''s fair cheeks turned rosy. Since David had started exercising, she felt it wouldn''t be appropriate to just stand there. So she followed behind David and started jogging as well. After about thirty minutes...


    "Feels great!" David stopped and eximed joyfully. At the same time, he felt a pleasant surge of energy flowing through his body. The sweat dripping from his body emitted a faint white vapor.


    David then drew a alloy dagger from his waist and demonstrated a swift and sharp knife technique in front of Monica. Whether it was the speed of his attacks or his agility in dodging, they were all faster than before consuming the gene fruit. Even his stamina seemed to be replenishing, despite having just run around the greenhouse for half an hour.


    Observing David''s energetic state, Monica also began to feel the changes within herself. Indeed, after consuming the gene fruit, she could clearly sense the flow of power in her body. She then drew her own dagger and disyed a simple knife technique in front of David.


    "Whoosh!" The dagger sliced through the air, producing a series of sounds, although Monica''s movements were imbued with a feminine grace unlike David''s.


    "Not bad, it seems you have fully absorbed the gene fruit," David nodded approvingly.


    A hint of excitement appeared on Monica''s face as she incredulously examined her own body. She never expected that a simple fruit could bring her such pleasant surprises. If she were to consume one every day, wouldn''t her strength be extraordinary? After hesitating for a moment, she looked up at David and asked, "Do you sell gene fruits? I''d like to buy some."


    David had already anticipated Monica''s question and smiled, nodding in agreement. "Considering that we are old acquaintances, I can sell you some. However, the price..."


    "The price is negotiable. Such a good thing is worth any amount of money," Monica quickly interjected.


    David nodded and, after some contemtion, held up five fingers.


    "Five crystals for one gene fruit?" Monica asked. She found the price eptable, but David shook his head.


    "One gene fruit for five advanced crystals. Five advanced crystals," David quoted a price that immediately shocked Monica.


    "Do you think it''s too expensive? I may not sell it to others. Besides, this is already a discounted price for you," David said with a smile, gesturing toward the hundreds of gene fruits in the greenhouse. In his view, although the price of five advanced crystals was somewhat high, no one else had these fruits but him. Naturally, he wanted to make a profit from this opportunity. He chuckled again at Monica''s astonished expression.

 Chapter 185 Fatso

    ?


    In fact, Monica also knew that the price of one gene fruit for fifty advanced crystals was exorbitant.   However, when she thought about the powerful functions of the gene fruit, her heart couldn''t help but be tempted.   Obtaining such a resource in the midst of the apocalypse would be a great help for her and their team.   After calcting her private savings, she had sixty advanced crystals.   These were rewards she had earned while hunting zombies with the team.   Although it wasn''t much, it was enough to purchase another gene fruit.


    So Monica gritted her teeth and said, "I''ll bring the crystals tomorrow.   We''ll do a direct exchange."


    Seeing the pained expression on Monica''s face, David knew she was already drawn to the gene fruit.   He nodded and smiled, "Same time tomorrow, I''ll be here waiting for you.   The gene fruit will be yours then."


    Monica nodded and reluctantly took onest look at the abundance of gene fruits before leaving David''s base.


    As Monica left, Sally silently made her way from the first floor to the greenhouse.


    "You seemed to have a good chat with her," Sally''s face showed a hint of jealousy as she spoke to David.


    Upon realizing that Sally was jealous, David walked up to her and rubbed her head, saying, " is about Business rtionships.   We have so many gene fruits in the greenhouse that we can''t possibly consume them all.   It''s better to exchange some for crystals.   That way, our team''s resources will be more substantial."


    Sally understood the reasoning behind David''s actions, but seeing him interact with other women still stirred up some jealousy within her.


    "Alright, no need to be upset.   Come and see the gift I''ve prepared for you," David took Sally''s hand and led her to a room on the second floor.


    "A gift?"   Sally paused for a moment before following David to the corner room.   As they reached the door, David gently pushed it open.   Suddenly, several flickering candlelights appeared in the middle of the room.   On the table were not only red candles but also two tes of steak with pasta and a bottle of red wine.   The room was filled with a captivating romantic ambiance under the warm glow of the candles.


    "This is the candlelit dinner I prepared for you," David held Sally''s hand and walked into the room.   During the gap when Monica left, David had prepared all these things.   However, before he had a chance to call out to Sally, she had already arrived on her own.


    This room had also been transformed by David into a separate space, with a bed and a fur-covered sofa inside.   Although the facilities were simple, it was a rare haven of tranquility.   As Sally looked at the flickering red candles in front of her, a sudden surge of warmth welled up in her heart.


    Since the apocalypse began, Sally hadn''t seen such a romantic scene.   When this long-lost memory suddenly appeared before her eyes, she looked up at David excitedly, her beautiful eyes sparkling like stars.


    "Don''t just stand there, sit down," David pulled out a chair for Sally and took a seat across from her.   He opened the wooden cap of the red wine.   The rich aroma filled the room, pouring into the tall wine sses.   The swaying red wine, illuminated by the candlelight, added to the enchanting atmosphere.


    "Cheers to your hard work during this period," David raised his wine ss and said to Sally.  Sally''s fair cheeks instantly turned rosy as she clinked her ss with David''s and took a sip.  Looking at the handsome man in front of her, Sally felt like there was a little deer jumping around in her heart.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Since theirst encounter, Sally hadn''t spent time alone with David like she did today.  The longsting post-apocalyptic life had gradually made her forget about such moments of beauty in life.  She never expected that David would prepare a candlelit dinner for her at this time.


    What woman wouldn''t be moved?  The jealousy Sally felt because of Monica just now vanishedpletely.  They ate steak, drank wine, and sharedughter, making it impossible to tell from the room that the outside world was in an apocalypse.  If others knew that they were here enjoying steak and wine, they would surely be envious.


    After a satisfying meal, Sally started feeling a bit tipsy.  The blush on her cheeks grew deeper.  Looking at David, she had a happy expression on her face.  Then she stood up and slowly walked towards David.  Illuminated by the soft glow of the lights, Sally''s curvaceous and alluring figure became even more captivating.  Even in her loosebat outfit, it couldn''t hide her natural charm.


    "Should we...  sleep here tonight?"  Sally blushed as she softly spoke to David.


    Seeing this shy woman in front of him, a smile appeared on David''s lips.  Without a word, he scooped up Sally and tossed her onto the bed.  A night of silence followed...


    Early the next morning, David woke up and looked at Sally, who was still asleep in his arms.  He smiled, got up, got dressed, and walked out of the room.  The rare sunlight shone through the dpidated windows of the building.  David stretchedzily and prepared to check on the growth of the fruits and vegetables in the greenhouse.  Just as he stepped into the greenhouse, a chubby figure suddenly shed past him from the opposite side!


    David''s eyebrows furrowed instantly, and he swiftly drew his alloy dagger, chasing after the slightly chubby man.  Although the man was overweight, he was surprisingly fast.  After weaving through several gene fruits, he quickly headed towards the exit on the other side.


    But in David''s eyes, the man''s speed was still too weak.  In the blink of an eye, David caught up to him from behind, lifted his foot, and ruthlessly kicked the man in the back.


    "Damn it!  You went all out!"  The slightly chubby man was sent sprawling to the ground by David''s kick.  He stood up while holding his waist, turned around, andined to David.


    "Huh?  A survivor?"  Upon hearing the man''s words, David immediately deduced his identity.  Judging from the aura emanating from him, he was an ordinary person who hadn''t awakened any abilities.  This puzzled David.  How did an ordinary person end up in his base?


    ncing at a piece of broken ss not far away, David immediately understood.  It turned out that he hadn''t had the chance to upgrade the ss on the second floor of the base to st-resistant ss.  The intruder must have climbed up and removed the ss to enter.


    With a cold gaze, David looked at the man and asked, "Who are you, and why are you here?"


    The slightly chubby man continued rubbing his waist, clearly feeling the weight of David''s kick.  "Just call me Fatso!"

 Chapter 186 Nutrient Solution

    ?


    David red at the man called Fatso but didn''t say anything.    Instead, he raised his alloy dagger.    Seeing the dagger in David''s hand, Fatso immediately wore a smile on his face.


    "Hey, buddy, don''t be impulsive.    I got lost and ended up here.    Who would''ve thought I''d run into your territory!    The world is so big, we might meet again if we''re destined!"    After saying that, Fatso bowed to David and prepared to leave with a carefree attitude.


    Watching Fatso act like a wandering hero, David spoke in a deep voice, "Put down the gene fruit from your pocket, or I''ll turn you into fertilizer for these fruits."


    Seeing that he had been discovered by David, Fatso awkwardly smiled and took out a gene fruit from his pocket, cing it on the ground.


    "I knew there was something bulging in your pocket.    Turns out, it was a fruit!    Strange, did this guy grow legs by himself?"    Fatso scratched his head, feigning confusion.


    "That pocket," David ignored his pretense and pointed to the pocket on the other side of his clothing.


    "Oh, there''s another one here too!    Damn, it''s really strange.  "  Fatso said with augh.    He then took out another gene fruit.    At the same time, a hint of reluctance appeared in his heart.    He had climbed to the second floor and picked these two fruits, but he hadn''t even tasted them before returning them.


    However, even so, the smile on Fatso''s face didn''t diminish at all.    Hepletely concealed his thoughts.    Seeing this seemingly harmless Fatso, David couldn''t help but feel amused.    Acting all tough in front of him?    Little did Fatso know that David had experienced various types of people in his previous life, having roamed and struggled in society.    Just a single nce, and David knew what was going on in Fatso''s mind.


    However, David''s face also showed a hint of surprise.    He didn''t expect that this guy without awakened abilities would speak so confidently in front of his level ten presence, and he hadn''t even revealed his true thoughts.    Apparently, this man was a very cunning character.


    "Buddy, can I go now?    Don''t worry, if you encounter any difficulties in the future, just mention the name Fatso, and I guarantee smooth sailing for whatever you do!    We roam the world, and reputation is everything!"    Fatso said, making a righteous expression while extending his thumb.


    "The fruits you plucked are poisonous.    Today, I saved your life, so consider it a debt you owe me," David said.    If it weren''t for David taking the gene fruit from him in time, that guy would have probably eaten it by now.    By then, his two hundred pounds would have be fertilizer for the fruits in the greenhouse.


    Upon hearing David say the fruits were poisonous, Fatso paused for a moment and then showed a relieved expression.    He lifted his head, nced at David, and left the greenhouse.    Using a rope, he quickly descended to the ground and disappeared at the end of the street.


    Watching the rope left behind by Fatso, David remembered this plump man who roamed the world.


    Meanwhile, in an abandoned hospital in the city, on the fourth floor, there was a hidden room in a long, dimly lit corridor.    Needles of various sizes were scattered all over the floor, and the smell of alcohol mixed with the stench of decay constantly irritated the nostrils.    The room''s door was shut, and inside, boxes of nutrient solution were stacked.    Behind these boxes, there was a narrow empty space.


    A nurse crouched trembling in the hidden room, her hands tightly covering her mouth, afraid to make any sound.        Suddenly, a hurried footstep sounded from outside the corridor.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    A middle-aged doctor arrived in front of the pharmacy door, anxiously whispering to the nurse inside, "Don''t make a sound.        These nutrient solutions are our only supplies.        If they''re taken away, we will lose all hope of survival in this apocalypse!"


    As the middle-aged doctor spoke, he kept ncing at both sides of the corridor, seemingly afraid of someone approaching.        Upon hearing his words, the nurse inside the hidden room wanted to say something but suddenly heard a sinister voice from outside.


    "Old man, where are the nutrient solutions?        If you don''t hand them over, believe me, I''ll kill him right away!"        This immediately made the nurse nervous, and she tightly covered her mouth again.


    Watching the two approaching figures, the middle-aged doctor stood up and said to them, "I will never tell you, even if it costs me my life!        It''s because of despicable scoundrels like you that the apocalypse has be even more cruel!"


    Upon hearing the middle-aged doctor''s words, the two slowly approaching individuals couldn''t help but sneer.        "Augustus, give that guy a taste of our methods by shedding some blood!" said the man standing behind.


    "As you wish, boss!        Dealing with this kind of thing is my specialty!"        The two men were Eamonn and Augustus, sessful puppets under Alexander''smand.


    After bing Level 6 Espers, both of them awakened their abilities.        They relied on their formidable strength to recruit all of Gary''s former subordinates into their Murder God Gang.        Those who didn''t obey became the wandering spirits under their control.        This time, the two of them came here to seize some nutrient solutions for their guild members.


    Hearing Eamonn''s words, Augustus smirked, revealing a chilling coldness at the corner of his mouth.        Then, he swung his hand holding a young doctor by the neck fiercely.


    "Splurt!"        Instantly, a red sh appeared as Augustus''s palm struck, leaving a bloody gash across the young doctor''s neck.        The young doctor cried out in pain as blood gushed out like a fountain from his neck.


    "Felix!"        The middle-aged man trembled as he looked at the young doctor.        "Beasts!        You animals!        Even if you kill all of us, I won''t let you seed!"        He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes fixated on Eamonn and Augustus, burning with anger.


    Now he only med himself for not awakening his ability, for not having the power to save his students.        Otherwise, he wouldn''t have to fight desperately against these two people.        But now, he had to protect the nutrient solutions in the room.        Otherwise, ordinary people like them who hadn''t awakened their abilities would face the threat of starvation.


    "Oh?        Didn''t expect this old man to have some backbone?"        Augustus dropped the barely alive Felix from his hand andughed.


    "Well, then let''s see your bones are stronger, Or I have more methods"  With a hint of murderous intent, Augustus transformed into a crimson sh and quickly charged towards the middle-aged doctor.        He struck his palm on the man''s chest, causing a mouthful of blood to spurt from his mouth.

 Chapter 187 Arnold Comes To The Rescue

    ?


    The middle-aged doctor couldn''t withstand Augustus''s palm strike and fell to the ground, his legs giving way.     Nevertheless, he continued to re firmly at Augustus from his lower position.     "You''re dreaming!     I''ll never hand over the nutrient solutions!"


    "Heh!     Seems like you''re quite stubborn!"     Augustus said with a sneer.     "Believe me, I can make you vanish into thin air right now!"     He raised his palm again, ready to finish him off.


    "Augustus, Hold your horses!"     Suddenly, Eamonn behind him spoke, then he nced at the hidden room and signaled to Augustus.     In the instant the middle-aged doctor fell to the ground, Eamonn, with his acute hearing, caught a faint sounding from inside.     Augustus immediately understood Eamonn''s meaning and forcefully pulled open the door to the hidden room.


    "Ah!     Don''t kill me!     Please, don''t kill me!"     The nurse inside the room immediately screamed in fear, continuously moving backward.


    Seeing this, the middle-aged doctor took advantage of Augustus''s momentary pause and swiftly lunged at him, tightly embracing his legs.     "Susie, run!"


    At this moment, Augustus looked at the middle-aged doctor, frowned, and kicked him hard in the face.     The immense force almost knocked him unconscious.


    "Sister, don''t be afraid.     Big brother knows how to take care of you!     Once we''re back, big brother will make you feel like you''re floating in the clouds every day!"     Augustus smirked and walked toward Susie.


    "No, please, no..."     Susie struggled with all her might, but she couldn''t escape from Augustus''s grip.     In an instant, Augustus lifted her from the ground, then viciously sniffed her hair.     "Sister''s hair smells so good!"     At the same time, Augustus also noticed the stored nutrient solutions in the hidden room.


    "Boss, the nutrient solutions are all here!     This old man is too cunning!"     Holding Susie, Augustus walked out of the hidden room and said to Eamonn.


    Eamonn nodded in satisfaction, then looked at the middle-aged doctor lying on the ground in pain.     "You''ve been hiding from us for so long.     You''ve wasted too much of our time."


    After saying that, a putrid blood burst out from Eamonn,pletely surrounding the middle-aged doctor.     In the blink of an eye, the putrid blood corroded himpletely, leaving only a few white bones behind.


    This was Eamonn''s ability, Blood Devour.     Anyone surrounded by the putrid blood would be quickly devoured.     Seeing the white bones on the ground, Susie was so frightened that she fainted.


    "Hehe, quite a fruitful day!     Not only did we obtain the nutrient solutions, but we also have a beautifuldy in our arms!"     Augustus''s hands started wandering on Susie''s body.


    "Focus on the task at hand.     The brothers are waiting at home," Eamonn said coldly to him.     Then, several members of the Murder God Gang quickly approached from outside and moved all the nutrient solutions from the hidden room onto a vehicle outside the hospital.     They carried Susie and walked out of the hospital gates.


    Proudly, Augustus said to Eamonn, "Boss, who would have thought that the two of us would awaken our abilities one day, and even reach Level 6!     Now, who wouldn''t bow their heads in front of us?     I never thought that I, would have this day."     Augustus grew more excited as he spoke, eager to celebrate this asion by having a double stroke of luck with Susie on his shoulders.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Don''t be too arrogant.           Don''t forget that Alexander warned us.           That guy named David is quite powerful.           He''s likely to be a formidable opponent even if the two of us join forces."           That night, after they became Level 6 Espers, Alexander informed them of David''s name.           They knew that he would be their future opponent, regardless of his actual strength.           With Alexander''s remarkable abilities, they had nothing to fear!


    "If we perform well, maybe  Alexander will be pleased and continue to raise our ranks!           Then killing David would be as simple as squashing an ant in a forest," Augustus said indifferently, not caring about David at all.


    However, Eamonn shook his head.           He knew well that even someone like Alexander didn''t dare to provoke David, so he and Augustus wouldn''t stand a chance.


    At the same time, he was curious about who Alexander really was.           Every time they met, he appeared as a shadow, and they had never seen his true face.


    But Eamonn realized that, as mere pawns under Alexander, they probably didn''t have the qualification to see his true identity.           The most important thing now was to quickly bring back the nutrient solutions and strengthen the physical condition of the members of the Murder God Gang.           It was a secret technique he learned from Alexander.


    So the two of them walked towards the car filled with nutrient solutions.           Just at that moment, on the street across from the hospital, Arnold showed his head, observing the members of the Murder God Gang loading boxes.           He hade out alone today to seek out zombies and enhance the power of his werewolf mode through realbat.


    Upon arriving, Arnold saw a group of people carrying boxes out of the hospital.           He became curious and crouched down to observe.           Eamonn and Augustus, with Susie in Augustus''s arms, gradually appeared in Arnold''s field of view.


    "Espers?"           Arnold furrowed his brows as he looked at the two.           At the same time, he noticed Susie being carried by Augustus.           Suddenly, he understood.           These two guys were here to rob the hospital!           And they were forcefully taking women.


    Arnold couldn''t stand by and watch.           With a look of indignation, he stepped out from the corner of the wall and walked towards Eamonn and Augustus.


    "Someone!"           Just as Eamonn was about to get into the car, he sensed Arnold''s presence and turned to look at him.           Augustus also looked up at Arnold.


    "Heh!           Who''s this audacious fellow?           Daring toe and seek death on his own?"           Augustus ced Susie on the car, licked his lips, and a bloodthirsty expression once again appeared on his face.


    Arnold approached the two slowly and looked at them, saying, "Leave the woman behind and get out of here!           I have the utmost contempt for people like you!"


    The other members of the Murder God Gang who were loading the car immediately surrounded Arnold upon hearing his voice.           Seeing theseckeys, Arnold let out a lightugh.           They were just ordinary people, far inferior to him.           With a swift charge, he used his Wolf Charge technique, tearing through their chests with his sharp wolf ws.           Before A member of the Murder God Gang could even scream, Arnold swiftly dealt with them.


    Wiping the blood off his ws, Arnold looked at Eamonn and the others.           "Oh, a tough guy, huh?           I like people like you!           Today, I''ll let you witness true terror!"

 Chapter 188 Level 2 genetic fruit

    188 Level 2 gic fruit


    Eamonn also stared at Arnold, his face filled with an undisguised killing intent. From the aura emanating from the opponent and his previous actions, Eamonn immediately recognized Arnold''s strength. However, he remained calm because he knew his own level was higher than Arnold''s. At the same time, Arnold looked at Augustus, his brow slightly furrowed.


    "Kid, if you want me to let her go, you have to prove your strength. Today, let me see what you''re capable of!" Augustus said, clenching his fist, causing his knuckles to emit cracking sounds. In the next moment, he swiftly charged towards Arnold.


    Seeing this, Arnold didn''t dodge and instead directly extended his palm to meet Augustus''s iing fist head-on. However, Augustus''s punch was incredibly powerful, and even the awakened werewolf ability of Arnold couldn''t help him from instinctively taking two steps back.


    "Very strong!" Arnold thought to himself, stabilizing his posture. He now truly assessed Augustus''s strength, his face growing increasingly serious.


    Augustus sneered and continued to charge towards Arnold. Witnessing Augustus''s imposing momentum, Arnold activated his werewolf mode, roaring as he met him head-on.


    ck blood coalesced around Augustus''s body, as if under his control, transforming into various shapes and relentlessly attacking different parts of Arnold''s body. Although Arnold managed to barely withstand each assault, the disparity in their power levels gradually made it more difficult for him.


    Finally, Augustus seized an opportunity and directly pierced an arrow-shaped stream of blood into Arnold''s arm. Arnold instantly felt the pain, leaping backward to create distance between them. Looking at the wound on his arm that was continuously bleeding, Arnold was somewhat surprised by the abilities and strength of the person before him. He didn''t expect his opponent to be this strong and capable of manipting blood for attacks. Both in terms of speed and power, Augustus surpassed him by far.


    At this moment, Augustus toyed with a blob of blood in his hand, ncing at Arnold disdainfully. "You think you can be a hero with this level of strength? You don''t even know how you''ll die! Since you want to be a hero, I''ll show you the price of being one!"


    A cruel and violent aura erupted from Augustus''s entire body as he prepared to deliver the final blow to Arnold. In his eyes, killing Arnold was as easy as squashing an ant, and the act of killing itself was an addictive pleasure!


    "Augustus, let him go." Just as Augustus took his first step forward, Eamonn, who had been silent all along, spoke in a deep voice.


    Hearing his boss''smand, Augustus paused for a moment and asked in confusion, "boss, why keep this trash alive? He''s useless."


    Eamonn pondered for a moment and spoke again, "Until we find David, let''s keep a low profile as much as possible. He is our ultimate enemy. Let him go, and let''s hurry back."


    Upon hearing Eamonn mention David''s name, Arnold''s heart skipped a beat. He scrutinized the two even more seriously. Hearing Eamonn''s words, Augustus nodded and looked at Arnold, saying, "Kid, you''re lucky today. My boss has spoken, so get lost!" With that, he turned around and got on the car, swiftly driving away.


    Seeing the figures of the two leaving, Arnold hurried back to the base. From their conversation earlier, he understood that they had ill intentions towards David. Their ultimate goal was to kill David. Combined with their disy of strength, Arnold felt that they could be a big problem for the Embers squad. He needed to inform David about this as soon as possible.


    Soon, Arnold returned to the base and found David. Without even tending to his wounds, he quickly told David about what had happened.


    "They''re targeting me?" David said with a puzzled expression upon hearing Arnold''s words.


    Arnold nodded. "them strength is not low, and one of them can manipte blood for attacks." David looked at the wound on Arnold''s arm and nodded. He didn''t understand why he had be the target of those two individuals, let alone this so-called "Murder God Gang."


    When David heard the name of the faction, he found it amusing. So, these guys considered themselves killers, huh? Shaking his head with a smile, David instructed Arnold to quickly tend to his wounds. Although he was curious about this matter, he didn''t dwell on it because that''s how the post-apocalyptic world was. Deception and treachery were rampant, and people desired to possess everything around them. No one wanted to see others be stronger. If they did, would have to eliminate them.


    Sally, who had heard Arnold''s words, came downstairs. "Who are these people, after all?"


    David looked at Sally and smiled faintly. "They''re just survivors in this post-apocalyptic world. Don''t worry, we haven''t encountered any opponents that pose a threat to our Embers squad yet." As he spoke, he reached out and ruffled Sally''s hair, evoking a sense of inexplicable security within her.


    David then went back to the greenhouse on the second floor. Looking at the gically modified fruits and various vegetables, he decided to modify them once again. The effects of the gically modified fruits were particrly pronounced for the members of the squad.


    However, the effects were minimal for David, as he was already a Level 10 esper. The gic fruits were only in their early stages, so their effects couldn''t be fully manifested in him.


    David called out to the system, "System, upgrade the gic fruits."


    [Ding! Host''s request to upgrade the gic fruits detected. It requires 100 primary crystals as the cost. Please confirm, Host.]


    This was why David wanted to upgrade the gic fruits. Unlike upgrading other objects, the upgrade for the gic fruits only required primary crystals. And David had umted a considerable amount of primary crystals.


    "Confirm the upgrade!" David decisively replied.


    [Ding! The gic fruits are upgrading! ]


    [Ding! Upgradeplete! ]


    [The gic fruits have been upgraded to Level 2, doubling their functionality! ]


    Listening to the system''s voice, David looked at the fruits that hadpleted the upgrade. Their size had suddenly doubledpared to before, and even the emanating aura felt more substantial.


    David picked one of the fruits, washed it with liquid, and took a bite. The taste was still crisp and delicious, just like before the upgrade, but once it entered his body, he felt a stronger surge of warmth.


    David felt the power coursing through him and nodded in satisfaction. Although the gic fruits could only enhance his physical and mental strength, they were still an excellent choice for daily energy supplementation. This ensured that the members of the squad would maintain their vitality during battles. David then picked the ripe gic fruits and distributed them to the others.

 Chapter 189 Go Out For Training

    ?


    After a few days of rest and recuperation inside the base, David decided to take the team members out for a training exercise. Prior to this, they had always trained inbat near the base and had never ventured out. They had practically wiped out the nearby zombies, so David wanted to take them further away to find some new ones.


    Although this decision was somewhat risky, David pondered it and believed it was necessary. The reason was simple: the team members were eager to improve their rank and strength. The small number of low-level zombies no longer satisfied their needs; only more and higher-level zombies could rapidly enhance their abilities.


    In the apocalypse, strength was paramount. Only by rapidly improving their own strength could they survive permanently in the apocalypse. So David informed everyone of this decision. Upon hearing about the training exercise, the team members immediately became excited.


    "David, we should have gone further away a long time ago. We''ve already killed all the zombies in the vicinity," Arnold eximed excitedly, stretching his muscles. After a few days of rest, his arm, which had been injured by Augustus, had fully recovered. After experiencing the previous incident, Arnold was determined to quickly improve his rank and strength. He was determined to find the person who had injured him and seek revenge. As a resolute and courageous man, how could he let someone beat him without retaliating?


    Charles also chimed in, "I''ve already calcted it. The weather has been good these past two days, which makes it a good time for a training exercise." David nodded, but he had only temporarily thought of this decision and hadn''t decided where they would go.


    Before the apocalypse, this city was the thirdrgest in the country, with a permanent poption of tens of millions and a monthly flow of several million people. Therefore, the area was vast, taking five to six hours by car to travel from the northernmost to the southernmost part of the city. Since the outbreak of the apocalypse, their team had been guarding this area and waspletely unfamiliar with other regions.


    In addition, since David wanted to find a ce with more zombies, he needed to study it carefully. After pondering for a moment, he said to Charles, "Charles, can you calcte which ce has the most zombies?"


    Upon hearing David''s words, Charles nodded. As his rank reached level six, his astrological abilities became stronger. Not only could he predict the weather, but he could also make detailed spections about events in a certain area. He closed his eyes slightly, and Charles floated in mid-air, surrounded by a circle of stars.


    After a moment, he gentlynded on the ground and said to David, "There''s a town called D town to the north, about seventy kilometers away from us. The zombie activity there is very strong."


    David thought for a moment and immediately decided to go to D town in the north. It was not only a suitable distance, avoiding a long journey, but they could also reach there in half a day. What was more important was that he didn''t sense any other danger from Charles''s words; it seemed like the best ce for the team members'' training exercise.


    Next, David took out arge piece of red cloth from the warehouse system and had Sally and Sophie make it into small gs. Arnold, Duke, and Charles loaded some drinking water and food onto the supply vehicle, and they also filled severalbat vehicles with fuel and checked their conditions.


    David then went to the greenhouse on the second floor, picked a few gic fruits, washed them with a potion, and put them into a bag. This ensured that the team members would have the physical and mental energy for the journey. Afterpleting all these tasks, the team members left the base.


    "This is the set of three gs you asked Sophie and me to make," Sally handed thepleted red gs to David. Taking the gs, David inserted them on one side of the engine hoods of threebat vehicles. For this training exercise, he prepared to deploy threebat vehicles. He and Sally would lead in the off-road vehicle, followed by Arnold and Sophie in the rescue vehicle, and Charles and Duke in the supply vehicle. This arrangement would not only allow all team members to practice their driving skills but also foster cooperation among them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After David finished inserting the gs, he addressed everyone, saying, "These gs will help us better identify each other''s vehicles. If anything unexpected happens, we can take down the gs to signal each other. During the drive, we can use the gs or honk the horn tomunicate with the vehicles ahead and behind." Saying this, David stepped onto the off-road vehicle and demonstrated to the others how to use the horn tomunicate important messages.


    One honk meant everything was normal, two honks meant encountering danger, and three honks meant needing support. At the same time, David also taught them severalmon tactical gestures for actions during their operations. Everyone listened silently andmitted them to memory. After the preparations wereplete, the members of Ember Squad got into their cars.


    Little ck and C jumped onto David''s off-road vehicle. After rechecking the conditions of the vehicles, they slowly left the parking lot and headed towards D town.


    On the other side, at the Phoenix Rising Squad base, Duane and Shirley had returned to their normal lives after a period of depression following Alvin''s death. After all, they had to carry on with their lives; they couldn''t let the death of a traitor disrupt their normal routines. As Shirley watched the threebat vehicles of Ember Squad slowly driving through each street on the screen, she became puzzled.


    "What''s going on? Why did they all go out? Are they going on a vacation or something?" Shirley wondered. The thought made her envious. She spent every day staring at these boring monitors while the members of David''s squad went on a thrilling trip in their coolbat vehicles. Who wouldn''t envy that?


    "Captain, just look at their lives. That''s what I call living. How about taking me on a trip too? Going out to rx would be nice!" Shirleyined. Hearing Shirley''s grievances, Duane chuckled and looked at the threebat vehicles on the screen. Duane knew for sure that they weren''t going on a vacation; they must have a purpose. Otherwise, thest supply vehicle wouldn''t be carrying so much drinking water and supplies.


    "Could it be that they''re taking the team members out for a training exercise?" Duane guessed.


    "What about it? Does Shirley want to go out too?" Duane asked, and Shirley quickly nodded like a pecking chicken.


    "Then when David and the others go next time, I''ll make sure they take you along. I don''t have the luxury of time for such leisure," which immediately made Shirley hang her head and give Duane a resentful re.


    For Duane, the most important thing now was to uncover the secret of the Second Red Light. He knew that Alvin''s death was highly suspicious. Why was he killed as soon as the Second Red Light was mentioned?


    Duane knew that the person who killed Alvin was likely the key figure behind the Second Red Light. So Duane had been trying to find a way to locate them.

 Chapter 190 Not even worthy of licking my feet!

    190 Not even worthy of licking my feet!


    However, Duane had very little information about the mastermind behind the scenes. After several days of investigation, all he knew was that the person was a man in his twenties. This was deduced from the conversations he continuously listened to between Alvin and the mastermind on the surveince recordings. Besides that, he knew nothing about the person.


    Nevertheless, Duane didn''t give up. He knew that after Alvin''s death, the mastermind would continue to search for people like Alvin to do their bidding. So in recent days, he had been wandering around the city, trying to find people who seemed suspicious. However, most of the people he encountered were either zombies or ordinary individuals without any supernatural abilities.


    After looking at some paper maps, Duane decided to go to amunity called QS. Yesterday, an ordinary person had told him that a rat n called the Murder God Gang had risen in the QSmunity. Overnight, they had practically taken over half of the city and killed many of their opponents.


    This made Duane sense something abnormal, so he decided to investigate the Murder God Gang today. After studying the streets near the QSmunity, Duane prepared to leave the base.


    "Captain, how about I go with you this time? I''m so bored here by myself. Don''t worry, I won''t hold you back. After all, I''m a Level 4 esper!" Shirley stood up quickly as she saw Duane preparing to leave. While speaking, she picked up her dagger, leaving no room for Duane to say anything.


    Seeing this, Duane smiled helplessly. He knew that this girl had been feeling bored all alone at the base for the past few days and had wanted to go out for some fresh air. After considering it for a moment, he thought that it wouldn''t hurt to take her along on this opportunity.


    It would also help alleviate the suppressed emotions they both had been feeling these past couple of days. So Duane nodded at Shirley, and the two of them headed towards the QSmunity.


    Along the way, they encountered several scattered zombies, all of which Shirley dispatched with a single sh of her dagger.


    Soon, they arrived on a street near the QSmunity. Shirley was about to walk into themunity when Duane pulled her back.


    "Don''t move, there are people at the entrance," Duane whispered. Shirley quickly crouched down and looked towards themunity entrance. Indeed, two individuals were standing there, each holding arge machete. They appeared to be the gatekeepers.


    "Captain, I can handle those two weaklings!" Shirley didn''t even consider them a threat, drawing her dagger and preparing to charge over.


    "Don''t alert them!" Duane once again stopped Shirley.


    "We''re here today to gather information. If we alert them, it won''t be good." From the ordinary person, Duane had learned that the two leaders of the Murder God Gang were quite powerful; otherwise, they wouldn''t have subdued all the rat ns in the city overnight. Even some espers had died at their hands.


    The purpose of Duane visit today was to see if there was any connection between the members of the Murder God Gang and the mastermind behind the scenes. If they were to alert them, not only would they not obtain any information, but they might also put themselves in danger. At that moment, one of the individuals at the entrance yawned and said something to the other person before walking to the nearby duty room and lying down, apparently falling asleep.


    "Shirley, go and fetch that guy over there without rming the other one," Duane said to Shirley as he looked at the remaining person.


    Shirley nodded and stood up, walking confidently towards the gatekeeper. The man took a cigarette from his pocket and just lit it, holding it in his mouth. As he looked up, he saw Shirley striding towards him. Although Shirley had recentlye of age, her figure had already developed beyond the ordinary.


    Combined with Shirley''s lively and charming aura, the man couldn''t help but stare. Before he could say anything, Shirley approached him gently and said, "Big brother, my feet are hurting. Could you take me home? It''s not far ahead."


    As Shirley showed a pained expression, she looked at the man with a pitiful gaze. This caused Duane, who had been observing from a distance, to involuntarily twitch at the corner of his mouth. However, the man instantly sumbed to temptation!


    "Don''t worry, little sister. Big brother loves helping others! Why don''t youe inside with me first, and I''ll take a good look at your ankle?" The man stared at Shirley with a lecherous smile, his gaze fixed on the two bulging buns that couldn''t be concealed by her clothes, eagerly rubbing his hands together. He never expected such a fortunate encounter today; he thought he should make the most of this opportunity and indulge himself.


    "You''re so kind, big brother! But you''re not even worthy of licking my feet!" Shirley stared at the man with disdain, her tone suddenly bing ice-cold.


    The man was taken aback and then felt Shirley''s knee strike his abdomen. His vision darkened, and he fell to the ground. When he opened his eyes again, he found his hands and feet bound, and Shirley and Duane standing before him.


    "You little bitch! How dare you hit me? Do you know who I am?" the man said angrily, looking at Shirley.


    "Smack!" Duane raised his hand and pped the man''s face hard. "Watch your mouth!" Duane''s p was forceful, and the man saw stars in front of his eyes.


    "Tell me about the situation with your boss, or else..." Duane drew a chin-high dagger from his waist, its cold de gleaming.


    "You''re dreaming! I advise you to release me quickly. Otherwise, when my boss finds out, you''ll all die! You''ve provoked the Murder God Gang, and no one can escape!" The man, relying on Eamonn and Augu''s power, began to be reckless.


    Duane shook his head and nced at him disdainfully. "you refuse to answer, you''ll have to taste the penalty." In the next moment, Duane plunged the dagger into the man''s thigh, and blood immediately flowed out. The man grimaced in pain, his face turning pale.


    "Will you talk now?" Duane raised the dagger again and asked.


    "Big brother, big brother! I''ll talk, please don''t stab me anymore!" The man immediately surrendered, losing his previous arrogance. He then revealed what little information he knew about Eamonn and Augustus. As a low-ranking member, he wasn''t aware of much known by the two bosses. He only knew that they hadn''t awakened their esper abilities before and somehow became Level 6 espers.


    "Level 6 espers?" Duane was surprised. He didn''t expect these two guys to have such a high esper level, surpassing even him. He immediately spected that they must have received assistance from the mastermind behind the scenes. Otherwise, it wouldn''t be possible for them to be espers so quickly.With these thoughts, Duane furrowed his brow.

 Chapter 191 Augustus Pursued

    ?


    If Duane''s spection was true, and the Murder God Gang was a puppet of the mastermind, then Duane believed that the Second red Light incident might happen again. The other party''s goal was not only to bestow powers upon these individuals.


    It could be about ruling the apocalypse, which immediately made Duane nervous. He knew what that meant for all espers and ordinary people in the apocalypse.


    "Big brother... , I''ve told you everything. Can I go now?" Due to excessive blood loss from the wound on his thigh, the man''s face became increasingly pale, and his voice trembled slightly.


    Duane didn''t have time to think about it. He waved his hand, signaling the man to leave quickly. His mind was now filled with spections about the mastermind behind the scenes,It''s toote to pay attention to this little brother.


    "Thank you... Thank you, big brother! You''re a good person!" The man said excitedly to Duane. Shirley then swiftly cut the ropes binding his hands and feet. He hurriedly got up from the ground, ignoring the pain in his thigh, and ran towards themunity, afraid that Duane might change his mind.


    "Quick, someone''s causing trouble!" As soon as the man reached the gate, he abandoned his meek demeanor and shouted loudly inside.


    Upon hearing his cry, twenty or thirty members of the Murder God Gang immediately rushed out, each holding a weapon.


    "It''s those two people! They were prying for information about our boss and even stabbed me! Brothers, capture them and im the reward from our boss!" The man pointed at Duane and Shirley viciously. Consequently, the dozens of gang members wielding pipes and knives charged towards the two.


    Realizing the situation, Duane immediately realized that he shouldn''t have let the man go. Looking at the swarm of people, he reached into his treasure box and pulled out a neatly folded paper doll. As he threw it on the ground, the paper dolls suddenly came to life. Each one transformed into the size of a doll and charged towards the approaching gang members.


    "Quick, let''s get out of here!" Duane said to Shirley, taking this opportunity to leave the scene. They weren''t afraid of these gang members; their concern was their Level 6 esper boss. If he appeared, Duane and Shirley would likely be no match for him. In this situation, it was better to retreat using different tactics.


    The paper dolls rushed into the crowd of gang members,tching onto their legs and biting into their flesh. The gang members howled in pain, brandishing their weapons and striking the paper dolls.


    Before long, the paper dolls that Duane had used as an escape n were scattered on the ground, having been shed and beaten. Nheless, a few of them continuedunching surprise attacks, even with broken arms and legs.


    "Boss, these two people don''t want to live, daring to cause trouble on our Murder God Gang''s turf." In front of arge French window in the QSmunity, Eamonn and Augustus stood there, watching Duane and Shirley escape.


    "Leave them be. Alexander instructed us not to provoke any conflicts until David returns. During this time, focus on practicing the Rotten Blood. When Davides back, we''ll have a meeting with that guy." Eamonn said in a deep voice.


    Today, the two brothers had just met with Alexander and learned that David was not here these days. Alexander specifically instructed them to focus on practicing their abilities during this period and that they would "pay a visit" when David returned.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Hmph! Just David? Is he worth making Alexander so afraid? If you ask me, we brothers should gather our men and charge into hisir. Even with random knives, we can kill him!" Augustus said disdainfully.


    "Don''t forget this was Alexander''s order!" Eamonn''s tone suddenly turned icy upon hearing Augustus''s words. He red at Augustus, causing him to immediately shut his mouth.


    "Go and investigate the information about those two people we just encountered. Once we''ve dealt with the trouble that David presents, we''ll find out more about them." Eamonn said once again.


    "Leave it to me, I''ll handle it." Augustus disappeared on the spot, turning into a streak of blood-red light as he chased after Duane and Shirley.


    "Captain, they didn''t follow us." Inside an abandoned convenience store, Duane and Shirley hid behind a shopping rack, continuously observing their surroundings. Seeing that no one was following them, Duane breathed a sigh of relief.


    "Captain, those guys clearly aren''t good people. Why didn''t we take care of them? It''s been a while since I''ve had a fight. My Flowery will rust soon," Shirley said with disappointment, her hand resting on the knife at her waist. Flowery was the name of her knife, andplementing Shirley''s awakened water-based ability.


    "They have arge number of people, plus two Level 6 awakened espers. It''s too risky to confront them directly. I won''t gamble with our lives, mine and yours," Duane replied, emphasizing that their lives were not to be risked in a direct confrontation.


    Just then, a streak of crimson light suddenly exploded in Duane''s peripheral vision!


    "Watch out!" Duane immediately realized the danger, pulling Shirley and leaping in the opposite direction of the convenience store. "Boom!" The shelf they had been hiding behind moments ago was struck by the crimson light, creating a loud noise. The light vanished, and Augustus slowly appeared in front of them.


    "I heard... you two were looking for me?" Augustus looked at Duane with a smile, and then his gaze shifted to Shirley. He licked his lips, a lecherous grin forming on his face.


    Although Eamonn instructed him to keep a low profile and avoid unnecessary bloodshed, Augustus, who had long lost his restraint, didn''t listen. Combined with Shirley''s enticing figure that made him drool, he was determined to indulge himself today.


    Seeing Augustus, Duane stood up, furrowing his brow. He knew that this man was likely one of the leaders of the Murder God Gang, which immediately made him cautious. Shirley also seemed to sense the danger, her right hand firmly gripping Flowery, ready to draw the knife at any moment.


    "We''re just passing through. You''ve mistaken us for someone else," Duane calmly stated, while constantly seeking an opportunity to leave the convenience store. However, there was only one door, and there was no other way out.


    "I advise you to be honest. The Murder God Gang is not open for inquiry by just anyone. If you provoke me, believe me, I will have my way with this little girl right in front of you and then dismember you and feed dog," Augustus said casually, his eyes also growing more intense as he looked at Shirley.

 Chapter 192 The First Battle

    192 The First Battle


    Looking at the extremely arrogant Augustus, Duane stared at him cautiously, his face showing a hint of seriousness. It was evident that the opponent''s strength surpassed his own, and engaging in a direct confrontation wouldn''t be a wise choice.


    Furthermore, Shirley was by his side, and if anything went wrong, she would be in danger. It was clear that something was off about the way Augustus looked at Shirley. After a moment of thought, Duane spoke to Augustus, "We have no grievances or disputes with you; we''re just passing through."


    Unexpectedly, Augustus burst intoughter upon hearing Duane''s words. "Hahaha! No grievances or disputes? Just passing through? Then how do you exin injuring my subordinate? Don''t think a few words can deceive me. Today, you must give me an exnation!" As he spoke, a corruptive blood erupted from Augustus''s body, continuously swirling around his palm. Subsequently, the corruptive blood formed a ck blood sphere in his hand, continuously rotating and emitting an extremely violent aura.


    Seeing the blood sphere, Duane slowly reached for the treasure box at his chest, while Shirley immediately ced her hand on Flowery. Duane knew that this guy wouldn''t let them go today, and the only thing they could do was to fight him.


    At this moment, Augustus lowered his head, fixating on the blood sphere in his palm, his face showing a bloodthirsty expression. Seeing this, Duane furrowed his brow and said to Shirley, "Take action!"


    As soon as the words were spoken, Shirley didn''t hesitate to draw Flowery from its sheath! Just as Flowery was unsheathed, faint sounds of flowing water could be heard, as if an underground spring flowed through the de, emitting flickering starlight.


    Duane immediately took out a paper doll from the treasure box and threw it on the ground. The paper doll instantly grew in size. He then grabbed an ax and charged towards Augustus behind the paper doll.


    Seeing that they were actually making the first move, Augustus smirked and disdainfully looked at their approaching figures. He viciously threw the blood sphere in his hand towards the paper doll! Boom! The blood sphere exploded instantly amidst the paper doll! The huge explosion shattered the paper doll into fragments.


    At the same time, Duane and Shirley also reached Augustus''s front. "Aqua Wave sh!" Shirley raised Flowery and executed a diagonal sh towards Augustus. A blue ripple burst forth from Flowery''s de, directly rushing toward Augustus''s chest.


    "Hehe, a petty trick. How dare you wield an axe before me! You really underestimate me," Augustus sneered, raising his arm and using the corrosive blood that burst forth to instantly break through Shirley''s Aqua Wave sh.


    In that moment, Duane''s axe also swung down towards Augustus''s head. The axe struck Augustus''s sleeve, producing the sound of metal colliding.


    Duane focused his gaze and discovered that his body was covered in ayer of ck blood that he didn''t know when it had appeared. When the axe struck it, its power was instantly absorbed.


    Duane was shocked! He didn''t expect this guy''s control over blood to be so powerful that he could use it as a defensiveyer. While Duane was pondering, a blood sphere once again formed in Augustus''s palm and flew towards Duane''s chest.


    "Bad move!" Duane inwardly eximed, swiftly opening the treasure box and taking out a ck iron block! The iron block instantly expanded into a shield over one meter tall. At the same time, he threw a smoke bomb on the ground with force. Boom! The blood sphere exploded on the shield, creating a strong sound. The white mist inside the smoke bomb instantly diffused,pletely obstructing Augustus''s vision. When the dense fog dissipated, Duane and Shirley had already escaped the area.


    "Heh, useless!" Augustus, sensing the direction in which the two were fleeing, sneered contemptuously. Taking advantage of the smoke bomb, Duane immediately grabbed Shirley and ran far away.


    Inside an abandoned gas station,Duane and Shirley crouched inside a room, observing themotion outside. When they realized that the person hadn''t caught up with them, Duane finally rxed.


    "Cough, cough!" Suddenly, Duane began coughing continuously, and a trace of fresh blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.


    "Captain, are you injured?" Shirley asked anxiously upon seeing this.


    Although the shield appeared in time to absorb most of the impact from the blood orb, the tremendous force still struck Duane. He felt intense pain in his chest. After catching his breath for a moment, Duane regained his strength.


    "It''s nothing, just a minor injury." Seeing Duane''splexion improving, Shirley finally felt relieved.


    "Who exactly is that person? How can they be so powerful?" Shirley expressed her confusion, recalling Augustus''s attack. Despite being at Level 4, her swordsmanship with the "Flower " sword was exquisite. However, her signature move, the "Water Ripple sh," was effortlessly countered by the opponent.


    "That person''s strength has reached Level 6. We are simply no match for them." Duane realized that only David couldpletely defeat that person.


    However, David had already taken the team out for training, so even if Duane wanted to seek his help, he wouldn''t be able to find him. Additionally, considering therge number of subordinates the other side had, Duane understood that engaging in a direct confrontation was not a wise choice. To defeat that person,prehensive preparation was necessary.


    From Augustus''s moves earlier, Duane deduced that he was definitely connected to the mastermind behind the scenes. Otherwise, his every move wouldn''t carry such a strong ominous aura, just like the aura emitted by Alvin in the past.


    This realization strengthened Duane''s determination that the other person must know the identity of the mastermind. After resting for a while, Duane returned to the base with Shirley. He nned to wait for David''s return and discuss a strategy with him.


    "David went to D Town. Send some people to entertain him. Remember, during this time, focus on practicing the Decay Blood ability. When David returns, let them witness your strength," Alexander suddenly appeared before Eamonn and Augustus, who respectfully nodded.


    After a while, Alexander''s ethereal figure turned to Augustus, causing him to shudder. "Remember, don''t cause unnecessary trouble. Those two individuals are just small fry at Levels 4 and 5. Don''t worry about them,"


    Augustus paused for a moment, immediately understanding Alexander''s unspoken message, and hastily nodded. "Alexander, rest assured, we, the two brothers, will never cause trouble for you."


    "That''s good to hear. Make sure to arrange this matter quickly and make their journey more entertaining," Alexander finished speaking with a coldugh, then vanished from the spot.

 Chapter 193 The Effect Of Team Combat Is Remarkable

    ?


    At this moment, David continued leading the team on their way to D Town. Along the way, they encountered several zombies, all of which were crushed into a pile of flesh by David''s modified off-road vehicle. The vehicle, after modifications, was extremely powerful inbat.


    David acted as the point man, and the two vehicles behind him didn''t encounter any danger. ncing at the map, David realized they still had over half an hour until they reached D Town.


    "How about we stop and have some food? Everyone hasn''t eaten all day, and I''m sure we''re all hungry," Sally, sitting in the passenger seat, suggested, patting her rumbling stomach.


    After a brief moment of consideration, David nced at the sky outside the car window. It was around 3 PM, the sun hadn''t set yet, and the outside was still bright. Thinking that they would reach D Town in about half an hour, he decided to let the team take a break. They could replenish their energy and relieve the tension from driving for so long.


    David nodded to Sally and prepared to signal the two vehicles behind him. Just as he rolled down the car window, he suddenly heard Arnold honking the horn loudly. "Honk! Honk!" The two crisp horn sounds instantly rang in everyone''s ears.


    "Danger!" Upon hearing these two horn sounds, David immediately realized that it was a danger signal from Arnold. He quickly turned his head to observe the surroundings. As expected, in a thicket of bushes, he saw two towering and immensely tall zombies. They were approximately three meters tall, with decaying muscles clinging to their bone-white bodies, which was still unsettling to behold.


    These two zombies had been staring fixedly at them for some time, and there seemed to be traces of blood on their mouths, as if they were in the midst of eating something. Sally also noticed these two zombies and was immediately startled by their imposing appearance.


    However, with David by her side, she quickly calmed down. David decisively stepped on the brakes, stopping the vehicle about thirty meters away from the towering zombies. Arnold and Charles, seeing the situation, also parked their vehicles behind the off-road car.


    "David, these two look different," Arnold approached and stared at the zombies,menting.


    "They seem to be holding something in their hands. I saw them repeatedly stuffing it into their mouths," Charles joined the conversation.


    David assessed the two zombies. Although their towering height was intimidating, they were merely ordinary high-level zombies. He also noticed that the two zombies were holding green, sturdy objects, each dripping with fresh blood.


    "Roar! Roar!" The two zombies had long noticed David''s team and were now emitting low growls, seemingly warning them not to approach. They once again forcefully bit into the green, sturdy objects in their hands. Blood trickled down their mouths, making their already decaying bodies appear even more eerie and horrifying.


    Observing the two zombies, David spoke to the others, "These two seem to have some strength. It''s a good opportunity for you all to practice."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Having understood David''s intention, Sally nodded and reassured her not to be afraid. Since they all knew what David meant, they confidently stepped forward. Their purpose for going out on this training mission was to hunt and kill zombies to improve their level and strength. Now that prey hade to their doorstep, they couldn''t waste the opportunity.


    Sally nodded and followed the three others as they approached the two zombies. Meanwhile, David leaned against the off-road vehicle, watching with interest. As someone approached the zombies, the creatures instantly became more aggressive, continuously emitting deafening roars, seemingly trying to drive them away.


    "Heh, are these beasts afraid of us? They will obediently meet their death right there!" Arnold sneered and immediately activated his werewolf mode, pouncing towards the two zombies. Duke also promptly activated his shadow maniption ability, attempting to control the bodies of the two zombies. Sally steadfastly waved her arms, triggering bursts of lightning.


    With the support and assistance of Sophie and Charles from behind, a well-formed battle team quickly emerged before the two zombies. Arnold, who led the charge, was brimming with fighting spirit. Among all the team members, he was the most determined to improve his strength.


    Having been defeated by Augustus not long ago, he vowed to significantly enhance his abilities during this training mission, so that he could seek revenge against Augustus. Thus, he maximized his werewolf form, continuously leaping back and forth between the two zombies. During his jumps, he swung his sharp wolf ws fiercely across their bodies.


    At the same time, Sally directed two lightning bolts directly at the zombies, striking them forcefully. Sparks flew, and a thick white smoke instantly rose from the bodies of the zombies.


    It was evident that the sudden assault by Arnold and Sally had inflicted significant damage on the zombies. However, the team did not show any signs of stopping. Their attacks grew increasingly fierce with each wave. Within five minutes, with their relentlessbined assault, they managed to kill the two high-level zombies right on the spot.


    Silently nodding his head as he observed their coordination, David recognized the embryonic form of their team''sbat skills. During the recent battle, he realized that their team had begun to disy thebat prowess they should possess. This reassured him that their hard work during this period had not been in vain.


    As they looked at the lifeless bodies of the two zombies that slowly fell to the ground, Arnold examined the green, sturdy objects they held in their hands. He then discovered that they were actually arge python, which had been split in half by their attack. This revtion made him recall the feeding behavior of the zombies earlier. He immediately understood that they had encountered these unexpected guests while enjoying their feast.


    David approached the two zombie corpses, looking at the mangled python that had been partially devoured. He was silently surprised as he realized that the snake was at least ten meters long, with a body as thick as a water barrel. However, after being gnawed on by the two zombies, its body had gradually diminished in size.


    "Is there even a mutated python here?" David furrowed his brows and said. He also came to the realization that there were likely many zombies in this area.


    After all, in the post-apocalyptic world, mutant creatures coexisted with zombies. The fact that such arge snake existed indicated that there must be a significant number of zombies in the vicinity. While David was contemting this, the voice of the system suddenly sounded in his ears.

 Chapter 194 Windfall

    194 Windfall


    [DING! Congrattions, Host, for obtaining a Beast Pill!]


    "Beast Pill!" David raised an eyebrow upon hearing the system''s voice, showing a hint of excitement. He hadn''t expected to obtain a Beast Pill from the remains of the mutated python, so it was an unexpected gain. A pale green Beast Pill appeared in his consciousness.


    With a thought, David stored the Beast Pill in the warehouse system.


    [DING! Congrattions, Host, for triggering a hundred-fold critical strike!]


    [DING! Congrattions, Host, for obtaining a hundred Beast Pills!]


    As David looked at the hundred pale green Beast Pills in the warehouse, he silently nodded. Although they were of no use to him, they were a treasure trove for C and Little ck to enhance their levels and strength.


    However, David didn''t n to feed the Beast Pills to them right away. The most important thing at the moment was to reach D Town before nightfall. Otherwise, the road to D Town would be even more dangerous in the dark.


    Thus, David called out to everyone to eat some gic fruits on the spot. Once their physical and mental energies were restored to a satisfactory level, they got back into the vehicles and continued driving towards D Town.


    Finally, after over half an hour, the Ember Squad arrived at D Town. As they drove into the small town, an extremely chilling aura greeted them. Even though they were sitting in their vehicles, they could still sense the thick atmosphere of gloom.


    "Such overwhelming Yin energy. There must be many zombies here," Sally said with a serious expression as she looked at the visible Yin energy.


    David continued to survey the surroundings. Beforeing, he had researched some information about D Town. Compared to other towns, it was considerablyrger, with a permanent poption of over ten thousand. This led to a vast area with numerous houses, providing good hiding ces.


    At that moment, Charles, who was in the rear supply vehicle, suddenly honked the horn twice. Before David could inquire about it, he heard amotion around them. He quickly turned his head and saw that, at some point, more than a dozen zombies had appeared amidst the Yin energy. These zombies, as if they hadn''t encountered humans for a long time, rushed towards them in a race.


    Seeing this, Sally immediately held onto David''s arm tightly. "Why are there suddenly so many zombies?"


    David chuckled lightly and then decisively stepped on the vehicle''s elerator. The massive engine roared to life! The off-road vehicle emitted a plume of ck smoke as it charged into the horde of zombies. To David, these zombies were mere ants; there was no need for him to get out of the vehicle to hunt them. The modified post-apocalyptic vehicle alone was enough to crush them under its wheels.


    Witnessing David''s actions, Arnold and Charles followed suit, driving their vehicles into the horde of zombies. Soon, a chorus of agonized screams echoed from outside the vehicle windows. Amidst these screams, there was a trace of maniacalughter.


    "The more joyfully theyugh, the more tragic their deaths are." David smiled faintly and turned the steering wheel once again.


    Within three minutes, the dozen or so zombies that had suddenly appeared werepletely ttened into mush by the three vehicles. Only then did David open the car door and slowly step out of the war vehicle. The stench emitted by the zombie corpses on the ground was nauseating.


    David furrowed his brow and paid no further attention to those zombies. He parked the vehicles in an open area with Arnold and Charles, and the six of them started making their way deeper into D Town.


    "There might be zombies appearing in the town at any time. Stay alert, everyone," David reminded them, recalling Charles'' earlier prediction. Each team member nodded in agreement, cautiously surveying their surroundings.


    Roars of zombies echoed in the distance, catching their attention. They looked up and saw dozens of zombies emerging from the darkness, their greedy expressions evident upon seeing the group.


    David remainedposed, his expression unchanged. Before he could give any orders, Arnold and Duke charged ahead without hesitation. Sally and Charles protected Sophie, forming a defensive line around her.


    Observing his teammates'' actions, David decided to once again watch the show. Fortunately, these were just dozens of low-level zombies, posing no significant threat to the team members. In just a short time, they eradicated the entire group.


    The voice of the system continued to sound in David''s ears.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for obtaining a primary crystal!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical strike, obtaining a hundred primary crystals!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for obtaining one...]


    Just after arriving in D Town, David effortlessly obtained over a thousand primary crystals. Although primary crystals had limited use for David, he still wore a satisfied smile on his face. In the post-apocalyptic world, no one could afford to overlook any resources. Even seemingly insignificant items could determine life and death.


    With no zombies in sight, David led the team members to continue their journey towards the center of the town. C and Little ck followed closely by David''s side, projecting a mighty and protective aura.


    Soon, they reached the central square of D Town, surrounded by various abandoned shops that had turned into ruins. After spotting David, the rats in the ruins squeaked incessantly. However, what surprised everyone was the absence of the chilling aura they had encountered when entering the town.


    Logically, there should be arger concentration of zombies in this area, and the absence of the ominous aura seemed unusual. Could Charles have miscalcted? David entertained this thought briefly but quickly dismissed it. He had great faith in Charles'' abilities. Curiosity piqued, David instructed the team to disperse and search in different directions.


    "Damn it! I thought D Town would be my chance for aeback, to grow and prosper. Who would''ve thought there''s nothing here except zombies and mutant rats!" A chubby man in the northeastern direction of the town, shaking the blood off hisrge cleaver, expressed his disappointment. It was the same man who had stolen the gene fruits from David''s greenhouse earlier. At his feety the lifeless body of a zombie, clearly dispatched by his cleaver.

 Chapter 195 performing in a play

    Chapter 195 performing in a y


    The town was quiet at this moment, and a crescent moon in the sky intermittently appeared and disappeared among the clouds. The members of the Embers squad continued to search for any signs of activity in the middle of the town.


    David felt that the atmosphere here was unusually silent, indicating that something was amiss. Based on Charles''s spection, Town D was likely a ce densely popted by zombies. The constant encounters with zombie hordes along the way confirmed that this was a dangerous gathering ce. Why did it suddenly be so quiet?


    "Everyone, stay alert. There must be something unusual going on," David instructed the others. They nodded in agreement and cautiously surveyed their surroundings. After crossing the square, they came across a massive building. There was a stage on top of the structure, with numerous open-air benches below.


    As David carefully observed, he noticed that it was a theater, albeit long abandoned and in a dpidated state. Just as his gaze was about to shift away from the theater, he suddenly spotted something peculiar on the stage.


    David quickly focused his gaze and saw a head popping out from behind the tattered curtains. It was examining the benches below the stage as if they were upied.


    "There''s something happening on the stage!" David furrowed his brow and informed the team members. Upon hearing David''s words, everyone turned their attention to the ragged curtains. Indeed, they saw the eerie head, which startled them.


    It appeared to be the head of a child, with a bloody hole on top, blood oozing from its eye sockets. A pair of decaying hands gripped the curtains, revealing nothing but bare white bones. It seemed unaware of David and the others, still stretching its head to observe the benches below the stage, like a performer readying for a show, observing the audience.


    "Wow, this little one turned into a zombie already?" Arnold stared at the child and remarked, preparing to approach.


    "Whether it''s a child or not, once it bes a zombie, it''s our target to hunt. Better to die early and be reincarnated sooner. Uncle is here to lend you a hand!" As Arnold prepared to take action, David quickly reached out and stopped him.


    "Don''t act rashly. Let''s observe first." David said this because he noticed that this child zombie wasn''t immediately attacking them like the other zombies they had encountered. He also found the behavior peculiar. There was no one below the stage, so why was it continually staring?


    "Thud!" Just as David was contemting, a sound suddenly rang out.


    "What was that?" Sally asked, startled. Everyone looked up at the stage again and found that the child zombie had disappeared, reced by a rtively young zombie standing on one side of the stage. He held a drumstick and was forcefully striking arge drum.


    "Thump, thump, thump!" The drumbeat grew increasingly intense. As if responding to the rhythm, the moon in the sky slowly emerged from behind the dark clouds. Its pale, blood-red light instantly cast upon the town.


    Then, a horrifying scene appeared before everyone''s eyes. The previously empty benches below the stage were suddenly filled with all sorts of zombies. They sat quietly, heads lifted, gazing at the young zombie on the stage. It seemed as if they were waiting to witness a captivating performance. This stunned the group, prompting them to quickly retreat.


    Just now, David casually scanned the seats and counted more than a hundred of them. And all these seats were filled to the brim. In other words, there were more than a hundred zombies right in front of them. Duke couldn''t help but inhale sharply at the sight of the densely packed zombies.


    "Are they watching a y? Why are they motionless? They haven''t even noticed us," Sophie asked, puzzled.


    After observing for a while, David nodded. Based on the current situation, it seemed that these more than a hundred zombies were waiting to watch a show. However, he didn''t understand why these ferocious zombies suddenly became so quiet, as if under control. So he once again turned his gaze to the stage. He felt that the answer might lie there.


    After a moment, the drumbeat suddenly ceased, and the young zombie looked toward the other side of the stage, as if waiting for something. Suddenly, the child zombie from earlier reappeared before everyone''s eyes. It nced at the zombies below the stage, then performed a series of consecutive backflips from one side of the stage to the center. Afterpleting these moves, the child zombie raised its head and looked at the zombies below, seemingly waiting for apuse.


    The young zombie struck the drum heavily once again. "Thud!" With that drumbeat, the more than a hundred zombies below, as if manipted, raised their hands and apuded, creating a resounding noise. Each zombie mechanically pped its hands while staring at the two individuals on the stage.


    Upon hearing the drumbeat, David, unintentionally, wanted to p his hands as well, but he quickly suppressed the impulse. The other team members also experienced the same thing, looking at their own hands in confusion.


    "What''s going on? Why did I feel the urge to p? Yeah, I almost couldn''t resist when the drumbeat started!" Everyone realized what had happened and asked in astonishment.


    Furrowing his brow, David immediately understood that there must be something mysterious about the drumbeat of the young zombie. Otherwise, the more than a hundred zombies wouldn''t suddenly appear with the sound of the drumbeat, nor would they feel the urge to p.


    Mind control? This spection immediately crossed David''s mind. However, he continued to observe and saw the child zombie, listening to the apuse, with a smug expression on its face. At the same time, its eyes drifted towards David and the others, and a hint of extra blood appeared in its eye sockets, while its mouth revealed an indiscernible but infuriated anger.


    The young zombie struck the drum again, and the child zombie slowly walked to its side, continuing to silently observe one side of the stage.


    "Is there more?" Seeing the synchronized actions of the two individuals, David immediately made a guess.


    Sure enough, a zombie dressed in the attire of an old opera character suddenly appeared before his eyes. This "old opera" zombie had bones exposed on its face, but it wore theatrical makeup. Its clothes were tattered, unable to conceal its exposed internal organs. Nevertheless, it opened its mouth, and fragmented lines of dialogue floated out.


    "Behold, my lord, irresistible tears... tears flow down my face. In my heart, it feels as if thousands of arrows pierce through. Look at me, my lord, my ck hair is tied up together. Look at me, my lord, the red embroidered shoes on my feet are wearing thin." These lines sounded especially deste from the old opera zombie''s mouth, evoking faint cries from the zombies in the audience.

 Chapter 196 to show ones power

    Chapter 196 to show one''s power


    The old opera character became more and more engrossed in singing, waving the tattered sleeves of his robe in the air, his expression filled with intense pain.David was taken aback. He didn''t expect this guy to be able to speak like a normal person, albeit intermittently. Compared to the zombies that only sneered, he was like a bug. This immediately made David understand the opponent''s strength. Combined with the eerie and miserable aura emanating from him, David felt that his power was even more terrifying than a typical esper.


    At that moment, the old opera character opened his mouth again. "Look at my face, changed by the torment. Look at me, wrongly used, when will justice be served? From now on, sever the ties between us. I''ll wait for you at the gates of theherworld after I die." His voice became increasingly mournful, and blood started flowing from his eyes.


    With each line he sang, the young zombie on the side of the stage struck the drum, and the more than a hundred zombies below began to restlessly stir. It was evident that they were being controlled by the sound of the drum.


    "Wuwu..." At that moment, David suddenly heard sobbing beside him. He quickly turned his head and saw that Sophie and Sally''s faces were now covered in tears. Arnold, Duke, and Charles also remained motionless, gazing at the old opera character on the stage, their expressions filled with pain.


    "This is bad!" David muttered to himself, his expression turning serious. He didn''t expect his team members to be manipted by the drumbeat. Meanwhile, Sophie and Sally''s footsteps began to slowly move, attempting to approach the stage.


    Upon seeing this, David immediately took out a Gene Fruit and broke it into two pieces, stuffing them into the mouths of the two. As the Gene Fruit turned into juice and entered their stomachs, the two gradually regained their senses.


    "What happened to me? Why did I suddenly burst into tears for no reason?" Sally wiped the tears from her face and asked in confusion. The modified Gene Fruit helped enhance their focus, freeing them from the control of the old opera character and the drumbeat.


    "Quick, give them the Gene Fruit!" David instructed the others.


    Arnold and the others also slowly snapped out of it, their faces filled with horror as they looked at the old opera character on the stage. If it weren''t for David''s timely intervention, they would have likely ended up sitting among the zombies, bing one of them.


    At this moment, David focused his gaze on the more than a hundred zombies below the stage. He noticed that some of them hadn''t begun to decay, and their clothes remained intact. It was evident that they had recently be zombies and had been manipted by the individuals on stage. Zombies capable of manipting normal people, and even espers?


    David looked at the three individuals on stage with a cold expression. At that moment, the old opera character finally stopped. After scanning the zombies, he inadvertently nced at David and the others, revealing a trace of malice in his eyes. However, he quickly walked to the side of the child zombie and continued to look towards the other side of the stage.


    "Is there more?" David furrowed his brow.


    Soon, a remarkably melodious voice came from behind the curtains. Then, a woman wearing a bright red opera costume and embroidered red shoes suddenly appeared before his eyes. Just as he nced at her, David suddenly felt a trance-like sensation, but he quickly regained hisposure.


    However, when the other team members'' gazes met the woman, their bodies froze, and they began walking towards the vacant seats in front of her. Their speed was so fast that it didn''t give David any time to intervene. In the blink of an eye, the five of them were sitting among the crowd of zombies, bing their members. C and Little ck alsoy on the ground, beginning to fall into a deep sleep.


    David initially wanted to rush over and pull his teammates out, but the woman on stage burst intoughter once again and then began singing, just like the old opera character before.


    "Heartless man, how miserable I am! You abandoned me, how cruel you are! In this life, you shall not die peacefully! In the next life, you shall be an ox or a horse!" Simr to before, the atmosphere instantly turned tragic. Tears welled up in Sally and Sophie''s eyes once again, and Charles and the others were the same.


    David knew that the woman''s maniption was much stronger than that of the previous three. She was likely the most powerful among them. However, this kind of maniption seemed to have no effect on David.


    After all, David had awakened three different sequential abilities, and one of them was the Mental series. Even though his Mental abilities were not powerful before Level 10, with David''s level, he could easily resist the maniption. The woman stopped singing this time, raised her head, and looked at David.After sneering a few times, she suddenly asked, "Are you that heartless man? Why do you disregard us like this?"


    As she spoke, the other three individuals on the stage also stood up, staring intently at David. David remained calm, looking back at them without saying a word, but the Space des slowly appeared in his hands.


    Enraged, the child zombie pointed at David and roared, "Why didn''t you apud earlier? Was my performance not good enough?"He seemed as if he wanted to devour David right now. The old opera character also took a step forward, pointing his broken fingers at David and saying, "Was my acting not good enough? Wasn''t my suffering enough?"


    As he spoke, the young zombie struck the drum heavily once again. David continued to watch their performance with cold eyes. The woman then moved her footsteps, waving her water sleeve towards a dpidated house in the distance. "Boom!" Amidst her mockingughter, the house suddenly copsed into a pile of rubble. Rising dust floated in the air, obscuring the dim moonlight.


    David merely nced at it and shook his head. "A show of strength?" He didn''t even consider the woman a threat. Now he only wanted to rescue his teammates. He looked at Sally and the others, then walked towards them without hesitation. He first reached out and pulled Arnold, but Arnold remained motionless, staring nkly at the woman on stage with an expression of sorrow. No matter how David pulled him, he didn''t budge.


    "You, so fond of watching ys, I''ll let you have your fill when we get back." David said with a bitter smile.


    However, at that moment, the child zombie waspletely enraged by David''s actions. "You''re a bad person! You''re not allowed to harm our audience!" As soon as he finished speaking, he flew towards David with a fierce expression!


    David lifted his head, nced at him, and then reached out his hand in the void, fiercely gripping the body that was flying towards him! Space suddenly twisted, creating a chilling spatial vortex! In the blink of an eye, the child zombie was twisted into the vortex. As he entered the spatial vortex, his body was torn apart by David, falling to the ground in two halves.

 Chapter 197 Instant Kill

    ?


    David couldn''t be bothered to draw his sword against such weak opponents. He simply tore them apart with a spatial rift. ncing at the pool of flesh and blood on the ground, David continued to shake Arnold.


    No matter how hard David tried, Arnold remained motionless, his expression still fixed on the three individuals on stage.


    This made David realize that the only way to awaken his teammates was to kill those three individualspletely. So he stood up and looked at them.


    Seeing the child zombie being killed by David with a single strike, the three individuals on stage showed expressions of grief. The old opera character trembled as he stood there, blood seeping out from his skin. The drumming zombie tightly clenched the drumstick in his hand, gnashing his teeth as he stared at David.


    "You killed our child! You... shall die!" The woman in the opera costume red at David, and her water sleeves billowed with the wrath emanating from within her.


    Seeing their angry expressions, David smiled faintly and extended his finger towards themsaying, "or all together? Don''t waste my time."


    As soon as he finished speaking, the young drumming zombie leaped into the air, and the drumstick in his hand instantly grew to over two meters long. The drumstick exuded a ferocious and brutal aura, causing the zombies in the front row to cry out in pain.


    The young zombie raised the oversized drum without hesitation and swung it down towards David''s head, shouting, "You killed our child, and now you won''t live!"


    David looked at his soaring figure, clenched his right fist, and fiercely punched his head. "St!" David''s punch struck his head forcefully.


    Instantly, his head was smashed to pieces by David''s powerful punch, and various fluids sttered in the air. Without a chance to cry out, the headless body of the young zombie fell heavily to the ground, motionless. David shook off the blood and flesh from his fist, feeling disgusted.


    "How dare you! Our troupe cannot tolerate your unruly behavior! You shall pay for your crimes with your life! I shall send you on your way!" Saying this, the old opera character''s face revealed a touch of sorrow, and he started singing the previous lines again.


    "As this old servant dies, are you at peace? A vengeful ghost, destroying your homnd! Lead me and the little ghost, making you suffer!" With the old opera character''s lines resounding, the zombies sitting in the front row suddenly began to revolt. They slowly stood up, revealing their long fangs, and turned their heads to fix their gaze on David.


    Under the maniption of the old opera character''s singing, these zombies changed their previous dull appearance and activated their fighting ability. The old opera character continued singing, his hunched body undting like a blowing fan. David could even see his lung lobes expanding and contracting. These activated zombies kept baring their fangs and ws at David, exuding a much stronger aura than ordinary zombies.


    David immediately understood that the old opera character''s voice not only attracted the zombies but also increased theirbat power. It was a kind of battle empowerment. The old opera character on stage continued to sing in agony, and more blood seeped out from his body, forming a pool of blood at his feet. In his lines, he seemed to be using someone who had killed him, vowing not to let him go even in the afterlife.


    then,these zombies began to rush towards David, leavingrge pits in the cement ground wherever they passed. Theirbat power seemed to be off the charts! Looking at these ferocious and menacing individuals, David shook his head. He had no intention of exining himself to those who underestimated his strength. After all, battle prowess often made things clearer for them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Without further thought, David raised the spatial de in his hand and charged towards them like a gust of wind. With just one charge, David passed through the zombie horde and reached their rear. Waving the spatial de, he turned to face the zombies.


    "Boom! Boom!" Suddenly, the zombies started to violently explode! The spatial de''s 20% critical hit attribute instantly killed them. David disdainfully looked at the old actor on the stage, wondering what else he had up his sleeve.


    The old actor''s face turned even darker after David''s attack. He stopped and looked at David resentfully, while the blood pool at his feet began to bubble.


    "You... You''ll pay!" The old actor pointed at David again, his voice hoarse.


    David had no interest in continuing to tangle with these trash. He charged onto the stage and swiftly shed the spatial de across the old actor''s neck. "Gurgle... Gurgle." The old actor''s head rolled on the ground like a watermelon. The blood pool on the floor slowly disappeared.


    Next, David turned his gaze towards the woman. As soon as David charged onto the stage, she took a step back, keeping a distance of four to five meters between them. Witnessing the death of her family at David''s hands, the woman couldn''t bear the pain any longer and let out a mournful cry.


    "Damn it! Damn it! You killed my grandfather, my brother, and my child! I will make you pay with your own blood!" The woman screamed in anguish, her entire demeanor bing ferocious. Floating in mid-air, her crimson robe appeared even more sinister and terrifying under the cold moonlight.


    "I will kill you and make sure you never rest in peace!" The woman hovered in mid-air, frantically waving her water sleeves towards the vast stage.


    Suddenly, streams of ck light burst out from her water sleeves, fiercely rushing towards the stage. As the ck light touched the stage, it instantly copsed into ruins, apanied by a deafening explosion!


    The woman''s strike had actually sted the entire stage into ruins! Laughing excitedly at the falling beams and stones, she eximed, "Hahaha! Whoever provokes me shall die!"


    With a resentful gaze at the ruins, she seemed to believe that the human from earlier had been buried beneath the rubble.


    "Are you looking for me?" Just as she reveled in her triumph, David''s voice suddenly came from behind her. Startled, the woman quickly turned around, intending to continue waving her water sleeves. However, David wouldn''t give her the chance. The spatial de shed with a cold light as it moved through his hand!


    "Ah!" A cry of pain echoed through the air! David''s strike had directly shed her neck. Clutching her neck in agony, the woman''s face contorted. Without giving her a chance to react, David threw a punch towards her chest, his fist tearing through the air andnding directly on her chest...

 Chapter 198 Scavengers

    ?


    The woman in the robe was directly smashed through the chest by David''s punch. David''s powerful spatial ability allowed him to generate spatial fluctuations when throwing a punch, delivering a force far beyond what a zombie could withstand.


    Wide-eyed, the woman in the robe fell to the ground in disbelief. In the instant she fell, her body began to decay slowly, and a swarm of golden-shelled insects suddenly flew out from her decaying corpse.


    Not only her, but the three zombies killed by David earlier had the same oue. As these golden-shelled insects emerged from their bodies, the flesh turned into ck, unidentifiable objects. The insects then flew northeast toward the town.


    Watching these disappearing insects, David looked puzzled. However, the most important thing at the moment was his teammates. He walked over to Arnold, who had already regained consciousness and no longer had a vacant expression. It wasn''t just Arnold¡ªSally, Sophie, and the others were also gradually returning to normal.


    "David, what happened just now? Why was I crying? Where are those actors?" Arnold touched the tears on his face, puzzled.


    David didn''t have time to exin to them because themotion from the audience below was getting louder and louder. After David hunted down the actors on stage, more than a hundred zombies in the audiencepletely lost control. They recovered one by one, ring fiercely at David and his group.


    "Hiss, hiss." The sound of more than a hundred zombies hissing became piercing, as they surrounded David and the others, poised to charge.


    "Oh no! How did we alert so many zombies?" Arnold eximed in surprise, immediately activating his werewolf mode. The others also assumedbat postures, cautiously watching these creatures.


    "This is the purpose of our training this time, everyone listen up, it''s time to fight!" David smiled faintly, drew out his alloy dagger, and led the charge into the horde of zombies. They hade such a long way this time to seek out zombies and improve their own strength. Now, with so many zombies right in front of them, it was a perfect opportunity! Seeing David charging in and starting the ughter, the others didn''t hesitate and began a gratifying massacre.


    In the northeast direction of the town, "Fatso, I''ve had a huge loss today! It''s been a whole day and there''s nothing valuable? This poor town, from now on, I''ll curse it!" Fatso rummaged through a room, hoping to find some useful supplies.


    But from daytime until now, all he found was a dagger and a few boxes ofpressed biscuits. Other than that, there were no other gains.


    As an ordinary person without awakened abilities in the apocalypse, Fatso had always yed the role of a scavenger, as the name suggests¡ªcollecting items left behind by others during the apocalypse. Unlike the Rat Tribe, scavengers never actively plunder others'' belongings, let alone kill others for resources.


    Of course, except for the time when Fatso was attracted by David''s plentiful gene fruits, which was the first time he broke the scavenger''s rules. This time, Fatso came to Town D because he heard that there were abundant supplies here, and he thought he could simply carry a sack and leave with plenty of goods. But in reality, he only found a pitifully small amount.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "From now on, I won''t trust others'' words, what a waste!" Fatso plopped down on a couch, dejectedly muttering to himself. At the same time, he couldn''t help but think of therge quantity of gene fruits in David''s tent. It made him feel even more regretful. Finally obtaining something, only to be discovered by David and obediently putting it back.


    If it weren''t for the fact that David was not an easy person to mess with, Fatso would have tried to snatch a few for himself. Although Fatso was not an esper with awakened abilities, he was skilled in martial arts.


    Upon entering D Town, he had already killed three or four zombies with his knife. Not only that, this guy had a sharp mind and knew well how to navigate social situations, which allowed him to survive in the post-apocalyptic world. Now, after sighing, Fatso walked out of the house.


    He nned to explore other ces and if there were no gains, he would quickly head back. "If all else fails, I can always go to that guy''s greenhouseter and help myself to a few fruits! As a wanderer, I deserve some respect, right?" Fatso contemted.


    Just as Fatso was about to open the door to another room, he suddenly heard sounds of fightinging from the center of the town. Among the shes, there were also pitiful cries of agony.


    "Zombie sounds? And human voices too?" Fatso immediately recognized that the cries were made by the zombies, while the faint shouts belonged to humans. This made him furrow his brows. When he came in, he had already confirmed that there were no people in D Town, and certainly no one had entered. So how could humans suddenly appear?


    After a moment of consideration, Fatso decided to go and investigate. Perhaps he could take advantage of the situation and find a couple of powerful weapons. He swiftly moved towards the direction of the fight.


    David, leading his team, was enjoying the thrill of hunting in the midst of the zombie horde. He considered these low-level zombies as weak and fragile ants. He effortlessly sliced through them, as if cutting vegetables. The sound of the system constantly echoed in his ears, and in no time, he had acquired arge number of low-level crystals. The other team members had simr experiences, exerting their fullbat abilities against the zombies.


    Even Sophie floated in the air, using her newly acquired Ster Fall to kill the zombies. Although its power was low, whenever she hit a zombie, Arnold would immediately pounce on it and tear it apart. Their coordination was seamless, turning the once silent town into chaos. The air was filled with the stench of decaying flesh.


    At this moment, Fatso climbed onto a rooftop and observed the situation from there. "Oh my god! Is this a zombie convention? Why are there so many zombies?" The densely packed zombies widened his eyes. He swore that he had never seen so many zombies in his life, let alone witnessed them collectively attacking humans. He spotted the members of the Embers squad. Soon, his gaze locked onto David.


    "Huh? Isn''t that the guy?" Fatso muttered in a low voice, feeling puzzled. He hadn''t expected to encounter David here, and it seemed he was leading his own team.


    "What is he doing here?" With questions lingering in his mind, Fatso continued to observe.

 Chapter 199 It Says ‘Bugs Run‘

    ?


    In front of David, the low-level zombies couldn''t pose any threat at all. In the blink of an eye, dozens of zombies surrounding him fell to the ground, bing rotten corpses.


    Watching from a distance, Fatso couldn''t help but sigh with emotion. He felt that it was a wise choice not to confront this guy head-on. Otherwise, he would probably have suffered a lot. Not only David, but the other members of the team quickly killed the remaining zombies cleanly.


    "That was satisfying!" Arnold eximed excitedly towards the moon. In this ughter, not only did each of them significantly improve their strength, but their coordination among the team also became seamless. Even Little ck and C managed to kill many zombies on their own.


    Looking at the zombie corpses on the ground, David nodded in satisfaction. Then, he looked towards a rooftop in the distance and signaled Arnold with a nce. The moment Fatso appeared, David sensed his presence. Arnold nodded, leaped up lightly, and pounced on Fatso .


    "Oh no! I''ve been spotted!" Seeing Arnold leaping towards him, Fatso tried to run away. But Arnold''s speed was too fast; he appeared right in front of Fatso in an instant.


    "Big brother, I''m just passing by. You guys continue with your business!" Fatso forced a smile when he saw Arnold. After speaking, he was about to flee again.


    "Where do you think you''re going?" Arnold didn''t give him any face, grabbing his shoulder and lifting him into the air.


    "Big brother, I''m afraid of heights. Take it easy!" Fatso said in panic. Soon, Arnold brought him in front of David.


    It was then that David recognized the guy who sneaked into the greenhouse to steal the gic fruit. He couldn''t help butugh, "It''s you?"


    Fatso opened his eyes at this moment and saw David. "Big brother, who else but me? I never thought we''d have such fate to meet here. I told you, even though the world is vast, we could still run into each other."


    Fatso started chatting with David, trying to distract him while continuously surveying the surroundings, attempting to leave as soon as possible. Not to mention the espers here, just theyers of zombie corpses under his feet made him nauseous and almost vomit. David had experienced this guy''s glib talk before and looked at him somewhat helplessly.


    David didn''t know how this guy without awakened powers ended up in the zombie-infested town of D. So he asked, "What are you doing here?"


    Hearing David''s question, Fatso sighed, "What else can we scavengers do here? Aren''t we just looking for some supplies? But damn, this ce is so damn poor, not even a hair to be found!" Recalling his miserable experiences today, Fatsoined again.


    This time, David understood the guy''s identity. However, he was somewhat surprised. With so many zombies around, how could this ordinary guy dare to venture in alone? Then he nced at the knife at the guy''s waist and suddenly understood ¨C this guy must have some strength.


    After a moment of contemtion, David said to him again, "It''s too dangerous here. Follow us, and we''ll protect you if there''s any danger." After thinking it over, Fatso nodded. After all, there was probably no hope left in this scavenging trip, and going back would also require a whole day''s journey. Instead of returning empty-handed, he''d rather hitch a ride with David and have some other gains along the way. He couldn''t bear to go back with nothing.


    " I''llply then. Thank you, brother!" Fatso performed a martial arts salute towards David, and he also smiled at the other members of the team. Seeing this familiar guy, the others nodded in acknowledgment.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Next, David led the team to move forward, but the formation changed, with Fatso and Sophie in the center. Along the way, Fatso told David about the general situation of D town. After all, since he arrived here, he had explored every corner of the town and was very familiar with the terrain. David casually asked him some specific details, hoping to gain useful information.


    "This town is full of zombies, and there''s nothing else. If I hadn''t reacted quickly when I arrived, I would have been done for! Luckily, I learned a few moves before, so dealing with them was a piece of cake," Fatso said with a somewhat proud expression.


    Arnold, however, looked at him disdainfully. He felt that Fatso''s mediocre skills were like acrobatics in the eyes of the espers, utterly unimpressive.


    Fatso naturally noticed Arnold''s expression, but he just smirked and didn''t say anything.


    "By the way, are there any mutant beasts around here?" David remembered the green giant python he saw on the way, as well as the inexplicable golden hard-shelled insects from earlier, so he asked.


    "Mutant beasts?" Fatso pondered for a moment and then said, "When I was in the north of the town, I saw a message left on the wall by some survivors."


    "What did the message say?" Charles asked curiously.


    "It was written there: "Bugs... " Fatso tried to recall what he had seen.


    "Bugs?" David frowned instantly. It reminded him of the group of golden hard-shelled insects. He thought this might have been a warning left by people who had encountered danger before entering D town, so they wanted to inform others. He quickly asked Fatso to lead the way to the wall where the writing was.


    Soon, Fatso brought them there. They saw a wall with the words "Bugs Run" written in red material, just as Fatso had described. It seemed like the person who wrote it hadn''t finished it, but it was clear enough to read "Run." It appeared that the person was suddenly attacked while writing.


    David carefully observed the surroundings of this message and quickly discovered an arrow that seemed to have been deliberately erased. The arrow pointed towards a forest in a nearby park.


    "I guess someone yed a prank here, intentionally scaring people," Fatso said to David.


    David shook his head and turned to look at the forest in the park. The forest didn''t seem to be veryrge originally, but it had be overgrown due to neglect, and the area appeared to be more than twice its original size, filled with various weeds. It was eerily silent in the forest, not even a bird could be heard.


    David stared intently at the forest and then suddenly turned to look at Fatso, which startled him.

 Chapter 200 Creepy Bug

    ?


    "Don''t scare me like that, big brother." Fatso Seeing David''s sharp gaze, couldn''t help but shiver. David didn''t say anything but just smiled and nced at the arrow that could erase people.


    "Captain, what should we do next?" At this moment, Charles walked up to David and asked.


    David pointed towards the forest in the park and said softly, "Let''s go there. Perhaps there might be some surprises."


    Seeing that David wanted to go into the forest, Fatso hesitated for a moment. A barely noticeable trace of nervousness flickered across his face, but he quickly regained hisposure.


    "Big brother, it''s pitch-dark in there, and it''s not good to get lost. You guys go, I don''t have any abilities, so I''ll keep watch here." Fatso said, preparing to find a concealed spot to hide. At the same time, he nced at the silent forest, and his right eyelid twitched suddenly.


    "Scared? I thought you were fearless, a tough guy who fears nothing. I didn''t expect a small forest to scare you. Well, forget it, you stay here and take it easy. Your courage can''t match Little ck''s." David squatted down and patted Little ck''s head, and thetter happily wagged its tail.


    Upon hearing David''s words, Fatso couldn''t sit still anymore. Him, scared? No way! He had survived the apocalypse alone, relying on his extraordinary courage. So he stopped in his tracks, put his hands on his hips, and said, "Who''s scared? Whoever backs down is a coward! I''ve traveled all over, through thick and thin. When have I ever been scared? Not to mention this small forest, even if it were the Gates of Hell or the Mountain of Knives, I wouldn''t even bat an eye! Let''s go, I''ll personally lead the way!"


    Saying that, Fatso drew arge machete from his waist and leaped over the railing, heading towards the park.


    Seeing this, David smiled faintly and gestured for everyone to follow. The park was quite simple in structure, with a small pond in the middle, a fitness equipment area to the east, a small square to the west, and a garden to the south. The north side was the small forest, but due to neglect, the fitness equipment had already turned into a pile of scrap metal, and the water in the pond emitted a foul smell. Fatso crossed the garden that had long lost its flowers and gradually approached the small forest.


    David and his team followed closely behind. As they were about to reach the small forest, Fatso couldn''t help but tighten his grip on the machete. Only now did he realize that David had used reverse psychology to goad him, and unexpectedly, he fell for it.


    " I''m no coward! I''ve traveled far and wide, braving danger at every turn!" Fatso wiped the sweat from his palms and encouraged himself.


    With that, Fatso led the remaining members of the Ember Squad into the small forest. As soon as they entered, an extremely foul smell permeated the air. Unlike the smell of decaying zombies they were ustomed to, this odor seemed to emanate from some kind of insects.


    David also noticed the smell at this time, constantly scanning the surrounding environment. Besides weeds and trees, there was nothing else around. Not even a single insect could be seen. Normally, such a damp forest would be a paradise for all kinds of insects, so why didn''t they see any here?


    David frowned in confusion, and Fatso tightly held his machete, continuing to move forward. After walking for about five minutes, his back was already soaked in sweat. He now deeply regretted following David; otherwise, he wouldn''t be in this situation.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Fatso hesitated for a moment, stopped, and said to David, "This smell is terrible. How about we retreat? What if it''s poisonous gas or something? If any of us die here, it''ll be on your hands." As he spoke, he kept ncing in the direction of the exit.


    "What are you afraid of? Just keep going forward. If there''s any danger, I''ll protect you." David directly dismissed Fatso''s idea of leaving and gestured for him to continue forward.


    This made Fatso wear a bitter smile. Helplessly, he could only grit his teeth and continue forward. After walking for another ten minutes or so, they reached the middle of the small forest. Here, the trees were denser, and various weeds became more abundant, making the foul smell in the air even stronger.


    "I can''t go on, can''t walk anymore." Fatso sat down on the ground. His visibly overweight body was sweating profusely, and the hot and humid environment of the small forest had drained all his energy.


    David was about to say something when suddenly Sally, who was standing beside him, grabbed his hand tightly and shouted loudly, "Bugs!"


    David quickly turned around and saw a group of insects scurrying around Sally''s feet. They were the same golden hard-shelled insects that had flown out of the corpses of the singing zombies earlier. Now, these insects were gathered together, seemingly discussing something.


    Duke immediately stomped on them, causing the insects to explode, releasing an even more unpleasant smell that spread around the group.


    Seeing this scene, fear immediately surfaced on Fatso''s face. He quickly stood up from the ground and shouted loudly to the others, "Run!" Without hesitation, he dashed away,pletely ignoring David and the rest.


    "What''s there to fear about squashing a bunch of bugs?" Arnold sneered, looking in the direction where Fatso ran.


    However, the next moment, an inexplicable vibration suddenly came from deep within the forest. It sounded like something was vibrating its wings. David took a step back and stared intently in the direction of the vibrating sound. The noise grew closer, and the frequency of the vibrations increased.


    Suddenly, the trees in front of David broke without any warning, and a huge golden hard-shelled insect, as big as a rhinoceros, appeared before him! Its whole body emitted a golden glow, and its wings were constantly vibrating on both sides of its body. It had a pair of bulging eyes on its head and two long fangs below its eyes, giving it an incredibly eerie appearance. It rotated its eyes, curiously inspecting the group.


    "Oh my gosh! Such a huge insect!" Arnold eximed in astonishment. He now understood why Fatso had panicked and fled earlier. Anyone who saw this creature would be scared stiff. Feeling the terrifying aura emanating from the giant insect, Arnold knew that it was something to be feared.


    David didn''t hesitate and repeated the words Fatso had just said: "Run!"

 Chapter 201 Ferocious Golden Armor Beetle

    ?


    As David shouted, the members of the Ember Squad didn''t care about anything else and turned to run in the direction Fatso had fled. The golden hard-shelled insect seemed to be provoked by the sight of humans and let out a loud roar before charging towards them. It trampled the trees around it, and even some stone sculptures became debris under its feet.


    David chose to run as soon as he nced at the creature because its aura was incredibly powerful, possibly on par with his own level. But he couldn''t leave his teammates behind and, considering the horrifying aura emitted by the creature, he thought it best to leave the area. The team sprinted away at full speed, and they could already faintly see Fatso who had stopped to catch his breath.


    Once again, David shouted loudly at him, "Don''t stop! Lead this thing to the square in the park!"


    Hearing David''s voice, Fatso paused and quickly turned his head to check. When he saw the golden hard-shelled insect charging towards him, he shuddered and wore a wry smile on his face.


    "Big brother, don''t follow me! I finally managed to run away, and you brought it back again?" Without resting, Fatso once again used all his strength, propelling his short legs towards the small square in the park.


    Though the hard-shelled insect was terrifying, itsrge size restricted its movements within the forest surrounded by dense trees. It couldn''t even fly with its vibrating wings. This gave David and the others more opportunities to escape.


    In the blink of an eye, they reached the small square in the park. Fatso squatted on the ground, gasping for breath, and red at David. If it weren''t for this guy, he wouldn''t have encountered the creature again. Then he turned his head to look at the hard-shelled insect, a hint of solemnity in his eyes.


    David, too, observed the creature as it emerged from the forest. He instructed his teammates to move backward. The hard-shelled insect finally came out of the forest, pping its wings and screeching as itnded beside David. Its two eyes constantly moved, observing the humans in front of it. Meanwhile, it continuously released more hard-shelled insects from under its shell. These insects adhered to its carapace, covering it densely in no time.


    "What on earth is this creature? It''s so huge!" Sally stood behind David, observing the creature in horror.


    Strictly speaking, this creature''s size surpassed human knowledge of insects. Even David had never seen such arge insect. Combined with the ferocious and terrifying aura it exuded, David was frowning as he kept his Space de ready.


    "It''s called the Ferocious Spirit Golden Armor Beetle, a mutated form of a beetle," Fatso suddenly stood up and said, looking at the creature. Hearing his voice, David nced at him.


    Fatso approached David and continued, "The Ferocious Spirit Golden Armor Beetle is inherently vicious and can attack humans remotely by releasing its offspring from its body. These offspring can even use humans'' bodies as nests to feed on their flesh and blood. The more flesh and blood they consume, the stronger they be. Judging from the size and aura of this Ferocious Spirit Golden Armor Beetle, it must have killed dozens of humans." As he spoke, a solemn expression appeared in Fatso''s eyes as he looked at the creature.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Killed dozens of survivors?" Everyone was stunned, and fear spread through their hearts. They hadn''t expected this giant insect in front of them to be such a brutal and vicious mutant, feeding on human flesh and blood to survive. Their nerves tightened, and they stared at it intensely.


    David''s heart also shook slightly. He suddenly remembered that since their team entered D Town, they hadn''t encountered any other survivors except Fatso. And when he killed those three guys who were singing, golden small bugs flew out of their bodies. Most likely, it was the doing of this Ferocious Spirit Golden Armor Beetle. Anyone who entered this ce would undoubtedly end up bing a host for its offspring, with their flesh and blood sucked dry. Even those singing guys bing zombies must have been its handiwork.


    This was the first time David had encountered a mutant creature that used its offspring as a means of attack. He looked up again at Fatso and asked in a deep voice, "Is there a way to kill it?"


    Fatso pondered for a moment, nodded, but soon wore a bitter smile. "There is a way, but it''s extremely difficult. The Ferocious Spirit Golden Armor Beetle has its nest where its mother is stored. If we kill its mother, it will lose itsbat power. However, this creature is too cunning and knows how to create multiple nests to confuse us. Even if we find the nests, it''s likely to stop us with its formidable strength." Saying this, Fatso shook his head.


    For Fatso, searching for the Ferocious Spirit Golden Armor Beetle''s nest was practically an impossible task. Just in this park alone, there could be hundreds of nests. However, there was only one nest that housed the mother. The Ferocious Spirit Golden Armor Beetle had an incredibly strong perception of its mother. If anyone came within a hundred meters of it, it would immediately sense it and rush over to kill the intruder.


    Fatso knew that David was very powerful, but facing the terrifying Ferocious Spirit Golden Armor Beetle, the chance of victory seemed extremely slim. It made him regret once again why he had to take the risk of entering this ce. Otherwise, he would have left this eerie town long ago.


    Helpless, Fatso looked at David beside him and could only silently draw the short knife from his waist. The only way now was to fight alongside David.


    Arnold saw Fatso draw his knife and take up a fighting stance. He spoke, "Since you haven''t awakened any abilities, you better stand behind us."


    Fatso chuckled lightly, nced at Arnold, and replied, "If I didn''t have a few tricks up my sleeve, I wouldn''t have survived in the apocalypse until now. This big machete in my hand has tasted blood countless times. Just watch, and I''ll show you a thing or twoter."


    David also nced at Fatso, feeling puzzled by his behavior. After witnessing his various actions earlier, there were too many things about him that David couldn''tprehend. And now, he was about to join their fight, making David regard him as an enigma.

 Chapter 202 Insect Swarm Attack

    ?


    Now David couldn''t spare the time to unravel this mystery because the ferocious spirit-armored beetle in front of him had begun to screech again. With each screech, more and morervae under the golden shell were being released, including the hundreds that were released earlier. At this moment, theservae were hovering around the ferocious spirit-armored beetle, continuously fluttering their wings in David''s direction.


    Suddenly, the ferocious spirit-armored beetle pped its wings, and thervae seemed to receive an attackingmand as they flew furiously towards them. Seeing this, Fatso wielded arge cleaver and said to everyone, "the ferocious spirit-armored beetle are skilled at entering the human body through the seven orifices. Everyone, protect these areas!"


    Saying that, Fatso swung the cleaver in one hand and quickly cut a strip of cloth from his clothes, tightly wrapping his ears, nostrils, and even his mouth. Everyone quickly followed suit, wrapping themselves up, leaving only their eyes exposed. David, on the other hand, directly used his spatial abilities to create several solidified voids around his seven orifices.


    Afterpleting all of this, Fatso swung his cleaver in a circr motion and shouted, "You beasts, taste my ancestral swordsmanship!" With that, he charged into the swarm of ferocious spirit-armored beetlervae. The others also used their own abilities and followed him into the battle.


    As for theservae, David didn''t care at all. His current priority was to find the nest of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. ording to Fatso, killing the mother inside the nest would directly kill the entire creature. So, he brandished his spatial des and easily cut severalrvae in half as they flew at him.


    Then, with a light leap, David flew over the ferocious spirit-armored beetle and headed towards the woods behind it. He spected that since this creature was a mutated form of a beetle, it must retain the beetle''s preference for a damp environment. Moreover, it had appeared suddenly when they entered the middle of the woods, as if it had entered its perception zone for the mother.


    David believed that the nest must be hidden in some corner of the woods. At this moment, the attention of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle was focused on Fatso, which gave David the opportunity to enter the woods.


    Uponnding, David saw a mound of earth covered in weeds under a tree. Approaching it, he found it was the nest of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. However, just as they had entered the woods, their attention was focused on the nearbymotion, and they didn''t notice what was under their feet.


    David stepped on the nest, and the soil instantly crumbled, leaving only a small deep pit. "Fake," he muttered as he realized this was a false nest set up by the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. He continued searching the vicinity.


    One after another, David discovered more than a dozen fake nests in the thicket, all illusions created by the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. There was no sign of the mother creature, which made David anxious. He looked at the others and saw that more and morervae were being released by the ferocious spirit-armored beetle, and they were growing in size. Even though his team members were awakened espers, they were struggling to deal with so manyrvae.


    Especially Sophie, as a healing-type esper, could only use some basic abilities to deal with thervae while being protected by Arnold. However, the sheer number ofrvae made it difficult for Arnold to hold them all off, and he was showing signs of exhaustion.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    What surprised David was that Fatso disyed a formidablebat prowess. His cleaver rang out with each swing, apanied by the sound ofrvae bodies being cut apart. Despite the intense battle, Fatso showed no signs of fatigue. Instead, he grew stronger with each fight, and his unknown knife style was particrly domineering, leaving David somewhat amazed.


    However, David quickly understood the situation. Fatso, being a ordinary person, didn''t need to deplete his esper abilities during the fight. This allowed him to conserve his stamina and energy, enabling him to deal with the swarm ofrvae. At the same time, it also revealed the weakness of espers. If their level didn''t reach a certain point, their stamina and energy would be rapidly depleted with the use of abilities, putting them at a disadvantage in a prolonged battle.


    This realization prompted David to speed up, wanting to find the nest of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle before his teammates'' stamina and energy ran out. In the battlefield, more and morerge-bodiedrvae were constantly emerging from under the golden shell of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. Each of them had already matured into adults, with theirbat capabilities significantly enhanced. Their sharp teeth rubbed against each other, emitting a terrifying sound.


    Driven by the ferocious spirit-armored beetle, these adults charged towards Fatso and the others in a frenzy. Fatso continued swinging hisrge cleaver, but he was still just an ordinary person, and his strength was gradually depleting. After swinging his cleaver once, he cursed at the insects and then rolled towards the ferocious spirit-armored beetle.


    "Damn it! How dare you bully me? Today, I''ll make you bleed!" he shouted, swinging therge cleaver again towards the golden shell of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle.


    A crisp metallic sound rang out, and Fatso felt a strong impact on his hand. The tremendous reactive force almost caused him to lose his grip on the cleaver. On the other hand, the ferocious spirit-armored beetle didn''t seem to suffer any harm at all.


    "This guy has a really tough shell !" Fatso endured the pain in his hand and prepared to strike again. However, the ferocious spirit-armored beetle, being a mutated creature, naturally chose to retaliate immediately after being attacked. It rapidly pped its wings, and a whirlwind suddenly stirred around it. The force of the whirlwind was so strong that it made it difficult for the 200-pound chubby guy to move an inch!


    Helplessly, Fatso had to crouch down and assume a sturdy stance, trying to lower his center of gravity to prevent himself from being blown away. Sally, seeing the situation, immediately triggered a lightning strike, which hit the shell of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle with great force.


    "Boom!" The lightning struck down from the sky and exploded on the creature''s body, seemingly causing it pain as it quickly stepped back. This allowed Fatso to break free from the whirlwind.


    Originally, Sally wanted to continue her lightning attacks, but the heavy energy consumption left her barely able to withstand the attacks of the adult beetles in front of her. Not only Sally but also the other members of the Ember Squad were in the same situation. It seemed that if the ferocious spirit-armored beetle released another wave of adult beetles, they wouldn''t have the strength to resist. At this moment, they pinned their hopes on David. Only by finding the nest of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle and killing its mother could they have a chance to catch their breath.

 Chapter 203 Found The Nest

    ?


    At this moment, David was not idle either. He repeatedly found the nests of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle, only to discover that each one was a decoy. Seeing his teammates bing increasingly anxious and exhausted, he couldn''t help but speed up his search.


    On the other hand, after Fatso''s attempt to ambush the ferocious spirit-armored beetle failed, he stopped confronting it head-on and instead engaged in hit-and-run tactics. He continuously struck the beetle''s limbs with hisrge cleaver, creating a "ng" sound with each strike. Eventually, Fatso''s strength was nearly depleted, and he was panting as he crouched on the ground.


    "This beast is really tough!" Looking at his cleaver with a dulled edge, Fatso couldn''t help butugh bitterly. He then looked towards David in the woods, pinning his hopes on him.


    Enraged by the continuous attacks from Fatso, the ferocious spirit-armored beetle suddenly became furious. It pped its wings again, creating a whirlwind that instantly destroyed all nearby fitness equipment. Then, it leaped toward Fatso.


    "What the heck! Why is iting after me?" Fatso yelled in panic and quickly got up from the ground, starting to run. Despite his weight of several hundred pounds, he ran like the wind.


    The other members of the Ember Squad saw this and immediately gathered Sophie and Sally in the middle. Charles then took out the gene fruits David had given him earlier and divided them into several pieces for everyone to eat.


    "Quickly restore your stamina!" They all nodded and ate the gene fruits, which slightly replenished their stamina. Meanwhile, poor Fatso was still being relentlessly pursued by the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. Seeing hispanions eating gene fruits while he was fleeing, he couldn''t help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.


    "Damn! I''m being chased by the ferocious spirit-armored beetle , and you guys are having fruit!" While heined, the ferocious spirit-armored beetle let out a strange cry and elerated its chase, making Fatso exert all his strength to run.


    On the other side, after David had repeatedly destroyed dozens of fake ferocious spirit-armored beetle nests, he arrived at the northern part of the woods. This area had not been explored by their team yet. Pushing aside some vines, he was shocked by the scene before him. There were hundreds of nests of various sizes spread out in this area. Each nest was about a meter apart, and the densely packed mounds of soil gave people goosebumps.


    Seeing these nests, David knew that he wouldn''t have time to probe each one individually. Thus, he stood still and directly activated his spatial abilities. As someone with spatial attributes, he could resonate with the void within a ten-kilometer radius, even causing the surrounding void to vibrate intensely in an instant.


    David calmed down and silently felt the spatial order of this area. Then, he clenched his fist and fiercely struck the void in front of him.


    "Boom!" With a loud roar, David''s fist struck the void, instantly creating a continuously spreading shockwave. The shockwave was so powerful that it caused the entire nearby void to tremble. Under the impact of the shockwave, those nests suddenly exploded like timed bombs. Flying rocks and soil covered the entire forest in the blink of an eye.


    David looked intently, trying to find the true nest of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. After a moment, the debris settled, leaving the area in ruins, with even the trees broken in half by David''s spatial shockwave.


    Suddenly! About a hundred meters away from David, there was a nest covered in weeds that remainedpletely unaffected by the shockwave.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David''s expression instantly turned serious, realizing that this nest was likely the realir of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. Without any hesitation, he flew towards it immediately.


    And at that moment, the ferocious spirit-armored beetle, which had been chasing Fatso, suddenly seemed to sense some danger. It quickly turned around and fixed its gaze on David''s direction. In the next second, it let out an angry roar, and its golden shell emitted waves of golden light as its wings elerated, leaving Fatso and flying towards David.


    This gave Fatso a moment to catch his breath. At the same time, he understood that David must have found the ferocious spirit-armored beetle''s true nest, triggering its protective instinct towards the mother. The other adult beetles around them also immediately followed the ferocious spirit-armored beetle and left, bringing instant silence to the battlefield.


    The team members removed the cloth strips covering their seven apertures and nervously watched David''s figure. At this moment, David flew towards the nest at high speed, and the ferocious spirit-armored beetle followed closely behind him. Its wings pped loudly, and the thunderous sound exploded in David''s ears. However, because of the solidification, he managed to resist much of the sound disturbance.


    In the next second, the ferocious spirit-armored beetle let out two angry cries and opened its mouth with long, sharp teeth, aiming to bite David''s back. David''s eyes shed with cold light! He sidestepped and flipped, raising the spatial de in his hand for a move called "Shadow Moon Void sh!" Instantly, a light shadow shed through the space, and the spatial de tore through the void like a water dragon, shing towards the ferocious spirit-armored beetle.


    Perhaps it didn''t expect this human tounch a sudden attack, but just as the spatial de was about to touch it, it released even morervae from beneath its golden shell. Theservae quickly spread and covered its shell, forming a thick protectiveyer.


    The spatial de struck its shell, and the powerful force caused ripples to spread throughout the space. David''s strike directly killed all thervae on the ferocious spirit-armored beetle''s shell. It even left a deep ripple on the shell.


    The ferocious spirit-armored beetle stepped back in pain, its two eyes radiating an intense and furious re. David knew that this creature was definitely trying to protect the mother inside its nest; otherwise, it wouldn''t haveunched a surprise attack on him right away.


    However, now that he had found its true nest, David didn''t rush. Instead, hended on the ground and calmly looked at the ferocious spirit-armored beetle in front of him. The creature emitted a truly terrifying aura.


    But after David''s powerful strike just now, its momentum seemed to have been suddenly defeated. It wandered around in ce, not daring to attack again. At the same time, it kept ncing at the nest behind David, showing signs of great anxiety.


    At this moment, the other members of the team and Fatso also ran over. Seeing the wound on the ferocious spirit-armored beetle''s shell, Fatso couldn''t help butugh, "Hahaha, it was chasing after me just now. Now it knows how powerful my brother is!"


    David nced at Fatso with a look of disdain on his face.

 Chapter 204 Dawn Scavenger

    ?


    The other members of the team also stared at the ferocious spirit-armored beetle with extreme caution. Seeing so many humans suddenly appear, the creature became even more restless and agitated. Its wings trembled incessantly, and more and morervae emerged from beneath its shell. Theservae were thickly wrapped around its body, seemingly preparing for a second attack.


    Sure enough, as they were speaking, the ferocious spirit-armored beetle charged towards David. This time, its speed was much faster than before, as if it was desperate to protect the mother and kill David.


    "David, be careful!" Sally shouted nervously. Arnold and Duke immediately rushed forward to intercept the beetle. Sally didn''t hesitate either and conjured a bolt of lightning from the sky, striking the beetle''s head. Before the ferocious spirit-armored beetle could reach David, it was stopped by the team members.


    After consuming the gene fruit, the team''s stamina and energy significantly improved, and theirbat power returned to normal. Arnold''s wolf ws were particrly fierce, leading the charge and delivering a powerful blow to the beetle''s shell.


    Duke pinched the air with both hands, and two shadows shot out, entwining the ferocious spirit-armored beetle''s limbs. In a blink of an eye, they immobilized the creature in ce.


    "Boom!" Sally''s lightning struck the beetle''s head, and a cloud of white smoke mixed with dazzling sparks erupted. The ferocious spirit-armored beetle howled in pain and immediately retreated its head back into the shell.


    Seeing the attack taking effect, the team members continued tounch a new round of offensive, trying to finish it offpletely. Sally''s lightning strikesbined with Arnold''s w attacks quickly pushed the team''s momentum forward.


    Duke used shadow techniques to firmly restrain the beetle''s movements, keeping it in ce to receive blows. Soon, the beetle''s shell was marked with several scars from the attacks. But then, the beetle''s head suddenly emerged from the shell again, but this time, it looked different. The previously raised eyes seemed to have ayer of metal over them, exuding a thick sense of solidity. Its head was now tightly covered by this metallicyer, with no skin exposed like before.


    What shocked everyone even more was that the ferocious spirit-armored beetle''s shell began to shed slowly. A thickyer of exoskeleton quickly fell off, and the scars previously caused by Arnold and Sally disappeared. Instead, the shell now revealed strange patterns.


    Upon seeing this, Fatso immediately took a step back, and his expression turned serious. Arnold continued to charge towards the beetle, attempting to inflict another severe injury. However, just as he approached the ferocious spirit-armored beetle, the strange patterns on its shell suddenly shed! A fierce burst of white light erupted from its shell, overwhelming like a bomb explosion, ruthlessly destroying everything nearby.


    Arnold couldn''t dodge in time and was sted into the air in an instant. Duke, on the other hand, coughed up blood, and his shadow technique immediately failed, leaving him paralyzed on the ground.


    Witnessing this, David immediately opened a space portal and caught Arnold, who was falling from the sky, setting him safely on the ground. Charles rushed to support Duke and pulled him back. In an instant, the situation on the battlefield turned particrly unfavorable for the Ember Squad.


    The ferocious spirit-armored beetle shook its newly formed wings with the strange patterns, turning around to face the group. Its eyes were filled with anger and disdain.


    "This guy evolved again?" Charles furrowed his brows and looked at the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. Not only did its physical form change, but its strength also dramatically increased, which could only be exined by a second evolution.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    David also had a serious expression; he hadn''t expected this creature to be so formidable, enduring multiple attacks and still possessing such power. Its aura was particrly chilling.


    At this moment, Fatso spoke with a serious face, "Yes, when the mother of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle feels threatened or injured, it triggers the evolutionary genes within it, leading to a second evolution. After the second evolution, its strength increases significantly. Without exaggeration, the current ferocious spirit-armored beetle is on par with a Level 9 esper."


    "Strengthparable to a Level 9 esper?" Hearing this from Fatso, everyone involuntarily gasped in shock. They could never have imagined that this seemingly giant bug would be so terrifying, almost on par with a Level 9 esper. It was like an overlord in this apocalyptic world.


    David''s expression grew even more serious. He was currently at Level 8, and the rest of the team members were below him. This meant that even with theirbined strength, it might not be enough to kill the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. He looked towards Fatso.


    "Why do you know so much about the ferocious spirit-armored beetle?" David had been suspicious of Fatso from the beginning. Now, he couldn''t resist his curiosity and felt that Fatso might hold the key to defeating the creature.


    Hearing David''s question, the other members of the team also looked at Fatso, making him nervous.


    "Don''t look at me like that. It''s as if I have some sinister plot," Fatso scratched his head and said.


    "If you don''t tell us, I can kill you first, then deal with the ferocious spirit-armored beetle," David said without hesitation, raising his spatial de threateningly.


    "Hey, calm down, bro. Let''s talk things out. Remember, a gentleman uses his mouth, not his fists. We have a good rtionship, right?" Fatso spoke in a somewhat yful manner, trying to charm his way out of the situation.


    David nced at him and made a motion as if he was going to strike Fatso''s round head. Fatso quickly grinned and said, "Alright, alright, I''ll talk."


    Fatso nced at the ferocious spirit-armored beetle, which was staring at the mother''s nest, and sighed. "When I first came to D Town, I encountered this creature. At that time, there was a group of reckless people who intruded into this forest, seemingly nning an ambush. However, they ended up angering the ferocious spirit-armored beetle, and it killed them all."


    "What is your real identity?" David continued coldly. He believed that Fatso was not just a scavenger who came to D Town; his scavenger identity was probably fabricated.


    Fatso looked up at David and a strange glint shed in his eyes. "My identity is indeed a scavenger, but I am the Dawn Scavenger."

 Chapter 205 A Completely Different Fatso

    ?


    "Dawn Scavenger?" Hearing Fatso''s exnation, all the members of the Ember Squad were stunned. In their understanding, they had never heard of this name before. Even David was slightly taken aback by the name.


    Looking at the puzzled expressions of everyone, Fatso exined, "Apart from awakened espers, there is another profession in the apocalypse called Dawn Scavengers. Unlike regr scavengers, Dawn Scavengers not only search for ordinary supplies but also regard zombies and mutants as precious resources. They know all their habits and weaknesses."


    The reason why Dawn Scavengers possess such abilities is that their purpose is to plunder the blood and bones of zombies and mutants to enhance their physical strength. This is why Fatso, without awakened abilities, could single-handedly challenge the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. He must have hunted down many zombies and mutants, obtaining arge number of blood and bones, allowing his physical strength to match that of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle.


    Listening to Fatso''s exnation, David continued to ask, "Did you erase the arrow sign on the wall as well?"


    Fatso chuckled upon hearing David''s question and nodded. When he first arrived in D Town, he encountered a group of people who entered the tree forest hiding the ferocious spirit-armored beetle and were killed by it. So, Fatso had an idea to provoke the ferocious spirit-armored beetle by attracting more people, hoping to gain some benefits. However, he didn''t expect to encounter someone like David, who was unreasonable.


    "Don''t worry; I''m an honorable Dawn Scavenger. We''ve already established a connection; I won''t deceive my brothers!" Fatso patted his chest, looking righteous.


    But David didn''t have time to believe Fatso''s words at the moment. The ferocious spirit-armored beetle had already started to move again, its evolved ck eyes fixed on them with killing intent.


    "Since you understand this creature, I''ll leave it to you. I''ll go deal with its mother," David said, leaving these words as he opened a spatial gate and rushed towards the ferocious spirit-armored beetle''s nest deep in the forest.


    As David disappeared in an instant, Fatso grumbled a bit displeasedly. Then he dropped the big de that he had wrapped up and took out a dagger from his waist. This dagger was his personal treasure, made entirely from the bones of a purple-gold rhinoceros. It was not only incredibly tough but,bined with his physical strength, could unleash tremendous power.


    Under the gaze of the other team members, Fatso toyed with the dagger and slowly approached the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. He also nced at Arnold, seemingly suggesting that he should pay close attention to his uing battle.


    "What''s the deal with this Dawn Scavenger? Isn''t he just an ordinary person without awakened abilities? The ferocious spirit-armored beetle has evolved twice, making it difficult for even espers to deal with, let alone him," Arnold said nonchntly while benefiting from Sophie''s Ster healing, recovering his strength.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Fatso only smiled faintly in response, showing an innocent expression. The next second, his speed suddenly increased, and he charged straight at the enraged ferocious spirit-armored beetle. The creature waved its patterned wings, and ayer of white light shot out fiercely towards Fatso.


    Like a nimble rabbit, Fatso rolled on the ground, easily evading the first attack of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. It seemed that his several hundred pounds of weight didn''t burden him in the least.


    "Beast, why don''t you hurry up and die!" Fatso didn''t hesitate either. He lifted the dagger and fiercely stabbed towards the ferocious spirit-armored beetle''s head. After its second evolution, the creature''s entire body was protected by strong defenses, and only its head remained vulnerable. A heavy blow to its head would inflict devastating damage, and the ferocious spirit-armored beetle was well aware of Fatso''s intentions.


    However, Fatso''s speed was too fast. In the blink of an eye, he was already in front of it. He raised the dagger and fiercely stabbed towards its eyes. The ferocious spirit-armored beetle quickly retracted its head into its hard shell, trying to dodge Fatso''s attack.


    But at this moment, Fatso no longer concealed his strength. He put away the dagger and instead clenched his fist, heavily smashing it at the connection between the creature''s shell and head. Each punch carried his full strength, producing deafening sounds as they struck the beetle''s shell. The strange patterns on its shell began to tremble as Fatso disyed an unexpectedly fierce physical power.


    Arnold''s mouth hung open in shock as he watched Fatso''s solo performance. Not only him, but everyone else wore looks of disbelief as well. So, this guy hadn''t used his full strength earlier? Now, he was fighting the ferocious spirit-armored beetle barehanded and made it shrink like a frightened turtle? Was this the same Fatso who seemed slow-witted and sly?


    At this moment, David also shed out from the spatial gate. Hearing the sound of Fatso''s fist striking the ferocious spirit-armored beetle, he was momentarily stunned. Then he looked down at the true nest of the creature. The nest was almost identical to the other decoy nests, but the only difference was the numerous adult insects crawling around it, seemingly guarding this location.


    From the warehouse, David took out a methrower and sent a ze towards these insects, turning them into charred remains amid their wails. Once there were no other threats, David slowly descended next to the nest. He observed the nest as it undted like a heartbeat. Presumably, it was the mother inside breathing to ensure the ferocious spirit-armored beetle''sbat capabilities.


    David raised his foot and delivered a heavy kick, creating arge hole in the nest. Suddenly, a cocoon-like object appeared before his eyes. The cocoon seemed to encase something, constantly vibrating and emitting a hissing sound.


    David took out an alloy dagger and sliced open the cocoon''s exterior. A ferocious spirit-armored beetle, about the size of a watermelon, appeared before him. This was the mother of the ferocious spirit-armored beetles. At this moment, sensing the threat to its mother, the ferocious spirit-armored beetle roared and extended its head from the shell. It intended to rush to David''s side to protect its mother, but it forgot that there was still a smiling Fatso standing beside it...

 Chapter 206 Kill The Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle

    ?


    Fatso sneered coldly and lifted his fist, fiercely smashing towards the exposed head of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. This punchnded directly on the creature''s eyeball, and a green liquid spurted out from it. The beetle howled in pain and quickly opened its mouth, spitting out a sticky substance at Fatso. However, Fatso seemed to have anticipated this move and executed a perfect backflip to avoid it.


    At this moment, the green liquid continued to flow from the beetle''s eye, and the strange patterns on its body became more pronounced. The frequency of its wing vibrations increased as well. It maliciously red at Fatso while continuously ncing towards the direction of the nest where the mother was located.


    Meanwhile, David had used the alloy dagger to cut open all the threads surrounding the mother on the cocoon. The mother of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle was nowpletely exposed in front of him. Unlike the main body of the beetle, the mother was especially fragile, with a nearly transparent body that allowed the beating heart and wings to be seen, thin as cicada wings.


    This made David understand why this creature made so many decoy nests. The defenseless and powerless mother could only rely on deception to survive. In the next moment, the alloy dagger in David''s hand lightly swept across the mother''s body. The mother pped its wings in pain, emitting a faint trembling sound, and the green liquid began to flow from the wound. It curled up on the ground, struggling in pain.


    This action caused the entire ferocious spirit-armored beetle to tremble violently. It opened its mouth, revealing a row of sharp teeth, and red at David, seemingly attempting to fly over and protect its mother.


    "Trying to escape? Did you ask me first?" Fatso took a big step forward, swung his fist at the beetle''s shell, and once again hit it. After absorbing the blood and bone of the mutated zombies and creatures, Fatso''s physical strength erupted! Each punch seemed to carry the force of thunder, unceremoniously smashing into the ferocious spirit-armored beetle''s body. Even on his fists, a whistling fist wind stirred, and in an instant, Fatso brought his physical strength to its most terrifying level!


    In just three punches, Fatso had smashed a hole in the ferocious spirit-armored beetle''s tough shell. The patterns on the shell suddenly dimmed and then brightened again. This sudden change made the beetle''s body tremble violently, and it quickly rolled on the ground.


    "Wow! This Fatso is way too fierce!" Charles stood to the side, watching Fatso like a war god, shaking his head in awe. He had never expected that this guy''s unarmedbat power would be so formidable, capable of smashing a hole in the evolved shell of the ferocious spirit-armored beetle. This strength might even surpass some level 7 or 8 strength-type esper awakened individuals.


    David also watched Fatso''s every move. He now understood why Fatso didn''t use his full strength earlier; he wanted to save face in front of them. However, David''s unreasonable attitude and use of force had forced Fatso to reveal his true power.


    On the other side, Fatso''s fighting spirit became increasingly intense, and his expression turned proud. He looked at the ferocious spirit-armored beetle with a contemptuous gaze. The creature, enraged by Fatso''s powerful strikes, ignored the wound on its shell and opened its mouth, fiercely trying to bite Fatso.


    Fatso paid no attention to this. He moved his arm and once again swung his fist towards the beetle. However, the ferocious spirit-armored beetle became more cunning after several painful blows from Fatso. When it was about to approach Fatso, it suddenly stopped and sprayed arge blob of sticky liquid at him,pletely covering his body and obstructing his vision. Then, the beetle opened its mouth, filled with small teeth, and aimed to bite Fatso''s head.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "terrible!" Fatso frowned and tried to avoid it, but the sticky slime prevented him from acting in time. He watched as the Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle was about to swallow his head, but David raised his alloy short knife again and shed towards the mother body. The Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle convulsed violently, then fell to the ground and writhed in pain. This gave Fatso a chance to break free from the slime.


    "You darn beast! You dare to bully me! Today, if I don''t send you to the western heavens, I''d be letting down my eighteen generations of ancestors!" Raging with fury, Fatso clenched both fists tightly and pounded at the struggling Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle on the ground. His fists rained down on it like a storm, creating holes after holes on its seemingly imprable carapace.


    In no time, the Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle was gasping for breath, and the intricate patterns on its carapace disappeared without a trace. Its green blood soaked its entire body. Fatso finally stopped and spat on it.


    "Worthless! You think you could sneak attack me with this?" Fatso then looked up at David, nodding in gratitude. If David hadn''t intervened in time, he might have already lost his head to this beast''s bite.


    David only smiled faintly and nced at Fatso. Observing the weakened breath of the mother body of the Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle, David''s face remained expressionless. He could have acted earlier and killed the mother body, causing the Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle to die as well. However, he wanted to see the true strength of Fatso.


    The Dawn scavenger was the first one he encountered after his rebirth, and he had a clear understanding of the opponent''s strength. Witnessing Fatso''s ferocious physical power as he easily defeated the Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle barehanded, David inwardly nodded to himself. He acknowledged Fatso''s strength, which even surpassed some members of his own team. However, in David''s eyes, it was still quite ordinary.


    Despite this, David had an idea. He wanted to recruit Fatso into his own team. With the identity of a Dawn Collector, he could gain insights into all the zombies and mutated beasts. Combined with Charles'' astrological predictions, no zombie or mutant creature in the apocalypse could escape his grasp.


    However, David didn''t rush to extend the invitation. He wanted to see the true character of Fatso. Everyone allowed to join the Ember Squad not only needed strength but also unique loyalty. Loyalty to the team, loyalty to their teammates, and above all, loyalty to David. These were the rules of the team in the apocalypse. Otherwise, they would inevitably end up entangling themselves in a web of trouble. David didn''t want to risk destroying the entire Ember Squad due to his negligence.


    After pondering for a moment, David decisively plunged the alloy short knife into the heart of the mother body.


    asionally missing content, please report errors in time.

 Chapter 207 New Goal

    ?


    .As the Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle let out a pitiful cry, its massive body crashed heavily onto the ground, stirring up clouds of dust. The mother body convulsed for a moment and then ceased to breathe.


    David walked out of the woods and approached the corpse of the Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle. He looked up at Fatso and said, "You can take its blood bones now."


    Fatso pondered for a moment and nodded. Blood bones were the third rib of zombies and mutated beasts. They were of no use to espers but could enhance the physical strength of Dawn Collectors. That''s why David had killed so many zombies but had never taken a single blood bone.


    Fatso pulled out his knife again and expertly stabbed at the position of the blood bones in the Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle''s corpse. In no time, he retrieved the blood bones stained with green blood. However, he didn''t consume them in front of David; instead, he stored them in his nearby backpack.


    At that moment, the system''s voice sounded in David''s ear.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for killing the Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle and obtaining one Defense Attribute Crystal!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical hit and obtaining one hundred Defense Attribute Crystals!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for acquiring the martial technique "Cracked Void Fist"!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for leveling up the esper to level nine!]


    Hearing the system''s voice, David couldn''t help but be taken aback. Obtaining the Defense Attribute Crystals and leveling up were within his expectations. After all, the carapace defense of the Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle was an extremely formidable defense method. With the umtion of recent kills, he had been stuck at level eight for some time, so reaching level nine was a natural progression. However, the "Cracked Void Fist" surprised him.


    [Ding! "Cracked Void Fist" is the host''s leveling reward!]


    [This fist can tear through the void, creating shockwaves from the fist''s impact in the void, thus enhancing the host''sbat power!]


    [As the host''s battle intent surges, the power of the Cracked Void Fist will gradually increase!]


    The system quickly exined David''s doubts, and he nodded to himself. Being the recipient of the spatial ability, the Cracked Void Fist was extremely suitable for him. Sensing the surging power on his fist, David squeezed it slightly, and turbulence appeared in the void around his fist, tearing it apart and forming a visible forceful fist wind.


    Fatso beside him also noticed the change in David and couldn''t help but be amazed. He hadn''t expected this young man in front of him to be so terrifyingly powerful, able to tear through the void. His eyes filled with admiration as he said to David, "The Ferocious Spirit Gold Beetle has been dealt with. Let''s part ways for now, and perhaps our paths will cross again someday."


    Having said that, Fatso saluted David and prepared to leave. His objective in D Town was already aplished, and he needed to hurry to the next location.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Seeing Fatso about to leave, David immediately spoke up, "Where''s the next location? We''ll go with you."


    How could David not see through Fatso''s thoughts? Acting so nervously, he must be heading to another ce with zombies or mutated beasts. How could he miss such a good opportunity? Moreover, David had notpletely understood Fatso yet and wouldn''t let him leave so easily.


    Hearing David''s words, Fatso stopped in his tracks and scratched his head, smiling, "I''m going back home. What''s with the next location? Brother, you''re just being overly suspicious."


    After saying that, Fatso pretended to look rxed. The reason he didn''t want to let David know his next destination was that he didn''t want to reveal too many secrets to him.


    As a Dawn scavenger in the apocalypse, Fatso knew the first principle was to hide his identity and strength. If it weren''t for the special circumstances today, he would never have revealed his true identity. In his view, David was very powerful, and joining their team might be a good choice. However, Fatso, who had been used to wandering alone, had no idea how to ask. After some thought, he felt it was better to find another opportunity to talk about itter. The most important thing now was to head to the next location.


    David wouldn''t believe Fatso''s words. He lightly clenched his fist, gazing at the fractured void on it, and then smiled as he looked at Fatso again.


    Now, Fatso''s expression immediately turned mournful. His strength was nothing in front of David, and even if he wanted to resist, he had to weigh his capabilities. He never imagined that today, from beginning to end, he would be under the control of this young man.


    Fatso sighed, looking resentfully at David and said, "The Northern Youth Apartment Complex. There''s an advanced zombie that appeared with a second red light. Because of its appearance, all the survivors nearby were killed, and even some espers who tried to hunt it down lost their lives. The town it''s in has no living soul left. Its strength... is formidable." Fatso disclosed his destination and target.


    "T Town?" David paused. It wasn''t the first time he had encountered such a high-level zombie, but he had never seen one capable of killing all survivors and espers in a town. This immediately piqued his interest. Killing an ordinary high-level zombie would yield considerable rewards from the system. If he managed to kill such a ferocious high-level zombie, the rewards would undoubtedly be even greater. Moreover, having just reached level nine, this was the perfect opportunity to test his strength at this new level.


    Afterward, David led Fatso out of D Town and arrived at the side of thebat vehicles. Seeing the three extremely cool-looking war vehicles, Fatso''s eyes widened with amazement. He couldn''t help but circle around the three vehicles, filled with envy.


    "Wow! This is so cool! Crushing Wheels, Giant Teeth Steel de, and Bulletproof ss..." Fatso couldn''t help but touch every part of the war vehicles with excitement.


    Watching Fatso''s awe-struck expression, David smiled faintly. He then took out several cleaned gene fruits from the supply car and distributed them to the team members. They were going to face formidable opponents, and their strength might exceed their expectations. Everyone needed to maintain their energy and vigor. Seeing the team members eating the gene fruits with relish, Fatso couldn''t help but swallow some saliva.


    David noticed and tossed one to him, saying, "Hurry up and eat. This time, there''s no poison in it."


    epting the gene fruit, a smile appeared on Fatso''s face. He knew the effects of gene fruits; otherwise, he wouldn''t have risked entering the greenhouse to steal them. Without hesitation, he hugged the fruit and started eating it while looking at the war vehicles. He then asked David, "Can you give a brother one of these big guys?"

 Chapter 208 Abrahams Death

    ?


    At the QS Community, "Useless! I turned you both into Level 6 espers, and this is how you handle things?" Inside the room, Eamonn and Augustus bowed their heads, looking nervous. Faintly floating before them was a shadow, none other than Alexander.


    At this moment, though Alexander''s face couldn''t be clearly seen, his aura of anger was like mes, attempting to consume both of them.


    "Alexander... We, brothers, had no idea there was such a terrifying Evil Spirit Gold Beetle. Otherwise, our men sent over would have given that kid David a hard time," Augustus stuttered, his voice trembling.


    "Smack!" Before he could finish speaking, Alexander raised his hand and pped him on the face. "Did you really think David is so easy to deal with? I asked you to send people to harass him, not to kill him. Who knew you couldn''t even handle such a small task? What use do I have for you both?"


    Suddenly, Alexander''s shadow grew massive, towering before Eamonn and Augustus like a statue. The aura emanating from him made the surrounding air heavy. Even the wooden table on the side couldn''t bear the pressure and directly cracked into two with a "crack" sound.


    This frightened Eamonn, and he hastily said in a low voice, "Alexander, please calm down! We won''t make such low-level mistakes again. Please give us another chance." He even ignored his identity as the leader of the Killing God Gang and knelt directly before Alexander.


    Eamonn understood that everything they had now was given by Alexander. Without him, they would still be the most despicable vermin in the apocalypse. He also knew the consequences of angering Alexander. Without exception, they would all end up as cold corpses in this world.


    Seeing this, Augustus also knelt quickly, and Alexander lowered his head, sweeping a nce at the two before sighing.


    "Fine, fine. You two are no match for David now, let alone your subordinates." As he spoke, Alexander''s figure returned to normal, standing in front of Eamonn and Augustus.


    "Eat this Blood Pill. It will help you be Level 7 espers. By then, you will have more capital to kill David." As he said this, two crimson pills suddenly appeared before Eamonn and Augustus.


    Blood Pill? The two were momentarily stunned, looking at the unremarkable pills. Alexander nodded.


    "This is a pill I refined using the essence blood of a thousand zombies and a thousand mutants. Once you consume it, your levels will increase, and it can also conceal your level''s aura. I don''t want my subordinates to be low-level ants!" Alexander said with some dissatisfaction as he looked at the two.


    "Hurry up and take it. David''s next destination is the Northern Youth Apartment Complex. You two will personally go and find out his purpose. Remember, don''t let them discover your identity." After dropping these words, Alexander disappeared on the spot.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Eamonn and Augustus then stood up, took the two Blood Pills, and exchanged a nce. They both nodded and swallowed them. As the Blood Pills entered their throats, a strong smell of rotten flesh and blood immediately permeated the air. It was as if they were surrounded by countless already-dposed corpses.


    Eamonn frowned and endured the difort. He knew that whatever Alexander gave them would surely help improve their strength, which was what they most wanted to pursue now. After a moment, the rotten smell gradually dissipated. As the Blood Pills fully melted within them, their levels increased to Level 7.


    "Boss! Are we Level 7 espers now? This is incredible!" Augustus felt a restless power surging within him. With a wave of his hand, a thick mist shot out, causing a potted daffodil in the room to wither instantly.


    This excited Augustus to the core. He hadn''t expected leveling up to be such an easy task. Eamonn also sensed the surge of power, but he didn''t show the same excitement as Augustus. Now, he was bing more and more curious about who David really was, as even the terrifying Alexander always had him on his mind. Alexander even spared no expense to nurture them, just to defeat David. After contemting for a while, Eamonn shook his head in bewilderment. He believed the true answer would only be revealed when they met David in person.


    In the deste courtyard, Alexander appeared once again. Two high-level zombies were chained at the entrance, gnawing on the head of a survivor. If one were to observe these two high-level zombies carefully, they would notice that their rotten flesh had started to smoothen, and even the putrid smell was fading away. Their eating motions were no longer as savage as before.


    Alexander looked at them with a slight curve on his lips. Just as he was about to step into the courtyard, he caught a glimpse of a figure in the corner of his eye. The figure stood under arge tree not far from him, staring intently at him.


    "Oh? A guest? And a familiar one at that," Alexander turned around, smiling at the unexpected visitor. Alexander called him a familiar guest because Alexander knew this person too well.


    At this moment, Abraham stared at the ethereal shadow before him, his eyebrows tightly furrowed. In this instant, he seemed to have seen through the true appearance of this shadow. Then, he immediately showed a look of realization and pointed at Alexander with disbelief, "You... you are..."


    Before Abraham could finish, Alexander sneered and shook his head, saying, "Old fool, you shouldn''t havee here. But since you''re here, don''t think about leaving again." He chuckled, and a hint of icy light shed in his eyes. His eyes turned extremely crimson, like a devil from hell. He fixedly stared at Abraham, his brows furrowing.


    Abraham''s body exploded instantly on the spot, with flesh and blood flying in mid-air. The fresh smell of blood also attracted the attention of the two zombies, who abandoned the skull in their hands and rushed toward Abraham''s body.


    "Hehe, didn''t expect to have food delivered right to my door. Unfortunately, you could have lived two more years in the apocalypse if you didn''te." Alexander''s eyes returned to normal, and he casually rubbed the ring-shaped jade pendant at his waist with his right hand, a faint smile on his face. He didn''t even bother to nce at Abraham''s body, confidently striding into the wastnd.


    Soon, Alexander''s figure disappeared into the vast and deste world...

 Chapter 209 Give Me A War Vehicle?

    ?


    "Damn David! How dare he deceive me? When youe back, you mustpensate me with two Gene Fruits!" Inside the room, Monica frowned and leaned on the window, her expression full of resentment. She had agreed to go to David''s ce yesterday to buy Gene Fruits.


    Excitedly, Monica rushed over with anticipation, carrying the crystals. However, she found David''s base tightly shut and deserted. She waited for a while, but there was no sign of David returning, leaving her feeling disappointed.


    "Sigh! If only I were in David''s team. I could pet cats every day and have Gene Fruits for every meal. Just thinking about it makes me envious of his blissful life." Monica couldn''t help but envy David''s leisurely andfortable lifestyle. At the same time, she thought about her own team.


    Every day, Danny would leave early in the morning, followed by Abraham, as if they had nned it together and deliberately left her behind. This made her bored and lonely, stuck at the base all by herself.


    "When Abraham returns, I must quickly ask him about the survival rules of the apocalypse. And that Danny guy, he must have done something bad behind my back!" Monica said angrily. She looked up at the sky outside; the sunset was slowly descending from the mountain peak, casting a deste glow over the world full of ruins. Normally, by this time, Abraham would have already returned to the base, but now, she waited in vain, and he was nowhere to be seen.


    "Monica!" Just then, the base door was pushed open, and Danny hurriedly walked in, his forehead covered in sweat.


    "What happened?" Monica quickly walked over to him and asked.


    "Abraham... Abraham was killed by zombies!" Danny said, his face filled with sorrow, and he put a tattered coat heavily on the table. The coat was in pieces, soaked in blood.


    Monica immediately recognized it as Abraham''s coat. In an instant, she felt like her brain had been struck hard.


    "No... it can''t be! Where did you find Abraham''s coat? How do you know he was killed by zombies?" Monica shook her head, seeming reluctant to believe Danny''s words.


    Danny raised his head, grief-stricken, and said solemnly, "I passed by an alley and heard the sound of a fight inside. As soon as I went in, I saw two zombies tearing at Abraham. Just as I rushed to help, those two zombies noticed me. They were too strong; before I could do anything, they came at me and scratched my arm." Danny rolled up his sleeve, revealing five shocking wounds on his arm, each one oozing blood.


    "At that moment, Abraham told me to run, and only then did I react and ran out of the alley. When I looked back... all that was left on the ground was Abraham''s coat." Danny''s words grew heavier as he seemed to feel responsible for Abraham''s death and his own escape.


    Monica still wore a disbelieving expression, but as she saw the blood-stained coat and Danny''s remorseful and pained expression, she finally epted the truth. She could never have imagined that the kind and gentle Abraham, who loved telling her stories and encouraged her to eat more vegetables, would suddenly die at the hands of zombies. The old man she cherished had ceased to exist in this world, and two tears slowly streamed down Monica''s cheeks.


    "me it all on me! If I hadn''t left, Abraham might not have died! I''m going to avenge him now! I''ll personally kill those two bastards!" Danny clenched his fists angrily, ready to rush out.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Danny!" Monica immediately stopped him.


    "Abraham wouldn''t want you to throw your life away. Live well for him, as now our team is just the two of us, relying on each other." Monica wiped the tears from her face, her expression filled with sadness. Even if Danny went out and found those two high-level zombies, he would end up like Abraham. She had already lost someone dear to her, and she couldn''t bear losing another.


    Danny hesitated for a moment, then nodded reluctantly, hating that he couldn''t do more. Monica carefully bandaged Danny''s wounds and instructed him to rest in his room. After Danny entered his room and closed the door, he took off his sses and stretched his bodyfortably before lying down on the bed and falling into a deep sleep.


    At this moment, over at David''s ce, three post-apocalyptic war vehicles swiftly roared through the streets. Scattered zombies on the streets were mercilessly crushed into a bloody mess by the massive engines.


    "This is damn exciting! With these big cowrie, who needs to bother with zombies? Just drive through them like a spinning top!" Fatso sat in the back seat, looking at the zombies continuously being killed under the wheels of the war vehicle, his excitement evident. He even provocatively extended his middle finger to the distant zombies. "Come at me!" Due to his excitement, Fatso''s face turned flushed, and his small eyes sparkled.


    ncing at Fatso through the rearview mirror, David shook his head helplessly. He couldn''t believe this goofy guy was the same person as the Dawn Scavenger. Sally also couldn''t help butugh at Fatso''s antics.


    "David, my brother, remember what you promised earlier?" Now that Fatso knew David''s name, he addressed him as "brother," subtly trying to strengthen their connection.


    "What''s the matter?" David asked deliberately.


    "About giving me a war vehicle! You can''t forget about it. If you do, I''ll have to walk every day. As your brother, can you bear to see my long legs turn into short ones from all the walking?" Fatso ced both hands on hisrge thighs, caressing them while sighing.


    Long legs? David almost spat out blood from that statement! This guy had started acting cute right in front of him just to get a post-apocalyptic war vehicle?


    Shaking his head helplessly, David said to him, "As long as you perform well, you can choose from various war vehiclester. There are hundreds of vehicles in the underground parking lot, all David''s assets. Don''t talk about one vehicle; even if you want ten, I can provide them." By saying this, David wanted to see if Fatso had any hidden skills. He believed that Fatso being chosen as a Dawn Scavenger meant he must have kept most of his abilities hidden. So, he decided to use the war vehicle as bait.


    Upon hearing David''s words, Fatso understood the implied meaning and became even more excited. "Don''t worry, David. I''ll show you my skillster!" Saying this, Fatso couldn''t wait and began to fidget with excitement.

 Chapter 210 Phantom Zombie

    ?


    The sky was pitch-ck, and the night wind was like a knife. David drove the war vehicle into the area where the youth hostel was located during the night. As soon as they stepped in, everyone was shocked by the scene before them. Unlike other ruins, this ce was particrly deste and cold, with the chilly wind cutting through the skin like a bone-chilling knife.


    On the massive chunks of rubble, blood had stained the ground red, the result of unknown battles. Various white skeletonsy in the ruins, their positions suggesting they had struggled desperately to escape this ghostly ce in their final moments. Even the soil underfoot had turned dark red, and the lingering smell of blood in the air mixed with the overwhelming sight of red. The danger here was palpable, making everyone who set foot in this ce shiver uncontrobly.


    "This ce is indeed terrifying." Charles frowned, surveying the surroundings.


    "I''ve never seen anything like this before. The eerie wind alone sends shivers down my spine." Arnold took off his coat and draped it over Sophie.


    David walked up to a set of bones, squatting down to examine them closely. Almost all the bones on this skeleton were shattered, including the hardest thigh bone, which had cracked open. It was evident that this person''s bones had been shattered by the opponent''s powerful force in an instant. This made David serious; the strength required to do this far surpassed any zombie he had encountered before.


    "What''s the name of this high-level zombie?" David stood up and asked Fatso.


    David knew the principle of knowing oneself and one''s enemy before going into battle. Only by understanding the specific information of the zombies could he better control their weaknesses.


    "It''s called the Phantom Zombie." After entering this area, Fatso''s carefree demeanor disappeared, and his entire face turned serious.


    "Phantom?" Upon hearing the name, everyone was momentarily stunned.


    Fatso nodded and continued, "The Phantom Zombie is a ninth-level zombie. Not only is its strength formidable, but it can also transform into anyone it sees. It can instantaneously mimic anyone''s speech, actions, and behavior, abandoning the mechanical and rigid movements typical of other zombies. In other words, the appearance of the Phantom Zombie is beyond the norm for regr zombies. It appears and disappears mysteriously, and it often causes idental deaths. That''s why we gave it this name."


    As Fatso spoke, his tone grew heavier, as if he were narrating a terrifying ghost story. Hearing his exnation of the Phantom Zombie, everyone''s hearts trembled. The ability to change appearance and even imitate human behavior was simply incredible!


    For everyone, zombies were just rotting corpses, mechanical in their attacks. Even high-level zombies couldn''t escape these characteristics. But the Phantom Zombie broke away from these fixed behaviors and became an entity that could deceive humans. This meant that the uing battle would be a huge challenge for anyone.


    "Fatso, what''s its weakness?" Arnold tightly held Sophie''s hand and looked at Fatso. When he called him "Fatso," Fatso red at Arnold and then shook his head helplessly.


    "No one who has encountered the Phantom Zombie hase out alive, so we basically have no knowledge of its weaknesses. Even the information we scavengers have is very limited." After saying this, Fatso looked at a nearby skeleton. He immediately noticed that the skeleton was holding a blood bone, indicating that the person was a scavenger from the Dawn Scavengers. However, after obtaining the blood bone, they hadn''t had the chance to leave and were eventually killed by the Phantom Zombie.


    Fatso knew that one careless move could cost him his life in this ce. His purpose foring here was merely to gather more information about the Phantom Zombie from the outskirts of the area. He had no intention of confronting it head-on since his physical strength was no match for the Phantom Zombie. He couldn''t even determine its real appearance and specific location.


    If it wasn''t for his desire for David''s post-apocalyptic war vehicle, he wouldn''t have set foot in this dangerousnd. Fatso now felt a bit reckless. In the corner of his eye, he looked at David and noticed the young man''s calm expression. Unlike the fear and panic on the faces of others, David seemedposed.


    This made Fatso secretly nod in approval. He had never seen anyone who could remain so calm andposed in such an environment.


    Inside, David was also on high alert. After Fatso exined the characteristics of the Phantom Zombie, he immediately understood its true terror. The ability to deceive and even transform into people around them and strike when one least expected it was truly horrifying.


    With these thoughts in mind, David looked at his team members and Fatso and became deeply troubled. After some consideration and ncing at the pitch-ck night, David decided to rest for the night. Nighttime operations were not a good choice for their team, and they didn''t know the exact location of the Phantom Zombie, which would dy them even further. Instead, they should adjust their state and prepare for the real battle tomorrow.


    "Rest for tonight, and tomorrow we''ll start searching for the hiding ce of the Phantom Zombie." After saying this, David walked into a nearby dpidated house.


    At this moment, Duke suddenly spoke, "David, you all go in first. I''ll find a ce to relieve myself. I''ve been on edge all day, and now my stomach is starting to ache."


    Duke covered his stomach with some embarrassment. Everyone had been in a tense state all day, and not only Duke, but others were feeling ufortable as well.


    David nodded. "Go quickly ande back soon. Be safe." After instructing Duke, David and the others entered the house. They found a rtively clean spot and sat down to rest. However, the thought of the elusive Phantom Zombie made it difficult for the members of the Ember Squad to fall asleep. They kept looking around, fearing any sudden situation.


    In contrast, Fatso sat on the ground and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep and even snoring. This made the others shake their heads wryly. This guy was really fearless, able to fall asleep so easily in such a ce?


    David also closed his eyes slightly, pondering the n for the next day. At this moment, Duke returned from outside after finishing his business.


    "David."David nodded and motioned for him to sit down and rest. Upon hearing Duke''s voice, Fatso slightly opened his eyes, nced at him, and then closed his eyes again, seemingly undisturbed.

 Chapter 211 "Survivor"

    ?


    Late at night, under the chilly moonlight, two figures lurked behind a broken wall.


    "boss, they''re probably asleep," Augustus whispered while crouching down and keeping an eye on the house where David and the others were staying. Beside him, Eamonn nodded, still scrutinizing the building.


    "I say we rush in and catch them off guard! Forget about David; we''ll send them to the afterlife!" Augustus couldn''t contain himself and wanted to charge in.


    If it weren''t for David, he would still be enjoying afortable sleep in the Kill God Gang''s territory. It was because of this guy that he had toe to this deste and remote ce sote. So Augustus couldn''t wait to ''''take care ''''of David and go back to sleep.


    "Keep your voice down, don''t get noticed," Eamonn warned sternly, despite also wanting to kill David and return home victorious.


    However, he knew that even Alexander, who was incredibly powerful, didn''t dare to take direct action against David, let alone the two of them. If they confronted David head-on, they probably wouldn''t even know how they died. Unlike Augustus, Eamonn could see the bigger picture and didn''t act recklessly. He decided to rest for the night and find an opportunity tomorrow.


    So the two found a room not far from David and rested there. The next morning, Ember Squad members and Fatso emerged from the house. Despite a night filled with tension, they had restored some of their energy and spirits, and their condition had improved.


    Observing the bleak surroundings, still wrapped in an eerie chill, David initially thought about having Charles trace the Phantom Zombie''s location. However, he reconsidered, thinking it would be better not to reveal too much about his team members'' unique abilities to Fatso before he officially became part of the Ember Squad. So instead, he asked Fatso, "Can you find the Phantom Zombie''s location?"


    Hearing David''s question, Fatso pondered for a moment and shook his head. "I triedst night, but it seems like the Phantom Zombie has set up some kind of domain here, making it impossible to locate him no matter what." Finishing his sentence, Fatso looked up at David, and his eyelids twitched slightly. David raised an eyebrow and nodded.


    "I didn''t expect this guy to be quite powerful, capable of hiding his position within a domain," Dukemented as he surveyed the surroundings.


    "That''s why he''s called the Phantom Zombie. We''re probably going to face a tough opponent today," Arnold chimed in, looking around as well.


    "What''s the matter, Arnold? Feeling scared?" Duke grinned teasingly.


    "Duke, don''t be unreasonable. How could I be scared? In every battle, it''s always me leading the charge !" Arnold retorted, ring at Duke.


    Duke listened to Arnold''s words and nodded. "That''s right, you said it!" As he heard the two banter, David nced at Fatso, then turned to face the Youth Apartment located in the center.


    As the sun rose, the smell of blood in the air grew stronger. David decided it was time for a swift and decisive battle. They couldn''t afford to waste any more time, as who knew what other troubles might arise. So he led the team towards the Youth Apartment.


    "boss, they''re on the move!" Augustus kept his eyes on David and informed Eamonn.


    Eamonn also spotted the group''s movement. He thought for a moment and picked up some dust from the ground, sprinkling it on his hair and clothes. Then he wiped some on his face.


    Seeing Eamonn''s actions, Augustus was a bit confused. "boss, what are you doing? Why are you so filthy?" Ignoring Augustus, Eamonn picked up some dust and rubbed it on Augustus''s face.


    "Don''t talk. Later, we''ll pretend to be survivors and blend in with them, then seize an opportunity to cause them trouble," Eamonn exined his n. This was the most prudent method he hade up with after contemting it all night. As long as they could infiltrate without arousing suspicion, they would have a chance. They might even have the opportunity to kill David.


    Augustus shook off the dust on his body with disdain and reluctantly followed Eamonn''s arrangement. "Remember, act a bit more convincingly and follow my lead," Eamonn instructed him, then scanned the surroundings before rising and leaving the ruins. Augustus quickly followed.


    Meanwhile, David was crossing a copsed street, getting closer to the Youth Apartment. Just then, a voice caught his attention.


    "Help us! Kind people, please save us! We''ve been trapped here for three days, begging you to take us out," the voice pleaded.


    David''s brow furrowed instantly as he quickly followed the sound.


    Fatso nced at the approaching duo and tapped lightly on his left hand with his right finger.


    "They are survivors!" Arnold observed as Eamonn and Augustus, disheveled and covered in dust, neared David.


    Duke looked up briefly at the two of them before returning his attention to C not far away, and Little ck remained by his feet, wagging its tail.


    Eamonn and Augustus soon arrived in front of David. They gasped for breath and wiped the sweat off their foreheads, wearing expressions of relief.


    "We finally see someone! These past few days, my brother and I nearly died in this godforsaken ce," Eamonn spoke. He didn''t recognize David, but by observing their auras, he quickly deduced that the young man before him was likely David. Seeing how young David was, Eamonn''s heart couldn''t help but tremble, but he didn''t show any signs of surprise on his face.


    "That''s right, that''s right. We came out to find some food, but unexpectedly, we couldn''t find our way out of here. We nearly starved to death!" Augustus chimed in, echoing Eamonn.


    Listening to their story, David asked, "When did you both arrive here?"


    "Three days ago! We came to this godforsaken ce three days ago," Augustus quickly replied.


    David nced at Augustus while sensing their auras. He found that they didn''t possess any awakened abilities; they seemed no different from ordinary people. He also looked at Fatso and nodded, saying, "Follow us, and we''ll take you both outter."


    Hearing this, Eamonn and Augustus became excited and thanked David for saving them from their predicament.


    David smiled faintly and said to Fatso, "Take care of them and make sure they don''t get hurtter."


    Fatso grinned, putting his arms around Eamonn and Augustus, and said, "It might be dangerouster, so you two better not run around. Otherwise, if you break an arm or leg, we won''t be responsible."

 Chapter 212 Youth Apartment

    ?


    At this moment, Eamonn and Augustus were happy because they had sessfully infiltrated David''s team, and they paid no attention to Fatso''s words. Moreover, they believed they could handle any danger on their own strengths. And besides, with Alexander around, what did they have to fear?


    Taking advantage of the other members of David''s team not paying attention, Augustus gave a satisfied wink to Eamonn. With the two "survivors," Eamonn and Augustus, the group arrived at the bottom of the youth apartment building. It was a ten-story structure, a typical collective-style apartment building. The entire building was painted sky blue, but due to the passage of time, the paint had faded and chipped off. The iron gate at the entrance had already copsed, and the nearby duty room had be a ruin, with office desks and walkie-talkies still visible inside.


    Above the entrance, "(Youth Apartment) ""were written, but they had be blurred over time.


    At this moment, the sun had reached its highest point, and the scorching sunlight poured down from the sky, making the surrounding air incredibly hot. However, inside the youth apartment, there was a chilly breeze. Looking at some rooms'' balconies still disying clothes and bed sheets that hadn''t been collected, David could imagine the chaotic scene when the apocalypse arrived, with people hastily fleeing for their lives. But in the end, they probably met a gruesome fate at the hands of the zombie.


    "David, why is there such a heavy gloomy atmosphere in this apartment?" Arnold felt the cold wind blowing from inside and got goosebumps all over.


    "No surprise there; this ce is inhabited by that ghostly zombie. How can there not be a gloomy atmosphere? I reckon this ce will be taboo for the living after dark." Duke immediately chimed in, taking over Arnold''s words.


    "Well... you have a point. I didn''t know your could be so talkative. I haven''t seen you talk this much before." Arnold smiled at Duke, who hesitated for a moment, and then chuckled, rubbing his head.


    "From now on, we''re going to enter the youth apartment. Since we don''t know the exact location of the ghostly zombie, everyone must be careful! If you encounter it, remember not to act recklessly!" David instructed the group. He knew the terrifying nature of the ghostly zombie that could cover the whole apartment with its gloom. To be safe, he had to remind his team members to avoid any idents. Everyone nodded in agreement, and even Fatso became cautious, pulling out a knife from his waist.


    "There might be a domain set up by the ghostly zombie, which could have some effects on you. I''ll take the lead." Saying this, Fatso kicked away the rubble at the entrance and walked inside.


    A domain referred to an area where a zombie or mutant beast used its abilities to seal off the space. The creator of the domain could sense anyone entering it at any time and even alter the spatial conditions. Additionally, if some espers entered the domain, their abilities could be affected. However, Fatso was just an ordinary dawn scavenger without any special abilities, so the domain wouldn''t hinder him.


    Seeing Fatso enter, David followed without hesitation, and the others cautiously followed suit.


    "Boss, what kind of ce is this? Why is it so creepy?" Eamonn and Augustus followed behind the group, feeling a bit scared by the chilling wind inside the apartment.


    "Don''t talk too much, be prepared for anything!" Eamonn whispered, and then followed along. Thanks to the Blood Orchid, their presence waspletely masked. If they encountered danger, they could use their abilities immediately. Even if they couldn''t kill David, they could ensure their own safety.


    Augustus looked up again at the empty room with the ss wide open on the upper floor and shivered, quickly following behind. The gloomy atmosphere inside the apartment became even more intense, apanied by a strong stench of decay, as if arge number of corpses had been piled up and left to ferment.


    Fatso walked ahead, holding the knife in his hand, its tip pointed backward. Apart from some scattered daily necessities on the floor, there was nothing else in the apartment''s lobby.


    Fatso began to move slowly towards the innermost part of the apartment. Each floor of the apartment had ten rooms facing each other, all equipped with metal security doors. At this moment, these doors were either open or torn apart by some force, revealingrge holes. Arriving in front of the first room, Fatso stuck his head in to take a look. Inside, apart from a bed and some furniture and appliances, it was empty. However, all these items were broken, giving the impression that there had been a fierce battle here.


    David walked to the room opposite and found it to be the same. The others also entered other rooms to investigate.


    "David, there''s nothing alive in these rooms." Arnold said as he came out of one of the rooms, and the others nodded. Clearly, there were no clues they were looking for here, not even a trace of the ghostly zombie.


    "That guy is like a ghost, who knows where he could be hiding." Fatso said, looking at a small mirror on the table in the room.


    "The ghostly zombie, it''s truly a ghost-like existence." Duke said calmly, then nced at Eamonn and Augustus beside him.


    Eamonn and Augustus had no idea what the others were talking about when mentioning the ghostly zombie. At this moment, they were only looking for opportunities to cause trouble for them. If possible, they would prefer to kill David right there.


    After thinking for a moment, Eamonn understood that they were searching for a certain type of zombie. So, he cleverly said to David, "Boss, how about the two of us go to the third floor and take a look? We can''t just hide behind you all the time; it wouldn''t be honorable."


    Eamonn gave a signal to Augustus. "Exactly! We''re both clever guys. If we find anything, we''ll let you know immediately."David and Fatso were about to step on the stairs to the second floor when they heard the two men speak.


    After a brief consideration, David nodded. At the rate they were searching, it would probably take until evening, and if the ghostly zombie appeared at that time, it would be extremely unfavorable for them. Seeing David''s agreement, Eamonn and Augustus quickly passed everyone and headed for the third floor.


    "Boss! I was so frustrated just now! I had to follow those guys and couldn''t make a move at all! I''m telling you, why don''t we just attack them right away, leave no trace, and then quickly leave this haunted ce to return to our QSmunity and enjoy life." After reaching the third floor and hiding in a room, Augustusined to Eamonn. If it weren''t for Eamonn''s instructions not to act rashly, he would have already found a chance to kill David.

 Chapter 213 Vanity Mirror

    ?


    Eamonn looked at the messy objects in the room and suddenly noticed a skeleton in the wardrobe. This gave him an idea. He bit his right index finger, and fresh blood instantly oozed out.


    "Boss, what are you doing?" Augustus asked in confusion, looking at Eamonn with a puzzled expression. Eamonn smiled lightly.


    "I''ll give David and the others a surprise to show them what we are capable of!" Eamonn walked up to the skeleton, dripping his fresh blood on its forehead. As the blood touched the air, a faint putrid smell emanated from it. Aftering into contact with the skeleton, the blood immediately disappeared into its bones. Soon after, the skeleton''s finger twitched slightly, and Eamonn smiled with satisfaction.


    On the second floor, David and the others were still searching each room, trying to find clues about the ghostly zombie. However, apart from the scattered trash on the floor, there were only dried ck bloodstains, and there were no useful clues.


    "This isn''t working; it''s only wasting our time. If we haven''t found the ghostly zombie before it gets dark, we''ll be in danger," Fatso said, ying with the small mirror in his hand, speaking to David.


    David nodded, understanding the logic behind their search. He wanted to familiarize himself with the surroundings as quickly as possible, so that they could make use of the terrain in case of any idents. By now, David had grasped theyout and structure of the ce in his mind.


    "Hmm?" Suddenly, David was taken aback, looking up at the ceiling. An aura suddenly seeped from the floor above. Although the aura was very weak, David sensed it keenly. Just as he was puzzled, Eamonn and Augustus ran down the stairs in a state of panic.


    "There''s a ghost! There''s a ghost upstairs!" Eamonn shouted loudly as he ran, ncing back as if afraid that something would chase after them.


    "What''s going on?" Arnold immediately asked the two.


    "Just now... just now, we saw a ghost in a room on the third floor..." Eamonn said breathlessly, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.


    "How can there be ghosts in broad daylight? What''s there to be afraid of? You two look so timid!" Arnold said, looking at the stairs leading to the third floor.


    "David, let me go up and check what''s going on. If there''s something dirty, I''ll deal with it right away," Arnold said to David.David stared at Eamonn and Augustus, then nodded in agreement.


    "I''ll go up and take a look too. If it''s the ghostly zombie, I''ll be able to provide support," David said. The group went up to the third floor together, with Eamonn and Augustus following fearfully behind. Seeing the others fall for their trick, a faint smirk appeared on Augustus''s face.


    "Boss, it''s... it''s that room! I peeked through the crack in the door, and something floated across," Eamonn said, pointing to a room and immediately standing behind the others. Following his direction, David looked at the slightly ajar door. There were indeed waves of aura emanating from inside, but they seemed different from the previous one.


    "I''d like to see if it''s a human or a ghost inside!" Arnold shouted and kicked the door open. At that moment, a piercing sound came from inside, and then the cupboard door slowly opened, revealing a skeleton walking out from inside.


    David looked at the suddenly appearing skeleton and furrowed his eyebrows slightly. He reached out and pulled Arnold over, saying, "Don''t be impulsive, be careful, it might be a trap!" Fatso also stared cautiously at the creature, but he still held his knife tightly in his right hand.


    "No, this isn''t the aura of a zombie!" After sensing the aura on the skeleton, David immediately spoke. He had seen countless zombies, so he was particrly familiar with their aura. Although there was a decaying smelling from the skeleton, there were also traces of human aura mixed in. David looked around the room but didn''t find anyone inside, and he nodded in agreement.


    "If I''m not mistaken, it was resurrected using sacrificial blood." Hearing Fatso''s words, David immediately recalled the scene of Gary summoning the snake spirit.


    David was a bit puzzled, but he kept a calm expression on his face and turned to Eamonn, asking, "Did you see anyonee up here when you arrived?"


    Before Eamonn could answer, Augustus quickly shook his head and said, "Except for the two of us brothers, there was absolutely no one else!"


    David nodded and smiled, ncing at Fatso before continuing, "It''s just a skeleton, with you here, it will be taken care of in no time."


    "Haha! Brother, I love hearing that! I might not have other skills, but dealing with this kind of thing is a piece of cake for me! But I have a stomach ache right now, otherwise, I would..." Fatso pretended to hold his stomach, looking ufortable, and then slowly raised his other hand, pointing at Duke. "Let this brother take my ce and do justice for me! Ouch, my stomach!" Fatso immediately retracted his hand, wailing.


    At this moment, the skeleton in the room slowly reacted and turned its head to stare at the people at the door, gradually moving its feet.


    Hearing Fatso''s words, the members of the Ember Squad were all stunned for a moment.


    "Duke''s ability isn''t suitable forbat; let me handle it," Sally stepped forward.


    Just as Sally was about to unleash her lightning, Duke smiled and walked over, saying, "What a rare opportunity for a real fight, it would be a waste to pass it up. Thanks for the offer, Fatso, but I''m fine, Sally sis."


    Duke walked to the door, looking at the approaching skeleton. As he raised his right hand to initiate his shadow ability, preparing to strike, Fatso suddenly shed in front of him!The skeleton''s head was instantly chopped off by the knife in Fatso''s hand.


    "It''s strange; my stomach suddenly feels better," Fatso rubbed his stomach, looking incredulous. He looked at Duke and smiled, saying, "Brother, I won''t let you solve this one; I''ll leave the next one to you!"


    Fatso stepped over the fallen skeleton and walked out of the room. As he passed by David, he discreetly ced the vanity mirror in David''s hand.


    Duke looked at the decapitated skeleton on the ground, and a hint of disappointment appeared on his face. He nced at Fatso''s back, and a smile flickered across his lips.


    The skeleton summoned by Eamonn using sacrificial blood had been in by Fatso in one strike, leaving both of them stunned.

 Chapter 214 To Turn Hostile

    ?


    The sacrificial blood was something Eamonn had worked hard to learn from Alexander. He even captured thirty survivors to offer to Alexander in exchange for this power. But now, it was unexpectedly broken by Fatso with a single strike?


    This made Eamonn realize that not only was David incredibly powerful, but the people around him were equally formidable. Despite feeling angry deep inside, Eamonn restrained his impulses and kept the same frightened expression on his face.


    But Augustus couldn''t hold back. He thought this time they would teach David a lesson and show him the power of the Kill God Gang. However, not only did they not touch a single hair on David, but Fatso had effortlessly decapitated the skeleton. How could he bear this humiliation? Besides, he was someone who looked down on others, so he immediately wanted to stand up and challenge Fatso to a duel.Just as he was about to get up, David''s gaze also fell on him.


    This startled Eamonn, fearing that his scheme might be exposed. He quickly stood up first and asked, "Boss, the zombie... taken care of?" At the same time, he discreetly tugged at Augustus'' clothes, signaling him to calm down.


    David nced at Augustus and then nodded at Eamonn, saying, "You two brothers, don''t wander off. This ce is dangerous, stay close to us."


    Eamonn quickly nodded, and when he saw that David wasn''t suspicious, he felt relieved. Augustus red at David, but there was nothing he could do, so he had to follow Eamonn''s arrangements.


    At this point, David suggested going to the third floor to see if there might be new discoveries. Everyone nodded and followed David to the stairs leading to the third floor.


    Duke, Eamonn, and Augustus walked at the back. Eamonn asionally nced at Augustus, a smile forming on his lips.


    Leading the way, David lowered his head, ying with the vanity mirror Fatso had given him. David eyebrows furrowed involuntarily as he looked at Fatso, who had once again resumed his carefree demeanor. Fatso was swinging a leg bone he had picked up from somewhere. David shook his head helplessly and continued to the third floor.


    "Everyone, don''t separate, stay alert!" Eamonn was now standing at the stairs of the third floor. He secretly bit his finger again and dropped fresh blood on a partially dposed corpse on the stairs. At the same time, he asked Augustus to do the same. Both of their blood, carrying a slight smell of decay, immediately seeped into the corpse.


    They exchanged smiles, their lips curling into a sinister grin. This was a tactic they had devised. Bybining different blood types, they could summon a creature using the sacrificial blood, and the creature''s strength would be on par with their own. In other words, the level of this corpse had now reached level seven, surpassing the fighting capabilities of most zombies and mutants.


    Augustus looked at David''s back with resentment. This time, he was determined to make sure this guy met a certain death! Just as David pushed open a room door, he sensed the same aura suddenly appearing behind him. He quickly turned his head and saw that the corpse had turned into a zombie, standing behind Eamonn and Augustus.


    "Be careful!" David warned.


    Arnold also noticed something was off and quickly looked behind him. When he saw the powerful aura of a zombie, he was taken aback but immediately rushed towards it.


    "Get out of the way!" Arnold intended to activate his werewolf mode, but considering this was the realm created by the ghostly zombies, he decided to use all his strength and throw a punch at the newly awakened zombie.


    "Boom!" Unexpectedly, the zombie reacted swiftly and evaded Arnold''s attack with a sidestep. The punch hit the wall, creating arge hole.


    Eamonn and Augustus quickly retreated, fear once again visible on their faces. Before Arnold could withdraw his fist, the zombie growled and kicked at him. Due to the narrow staircase and Arnold''s inability to use his ability, he could only endure the blow.


    "Damn it!" The pain from the zombie''s kick almost made Arnold howl in agony. Sally, at this moment, pulled out her short knife from her waist and threw it towards Arnold. Despite the pain, Arnold managed to extract his fist from the wall and caught the short knife Sally threw at him. Just as he was about to challenge the zombie that almost kicked him to death, Fatso shouted behind him!


    "Get out of the way! Let him taste my big bone club!" Hearing a whooshing sound near his ear, Arnold saw arge bone being wielded by Fatso, who rushed towards the zombie. Fatso''s leg bone hit the zombie''s shoulder at a rapid speed, causing its body to copse inward, breaking the bones inside. Fatso didn''t stop there; he swung the leg bone again, this time aiming at the zombie''s head like a torrential rain!


    "Scared of you! ying tricks on me! Do you think my big bone club is a toy hammer? I''ll let you have a taste of bone soup!" The zombie hadn''t even had a chance to react when Fatso shattered it into pieces. Bones fell from the decaying body, scattering on the ground like a disassembled toy.


    Fatso finally stopped and threw the bone he was holding towards Augustus, saying, "Brother, don''t be afraid. My leg bone is powerful. The monster scared you just now; go ahead and vent your anger!"


    As Fatso stared at Augustus, it seemed like he was waiting for something. David and everyone else looked at them, with a subtle hint of killing intent in David''s eyes. Seeing the bone Fatso had handed to him, Augustus was momentarily stunned.


    However, Eamonn became nervous all of a sudden. He knew he had most likely been exposed. Before he could think of a countermeasure, Augustus abandoned all pretense, revealing his true identity. He picked up the bone in his hand and fiercely threw it at David. David swiftly dodged, and the bone hit the wall behind him.


    "I''m done pretending. I''ll be honest with you. Today, we''re here to take your life!" Augustus no longer concealed his level; a putrid aura burst forth from him, and he red at David menacingly.


    Everyone was shocked and looked at this "survivor" in disbelief. Fatso chuckled casually, walked over to David, and nonchntly said, "they are here to trouble you. I won''t interfere." He leaned against the wall, adopting a spectator''s stance.


    David remained calm and looked at the two with aposed expression. He had known from the beginning that something was peculiar about them. How could there be survivors in a ce controlled by ghostly zombies? And when he asked Augustus earlier if they saw anyone else before they came up, they consistently emphasized that there were only the two of them and no one else. This only deepened David''s suspicion about their identity.

 Chapter 215 Leaping Jester

    ?


    Meanwhile, David noticed that there was still fresh blood on Augustus''s index finger. Now, he understood everything. The human aura he sensed earlier must havee from these two. When they used the "Sacrificial Blood" ability, they had to activate their own powers, which allowed David to keenly detect them.


    With this in mind, David nced at the two with a slight frown, feeling somewhat puzzled. He hadn''t expected that these seemingly ordinary guys could use their abilities in the realm of ghostly zombies. However, sensing the faint rotten aura emanating from them, David understood that their abilities must somehow resonate with the realm, rendering them unaffected.


    After figuring out the general identities of Eamonn and Augustus, David smiled lightly at Augustus and asked, "So, you came here for me? Do I know you?"


    David had no impression of these two; he had never met them before. Hearing David''s question, Augustus sneered contemptuously.


    "Whether you know us or not doesn''t matter anymore. What matters is that you''re going to die here today! Remember, once the Kill God Gang sets their sights on someone, even a god cannot escape!" Augustus coldlyughed, and the putrid stench around him grew stronger. At the same time, a crimson blood ball rapidly formed in his palm, gradually reaching the size of an apple.


    As Augustus'' desire to attack erupted so rapidly, Eamonn also suddenly realized that they couldn''t use their abilities here. This gave the two brothers a perfect opportunity.


    With this thought, Eamonn finally revealed a sinister smile. He coldly stared at David and the people around him, saying, "David, prepare to die." After speaking, Augustus made the first move, throwing the blood ball he had condensed towards David!


    Witnessing this, David''s face remained calm, showing no sign of panic. He watched as the blood ball rushed towards him and unhesitatingly reached out to catch it.


    Huh? Fatso furrowed his brow in surprise, looking at David''s inexplicable action. He could naturally see the levels and strength of Eamonn and Augustus, and the aura emanating from the blood ball was terrifying. If it hit a person, it would undoubtedly cause fatal damage. Regr people wouldn''t have had time to dodge, yet David, unexpectedly, attempted to catch it barehanded? The others also stared at David in disbelief, their faces filled with intense nervousness.


    Fatso''s concern was not unfounded, but he forgot something. David was already a ninth-level esper. What he didn''t know was that although David couldn''t currently use his abilities, the defensive esper ability he possessed made his physical defense extremely powerful. The pale golden defenseyer covering his body could easily withstand an attackunched by a seventh-level esper. That was why David remained unfazed; he had the strength to suppress them.


    Augustus''s actions were nothing but a clownish performance. Seeing David''s response, Augustus slowly grinned, his eyes revealing a fiery arrogance.


    "Hahaha! Foolish! My Blood Spirit Ball will pierce through your palm and show you my power!" At this moment, Augustus felt like he had already won, and winning was just a matter of course. He saw his Blood Spirit Ball rapidly approaching David until it made contact with his palm.


    In an instant, everyone''s eyes were blinded by a red light, causing them to instinctively shut their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, they were shocked by what they saw. The powerful Blood Spirit Ball had been effortlessly caught by David! Moreover, David''s palm was emitting a faint glow from the pale yellow defenseyer.


    "Impossible! How did he catch my Blood Spirit Sphere?" Augustus stared with wide eyes at David, his face filled with disbelief.


    Eamonn felt the same way, finally realizing that the young man in front of him was not as weak as he had imagined.


    ying with the Blood Spirit Sphere in his hand, David looked at Augustus with disdain and said, "You''re too arrogant. Who gave you that confidence? Now, you''ll pay the price for your actions!"


    With a sh of cold light in his eyes, David suddenly lunged at Augustus like an arrow released from a bow.


    "Amazingly fast!" Fatso couldn''t help but feel astonished as a blur passed by him. In the next moment, David appeared in front of Augustus, lifting his hand and viciously smashing the Blood Spirit Sphere into Augustus'' chest. "Boom!" The Blood Spirit Sphere exploded, creating a massive shockwave.


    Augustus felt as if his chest had been torn apart, and the impact sent him flying backward into the concrete wall, spewing blood from his mouth. He lowered his head to see the hole in his chest. He knew better than anyone the power of the Blood Spirit Sphere. But never had he imagined that one day, his own move would be used against him. He red at David with anger, like an enraged tiger fixated on its prey.


    "I will kill you for sure!" he growled, pulling a rib from his own body and charging at David.


    However, David was even faster. In an instant, he had retrieved a modified Desert Eagle from his storage system and pointed it at the furious powerhouse.


    "Until the next life!" David smiled oddly at Augustus, revealing a hint of mockery. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. "Bang!" The modified Desert Eagle fired bullets with incredible speed and critical hit rate, enough to prate Augustus'' level-seven physical defense. Thirty bullets poured like rain into various parts of his body.


    In no time, the sound of the firing pin hitting the bullets echoed from the Desert Eagle. All the bullets hit Augustus, and white smoke emerged from the gun barrel.


    David blew the white smoke gently and looked at the now unrecognizable Augustus lying on the ground. There was no breath left in him, and the bullet holes had extinguished his lifepletely.


    Fatso gulped and stared at the Desert Eagle in David''s hand. "Mother of mine! This gun is so powerful?" He was thoroughly shocked by the gun David wielded. Right away, he decided that no matter what, he had to get one from David. With this gun, he would be invincible in the apocalypse!


    The other members of the Ember Squad finally rxed at this moment, looking at Augustus'' corpse with icy cold eyes. Duke leaned against the wall, raised his eyelids to nce at David, and then closed them again, as if the events before him had no effect on him.

 Chapter 216 Humble Fatso

    ?


    "Augustus!" Seeing Augustus being killed by David, Eamonn was filled with grief and despair! But he knew even more that David''s next target was himself. He looked up at this killer in shock and fear, his eyes revealing a hint of timidity. He hadn''t expected David to have this move, which was clearly beyond his expectations.


    At this moment, David had reloaded the Desert Eagle with bullets, once again raising his hand and aiming the gun at Eamonn.


    "Oh no!" Eamonn shuddered, trembling slightly. He didn''t want to end up like Augustus, riddled with bullets by David. Even though he wanted revenge, he had no means to resist David''s power.


    "David, wait for me! I wille back for revenge! If I don''t kill you, I vow never to be a human!" Eamonn stood up, gritting his teeth as he spoke to David. He nced at Augustus''s body, his eyes burning with anger. In the next moment, a foul-smelling blood emerged under his feet, and he immediately disappeared into the blood.


    "David, I''ll go after him!" Arnold reacted quickly, running downstairs, hoping to catch Eamonn.


    "No need, you can''t use your abilities now, so you won''t be able to catch him. He''s just an ant, let him live a few more days. Kill God Gang? Eamonn? Interesting." David sneered, remembering the information he had just obtained from the two.


    "Awesome! So awesome! David, you''re really amazing!" Fatso pped his hands and showered David with praise, but his eyes were fixed on the Desert Eagle in David''s hands. David understood Fatso''s intention and promptly kept the Desert Eagle concealed in his arms.


    "David, let''s discuss something. How about you..." Fatso approached with a coy smile.


    "No need to discuss." Without waiting for Fatso to finish, David cut him off and continued walking upstairs. Fatso''s expression instantly turned sulky, like a pouting child. However, the thought of the powerful Desert Eagle made him swallow his resentment and follow behind David.


    "Next time we encounter danger, I''ll take care of it. You just rx! Once we deal with that ghostly zombie, how about I treat you and the team members to beer? Or maybe we can have a barbecue. I grill the bestmb!" Fatso continued chattering, hoping to win David''s favor and get the Desert Eagle. But David simply smiled and didn''t say a word, continuing his search in each room. This left Fatso feeling defeated and sighing.


    "Sigh! When did I be so pathetic, begging for a gun like this? But in front of David, I''m just David''s humble Fatso!" Fatso''s demeanor suddenly changed, and he started imitating David''s manner of speech. The others couldn''t help but feel nauseous and almost wanted to vomit.


    An old man acting so oily? It''s just too much! David''s face twitched, and he stopped in his tracks. Then he pulled out the Desert Eagle from his pocket again, and Fatso immediately got excited, eagerly waiting for David to hand it over.


    Little did he know that David aimed the gun at Fatso, coldly saying, "Try saying it again?"


    Fatso looked up at the ck hole muzzle, and his mouth closed immediately. He didn''t want to eat David''s bullets or end up like the unlucky guy earlier. Satisfied, David nodded, giving Fatso a meaningful smile.


    This left Fatso deted like a deted balloon, his head drooping down. Helplessly, he could only follow behind David and continue the search.


    And Duke, who was walking at the back, lifted his head and nced at everyone before quietly slipping away from the group. A few minutester, he reappeared behind the team. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he looked up at the fourth floor.


    Quickly, David led the team to the fourth floor. As soon as they stepped onto this level, David felt an especially chilling and oppressive aura. Eerie gusts of dark wind rolled along the walls and floors.


    "Why is the Yin Qi so heavy here?" Charles observed the visible ck winds around them and spoke. He attempted to use his abilities again but found no effect. The presence of these dark winds seemed to drain his strength, making him feel weak.


    "The domain here seems even stronger." Charles remarked to David, feeling the inexplicable weakness.


    David also noticed the difference, but his defensiveyer shielded him, rendering the environment almost ineffective against him.


    "The domain set by the ghost zombies increases with each floor of the apartment. The higher the floor, the more restrictions it imposes on intruders." David deduced the domain rules based on their experiences on the third floor. Fatso also became serious, nodding in agreement with David''s analysis.


    "What should we do next? We can''t use our abilities. If that''s the case, it will get more dangerous as we go up." Sally expressed her concern. As she spoke, her aura became unstable, and her strength seemed to be gradually ebbing away. It wasn''t just her; others also felt their energy thinning, as if they would copse like a pile of mud soon.


    This was only on the fourth floor, and they were already in such a dire situation. They dared not imagine how terrifying it would be above the fourth floor. David quietly retrieved several Gene Fruits from the storage system and handed them to the team, instructing them to eat them immediately. Preserving their strength was crucial in their current situation.


    Fatso received one without hesitation and quickly consumed it. After consuming the Gene Fruit, everyone felt a considerable recovery of their strength, and their auras stabilized.


    David spoke again, "This ce isn''t safe for you. Go back to the third floor and wait for me there. If anything happens, call out to me loudly." The current situation was evident; the team members would only be a burden to David here. Asking them to leave was not only to conserve their fighting strength but also to keep potential support in reserve.


    "But hurry down, the dark winds here are getting thicker!" David pulled out his alloy dagger and frowned, keeping his eyes fixed on the rolling dark winds ahead.


    Charles nodded, understanding David''s intention, and quickly led the others back to the third floor.

 Chapter 217 Doll

    ?


    After eating the Gene Fruit, Fatso''s stamina noticeably recovered. Moreover, as he was not an esper, the domain''s restrictions on him were negligible. Watching the members of the Ashen Ember Squad leave, he remained standing in ce.


    "I''m not giving you the Desert Eagle just because you stayed to help me," David told Fatso.


    Fatso rolled his eyes helplessly and gave a wry smile. He didn''t stay back for the Desert Eagle; he stayed because he knew that without assistance, David might face even greater danger. After spending the day with David, he had a good understanding of his character. So, he made up his mind to stay and support David.


    "I''m not someone who takes advantage of others! But since you treated me to the fruit, I''ll sacrifice myself a little," Fatso said as he took out a dagger and proceeded into the floor. Listening to Fatso''s words, David smiled faintly and followed him. The chilling dark winds continued to swirl, and the further they went, the stronger the oppressive feeling became.


    Side by side, David and Fatso kept pushing open room after room, checking their contents. However, the scenes inside were almost identical to those on the three lower floors¡ªrooms filled with debris and rotting corpses.


    They continued forward until they reached the end of the corridor, where a room stood apart from the rest. The room''s door was slightly ajar, with eerie dark winds seeping out from within.


    David and Fatso exchanged a nce, their expressions turning tense. Both of them sensed an unusual aura within this dark wind an aura that was hostile and reminiscent of death, as if it came from a pile of corpses.


    "Could the ghost zombie be in this room?" David whispered as he gripped his knife. Fatso thought for a moment before shaking his head.


    "No, it shouldn''t be. When we entered the Youth Apartment, the ghost zombie should have detected us and set up the domain inside. Besides, this apartment seems like a level-based game, with the difficulty increasing as we go higher. The final boss, the ghost zombie, must be on the highest floor." Listening to Fatso''s analysis, David nodded silently.


    David could have rushed to the tenth floor to find the ghost zombie right away, but when they passed the staircase leading to the fifth floor, he found an additional domain set up by the ghost zombie, blocking ess to the fifth floor staircase. David spected that killing the anomaly on the fourth floor might be the key to unlocking the domain leading to the fifth floor. And the room they were facing now was likely where the anomaly was. The dark wind continued to emanate from inside, and the hostile aura became even more intense.


    Suddenly, the door creaked and was slowly pushed open. A little girl with her hair tied in a ponytail peeked out from the gap. David and Fatso quickly stepped to the side, their brows furrowing as they stared at the sudden appearance of the little girl.


    The girl, with her voice as clear as a bell, looked curiously at David and Fatso. She then broke into a joyful smile and asked, "Big brother, are you here to y with me? That''s great! It''s been a long time since I had anyone to y with!"


    The girl''s melodious voice was particrly incongruous with the eerie dark wind in the corridor. After finishing her words, she looked at David expectantly, seemingly awaiting his response. Despite her appearance, David remained cautious because he immediately sensed the hostile aura emanating from her. This aura was identical to the one in the dark wind, even stronger.


    Fatso also stared at the little girl, understanding that she was the ghost zombie''s trick. "Little sister, big brother isn''t here to y with you. Be a good girl and stay inside the room," Fatso said to the girl. He knew something was off, but he couldn''t bear to attack such a cute little girl.


    Hearing Fatso''s words, a hint of hurt appeared on the little girl''s face. "Big brother, aren''t you here to y with me? I feel so lonely! Why won''t you y with me? If you don''t y with me... then you deserve to die!" The girl''s expression suddenly turned sinister, losing her previous innocence and cuteness. Instead, her face became chilling and terrifying.


    The girl continued to push the door open slowly until her entire body was revealed. Apart from her head, which was intact, the rest of her body was severely damaged. Her tattered dress couldn''t conceal the organs exposed within her. In her right hand, she held a filthy doll.


    What surprised David and Fatso was that the doll''s head was actually a man''s head! Apparently, she had sewn a man''s head onto the doll''s body.


    "I will turn you both into my dolls. I love dolls the most!" the little girl said, cradling the doll lovingly in her arms, not minding the sticky, foul-smelling blood from the man''s head sticking to her.


    "You little zombie, I''ll send you to meet your mother!" Seeing the girl''s true appearance, Fatso no longer felt anypassion. He raised the dagger and lunged towards her head. However, just as he was about to strike, the girl suddenly looked up, tears of blood streaming down her cheeks.


    "My daddy is here. He''ll protect me, right?" she said, looking at the doll with the man''s head sewn onto it. In the moment the little girl lowered her head, Fatso''s dagger swooped in!


    But just as the de was about to touch the girl''s head, she raised her head again and stared at Fatso fiercely. "My daddy will kill you!" she said. As she spoke, the doll in her arms suddenly lunged at Fatso! The lifeless man''s head, which had previously shown no signs of life, suddenly opened its eyes and opened its mouth wide, attempting to bite Fatso''s neck.


    "Oh shit!" Fatso was startled by this scene and didn''t care about looking graceful. He rolled away like a wild dog, barely dodging the attack from the man''s head. The man''s head stood opposite Fatso in a creepy position, continuously rubbing its mouth together to produce a grating sound.


    "You''re a disobedient little girl! You turned your own father into a doll?" Fatso said, holding his lower back after narrowly avoiding the attack.


    David also kept his eyes on the little girl, not expecting the ghost zombie to be so cruel. Seeing her attack miss, the little girl pouted in anger.


    "Daddy, I''m angry! Kill them quickly, or I''ll tell mommy!" Upon hearing the little girl''s words, the man immediatelyunched another attack towards Fatso.


    Fatso couldn''t help but twitch his mouth. "What a daddy''s good girl... "

 Chapter 218 This Guy Is Really Tough!

    ?


    Upon hearing what the little girl said, a hint of fear appeared on the man''s face, and then he became enraged. It seemed that, in his eyes, the little girl''s mother was an even more terrifying presence.


    "Kill... Kill you both!"man red at David and Fatso fiercely, and suddenly, his doll-like body started to inte rapidly. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into the size of a normal person. However, thebination of a doll''s body and a human head was eerie and sent shivers down one''s spine. Blood began to ooze from his eye sockets, making crisp sounds as it dripped onto the floor.


    "Daddy''s getting angry! Great!" The little girl watched the man grow in excitement, pping her rotten and decaying hands.


    "This guy seems a bit tough to handle." Fatso held therge cleaver and stared at the man, telling David, "Just from the aura he''s emitting, I can tell he''s not ordinary. He''s probably stronger than any zombie monster we''ve encountered so far." This made him furrow his brow, feeling nervous.


    David looked at the menacing man before him and silently nodded in agreement with Fatso. He was right. Both the man and the little girl seemed to be at Level 9, about equal to David''s own strength. If there were no domain set up by the ghost zombie, David could easily handle them alone. However, now it was apparent that they posed a bit of a challenge for him.


    Yet, there was no trace of anxiety or worry on David''s face. He knew that if he wanted to find and kill the ghost zombie, he had to pass this test. Not only pass it but also show the ghost zombie in the darkness just how formidable he was. So, without hesitation, David tightened his grip on the alloy short knife.


    Seeing David''s eager expression, Fatso quickly reached out and tugged on his clothes, urgently saying, "A wise man submits to circumstances, brother. Let''s run! Trust me, I could run out of here even with my eyes closed. I''ll definitely shake them off."


    In Fatso''s view, it was wise to choose the path of retreat. Even though he still craved the blood and bones of the ghost zombie, he couldn''t afford to think about that in the current situation. After all, he was just an ordinary person without awakened abilities. Relying solely on the strength of a Dawn Scavenger, he waspletely incapable of dealing with the man before them.


    But it seemed that David didn''t hear Fatso''s words at all. He continued to stare fixedly at the man before him. This made Fatso anxious. "Brother, listen to me," he tried to persuade David. However, before Fatso could finish his sentence, the man let out a low roar and charged towards them in a frenzy.


    "Oh, shoot! Why is it that troublees as soon as I speak?" Fatso didn''t have time to think and immediately raised the cleaver above his head, preparing to strike the man charging at them.


    David also wielded his alloy short knife and shed it towards the man''s heart. Two crisp metal shes instantly sounded in their ears. the man saw Fatso''srge cleaver and David''s alloy short knife both hit he at the same time. However, as their des made contact with the man, the man previously soft and spongy body suddenly turned as hard as steel. Seeing the sparks fly, David and Fatso quickly retracted their weapons and took a step back.


    "Is this guy made of iron? Why is he so tough?" Fatso rubbed his sore palm and grumbled. He looked at the man with increasingly cautious eyes. The attack just now confirmed his suspicion that the man before them was not to be underestimated.


    Fatso looked at David again, feeling puzzled about what this guy was nning to do. Did he want to confront the man head-on or stay here and look for a breakthrough? Either way, Fatso believed the odds of sess were slim. This was already the fourth level, and the monsters inside were definitely not low-level skeletons like on the third floor.


    However, seeing David''s resolute gaze, Fatso could only sigh helplessly. After all, he was the one who decided to stay and help David in the first ce. Now he couldn''t just leave; that would jeopardize the n for the Apocalypse War Chariot and the Gic Fruits. Thinking about David''s cool Apocalypse War Chariot, Fatso felt satisfied.


    At this moment, David turned to Fatso and said, "Don''t let your guard down. The real battle with it is about to begin."


    The real battle? Hearing David say this, Fatso suppressed his excitement and looked at the man again. Indeed! The man seemed to have been provoked by their actions in the previous attack. His aura now erupted like a fierce desert wind, making it hard for anyone to breathe.


    Meanwhile, the little girl stood with her hands on her hips, angrily staring at the man. "Daddy! If you don''t kill these guys and make me happy, I''ll definitely tell Mommy! Mommy loves me the most, and she''ll take revenge for me!"


    This left the man with no room for hesitation. Fear on his face was reced by intense rage. "You... you dared to upset my daughter; you must die!" After uttering these words again, the man reached into his own mouth.


    "Oh, damn! What is this guy doing?" Fatso looked at his extremely disgusting behavior with disdain.


    David, however, slightly furrowed his brow. He saw the man reach into his mouth, seemingly searching for something. And indeed, after a moment, the man chuckled softly and slowly pulled a long sword from his mouth. The sword was covered in a white liquid that looked particrly repulsive.


    "Hiding a sword in his mouth? He''s quite the genius! Let me tell you, don''t touch me with your sword covered in some unknown liquid!" Fatso took a step back, holding his nose. Although he was still weaker than the man in strength, he was definitely superior in trash-talking.


    Ignoring Fatso''s words, the man turned respectfully to nce at the little girl and then charged towards David once more. By now, David had already realized the power of the man''s sword. He leaped up from the ground, using the White Crane Soars in the Clouds technique to step on the man''s sword, propelling himself into the air.


    At the same time, David fiercely threw his alloy short knife towards the man''s head.

 Chapter 219 A Family Of Three

    ?


    The alloy short knife collided with the man''s head again, making a crisp sound, and the short knife was knocked to the ground. Seeing this, Fatso swung hisrge cleaver, aiming for the man''s neck with a fierce strike! However, the result was the same as before. Even though he put all his strength into the blow, his wrist waspletely shattered, and blood flowed from Fatso''s fingers. If he hadn''t held onto the handle tightly, the cleaver would have slipped from his grasp. Fatso staggered back a step, but the man''s speed was astonishing; he immediately closed the distance.


    "bad...!" Fatso cursed and tried to dodge, but the man''s speed was too fast. Combined with his unstable footing, he ended up taking a punch from the man.


    This time, Fatso felt as if his chest had been hit by a train, and his bones were almost crushed. Enduring the intense pain, he hurled the cleaver at the man. The man slightly sidestepped and evaded it. Seizing the opportunity, Fatso quickly retreated, putting some distance between them.


    "This guy is invulnerable to des and weapons! What do we do now?" Fatso swallowed down a mouthful of blood and shouted to David.


    At this moment, David also recognized the man''s strength. Not only was he fast, but his defense was also incredibly strong, evenparable to his own defensive abilities.


    Hearing Fatso''s voice, David quickly analyzed the situation and looked at the little girl standing beside them, emitting eerieughter. Suddenly, he understood. The man''s increasing strength was a result of the little girl''s coercion. In other words, dealing with the little girl was the key to solving the man. Once the girl was dealt with, the man would be free from her control, and his power would naturally decrease.


    So, David promptly said to Fatso, "Keep him busy; I''ll deal with this little one!"


    Hearing David''s order to keep engaging the seemingly invulnerable monster, Fatso''s mouth twitched. But he quickly grasped David''s intent. There was no choice but to grit his teeth and pick up therge cleaver from the ground, charging towards the man once more. The only thing he could do now was to distract the man and give David time and opportunities.


    David knew that Fatso couldn''t handle the man on his own. As he spoke, he reached into his pocket and took out Mandy. This treasure belonged to Duane and wasn''t part of his own abilities, allowing him to use it even within the domain. After biting his finger and dropping blood on Mandy, it immediately erged, bing lifelike. "Go help Fatso!" David quicklymanded Mandy.


    Mandy seemed to nod and flew towards Fatso in an instant. Fatso was shocked to see a straw man suddenly grow to the size of an adult in the blink of an eye. He had never imagined that David possessed such a powerful treasure.


    Soon, Mandy joined the battle against the man. Although the man''s long sword was exceptionally fierce, Mandy showed no fear, exuding a strong aura, and attacking fiercely with each move. After all, her level was directly linked to David''s, and she had reached the ninth level in terms of strength.


    With Mandy''s continuous help, Fatso felt relieved of some burden, joining forces with her to confront the man. Meanwhile, David''s attention shifted towards the little girl. She still gazed coldly at the man, seemingly annoyed that he hadn''t killed the humans yet.


    David''s intense gaze caught her attention. She nced back at him, and her eerie smile deepened.


    Without hesitation, David clenched his fist and delivered a powerful Sky-Shattering Fist towards the girl''s head, even though hecked the spatial ability''s enhancement, the strike was still formidable. The fist''s speed alone was enough to make people fearful. The fist''s forceful wind roared through the air, heading straight for the girl''s head.


    Observing David''s threatening aura, the little girl immediately burst into tears with a grievance, "The bad uncle is bullying me! Mommy, this bad uncle wants to kill me!" As she spoke, the girl turned to look inside the house, and an even more oppressive aura suddenly emanated from inside!


    David hesitated and quickly looked towards the source. He saw a doll-like woman with a head walk out slowly from behind the door. She gazed at the little girl with a tender look, then raised her head and red fiercely at David.


    "Damn it! You all deserve to die! You made my daughter cry. I won''t let any of you leave here alive!" As she spoke, David''s Sky-Shattering Fist was already in front of the little girl. The woman took a step forward and immediately her mouth erged. Her tongue transformed into a long snake-like entity, winding around David''s arm. The tongue''s surface was covered with countless sharp thorns, posing a serious threat; if it tangled with someone''s arm, it would cause severe injuries.


    But with the protection of his Golden Defense Layer, David remained unfazed. His fist''s speed did not diminish in the slightest. He wanted to see if his fist was harder or if this woman''s tongue was stronger!


    Lost in thought, David''s fist collided with her tongue. The woman gave a wicked smile, and her tongue immediately bypassed David''s fist, starting to coil around his arm. The sharp thorns on her tongue shimmered, seemingly ready to pierce into David''s flesh.


    The Golden Defense Layer shed slightly, providing David with a sturdy defense in an instant. After a sharp sh, the woman''s eyebrows furrowed, and some thorns on her tongue were broken by David''s defense. This forced her to retract her tongue. However, David''s fist continued to advance. Although its strength had weakened, it still struck heavily on the woman''s head, causing her to stagger and crash into the wall.


    "Darn it! You dare to hurt my mommy! My mommy will kill you!" The little girl, witnessing her mother being hit by David''s punch and crashing into the wall, couldn''t contain her rage. As the woman quickly got up, her severely decayed lips curled up menacingly at David.


    Seizing the opportunity, David picked up the alloy short knife that he had dropped earlier and nced at Fatso and Mandy, who were dealing with the man. Seeing the two of them working seamlessly together, David felt relieved and focused his attention entirely on the woman before him. He knew that her strength surpassed the man''s, or else she wouldn''t make the man so afraid. This situation made David a little speechless. He hadn''t expected to encounter a family of three in this situation.

 Chapter 220 True And False Duke

    ?


    At this moment, on the third floor of the youth apartment, the members of the Ember Squad were anxiously pacing in ce. It had been more than ten minutes since they came down from the fourth floor, during which they heard constant sounds of fighting from above, but there was still no sign of David. This made each of them restless. If something really happened to David, it would be catastrophic for their squad.


    Sally''s face was especially filled with worry. She had thought about rushing up to help David, but considering his words, she halted her steps. She knew that the monsters on the fourth floor were far stronger than her. If she went up, not only could she not be of any help, but she might also hinder David.


    However, waiting here indefinitely wasn''t a solution either. Just as Sally was pacing back and forth with impatience, Duke, who had been leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her. A faint smile crept up on the corners of his mouth. He then said to Sally, "Don''t worry, this battle will be over soon."After speaking, Duke''s face showed a profound smile.


    "I hope so too. This feeling is too torturous! If anything goes wrong with David, what should we do with our squad in the future?"


    As Arnold nced at Duke after hearing his words, Duke immediately concealed the expression on his face. Arnold was too anxious at the moment to notice Duke''s strangeness. Now that David was on the fourth floor, and they didn''t know the situation, if it weren''t for David''s instructions, Arnold would have rushed up already. Even if he got injured, he wanted to stand together with his captain. Not only Arnold, but Sophie and Charles also felt the same way.


    David had sacrificed too much for their Ember Squad. If they kept waiting like this, what would be their purpose of existence?


    After a pause, Charles spoke up, "The biggest trouble now is the Ghost Zombie''s domain. As long as the domain exists, none of us can release our abilities. Only by breaking the Ghost Zombie''s domain, not only can our captain fight freely, but we can also rush up to help him." After hearing Charles'' words, the others pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement.


    Charles was right. As long as the domain existed, theirbat capabilities were basically reduced to zero. Staying here helplessly was their only option. If they could break the Ghost Zombie''s domain, it might provide them with an opportunity to turn the tide of the battle.


    "Charles, do you have any ideas?" Sally anxiously asked Charles. Among the squad, only Charles could deduce and trace the situation. If he could find a way to break the Ghost Zombie''s domain, it would be the best oue. The rest of the team also looked at Charles with expectation.


    Charles sighed helplessly. His Star Tracing ability was his own power, so naturally, he had no way to deal with the domain. But suddenly, he thought that the Ghost Zombie had only set up the domain inside the youth apartment, and the area outside the apartment was still free. If he returned outside, could he trace a way to break the domain?


    As soon as this thought emerged, Charles became spirited. Without exining to others, he hurriedly ran towards the outside of the apartment. Although the others were full of doubt when they saw Charles leaving, they assumed he went to search for a breakthrough somewhere else in the apartment.


    Duke, on the other hand, nonchntly looked towards the direction of the stairs leading to the fourth floor. While no one was paying attention, he drew a strange symbol on the wall with his fingers. Then, he looked up at the ceiling, and another eerie smile appeared on his face.


    Charles didn''t stop for a moment and quickly arrived outside the apartment. Standing on the street, he tried to use his ability. Soon, ethereal stars appeared around his body.


    "Sess! Indeed, the Ghost Zombie''s domain is only present inside the apartment!" Charles was filled with excitement. This meant that if he continued his Star Tracing, he might find a way to break the domain. So, he quickly prepared to use his ability again.


    Just at this moment, a voice suddenly came from not far away, calling out, "Charles!" Charles immediately stopped using his ability and turned his head in confusion to see Duke walking towards him.


    "Duke? How did youe out?" Charles asked with a puzzled expression.


    "What do you mean, how did Ie out? I just went to the bathroom. Where did all of you go? It took me the whole day to find you guys. Where are David and the others? Howe only you are here?" Duke approached Charles, showing a rxed expression, and then looked around the empty surroundings, asking.


    "Are you in a hurry or something, Duke?" Charles smiled at the odd Duke.


    "Third floor, fourth floor? Charles, what are you talking about? I''ve been looking for you guys sincest night!" Duke scratched his head, lookingpletely bewildered by Charles'' words.


    "Duke, now is not the time for jokes. Hurry back and stay safe. I need to find a way to trace and break the Ghost Zombie''s domain. If anything happens to David, you might still be able to help." Charles was in a hurry to use his ability and casually told Duke.


    "Third floor, fourth floor? Charles, what are you talking about? I just went to the bathroom!" Duke scratched his head, lookingpletely bewildered by Charles'' words. He had gone to the bathroomst night, and when he came back, there was suddenly a thick fog in the distance, making it impossible for him to find the way back. So, he had to search one ce after another until now.


    "Who are you?" Charles'' tone suddenly turned cold, and he took a step back, maintaining a safe distance from Duke. At the same time, he clenched his right hand into a fist, and a string of stars wrapped around his fist.


    "Who am I? I''m Duke! Who else could I be? Why are you acting so strange today?" Duke was nowpletely lost and had no idea what was going on.


    Charles acted this way because he suddenly remembered what Fatso had said before. Ghost Zombies could transform into the appearance of others and even hide their aura, emanating the aura of the person they transformed into.


    Duke''s actions and words just now made Charles suddenly realize this. When they came down from the youth apartment, Charles remembered Duke was still leaning against the wall. How could he suddenlye down without any reason? He didn''t even know what had happened inside the apartment at this moment.


    A terrifying thought arose in Charles'' mind. Which Duke was the real one?

 Chapter 221 Solve

    ?


    Charles looked at Duke, grew increasingly serious, as he knew that the Duke on the third floor must not have followed him down. Even if Duke hade downstairs with them, he wouldn''t have asked these questions. So, which Duke was the real one? In other words, one of them must be a Ghost Zombie in disguise?


    Thinking of this, Charles became extremely frightened. He couldn''t believe that the Ghost Zombie they had been searching for was right beside them all along!


    "Who are you?" Charles raised his fist directly, and the stars swirling around his fist emitted a bright light. His aura erupted instantly, making Duke hesitant to approach.


    "I am Duke, who else could I be! Have you gone mad? Why do you keep asking for my name?" Duke was thoroughly annoyed by Charles'' questioning.


    At that moment, another voice called out, "You''re lying! I am Duke. Who are you?" Charles quickly turned his head to see yet another Duke appearing behind him. This one was clearly the Duke from the third floor. Seeing someone who looked exactly like him standing opposite, the first Duke was shocked.


    Meanwhile, on the fourth floor of the apartment, David and the woman fought fiercely using the alloy short sword and the shattered void fist. The walls on the fourth floor were riddled with holes from their battle. Though the woman appeared clumsy, her attacks were exceptionally vicious, targeting David''s vulnerabilities with each move.


    Although David couldn''t use his abilities, the golden defenseyer on his body was still effective, andbined with his formidable physical strength, he managed to handle her attacks with ease. Fatso was simrly doing well with Mandy''s assistance, and together, they forced the man into a corner.


    "You dare to bully me, but you don''t know how terrifying I can be!" Fatso eximed, raising hisrge cleaver and hacking down at the man''s arm joint. Exhausted and cornered, the man had no chance to evade. Fatso''s strikended precisely on the joint, severing his arm instantly.


    This made Fatso immediately realize that the joint connections were the man''s weakness! The man looked in pain as his arm fell to the ground. He nced at the woman, who was fighting David, and seemed to be preparing to attack Fatso.


    However, Mandy was quick to react. She delivered a punch to the other arm''s joint, causing it to also fall to the ground. Fatso, seizing the opportunity, swiftly aimed several strikes at the man''s thigh joints. As a result, the man was left with just a puppet-like body and a single head.


    "Go ahead, scream! Weren''t you good at screaming? Why don''t you scream now? There''s a price to pay for arrogance in front of me!" Fatso taunted the man. He then nced at David, deciding to deal with the man quickly to assist David. However, before he could raise his cleaver again, Mandy rushed forward and reached for the man''s neck. With precision, she found the crucial point on his neck, and with a firm grip, she yanked his head off.


    Mandy held the man''s head and looked at Fatso before turning her head to nce at David not far away. This made Fatso understand instantly. He was also astonished by Mandy''s strength, as he hadn''t expected David''s methods to be so diverse. This was also why David had been nonchnt when facing the man initially.


    In this way, the man waspletely taken care of by the two, and Mandy casually tossed his head on the ground. Meanwhile, David continued to fight against the woman. However, with each of David''s powerful attacks, the woman began to struggle to defend herself. After unleashing a punch, David quickly flipped the alloy short sword in his hand and ruthlessly stabbed it into the joint above her neck.


    In the moment Fatso discovered the woman''s weakness, David had already noticed it as well. A thick stream of blood gushed from the woman''s neck as she clutched it, looking at David in shock and agony. The flesh on the little girl''s body began to rot and fall off.


    In fact, after Mandy killed the man, the little girl''s body underwent a transformation. Not only did her flesh start to decay, her hair turned white, and wrinkles appeared on her face. As the woman got injured, these abnormalities became more pronounced.


    "You... You''re so despicable!" The little girl''s body trembled, pointing at David with fear in her eyes. The rotten flesh on her arm kept falling off, revealing white and eerie bones underneath.


    David immediately understood that this trio was a unified organism. If any one of them died, the other two would suffer severe damage. So, without hesitation, he swung the alloy short sword at the joint on the woman''s neck once again. Blood spurted out like a fountain, and the woman stared at David with incredulity. The next moment, her whole body copsed like mud on the ground.


    "You killed my mommy and daddy, I''ll avenge them!" The little girl charged at David.


    Mandy swiftly moved in front of David and lifted the little girl with one hand. In an instant, Mandy twisted the girl''s neck, and she, too, was done for.


    That''s how the zombie family of three was all killed by David, Fatso, and Mandy.


    "I knew you weren''t afraid. It turns out you had backup! But I have to say, your helper''s quite capable. Just not big enough in the chest," Fatso stared at Mandy''s chest, rubbing his chin as he spoke.


    Feeling the burning gaze, Mandy nced at David and then turned to face Fatso, slowly raising her palm. Recalling the scene where Mandy twisted the man''s neck just now, Fatso quickly averted his gaze, putting on a forced smile.


    "Just kidding, just kidding, don''t take it seriously!" He then looked at David with a mournful expression, seeking mercy.


    David shook his head helplessly and said to Mandy, "You can deal with him after we kill the Ghost Zombie."


    Upon hearing David''s words, Mandy seemed to contemte for a while before nodding and lowering her hand. Fatso heaved a sigh of relief, giving David a resentful look. He walked to the side of the three bodies, and David nced at them. At that moment, the system''s voice sounded in his ears.

 Chapter 222 Probe

    ?


    [Ding!]


    [Congrattions, host, for obtaining one Defense-type Crystal!]


    [Congrattions, host, for triggering a hundred times critical hit and obtaining a hundred Defense-type Crystals!]


    [Ding!]


    [Congrattions, host, for obtaining one Metal-type Crystal!]


    [Congrattions, host, for triggering a hundred times critical hit and obtaining a hundred Metal-type Crystals!]


    Listening to the system''s voice, David''s brow slightly furrowed. "Metal-type Crystal?" Obtaining Defense-type Crystals was within his expectations since the defense of this family of three was already above that of ordinary zombies. However, the Metal-type Crystal surprised David a bit. It was the first time he obtained a crystal from the Five Elements series.


    "What is the use of the Metal-type Crystal?" David recalled that Duane awakened an ability rted to the Metal element, so he asked the system in his mind.


    [Answer to the host!]


    "The Metal-type Crystal is an evolved version of the Defense-type Crystal, which can upgrade the host''s physical defense and the base''s defenses."


    After the system exined, David nodded inwardly. In simple terms, the Metal-type Crystal was a higher-level crystalpared to the Defense-type Crystal, and its function was to provide defense for espers and bases.


    This made David secretly delighted. With the Metal-type Crystal, not only would his physical defense be even stronger, but the defense of the base would also undergo a qualitative change. However, David didn''t rush to use the Metal-type Crystal at this moment. He looked towards Fatso.


    Fatso was currently coldly looking at the three corpses, his eyes full of disdain. "Now you know how powerful I am? Let me tell you, in your next life, if you see me, you better walk around me, or else you''ll get a beating every time!"


    David couldn''t help but look at Fatso with a gaze as if he were looking at a big fool. If it weren''t for him and Mandy, this guy probably would have fled in fear and wouldn''t be so arrogant now.


    "Fatso, go and call the others up. We''re going to the fifth floor." David didn''t put Mandy away but let her stand beside him as he told Fatso. With the Ghost Zombie''s domain currently unbeatable, his own ability couldn''t be used. Having Mandy with him would reduce a lot of trouble. However, David was also thinking about ways to break the Ghost Zombie''s domain. Hearing David''smand, Fatso nodded and spat contemptuously at the male corpse before heading down to the third floor.


    " screwed! It''s haunted!" As soon as Fatso arrived on the third floor, he heard his pig-like screams.


    David''s heart trembled, and he immediately directed Mandy to rush down. He also hurriedly arrived at the staircase on the third floor. In an instant, the scene appeared before his eyes: Fatso stood there dumbfounded, looking at the people in front of him with a bewildered expression.


    David looked up and immediately frowned. He saw two identical Dukes. What was going on? David was momentarily stunned.


    At this moment, Charles quickly walked up to David and said, "Two Dukes suddenly appeared, there must be a Ghost Zombie among them."


    As he spoke, Charles once again examined the two people. They were arguing fiercely outside the apartment just a moment ago, so Charles had no choice but to bring them inside. The others also had puzzled expressions upon seeing the two Dukes approach.


    "We''ve asked all sorts of questions, and they both can answer them immediately. It''s hard to determine who''s real and who''s fake," Charles continued. They had asked various questions to the two Dukes in an attempt to figure out who the real Duke was, even asking about the name of the small shop where Duke had hidden before. However, both of them could answer immediately, leaving them at a loss, and they could only wait for David toe down.


    Listening to Charles, David nodded and then looked at Fatso. Fatso''s expression also became serious, continuously observing the two Dukes.


    "David, I am the real one! Who is this guy?" one of the Dukes walked up to David anxiously and said.


    "Nonsense! I am the real one! David, don''t be fooled by this guy, he''s the fake one!" the other Duke also hurriedly approached, pointing angrily at the other.


    "Who are you, and why are you impersonating me!"


    "Who are you, and why are you impersonating me!"


    The two Dukes started arguing in front of David. The others frowned, unsure of which Duke to support. David rubbed his temples and shook his head slightly. Fatso approached David at this moment and smiled faintly.


    "True or false Duke, this is a rare scene!" Fatsomented, leaning against the wall and watching the two. David sighed and looked at them again. He knew that one of the Dukes must be the Ghost Zombie transformed. He probably took the opportunity to possess Duke when he went outst night. David had noticed something was amiss from the beginning.


    Duke had always been quiet in the team, rarely speaking even during their actions. Even if he got injured, he wouldn''t make a sound. But today, on their way to the Youth Apartment, he was talking everywhere, even joking with Arnold. His behavior at that time raised suspicion in David''s mind. Fatso did the same. He secretly held a small mirror in his hand, constantly observing Duke''s every move through reflections. Finally, he handed the mirror to David, allowing David to keep a close eye on Duke''s every action.


    Fatso looked at David, knowing how David would handle this situation. At this point, David raised his head and looked at the two Dukes. Now he needed to determine which Duke was here just now. He sighed and said, "Shut up!"


    Hearing David''s words, both Dukes closed their mouths. However, they still red at each other with immense anger.


    "David, what should we do now?" Sally asked, approaching him. David smiled lightly at her, reassuring her.


    "The most important thing now is to break this domain; otherwise, none of us can leave," David continued, looking at the two.


    "And the secret to breaking the domain lies in the room where the skeleton appeared on the third floor. You two should go there quickly," David said, pulling out the alloy dagger from behind his back.


    Fatso quietly approached the two Dukes, whistling yfully. Meanwhile, David gestured to Arnold and Charles. They immediately understood and put on a seemingly nonchnt expression, but their attention was all focused on the two Dukes.


    Hearing David''s words, one of the Dukes nodded and quickly ran towards the third floor. The other Duke stood there, looking confused.


    "What third floor? What skeleton?"

 Chapter 223 Trouble

    ?


    Hearing the voice, the Duke who was about to go down to the third floor immediately stopped in his tracks and stood there, stunned.


    "It''s now!" A glint of coldness shed in David''s eyes. He leaped quickly and thrust his alloy dagger towards the Duke. Fatso also lifted hisrge cleaver, ready to strike the Duke''s head. Charles and Arnold positioned themselves on either side, blocking his way.


    "Hahaha! I didn''t expect you to find out. It''s quite interesting!" Just as David and Fatso''s des were about to touch him, he turned around and coldly looked at them, a strange smile forming on his lips. Then, a loud noise erupted as a chilling wind swept through the spot where he stood, forcing David and Fatso to halt their steps.


    Charles and Arnold retreated to a corner, avoiding the bone-chilling wind. When it subsided, they all opened their eyes slowly, only to find the fake Duke had moved to a window. He looked at David and smiled, waving his hand, and his entire appearance changed instantly.


    The Duke''s skin disappearedpletely, revealing the image of a middle-aged man with a gloomy face. He was particrly thin, and his eyes gleamed like a snake''s. The surrounding eerie wind made him seem almost like a ghost standing there.


    "Ghost Zombie!" Charles immediately shouted as he saw him, frowning deeply. Everyone realized the truth at this moment, surrounding the Ghost Zombie, their eyes fixed on him.


    "Must admit, you are a group of interesting folks. Not only did you defeat that family of three, but you also exposed me. Hehehe, but what''s the use of that?" The Ghost Zombie probed his hand in the chilling wind, ying with a shadow that resembled a soul.


    "Youth Apartment is my territory, and none of you can escape no matter what you try. Now that you''re here, you shouldn''t even think about leaving. I''ll have a good time ying with you all," the Ghost Zombie said, getting more excited and bursting intoughter. The soul-like shadow in his hand also began to move violently, seemingly trying to break free from the Ghost Zombie''s control and attack David and the others.


    Seeing the Ghost Zombie''s arrogance, David spoke coldly, "Before the game ends, there are no winners. I will not only kill you but also turn this ce into ruins."


    David''s tone was particrly icy, as if the Ghost Zombie had provoked him. He knew how strong the opponent was, but facing such provocation, his fighting spirit was ignited.


    "Heh, boy, don''t be so arrogant! I''ve seen too many humans like you, and in the end, they all turned into dust here. Do you want to be the same?" The Ghost Zombie became more and more arrogant as he spoke, not taking David seriously at all.


    "You dog! Don''t bber around. If you have the guts, open up your domain, and let''s have a real fight! I bet I''ll make you kneel on the ground crying and apologize to us!" Duke stared at the Ghost Zombie fiercely. He almost got mistaken for an enemy by his own people because of the Ghost Zombie. How could he swallow this humiliation?


    Hearing Duke''s words, the Ghost Zombie sneered, ncing at him. "You? You''re overestimating yourself, fool!" His words had just fallen when a chilling wind shot towards Duke like an arrow, moving at an astonishing speed, leaving only an afterimage in the eyes.


    "Not good!" David''s brow furrowed. He hurled his alloy dagger at the chilling wind. The alloy dagger collided with the wind, reducing its speed and power slightly, but it still rushed towards Duke with great force.


    Duke had no time to dodge and raised his arm to block it. The chilling wind collided with his arm, the powerful force tearing apart his clothes, and his forearm turned into a bloody mess.


    Duke felt an excruciating pain tearing through his heart and spreading from his forearm, causing his legs to weaken, and he fell to the ground. Charles and Arnold quickly rushed over to support him.


    Sophie was the first to approach Duke and began examining his wound. Even though she couldn''t use her healing ability, she could still controlmon injuries and ailments.


    Observing Duke''s bleeding forearm, Sophie''s expression grew serious, but she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although the wound was deep, it hadn''t reached the bone. If David hadn''t blocked the attack with his alloy dagger, Duke''s arm might have been severely damaged. Watching Duke in pain, David couldn''t help but be surprised, not by the adversary''s strength, but by his ability to manipte the dark wind and the struggling soul viin figure in his palm. David knew that it was one of the ghost zombie''s powers.


    "This is a little lesson for you, so you can see what true strength looks like," the ghost zombie said coldly, ncing at Duke, who was lying on the ground.


    "Next, if you want to find me, you''ll have toe to the tenth floor. To make this game more entertaining, I''ll give you some surprises on each floor. Don''t disappoint me like before."


    "Hehehe..." The ghost zombie left with these words, transforming into a gust of dark wind and flying out the window.


    "Damn! So devious!" Duke gritted his teeth in pain, watching the departing ghost zombie. He had been injured without even being able to retaliate. How could he face his teammates after this?


    "Don''t move around; rest properly for now," Sophie said, managing his arm.


    Fatso approached David and said, "Now the ghost zombie is probably serious. The remaining six floors will be our biggest challenge."


    Fatso forced a bitter smile. However, David didn''t mind at all. Challenges? He had encountered all kinds of troubles surviving in the apocalypse. Although the ghost zombie was powerful, David had the advantage of being a Level 9 esper. If it weren''t for the ghost zombie''s domain, David wouldn''t have let him be so arrogant. So, David thought that the most important thing now was not to go to the fifth floor but to find a way to break the ghost zombie''s domain. He looked at Charles, and Charles immediately understood, going outside the apartment.


    After a while, Charles returned, but he was now sweating profusely, looking visibly fatigued and drained.


    "What happened?" Sally quickly asked, and Charles shook his head, signaling that he was fine, then looked at David.

 Chapter 224 Ten Minutes Were Simply Not Enough

    ?


    "How about it?" David also noticed Charles''s unusual behavior at the first moment, but now his biggest concern was whether the method to crack the domain of the ghost zombies could be traced back.


    Charles took a deep breath and finally spoke, "I have traced the method to crack the domain." As soon as these words came out, excitement filled everyone''s faces. Once they found the method to crack it, each of them could unleash their own abilities, and that would be devastating for the monsters on the floors above.


    "That''s great! I can''t wait to beat that guy to a pulp!" Arnold clenched his fist, seemingly unable to hold back his desire to confront the ghost zombie. It wasn''t just him; others felt the same. After all, they had been suppressed by the ghost zombie''s domain for too long, and now that they had found an opportunity, they wouldn''t let him seed so easily.


    "But..." Charles looked at the crowd and continued, "The ghost zombie is too powerful. During the tracing process just now, heunched a psychic attack on me. With my current strength, I can only keep the domain closed for ten minutes. After ten minutes, I''ll be powerless." Charles said, feeling somewhat guilty as he lowered his head.


    That''s also why Charles came in sweating and weak. During the tracing, just as he was about to get close to the truth, the psychic attack that the ghost zombie had set in advance suddenly infiltrated Charles''s mind, causing him to lose focus and be unable to continue the tracing. It was only by gritting his teeth and resisting the psychic attack that he managed to obtain the method to crack the domain, but it came at the cost of consuming his own powers and stamina. Charles''s words made everyone''s expressions serious again.


    David nodded and looked at Charles. He knew that Charles''s level was below that of the ghost zombie, and being able to buy them ten minutes was already his limit.


    "You''ve done well. Ten minutes are enough," David said, lifting his head and looking towards the stairwell, a faint smile forming at the corners of his mouth.


    However, Fatso shook his head at this moment, "We are currently on the fourth floor, and there are six more floors waiting for us. The ghost zombie has certainly filled those six floors with powerful zombies. Ten minutes... I''m afraid we won''t even make it to the first floor."


    Fatso''s concern was valid. They had just fought a family of three on the fourth floor for more than twenty minutes. What about the zombies on the fifth and sixth floors? ording to what the ghost zombie had said earlier, they would be even stronger, causing them even more trouble. So, in Fatso''s view, ten minutes were simply not enough.


    Not just Fatso, the rest of the team felt the same. They all felt the time was too short, and they might not even make it to the sixth floor. But they had no other option, and the atmosphere in the hallway froze once again.


    Seeing everyone''s expressions, David smiled and said, "Don''t worry, ten minutes are already enough for us."


    But Fatso spoke up again, "Even if we can reach the tenth floor in ten minutes, what do we do when facing the ghost zombie? It would still be in vain, and I don''t want to be beaten up right in front of him."


    Fatso shook his head, seemingly not fully agreeing with David''s perspective. The other members of the Ember Squad heard David saying this once again and looked at him with anticipation, waiting for his decision. After all, Fatso had only just started interacting with David, so it was natural for him to have doubts. Now, everyone was eager to know what David had in mind.


    David smiled again and pulled out the Desert Eagle from his pocket. "What if we have this?" David ced the Desert Eagle in front of Fatso.


    Fatso nced at it and continued shaking his head, "This gun is indeed powerful, but we still have six floors to go."


    "How about this?" David quietly took out an UMP45 from the system''s storage. Fatso was stunned, looking at David, wondering where this guy was getting all these weapons from.


    "And if this doesn''t work, what about this?" David brought out an AK rifle.


    "Wow! This..." Fatso was dumbfounded. But David didn''t stop there; he turned around and brought out a heavy machine gun.


    "What about this, along with everything else?" David looked at Fatso with a smile, leaving Fatsopletely astonished! In the blink of an eye, David had brought out so many weapons? He even managed to get his hands on a heavy machine gun, which was only given to those deemed worthy by the system. This was like a human moving arsenal!


    Fatso''s eyes widened as he looked at the row of weapons in front of him Desert Eagle, UMP45, AK47, and even a few high-explosive grenades! Fatso couldn''t help but gulp, realizing that any of these weapons would be highly sought after during the apocalypse due to their immense power. They could easily kill any zombie below Level 3 by hitting them in the forehead and piercing through their brainstem. Even some Level 5 or below espers would need to be on high alert when facing these high-powered firearms.


    At this moment, Fatso finally understood why the Desert Eagle he had been coveting was considered the most basic weapon in David''s hands.He couldn''t resist reaching out and touching the heavy machine gun, overwhelmed with excitement.


    "With one weapon each, we''ll be able to kill all the low-level zombies on each floor. That way, we won''t waste any time. We''ll give all ten minutes to the ghost zombie. Even if we can''t kill it, it will naturally release the domain," David said, listening to the chaotic footsteps upstairs, deducing that the ghost zombie must have summoned arge number of low-level zombies to surround and attack them, which led him to propose this n. After all, the narrow apartment hallway was the perfect ce for low-level zombies to attack.


    In David''s view, since they couldn''t use their abilities, they had no choice but to rely on these formidable weapons. Under normal circumstances, David wouldn''t bring out these weapons. But he felt that the ghost zombie needed a lesson. Injure his team members right in front of him? And issue threats?


    David was determined to make him realize that arrogancees with a price. When the team heard David''s n, their spirits lifted once again.


    "No problem! I think this n is feasible! I''ll give them a taste of my firepower! I''ll lead the way!" Before the others could pick up their weapons, Fatso was already excitedly hugging the heavy machine gun. He even stuffed two high-explosive grenades into his pocket and wrapped a two-meter-long bullet belt around his waist. At the same time, he also ced the Desert Eagle on his waist.


    "How do I look? Don''t I look awesome?" Fatso proudly asked, holding the heavy machine gun, while the rest of the team looked at his heavily armed appearance, their mouths twitching. David also couldn''t help but look at him with a mix of amusement and helplessness. Soon, everyone had their weapons ready.


    Only Mandy, C, and Little ck followed David without any weapons in hand. David nodded and led everyone upstairs.

 Chapter 225 Let Me Should Go First

    ?


    At the QSmunity, Alexander looked at Eamonn kneeling before him and scolded fiercely, "waste!" He raised his palm, and a dark light shed as he heavily pped Eamonn''s face.


    Eamonn was instantly knocked down by Alexander''s p. He hurriedly got up from the ground, not even wiping the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Kneeling in front of Alexander, fear appeared on Eamonn''s face.


    "Alexander, I made a mistake because david has someone to help this time. Otherwise, Augustus wouldn''t have died, and we would have given him a good lesson," Eamonn said tearfully.


    This time, only Eamonn returned from their mission. Augustus was killed by Fatso and David inside the Youth Apartments. If Eamonn hadn''t escaped quickly, he would likely have ended up as a corpse alongside Augustus. The thought of his long-timerade being killed by David filled Eamonn with anger.


    "Help? You mean that chubby Dawn Scavenger?" Alexander asked disdainfully upon hearing Eamonn''s exnation.


    "Yes, yes! It''s Fatso!" Eamonn quickly nodded in response, fearfully ncing at Alexander, worried that his mistakes would lead to his demise. He hadn''t sessfullypleted the mission both times, and he knew that it displeased this influential figure. Especially this time, not only did he fail to hinder David''s ns, but he also got Augustus involved. Both of them were puppets carefully nurtured by Alexander.


    Now, Augustus lost his life before even fulfilling his role as a puppet. For Alexander, it was indeed a loss.


    "Hmph! A mere Dawn Scavenger can''t make any waves. He really thinks highly of himself?" Alexander seemed unbothered by Augustus''s death and instead disyed contempt towards Fatso.


    "Are they still in the Youth Apartments?" Alexander nced at Eamonn and asked.


    "Yes, they said they were going to deal with a ghost zombie there," Eamonn recounted what he had heard. Alexander smiled and nodded. He knew about David''s actions and naturally knew the crisis he was about to face. He looked at Eamonn again, and thetter trembled in fear, quickly lowering his head.


    "It seems like it''s time to improve you," Alexander said while touching the circr jade pendant at his waist. With a wave of his hand, they both arrived in the courtyard of that deste ce.


    "Master, you''re here!" Two young women greeted them as they arrived at the courtyard entrance. Alexander nodded, then turned his head to look at the ce where the two zombies had been tied up before. Seeing it empty, he smiled faintly and led Eamonn inside.


    In the Youth Apartments, following David''s arrangements, everyone armed themselves and gathered at the staircase leading to the fifth floor. Fatso stood at the front, carrying the heavy machine gun, while Arnold stood next to him with an AK rifle. Even Duke, who was injured, persisted with an angry face as he held a submachine gun, while the others also held their weapons, looking cautious.


    David observed the situation upstairs and paused for a moment before whispering, "Go!"


    As soon as the words were spoken, Fatso shouted loudly, "You little pups! I''m here to give you a gift! Face my judgment!" He twisted his body and rushed towards the fifth floor. As soon as he reached the staircase, a group of zombies that had been waiting for some time rushed towards him like a tide.


    Without hesitation, Fatso decisively pulled the trigger of the heavy machine gun. The gun spat blue mes, and bullets poured out like a storm from the barrel, hitting the zombies and instantly shattering their decaying flesh. They screamed in agony and fell to the ground. More and more zombies surrounded them from all sides, with each room in the apartment filled with a dense group of zombies arranged by the ghost zombie.


    Fatso marched forward with the heavy machine gun, exuding an imposing aura of invincibility. "All of you shall die! Hahaha! It''s so satisfying!"Fatso became increasingly crazy, and the zombies before him suffered the consequences.


    David and the others followed behind Fatso, continuously pulling the trigger on scattered zombies. The team''s coordination quickly cleared about half of the zombies. By this time, the number of zombies had gradually decreased, and they seemed intimidated by the demonic presence of Fatso, who appeared as if he hade straight from hell. They stood in ce, angrily watching him, but none dared to take a step forward.


    "You there! Come on,e over!" Fatso taunted the zombies with one finger. The ghost zombie on the tenth floor was slightly annoyed, and the next moment, he clenched his fist tightly in the air. A sinister wind rushed towards the fifth floor, swirling in ce, and more and more zombies appeared before Fatso and David.


    David knew that the ghost zombie must have used some means again. But instead of showing any fear, Fatsoughed and shook his head, revealing a ferocious smile on his face.


    David instantly knew what this guy was nning and could only helplessly smile. Fatso reached into his pocket, pulling out a high-explosive grenade.


    "Enjoy a little treat!" Fatso said, pulling the pin of the grenade and forcefully tossing it into the midst of the zombie group.


    "Fatso, are you crazy? Everyone, get back!" Arnold shouted, his whole body shuddering, quickly urging everyone to retreat. High-explosive grenades were not only immensely powerful, capable of sting through cement walls, but their shockwaves could also leave them with ringing ears. In the moment Fatso threw the grenade, he immediately turned and took cover in a corner, but his face still disyed an ecstatic expression.


    A thunderous sound erupted from the other end of the corridor. The whole apartment seemed to tremble, and the sound of shattered windows reverberated. After the shockwave passed, David looked again at the group of zombies and found that they had been blown into pieces by the high-explosive grenade. Not a single zombie was left standing. It was evident that the crisis on the fifth floor had been resolved.


    Arnold shook his head and approached Fatso, loudly saying, "Fatso, you''re reckless! You should go first!" He didn''t want to be identally harmed by Fatso in this situation.


    Fatso looked at Arnold, feeling a buzzing sensation in his ears. He shouted back, "What? "

 Chapter 226 Soul Villain

    With that, Fatso paid no attention to the buzzing sound in his ears and rushed towards the sixth floor with the heavy machine gun in his arms. Arnold and the others twitched the corners of their mouths, exchanging nces with each other.


    David was leftughing and crying by Fatso''s antics, following closely behind him as they arrived on the sixth floor. The situation on the sixth floor was simr to the fifth floor. Wave after wave of zombies were all mowed down by Fatso, who took the lead with the heavy machine gun.


    And so, they continued to ascend to the ninth floor. Although they encountered several high-level zombies along the way, they were no match for the heavy machine gun and Fatso''s madness. Before these high-level zombies could even get a clear view of them, they became souls under Fatso''s control.


    "Well, I must admit, this guy is truly having a st!" Fatso said while taking the time to reload the heavy machine gun. David looked at the floor littered with bullet casings and nced at Fatso. He swore to himself that he would never give Fatso any chance to touch a gun again. Otherwise, he was afraid that this guy might go on a killing spree and rain bullets on everyone.


    But for now, they had to rely on Fatso to charge ahead, so David let him continue holding the heavy machine gun. The group looked at the tenth floor and listened to the eerie soundsing from above.


    "Fatso, try to calm down a bit. The casings are jumping into my neck when you fire!" Duke raised one hand to touch his red-hot neck and helplessly said. He was closest to Fatso, and once Fatso started firing, he couldn''t stop. That left him with no time to avoid the bullet casings, making him look like a bullet casings container.


    Fatso focused on the staircase before him, straightening his grip on the heavy machine gun and nodding. "Don''t worry, none of them will escape. I''ll surround them and kill them all!"


    Hearing Fatso''s words, Duke quickly took a step back, twitching the corners of his mouth as he looked at the excited Fatso. Just then, Fatso leaped towards the tenth floor.


    "Charge! Charge! Charge!" Fatso continued his fierce momentum and led the way by rushing ahead. The others could only shake their heads helplessly and follow Fatso to the tenth floor. Upon reaching the tenth floor, they found it to be especially quiet, unlike the previous few floors. There were no zombies, not even a trace of an eerie wind. Sunlight shone through the windows on one side, giving them the feeling that this floor might not be where the ghost zombie was hiding.


    "Why is it so quiet?" Sally looked around and said.


    Fatso held the heavy machine gun, staring at the empty corridor, bing unhappy in an instant. He had thought he could continue the bullet frenzy, but unexpectedly, there was no one around.


    Meanwhile, David quietly spoke up, "Something feels off. When things are abnormal, there''s bound to be something strange. The ghost zombie must be on this floor. Be cautious, it could be a trap."


    Everyone nodded and started moving forward carefully. The rooms on this floor were just like the ones on the other floors, doors slightly ajar, and various things scattered all over the floor. They checked carefully, not leaving any corner unexamined. At this moment, a scornfulughter suddenly echoed from the end of the corridor.


    "Hehehe... I never thought you would actually make it to the tenth floor. It seems I underestimated you." David turned around, following the voice, and saw the figure of the ghost zombie emerging from the darkness. He stood with his hands behind his back, walking slowly out of the shadows. Sunlight that touched him disappeared instantly, as if he was a ck hole capable of absorbing all light from any time and ce. With his appearance, the chilling wind howled through the corridor again, even more fiercely than before, cutting against their faces like knives.


    David relied on the golden defenseyer on his body to withstand the attack and straightened his posture. The other members tightly clung to the nearby wall corners.


    "But what does that matter?" The ghost zombie raised his head, yfully looking at David with his pair of ck eyes.


    "I told you, this is my territory. Once you enter here, no one can leave alive. The same goes for all of you. Hahaha!" The ghost zombie said, suddenly bursting into loudughter.


    "Get lost! I''m giving you a burst!" Fatso stared at the ghost zombie, without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. The bullets from the heavy machine gun poured out once again, flying towards the ghost zombie. However, just before they touched his body, a sudden Yin wind emanated from him, tightly enveloping him. The bullets entered this Yin wind and disappeared without a trace, not even making a sound.


    "What the heck!" Fatso stopped pulling the trigger, staring at the ghost zombie in astonishment. David immediately realized that firearms were ineffective against the ghost zombie. The only thing that could defeat him was an ability-based attack.


    The ghost zombie disdainfully nced at Fatso and sneered: "waste!"


    As soon as he spoke, the ghost zombie slowly raised his right hand, and a faint soul viin figure suddenly appeared in his palm. The soul viin figure seemed restless, wildly twisting its body the moment it appeared.


    "I said you would all die. Now, taste the feeling of being ughtered!" The ghost zombie finished speaking and gently waved his right hand. The soul viin figure leaped to the ground and rapidly expanded, bing the size of a full-grown adult in the blink of an eye.


    David stared at soul viin figure closely, but couldn''t make out its face; even its entire body seemed like an ethereal breeze. However, the aura it emitted was extremely cold and fierce. It seemed that the soul viin figure had finally broken free from the control of the ghost zombie and made grinding teeth sounds towards David''s direction. In the next second, it swiftly charged toward David, the ear-piercing sound of its teeth getting clearer and clearer.


    "Charles, now''s the time!" David shouted loudly to Charles!


    Charles was already prepared. His whole body floated in mid-air, with a string of stars faintly visible behind him. A crisp sound came from the surroundings as Charles immediately broke the domain set up by the ghost zombie. Sensing the power flowing within him, David promptly summoned the Space de. The others activated their own abilities as well, all keeping a close eye on the soul viin figure. The soul viin figure got closer and closer to David, and Arnold took the lead,unching a wolf attack and charging towards it.


    Arnold tore with his wolf w, leaving a mark on the soul viin figure''s body. It slowed down a bit, but its body was formed of Yin wind, so Arnold''s attack had no effect on it. The soul viin figure raised its hand and fiercely mmed toward Arnold''s chest.


    Arnold dodged just in time, narrowly avoiding the attack. Watching the battle between the two, David knew that they had encountered a formidable opponent this time.

 Chapter 227 I Would Call You The Strongest Among The Strong.

    ?


    At the beginning, David sensed that the ghost zombie on the opposite side had the same power level as him - both were Level 9. This was the first time David had encountered a zombie with such a high level during the apocalypse. The soul viin he released was also not to be underestimated.


    From their previous battle with Arnold, David could tell that although the soul viin didn''t deal a heavy blow to Arnold, its reaction speed and strength surpassed Arnold''s. Time was passing by, and Charles began to show signs of sweat on his face, with a slightly paleplexion.


    This made David frown. He knew he had to act quickly to deal with the soul viin and the ghost zombie in front of them; otherwise, after ten minutes, they would only be on the receiving end of attacks.


    "Arnold, Sally, Duke, you guys deal with the soul viin together with Little ck and C! Fatso,e with me to confront the ghost zombie." Pausing for a moment, David instructed the team members. Now he had to create two battlefields to make the most of their time.


    Everyone nodded in response, and Fatso also put down the heavy machine gun. Firearms were already ineffective against the ghost zombie, so holding one would only be a burden.


    "Move out!" David gave the order, and the members of Team Cinders immediately charged towards the soul viin. The soul viin was particrly arrogant, seeming eager to devour the humans before it.


    The soul viin emitted a disdainfulughter and charged at them. Before it even reached the soul viin, Sally raised her palm, summoning a purple lightning bolt that rose from the void like a dragon, fiercely striking the soul viin. Meanwhile, Duke used his shadow technique, creating a ck track under the soul viin''s feet, firmly immobilizing it. This gave Arnold an opportunity, and he leaped into the air,unching a wolf w assault towards the viin.


    Little ck and C were equally fierce, pouncing on the enemy without hesitation.


    David and Fatso, at this moment, also rushed towards the ghost zombie at the end of the corridor. Seeing the two approaching, the ghost zombie''s mouth curled into a contemptuous smile.


    "You fools underestimate your capabilities. I will make you my new soul viins." David opened a spatial portal, instantly appearing in front of the ghost zombie. The Space de in his hand suddenly exploded, shing down towards the zombie''s head. "Boom!" The Space de tore through the void, causing a tremendous spatial fluctuation. The massive sound wave swiftly swept towards the ghost zombie. However, the ghost zombie wore a sinister smile and disappeared like a ghost in an instant, leaving behind only a faint touch of Yin wind.


    When David looked up again, the zombie had already floated to a corner. But before he could regain his footing, Fatso''srge cleaver followed closely behind.


    "brute, go to hell!" Fatso shouted loudly, fully exerting the power of the Dawn Scavenger''s physical strength. He swung therge cleaver in his hand with maximum force, and the cleaver rang out with an eerie resonance, swiftly hacking towards the ghost zombie.


    "Oh? Do you think you can take my life with just that broken knife in your hand?" The ghost zombie stared at Fatso, his eyes full of mockery. He, a Level 9, didn''t even consider Fatso a threat. In an instant, he floated in the air, rapidly gathering Yin wind in his hand, and in the blink of an eye, a huge long-handled axe materialized. He raised the long-handled axe and swung it towards Fatso''srge cleaver. The axe was apanied by a chilling howl, and just a nce at it was intimidating, making people''s hearts tremble in fear.


    Fatso also immediately realized the power of the ghost zombie''s axe. He quickly turned his body, attempting to retract hisrge cleaver from his hand. However, the speed was too fast, and the space was too narrow. Just as the thought crossed Fatso''s mind, he had already charged in front of the ghost zombie.


    "Oh no!" Fatso felt the chilling winding from the axe, as if it could tear his skin, and he couldn''t help but shudder.


    "Hahaha, I will turn you into the perfect soul viin!" The ghost zombieughed manically, making the surrounding air even colder. At that moment, he caught a glimpse of a dazzling cold light from the corner of his eye. He quickly turned his head.


    He saw a sharp and glinting short knife rushing towards Fatso''s face at an incredible speed. Frowning, he immediately retracted his attack and sidestepped to avoid it. The short knife pierced into the nearby cement wall, causing the de to tremble.


    It was David''s alloy short knife. In an instant, he noticed the danger Fatso was in and used the alloy short knife to disrupt the ghost zombie''s attack, creating an opportunity for Fatso to dodge.


    Fatso quickly lunged forward and somersaulted in the air,nding behind the ghost zombie. Meanwhile, the ghost zombie continued to float in the air, staring coldly at David.


    David didn''t hesitate either. The Space de in his hand traced a ferocious trajectory, and once again, he opened a spatial portal and charged towards the ghost zombie. In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind the zombie again.


    "So fast!" Fatso eximed in surprise, watching David''s figure.


    The Space de erupted with a majestic aura behind the ghost zombie and swung towards its neck. The ghost zombie immediately sensed the impending danger, but David''s attack was too swift, leaving him with no time to dodge. Helplessly, he could only raise his long-handled axe to block David''s attack.


    "Boom!" The Space de collided with the long-handled axe, producing an unparalleled explosion! The intense shockwave wreaked havoc on the surrounding space, causing the walls of the corridor to copse, and debris from the ceiling showered down.


    The ghost zombie''s body was sent flying as if it had been hit by a massive carriage. It tumbled through the air for a distance of seven to eight meters before it finallynded on the ground, struggling to stabilize itself. It looked at David with a somewhat frightened and even more eerie expression.


    "Incredible! One sh sent this creature flying? You''re truly remarkable! I acknowledge you as the strongest!" Fatso raised hisrge cleaver and gave David a thumbs-up, while also being amazed by David''s formidable strength.


    Fatso was well aware of the power of the ghost zombie, but he never expected David to effortlessly overpower it in front of his eyes. Fatso was relieved that he was a good thing I didn''t take David''s opponent;

 Chapter 228 Ill Take Care Of It

    ?


    David''s attack exploited the weak point of the ghost zombies. In the previous assault, David was merely testing the waters, forcing the ghost zombies to reveal their true strength. Since both of them were at the same level, their abilities were mostly on par, and mindlessly confronting them head-on would only waste precious time.


    Through careful observation, David discovered that the crucial aspect of the ghost zombies was theyer of Yin Wind surrounding them. Whenever the ghost zombiesunched an attack, this Yin Wind quickly condensed around their bodies, forming a fluid defensiveyer that provided them with maximum protection against iing strikes.


    This made David realize that he needed to find a loophole, and he set his sights on the long-handled axe. The aura entwined around the axe seemed to be an integral part of the ghost zombies. This meant that he could inflict damage by striking the axe.


    Therefore, David employed a tactic that appeared unrted to his true intentions, forcing the ghost zombies to lift the long-handled axe to defend. That''s when the scene yed out as before. Sometimes on the battlefield, it''s not always about relying on sheer bravery; keen observation and calm analysis can often be the keys to victory.


    Taking advantage of the ghost zombies'' momentary distraction, David looked over at Sally and the others. They were still battling the Soul Viin, but now they were gaining the upper hand, overwhelming the Soul Viin with relentless attacks.


    After dodging its strike, Sally unleashed a red lightning bolt from her fingertips, like a sword descending from the heavens, piercing straight into the Soul Viin''s head. The Soul Viin convulsed in pain, its body contorting, and struggling to keep its footing. The others followed up with sessive heavy blows, taking advantage of the opportunity created by Sally''s attack. This is why David had the team members work together to deal with the Soul Viin.


    No matter how strong the opponent, as long as Sally and Arnold cooperated, they could deliver a powerful blow. And with C and Little ck''s indiscriminate biting attacks, plus Sophie''s timely support, David knew the Soul Viin would soon be defeated.


    Meanwhile, David''s attention turned to Charles, who was still floating in mid-air. Sweat dripped from his forehead more and more profusely, running down his nose and falling to the ground. His body was trembling more severely than before, clearly unable to endure this forced strain for much longer. Half the time had already passed since they started, and if they couldn''t take down the ghost zombie within the next five minutes, not only would Charles copse under the weight of his abilities, but each of them would be prey for the ghost zombie''s ughter.


    David''s brow furrowed slightly, and the Space de in his hand suddenly hummed. For the sake of his team and for the survival of their world in the face of the apocalypse, he had to kill the ghost zombie before him within the next five minutes! The ghost zombie, recovering from its earlier shock, assessed David and revealed a fierce, angry expression.


    "It seems I need to show you my true power. When you be a Soul Viin, I''ll make you suffer beyond imagination!" The ghost zombie gritted its teeth, speaking with venomous anger towards David.


    The nearby Fatso couldn''t help but speak out, "This guy again, talking tough? Who does he think he is?"


    "Damn you, I''m telling you, don''t be so arrogant! What Soul Viin? If I get angry, I''ll wipe you and your descendants off the face of the earth! Look at you, half-human and half-ghost, and you still have the nerve to be alive? If I were you, I would have already jumped down from here and let everyone here witness it! What''s with that re? You got a problem? You can''t ept it? Do you darepare yourself to my big brother?" Fatso said, pointing at the ghost zombie.


    As the ghost zombie stared back at him, Fatso quickly became timid and shut his mouth. But his gaze towards the ghost zombie remained smug and provocative. With David as his backer, Fatso had no reason to be afraid.


    As expected, Fatso''s wordspletely infuriated the ghost zombie. Its aura exploded like a burst balloon, and the already damaged walls around them instantly turned into rubble, crashing down to the apartment below.


    "I... will kill you all!" The ghost zombie lifted its head, its pitch-ck eyes resembling dark abysses, chilling to behold with just one nce.


    "Come out, kids!" The ghost zombie moved its joints, making "crackling" sounds. As it spoke, dozens of strands of Yin Wind suddenly split from its body. Each strand quickly transformed after leaving its body, eventually forming dozens of Soul Viins. The Soul Viins stared at David, opening theirrge mouths and emitting a piercing sound, as if they were about to tear him into pieces at any moment.


    "Wow! This guy has so many descendants?" Fatso remarked, looking at each sinister-looking Soul Viin. This was the ghost zombie''s ultimate ability." People killed by it would have their souls absorbed, and the ghost zombie would pour its consciousness into these souls, turning them into Soul Viins.


    The ghost zombie could freely manipte and control each Soul Viin to fight, and theirbat power was remarkable. From the moment the first Soul Viin appeared, David knew about this situation. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have had the team members work together to deal with them, both to save time and to use group tactics to suppress the Soul Viins'' strength.


    Just then, Sally struck another lightning bolt at one of the Soul Viins at the end of the corridor. With a scream, it disappearedpletely from the air.


    The group of people gathered around David, adjusting their breaths. Each of them had given their all in the previous battle, and their stamina had been depleted considerably.


    "So many Soul Viins again?" Arnold frowned as he looked at the dozen identical Soul Viins before them. Killing one almost drained their stamina, so how were they going to deal with so many? The others also hadplicated expressions on their faces.


    "Don''t be afraid, I''ll take care of it," David said with a light smile, stepping forward. This caused all the team members, including Fatso, to be taken aback for a moment.


    Then, Sally, Arnold, and the others sighed in relief. They knew that as long as David took action, any problem would be resolved. Only Fatso scratched his head, surprised by David''s abilities.


    Wow, this young man is so powerful! Those are over a dozen Soul Viins! Theirbat power is outstanding, and David is going up against them alone? Fatso couldn''t help but tightly grip hisrge cleaver, ready to rush in and assist David at any moment.

 Chapter 229 You Would Become A Corpse

    ?


    Seeing David''s calm expression, the ghost zombies became even more arrogant, thinking that a mere human esper couldn''t defeat him, as he was like a god in this region. So, he decided that he must turn this young man into his own "Soul viin."


    "Go!" The ghost zombie shouted, and a dozen or so "Soul viins" rushed towards David like locusts. Their horrifying appearance and ear-piercing noise made them a nightmare to behold.


    However, David remainedposed. With his left leg bent and his right fist clenched tightly, he smiled as he faced the approaching horde. He was determined to reveal the true power of his "Shattered Void Fist."


    Since mastering the Shattered Void Fist, David hadn''t fully unleashed its power. This technique contained the strength to break through the void and pierce through space.


    Today, he felt the need to show the ghost zombie his true strength. To David, this terrifying being, this regional killer, this nightmare of survivors, was nothing more than a zombie. His purpose in this apocalypse was to hunt down zombies!


    With a serious expression, David roared with all his might, and in an instant, the surrounding space condensed rapidly above his right fist. The intense spatial fluctuations caused the walls on both sides to copse and the ground to crack, forcing everyone to step back to safety.


    "Strong space fluctuations!" Impressed, Fatso stared wide-eyed at David as he leaped to avoid the snake-like cracks forming beneath his feet.


    The spatial vortex gathered on David''s right fist, making him appear ethereal, as if he were floating in the river of space. His aura was awe-inspiring.


    "I''ll send you to your death!" David lifted his head, his eyes filled with killing intent. The ghost zombie was taken aback, watching David in disbelief.


    But David didn''t give The ghost zombie a chance to react. He exerted immense force in his right leg, stomping the ground fiercely, and the ground instantly turned into ruins. In the next second, David disappeared from his original spot.


    "Where did he go?" The ghost zombie looked anxiously at the empty space in front, trying to find David''s figure. However, there was nothing in front of him except for the dozen or so Soul viins he had released. He wasn''t worried, though, as he believed these Soul viins would block David''s attack.


    "Heh, a pathetic trick!" The ghost zombie''s words were cut short when he suddenly felt the space in front of him twist. In the blink of an eye, the dozen Soul viins let out a desperate scream and exploded right in front of him, their flesh and blood flying everywhere.


    "It''s your turn now!" Completely caught off guard, the ghost zombie heard David''s angry voice. David broke through the Soul viins, and his fist emitted a shockwave that tore everything apart, instantly pulverizing them into minced meat.


    In just a second, Davidpletely crushed the Soul viins that the ghost zombie had kept hidden. Without hesitation, he went straight for the ghost zombie with his Shattered Void Fist.


    "Damn! This is way too fierce! Incredibly fierce!" Fatso rubbed his eyes, unable to believe his eyes as he stared at David''s fleeting figure in space. At this moment, he felt like he was witnessing a god of death who could manipte space at will and crush everything in his path.


    "Shattered Void Fist!" Without hesitation, David''s fist reached the ghost zombie''s face. The ghost zombie was already scared stiff, unable to react or defend himself. The decrepit youth apartment suddenly started shaking violently. In the next second, it began to copse, andyers of debris fell to the ground.


    "Run! The apartment is copsing!" Seeing this, Arnold shouted, and then he held Charles and leaped to the ground. The other members immediately carried Little ck and C, jumping down to the floor below.


    Fatso, on the other hand, embarked on a "ruin skiing" adventure, narrowly sliding along the nted roof of the apartment, barely escaping the disaster. As soon as everyone reached the ground safely, the ten-story youth apartment copsed entirely, raising a cloud of dust into the sky.


    "Where''s David?" Arnold put Charles down and anxiously looked around. Sally, with a worried expression, kept turning her head to find him.


    "There!" Duke pointed his hand towards the debris and shouted loudly to everyone. Everyone followed Duke''s direction and looked over.


    Sure enough, David stood alone on the debris, and the surrounding dust was all pushed away by the twisted space. His fist was still wrapped in a spatial vortex, and his overwhelming majesty made him look like a savior of the world. Not far from him, the ghost zombie painfully struggled to get up from the ground.


    "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! We''re all ninth-level in strength. Why are you so powerful? You actually broke through my Yin Wind Shield!" The ghost zombie coughed violently, and the defense of Yin Wind that had surrounded him dissipated, revealing a bloody hole in his chest.


    It was the hole created by David''s punch. The gaze the ghost zombie directed at David grew more and more fearful. He had been confident of victory, but David''s punch hadpletely overwhelmed him. He couldn''t believe that this young man was so fierce as to make him feel afraid. the ghost zombie had killed countless espers in this area and knew their abilities well. They were all show and no substance, like paper tigers the ghost zombie could easily break. However, this young man in front of him aroused fear in the ghost zombie''s heart.


    "I told you, the moment you harbored murderous intent, you were already a corpse." David raised his head and nced at the ghost zombie. This was the true power of the ninth-level Shattered Void Fist ,a terrifying force capable of crushing everything like a thunderstorm.


    "I won''t surrender to you. I am the king here!" The ghost zombie looked at the now-ruined youth apartment with fury in his heart. He was prepared to make a final struggle.


    But David regarded decisiveness in killing as his own apocalypse creed. With a sh of cold light in his hand, he leaped into the air! The sound of metal and flesh scraping against each other resounded as David casually wiped the ck blood off the Space de, making it vanish into thin air.


    "I told you, you would be a corpse." David turned his head to look at the motionless ghost zombie behind him. In the next second, the head rolled on the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

 Chapter 230 Eight-Pack Abs, Cant You See？

    ?


    Seeing the head of the ghost zombie rolling on the ground, everyone present was in an uproar. A ninth-level ghost zombie was killed by David with just one move of the Shattered Void Fist. At the moment when the head of the ghost zombiended on the ground,


    Charles furrowed his brows, and in the next second, he descended from the air. David acted quickly, catching him before he reached the ground.


    "Sophie, quickly heal Charles!" Seeing Charles''s pale face and sweat-soaked clothes, David hurriedly instructed Sophie.


    Ten minutes had passed, and Charles couldn''t hold on any longer. He fell unconscious. Simultaneously, with the death of the ghost zombie, the domain in this area was also broken.


    Sophie nodded and covered Charles with Ster Healing. Watching Charles slowly recover, David nodded in approval. Without Charles''s trace back ability, they probably wouldn''t have dealt with the ghost zombie so quickly.


    In other words, Charles was the hero of this battle. Soon, Charles opened his eyes.


    "How''s the ghost zombie?" This was the first thing Charles said when he saw David. During the trace-back process, he had kept his eyes closed to maintain focus and was unaware of what happened outside.


    "Don''t worry, David took care of it!" Arnold walked over, putting his hand on his neck and mimicking a beheading motion to tell Charles. Hearing that the ghost zombie had been killed by David, Charles finally let out a sigh of relief.


    "If it weren''t for you, we would have been in trouble today. Rest for a while." David patted Charles''s shoulder and smiled at him.


    Hearing David''s words, Charles felt a warm feeling in his heart. This was the first time he had contributed his ability to the Embers team. In that moment, his admiration for David intensified. Not only him, but the other members felt the same way. Finding a powerful team leader in this cruel apocalypse was lucky for them.


    Fatso couldn''t help but feel emotional too. He felt that David wasn''t just an exceptionally strong esper but also a qualified team leader.


    Next, David took out several Gene Crystals and distributed them to everyone. The previous battle had consumed a lot of their stamina and energy, and now they finally had a chance to rest and replenish.


    David then walked to the corpse of the ghost zombie, looking at its still wide-eyed and incredulous head with a faint nce.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for obtaining a high-level crystal! ]


    [Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundred times critical hit, obtaining a hundred high-level crystals! ]


    The system''s voice rang in David''s ear, but he didn''t show any extra expression on his face. The high-level crystals in the system''s storage were already in the thousands, an endless resource for him.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for leveling up the Corrosion ability! ] Soon, the system''s voice sounded again.


    "Huh? The Corrosion ability has leveled up?" This voice made David somewhat surprised. He didn''t expect that this ability he had obtained by chance had the potential to level up. With a thought, the system exined the upgraded function of the Corrosion ability.


    [After the upgrade, the Corrosion ability can rapidly decay the target within a limited distance, increasing the degree of decay by fifteen percent! ]


    Hearing the system''s exnation, David immediately understood. It meant that he could now corrode the target without direct contact. David looked at a one-meter-long abandoned steel pipe one meter away and pointed his finger at it. The abandoned steel pipe instantly emitted a sound of corrosion and rapidly decayed, as if it had been gnawed by tens of thousands of giant ants.


    "The power is not bad!" David was somewhat surprised. He wanted to see the effective distance of this ability to corrode targets. So he repeated the same trick on another steel pipe two meters away. Just like a swarm of termites passing through, three meters, four meters. In the end, David found that the effective distance of the Corrosion ability was five meters. Within this range, he could instantly corrode all targets at will.


    For David, this could be considered a long-range offensive ability. Even though the effective distance was currently only five meters, he wasn''t worried. He knew that as his strength improved and he killed more zombies, this distance would increase. This was a pattern he had discovered in his recent battles. After ncing at the corpse of the ghost zombie once more, David turned and left. The mastermind behind this apocalypse didn''t deserve a second nce from him.


    At this moment, Fatso also walked over. Wiping the juice from the Gene Crystals off the corners of his mouth, he grinned at David and said, "David? Is the team still short on members? Do you think I can join? Don''t judge me by my size; I''ve got plenty of strength!" Fatso raised his arms, trying to show off his biceps. However, despite his efforts, there was nothing but fat on his arms... still just fat. He awkwardly scratched his head, trying to hide his embarrassment. Seeing Fatso, David smiled.


    The Embers team currently only had six members, even with Little ck and C included, it still wasn''t the ideal number David had in mind. Having been reborn, he knew that the number of members was a crucial factor for a team to thrive in the apocalypse. David''s n for his team was to have ten members, and it was evident they hadn''t reached that number yet.


    From the beginning, David had considered recruiting Fatso into the Embers team. Even if he wasn''t an esper, his identity as a Dawn Scavenger made him a valuable asset. However, David had never revealed his thoughts because he wanted to see what kind of person Fatso truly was. This world was full of strangeness, and people''s hearts were unpredictable. He had to be responsible for his team and even more so for its members. If he recruited someone with ill intentions, it could be a disastrous blow to their team.


    "David? Abs, eight-pack abs, can''t you see?" Fatso was still trying to showcase his advantages, and as he was about to lift his shirt, David turned away in disgust. Eight-pack abs? He felt like Fatso''s abs had already be one with everything. Abs aside, his belly was quite big.


    Fatso forced a dryugh and looked at David again. "You can rest assured, in future battles, I''ll be the first one charging in! Whether it''s man or god, once Fatso makes a move, the whole world will feel the pain!"


    To Fatso''s words, David just twitched the corner of his mouth and then asked, "Why do you want to join my team?"


    "There''s war car, heavy machine gun, and Strong team. Who wouldn''t want to?" Fatso casually said, but then he suddenly realized what he had said and immediately covered his mouth.

 Chapter 231 The Abyssal Graveyard

    ?


    After saying this, Fatso knew he had slipped up, and his eyes began to wander as he looked at David. However, David showed no surprise; he had known Fatso''s intentions all along, but he hadn''t exposed them.


    In the apocalypse, finding a powerful team was a precious thing for everyone. Not to mention the various abundant resources; it was like a survivor''s paradise.


    However, David didn''t immediately agree to Fatso''s request to join the team. Instead, he smiled and said, "Show me what you can do."


    With that, he walked towards his team members. Fatso scratched his head, looking serious. "Show you what I can do?" He understood the implications of David''s words. So he thought for a moment and then walked over, saying, "I can take you to the Abyssal Graveyard."


    As these words came out, everyone, including David, froze in ce. The Abyssal Graveyard? No one knew what that ce was, but judging by its name, it seemed to be a horrifying existence.


    Fatso nodded. This was the ultimate goal of his journey to the town of D. The Abyssal Graveyard, as the name suggested, was a burial ground for countless people. Before the apocalypse, it was just an ordinary graveyard. But with the advent of the apocalypse and the change in the world''sws, it had be a haven for eerie zombies. Countless powerful zombies roamed there, even the buried corpses broke through the soil to be one of the undead. There were even some eerie beings beyond zombies lurking there, bing the executioners of the Abyssal Graveyard.


    Fatso wanted to visit the Abyssal Graveyard this time to see if he could obtain higher-quality blood bones. This would significantly enhance his physical strength. Only he, as a Dawn Scavenger, knew of this ce''s existence. Even if others knew, they would be terrified and wouldn''t dare step foot there.


    By telling David, Fatso demonstrated his determination to join the Embers team. After exining the Abyssal Graveyard to everyone, they were all taken aback.


    "It''s too terrifying! That''s not a ce for humans to go!" Sophie shuddered at Fatso''s words and instinctively clutched Arnold''s arm. Everyone had a simr expression, extremely serious. Even though their purpose for this trip was to hunt zombies and enhance their strength, they still felt it best to avoid overly powerful and eerie zombies. After all, their strength had its limits, and relying solely on David''s solo battles was not a long-term solution.


    "I''ve heard rumors about that ce. No one who goes therees back alive. Even some high-level espers can only avoid it from afar, feeling powerless. I think our current strength might not be able to support us going to such a ce." Charles, who had mostly recovered at this point, thought for a moment and shared his thoughts.


    However, Charles still looked at David, who was resting his chin on his hand, contemting. After a moment, David nodded and said, "We won''t know until we go. Rest well tonight, and tomorrow, we''ll head to the Abyssal Graveyard."


    "But..." Sally spoke up at this point, wanting to say something. David smiled at her, gesturing that she didn''t need to be afraid.


    From Fatso and Charles''s words, David understood the horrors of the Abyssal Graveyard. But no matter what, they would have to face it sooner orter. It might be better to take this opportunity to explore it first. If they had any unexpected gains, it would be a joyous event.


    David''s goal was not solely focused on those eerie zombies but also to uncover more truths about this world. Since the Second Red Light Event, the situation worldwide had be unpredictable, and he needed to find out all the truths to unravel its mysteries. He was also curious about the eerie beings in the graveyard that even high-level espers feared.


    Seeing David''s nonchnt expression, everyone pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement. They would follow whatever decision David made without hesitation. This trust they had in David made Fatso silently nod in approval.


    "The Abyssal Graveyard is dozens of kilometers away from here. I''ll take you all there tomorrow, and perhaps, I can be a member of your team," Fatso said before turning to the corpse of the ghost zombie. He inserted his hands into the body and found its blood bones. Skillfully and quickly, he extracted them and ced them in his backpack.


    Night soon fell. With the ghost zombie in, the atmosphere was no longer as cold as before. David decided they would spend the night here before setting out for the Abyssal Graveyard tomorrow. They found a few abandoned rooms, sat down on the floor, and rested. David, however, gazed through the window into the night sky, lost in thought.


    After Abraham''s death, Monica had been in a deep slump. Danny''s frequent and inexplicable departures from the base only left Monica alone in the empty room. Sitting by the window, she gazed at the mncholy sight of zombies wandering the streets. She felt the need to talk to someone, to share her thoughts.


    When that idea arose, David''s image was the first to surface in Monica''s mind. But these past two days, she had been to David''s base and found it deserted, as if the entire team had left. This only made her sink deeper into mncholy.


    "This world... is truly a tragic ce," Monica sighed, resting her chin on her hand. "Perhaps it''s also a world full of surprises."


    Suddenly, Danny pushed open the door, her face sporting a smile. Monica nced at her, showing a hint of confusion because behind Danny, she saw an unfamiliar woman. The woman wore a white dress, had long hair, and a cold expression.


    "Who is she?" Monica asked as she pointed to the neer.


    Danny turned around and looked at the woman calmly. "I forgot to introduce her. She''s Louisa, our new team member." Danny said, leading the woman named Louisa into the base.


    "New team member?" Monica grew even more puzzled. She hadn''t expected Danny to recruit a new member at this time, especially since she had never mentioned it to her.


    "What? Do you have a problem with that?" Danny looked at Monica with a knowing smile, which made Monica''s heart skip a beat. Since Abraham''s death, Danny had been treating her with apparent coldness, making her slowly feel estranged from this formerrade-in-arms.


    "No, I just think you could have told me in advance," Monica said softly.


    "Hehe, I''ll remember that next time," Danny replied, sitting on the sofa with a light chuckle.

 Chapter 232 A Little Heartless

    ?


    Upon hearing Danny''s words, Monica''s beautiful eyebrows immediately furrowed again. In recent times, Danny''s behavior had changed drastically, and she couldn''t help but notice. At first, she attributed it to Abraham''s death, but gradually she realized that Danny seemed like a different person. He had be ruthless and cold, a far cry from the gentle Danny she remembered. Now, he had gone ahead and recruited a new team member without her consent, which filled her with strong discontent.


    With only the two of them left in the team, even if they decided to recruit a new member, it should be a decision made together. If the new recruit turned out to be problematic, it could jeopardize the entire team. Monica didn''t want to see Abraham''s efforts destroyed.


    "Danny, don''t forget the teachings Abraham left for both of us," Monica tried to bring up Abraham''s memory.


    Listening to Monica''s words, Danny pondered for a moment before nodding slowly. "You''re not wrong. But now that Abraham is gone, does it still make sense to mention him?"


    Danny stood up and reached for the bag of chips on the table, but as if remembering something, he withdrew his hand.


    "With our team being short-handed, can you guarantee our squad''s survival in dangerous situations?" Danny stared at Monica, his tone bing colder, and then he looked at Louisa.


    "Louisa is someone I carefully selected, and her strength is remarkable. She can perfectly fill the gap in our team. Besides, in this team, men have the final say. You better stay at home," Danny said, a faint smile once again appearing on his face.


    "You..." Monica was infuriated by his words. What did he mean by saying men have the final say in this team? Apparently, Danny had been treating her like a mere decoration all along, and this made Monica feel extremely downcast. She wanted to say something, but then she noticed Louisa walking towards her.


    Monica turned her head to look at Louisa, and her expression gradually grew serious. In that instant, she sensed a strong and peculiar aura from Louisa. It was different from a typical esper''s aura, and Monica felt both familiar and unfamiliar with it. As she pondered this, Louisa approached her, and her lips slightly parted.


    "Hello, I''m Louisa. Nice to meet you," Louisa spoke in a cold and rigid manner, almost like a newly-learned baby.


    Monica nced at her, feeling cautious about this woman named Louisa. She suddenly sensed that there might be some secrets hidden within her.


    "We''re not familiar," Monica said coldly before leaving the base. In that moment, she felt the urge to escape from there. She felt like there was no longer a ce for her in the team. As Monica walked away, Louisa''s expression remained mechanical and rigid.


    "That girl really doesn''t know her ce," Danny mumbled to himself as he sat on the sofa, looking out at the horizon.


    After leaving the base, Monica walked on the streets for a while and decided to go to David''s base once again. She felt a true sense of security when she was with David. Without hesitation, she headed towards David''s base.


    A dozen minutester, Monica stood in front of the base''s gate. As she looked at the still closed alloy steel door, she let out a sigh of frustration. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, a figure approached.


    "Who''s there?" Monica immediately drew the dagger from her waist and cautiously stared at the approaching figure.


    "Do you know David?" Seeing Monica hesitate for a moment, the figure continued to walk towards her and soon stepped out of the shadow into the dim light. The man was dressed in ckbat gear and had a crew cut. His face looked resolute, and it was apparent he was an esper. Following closely behind him was a young girl with a knife hanging from her waist, adorned with a cute little cat essory. These two were Duane and Shirley.


    Seeing them, Monica still didn''t lower the dagger in her hand. The sense of danger Danny had brought made her question everyone in this world, except David.


    "Whether I know him or not is none of your business," Monica didn''t directly answer Duane''s question and simply walked past him. As Monica left, Duane shook his head in puzzlement.


    "She''s a strange woman, Captain. I wonder if the little cat is still in David''s home? It''s been so long, and they haven''te back. The poor cat must be so lonely here. How about we take it back with us and return it when theye back?" Shirley looked at David''s base with joy, suggesting the idea to Duane.


    Hearing Shirley mention the little cat, Duane couldn''t help but shake his head helplessly. Ever since Shirley saw C, she couldn''t forget the little cat. She often pestered Duane toe and see it at David''s ce.


    Thest time they came was due to Shirley''s persistence. However, when they arrived, David had already left with the team. Helpless, Shirley had to return with disappointment. But not even a day had passed, and she was already thinking about it again, insisting on dragging Duane to see it once more, with the same result asst time.


    Duane looked at the closed base, his eyes showing a hint of surprise. As he personally constructed the base for their team, he knew it very well. Seeing the solid and powerful appearance of David''s base, Duane curiously reached out and touched it.


    "The hardness... is terrifying!" Duane felt the powerful energy emitted by the diamond base, astonished by what he had discovered. He had never expected that David would build the base to such an extent. It was like an ark in the apocalypse, and this further revealed David''s formidable strength. Ordinary people wouldn''t even dream of having a base of this level, let alone build one, not to mention its defensive capabilities.


    Shirley also curiously approached and ced her hand on the base''s wall. An expression of shock immediately appeared on her face. "Captain, does David have superpowers? How can he possess such a base! When hees back, you have to ask him to build one for our Phoenix Rising team too."


    Hearing Shirley''s innocent words, Duane''s mouth twitched. Wow! She''s already betraying her Captain for a base? Duane instantly thought that Shirley was somewhat heartless, but just a little.


    However, Duane decided to have a good conversation with David when he returned. He believed that the secret of the Second Red Light might rely on this young man.

 Chapter 233 Extreme Cold Air

    ?


    Late at night, Monica returned to the base. At this time, Danny and Louisa were nowhere to be found, and the room was once again filled with silence. Remembering Danny''s words during the day, Monica sighed helplessly. She now missed Abraham. As long as he was there, she had never suffered any grievances. Thinking of this, Monica looked at the rocking chair where Abraham used to sit.


    "Hmm? What''s this?" Monica suddenly noticed a piece of paper hidden in the gap of the rocking chair. She curiously walked over and picked up the paper. Unfolding it, she saw some words written on it.


    "Leave." Monica immediately recognized it as Abraham''s handwriting.


    "Leave?" Monica looked at the two words, puzzled. She didn''t understand why Abraham had left behind this message. Did he discover something?


    After some contemtion, Monica folded the paper back and put it in her pocket. She felt that Abraham seemed to want to tell her some truth.


    The next morning, the members of the embers team woke up early. After each person ate a gene fruit, they prepared to go to the Abyss Cemetery under Fatso''s lead. Although everyone was full of terror about this unknown ce, when they saw David''s resolute expression, they felt a sense of security. With David around, they had nothing to fear.


    "Fatso, ride in my car," David said to Fatso, opening the alloy door of the vehicle. He also asked Sally and Sophie to sit together.


    Fatso touched the car''s alloy-made window, marveling at it, and then took the passenger seat. Soon, under the guidance of David and Fatso, the group drove towards the Abyss Cemetery.


    Meanwhile, in a distant direction in D Town, there were continuous deep mountains, and the thick miasma filled every inch of thend. In the miasma, one could faintly hear the sound of anger. Several zombies kept wandering between lonely graves, as if searching for something. Just then, a pair of hands suddenly extended from a tomb, pulling the zombies underground in an instant. The zombies had no time to mourn and disappeared without a trace. Shortly after, several bones were thrown out from the anger.


    "It''s really desperate for food!" At the entrance of the cemetery, next to a rundown shack, an old man with a cane stood there. He watched the scene just now, shaking his head and muttering. He turned and went back into the shack, cing the cane aside, closing his eyes, and resting on a bamboo chair.


    Suddenly, the old man opened his eyes, showing a hint of surprise. "They''vee?" He looked up through the tattered window towards the distance. Then, he chuckled softly and closed his eyes again to rest. Arge cloud of miasma came, and the shack immediately disappeared from its original location. Even the unknown old man disappeared along with the shack. Only the sound of "crunch, crunch" came from the tomb, as if something was being gnawed upon.


    "Go forward another hundred meters and pass by that abandoned vige, and we''ll arrive at the Abyss Cemetery," Fatso, sitting in the passenger seat, pointed to a vige ahead and told David.


    David nodded and pressed down on the elerator, speeding up. The two cars behind quickly followed, but as they passed through the small vige, David saw the faint appearance of the Abyss Cemetery. Suddenly, his brow furrowed, and he tightly gripped the steering wheel. He felt an extremely cold air, like steel nails, piercing through the alloy steel te of the vehicle, and prating his skin and bones. Not only him, Fatso''s face also showed signs of pain, although it seemed like he had already expected this oue.


    "What''s going on?" David couldn''t believe that even with the protection of the Golden Defense Layer, he was still affected by this extremely cold air, as if his body and bones were being scraped by a steel knife. He could only imagine that the others wouldn''t be able to withstand this extreme cold.


    Quickly, David made a decisive decision and signaled the two cars behind to retreat. He had to ensure the safety of his team members. Arnold and Charles, after receiving David''s signal, gritted their teeth and endured the pain, slowly driving the cars backward. It seemed that if they were even a littleter, they would have frozen to death right there. Afterpletely escaping from the surrounding extreme cold, they finally took a deep breath. The pressure of the extreme cold just now made it extremely difficult for them to even breathe.


    "It''s too terrifying. What exactly is the Abyss Cemetery?" Charles asked with a trembling hand, his face filled with fear. He then tried to trace the origin of the Abyss Cemetery but couldn''t find any clue about it, which made him feel even more uneasy. The others felt the same, especially Sophie, the lowest-ranked among them, who was almost about to faint.


    Listening to David''s inquiry, Fatso took out the blood and bones he had removed from the ghost zombie yesterday, quickly broke them, and then sucked the marrow into his mouth. This made his pale face gradually recover, and his trembling body finally stopped shaking. David forcibly created a void around his body to keep the extreme cold outside.


    "All of this is the resentment emanating from the Abyss Cemetery. But when I came herest time, it wasn''t this severe. Could it be that something more powerful has appeared?" Fatso recalled the first time he came to the Abyss Cemetery, looking puzzled.


    Listening to Fatso, David silently nodded. The fact that such terrifying resentment was emanating from the ce indicated that it was not a ce ordinary people could enter. This made him even more curious about the Abyss Cemetery.


    "Do we continue forward?" Fatso asked after strengthening himself with the bone marrow, knowing that the Abyss Cemetery had changed and there might be extremely powerful beings hiding inside. Stepping in might mean they would be trapped and unable to escape.


    David looked at the faint cemetery ahead, surrounded by miasma-covered hills and mountains, and pondered for a moment. He knew that even if they didn''t enter today, he woulde back one day. Despite the horror inside possibly surpassing his imagination, he also understood that it might be an opportunity for him to explore the truth of the apocalypse and even enhance his strength.


    However, David decided to raise his level to ten before entering. This way, he could be fully prepared. With a thought, David directly absorbed arge amount of high-level crystals invisibly.


    [Ding! Congrattions, the host has reached level ten! ]


    [Ding! The crit rate of Space de has increased to thirty percent! ]


    The system''s voice quickly sounded in David''s ears, and he felt the surging power in his body. There was no time to savor it, as he had already made up his mind to enter the Abyss Cemetery.

 Chapter 234 Graveyard Keeper

    ?


    "n remains unchanged," David calmly said to Fatso. Hearing this, Fatso hesitated for a moment but didn''t say anything further. He understood David''s character after spending these two days with him. Whatever decision David made, he would follow through without question.


    Taking a deep breath, the two of them opened the car doors and got out. As soon as their feet touched the ground, a thick, viscous blood emerged from the soil. The blood was extremely foul-smelling, as if it had been fermenting here for many years. They cautiously walked towards the Abyss Cemetery, while the rest of the team stood at a distance, watching their fading figures.


    "I hope there won''t be anything terrifying inside," Sally said, looking worried.


    "We shouldn''t stand idle either. Two people in each group, explore the area nearby to see if you can find anything. Sophie and Arnold, you go together, Duke and Sally, I''ll go with Little ck and C," Charles said, looking at David''s figure and addressing the others. He felt they shouldn''t just wait here; perhaps taking action could help David.


    They nodded and began to explore the surroundings. Fortunately, they were outside the range of the extreme cold, so their movements were not hindered. Soon, David and Fatso arrived at the entrance of the Abyss Cemetery.


    "The wind inside the cemetery, under the enveloping miasma, sounds like the wailing of ghosts. Just the sound makes your hair stand on end," Fatso said.


    "This is the Abyss Cemetery," Fatso pointed to the countless graves that had long been deserted and dpidated. David looked up and saw copsed graves and tombstones cracked in several ces.


    It all looked like a deste wastnd, with graves of all sizes appearing like mounds dug up by underground creatures. Deste, cold, eerie, and sinister.


    Without hesitation, David lifted his foot and walked into the cemetery, with Fatso immediately following. They arrived at the entrance of a tomb, and David squatted down to examine it. The tombstone in front of the grave had been split into two like it was struck by lightning. The red characters on it were faintly visible.


    David stared at it for a while, realizing it was a man''s tomb, and the information recorded on it was only a rough outline. They continued to walk further inside.


    However, David noticed that the deeper they went, the thicker the miasma became, and the more dpidated the graves were. Some of them had inexplicably opened holes, as if something had crawled out from inside. Fatso looked at these holes with a serious expression.


    "This is the Abyss Blood that has soaked into the soil. The corpses turned into zombies and crawled out from inside. Abyss Blood?" David asked casually, then looked at the hole.


    "That''s right, you''re correct," Fatso nodded.


    "It''s the ck blood that oozed out of the soil all the way here. No one knows where ites from because it only appears near the Abyss Cemetery, so it''s called the Abyss Blood. This blood has a powerful function ¨C it can grant consciousness to the dead bodies, turning them into high-level zombies," Fatso continued exining to David.


    Having said that, Fatso looked around and noticed that there were more and more holes, and some graves had even copsed, revealing holes the same size as the graves. Inside, there were only broken coffins, and nothing else. Compared to hisst visit, everything hadpletely changed. Not only were there more holes, but even the mist of miasma floating in the air had be denser.


    This made Fatso cautiously survey the surroundings, holding hisrge cleaver in his hand. Invisibly, he felt as if there were pairs of eyes watching him and David.


    David felt the strangeness as well and stood up. He looked up towards the deeper part of the graveyard, where there were numerous holes and depressions, indicating that more high-level zombies might emerge from there.


    After contemting for a moment, David realized that this ce held many mysteries. He had now reached level ten and could ignore the surrounding miasma and the wandering zombies. However, Fatso sensed an intimidating presence in the darkness, which made him nervous. He believed that the danger here surpassed any other ce he had been to.


    David noticed a small incense burner ced in front of a tombstone. The burner was golden and looked pristine despite the dust covering everything else. The bottom of the burner was shaped like four peculiarly postured little people. David had never seen such a design before, but it reminded him of some treasures Duane had in his treasure chest. He thought there might be some connection between this incense burner and those treasures and decided to keep it by storing it in the system warehouse.


    Fatso, feeling the increasing density of miasma, urged David to leave immediately. They turned to go but noticed a small wooden house near the entrance of the graveyard that had not been there before. The house emitted a dim yellow light, and the wind blew through its broken windows, making the light bulb sway precariously.


    "Was this house here when we entered?" David grew cautious. He was certain it hadn''t been there before they ventured into the graveyard.


    Fatso shook his head, indicating that the house had indeed appeared after their arrival.


    "Quick, let''s go!" Fatso felt something was amiss and pulled David towards the exit. As they ran, they approached the wooden house''s entrance. More of the abyssal blood was oozing from the ground. David instinctively nced inside the house.


    There, an old man was resting on a bamboo chair with his eyes closed. His withered arms resembled winter firewood,pletely devoid of color. As David observed him, the old man suddenly opened his murky eyes, fixed them on David, and disyed a eerie smile.


    Upon meeting the old man''s gaze, David felt a sense of confusion. The man''s eyes seemed exceptionally profound, unlike any other zombies they had encountered before.


    The man emitted a human aura, but Fatso was startled when he saw the old man''s eyes. To him, those eyes seemed capable of crushing anything in the apocalypse.


    "Leave this ce quickly!" Fatso instructed David, and they hurriedly exited the abyssal graveyard. As they left, David cast onest puzzled nce at the old man. Then, with an air of calmness, he departed. Watching the two leave, the old man closed his eyes once more.


    "Young man, it''s better not to be like me, an old and obsolete graveyard keeper."

 Chapter 235 Doesnt Look Like The Fearless Fatso

    ?


    The two quickly rejoined the rest of the team. Seeing Fatso looking anxious, the others were puzzled, wondering what terrifying thing he encountered. However, they noticed David''s rxed expression and became curious.


    "What happened inside the graveyard?" Sally asked David as she approached him.


    "Nothing, just an old man," David replied casually, turning his gaze back towards the direction of the abyssal graveyard. He had a feeling that the old man sitting on the bamboo chair was somewhat peculiar.


    Based on the aura the old man emitted, David knew he wasn''t a zombie but a human. However, he couldn''t understand why someone would be guarding the abyssal graveyard. Moreover, he couldn''t decipher the meaning behind the gaze the old man gave him. Just then, Fatso breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the cold sweat off his forehead.


    "If I''m not mistaken, that old man should be the graveyard keeper," Fatso spoke up after calming down.


    "Graveyard keeper?" All of them were taken aback. They had never heard of such a title, and they couldn''tprehend why anyone would guard a graveyard as dark and filled with malevolence as this one. Everyone looked at Fatso, puzzled.


    Fatso nodded, "I learned about this from some rumors. The graveyard keeper of the abyssal graveyard is incredibly powerful, appearing and disappearing at will. No one has seen his true appearance until now."


    As he spoke, Fatso recalled his first visit to this ce when the graveyard was mostly intact, and the keeper had not appeared. He couldn''t believe he had encountered the mysterious figure today. The look the old man had given him still sent shivers down his spine.


    "Just a graveyard keeper. What''s there to be afraid of?" Davidughed, observing Fatso''s trembling body.


    This made Fatso''s mouth twitch. He had almost copsed in fear inside the abyssal graveyard just a while ago. Now, David said there was nothing to fear? This bruised his ego.


    However, recalling David''s calm demeanor earlier, Fatso felt astonished. He realized the graveyard keeper''s strength must be around level ten, and the fact that David wasn''t intimidated by his aura made him even more remarkable. This further strengthened Fatso''s determination to join the Embers team. With David''s support, he felt invincible.


    "Don''t worry, he doesn''t have any ill intentions towards us. If he wanted to harm us, you would''ve died inside the graveyard just now," David reassured, gazing through the miasma as if he could still see the small wooden house and the stooped back of the old man. He remained calm because he sensed no hostility from the old man. Otherwise, he would have taken advantage of the situation and taught Fatso a lesson, rather than letting him escape.


    "Whether he wants to kill me or not, I won''te here again. I''m still young and haven''t found a wife yet. If I die from fear, that would be a huge loss," Fatso said, showing a fearful expression as he got into the armored vehicle. The others found his reaction amusing.


    "Fatso, didn''t expect there''d be something that scares you?" Arnold teased.


    Hearing Arnold''s words, Fatso just nced at him and closed the car door. David understood Fatso''s behavior; after all, he was a Dawn Scavenger who solely relied on physical strength and was no match for the old man. The pressure emanating from the graveyard keeper was enough to make him feel terrified. Shaking his head, David got into the vehicle as well.


    "Let''s leave this haunted ce quickly. I''m still sweating coldly," Fatso huddled in the passenger seat,ining to David.


    "Just an old guy scared you like this. Doesn''t look like the fearless Fatso from before!" David mocked Fatso once again.


    However, Fatso remained indifferent and turned his face away, refusing to talk to David. David sighed and smiled, realizing how big of a psychological impact the old man had on Fatso.


    Originally, David had no intention of returning to the abyssal graveyard this time, especially seeing Fatso''s fearful state. But he knew deep down that someday he would return because of the mysterious gaze of the graveyard keeper. With the engines of the three armored vehicles roaring, they retraced their path back.


    David was quite satisfied with the results of the training session. Not only did his team gain valuablebat experience, but he also gained Fatso as a new member. Though a bit crafty, David knew he would be helpful to the team. Moreover, he obtained that strange cauldron-like incense burner. David decided to study it more closely back at the base. With that, the training of the Embers team concluded, and they headed back to their base.


    "Monica, I told you before, Louisa is a member of our team. Don''t look at her with those eyes. If she gets angry, I won''t be able to stop her," inside the base, Danny sat on the sofa, ying with a white jade pendant in his hand, and smiled at Monica.


    Louisa stood respectfully beside him, her face still cold and stiff, as if wearing a mask made of human skin. Hearing Danny''s words, Monica nced coldly at Louisa once again, her expression as cold as ice.


    Since Louisa joined their team, Monica feltpletely excluded by Danny. Whether in their daily life or asional zombie hunting, everything was under Louisa''s control.


    This made Monica a mere decoration in Danny''s eyes. Frustration grew in her heart, as she didn''t expect this situation to arise. This was the team that Abraham had painstakingly built, and now it was being controlled by a stranger like Louisa.


    At that moment, Monica recalled the two words left behind by Abraham, and her heart tightened. She suddenly felt that those two words were a hint for her to leave the team. Was Abraham anticipating this situation? But why would he want her to leave the team?


    Did Louisa have some hidden agenda? Countless questions shed through Monica''s mind. Meanwhile, Danny on the sofa spoke again, "Where were you yesterday?"

 Chapter 236 Ive Been Abandoned By My Own Team

    Monica hesitated for a moment and didn''t say anything in response to Danny. Danny didn''t care and continued to y with the jade pendant in his hand, saying, "Seems like you''re infatuated with David, are you so willing to be his woman?"


    Danny''s words caused Monica''s fair cheeks to immediately turn red with anger. She didn''t expect Danny to be monitoring her and saying such shameless things.


    "I have nothing to do with David. I went just to buy supplies," Monica replied with her eyes closed, biting her lip as she exined.


    "Hehe... Buy supplies? Where are the supplies then? If Abraham were still alive, I bet he''d be disappointed in you," Danny continued to mock Monica, and his expression waspletely different from before. In his eyes, Monica was no longer his teammate.


    When Danny mentioned Abraham, Monica couldn''t hold back any longer, "You have no right to mention Abraham''s name! How did he die? You still haven''t exined it to me!"


    Recalling the scene of Danny returning to the base with Abraham''s bloodied clothes, Monica couldn''t help but yell at him. She still suspected that Danny was involved in Abraham''s death. Otherwise, with Abraham''s strength, how could he be killed by zombies? The only possibility was that he was killed by someone close to him, and then the me was shifted elsewhere.


    But Monica couldn''t figure out Danny''s motive for killing Abraham, which was why she had kept it to herself. Now, hearing Danny''s words, she couldn''t contain her anger any longer and yelled at him.


    "Outrageous!" Danny mmed his hand against the armrest of the sofa, and his restless aura immediately surged out.


    Seeing this, Louisa quickly appeared in front of Monica, raising her palm, and with a loud p, she fiercely hit Monica''s cheek.


    Monica held her painful cheek and stared at Danny in disbelief. She decisively pulled out the dagger from her waist with her right hand. But Louisa was faster; a short knife dropped into her hand, and it instantly pressed against Monica''s neck.


    "Hmph, put away your pathetic tricks. Don''t you know you''re the weakest in our team? You''re not qualified to be arrogant in front of me. If it weren''t for Abraham protecting you, I would have kicked you out of the team long ago and let you fend for yourself," Danny stood up and sternly said to Monica.


    Feeling the sharpness of the short knife in Louisa''s hand, Monica''s face was filled with seriousness. In that brief moment just now, she seemed to sense a unique aura from this woman. It even carried a hint of a decaying smell.


    This made Monica immediately furrow her eyebrows, while Louisa continued to stare coldly and even uncontrobly licked her lips, as if about to approach Monica''s neck.


    "Louisa, stop!" Danny scolded her. Louisa paused and closed her mouth. However, she still looked at Monica with a hungry expression.


    "On ount of us being teammates, I won''t kill you today. But you must leave the team forever; I won''t keep a vase like you here," Danny nced at Monica and then turned back into the bedroom. Louisa also put down the short knife pressed against Monica''s neck and followed Danny into the room.


    Suddenly, the room was empty, leaving Monica alone. Looking at the familiar base, Monica felt how strange it was at this moment. Even more strange was Danny''s cold heart. She never imagined that Danny would be like this ¨C not only insulting her but also kicking her out of the team.


    This made Monica increasingly believe that Abraham''s death was rted to him. The note left by Abraham seemed to point to Danny, fueling Monica''s desire for revenge.


    Considering the sharp aura emanating from Louisa, Monica hesitated for a moment. She knew that with her current strength, she was no match for Louisa. If Danny got involved, her fate would likely be the same as Abraham''s.


    Gritting her teeth, Monica angrily nced at Danny''s bedroom and then left the base. At that moment, Danny became her sworn enemy, and she vowed to kill this beast with her own hands!


    Walking out of the base, Monica was alone on the street. She no longer had a home. The only home she had was now an unreachable ce. She had initially thought about finding David, hoping to seek his help. However, the thought of the closed base and the question of why David should help her made her instantly disappointed. Besides, what right did David have to help her?


    Feeling lost, Monica looked up at the sky and let out a sigh of helplessness. Just then, the honking of a car broke her reverie. Monica turned her head and saw three modified war vehicles passing by her. They stopped by her side, and it was the members of Embers'' team who returned.


    David had noticed Monica from afar. "Why is this woman here?" He wondered and rolled down the car window to look at her. When Monica saw David, she paused, and a faint excitement appeared on her face.


    "Why are you here?" David asked.


    Monica hesitated for a moment, unsure how to approach him. Sensing that there was something bothering her, David hesitated for a moment and then let her get into the car. He didn''t care much about her, but he thought their future cooperation might still be beneficial. He had countless supplies in his warehouse, more than they could use, so he could sell some of it to her.


    Sitting in the car, Monica nced at David and Fatso, then lowered her head. She wanted to tell David about her ordeal but suddenly realized that they didn''t have that kind of rtionship yet. She hesitated, and David nced at the rearview mirror, sensing herplex expression. He knew that she must be facing some difficulties. As a result, he immediately drove back to the base.


    After getting off the car, Sally walked to David''s side and saw Monica. "Why is she here?" Sally asked in a low voice.


    "I happened to see her alone on the road; she probably has some issue, so I brought her back," David exined with a smile.


    Sally nodded. She trusted every decision David made, so she had no concerns. Everyone went into the base to rest, leaving only David and Monica outside.


    "What''s the matter?" David leaned against the war vehicle and asked.


    Monica looked around and saw no one else, then nodded and said, "I''ve been abandoned by my own team."


    "Hmm?" David was puzzled, looking at Monica.


    Monica nodded and recounted everything that had happened, including Abraham''s death.


    "Danny?" David furrowed his brows tightly.

 Chapter 237 Ancient Furnace Flying Swords

    ?


    David looked at Monica with a puzzled expression, seemingly questioning the truth of her words. Monica nodded, and her face once again showed deep sadness. Even though David had experienced it with Danny, David still found it hard to believe that all this had happened.


    Seeing Monica''s expression, David furrowed his brows slightly. He had never expected Danny to be such a person.


    In his memory, Danny had always been mild and refined. Though he might asionally be cunning, he would never go as far as harming Abraham or kicking out a fellow teammate.


    "You said Danny brought back a new teammate?" David recalled Monica''s words and asked again.


    "Yes, and from that woman, I sensed a strange aura, as if it had a rotten smell," Monica pondered. She felt like she had smelled this kind of scent somewhere before, but she couldn''t recall where.


    "A rotten smell?" When David heard Monica''s words, his expression immediately became serious. It reminded him of the scent from ghostly zombies.


    Could it be that the woman Danny brought back is a zombie? David didn''t share this spection with Monica, but it made him more cautious about Danny.


    In the apocalypse, there was no one absolutely trustworthy, not even their own teammates. David kept a distance from them in certain aspects, not because he was cold-hearted, but because the world forced him to do so.


    In a moment of distraction, David felt that Danny was hiding too many secrets. Even the two individuals who appeared in D Town seemed to have some connection to him. After some thought, David looked at Monica and said, "Stay here for a while. When there''s a chance, I''ll ask Danny for you."


    Monica had no ce to go now, and after David upgraded the base, there were several unused rooms on the second floor, enough to provide Monica with a ce to stay.


    After hesitating for a moment, Monica nodded. At the moment, she could only agree, as she knew the consequences of a woman wandering alone in the apocalypse.


    "Thank you," Monica said softly.


    David smiled faintly. "No need to thank me. I''m helping you because you''re my business partner."


    After saying that, David turned and returned to the base. Monica followed and went inside. With Sally''s guidance, she arrived at a room on the second floor.


    Watching Monica enter the room, Sally sighed slightly when she closed the door. Back in her room, David took out the censer he brought back from the Abyssal Cemetery. He carefully examined it, feeling that this must be a valuable treasure. Otherwise, how could it be so out of ce in the Abyssal Cemetery? David also knew that such items represented devout beliefs of certain people and usually contained indescribable energy, especially in the apocalypse.


    All the rules had changed, indicating that some things had undergone qualitative changes. For example, the strange treasures in Duane''s treasure chest might appear ordinary, but each one was a powerful existence.


    After pondering for a moment, David bit his finger, dripping his own blood into the empty censer. "Drip~" The blood entered the empty censer, and unexpectedly, a crisp sound was heard, which surprised David.


    Immediately, the censer emitted faint light, and the four kneeling figures below suddenly stood up, turning their heads to look at David. Each figure had a fearful expression, as if David was a threat to their lives.


    Before David could react, the four figures turned into beams of light and disappeared into the air. In the next moment, four eerie ck short swords floated in the void. Each sword was positioned in front of David, bowing down as if submitting to him.


    David stood up and examined them closely. On each sword''s hilt, there was the appearance of the four figures from earlier, extending from their mouths, making it particrly eerie and chilling.


    Curiously, David reached out and grabbed one of the swords. "Hoo!" As soon as his finger touched the hilt, a chilling aura spread from the sword, creating a bone-chilling cold that exploded in the void. The de gleamed with sharpness, looking incredibly deadly.


    Suddenly, the system''s voice rang in David''s ear. [Ding! Congrattions, host, on obtaining the Ancient Furnace Flying Swords! ]


    "Ancient Furnace Flying Swords?" David was taken aback by the name. He didn''t expect that the censer could create four flying swords for him. With a thought, the four flying swords started flying rapidly around him, and the sound of shing through the void constantly echoed in his ears.


    "These are great swords!" Excitement filled David''s face as he witnessed the ripples forming in the void. It was evident that these four flying swords were extraordinary and evenparable to the Space des he had with the ability to critically strike. Moreover, he could control them with his mind, enabling remote attacks.


    For David, this was truly a precious treasure. With the support of these four flying swords, his attacks received a significant boost,plementing hisbined abilities in space, defense, and spiritual power.


    [Ding! Please name each of the four Ancient Furnace Flying Swords.]


    The system''s voice echoed in David''s ear again.


    After a brief thought, David spoke, "Let''s call them Rainbow, moon, cloud, and sky!"


    [Ding! Congrattions, host, on naming the four Ancient Furnace Flying Swords and activating another function of the censer--Prayer! ]


    [This function can restore 30% of the host''s physical and mental strength in a short period.]


    [As the host''s strength increases, the recovery rate will gradually improve! ]


    The system exined the Prayer function to David, who nodded in approval. This was like having a healing esper by his side, enabling him to replenish his strength whenever needed.


    Although the embers squad had Sophie now, David knew that he would have to act alone at times, and he couldn''t always bring his teammates along. With this new function, he could maintain hisbat readiness at all times.


    With a thought, the four flying swords transformed back into the four kneeling figures that supported the censer. David nodded, cing the censer into the system''s warehouse.


    Over the next few days, David upgraded the base to the King-level, surpassing his previous understanding of its strength. He alsopleted the system''s tasks, earning a reward of a thousand crystals.


    Furthermore, David continued to expand the base upwards, turning all five floors into his territory, each section transformed into various facilities, making the embers squad the most powerful and luxurious squad that rose during the apocalypse!

 Chapter 238 Danger Befalls

    ?


    Since Monica left the base, the team was now solely under Danny''s control, with only him and Louisa left. But he had no worries. Staring at the horizon outside the window, Danny pushed his golden-rimmed sses and David''s image appeared in his mind. He knew Monica would be searching for David at this moment. And David was a thorn that still bothered him.


    Danny''s previous behavior in front of David was all a facade, a part of his own scheme. He knew full well of David''s strength. But in his eyes, he was a formidable force in the apocalypse as well. He believed he would eventually eliminate David and be the sole ruler of the post-apocalyptic world.


    With a faint smile, Danny looked at Louisa beside him and said, "Tell Eamonn he can move now."


    With that, Danny''s figure flickered and gradually turned ethereal, bing a dark gray shadow. He had decided to give David a gift before killing him. Louisa mechanically nodded and opened the door, walking out, while Danny disappeared into the void.


    At the wilderness courtyard, Louisa walked to the back of the house, pushing open the gate that connected to the wastnd. She nced at Eamonn, who was slowly approaching, and spoke, "Alexander wants you to start moving and kill David." Louisa''s gaze remained calm.


    At this moment, Eamonn had his eyes closed, emanating a ck aura. His formidable strength was palpable. After escaping back from D Town, Alexander threw him into the wastnd. Facing the terrifying zombies and monsters there, Eamonn almost died several times. Luckily, Alexander appeared in time each time, allowing him to survive until now.


    During these battles with the monsters, Eamonn''s strength rapidly increased. In just two days, he had reached Level 9 and even showed signs of breaking through to Level 10. He knew that everything he did now had only one purpose: to kill David.


    It wasn''t just the order given by Alexander; it was also for avenging his good friend Augustus. The thought of Augustus being killed by David clenched Eamonn''s fist tightly. He couldn''t wait to find David and tear his head off to ce it before Augustus''s grave.


    "I understand," Eamonn said coldly to Louisa, suppressing his anger. Then he walked out of the courtyard, beginning his path of revenge. Watching Eamonn''s departing figure, Louisa twisted her neck a bit and looked at Alexander not far away.


    "Hehe, David haspletely angered Eamonn. I wonder if he realizes the impending danger," Alexander chuckled as he held the circr jade pendant in his hand.


    "Louisa, bring your sister and follow Eamonn. This time, no matter what, you must kill David," Alexander turned to Louisa and said. At the same time, another woman walked over from the side, Louisa''s sister Lucinda. They both nodded and disappeared into the air, leaving behind a strong smell of decay and rot.


    "A good show is about to begin!" Alexander gazed at the fleeting figures in the wastnd, his expression eerie and cold.


    After upgrading his base, David continuously conducted small-scalebat training with his teammates in the vicinity. Though the number of zombies around was not significant, David aimed to keep his team members in a constant state of battle readiness. That was his ultimate goal. During this period, each member of the Embers squad achieved significant breakthroughs in their levels, thanks to their continuous training.


    Arnold, Charles, and Sally have all reached Level 8, while Duke, after recovering from injuries, has reached Level 7. Sophie also broke through the Level 5 barrier and reached Level 6. Althoughpared to David, their levels seemed minor, for them and the entire Embers team, they already constituted a formidable team in the post-apocalyptic world.


    Watching David''s team members rapidly strengthen in power, Monica''s face filled with astonishment. She couldn''t have imagined that this team would be so formidable, with levels that could now rival her own in such a short time. She had expended considerable effort to level up, even utilizing Abraham''s secret form to enhance her physical strength and unlocktent abilities. Yet these individuals before her seemed to effortlessly surpass her efforts in leveling up.


    Especially that guy, David. Monica felt that the aura emanating from him was on a terrifying level. This only piqued her curiosity about him further. However, being a guest in their base, she hesitated to inquire and could only marvel silently at theirbat training whenever she watched them. She couldn''t help but admire David''s strong leadership. Not only was his strength unfathomable, but each of his team members visibly increased their abilities at an astounding rate. This reminded her of her own team.


    Recalling Danny''s cold words from before, her heart sank again. For all these days, she hadn''t seen Dannying to look for her, which made her even more disheartened. She knew Danny must be hiding some secrets from her. If she wanted to uncover them, she could only rely on David.


    One day, David was still preparing to take the team out for a stroll. Monica finally couldn''t resist and requested to apany them. After considering for a moment, David nodded. He knew Monica''s strength posed no threat to the team, so he decided to let her go and rx. Just as they were about to leave, Duane and Shirley approached.


    "I thought you wouldn''te back," Duane said as he walked over to David, wearing a smile. But his expression quickly turned surprised. He could clearly sense that David had already reached Level 10.


    "With so many of your treasures, how could I leave?" David stood in front of thebat vehicle, nced at the bulging treasure chest in Duane''s arms, and spoke cryptically. Duane couldn''t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth. Goodness! Why was this guy still concerned about his treasures?


    At this moment, Fatso was staring fixedly at Shirley next to Duane. "David, who''s this girl? What''s her name? Does she have a boyfriend?" Fatso''s eyes gleamed as he stared at Shirley, whispering to David.


    After returning from the Abyss Cemetery, Fatso had truly realized David''s strength. He pestered David almost every day to let him join the Embers team, aiming to attach himself to David''s side.


    Helplessly, David considered Fatso''s abilities and the potential strength he brought to the team, and eventually agreed. So now, Fatso was a member of the Embers team. Hearing Fatso''s words, David nced at him and couldn''t help but smile.

 Chapter 239 Stronger Eamonn

    ?


    David doesn''t know much about Shirley. This is their second meeting. He had heard from Duane that she is an esper with awakened water-based abilities. At the same time, she has a strong affinity for cats.


    Looking at the cat charm hanging on Shirley''s sword hilt, David also understands her purpose foring this time ,it must be rted to C, whom she can''t forget. Seeing David remain silent, Fatso bes somewhat impatient. From the moment he saw Shirley, he had already decided on a name for his future son. So how could he easily let go of the child''s mother?


    "Cough cough!" Fatso coughed and slowly walked up to Shirley: "That youngdy, I''m Craig, pleased to meet..."


    "David, where''s C? Where''s C?" Shirley nced at Fatso and, without letting him finish, looked around searching for C''s figure. This instantly left Fatso petrified in ce , it turns out, a handsome man like him can''tpare to a cat?Watching Fatso''s rather shocked expression, David smiled faintly.


    "You''re not just here for C, right? There''s something else." Listening to David''s inquiry, Duane nodded.


    "Last time, I encountered a group called the Kill God Gang in the QS Community. There are two strong espers among them. I believe they might be rted to the appearance of the Second Red Light." Duane recounted the incident involving Augustus and Eamonn to David.


    "Kill God Gang?" David immediately recalled the two "survivors" from the youth apartment and said, "I''ve already killed one of them. The other managed to escape, probably in hiding."


    "You killed one of them?" Duane looked incredulous.


    David calmly nodded and wore an expression of "Are you surprised?" Duane had shed with Augustus and knew his strength. Just dealing with that incredibly fierce blood ball was challenging enough. He hadn''t expected David to kill him so quickly and speak of it so casually. But considering David''s current power, Duane found it to be a reasonable oue.


    "So, you''re saying the Kill God Gang is rted to the Second Red Light?" David continued to inquire.


    Duane nodded, sharing his spections. Both David and Duane had been seeking answers about the Second Red Light,So full of doubts about the Killing God Gang.


    "It doesn''t matter. We''ll go back to QS Apartmentter. That person is definitely still hiding there. Once we find him, everything will be clear. It seems to be the only way now."


    ording to Duane''s words, David thought that Eamonn''s presence might hold the key to unraveling the mystery of the Second Red Light. Just then, a gloomy voice suddenly echoed from the entrance of the garage.


    "No need to search, I''m here." Upon hearing the voice, David immediately turned to look, and others also got out of the car, facing the unexpected guest.


    "It''s this guy!" Duane observed Eamonn''s increasingly close figure. He grew tense, and a hint of shock appeared on his face. He felt that Eamonn''s aura this time was much more intense than before, his strength emanating through the air.


    "this guy upgraded?" Duane said in a low voice.


    David nodded. From the moment Eamonn appeared, he noticed something unusual about him. At this point, Fatso swiftly positioned himself in front of Shirley, cleared his throat, and with a deep voice, said to her, "Don''t be afraid, I''ll protect you."


    With that, Fatso even stylishly flicked his hair, assuming the role of a gant guardian. Shirley didn''t have much of a positive impression of this overly enthusiasm man. She nced at him and continued to scan the surroundings, trying to spot C''s presence.


    C and Little ck quickly sensed the danger and emerged from the base. When Shirley saw C appear, her eyes immediately lit up.


    At the same time, Eamonn had already approached David and Duane. The dim and damp environment of the garage,bined with his aura of darkness, made Eamonn appear especially eerie.


    "Is it me you''re looking for?" Eamonn looked up at David, his eyes filled with anger and a hint of disdain. Before him stood the young man responsible for killing Augustus.


    David calmly nodded, "You''vee, saving me a trip. But I never thought you''d dare toe find me. Have you forgotten how your brother died? I won''t show mercy to people like you."


    David''s words were cold and upromising. He didn''t even bother giving Eamonn a direct look. This kind of doomsday ant was not worth his attention.


    "Shut up!" Eamonn was instantly provoked, and a gust of wind rushed out of him with a "bang." "I''m here today to avenge Augustus! I will definitely kill you and twist your head off! I hope you can still be arrogantter!" Eamonn''s anger overwhelmed him, each word uttered through clenched teeth. However, he had underestimated David''s strength.


    Thinking of fighting with Eamonn? David thought Eamonn was too inexperienced and didn''t even bother to engage himself. Arnold stepped forward at this moment. Ever since his defeat against the ghost zombies, he had been holding onto a grudge, eager to let loose. Now, seeing Eamonne looking for trouble, his desire for battle was ignited.


    "Kid, do you think you''re qualified to fight with me, the captain? Huh! Don''t overestimate yourself! Get through me first!" Arnold didn''t hesitate to transform into his werewolf form. As a Level 8 werewolf, his body was even stronger, and his strength and speed were enhanced.


    "You''re a presumptuous brat! I''ll kill you first, then take your head!" Eamonn snorted coldly andunched an attack at Arnold!


    Arnold stood his ground, roaring angrily. With a move called the Werewolf Assault, he leaped towards Eamonn. Eamonn swung a fierce punch at the airborne Arnold, who swiftly evaded. While dodging, Arnold''s enhanced wolf w struck at Eamonn''s back. Eamonn sneered, and with a swift movement, he vanished from his original position.


    "What''s happening? How did he disappear?" Arnold paused for a moment, immediately scanning the surroundings to find Eamonn''s presence.


    "I told you, you''re not my match. Die!" Suddenly, Eamonn appeared behind Arnold, wielding a short knife that he swiped at Arnold''s neck.


    "Damn it! You really think I''m not here? Let me deal with you for a bit, see how much you weigh!" Fatso remarked, casting a nce at Shirley nearby. He couldn''t let go of such a moment to disy his masculine charm. Thus, he pulled out arge cleaver from behind and swung it at Eamonn.

 Chapter 240 Carnage Wraith

    ?


    "ng!" A crisp sound echoed as Fatso''srge cleaver instantly collided with Eamonn''s arm. This caused Eamonn''s movement to slow down momentarily, giving Arnold an opportunity to evade.


    Arnoldnded swiftly, recalling the recent danger. He shot a grateful nce at Fatso, who rolled up his sleeves and looked at Eamonn with a face of disdain.


    "Back for another beating today? If you hadn''t escaped so quickly back then,No matter how you put it today, I have to give you a memorial ceremony ! But it doesn''t matter; facing me, I''ll still send you down to apany your brother!" Fatso continued, unabashedly eying Shirley, a hint of smugness in his gaze.


    Eamonn red furiously at Fatso, his expression growing increasingly fierce. He knew that if it weren''t for this Fatso breaking his brother''s thigh bone, Augustus wouldn''t have met such a gruesome end. So, he felt that Augustus''s death was rted to David, and more directly to Fatso.


    "Fatso, I''ll make you pay now!" Eamonn roared, then suddenly lunged towards Fatso.


    Although Eamonn was a Level 9 esper and held an advantage over Fatso in terms of power, since returning from the youth apartment, Fatso had used blood and bones from the ghost zombies to achieve a qualitative leap in his physical strength , Shirley is on the side, In addition ,as the saying goes, a woman by your side boosts your fighting power. Fatso rolled up his sleeves, without hesitation, and pounced towards Eamonn.


    In the blink of an eye, the two collided. Eamonn''s palm strike aimed at Fatso''s forehead was fast, urate, and ruthless. The resulting wind sounded like a fierce "whoosh." Fatso was equally upromising, raising his elbow for a punch aimed at Eamonn''s jaw.


    Eamonn swiftly evaded, but as he did, heunched a mid-air kick toward Fatso''s face. This immediately rmed Fatso ,what did he live for in this world? If Eamonn''s kick connected and ruined his face, how could he continue getting by? How could he bravely face his love-struck girl?


    "Who do you think I am, a fat cat? Go to hell!" Fueled by anger, Fatso sprang into action, rapidly drawing a dagger from his waist. He used his powerful physical strength to grasp Eamonn''s iing right leg and then lifted the dagger.


    "Swish!" The dagger shed with a cold light against Eamonn''s leg. In the next moment, a gash appeared on his leg, and blood immediately sprayed out.


    Eamonn swiftly maneuvered, transforming into a smoky haze and retreating backward. After he stabilized himself and saw the blood on his leg, his expression turned grim. He hadn''t expected Fatso to possess such strength. In their previous scuffle, Eamonn hadn''t taken Fatso seriously due to his overconfidence, allowing Fatso to seize an opportunity and injure him.


    However, Fatso''s strike had sessfully provoked Eamonn: "Fatso, I''ll make you suffer before you die."Eamonn discarded his shirt, staring at Fatso like a devil. The moment he removed his shirt, a face suddenly emerged on his chest. As the face became visible to everyone, its eyes snapped open. The torn mouth slowly widened, and an extremely long tongue extended like a venomous snake, watching Fatso with a constant licking of its lips.


    "Provoking me, everyone present here today will die! This world belongs to Alexander, and you all will eventually be lifeless corpses!" Eamonn ced his right hand over his heart, smiling faintly at Fatso and David.


    "Thud!" A muffled sound came as Eamonn forcefully pierced his fingertip into his skin, sliding his palm into the flesh as if searching for something. Soon enough, he held a trembling, blood-red object in his palm before the onlookers.


    "Is that... that guy''s heart?" Charles eximed in astonishment after getting a clear view of the object in Eamonn''s hand. The others reacted simrly, looking at Eamonn as if they were witnessing a monster.


    Even Fatso furrowed his brows, gripping therge cleaver he had picked up moments ago. The moment that face appeared, David sensed a foul, decaying odor in the air. He immediately realized that Eamonn was no longer an esper but a zombie. That face was the unknown zombie parasite living within him, and everything he was doing seemed to be a form of ritual ¨C sacrificing himself, using his own flesh and blood to summon the power of the zombie within him.


    Indeed, just as David had suspected, Eamonn ced the heart from his palm into the mouth of the parasitic face. The face opened its mouth voraciously, swallowing Eamonn''s heart as if it had starved for centuries. Blood dripped from its lips onto the ground, and the chilling sound of its heavy chewing sent shivers down everyone''s spines in the garage.


    As the face devoured Eamonn''s heart, Louisa and Lucinda arrived behind him. At the sight of Louisa''s inexplicable appearance, Monica was the first to freeze.


    "How did she end up here?" Monica questioned, looking at Lucinda beside Louisa, both women staring expressionlessly at them as if they were ready to charge at any moment.


    David nced at Monica''s expression and immediately understood. he looked at these two women, realizing that they were zombies with strength around Level 7. Unlike typical zombies, they possessedplete human forms, as if they had evolved back to human shapes.


    This puzzled David; he believed the appearance of these two individuals was intricately connected to Danny and that their intentions were malevolent. Their hostile gazes were clear indicators. However, scanning the surroundings, David didn''t spot Danny.


    Meanwhile, Danny was standing in a building just outside the garage, a smile on his face. He knew that the grand hunt of David and the Embers squad was about to begin. Soon enough, the face had devoured Eamonn''s heartpletely.


    "Come forth! Carnage Wraith! These people will all be your most delectable feast!" Eamonn shouted whileughing manically, his arms outstretched.


    The entity known as Carnage Wraith grew increasingly agitated, its facial expression bing eerier and more disturbing. Unexpectedly, a mind-boggling scene unfolded.


    The Carnage Wraith slowly dissipated, and Eamonn''s body twisted in agony. His expression turned grotesque, as if he were enduring some sort of internal upheaval.


    In the next instant, the Carnage Wraith''s face reced Eamonn''s. Eamonn''s limbs underwent a dramatic transformation; sharp, bone-like structures emerged, encasing his limbs like bamboo shoots sprouting after rain. Even his neck and head had several protrusions.


    Eamonn''s original form had vanished entirely. Instead, a ghostly zombie now lowered its head, emitting sinister sneers. The Carnage Wraith hadpletely taken control of Eamonn''s body.

 Chapter 241 Sneak Attack Failed

    ?


    Seeing Eamonn''s transformation, Fatso''s brows immediately furrowed. This ability to summon parasitic zombies from within his body was something he had never heard of before. Just by observing the aura emanating from the Carnage Wraith, Fatso could tell that hisbat strength had drastically changedpared to earlier.


    Not only Fatso, but everyone else also wore serious expressions. Only David remained calm as he looked at Eamonn, even as his gaze shifted towards Louisa and Lucinda. He understood that these three individuals hade with great determination and were determined to kill them all. Their presence was more ominous and powerful than any other zombies he had encountered before.


    Having advanced to level ten, David knew that his greatest adversary was not Eamonn or the Louisa sisters. It was the figure outside the garage. As soon as Alexander appeared, Charles sensed his presence and informed David.


    David immediately deduced that this person was likely the mastermind behind controlling Alvin, orchestrating Abraham''s death. Even the three individuals before him were most likely his minions, as they seemed to be relentlessly fixated on him. However, David felt no apprehension; instead, he felt a sense of anticipation. He knew that the secrets of the Second Red Light, and perhaps even other mysteries of the apocalypse, might gradually reveal themselves before him. But for now, the priority was dealing with Eamonn and hispanions.


    "Fatso, you and Arnold take care of those two female zombies. Leave this one to me. We have five minutes to finish this fight; the real enemy is outside," David instructed, causing everyone to pause in surprise.


    There''s an enemy outside? Duane nced towards the garage entrance, realizing the implications of David''s words. He immediately tensed up, understanding that a major battle was about to unfold. Even though Eamonn''s target wasn''t him, but David, Duane knew that they were now on the same side and had to fight together.


    "I''ll take care of this one. You conserve your energy," Duane stepped forward, locking eyes with Eamonn, his gaze shifting towards David. He knew that he and David were destined to face each other in battle sooner orter.


    Shirley also gripped her knife tightly, her faceposed and determined as she stared at Eamonn.Her fair cheeks seemed as calm as still water, yet hidden within was a hint of danger. With Duane and Shirley by his side, David pondered for a moment before nodding. He understood that Duane wanted him to save his strength, likely to face the greater threat outside.


    Among them, only David had the power to match the external adversary. As Duane and Shirley moved forward, the Carnage Wraith let out a chillingugh, brandishing a bone de that was over a meter long. Strange patterns were etched onto the de, giving it an air of mysterious malevolence.


    "If that''s how it''s going to be, then I''ll start by killing you two!" The Carnage Wraith chuckled ominously, gripping the bone de and charging towards Duane and Shirley.


    Meanwhile, Fatso, along with Arnold, Duke, Sally, and others, surged towards Louisa and Lucinda. As the Carnage Wraith closed in, Duane swiftly opened his treasure chest, retrieving a golden-threaded armor. As his fingers touched it, the armor immediately enveloped him. Duane knew that he couldn''t directly face the Carnage Wraith in a head-on confrontation. His priority was self-protection before devising his next move.Reaching into the treasure chest again, he took out a paper figurine and tossed it onto the ground. Uponnding, the figurine expanded with a "thud" sound until it reached normal human size. they charged at the Carnage Wraith, quickly surrounding him.


    These paper figurines surrounded Carnage Wraith, incessantly gnawing and tearing at its body, attempting to rip its flesh and skin apart entirely. As it watched these paper figures, a burst of anger erupted on Carnage Wraith''s face. With a roar, it swung its bone de horizontally, and in the blink of an eye, it severed all these paper figures at their waists.


    However, Duane wasn''t surprised because these paper figures were just his diversion, meant to distract Carnage Wraith''s attention. The real attack came from behind, from Shirley.


    As Carnage Wraith''s attention was drawn to the paper figures, Shirley had already charged behind it. At that moment, Shirley poised her sword in a drawing motion, her gaze locked onto Carnage Wraith''s back, awaiting Duane''smand.


    "Shirley, go!" As the paper figures fell and turned into a pile of ashes, Duane shouted loudly at her. As his words rang out, Shirley''s sword, swiftly unsheathed! "Water Ripple Strike!" She bellowed, and her sword created ripples resembling water, shing directly at Carnage Wraith''s back.


    Even Fatso, who was engaged inbat with Louisa, was drawn by Shirley''s breathtaking and courageous swordy. Shirley''smanding presence ignited Fatso''s enthusiasm, causing hisbat strength to surge exponentially. He clenched his fist and struck at Louisa''s face.


    David, too, was slightly taken aback by Shirley''s sudden and stunning swordy. However, he quickly understood that Shirley wasn''t a match for Carnage Wraith. Despite her fierce and resolute strike, Carnage Wraith was still a level-nine zombie, bolstered by Eamonn''s human strength.


    Just as David had anticipated, the moment Shirley unsheathed her sword, Carnage Wraith had already turned slowly to face her. It gave her a cold smile, and its bone de, moving from bottom to top, swept directly towards her with a flurry of killing intent. Its speed was astonishing, its attack fierce, clearly surpassing Shirley''s capabilities.


    Shirley was startled for a moment, desperately attempting to dodge. Unfortunately, Carnage Wraith left her no room to evade; its bone de whistled toward her. "ng!" Instinctively, Shirley used sword to block, resulting in a crisp collision sound.


    The next second, Shirley felt as if she had been struck by a shockwave, sending her flying like a kite with a broken string.


    "Mess with my wife!" Fatso watched Shirley descending from the air and immediately leaped forward, catching her in his arms beforending on the ground. At this moment, Shirley''s brows furrowed, her expression showing intense pain. She had clearly been seriously injured by Carnage Wraith''s recent strike.


    After all, Duane''s tactic was based on a surprise attack, catching the enemy off guard. However, they hadn''t anticipated Carnage Wraith detecting them so quickly. With Shirley''s lower level of strength, she had no means to resist, and her internal injuries would take time to recover from.


    Gazing at Shirley withpassion, Fatso cradled her in his arms. Sophie rushed over and used Ster Healing to cover her.


    "Leave this to me. Go and help the others," Sophie said to Fatso, simultaneously administering healing to Shirley.


    Fatso nodded, gently cing Shirley down. His face twisted in anger, he charged toward Carnage Wraith. "I''ming for you! If anything happens to my wife, I''ll chop you into pieces and feed you to the dogs!" Like a madman, his eyes turned crimson.

 Chapter 242 David Took Action

    ?


    This surprised everyone greatly! No one expected that Shirley''s injury would trigger Fatso''s berserk mode. Duane felt remorse for his recent actions as he watched Fatso charge towards Carnage Wraith like a raging bull.


    At the moment when Shirleyunched her attack, Duane himself had also charged forward with his broadsword, attempting to nk Carnage Wraith. However, they hadn''t anticipated the overwhelming power of their opponent. Not only did Carnage Wraith send Shirley flying into the air, but the force of its bone de''s shockwave also knocked Duane aside. Thankfully, Duane''s golden thread armor provided protection, preventing serious injury.


    Duane Struggling to stand up, he hadn''t even had a chance to check on Shirley''s condition before he saw Fatso''s charging figure.David could only shake his head and smile wryly:"This Fatso... He''s really head over heels for her!"


    Carnage Wraith wiped its bone de after injuring Shirley and Duane. The patterns on the de faintly glowed, emitting a chilling cold light. Just then, it heard Fatso''s furious roar and turned to see him.


    It witnessed Fatso''s fist, the size of a sandbag, hurtling toward its face. A tremendous boom echoed as Fatso''s punch mmed Carnage Wraith into the cement wall of the garage!


    "I can''t believe it! Fatso packs quite a punch. Love truly is a man''s stimnt. He''s like a man possessed!" Charles and Arnoldmented in astonishment after repelling Louisa and Lucinda.


    Carnage Wraith was somewhat bewildered by the blow from Fatso. Some of the bone spikes encircling its arm had been snapped by the impact. It slowly stood up, dusted itself off, and looked meaningfully at Fatso.


    "What are you staring at? I''m here to take you down today!" Still consumed by anger, Fatso hadn''t recovered his senses from the rage. Without giving Carnage Wraith a chance to catch its breath, he lunged at it with another punch.


    However, Carnage Wraith was a formidable ninth-level entity, and it couldn''t be bothered with Fatso, a Dawn Scavenger who relied solely on physical strength. As Fatso charged, Carnage Wraith raised its bone de, and the patterns on the de began to glow intensely.


    "Useless! Let me show you the taste of agony!" Carnage Wraith sneered, and its bone de emitted a destructive force akin to a descending tempest, shing down towards Fatso.


    Seeing this, Fatso quickly retracted his punch, rolled aside, and attempted to evade the de''s attack from another angle. However, Carnage Wraith had anticipated his move. It adjusted the angle of its bone de to perform a horizontal sweep, once again shing at Fatso.


    "Not good!" Duane''s brow furrowed, and he swiftly retrieved a bow and arrow from his treasure chest. He deftly strung the bow and shot an arrow.


    "Swoosh!" The arrow whizzed through the air, carrying an explosive charge. It sped towards Carnage Wraith. The creature lifted its arm to block, triggering a detonation upon impact.


    As a result, Fatso managed to evade a potentially fatal attack, while the arrow exploded harmlessly on Carnage Wraith''s arm, causing no damage.


    At this moment, Fatso finally realized that the creature before him was a formidable zombie, and theirbined strength with Duane was utterly ineffective against it.


    At this moment, Fatso realized that the entity before him was a formidable zombie, and that relying solely on himself and Duane would be utterly ineffective against it.


    Meanwhile, David had alsoe to the same realization. Shaking his head, he felt that the time was ripe. Initially, he thought that by taking advantage of this opportunity, Fatso and the others could gain valuablebat experience. However, the unexpected power of Carnage Wraith proved insurmountable for them. Even Fatso''s sessful punch had been achieved when Carnage Wraith waspletely off-guard.


    Moreover, this punch had thoroughly infuriated Carnage Wraith. Continuing this battle would likely result in injuries to those around him. More importantly, it would waste time and give the hidden mastermind outside ample opportunity to orchestrate further schemes. Therefore, David decided to take matters into his own hands and end the battle swiftly.


    "Everyone, step back," David instructed, casting a nce at Louisa and Lucinda. They had been dealt with by Arnold and Duke, and it seemed the oue had already been decided. Only Carnage Wraith remained, and once it was dealt with, they could confront the mastermind directly.


    Hearing David''s words, Fatso reluctantly took a couple of steps back. He nced at Shirley, who had just regained consciousness, still radiating anger. Duane set aside his bow and arrow, nodding at David. He knew that only David possessed the ability to eliminate this foe in an instant.


    With measured steps, David advanced, lifting his head to gaze at Carnage Wraith. "You are indeed powerful, but in my eyes, you''re not even worth as much as a dog." He spoke with a faint smile, slowly raising his hand and pointing at his opponent.


    Upon witnessing David''s provocation, the enraged Carnage Wraith prepared to teach him a lesson once more. However, as it took its first step, an intense and excruciating pain suddenly shot through its arm, apanied by the sound of sizzling and corroding.


    Halting in confusion, it looked at its arm, only to find that the flesh and blood had inexplicably turned into a pool of bloody water, corroded by an unknown force. Even the bone spikes that had emerged were rapidly dissolving before their eyes.


    The Carnage Wraith''s shock was evident as it gazed at David in disbelief. It wasn''t the only one astounded; everyone was taken aback by David''s extraordinary ability. Corroding an opponent''s flesh from a distance, disregarding any obstacles.Fatso nodded in acknowledgment, truly impressed by David''s power.


    "Frustrating! I must kill you!" Although Carnage Wraith had turned into a zombie, Eamonn''s human consciousness still resided within it. Thus, David''s corrosive ability inflicted an unbearable agony upon it. David lowered his hand and clenched his fist.


    "Kill me? Let''s see if you''re up to the challenge." David sneered, wasting no time. He forcefully pushed off the ground, leaping into the air, and brought his fist down upon Carnage Wraith''s head in a technique known as the "Voidbreaker Fist."


    Enhanced by the power of spatial maniption, David''s tenth-level Voidbreaker Fist,bined with a spatial critical hit, caused the air within the garage to freeze at that instant.


    Everyone felt their breath catch as they watched in disbelief as David''s fist struck. Even Carnage Wraith looked up at him. It attempted to lift its arm to defend itself, but David''s punch had already solidified the air around it, rendering it unable to move.


    "Boom!" A deafening explosion resounded within the garage as flying debris and dust prompted everyone to shield themselves. Even the rms of the vehicles in the garage red simultaneously.

 Chapter 243 Before The Storm

    ?


    As the dust settled, everyone raised their heads to look. A massive crater had suddenly formed in the garage''s concrete floor. David stood expressionless within it, sparks flickering above his clenched right fist. Scattered near the crater were several broken white bones, the once arrogant Carnage Wraith now nowhere to be seen. All eyes turned toward the crater, where a pained wail suddenly emanated.


    Before long, Eamonn climbed out of the pit, his appearance havingpletely returned to normal, with no trace of Carnage Wraith on him. This astonished everyone.


    David''s punch had seemingly sent Carnage Wraith back into Eamonn''s body, rendering it too afraid to reappear. Even the face that had appeared on Eamonn''s chest now looked lifeless, as if dead.


    Weakly, Eamonn crawled out of the pit, stumbling to stand before David. He gazed at David, a hint of fear in his eyes.


    David nced at him and coldly said, "I advise you to tell me everything you know." David understood that Eamonn surely possessed information about the mastermind behind the scenes. Eamonn might even be privy to the secret of The Second Appearance of the Red Light Glow. Duane approached as well, his expression stern as he fixed his gaze on Eamonn.


    Coughing up blood in agony, Eamonn looked at the two of them. "Even if you kill me, I won''t reveal anything to you! Alexander will avenge me by killing you on behalf of me and Augustus! He will rule over the apocalypse, even the Wastnd!"


    Huh? Ruling the apocalypse? Hearing Eamonn''s words, David''s interest was piqued. From Eamonn''s arrival, David had already heard the name Alexander and deduced that he was the mastermind behind everything.


    Now, David had insight into Alexander''s ultimate goal: to rule over the apocalypse. This revtion made David serious. He understood that anyone who could utter such words must possess considerable power. This indicated a definite connection between The Second Appearance of the Red Light Glow and Alexander.


    However, what intrigued David even more was the mention of the "Wastnd." So he inquired, "What is the Wastnd?" He paid no heed to Eamonn''s furious re, emanating an imposing aura.


    Eamonn couldn''t help but shiver at the question. "It''s a horrifying ce. Even if I tell you, there''s no way you could enter. Only Alexander can subjugate the monsters within the Wastnd!"


    Ever since Augustus''s death, Alexander had left Eamonn alone in the Wastnd to enhance his abilities. It was there that Eamonn had obtained the parasitic Carnage Wraith, mastering the art of sacrifice and summoning it.


    Thinking of that ce, fear crept into Eamonn''s heart. In his eyes, it was a realm where death was palpable.


    "Oh? Is that so? In that case, you''re of no further use to me," David dered, conjuring a spatial de in his hand. Seeing David''s intent to kill, Eamonn panicked. His previous arrogance had instantly turned into trepidation.


    "Don''t kill me! I''ll tell you anything you want to know!" After all, Eamonn had risen from the bottom, gaining extraordinary abilities that were once beyond his wildest dreams. If he were to be killed by David now, it would be a waste of his newfound power.


    David gave a disdainful nce at Eamonn who was kneeling on the ground, desperately pleading. This was exactly the effect he wanted to break through the enemy''s psychological defenses and make him bow down in the face of death.


    "Tell me about Alexander," David said, rubbing the Space de in his hand, continuing to coax information out of Eamonn.


    Eamonn obediently nodded and proceeded to share the details of his encounters with Alexander and Augustus.


    "However, I''ve never actually seen what Alexander looks like."As Eamonn finished speaking, he added with a sigh, causing Monica''s brow to furrow. It seemed that the name "Alexander" triggered a sense of familiarity in her, yet obscured by a dense fog.


    "Is there more?" David continued his questioning.


    "Alexander is a Level Ten esper, and he possesses treasures from the Wastnd World. If you..." Eamonn began to reveal more about Alexander''s information, but at that moment, a sharp "whoosh" echoed from outside the garage.


    David looked up to see a steel rod flying in, aimed at Eamonn''s head. With a sickening "thud," the rod pierced through Eamonn''s skull, pinning him to the wall. His eyes widened in terror, and his breath was quickly extinguished.


    David turned his head to the garage entrance, recalling Alvin''s death. It was likely Alexander''s doing, silencing any potential threats. With Eamonn''s death, Louisa and Lucinda managed to break free from Arnold''s grasp and rushed outside.


    "It seems that he''spletely set on killing us," Duane approached David andmented.


    David nodded. Sending these individuals to confront him was a clear sign that Alexander was determined to eliminate them. However, David remained unfazed. Eamonn''s earlier words revealed that Alexander''s level was on par with his own, which meant he could stand his ground in a fight.


    The only remaining puzzle for David was the Wastnd World. What was it exactly? Why did Eamonn fear it so much? What kind of monsters resided there? Were there entities even more terrifying than zombies? These questions flooded David''s mind.


    Even the well-informed Fatso seemed clueless about the Wastnd World. David had a hunch that it was a realm with unique rules, possibly another world that emerged after the appearance of the Second Red Light. Only Alexander could provide the specific details.


    ncing at Eamonn''s lifeless body, David shook his head with a sense of reflection. In this world, many people were driven tomit desperate acts for survival. In the end, they all faced unforeseen challenges. Such was thew of this world , surviving amidst unexpected events.


    Breaking free from constraints through unexpected means, bing someone who survived , it included those who aimed to dominate everything single-handedly.


    Alexander was one such individual. Yet, David was determined to challenge this resolve of Alexander''s to rule over doomsday. The victor would reign supreme, the loser would fall.


    "Let''s go. It''s time to pay this damn Alexander a visit," David said with a faint smile to his team members.


    They nodded, following David out of the garage. The sunlight was gentle, a light breeze brushed their skin, and there was no sign of the apocalypse. But the tranquility before a storm was the cruelest picture of all...

 Chapter 244 Reveal The Truth

    ?


    David led the group slowly out of the garage, leaving Eamonn''s body behind.


    Meanwhile, inside a dpidated building, Alexander watched David''s figure, a cold smile curling at his lips. Eamonn''s death at the hands of David was something he had anticipated. However, he hadn''t expected this individual, who now harbored Carnage Wraith, to be so feeble. Alexander shook his head, his gaze towards David bing more profound.


    Louisa and Lucinda, standing behind Alexander, were affected by the recent battle. They had been struck by Sally''s lightning, their skin now torn to reveal bone. The remnants of their human skin had mostly disintegrated, and the ferocious aura of zombies emanated from them uncontrobly.


    "This guy really thinks he''s some sort of savior!" Alexander chuckled, his fingers tracing the circr jade pendant hanging from his waist.


    At this moment, David sensed his presence and looked up to observe him. Alexander didn''t bother hiding; he took a step forward, walking within the void before descending slowly to the ground.


    "It''s no wonder you''re the captain of the Embers Squad. A Level Nine esper seems so weak before you. It seems your strength has improved," Alexander''s form remained ethereal, a faint smile on his face. Louisa and Lucinda followed behind him.


    As he spoke, he nced at Monica, a more intense amusement in his expression.Facing Alexander, David''s expression remained calm:"Alvin and Butterfly, their deaths were your doing, weren''t they? And what about Abraham? Don''t you have an exnation for that?"


    "Danny." David looked at him and softly uttered that name. Alexander hesitated for a moment before breaking into a lightugh. Arnold, Duke, Monica, and the others were momentarily stunned.


    Danny? Alexander was Danny? Monica''s brows furrowed as her breath quickened. She looked at David in disbelief and then back at the shadowy figure of Alexander. If what David said was true, the Alexander before her was Danny. Then, Abraham''s death...


    Monica couldn''t bear to think further, her vulnerabilitypelling her to hold onto a shred of trust in Danny. However, in the next moment, that trust shatteredpletely.


    Dannyughed freely, and his form gradually solidified into a more concrete shape. Soon, a young man wearing sses appeared before them. It was indeed Danny.


    "Danny, you..." Monica felt her body trembling. She hadn''t expected Danny to be the mastermind behind all of this.


    Not just Monica, even Duke, Arnold, Sally, and the others who had interacted with him before wore expressions of astonishment. This Danny waspletely different from the one they remembered. The current him exuded an aura of death and hostility. Danny shook his head, looking at everyone with a wry smile.


    "Didn''t expect you to figure it out. Yes, I killed Alvin, Butterfly, and even Abraham. They were nothing more than pawns in my hands. So what if they died?"


    "The one who will rule over the apocalypse is me, not these ants. They''re only fit to be stepping stones for me, including you, David! You''ll be a corpse beneath my feet too!" Danny''s smile remained, but his words were chillingly cold.


    When the apocalypse arrived, Danny had understood the world''s survivalw ,survival of the fittest. To truly be the ruler of this world amidst the apocalypse was his goal. That''s why he had interacted with David''s group earlier ,to gather all the information Danny needed from them.


    As David''s strength gradually grew, Danny realized the threat David posed to him. That''s why he cultivated Alvin and Eamonn, the two brothers, to kill David. However, he hadn''t expected David''s power to exceed his imagination, to the point where he now had to confront him in person.


    However, in Danny''s eyes, regardless of who stood here today, there was only one oue for David ,and death.


    "Why did you do this? Why did you kill Abraham!" Monica''s eyes welled up with tears as she asked him in utter despair.


    "Hmph! Did you really think that old man could boss me around just because he''s older? If it weren''t for his remaining usefulness, I would''ve killed him long ago. Including you! Weaklings without strength are nothing but burdens to me. If you had sided with me from the beginning, maybe I would have let you stay on the team. Unfortunately, you chose to stand with David. Rest assured, I''ll send you to join that old man soon," Danny''s tone grew more insolent as he spoke, his smile turning increasingly sinister.


    In Danny''s perspective, this world was about to be his domain. He would be crowned king here, ruling over all life.


    Monica seemed wounded by Danny''s words, her teeth clenched as she stared fiercely at him. David shook his head helplessly at Danny. A person driven by power would eventually face the consequences of their actions.


    "I will make you apologize for Butterfly and Abraham," David said, his thoughts turning to the girl who had chased butterflies in a world before, the man who made hairpins, and the kind old man. Survival was already tough for humanity in this world, and yet Danny was callously taking lives? To David, such behavior was unforgivable.


    "Apologize? Hahaha! I''d like to see if you have the strength for that!" Danny suddenly turned more aggressive. Louisa and Lucinda behind him instantly let out a roar. Their human skin melted away, revealing their true zombie forms. "Roar!" They appeared agitated and fixated on David, their dark mouths gaping as if they intended to devour him.


    "Go ahead, enjoy your meal!" Danny whispered to them. Louisa and Lucinda leaped forward, lunging at David! After transforming into their zombie forms, their aura and attack power surged further. As if breaking free from some constraint, they had unleashed their fullbat potential.


    Seeing their snarling faces, David calmly raised his hand and aimed at their heads. Several sounds resonated as Louisa and Lucinda''s heads were suddenly corroded, and ck fluid dripped down from their facial openings. This caused them to halt mid-air, attempting to dodge.


    However, David had already opened a spatial gateway, appearing behind them. His gaze was icy, expressionless, and in his hand, an alloy short de glinted with cold light. The de swept in an arc, triggering a critical hit as Louisa''s head was sliced off as easily as cutting a melon.


    Seeing this, Lucinda lifted her knife-like ws and lunged at David. Employing a familiar technique, David swiftly severed her head too. As itnded on the ground, David widened his eyes and, without hesitation, lifted his foot and stomped on it.

 Chapter 245 A Sea Of Corpses

    ?


    Two crisp sounds echoed as Louisa and Lucinda''s heads turned into piles of powder beneath David''s feet. Their suspended bodies fell to the ground, bing a heap of bones.


    And so, with ease, David cleanly eliminated the two courtyard-guarding zombies. Swiping off the ck fluid from his alloy short de, David looked up at Danny.


    "Is this your strength?" David''s mocking and disdainful words made those around him burst intoughter.


    "I must say, David is amazing!"


    "No doubt about it. He took care of these two so easily, while we would have had to deal with them for a while!"


    Arnold and Duke spoke, their gaze fixed on Danny with aplex expression. They knew these two zombies were just Danny''s puppets, and the real threat was him.


    Fatso stood in front of Shirley, his eyes locked on Danny,Fatso Afraid that harm woulde to the woman he had fallen for, Shirley shot him a re before bending down to pick up C. She kept a close watch on Danny''s every move. Duane''s gaze was especially serious as he stared at Danny. He seemed to perceive the secret of the Second Red Light in Danny.


    "Hehe!" Hearing David''s words, Danny chuckled, his finger still caressing the circr jade pendant at his waist. "Not bad, you''re indeed a strong esper." Looking at the corpses of Louisa and Lucinda, Danny appeared somewhat surprised.


    These two zombies were captured by him from the deste world, high-level zombies that were fed with living humans daily. They not only possessed formidable strength but also ferocious attacks. He hadn''t expected David to eliminate them so effortlessly.


    However, Danny showed no signs of trepidation. He was about to show David the true meaning of terror. He continued, "But what does it matter? Even if the Second Red Light were to appear again, could you handle arge number of high-level zombies? David, you can kneel before me and surrender; maybe I''ll spare your life as a token of your''s previous respect."


    The mention of The second red light appears made David and Duane furrow their brows. Indeed, the Second Red Light was connected to this guy! Before they could ponder further, Danny removed the circr jade pendant from his waist, gripping it tightly in his hand.


    "How about it? Have you made up your mind? Can you bear to watch yourpanions torn to shreds by high-level zombies?" Danny pressed on.


    David''s response was a contemptuous snort, a challenge for him to show his abilities. The oue for him and his team members would only be worse. In the face of madness, bowing down would only result in a tombstone. Only strength could silence the arrogant.


    "Don''t waste time talking! If you''ve got any skills, show them now! You''re bbering like a woman! " Fatso had long grown fed up with the arrogance before him and began hurling insults.


    Danny''s eyes emitted a murderous intent at Fatso. Then, he lifted the circr jade pendant into the air, gazing at David.


    "Very well, I''ll let you witness my true power!" The jade pendant suddenly trembled, and a red light shot up into the sky, covering the once sunny sky with dark clouds. Soon, a hint of red started to emerge on the horizon. This red hue grew brighter, and before long, the entire sky seemed immersed in blood.


    "Second Red Light!" David immediately understood the situation before him, cautiously staring at the red horizon. Others did the same, their eyes filled with fear and concern.


    "Hahaha! Tremble! The Second Red Light will turn all of you into cold, lifeless corpses!" Danny eximed loudly, his hands raised high as the circr jade pendant floated in the air. A rumbling sound echoed from the sky, and a ck rift gradually tore open, spewing forth a multitude of high-level zombies like a tide. These grotesque zombies emitted piercing screeches.


    In no time, around David, there gathered no fewer than a hundred high-level zombies. As if manipted by Danny, these zombies fixated on David''s group, continually inching closer. Several scattered low-level zombies that roamed the streets were grabbed and devoured by them.


    Witnessing this terrifying scene, everyone grew tense. They hastily encircled Sally, Sophie, and Shirley in the center, watching the high-level zombies warily.


    "Enjoy yourselves! They''ll make you all submit!" Danny''s eerie smile in the air was directed at David. His words had barely settled when these high-level zombies charged toward them!


    "Protect Sophie, prepare for battle!" David instructed, drawing out his twin des.


    If they wanted to deal with Danny, they first had to eliminate the hundred high-level zombies before them. As the team''s only healing esper, Sophie''s safety had to be ensured.


    Everyone nodded and assumedbat positions. At that moment, Duane took out a pair of paired daggers from his bag of treasures, holding them in his hands while scattering a paper talisman on the ground.


    David also summoned Mandy to join the fight, and both Little ck and C transformed into beastly forms, tearing into the approaching zombies.


    Suddenly, everyone joined the fray. The street resounded with wails and the sounds of battle. David''s twin des swung continuously, felling zombies with each stroke. However, new zombies continued to charge forward.


    With each swing of his des, David cleanly dispatched these foes, leaving piles of bodies to umte at his feet. Sally conjured bolts of purple lightning, striking the zombies ruthlessly and turning those approaching into ashes.


    Fatso, on the other hand, went overboard. After yanking off a zombie''s thigh bone, he charged into the midst of the horde. Relying on his formidable physical strength, he swung the thigh bone like a hammer at the zombies'' heads, causing them to explode like balloons when struck. Brain matter sttered everywhere.


    Everyone hunted down the surrounding zombies, the putrid blood forming a small river on the street. However, the number of zombies continued to rise. It was evident that Danny intended to use a sea of corpses tactic to trap David. As the horde grew, David realized this strategy was not sustainable. After beheading a zombie, he reached into his warehouse system.

 Chapter 246 Please Help Me Kill Him

    ?


    In this situation, David decided he needed to resolve things quickly. The best approach was to use firearms. Although firearms didn''t have a significant effect on these high-level zombies, they could at least slow down their advance.


    Furthermore, these firearms had been modified and upgraded by David, making them more powerful than regr ones. Without hesitation, David pulled out a heavy machine gun.


    "Fatso, catch!" David threw the heavy machine gun to Fatso, who immediately lit up at the sight of it.


    At the same time, David handed out various modified weapons to the others. He himself wielded a Desert Eagle and resumed the fight. Suddenly, the entire battlefield resounded with the continuous sound of gunfire. Bullets poured forth, piercing into the bodies of the high-level zombies.


    Though these attacks didn''t cause substantial harm to the zombies, they did elicit expressions of pain on their faces.


    Seizing the opportunity, David shouted loudly to Sally, "Quickly seal up that rift!"


    During this time, David noticed a constant stream of advanced zombies emerging from the rift. If they didn''t close it, their situation would only get more dire.


    Upon hearing David''s words, Sally nodded. She levitated in the air, her eyes closed as crackling sounds of thunder erupted from her body.


    With Sally''s heightened level, her lightning-based abilities had reached a new peak. Suddenly, she opened her eyes, emitting a white lightning bolt from her gaze. Raising her right hand and pointing it toward the rift in the sky, Sally uttered, "Purple Dragon Thunder!"


    As Sally''s voice echoed, a lightning bolt as thick as arge tree trunk appeared out of thin air, resembling a serpentine dragon weaving through the clouds. It twisted its massive body and struck down forcefully at the rift.


    "Boom!" Earth-shattering sounds rang out in the sky. Everyone looked up to see that the advanced zombies emerging from the rift were shattered by the lightning bolt, while the rift itself seemed to feel the power of Sally''s lightning and began slowly closing.


    "We did it!" Arnold eximed excitedly, tossing a high-explosive grenade into the midst of the zombies. The explosion shattered the arms and legs of dozens of zombies, greatly weakening their attack power.


    "Let the real ughter begin!" David''s voice was resolute as he observed the high-level zombies struggling. He tossed aside his Desert Eagle and leaped into the air, his twin des spinning and dancing like sea dragons among the zombies.


    Under David''s twin des, numerous injured zombies quickly turned into piles of minced meat. The others followed suit, using their own esper abilities to clear the surrounding area of zombies. In no time, over a hundred high-level zombies had been wiped out.


    David sheathed his twin des and crushed thest high-level zombie''s head under his foot. He looked up at Danny in the sky. At that moment, Danny''s expression had turned grim. He hadn''t expected his sea of corpses tactic to fail so quickly. Gazing at the pile of zombie bodies, he gritted his teeth and red at David.


    "Don''t think you''re so impressive. In front of me, you''re nothing more than an ant! I will personally kill you and show you the might of the King of the Apocalypse!" As he spoke, Danny raised his head to gaze at the red light in the sky.


    Under Sally''s attack of the Purple Dragon Thunder just now, the rift had already closed, yet the red light showed no signs of dissipating. The entire sky remained as shocking as blood.


    A cold smirk spread across Danny''s face. As long as the Second Red Light was present, he would be the sole ruler of the apocalypse. He intended to use the Second Red Light to show David the horror of the deste world.


    Meanwhile, David looked at him and slowly spoke, "There is no king in the apocalypse, only survivors. You''ve chosen the wrong path from the beginning, and that has sealed your fate. Only death awaits you."


    David didn''t hesitate to disregard the previous rtionship between him and Danny. The current Danny hadpletely lost his sanity and no longer regarded anyone present as worthy. In such a situation, it was better to confront him head-on.


    "Oh? Is that so? Well, let''s see if you have the strength to kill me!" Danny''s eyebrows furrowed, his tone particrly hostile. An overbearing and arrogant aura emanated from him, as if he wanted to consume everything around him.


    The next moment, Danny raised both hands, and behind him, buildings seemed to disintegrate. Large chunks of stone and steel bars broke free from the walls, hovering silently behind him.


    "Can you withstand this attack?" Danny''s bloodthirstyughter rang out as he pointed at David. The massive stones and steel bars behind him swiftly hurtled toward them. "Whoosh, whoosh!" The speed was so intense that it created sonic booms as they cut through the air.


    Seeing the barrage of giant stones and steel bars approaching, David''s pupils contracted. Without hesitation, he opened a spatial gate and swiftly shuttled among the group, transporting them all to a safe location. Even so, the massive stones were getting closer and closer. Just as he had finished transporting everyone and only C and Little ck remained at the original spot, a grinding wheel-sized boulder appeared behind him.


    David turned his head and, with a single strike of his Void-Shattering Fist, shattered the boulder into countless smaller pieces. The debris fell to the ground, losing all attack power. David scooped up C and Little ck, then teleported them into Sally''s arms.


    "You''re no match for Danny. Stay here!" With those words left behind, David disappeared from his original position and reappeared in front of Danny.


    Watching David, worry began to gnaw at everyone''s hearts. They knew that this battle was more perilous than any before. The opponent''s strength surpassed all previous adversaries. They believed in David, but what if Danny employed some insidious scheme when David wasn''t paying attention?


    Only Monica remained frozen in ce, her face still a picture of sorrow and indignation. Nothing had hurt her more than the betrayal by her teammate. Now Danny even wanted her to die here. She didn''t know what Danny had gone through to be this heartless. Yet, the situation before her forced her to reluctantly believe it all.


    Monica looked at David, wiped away her tears, and her expression turned resolute. Taking a step forward, she yelled loudly at David, "David, please help me kill him!" She stared at Danny, her eyes bloodshot.


    David nced at Monica and silently nodded. Today, he had to kill Danny, not only for the sake of Butterfly Alvin and Monica, but also for the secrets and rules of the apocalypse.

 Chapter 247 Rise, Swords

    ?


    David stared at Danny, as if looking at a familiar yet unfamiliar friend, but more than that, there was a coldness deep within his eyes. At this moment, Danny, after enduring the previous attack, had be grotesque in appearance.


    "I told you, you''ll all die! No one can stop me from ruling the apocalypse and bing the Apocalypse King!" Danny clenched his fists tightly, and his aura poured out like a torrential rain.


    Seeing this scene, David frowned, no longer waiting. His right hand wielded the Spatial de, and in the instant the Spatial Gate opened, he charged toward Danny. He had to deal with the man before him. Otherwise, he had no idea how much harm the Second Red Light could bring to the world.


    Although the rift in the sky had been forcibly closed by Sally''s Purple Dragon Thunder, David knew it was only temporary. If Danny opened the rift again, everyone would be in danger.


    In his thoughts, David appeared in front of Danny. The Spatial de cut through the void, whistling as it shot toward Danny''s neck.


    Danny smiled faintly upon seeing this and raised his arm, forcibly blocking the Spatial de. At the same time, a strange-looking dagger suddenly appeared in his hand and stabbed toward David''s heart.


    David quickly retracted his de and darted into the Spatial Gate. When he reappeared, he was behind Danny. He lifted his foot and delivered a powerful kick to his back. The tremendous force caught Danny off guard, and he plummeted to the ground like a cannonball.


    David didn''t linger; he swiftly pursued Danny again. However, Danny waspletely infuriated by now. Rising from the billowing dust, he shouted at David, "Appear! Leave no ce for this guy to die!"


    As Danny''s voice rang out, his body suddenly began to split, and in the blink of an eye, two identical figures appeared beside him.


    "Clone!" David stared at these two figures, his expression serious. He hadn''t expected Danny''s power to reach the level of creating clones.


    However, there was no worry on David''s face. In his view, both of them were Level 10 espers, evenly matched in strength. The only difference was their abilities.


    Based on the current situation, David knew that Danny had probably mastered some sort of sinister ability, causing every move he made to be filled with a strong aura of malevolence.


    And this was Danny''s trump card. After surviving in the deste world for many days, he had learned some abilities that did not belong to espers from various bizarre zombies. These abilities were what he intended to use to defeat David.


    "I want to see what else you''ve got! One against three? Can you handle it?" Danny''s face showed a meaningful smile as he stared at David with disdain.


    Watching Danny''s actions, everyone beside him was stunned, especially Monica. She couldn''t believe how powerful Danny had be. Her gaze toward David became tense.


    David remained expressionless. Slowly, he reached into his system storage, retrieving the Golden Ding Incense Burner. Upon seeing this item, Duane''s eyes lit up with excitement.


    "Where did you get this treasure, David?" Duane owned various artifacts and immediately recognized the power of the incense burner in David''s hand. He looked expectantly at David, and others also gazed curiously at the incense burner.


    Danny still wore a look of disdain. In his eyes, no incense burner or tea set could withstand him. He would use his formidable strength to make David submit under his feet.


    David bit his finger, letting the blood drip onto the incense burner. Soon, the incense burner trembled slightly, and the four small figures on its base stood up, respectfully looking at David.


    "Rise, swords!" David said solemnly as he looked at them. As his words fell, the four small figures transformed into four beams of different colors and disappeared before everyone''s eyes.


    Then, four uniquely designed ancient swords appeared beside David.


    "Four Flying Swords?" Duane eximed in surprise, trembling slightly. Judging from the aura emanating from these four Ancient Furnace Flying Swords, he knew that they could surpass all the treasures in his treasure chest. They might even surpass thebined strength of everyone present. Seeing Duane so excited, the others also looked eagerly at the four Ancient Furnace Flying Swords.


    "No need to struggle, just a few swords, what can they do to me?" Danny stared at David, and the two small figures beside him surged with arrogance.


    "Then let''s try it." David said solemnly in response, then with a thought, the four Ancient Furnace Flying Swords shot out like arrows from the void, leaving trails of light as they charged toward Danny.


    "Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Dannyughed maniacally, feeling pity for David''s ignorance. The two small figures beside him sensed the imminent danger and rushed forward with strange cries. They raised their palms and pped Rainbow, who was in the forefront. Even though Rainbow struck the palm of the clone small figures, sparking a series of sparks, its power didn''t diminish in the slightest.


    Under David''s mental control, the sword des skimmed past the clone''s skin and flew upward. A gash appeared on the clone''s small figures body, but it quickly healed at a visible rate. David suddenly understood that the clone small figures possessed self-healing capabilities. He needed to find its weakness to deliver a fatal blow.


    Cloud flew behind the other clone at this moment. With a cunning angle, it left a few bloodied gashes on the clone small figures''s body. The results were the same. The wounds quickly healed. Not only that, but thebat strength of the two clone small figures surged under Danny''s maniption. With a roar, the clone small figures grabbed Sky and the moon member with its hand.


    "Not good!" The spectators eximed quietly, their hearts in their throats. The clone exerted all its strength, tightly gripping the two flying swords, attempting to break them. Sky and moon member seemed to feel the pain, emitting a faint ringing sound. Even the incense burner in David''s hand trembled slightly.


    David remained calm, his gaze shifting between Rainbow and Cloud, who were hovering and searching for opportunities on the side. At the same time, David nced at Danny. He knew that to kill these two clone small figures, he had to deal with Danny, their controller. Only then could he prevent the clones from attacking themselves.


    Calmly, David extended his hand and pointed at Danny. At this moment, Rainbow and Cloud received David''smand. The sword des turned, and with a fierce momentum, they thrust toward Danny.

 Chapter 248 Entering The Wasteland World For The First Time

    ?


    Seeing Rainbow and Cloud flying towards him, Danny was taken aback. At that moment, all his attention was focused on controlling the clone small figures, leaving him with no energy to deal with the two flying swords.


    David seized this opportunity and, while the two swords thrust at Danny, he instantly opened a spatial portal, holding the Space de and appearing behind Danny.


    "I''ll show you what real strength is," David said sternly behind him. Rainbow and Cloud rapidly closed in on his chest, and the sound of the Space de''s whistle echoed from behind.


    Fear appeared on Danny''s face. Clenching his teeth, he immediately severed the connection with the clone small figures, extending his arm to fend off Rainbow and Cloud. However, how could he defend against the Space de behind him?


    "Swoosh!" The Space de descended fiercely from top to bottom, shing at Danny''s back. A horrifying wound instantly appeared on his back. Meanwhile, Rainbow and Cloud, under David''s control, changed direction and aimed for his legs.


    In an instant, both Danny''s back and legs were under attack. Blood gushed out like a spring, staining the ground a deep red. The two clones stood still as they lost control. Sky and moon member managed to escape from their grasp.


    With a light leap, David appeared in front of him. Seizing the moment before Danny could react, he swiftly swung his de at the clone small figures''s neck. Two heads rolled to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Their bodies turned into a void of ck smoke.


    "damn it!" Danny looked at the in the clone small figures, gritting his teeth and saying, "But do you think this will make me surrender? You underestimate me!"


    Suppressing his inner anger, Danny stood up slowly. The wounds inflicted by David on his body began to heal at an astonishing speed, almost instantly.


    In a matter of moments, Danny returned to his previous state. David looked at him, the four flying swords ringing and swirling around him. Danny raised his head and gave David a faint smile.


    "I have to admit, you''re strong. But I''ll let you experience the power of the wastnd world! That''s where you''ll truly meet your end!" Danny''s expression became increasingly bizarre as he spoke. Heughed maniacally, his body twisting and contorting in a ghostly manner.


    "What wastnd world? What is this guy talking about?" Arnold looked at the deranged Danny in confusion. He increasingly felt that something was off about this guy. He seemedpletely different from the Danny he remembered. The concept of the wastnd world was also baffling to the others.


    As they watched Danny, uncertain of his next move, only Fatso frowned and nced at David. It was as if he sensed what was about to happen next. He looked at the growing red light in the sky, which radiated like the blood of an adult, staining the apocalypse with a crimson hue.


    Duane felt the same way. He had a vague sense that the wastnd world was closely rted to the Second Red Light. But the exact connection remained elusive, and he could only watch as David ced his hopes entirely on him. David, once again, heard the mention of the wastnd world from Danny''s words, arousing even greater curiosity.


    "Come on, let me apany you into the wastnd world. You''ll find answers there."


    Danny seemed to understand David''s thoughts and chuckled. As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a mist enveloped the surroundings. The red light in the sky quickly shimmered, and everyone''s vision went ck. When they opened their eyes again, both David and Danny had disappeared.


    "What''s going on? Where''s David?" Duke looked around in astonishment. Others quickly scanned the area, but there was no sign of David anywhere.


    Sally''s face was filled with worry as she stared at the spot where David vanished, her palms sweaty. Fatso suddenly recalled something and said to Charles, "Find a ce for me, a deste area with a courtyard."


    Hearing Fatso''s words, everyone was momentarily puzzled, unsure of Fatso''s intentions. Charles contemted for a moment and then nodded. "I''ll give it a try." He knew that Fatso must have a reason for doing this, so he activated his ster tracking ability.


    Fatso watched Charles floating in the air, and an image of a peculiar courtyard appeared in his mind. It was a ce he stumbled upon when the Second Red Light appeared for the first time. As soon as he approached the courtyard, he sensed a tremendous aura emanating from it. It seemed like the courtyard led to an unknown world, a ce even more ominous than the apocalypse.


    Initially, Fatso had wanted to explore it, but he saw two advanced zombies guarding the entrance, a disy of formidable strength that forced him to leave.


    Now, with Danny''s words, he increasingly felt that this courtyard might be connected to the mysterious Wastnd World that was mentioned. And David had been transported there by Danny. Fatso anxiously waited for Charles, hoping he would quickly locate that ce. After leaving it, Fatso had tried to find it again several times but couldn''t pinpoint its exact location. It was as if the courtyard had vanished into thin air.


    Everyone''s attention was focused on Charles and Fatso, hoping they could bring good news. On the other side, when David opened his eyes, he found himself behind a wooden door. The ground beneath his feet was exceptionally hard, and the wind blowing against his face felt like a de, causing difort. He looked around and saw a destendscape, even more barren than the post-apocalyptic world, with an inexplicable air of death hanging in the atmosphere.


    "So, this is the Wastnd World?" David took a couple of steps forward, observing the surroundings. Decayed towering trees, ttened buildings, and even a blood-red sun in the sky created an eerie atmosphere unlike anything he had experienced before.


    Turning back to look at the wooden door and the courtyard beyond it, filled with green potted nts that sharply contrasted with the surrounding environment, David became more resolute. This was undoubtedly the Wastnd World Danny had mentioned.


    At that moment, Danny appeared in front of a thatched hut about thirty meters away from David. He looked at David and let out a light chuckle. A burly man with a deep scar on his face emerged from the hut. He nced at Danny and then at David, his gaze cold and ruthless.


    "So, you want me to kill this kid?" The burly man spoke with an emotionless tone.


    Danny nodded:"Kill him, and I''ll help you get the Heart of the Insect Race."

 Chapter 249 Playing Fist Games In Front Of Me

    ?


    Upon hearing Danny''s words, a gleam of excitement shed in the burly man''s eyes. He turned towards David and sneered.


    "Alexander, we have a deal. I''ll kill him, and you''ll help me get the Heart of the Insect Race. But remember, you can''t go back on your word!" The burly man spoke with disdain, his contemptuous expression bing more pronounced. He clenched his fist, and the bones crackled with a series of sounds, radiating a sense of immense power.


    As the burly man suddenly appeared, David''s expression remained calm andposed. During their conversation, he had attempted to sense the man''s aura. However, he was puzzled by the fact that he couldn''t urately determine the man''s level despite knowing that it wasn''t high. This made him realize that the rules in this Wastnd World differed from those of the post-apocalyptic world.


    Here, the ranking and strength of Espers seemed to deviate from the norms of the apocalypse. Nevertheless, David wasn''t worried because he was confident he could overpower this burly man. However, the mention of the Heart of the Insect Race by both sides intrigued him. Before he could delve further into his thoughts, he heard a rushing sound in the air.


    David focused and saw that the burly man hadunched a fist towards him while he was contemting. The punch was forceful, and the fist carried a sharp and icy wind¡ªa sign of a formidable opponent.


    With a slight downward movement, David evaded the punch, causing the burly man''s attack to miss. Despite this, a faint smile remained on David''s lips,den with meaning, as he observed the burly man''s reaction.


    "Kid, do you think it ends here?" The burly man chuckled lightly, his clenched fist suddenly opening wide.


    A tremendous explosion resounded near David''s ears. In response, David''s mind activated, and his Golden Defense Layer immediately enveloped his ears. This allowed him topletely ignore the attack, while a towering tree nearby shattered into fragments due to the shockwave.


    Steadying himself, David looked at the burly man. Sparks shimmered above the man''s fist, and the previous explosion had been caused by the friction between the fist and the air.


    This made David realize that the previous punch had been a feint, while the true purpose was to exploit the sonic explosion to inflict serious damage on him. Amused by the burly man''s tactics, David couldn''t help but chuckle. Using the friction between his fist and the air to execute his ability? It seemed the burly man had met his match today.


    It was worth noting that David not only mastered the Crushed Air Fist technique,but also possessed spatial abilities. Thebination of the two was more than enough to overpower the burly man. Who would dare to y hand-to-handbat games with him?


    David shook his head sympathetically, implying that the burly man''s attempt had failed. The burly man, seeing that David had evaded his attack, was momentarily surprised but quickly regained hisposure.


    In the Wastnd World, Espers of the same level held slightly higher ranks than those in the post-apocalyptic world. Due to the distinctws of the Wastnd World, Espers who had crossed over from the apocalypse couldn''t immediately perceive each other''s levels. They needed to adapt to the localws before fully grasping each other''s strength.


    In this realm, the governing principle was ughter,a ceaseless, unending ughter. the burly man, was an Esper who had been reborn through bloodshed in this world. His eighth-level ability made him an offensive Esper, a formidable level akin to a ninth-level offensive Esper in the post-apocalyptic world.


    From David''s recent arrival in the Wastnd World, he couldn''t fully gauge the burly man''s strength. However, the burly man saw David as nothing more than an ant, easily crushed. He couldn''tprehend why Alexander would fear this young man. Yet, at the thought of obtaining the Heart of the Insect Race, the burly man''s excitement surged. This treasure was enough to make him the ruler of the wastnd.


    "Kid, I advise you to kneel before me obediently. Otherwise, when I get angry, you won''t even leave behind aplete corpse," the burly man pulled a white cloth strip from his waist and wrapped it around his right fist.


    "You talk too much." David was bing impatient with his words.


    Hearing David''s response, the burly man paused for a moment before bursting intoughter. "Hahaha! I like your attitude! I didn''t expect you to be someone who won''t tolerate any nonsense! Since that''s the case, I''ll have to send you on your way."


    Tying a knot in the cloth strip, the burly man nced at David and then swiftly dashed towards him.


    "Feel the force of my Shattering Mountain Fist!" With an angry shout, the burly man''s fist surged like a meteor, aiming for David''s face.


    Despite his speed, David found it painfully slow. He half-closed his eyes and raised his fist gently.


    "This punch will teach you a lesson in humility!" The collision between David''s Crushed Air Fist and the burly man''s Shattering Mountain Fist was swift. The resulting shockwave from their sh made the surrounding air feel as if it had been seared by intense mes.


    The white cloth strip on the burly man''s fist disintegrated into fragments in an instant, falling to the ground. The next moment, he raised his head, a look of horror in his eyes. As his fist made contact with David''s, he felt an immense force instantly surge through his arm. This power was scorching and overwhelmingly potent, as if it could tear the muscles in his arm apart. The intense pain was unbearable, and he attempted to retract his fist, but a crisp "crack" sounded in his ears.


    Momentarily stunned, the burly man looked at his arm and realized that the bones beneath the muscles had been shattered by David''s punch. The broken bone shards pierced through his skin, blood spraying out like a fountain. He stared at David in rm, as if he were gazing at a monster. He couldn''t fathom how not only had his punch failed to harm David, but it had also resulted in his own bones being brutally broken by the tremendous force.


    "ying fist games in front of me? You''re too inexperienced!" David raised his head and spoke in a deep voice, looking at the burly man''s pained expression.


    "Boom!" Another punch from David struck the burly man''s forehead. Before he could react, his vision went dark. His head shattered like a smashed watermelon,pletely obliterated by David''s blow. The air was filled with the stter of brain matter and blood. His lifeless body copsed to the ground, and the fragments of the white cloth strip that had fallen turned red from the dripping blood.


    David retracted his fist and nced at the burly man''s corpse. It was clear that he never anticipated meeting such a fate.


    David then turned his gaze towards Danny by the grassy hut, his eyes filled with disdain.


    "You pit this trash against me as an opponent? You must think very little of me." David showed no restraint in disying his contempt for Danny. As Danny observed the burly man being swiftly defeated by David''s single strike, a sinister expression once again crossed his face.

 Chapter 250 Blood Sword

    "waste!" Danny cursed loudly at the burly man''s corpse. Then he cast an eerie smile towards David.


    "It seems today I have to intervene. In the wastnd, you are no match for me," Danny said, taking a step forward. He had entered this realm multiple times and understood its rules. From his perspective, David stood no chance here.


    The burly man, was merely a pawn to him. However, he never expected that burly man would be defeated so easily by David. Now, Danny had to step in. He wanted to show David the true extent of his terror.


    On the streets, Fatso anxiously asked, "How is it? Did you trace it?"


    Ten minutes had passed, and if they didn''t find the courtyard soon, they feared David might be in danger.


    Sally was even more anxious. From the moment David and Danny disappeared, worry had gripped her. Ten minutes had gone by, and she had no idea about David''s condition. Despite her confidence in David''s strength, Danny''s recent behavior indicated he had changed significantly and be much stronger. Everyone anxiously waited for Charles, even Little ck and C started circling around him. After a while, Charles suddenly opened his eyes and descended slowly to the ground.


    "Did you get any results? Did you find the courtyard?" Sally stepped forward and asked first.


    Recalling the images he had traced in his mind, Charles nodded as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "That ce... seems quite terrifying."


    "I saw a wooden door there, and I sensed the captain''s presence behind it. I tried to open it, but a powerful malevolent energy prevented me from getting closer." Hearing Charles'' words, Fatso nodded in agreement. He knew Charles was right; the courtyard was indeed suspicious, and David had been taken there by Danny.


    "We shouldn''t waste time. We need to hurry over there! That should be the wastnd world that guy mentioned." After Fatso spoke, everyone nodded gravely. Although none of them had experienced the wastnd world, Danny and Charles'' descriptions had already conveyed its dreadful nature to them.


    "Follow me. I''ve memorized the route to get there!" With that, Charles turned and led the way back to the garage, where they got into two armored vehicles. Everyone hopped on board, following Charles as they set off towards the courtyard. Duane had a serious expression throughout the journey. He knew that the secret behind the Second Red Light, which had troubled him for days, was about to be unveiled.


    David watched Danny slowly approach him, calmly meeting his gaze. Just then, a pool of ck liquid suddenly appeared in Danny''s palm, flowing and expanding until it formed into a longsword.


    Danny casually waved the sword a couple of times before aiming its tip at David. The de, formed from congealed blood, was constantly pulsating with moving blood, giving off an eerie presence. Unlike normal blood, this blood seemed to contain a special power, evoking a chilling sensation and a hint of the scent of death.


    At that moment, a high-level skeletal zombie was observing them from a distance, hiding behind arge rock. Danny''s eyes shed with a cold light. With a swift motion, he swung the sword made of blood, sending a sharp de of blood energy flying towards the zombie. The skeletal creature''s eyes widened in shock, as if it had seen something unimaginably terrifying. It attempted to flee, but the blood energy moved too swiftly. In the blink of an eye, it reached the zombie, cleaving its body in half. The creature copsed to the ground.


    "How about this? Can you withstand my strike?" Danny caressed the sword hilt, the blood on it crawling over his entire palm like a swarm of ants.


    David leaned against the bisected skeletal zombie, realizing that Danny was trying to assert his dominance. He acknowledged that Danny''s strike was powerful, but instead of relying solely on his own sword, David once again focused his mind and summoned the four flying swords. After the previous battle, he had gradually be more proficient in coordinating with these four swords.


    Seeing David summon the flying swords once more, Danny chuckled lightly. The blood on the sword''s de immediately began to boil as if it were a cauldron, and even the sttering blood droplets burned holes in the ground, emitting white smoke.


    "Let me tell you, this ability was learned from a swordsman zombie in the wastnd world," Danny said. "But it was too weak. How could I let such a powerful ability go to waste in its hands? Unfortunately, I had to eliminate it."


    With a smile, Danny''s expression suddenly turned fierce. "And you! I will send you to hell as well!" With that, Danny gripped the sword handle and lunged towards David like a gust of wind.


    "Rainbow, attack!" David calmlymanded Rainbow. With a soft tremor, Rainbow shot towards Danny with a "whoosh," colliding with Danny''s blood sword, creating crisp sounds.


    Danny''s every move was vicious. He continuously shed at Rainbow, and the scorching blood on his sword put Rainbow at a disadvantage. Another sharp sound followed as Danny delivered a powerful strike, sending Rainbow crashing to the ground.


    Seeing this, David quickly controlled his thoughts, summoning Rainbow back by his side. Once it was back, Rainbow emitted a tremor, as if frightened by Danny''s previous attack. The other three flying swords, witnessing Rainbow''s reaction, grew anxious and uneasy.


    Without hesitation, Davidmanded the three flying swords to attack Danny together. He also wielded the de of Space, joining the battle. It must be said that Danny had grown stronger since summoning the blood sword. He could even hold his own against the three flying swords without losing his calm.


    After all, this was only David''s second time controlling the flying swords in battle. While their synergy had improved, the full extent of the flying swords'' power had not yet been fully unleashed by him. Nheless, David didn''t rely solely on the flying swords. Just like with the burly man earlier, the flying swords were just a diversion.


    David knew that to defeat Danny, he had to rely on his own strength. The de of Space glinted with cold light as, following a wave of attacks from the three flying swords, David swiftly closed in, thrusting the de towards Danny''s chest. Danny, who was deeply engaged in shing with the flying swords, caught a glimpse of David''s figure in his peripheral vision and instinctively took a step back.


    However, at the same time, a faint, imperceptible smile curved at the corner of David''s lips.

 Chapter 251 Bloodthirsty Wound

    ?


    At this moment, Danny also realized something was amiss. He quickly maneuvered the blood sword, attempting to block David''s attack. However, David was an esper with spatial abilities, and his speed had surpassed everyone.


    Just as Danny drew the blood sword to defend himself, David''s de of Space had already sliced through his clothing and made contact with his skin.


    "Crack!" An instant sound of rupture echoed as David''s strike cut a gaping wound in Danny''s chest. Blood immediately spurted out.


    Danny''s body trembled slightly as he suppressed the intense pain, trying to counterattack. However, the three flying swords hovered above him, ready to strike at any moment David detected apse in his focus.


    Meanwhile, David was well aware of Danny''s formidable regenerative abilities. He knew he needed to disable Danny''s ability to fight before the wounds healed. Without hesitation, David summoned a metal short de from his waist with his left hand, shing at Danny''s back. "Crack!" The additional critical hit rate of the dual des caused Danny''s two wounds to widen significantly.


    After a series of strikes, David leaped back, creating distance between him and Danny. The three flying swords returned to his side at hismand, and Rainbow, having recovered, circled back into position.


    "Damn it!" Danny''s face contorted with anger as he observed the wounds on his body. However, he remained unfazed, confident in his powerful regenerative abilities. He watched the wounds slowly healing, his expression icy and focused as he fixed his gaze on David.


    Observing this, a frown creased David''s forehead. At this rate, he realized he wouldn''t be able to inflict any lethal damage on Danny before the wounds healed. He needed a way to incapacitate Danny before the wounds could fully regenerate. His gaze inadvertently turned towards the corpse of the burly man he had defeated earlier.


    Suddenly, the system''s voice resounded in his ears.


    [Ding! Host has detected the kill of the first wastnd esper!]


    [Please choose one of the following three rewards!]


    Hearing the system''s voice, David couldn''t help but inwardly curse the unscrupulous system. So now it decides to offer rewards? However, upon reflection, the dy might have been due to entering the Wastnd World.


    He continued listening to the system''s announcements.


    [Option One: Increase the critical hit rate of the de of Space and the metal short de to forty percent!]


    [Option Two: Extend the range of the Corrosion ability attack to ten meters!]


    [Option Three: Acquire a new ability - Bloodthirsty Injury!]


    Listening to the three options provided by the system, David began to think rapidly. Options one and two were enhancements to his existing abilities, while only option three introduced a new ability. David knew the first two options could be obtained by killing zombies in daily encounters, making it unnecessary to waste this unique opportunity. Thus, he focused his attention on option three - the new ability, Bloodthirsty Injury.


    The system''s exnation followed shortly after.


    [Bloodthirsty Injury: Reduces the effectiveness of the opponent''s healing, especially useful against enemies with strong self-healing capabilities.]


    [Upon being inflicted with Bloodthirsty Injury, the enemy''s wounds will worsen by fifteen percent.]


    [This ability automatically activates when the host initiates an attack!]


    "Exactly!" Listening to the system''s exnation, David nodded approvingly to himself. Wasn''t this exactly what he needed right now?


    Danny''s current healing ability was, in a way, a disguised form of treatment. If subjected to the Bloodthirsty Wound, it would significantly reduce his wound healing capacity, thereby giving David more opportunities to attack.


    "I choose option three!" Without hesitation, David mentally made his decision.


    [Host''s choice confirmed!]


    [Congrattions, host, on acquiring the new ability,Bloodthirsty Wound!]


    As the system''s voice faded, David felt a surge of new power coursing through his body. It was indeed the power of the Bloodthirsty Wound. At that moment, David looked up at Danny, his expression calm and undisturbed.


    Meanwhile, Danny had just finished healing his wounds, lifting his head to face David. He knew that he and David were evenly matched in terms of level, and their strengths were rtively bnced. Danny''s reliance was on his powerful physical healing ability.


    In this state, as long as Davidunched any attack that caused damage, Danny could quickly restore himself to full strength, effectively recovering hisbat ability. Using this ability, Danny aimed to wear down David''s stamina. Eventually, he nned to deal a lethal blow to David, fulfilling his ultimate objective. With these thoughts in mind, Danny couldn''t help but smile.


    "Regardless of the situation, you can''t harm me. That''s where my superiority lies!" Danny''s words were a veiled boast about his healing ability. David, however, simply chuckled dismissively. If Danny were to discover that David now possessed the Bloodthirsty Wound ability, David wondered what Danny''s expression would be like.


    With a slight nod towards Danny, David said, "Very well, then let me show you how different I truly am."


    In the blink of an eye, David opened a spatial portal, disappearing from his original position and reappearing right in front of Danny. The Spatial de descended from above, shing down towards Danny''s chest once more.


    Seeing David attempt the same tactic, Danny didn''t even bother to take evasive action. He wanted to see what other tricks David had up his sleeve. No matter what, he believed that David couldn''t breach his healing ability.


    This was a technique Danny had learned from battling an insectoid leader during his previous visits to the wastnd. However, sometimes ignorance led to ack of fear, while arrogance often led to one''s downfall.


    David''s attack wasn''t forceful, yet the Spatial de effortlessly cut through Danny''s chest, revealing bone beneath the skin. Afterpleting the maneuver, David looked at him and chuckled.


    Danny, though wounded, continued to wear an unconcerned expression. He even seemed slightly pleased as he disyed the cut he had allowed David to make.


    "I told you, your attacks are useless against me. In less than thirty seconds, I canpletely heal these wounds. I advise you not to struggle. If you surrender, perhaps I''ll spare your life," Danny said calmly, observing his exposed bones and the faint rhythm of his beating heart.


    "Is that so? Are you still as arrogant as ever?" David shook his head, a touch of sympathy in his expression.


    Danny was momentarily taken aback, unsure of what David meant. However, given that he believed David was about to be a corpse, he paid little heed to the implied meaning. ncing at his injuries, Danny activated his healing ability in silence. He firmly believed that, in this state, no one could kill him. Yet, the next moment, he froze in ce. Despite activating his healing ability, his wounds showed no sign of improvement. In fact, they continued to expand rapidly

 Chapter 252 Infuriate

    ?


    "This... this can''t be possible!" The wound had been expanding, exposing the bones even more. Danny''s racing heart was fully exposed as well.


    Witnessing the sudden turn of events, Danny''s eyes were filled with terror. He stared at David in disbelief and questioned, "What... what have you done to me?" His words couldn''t hide the excruciating pain he was experiencing.


    After all, Danny was also an awakened individual with special abilities, and physical pain was an unavoidable part of his existence. David looked at him with a faint smile and coldly said, "Is this what you call healing ability? I told you, I never considered you a threat. You betrayed Abraham, Monica, and even sold your soul for power. The apocalypse doesn''t need people like you."


    David''s words were icy and devoid of any trace of the friend Danny once knew. Hearing David''s words, Danny froze. The pain in his body made him tremble involuntarily. The effects of the bloodthirsty wound were unbearable for him.


    Meanwhile, under Charles'' guidance, the members of the Embers squad, along with Duane and Shirley, arrived at the courtyard. Observing the familiar surroundings, Fatso nodded discreetly. This was the same courtyard he had seen before, emanating a strong malevolent energy.


    "Here it is!" Fatso was the first to jump out of the car and enter the courtyard. The others followed suit without examining the courtyard, heading straight to the wooden door. Fatso extended his hand to slowly push the door open, seeing David and Danny.


    "David!"


    "David!"


    Seeing David, everyone called out, relieved that he wasn''t hurt. Hearing their teammates'' voices, David nced at them, signaling them not to enter the deste world.


    Fatso nodded and motioned for everyone toe in. They also saw Danny, who was in agonizing struggle. Everyone was taken aback. What had happened? How did Danny end up like this? Seeing the spreading wounds on his body and the flowing blood, everyone felt puzzled.


    Monica was also shocked for a moment, but her gaze quickly turned cold. In her eyes, this was a result of Danny''s own actions. Even as a teammate, she had no sympathy.


    At this moment, Danny noticed the approaching group, and his eyesnded on Sally. He knew about Sally''s rtionship with David. A cold gleam shed in his eyes, and he disregarded the pain, rushing towards Sally. Before anyone could react, Danny grabbed Sally, holding the bloodied sword to her neck.


    "David, let me go! Otherwise, I''ll kill her right now!" Clearly, Danny had recognized the terrifying power of David and knew that he wouldn''t fare well in a fight. So, he resorted to using Sally as a hostage.


    "Sally!" The squad members immediately reacted, calling out nervously. Panic showed on Sally''s face. The aura of the bloodied sword made her uneasy, and she involuntarily looked towards David.


    Seeing his woman held hostage by Danny, David''s brow furrowed, his expression darkening. He took a step forward, fixing his gaze on Danny and said calmly, "Release her." As he spoke, his tone was chillinglyposed.


    "Hehe! Now you''re begging me, huh? Weren''t you arrogant just now? Your woman is in my hands now. I advise you to leave this ce immediately, or I''ll kill her right now!" Danny threatened viciously. He tightened his grip slightly on Sally''s wrist, causing the bloodied sword to graze her skin, and blood seeped out from her neck.


    Everyone''s hearts tightened, and their expressions grew even more tense. No one could have imagined that Danny would stoop so low and despicably use Sally as a hostage to threaten David.


    Everyone stared at him, their gazes like knives, wishing they could tear Danny apart. Despite this, no one dared to make a move. They knew that Danny was in a state of madness now, and provoking him could put Sally in an even more dangerous situation.


    Listening to Danny''s words, David''s expression remained grim. He spoke again, saying, "You''ve targeted the wrong person, and you''ll pay for it."


    But at this point, Danny was too caught up in his own n to pay attention to David''s words. He believed he had found David''s weakness and that it would be enough to make him surrender. However, he underestimated David''s anger.


    In the post-apocalyptic world, the Embers squad had been with David all the way. He considered every member of the squad as family, especially Sally, who was his partner.


    With David''s woman now threatened, the mes of anger within David had already ignited. He looked up at Danny, his gaze filled with defiance, and spoke each word deliberately, "You''re going to die."


    Before the words had even left his mouth, David infused all his energy into the four flying swords at once! Instantly, the sword auras surged, vibrating and producing explosive friction against the void.


    "Attack!" David''s brows furrowed as he shouted loudly, fixated on Danny. The four flying swords disappeared from their original positions. Danny hesitated, trying to swing the bloodied sword towards Sally''s neck, but David had already extended his palm towards him. Fueled by anger, David''s corrosive ability surged forth, utilizing all his strength!


    Danny''s palm corroded rapidly under this onught! Then, out of nowhere, the four flying swords appeared at his forehead, shoulder de, spleen, and heart positions. Swiftly, they shot towards those spots like enraged dragons.


    The tremendous force lifted Danny off his feet, ultimately pinning him against the wall behind him. Blood flowed down from his wounds, and his face twisted in pain.


    Danny struggled, but his body couldn''t muster any strength. He stood there, letting the blood flow from his wounds. His heart gradually stopped beating, and as Sally, now rescued, hurried to David''s side, he gazed at her with a faint smile, ruffling her hair gently. Then he turned his gaze back to Danny and said, "This is the result of your actions. You''ve brought this upon yourself." With that, he looked at Monica, raising the spatial de in his hand. Monica still gazed at Danny coldly, devoid of any sympathy. David nodded, and the spatial de sliced gently across Danny''s throat.


    "I..." Danny wanted to say something, but all that came out were a series of unintelligible sybles.


    "Be a Good person in your next life." Looking at Danny, who had ceased to breathe, David said coldly.


    And so, the puppet master behind the apocalypse met his demise at the hands of David.

 Chapter 253 New Journey

    ?


    Looking at Danny''s lifeless body, David''s expression remained devoid of sympathy, and the others also looked coldly at Danny''s corpse, filled with disdain. While they might not fully understand why Danny had turned into this, they knew that anyone who opposed David would meet a simr fate ¨C bing a lifeless body.


    "That''s great! Finally got rid of this traitor!" Arnold clenched his fist and eximed excitedly. At the same time, he nced at Monica, thinking his words might provoke her displeasure. However, when he saw her expressionless face, he instantly felt relieved.


    Monica''s feelings at this moment mirrored those of the others. The moment Danny had expelled her from the squad, she knew that she would be his enemy. More importantly, she had witnessed Abraham''s death. Even now, the memory of Abraham''s death filled her heart with immense sorrow. However, the mastermind behind his death had been dealt with by David, which brought her some sce. She understood that Danny had brought this upon himself, and no one could save him, let alone forgive him.


    This reminded Monica of the note Abraham had left for her, deepening her sense of nostalgia for him.


    David also cast a brief nce at Monica, her cold expression not eliciting a response from him. He knew that he had given Monica and Abraham the best gift. As Danny''s life ended, the secondary red light in the sky suddenly dimmed.


    The fissure that had been threatening to open, the one that sought to initiate a new cmity, vanished before everyone''s eyes. Evidently, the secondary red light had vanished from the post-apocalyptic world along with Danny''s death. The sun reappeared in the sky, though its rays cast an especially deste pallor upon the barren wastnd.


    David raised his head to survey the deste world before him, his brow slightly furrowed. He hadn''t anticipated the existence of such a deste world beyond the apocalypse. The dangers here seemed even greater than those in the outside world. asionally, in his peripheral vision, he spotted strange zombies and humans emitting sinister auras. They stood in the distance, observing David, resembling predators eyeing their long-awaited prey.


    David stared back at them with an intense gaze, immediately discerning that these individuals weren''t to be underestimated. He promptly escorted Sally out of the area.


    "You all should leave first," David instructed Fatso and Arnold, turning around and reentering the deste world. He felt that everything here was bizarre, and an unexpected curiosity arose within him.


    "It''s too dangerous here. We cane back once we''ve figured out what''s going on," Duane expressed his concern to David. He had never stepped into the deste world due to the overwhelming sinister aura within it. Just inhaling the air felt like a thousand knives shing at his throat.


    If David hadn''t created a void space around Sally in time, effectively isting the deste world from her, she would have long lost consciousness. Hearing Duane''s words, David gave a faint smile.


    "You''re right. We need to understand everything here. You all should head back. I won''t venture deep into the deste world."


    With those words, David turned and left once again. Duane reluctantly nodded, but considering David''s strength, he felt relieved. Fatso had already been convinced by David''s might, so after hearing his words, he didn''t hesitate to lead everyone out of the courtyard. He even invited Shirley to visit their base.


    Sally watched David''s departing figure and silently prayed for his safety. Soon, everyone had left the courtyard.


    In the deste world, only David remained amidst various strange creatures. A ck insect with wings flew towards David, but he swiftly pped it to the ground. The ck insect struggled briefly before flipping over and crawling away in agony.


    Approaching Danny''s corpse, the system''s voice suddenly rang in David''s ears:


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for killing the apocalypse''s main antagonist, Danny! ]


    [Congrattions to the host for leveling up to level eleven! ]


    [Congrattions to the host for acquiring ten thousand high-grade crystals! ]


    [Congrattions to the host for obtaining a new supernatural ability¡ªExtraction! ]


    The system''s consecutive announcements continued to sound in David''s ears. He nodded in surprise. He hadn''t expected to receive so many rewards for killing Danny.


    As he pondered, an intangible force began to gather within him. Unlike the tenth-level power he had before, this force surged more strongly, like turbulent waves rolling within him.


    After all, David had now broken through the tenth-level barrier, and both his strength and aura had undergone significant qualitative changespared to before. Meanwhile, he turned his attention to the newly acquired supernatural ability, "Extraction."


    "What is this ability?" David asked with some confusion.


    [Ding! The host can use this ability to extract from all targets, obtaining items based on the target of extraction.]


    Listening to the system''s slightly vague exnation, David pondered for a moment and understood its meaning. Essentially, this ability allowed him to unexpectedly gain items by extracting from various objects.


    Curious, David looked at a piece of broken stone under his foot. He extended his palm over it and softly said, "Extract!"


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting a primary core! ]


    [Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical hit, obtaining one hundred primary cores! ]


    "Hmm? Primary core?" Hearing the name, David was momentarily puzzled. Before he could think further, a shining circr object appeared before his eyes, vanishing in an instant as it entered his system''s inventory. This led David to specte that the core was probably simr in function to crystals, but relevant to this wastnd world.


    David then aimed his palm at a withered tree nearby.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting a piece of hundred-year wood! ]


    [Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical hit, obtaining one hundred pieces of hundred-year wood! ]


    This situation left David somewhat amused and exasperated. It seemed his spection was urate; this ability could indeed yield "unexpected" rewards. Choosing not to test it further, he nced into the depths of the deste world. There, an ominous aura permeated the air, and figures darted around.


    Numerous hostile energies assaulted him, causing David to be cautious involuntarily. He knew that before understanding the rules here, he couldn''t rashly venture deeper. This ce was vastly different from the apocalypse; he needed to grasp all itsws before stepping foot within.


    Simultaneously, David was aware that he had be a unique entity within the apocalypse, and now, he was about to embark on a new journey,the wastnd world.

 Chapter 254 New Task

    [Ding! Detected that the host has discovered the wastnd world. Transmitting relevant survival rules and information rted to the wastnd world! ]


    Just as David stepped out of the door, the system''s voice sounded again. Soon after, a flood of information surged into his mind like a tide. Quickly, Davidprehensively understood the survival rules of the wastnd world and all rted information.


    In reality, the wastnd world had always existed, separate from the apocalypse.


    After Danny forcibly initiated the second red light, the signs of the wastnd world emerged, allowing espers from the apocalypse to enter this realm. The courtyard was the intermediary to ess the wastnd world.


    Here, both levels and resources werepletely different from the outside, as David''s level eleven had been achieved here. Thus, within the apocalypse, his strength wasparable to a level twelve supernatural powerhouse. The various grade crystals he had collected in the apocalypse were almost ineffective to David now. Instead, a resource called "pronucleus" took their ce. pronucleus came in primary, intermediate, advanced, and supreme grades, each possessing different energies.


    Espers could absorb these pronucleus to elevate their levels and strength. pronucleus, in turn, could be obtained by hunting various zombies and monsters in the wastnd world. Recalling this information, David nodded to himself. He also understood the survival rules here ,and endless ughter.


    To survive here, every esper had to be a killing machine. The bloodlust prevalent in the apocalypse was merely the most basic survival rule here. To stand firm, one had topletely mold themselves into a ruthless killer. In David''s words, the apocalypse was like a wolf''s den, while the wastnd world was a terrifying abyss. To thrive, he had to y every zombie creature lurking within it.


    Thinking this, David''s expression gradually turned serious.


    [Ding! New mission issued! ]


    [Hunt thirty wastnd creatures within three days, gaining insight into the secrets of the Bug Race''s heart.]


    [Rewards will be random! ]


    The system''s announcement of a new mission sounded in David''s ears. "Hunt thirty wastnd creatures in three days?" David found this number somewhat wry. He had only just begun to grasp the survival rules of the wastnd world and had no knowledge about the deeper-seated zombie creatures. Under these circumstances, how was he supposed to proceed?


    Furthermore, David''s attention was drawn to the "Bug Race''s heart." He remembered that Danny had mentioned it earlier, implying that it must be a valuable treasure. If he didn''t understand it well, how could the bulky man be willing to risk his life for it?


    However, David didn''t have time to dwell on these thoughts. He knew that any mission issued by the system would bring him considerable gains. What mattered most now was his team. As he embarked on this new journey within the wastnd world, what was to be of the members of the Ember Squad?


    David understood that with their current strengths, they wouldn''tst a minute in this world. He needed to find a way to safely settle his team members. After ncing once more at the ferocious energies deep within the wastnd terrain, David turned and disappeared into the void.


    As David departed, the ck bug he had pped to the ground moments ago suddenly fluttered its wings and took flight again. While flying, its body emitted a luminous color. Eventually, the bugnded in a forested area deep within the wastnd world.


    Looking around, the forest was filled with nests of various sizes, countless bugs flying around, blotting out the sky like a swarm of dark clouds...


    "Are you okay?" Sally rushed up to David as he returned.


    "David, what happened? How did that eerie ce appear?" Other team members also approached, asking with concern. After all, each of them had survived in the apocalypse for a long time. Seeing a cepletely different from the apocalypse was truly astonishing for them. Coupled with the intense malevolent aura permeating the Wastnd world, everyone present knew it was undoubtedly a dangerous ce.


    Seeing the eager expressions of his teammates, David gave a faint smile. "It''s fine, it''s just a world coexisting with the apocalypse, a world coexisting with the apocalypse?" When everyone heard David''s exnation, they became even more baffled.


    So, David roughly exined the survival rules of the Wastnd world to them. Everyone''s faces turned grave. In David''s words, they detected a danger beyond theirprehension. They all looked up at David, only to find him asposed as ever, seemingly unbothered by the dangers of the Wastnd world.


    "So, are you going to enter the Wastnd world next?" Sally asked.


    Without hesitation, David nodded. The apocalypse no longer posed any challenge for him. Moreover, he felt that in the Wastnd world, he could uncover more secrets and even achieve a qualitative improvement in his strength.


    Seeing David''s confirmation, Sally''s expression becameplex. She didn''t want David to be in constant danger. The thought of it was tormenting for her. However, considering David''s formidable strength, she found herself at a loss for words.


    Naturally, David understood Sally''s thoughts. "Don''t worry, I''ll take care of myself." With that, he turned to Duane.


    After leaving the courtyard and under Fatso''s shameless invitation, Shirley ended up joining them at the base. Since Duane was also eager to learn more about the second red light and the deste world, he followed them here. Currently, Fatso was enthusiastically cleaning a gene fruit, presenting it to Shirley with a wagging tail. However, Shirley was engrossed in ying with C andpletely ignored Fatso''s overtures.


    David smiled and said to Duane, "The second red light won''t appear again in the future, but the existence of the deste world is even more terrifying than the second red light. There''s something I hope to get your help with." Duane was slightly puzzled upon hearing that David needed his assistance. He nodded in agreement.


    "Whatever it is, just tell me. I''ll do my best to help." The others also looked curiously at David, wondering what he was about to say.


    "I hope to use your team''s cameras to locate the city''s entire horde of zombies." David''s statement left Duane momentarily confused. Why would they want to find the entire horde of zombies? Normally, everyone avoided zombies, so why would David be actively seeking them?


    Not only Duane, but the others were also puzzled by David''s words. David exined with a calm tone, "Find them and kill them."

 Chapter 255 With David Around, Were Not Afraid Of Anything

    ?


    "What? Kill all the zombies in this city?" Duane couldn''t help but shout out loudly. The others stood still, staring at David in bewilderment, not understanding why he said such words. Even Fatso, raised his head in confusion, looking at David strangely, as if he was looking at a monster.


    But David remained unfazed, calmly nodding his head. On the way back from the wastnd world, he had thought about this. He was destined to leave the apocalypse and go to the wastnd world. The members of Team Embers would stay here, as they couldn''t even cross the wooden door, let alone enter the wastnd world. So David had to clear all obstacles in the apocalypse for them as soon as possible.


    With this, only Team Embers and a few others would remain in the apocalypse. Then, ording to their abilities, they would restore the city to its former prosperity. That was David''s ultimate goal. To him, it was better to transform the city into his own backyard rather than letting it lie abandoned. Each member of Team Embers was a part of David''s backyard.


    At this moment, everyone fell silent, finding David''s decision too extreme. Although they had already killed many of the zombies in the city, a significant number of them still roamed around, especially after Danny summoned more with the second red light.


    Even though they had hunted down many, there were still arge number of zombies wandering the city. Everyone believed it would be impossible to kill them all. However, David''s next words left them once again in disbelief.


    "We must kill all these zombies within one day tomorrow. Now is not the time to waste." David said, picking up a ss of water from the table and finishing it in one gulp, then ncing at everyone. As expected, their expressions were all like they were looking at a madman. There were at least a few hundred high-level zombies roaming the city. Even if they all worked tirelessly, it would take at least a week. How could one day be enough? It was simply a joke!


    They didn''t understand what David was thinking, why he had be so strange aftering back from the wastnd world. David said this because the new task assigned by the system only gave him three days. So he had to cherish every minute and second. He had the confidence to say such things because of his strength. He was already at level eleven.


    David was just a step away from the legendary level of "esper," which seemed almost within reach. So even if there were more than a few hundred zombies, David had the confidence to kill them all in a day. He had invited the people present not just to participate in this ughter, but to increase their levels and strength through it. This way, even if there were future dangers in the apocalypse, they could protect their backyard on their own.


    "No problem! I think the captain''s n is spot on! They''re just a bunch of animals. I can take them down one by one!" Fatso spoke up while the others remained silent. He looked at Shirley as he spoke, his expression brimming with confidence. Upon hearing Fatso''s words, everyone''s gaze turned to him.


    "Fatso, don''t try to show off here. David has the capability, but where do you get the confidence? Moreover, those are all high-level zombies. Even dealing with them would require a lot of our energy," Sophie stepped in to address Fatso.


    She had no problem with David saying this, as she believed in her captain''s abilities. But hearing the same thing from Fatso made it sound different.


    Fatso continued to y with the gene fruit in his hand,ughing and not taking Sophie''s words to heart. He had already caught the underlying meaning of David''s words.


    The moment David returned, he sensed that his level of strength had almost reached its peak, which made him instantly understand that David''s strength had surpassed their understanding.


    In this situation, Fatso naturally believed that David had the capability to kill all the zombies within one day. Charles, at this moment, also caught on. He looked up at David, his gaze showing a hint of determination.


    "We can do it." Charles paused. Suddenly, he spoke up, his expression full of confidence. In an instant, everyone''s spirits were lifted by Charles''s words.


    "David''s amazing! What are we afraid of? Forget about the high-level zombies in this city; even if it''s ten cities, it wouldn''t be enough for our Team Embers to handle!" Arnold eximed excitedly, clenching his fist, and the others nodded in agreement.


    Seeing this, David smiled faintly, then turned his gaze towards Duane. Duane had already been impressed by the strong unity of Team Embers, so he nodded in agreement. At this point, Monica looked at David, appearing hesitant to speak.


    David had long noticed everything about her. He had always considered Monica as a business partner. But now, her team had been wiped out, and she was left alone, bing a wanderer in the apocalypse. David only saw her as a survivor who managed to make it through.


    Sally also noticed Monica''s unease and after thinking for a moment, she stepped forward and said to David, "Anyway, Monica is our friend. Now that Abraham is gone, she has nowhere to go. Why don''t we let her join our team? This way, the two of us and Sophie will have somepany." Sally looked at Monica and smiled.


    These two days of interaction had allowed Sally to see the fragile and pitiable side of Monica. So, she decided to have David let Monica stay.


    Listening to Sally''s words, Monica lifted her head gratefully, tears welling up in her eyes. Sally''s words made her feel a warmth she hadn''t experienced in a long time. She wanted to stay with Team Embers, to be one of them. However, thinking about what Danny had done, she couldn''t bring herself to say it. Now that Sally was expressing these thoughts, it was as if she was voicing Monica''s inner desires.


    "Yeah, Monica is kind-hearted! Captain, why not let her stay?" Sophie also spoke up for Monica. Seeing that two teammates were advocating for Monica to stay, David naturally didn''t object. After all, the number of members in his team was still a bit lower than he hoped, so having Monica join might be a good addition.


    So, David nodded and agreed to let Monica join Team Embers.

 Chapter 256 [Bonus ]Great Victory

    ?


    Monica looked at David gratefully, her eyes filled with gratitude. With this, she was no longer a wanderer in the apocalypse but a formal member of Team Embers.


    Team Embers had grown from its initial two or three members to the current seven. Each person''s strength was rapidly increasing, making them David''s most capable assistants. Additionally, there was C, who possessed the talent of a demon king, and Little ck, a hellhound.


    Observing the people before him, David nodded in approval. In this moment, he thought of Danny, who had already died, and Danny''s initial aspiration. Unfortunately, Danny hadn''t been able to control the entirety of the apocalypse; instead, he had fallen at David''s feet. Danny''s desire had now be David''s imminent goal.


    Over the next few days, Duane, leading the members of Phoenix Rising, urately reported the positions of every zombie in the city to Team Embers. With this information, David quickly began the task of clearing out the zombies with the entire team. The zombies that emerged from the rifts in the sky were indeed powerful, but they were like ants in front of David, easily vanquished. Even the other members of the team, under David''s influence, fought more courageously, relentlessly killing the zombies that appeared before them. Countless zombie bodies piled up on the ground, and hordes of zombies swarmed towards them.


    In this moment, David was like a descending god of death. Wherever he went, blood and flesh flew. Numerous zombies wailed, and as he passed, they turned into bloody masses. Monica, the new member of the team, was also exceptionally fierce, cutting down zombies alongside David on the battlefield.


    Soon, as the sun set, the streets of the city were covered in blood, corpses littered the ground. Team Embers members wiped blood off their faces, their gazes cold as they looked at the bodies. Under their frenzied massacre, hundreds of zombies had turned into corpses. Watching the blood-soaked figures on the monitor, Duane involuntarily swallowed. This battle had exceeded his expectations.


    David not only led his team to kill all the zombies, but he also took care of the remaining Kill God Gang and the other dubious esper teams. Looking across the city, only Team Embers and Phoenix Rising remained.


    "So terrifying! David is really a madman!" Duane, at this moment, was relieved that he hadn''t be David''s enemy. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to sit quietly in the base now.


    Shirley was also staring at the screen, her eyes widened. After a pause, she turned her head and earnestly said to Duane, "Captain, how about we also consider joining David''s team?"


    Duane looked at Shirley, who was full of expectation, and his mouth twitched involuntarily. He had also considered having all the members of Phoenix Rising join Team Embers, but he didn''t approach David about it because he knew that someday his team would be the force behind David. So he decided to keep Phoenix Rising and silently support David from behind.


    Stepping on the corpses of the zombies, David led the team back to the base.


    "Today''s battle was so exciting! Not only did I get my fill, but my level also increased to level nine in the battle!" Arnold picked up a bottle of cold water from the table and finished it in one gulp, excitedly saying. And it wasn''t just him; the levels of the other members of the team also shot up during the battle.


    Currently, the lowest level in the team was Sophie at level eight. However, as a healing-type esper, being at level eight already surpassed all other healing-type espers.


    Monica was even more surprised as she looked at her body now at level nine. The abundant power she felt, seemingly invisible, made her feel excited about the strength. She looked at David gratefully, knowing that if it weren''t for him, she wouldn''t have survived, let alone leveled up. After changing into clothes soaked in blood, everyone started to freshen up, and in no time, they all gathered in the bedroom.


    During this time, Duane had also brought Shirley over. Upon seeing Shirley, Fatso hurriedly wiped his wet hair and immediately went over. Shirley, as usual, was ying with C, holding the little creature.


    This caused Fatso to re at C fiercely, as if reproaching the little creature for stealing his affection. C, on the other hand, provocativelyy in Shirley''s arms, burying its head between her breasts. This made Fatso so frustrated that he almost wished he could rece C.


    Watching Fatso''s anxious expression, David chuckled helplessly. The current atmosphere within the team was exactly what he envisioned harmonious, orderly, and respectful.


    Pausing for a moment, David looked at everyone and spoke, "Now, the entire city only has our Team Embers and Phoenix Rising, the two esper teams. It can be said that this city is now ours."


    As he spoke, David looked up at Duane, who respectfully nodded in response. David slowly revealed a faint smile.


    "Tomorrow, I will enter the Wastnd World for a new journey. You all need to stay here and build our own city. Build our own city?" As David uttered these words, everyone paused for a moment, then their expressions immediately became resolute as they nodded in agreement with David.


    At this point, no matter what David said, everyone had no objections. What they could do was simply follow David''s arrangements.


    Last night, David had worked through the night to upgrade the base to the top floor of the skyscraper. Now, this ten-story skyscraper had be their entire base. The base''s robust defenses covered the entire building, and each floor had been transformed by David using some resources into different facilities. There were training rooms, recreational rooms, gyms, and David even converted an entire floor into a swimming pool.


    David had done his best to make each floor of the base suitable for his team members to live in. This way, he could ensure that their lives in the apocalypse would no longer be dull. Additionally, when hunting zombies, David had Arnold capture dozens of low-level zombies. These zombies had been stripped of their killing consciousness by Charles, bing true mindless undead. These zombies could follow humanmands, assisting them withbor-intensive tasks.


    After all, the task of building a city was cumbersome, and relying solely on the few members of the team was not enough. The presence of these zombies provided them with excellent help.


    Next, David exined his blueprint for transforming the backyard. In David''s description, it was a paradise-like ce, resembling a utopia. It not only retained the prosperity of the city before the apocalypse but also featured uniquendscapes.


    At the same time, David formted a document for future survivors to stay in his backyard. This way, the outline of a city began to take shape in everyone''s minds, gradually materializing from David''s ideas.

 Chapter 257 This Is Clearly A Arsenal

    ?


    "Wow! This is the city of my dreams! Flowers, fountains, white doves, just thinking about it is heartwarming! I could never have imagined we''d have such a day!" Listening to David''s description, everyone started daydreaming with hopeful expressions. These were dreams they hadn''t dared to entertain since the apocalypse began.


    But now, in David''s blueprint, everything seemed so close to them. Even Little ck wagged its tail happily around David.


    Seeing the longing expressions of everyone, David smiled faintly. The appearance of the System Reconstruction function allowed him to use the resources in the warehouse to transform the city drastically. All of this was his way of resisting the apocalypse and fulfilling his responsibilities to the team members.


    As a captain, David had to shoulder all responsibilities and ensure that every individual had a safe and beautiful life in the apocalypse. The construction of the city was just the first step for him.


    "By the way, during my absence, I will leave behind some crystals. You can use these crystals to recruit some residents." David said as he led everyone to the storage room on the second floor.


    The appearance of the pronucleus had rendered crystals useless to David. Although the team members'' levels were now increasing without relying on crystals, David still kept them. After all, in theter stages of city construction, they would need to attract some survivors to reside there, and these crystals would serve as rewards for their arrival.


    As the saying goes, everyone is motivated by self-interest. As long as those survivors epted the crystals, they would be his most loyal subjects.


    David didn''t want to turn this city into his own kingdom. But if he could provide a haven for survivors in the apocalypse, he wouldn''t mind being crowned king. Walking to the second floor, David pushed open the door to the storage room.


    "Ssh!" As the door was pushed open, arge number of crystals poured out like a waterfall. "Oh my! These crystals... " Looking at the sparkling crystals covering the floor, Fatso involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He knew David was wealthy, but wasn''t it a bit excessive to treat crystals like trash?


    Not only Fatso, but the other team members were also surprised by David''s bold behavior. David nced at the crystals but didn''t seem to care much. Indeed, in his warehouse, he still had a million crystals of various levels. The ones piled up in the storage room were just one-tenth of what he possessed.


    The storage room not only contained numerous crystals but also various life supplies. Coupled with the nearby greenhouse, it was enough to ensure their daily life. Approaching another room, David opened the door to find it full of different kinds of weapons. Desert Eagles, heavy machine guns, AK47s, UMP45s, high-explosive grenades, and even a dozen rocketunchers.


    These were weapons that David had modified, some of which even had his own spatial tearing ability integrated through the system, making them as powerful as a low-level esper. Even the highest-ranking zombies wouldn''t withstand a single shot from these weapons.


    Seeing the room filled with weapons, Fatso became ecstatic. Without hesitation, he rushed in and picked up a heavy machine gun, looking excited. He then walked up to Shirley while carrying the machine gun and patted his chest, saying, "With me around, no one will dare to bully you!"


    Fatso proudly raised his eyebrows toward everyone. Shirley lifted her face to look at him, then shook her head with a meaningful smile: "C is more interesting."


    This immediately made Fatso droop his head and re at C next to him, causing everyone to chuckle at Fatso''s defeat.


    Next, David led everyone to the third floor. This was thebat training room, arge t area of five hundred square meters, built by David using three thousand junior crystals and six thousand pieces of wood. Here, everyone could train their abilities to enhance theirbat skills. Even in the center, David had used ten advanced crystals to create a robot that could move around and even counterattack. This way, everyone''s training wasn''t aimless anymore; they could find their weaknesses by sparring with the robot.


    On the fourth floor, there was arge swimming pool. The fifth floor housed a cinema, KTV, and a chess room. The sixth floor had a gym. Finally, David led everyone to the tenth floor, the top floor of the building. Unlike the other floors, there were no facilities here; it was empty.


    Duke scratched his head in confusion and asked, "David, why is there nothing here?"


    David smiled, reached out his hand into thin air, and with a slight gesture, created ripples in space. The true appearance of the tenth floor emerged before everyone''s eyes. There was no ceiling; they could see the sky above. In the center, three fighter jets were neatly arranged! Each jet was pitch ck, with huge propellers and side-mounted machine guns, showcasing their formidable nature.


    "Wow! These metal beasts are here!" Fatso''s eyes lit up, and he excitedly dropped his heavy machine gun and rushed towards the fighter jets. However, as he got close, it was as if something was blocking his path. He reached out his hand but couldn''t touch the jets.


    What''s going on? Everyone was puzzled and tried to approach. Yet, they couldn''t get near the fighter jets.


    David walked over, smiling, and said, "I''ve sealed these three fighter jets using a spatial gate. Just think ''open'' in your minds, and you can pass through the gate."


    The reason David ced these fighter jets here was mostly a whim, and considering the future need for patrols once the city was established, these metal beasts were the best choice. They could even use them to escape quickly in case of danger.


    The spatial gate was set up to prevent malicious espers from infiltrating and causing havoc using the fighter jets. Listening to David''s exnation, everyone mentally chanted "open"!


    Indeed, as soon as they did, the spatial gate disappeared before their eyes. Fatso was the first to climb into the pilot''s seat of a fighter jet. He excitedly touched every button, eager to take off and perform aerial acrobatics. Others also couldn''t believe their eyes, looking at the three fighter jets as if in a dream. This wasn''t just a base; it was an arsenal!


    After the tour, they returned to the bedrooms on the first floor with excitement. Everyone prepared to rest. Meanwhile, David gazed at the moon outside, filled with anticipation. "Wastnd World... here Ie," he said softly, ying with the circr jade pendant he had taken from Danny.

 Chapter 258 The Mutant Weasel

    Early the next morning, while everyone was still asleep, David got up early, tidied up quickly, and headed to the Wastnd World.


    The reason David didn''t want the team members to know about his departure was that he didn''t want their mixed emotions to affect them. Building the garden city was a heavy responsibility and a long journey. He wanted them to remain in a normal state of mind.


    Stepping out of the garage, David turned around to look at his ten-story high base. He knew that in the Wastnd World, he would build an even stronger base. At that point, he would be the sole god of two worlds. Without overthinking, David leaped towards the direction of the courtyard.


    In the Abyss Cemetery, the thick miasma still covered everything, and the sound of something cracking inside the graves continued, sending shivers down the spine.


    "Dying and not finding peace? I''ll sever all your worldly attachments," an old man walked up to a grave, looking at the slightly trembling tombstone with a deep voice. Then, he opened his right hand, and several pitch-ck daggers appeared in his palm. He stabbed one dagger into the grave, and an agonized and miserable wail echoed from beneath the mound of dirt.


    However, the old man''s expression didn''t change at all. Instead, he pulled out another identical dagger and stabbed it into the mound. The two daggers emitted a dense aura, making the sound vanish instantly. The old man then pulled out the daggers.


    "You think you can be a zombie with this? Too weak," the old man sneered at the mound, from which a puddle of ck blood emerged. Afterpleting this, he walked back to his small wooden cabin.


    This old man was the guardian of the Abyss Cemetery who had locked eyes with David that day. Hey on a bamboo chair, closed his eyes leisurely, and suddenly, his cloudy eyes snapped open. He lifted his head and looked outside the window. Soon, he nodded in approval, his face showing a pleased expression.


    "This kid actually has the strength. He''s entered the Wastnd World so quickly?" The old man yed with a purple y teapot and chuckled.


    "But that ce is different from the end times. I wonder how long you canst in there," the old man pondered for a moment, shaking his head as if he had made a decision.


    "Well, forget it, I''ll pay a visit. Those Zerg guys, they got some hot tempers." With that said, the old many back on the bamboo chair, closed his eyes again, and the small wooden cabin disappeared into a thick fog. As the old man left, the Abyss Cemetery once again heard the sound of soil breaking.


    Arriving at the courtyard, David first observed the building that seemed out of ce in the end times. Then, he walked up to the wooden door. He pushed it open, and with a creaking sound, the door slowly opened, revealing the destion of the Wastnd World.


    Looking at the barrenndscape before him, David''s gaze was resolute. From now on, he would survive here. Lifting his foot, he stepped into the wastnd again. The aura swirled around the tips of his feet as if trying to consume him.


    However, the powerful aura emitted by David at Level 11 instantly covered that malevolent energy. Looking up, David saw that there were still many figures moving around him, and even some strangely-shaped creatures were lurking in the distance, gazing at him with hostile intent.


    David walked calmly inside, secretly drawing out an alloy short knife and gripping it tightly. In an instant, David''s aura began to spread around him. The zombies, animals, and even some supernatural creatures that caught wind of this unfamiliar presence suddenly emerged. They stared at David eerily, as if he was a delectable meal. At this moment, the malevolent energy in the Wastnd World grew stronger.


    David locked eyes with a mutant yellow weasel-like creature, its size akin to that of a crocodile. The creature stared back, continuously opening its mouth to reveal sharp teeth while its long tongue licked those teeth, preparing to attack David. However, this mutant creature seemed to be watching, waiting for other undead monsters to make the first move. It scanned left and right, but no other creature charged at David.


    This made David chuckle; this was the difference between the Wastnd World and the end times. Every creature here had its own intelligence. They could employ various tricks and schemes tounch attacks. This was what truly made the Wastnd World terrifying , instead of mindless zombies, there were cunning beings that relied on intelligence for their killings.


    This often left espers entering this world defenseless, falling into traps that were long set up for them. But this particr mutant yellow weasel-like creature couldn''t suppress its eagerness to devour David. While other creatures remained still, it emitted strange cries, and its long, spiky tongue stretched out even further.


    In the next moment, the mutant yellow weasel-like creature''s hind legs propelled it towards David. David saw this and without hesitation, raised the alloy short knife in his hand. With immense explosive force and speed invisible to the naked eye, coupled with the alloy knife''s high critical hit rate, the alloy knife plunged directly into the creature''s chest, causing it to writhe in pain. It extended its sharp ws, attempting to strike David with a powerful blow.


    However, the mutant creature had underestimated David''s strength. David clenched his right hand into a fist and delivered a Void-Breaking Punch that shattered the air, piercing through the creature''s body. A mournful howl echoed, and the arrogant mutant yellow weasel-like creature was in on the spot.


    [Ding! Congrattions, Host, for killing a Level 1 mutant yellow weasel-like creature! ]


    [Reward: Host receives one primary pronucleus! ]


    [Ding! Congrattions, Host, for triggering a hundredfold critical hit, obtaining one hundred primary pronuclei! ]


    The system''s voice quickly echoed in David''s ears.


    At this moment, David realized that the mutated creature in the Wastnd World were also graded, and killing them could yield pronuclei. He discarded the creature''s body, turned his head, and surveyed the other the mutated creatures lurking in the distance.


    Indeed, David''s disy of power astonished them, freezing them in ce. Even their eyes now carried a trace of fear as they slowly began to retreat.


    This was exactly the oue David desired. In the face of terror, bing even more terrifying was his only choice. However, a few zombies still stared at David, their eyes filled with murderous intent.


    Infused with the malevolent energy of the Wastnd World, these zombies were not only more violent in aura but their appearances had changed, making them nearly indistinguishable from humans. The only constant was the foul stench they exuded.


    Finally, an burly zombie emerged, raising its head to gaze at David. Its aura was overwhelming, a malevolent energy akin to pouring water from ake. Taking two steps forward, it stood still, watching David and slowly extended its hand, pointing a finger at him.

 Chapter 259 Bronze Compass

    ?


    "Food!" The burly zombie''s throat rumbled out these words, evidently treating David as its next meal. David nced at it but didn''t take it to heart.


    Though the zombies here were formidable, David''s strength as an 11th-level esper still allowed him to dominate the situation. Thus, a somewhat intelligent zombie like this one held little significance in his eyes.


    Seeing that David ignored it, the zombie grew agitated. It let out an angry roar, and a few more zombies like itself closed in from behind.


    This took David somewhat by surprise. He hadn''t expected this creature to realize it couldn''t beat him and call for backup. David surveyed the five imposing zombies before him, manifesting the Spatial de in his hand. He had already asserted his dominance here, so killing a few more wouldn''t matter. Perhaps doing so would help him establish his authority in the Wastnd World more quickly. Tensions escted as both sides braced for a sh; the five zombies red at him, their growls low.


    Just as David was preparing to take the initiative, his peripheral vision caught sight of a thick fog and haze. He paused, his curiosity piqued, and turned his gaze towards the source. The fog quickly dissipated, revealing a somewhat dpidated small wooden cabin in front of him.


    David furrowed his brow, recognizing the cabin he and Fatso had seen in the Abyss Cemetery. But what puzzled him was how it suddenly appeared in the Wastnd World.


    And where was that entric old man? While David pondered, the door of the small wooden cabin creaked open, and the guardian of the tomb emerged, hunched over.


    David stared at the old man, a cautious expression on his face. He wouldn''t underestimate any figure of uncertain identity. As the old man walked out of the cabin, he first nced at David, then turned his attention to the five zombies. His cloudy eyes suddenly emitted a strong light, resembling torches.


    The sight caused the five zombies to react as if they had encountered a terrifying presence. After a pained howl, they copsed to the ground motionless. ck blood seeped from their seven orifices, signifying their death. This surprised David, and he continued to scrutinize the old man. This was someone who could kill zombies with a mere gaze; he definitely possessed some remarkable strength.


    As those five zombies died, the other undead creatures and monstrous beasts that had gathered around dispersed in all directions, The area fell silent.


    The old man finally smiled with satisfaction, his expression still carrying an air of disdain. Slowly approaching David, he looked at him and said, "Kid, the Wastnd World is different from the end times. You''ll die here."


    The old man''s tone was incredibly t, as if he were describing an utterly mundane matter to David. Taking advantage of the moment, David examined the man''s face. He noticed the deeply wrinkled face, his small stature, and particrly his cloudy eyes that exuded a sharp, keen color. Recalling how the old man had killed five zombies with a single nce, David realized that the old man''s power likely resided in his eyes.


    "Whether I live or die is up to me. I don''t need anyone else to decide for me," David retorted unreservedly. When deciding to enter the Wastnd World, he hadn''t once thought of dying here. Unexpectedly, the old man chuckled upon hearing this, then fixedly stared at David.


    David felt a bit ufortable under the strange gaze, so he decided to turn around and leave. He needed to make the most of his time toplete the system''s tasks and quickly familiarize himself with this new world.


    Seeing David preparing to leave, the old man nodded in surprise and spoke again, "Not bad, you''ve got some strength! It seems you''ve made the right choiceing to the Wastnd World. Perhaps you''ll gain something from it. Just remember, don''t show mercy to anything, and don''t trust anyone''s words. Otherwise, you''ll be digging your own grave."


    The old man''s tone was calm, as if he was imparting ordinary advice to David. He had initially thought this young man was just a kid who had stumbled into the Wastnd, which is why he had warned him to leave.


    However, upon realizing David''s Level 11 strength, the old man understood that David was confident, which also earned him some respect from the old man:"For someone of your young age to reach Level 11 is quite rare,"


    David replied, smiling as he turned to face the old man: "You mentioned not trusting anyone''s words, so you''re wasting time talking to me."


    The old man didn''t expect this young man to be so quick-witted. He suddenly felt a bit embarrassed, as David had instantly caught on to his intentions after their conversation.


    David further emphasized, "If you have something to say, say it quickly. I need to make use of my time."


    The old man chuckled and took out something, "Wait a moment, take thispass. Consider it your chance." He presented a bronzepass that was about the size of a teacup to David. "You''ll find it useful."


    David looked down at thepass. It had a slender pointer, entirely made of bronze, giving it the appearance of an ancient artifact. He immediately understood that this was indeed something valuable.


    Looking back at the old man, who smiled kindly at him, David respectfully epted thepass. After all, it was something offered to him, and there was no reason to refuse it.


    "Thank you for your generosity," David said with a bow.


    The old man nodded and his smile spread through the wrinkles on his face. "Remember, in this world, you must be decisive and ruthless. If you need me, just turn the pointer of thepass clockwise three times, and I''ll appear immediately." With that, he walked towards his small wooden hut. As he entered and closed the door behind him, he disappeared into the dissipating mist and fog.


    Only now did David realize that thepass was detachable. As the mist cleared, he remembered that he hadn''t asked the old man for his name. However, he wasn''t concerned, as he was certain this old man would show up again.


    The sun had risen high in the sky, but in the Wastnd World, it was as if the sun was veiled with a thinyer of gauze, making the world appear gloomy and dark.


    Looking around, David saw no signs of any undead creatures, which made him a bit anxious. If he didn''t hurry and kill some zombies, he might not be able toplete the system''s task.


    David wasn''t interested in the system''s rewards; he wanted to learn more about this world throughpleting tasks. Suddenly, he remembered the old man''s words and nced at the bronzepass in his hand.

 Chapter 260 Who Are You

    ?


    However, David didn''t know the specific usage of this bronzepass. He just held it in his hand and gave it a shake. Immediately, the pointer inside the bronzepass trembled a few times and then stopped in a certain direction.


    "Could it be that there are zombie creatures in that direction?" David whispered, looking in the direction indicated by the pointer. He naturally understood thepass''s function, but he believed that the bronzepass given to him by the old man was definitely more than just ordinary. Perhaps it could help him locate zombies.


    After a brief hesitation, David decided to give it a try. After all, the appearance of the old man had scared off all the approaching zombie creatures. Combined with his unfamiliarity with the wastnd, randomly searching for zombies would only waste more of his time.


    Before taking action, David walked over to the corpses of the five zombies that the old man had killed. As he looked at their bodies, the voice of the system echoed in his ears.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for obtaining five intermediate pronuclei! ]


    [Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundred-fold critical strike, obtaining five hundred intermediate pronuclei! ]


    Indeed, just like in the post-apocalyptic world, the level of pronuclei obtained depended on the level and strength of the zombies. These five zombies were all high-level ones, but even so, the pronuclei they yielded were only intermediate level. This made David realize that there were creatures in the wastnd even more powerful than high-level zombies.


    At this point, David ced his palm on their bodies once again.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting five blood bones! ]


    [Five blood-stained bones appeared before David.]


    This made David feel a bit disappointed. He hadn''t expected that the high-level zombies would only yield five blood bones, which seemed rather insignificant to him. However, he thought that these could be a decent gift for Fatso.


    David looked at the now-worthless zombie bodies, stood up, and looked in the direction indicated by the pointer. He decided to give it a try, as he believed that his idea might be correct. Following the direction pointed by the bronzepass, David walked toward the northeast of the wastnd.


    As he walked, the surroundings remained eerily quiet, as if there were no signs of life at all. David knew that this was unusual. There had to be roaming zombie creatures around, but it seemed like the appearance of the old man had made them flee far away.


    Continuing onward, David encountered a few mutated gray wolves. After swiftly dispatching them, he extracted some pronucleus fragments from their bodies. ording to the system''s exnation, a certain number of pronucleus fragments could be exchanged for a whole pronucleus. The higher the level of the pronucleus, the more fragments were needed. A high-level pronucleus could require tens of thousands of fragments.


    This caused David to click his tongue in amazement. However, he realized that the reason high-level pronuclei required so many fragments was that they were extremely precious and likely held significant benefits for his strength. This thought put him at ease. With the assistance of the hundredfold critical hit system,, he quickly obtained over a hundred pronucleus fragments.


    As David continued walking, suddenly more and more mutated creatures appeared, their strength surpassing that of the creatures in the post-apocalyptic world. However, in his eyes, they were still just small animals.


    Within a short span of time, David had killed three mutated gray wolves, five zombie deer, and ten bloodthirsty wild rabbits. After extracting thest corpse of a bloodthirsty wild rabbit, David looked at the trembling pointer of the bronzepass.


    "Hmm? Something''s up?" David quickly looked up, only to see that not far ahead, in a small forest, there were constant rustling sounds, as if something was moving.


    David immediately stowed away the bronzepass and focused his attention as he walked toward the source of the sounds. He knew that this was likely the final direction indicated by the bronzepass.


    As he approached the small forest, the sounds grew more distinct, and a dense aura of malevolence emanated from within. Just as David was about to get closer, a massive mutant lizard about five meters long emerged from the woods. Its long body dragged behind a tail resembling a steel whip, while its body was covered in thick scales. With just a nce, it was clear that this was a creature that ruled over everything!


    The mutant lizard flicked its tongue, fixating its gaze on David, and continuously swayed its tail to demonstrate its strength. David observed the creature with a slight frown, for when it appeared, even the mutated gray wolves and other creatures nearby fled in panic. It seemed that the appearance of the mutant lizard posed a deadly threat to them.


    "It looks like a formidable foe!" David muttered to himself, gripping the spatial de in his hand. He was confident he could defeat it, although it might take some time. He considered the possibility that killing this colossal creature could bring him substantial rewards. With this in mind, David focused and prepared to demonstrate his own prowess to it.


    The mutant lizard continued flicking its tongue, provocatively staring at David, and even swung its tail, smashing a fleeing gray wolf into a pulp as it passed by. It then turned its head and devoured the body of the mutated gray wolf in one bite. As the food entered its belly, its body seemed to grow evenrger, its aura bing even more overwhelming.


    Just as David was raising his hand to activate his corrosion ability, a voice echoed in his ears: "Run! It will see you as food and eat you!"


    David froze momentarily, then turned his head in the direction of the voice. A boy of about ten years old had popped his head out from behind a rock, looking at David with a concerned expression as he shouted.


    Seeing David standing still, the boy grew even more anxious, waving his hand at David and shouting again, "Come over here quickly! If you''re toote, it will get angry! That creature is the ruler here, and no one dares to provoke it! If you''re toote, you''re dead!"


    Hesitating for a moment, David walked toward the boy as he had said. Before he reached the rock, the boy rushed out and pulled David behind the cover.


    "Don''t move, as long as we don''t move, that thing won''t find us!" The boy cautioned David, while subtly sticking his head out to observe the movements of the mutant lizard.


    David followed suit and saw the mutant lizard. Once it noticed that David had moved away, it looked around and, seeing no further disturbances, returned to the forest. The boy let out a sigh of relief and then looked up at David triumphantly, "See? I saved your life! If it weren''t for me, you would''ve been its dinner, just like that gray wolf."


    David looked at the boy and gave a faint smile. However, his expression quickly grew cold. He stood up and looked at the boy, asking, "Who are you? Why are you here in the wastnd world?" As he spoke, David raised his spatial de.

 Chapter 261 Harbor Sinister Intentions

    ?


    Upon hearing the young boy''s voice, David became particrly puzzled. How could there be a boy here in the wastnd world, where most espers couldn''t even breathe normally? And judging by his appearance, he seemed to be quite familiar with everything around here.


    This made David instantly make aparison. He thought that if this young boy really had some ulterior motives, he posed a greater threat than the mutant lizard before him. Human hearts are unpredictable, and humans are the mostplex creatures. So, David chose to approach him, wanting to figure out his intentions.


    As David asked, the young boy hesitated for a moment, then pouted with an annoyed expression, "I saved your life, and you still doubt me? If I knew that, I should''ve let the mutant lizard eat you!"


    David responded with a cold smile. To him, the mutant lizard was nothing but a trivial threat. It was this seemingly ordinary boy who had more suspicious points.


    The young boy continued, getting up from the ground and brushing off some dirt while ncing at David, "I also ended up here by ident. After living here for a while, I naturally learned everything about this ce. If you don''t believe me, I can take you to where I live. My little sister is waiting for me there! She''s super cute. You can''t say she''s a monster too, right?"


    Trying to prove his identity, the young boy extended his hand for a handshake. Davidplied. As their skin made contact, a warmth, like that of a human, passed through David''s fingers.


    This caused David to involuntarily furrow his brows. He nced at the leaves slightly rustling in the woods and followed the young boy deeper into the wastnd.


    Along the way, the young boy narrated various strange urrences in the wastnd world, "Did you know? There are many weird bugs here that fly around at night. And in the early hours of three or four, a lot of gray wolves gather on the mountaintop and howl like crazy. Once, there was a family of four here, and a mutant crocodile turned them all into minced meat!"


    David paused and looked at him, asking, "A family of four?"


    The young boy nodded, "They had a miserable end. They didn''t even have time to react. What would ordinary people be doing here, courting death?"


    He let out a heavy sigh, his tone contrasting with his age.


    David nced at him and put on an expression of indifference. Twenty minutester, he followed the boy to a valley.


    The valley was surrounded by mountains on all sides, with a t area in the middle. The perimeter was covered with lush forests. It didn''t seem like a suitable ce for human habitation, but considering it was the wastnd world, it wasn''t a ce for ordinary humans anyway.


    "If my sister knew we had a guest, she would be so happy! She might even cook something delicious for you. She''s an amazing cook!" The young boy was bouncing ahead, leading the way to a house not far away.


    Before long, a girl of a simr age as the boy poked her head out of the room. The young boy exchanged a couple of words with her and then pointed towards David. The girl looked at David, her face filled with joy.


    "If it wasn''t for me saving him today, he would''ve been just like that family of four, doomed die." The young boy continued, clearly proud of his "aplishment."


    David gave a faint smile and looked at the girl. With her hair tied in a ponytail, fair cheeks that appeared somewhat pale, delicate features, and a pair of watery big eyes, along with her clean and pretty Lolita dress, she indeed resembled a budding beauty.


    "Hello," the young girl shyly said to David. He nodded in response.


    "Come inside, the night will be here soon, and those awful bugs will start flying around. David looked up at the sky, the moon already losing its luster in the dim grayish hue, and the surroundings rapidly growing darker.


    David followed the two into the house. Upon entering, he caught a whiff of a peculiar fragrance. He looked around and found the room spotless and exceptionally clean, as if it had been deliberately cleaned just before his arrival.


    Sitting down on a chair, David noticed the young boy handing him a ss of water. He lifted the ss briefly, then ced it on the table.


    "You must be tired today. Have a drink to moisten your throat," the young boy casually remarked.


    "No need, I''m not thirsty," David replied simply, his attention still on the surroundings.


    The young boy responded with an "oh" and proceeded to help his sister prepare dinner. In a short while, they brought a few simple dishes to the table.


    "You must be hungry after a day''s work. Eat up! We prepared this specially for our guest. We hardly ever eat such things ourselves!" The young boy swiftly ced a pair of chopsticks in front of David and looked at him expectantly.


    ncing at the dishes on the table, David shook his head again. "Since that''s the case, take advantage of this opportunity and eat more. I have my own food." He reached into the system inventory and took out a gically cleansed gene fruit that he had picked earlier. He sat down and started eating it.


    Seeing that David wasn''t touching the food, both of them appeared disappointed. Suddenly, the young boy seemed to recall something and said to his sister, "Is there another dish in the kitchen? Bring it out quickly. That''s the most delicious one!" The young girl nodded, a bit puzzled, and was then pulled by her brother to the kitchen outside the room.


    David saw this and slipped to the doorway. Leaning against the wooden wall, he could hear everything from the kitchen.


    "Damn it! This guy doesn''t look easy to deal with! What should we do? Since he''s here, he definitely won''t leave today!"


    "What about the mutant lizard? Summon it here. If needed, we can stew him and feed it to our pet!"


    "Daring toe to the wastnd alone, he really doesn''t know who gave him the courage."


    Two voices, male and female, slightly aged, pierced through the wall and entered David''s ears. Simultaneously, David also caught a faint scent of decay, presumably emanating from the two of them.


    "Just as I suspected, these two are up to no good!" David chuckled lightly, a murderous intent emerging on his face. He quickly returned to his chair and continued eating the gene fruit.

 Chapter 262 Time Essence Water

    ?


    Before long, the two entered the room with a steaming bowl of food.


    "This is the most delicious food in the wastnd. You must try it, or else it wouldn''t do justice to my sister''s over an hour of hard work!" Before David could say anything, the young boy took a te and filled it with a heaping spoonful of food, then looked at him as if waiting for David to eat it all.


    David nced at the two and a subtle smile appeared on his lips, not easily noticeable. "I suppose this meat is all from your kind, right?" Hearing this, both of them sat there stunned.


    "Don''t pretend anymore. From the moment you appeared, I knew you weren''t human. Ordinary people can''t survive in the wastnd, let alone that family of four that was killed by mutant alligators. The smell in the room is probably something you deliberately used to cover up the smell of decay, isn''t it? And you''re in such a hurry to make me eat what you''ve prepared; there must be plenty of poison in there." Saying this, David tossed the core of the gene fruit into the nearest te of food.


    A sharp sound, and the core instantly turned to ashes. Seeing their plot exposed by David, the two no longer concealed their true nature. With a leap backward, they revealed their real faces. Both of them were decrepit old people, short in stature, with rotting skin on their faces, and putrid blood oozing from within.


    Clearly, they were two zombies, unlike ordinary ones. They possessed greater strength, could even transform into human appearance, speak humannguage naturally, and employ strategies. They stood in ce, ring at David with malevolence.


    "Now that you''ve seen through us, you won''t be leaving today! Once we consume you, the two of us willpletely be human. Hahaha!" The old man who had previously been the young boy had a fierce expression as he threatened David.


    David finally understood. It seemed that these two had killed numerous espers who hade here. However, David wasn''t the feeble target they perceived.


    "Your power isn''t enough. Summon the mutant lizard," David said, turning and leaving the room.


    The night was icy, and faint chirping sounds echoed in the sky. Watching David leave the room, the two exchanged a nce and followed him.


    "I didn''t expect you to know that the mutant lizard is our pet. But this will be thest thing you know. I will reward your bones to my most capable pet!" The old man whistled toward the forest, and instantly, the rustling of leaves filled the air. First came a roar, followed by the aggressive mutant lizard charging out, the same one that David encountered during the afternoon! It stuck out its tongue and stood by the two, staring at David.


    During the day, when David encountered it, they had noticed David''s presence and released the mutant lizard to intimidate him, then acted their part. However, now that everything was exposed, they had no need to continue the charade.


    "Now, obediently follow mymands. Perhaps I can make your death morefortable." The old man drew an iron chain from his waist, and the old woman carried the machete she had with her when leaving the room.


    The two stood there, gazing at David like long-awaited predators, awaiting the opportunity to kill him and enjoy a hearty meal.


    David''s face remained calm as he shook his head at the two.


    "You''re too arrogant, but do you know what true arrogance is?" As his words fell, David sneered, and the cold gleam of the spatial de appeared in his hand. With a swift sound, he appeared in front of the old man.


    "This is true arrogance. Are you worthy of it?" The spatial de followed David''s hand, sweeping across the old man''s neck. Instantly, arge amount of blood spurted out, and he clutched his neck while his Adam''s apple convulsed in agony.


    "You..." a few indistinct words were uttered, and David once again plunged de slowly into his heart.


    "Since you want to die, let you savor the pleasure of death." The spatial de pierced through his heart inch by inch, making it impossible for him to bear the pain. As the spatial de fully entered his heart, he widened his eyes in disbelief, then copsed to the ground. The iron chain in his hand also fell to the ground with a tter. David turned his head to look at the old woman.


    "Old man! I''m going to kill you!" The old woman roared in anger, wielding herrge knife towards David, but how could her strengthpare to David''s? With a slight move, David easily dodged her attack, then swiftly struck. Two bodiesy side by side.


    "As a family, even in death, you should be neat." David coldly remarked, looking at their bodies. Seeing their master being quickly dispatched by David, the mutant lizard became agitated. It continued to roar angrily, charging towards David.


    The massive body was like a small mountain, causing the ground to tremble with its impact as it charged towards David. Just as the mutant lizard reached David, he retracted his spatial de. He raised his right fist, and an overwhelming aura erupted from it,David''s upgraded Level 11 technique, the Crushing Sky Fist, showcasing its true power.


    David wanted to seize this opportunity to test the real power of the Crushing Sky Fist at Level 11. At that moment, the mutant lizard had reached him. Its enormous head, resembling a lotive, was hurtling towards David!


    David shouted explosively, his right fist thrusting forward. The space near his fist visibly distorted due to the immense force.


    "Boom!" In the blink of an eye, David''s fist struck the mutant lizard''s head. The shockwaves generated visible ripples in the surrounding space, causing colossal boulders and trees to disintegrate into powder!


    The mutant lizard let out a painful roar, and its entire body suddenly flipped over, crashing onto the ground. The earth trembled violently once again. David''s punch had literally shattered the mutant lizard''s head. Like a burst water jug, white brain matter gushed out with a sshing sound.


    With just one punch, David hadpletely obliterated the mutant lizard. Looking at the mutant lizard''s corpse, David nodded in satisfaction. This was the level of power he truly desired.


    Walking over to the two bodies, the system''s voice sounded in David''s ear,


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for obtaining two Intermediate Pronuclei! ]


    [Congrattions to the host for triggering a 100x critical hit, obtaining two hundred Intermediate Pronuclei! ]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting a piece of Mysterious Iron! ]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting a bottle of Time Essence Water! ]


    "Time Essence Water?" Hearing the system''s voice, David was momentarily taken aback.

 Chapter 263 Black Insects

    ?


    Next, a small bottle of transparent Time Essence Water appeared in David''s hand. Looking at this bottle of liquid, David marveled. Thinking about the childlike appearance of those two individuals earlier, David thought that it might be due to this bottle of Time Essence Water.


    However, its effect wasn''t significant for David, so he simply stashed it away in the system''s storage. Walking up to the mutant lizard''s carcass, the system''s voice sounded in David''s ear,


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for obtaining an Intermediate Pronucleus! ]


    [Congrattions to the host for triggering a critical hit, obtaining a hundred times the Intermediate Pronucleus! ]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting an exotic beast bone! ]


    Afterpleting all of this, the sky had grownpletely dark. Looking at the pitch-ck surroundings, David decided to stay here for the night. After all, the house those two had owned could serve as a ce for him to rest.


    Just as David was about to enter the room, a series of sounds suddenly reached his ears from the sky. Frowning, David followed the sound. He saw a mass of ck shadows, like a dense cloud, rapidly moving towards him in the sky. Its speed and formidable presence left David with no time to react. He quickly turned and entered the room, shutting the door behind him.


    "Bzzz!" This mass of shadows relentlessly crashed into the wooden door and windows, seemingly having detected David and wanting to encircle him.


    At this moment, David finally saw the true appearance of this mass of shadows through the window. It wasposed of hundreds of ck insects, constantly pping their wings. Their small, bright eyes stared at David, much like the mutant lizard before.


    Looking at these restless insects, David immediately remembered encountering identical insects when he first came to the Wastnd World. However, at that time, he casually swatted one of those seemingly inconspicuous insects to the ground.


    Now sensing the aura of these insects, David realized that they were likely another "specialty" of the Wastnd World. He also recalled the words the young boy had said to him on the way here.


    "Strange insects always fly out at night." Considering the current situation, David understood that this was likely the only true statement amidst the boy''s lies. The question was, why were there so many insects now?


    David stared at the dense mass of insects, and a few had even managed to slip in through the gaps in the window. With a single swing of his de, he cleaved these insects into two segments that fell to the ground. As they hit the ground, they emitted a faint, ear-piercing sound, almost like a wail.


    The insects outside the room became even more agitated upon hearing this sound. They continued to collide with the windows and wooden door, causing the wooden panels on the walls to loosen slightly.


    Seeing this, David made a quick decision. He opened the door and unleashed a series of punches. He knew that even if he didn''t deal with these enigmatic insects now, they could potentially cause him troubleter on.


    After all, David was already an esper in the Wastnd World, and he would ept all the peculiarities of this ce,e what may. Seeing David emerge, these ck insects instantly shifted their focus and swarmed towards him.


    At this moment, David finally noticed that each of these insects had a long proboscis at their mouths, particrly sharp at the tip. He spected that this must be their weapon of attack.


    As the oing insects charged, David responded by throwing punch after punch. The formidable Crushing Sky Fist caused waves of immense impact to ripple through the air around his body.


    Those insects were quickly affected by these shockwaves, and each one of them, even before touching David, was crushed into ashes. In the blink of an eye, all hundreds of ck insects were killed by David, and they merged with the slightly darkened ground, while a few lucky ones that hadn''t charged at him immediately changed direction and flew away.


    It seemed like these insects had some level of intelligence, knowing to avoid the formidable David. Without hesitation, David followed these few remaining insects, flying through the void. After about ten minutes, David saw the insectse to a halt and fly towards a forest.


    Gazing at the forest, David sensed an aura he had never perceived before. It made him furrow his brows and draw his alloy short knife. He had a feeling that something was amiss within that forest. Perhaps it hid some terrifying zombie creature.


    As he touched the ground, David entered the forest with cautious steps. The forest was particrly damp, and the soil beneath his feet was quite sticky, feeling like he was stepping on mud. The air was tainted with a stench of rotting flesh, causing David to cover his mouth and nose. As he ventured deeper into the forest, he once again spotted the ck insects.


    These insects were now settled on arge tree. After their luminescent eyes scanned the surroundings, theynded on a mound of dirt. David looked at the raised mound and saw that hundreds of ck insects had gathered around it. They formed a dense cluster, and beside the moundy the decayed corpse of a mutated deer. Evidently, this was the food they had captured.


    Meanwhile, more insects were emerging from the mound of dirt. David spected that this might be their nest. He was puzzled by how these insects managed to survive in the wastnd. Watching them drag the deer carcass, David wondered if they were taking it somewhere specific.


    David crouched down, nning to continue observing. As several ck insects entered the nest, they scurried about in agitation. The other insects quickly hastened their pace in dragging the carcass. It seemed that they had learned about David''s presence from the surviving insect.


    Hundreds of insects, pulling a deer carcass weighing hundreds of pounds, moved at an astonishing speed. They soon arrived at an open area. Bathed in the dim moonlight, David gazed at the clearing. However, what he saw left him astounded. The area was covered with densely packed mounds, each surrounded by crawling insects.


    In the center of the clearing was an enormous circr nest, about five meters in diameter. Around this nest, over a thousand insects had gathered. They dragged the carcass of the mutated deer to the side of the nest and then seemed to be waiting for something. All the insects stopped at once, lowering their heads towards the nest.


    A silence fell over the surroundings, and David''s gaze remained fixed on the nest, his eyes brimming with seriousness.

 Chapter 264 Zerg

    ?


    Soon, the decaying smell emanating from the mutated deer''s body seemed to attract something within the nest. A hissing sound echoed, followed by a giant bug about one meter in size, with a golden-yellow body, slowly crawling out of the nest.


    "Zerg King ?" David couldn''t help but blurt out in spection upon seeing the bug. As the Zerg King appeared, all the surrounding insects lowered their heads deeply in reverence. Clearly, this Zerg King was regarded as a god-like presence in the perception of these insects.


    David crouched down, continuing to gaze at the scene before him. After crawling out of the nest, the bug''s mouth, adorned with two huge fangs, devoured the mutated deer''s carcass. At the moment the food entered its stomach, the golden-yellow light on its body grew increasingly radiant, as if it was being empowered.


    Observing the aura emitted by the Zerg King , David decided to uncover the origins of this creature. Although the post-apocalyptic world was full of various bizarre zombie-like monsters, he hadn''t expected a mere insect to mutate to such a terrifying extent. He felt that this Zerg King seemed to have a close connection to the deste world, otherwise, it wouldn''t have survived in such a ce.


    However, David didn''t intend to draw the Zerg King ''s attention for now. With possibly tens of thousands of insects in this forest and the unpredictable strength of the Zerg King , he didn''t want to take the risk.


    After pondering for a moment, David remembered the old man at the Abyssal Graveyard. The old man had mentioned that David could approach him anytime if he needed help, indicating he had a good understanding of the world.


    So, David quietly retreated from the forest and returned to the initial valley. He took out the bronzepass and opened the outer ss cover. David turned thepass needle three times clockwise. Right after this, a dense mist and miasma suddenly emerged from the void, and the small wooden hut appeared before David''s eyes.


    "Kid, what''s the matter that you''re bothering me in the middle of the night?" The old man seemed to be sleeping but was summoned by David.


    With a slightly apologetic smile, David said, "I''m really sorry to disturb you sote, but I want to know the background of that Zerg King in the forest."


    "Zerg King ? When did you go there?" Upon hearing this, the old man''s expression turned somewhat nervous as he stared at David.


    "Just a moment ago, I stumbled upon it unintentionally," David didn''t go into the details, he just wanted to know the origin of these insects.


    "No conflict with that guy?" The old man''s expression remained tense, and David shook his head.


    "That''s good, that''s good! Luckily you''re fortunate, otherwise, you would''ve caused a great disaster!" David felt even more confused by his words.


    In his view, the old man possessed deep and unfathomable strength. Why did he seem worried and fearful when discussing these insects? So he asked again, "What are those insects exactly? Are they rted to thews of the wastnd world?"


    The old man nced at David and sat down on a nearby bamboo chair, saying, "They are the Zerg of the wastnd world, controlling everything here. The Zerg King you saw is the leader of the Zerg, It canmand all the insects in the wastnd world. It''s because of their presence that this ce has be so wastnd ." The old man sighed as if remembering something, then added, "The ruler of all in this wastnd, Zerg King "


    David sensed the underlying message in the old man''s words. In other words, all the rules here are controlled by the Zerg, represented by Zerg King , and all the zombie-like monsters are its subjects.


    However, David felt that the old man''s words were a bit exaggerated. He had encountered mutated creatures like the Fierce Spirit Golden Beetles during the apocalypse, and he had defeated them with ease. After all, it was just an insect. How much of a threat could it pose? Could it really dominate all life here?


    Looking at the old man, David felt that he was trying to intimidate him. The old man noticed the skepticism in David''s eyes and became somewhat anxious.


    "I''m already quite old. Can''t I even deceive you? Let me tell you, Zerg King ''s level surpassed the twelfth level long ago, and it''s even approaching the level of a Demon King. Can you imagine its strength? I''ve seen a young man about your age who came here wanting to challenge Zerg King . However, it let out a roar that scared him away. Even some high-level zombies can only be considered snacks in its eyes." The old man stood up and exined to David in a series of words.


    The old man knew David didn''t believe him, but he was the first human to enter this wastnd world, so he naturally had an unparalleled understanding of everything here. Listening to the old man''s words, David suddenly realized that the young man mentioned earlier was probably Danny. However, by now, that guy had be a lonely ghost.


    "At the beginning, the wastnd world was an oasis of survival independent of the apocalypse. There were no zombie-like monsters or mutated animals here. There were green mountains, clear waters, and fragrant flowers, just like a paradise. But those insects suddenly appeared from somewhere, and in just a few days, they used their powerful reproductive abilities to fill every corner with their own species. As a result, theypletely destroyed everything here. The first insect that entered also established the Zerg centered around it. Under its influence, numerous powerful zombie-like monsters gradually emerged. The Zerg''s strength has surpassed our human imagination." The old man exined the origin of the wastnd world to David, with a sense of nostalgia in his eyes and a heavy tone in his voice.


    Listening, David gained a deeper understanding of the wastnd world. However, he was surprised to learn that this ce used to be a human survival oasis and had now turned into a wastndnd.


    "Is this really the work of the Zerg?" David mumbled to himself as he surveyed the barren mountains and hills around him. Even so, he didn''t find the Zerg''s strength to be as formidable as others imed.


    In the apocalypse, David was someone who became stronger when faced with challenges. Now in the wastnd world, he was striving to increase his strength. How could he submit to a Zerg?


    However, David also understood that now wasn''t the right time to confront Zerg King or eliminate the Zerg. He had just arrived and needed to grasp all the rules here before he could efficiently defeat Zerg King .


    In battles, David never engaged in unpreparedbat. As soon as he took action, there was only one oue: the opponent bing a lifeless corpse.

 Chapter 265 Kui

    ?


    Seeing the determination on David''s face, the old man sighed again. He knew that the young man before him was definitely not an ordinary esper. His ability to enter the Deste World single-handedly already proved a lot.


    But the Deste World and the apocalypse were two different realms. Any zombie-like monster within it could potentially possess formidable strength. Could this young man truly handle it?


    However, the old man quickly dispelled this thought because David softly uttered a sentence: "This is the world of humans, not a paradise for bugs."


    Hearing this, the old man''s eyes lit up. He didn''t expect David to say something like that, especiallying from a young person in his twenties. As a fellow human, he had long grown tired of the eerie aspects of this world and felt intense anger towards those detestable insects. This was their homnd. When did it be the domain of lowly insects?


    The old man''s gaze towards David started to fill with admiration. In the current world, he had seen too many humans who sold their souls for survival, never considering their homnd. They were even willing to be pawns under themand of zombie-like monsters. However, David waspletely different. The old man saw hope in him,hope unique to humans.


    "I''ll make them realize the might of humans. This is a war of races, and it''s also a one-sided massacre." At this moment, David also recalled the disasters that humanity had suffered since the apocalypse. He couldn''t afford to sit idly. If the Zerg spread beyond the wastnd World, it would truly be a catastrophe for humanity. If this world needed a savior for humanity, David would unhesitatingly step up.


    "I believe you. Once you obtain the Heart of the Zerg, these insignificant creatures will lose their reliancepletely."


    The Heart of the Zerg? David remembered that Danny had mentioned this before.


    Seeing David''s curiosity, the old man nodded and exined, "It''s the Zerg''s totem. Once you possess it, you can control all the Zerg, and evenmand all the living creatures of the Deste World. Unfortunately, I don''t know where the Heart of the Zerg is."


    A tinge of disappointment appeared on the old man''s face, but David wasn''t concerned. He knew he would find the Heart of the Zerg on his own.


    Subsequently, David asked the old man for more information about the Deste World, and the old man shared everything he knew.


    Soon, the sky began to lighten, but for ordinary people, this marked the beginning of terror. After a night of learning, David had gained a deeper understanding of the Deste World.


    "Kid, don''t disappoint me," the old man said with a kindly smile, looking at David. With that, he walked into the small wooden hut and disappeared from sight. As David looked around the empty surroundings, he decided to rest for a moment.


    There was still a day left until the task of killing thirty zombie-like monsters. David was no longer in a hurry because he knew that he could easily capture three hundred of them if he wished. Moreover, zombie-like monsters were everywhere; he didn''t need to rush. What mattered most now was his own energy.


    Without further thought, David entered the house behind him. After a brief moment of contemtion, he summoned Mandy.


    "If anything stirs, wake me up immediately," David instructed Mandy.


    With the rise in David''s rank, Mandy''s strength also reached its peak. After entering the wastnd world, she even gained a hint of enlightenment. She nodded stiffly at David and walked to the doorway, standing there quietly. David casuallyy down on the sofa and began to rest.


    Meanwhile, in another direction of the wastnd.


    "Only him?"


    "Yes, Your Majesty. The old man has already left. Only the young man remains now." In a hidden cave, a man knelt before a throne, speaking respectfully.


    Seated upon the throne was a woman in a red robe, with a fairplexion and long flowing hair. She exuded an aura of decay whilezily sitting there, sparking endless imagination. She emitted a faint scent of rot.


    "If the Zerg King wishes, I can bring his head to you right now!" The man''s tone grew increasingly deferential. The scent of decay emanating from him indicated that he, like the woman, was a zombie.


    However, they had surpassed the realm of high-level zombies, bing the ceiling of the wastnd world''s zombies ¨C Kui. Kui existed only in the wastnd world and represented a long-rising force. They possessed formidable strength, capable of instantly killing high-level zombies and even level-nine espers.


    They could even use their abilities to mask the scent of zombies and maintain a human form. The woman referred to as the Zerg King by the man was the leader of the Kui in the wastnd world. Her name was Vi, an eleventh-level Kui, incredibly powerful. Just her presence alone could send all zombie creatures fleeing in panic.


    Listening to the man''s words, Vi lifted her head and smiled faintly, her slender fingers brushing her hair from her ear. "Has the Heart of the Zerg been located?" Instead of directly responding to the man, Vi inquired about the Heart of the Zerg.


    "No... not yet." The man suddenly became flustered, burying his head deeply.


    This answer caused a slight furrow in Vi''s brow, and a cold expression appeared on her face. "Useless! Can''t even deal with a group of insects!"


    "Please calm down, Your Majesty! I will make sure to act promptly!" The man replied in fear. After all, living in the wastnd world, he was well-versed in its rules of survival.


    The Zerg was their greatest enemy, the force they aimed to eliminate in order to rule the wastnd world. Vi had been sending people to find the Heart of the Zerg. However, despite the time that had passed, there was still no information about it.


    Considering the immense strength of the Zerg King , Vi''s expression turned grave. In her view, as long as they couldn''t obtain the Heart of the Zerg, they couldn''t kill the Zerg King . And if that happened, she would never be the ruler of thisnd. This reminded her once again of the human who had entered this world alone, a person she saw as nothing more than seeking death.


    However, Vi didn''t mind enlightening this human about the dangers of thend. She said to the man, "Give that human a little surprise when the timees. Also, hurry up and find the Heart of the Zerg. Don''t disappoint me."


    The man quickly nodded while kneeling on the ground. "I will definitely not disappoint you, Your Majesty!"


    With that, the man lowered his head and left the cave. As the faint sunlight streamed in from the cave entrance, Vi wore a seductive smile. "Today is another beautiful day..."

 Chapter 266 Mandys Rising Strength

    ?


    The sleep had refreshed David considerably. The past few days, being new to the wastnd world and upied with fortification arrangements, had left him without a proper rest.


    Upon opening his eyes, David saw Mandy still standing quietly nearby. He offered a faint smile, noticing a subtle change in her appearance ,her once straw-like skin now had a hint of flesh-like texture. This surprised him, and he reasoned that it might be due to their entry into the wastnd world.


    Although the air here was filled with an aura of death, non-human creatures seemed to thrive in this environment. Mandy had evidently been influenced by the atmosphere as well.


    David suddenly thought about the bottle of extracted Temporal Water. He believed that it might have some effects on Mandy. After all, those two old men had drastically transformed themselves using this liquid.


    So, David retrieved the bottle of Temporal Water from his system inventory. Upon opening the cap, a faint, pleasant fragrance wafted out. After catching a whiff of the scent, Mandy''s eyebrows subtly twitched.


    David extended his hand towards her, gesturing for her toe closer. Standing before David, Mandy looked at the Temporal Water in his hand, a rare glimmer of joy appearing on her face.


    "So, can''t resist taking a sip already?" David chuckled, then stood up and helped Mandy take a sip.


    As the liquid flowed in, a rosy hue suddenly bloomed on Mandy''s face. Her body, originally woven from straw, became astonishingly smooth. Upon closer inspection, faint veins and blood vessels were even visible beneath her skin.


    This thrilled David, and he gazed in amazement at the transformed Mandy. If the Temporal Water could turn Mandy into a human, it would be great news for him.


    This meant that in the wastnd world, Mandy could apany David like a normal human. Not only could she help him ovee challenges, but she could also contribute in various ways.


    Soon, the entirety of the Temporal Water entered Mandy''s mouth. In that moment, she twisted her neck slightly and produced a syble: "Delicious."


    Although only one words, they meant a lot to David. Hearing a straw figure speak like a human was nothing short of incredible. And David had achieved it. Afterward, Mandy continued to move various parts of her body. Whether extending her hand, throwing a punch, or even walking, everything became fluid and natural, no longer awkward and stiff as before.


    Satisfied, David nodded. Now he could have Mandy by his side whenever he needed. However, it seemed that the amount of Temporal Water might have been insufficient, as Mandy''s transformation wasn''tpletely human-like. There were still traces of straw in her skin, and herplexion was somewhat dim.


    Still, this was more than satisfactory for David. He just wasn''t sure about herbat abilities now.


    At that moment, footsteps echoed outside the room. David''s brow furrowed as he drew his alloy short knife and approached the door. Mandy seemed to sense danger too, swiftly positioning herself beside David. Herrge, watery eyes fixed on the outside, ready to attack at any moment. The footsteps halted, and the neer seemed to be contemting something.


    After a brief moment, a voice entered David''s ears: "Come out. While you''re still alive. Take a good look at the scenery here." The tone was cold and carried an air of preparedness.


    Hearing this, David no longer concealed himself. He swung open the door and stepped outside, with Mandy immediately following to guard him. Outside the door stood three men dressed in ck robes. As David emerged, they lifted their heads to size David up, their expressions particrly disdainful.


    "Who are you?" David asked as he spoke up. Anyone who could appear here was certainly not an ordinary individual.


    The leader of the "Kui", was the same man who had stood before Vi. He gazed at David and uttered word with a cold tone.


    "Kui?" David recalled the name; it was vaguely mentioned during his conversation with the old men yesterday. However, at the time, his focus had been on the Zerg, and he hadn''t delved into further inquiries.


    But David didn''t care about their background. If they intended to cause trouble, he was curious to see what they were capable of. He was also interested in observing Mandy''s newfound abilities.


    Mandy still wore her calm expression, but unlike before, she was now aware of the need to stand by David''s side. As David observed the three men, he caught a whiff of decay and quickly realized that these three were zombies from the wastnd world.


    The leader of the group seemed to hold no regard for David. Although Vi had only instructed him to teach David a lesson, from his perspective, David had to die today. This reflected his ruthlessness.


    At that moment, another Kui stepped forward, extending a provoking gesture toward David. "From now on, this day is your death anniversary," he said, followed by a chillingugh. However, before he could even finishughing, Mandy dashed toward him like a gust of wind, grabbing his fingers.


    A "crack" sound echoed, and Mandy forcibly snapped his bones. The man grunted, attempting to strike back, but Mandy didn''t give him a chance. Her fist struck his face.


    Despite being a woman, Mandy disyed an intensity reminiscent of David''s, and her punch left the man momentarily blinded.


    He copsed to the ground, unconscious, with his nose broken. "Nicely done!" David cheered, pumping his fist. He hadn''t anticipated Mandy''s rapid increase in strength; she had taken down her opponent with a single punch.


    Hearing David''s praise, Mandy turned to him, a hint of shyness on her face. However, this infuriated the remaining two men. Seeing theirrade lying motionless on the ground, his nose broken and unmoving, the leader''s expression turned sinister.


    "Today, you both must die! I''ll show you the terror of Kui!" he dered angrily.


    But David wasn''t going to fall for his words. Talking tough wouldn''t work against him. David let his actions speak, turning to Mandy and saying, "Shut them up."


    Mandy nodded and charged at the other man. He raised his fists in response, but he had severely underestimated the explosive force of Mandy''s punch. Her strength was linked to David''s, and her punch carried the might of the Air-Shattering Fist.


    The man couldn''t withstand the blow. He grunted once more as Mandy''s punch knocked him unconscious as well. David grew even more excited. With Mandy by his side, he was now merely an observer. This feeling brought him a strange sense of contentment.

 Chapter 267 Second Base

    ?


    Seeing the person he brought being swiftly dealt with by Mandy, the leader of the group couldn''t hold back. After spending so much time in the wastnd world, who dared to provoke their Kui n? Even the most formidable opponents should show some respect to them; after all, they represented the Queen. Clearly, he felt that David was disrespecting their Kui n.


    "Kid, you''ve got yourself into trouble today! If you can leave here alive, I..." Before the man could finish, a cracking sound echoed, followed by a searing pain on his face. He stood there bewildered, holding his face as he looked at Mandy who had just put down her palm.


    As soon as the man spoke, Mandy decisively delivered a p, one after another. The continuous ps overwhelmed him, making him struggle to cope. His face reddened from the repeated blows. This infuriated himpletely. Stepping back, he drew a bone with steel edges from his waist and red fiercely at Mandy.


    "You wretched woman, I''m going to end your life right now!" He eximed, swinging the bone at Mandy. David observed the man''s arrogant demeanor and shook his head in resignation:"Sigh, some people never learn from their mistakes!"


    Mandy calmly watched the approaching man. Her palm rose once more, gathering a faint stream of energy in her palm. As the man charged at her, Mandy delivered another powerful p.


    "Smack!" The sound was even louder this time, the force behind the p incredibly strong. The man spun in ce before copsing to the ground. Clutching his swollen cheek, he looked at Mandy with fear in his eyes.


    "No, no, no! I was wrong! I was wrong! I won''t provoke you again! Please, spare me!" The man knelt on the ground, his voice trembling in fear as he spoke to Mandy.


    Mandy turned to look at David, and he motioned for her to deal with it herself. He wanted to see if Mandy had inherited his fierceness.


    Understanding his intention, Mandy nodded. She prepared to finish off the man. However, in the instant she turned around, the man suddenly revealed a sinister smile. In the next moment, he transformed into a cloud of ck smoke and vanished. The other two men were also enveloped by this ck smoke and disappeared without a trace. Seeing this, Mandy prepared to chase after the smoke.


    "Stop chasing, they''re just shadows," David intervened in time. He knew that individuals like them posed no threat to him. Mandy halted, looking somewhat apologetic.


    "You''ve done well," David praised, nodding. Mandy''s face brightened with a hint of happiness at his words.


    With Mandy as his ally, David began his mission of killing for the day. After surveying the valley around them, he spotted a few zombies and mutated animals. Before David could act, Mandy swiftly took care of them.


    Inside the cave.


    "Queen, that guy is incredibly powerful! He defeated all three of us without us even putting up a fight!" The leader of the men stared at his swollen face and knelt on the ground, crying.


    The other two also woke up, recalling Mandy''s overwhelming strength. A shiver ran down their spines. Looking at the trio, Vi''s expression was full of disdain. She hadn''t expected them to be so useless, unable to handle even a single human. She was curious about this person who had managed to defeat her three level-nine subordinates so thoroughly.


    "Where is he?" Vi asked coldly.


    "He''s in the Crevice Valley. He probably hasn''t gotten far."


    Vi nodded, then stood up. She hadn''t engaged inbat with others for a long time, and the idea suddenly appealed to her. Turning to the three men, she said, "Lead me there. I want to see who he really is. Daring to be insolent to our Kui n, he really doesn''t give me any face."


    Vi adjusted the strands of her flowing hair and descended, draped in a long crimson robe. Her legs, as white as sheep''s fat, were a sight to behold, arousing desire with just a single nce.


    Upon hearing Vi''s words, the three individuals immediately became excited. In their view, with their queen taking action, no matter how arrogant someone was, they wouldn''t have an easy time! They hurriedly stood up and led Vi towards the Crevice Valley.


    Meanwhile, David was still on a small peak in the valley, dispatching zombies. As Mandy twisted off thest zombie''s head, the system''s voice sounded in David''s ear.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host forpleting the system task! ]


    [Reward distribution in progress! ]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for obtaining the opportunity to enhance the Spatial Gateway! ]


    [After enhancement, the host can freely move within a radius of one hundred miles, ignoring various limitations! ]


    [Additionally, an auxiliary attribute is added to the Spatial Gateway. If the host simultaneously uses the Spatial Gateway and the Space de, the critical strike rate will increase to eighty percent, with an apanying super grievous injury effect! ]


    "Wow, the system is quite extravagant!" David''s eyebrows lifted slightly, and a trace of excitement spread across his face. This enhancement provided him with even more extensive remote movement capabilities than before. He could appear anywhere at any time, whenever he wanted.


    With satisfaction, David nodded and looked at Mandy beside him. A thought urred to him, and he took out a gic fruit from the system''s storage. He wanted to see if Mandy could consume it,after all, she had done all the fighting earlier, and her stamina must have depleted considerably.


    As Mandy eyed the gic fruit curiously, David ate one himself, setting an example. Following David''s lead, Mandy consumed the fruit. As herplexion became rosier again, David realized that the gic fruit had the same revitalizing effect on her, restoring her energy and vitality.


    After a brief rest, David returned to the central room in the valley. He nned to stay here for some time and decided to make it his base of operations to save trouble. Even though the house was dpidated and small, David possessed remodeling capabilities. After expending some materials from the storage, he transformed the house into a basic baseposed entirely of alloy steel tes. Using some defense-type crystals, he swiftly upgraded the base to a golden grade.


    Looking at the sturdy and golden base, David nodded in satisfaction. Mandy also walked around the base, her face disying an excited smile.


    Next, David converted the interior of the base into a basic living space and even created a small area for growing gic fruits.


    Afterpleting these tasks, David sat on the couch, admiring his handiwork. Just then, an aura prated the golden base, catching David''s attention in an instant.

 Chapter 268 Make A Deal

    ?


    David slightly furrowed his brow and chuckled, "Wow, this wastnd world is quite something, zombies one after another."


    However, sensing a slightly different aura, David felt that the neers might not be zombies but rather members of the Kui tribe, simr to those three men. But in David''s view, whether zombie monsters or Zerg-like Kui tribe, they were all stepping stones for him in this wastnd world.


    "Let''s go out and take a look," David said to Mandy as he stood up from the couch. Mandy nodded and followed David out of the base.


    "Hehe, mere humans dare toe to the Wastnd Realm?" as soon as they stepped outside, a seductive and feminine voice sounded.


    David looked up and saw an enchanting woman in a red robe standing there. Her slender fingers casually twirled her long hair by her ear, and a pair of peach blossom eyes stared meaningfully at David. The three men who were previously with her stood by her side; the neer was Vi.


    "Queen, it''s this guy!" the leader man said when he saw Davide out, his expression immediately turning fierce as he pointed at David.


    David couldn''t help but chuckle; it seemed the tactic of calling for backup when unable to fight was universal across worlds. He looked at the Kui tribe woman before him and said, "Humans can tread anywhere. Do you have a problem? Hurry up and take yourckeys away from here. You''re no match for me."


    David''s words were direct, and he didn''t even bother to look at them after a cursory nce. Vi was momentarily stunned, surprised by David''s audacity. Despite her long time in the Wastnd world, she had never encountered someone so arrogant. Even her nemesis, the Zerg, would show her some respect. How was it that in front of this human, she felt inferior?


    However, Vi wasn''t angry; the strangeness of the Wastnd world had already taught her to be deeply cunning.


    "You talk big, but I wonder about your strength. Regardless, you''ve hurt my men, so you owe me an exnation. Otherwise, you won''t leave here alive," each word from Vi was cold and sinister; in her eyes, David had issued a challenge, and she didn''t need to hold back.


    As the Queen of the Kui tribe, she had to exude power and authority; otherwise, how could she establish herself here? The leader man beside her also kept throwing threats at David:"Kid, I advise you to be sensible! If you chop off an arm and a leg right now, perhaps our queen might spare your life! Otherwise, you''ll face consequences like you''ve never imagined!" The other two men, who had been beaten by David, clenched their fists and echoed in agreement.


    "Yes! Go ahead and do it yourself! Daring to be arrogant in front of our Kui tribe, you''re truly underestimating your capabilities!" One by one, they were eager to charge at David and teach him a lesson for what he had done earlier.


    However, when they saw Mandy raising her fist, they involuntarily shivered. David couldn''t stand their noise, waving his hand and saying, "So much nonsense, doesn''t your face hurt?"


    David looked at Vi again and said, "The Wastnd world isn''t just the world of you and the Zerg. If humans want to step in, we will."


    Since the apocalypse, humans had first lived through the end of the world and now found themselves in the wastnd. Even if at this moment, it was just David alone in this ce, he knew that sooner orter, humans would ultimately rule here. All the monsters and ghosts were merely corpses beneath the feet of humans. This world originally belonged to humans. Zombie monsters, Zerg-like Kui tribe, they were all derivatives of the apocalypse. So how could they rise above humans?


    David''s words made Vi hesitate for a moment. He hadn''t expected this human before him to actually know about the Zerg.


    "Could this guy know where the Heart of the Zerg is?" a guess suddenly appeared in Vi''s mind. She had long been eager for the Heart of the Zerg, searching for it for days. Yet until now, there had been no information about it.


    Watching the Zerg grow stronger day by day, Vi couldn''t help but feel anxious. When the Zerg truly became powerful and spread its influence throughout the wastnd world, where would her Kui tribe stand? This was the reason she wanted the Heart of the Zerg, to defeat the Zerg and establish a Kui tribe empire in the wastnd.


    If David knew about the Heart of the Zerg, Vi felt that this human before her, at least for now, wasn''t an enemy. So she looked at David, her tone bing somewhat gentle.


    "Do you know about the Zerg? And do you know about the Heart of the Zerg?" Hearing this name again, David pondered for a moment before nodding. This caused a wave of excitement that Vi couldn''t conceal to spread across her face. Just as she had suspected, this human knew about the location of the Heart of the Zerg. David immediately caught Vi''s reaction and understood her thoughts.


    "Shall we make a deal? If you lead me to find the Heart of the Zerg, I can offer you any assistance you need." Vi couldn''t wait any longer and quickly voiced her idea, her tone drastically different from before. She was treating David as an esteemed guest.


    David couldn''t help but find this situation a bit amusing. He did know about the Heart of the Zerg, but where it was specifically, he had no clue. So, was this woman really about to cooperate with him?


    However, after some consideration, David thought there was no harm in agreeing. It might speed up his familiarity with the wastnd world. Besides, with the Kui tribe''s help, he should be able to find plenty of zombie monsters. So David nodded.


    "No problem, but you have to follow my lead in everything. Otherwise, I can''t guarantee that I''ll be able to help you find the Heart of the Zerg." David had to seize this opportunity and maintain the upper hand.


    Vi agreed without hesitation. She felt that nothing was more important than the Heart of the Zerg, and this human before her didn''t seem capable of stirring up much trouble. Either way, everything would be under her control.


    "Deal!" Seeing David and Mandy transition from enemies to their allies, the leader man was a bit confused. Weren''t they here for revenge? How did they be partners? What about the revenge they three brothers were nning?


    "But..." The man wanted to voice his discontent, but Vi''s gaze silenced him quickly. Touching their still swollen cheeks, the three men could only ept their misfortune.


    "I''m Vi, the Queen of the Kui tribe." Vi introduced herself first.


    David also mentioned his name, though he wasn''t particrly interested in her title as queen. He addressed her by her name directly.


    Vi didn''t mind any of this. With the Heart of the Zerg almost within her grasp, a trace of excitement once again appeared on her fair cheeks.

 Chapter 269 The Guardian

    ?


    Meanwhile, Vi''s gaze lingered on thepleted golden base that David had built behind him. Seeing the powerful aura emanating from the golden base, Vi''s heart skipped a beat. She couldn''t help but walk up to the base, extending her hand to touch it. A faint power entered her fingertips.


    Feeling this power, Vi''s face was filled with astonishment. She turned to David and asked, "Is this your base?" David gave a faint smile and nodded, leaving Vi even more shocked!


    Having survived in the wastnd world for so long, she had never seen such a formidable base. Building a base here was an extremely difficult task due to the pervasive malevolent energy, the cruelty of thews, and the numerous zombie monsters everywhere. Building a base here was destined to be a challenge. Coupled with scarce resources, even constructing an ordinary base was difficult. So, their Kui tribe''s headquarters had remained nothing more than a cave.


    This immediately caused envy to appear on Vi''s face. A sturdy base was a ce where they could fend off Zerg attacks. Looking at David, who seemed ordinary on the surface, she couldn''t help but regard him differently. To be able to produce so many resources in such a short time and build such a sturdy base, he couldn''t be an ordinary individual.


    Simultaneously, Vi pondered and made a decision. She wanted David to help their Kui tribe build an equally strong base. So, suppressing her inner impulse, she said to David, "If you can, I hope you can help our Kui tribe build a simr base. You can set the conditions."


    David had already anticipated this straightforward approach. From Vi''s expression, he could discern her thoughts.


    Currently, the base he was constructing here was only at the golden level. However, it was a system-generated product and thus of excellent quality. After all, how could an ordinary person produce something like this?


    Listening to Vi''s words, David contemted. He still had over a hundred defense-type crystals in his warehouse, more than enough to rebuild a golden base. He knew that Vi''s intentions were merely to utilize him temporarily, and one day, their alliance could turn into rivalry once again.


    However, David was thinking beyond that. He needed all the resources of this wastnd world, whether information about the distribution of various forces, or information about the Zerg.


    Vi clearly knew more about these matters, and David believed this could be a bargaining chip. Even if Vi tried to challenge himter with her base, he had confidence in breaking through her defenses since the base came from his own hands. Naturally, he could fully reim it.


    "Deal!" David readily agreed. Vi became even more excited, delighted that their Kui tribe would finally bid farewell to the cave and have a sturdy base.


    "But I do have conditions," David said, smiling at her once again. Vi nodded; in front of the base, she was willing to ept any conditions David might propose.


    "First, provide me with a thousand junior pronuclei every month." David looked at Vi''s expression.


    Hearing the request for a thousand junior pronuclei per month, Vi contemted for a moment and agreed. Their Kui tribe had been surviving here for a long time, so they naturally had an abundance of junior pronuclei. Even if it was two thousand per month, she believed it would be worthwhile.


    "Second, guide me to find all the zombie monsters here."


    This condition puzzled Vi. Guide him to find zombie monsters? What kind of logic was that? Each of the zombie monsters here had considerable strength. Why would David, a mere human, choose not to avoid them and instead take the initiative to seek them out?


    Vi looked at David, utterly perplexed. But after a moment''s thought, she realized she''d only be responsible for leading the way, so she agreed nheless.


    "Third..." David looked at the leader of the group, who instantly shuddered and dared not meet David''s gaze. Through their queen''s demeanor, he had already be awestruck by David.


    Now that he saw David''s attention on him, he felt certain that his actions had angered him, and now it was time for him to seek revenge in his presence. This made his expression waver between pain and tears. If he had known today, he would never have dared to provoke this individual in the first ce. David''s lips curled into a faint smile as he extended his finger, pointing it at the man.


    "I need a guardian."


    Guardian? Vi looked at David, unsure of what he meant by "guardian." The leader of the group also raised his head, wearing a baffled expression.


    At this point, David knew that the entrance from the apocalypse to the Wastnd world was only through the courtyard. However, there were no barriers there. In other words, if someone as powerful as him, an esper, or even zombies appeared during the apocalypse, there was a high possibility that they could enter the Wastnd world through the courtyard.


    Hence, he needed to gather information about any outsiders, and this was where the role of a guardian came into y. This guardian would stay at the courtyard and constantly monitor any activities there.


    Additionally, if something happened to Sally and the others, they couldmunicate through the guardian, considering that their current strength couldn''t easily venture into the Wastnd world. David didn''t exin this to Vi, he simply awaited her response.


    Though puzzled, Vi didn''t ask further questions. She waved her hand and said to the leader, "Bernard, from now on, you will follow David''s arrangements and serve as the guardian. If any unexpected situations arise, I''ll hold you ountable."


    The man named Bernard hurriedly nodded in agreement. Though reluctant, he yielded to David''s strength and agreed to take on the role of guardian. Afterying out these three conditions, David opened a spatial door and sent Bernard to the courtyard. He instructed him not to leave the courtyard or enter the apocalypse. With that, he turned and left the ce.


    As he left, David summoned flying sword Rainbow. After infusing it with a trace of his aura, he had Rainbow stay alongside Bernard. Rainbow, possessing some intelligence, could be seen as a tool for David to monitor Bernard.


    Now, David didn''t haveplete trust in this member of the Kui tribe, so it was wise to remain cautious. With all this done, David returned to the Wastnd world. The lone Bernard looked at the courtyard in front of him and couldn''t help but nod in satisfaction. Here, he felt a hint of safety, away from the chaos of the Wastnd world.


    Even though a flying sword hung over Bernard''s head, he still felt that this was a rare opportunity. No backstabbing, no Zerg, no ughter. For him, a member of the Kui tribe, this moment offered a warmth he had never experienced before. His respect and admiration for David reached its peak. Somehow, he faintly felt that David was the one who had saved him.


    Back in the Wastnd world, David brought Mandy along with Vi to their Kui tribe''s headquarters. Looking at the untouched cave in its natural state, David smiled.

 Chapter 270 Identifying Violas Weakness

    ?


    In this kind of base, even in the apocalyptic world, David would not give it a second thought, considering it even a restroom. However, to his surprise, in this wastnd world, it had be the headquarters of the Kui tribe.


    This made David shake his head involuntarily, showing sympathy for Vi. A slightly embarrassed expression appeared on Vi''s face as well. It had to be said that this cave was already the most perfect base in this world. However,pared to David''s ultimate base, it was simply insignificant.


    David walked into the cave to take a look around while Vi waited anxiously outside. The group of Kui tribe members stood there in confusion, looking at David, the human, wondering why their queen had brought back a human, and why she seemed to respect him so much.


    When David came out again, he casually threw a dozen alloy steel tes that he had taken from the system warehouse in front of Vi.


    "Tell your people to quickly set up these steel tes in the open space," David said casually. He could directly use the system''s transformation function to quickly build and upgrade the base, but he didn''t want to reveal too much of his hidden abilities to Vi at the moment.


    Vi looked at the heavy alloy steel tes in front of her and quickly instructed her subordinates to lift them and start assembling. Several strong Kui tribe men came forward, their muscles bulging like dragons. They grabbed the edges of the alloy steel tes, trying to lift them effortlessly, but the tes remained unmoved on the ground.


    Several men struggled, turning red and even squatting on the ground trying to lift them together, but the alloy steel tes remained immovable. This scene shocked Vi deeply.


    These Kui tribe members were known for their incredible strength. Normally, a few hundred pounds of weight would be nothing to them. However, these seemingly not heavy alloy steel tes werepletely unmovable to them.


    David smiled faintly, although these alloy steel tes appeared light, each one weighed at least two thousand kilograms. Ordinary people simply couldn''t lift them with strength alone. The reason he did this was also to let the Kui tribe witness his strength in a roundabout way.


    Approaching the alloy steel tes, David waved his hand to signal the men to step back. Vi looked at David with a slightly furrowed brow. She saw David bend down, grab a piece of alloy steel te with one hand, and effortlessly straighten up, lifting two tes that weighed six thousand kilograms in total. It seemed as if he was holding two pieces of paper that were as light as feathers.


    This made the Kui tribe men look at each other in disbelief. Vi was left agape, "Isn''t this a bit too exaggerated?"


    Watching David walk effortlessly with the alloy steel tes, Vi couldn''t believe her eyes. She felt that even she would need her abilities to move these tes, but David did it without any trace of using abilities, stacking them together as if they were nothing.


    David''s physical strength had now reached the level of formidable beings of his rank. With the enhancement of the Golden Defense Layer, his physical strength could even rival some powerful power-type mutant beasts. The weight of several thousand kilograms was no challenge for him.


    Under the gaze of everyone, David assembled these alloy steel tes, forming a preliminary shape of a base. The rear of the base was connected to the cave, expanding the base''s area considerably.


    After finishing all this, David consumed some defense-type crystals and upgraded the base to the level of ck iron. The alloy steel tes glowed briefly, instantly merging into one, and the outline of the base became even more apparent. The Kui tribe members around were left in shock. They had never seen such a sight before, so David''s actions seemed like something incredible to them.


    Vi is no exception. This is her first time witnessing a human disy their supernatural abilities, and it struck her heart instantly. A look of incredible astonishment adorned her face. Stepping into the ck iron base, Vi immediately sensed a vague aura of power within. Being within it felt like standing at the source of strength.


    David also entered with a smile and said, "No need to thank me, just make sure the monthly crystals are in ce."


    Vi nodded, and without a second word, she had her subordinates bring out a thousand junior pronuclei from the cave and ced them in front of David. "Here are a thousand for this month."


    David didn''t expect her to be so efficient. He happily ced the thousand junior pronuclei into the system''s warehouse. Merely obtaining a ck iron-level base was enough for Vi topletely submit. If she were to find out about David''s King-tier base from the Apocalypse, he believed she would question her own existence.


    In other words, Vi, the queen of the Kui tribe, had been taken advantage of. However, David didn''t elevate the base to a higher level. He knew that this was a long-term business. If he suddenly upgraded it to gold or diamond level, the sense of anticipation would be lost. David firmly adhered to the principle of gradually nurturing a venture. With just this ck iron base, he had already gained the upper hand over Vi.


    With this, David''ster actions in the wastnd world became much easier. With the assistance of the local residents, he believed he could explore this world quickly. As for the Heart of the Zerg, he wasn''t in a hurry. From Vi''s words, he could tell that it was a difficult-to-obtain treasure, a treasure of the Zerg. So, he wasn''t concerned about keeping Vi hanging for a few more days to arouse her curiosity.


    Afterpleting everything, it was now noon. Vi instructed her subordinates to prepare lunch. As Kui tribe members, their food mostly consisted of exotic beast meat and some peculiar fruits from the wastnd world. Looking at the dishes of slightly cooked exotic meat brought in by Vi''s subordinates, David shook his head. He wasn''t interested in something still dripping with blood.


    Meanwhile, other Kui tribe members were relishing their meal. Vi and David sat together, both picking up a red fruit to eat.


    Seeing that David wasn''t touching the exotic meat before him, Vi asked, "Not to your taste?"


    David smiled faintly and retrieved a portion of Dongpo pork and a few gene fruits from his warehouse. "You guys enjoy your meal, I''ll eat my own."


    David picked up a piece of Dongpo pork and indulged in it. The mouthwatering aroma of the Dongpo pork made Vi unconsciously salivate. She hadn''t tasted this kind of food before, and the fragrance was hard to resist.


    "Could I have some?" Vi asked with a bit of hesitation.


    David was generous and didn''t mind. After all, he had plenty of these foods in his warehouse system. So, he took out another portion and ced it in front of her.

 Chapter 271 The Wand Of The Wasteland

    ?


    Vi looked at the Dongpo pork still steaming with heat. She picked up a piece of sulent meat and ced it in her mouth. The meat melted on her tongue,bined with its rich vor, it instantly melted Vi''s heart.


    "It''s so delicious!" Vi had never tasted such food before and couldn''t help but exim. Seeing the dignified queen of the Kui tribe react like this, David couldn''t help but shake his head and chuckle.


    At the same time, David''s attention shifted to the te of exotic meat in front of him. He wondered if he could extract something from these semi-cooked exotic meats. So, he gently ced his palm over them and focused his mind.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for sessfully extracting a trace of Beast Soul!]


    The system''s sess notification surprised David. He was merely trying it out, not expecting to actually extract something from these semi-cooked exotic meats. But what was a Beast Soul?


    David thought about it, and the system provided an exnation:


    [Ding! Beast Soul is a resource in the Wastnd World. It can enhance the physical body of exotic beasts and unlock theirtent potential!]


    [Arge quantity of Beast Souls can allow exotic beasts to break through their innate levels and be Asura-level exotic beasts!]


    [Asura-level exotic beasts are divided into ten ranks, and each rank requires a different number of Beast Souls!]


    David nodded inwardly and had a thought: I wonder if Beast Souls would have an effect on C and Little ck. The system''s response indicated that they would.


    This excited David somewhat. This way, Little ck and C could break through the innate levels of post-apocalyptic exotic beasts and be Asura-level exotic beasts.


    Regardless of whether it was for the Embers team or himself, this was a favorable option. Thus, David intended to take advantage of this opportunity and extract more Beast Souls. He ced his palm on the exotic meat in front of Vi.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting five strands of Beast Soul!]


    Vi was deeply engrossed in her Dongpo pork and didn''t pay any attention to David''s actions. David asked her, "Where do you usually ughter and cook these exotic beasts?"


    Vi raised her head and absentmindedly answered that it was done in the innermost kitchen of the cave. She then continued savoring her meal. Watching a woman who had no resistance to Dongpo pork, David stood up and walked straight to the kitchen. Inside, he found various exotic meats hanging and even a few mutated crocodiles locked in cages, ring fiercely at David.


    David couldn''t help but smile. These pieces of meat were clearly not exotic meats; they were C and Little ck, the supplements for Asura-level exotic beasts within the city!


    Walking up to a piece of exotic meat, David continuously triggered his extraction ability.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting a strand of Beast Soul!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting three strands of Beast Soul!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting ten strands of Beast Soul!]


    The system''s sess notifications kept ringing in David''s ears. In no time, David had extracted all the Beast Souls from the exotic meat. He then shifted his gaze to the two mutated crocodiles. Unlike other exotic beasts, these crocodiles were extremely massive and emitted a much stronger aura. It was obvious they weren''t ordinary-level exotic beasts.


    The moment David entered, the mutated crocodiles had been staring at him, treating him as a Kui tribe member who had captured them. They exhibited a fierce demeanor. David extended his palm toward one of them.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting a fragment of the Wand of the Wastnd!]


    "The Wand of the Wastnd?" Hearing this unfamiliar name, David paused for a moment. Then he saw a shining fragment appear in his palm. David carefully examined it and found that it was an incredibly smooth piece, as if it held some kind of power within. Holding it gave a heavy sensation.


    "The Wand of the Wastnd?" Hearing this unfamiliar name, David paused for a moment, then he saw a piece of shining fragment appear in his palm. David carefully examined it and found that it was an incredibly smooth piece, as if it held some kind of power within. Holding it gave a heavy sensation.


    "The Wand of the Wastnd ,Unveil the secrets of the wastnd, surpass all in the wastnd!"


    "One hundred fragments can be exchanged for The Wand of the Wastnd!"


    Two lines of translucent text appeared before David''s eyes. It was then that he understood that the so-called "The Wand of the Wastnd" must be a treasure within the post-apocalyptic world. It could reveal some of the world''s secrets andmand all things. It might even be more powerful than the Heart of the Zerg spoken of by the old man.


    David ced the fragment into his system''s warehouse and then extracted another fragment of The Wand of the Wastnd from the other mutated crocodile.


    Afterpleting all of this, David returned to where the others were.


    At this time, Vi had also finished devouring a portion of the Dongpo pork. She looked at David as he came out, her eyes eagerly fixed on him, as if one serving hadn''t satisfied her. But as the queen of the Kui tribe, she lowered her head in embarrassment. This feeling surprised her; she never thought that she would show such behavior in front of a human.


    David didn''t pay attention to Vi''s strange expression and simply returned to his seat, even though his system''s warehouse was stocked with plenty of Dongpo pork. David knew that anticipation could make someone willingly give everything. He intended to use the level of the base and this small serving of Dongpo pork to make Vipletely submit.


    After a while, Vi regained her usual noble demeanor. However, her gaze toward David still held a hint of anticipation.


    "Next, take me to find those zombie monsters," David said to Vi after consuming a gic fruit to restore his stamina. Vi nodded and also voiced her inner question.


    "The strength of the exotic beasts here is formidable. Even some high-level ones, we Kui tribe members would avoid them. Why are you personally seeking them out?" Vi was genuinely puzzled about David''s intentions.


    David, in response, smiled nonchntly and answered casually, "Just hunting." He had no intention of revealing his true thoughts or the purpose of his arrival in the post-apocalyptic world to Vi.


    "Hunting? Are you treating those fierce exotic beasts as prey?" Vi widened her eyes in disbelief, as she had never heard such a concept before.


    David then stood up and nced at the sky outside. "If we don''t leave soon, I might have to take back the base."


    Vi quickly stood up, not saying another word. She didn''t want to see the base she had just acquired slip away. Apanied by a few of her subordinates, she led David into the wastnd.


    Currently, the wastnd world had no clear borders, and even Vi wasn''t sure where its edgesy. However, it was divided into three regions.


    To the east of where Vi was located was the Kui tribe''s upied area called "Kui Land," and to the west was the Zerg''s stronghold, known as the "Nest of the Wastnd." To the south was an area where an unknown force resided, known as the "Dark City." Besides the names, Vi didn''t have any other information about it.


    After sharing this information with David, he decided to hunt within the Kui Land for now. Exploring the other two areas could wait untilter, and he also had an eye on the Dark City.

 Chapter 272 The Seven-Toxin Python

    ?


    Exiting the valley, David followed Vi to the edge of a forest. Vi halted and pointed to the woods, saying, "This forest is the Beast-Sight Forest. It houses various levels of exotic beasts, many of which are fierce and even possess enhanced intelligence."


    As Vi spoke, a hint of seriousness crossed her face, and the Kui tribe members behind her couldn''t help but swallow nervously. Their gazes toward the forest were filled with apprehension, indicating that they were well acquainted with the horrors within.


    David observed the forest, where arge amount of ck aura billowed into the sky, intermingled with strong malevolent energy. David realized he was in the right ce,only the exotic beasts here could provide a challenge for him.


    No matter how intimidating Vi''s words were, David''s expression remained unchanged. Vi, who was observing his reactions closely, hoped to detect a hint of nervousness, but to her disappointment, David''s face revealed nothing but ease and rxation.


    Vi''s admiration for David grew stronger. Even for her, the Kui tribe queen, venturing into this forest required careful consideration. Normally, they didn''t dare to hunt here; even a random exotic beast in this forest would surpass all the other exotic beasts in their appearance. Therefore, among the Kui tribe, this forest had another name: the Forest of Death.


    "Are you going in?" Vi tentatively asked, though she found the question somewhat unnecessary. But David nodded decisively. He knew this wasn''t just about hunting; he was here to earn pronucleus.


    If a high-level mutated crocodile could yield a fragment of The Wand of the Wastnd, then what treasures could be extracted from the terrifying exotic beasts here? Without hesitation, David stepped into the forest.


    Seeing his actions, Vi clenched her teeth and followed suit. The other Kui tribe members gripped their steel knives tightly, their faces filled with fear, trailing behind. Just as they entered the forest, a terrifying roar that shook the heavens and the earth echoed in their ears!


    "Purple-Gold Winged Tiger!" Vi froze upon hearing the sound, and the Kui tribe members behind her began to tremble.


    "It''s just the sound of a beast. What''s there to be afraid of?" David cast a nce at the frightened tribe members.


    Vi calmed down, manifesting an exquisitely wrought hollow iron fan in her hand. Cautiously surveying the surroundings, David recognized it as her weapon.


    "The Purple-Gold Winged Tiger is the most ferocious exotic beast renowned in the wastnd world. Unlike regr exotic beasts, it has mutated with intelligence and even grown wings. Once itunches an attack, all enemies be food in its eyes. I''ve fought against it before; if not for the terrain advantage, I probably wouldn''t have survived until now," Vi''s expression carried a touch of embarrassment. Her strength as the queen of the Kui tribe was undeniable. Yet, even so, she wasn''t a match for the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger, which spoke volumes about its terrifying power.


    "Should we... find another ce?" Vi started to regret bringing David here.


    "No need. I want to see what the hype is about." David''s face remained unchanged as he continued forward.


    "But..." Vi wanted to say more, but David picked up his pace.


    "For the base, for the delicious meat, we''ll risk it!" Helplessly, Vi leaped forward to catch up, instructing a few of her subordinates to stay behind. Otherwise, even if they entered, death would still await them.


    David''s speed was astonishing. In no time, he had flown several hundred meters ahead, with Vi barely managing to keep up. Just as he touched the ground, a snake, about ten meters long with colorful scales, appeared before them.


    "This is the Seven-Toxin Python. It attacks with venom and is incredibly fast," Vi exined as she also spotted the snake.


    David nodded, observing the Seven-Toxin Rainbow Python. Their presence seemed to excite the snake greatly. It violently twisted its body, lifting its tongue high, repeatedly hissing and spewing out crimson snake venom from its mouth.


    With a slight smile, David raised his hand and aimed at it, softly uttering, "Corrode!" A piercing sound followed, and a plume of white smoke erupted from a spot on the snake''s body. Within the smoke wafted a charred scent.


    The Seven-Toxin Python seemed to have been hit at a vulnerable spot. Its body convulsed and rolled on the ground in agony. David didn''t give it a chance to recover. He tore open a spatial rift, wielded the Space de, and instantly appeared by its side. The de sliced across the python''s head, emitting a faint sound of flesh being cut.


    Having used both the spatial rift and the Space de simultaneously, David''s attack dealt 80% critical damage and the effect of super-heavy injury. The Seven-Toxin Python stopped convulsing, and its massive head slowly tumbled to the ground. Blood spurted out like a fountain. From the appearance of the Seven-Toxin Python to its death at David''s hands, the entire process took less than two minutes.


    Even within those two minutes, Vi only saw David raise his hand once and swing the de once. Other than that, there were no other movements. Seeing the dead Seven-Toxin Rainbow Python at David''s feet, Vi took in a sharp breath. She had witnessed the prowess of the Seven-Toxin Python¡ªits attacks were relentless and its potent venom was lethal. Any contact with it would mean certain death.


    Yet, such a formidable exotic beast, in front of David, hadn''t even managed tounch an attack before bing a corpse. This made Vi understand why David''s expression hadn''t changed when he heard about the horrors of the Beast-Sight Forest. In this human, she saw strength,a power that crushed everything and transcended all.


    "Is that all?" David looked at Vi.


    Vi smiled awkwardly, not knowing what to say.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for killing the Seven-Toxin Python and obtaining one Advanced Pronucleus!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for triggering a one hundred times critical hit, obtaining one hundred Advanced Pronuclei!]


    The system''s voice rang in David''s ears. Indeed, being a creature of the forest, this Seven-Toxin Python yielded advanced pronuclei.


    David nodded to himself. He then ced his palm on the python''s corpse to extract something.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting a vial of poison¡ªThroat-Sealing Venom!]


    [This venom can cause death in enemies below Level Twelve within three minutes!]


    After tossing the vial of venom named Throat-Sealing Venom into the system''s storage, David stood up.


    "Roar!" A violent roar echoed again, even closer this time and louder! Vi gripped her iron fan tightly, standing next to David. In the next moment, a terrifying aura rushed toward them!

 Chapter 273 "Have You Ever Eaten Tiger Meat?"

    ?


    Vi Subconsciously immediately took cover behind David. This aura was something she couldn''t bear at all.


    David looked ahead and saw the leaves rustling. Suddenly, a strong wind had started blowing, shaking several trees vigorously. Leaves were continuously falling down.


    "This is definitely the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger!" Vi frowned and said to David. Just as she spoke, a tiger head asrge as a lotive suddenly emerged from the woods. It then slowly walked forward, and a body about five meters long appeared before them. Its massive and powerful tail resembled a steel whip, and its entire body was of a purple-gold color. What was even more shocking was the fact that it had a pair of golden wings on its back.


    "Roar!" The Purple-Gold Winged Tiger let out an angry roar towards David. The sound was so loud that the body of the Seven-Poison Python lying on the ground exploded instantly, flesh and blood flying, and the surrounding stones turned into powder on the ground.


    "Not bad, quite powerful," David said with interest while looking at the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger. His gaze toward it was filled with meaning.


    This kind of mutant beast was something he had never seen before in the post-apocalyptic world. Its strength even surpassed some higher-level zombies from the apocalypse. However, despite this, David remainedposed. He hade here to hunt mutants, and now that he finally encountered a powerful one, his desire for battle had been ignited. But Vi, behind him, stared at David as if he were a monster.


    "The Purple-Gold Winged Tiger and the Seven-Poison Python are not in the same league, its strength far surpasses that of the python. Coupled with its wings, it''s an elite among the mutants, capable of ughtering all enemies!" Vi continued to provide information about the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger, trying to make him feel afraid.


    Now, while the tiger was notpletely enraged, they might still have a chance to escape. If they waited until it was thoroughly provoked, there would be no way out.


    "Adding wings to the tiger? An elite among the mutants? I''m here to kill elites!" David disregarded Vi''s words, took a step forward, and continued to look at the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger.


    "You..." Vi wanted to say something more, but the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger on the opposite side roared again! This time, the roar carried obvious anger, and even the purple-gold color on its body started bing more vibrant. It pped its wings slightly, and the trees on both sides were broken like they were hit by a small storm, snapping with a "crack."


    The Purple-Gold Winged Tiger''srge eyes, about the size of light bulbs, emitted a purple glow, staring at David with a murderous intent. Judging from its outward appearance, its strength was enough to easily ughter all mutants.


    "Mutants with this level of strength, like the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger, are only ranked fifth in the Mutant Forest," Vi sighed. She understood that David wouldn''t leave this ce no matter what. A battle was inevitable. She had initially wanted David to leave this ce regardless of his intentions. However, the thought of the partially constructed base and the sulent and tender Dongpo pork changed her mind.


    Ultimately, Vi decided to stay. At this moment, she admitted that she was firmly in David''s grasp. Hearing Vi''s words, excitement surged within David. Wasn''t this providing him with a continuous source of opportunities? So, he turned around and asked Vi, "Have you ever eaten tiger meat?"


    "Huh?" Vi was momentarily confused, not sure what David meant to convey. Then, she saw David give a lightugh, his figure flickered, and he dashed towards the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger!


    Vi was greatly rmed. She knew that David was going to fight this creature today, but he couldn''t initiate an attack! If he really provoked the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger, the consequences would be unimaginable. So, she could only stand on the side, nervously watching David''s movements.


    In the blink of an eye, David created an afterimage in the void and swiftly approached the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger. Without hesitation, he raised the alloy short knife in his hand and thrust it toward the tiger''s head.


    That Purple-Gold Winged Tiger was indeed not an easy mutant to deal with. As David charged towards it, its reaction was incredibly swift. It raised its paw, which was asrge as a te, and swung it down towards David''s head.


    This amazed David with its rapid response. Nheless, he showed no signs of retreating. He twisted the de of the alloy short knife in his hand and changed from stabbing to shing, aiming at the tiger''s paw. The alloy de shed against the tiger''s paw, producing a series of sparks.


    The fur on the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger stood on end, and its eyes grew more agitated. It hadn''t expected a mere human to initiate an attack against it.


    Before David evennded, the tiger kicked off its hind legs and charged towards him. With its weight of seven to eight hundred kilograms, it was like a small hill, attempting to crush David into pieces.


    At the same time, its tail swung towards David''s head, and the immense force caused the air in the vicinity topact. If its tail struck him, it would probably leave him severely injured.


    "Be careful!" Vi stood in ce, nervously shouting. Even though she hadn''t known David for long, his past performances had already impressed her. Seeing David in a dangerous situation, she naturally wanted to help.


    Unfortunately, Vi''s strength was inadequatepared to the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger. Even if she intervened, she could only offer slight resistance. Additionally, the enraged tiger''s strength had surged, and its aggression was overwhelming. All she could do was stand there and remind David to be cautious.


    Without needing Vi''s reminder, David caught sight of the charging Purple-Gold Winged Tiger and its tail, which resembled a steel whip. Instead of panicking, David''s eyes held a faint smile. In midair, he calmly tore open a spatial rift and immediately disappeared from the tiger''s sight. This evaded its attack entirely.


    "Boom!" The massive body of the Purple-Gold Winged Tigernded on the ground, creating a deep crater upon impact. Roaring angrily, the tiger searched for David''s presence.


    Meanwhile, David emerged slowly from where he had disappeared. Seeing David unharmed, Vi finally let out a sigh of relief. However, before she could catch her breath, the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger leaped once again. It swung its paw towards David''s face, revealing four sharp ws each about ten centimeters long, glistening with a chilling light. It seemed determined to make David pay a price.


    "Since you want to face me head-on, let''s give it a try."David clenched his fist, and he advanced towards the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger. Then, he started running, his right fist tightly clenched, causing the airflow around his fist to be chaotic, forming a powerful shockwave!

 Chapter 274 Dont Hold Back Now!

    ?


    The collision between David''s fist and the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger''s paw generated a surge of airflow, causing nearby trees to topple and a sonic boom to resonate. It had to be admitted that the tiger''s defense was indeed quite solid.


    After David''s punch pushed it back a couple of steps, the tiger steadied itself and charged forward once again. This time, its momentum was even stronger than before, as if it was evolving to be stronger when faced with challenges.


    David continued to exchange blows with it, one punch after another aimed at the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger, attempting to break through its physical defenses with his fists. The tiger, on the other hand, kept twisting its body in an attempt to dodge David''s attacks.


    However, just as David threw another punch, the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger suddenly turned its body, and its tail cut through the air, heading for David''s head.


    "Trying the same trick again?" David murmured as the tail came dangerously close. At that very moment, he swiftly extended his hand, decisively grabbing the tail. The fur on the tail bristled like steel needles, but with the protection of his golden defenseyer, the needles couldn''t harm him. Clutching the tail firmly, David exerted a bit of force, then swung the tail of the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger up, lifting its several hundred kilograms of weight effortlessly.


    After spinning it around twice, David flung the tail with both hands. Propelled by inertia, the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger was hurled some twenty to thirty meters away, crashing heavily onto the ground and toppling dozens of towering trees along the way.


    Watching this scene, Vi stood there dumbfounded, involuntarily taking a sharp breath. She had thought that at most, David would be evenly matched with the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger, but who could have anticipated that he would toss it around like a sandbag? And he even had time to smile at it?


    Vi looked at David in disbelief, as ifpared to the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger, he was the scarier one. After all, this tiger weighed around seven to eight hundred kilograms, and even reached a ton.


    This weight was an insurmountable gap for other esper in the wastnd world. Coupled with the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger''s repeated attacks, David had also expended quite a bit of energy. However, even under these circumstances, David still had the absolute strength to execute a "short-range excursion" on the tiger.


    Vi suddenly felt that her previous words might have underestimated David. The Purple-Gold Winged Tiger slowly rose from the ground, shaking off the debris and wood chips. The vividness of its purple-gold color became increasingly pronounced. Even its wings started pping rapidly, with such a fast frequency that it was almost impossible to catch with the naked eye.


    In an instant, the nearby trees experienced another violent gust, copsing and falling to the ground. The Purple-Gold Winged Tiger bared its long fangs at David, its eyes brimming with a strong killing intent. It seemed determined to kill David here today, no matter what.


    Although the tiger was furious, it didn''tunch an immediate attack against David. Instead, it circled around him, searching for the best angle of attack.


    David recalled Vi''s words upon entering the Mutant Forest. Most of the mutants here possessed intelligence, capable of employing tactics and strategies inbat. It was clear that the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger was currently employing its own intelligence, aiming for a single deadly strike against David.


    Finally, after circling around to David''s right side, the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger didn''t hesitate any longer. Its wings pped rapidly as it lifted into the air, diving straight towards David. With the boost from its wings, its speed was twice as fast as before.


    This was also the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger''s ultimate move. It utilized its wings to lift itself into the air, descending upon its enemy from above to deliver a lethal blow. With this extraordinary technique, it had defeated numerous powerful mutants within the Mutant Forest, securing its position as the fifth-ranked formidable mutant there.


    The rushing wind howled above David''s head, mixed with the pungent odor emanating from the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger''s body. It emitted a faint low roar.


    David turned around, tilting his head to observe the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger hurtling towards him. This sight horrified Vi beside him. If the tiger crashed down, even a small hill would turn into a nd, let alone a human body. She couldn''t fathom what David was doing, frozen in such a perilous moment. Wasn''t this equivalent to courting death? She thought of her Kui tribe''s base, recalling those pieces of Dongpo pork.


    Vi clenched her teeth and raised the iron fan in her hand. She quickly recited a series of cryptic and obscure incantations under her breath, causing the iron fan to rapidly erge in her grasp!


    "Swift Wind, arise!" Vi shouted angrily. She swung the erged iron fan into the air, aiming it at the rapidly descending Purple-Gold Winged Tiger. A gust of swift wind surged up, carrying with it debris and gravel, whipping towards the tiger.


    The Purple-Gold Winged Tiger sensed the wind instantly and its purple-golden aura instantly formed a protective shield around its body, rendering Vi''s gust as ineffective as if it had hit an iron barrel.


    "Uh-oh!" Vi cursed silently, her heart racing as she watched the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger drawing closer to David. In that instant, she felt doomed. The base was lost, the Dongpo pork was lost¡ªeverything was lost. She even found herself pitying David a bit, a rare sentiment. Even her full-strength wind seemed to have no effect on the current state of the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger. She thought David was out of options at this point, and at this crucial moment, David''s eyes seemed to be half-closed.


    David wasn''t daydreaming; rather, after his battle with the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger earlier, he suddenly felt as if he hadprehended something. A vague, unexinable force circted within his fist. This power surpassed that of his Shattered Void Fist, even making him feel exhrated. He stood there quietly, absorbing the infusion of this power into his body. It was like a surging river flowing over his fist, or the vast cosmic gxy revolving around it.


    David seemed to sense a force beyond this world, surging, overwhelming, vast, and oppressive. At that moment, the system suddenly sounded in David''s ear.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for upgrading the Shattered Void Fist to the Gxy Shatter Fist!]


    Hearing the system''s voice, David finally understood. It turned out that during his previous battle, his Shattered Void Fist had leveled up. The power of the Gxy Shatter Fist continuously rolled over his fist, making David increasingly excited.


    Meanwhile, the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger had also charged right up to him. Its steel-like ws were just a hair''s breadth away from his nose. It seemed to be wearing an expression of smugness. Vi turned away in helplessness. Everything seemed to be toote.

 Chapter 275 I Already Have A Girlfriend

    ?


    Just when the oue seemed predetermined, David slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger. A faint smile curved on his lips, and his fist was already clenched, stars revolving on its surface.


    "I can shatter gxies; what can a tiger like you amount to?"


    In the next moment, David''s fist shot forward like a meteor hurtling through the cosmos at a speed beyond light, smashing towards the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger''s head. The mighty fist roared like the universe''s gxy, tearing through the void, creatingyers of space ripples. Its momentum transcended the entire universe, exuding an aura that disregarded all beings!


    "Boom!" A deafening sound shattered space into visible fragments! David''s Gxy Shatter Fist urately struck the center of the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger''s forehead. The immense impact pierced through its head and traveled through its entire body, causing the tiger''s body to convulse, coiling up like a twisted pastry.


    Following that, the force of the Gxy Shatter Fist burst through the tiger''s tough skin at its thigh, rushing out like a rainbow. The trees within a hundred meters behind it were all affected, turning into a ttened area.


    "Ao!" As if being squeezed by the cosmic force in the gxy, the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger''s body severely deformed. A bowl-sized hole was sted into its forehead, blood gushing out like water from a breached dam. The ground beneath its feet turned deep red. Just a second earlier, its ws could have shed David''s throat for a lethal strike.


    It stared wide-eyed, unable to fathom that the human before it was so formidable. With just one punch, it had sent the tiger to its death''s end. Its massive body crashed onto the ground, copsing right in front of David. Before it could emit any wails, its life force had already vanished.


    The purple-golden hue on it''s body began to fade, and even his wings gradually transformed into ethereal forms. This move, the Gxy Shatter Fist, had executed the beast ranked fifth in the Mutant Forest in an instant, like a godly executioner.


    Vi stood stunned in ce. Her previous sympathy hadn''t even faded yet when she now felt a sense of bewilderment. She had watched that punch from David up close and personal, thinking it was just a reflexive counterattack. She hadn''t anticipated that it was his ultimate technique for delivering a fatal blow. This realization made her realize how ridiculous her previous thoughts had been.


    The admiration and astonishment that had faded away from Vi''s expression earlier resurfaced in her eyes. If she hadn''t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn''t have believed that David had actually killed the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger. To her, it was like a fantasy beyond reality.


    David gazed at the lifeless body of the tiger at his feet, rubbing his fist. The stars that shimmered on his fist continued to revolve, a sense of illusion and transcendence that permeated the force of the gxy gradually receding.


    Lifting his head, David looked at Vi, who was staring at him with wide eyes, and gave her a faint smile. "You''ve probably never had tiger meat."


    Vi nodded awkwardly. "No... never had it." She didn''t even understand why she was answering David''s statement. She felt that in his presence, she would involuntarily do anything. The appearance of this thought startled her. She was, after all, the queen of the Kui tribe, elevated and aloof. How did she suddenly find herself entertaining these strange ideas of submission to a human?


    Vi hastily shook her head, attempting to regain herposure. However, no matter how hard she tried, the image of David''s divine intervention from earlier remained imprinted in her mind.


    David once again looked at the tiger''s corpse at his feet, and the system''s voice echoed in his ear.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for killing the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger and obtaining an advanced pronucleus!]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical hit and obtaining one hundred advanced pronuclei!]


    Simr to when he killed the Seven-poison Python, the reward was advanced pronuclei. This made David understand that killing this type of mutant would yield the same reward. Perhaps only when killing the top three ranked mutants would he receive higher-level rewards. However, he didn''t mind that. Within just twenty minutes of entering the Mutant Forest, he had already obtained two hundred advanced pronuclei.


    This speed, I''m afraid there''s no one in the entire Wastnd World who canpare. What''s even more important is that David hasn''t extracted the body of the Purple Gold Winged Tiger yet, which is the most anticipated reward for him.


    "What will I extract this time?" David whispered, his palm covering the body of the Purple Gold Winged Tiger.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for extracting two fragments of ''The Wand of the Wastnd''!]


    Two fragments appeared before David, shimmering brightly. "Not bad!" David was quite satisfied with this harvest. Even if they were just fragments, he was getting closer topleting ''The Wand of the Wastnd''.


    When he collected one hundred fragments, he would obtain the treasure that could surpass the Wastnd World. At that time, he would be the true king of the Wastnd World.


    Whether it was the Zerg or the mysterious Dark City, they would all be stepping stones under his feet. After achieving all this, David stood up and walked towards Vi.


    "Have your people carry it away. Maybe it can improve the diet for your subordinates," David said with a smile to Vi.


    Vi nodded again, and with a snap of her fingers not far away, several Kui tribe members who had been squatting nearby quickly ran over. When they saw the massive body of the Purple Gold Winged Tiger, their expressions were shocked and exaggerated.


    Following Vi''s gaze, they immediately understood that David was the one who killed it. After swallowing nervously, they exchanged looks. They were puzzled about where their queen had made such a killer friend.


    Less than half an hour had passed, and the Purple Gold Winged Tiger was already dead? Who would believe that? Suppressing their inner shock, they put in a lot of effort to lift the body of the Purple Gold Winged Tiger and carry it out of the beast forest. David and Vi followed them outside.


    Although there were still many exotic beasts in the area, David wasn''t in a hurry. After all, this had be his hunting ground, and he coulde here anytime he wanted. He wasn''t worried about exterminating all the beasts in one go; it would take away a lot of the fun, and he would lose opportunities to practice.


    On the way back to the Kui tribe''s base, Vi kept stealing nces at David. She felt that this human in front of her was giving her more and more sense of security. A kind offort that had never existed in her heart was spreading.


    "David, do all humans have wives?" Vi asked after thinking for a moment.


    Hearing her question, David was momentarily puzzled, looking at her and saying, "I already have a girlfriend, our species are different.Don''t set your sights on me.If Sally knew about this, she would probably get jealous again."


    After hearing this, Vi seemed to understand something, and aplex and slightly disappointed expression flickered in her eyes.

 Chapter 276 The Nature of Women

    <h4>Chapter 276 The Nature of Women</h4>


    Before reaching Vi''s base, David saw Mandy waiting for him from a distance. Seeing David''s figure, Mandy hurriedly approached.


    This surprised David somewhat. He hadn''t expected Mandy to be more and more like a normal person now, even knowing how to greet him. He reached out and ruffled her hair.


    Once inside the base, Vi quickly instructed her subordinates to pour tea for David. It was the same kind of tea that humans drank, but David didn''t pick up the cup.


    Vi didn''t notice David''s behavior and just looked at him, saying, "With the death of the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger, other creatures in the Beastwood will definitely sense the danger. This will likely trigger a massacre of creatures in the wastnd."


    It was a delicate chain reaction; the creatures in the Beastwood weren''t just adversaries, they relied on each other. If one was in trouble, the others would sense it and react ordingly. The death of the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger would certainly alert other creatures to the danger and they might be more aggressive, attacking any perceived threats.


    David wasn''t worried about this at all; in fact, he hoped the other four creatures in the Beastwood wouldn''t die. Otherwise, he would have fewer opportunities? as he thought of it.


    After a pause, David remembered the Zerg to the west and asked, "Do Zerg nests only exist in their territories?"


    Images of densely packed Zerg nests and the massive nest of the Zerg Queen shed through David''s mind, leaving him puzzled.


    Logically speaking, the Zerg were currently the strongest race in the wastnd, perhaps even the de facto rulers. Their influence should extend beyond their own territories; this was inconsistent with the brutal dominance they exerted.


    Hearing David''s question, Vi shook her head heavily with a worried expression, "Zerg used to only be active in their own territories. But some time ago, during our patrols, we found several underdeveloped Zerg nests within our territory. So, they''ve started to expand their influence."


    This was also why Vi had always been so concerned about the Heart of the Zerg. She had to stall the Zerg''s actions before they attacked the Kui tribe. With the current strength of the Kui tribe, they couldn''t possibly contend against the Zerg Queen and even some of the mutated Zerg creatures. The Heart of the Zerg had be her only hope.


    Unfortunately, until now, she had no information about the whereabouts of the Heart of the Zerg. It was only after encountering David that she ced all her hopes on him. If she knew that David wasing to the wastnd empty-handed, she might have been driven to tears out of frustration.


    However, David simply nodded after listening, not showing any unusual reactions. From The Gravekeeper''s words, he had only heard about the Zerg, and not the Kui tribe or the Dark City''s two power factions.


    Clearly, The Gravekeeper didn''t believe these two factions posed a threat to him. The real threats were the Zerg and the ones who held true dominion over the wastnd.


    Only the Zerg race, this is also the enemy David will ultimately face. To establish a foothold in the wastnd, he must ovee the Zerg, even destroy them.


    "By the way, have people from the Dark City never appeared in your territory?" With knowledge of two of the three major powers in the wastnd, David already knew quite a bit. Although the Dark City wasn''t significant to him, he felt it was better to be prepared by learning more.


    Vi shook her head; she had no knowledge about the situation there. She didn''t even know their exact location, only that it was to the south of the wastnd. She had sent people to investigate before, but they had returned empty-handed, which had diminished her interest in the Dark City. Since its existence posed no threat to the Kui tribe, the two factions had coexisted peacefully.


    "Perhaps the people there don''t like disputes," Vi exined. David shook his head, indicating that he didn''t agree.


    In this world, disputes symbolized desires, most of which were desires for power. David believed that anyone who could survive in the wastnd desired dominance. The behavior of the Dark City made him think deeply. Either they were biding their time or waiting for an opportunity. When the time was right, they might rise and reap the rewards.


    David had seen this tactic many times before, but he currently didn''t care about the Dark City. He wouldn''t take action against them unless they approached him first. If the situation was reversed, however, David would be their nightmare. After a brief rest, David prepared to leave with Mandy.


    "David, that..." Vi quickly interrupted him.


    "What''s the matter?" David turned around to look at her.


    Vi looked a bit embarrassed, hesitating. This made David quickly understand her intention. With a faint smile, he took out a portion of Dongpo pork from the system''s storage and ced it on the table in front of her.


    "This delicacy is best enjoyed while it''s still hot." After saying this, David smiled and left, heading towards his own base.


    Watching his departing figure, Vi joyfully picked up the Dongpo pork. Since David''s battle with the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger, she had been yearning for this delicacy.


    When David was about to leave, she couldn''t hold back her emotions any longer and blurted it out. She hadn''t expected that one day she would be moved by a piece of food. But to David, eating was an inherent nature of women, and it was also one of the best ways to understand and influence a woman.


    Back in the base, David first took out a bottle of mineral water from the storage and began to drink. The reason he didn''t drink the water that Vi had brought was that he always had to be cautious of potential risks. Although Vi was currentlypliant with him, she was still the queen of the Kui tribe, and a cautious attitude was necessary.


    After finishing the water, David looked at Mandy who was standing by the door, suddenly struck by an idea. He thought it would be a good idea to craft a weapon for her.


    Recalling the piece of abyssal iron he had extracted, David immediately took it out. Looking at the dark and hard abyssal iron, he activated the modification function and quickly transformed it into a three-edged dagger. The sharp triangr edges and the extended blood grooves pleased David. He handed it to Mandy.


    "This will be your weapon from now on. Give it a try, see if it feelsfortable." Holding the three-edged dagger, Mandy nodded curiously. She then executed a set of knife techniques before David with ease, and these techniques were quite simr to David''s maniption of the spatial de.


    "Great! In future battles, don''t just rely on brute force. With this dagger, even immortals will leave a few pounds of blood before they can escape." Mandy nodded with a somewhat uncertain understanding, then she lovingly stowed the three-edged dagger away in her clothing.

 Chapter 277 The Three Brothers of the Dark City

    <h4>Chapter 277 The Three Brothers of the Dark City</h4>


    Under the night sky of the wastnd, an abyss of darkness stretched, apanied by a heavy aura that turned this ce into a semnce of hell on Earth. In the southernmost part of the wastnd, a solitary city stood on a vast expanse ofnd. The city was entirely ck, even the guards at the city gates wore ck armor, wielding ck greatswords. It seemed as if they deliberately melded with the darkness of the night, creating an air of mystery and weightiness that left one breathless.


    Yet, on the city gate, a solitary stroke of blue paint spelled out "Dark City." This was the stronghold of one of the three major factions of the wastnd, the base of the Dark City. Within a brightly lit pce at the heart of the city, three men sat together. The guards at the entrance kept watch over their surroundings.


    "Big Brother, Second Brother, our spies reported that a person from the Day of Apocalypse hase to the Kui tribe. Is this true or false?" The man sitting at the edge asked.


    The man in the middle nodded, thoughtful as he replied, "I''ve heard about it as well. It seems this matter has brought some benefits to Vi, that woman."


    "Big Brother, what do you think of this?" Both men turned their gaze to the eldest brother, seated at the front. These three men were the rulers of the Dark City, also known as the Three Brothers.


    The eldest brother was named Dark Dragon, a level 11 Wind-type esper.


    The second brother was Dark Tiger, a level 10 Thunder-type esper.


    The third brother was Dark Leopard, a level 9 Fire-type esper.


    Like David, these three brothers also came from the Day of Apocalypse. However, unlike David, they arrived in the wastnd mysteriously a day after the apocalypse and gradually established the Dark City and their own organization.


    Listening to the words of his brothers, Dark Dragon smiled slightly, "Whether that person was brought by Vi or not, the Kui tribe will eventually be swallowed by us. Furthermore, who among the humans in the wastnd has stronger power than the three of us, brothers?" His words made his brothers burst intoughter.


    "Hahaha! Big Brother is right! What kind of climate can the Kui tribe achieve under the rule of a woman? In the end, they are nothing but a group of zombies, far from being our equals!"


    "Both of you are correct. Our main enemy now is the Zerg! Once we obtain the Heart of the Zerg, the entire wastnd will belong to the three of us brothers! At that time, we will establish our own nation, a truly awe ,inspiring feat!"


    Dark Leopard''s words were met with silent nods from Dark Dragon and Dark Tiger. Though they had not openly shed with the Zerg or the Kui tribe for a long time, their goal of ruling the wastnd was ever-present.


    For this purpose, they secretly dispatched many spies to infiltrate the territories of the Zerg and the Kui tribe, ensuring they would be the first to know about all external developments.


    So when David met Vi, the moment theyid eyes on each other, the spies immediately ryed this news to the three brothers. They had been patient, biding their time, awaiting the perfect opportunity. Once that moment arrived, they would unleash all the power they had been amassing, capable of achieving astonishing results.


    "However, the spy also mentioned that this person killed a Purple-Gold Winged Tiger today." Dark Tiger mused aloud.


    "A Purple-Gold Winged Tiger? That''s an intelligent beast with considerable strength. Did that person truly manage to kill it?" Dark Leopard questioned, puzzled, upon hearing his second brother''s words.


    Dark Tiger nodded, confirming that the information was true. He, too, found this matter puzzling. How could an ordinary young man possibly kill a powerful Purple-Gold Winged Tiger? He suspected there might be something unusual about this situation.


    "Hmph! Just a beastly creature. Compared to my Second Brother''s Devouring me Tiger, that Purple-Gold Winged Tiger is nothing but a little sibling. No need to be so surprised by killing it." Dark Dragon''s words made the other two nod in agreement.


    "Yeah, Second Brother! I heard your Devouring me Tiger has upgraded again? It can even undergo a second mutation?" Dark Tiger nodded proudly.


    The Devouring me Tiger was a unique beast he had been raising. Just now, by feeding it a substantial amount of advanced pronucleus, he had enabled it to reach a state where it could undergo a second mutation, greatly enhancing its strength.


    "Perfect! When the timees, we must show the Zerg and the Kui tribe the strength of the three of us brothers!" After further discussion, Dark Leopard suddenly said.


    "Big Brother, I haven''t left Dark City for a long time. How about having Second Brother go out tomorrow to experience the outside world again? Perhaps he can also give that young man a little lesson while he''s at it." Dark Leopard rubbed his hands together eagerly.


    This made Dark Dragon chuckle and nod in agreement. The three brothers had been waiting for an opportunity, although they received daily reports from their spies about the outside world, the firsthand, urate information was something else. As Dark Dragon had already been considering this, and now that Dark Leopard had brought it up, he naturally agreed. Seeing his approval, Dark Leopard became instantly excited.


    "Little Brother, remember to conceal your strength as much as possible and avoid unnecessary trouble. We''ve beenying low for quite some time; we can''t let anyone know your true strength. Otherwise, when we have the chance tounch a full-scale attack on these two tribes, it will be disadvantageous for us." Dark Tiger advised him.


    "Don''t worry, Second Brother. I won''t cause trouble!" With that, the three of them retired to their respective rooms to rest.


    Lying in bed, Dark Dragon kept pondering what kind of strength this young man truly possessed. But when he considered that the person was merely a neer to the wastnd, how could theypare to the natives like them? So, he decided that this person wasn''t worth the mental effort and stopped thinking about it.


    Early the next morning, Dark Leopard departed from Dark City with a close subordinate, heading towards the eastern part of the wastnd. Along the way, he confronted numerous zombie beasts, all of which he crushed with hisrge iron hammer.


    At the same time, David had just woken up. After having a simple breakfast from items he retrieved from the system storage, he set off with Mandy toward Vi''s base. He needed to seize the time to kill more of the zombie creatures here, gather more pronucleus, and uncover more secrets of the wastnd. He had realized that his current level was still not high enough. If he were to face the Zerg and the enigmatic individuals from the Dark City, he needed to be thoroughly prepared. In his understanding, he never went into a battle unprepared, so he hastened his pace toward Vi''s base.

 Chapter 278 The Adventurer’s Frenzy!

    <h4>Chapter 278 The Adventurer''s Frenzy!</h4>


    At this moment, Vi was waiting outside the base for David''s arrival. After spending a day with this human, Vi was surprised to find that her heart couldn''t calm down.


    Throughout the previous night, David''s figure kept appearing in Vi''s mind, much to her astonishment. This was noteworthy because Vi, as the Queen of the Kui tribe, was highly discerning. In her eyes, mere humans hardly warranted her attention. Before encountering David, her intention was to teach him a lesson, and if necessary, turn him into a corpse in the wastnd.


    However, Vi hadn''t anticipated being so captivated by David that she found herself eagerly awaiting his appearance early in the morning. This sensation left her perplexed.


    "Could it be because of that Dongpo Pork?" Vi mumbled in confusion to herself. Yet, she felt that David''s handsome and upright figure was more attractive to her than the melt-in-the-mouth braised pork.


    "Just in the early morning, are you waiting for me?" Just as Vi was lost in thought, David''s maic voice sounded in her ears.


    Vi was momentarily stunned, quickly lifting her head to see David looking at her with a faint smile. This caused her face to flush crimson in an instant.


    "I... I just came out for a walk." After pondering for a while, Vi managed toe up with such ame excuse. She then began pacing back and forth in an attempt to conceal her embarrassment. Observing her unusual behavior, David merely smiled.


    "Today, let''s continue our journey to the Beast Forest." David directly stated his goal for the day. He had been longing for the remaining four powerful exotic beasts there.


    If it weren''t for the fact that he thought time was on his side, he would have eagerly rushed into the Beast Forest to engage in a fierce battle with those exotic beasts.


    Upon hearing that David intended to visit the Beast Forest again, Vi immediately furrowed her brows. She had nned to take David to another location where zombie creatures were known to appear frequently today, but he had immediately set his sights on the Beast Forest.


    The Beast Forest had now be even more dangerous than any other area. It was undoubtedly filled with ughter. Those four exotic beasts had detected the scent of danger following the death of the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger. They must have grown restless and were now on constant standby for battle. The situation had drastically changed from yesterday.


    While she acknowledged David''s abilities to a certain extent, those four super-exotic beasts were the stuff of nightmares even for their Kui tribe. How could a single human like David venture forth?


    Vi thought David was getting a bit too full of himself, so she said with a serious expression, "The Beast Forest is too dangerous now. The four exotic beasts have most likely gone into a frenzy. The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider, Frosty Thousand-Tusked Elephant, Five-Element Divine Turtle, and Inferno Centipede are the other four exotic beasts remaining in the Beast Forest. Their strength is much greater than that of the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger. If you still want to go, you might end up dead in the forest."


    Vi wasn''t exaggerating. The Beast Forest had descended into chaos overnight. As soon as those four exotic beasts saw the corpse of the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger, they sensed an inexplicable danger approaching them. It had ignited their wild instincts, prompting them to begin a frenzied massacre of other exotic beasts in the forest. This frenzy even extended to the areas surrounding the Beast Forest.


    As a result of this massacre, their strengths further amplified, faintly exuding a presenceparable to the Zerg. The top-ranked Inferno Centipede was particrly overbearing. As the only attribute shared with the Zerg, it had undergone an unbelievable three mutations. Presently, in terms of strength, speed, size, and overall prowess, it surpassed all other exotic beasts. Even thebined strength of the other three super-exotic beasts couldn''t match up to it.


    Having survived in the wastnd for so long and familiar with the behaviors of these exotic beasts, Vi naturally understood these dynamics. She didn''t want David to walk into his own death.


    "Today, I''ll take you to another ce. Although the strength of the zombie creatures there isn''tparable to those four exotic beasts, they''re still formidable opponents in the wastnd." After saying this, Vi lifted her head to look at David.


    Hearing her suggestion, David nodded slightly, which let Vi heave a sigh of relief. She believed that she had managed to avert a crisis. Not only did she not want David to go to the Beast Forest, but she also didn''t want to go there herself. Little did she know that David''s next words would make her realize she had been too hasty in her relief.


    David nodded and then shook his head, speaking, "If those four guys were to appear together, what are my chances of winning?"Afterwards, he wore a contemtive expression, as if analyzing the strengths of those four exotic beasts.


    Vi''s mouth twitched in disbelief as she looked at David. At this moment, she felt that the person before her wasn''t a human, but a mad adventurer! Just the presence of a single exotic beast left everyone in fear, yet he was contemting methods to deal with all four of them simultaneously? Who would believe such a thing if it were spoken aloud?


    "If that''s the case, then I''ll have to kill them . Looks like I''ll need to eat another Gene Fruit." David seemed to have found his answer and casually took out a Gene Fruit from the system''s storage, eating it right in front of Vi.


    Vi stood there in a state of confusion, unsure of what to say. She knew that whatever she said, it wouldn''t change David''s actions. Thus, she could only sigh helplessly. At the same time, she closely scrutinized David''s aura and discovered that beneath his robust physique, a simmering energy was constantly circting.


    Despite this, Vi couldn''t guarantee that David could certainly defeat the other four exotic beasts. Nheless, David turned and headed towards the Beast Forest with Mandy.


    "I suggest you keep up. Otherwise, your base won''t reach its peak potential even after a hundred years. The Dongpo Pork you hadst night might be yourst." Vi, who had initially considered sneaking back to her base, swiftly followed David upon hearing his words.


    Vi believed the base could be built gradually. However, Dongpo Pork was an essential necessity. In no time, the three of them had reached the edge of the Beast Forest. Upon their arrival, a strong scent of blood pervaded the air. Unidentifiable exotic beast corpses littered the ground. Their demises were gruesome; some had their heads half severed, exposing pale brain matter, while others were split in two with bones scattered all around.


    Even Vi, who had grown ustomed to such scenes, felt nauseated. She covered her mouth, gazing at these exotic beast corpses. It appeared thatst night had been a hellish ordeal for the ordinary exotic beasts. Stepping on these remains, David led the way in, followed by Mandy and Vi on either side.


    The reason David brought Mandy was to help her quickly adapt to the ughterous environment here, aiding her limation to the wastnd. Moreover, enhancing herbat skills through practical experience was also a good choice. The three of them continued further into the Beast Forest.

 Chapter 279 An Insufficient Challenge

    <h4>Chapter 279 An Insufficient Challenge ?</h4>


    "Third Lord, this territory belongs to the Kui tribe. Their queen, Vi, is said to be a good-looking woman."


    "Oh? Is that so?"


    "In that case, I''ll have a good time today, hehe."


    Outside the Kui tribe''s territory, Dark Leopard and his close subordinate, who hade from Dark City, looked at the area with excitement on their faces. Dark Leopard hade out this time to gather information about the current strength of the Zerg and the Kui tribe, as well as to see who the human neer in the wastnd was.


    More importantly, he wanted to rx a bit. As a human who had been in the wastnd since the beginning, he hadn''t seen a woman for a long time. In Dark City, the creatures were mainly undead monsters that they had tamed and used for defense and heavybor. There were no women at all.


    For Dark Dragon and Dark Tiger, who were older, this situation was bearable, but for the youthful Dark Leopard, it was quite torturous. He had set his eyes on Vi, the queen of the Kui tribe, early on.


    Information brought back by spies had revealed that Vi was beautiful. Despite being from the Kui tribe, she didn''tg behind human women in terms of figure or appearance. This made Dark Leopard quite eager, wishing he could immediately go out and have some fun with this exotic beauty.


    However, strict orders had been issued by his older brothers. No one was allowed to leave the city without their permission. So, Dark Leopard could only fantasize about Vi''s appearance every day, hoping to enjoy romantic escapades with her in his dreams. It was only through David''s appearance that he finally obtained an opportunity to leave the city.


    This had kept him excited and anticipating throughout the journey. Thinking about the beauty he would soon have in his hands, Dark Leopard couldn''t help but rub his hands together in excitement. Just then, he felt a strong aura of malevolence emanating from a nearbyrge forest.


    "An exotic beast?" Dark Leopard was momentarily stunned, immediately recognizing the aura as that of an exotic beast. However, what surprised him was the intensity of the aura; it was so strong that it seemed to reach the sky.


    Realizing that the opponent wasn''t just an ordinary exotic beast, Dark Leopard thought it might even be a super exotic beast. After a moment''s contemtion, he decided that it was worth investigating. Sometimes, the true strength of certain exotic beasts could signify changes in the bnce of power between the other two forces in the wastnd. Killing this exotic beast might even provide an opportunity for him to enhance his own strength.


    "Let''s go. We''ll enter this forest and see what''s going on. If there''s a chance, I''ll bring back the body of this super exotic beast. Who knows, once Big Brother is happy, he might allow me to leave the city more freely, and then I can spend time with Vi every day." Dark Leopard said and flew towards the forest, with his close subordinate following closely.


    Before long, the two of them arrived under arge tree.


    "Third Lord, the smell here is incredibly strong! It''s as if a battle just took ce." His subordinate covered his nose and said, overwhelmed by the heavy scent of blood in the forest.


    Dark Leopard also noticed the scent and saw several exotic beast corpses on the ground. While gruesome, he had witnessed such scenes many times before and paid them no mind.


    "Just a few dead exotic beasts. Let''s keep moving forward." ncing at the corpses, Dark Leopard continued walking forward. To avoid alerting potential threats, he chose to walk and used the dense foliage to conceal his movements.


    On the other side, David, apanied by Vi and Mandy, slowly reached the center of the forest. It was the ce where he had battled the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger yesterday. The bodies of the Seven-Poison Python and the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger were nowhere to be seen; only two massive skeletons remained, indicating that they had been devoured by other exotic beasts.


    "The scent here is getting stronger. They should be up ahead," Vi said as she pulled out a folding fan from somewhere and looked towards the dense undergrowth. David nodded and continued moving forward.


    Vi quickly followed David''s pace. With her current strength, she could only handle rtively weaker exotic beasts like the Seven-Poison Python. If they encountered one of the four super exotic beasts, she wouldn''t stand a chance. Thus, she needed to stick close to David for safety.


    Just as they had walked a few dozen meters and passed through the dense trees, a vast open area suddenly appeared before them. The open ground was covered withrge and small boulders, and a few giant trees that had withered and fallen to the ground were now starting to decay. The strong malevolent aura they had sensed earlier seemed to be emanating from this open space.


    David narrowed his eyes, carefully examining every corner of the area. However, wherever his gazended, it was mostly rocks and decayed wood, with no signs of movement.


    "Strange, why is there nothing here?" Vi also noticed the abnormality and muttered. Just then, an extremely faint sound came from under a decaying tree trunk with a diameter of about two meters.


    The sound was fleeting, but David still caught it. He raised his hand, and his Decay Ability instantlyunched towards the decaying wood.


    Instantly, the sturdy tree trunk was corroded clean by David''s power. What was behind the trunk gradually revealed itself.


    It was a spider about the size of a grindstone. Its entire body was pitch-ck, and it had eight thick and powerful legs on each side of its body. The middle of its body emitted a faint light, and its small head had four bulb-like eyes. Its partially open mouth revealed rows of densely packed teeth.


    Upon being discovered by David, the spider quickly crawled onto arge rock and stared at them with a face full of anger, as if David had interrupted its feast.


    At this moment, David also noticed that the spider had just been devouring a mutated gray wolf and was interrupted by him. Vi was the first to recognize this spider.


    "The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider! Ranked fourth among the Forest of Beasts'' Five Super Exotic Beasts, with strength twice that of the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger!" Vi involuntarily took two steps back, seemingly intimidated by the aura emanating from the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider.


    Meanwhile, David observed the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider with a slightly disappointed expression. He had thought that he would be able to face the remaining four super exotic beasts this time, but besides this spider, there were no other exotic beasts nearby.


    "Just one of them is simply not enough to be a challenge," David shook his head.


    This remark pushed Vi over the edge. She widened her eyes in shock, looking at David as if suspecting whether those words had reallye from his mouth. A super exotic beast ranked fourth in the Forest of Beasts wasn''t enough for him to handle? This was a super exotic beast! It was more than capable of annihting all ordinary undead monsters. How could it be insignificant in David''s eyes?


    Vi was increasingly intrigued by David''s mysterious nature and began to wonder about the strength he was hiding.

 Chapter 280 Devious Schemes

    ?


    The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider looked at the corpse of the mutated gray wolf in front of it and then lifted its head to gaze at David. Its eye-covered head rotated constantly, sensing the danger it was in. Despite this, the creature didn''t show any signs of fear; instead, it provocatively emitted a couple of chilling cries towards David. The cries were particrly eerie, resembling those of an unknown creature crawling out of hell.


    Even after its cries, it started to move toward David. Sharp spikes covered its slender legs, and its powerful strength caused the ground beneath it to crack open with each step.


    "Not good. The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider is in battle mode now, and it likely views everything in front of it as an enemy. Once it engages inbat, we''ll probably be in trouble," Vi continued to speak about the terrifying aspects of the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider. Her eyebrows furrowed deeply. She knew David had strength; he could kill a Purple-Gold Winged Tiger.


    But the creature in front of them was the fourth-ranked super exotic beast in the Forest of Beasts. Its strength surpassed that of the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger in various aspects.


    Observing the fresh corpse of the gray wolf, Vi guessed that the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider had just hunted it. In other words, the aura of battle from its recent fight hadn''t yet faded when they stumbled upon it.


    Vi suddenly felt unlucky. A Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider at its fullbat potential was terrifying, and she knew just how fearsome it was. She turned her head to look at David, but his expression remained carefree.


    After thinking for a moment, Vi decided that no matter what, she had to persuade David to leave this dangerous ce. The opponent they faced this time had exceeded their expectations, and she didn''t want to die here.


    "David, let''s go. We really aren''t a match for this creature," Vi hesitated and spoke these words.


    Upon hearing her, David looked at her and said with a smile, "Just stand here obediently. I''ll protect you. Later, you can let your subordinates have a taste of its body. It''s not a bad choice." David yed with the circr jade pendant in his hand, his tone rxed.


    "But this is the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider! The fourth-ranked exotic beast in the Forest of Beasts. Even the Zerg would take some time to deal with it. I don''t want the base or the Dongpo pork anymore. I just hope you''ll leave here quickly," Vi''s expression grew more serious as she spoke.


    Vi admitted that she had indeed followed David here for those two things. However, she now felt they were no longer important. Her life was what mattered most.


    In other words, Vi believed that David''s life was the most important. After a day and a half of being together, she had learned about the strength of this human. But even so, no one could handle these four super exotic beasts.


    "I hope you can make it out alive," she said softly as a parting word.


    "Make it out alive? Heh, I''ll take your good wishes," David replied, then nced at Mandy. Mandy understood his look and tightly gripped her triangr-ded dagger before charging towards the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider.


    At this moment, the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider saw the two of them talking, yetpletely ignoring its presence. This enraged it, after all, it was a ruler of the Forest of Beasts. How could it be disregarded by mere humans and Kui tribe members? Coupled with its recent battle, its thirst for blood hadn''tpletely subsided. It quickly charged towards Mandy.


    As it neared Mandy, it suddenly used its spiked legs to push off the ground, leaping high into the air. The sharp spikes, gleaming like freshly honed des, emitted a cold light as it aimed to cleave Mandy''s head without hesitation.


    Armed with the triangr-ded dagger, Mandy remainedpletelyposed. Her speed increased in the blink of an eye, and she raised the dagger to sh across the abdomen of the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider as it lunged at her.


    The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider, however, was particrly cunning and had already seen through Mandy''s attack pattern. Just as the triangr-ded dagger was about to touch it, the spider abruptly turned in midair, its mouth full of teeth opening wide and snapping toward Mandy''s arm, emitting an excited sound as it did so.


    Mandy immediately evaded, but her speed was still a bit slow, resulting in the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider inflicting a gash on her arm. Seeing the newly exposed flesh torn so quickly, Mandy grew furious. Her eyebrows knitted tightly as she clutched the triangr-ded dagger and charged once again at the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider.


    The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider, now sessful in its attack, continued to swing its legs and engage inbat with Mandy. The triple-edged dagger forged from mystic iron was incredibly tough and sharp, causing sparks to fly with every impact against its legs. She and the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider exchanged blows, relentlessly targeting each other''s weak points. The debris from the shattered rocks and withered trees around them bore testament to their fierce battle.


    Although David''s level was rted to Mandy''s strength, she was still a strawman in the end. Therefore, there was still a slight gap between her abilities and David''s true strength. She couldn''t fully unleash his potential.


    Meanwhile, the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider was relentless, slowly wearing down Mandy. As the battle continued, she sustained additional wounds.


    Watching thebat scene, Vi grew even more anxious. From her perspective, the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider held an overwhelming advantage. Unlike the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger, this creature possessed a variety of attack methods and was crafty enough to discern its opponent''s attack patterns. Engaging it was a highly troublesome endeavor.


    Vi turned to David again and urgently said, "No, we''re simply not a match for it! We should retreat now while we still can. If we wait any longer, we won''t have the time."


    Even if David didn''t intervene, she felt the oue was already clear. However, David remained motionless, standing there and observing Mandy attacking the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider. David had instructed Mandy to engage inbat, not with the intent to instantly defeat the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider. He knew that Mandy''s current strength might only be sufficient to handle a Seven-Poison Python. She was simply not a match for the current foe.


    The reason he had Mandy fight was twofold: first, he wanted her to adapt to the environment as quickly as possible, and second, he wanted to understand the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider''s attacking methods. Through their battle just now, he had realized that this creature was indeed as ferocious as Vi had described, and it employed cunning tactics. This indicated that it was much smarter than the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger and even surpassed 80% of other exotic beasts in intelligence. This gave David a clearer understanding.


    However, David''s expression remained unchanged. To him, no matter how strong a spider was, could it reallypare to a human? Moreover, he hade to the wastnd world fully aware that he would face countless challenges and horrifying undead monsters. He knew he couldn''t retreat. He had the strength to kill this creature on his own turf.

 Chapter 281 Ten Minutes?

    ?


    "Mandy, step back," David promptly spoke up as the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider swung its leg spikes at Mandy again.


    Hearing David''s voice, Mandy hesitated for a moment and reluctantly returned to David''s side. Now in front of David, she lowered her head in a slightly ashamed manner, seemingly extremely dissatisfied with her performance just now.


    "You''ve done well," David said with a faint smile, then looked at the wounds on her body. He retrieved some medicine from his system''s inventory and handed it to her to apply on the wounds.


    After taking care of that, David took a step forward and looked at the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider. The spider, having defeated Mandy, was now extremely arrogant. Its mouth was wide open, revealing sharp teeth as it continuously snarled and bared its fangs at David. It seemed to think that David was just a coward who couldn''t withstand its attacks.


    David paid no attention to its smug demeanor. He didn''t need to waste words on a corpse. Upon seeing David approaching, Vi was about to say something but ultimately closed her mouth. She thought that since she was already here, she could only do her best to support David. So, her iron fan expanded in an instant, and she fixed her gaze on the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider, ready to assist David at any moment.


    As David gazed at the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider, he slowly raised his hand and aimed it at the creature. "Decay!" David shouted loudly, and an invisible force shot out from the void, heading straight for the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider!


    The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider turned its head and seemed to sense the danger, quickly leaping aside. As a result, a massive boulder behind it was instantly corroded into debris.


    "Not bad, you managed to dodge my Decay ability," David said, somewhat surprised.


    Due to having evaded David''s attack, the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider became even more conceited. It looked at David with an expression that seemed to say it considered him a coward who couldn''t withstand its attacks.


    As one of the five super exotic beasts in the Forest of Beasts, the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider excelled not only in cunning attacks but also in its formidable perception abilities. It could sense everything happening around it by detecting subtle vibrations in the air.


    However, what the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider didn''t know was that David''s previous attack had been nothing more than a warm-up, without expending any real effort.


    David flexed his wrist, silently drawing his alloy short de from his waist. Then, after a moment of contemtion, he turned to Vi and said, "Give me ten minutes, and then I''ll follow your lead and leave."


    Vi, holding the iron fan, stood there looking bewildered. Ten minutes? She understood the implicit meaning behind David''s words ,he intended to kill the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider in ten minutes. She was left speechless by the thought.


    Even if she had half an hour, she doubted she could aplish what David intended. However, Vi overlooked one crucial fact: standing before her was David, who had already in all the apocalypse''s undead monsters and was at level eleven. David''s capabilities were not to be underestimated.


    Without saying another word, a residual image shed, and David vanished from his original position. When he reappeared, he was already beside the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider.His alloy short de whistled through the air as it swung towards the spider''s head.


    The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider hastily lifted its leg to block, barely parrying David''s attack. However, David''s explosive strength caused the spider to lower slightly, creating arge pit in the solid ground beneath its feet.


    The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider was thoroughly provoked by David. It leaped backward, keeping its gaze fixed on David, trying to entice him intounching an attack. It hoped to analyze David''s fighting style in order to devise a countermeasure. Seeing through its intentions, David didn''t hesitate. He charged toward the spider once again.


    Meanwhile, on the other side of the Forest of Beasts.


    "Third Lord, howe there are so many exotic beasts dead in this area? The smell is unbearable!"


    The Dark Leopard''s subordinate, covering his nose, looked at the increasing number of exotic beast corpses on the ground and expressed his disgust.


    Even the Dark Leopard''s expression became more serious at this point. He noticed that the further they ventured into this forest, the stronger the ominous aura became. The ground was littered with various exotic beast corpses, as if a fierce battle had just taken ce here, and the power of the killer was especially terrifying. Otherwise, it wouldn''t have been possible to eliminate all these fairly high-level exotic beasts. He vaguely sensed a hidden danger within this forest.


    Suddenly, one of his subordinates stopped in his tracks and raised his head, seemingly listening for something. Then, he turned towards the Dark Leopard and whispered, "Third Lord, it sounds like there''s fighting ahead!"


    The Dark Leopard quickly strained his ears to listen. Sure enough, the sounds of battle reached his ears, and it seemed that the battlefield wasn''t far from their location.


    "Could it be that the person who killed these exotic beasts has started another ughter?" the subordinate pondered. Up until now, they hadn''t seen a single person or even a zombie. Thus, he believed that it must be the same individual who killed these exotic beasts.


    The Dark Leopard had simr thoughts, but he decided to investigate. If the other party was truly formidable, perhaps he could recruit them to join their Dark City.


    This would bolster their strength, and when facing the Zerg and the Kui tribe in battle, their chances of victory would improve significantly.


    "Let''s go and take a look!"the Dark Leopard said, then quickly followed the sounds of battle ahead.


    After a short while, the two arrived behind a massive rock, and the scene on the open ground unfolded before their eyes. At that moment, David was wielding his alloy short de, continuously thrusting it at the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider''s vulnerable spots. His footwork was unpredictable, and his attacks were diverse and unrepeatable.


    This left the Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider unable to discern David''s attack patterns. It could only use its legs to parry while retreating.


    "Damn! This human is unbelievably strong!"The subordinate looked at David''s dominant performance, unable to help but exim in amazement.


    The Dark Leopard''s brow furrowed slightly as he watched David''s every move. He was the first to sense David''s human presence. He was taken aback by this realization. Regr humans couldn''t enter the wastnd world. Based on the information from his spies, he recalled the only human who had managed to enter this realm.


    "Is it him?" The Dark Leopard looked at David in a daze. Simultaneously, he was shocked because he remembered all the exotic beast corpses they had encountered on their way here. It was highly likely that this young man before them was responsible for their deaths.


    This idea tightened the Dark Leopard''s heart. He hade out this time to teach a lesson to this audacious young intruder. However, he hadn''t anticipated the opponent to be so powerful. Not only could he kill so many exotic beasts, but he also seemed to be prevailing against a powerful and imposing exotic beast. This made him realize, in an instant, that this person wasn''t someone easy to mess with.

 Chapter 282 Is this all you’re capable of?

    <h4>Chapter 282 Is this all you''re capable of?</h4>


    "Third Lord, take a look! Isn''t that woman the appearance of the Kui tribe, Vi?" Just as the Dark Panther was still pondering, his subordinate suddenly saw Vi standing beside her with an iron fan in hand, looking cautious.


    "Vi? Where?" Intrigued by his subordinate''s words, the Dark Panther''s interest was piqued, and he quickly followed the direction pointed by his subordinate''s finger. Indeed, he saw Vi in the flesh, a sight he had longed for.


    The Dark Panther''s eyes immediately lit up. Vi had only existed in his dreams until now, and seeing her in person, he found her to be even more beautiful than in his dreams.


    "Queen Vi, so beautiful!" Even his subordinate''s eyes widened in admiration, but the Dark Panther gave him a good knock on the head.


    "What are you saying! From now on, when you see Vi, you better call her sister-inw! You have no sense!" The Dark Panther said and then looked at Vi again, his eyes seemingly wanting to reach out and touch her slender thighs. His subordinate quickly nodded while holding his head.


    "Third Lord is right! Third Lord is right! But how could sister-inw be here? And it seems like she''s been caring about that young man." At this moment, the Dark Panther noticed this situation.


    Vi was holding the iron fan, staring at the battlefield in front of her, seemingly ready to lend a hand to the young man at any moment. Could his dream lover be connected to this guy? As this thought emerged, a surge of jealousy rose within the Dark Panther.


    "Damn it! Daring to steal my woman, you''re nothing!" The Dark Panther made a motion as if to stand up and charge towards David to teach him a lesson, but after a moment''s thought, he immediately crouched down.


    David was currently battling the exotic beast. If he could use the beast''s help to give David a lesson, he thought it would be a smart move. So, he continued to crouch down and observe every move on the battlefield.


    After several attacks, David effortlessly forced The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider into a corner. The spider raised its front legs with all its might to block David''s strike, but the cost was taking a powerful kick from David.


    This pushed The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider over the edge. It hadn''t expected this human before it to be this formidable. Not only was he unable to find any weaknesses, but his every move was also leaving the spider defenseless. It red at David with a furious gaze, exuding a strong hostile aura.


    "Oh? Angry now?" David looked at The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider and smiled. His previous attacks had only been at forty percent of his full strength, essentially a warm-up for him.


    However, he had also realized during the fight that The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider did possess some strength. Although it hadn''t gained any advantage over David, it hadn''t suffered much damage either. This was because the spider had been constantly evading, seemingly deliberately conserving its strength for a powerful strike.


    This also made David aware that this creature was smarter than the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger. Nheless, he still didn''t consider it a significant threat.


    Five minutes had passed, and seeing David gaining the upper hand, Vi''s tense heart finally rxed.


    And then, at that moment, The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider suddenly emitted a series of agitated sounds. Vi quickly looked again and saw that it had crawled onto arge tree unnoticed, and its abdomen had opened a hole. A white viscous substance was now being ejected from this opening, directed toward David.


    This made Vi''s just-relieved heart tighten again. She hastily shouted at David, "Be careful! This is The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider''s me Spiderweb. Once entangled, it''s a matter of life and death!"


    The me Spiderweb was indeed The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider''s trump card. It used its web to restrict the opponent''s movements. Additionally, the spiderweb was imbued with a unique ability by The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider, causing it to ignite upon contact with the enemy, burning them to ashes until the mes extinguished.


    It was this brutal ability that earned The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider its rank as the fourth most powerful super-exotic creature in the forest. It had been waiting, refraining from using the me Spiderweb until the right moment arrived, when David was fatigued and vulnerable, ready to use it for a deadly strike!


    The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider emitted another sound, but this time it was filled with intense anger. It seemed eager to cover David with the me Spiderweb and reduce him to ashes right now.


    David listened to Vi''s warning and slowly raised his head. Just then, the spiderweb was suddenly ejected from the abdomen of The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider! It flew toward David, the white web carrying a slight trace of viscous fluid. It descended like a force of nature, and the mes burning faintly on it could be seen.


    "Be careful!" Vi clenched her iron fan tightly, wanting to help David, but the me Spiderweb was too fast. It gave him no time to react and was already right in front of David.


    Vi''s words of caution annoyed the Dark Panther who was hiding behind the rocks. In his view, his dream lover should only say such things to him; how could she say them to someone else? He stared maliciously at David. When he saw that The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider''s me Spiderweb was about to pounce on David''s face, a sinister and triumphant expression appeared on his face.


    "Punk, dare to steal my woman? Let''s see if you have the guts!" At the same time, the Dark Panther knew that the strength of the creature before them was greater than any exotic creature he had ever encountered. So, he believed that this young man''s strength might not be enough to withstand this attack.


    As the me Spiderweb loomed closer, everyone''s hearts raced. David stared at the approaching web, suddenly shouted, and a visible chilling aura burst forth from him! This aura not only formed a barrier around his body but also produced a tremendous explosion, shattering the me Spiderweb into fragments that fell to the ground.


    Vi, witnessing this, couldn''t help but gasp in amazement. The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider probably hadn''t expected David to be so powerful, breaking its trump card so easily. Filled with anger, it shot out another web. However, the result was the same; all of its attempts were easily shattered by David and fell to the ground.


    "Is this all you''re capable of?" David''s clothes billowed with the intense aura, standing tall like a transcendent powerhouse. The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider seemed provoked and unleashed a flurry of me Spiderweb towards David.


    "Ridiculous. You think this can harm me?" David no longer engaged in unnecessary entanglement with it, and his hands wielding the Space de glowed with determination!

 Chapter 283 your level is too low

    <h4>Chapter 283 your level is too low</h4>


    The surrounding airflow continuously condensed and spun, finally gathering on the de of the Space de. Meanwhile, The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider remained oblivious to the impending danger, still arrogantly focused on David, relentlessly releasing the me Spiderweb.


    However, each me Spiderweb that approached David was torn into pieces by the airflow swirling around him. This surprised even the Dark Panther, who had been secretly observing.


    Then, with a thunderous shout from David, he shot forward like an arrow, disappearing from his original position in the blink of an eye. An almost imperceptible afterimage streaked through the air, leaving no trace visible to the naked eye.


    The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider still continued to release the me Spiderweb, but it suddenly realized that its enemy had vanished. Just as it stopped to search for him, David appeared right in front of it.


    "Are you looking for me?" David asked with a faint smile in a soft voice.


    The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider was taken aback, knowing danger was imminent. It hastily lifted its front legs, revealing sharp spikes, hoping to deliver a lethal blow to David.


    But who was David? An awakened eleven-tier tri-elemental ability user. A powerhouse who emerged from the Day of Doom''s ughter, how could he be daunted by such a feeble attack? He hesitated not as he swung the Space de toward the head of The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider.


    "Crack!" A sh of cold light apanied by a crisp shattering sound echoed throughout the open space! The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider''s movement halted in midair, the spikes on its front legs lost their luster, growing dim. David retracted the Space de, turned, and left with a fluid motion.


    The next moment, The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider''s head fell to the ground like a dropped ball. Its massive body trembled a couple of times before crashing to the ground. Its crimson robey lifeless. Blue foul-smelling blood oozed from its neck, but after a few convulsions, it fellpletely still.


    The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider, ranked fourth in the forest''s hierarchy, was vanquished by David within ten minutes.


    "It''s not even been ten minutes," David approached Vi and pondered for a moment before speaking. Vi stood there in a daze, as if petrified. She hadn''t even managed to grasp what had happened; The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider had been cleaved in two by David.


    "This is unbelievable..." Vi muttered to herself as she gazed at the creature''s remains. Her expression was filled with shock that lingered for a while. In her eyes, the seemingly invincible and unkible Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider had been reduced to an ant in David''s hands.


    This made Vi realize that David''s defeat of the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger wasn''t a fluke. Killing The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider was also a matter of pure strength. And his strength had surpassed her imagination. With this realization, she looked up at David, her eyes filled with admiration.


    "But it''s not over yet," David smiled faintly, his gaze shifting towards a nearbyrge rock. Vi listened to him, looking puzzled.


    "Didn''t you kill The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider? What else is there?" Vi thought there might be another new super-exotic creature appearing, but scanning around, she couldn''t spot anything unusual.


    Meanwhile, David had already dashed forward and stood before therge rock where the Dark Panther was hiding. "Come out, peeping isn''t honorable."


    Knowing that he had been discovered, the Dark Panther gritted his teeth. Alongside his subordinates, he emerged from behind therge rock. Seeing two unfamiliar humans, Vi frowned slightly, while Mandy also stared at them, seemingly awaiting David''smand.


    "Who are you?" David asked with a cold tone. When they arrived, David? had already sensed their presence. Discovering they were humans, David felt a hint of confusion.


    David hadn''t expected there to be other humans besides himself in this wastnd world. However, at the time, David? hadn''t paid them much attention. Having dealt with The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider, he now wanted to understand their purpose for being here.


    "Hmph! This is our Third Lord, the Dark Panther of the Dark City. Who are you?" His subordinates spoke with arrogance, emboldened by the Dark Panther''s presence.


    Upon hearing the words "Dark City," both David and Vi''s expressions flickered with surprise. They hadn''t anticipated the enigmatic Dark City to appear before them, and ording to the subordinates'' words, it was even the third-inmand.


    "Oh? Dark City? What are you doing here?" David sized up the Dark Panther. After discovering he was merely a Level 9 esper, his tone grew even more disdainful.


    The Dark Panther, having recovered from his initial shock, recognized David''s strength. Yet, in his eyes, he was unperturbed since he had his elder brother and second brother, not to mention the entire backing of Dark City. Instead, he felt a surge of anger when he saw Vi gazing at David with admiration.


    "Punk, do you think you''re invincible just because you''vee to the wastnd world? Let me tell you, don''t be arrogant in front of our Dark City! Be sensible, I advise you to leave here quickly, otherwise, when our Dark Cityunches a full-scale attack, you won''t be able to escape!"


    David found the Dark Panther''s threatughable.David wasn''t impressed by super-exotic creatures from the forest; how could he fear a mere Level 9 esper? He looked at the Dark Panther and said, "I suggest you watch your words, or else..." David pointed at The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider''s corpse, a yful glint in his eyes.


    "Just an exotic creature? Do you really think we, Third Lord''s subordinates, are pushovers? Believe it or not, I''ll show you a thing or two right now!" One of his subordinates rolled up his sleeves, trying to intimidate David. But before he could even raise his fist, a voice appeared right in front of him.


    Looking up, he saw a woman with an icy expression, resembling a straw doll. "Smack!" It was Mandy. In his confusion, Mandy raised her hand and struck him across the face.


    "You..."


    "Smack!" Mandy''s expression remained emotionless as she delivered another p.


    "I am..."


    "Smack!" Every time he tried to speak, Mandy''s pnded on his face. Within seconds, his face swelled like a teau, and traces of blood oozed from the corners of his mouth.


    This left him too afraid to utter another word. He quickly retreated to the Dark Panther''s side, pitifully whispering, "Third Lord, avenge me... Ow! My face!"


    Seeing his subordinate being pped, the Dark Panther''s face turned liver-colored.it was clear that David cared little for his presence. Consequently, an intangible me seemed to emanate from him, its fiery aura seeming to devour everything around him.


    Observing the Dark Panther''s appearance, David''s interest was piqued. "A fire-element esper? Unfortunately, your level is too low."

 Chapter 284 Is Tough-Talking.

    ?


    Seeing David instantly perceive his own level and awakened ability, the face of the Dark Panther became serious. At this moment, he truly realized the opponent''s strength. Being able to judge the opponent''s power solely based on their aura is an ability possessed only by advanced Espers.


    The Dark Panther studied David with a serious expression. For the first time, he realized that this ordinary-looking young man''s strength far surpassed his own. And at this point, it was clear that his subordinate''s perception wascking.


    Noticing that Dark Panther hasn''t taken revenge on his behalf yet, Dark Panther''subordinate drew a short knife from his waist and swung it at David. However, he forgot that Mandy was watching him closely from the side.


    Mandy lifted her arm to block his attack and simultaneously kicked his abdomen. "Ouch!" He felt as if a raging bull had rammed into his stomach. His vision darkened, and he nearly passed out on the ground.


    Mandy didn''t give him a chance to catch his breath. She walked over and delivered another kick to his face, prompting the subordinate to let out a dog-like yelp of pain.


    "Stop!" Seeing his close subordinate being beaten so badly by David''s people, the Dark Panther couldn''t help but shout in frustration. Ignoring the difference in power between him and David, he conjured a ball of fire in his hand and hurled it at Mandy.


    "You''re too weak, not evenparable to that old man," David remarked as he watched the mes approaching Mandy. He shook his head in resignation. Compared to Alvin''s fire-based ability, the Dark Panther''s power was indeed too feeble.


    David snapped his fingers, and the mes were instantly consumed by the void, vanishing without a trace.


    "Tell me about the situation in your dark city," David said calmly as he sat on a nearby rock. Seeing his ability vanish before it even touched David, the Dark Panther swallowed nervously.


    "I advise you not to inquire about our dark city. It''s not a ce you can meddle with," the Dark Panther stubbornly retorted, his expression defiant. He felt that he was no match for David, but his older brothers were formidable!


    At the same time, he secretly vowed to have his two brothers avenge him and even take back his dream lover. ncing at Vi, the Dark Panther clenched his fists.


    "At this point, why are you still being stubborn?" David''s patience wore thin. He felt the need to make this guy experience some hardship. He extended his hand towards the Dark Panther''subordinate who was still writhing on the ground, clutching his face in pain.


    "Ah!" White smoke immediately emitted from the subordinate''s body, and his flesh began to corrode.


    "Will you talk now?" David asked with a smile.


    "Third master, save... save me!" Hearing his subordinate''s agonized cries, the Dark Panther gritted his teeth, his expression ice-cold. He knew that the dark city was an enigmatic presence everyone here wanted to understand.


    If he revealed the information, it could potentially divulge the dark city''s exact location and strength. This would put them on the defensive whenunching an all-out attack on the Kui tribe and the Zerg.


    "Surprising that your heart is still so stubborn," David tightened his fist.


    "Crack!" The sound of bones breaking echoed in the air. When they looked at the subordinate again, all of his bones had been shattered by David, with broken bone fragments piercing through the skin, presenting a horrific sight. And this unfortunate subordinate didn''t even manage to let out a final scream before dying."


    "Damn it!" The Dark Panther couldn''t hold back any longer, his rage palpable.


    "Do you also want to be a corpse?" David''s words served as a timely reminder, quickly calming him down. the Dark Panther knew that no matter what, he couldn''t beat the young man before him. If they fought now, he would undoubtedly lose. So he believed that the most important thing now was to escape, to quickly leave this cursed ce. Once he returned to the dark city, he would have enough time to n his revenge.


    "Our dark city is the most mysterious power in the Wastnd World. You''ll never know just how terrifying it is," the Dark Panther said, his eyes darting around as he tried to find the best escape route. His words were meant to divert David''s attention, creating an opportunity for his getaway.


    "Every individual in the dark city is among the mightiest beings in the Wastnd World. You''ll pay for your actions," the Dark Panther dered before his body transformed into a ck smoke and shot towards the south.


    "Hahaha! Wait to meet your doom! I''ll definitelye back! When that timees, it''ll be your end!" The Dark Panther''s voice echoed through the beast forest. Mandy seemed inclined to pursue.


    "No need to chase him. Let him go back. Such people will die sooner orter, and his escape might even make the dark city residents aware of his fate," David stopped Mandy.


    David had long seen through the Dark Panther''s intentions. The reason he hadn''t immediately attacked was to let him bring the information about this ce back to the dark city. This way, he might create a sense of crisis for those hidden individuals in the city.


    But David also gleaned a crucial piece of information from the Dark Panther''s words. The rulers of the dark city were human, and three humans at that. He couldn''t be certain about the residents inside, but he believed there were probably some tamed zombies among them, otherwise, it wouldn''t be possible for so many humans to appear here simultaneously.


    With this realization, David felt considerably relieved. Initially worried that the dark city''s strength was on par with the Zerg, he now saw that dark city was actually Far less than . , To David, dealing with humans was much simpler. Turning to Vi, he walked over, smiled, and said, "Tsk tsk tsk, I really should''ve given that guy some time to pour his heart out to you."


    Upon hearing David''s words, Vi raised her head in confusion. Pour his heart out? What did he mean?


    "Can''t you see that he''s interested in you?" David continued. This statement instantly restored Vi''s pride as the queen of the Kui tribe.


    "I am the queen of the Kui tribe. How could a mere inhabitant of the dark city even be worthy of me?" Shrinking her iron fan and cing it back into her bosom, Vi regained her regal demeanor.


    David also observed her impressive figure, unable to help but sigh:"It''s true, it''s quite substantial, but still not as impressive as Sally''s."


    "What?" Vi looked at David inquiringly.


    "Never mind, then tell me, who do you think is worthy of being your esteemed queen?" David asked as he walked toward the corpse of "The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider."

 Chapter 285 The True Treasure

    ?


    Vi paused, her gaze involuntarily shifting towards David''s figure. She didn''t know why, but upon hearing those words, her eyes instinctivelynded on David. Almost imperceptibly, her heart, which had rarely stirred, started to flutter.


    David had just asked a casual question, so naturally, he didn''t pay attention to Vi''s reaction. As he walked up to the corpse of "The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider," the system''s voice chimed in his ear.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for killing The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider and obtaining an advanced pronucleus! ]


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical strike and obtaining one hundred advanced pronuclei! ]


    Simr to the Golden-winged Tiger, the kill rewards were advanced pronuclei. David then ced his hand on the spider''s corpse and softly uttered the extractionmand.


    [Ding! Congrattions to the host for sessful extraction, obtaining the Absolute Zero attack-type ability! ]


    "Hmm? A new ability?" David showed a hint of surprise upon hearing the system''s announcement. Usually, the extractions yielded fragments or simr items. He hadn''t expected to acquire a brand-new ability this time.


    This realization made David understand that the extraction function indeed held surprises. With a thought, the exnation about Absolute Zero appeared in David''s mind.


    [The host can condense the air within a radius of ten li (roughly 5 kilometers) into frost, thereby restricting the opponent''s attacks.]


    [Under this effect, opponents struck by the Absolute Zero attack will be subjected to frostbite damage.]


    [The abilitysts for two minutes and can be extended as the host''s strength improves.]


    Listening to the system''s exnation, David nodded silently. He hadn''t anticipated that this ability not only constrained opponents but also allowed him tounch attacks using the frostbite effect. It was undoubtedly a versatile offensive ability. Following that, an unfamiliar memory rushed into David''s mind, detailing the method to wield Absolute Zero.


    In a matter of moments, Davidpletely grasped the ability in his mind. ncing around, he slightly manipted his consciousness, immediately activating Absolute Zero.


    In an instant, all the trees within ten meters of his front were covered in a thickyer of frost. Under the frigid temperature of thisyer of frost, the once vibrant and sturdy trunks turned into withered wood, copsing to the ground.


    The entire processsted less than ten seconds, leaving David slightly astonished as he observed the fallen, withered trees. He had only activated Absolute Zero on a small scale, yet the effect had been this remarkable.


    What if he used it to its full potential? A smile of intrigue formed on David''s face. Afterpleting this demonstration, he returned to Vi''s side.


    "Why is the queen blushing?" David teased as he looked at her.


    "I... I''m not!" Vi, who had been lost in thought, snapped back to reality upon hearing David''sment. She blushed and looked down, stuttering in response, seemingly afraid that David might notice her unusual behavior. David just chuckled in response.


    Initially considering venturing deeper into the beast forest, David thought it might be better to leave some opponents for practice. They might prove to be particrly helpful in the future. So, he left the forest with Vi and Mandy. On the way back, Vi''splexion was especially rosy, and she seemed lost in thought, keeping her head down.


    Vi couldn''t help but lift her head to steal nces at David''s towering figure, and her heart kept pounding fiercely with each stolen look. In a trance, she felt like she was experiencing the indescribable joy of being human. However, she hadn''t expected this feeling to surge so intensely.


    Upon returning to the base, Vi eventually regained herposure. Nheless, she would still asionally nce at David from the corner of her eye. Entering the cave, David made his way to the kitchen, where the newly hunted game from the Kui tribe was stored. cing his palm on it, David initiated the extraction process. In no time, he obtained several strands of beast souls.


    After leaving the kitchen, David headed to the front of the base. The base he had built for Vi was currently only at the level of "ck Iron." Although it appeared incredibly sturdy, David understood that it was still insufficient to face off against powerful zombie creatures and other anomalies.


    At this moment, Vi joined him. Her face was slightly flushed, and she kept her head down, a far cry from her usual demeanor as the queen of the Kui tribe.


    "Do you need something?" David asked, breaking the silence.


    This caught Vi off guard, and hesitantly, she replied, "I... I would like to ask you to reinforce the base a bit more." She refrained from voicing her true thoughts, instead opting for a different exnation.


    David smiled and nodded, even if Vi hadn''t mentioned it, reinforcing the base was already in his ns. He had assumed that this woman might leave due to fear when he entered the beast forest, but to his surprise, she had stuck with him till the end on both asions.


    This made David somewhat taken aback. Additionally, given his current cooperative rtionship with the Kui tribe, he naturally intended to upgrade the base for her. Moreover, he had plenty of defense-type crystals in his system inventory. Rather than letting them go to waste, upgrading Vi''s base seemed like a fitting use for them, as a gesture of goodwill.


    David retrieved a defense-type crystal from his system inventory, and with a thought, the crystal disappeared into thin air. In an instant, the base emitted a dazzling light that caused Vi to shield her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she was taken aback! The base in front of her seemed to have transformed significantly, radiating a faint shimmering light. It appeared even sturdier than before.


    This was the first time Vi had seen a Bronze-level base, but for David, itcked novelty.


    "Amazing!" Vi touched the Bronze-level base, her tone filled with astonishment. Her gaze towards David became even more admiring.


    Afterpleting this, David left with Mandy and headed towards his Golden-level base. Mandy''s injuries had already healedpletely, and she seemed to have be more agile. She exuded a growing human-like aura.


    David was somewhat surprised by this transformation, but he realized that Mandy had been observing human habits by following him. It was only natural that she would be more human-like over time.


    Mandy seemed to notice David''s astonished expression. She turned her head to look at him, and for the first time, she shed a smile.


    "Master..." Mandy struggled to utter this word, her expression also bing more respectful. It seemed she already understood the significance of these two words.


    "Can you speak now?" David was once again taken aback, but then a gentle smile appeared on his face. He hadn''t expected that this treasure he had taken from Duane would actually be so precious.


    If Duane found out, he would surely be heartbroken. David reached out and ruffled Mandy''s head, his expression tender. He realized that in the Wastnd World, there would always be someone apanying him.

 Chapter 286 The Eye of Insight

    <h4>Chapter 286 The Eye of Insight</h4>


    At this moment, within the Dark City.


    "Eldest Brother, Second Brother, that guy not only killed My subordinate, but also insulted our Dark City without respect.? If I hadn''t turned into ck smoke and escaped in time, you probably wouldn''t have seen me again."? Inside the hall, Dark Leopard was tearfully speaking to Dark Dragon and Dark Tiger.


    Seeing the appearance of their younger brother narrowly escaping death, the furrowed brows of the two immediately creased even further.? They hadn''t expected this young man to be so arrogant, daring to bully the people of their Dark City.? He even killed Dark Leopard''s loyal subordinate.


    "He really thinks highly of himself!? Does this kid think he can just kill anyone from our Dark City?? Too audacious!"? Second Brother Dark Tiger mmed the table angrily, standing up with fury.? This was the first time he had been so angry, and it was all because of a young man he hadn''t even met before.


    "Second Brother, you''re right.? This kid is utterly disrespectful, acting as if no one is worth his attention.? He even brazenly boasted that killing us is as simple as crushing an ant!? I can''t swallow this humiliation!"? Dark Leopard recalled David''s arrogant demeanor, and his face instantly flushed with intense anger.


    As the third-inmand in the Dark City, under one person and above ten thousand, how could he tolerate this humiliation?? That''s why, on his way back, he made up his mind that no matter what, his two elder brothers needed to teach David a lesson.? Otherwise, where would he put his face in the future?


    Indeed, Dark Leopard''s words further ignited Dark Tiger''s anger.? mes suddenly erupted from his eyes, as if he wished to rush to David right now and tear him into pieces.? Since the establishment of the Dark City, although they hadn''t fully revealed their true strength in the harsh world, they were still one of the three major forces in this destend.? The very title was something he couldn''t bear to see being disrespected by David.? So, he turned to their eldest brother, Dark Dragon.


    "Eldest Brother, both Third Brother and I can''t endure this.? Just say the word, and the two of us will go out and take care of that guy!? Otherwise, how are we going to survive in this deste world?? How will the Zerg and Kui tribe see us?"? Dark Tiger''s voice grew angrier as he spoke, his fists clenched tightly, and veins popped out on his arms.


    Listening to their words, the eldest brother Dark Dragon still had a furrowed brow, his expression serious.? He naturally believed Dark Leopard''s words;? he couldn''t have imagined that such a powerful human would appear in this deste world.


    Seeing the determination in their eyes to seek revenge right away, Dark Dragon pondered for a moment before nodding slightly and saying, "Our Dark City has remained silent for too long.? It''s time for us to go out and establish our dominance.? Coincidentally, we also intend tounch an attack on the Kui? tribe.? It''s best to take them down at this opportune moment."


    "By then, we''ll have more leverage when dealing with the Zerg."? Dark Dragon''s words ignited excitement in Dark Tiger and Dark Leopard.? They had been waiting for a chance to unleash their stored power, and now, they finally heard their elder brother speak the words they longed for.? Both of them revealed bloodthirsty expressions on their faces.


    "Eldest Brother, in my opinion, let Second Brother and me go out first to deal with that guy.? Then you can lead our zombie army and charge over!? This way, we''ll coordinate our attacks from the front and back, catching them off guard."


    Dark Leopard waspletely driven by the urge for revenge.? His principle was that debts should not go unpaid overnight.? He had to seize the opportunity to eliminate David quickly.? With him and his Second Brother, he believed they could easily handle David.? And when that happened, David would have to kneel before him and apologize.? Moreover, his dream lover Vi would be his possession.? Dark Leopard grew more excited as he thought about it, his whole body trembling with anticipation.


    "I think Third Brother''s idea is correct!"? Dark Tiger also chimed in from the side, echoing his sentiments.


    After a moment of contemtion, Dark Dragon nodded.? He believed in the strength of his two younger brothers.? Thus, before nightfall, Dark Tiger and Dark Leopard quickly left through the city gates.? Led by Dark Leopard, they headed towards the territory of the Kui tribe.


    After returning to his Golden Base, David first consumed two Gene Fruits himself and also gave one to Mandy.? Within a few minutes, their energy and stamina quickly recovered.? Looking at his Golden Base, David wasn''t in a hurry to continue upgrading it.? He knew that what mattered most to him now wasn''t the shelter but his own strength.


    With this in mind, David retrieved ten advanced Pronucleus from his system warehouse.? As he looked at these Pronucleus that radiated a brilliant light and an aura of dominance, he felt a surge of power and absorbed thempletely into his body.? Instantly, a surge began to course through him, leading to even physical changes in his body.


    David closed his eyes, carefully feeling the changes in every inch of his muscles and veins.? After a moment, he slowly opened his eyes.? In that instant, a golden light shed in his pupils.


    [Ding!? Congrattions to the host for reaching level twelve! ]


    [Ding!? Congrattions to the host for strengthening the critical strike rate of the Space de to one hundred percent! ]


    [Ding!? Congrattions to the host for unlocking the Eye of Insight! ]


    A series of system notification sounds echoed in David''s ears.? At level twelve, he was already equivalent to level thirteen in the post-apocalyptic world.? He had even surpassed the level ssification for Espers in the apocalypse, reaching a transformation beyond levels.


    If the present-day David were to return to the post-apocalyptic world, he would be a supreme powerhouse, making decisions for all eternity and capable of achieving anything.


    However, David''s attention was focused on the newly acquired Eye of Insight.


    [Eye of Insight: Allows the host to sense all movements within a thirty-kilometer radius.]


    [Potential function: Probe the mysteries of the deste world.]


    A grape-sized triangr metal eye appeared in the void and floated in front of David.? This was the Eye of Insight he had just obtained.? As soon as it appeared, though, it vanished into thin air.


    Upon closer attention, David realized that it had fused with him.? With a simple thought, he could instantly sense everything within a thirty-kilometer radius, helping him predict uing events and even remotely monitor objects of his choosing.


    Satisfied, David nodded.? While the Eye of Insight was only a supportive ability, what he valued more was its potential function: probing the mysteries of the deste world.? This was his ultimate goal for entering this world.? Only by grasping the secrets here could he truly control this world.? With a thought, he tested the Eye of Insight''s function.


    The distant chirping of birds, the buzzing of insects, all of it entered David''s ears with rity.? He could even visualize these scenes.


    "Hmm?? This guy is back again?"? David suddenly saw two figures rapidly flying toward his direction from a distance, one of them being Dark Leopard who had escaped not long ago.

 Chapter 287 Who gave you the courage?

    <h4>Chapter 287 Who gave you the courage?</h4>


    With the help of the Eye of Insight, David quickly learned that the Dark Panther had struck again, this time with an aplice and a fierce momentum.? David couldn''t help but curl his lips into a disdainful smile.? He couldn''t figure out what was fueling this ant to provoke him.


    But since they hade, David had no reason not to wee them.? So he pulled over a chair and sat in front of the base, waiting for the arrival of the Dark Panther brothers with his legs crossed.? Mandy stood by David''s side, exuding her usual icy demeanor.


    "Second brother, it''s just ahead!? I specifically noted the direction that kid came from, and it''s this valley!"? Dark Panther pointed to an open valley and said to his brother, Dark Tiger.


    Narrowing his eyes, Dark Tiger looked at the valley in front of him, his killing intent soaring.? "Little brother, don''t be afraid.? With second brother here this time, I''ll make sure to help you get revenge.? This kid dared to bully people from our Dark City;? "I think this kid has had enough of living."!"


    Dark Panther looked smug, imagining the scene where David would kneel before him and beg for mercy, as well as the image of him holding the beauty Vi in his arms.? Before long, the two arrived at the bottom of the valley and looked up to see David, who had been waiting for a while.


    "Heh, we meet again," David said to Dark Panther with a smile, waving a bottle of red wine he had taken from the warehouse, looking extremely rxed.


    "Kid, don''t get too cocky.? I spared your lifest time, but this time you''ll cry!? I''ll show you the strength of the people from our Dark City," Dark Panther snarled at David, casting a nce at Dark Tiger.


    Dark Tiger nced at David and couldn''t help butugh.? "You?? You dared to offend my little brother.? You better think about the consequences.? This time, my awakening at level ten in the Thunder element will take care of you."? Dark Tiger was just as arrogant and never regarded David with any respect.? Little did he know that his level, in David''s eyes, was nothing but rubbish.


    During the apocalypse, Danny was a level ten esper, incredibly powerful and even the first human to step into the wastnd world.? But in the end, he still became a lifeless body under David''s control.? David smiled faintly.


    "Well, then I should see what you two brothers are capable of."? Taking a sip of red wine, David looked calm andposed.


    David''s dismissive attitude greatly angered Dark Tiger.? He was the second inmand in Dark City;? who wouldn''t bow before him?? So today, he was determined to make David suffer no matter what!


    "Kid, enough talk.? Prepare to die!"? Dark Tiger shouted, and instantly, a red lightning bolt struck from the sky!? The lightning split the dense mist in the sky, revealing a red moon that had never appeared before their eyes.


    Dark Tiger shouted again, his body enveloped in lightning that resembled writhing serpents.? Like a lightning bolt, he charged towards David.


    "Thunder Strike!"? David shook his head helplessly at Dark Tiger''s attack.? Although the power of Thunder element was strong, in David''s eyes, Dark Tiger''s strength was far inferior to Sally, not evenparable to a ninth-level Sally.


    But considering the circumstances, David thought it was normal.? After all, Sally became powerful under his careful guidance, along with the umtion of crystals andbat experience.? Sally was undoubtedly much stronger than this wild approach? in front of him.


    "Mandy, I''ll leave this to you."? Faced with this kind of trash, David couldn''t be bothered to take action himself and handed the task to Mandy.? Nodding, Mandy drew a triangr dagger and advanced towards Dark Tiger.? Even though David knew Mandy might not have the upper hand, he wanted her to umte morebat experience in the wastnd world.? This would help her be his reliable ally more quickly.


    Seeing Mandy in action, Dark Tiger''s expression grew even more arrogant and disdainful.? A bolt of lightning surged from his fingertips, heading straight for Mandy.? Mandy dodged to the side, causing the lightning to explode with a booming sound upon hitting the ground.? As Mandy turned, Dark Tiger triggered another lightning bolt.


    Mandy excelled at ranged attacks, so she could only narrowly avoid the lightning.? Dark Tiger seemed to have recognized Mandy''s weakness and continuously released lightning to avoid closebat with her.? He knew his opponent would be David soon, so he had to preserve his energy to deliver a fatal blow to the young man who seemed to think he was unbeatable.? After an explosion of lightning, Dark Panther couldn''t hold back any longer.? He remembered the ps Mandy had delivered to him, and a surge of hatred welled up within him.


    "Second brother, leave her to me.? You go deal with that guy!"? Dark Panther suddenly manifested a pair of tridents in his hands and viciously lunged at Mandy.


    Dark Tiger nodded and shifted his target, charging towards David.? Seeing this, David shook his head in resignation.? He had encountered people seeking death, but he had never seen someone so eager to meet their demise.


    Just as the lightning summoned by Dark Tiger was about to touch him, David didn''t dodge.? He remained seated, swaying the ss of red wine in his hand.? Dark Tiger was overjoyed, thinking that David couldn''t possibly evade his attack.? However, at that moment, he saw David''s lips part slightly, and he heard him whisper, "Absolute Zero!"


    A sound like ss colliding echoed within a five-meter radius, and everything froze in an instant!? The air stopped flowing, encapsted in a thickyer of frost.? The lightning bolt that was about to touch the tip of David''s nose turned into an icicle.


    Dark Tiger''s reaction was even more exaggerated;? his entire body froze in ce, with only his eyes able to move.? No matter how hard he tried to move his body, it was futile.? This filled him with shock.? He extended a finger and lightly flicked.


    The frozen lightning in front of him fell to the ground, disappearing.? David stood up and walked over to Dark Tiger.? Dark Tiger''s eyes followed David''s movements, locked in a stare.


    "I told you, you two brothers are trash.? No, strictly speaking, you''re trash among trash.? You think you can kill me with a level ten Thunder ability?? Who gave you the courage?"? David''s voice turned as cold as the surrounding air.


    The frost encasing Dark Tiger tightened involuntarily.? He felt as if his organs were about to explode, and even breathing became difficult.? At this moment, fear finally crept into his eyes.? He gazed at David, devoid of the arrogance he had shown earlier.? Even his frozen body began to tremble slightly.? In that moment, he truly understood David''s might.? Simultaneously, he realized he was no match for David at all.

 Chapter 288 Tomboy?

    <h4>Chapter 288 Tomboy?</h4>


    The bone-chilling frost relentlessly erodes Dark Tiger''s body, making him feel as if a thousand knives were stabbing into him.? Meanwhile, Dark Leopard, engaged in battle with Mandy, is shocked to see his elder brother''s condition.? He hadn''t expected that even a Level 10 ability user like Dark Tiger would struggle against David.? This fills him with anger, and with a shout, he charges towards Dark Tiger.


    "Big Brother, I''ll save you!"? Dark Leopard raises his halberd and attempts to strike the frost on Dark Tiger''s body with all his might.? However, the frost proves too resilient, and no matter how hard he tries, he can''t free his elder brother.


    Dark Tiger anxiously waits for rescue, and upon seeing Dark Leopard''s helpless expression, his own anxiety intensifies.? He shifts his gaze to David once more, his eyes filled with a desperate will to survive.


    David looks at him, his expression unchanged.? He can tolerate challenges from others, but repeated provocations and attempts to challenge him physically will lead him to break every bone in their bodies without hesitation.


    This is a survival rule David learned in the post-apocalyptic world, and it''s a rule of the wastnd.? He looks at the panicked Dark Tiger and clenches his fist without hesitation.


    "Bang!"? An explosion echoes as the frozen air around shatters into shimmering ice shards.? The shards dance through the air, reflecting David''s resolute expression as well as a hint of crimson blood.


    It''s the blood of Dark Tiger, the second-inmand of the shadow city.? Even the fragments of his shredded flesh are scattered in the air.? With just a disy of Absolute Zero, David obliterates Dark Tiger, a Level 10 lightning ability user.? The immense power of Absolute Zero surprises even David himself.


    Staring at the blood in the air, Dark Leopard stands there in shock, wide-eyed and bewildered.? His expression shifts from arrogance to fear and panic, just like Dark Tiger''s had earlier.? He mumbles to himself, seemingly unable to believe what has transpired before his eyes.


    Once he snaps back to reality, Mandy thrusts her trident into his ribs.? The trident, now enhanced with a bloodletting feature, acts like a conduit, continuously siphoning Dark Leopard''s blood.? Dark Leopard staggers, almost falling.? At this moment, he has no time to grieve his elder brother''s death.? His primary thought is still to escape;? if he can''t win, he''ll run.? It''s one of the survival tactics that has kept him alive until now.


    Dark Leopard doesn''t even dare to look at David, gritting his teeth against the pain.? Suddenly, he transforms into two trails of ck smoke, each fleeing in a different direction.? This is his self-preservation strategy, intentionally using his split body technique to prevent David, the god of death, from catching up easily.


    At that moment, Dark Leopard might soon reunite with his elder brother.? Watching the two trails of smoke flee through the air, David has no intention of pursuing.? He spares Dark Leopard''s life because he wants to lure out the true leader of the shadow city.? This way, he won''t need to keep going back and forth;? he can stand his ground and eliminate his opponents as theye to him.


    Approaching a chunk of Dark Tiger''s remains, David activates his extraction ability.


    [Ding!? Congrattions, host, for extracting the Fist of a Thousand Pounds technique!? ]


    Next, a technique hovers in the air in front of David.? "I didn''t expect you to be of some use," David says with a chuckle.


    [Ding!? The Fist of a Thousand Pounds allows the host''s attacks to carry the force of a thousand pounds!? ]


    The system exins simply.? As he listens, David recalls his existing abilities like the Voidbreaker Fist and Absolute Zero.? This technique seems somewhat redundant for him.? Meanwhile, Mandy walks over to his side and stands silently nearby.? Looking at her, David has a sudden idea: Could she learn this technique?


    Based on Mandy''s current attacking style, David knows that she relies entirely on physicalbat, which is close-quartersbat.? This demands superior strength, punching speed, and technique to outmatch opponents.? If Mandy can master this technique, it will undoubtedly be a significant enhancement for her.


    Although Mandy has just unlocked her consciousness and may not be ready to learn such aplex technique, David isn''t worried.? Because he has a system, he softly asks the system, "System, can you quickly teach Mandy the Fist of a Thousand Pounds?"


    [Ding!? Host can spend three advanced pronucleus to enable the subject to master the Fist of a Thousand Pounds!? ]


    Hearing this, David nods with satisfaction.? To him, anything involving spending crystal pronucleus isn''t a big deal.? He immediately follows the system''s guidance and expends three advanced pronucleus.


    In the moment the pronucleus disappears, the suspended technique transforms into light and enters Mandy''s mind.? Mandy suddenly closes her eyes slightly, seemingly perceiving the information about the technique.? After a short while, she opens her eyes, which are now gleaming with brilliance.


    "So quickly mastered?"? David is somewhat surprised by the speed.


    Mandy seems to understand and nods slowly.? Then, she walks over to a massive rock.? Clenching her fist, she decisively strikes the rock, causing it to shatter into flying fragments.? Despite the rock weighing seven to eight hundred pounds, Mandy appears entirely at ease.


    "Well done, Mandy!? From now on, you''re a true tomboy!"? Observing Mandy''s dominant and imposing demeanor, David gives her a thumbs-up as a form of praise.


    Unexpectedly, Mandy''s face takes on a slightly unhappy expression upon hearing this.? She mutters a few awkward sybles, "Mandy...? is Little Sister."


    "Hahaha!"? David bursts intoughter.? He didn''t expect Mandy to be familiar with the term "Little Sister" or even to dislike being called a tomboy.


    "Alright, from now on, you''re a ''Little Sister'' who can knock out a bull with a single punch!"? David quickly corrects Mandy''s identity.? Mandy appears thoughtful for a moment, then nods happily.


    "This silly girl, she can knock out a bull with a punch and still insists she''s not a tomboy?"? David chuckles softly.


    While some are happy, others are troubled.? Just as David rejoices in Mandy mastering the Fist of a Thousand Pounds, Dark Leopard also manages to reach the shadow city on hisst legs.? If he hadn''t exhausted himself in his desperate escape, his blood might have run dry by now.? He approaches Dark Dragon, astonishing him, as Dark Dragon was about to lead a pack of mutant beasts.


    "Younger brother, what happened to you?? Where''s your elder brother?"? Dark Dragon quickly helps him up from the ground, his expression serious.


    "Big brother, Second brother..? he was killed by that guy!"? Despite enduring the pain, Dark Leopard reports Dark Tiger''s death to Dark Dragon.

 Chapter 289 Cozy

    <h4>Chapter 289 Cozy</h4>


    "What!? Second Brother is dead?"? Upon hearing Dark Leopard''s words, Dark Dragon stood still, his eyes widened in disbelief.? He couldn''t fathom this news and asked again, "What exactly happened?"


    Dark Leopard took a breath, suppressing his weakened state, and exined, "I went with Second Brother to avenge ourselves against that guy.? He used some kind of supernatural ice technique, freezing the air around us.? Second Brother couldn''t escape and got trapped in the ice.? The guy then squeezed him to death using the ice!"


    As Dark Leopard spoke, he recalled the gruesome sight of Dark Tiger''s fate.? Especially when he thought of David''s aura of death, he couldn''t help but shudder.? He swore that besides the Zerg, he hadn''t encountered such a formidable opponent in the wastnd.


    Dark Dragon''s expression darkened at Dark Leopard''s words.? He had thought that with Dark Leopard and Dark Tiger working together, they could at least teach David a lesson, if not defeat him.? However, things had turned out differently.? Not only had they failed to harm David, but Dark Tiger had lost his life because of it.


    "Cursed be it!"? Dark Dragon gritted his teeth and pped the stone table in front of him into pieces.


    As one of the three major forces in the wastnd, he was the lord of Dark City.? How could he allow an outsider to trample over them?? He had originally nned to set out tomorrow morning, leading a horde of zombies to meet up with Dark Leopard and Dark Tiger.? However, this event changed his ns immediately.? He decided to mobilize the zombie horde now.? Revenge for his brothers was a must!


    "Younger brother, rest in the city for a while.? I''m setting off now, and I will avenge your Second Brother.? I''ll make sure to ce that guy''s head in front of Second Brother''s memorial!"? Dark Dragon said with malevolence.? He then began to prepare to don his armor and leave the city.


    Seeing this, Dark Leopard hurriedly said, "Big brother, that guy is truly formidable.? His strength is likely in the top ten of the wastnd."


    "Hmph!? So what?? Today, I will definitely kill him!"? Consumed by anger, Dark Dragon''s judgment was clouded.? Furthermore, being an eleventh-level esper with wind abilities, he believed he could handle David''s strength, no matter how powerful it was.


    If Dark Dragon were aware that David was already a twelfth-level esper, epassing three elemental abilities, he would surely reconsider his words.? After a moment of contemtion, Dark Leopard believed that his elder brother''s power level was also incredible.? Coupled with the zombie horde, he thought that maybe they could defeat David.


    So, Dark Leopard nodded and said to Dark Dragon, "Big brother, I''ming too!? I want to witness you personally cut off that guy''s head!"


    With that, Dark Leopard had one of his subordinates bring a bottle of bone-rejuvenating and blood-restoring liquid from the pharmacy and drank it.? As the liquid entered his stomach, the wounds inflicted by Mandy''s trident started to slowly heal, and hisplexion improved.? Only then did he follow Dark Dragon to the city gates.


    At this point, the city gates were already filled with hundreds of high-level zombies.? These zombies were captured by the three brothers in the wastnd and then subjected to special training to be part of their zombie horde.


    These high-level zombies not only understood theirmands but also fought tirelessly until death in battle.? This was the secret weapon of the three brothers.? As long as these high-level zombies were present, they believed that killing David and even defeating the Kui tribe was a natural oue.


    "Squeak!"? The massive gates of Dark City slowly swung open, pushed by two mutated rhinoceroses.? Dark Dragon rode a Hurricane Battle Lion, while Dark Leopard rode a Nine Shadow Abyssal Python.? The two brothers led the horde of zombies and headed towards the valley where David was located.


    After killing Dark Tiger, it was still early in the day, so David entered his base.? The base''s level was sufficient for his needs, and survival in this wastnd relied on his own strength.? Thus, he considered the base merely a ce to rest.


    Even so, David decided to enhance the base by adding some facilities.? He wasn''t sure how long he would be living here, so improving the living conditions seemed necessary.


    Surveying the interior of the base, David used thirty pieces of wood from the warehouse to craft a sofa and furniture set.? He then repainted the walls using the system, adding two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, a tea room, and a study.? He even built a weapon modification room in the remaining area.


    With these changespleted, David looked at the transformed base and felt a surge of contentment.? At that moment, he felt a long-lost warmth.


    Mandy stood beside David, wearing a surprised expression.? She sat down on the plush sofa and walked into the spacious bedroom, her face expressing human-like joy.


    "From now on, this will be your bedroom," David pointed to a slightly smaller room and said to Mandy.


    Mandy nodded and entered the bedroom, looking around with excitement.? Seeing her curiosity, David smiled lightly.? Meanwhile, noises from outside the base reached them.? Stepping outside, David discovered that Vi had somehow arrived.


    "Is there something you need?"? David asked. His interest in the Kui Queen, Vi, was growing.? She gazed at the golden base with envy despite its current state.


    "Um...? I cooked some meat and wanted to share it with you and Mandy," Vi brought out a piece of cooked, tender meat and exined her intention.


    Since David had rejected the Kui tribe''s meatst time, Vi figured he might not like it semi-raw.? So, after David left, she cooked a fresh piece of deer meat and brought it over as a gesture of goodwill.


    Knowing that she had consumed quite a bit of their "Dongpo Pork," Vi felt it necessary to make an effort.? Seeing the steaming deer meat, David nodded.? He understood Vi''s kind intentions and smiled, inviting her inside.


    As Vi entered the base, she was stunned by what she saw.? The clean and tidy walls, the soft sofa, and even the beautiful flowers in vases.? A sense of warmth that she had never experienced before washed over her.? Looking at everything before her, her eyes sparkled with delight.? She hadn''t expected David''s base to be so luxurious andforting.? It felt like she was being entranced.


    "Would you like a cup of coffee?"? David brought a cup of freshly brewed coffee over to Vi.


    Looking at the dark liquid before her, Vi seemed puzzled.? "What is coffee?? Can I drink it?"

 Chapter 290 Meeting

    <h4>Chapter 290 Meeting ?</h4>


    Watching Vi hold the coffee and appraise it without pause, David only then remembered that she isn''t human, and thus had never drunk coffee before.? David smiled, raised the coffee, took a sip, and gestured to Vi to give it a try.


    Vi followed David''s lead and took a light sip, saying, ''It''s so bitter!? But there seems to be a rich fragrance.''


    Vi tasted the coffee with some surprise.? Looking at David, her eyes were filled with anticipation;? she always received surprises in his presence.? However, at that moment, David''s brow suddenly furrowed.? He had inadvertently used his perceptive abilities and sensed an immensely surging aura in the distance.


    This aura was immense, not only containing humans but also zombies.? It wasn''t just one or two, but rather arge group of zombies.? This left David puzzled.


    What was the reason for so many zombies suddenly appearing?? But quickly, David got the answer.? Because he sensed that unmistakably familiar aura¡ªit was the Dark Leopard.


    This made David chuckle involuntarily.? Even though he had brought reinforcements this time, he still didn''t regard this fellow highly.


    At the same time, David understood that the person beside him, riding a strange beast, should be the lord of the Dark City.? They hade out in full force this time, with the aim of seeking revenge against him.


    "Well, they took the bait."? David said with a leisurely smile.? He nced at Vi, still lost in the aroma of the coffee, and said, "People from the Dark City have arrived.? Perhaps it''s a good opportunity for you."


    "People from the Dark City?"? Hearing David say this, Vi was momentarily stunned.? Then, thanks to her familiarity with the deste world, she immediately sensed the faint dangerous aura permeating the air.? Setting down the coffee, she walked to the entrance of the base.? In the distance, the swirling yellow sand seemed to indicate arge number of zombie monsters rushing toward them.


    Vi''s brow furrowed.? She knew what David implied.? Among the three major powers in the deste world, the Zerg were the strongest.? The Dark City, shrouded in mystery, ranked second in strength.


    The Kui tribe, however, was the weakest.? During this period, Vi had been aware of the Dark City''s movements, constantly sending spies to her territory to gather information.? This action suggested the people from the Dark City had ulterior motives, perhaps wanting to upy the Kui tribe''s territory.


    This had been Vi''s worry for some time.? If the Kui tribe''s territory were truly taken over by the Dark City, and her subordinates were all killed by them, the Kui tribe would disappearpletely from this world.? David also stepped out of the base, looking carefree.


    "You''ve been doing well these past two days.? I''ll help you."? David said, casually throwing in a favor and indebting Vi to him.? He knew that with Vi''s and his forces'' current strength, they were certainly no match for the Dark City.? But with him around, the oue would be different.


    Vi understood this logic as well, so she looked at David with gratitude.? Soon, the towering sandstorm drew closer and closer.? They could even distinctly hear the roars of zombie beasts.? In just a few minutes, the Dark Dragon and Dark Leopard, apanied by a horde of zombies, appeared before David and Vi.


    "You take care of the zombies, I''ll handle these two."? David whispered and then leisurely walked towards the Dark Dragon and Dark Leopard.? Vi nodded, and in her palm appeared a piece of brown jade.? With a slight exertion of force, the jade turned into powder.? This was their means ofmunication¡ªonce the jade shattered, all the Kui tribe members woulde rushing over."


    "After all this, Vi looked at David''s back.? She walked up to the Dark Dragon and Dark Leopard.? Looking at the now-recovered Dark Leopard, David chuckled and said, ''This is our third meeting, right?''


    David''s words were full of disdain and contempt.? He could have killed this guy at any time during their previous two encounters.? The reason he hadn''t acted was to use him as bait, luring out all the people from the Dark City.? This approach saved him a lot of time.? And now, Never expected the Dark Leopard to be so obedient.? Just after seeing off his Second brother, he''s brought another one along?


    David couldn''t help butugh softly, and hisughter angered the Dark Leopard.? Burning with anger over his Second brother''s death, the Dark Leopard was further infuriated by David''s continued arrogance.? Clenching his fist tightly, he said fiercely, ''Arrogant!''


    ''I must avenge my Second brother''s death!? With my Big brother here today, let''s see what you''re capable of!''? The Nine Hades Land Underworld Python beneath the Dark Leopard also grew furious, continuously hissing venomously, its gaze fixed intently on David.


    ''Heh heh, your Second brother is gone, and now the big brother has arrived.? Don''t worry, you three brothers will be lying neatly side by side.''? David toyed with the circr jade pendant in his hand, watching the two continue to provoke.


    ''Kid, don''t be so arrogant in front of me!? I''m here today to take your life!? Just because you haven''t heard anything about the Dark City''s actions in the deste world doesn''t mean weck strength.? Hmph!? You''ve got it all wrong!''? The Dark Dragon fixed David with a cold stare.? As his words fell, a hurricane suddenly swept across the sky.


    The hurricane spiraled upwards, uprooting all the trees around and sending them soaring into the air.? Even some massive rocks were turned into powder within an instant in the hurricane''s grip.? This was the power of the Dark Dragon''s wind-based ability.? However, David was unmoved by this show of force.? To him, a mere gust of wind held no threat.


    Under the influence of the hurricane, the horde of zombies behind the two brothers began howling as if they were injected with adrenaline.? Mouths gaping, they bared their mutated fangs.? Some even seemed to receive orders from the Dark Dragon, slowly moving closer to David.


    The atmosphere in the entire valley grew hostile, the air thick with a weighty pressure.? Meanwhile, the Kui tribe members who had been called by Vi had arrived.? Seeing the scene before them, they immediately understood that something had happened.? They stood behind Vi, weapons raised, their gazes fixed on the horde of zombies.


    Now, the atmosphere in the entire valley grew even more hostile.? Amidst the tense standoff of two confronting forces, David maintained his calm andposed demeanor.? He had witnessed scenes like this far too often.? Yet, there were very few that could truly threaten him.? He had already sensed that the Dark Dragon was at level eleven, but it still wasn''t enough.


    David always held the upper hand in terms of skill and strength, a level above in both respects.? However, it was clear that the Dark Dragon hadn''t fully grasped David''s true strength.? He was solely focused on killing the young man before him and, while at it, wiping out the Kui tribe.? Without further hesitation, he shouted loudly and leaped into the air from his hurricane battle lion!"

 Chapter 291 Graveyard Babies

    <h4>Chapter 291 Graveyard Babies</h4>


    ''Come and die!''? The Dark Dragon surged forth like a gust of wind from hell, not only exuding a tremendous aura but also carrying an ultimate killing intent!? At that very moment, as he made his move, the horde of zombies behind him howled even more fiercely.? In the next second, they surged towards David like a tidal wave.


    ''Kill them!''? Vi immediately ordered the Kui tribe tounch their attack!? The Kui tribe members behind her charged towards the zombies with their weapons in hand.? Vi led by example, floating in mid-air and wielding an iron fan against the zombies.


    "Whoosh!"? A swift wind imbued with a hint of mes erupted from the ground, sweeping towards the charging zombies.? Although Vi''s strength was inadequate against the Dark Dragon, she had more than enough power to deal with these zombies.? The Dark Leopard seized the opportunity and arrived beside Mandy, apanied by the Nine Hades Land Underworld Python.


    Quickly, everyone was embroiled in battle, and the whole valley was now filled with a heavy scent of blood.? The Dark Dragon was particrly fierce, conjuring an invisible wind de from the void and swinging it towards David''s head.? David tilted his head slightly, and the wind de sliced into the ground with a howl.


    However, the Dark Dragon didn''t pause.? He had to make this young man realize his formidable strength.? Springing into the air, the wind de in his hand seemed to growrger, and his aura became even more overwhelming.


    ''Kid, can you withstand this lethal Wind de move?''? Finished speaking, the Dark Dragon tightly gripped the hilt of the wind de, exerting all his strength to execute a powerful strike!? Suddenly, the wind around him howled, gathering directly onto the wind de, as if responding to a summons.? The mere aura was already immensely powerful, and the attack''s force was several times stronger than that of an ordinary wind de.


    Watching the Dark Dragon show off his ability so passionately, David shook his head silently.? From the apocalypse to the deste world, what kind of opponents hadn''t he faced?? While opponents in the deste world might be stronger than those in the apocalypse, in David''s eyes, he still remained an insurmountable obstacle for them.


    Raising his head to face the iing lethal Wind de, David clenched his fist.? Just as the Wind de was about to touch him, David decisively unleashed the Milky Way Shattering Fist!


    "Boom!"? David''s punch directly struck the Wind de of the Dark Dragon!? An enormous explosion resounded, and the Dark Dragon felt his arm go numb;? the wind de nearly slipped from his hand.? He quickly retracted the wind de and swiftly moved backward.


    In contrast, David''s fist was surrounded by a string of sparks resembling stars.? Visible currents of energy flowed among these stars, revealing the power of starry fragmentation.? The Dark Dragon rubbed his sore arm, watching David with a hint of caution in his eyes.


    On the other side, Mandy wielded the Thousand-Jin Fist skillfully,unching fierce attacks.? Every punch she threw targeted the Dark Leopard''s weak points, leaving him no chance to counterattack.


    The Dark Leopard constantly utilized the trident in his hand to defend against Mandy''s sessive strikes.? Faintly, he sensed that this opponent before him, who looked like a scarecrow, seemed to have grown stronger.? This was entirely different from the aura he had sensed during their first encounter.


    Helplessly, he could only employ his signature skill repeatedly, dodging danger and attempting to retaliate against Mandy''s attacks.


    Vi led the Kui tribe into the battlefield, engaging in endlessbat.? Although the Kui tribe members'' strength was not formidable, facing these high-level zombies had greatly boosted their morale.? With Vi at the forefront, they charged forward as if under the influence of stimnts.? After smashing a zombie to pieces using her iron fan, Vi turned her gaze towards David''s silhouette."


    "After realizing that David was not in danger, Vi continued the battle.? He understood that this battle had long been nned by the Dark City.? Even if it didn''t happen today, they would eventually cross paths and engage in ughter.? Moreover, this battle was directly rted to the survival of their Kui tribe, so he had to give it his all.


    Vi was well aware that she could fight against the Dark City brothers and the zombies because of David''s presence.? David''s presence was deterring the strongest force of the Dark City, while she was merely dealing with the lower-ranked zombies.? This realization filled Vi with deep gratitude.


    As David battled the Dark Dragon, deep within the Abyssal Graveyard, in a dpidated small hut, the guardian elder slowly opened his eyes while reclining on a bamboo chair.? He appeared somewhat surprised and muttered, "Oh?? Has it begun?"? It seemed that he could already see everything happening in the valley of the deste world.? This brought a trace of astonishment to his face.


    The elder knew that David was a powerful esper, and his arrival in the deste world was bound to attract trouble.? However, he hadn''t anticipated that his presence would bring disaster to certain figures in the deste world.


    "Thisd is quite impatient!"? The elder chuckled helplessly, rising from the bamboo chair.


    "Well then, old man, I''ll join in the fun as well.? Perhaps I''ll even encounter some familiar faces."? The elder''s expression seemed to brighten as if he recalled something.? He turned and left the wooden hut.


    Meanwhile, a sound of breaking soil from the deepest part of the graveyard caught his attention.? His gaze immediately turned grim as he walked towards the source of the noise.? He saw that the tombstone of this grave had already cracked, andyers of blood had congealed upon it.? Upon closer inspection, peculiar red symbols were faintly visible on the red-lettered name on the tombstone.


    Standing before the tombstone, the elder gazed at the opening in the grave, his voice stern as he said, "Since you couldn''t stay in the Apocalypse, you''vee to the deste world.? Perhaps you''ll encounter someone who can tame you."


    Hardly had the elder finished speaking when a silent voice emanated from the opening, "Old man, who in this world can truly tame me?"


    "Did you really think the person you chose canpletely subdue me?? Dream on!"? Hearing this voice filled with defiance and even arrogance, the elder shook his head once again in resignation.


    "This time, you''re going whether you want to or not!"? The elder lifted his head and suddenly inserted his right hand into the opening!? Following a loud shout, he pulled out a baby from the opening.


    Once the baby appeared, it merely nced at the elder before transforming into a streak of light, seemingly ready to return to the tomb.? However, the elder seemed to be well-versed in these actions.? He swiftly drew a hemp rope from his waist and, in one motion, bound the baby.


    "Old man, let go of me!"? The baby''s voice sounded as if it belonged to an elderly person, ring at the elder defiantly.


    "Go with me to the deste world and meet him.? Trust me, he will be your new master."? The elder didn''t give the baby a chance to speak.? Lifting him up, he returned to the wooden hut, disappearing within the Abyssal Graveyard.

 Chapter 292 Spear

    <h4>Chapter 292 Spear</h4>


    Time and time again, the Dark Dragon hurled wind des towards David.? The sharp whistling of the wind des and the explosive sounds of friction in the air were enough to instill fear.


    David swung the Gxy Shatter Fist, smashing the iing wind des one after another in mid-air.? This caused the Dark Dragon to furrow his brow in frustration.


    During these exchanges, the Dark Dragon clearly sensed David''s strength and understood why a level ten Dark tiger met his demise at his hands.


    However, consumed by vengeful anger, the Dark Dragon''s mind was clouded.? Even though he wasn''t currently a match for David, he was determined to fight on.


    To Dark Dragon, this battle wasn''t just about avenging his brother, but also about redeeming his Dark city''s reputation and enhancing their power in the wastnd world.? So, he had to win, but he was overestimating his own abilities.


    In these rounds of attacks, David hadn''t even used thirty percent of his strength.? He even refrained from fully utilizing the Gxy Shatter Fist.? He looked at the Dark Dragon, who hovered in mid-air, surrounded by swirling winds.


    David sneered, "You''re supposed to be their big brother, can''t you show some real strength?"


    This statement further infuriated the Dark Dragon.? He shouted, "Kid, let me show you what terror truly means!"


    With a loud roar, the Dark Dragon''s armor shattered, and a ck vortex spun into existence in the sky.? The vortex resembled a serpent, twisting and charging into the Dark Dragon''s body.


    Suddenly, the Dark Dragon spread his arms, allowing the vortex to surge within him.? His aura grew terrifying.? At that moment, he transformed into a wind dragon, swirling in the air like a phantom.? Thebination of his elusive form and the surging wind-based power transformed the valley''s sky.? Countless dark clouds churned, apanied by resounding thunder.? Seeing this phenomenon, David nodded in slight surprise.


    "Well, now you''re worthy of my attention," David remarked.? Just as he spoke, the Dark Dragon''s colossal dragon body spun and soared towards him.


    David instantly tore open a spatial rift, disappearing from his original position.? Simultaneously, he manifested the Void de.? When using spatial abilities, the Void de''s critical hit rate reached a fearsome level.


    Reappearing in mid-air, David decisively swung the Void de at the Dark Dragon.? A metallic sh resounded, sparking a shower of light.? Surprisingly, the Void de made contact with the Dark Dragon but failed to cause substantial damage.? David nodded to himself, realizing the Dark Dragon was giving his all to try and kill him.? This realization thrilled him as he sought formidable adversaries.


    David''s goal had always been to find strong opponents.? It was through shes with such foes that he couldprehend and elerate his own growth.? The Dark Dragon grew more arrogant.? The massive dragon head aimed at David..


    "My dragon form boasts defenses equal to my level.? Can you break through them?? Hahaha!"? After a heartyugh, the Dark Dragon once again used his immense dragon body to charge at David.


    Rather than dodging, David retracted the Void de, preparing for a true hand-to-hand battle.? He unleashed the full power of the Gxy Shatter Fist, delivering punch after punch onto the dragon''s body.


    At first, the Dark Dragon didn''t feel any pain.? However, as his expression grew increasingly serious, he began to distinctly feel the force behind each of David''s punches.? He felt that the power of those punches was beyond the realm of the wastnd world, capable of tearing apart all things in its horrifying might!? Even the dragon scales that acted as his defense started to faintly fall away.


    The Dark Dragon''s anger red up instantly.? He believed that this young man who had just entered the wastnd world wasn''t qualified to fight him.? He was the lord of the Dark City in the wastnd, and also one of the three major powers.? He felt the need to teach this young man a lesson!


    "Roar!"? Suppressing the intense pain throughout his body, the Dark Dragon roared furiously.? He twisted his dragon body, aligning his dragon head with David.? Without hesitation, he opened his mouth, releasing a gust of wind powerful enough to shatter mountains!


    This powerful wind condensed the entirety of the Dark Dragon''s level eleven strength and was a lethal strike he had developed after reaching level eleven¡ªhis ultimate technique, the Dragon''s Wrathful Wind!


    "Hahaha!? Perish beneath my Dragon''s Wrathful Wind!? I''ll turn you into a speck of dust in the wastnd world!? Cross me, and you will die!"? The Dark Dragon''s Dragon''s Wrathful Wind tore through the void, resembling a malevolent wind from the depths of hell, viciously hurtling towards David.? At that moment, even the sky and earth seemed to pale inparison due to the ferocity of the wind.


    Suddenly, a fierce storm followed suit.? The animals in the mountains and forests cried out, sensing the threat to their lives.? The entire valley even began to tremble and seemed on the verge of copse.? Vi turned, her expression filled with worry, as she looked at the howling wind.


    Mandy, after extracting a triangr bay from a zombie''s body, leaped high in an attempt to shield David.? However, the Dragon''s Wrathful Wind was simply too swift, leaving her no time at all.? At this moment, David gazed at the surging Dragon''s Wrathful Wind and slightly closed his eyes.


    In this moment, everything around David grew quiet.? There was no heavy rain, no violent wind, and even the people around him disappeared one by one.? Only the circr jade pendant he had taken from Danny floated before him.? Emitting a faint light, the light transformed into crimson, filling the space around David with scarlet hues.


    And at this moment, David suddenly opened his eyes wide.? His pupils turned as blood-red as the surrounding light, seemingly containing an apocalyptic crimson deep within his eyes.


    With a softugh, David extended his hand and lightly clenched it in the air.? "Swish!"? A spear, about two meters long, materialized slowly and was held in his grip.? The spear was entirely red, as if it had been formed from countless droplets of blood.? The spearhead bore peculiar patterns.


    David caressed the spearhead, seemingly hearing countless pitiful cries.? As he tightly grasped the spear, the entire wastnd world underwent an anomaly!? A tragic red light shimmered in the sky, akin to the blood of demons from the depths of an abyss.? This light was even more crimson than the light of doomsday, exuding a vicious and ruthless aura.


    Opening his eyes, David cast a disdainful smile at the arrogantly triumphant Dark Dragon.? The next second, he swung the spear with both hands, and a ferocious aura expanded outwards.? He thrust the spear towards the oing Dragon''s Wrathful Wind.


    "Ooo!"? At the moment of impact between the spear and the Dragon''s Wrathful Wind, the patterns on the spearhead shattered.? Countless souls seemed to be unsealed from their prison, emerging like evil ghost!

 Chapter 293 evil ghost Lord

    <h4>Chapter 293 evil ghost Lord</h4>


    These evil ghost extended their skeletal palms, fiercely pping the Dragon''s Wrathful Wind.? The same wind that had surged ferociously, causing drastic changes in the heavens and earth, was instantly dissipated by these evil ghost'' single p.? This left the Dark Dragon utterly stunned in his tracks.? He stared incredulously, his eyes wide, at the faint remnants of the ferocious wind.? The terror in his eyes could only be described as profound.? This was the ability he had saved up as his trump card upon reaching level eleven¡ªhow could it be broken so effortlessly by the person before him?


    Remember, in the Dark Dragon''s view, David at this moment was a devil emerging from hell!? Just then, David lightly shook the spear in his hand.? It was as if he was controlling those evil ghost;? they opened their gaping mouths and flew towards the Dark Dragon.


    These evil ghost emitted horrifying sounds, swarming around the Dark Dragon and Mandy in an overwhelming frenzy.? The Dark Dragon could only struggle to fend them off.? He swung his dragon body, attempting to crush the evil ghost with his defensive dragon scales.? However, to his surprise, the evil ghost charged at his dragon body as if they were starving for a century, unhesitatingly aiming for his scales.? They bared their sharp teeth, relentlessly tearing at the dragon scales.


    At first, the Dark Dragon managed to hold his ground against them.? Gradually, however, these evil ghost, armed with their sharp teeth and ws, managed to tear through his dragon body''s defense!? In an instant, the evil ghost excitedly howled, feasting on the flesh and blood beneath the dragon''s scales.


    "Big brother!"? The Dark Panther, seeing the situation, rushed forward with its trident, attempting to drive away these evil ghost.? Yet, before it could reach the Dark Dragon, it was pounced upon by one of the evil ghost.? The vengeful spirit bit down on the Dark Panther''s neck, and blood sprayed out like a fountain.


    At this moment, the Dark Dragon felt as though his body was being devoured by tens of thousands of ants.? The intense pain made him involuntarily convulse.? But the evil ghost didn''t give him a chance to catch his breath.? Swiftly, they devoured all his flesh and blood.? Only a long dragon bone remained.? Eventually, under the torment of these evil ghost, the Dark Dragon ceased breathing, and the Dark Panther also died by the Dark Dragon''s side.


    However, these evil ghost seemed insatiable.? As David once again shook the spear, they rushed towards the high-level zombies in the valley.


    Including the mounts of the Dark Dragon and Dark Panther brothers, the entire valley was filled with wails!? All the zombie monsters were ughtered by the evil ghost, flesh and bone scattering everywhere.? In the blink of an eye, the valley, which was previously crawling with zombie monsters, had turned into a field of white bones.? The evil ghost continued their relentless feast on the remaining limbs and torsos.


    This scene urred so suddenly that even Vi, who had been worrying about David''s safety, was left dumbfounded as she witnessed it.? Having lived in the wastnd world for a long time, she had witnessed countless brutal killings.? Yet,pared to this, she felt genuine terror for the first time.


    Observing theplete annihtion before him, David once again revealed a faint smile.? At this point, the sky had returned to normal after the death of the Dark Dragon.? Only the crimson hue in the sky refused to recede from the horizon.


    David shook the spear with determination, and the evil ghost seemed to respond to his call, gathering one by one at the spearhead before vanishing from everyone''s sight.? The peculiar pattern reappeared once more.? Then, the spear vanished into thin air, and the previously shattered ring-shaped jade pendant also returned to a whole, resting in David''s hand.? The crimson hue in his eyes dissipated as the red light faded from the horizon.? Everything seemed to have returned to normal, except for the countless white bones scattered across the valley, bearing witness to the recent infernal scene.? As the ash fell to the ground, Vi walked over.


    "Are you okay?"? Vi asked with concern, her eyes also showing a hint of respect for David''s strength.? David smiled slightly and shook his head.


    "Just some ants;? is this what they call one of the Three Great Forces of the Wastnd?"? Hearing David''s disdainful words, Vi''s head drooped in slight guilt.


    In her eyes, the strength of the Dark Dragon and his brothers was exceptionally formidable, but in David''s perspective, they were nothing at all.? This left her, a member of the Kui tribe, feeling a little perplexed.


    However, Vi knew that even facing the Zerg, David had a high chance of winning.? Realizing this, she quickly ordered the battlefield to be cleaned up.


    Meanwhile, David stood before the bodies of the Dark Dragon and Dark Panther, bowing his head to look at them.


    [Ding!? Congrattions to the host for killing an eleventh-level esper and a ninth-level esper! ]


    [Ding!? Congrattions to the host for obtaining two high-level pronuclei! ]


    [Ding!? Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical hit, obtaining two hundred high-level pronuclei! ]


    "Only worth two high-level pronuclei?"? David shook his head in resignation.? However, considering the strength of the two men, he felt it was reasonable.? Through this battle, he had acquired two high-level pronuclei and over a hundred primary-level pronuclei.


    After the critical hit multiplier, these pronuclei had doubled in his storage system.? ncing at the piles of pronuclei that had umted in his inventory, David silently nodded.? He then opened his palm and focused on the ring-shaped jade pendant that he had taken from Danny''s body after killing him.


    Initially, David thought it was an ordinary pendant.? Yet, he gradually realized that the pendant seemed to contain an enormous power.? With the system''s assistance, he learned the secret of the pendant.


    It was something Danny had obtained from the soul of a wandering spirit when he first entered the wastnd world.? Danny had immediately discovered that the pendant contained the sealed essence of over a hundred powerful evil ghost.


    To control these evil ghost and be their master, one had to infuse their blood essence into the pendant through meditation.? This allowed the evil ghost to recognize the master''s aura, and they would then fight wholeheartedly for their master.


    However, Danny hadn''t had the chance to be the evil ghost'' master before David killed him.? David, after discovering this secret, had asionally used meditation to refine the pendant.? Just yesterday, he had officially be the master of these evil ghost.


    Through today''s battle, David also understood the strength of these evil ghost.? He realized that, ultimately, he owed this sess to Danny.


    As they say, the previous generation nts the trees, and the next generation enjoys the shade.

 Chapter 294 Emlyn

    <h4>Chapter 294 Emlyn</h4>


    "Kid, did you see that?? Is this guy''s strength enough to be your new master?"? Outside the valley, inside a decrepit wooden hut, the graveyard keeper reminisced about everything that had just happened in the valley and clicked his tongue.


    Upon hearing this, a spark of fanaticism shed through the eyes of the baby that the old man had pulled out of the grave, but it quickly dimmed.? Although it was a fleeting moment, the old man immediately caught it.? The baby shook his head, pretending to appear indifferent.


    "He does have some strength, but he''s just too young.? I''m one year older than you, how could I let a clueless youngster be my master?? This won''t work.? I''d rather return to my Abyssal Graveyard and lie down properly."? The baby spoke as he prepared to leave the hut.


    "Emlyn!"? Upon hearing him speak like this, the old man suddenly became angry and called him by hisname.


    "Do you really think highly of yourself?? This kid is a once-in-a-century genius.? It''s your fortune to have him as your master!? Let me tell you, don''t think I''m unaware of what you''ve been doing in the graveyard every day.? You''ve been digging up people''s ancestral graves to enhance your strength, haven''t you?? This time, whether you agree or not, you have to ept it.? Don''t think of harming my graveyard."? The old man nced at the baby named Emlyn and surprisingly became angry.


    Seeing the old man angry, Emlyn halted his steps and managed to conjure a smile on his face.? "What''s the big deal with just a few ancestral graves?? When I shed this baby skin, I''ll repay you with several ancestral graves."


    "Nonsense!"? The old man began berating him loudly.? This left Emlynpletely speechless.? In fact, he was originally a graveyard keeper of the Abyssal Graveyard, just like the old man.? However, when the apocalypse arrived, he hadn''t activated his esper ability in time and was killed by zombies.


    The old man could only revive him through some mystical arts, starting from infancy.? However, he needed to gradually grow stronger in order to shed the appearance of a baby and mature.


    To achieve this, the old man wanted Emlyn to receive more attention and even found several espers to be his masters.? In return, Emlyn was supposed to use his existing ability to assist them.


    However, after the old man had changed several masters for him, all of them returned him because of Emlyn''s explosive temper, which left the old man in a difficult situation.? David''s appearance gave him an idea.? He believed that David, both in terms of strength and strategy, couldpletely suppress Emlyn.


    This way, with David''s help, Emlyn''s transformation might be elerated.? But based on the current situation, Emlyn hadn''t truly realized David''s strength.


    Frustrated, the old man no longer hesitated and grabbed Emlyn''s arm again, causing the wooden hut to disappear on the spot.? At that moment, David was busy sorting through the items in his system storage.


    Suddenly sensing a presence in the air, he knew that the graveyard keeper had arrived.? So, he turned around and looked at the wooden hut that was faintly appearing.? The hut soonpletely materialized before David.


    Before David could approach, the wooden door was kicked open with a "bang" sound by the old man.? Then, David saw the old man holding a baby with one hand and walking towards him while grumbling.? The baby was also waving his fists, trying to punch the old man, but his arms and legs were too short to even reach the old man.


    "Clive!? I''m not going anywhere.? I''m going back to the graveyard!? Hurry up and let me go!"


    "Rubbish!? You must stay here today, that''s what I say!"


    "So you''re starting to bully me now, huh?? Put me down and let''s have a one-on-one fight!"


    "Fight one-on-one with you?? Give me a break!? I''d beat you ten times over!"


    The two of them bickered as they walked towards David, leaving him utterly confused.? What was going on?? How was it possible for a baby to speak fluently?? Moreover, judging by the voice, this guy had to be at least in his eighties.


    Vi was drawn over by the peculiar behavior of the two and walked up to David, staring at them in confusion.? As she reached David''s side, the old man looked up and said, "Kid, I''m giving you a handyman.? Just keep him around, and he''ll do whatever you say!"


    Upon hearing this, Emlyn got anxious.? "Clive, you old bastard, you''re the handyman here, and your whole family is full of handymen!"


    The old manpletely ignored him, still holding him in his hand and waiting for David''s response.? David scratched his head, bing even more bewildered.? What handyman?? Keep him around me?? So he asked, "What do you mean?"


    Only then did the old man remember that he hadn''t exined Emlyn''s background to David.? So, he briefly told David the story, helping him understand the situation.


    In short, the old man wanted Emlyn to practice with him and the condition was that Emlyn must obey all of David''s orders.


    Emlyn seemed to realize that the old man was dead set on sending him away.? So, he stopped struggling and nced at David coldly, saying, "Kid, I advise you not to meddle.? I''m not an easy person to deal with.? Be careful, or I''ll take care of you."


    Saying that, Emlyn clenched his chubby fist and made a threatening gesture towards David.? However, because he still had the appearance of a baby, this scene somewhat caught David and Vi off guard.


    After calming down, David began to analyze the situation.? He had sensed a presence from Emlyn earlier.? Although it wasn''t very strong, the quality was excellent, probably acquired through the ingestion of something.? This meant that when Emlyn shed his baby form, his strength wouldn''t be negligible.


    In that case, wouldn''t he be gaining an additional helper?? Thinking about this, David silently nodded.? After wiping out the Shadow City, his next opponent would be the Zerg.? Since their strength was unfathomable, he needed to be prepared.? A helper was his top priority.? He intended to build his ownbat squad in the Wastnd World, just like during the apocalypse.


    Clearly, Emlyn was a good candidate.? After a brief thought, David readily agreed.


    Seeing David''s agreement, the old man finally sighed in relief.? Then, he threw Emlyn down in front of David and handed a small bamboo stick hanging from his waist to David.? "As long as he doesn''t behave, use this stick to knock him."


    Just as Emlyn was about to sneak away when hended on the ground, David saw his attempt and improvised.? He picked up the bamboo stick and hit Emlyn''s back with a crisp sound.? Instantly, Emlyn sat on the ground like a genuine baby, crying.

 Chapter 295 Clive

    <h4>Chapter 295 Clive ?</h4>


    This left David quite surprised.? He hadn''t expected that a seemingly ordinary stick would make the once defiant Emlyn obedient.


    Vi, standing nearby, was equally astonished, watching the scene in disbelief.? As Emlyn''s crying gradually subsided, he slowly regained hisposure.? However, he wasn''t as arrogant as before.? Even though he cast furtive nces at the bamboo stick in David''s hand, a hint of timidity remained.


    The old man chuckled at Emlyn and said, "If only you had known better, why resist from the start?? You have no idea of this kid''s strength.? Follow him, and you''ll quickly shed this skin."


    The old man seemed to have a clear understanding of David''s strength, as his strict tone shifted to one of guidance.? However, Emlyn remained somewhat unhappy.? After all, he was in his sixties or seventies;? how could he follow a young man around?? And on top of that, he had to bow and address him as "master"?


    The more Emlyn thought about it, the more he felt that this arrangement was unreasonable.? Yet, he still feared the bamboo stick in David''s hand.? His eyes rolled as he pondered how to escape and return to the Abyss Cemetery to continue his carefree existence as the cemetery overlord.


    In truth, Emlyn''s previous masters were also quite strong.? However, he found them somewhatcking whenpared to himself.? After being resurrected by the old man, he had already reached Level 9.? Over time, he had absorbed the flesh and blood of numerous zombies in the cemetery, propelling him past Level 10 to reach Level 11.? Relying on his formidable level, he hardly considered anyone his equal.? In his view, how could he have someone as his master who wasn''t stronger than him?


    David noticed Emlyn''s peculiar gaze.? He realized that this strange guy had probably taken him for a weakling.? He simply smiled and decided to show him something impressive.


    David pointed towards a massive peak in the distance and said to Emlyn, "Do you see that mountain?"


    Emlyn followed David''s finger, still wearing a disdainful expression.? "So what if I see it?? Are you nning to move it or destroy it?"


    Before Emlyn could finish his words, David''s fist suddenly struck the mountain with a loud bang!? Immediately, an explosive sound echoed throughout the valley.? The towering mountain was reduced to ruins in an instant.? Enormous boulders tumbled down, and billows of smoke rose towards the clouds.


    Seeing this, the old man couldn''t help but take a sharp breath.? He could tell from that single punch that this guy''s level had reached 12.? As this thought appeared in his mind, he stared at David in astonishment, as if he were looking at a monster.


    At the same time, Emlyn''s mouth hung open in disbelief as he witnessed the scene unfold before him.? What was going on?? A single punch shattered an entire mountain?? After a long while, Emlyn closed his mouth, his eyes filled with astonishment and disbelief.


    In that moment, David used his strength to prove that he was more than capable of being Emlyn''s master.


    "Clive, you can go now.? The scenery here is quite nice.? I''ll stay for a couple of days, just to rx."? After a moment, Emlyn dusted himself off and put on a nonchnt expression as he spoke to the old man.? Then, he looked towards David''s golden base and was once again shocked.? He casually walked into the base.? His movements were fluid and seamless, leaving no room for the old man to say anything, as if he had meticulously nned this beforehand.


    "This guy...? " the old man looked at Emlyn''s figure, his mouth twitched.? He turned and looked at David, saying, ''Don''t judge him by his current baby-like appearance.? Once he sheds this skin, he will undoubtedly be your most powerful ally in this wastnd world.''"


    David nodded with a smile.? Whether Emlyn had strength or not, David didn''t care.? What mattered to him was being able to quickly assemble his own team in this deste world.


    The old man then gave David some more instructions and prepared to leave.? Just as he was about to turn around, he seemed to remember something, scratched his head, and said to David, "Kid, I forgot to tell you my name''s Clive.? Well, I guess I''m of your grandpa''s generation, so you can call me Third Uncle from now on."


    After saying that, Clive appeared somewhat proud, walking into the wooden house and disappearing into the barren world.? As for this title, David didn''t mind.? Regardless, Clive didn''t seem like an enemy at the moment, so treating him as an elder was only appropriate.? If he were to be an enemyter on, David couldn''t guarantee whether that "Third Uncle" nickname would hold.


    With Clive''s departure, the Kui tribe members finished cleaning up the skeletons of the zombie creatures in the valley.? The valley returned to its original appearance, but a faint smell of blood still lingered in the air.


    The three returned to their base.? As soon as they entered, David saw Emlyn running excitedly around the rooms, his face full of joy.? With his short legs moving energetically, Emlyn eximed while taking in everything around him.


    "Desert Eagle?? Damn!? Impressive!? And a heavy machine gun too.? Is this a weapons depot?? And there are wine and cigars too?? Is this still the barren world?"


    Emlyn pulled out a bottle of wine from the shelf without hesitation, popped the cap off with his chubby little mouth, and then chugged it down with gusto.


    In the blink of an eye, he had finished the entire bottle of wine, his face filled with satisfaction.? Seeing this unexpected guest treating the ce like his own, Vi''s face quickly showed a hint of disgust.


    David, on the other hand, looked at Emlyn indifferently.? He felt the need to teach him a lesson.? He was now Emlyn''s master;? he couldn''t allow him to act without restraint here.


    "Emlyn!"? David walked over slowly and called out.


    "How dare you!? Emlyn''s name is something your younger generation can call as well.? If it weren''t for that scheming Clive, I wouldn''t be staying here today."? Emlyn tried to assert himself and let David know he wasn''t someone to be trifled with.? However, he forgot his current status ¨C he was just David''sckey.


    "Smack!"? Without hesitation, David raised a bamboo stick and struck Emlyn.? "Don''t...? don''t hit me!"? Emlyn suddenly felt a pain on his body, tears welled up in his eyes, and he ran while dodging David''s pursuit, repeatedly speaking in a frightened tone.

 Chapter 296 Grasp

    ?


    "Stop hitting, stop hitting! Isn''t it enough that I admit I was wrong?" After taking a few bamboo sticks from David, Emlyn finallypromised. He didn''t expect this guy to be so unreasonable, resorting to violence at the slightest disagreement.


    Seeing Emlyn give in, David smiled faintly and put away the bamboo sticks. "Rest assured, I won''t let you waste time here. You should rely on the aura to disperse the infant''s body, right?"


    From the moment Emlyn appeared, David sensed a strong aura emanating from him. Coupled with the fact that he was brought out by Clive from the Abyss Cemetery, David believed that he must have some connection to the aura of the zombie creatures.


    Upon hearing David''s words, Emlyn''s face froze, showing an expression of disbelief. Just as David had said, ever since Clive resurrected him, he had to rely on some aura and vitality from zombie creatures to sustain himself and achieve transformation. Looking at David, he felt that the person before him waspletely different from the one he had first met.


    In fact, when David first entered the Abyss Cemetery with Fatso, Emlyn sensed his presence in the grave. However, at that time, David''s level wasn''t as high as it is now, so his presence wasn''t as intense.


    But what Emlyn didn''t expect was that in just this short period of time, David''s level and strength had greatly increased, and in a mere moment, he had seen through Emlyn''s secret.


    Seeing Emlyn''s astonished expression, David smiled faintly and continued, "I have over a hundred evil ghost here, with a vast aura. It''s definitely the best nourishment for you."


    Upon hearing this, Emlyn''s face immediately lit up with delight, and he quickly asked, "You mean those evil ghost from earlier in the valley?"


    David nodded. This piqued Emlyn''s interest; when David released those evil ghost earlier, Emlyn had felt an especially thick aura, igniting his excitement. Clearly, the aura produced by these evil ghost gathering together was indeed, as David said, excellent nourishment for him. With this aura, the days of shedding his infant body were within reach, and he could even use it to cultivate a powerful physique.


    Thinking of this, a glint of desire appeared in Emlyn''s eyes. David noticed all of his expressions and continued, "Just call me ''Master,'' and I''ll hand control of these evil ghost over to you. If you think you can''t handle it, you can leave anytime. After all, people who can manipte this aura aren''t hard to find, and I don''t need subordinates like you."


    David poured himself a ss of red wine and took a sip while observing Emlyn. He wanted to see if Emlyn could resist his excitement in the face of such a great temptation. At the moment, David didn''t have extra time to manage the group of evil ghost within his spear.


    Instead of that, it might be better to do a favor. This way, not only would this group of evil ghost have a leader, but perhaps under Emlyn''s influence, their strength could greatly increase. For David, this was undoubtedly the best oue.


    Lost in his pleasant daydreams, Emlyn suddenly heard David speak, and he became anxious, "Wait, wait, wait! Our journey is like a river, meeting is fate! Starting today, I''m yours! Master!"


    Emlyn was finally under David''splete control. He lowered his head, half-kneeling in front of David, and respectfully called out. At this moment, Emlyn also understood that the master he encountered this time might be an opportunity to change his fate.


    David looked at the obedient Emlyn with a faint smile. He then took out a circr jade pendant, and as his finger touched it, a red light suddenly appeared. As Emlyn came into contact with this red light, he was immediately drawn into the pendant and disappeared.


    After sending Emlyn away, Clive returned to the Abyss Cemetery. With Emlyn gone, the atmosphere around the Abyss Cemetery became much quieter. He rxedlyy back in a bamboo chair, his cloudy eyes closing slightly, revealing an inscrutable expression.


    After dealing with the Dark City''s Three Brothers, David led Mandy and Vi southward to find the Dark City. They needed to seize the opportunity to upy the Dark City and prevent other forces from taking advantage of the situation.


    "If only we had kept a couple of them alive, then we''d know the exact location of the Dark City," Vi regretfully remarked. The wastnd world was so vast, and their knowledge of the Dark City''s location was limited to the southern region. But exactly where in the south was unknown. Searching inch by inch would take an eternity.


    Vi looked up at David, appearing bewildered. However, David seemed unfazed by it, his face disying ease.


    "Don''t worry, I have a way," he said, taking out the bronzepass from his storage. Vi looked puzzled at the peculiarpass.


    David concentrated, and the pointer inside the bronzepass began to tremble lightly. Soon, it settled on a specific direction.


    "Follow this direction, and we''ll find the Dark City," David said to Vi, putting away thepass.


    Vi was surprised but quickly asked, "But it''s such a long distance. When will we get there?" She knew that even if they knew the exact location of the Dark City, it would take at least a few days of travel, if not longer.


    David smiled again and sighed, "No big deal." Then, with his right hand, he tore open a spatial rift, allowing Mandy to quickly enter it. He then put his left arm around Vi''s waist. Feeling herself being held by David, Vi''s heart raced.


    The next moment, she felt a gust of wind that roared like thunder in her ears. When she opened her eyes again, they were no longer in the valley but by the side of a ck city. The characters on the city gate''s sign read "Dark City."


    "So... we''re already here?" Vi felt like they had teleported here in the blink of an eye. She seemed to forget that she was being held by David. For a moment, she didn''t even take a couple of steps forward. When she noticed David''s amused expression, she realized something was amiss.


    "I... " Vi hastily stepped out of David''s embrace, her face as red as a ripe apple. Her heart pounded like a thousand drums, making it hard to calm down. David didn''t say anything and headed straight for the gate of the Dark City.

 Chapter 297 Returning To The Beast Forest

    ?


    Because the Dark Dragon wanted to kill David, all the zombie creatures in the Dark City were taken away from the city to achieve that goal. As a result, only a few zombie guards remained within the city.


    Mandy charged in and swiftly dispatched these zombies with her knife. Now, the once bustling Dark City had bepletely deserted.


    At this moment, the Dark City was no longer one of the three major forces in the wastnd world. This city had be a territory under David''s control. Observing the tall city walls and sturdy structures around him, David nodded in approval.


    It had to be said that the Dark City''s Three Brothers were indeed skilled builders. However, now all their efforts belonged to David. After familiarizing himself with the city''syout, David began to take inventory of the city''s resources. Following the instructions of the bronzepass, he arrived at a metal door on the right side of the main hall.


    David tugged lightly, easily breaking a thick iron chain as thick as an adult''s finger. He pushed open the iron door, and a dazzling light poured out. Inside the room, piles of pronuclei were stacked¡ªsome were basic, others advanced, and some were even multicolored.


    Seeing so many pronuclei, Vi couldn''t help but open her mouth wide. Even the treasures her Kui tribe had collected for a long time wouldn''t amount to this.


    David was also somewhat surprised. He hadn''t expected the three brothers to leave him so many gifts. Right in front of Vi, David unhesitatingly collected these pronuclei into his system''s storage. His attention was drawn to the multicolored pronuclei.


    The system''s voice sounded in his ear:


    [ck Pronucleus: Supreme Defense Pronucleus, increases defensive capabilities of strongholds and bases by fifty percent.]


    [Green Pronucleus: Supreme Healing Pronucleus, restores sixty percent of the host''s health within ten seconds.]


    [Purple Pronucleus: Supreme Psionic Pronucleus, enhances the host''s psionic abilities.]


    Listening to the system''s exnations of these colorful pronuclei, David nodded repeatedly. He hadn''t anticipated that the wastnd world contained Supreme Pronuclei that surpassed advanced ones. What''s more, these pronuclei''s functions weren''t just for assisting espers in leveling up; they also enhanced the power of other facilities and abilities.


    This was quite unexpected for David. It was evident that the Dark City''s Three Brothers must have used these Supreme Pronuclei to build this city and even amplify the power of their own abilities.


    With everything from this ce entering David''s metaphorical pocket, he also discovered arge amount of jerky and other supplies for daily life. However,pared to the pronuclei, these items had much less appeal to David.


    After a few more rounds, David had thoroughly grasped theyout of the entire Dark City. He had also made a decision¡ªto relocate his base here. After all, his current base had been chosen almost haphazardly.


    Having this ready-made city was a good choice for him. Furthermore, this location was free of Zerg influence. When he would eventually sh with the Zerg, he could use this territory as a flexible rear base for both offense and retreat.


    David looked at Vi and pondered for a moment before saying to her, "I''m going to move my base into this city. If you''re interested, you can relocate the entire Kui tribe here." He said this because David believed that having the Kui tribe nearby might help him deal with minor troubles he wouldn''t want to personally handle. For instance, clearing out zombie creatures, standing guard, and even gathering supplies. This way, he could save a considerable amount of effort.


    Upon hearing David''s words, Vi nodded in agreement without hesitation. After experiencing so much, she hade to see David as someone who could protect her and even her Kui tribe. If David were to leave them ande here alone, Vi believed that they would quickly be wiped out by the Zerg. What''s more, she wanted to be by David''s side forever. With this in mind, Vi''s fair cheeks flushed once again. After tidying up the area briefly, they returned to the valley.


    Before the migration, there was still one thing David had to aplish: dealing with the other three super beasts in the Beast Forest. He decided that before leaving, he must eliminate all of them. So, he instructed Vi to return to the Kui tribe alone and begin preparing the migration n. Mandy was left behind at the base to recover. David, on the other hand, made his way to the Beast Forest alone.


    This time, entering the Beast Forest, David appeared confident and familiar. The corpses of the unfortunate creatures were still strewn all over the ce, and the thick scent of blood seemed as if it had never dissipated. Standing in a clearing, David, who had long grown ustomed to the smell of blood, took out the bronzepass. As the pointer settled, he gazed towards a lush and verdant woond in the distance.


    "Is it there?" David inquired, sensing the presence from that direction.


    Just then, the system''s voice sounded in his ear:


    [Ding! New task announced! ]


    [Kill the remaining three super beasts within ten minutes! ]


    [Reward: 30 fragments of the Wastnd Staff for the host! ]


    Hearing the system''s voice, a grave expression crossed David''s face. He knew that the remaining three super beasts were likely stronger than the Purple-Gold Winged Tiger and The Thunder-Speed Saint Hot Spider. Furthermore, he had to kill them within ten minutes, which indicated the difficulty of the task.


    For the first time, David felt that his system was a bit too demanding. Wasn''t it essentially urging him to face these beasts head-on? After calming down, David decided to act promptly. After all, he had only ten minutes to eliminate the three super beasts. Bringing them together would save time; swift and decisive action had always been one of David''sbat principles.


    David surveyed his surroundings and quickly came up with a n. He soared into the air, repeatedly unleashing the Star River Shattering Fist towards the surrounding forests. The impact of his fist hitting the ground caused a tremendous roar. Some hidden creatures in the woods began to howl and flee in panic.


    David continued to guide their escape directions, luring them towards a particr woond. In a short time, the entire Beast Forest trembled as countless creatures, like mad creatures, dashed towards that woond. They seemed to be at the point where even a rustling breeze sent them into a panic, running for their lives.


    Soon, over a hundred different types of creatures were driven by David into that woond. Seeing these creatures, a cold smile appeared on David''s lips. He knew the trap was set, waiting for the prey to walk right into it. At that moment, three extremely fierce roars echoed from three directions within the woond, reaching David''s ears.

 Chapter 298 Facing Three Super-Beasts

    <h4>Chapter 298 Facing Three Super-Beasts</h4>


    Upon hearing this sound, a faint smile appeared at the corner of David''s mouth. He knew that the three super-beasts had been drawn towards him. So, he looked in three directions, carefully sensing the auras of these three super-beasts.


    After a moment, David raised an eyebrow. Judging by these auras, he knew that these three super-beasts couldn''t be described as ordinary super-beasts. They emitted a more suffocating aura, akin to the destion of barrennd.


    Before long, the group of beasts that David had driven here started getting restless in the forest. Pitiful and mournful cries echoed throughout the forest, and a strong smell of blood began to fill the air.


    David knew that these three super-beasts had been sessfully lured by this group of ordinary beasts. However, David wasn''t in a hurry. He intended to take this opportunity to carefully observe the strength of these three super-beasts. He could also let them engage in battle with these beasts first to weaken their stamina.


    So, David floated in mid-air, looking down at the agitated and terrified beasts below. Soon, a fiercebat lizard couldn''t resist the temptation and descended from a tall tree.


    As David observed, he saw that thisbat lizard had a ferocious aura, with a body length of over ten meters. Its dark brown skin resembled imprable armor.


    David knew that this fellow had formidable defenses. Thebat lizard hadn''t sensed David''s presence; all its attention was on the bewildered beasts in front of it. Its crimson tongue kept licking its lips, seemingly unable to contain its inner desire for ughter.


    Suddenly, with a roar, thebat lizard rushed towards the nearest mutated mule deer. the Mutated Mule Deer didn''t even have time to react as thebat lizard bit it tightly. It struggled, but thebat lizard didn''t give it a chance.


    In one swift motion, the several-hundred-pound mutated mule deer was swallowed whole by the lizard, causing David to nod in approval. It was no wonder it was one of the five great beasts of the forest; its fierceness in hunting far surpassed that of ordinary beasts. After swallowing the mule deer, thebat lizard once again charged into the group of beasts. Its enormous tail swung lightly.


    The beasts'' bones were shattered, and some heads exploded with a "boom" as its tail struck, sending brain matter sttering all around.


    Thebat lizard seemed never to be satisfied, continuously devouring one beast after another. Just as it was enjoying its meal, two figures suddenly rushed out from the other two directions, swiftly joining the ranks of beast ughter. They continuously released their abilities, turning these beasts into lifeless bodies in the blink of an eye.


    David fixed his gaze and saw that they were a spectral gori and a lightning leopard, both super-beasts. Utilizing their abilities non-stop, they killed all the beasts on the spot within no time.


    In this manner, the three super-beasts did not interfere with each other. They started feasting on the dead beasts, and with each beast that entered their stomachs, their bodies lengthened slightly, and their auras expanded. Watching these three super-beasts enjoying their meals, David smiled faintly.


    "You''ve had enough to eat, and now it''s time to hit the road," David said, slowly descending to the ground,nding right in the middle of the three super-beasts.


    The three super-beasts, in the midst of their meal, suddenly sensed a powerful presence and immediately raised their heads, ring fiercely at the unexpected guest before them.


    At the same time, they all assumed attacking positions, prepared to make David end up just like the beasts ¨C a lifeless corpse. ncing at the three super-beasts, David yed with his ring-shaped jade pendant and said:"So, you''re the ones who dominate the beast forest? Meeting me today is your unlucky day. I will send you to meet your other two brothers."


    After saying this, David even yawned, showing no fear.


    These three super-beasts already had some intelligence. So, upon hearing David''s words and seeing his nonchnt demeanor, they became furious. They let out low growls and stared at David with eyes like arrows.


    Having ruled the forest for a long time, they were the masters here. How could they tolerate the humiliation from a human? So, thebat lizard was the first to make a move. It dropped the carcass of the beast from its mouth and slowly crawled toward David, swinging its huge tail. With each step, it emitted a terrifying sound, and its long tongue continuously licked the blood at the corners of its mouth.


    The other two super-beasts, however, remained still, continuing to stare at David. It seemed like their tactic was to work together. Seeing thebat lizard approaching, David shook his head and said, "Your power is too low; you''re not worth my effort. Let my subordinates y with you."


    With that, David tapped his finger on the ring-shaped jade pendant. The pendant emitted a red light, forming a spear in the air. "Emlyn,e out!"


    Holding the spear, David shouted at the tip of the weapon. A red light shot out from the spear, and a baby with a somewhat angry expression appeared in front of David.


    "I haven''t had a proper meal yet, and you already summoned me? Can''t it wait...?" Emlyn said somewhat reluctantly. However, he quickly closed his mouth and furrowed his brow upon seeing the beast carcasses scattered around and the three super-beasts nearby.


    "What''s going on? Are we fighting?" Emlyn asked David.


    "I want to see what kind of strength you have. I''ll leave thisbat lizard to you. If you can''t handle even this beast, go back to your abyssal grave," David bluntly told him.


    He wanted to take this opportunity to see if Emlyn had any real strength. If he turned out to be useless, David wouldn''t waste his resources on him. Listening to David''s words, Emlyn raised an eyebrow, then nced at thebat lizard not far away.


    "Just a lizard, right? You''re underestimating me. Five minutes, and I''ll make it kneel and call me grandpa!" Emlyn said confidently. After that, he hurried toward thebat lizard with his stubby legs. Watching his somewhatical figure, David couldn''t help butugh.


    David knew that the people Clive had sent must have some level of strength. Otherwise, his ce wouldn''t be a rescue station for just anyone. So, he stood there and prepared to enjoy the show.

 Chapter 299 Emlyn’s Second Form

    <h4>Chapter 299 Emlyn''s Second Form</h4>


    As Emlyn approached the Furious Battle Lizard, it was instantly infuriated.? It hadn''t expected a mere human to dare challenge it in such a manner.? Itsrge mouth opened, revealing sharp teeth that glinted like steel des.


    However, Emlyn scoffed, "Beast, don''t bare your teeth in front of me.? Soon, I''ll have you searching for your teeth all over the ground!? After that, Emlyn stepped on the corpse of a mutated gray wolf, leaped into the air, and charged towards the Furious Battle Lizard.? His body was as agile as a fish, defying expectations of him being a mere baby.


    At the moment Emlyn dashed forward, the Furious Battle Lizard alsounched its attack.? It rushed towards Emlyn with incredible speed, its momentum like a rainbow, seemingly aiming to crush him to bits with a single charge.


    Emlyn wasn''t one to be underestimated either.? He met the Furious Battle Lizard head-on and leaped into the air.? In that instant, his entire body underwent a rapid transformation.? What was once the body of a baby shed its features, including the tender face, sparse hair, and chubby fists.? All of this transformed in the blink of an eye.


    David was somewhat surprised as he focused on Emlyn''s ongoing transformation.? After shedding these infantile features, Emlyn''s entire body turned into that of a fleshless zombie!? His bone-white skeletal frame was exposed, devoid of any organs within the skeletal cavity, even the head was skull-shaped.


    With Emlyn''s transformation, his aura turned particrly fierce, resembling that of a zombie that had just crawled out of a pile of corpses.? He then slowly drew the spine from his back while in midair.? With a sneer, he fiercely thrust the spine towards the Furious Battle Lizard as if he was pressing Mount Tai down.


    "Die for me!? Hahaha!? Pfft!"? The sharp spine immediately pierced the lizard''s skin, lodging itself into its body.? The Furious Battle Lizard hadn''t expected this human before it to be so terrifying.? Even its essential defense was shattered by a single blow.


    In agony, it writhed on the ground, blood spewing from its wound like a fountain.? Yet, Emlyn showed no intention of relenting.? At this moment, he had transformed entirely into a zombie, driven solely by a desire for ughter.? He pulled out the spine and thrust it towards the lizard''s head once more.? However, this time, the Furious Battle Lizard seemed to have caught on.? Its anger surged to its peak, and it endured the pain to roll on the ground, then swung its tail towards Emlyn.


    "Struggling in front of grandpa?"? Emlyn twisted his head oddly, raised the spine, and struck the lizard''s tail.? Though the spinecked any actual de, when it touched the tail, it cleaved it in two.


    Now, the Furious Battle Lizard was left without its sole weapon of attack.? It retreated two steps in pain and distress, its eyes filled with terror, seemingly recognizing Emlyn for what he was¡ªa monster.


    Emlyn was indeed a monster.? He shook the blood from the spine, turned his head smugly towards David, and said, "See that?? That''s power for me!"


    As he spoke, David had already lifted his hand and aimed behind Emlyn.? "Decay!"? David softlymanded, and a pained cry resounded from behind Emlyn.? He quickly turned to look, taken aback.? Unbeknownst to him, the Lightning Leopard had stealthily positioned itself behind him during his battle with the Furious Battle Lizard.


    Had it not been for David''s timely intervention, Emlyn would likely have ended up as the Lightning Leopard''s meal.? "Just a mere beast, what are you so proud of?"? David scornfully remarked.? Simultaneously, he realized why Clive had sent Emlyn to him.? Emlyn had a second form, and it turned out to be a zombie form.


    This led to Emlyn needing to consume arge number of zombie creatures to enhance the power of his transformed state.? Among those capable of killing numerous zombie creatures, only David , even the malevolent aura of the evil ghost within the spear could invisibly boost Emlyn''s strength.


    However, this also helped David see Emlyn''s true strength.? In David''s eyes, Emlyn was still somewhatckingpared to him.? Hearing David''s remark, Emlyn acknowledged his inferiority and chose not to say anything more.? He walked to the side, watching the? Shadow Ape and the Lightning Leopard, his eyes carrying deep meaning.


    David was evaluating his strength, and Emlyn was doing the same with David''s real strength.? If Emlyn perceived his owner as weaker, he felt he could easily kill owner here and escape with the spear.


    Seeing Emlyn standing motionless, David understood his intentions.? He lightly smiled and shook his head, saying, "If that''s the case, then I''ll have to show you my true strength."? David shrugged helplessly.


    Meanwhile, witnessing their kin being hurt, the Shadow Ape pounded its chest and roared furiously, while the Lightning Leopard red at David, a series of lightning bolts crackling around it.? David slowly drew an alloy short knife, standing there calmly, observing the two super beasts.


    Despite their considerable strength, David was, after all, a Level 12 esper.? Dealing with these two super beasts was as effortless as casual writing for him.? He simply wanted Emlyn to witness his true strength.? After all, what good was he as his owner if he couldn''t do that?


    As David pondered, the Shadow Ape and the Lightning Leopardunched separate attacks on David from two different directions.? Their speed was astonishing, their thirst for blood ignited by David''s actions.? The Lightning Leopard moved like a streak of lightning, its form almost impossible to capture.


    The Shadow Ape, on the other hand, was immensely powerful.? With each step it took, the ground trembled.? Both in terms of speed and strength, it seemed David, a mere human, had no advantage.


    Emlyn watched indifferently, without any intention of intervening.? However, David didn''t intend to have him interfere either.? Just as the two super beasts reached David and lunged at him with gaping jaws, David''s figure shifted and vanished on the spot.


    "Gone?"? Emlyn looked around, unable to find any trace of David.? Even the Lightning Leopard and the Shadow Ape cautiously surveyed their surroundings, searching for David''s presence.


    "Do you know of the punch that descends from the heavens?"? Suddenly, David''s voice rang out from above the heads of the two super beasts.? Then, the void ripped open, and an aura like an ocean materialized in the air.

 Chapter 300 rebellious

    <h4>Chapter 300 rebellious</h4>


    Feeling the overwhelming aura, Emlyn couldn''t help but hold his breath.? He could clearly sense that this aura could crush all life in the vicinity.


    The? Shadow Ape and the Lightning Leopard also sensed the danger and quickly looked up.? David emerged from the void''s fissure, his fist surrounded by the power of the Milky Way.


    In the next moment, his fist smashed directly into the two super beasts.? "Boom!"? The entire forest began to tremble violently.? Trees fell around them, and boulders from the mountaintops rolled down.? It felt like an earthquake had just struck, causing the world to change dramatically.? Amid the thunderous roar, dust billowed into the air.


    Once the dust settled, Emlyn quickly looked up.? He saw David standing alone, but at his feet was a crater about five meters in diameter.


    "This punch...? is too ferocious!"? Emlyn gasped in amazement.? He felt that David''s punch could have instantly killed him.


    David remained in ce, the aura of the Milky Way still expanding around his fist, like a zing fire.? With this Milky Way Shattering Fist, David had shattered the ground beneath his feet.? Both the Lightning Leopard and the? Shadow Ape were thrown into the deep pit along with David''s punch.


    Staring into the abyss, David didn''t hurry to leave.? Instead, he stood there as if waiting for something.? This puzzled Emlyn.? A punch of that magnitude should have been able to destroy everything.? Could those two super beasts still be alive?? As confusion crossed Emlyn''s face, an angry roar echoed from within the pit!


    Then, a streak of yellow light shot out from the abyss, heading straight for David''s face.? This yellow light was none other than the Lightning Leopard!? Thanks to the timely intervention of the? Shadow Ape, which used its body to shield the Lightning Leopard from David''s punch, the leopard''s life was spared.


    The? Shadow Ape, however, didn''t have time to mount a counterattack and was obliterated by David''s punch, its body crashing into the pit.? Even so, the Lightning Leopard was weakened, clinging to life by a thread, using itsst ounce of strength tounch a final attack on David.


    Just as the Lightning Leopardunched its sudden assault, the Battle Lizard, which had been recuperating nearby, sensed that the time was right.? It leaped out, revealing its sharp teeth in a full-mouth grin.


    With the two super beasts attacking from opposite directions, David seemed to have no escape.? Emlyn suddenly grew nervous.? Even when he was only fighting the Battle Lizard, he couldn''t manage to divide his attention.? Now, with David caught between two super beasts, it seemed he was on the brink of life and death.


    Emlyn couldn''t help but feel a sense of pity.? It was a shame that this young man who had surprised him might die right before his eyes.


    Yet, Emlyn had underestimated David''s strength.? As the two super beasts closed in, David''s body spun, deftly dodging their attacks at a tricky angle.? His speed was so astonishing that even the Lightning Leopard failed to react.


    Then, a faint golden defensiveyer began to radiate from David''s body, and his fist was now covered in a dazzling golden hue, enhancing the ferocity of the Milky Way Shattering Fist.


    "Die!"? David yelled, his fist smashing toward the Battle Lizard''s head.? A burst of colorful golden light appeared before Emlyn''s eyes.? "Bang!"? He only heard an explosive sound before he reopened his eyes.


    The Battle Lizard had transformed into a headless corpse, its body lying straight on the ground.? The surrounding boulders were sttered with flesh and brain matter.


    Emlyn couldn''t help but swallow hard.? But David wasn''t done yet.? After shattering the Battle Lizard''s head with a punch, he aimed his alloy short knife at the Lightning Leopard''s body.


    "Roar!"? The Lightning Leopard roared, extending its sharp ws and pouncing, but David was faster.? A blur streaked by, and David appeared behind the Lightning Leopard.? He sheathed the alloy short knife and brushed the dust off his hands.? He looked at Emlyn, who was already stunned in ce, and said with a smile, "Done."


    Huh?? Emlyn was taken aback and quickly looked at the Lightning Leopard.? As his gazended on the creature, it split in half from front to back and crashed to the ground.? There was not even a sound of agony;? it had turned into a lifeless corpse!


    "I can''t believe it!? This...? this is too terrifying!"? Emlyn felt sweat on his palms.? David''s actions had utterly shocked him.


    When Emlyn turned his gaze to David, he found David missing.? He felt a jolt!? Then, a chilling sensation crept up his neck.? Emlyn, who had just recovered the God of Infancy not long ago, couldn''t help but shudder.


    David emerged from the void, alloy short knife pressed against Emlyn''s neck.? He leaned in, his voice cold as he asked, "Well?? Am I worthy of being your master?"


    This battle had been specifically arranged by David for Emlyn.? He knew Emlyn would betray him, so he had to quash his arrogance.


    Feeling David''s overwhelming killing intent, Emlyn broke into a cold sweat.? Now he finally understood why Clive had sent him here.? Because only David was truly his master.


    After a brief hesitation, Emlyn finally lowered his head and called out, "Master."? This call was something he had never used for anyone else, and it came from the heart.? He knew that if he held any objections, David would not hesitate to sever his head.? It wasn''t submission but respect and allegiance to David.


    Emlyn turned and knelt before David, bowing his head.? Seeing Emlyn like this, a slight smile tugged at the corners of David''s mouth.? "If you ever entertain such thoughts again, I won''t mind sending your body to Clive."


    With that, David summoned the spear.? Emlyn respectfully nodded and without further ado, stepped into the spear''s projection.? He fully believed David''s words.


    Putting away the spear, David smiled faintly.? He had his own way of dealing with someone like Emlyn.? Anyone attempting to y the hero before him, like a mantis trying to catch a cicada, was doomed to fail.


    Two lifetimes as a person had taught David that one had to be ruthless to stand firm.? He could have easily killed Emlyn just now, but doing so might have damaged Clive''s reputation.? So, after a moment''s consideration, David decided to spare his life, viewing him as a subordinate.? The spear slowly faded and returned to the circr jade pendant.


    David put away the pendant and approached the bodies of the Lightning Leopard and Battle Lizard.? He looked at the two super beasts, their miserable deaths, and shook his head.


    Meanwhile, the system''s voice echoed in his ears.

 Chapter 301 David’s a madman!

    <h4>Chapter 301 David''s a madman!</h4>


    [Ding!? Congrattions to the host for killing three super beasts!? ]


    [Ding!? Congrattions to the host for obtaining three advanced pronuclei!? ]


    [Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical strike, obtaining three hundred advanced pronuclei!? ]


    Three hundred advanced pronuclei entered David''s system warehouse, and at this moment, he alsopleted a system-issued task to kill the super beasts in the Beast Forest.


    The reward of thirty fragments of the wastnd? Staff also appeared in David''s system warehouse.? Looking at the thirty fragments, David knew that he only needed forty more to sessfully assemble the wastnd Staff.? This filled him with some anticipation.


    Next, David ced his palm on the bodies of the three super beasts and began the extraction.? From the Lightning Leopard and the Battle Lizard, David only extracted a dozen strands of animal souls.? This left him somewhat disappointed.


    So David approached the deep pit that he had created with a punch, where he knew the corpse of the Shadow Ape was.? cing his palm over the pit, he whispered, "Extract."


    [Ding!? Congrattions to the host for extracting a high-level spiritual pronucleus!? ]


    Immediately after, a hexagonal pronucleus shimmered and floated before his eyes.? "High-level spiritual pronucleus?"? Seeing this pronucleus, David was somewhat surprised.


    This was David''s first time extracting a pronucleus from a beast''s corpse, and it happened to be a spiritual pronucleus.? This could replenish his spiritual abilities.


    David was an esper with three types of abilities: spatial, defensive, and spiritual.? He had been focusing on strengthening his spatial and defensive abilities, which had made his spiritual ability rtively weaker.


    This was also due to David not having obtained a spiritual crystal.? Now that he had this high-level spiritual pronucleus, he felt that he could enhance his spiritual abilities.


    So, David immediately held the pronucleus in his hand.? With a thought, the pronucleuspletely merged into his body and disappeared.? After a moment, the system''s voice sounded again.


    [Ding!? Congrattions to the host for enhancing spiritual abilities!? ]


    [The host''s ability to control an opponent''s time has increased to thirty minutes.]


    "Not bad!"? David was quite satisfied with the result.? Previously, he could control an opponent''s time for only about ten minutes.? And that was after consuming arge number of advanced crystals.? Unexpectedly, using just one advanced pronucleus this time extended the time to thirty minutes.? For David, this was a significant gain.? It meant he now had two abilities to control opponents.


    Psychic invasion and Absolute Zero.? With these two abilitiesbined, David was confident that he could render any opponent helpless.? ncing at the bodies of the Lightning Leopard and the Battle Lizard, David knew they were no longer of any use.? He turned and left the Beast Forest.


    With this, all five terrifying super beasts in the wastnd World had fallen at the hands of David.? And David had begun to shine here, bing the only force capable of countering the Zerg.? However, David knew that the Zerg were formidable, There are tens of thousands of insects under themand of the Zerg Kingof Worms alone.


    David must have absolute confidence before he canunch an attack against them.? At that time, a true bloodbath will ensue in the wastnd world.? For the past two days, the wastnd world has been rtively calm.


    Taking advantage of this time, David also moved his golden base to the Dark City.? Using some ck pronucleus and his own defensive crystallization, he upgraded all the city walls of the Dark City to an impressive height.? Now, not to mention some super beasts, even an army of beasts standing beneath David''s city walls can only feel overwhelmed.


    Following David''s advice, Vi moved her Kui tribe to this ce.? Under David''smand, she entrusted the defense and patrols of the city to the Kui tribe members.? This way, a brand new city emerged in the wastnd world.


    David knew that this was his starting point in the wastnd world, and also his foothold here.? Following this, he would rely on this heavily fortified city tounch an attack against the Zerg.


    But before that, David decided to build his team in the wastnd world.? Currently, he had Mandy, Vi, and Emlyn under hismand.? Among them, Mandy was the strongest, followed by Emlyn, and finally Vi.


    However, in David''s eyes, their strengths were somewhatcking.? They even had quite a gap whenpared to Arnold and Charles.


    But the wastnd world is different from the doomsday world.? To establish a team here and establish a foothold, every team member''s strength must be raised.


    During this time, David subjected them to grueling training.? With Mandy, Vi, and Emlyn in tow, he roamed around the wastnd world, hunting down zombie creatures to kill them, all in order to improve theirbat abilities through practical experience.


    Every early morning, David led them out of the city, embarking on runs around the nearby wastnd.? Initially, Vi and Emlyn found it tolerable.? However, as time passed, a terrifying thought crept into their minds.


    This David guy is a lunatic!? After hunting down the zombie creatures each day, David had them engage in one-on-onebat.? Following thebat, each person had to individually kill thirty zombie creatures before nightfall.? Even when they returned to the city with exhausted bodies, David had them run around the city walls another hundredps under the pretext of enhancing their physical strength.


    By the time the day ended, it was around five or six in the morning.? They hadn''t evenin down to sleep when the next day''s tasks began.


    Emlyn was the first to be overwhelmed.? He had lived a life of leisure in the Abyssal Graveyard, so how could he endure this torment?? As soon as he dragged his exhausted body out of the city gates, he plopped down on the ground.


    "I can''t do this anymore!? If you want training, go ahead, but I have no strength left in my body."? Vi looked at David with an expression of misery, echoing Emlyn''s sentiments.


    Only Mandy blinked her eyes, staring at Emlyn on the ground, as if she was about to pull him up.? Seeing Emlyn looking near-death, David''s brows slightly furrowed.? He walked over to Emlyn and sternly said, "If you don''t want to train, that''s fine.? But when you''re surrounded by Zerg, I won''te to save you.? You can still roll back to your Abyssal Graveyard to enjoy yourforts."


    With that, David turned and left the city.? Mandy quickly followed suit.? Vi hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow David''s footsteps as well.? Upon hearing David''s words, Emlyn couldn''t hold back any longer and burst into tears.

 Chapter 302 Taking a break

    <h4>Chapter 302 Taking a break</h4>


    ''I''m just acting cute, is that necessary?? Practicing like this every day, who can endure it?''? Emlyny on the ground, rolling and crying loudly.? He said that just to gain some sympathy from David, but it backfired and angered David instead, making him feel even worse.


    Emlyn had finally found a powerful owner, and if he were to be driven away by him, how would Clive mock him?? Did he have no dignity?? So, wiping his nose and tears, Emlyn quickly got up and chased after David.


    Seeing Emlyn catch up with his short legs, his expression still full of pain, David smiled faintly.? He knew that to be strong, this was their required course.


    The whole day quickly passed, and when Emlyn finished running around the city walls, he sat on the throne.? Seeing David shaking his wine ss with a apologetic look, Emlyn didn''t dare to be angry.? He was afraid that David would once again threaten him.


    Vi was also panting heavily, her chest glistening with sweat, and Mandy stood by David as if nothing had happened.? After taking a sip of wine, David looked at the three of them.


    David noticed that their auras had be much strongerpared to before.? Their physical strength had also greatly improved, with their defenses skyrocketing, especially Vi.? After this period of practicalbat training, she even activated hertent abilities, significantly enhancing her overall strength.


    Then there was Emlyn, whoined the most during training.? But as soon as he saw David''s gloomy expression, he ran for his life and fought zombies ferociously, almost as if he was performing for David.? Now, upon closer inspection, his infantile body seemed to be retreating, and his skin was no longer as smooth as a baby''s, but tougher instead.


    At this moment, Emlyn also noticed the changes in his body, which excited him.? His purpose ining here was to shed his infantile form and transform into a new body.? He hadn''t expected that in just a few days, his body would change.


    So Emlyn excitedly looked at David, but his exuberant expression quickly turned guilty as he remembered his tantrum from yesterday, scratching his head in embarrassment.


    Vi and Mandy also sensed their changes, their faces filled with excitement, and their expressions towards David were full of admiration.


    This was exactly the result David wanted, not only boosting everyone''s strength, but also elevating his own status in their hearts.


    After a while, David decided to give them a day off tomorrow.? Since he hadn''t been back to the apocalypse for a while, he wanted to check on Sally and the others.? So he nned to take them back tomorrow for a break.


    Hearing that David was giving them a day off, Emlyn''s eyes welled up with tears of excitement.? He watched David ,wiping the corners of his eyes, sometimes bursting into tears andughter.? He looked like he had been through some trauma.? Seeing him, David''s expression was one of disgust.


    "If I ever ck off again, I''m just a dog!? our owner is so good to us, I...? I was really blinded by arrogance yesterday."? Emlyn said, running to David''s feet, wanting to hug his thigh and cry to express his regret and loyalty.


    Unexpectedly, David kicked him aside and said with disdain, "Don''t try to wipe your snot on me."


    Seeing Emlyn rolling on the ground like a ball, Vi and Mandy exchanged smiles and burst intoughter simultaneously.? After getting up from the ground, Emlyn scratched his head and chuckled."


    At this moment, a ck insect on a wooden beam above the great hall was continuously observing David.? After a few minutes, the ck insect spread its wings and flew out of the dark city, heading west towards the deste world.? It rapidly fluttered its wings and after half an hour, it finally arrived in a dense forest.? The ck insect looked around and then settled in the forest.


    In the center of the forest stood a massive nest.? Around the nest were at least tens of thousands of Zerg, densely packed and cautious, as if protecting the nest.


    The ck insect crawled to the front of the nest and chirped twice inside.? Suddenly, the nest emitted a harsh "hiss" sound.? Upon hearing this sound, all the creatures around the nest started frantically fluttering their wings, as if they had encountered some danger and were prepared to fight.


    Meanwhile, all the trees in the forest instantly snapped with a "crack" sound, echoing the "hiss" sound from the nest.? A mutant vulture flying through the sky exploded with a "boom" sound.


    Early the next day, David prepared to head to the apocalypse with Vi and Mandy.? Emlyn, on the other hand, hid among the spears and began his training.? Before they reached the courtyard, David heard a sonic boom.


    Looking up, he saw a resounding flying sword hovering above.? The flying sword continuously trembled, seemingly excited about something.


    David smiled faintly and softly called out, "Rainbow, long time no see."


    This was one of David''s four flying swords, Rainbow, which he had arranged along with Bernard to guard the entrance to the wastnd world.? Upon hearing David''s voice, Rainbow trembled even more excitedly.


    David extended his hand and Rainbow quicklynded in his palm.? Then, a figure ran towards him ¨C it was Bernard.


    "Mr. David!"? Bernard first saluted respectfully to David, then looked at Vi, "Your Majesty, the Queen!"


    Vi nodded in satisfaction;? now that she was under David''s authority, her name naturally came after his.? David didn''t mind, he just smiled at Bernard and walked into the courtyard, with Bernard following closely.


    Since David''s departure, Bernard had taken care of and managed the courtyard himself.? He not only nted some greenery but also reinforced the walls and roof of the courtyard.? As a result, the courtyard no longer looked dpidated;? it now had a touch of life.


    Observing the clean and tidy courtyard, David couldn''t help but praise, "Bernard, you''ve done well!"? Hearing David''s praise, Bernard scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

 Chapter 303 Deep Brotherhood

    <h4>Chapter 303 Deep Brotherhood</h4>


    Since David left the apocalypse and entered the wastnd world, the members of the Embers squad have been busy every day.? They were building the city while also recruiting other survivors and espers.? Sometimes they encountered challenging espers, but they managed to deal with them effectively.


    After all, since David''s departure, the strength of the few of them had be the strongest in the apocalypse.? Combined with the training they underwent during this time, each of them had crossed over to at least Level Ten, and there were even signs of reaching Level Eleven.


    In this ce, they were akin to kings.? Not to mention zombies and mutant creatures, even powerful espers would bow their heads humbly before them.? They knew that if they didn''t act this way, when the big boss behind the Embers squad intervened, their survival might be questionable.


    Soon, esper survivors from various cities sought the protection of the Embers squad and joined their ranks.? This led to an increasing number of members under David''smand.? These people were distributed by Charles and others throughout the city, each with their own responsibilities.? Gradually, a strong and prosperous city emerged in the midst of the incongruous apocalypse.


    On this day, Sally had just finished patrolling outside in her tank and returned to the base.? She took a piece of cake from the refrigerator and sat on the couch, gazing out of the window.


    David had been gone for so long, and she missed him dearly.? Thinking about David, Sally suddenly found the cake in front of her not as sweet.


    "Ugh!? When is Daviding back?"? She sighed helplessly, and her gaze out the window turned somewhat anxious.? If David hadn''t given her prior instructions, she probably would have already rushed to the wastnd world to look for him.? Unfortunately, for the sake of their Embers squad''s city, she had to stay here with the others as David''s support.


    "Hey, miss the captain again?"


    "With that lovesick look on your face, I''m guessing at least a dozen times a day?"


    Arnold walked in with Fatso at this moment, each carrying a bottle of cold beer.


    "None of your business!"? Sally nced at the two of them and replied.


    Fatso took afortable sip of his cold beer and shook his head, saying, "David is something else.? He''s been gone so long and hasn''te back to see his brothers.? Forget Sally, even I''m starting to miss him."


    "? You just want those weapons in the captain''s warehouse, don''t you?"? Arnold said bluntly, rolling his eyes at Fatso without holding back.? Seeing his lie being exposed, Fatso chuckled mischievously.


    "We''re all family;? why differentiate so much?? Aren''t they all ours?? Bute to think of it, I do miss our captain."? Saying that, Fatso let out a sigh.? He genuinely admired David from the bottom of his heart.


    Originally, he thought that following David in the apocalypse would lead to a significant increase in strength and an end to worries about food and drink.? Unexpectedly, both of these goals were achieved, yet he felt somewhat unfulfilled.? This made him suddenly miss David.? Surprisingly, Fatso''s eyes became slightly moist.? Seeing Fatso''s melodramatic appearance, Arnold couldn''t help but reminisce about the days he had spent with David.


    "Are you guys crying for me?? I''m not dead."? Just as tears were about to fall from their eyes, a familiar voice sounded at the entrance of the base.? Everyone was startled and quickly looked towards the source of the voice.? To their astonishment, David had appeared at the entrance.


    "Captain?? Am I...? am I dreaming?"? Arnold rubbed his eyes, thinking that he might be hallucinating from drinking too much beer.? Sally, sideward, looked at David in surprise.


    David stood in ce, looking at the confused expressions of the people before him, and couldn''t help but chuckle.? He had only been gone for a short while, and they didn''t recognize him?


    After a moment, Sally was the first to react.? She leaped off the couch and excitedly rushed towards David.? She couldn''t believe that the David she had been yearning for day and night was suddenly standing right in front of her.? She wanted to give him a hug, to feel the warmth of his chest again.? But just as Sally was about to open her arms and run towards David, a booming voice suddenly erupted in his ear!


    "Captain!? You''re finally back!? I''ve missed you!"? Fatso''s voice rang out.


    Sally suddenly felt a plump shadow pass by the corner of her eye, charging towards David.? Watching Fatso, whose entire body of fat was trembling, tears and snot running down his face, open his arms and rush towards him, David frowned, looking somewhat repulsed.? Just as Fatso was about to embrace David, Emlyn was instantly summoned by David and pulled out of his slumber.? Emlyn, who was still half-asleep, only felt a trembling figure rushing towards him.


    The next second, Emlyn''s small body was caught in the midst of Fatso''s rolls of fat.? David quickly jumped back, narrowly avoiding Fatso''s bear hug.? Looking at the little kid suddenly appearing in his arms, ring at him fiercely, David was taken aback.? Without hesitation, Fatso picked Emlyn up from his embrace.


    "Where did this little brate from?? Get out of the way!"? Fatso said, tossing Emlyn aside, preparing to give David another "long time no see" hug.


    "Fatso, watch me punch you!"


    Helplessly, David could only raise his fist and threaten Fatso.? Only then did Fatso reluctantly stop.? However, his eyes towards David still remained affectionate, making David almost want to gag.


    At this moment, Sally walked up to David and said, "You''re back."? She spoke to him as if he had just returned home after being out for a while.


    David extended his hand and gently ruffled Sally''s head with a smile.? The long-lost sense of happiness spread in Sally''s heart once again.? At the same time, others heard David''s voice and quickly emerged from inside.


    When they saw David, they couldn''t help but burst into smiles.? Vi, who had been standing behind David, felt an inexplicable sense of loneliness when she saw David affectionately ruffling Sally''s hair.? At the same time, she was also shocked by everything that was happening here.


    Emlyn, who had been casually thrown aside by Fatso, stood up angrily at this point.? He hadn''t realized what had happened before he was flung out by Fatso like a ball.? How could Emlyn tolerate this?


    "Stupid Fatso!? Apologize to me!"? While everyone was exchanging greetings, Emlyn shouted angrily at Fatso.


    At that moment, Fatso was happily standing by David''s side, looking like they were close brothers.? Upon hearing Emlyn''s voice, he paused for a moment and then looked around, asking, "What voice?? Who''s talking?"


    This only made Emlyn even angrier.? "I''m here!"? Emlyn jumped onto a table and yelled at Fatso.? Only then did Fatso notice Emlyn, who was standing with his hands on his hips, his gaze as sharp as a knife.? In an instant, Fatso burst intoughter.

 Chapter 304 stuffed doll

    <h4>Chapter 304 stuffed doll</h4>


    Fatso walked over to Emlyn, circling him twice before actually reaching out to pinch his face.? He eximed in surprise, "Captain, where did you find this stuffed doll?? It''s quite lifelike!"


    With that, Fatso intensified his actions, using both hands to pinch Emlyn''s face vigorously.? At first, Emlyn was stunned, looking at Fatso in bewilderment.? Then, as if realizing something, anger suddenly red in his eyes.? He, Emlyn, was being treated like a rag doll?


    "Stupid Fatso!? I''m not a doll!"? Emlyn angrily pped Fatso''s hands away, and in an instant, transformed into his second form.? Seeing the doll-like Emlyn suddenly be fierce, David knew that trouble was brewing between these two today.


    The people around were also taken aback by Emlyn''s sudden change, staring at him with surprise.


    Meanwhile, Fatso was startled, quickly jumping aside.? Once he understood what had happened, a hint of delight appeared on his face:? "I never thought you had some skills, kid.? Impressive!"


    Fatso''s words were fearless and carefree.? Emlyn clenched his fingers, bones crackling audibly.? Then he reached behind Fatso''s back, attempting to extract the spine that he had been using as a weapon.? Today, he was determined to show this Fatso just how strong he was.? But as his hand touched the spine, a sh of insight appeared in Fatso''s eyes.


    In the next moment, a bone knife appeared in Fatso''s hand, shing before Emlyn: "If Captain weren''t here today, you''d be nothing more than a pile of bones."


    Fatso''s tone was icy, and even the bone knife in his hand emitted a strong murderous intent.? This aura of death enveloped Emlyn''s bones, causing his whole body to chill.? He had not expected this seemingly unremarkable Fatso to be so fierce.


    Emlyn hesitated with his hand still mid-air, and the air around them seemed to freeze.? Fatso, as a Dawn Scavenger, had reached Level 11 long ago.? With the help of the high-level crystals David had left behind, he had perfected his de skills.? Additionally, Emlyn, as an inhabitant of the Abyss Cemetery, was no match for Fatso.


    Fatso''s actions were meant to bolster David''s reputation once again.? David watched the two, understanding Fatso''s intention.? He smiled lightly and said, "Fatso, put away your knife.? We''re all on the same side."


    Hearing David''s words, Fatso snorted coldly, sheathing his bone knife, and then grabbed a bottle of cold beer from the side to take a big sip.


    Emlyn had returned to his infant form, and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva with lingering fear.? He hadn''t anticipated that David''s subordinates would be so powerful.? He had intended to disy his strength and assert his dominance, but he had encountered the fierce Fatso right away.? This experience made Emlyn even more hesitant to raise his head and look at the others.


    At the same time, Emlyn''s respect for David grew stronger.? Seeing that his purpose had been achieved, Fatso chuckled a couple of times at David before grabbing a bottle of yogurt from the fridge and tossing it to Emlyn.


    "Let''s have a toast even if it''s with milk instead of alcohol!? From now on, you''re an official member of the Embers team!"? Fatso dered, raising a bottle of cold beer and chugging it down.? Emlyn, holding the children''s yogurt, chuckled helplessly.? As someone of his generation, he found it amusing to be drinking children''s yogurt.? Nheless, he lifted the yogurt and drank it.


    Surprisingly, Emlyn found the yogurt quite tasty.? Arnold, Charles, and the others introduced themselves to each other.? Emlyn and Vi shared some brief information about themselves.? As for Mandy, the Embers team had known her for a while, so there was no need for a lengthy introduction.


    However, they noticed that Mandy seemed to be bing more and more human-like, with even a hint of warmth in her body.? This surprised everyone.? Additionally, they were curious about Vi.


    When they heard that she was the queen of the Kui tribe in the wastnd world, they were taken aback.? They hadn''t expected that this alluring and elegant woman was not even a human.


    The spark of interest that had appeared in Fatso''s eyes quickly faded.? However, it had to be said that Queen Vi had an impressive figure.? Today, she was wearing a form-fitting qipao that entuated her curves, making her look even more alluring.


    From the moment Vi entered, Sally''s gaze was fixed on her.? When she noticed that Vi was silently following behind David with an obedient expression, aplex emotion crossed Sally''s face.? Vi felt the same way;? as two women by David''s side, they seemed to harbor inexplicable feelings toward each other.


    David had long noticed the tension between the two women but had no intention of getting involved in their silent struggle.? Instead, he raised his ss and engaged in lively conversations with Fatso and the others, focusing on enjoying the moment.


    At that moment, Duane arrived with Shirley.? "David, it''s been a while!"? Duane greeted with a smile as he entered.? David nodded in acknowledgment and gestured for them to sit down.? Since David had entered the wastnd world, Duane and his Phoenix Rising had stationed themselves here.? They were primarily responsible for the city''s security and monitoring the activities of all the espers.


    Upon hearing of David''s return, Duane had quickly left his work toe over.? Fatso''s attention was caught by Shirley, and his eyes lit up again.? He hurriedly sat next to her, but Shirley, holding C, merely nced at Fatso before ignoring him.? Even so, Fatso shamelessly continued to offer her fruits.


    After some friendly exchange, David looked at C in Shirley''s arms and Little ck, who had been crouching by his feet all this time.? These two little beings had been watching David attentively, asionally emitting soft and affectionate sounds.


    David remembered the beast souls extracted from the bodies of mutated creatures in the wastnd world.? He stood up and summoned C and Little ck.? The two little creatures joyfully circled around David, sensing that something was about to happen.


    With a thought, the beast souls floated out of David''s system storage.? He flicked his finger, and the beast souls rapidly merged into C and Little ck''s bodies.? Everyone watched in astonishment as this unfolded, eagerly anticipating any changes in the two little creatures.

 Chapter 305 a piercing alarm

    <h4>Chapter 305 a piercing rm</h4>


    ?


    As the beast souls entered C and Little ck''s bodies, the two little creatures seemed momentarily bewildered, gazing at David with confusion.? In the next instant, an aura that resembled the presence of countless beasts in the wild burst forth from within them.? This aura was akin to a chorus of a hundred beasts roaring together, as if tens of thousands of supermutated creatures were constantly engaged in a frenzy of killing, devouring, and ughtering in the forest.? The ferocious and dominating presence caused everyone around to involuntarily exim in surprise.


    C and Little ck began emitting dazzling rays of light.? Their bodies rapidly expanded, and muscles on their limbs surged and coiled like serpents, creating an awe-inspiring spectacle.? The luminous radiance persisted for two minutes before finally subsiding.


    With the baptism of the beast souls, C and Little ck, who had undergone their transformation, stood before everyone.? Their bodies had grown an entire sizerger than before, and their fur gleamed with vitality and luster.


    Their eyes had deepened, resembling the eyes of wild beasts appearing suddenly in the darkness of the forest.? C and Little ck seemed to sense their newfound strength and excitement filled their cries as they looked towards David.? A gleam of admiration shed in David''s eyes as he watched them.


    David could clearly sense that C had reached the level of a Monarch while Little ck had be a King, a ruler among hellhounds.? David was taken aback by their rapid advancement, their levels soaring by two ranks within minutes, significantly boosting their power.


    " leveled up?"? David hadn''t expected the beast souls to be so effective on C and Little ck.? He marveled at their growth.


    In response to David''s question, everyone''s astonished gaze was locked onto C and Little ck.? Indeed, the aura they had unleashed had left everyone speechless.? Excitement and joy radiated from the spectators.


    "This is great!? C is about to reach the Void rank!? Little ck, well done!"? The praise of the onlookers delighted C and Little ck, who began rubbing against David''s pant legs, spinning around in excitement.


    A smile tugged at the corners of David''s lips.? With the assistance of these twopanions, the strength of the Embers team would undoubtedly be further enhanced during the apocalypse.? David even began to contemte expanding his influence to the surrounding cities.


    Under Sally''s guidance, David toured the city.? He was surprised to find that not only had every street been fully restored, but even the copsed buildings were being repaired.? The garbage that had once littered the city had disappeared, reced by lush greenery and colorful flowers.


    As espers passed by, they exhibited pre-apocalyptic happiness.? Some had opened weapon shops, restaurants, and even cafes along the streets, obtaining supplies from Sally.? These resources had been left behind by David when he departed, and they were proving to be invaluable now.


    Upon seeing David, the excitement in the eyes of the espers was evident.? Though David wasn''t present in the city on most days, every esper knew that he was the mastermind behind it all.? They stood in ce, bowing respectfully to David.


    David nodded back with a smile.? Vi and Emlyn were equally astonished by the prosperous scene before them.? Vi, in particr, was taken aback.? Having only experienced survival in the wastnd world, she had never seen such prosperity.? Witnessing the respectful attitude of the espers towards David further deepened her admiration for him.? It truly required immense strength tomand such loyalty and reverence from so many espers.


    After the recent events, Emlyn found that his personality matched quite well with Fatso''s.? Following a series of conversations, the two of them quickly developed a camaraderie.? Currently, Emlyn was perched on Fatso''s shoulder, gazing at the city that had only appeared in his dreams before.? His heart was filled with emotion.? He realized that only David could have built a city like this in the midst of the apocalypse, making him look forward to David''s capabilities in the wastnd world.


    "No exaggeration, this guy is seriously amazing!"? Emlyn couldn''t help but express his admiration.


    However, before he could finish his sentence, Fatso yfully smacked his head: "Emlyn, be more respectful, call him Captain!"


    Emlyn looked helplessly at Fatso''s chubby face, filled with resignation.? He understood that the young man before him was not just his captain, but also his master.? He finally grasped why Clive had sent him here.? Only by David''s side could he witness what true strength meant.


    After touring the city for an hour, David had thoroughly examined everything.? Impressed, he gave Sally and the others a thumbs up.? He hadn''t anticipated their capabilities to be this remarkable.? In such a short time, they had established a functioning city,plete with a stable order.


    David noticed that every esper, whether walking around or running a shop, adhered to certain rules.? There seemed to be an invisible boundary that nobody wished to cross.


    He surmised that the team members had likely enacted a set ofws and regtions to maintain order in the city.? This allowed the esper residents to control their behavior, thereby ensuring the city''s stability.


    Just then, a piercing rm suddenly red overhead.? David furrowed his brows and turned towards the city gate.? Sally, Arnold, Fatso, and the others all wore grave expressions.? They understood that only when facing danger would the guarding espers sound the rm.? Once the rm sounded, it indicated a situation that even the defending espers couldn''t handle¡ªa major problem.


    They had never encountered such a situation before, making them nervous.? David regained hisposure and said to the group, "Let''s go check it out."? With that, he led everyone towards the city gate.


    At the city gate:


    "I won''t be yourckeys!"


    "Let us advise you wisely;? hand over the position of city lord!"


    "As long as our brothers are content, we''ll reward you handsomely!"


    Five burly men, wieldingrge swords and axes, stood atop the city wall, shouting loudly towards the people inside the city.? Underneath themy the esper guard who had triggered the rm, now a lifeless corpse.


    Seeing the sudden appearance of these five individuals, the espers within the city frowned.? Some of them also kept scanning the surroundings, seemingly weighing pros and cons in their minds.

 Chapter 306 L City

    <h4>Chapter 306 L City</h4>


    A growing crowd of espers gathered at the city gate, observing the five audacious individuals with arms held high and an air of arrogance about them.? Hushed whispers and murmurs spread through the crowd.


    At this moment, David arrived with the group.? Seeing the true leader of the city approach, all the espers involuntarily fell silent, keeping their eyes on David and the five individuals at the city gate.


    "Who are they?"? David inquired, looking at the five men.


    Arnold responded firmly, his voice stern: "These five are espers from the nearby L City.? They caused trouble here before and were driven away by the guarding espers.? But who would''ve thought they''d be this arrogant this time, even killing our guards!? They''ve got the nerve!"


    Arnold''s anger grew as he spoke, and he seemed ready to charge at the five troublemakers.


    "Stay back," David quickly stopped him.


    Arnold hesitated, unsure of David''s intentions.? David looked up at the five men and said, "They must havee prepared if they''re making such a grand entrance."


    Following David''s words, everyone began scrutinizing the five men.? They observed them standing atop the city gate, arrogantly boasting and standing on the corpses of the guarding espers.? Therge swords and axes they held appeared ferocious, radiating a murderous intent.? However, something puzzled them.


    The five men seemed slightly mechanical in their speech and movements, as if someone was controlling them.? David activated his Insight ability and, from the outskirts five kilometers away, spotted a middle-aged man.? This man had transparent threads wound around his fingers, constantly twitching them.


    David immediately understood that the five men at the city gate were being manipted by this middle-aged man.? Otherwise, who would openly attack a city like this?


    At the same time, David sensed the middle-aged man''s level of power.? He couldn''t help but snort.? It turned out that this guy was just breaking through to the ninth level.? David couldn''t fathom why a mere ninth-level esper would provoke his attention by attacking his city.


    David signaled to Fatso with a nce, who promptly understood and acted.


    "I''ll go talk to that guy!"? In an instant, Fatso shot up from the ground and headed towards the direction David indicated.? With a single breath, he reached the middle-aged man''s position.? Before the man could react, Fatso kicked him hard in the back of his head.? The man''s vision went ck as he fell to the ground.


    The five men on the city gate crumbled like mud, lying lifeless on the ground.? Fatso lifted the middle-aged man and returned to David''s side.? He tossed the man to the ground before giving him a vicious kick to the abdomen.? The excruciating pain made the man squeal like a ughtered pig.? As he slowly opened his eyes, he was met with the faces of the people before him.


    "You...? you all..."? The middle-aged man realized that his scheme had been exposed and hurriedly attempted to say something.? However, David wouldn''t give him the opportunity, lightly flicking his finger.


    "Boom!"? The middle-aged man''s body exploded like a balloon.? In the blink of an eye, a ninth-level esper turned into a burst of blood and gore.? The members of Embers Squad were left momentarily stunned.


    They had assumed David would question the man, but instead, he had been eliminated with a flick of a finger.? Even Fatso was perplexed.? David, however, remained indifferent, treating the man''s life as inconsequential.? He had done so because the area was filled with espers who had witnessed the scene.


    All eyes were fixed on David, curious to see how he would respond.? Some had ulterior motives, hoping to align with the five troublemakers to seize the city.? Thus, David''s actions would determine their next moves.


    Aware of their intentions through their gazes, David scornfully regarded their cunning expressions.? Without hesitation, he disintegrated the man''s body, not only asserting his dominance but also sending a clear message to the espers in the city that he was the true authority.


    Indeed, as they witnessed the bloody remnants of the middle-aged man scattered in the air, a collective sense of terror swept over the surrounding espers.? Even those who had intended to capitalize on the chaos quickly lowered their heads, unwilling to meet David''s gaze.


    At that moment, they realized that before David, they were as insignificant as ants.? Gazing at the corpses of the five men on the city wall, David spoke, "It seems that L City has issued us a challenge. Before we sleep tonight, we''ll take it down."


    Hearing David''s words, the members of Embers Squad grew excited.? It had been a while since they had engaged inbat, and the prospect of attacking L City under David''s orders ignited their fighting spirit.? Fatso eagerly rolled up his sleeves, drawing the bone knife that sent shivers down Emlyn''s spine.? Arnold, Duke, and others were equally eager.? They had long wanted to conquer L City, but without David''s decision, they had refrained from action.


    Now that David himself had given the order, they were ready to unleash their strength.? Thus, Embers Squad, with the newly upgraded C and Little ck, as well as Vi and Emlyn, followed David''s lead to the gates of L City.


    L City had its own ruler, and upon hearing that David was leading an assault, a shiver ran down his spine.? In his panic, he made a grave mistake¡ªattempting to resist David''s attack.


    Meanwhile, Embers Squad members stormed into L City like furious lions, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake.? In the blink of an eye, the guarding forces and numerous zombies became their victims as they surged toward the heart of L City, utilizing their esper abilities.


    Emlyn and Vi seemed to relish the thrill ofbat, leaving a trail of defeated espers in their wake.? David floated mid-air, overseeing the chaos below.? A faint smile yed on his lips, giving him an icy and detached demeanor.


    In a short span of time, Fatso singlehandedly subdued L City''s leader, a tenth-level gold-tier esper.? But now, facing Embers Squad, he was as helpless as amb waiting for ughter.? As David approached, a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes, and he uttered just a few words.


    "Please!? Please spare me, big brother!? I was wrong!? I beg you, don''t kill me!"? Trembling with regret, the city''s leader attempted to plead for mercy, hoping to save his life.? Yet, David was all too familiar with such individuals and had no intention of granting him any reprieve.? Just as the man was about to brace himself for a fight to the death, Fatso''s bone knife glided gently across his neck.

 Chapter 307 One night of passion

    <h4>Chapter 307 One night of passion</h4>


    "In just the time it takes to burn an incense stick, David, along with his team, wiped out all the resistance within L City.? Those who surrendered, trembling in fear upon seeing David, remained in the same state of shock.? They had no idea where this god of death hade from, and their eyes were filled with terror.


    As a result, David once again expanded his influence in the post-apocalyptic world, now iming two cities under his control.? Arnold quickly led his team in cleaning up the bodies in L City and began nning for its future.? David looked at the two cities he had conquered, a faint smile forming on his lips.


    David understood that, in both the apocalypse and the wastnd world, one needed territory and power to establish a firm foothold.? His ambitions extended far beyond these two cities; he aspired to be the unparalleled king of the entire region.


    After David''s conquest of L City, the city''s former inhabitants, who were espers, all bowed respectfully upon seeing him.? Even those who had harbored ill intentions before became David''s most loyal subjects.? They did not want to incur the wrath of the killer god, David, and certainly did not wish to meet their end in this deste world.


    As a result, David''s reputation once again spread far and wide among espers.? Some from distant ces even hurried to join his cities, willingly bing his subjects.? The poption of these cities, originally just 500, quickly swelled to 1,500.? More and more people filled the streets, bringing a touch of human warmth to the once destend.


    Under David''s leadership, various institutions were established within these two cities.? He carefully selected loyal individuals from among the espers to manage these organizations, alleviating the workload of Sally and others.


    Furthermore, David renamed these two cities.? His original base was known as Dragon City, and the city formerly called L City was renamed Phoenix City.? Together, Dragon and Phoenix symbolized David''s status as the king of the post-apocalyptic world.? As he gazed upon the bustling streets, David nodded in satisfaction.


    At this moment, Sally pushed open the door and walked up to David.? She looked at his handsome profile, feeling a surge of happiness in her heart.? She couldn''t help but think of Vi, who had always been by David''s side with her exceptional figure.? Sally hesitated for a moment, thinking about what to say.


    However, David turned towards her with a smile on his face.? Then, Sally felt a warm breath against her lips.? In that instant, her body trembled as if an electric current had passed through her.? Her fair cheeks turned even redder, and she looked incredibly shy.


    Sally didn''t say a word because she knew that she would forever hold a special ce in David''s heart.


    "It''s been so long.? Do you miss me?"? David raised his head, looking at Sally who was panting in his arms.? At this moment, Sally''s heart raced, and her legs felt weak.? She could only nod obediently in David''s embrace.


    "Then let me see how much you miss me," David said with a meaningful smile, carrying Sally into the bedroom.? Sally''s cheeks grew even redder, like a ripe apple, but a hint of happiness filled her eyes.


    As soon as David kissed Sally''s lips, he held her tightly in his arms and kissed her deeply.? In a few moments, Sally was intoxicated by David''s deep kiss.? Shellfish teeth gently open, fragrant tongue slightly spit, I took the opportunity to put the tongue into her mouth full of fragrance, absorb the fragrant body fluid, upying every ce in her mouth.


    David only felt this attractive body in his arms suddenly be hot.? Sally''s hands were involuntarily around my neck.


    David took Sally''s legs, and with a push of his arms he lifted her up and sat her in myp and nestled her in my arms.? I stroked the attractive body, deeply kissed the beautiful person in my arms, and my heart was burning with lust.


    David put his left arm around Sally''s slender neck, his right hand inside her underwear, and he was quickly climbing the soft, towering peaks.? Full of soft, delicate and stic full make me excited, I tried to rub it like a jelly like feeling, the head that a little protrusion more make me love.? David kneaded hard, Sally was rubbed by my body can not help but tremble.


    When he had had enough of the soft, stic feeling, David reached between her legs again.? Through the smooth and soft belly, stroked a piece of sad grass, came to the tender warm mysterious ce, where has been wet, soft as mussel meat between the two cracks secreted gurgling jade liquid, warm and smooth.


    Sally groaned loudly as David put one of his fingers inside and rubbed it gently.? My whole hand was covered in that softness.? Sally now sat on myp, nestled in my arms, her blushing face disheveled by me, her former modesty and grace all gone, and her deep passion took over her face and reced it with lust.


    David picked her up in his arms and walked to the bed.? Put this very attractive woman on the bed, quickly stripped all her barriers, white delicate delicate body presented in front of me, white tender skin warm as jade, her delicate body even slightly appeared a little pink more attractive.


    Jade skin, round white breasts towering, like a girl, there is no sign of sagging, t abdomen does not see a trace of fat, slender small waist cute small belly button half covered.? The lovely protrusions on the quivering breasts still maintained a virgin pink color, and the faint are was shallow around the nipples, and the whole body seemed to radiate a holy light in the moonlight.


    David began to greedily taste this beautiful body in front of him, lips from Sally''s forehead began to move slowly down, white forehead, delicate cheeks, small nose, closed eyes, slightly quivering eyshes, small ears, delicate cherry lips, delicate chin, David''s hot lips did not miss every ce.? I could not part from her beautiful face and long slender neck, and came to her white delicate body.


    David was madly kissing her white, delicate skin, kissing every inch of it, even down to the armpits, every finger, every toe I put into my mouth and taste it with my tongue. Both hands will her slender pink thighs wide open, revealing pink holes, two pink delicate petals with the opening of her thighs slowly opened, cute little beans half covered the head.


    David separated her beautiful petals with his tongue, the tip of his tongue gently licked the lovely little beans, slowly, the small beans swelled and hardened, Sally also seemed to be unable to stimte the Jiao, her legs could not help but open some.


    David will forget all the tongue into her warm moist, full of fragrance of the vagina, greedy sucking, Sally jiao panting upward arch of the slender waist, the small hole gurgling secretion of a lot of honey, I will honey into the mouth, the slightly acidic honey is how sweet and delicious, like wine.

 Chapter 308 Did I say something wrong?

    <h4>Chapter 308 Did I say something wrong?</h4>


    David lovingly kisses Sally''s vagina, thrusts his tongue deep into her vagina, and licks and scratches the inner walls of her vagina. Sally was brought to the height of my passion, she frantically wiggled the white body, trying to get more pleasure from my kiss, groaning loudly, full of hair because of the crazy wiggle random scattered on the bed, ck hair with a white body to give a trembling beauty.


    David quickly stripped himself, threw off all his clothes, and pressed down on the very attractive ketone body. Penis already hard as iron, blue veins exposed. I lifted up my thick penis and stabbed it. Sally couldn''t stand it anymore, so she wrapped her arms around me and the water was pouring down on my penis.


    David''s penis plunges in with no resistance. Sally groaned with satisfaction, her arms as white as lotus roots spread tightly around my back. I put it in hard. Sally groaned cloyingly under my pumping, and that pleasant groan sound was like the most intense aphrodisiac drug, stimting my blood blood and swelling, the more dry the more powerful. For a moment the spring was boundless, and all that remained in the bedroom was the thump and the seductive groans.


    David was pulling this crazy woman under him, her white body as soft as a bone, so I could pose her in all kinds of seductive gestures. My brain was drunk waves of impact, had already fallen into a semi-crazy state, for this soft body under the slightest pity, just crazy in this very attractive body to gallop.


    Hard as iron penis in the delicate little hole left and right rush, no regard for this beautiful little hole for a long time no man to nourish. Cock is just a crazy pleasure on her delicate body. The white and delicate skin makes me crazy and can''t put it down, and the soft and tender touch makes me hate that I can''t swallow this very attractive body into my stomach.


    The cock greedily kissed, licked the white and delicate body under him, could not help but bite gently, after a while, the white and delicate skin was covered with a red tooth mark, and the body came a delicate moan.


    Pleasure is like a tidal wave higher than a wave, I clenched my teeth again and again to hold on, want to get more and greater satisfaction, the penis again and again in the delicate small hole, each time to insert the root into, the delicate body was tightly held by me, the two bodies seem to be integrated, Sally has been made by me, the flood of pleasure flooded without a trace, He fell unconscious in my arms and let me do whatever I wanted.


    Once again the tide came, the great pleasure finally submerged me, the strength of the body with the hot semen shot into the delicate little hole deep. I held this white soft body in my arms and copsed on the bed, and soon fell asleep.


    In the early morning, a golden ray of sunlight came through the window and sprinkled on the two naked bodies hugging each other on the bed. White delicate delicate body kitten like crouched in the arms of a young man, delicate and beautiful face attached to the man''s chest is happy and satisfied sleeping.


    The delicate body was a little ufortable from the sun, and moved gently, but was immediately embraced by the young man, and the woman obediently snuggled up to the man.? The woman''s long eyshes moved, suddenly opened her eyes.? The woman was none other than Sally and the young man was none other than David.


    After a night of passion, Sally''s face flushed with a blush.? She looked at David with happiness, and a smile appeared on her lips.


    "After spending several days in Dragon City, Vi had the opportunity to witness David''s standing in the post-apocalyptic world.? This made her grateful that she had not be his enemy;? otherwise, her fate might have been simr to that of the Dark City''s three brothers.? During her time in Dragon City, Vi also experienced the warmth of humanity, and she couldn''t help but wish that the wastnd world could be more like this.? Her heart held an additional desire, one that she knew only David could help her fulfill.


    Emlyn, on the other hand, had be fast friends with Fatso.? They spent their days drinking beer, eating barbecue, and chatting.? It seemed as if they had met their soulmates, and they eagerly engaged in long conversations well into the night.


    On the fourth day, David decided it was time to return to the wastnd world.? The Zerg, their most significant enemy, remained unresolved, and he needed to eradicate thempletely.? Only then could he be the ultimate victor in the wastnd world.


    That morning, David, apanied by Vi and Emlyn, stood at the city gate.? Mandy stayed behind in Dragon City to assist the team members.? Seeing their captain about to depart, every member of the Ember''s team wore a sorrowful expression.


    David couldn''t help but twitch the corner of his mouth and said, ''What''s with the long faces?? I''m not leaving forever.''? With those words, everyone burst intoughter.


    ''Captain, as long as you''re safe,e back to see us.? Yes, if you encounter danger, be sure to let your brothers know, and we''ll be there in no time!? Don''t worry, we''ll take good care of Dragon City and Phoenix City.''? They all surrounded David, speaking one after another.? It seemed as though they wished for him to stay.


    At the same time, they knew that the wastnd world needed David to conquer it.? David nodded and smiled at everyone.? Emlyn, who sat on Vi''s shoulder, watched as Fatso clung to her with reluctance.? Fatso also looked at Emlyn with tears in his eyes.


    ''Emlyn, don''t forget about me over there.? When youe back, we''ll continue our beer chats!''? Fatso said with a tearful expression.


    Emlyn nodded firmly and replied, ''Don''t worry;? you still owe me three cans of beer, so I won''t forget.''


    Just then, Duane and Shirley walked over.? Seeing Shirley, Fatso wiped away his tears and hurried to her side, leaving Emlyn bewildered.? As Fatso eagerly attended to Shirley, the others threw scornful nces his way.


    With everyone''s gaze following them, David, along with Vi and Emlyn, left Dragon City.? Only then did Fatso realize what had happened and shouted after David''s departing figure, ''David, if you ever need help, you have to call me!? Despite my fondness for thedies, I''m still your loyal brother!''


    As soon as Fatso finished speaking, a bone flew toward him.? He reached out and caught it in his hand, realizing it was the blood bone that David had extracted from the wastnd world ¨C a priceless treasure for Fatso.


    David''s voice came from the void:"Give you credit, you''ve got some keen observation skills"


    Fatso clutched the blood bone, shedding tears of joy, and kept unting it to everyone, saying, ''See this?? It''s a bone that David rewarded me with.''? Everyone stared at him with skepticism, as if they were looking at a fool.


    ''Did I say something wrong?''? Fatso asked, utterly bewildered."

 Chapter 309 Strange Nest

    <h4>Chapter 309 Strange Nest</h4>


    Arriving at the quadrangle courtyard, Rainbow sensed David''s presence well in advance and was already waiting at the door before he arrived.? Bernard stood there respectfully, awaiting the arrival of David and his queen.


    Before long, the three figures of David appeared from the void.? Rainbow, with a ng, flew over and excitedly circled around David.? This surprised David, as he knew that all four flying swords had already recognized him as their master.? But Rainbow''s excitement was something he had never seen before.


    So, David reached out his palm, and Rainbow promptlynded on it.? Feeling the warmth emanating from Rainbow''s de, David suddenly understood.? Long-termpanionship with Bernard had increased Rainbow''s intelligence considerably.? This made it appear childlike, getting incredibly excited whenever it saw its master approaching.


    "Bernard, well done!"? Amidst his astonishment, David couldn''t help but praise Bernard, who was standing respectfully nearby.


    Bernard, who was standing there respectfully, suddenly heard David''s praise and was momentarily taken aback.? Then, an excited smile appeared on his face.? Although he didn''t know why David was praising him, receiving praise from David meant he was doing something right.


    This only solidified Bernard''s determination to be apetent gatekeeper.? After a quick tour of the quadrangle courtyard, David took Vi and Emlyn back to the wastnd world.? After all, the Zerg had not yet disyed their true strength, and he needed to strike first before theyunched an attack.


    David knew that the destruction of the Dark City must have been known to the Zerg.? Since they had be the most powerful force in the wastnd world, they must have guessed David''s intentions.? And David was not one to wait around.? David had to hold a knife to their necks before they raised their swords against David.


    Upon returning to the Dark City, David had Vi issue orders for all members of the Kui tribe to mobilize and enter the western territory of the Zerg.? He did this because he wanted to assess the hidden strength of the Zerg.


    Although David had seen the enormous and formidable Zerg King with his own eyes, its true power had not been revealed.? David needed to gather information because knowing one''s enemy was one of his survival principles.? Those Kui tribe members he sent out served as his scouts.


    Vi didn''t hesitate to agree with David''s decision.? She was already devoted to David, and the leadership of the Kui tribe naturally rested in David''s hands.? Even if David sent her alone into the Zerg''s territory, Vi felt she wouldn''t hesitate.? In her heart, David was a figureparable to a deity.


    As all the members of the Kui tribe headed towards the Zerg''s territory, David instructed Emlyn to return to the spear and gave him three days.? In that time, Emlyn had to integrate the aura of the evil ghost properly and shed his infantile form.? Emlyn understood that David''s next opponent was the Zerg.


    Without a second thought, Emlyn dove into the spear and began his training.? With Mandy not by his side anymore, David''s only helpers were Vi and Emlyn.


    Compared to Vi, Emlyn''sbat power was significantly stronger.? So, before the major battle began, David had to help Emlynplete his transformation into a formidable weapon.


    At the same time, David, apanied by Vi, followed the Kui tribe members and arrived at the territory upied by the Zerg.? Memories of the first time he stumbled into this ce crossed his mind."


    "David felt that this ce had be even more deste.? Not only was the yellow sand blowing everywhere, but the strong winds never seemed to stop.? The sand and wind felt like knives cutting into one''s skin, causing a sharp, stinging pain.? The atmosphere here also grew increasingly hostile, as if thousands of super-powered beasts were surviving in this area.? Hostility hung in the air, even obscuring the moon in the night sky.


    Feeling the frigid and hostile air around her, Vi instinctively moved closer to David.? It was her first time in this ce, and the unsettling scene and thick hostility made her nervous.? Her breathing became heavy, as if countless knives were twisting in her throat.


    Seeing Vi''s painful expression, David quickly created a pocket of void space next to her, allowing her to breathe normally.


    "This ce is terrifying, even a hundred times scarier than the Kui tribe''s territory!"? Vi said with a frightened expression after taking a deep breath.


    David silently nodded.? He had felt an invisible pressure as soon as he entered this area.? It was as if countless insects were descending from the sky, making it difficult to breathe.? Fortunately, David was at level 12, so he could withstand this pressure.? However, it was tough on the members of the Kui tribe.


    So, David immediately created void spaces for all Kui tribe members, enveloping them in void to allow them to breathe and move normally.? With Vi, David continued forward.? When they reached a hill, David''s brow suddenly furrowed, and he stopped in his tracks.


    "What''s wrong?"? Vi noticed David''s expression and asked quickly.


    "There''s something unusual," David said softly, then looked toward a massive cave behind the hill.? Compared to the Zerg King''sir, this cave was noticeably smaller.? However, the soil above the cave gleamed with a metallic hue.? Even thend surrounding the cave emitted a dim metallic glow.


    This puzzled David.? If he wasn''t mistaken, this was undoubtedly a Zerg nest, but why did the soil here look like this?


    Following David''s gaze, Vi also immediately noticed this strange nest, but she had no idea about its significance.


    After pondering for a moment, David took out the bronzepass from his pocket.? After rotating the pointers clockwise a few times, Clive''s run-down wooden house appeared behind him.? Clive seemed to have sensed something unusual here and walked out of the house even before David could speak.


    "Why are you here?"? Clive asked David as he saw him.


    David remained calm and pointed to the strange nest.? Seeing the nest, Clive''s expression darkened instantly.? After thinking for a moment, he said to David, "This is the nest of the Devouring Demon Centipedes."


    With that, Clive''s face became even darker, and he continued, "Devouring Demon Centipedes?"? Hearing this name, David was instantly puzzled."

 Chapter 310 Devouring Demon Centipedes

    <h4>Chapter 310 Devouring Demon Centipedes</h4>


    Clive nodded and his gaze towards the strange nest became grave.? He continued, "Devouring Demon Centipedes are the guardians of the Zerg.? They are ferocious in nature, incredibly powerful, and can even single-handedly take on a group of twelve-level super-beasts."


    Hearing Clive''s words, Vi was the first to be shocked.? A single insect could take on a twelve-level super-beast?? But what astonished her even more came next.


    After a brief pause, Clive continued, "Devouring Demon Centipedes excel in both offense and defense.? The metallic soil you see here is shed from their bodies.? As the Zerg''s primary guardians, there''s no living creature in the wastnd world willing to encounter them.? Because facing them leads to only one oue ¨C death here."


    This was why Clive''s expression turned solemn the moment David summoned him.? He hadn''t expected David toe to the Zerg''s territory, let alone encounter Devouring Demon Centipedes.? He knew David was powerful, but facing this creature, Clive couldn''t guarantee David''s chances of sess.


    Furthermore, the atmosphere here favored Devouring Demon Centipedes in every way.? Clive knew that David wouldn''t take this risk.? He even suspected that David hade here by ident.? So, he continued to advise David, "Hurry and leave this ce.? Devouring Demon Centipedes seem to be asleep for now.? If they wake up and spot you, there won''t be time to escape."


    After saying this, Clive nced at the nest of Devouring Demon Centipedes and then walked back to his wooden house.? But when he opened the door and turned around, he saw that David was still standing there motionless, which puzzled him.? He walked back to David and asked in confusion, "Why are you still here?? Listen to me, hurry and go somewhere else."


    Hearing Clive''s words, David''s expression gradually rxed, and he smiled as he replied, "Now that we''re here, there''s no reason to leave.? If we don''t kill it today, we''ll have to do it tomorrow.? I don''t have that much time to waste."


    "What?? You want to kill Devouring Demon Centipedes?? Have you lost your mind?"? David''s words made Clive exim in shock.? But he quickly lowered his voice when he realized that Devouring Demon Centipedes was still in the nearby nest, and he continued, "Let me tell you, the terror of this creature is beyond your imagination!? The reason the Zerg can establish themselves in the wastnd world and be the dominant force is partly because of Devouring Demon Centipedes!? Although you''re already at level twelve, the conditions here are not in your favor.? I advise you not to take this risk.? If something goes wrong, I won''t be able to help."


    The more Clive spoke, the more anxious he became, as if he feared that Devouring Demon Centipedes might suddenly charge out.? His gaze towards David also became particrly serious, as if he were looking at a monster.? He had lived this long without ever seeing anyone challenge Devouring Demon Centipedes.? Even when it appeared, the nearby zombies and super-beasts all fled, never daring to confront it.


    So why did David seempletely unconcerned?? Clive thought David must be crazy, or else he wouldn''t utter a word about killing Devouring Demon Centipedes.? Vi, watching from the side, also had aplex expression, and her nervousness continued to spread across her face."


    Vi sensed the horror of Devouring Demon Centipedes from Clive''s words.? She couldn''t understand why David was so determined to stay here.


    As she watched both of them with puzzled expressions, David calmly took a couple of steps forward and said, "My purpose in the wastnd world is to conquer.? Now, there''s only one opponent left, the Zerg.? Why should I hide?? The Zerg and Devouring Demon Centipedes may be terrifying, but in the face of humanity, they are nothing but mutated insects.? Humanity is the ultimate ruler of all worlds."


    David''s words grew more resolute, as if he wouldn''t leave this ce without killing Devouring Demon Centipedes today.? He knew that if he left now due to fear, he might never find the courage to step into this territory again.? The principle was to strike while the iron was hot.


    David understood this, which is why he had to cut off the head of Devouring Demon Centipedes today.? Moreover, he wanted the Zerg to understand that? David, would exterminate them!


    Clive was momentarily stunned by David''s words.? However, he quickly shook his head helplessly and said, "Listen to an old man this time;? hurry and leave.? Dealing with someone who can single-handedly take on a group of twelve-level super-beasts is not something an ordinary person can handle.? I know you''re capable, but the Zerg are not humans.? They have a natural inclination towards ughter.? Leave this ce while you still can!"


    Clive continued to speak like an elder, his tone growing stern.? He didn''t want to witness the young David''s death in this wastnd ce.? However, at this moment, David bent down, picked up a stone from the ground, and weighed it in his hand.


    David said to Clive, "Even if I want to leave now, it''s toote."


    "What do you mean?"? Clive''s entire body tensed up, and at that moment, he felt as if death was looming.? The stone drew a perfect arc in the air and urately struck the inside of the nest.


    "A loud ng!" resounded from inside the nest, as if the stone had hit something hard.? Clive held his breath, staring fixedly at the nest, and Vi''s body broke out in a cold sweat.


    Suddenly, a faint scream came from inside the nest.? David raised an eyebrow.? He knew that he had awakened Devouring Demon Centipedes with that stone.? He watched quietly, waiting for the appearance of this terrifying creature.? The scream grew louder and louder, causing the metallic soil around the nest to tremble.


    At the same time, an immense and oppressive force, like a hundred insects swarming, rushed towards David.? Feeling this dark and hostile aura, Clive quickly flicked his right hand, and a copper bell fell into his hand from his sleeve."

 Chapter 311 you must be bold

    <h4>Chapter 311 you must be bold</h4>


    All three of them stared intently at the nest of Devouring Demon Centipedes, especially Vi and Clive.? Their hearts were pounding, and their expressions were filled with terror.? Devouring Demon Centipedes had not yet emerged from the nest, but they felt an intense pressure.


    Vi''s body couldn''t help but tremble, and David remained calm, his gaze fixed on the nest, which continued to emit sounds.? After several breaths, the nest suddenly revealed one of its three-fingered ws, resembling dried branches.? These three fingers had crescent-shaped spikes along their length, a single nce at which was enough to send shivers down one''s spine.


    Then came the second w, the third, the fourth, and after fifty of its three-fingered ws had emerged, a monstrous creature with a menacing appearance, a triangr head filled with eyes, finally revealed itself.? It shook off the metallic debris from its body, its many eyes radiating anger.? Its hardened exoskeleton, just shed, gleamed like metal under the gloomy sunlight.? This was Devouring Demon Centipedes.


    The Zerg''s guardian, the pinnacle of Zerg strength, capable of annihting any creature in the wastnd world within seconds.? Devouring Demon Centipedes slowly crawled out of the nest, disying all one hundred of its three-fingered ws.? However, its body seemed somewhat deformed, and these limbs appeared particrly terrifying.? It was like a human hand with two fingers severed.? After crawling out of the nest, it immediately fixed its gaze on David and the others.


    It pped the blue wings on the sides of its exoskeleton, producing an even more ear-piercing noise than before.? Its hostile aura swept over them like a tidal wave, making the already oppressive air feel as heavy as steel.


    Vi''s body began to tremble uncontrobly, and she fell to the ground with her mouth spewing blood at just one nce from Devouring Demon Centipedes.? The Kui tribe members behind her weren''t faring any better;? they fell to the ground, clutching their heads, as if Devouring Demon Centipedes'' eyes could pierce their hearts with a single nce.


    In the instant Vi copsed, David quickly carried her and ced her under arge tree.? Clive was clutching the copper bell tightly, enveloped in a strange light radiating from it, which kept him from losing consciousness.? However, even with this protection, his face showed signs of pain.? David felt the same way, but his faint golden defensiveyer shielded him from Devouring Demon Centipedes'' oppressive aura.? Moreover, his level had reached twelve, allowing him to resist the creature''s intimidation.


    "Clive, are you okay?"? David asked as he looked at Clive''s grim expression.


    Hearing David''s question, Clive wished he could strike the young man with the bell.? But he realized that the bell was his protective charm.? If it shattered, he would be in big trouble.


    So he red at David and said, "You''ve done quite a job, and you''re asking if I''m okay?"? He was exasperated by this young troublemaker, but he had no choice.


    "Now that? David had provoked this terrifying creature, David had to quickly think of a way to deal with it.? "? Listening to Clive''s words, David chuckled and scratched his head.


    "Don''t worry;? I''ll chop off its three-fingered ws and make you a cane.? That way, you can visit me and Emlyn in the wastnd world more often."? David smiled at him, which left Clive fuming.


    "Great!? Whether they could escape from under Devouring Demon Centipedes'' nose was one thing, but now he was thinking about taking its legs for a cane?"


    Clive couldn''t believe what he was witnessing.? David must be out of his mind.? There was no other exnation for provoking Devouring Demon Centipedes without reason and boldly talking about chopping off its legs.


    However, as Clive observed Devouring Demon Centipedes, he noticed that its exoskeleton gleamed brightly, as if freshly polished.? He then nced at a pile of metallic skin shed beside the nest.


    Suddenly, it struck Clive.? "This Devouring Demon Centipedes justpleted molting.? It''s probably in a weakened state right now."? David turned his gaze toward the creature upon hearing Clive''s words.


    Indeed, Devouring Demon Centipedes appeared imposing on the surface, showing no signs of weakness.? However, David, with his heightened perception, noticed that it seemed to pause after each breath, as if adjusting to its new body.


    David found this surprising.? In its current state, Devouring Demon Centipedes had already scared Vi unconscious with just a nce.? What would it be like at full strength?? David also understood why it had been watching them without attacking, seemingly trying to buy time to adapt to its new body.


    This revtion excited David.? He wasn''t one to take advantage of someone in a vulnerable state, but if the opponent was already in danger, he didn''t mind making it worse.? He believed in the principle of striking when the iron was hot.


    Even if Devouring Demon Centipedes were at its peak, David wouldn''t back down.? Today, he was determined to show the Zerg a lesson they wouldn''t forget.


    "Clive, rest here for a while.? I''ll go meet this guy," David said as he approached Devouring Demon Centipedes.


    Seeing this, Clive urgently wanted to stop him.? Unfortunately, he had to hold the bell with both hands;? otherwise, the protective aura would disappear.? So he shouted anxiously at David''s back, "Don''t think you can beat it just because it''s not in the right state now!? While it hasn''t initiated an attack yet, let''s find a way to get out of here!? When it fully recovers, none of us can escape!"


    Clive practically screamed at David''s retreating figure.? He knew very well the strength of Devouring Demon Centipedes.? Even in its current state, killing an eleven-level super beast was a breeze for it.? He didn''t want David to take this risk.? In his eyes, such behavior was undoubtedly jumping into the abyss of death.


    Clive''s words made David hesitate for a moment.? It was clear that Clive was concerned about his safety.? He had a point;? provoking Devouring Demon Centipedes at this moment was extremely risky.


    However, David turned around, pondered for a moment, and then looked at Clive with a serious expression.? "As a man, you must be bold!" he dered before continuing toward Devouring Demon Centipedes.

 Chapter 312 One Punch

    <h4>Chapter 312 One Punch</h4>


    Watching David''s back, Clive stared wide-eyed, his mouth twitching.? It took him a moment to react.


    "What the heck, man!"? Although he said that, his gaze towards David was filled with concern, to the point where he moved a nearby wooden house closer to him with a thought, and his eyes settled on the bamboo chair he often sat on.


    David continued to approach the Devouring Demon Centipedes.? With each step, he felt the pressure and intimidation emanating from it intensify.? Even the faint golden defensive aura around him began to shimmer.


    The Devouring Demon Centipedes remained fixated on David, its one hundred three-fingered ws constantly wriggling, emitting a piercing, relentless noise that echoed in David''s ears.


    It seemed to be warning David of his impending doom.? If he took one more step, it wouldunch a lethal attack.? When David was about twenty paces away from the Devouring Demon Centipedes, he stopped.? It wasn''t because he felt overwhelmed by the creature''s oppressive aura.? Rather, this distance allowed him to maximize the use of his abilities and increase his power.


    As David faced the restless Devouring Demon Centipedes, his expression remained calm.? In contrast, the creature was far fromposed.? It had initially believed that the mere presence of its oppressive aura would drive this human away, just like the other mutant creatures.? To its surprise, this human had approached too close forfort.


    For the first time, the Devouring Demon Centipedes felt challenged in its status in the wastnd world.? It stopped making its eerie hissing noises and instead, the de-like edges of its legs began to grind against each other, producing a sharp, chilling sound.


    In the next second, it decided it needed to teach this insolent human a lesson.? It was even prepared to devour him to strengthen its weakened body.


    Without hesitation, it rapidly moved its one hundred three-fingered ws, transforming into a monstrous entity charging toward David.


    David remained unperturbed by this development.? He didn''t draw his Spatial des or alloy dagger, nor did he use a portal to shift positions.? Instead, he stood still and closed his eyes.


    This sudden action startled Clive.? What was happening?? The Devouring Demon Centipedes was charging at David, and he was just standing there with his eyes closed?


    Clive wished he could rush over and pull David away from this perilous situation.? However, the creature''s overwhelming presence prevented him from getting any closer.? All he could do was watch David, growing increasingly frantic and cursing him a thousand times in his mind.


    "You reckless kid!? Why aren''t you running away?? What are you doing standing there!? If you die like this, it''s such a waste."? While Clive was scolding David, David abruptly opened his eyes.


    A visible surge of psychic power emanated from his eyes, surging straight toward the audacious Devouring Demon Centipedes.? David intended to use this opportunity to test the true power of his newly upgraded psychic abilities.? The two waves of psychic energy shot out like arrows, swiftly prating the head of the Devouring Demon Centipedes.


    Momentarily!? Its body seemed to be locked in ce, and the one hundred three-fingered ws no longer moved.? The countless eyes on its head ceased all motion as well.? In that instant, it appeared as if David hadplete control over its body.


    David could even hear its heartbeat, like the beating of a giant drum.? His psychic abilities came into y at this moment, freezing the Devouring Demon Centipedes in its tracks, as if it were suspended in time.


    It stared at David in astonishment, seemingly taken aback by the human''s overwhelming power.? Yet, there was a trace of disdain in its eyes.


    As Devouring Demon Centipedes stood immobilized by David''s psychic control, Clive''s face showed a hint of amazement.? In his view, although David had strength, he believed that battling this creature would be challenging.? So, what he was witnessing now was truly astonishing.


    At that moment, however, a few of the Devouring Demon Centipedes'' legs suddenly twitched!? This development startled Clive, and he found himself sweating, holding onto his bell.


    David quickly noticed this change, raising an eyebrow slightly.? However, he remained calm.? He knew that his psychic abilities had only recently been upgraded and still had a long way to gopared to his offensive and defensive powers.? Additionally, considering the Devouring Demon Centipedes'' position in the wastnd world, it breaking free from his psychic control was somewhat expected.


    While David contemted the situation, the Devouring Demon Centipedes'' leg limbs began to violently wriggle again!? Its wings on the carapace also fluttered incessantly.? It had clearly broken free from David''s mental grasp.


    Now, the Devouring Demon Centipedes exuded an even more arrogant aura.? Its aggressive nature became evident, and in the next moment, it let out a low, eerie howl and illuminated the de-like spikes on its forelimbs before lunging at David.


    It seemed determined to cut David down on the spot, making him realize its might.? Seeing the creature charging forward with murderous intent, Clive furrowed his brow tightly.


    In that instant, Clive seemed to sense an overwhelming terror descending upon him, as if a mountain were crashing down.? If it weren''t for his protective energy, he might have copsed to the ground like Vi.? Clive turned his gaze toward David.


    At this moment, David, facing the charging Devouring Demon Centipedes, clenched his fist.? Upon his fist, gxies swirled like a cosmic belt, exuding immense power.? As the Devouring Demon Centipedes swung its ded spikes toward David, he didn''t hesitate to strike back with a punch!


    His Starshatter Fist was mighty, creating a powerful impact.? In the instant that David''s fist collided with the Devouring Demon Centipedes'' ded spikes, space trembled intensely, and time warped into ripples.


    "Boom!"? A deafening collision erupted, shaking the entire wastnd world and instilling fear in all who heard it.? Clive''s expression shifted from shock to amazement.


    David''s Starshatter Fist had delivered a tremendous impact, even overwhelming Clive.? The Devouring Demon Centipedes couldn''t withstand the shockwaves, and its entire body was sent flying thousands of meters away.


    The power behind this punch was immense.? David had transferred the critical hit rate from his Spatial des to his fist, making this strikeparable to the explosion of a mini-nuclear bomb.? The surrounding area experienced earthquakes, and cracks appeared in the wastnd world''s soil.

 Chapter 313 Escaping dust

    <h4>Chapter 313 Escaping dust</h4>


    After throwing this punch, David stood still, gazing at the Devouring Demon Centipedes flying A few? kilometers away.? The powerful punch continued to ripple around him, causing his clothes to flutter as if he were an immortal.


    David''s punch towards the Devouring Demon Centipede was ruthless, showing no mercy..? The two legs at the forefront, attempting to block the fist, were shattered into two pieces by David''s blow, further infuriating the creature.


    It kept roaring and then spread its wings, soaring into the sky, its enormous silhouette covering the sun, heading straight for David.


    Seeing the Devouring Demon Centipedes approaching him, David knew this creature was in for a rough time.? A smile crept onto his face.? This was the result he wanted ¨C to drive his opponent insane.


    Now, the Devouring Demon Centipedes was indeed going mad.? David acknowledged its strength but also knew he was stronger.? So, David didn''t flinch.? The belief he had earned through bloodshed in the post-apocalyptic world told him there were only two oues: either he killed it or it killed him.


    David never considered the second option.? With two lifetimes of experience, he was destined to make every living being in this world tremble with his own strength.


    Suddenly, an invisible force surged from every cell in David''s body, enveloping his entire being.? This force flowed through him like a river, a stream, an ocean, permeating every vein and acupoint.


    Clive, watching in disbelief, seemed to sense this incredible power as well.? He muttered to himself, " this kid...? have broken through?"


    With a slight nod and a profound feeling of the power originating from his faith, David raised his head, and his eyes sparkled with boundless energy.


    "I''ve broken through," David whispered.? In that moment of immense power, he shattered the bottleneck of the twelfth level, reaching a state of "Escaping dust."? This level transcended the usual categorization of espers and marked a qualitative leap in his abilities.? He could even traverse four dimensions.? Feeling this supreme power, David''s eyes gleamed even brighter as he coldly stared at the approaching Devouring Demon Centipedes.


    And at that very moment, in mid-air, the Devouring Demon Centipedes aimed all its curved des and thorns directly at David.? It intended to use this attack to eliminate the human before it.


    "Hmph, mere ants!"? David contemptuously uttered? that words.? The next second, he soared into the air.? There was no longer the power of the gxy swirling around his right fist, but instead, it carried the ultimate power from another dimension.? His fist seemed to transcend space and time, filled with world-shattering force.


    Devouring Demon Centipedes sensed David''s transformation but didn''t halt its relentless assault.? In an instant, dozens of curved des and thorns shimmered in front of David.? Coupled with its colossal body and horrifying appearance, it seemed like an undisputed ruler in this moment.


    David smiled and without hesitation, thrust his fist forward.? Astonishingly, his punch shattered the very void in front of him, and solidified, transparent shards continuously fell to the ground at his feet.? Devouring Demon Centipedes also froze in mid-air, its body rigid.


    David''s punch struck directly on the creature''s heavily defended carapace.? Cracks immediately appeared on the carapace, and fragments fell to the ground like shards of nothingness.


    Devouring Demon Centipedes, as if sensing a power beyond this world, let out a painful wail before rapidly plummeting.


    David didn''t stop;? instead, he reached out with both hands and grabbed its wings.


    "Just you?? You want to kill me too?"? David sneered, his deep, radiant eyes fixated on the countless eyes of Devouring Demon Centipedes.


    In the next moment, Devouring Demon Centipedes'' eyes suddenly exploded like small bombs!? Green blood mixed with bits of flesh sprayed into the air, creating a gruesome spectacle.? Despite the excruciating pain, it attempted to struggle and retaliate.


    But David casually pulled, tearing its body into two halves.? Various organs spilled onto the ground, emitting a nauseating odor.


    David released his grip and tossed it to the ground.? Feeling the agonizing pain of its torn body, Devouring Demon Centipedes trembled incessantly, and its limbs curled up as if scorched by intense heat.


    David stared at it with a disdainful expression.? Devouring Demon Centipedes probably never expected to be defeated by a human.? It attempted to move its remaining half, seemingly with the intent of delivering a final blow to David, as if taking? of them down was its sole purpose.


    But David, now at the "Escaping dust" level, wouldn''t give it that chance.? He extended his right hand, palm open.? Then, a fierce aura erupted from him.


    "Explode!"? David''s palm suddenly clenched, and the airflow around it rapidly spun, creating an endless vortex that tore through the void.? At the same time, Devouring Demon Centipedes, under David''s explosivemand, detonated like a ignited bomb!? Flesh and blood flew in all directions, filling the air with a putrid stench.


    At that moment, the immense oppressive force in the surroundings rapidly dissipated, returning to the destion of the wastnd.? David withdrew his hand, wearing a rxed smile on his face.? He nced towards a dense forest in the distance, the smile on his lips growing even broader.


    That''s how it ended?? The formidable Zerg guardian creature had been in by David right on the spot, and it hadn''t even touched a hair on David''s head.? And throughout the entire battle, Clive had been witnessing this overwhelming showdown.


    Now, his face disyed an unmistakable sense of awe.? He had never expected David to change so drastically in the blink of an eye, his aura surging to levels that seemed to surpass any esper he had encountered.


    "Escaping dust level?"? After a long pause, Clive finally uttered in disbelief.? As he spoke, his body trembled slightly.? He raised his head to look at David''s departing figure.


    Clive felt as if a god of ughter, looking down upon the world, stood before him.? After a moment of astonishment, he gradually realized the truth.? He put away his bell, still fixedly staring at David''s receding figure.? The excitement in his eyes couldn''t be concealed.

 Chapter 314 Fate Reincarnation

    <h4>Chapter 314 Fate Reincarnation</h4>


    Looking at the surroundings where the air had returned to normal, David withdrew his gaze from the distance.? After defeating the Devouring Demon Centipedes, he distinctly sensed an eerie presence rising from the endless forest.


    David spected that it might be the Zerg King sensing the death of her guardian and emitting this ominous aura.? Or perhaps she intended to use this malevolence as a warning to David.


    However, David wasn''t concerned about the Zerg King''s warning.? He hade here today, and he had defeated the Devouring Demon Centipedes for one ultimate purpose - the Zerg King.


    So, disregarding the malevolence in the forest, David looked at Clive.? He smiled faintly and shook his head, saying, "Is this what you called terrifying?"


    "Too weak," David''s words nearly left Clive choking.? He helplessly nced at David, his face filled with embarrassment.


    Clive was well aware of the Devouring Demon Centipedes'' strength, but who could have known that David was this formidable?? He had managed to break through from the twelfth level of esper to reach the "Escaping dust" level within the blink of an eye.


    If this were to be told, who would believe it?? Clive regretted uttering those words earlier.


    "You, kid...? are truly impressive," Clive couldn''t help but praise.? At the same time, he believed that it was a wise decision to have Emlyn sent to him.


    In response to Clive''s praise, David smiled faintly.? He knew that his sudden power surge was due to his umted experiences over time.? Along with his encounters in the wastnd world, where he hunted down five super-level mutants and countless zombie-like creatures, he had be intimately familiar with the rules of the wastnd world.? This deepened his understanding of esper abilities.


    However, what David hadn''t expected was to level up at this particr moment.? Despite the Devouring Demon Centipedes shedding its skin and being in a weakened state, if he had engaged it inbat without the element of surprise, the oue would have been uncertain.? Furthermore, the Zerg King was stationed nearby, and she was continually monitoring the situation.? So, this battle was indeed a reckless venture for David.


    Fortunately, he had entered the "Escaping dust" level, surpassing the conventional levels of esper abilities, which allowed him to effortlessly overpower the formidable Devouring Demon Centipedes.


    Otherwise, David believed that the Zerg King would have dispatched more Zerg to attack him, making it a dire situation.? It was his sudden and overwhelming strength that had deterred the Zerg King.


    This made David think that the Zerg King was also a clever entity, understanding the need to avoid a direct confrontation.? At this moment, the system''s voice echoed in his ears.


    [Congrattions, Host, for killing the Devouring Demon Centipedes.? You''ve gained one hundred ck pronuclei!? ]


    [Congrattions, Host, for triggering a hundredfold critical hit.? You''ve gained ten thousand ck pronuclei!? ]


    David nodded in satisfaction.? He hadn''t expected to receive so many defense-oriented pronuclei from this creature.? With these, he could confidently fortify his base in theter stages.? However, the system''s voice continued, echoing in David''s ears.


    [Ding!? Congrattions to the host for gaining a new ability, Fate Reincarnation"!? ]


    "Hmm?? ''Fate Reincarnation''?? What''s that?"? Hearing the name of this new ability, David was instantly puzzled.? He noticed that the system hadn''t mentioned the elemental affinity of this ability, and it came as a sudden surprise to David.


    [Fate Reincarnation: Surpasses all elemental abilities, allowing you to sense an individual''s past, enter their past timelines, and alter their fate.]


    [Initial usage time is ten minutes, reduced to five minutes inter stages.]


    [When the host uses this ability, the target''s brain enters a nk and static state.]


    Upon hearing the system''s exnation of "Fate Reincarnation," David was initially taken aback.? Then, a glimmer of enlightenment flickered in his eyes.? So, with this ability, he could change events that had already happened?


    Thinking about it, David became even more excited.? This ability was more powerful in terms of impact than any other ability.? By entering an esper''s past timeline and manipting their actions, he could effectively change their fate, altering their entire perception.


    Effectively, David could enter an esper''s timeline, influence them in a way that would make him a benefactor, and thus, gain an More followers in the real world.


    Now David finally understood why " Fate Reincarnation" was considered superior to all other abilities.? Its potential to alter destiny was unparalleled.? The most challenging aspect to change in any sentient being is their thought and cognition.? Yet, David could now manipte not only someone''s thoughts but also their destiny.


    With " Fate Reincarnation," destiny was no longer a fixed concept;? it was the world''sw.? David nodded in satisfaction, and he saw a ck temporal vortex appear in front of him, only to vanish immediately after appearing.


    David knew that this ck vortex was likely the entrance to using " Fate Reincarnation"? As long as he willed it, he could summon it.? Following that, David ced his palm over the shattered remains of the Devouring Demon Centipedes and said, "Extract!"


    [Congrattions, Host, for extracting one Blood Bone!? ]


    [Congrattions, Host, for extracting one Vial of Zerg Essence!? ]


    [Congrattions, Host, for extracting thirty pieces of Wastnd Staff Fragments!? ]


    A Blood Bone, a transparent sealed vial, and thirty shimmering fragments appeared in an instant, then entered David''s system storage.


    This left David feeling somewhat contemtive.? It appeared that higher-level beings gained more when extracting materials.? ncing at the ny fragments of the Wastnd Staff in his storage, David started to anticipate.


    He had no idea about the true origins of the Wastnd Staff, but its mysterious nature indicated its significant influence on the entire wastnd world.


    However, David also understood that to uncover the secrets of the Wastnd Staff, he would need to gather a hundred fragments to synthesize itpletely.? He was now only ten fragments short of having the whole staff, which seemed readily attainable.


    So, David wasn''t in a hurry.? He shifted his focus to the sealed transparent ss vial and wondered, "Zerg Essence?"


    [Upon inhaling this gas, the host can conceal their human scent and emit the scent of a Zerg.]


    David nodded.? The primary enemy he would be facing was the Zerg.? Sometimes, infiltrating their territory would require effective camouge.? Clearly, this vial of Zerg Essence was the perfect disguise.? Today''s gains were quite fruitful for David.? Seeing the Devouring Demon Centipedes, which had no further value, he turned and departed.


    Meanwhile, Vi had also awakened from her unconscious state.

 Chapter 315 Generous

    <h4>Chapter 315 Generous</h4>


    Just woke up, Vi still looks a bit pale.? The influence of Devouring Demon Centipedes on her was too great just now, so when she woke up, she still felt a bit confused.? David walked up to her, looked at her pale face, and took out a gene fruit from the system warehouse.


    "Eat it."? He tossed it to Vi and said softly.? When Vi saw the gene fruit, her eyes widened, and she quickly nodded.? After eating the gene fruit, Vi finally returned to normal.? She stood up and looked around.


    "Where''s Devouring Demon Centipedes?"? Vi had been unconscious when David killed Devouring Demon Centipedes, so she had no idea that it was already dead.


    David pointed to a piece of Devouring Demon Centipedes'' flesh on the ground and said, "It''s right there."


    This startled Vi, and she quickly ran behind David.? When she saw that it was just a piece of meat, she finally understood.? Her face was filled with shock as she looked at David:"You...? you killed it?"


    David calmly nodded, as if killing Devouring Demon Centipedes was no big deal to him.? Vi had fainted just by making eye contact with it.


    But now, David was acting like it was amon urrence.? This left Vi stunned.? She had only exchanged a nce with Devouring Demon Centipedes before fainting.? But David had managed to kill it so quickly?? She also felt the extraordinary aura radiating from David.


    In this moment, Vi waspletely impressed by David.? Before, her admiration for him was because of his appearance and his superhuman strength at the twelfth level.? But now, it was because of his aura, which didn''t belong to this world.


    However, from start to finish, David remained calm andposed.? To him, killing Devouring Demon Centipedes was just dealing with an ordinary monster.? So, he didn''t pay much attention to Vi''s reaction.


    At this moment, the ominous aura from the distant forest grew stronger and formed a dense fog that rose into the sky.? Some flying creatures exploded in mid-air before even getting close to the fog.


    Clive furrowed his brows once again.? He looked at David and hurriedly said, "We need to leave here quickly!? This is a warning from the Zerg King!? It''s not the time to confront her."


    After speaking, Clive looked worriedly at David, fearing that he might act impulsively again.? He knew that if the Zerg King attacked them, all the Zerg would be mobilized.? Although David''s strength had reached a terrifying level, the number of Zerg was in the tens of thousands.? Clive believed that a direct confrontation with them was not a good choice and might even alert the legendary god in the barren world.


    This time, David thought for a moment and then nodded, which surprised Clive.? But he finally felt relieved.? The three of them left the area.


    Inside the Dark City Base, David sat on the couch, enjoying a ss of fine wine, while Vi was still in shock from what had just happened.? Clive visited David''s base for the first time and was immediately shocked by the decoration and setup here.? He couldn''t help but feel embarrassed when he thought about his old, run-down wooden house.? Taking a sip of red wine, David asked Clive, "Why were you in such a hurry to leave earlier?"


    Clive pondered for a moment and said, "There are too many Zerg, and your current goal is the Zerg King, not those insignificant Zerg ants.? If you were to fight them, those hateful creatures could overwhelm you."


    Clive''s words were urate.? As the most significant force in the wastnd world, the Zerg had already reached a number in the tens of thousands, and they were continuously breeding and increasing.? There was a trend of covering the entire wastnd world.


    So, in case the Zerg Kingunched a real attack, those creatures would be the first to swarm.? Even if they weren''t individually powerful, their sheer numbers could pose a significant threat.? If a few more guardian insects like Devouring Demon Centipedes appeared, Clive believed it could seriously harm David.? Thus, he strongly urged David to leave.


    David naturally understood Clive''s intention.? He had asked the question to gauge Clive''s thoughts.? While he regarded Clive as an elder figure and hadn''t seen any signs of betrayal, David was cautious.? In this world, one had to be careful and respectful of its survival rules.? So, David nodded and continued to savor the wine in his ss.


    Seeing David, Clive seemed like he wanted to say something else but hesitated.? He then awkwardly smiled and asked, "By the way...? how''s the Bronze Compass working out for you?"


    David nodded and replied, "It''s good."


    "Is Emlyn still obedient?"? Clive continued his habit of poking around for information.


    David nodded again, then cut to the chase, saying, "Clive, if you have something to discuss, just say it."


    Clive scratched his white hair in embarrassment and said, "Old man here has only heard of gene fruits but never tasted them.? How about you give me a couple?"


    While they were in the Zerg territory earlier, Clive had envied Vi holding a gene fruit.? He had heard that these fruits could rapidly replenish a person''s strength and energy.? High-quality gene fruits could even lead to a qualitative breakthrough in a person''s abilities.? So, he finally expressed his interest in gene fruits.


    Hearing Clive''s request, David smiled faintly and said, "Clive, I thought it was something serious!? It''s just gene fruits, right?? When you go back to Dragon City, have Sally pick a hundred or two hundred for you!? These few are for you to taste the vor first."


    David took three gene fruits from the system warehouse and handed them to Clive.? Clive was taken aback by David''s suggestion.? Picking a hundred or two hundred gene fruits?? Did that mean these precious items were asmon as radishes and cabbage in David''s eyes?


    The three gene fruits in his hand were already more than enough for him.? Clive quickly epted them, feeling satisfied.


    "Well then, I won''t stand on ceremony," Clive said with a smile as he epted the three gene fruits.? His wooden house materialized nearby, and he was eager to return and taste these legendary fruits.


    Originally, he wanted to ask David to modify his small wooden house, but he thought better of it.? He didn''t want to be too greedy.? He walked into his wooden house, carrying the chair he had always kept by his side as if it were a treasure.


    "Then, I''ll take my leave!"? With that, Clive followed his small wooden house and departed from the base.

 Chapter 316 Are you seducing me?

    <h4>Chapter 316 Are you seducing me?</h4>


    After the battle with the Devouring Demon Centipedes, Davidpletely dered war on the Zerg.? At the moment of the Devouring Demon Centipedes'' death, even the Zerg King sensed the impending danger.


    In this battle, David was the greatest beneficiary.? Not only did he defeat the formidable Zerg guard bugs, but he also raised his own level to Escaping Dust, surpassing the level of an ordinary esper.


    This was an exciting development for David and a miracle for the wastnd world itself.? As a result, David had be a terrifying presence in the entire wastnd world.


    After Clive left, David looked at Vi, who had already regained herposure.? She stood beside David, looking respectful.


    David smiled faintly and said to her, "Your strength is too weak;? it''s time to improve."? Even though he had trained Vi, Mandy, and Emlyn inbat before, Vi''s strength was still inadequate in David''s eyes.


    Devouring Demon Centipedes were terrifying, and the fact that a single nce could render Vi unconscious left David somewhat speechless.? However, he realized that not everyone possessed his level of resistance.? Now that Vi was a part of his world in the wastnd, he didn''t want to carry around a burden with lowbat capabilities.


    Upon hearing David''s words, Vi wore a slightly ashamed expression.? She knew that her strength was minusculepared to David''s.? Being a member of the Kui tribe, she couldn''t attain the same level of power.? She felt that even other beings in the wastnd world couldn''tpare to David.


    "These twenty high-level pronuclei carry my aura;? you should absorb them."? David took out twenty high-level pronuclei from the storage and handed them to Vi.


    However, these pronuclei were entirely different from ordinary ones.? They emitted a particrly intense aura, as if they were imbued with a dominating power, which gave them a formidable appearance.


    As Vi held the high-level pronuclei in her hand, she was slightly surprised but quickly nodded in response.? She ced the pronuclei in her palm and concentrated all her attention on them.


    Soon, the pronuclei gradually transformed into wisps of pale blue aura,pletely absorbed by Vi.? At the moment these pale blue auras entered her body, Vi felt as if an infinite power had suddenly been poured into her, surging throughout her body.? It was as if this power intended to break through her physical form.? Vi clenched her teeth to endure the sensation.? Although her face showed signs of difort, she knew that these pronuclei carried David''s Escaping Dust-level aura.? Even a level 12 esper would find it difficult to withstand such a power.


    After persisting for ten minutes, the overpowering aura within her body gradually calmed down.? This aura began to permeate every cell in her body, making her previous difort vanish and recing it with a faint sense offort.


    "This feeling...? is so incredible!"? Vi, examining her own hands, had a look of shock on her face.? The inexplicable sensation left her incredibly excited.


    David looked at her with a faint smile.? Although Vi''s strength had improved somewhat this time, it still fell short of his expectations.? However, David understood that patience was essential.


    He had time to gradually train Vi.? After the overwhelming power within her subsided, Vi looked at David excitedly, her eyes filled with gratitude.? After some contemtion, she took a step towards David, lowered her head shyly, and said, "I''m willing...? to give everything to repay you."? This was something Vi had wanted to say to David for a long time, and she seized this opportunity to express it.


    While speaking, Vi stood there, radiating charm.? Her clothing entuated her voluptuous, curvaceous figure.? David couldn''t help but be amazed.? This woman was indeed the queen of the Kui tribe.? If this were in the post-apocalyptic world, she would have easily captivated many espers.


    David understood the underlying message of her words.? After finishing thest sip of red wine, David stood up and turned to face Vi, slowly approaching her.


    Vi was already a nervous wreck, her body trembling slightly.? She was prepared to give everything she had to David.? David smiled as he got closer, then leaned in closer to her ear and softly asked, "Are you seducing me?"


    As soon as these words left David''s mouth, Vi was immediately stunned in ce.? She sensed a different feeling in David''s words.? She quickly raised her head and said, "No...? I''m just willing to give everything for you."


    As she spoke, Vi became even more nervous.? Her head buried deeper into her bosom, unable to look David in the eye.? David was satisfied with Vi''s reaction.? He knew that he had trained the Kui tribe queen quite well.


    "Don''t overthink it.? The time wille for you to give yourself."? David spoke and then left her with a smile, leaving Vi standing there in a daze.


    After David and his group left the Zerg''s territory, countless ck insects began to emerge from the ground.? They emerged like mushrooms after the rain, covering the entire ground densely.


    These insects continuously scanned their surroundings, as if searching for something.? Even two Devouring Demon Centipedes crawled out from underground.? Furthermore, there were several enormous insects with even stronger auras circling the surrounding forest.? Each of them was gigantic and exuded a domineering presence.


    Suddenly, a deafening sound echoed from the middle of the forest.? All the insects, as if receiving amand, rushed towards the forest.? The giant insects roared in response, directing their attention to one direction.


    Soon, all the insects gathered in the middle of the forest.? The loud and restless movement frightened away all the beasts within a hundred miles.? At this moment, from a nest in the center of the forest, the Zerg King, the leader of the Zerg, crawled out slowly.? It shook its golden wings and its basketball-sized eyes continuously surveyed the surrounding members of its kind.


    The Zerg King emitted another piercing sound.? As soon as the insects heard this sound, they immediately became highly agitated.? Subsequently, they all flew southward.

 Chapter 317 Edmund

    <h4>Chapter 317 Edmund ?</h4>


    At this moment, the post-apocalyptic world remained just as deste and eerily quiet as ever.? David had hunted down most of the zombie-like creatures since his arrival.? Even the five dominant super-beasts that ruled the wilderness had fallen to his hands, further adding to the destion of the world.


    Even though the asional zombie-like creature roamed the area, they did so with extreme caution, constantly scanning their surroundings.? They were fearful of losing their lives to David''s sudden appearance.


    David had be a taboo in this post-apocalyptic world, a world that grew increasingly barren each day.? However, amidst the bleak and barrenndscape, there was a faint sense of difference in the air¡ªa feeling of impending conflict.


    David was quick to sense this change in the atmosphere.? He could even smell the stench of blood and decay within it.? He knew that his actions in ying the Devouring Demon Centipedes had been discovered by the Zerg, and they were likely preparing for an attack.


    However, David disyed no signs of nervousness.? Even though he was about to face the most formidable foes in the post-apocalyptic world, his face remained calm, as if he did not regard the Zerg as a formidable threat.


    During this period, David also took some time to return to the post-apocalyptic world and distribute some of the treasures he had acquired in the wilderness to the members of Ember''s team.? He also upgraded his base in the post-apocalyptic world to a king-level base, making it the most formidable and dominant structure in this world.


    In this rtively peaceful period, David seemed to no longer roam the wastnd hunting zombie-like creatures.? Instead, he sat on the couch in his base, sipping red wine and coffee.? It was as if the dangerous post-apocalyptic world before him had turned into a normal world.


    David lived like a human enjoying the pleasures of life.? As David put it, "Life is short, so make the most of it."? Watching David''s daily contentment, Vi was filled with questions.? During this period, she had been focused on strengthening herself and adapting to the newfound power she had acquired.? She hunted zombie-like creatures of various ranks every day, determined not to be a burden to David as she had been during their previous encounter.


    Vi, who had fainted with just a nce from the Devouring Demon Centipedes, was resolute in her decision to not slow David down anymore.? She was aware of the current situation in the post-apocalyptic world, with the ever-present threat of a Zerg attack.? She felt that everyone should be on edge.? After all, the Zerg were the undisputed rulers of the post-apocalyptic world, and their strength was not to be underestimated.


    However, she dared not question David about his actions.? She could only continue her daily routine of hunting zombie-like creatures, believing that David had his own n.


    One morning, in a dense forest ten kilometers from the base, Vi had just in a mutated gray wolf and a blue wolf.? As she prepared to venture deeper into the forest in search of more targets, she heard a faint rustling sound behind her.? Instantly, she became cautious, gripping her iron fan tightly, and asked in a low voice, "Who''s there?"


    At the same time, Vi kept a vignt eye on the dense forest behind her.? Faintly, she sensed the presence of a human.? This surprised her because, in the post-apocalyptic world, she had only encountered two humans besides David and Clive.


    After a moment, the rustling sound urred again.? Vi tightly held her iron fan, her gaze locked on a specific direction.? Just then, a man with long hair, a slender figure, and a delicateplexion emerged.? He looked at the corpses of several mutant beasts at Vi''s feet and chuckled awkwardly before raising his eyes to meet Vi''s.


    "Um...? hero...? no!? Lady hero, spare me!? I have no idea how I ended up in this strange ce.? Could you please tell me where we are?"? The man nervously rubbed his hands and looked at Vi, wearing a respectful smile.? At first nce, he appeared quite ordinary, even his aura seemed exceptionally weak, with nothing remarkable about him.


    Vi frowned as she observed the man.? She knew that ordinary humans couldn''t possibly enter this realm.? So, how did this man end up here?? Could he be a formidable individual like David?? However, Vi couldn''t sense any strength from him.? So, she asked, "What''s your name, and why are you following me?"


    The man smiled again, still nervously rubbing his hands.? "I''m Edmund.? I was actually asleep, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here.? Seeing this deste ce around me was quite unsettling."


    He continued, a hint of fear in his voice, "Just when I didn''t know what to do, I heard somemotion here.? So, I hurried over, seeking help.? And that''s when I found you."


    "Are you...? an esper?"? The man finally asked.? He had clearly witnessed Vi''s battle with the monsters and deduced that she must be an esper, which relieved his anxiety, not realizing that Vi was not human.


    Listening to Edmund''s story, Vi pondered for a moment.? She still had many questions about his appearance, but she couldn''t quite put her finger on what troubled her.? She thought about how both he and David were humans, possibly lost in this wastnd world.? Maybe it would be better to let David handle this situation.? So, she nodded and said, "I''ll take you to see someone who can help you leave this ce."


    With that, she got up and started walking toward the edge of the forest.? Seeing this, Edmund quickly followed.? Along the way, he continued to bombard Vi with various questions, disying his curiosity, while Vi answered him with indifference and some regret over her decision.


    Vi couldn''t help but wonder why Edmund, a seemingly powerless human, could be so talkative.? Compared to David, they were worlds apart.? She had agreed to take him to see David out of pity, but she wasn''t sure if David would scold her for it.


    However, now that they were nearing the base, Vi decided not to dwell on it.? She believed that David was a gentle person who wouldn''t me her.


    Soon, Vi and Edmund arrived at the city gate.? The Kui tribe guards, seeing their queen return, quickly opened the gate.? However, their expressions turned puzzled when they saw a human following Vi.


    Vi led Edmund into the pce hall.? David was still leisurely savoring his wine, his hand caressing the circr jade pendant.

 Chapter 318 probe

    <h4>Chapter 318 probe</h4>


    In fact, every time Vi left the city, David used his surveince eye to monitor her every move and the surrounding environment.? So, the moment Edmund appeared, he already knew who this person was.


    However, just like Vi, David couldn''t sense anything unusual about Edmund.? This left him puzzled as well.? He had been in this wastnd world for some time and knew it was a dangerous ce, where ordinary humans couldn''t possibly enter.


    So, who was Edmund, really?? Could he be a hidden force within this wastnd world?? Numerous questions swirled in David''s mind, but he didn''t show any of this on his face.? Instead, he patiently awaited Vi to bring him in, understanding that some adversaries only reveal their vulnerabilities when seen up close.? Even the hard-to-detect aura around them might inadvertently slip through in his presence.


    David believed he had a way to deal with such people.? However, his doubts resurfaced when he saw Edmund, standing in the hall, constantly looking around with an envious expression, just like when he had first arrived.? There was no discernible aura about him.? It seemed that he genuinely was an ordinary human who had mistakenly entered this wastnd world.


    But David''s expression remained unchanged.? As Vi approached him, she bowed respectfully and said, "This human is named Edmund.? ording to him, he stumbled into the wastnd world, and I couldn''t sense any esper abilities from him.? It seems...? he truly is just an ordinary person."


    Vi shared her spections with David, and she felt a slight nervousness within, fearing that David might me her for bringing a stranger here.? However, as she had guessed, David didn''t express any me towards her.


    Listening to Vi''s words, David simply nodded and then raised his gaze to Edmund, who stood beneath the grand hall.? At this moment, Edmund, like a curious peasant entering a city for the first time, was examining the surrounding architecture.? His expression clearly conveyed admiration and envy.


    "My goodness!? This base is so luxurious!"? Edmund eximed, unaware of David''s scrutinizing gaze, his voice filled with envy.


    David responded with a faint smile.? At this point, Edmund recognized David as the person Vi had mentioned.? He quickly bowed and greeted, "I am Edmund, who has stumbled into this ce.? I hope to seek the help of a benefactor."


    Hearing Edmund''s words, David took a sip of his red wine and inquired casually, "Oh?? Stumbled in, you say?? How did that happen?"


    Simultaneously, David''s gaze was as sharp as a knife, continuously scrutinizing Edmund, trying to find the slightest hint of vulnerability.? Edmund, on the other hand, remainedposed, retelling the same story he had shared with Vi.


    "It''s truly absurd.? I had just stocked up on arge quantity of supplies, and if I don''t return soon, they''ll expire, and I''d suffer significant losses," Edmundmented, a tinge of regret appearing on his face as he looked at David in this manner.


    David nodded without saying a word, continuing to inquire, "What do you want me to do for you?"


    "Of course, I want you to help me get out of this godforsaken ce!? It''s too deste here;? I get goosebumps just standing still.? I don''t want to stay here," replied Edmund.


    David chuckled at his words and nodded once more.? However, his gaze suddenly exuded a hint of murderous intent as he raised his head and fixed his eyes on Edmund.? "I advise you to tell the truth," he warned.


    Suddenly, a powerful aura erupted from David, freezing the entire atmosphere in the grand hall.? Vi, standing nearby, immediately furrowed her brows, uncertain of what was happening.


    Under the impact of this overwhelming aura, Edmund unexpectedly began to cough up blood without warning.? His face turned pale, and his legs gave way, causing him to copse to the ground.? He writhed in agony, fear flickering in his eyes.? Blood continued to seep from the corners of his mouth, as if a slight exertion from David could crush him to a pulp.


    "I...? I''m telling the truth," Edmund managed to croak, struggling to speak as he felt the crushing force weighing down on his body.? His gaze towards David became increasingly terrified, as though he were beholding a monster.


    For several minutes, the oppressive atmosphere in the hall persisted.? Then, in an instant, David withdrew the overwhelming force from Edmund''s body, and the immense pressure that had been bearing down on him vanished.? Edmund gasped for breath, as if he had narrowly escaped a life-threatening situation.


    Arge pool of bloody on the ground, as if it had been drained from Edmund''s body.? After a brief recovery, he slowly climbed to his feet and said, "As long as you can help me, I''ll definitely repay you."


    David''s motive for this disy was to test whether he could force the real Edmund to reveal himself.? Unexpectedly, Edmund seemed to submit readily, much like a docile dog.? Could I have been wrong?? Is he just an ordinary human after all?


    Such thoughts briefly crossed David''s mind, but he quickly dismissed them.? Whether in the apocalypse or this wastnd world, he had always trusted his instincts and relied on them to survive in dangerous situations.? This time, his intuition told him that Edmund was concealing a secret, perhaps not even being a human.? Thinking this, David stood up and approached him, saying, "I don''t need you to repay me anything.? I can help you return to the apocalypse right now."


    David had decided to outwit Edmund and see if he had any hidden agendas.? Upon hearing David''s words, Edmund finally showed a rxed expression.


    After expressing his gratitude to David, Vi was tasked with guiding the weakened Edmund towards the courtyard, which was the only exit from the wastnd world leading back to the apocalypse.


    Vi nodded and led the frail Edmund away from the base.? As they left, David activated his surveince eye, monitoring Edmund''s every move closely.


    However, to David''s surprise, even as they reached the courtyard where Bernard appeared, he didn''t detect anything unusual about Edmund.


    Although this was unexpected, David shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it.? He knew that if Edmund harbored ill intentions toward him, he wouldn''t be able to leave the wastnd world so easily.? Currently, he didn''t have the time or energy to deal with such a minor character, as his greatest adversary, the Zerg, was about tounch an attack.


    The mere thought of the Zerg caused David''s eyes to once again brim with a murderous intent.

 Chapter 319 True Face

    <h4>Chapter 319 True Face</h4>


    After arriving at the courtyard with Vi, Bernard was the first to step forward.? Meanwhile, Rainbow circled above the courtyard, seemingly waiting for David''s arrival.


    After waiting for a while and seeing that David had yet to appear, Rainbow returned to the courtyard somewhat dejectedly.? As it passed by Edmund, it paused briefly in the air before flying back into the yard.


    Edmund also noticed Rainbow overhead but remained calm.? After briefly exining the situation to Bernard, the gate to the wastnd world was opened, allowing Edmund to leave.


    Just as Edmund was about to step over the threshold, Bernard looked at his departing figure and spoke, "The wastnd world is not a ce just anyone cane to.? Make the most of your days over there."


    "I''m Bernard.? If you ever encounter difficulties,e to this courtyard and find me," he added with a genial smile.


    Hearing Bernard''s words, Edmund turned around, chuckled, and gave him a polite bow.? Then, he walked out of the courtyard and headed back towards the apocalypse.


    Vi also left the area and made her way back to the base.? The gates to the courtyard were closed, and Bernard returned to the room, continuing to look at a book left behind by David.? Out of boredom, he had been passing the time with this book every day.? Over time, this had cultivated a refined and polite disposition in him.? As he once again flipped through the thick book to itsst page, the sky had darkened.


    Meanwhile, Edmund had covered quite a distance and now stood in a deste graveyard.? He chuckled softly twice, and after ensuring there was no one around, his delicate face suddenly erupted with a violent aura!? This ferocious aura was so intense that it reduced the nearby boulders to powder in an instant.


    This Edmund was no longer the powerless individual David had seen earlier.? He merely stood there, causing terror to ripple out in all directions within a radius of miles.? Dark, insect-like creatures began to emerge around him.? They swarmed around his body, constantly paying reverence to him.


    "Hmph!? A mere human thinks he can probe me?? Perhaps he underestimates me too much," Edmund thought.? The image of him being tested and humiliated by David in the grand hall during the day filled him with rage.? He clenched his right hand lightly, and suddenly, a bolt of lightning burst forth in the sky!? The lightning tore a rift through the night, revealing a deep darkness, as if from the depths of the unknown.


    Edmund felt that he needed to teach David a lesson.? So, he focused his thoughts, and more of the insect-like creatures surged out from within him.? Soon, they formed a barrier around his body.? He waved his hand lightly, and the barrier,posed of these creatures, disappeared into thin air.


    The reason David couldn''t detect any aura from him was that he used these creatures to form a barrier within his body, effectively shielding his presence from external detection.? Now, he could use this barrier to block all attempts at probing from the outside.? Then, he leaped and disappeared into the void, heading towards the courtyard.


    At this moment, back in the courtyard, after a simple dinner, Bernard was preparing to lie down and sleep.? Since bing the guardian of the gate, he had stopped engaging in battles as he had in the past.? Instead, he had grown more refined under David''s influence.? His habits had begun to resemble those of humans.? Just as hey down and closed his eyes, he heard a voice calling his name from the courtyard.


    "Is Bernard here?? I''m Edmund from earlier today," the voice said.? Hearing this voice, Bernard quickly sat up in bed, his face filled with curiosity.


    "Edmund?? Has he encountered any difficulties?"? Bernard quickly put on his clothes and got out of bed, thinking that Edmund must have run into some trouble, or else he wouldn''t have suddenly appeared at this time.? Bernard opened the door and, under the moonlight, saw Edmund standing in the middle of the courtyard.? However, the night was pitch dark, and Bernard couldn''t see the expression on Edmund''s face.


    "Edmund, have you encountered any difficulties?"? Bernard hastily asked, adjusting his clothing.


    "Bernard,e over here, I need to talk to you," Edmund stood still and extended his hand towards Bernard, beckoning him.


    Bernard didn''t think much of it and nodded, walking towards Edmund.? He even grabbed a coat hanging outside, preparing to offer it to Edmund.


    "What''s the matter?? Rest assured, as long as I can help, I''ll do my best to assist you," Bernard said, ready to hand over the coat.


    But just then, Edmund slowly raised his head, his face now adorned with a sinister smile.? "There''s one thing you must do for me, and that is to die."


    Edmund''s tone turned ice-cold, and with a slight movement of his fingers, hundreds of insects emerged from the void and swarmed towards Bernard.? Bernard hadn''t yetprehended what was happening when he felt a series of biting pains.? These insects pierced through his clothes and burrowed into his skin, like knives.


    In just a few seconds, Bernard''s skin was torn open by these insects, revealing the flesh underneath.? At this moment, Bernard realized that Edmund meant him harm, but he had no strength left to fight back.


    "You..."? Bernard tried to say something, but countless insects invaded his mouth, biting his tongue and the inside of his mouth.? He couldn''t utter a word, and a stream of blood gushed from his mouth.


    "Hehe...? me David for this.? He dared to move against my Zerg," Edmund sneered as he looked down at the suffering and struggling Bernard, showing no trace of sympathy.


    Bernard had never expected Edmund to be so ruthless.? He tried his utmost to escape and inform David about the situation, but the insects multiplied rapidly, and his strength dwindled with the loss of blood.


    In just a few minutes, Bernard ceased to breathe.? The insects had torn him apart into a pile of bones, devouring every trace of flesh.? Twisted bonesy on the ground as Edmund callously chuckled and retracted the insects to his side before disappearing into the void once again.


    However, at that very moment, a ngorous sound suddenly echoed in his ears.? Another surge of killing intent rushed towards Edmund''s chest.


    Edmund cast a sidelong nce and sneered, "What can a sword that has just gained sentience amount to?"


    As he spoke, Rainbow sliced through the void, bearing down on Edmund with a glint of cold light.

 Chapter 320 transformed into a human form.

    <h4>Chapter 320 transformed into a human form.</h4>


    When Edmund entered the courtyard, Rainbow had already sensed him, strictly speaking.? It was when Vi brought him here today that Rainbow sensed something unusual about Edmund.? As a sentient flying sword, Rainbow could perceive any changes in humans even in the intangible.


    However, initially, Edmund had hidden himself very well, and Vi''s trust had given Rainbow a false impression.? But now, as Edmund slowly revealed his true identity, his aura spread throughout the entire courtyard.


    Rainbow, fierce and relentless, stabbed towards Edmund''s forehead like a sword from another world.? Edmund had already noticed the murderous intent emanating from Rainbow.? With a cold snort, he effortlessly grabbed Rainbow''s de.


    Rainbow struggled in Edmund''s grip, and a piercing ringing sound filled the air.? It wanted to break free, but Edmund''s strength was overwhelming, leaving it powerless.


    Even a sharp de like Rainbow couldn''t pierce Edmund''s palm.? Watching the trembling Rainbow, Edmund examined it as if it were a toy in his hand.


    "What?? Do you want to ry a message to David?? Do you really think the wastnd world belongs to him?"? Edmund''s expression grew more sinister as he spoke, and his aura surged, affecting the surrounding mountains, rocks, and trees.


    Then, a smirk appeared on Edmund''s lips as he exerted a little more pressure.? With a crisp sound, Rainbow, as solid as a rock, snapped in two.? The sentience within the sword dissipated, and it reverted to its bronze figurine form at the bottom of the incense burner.


    Afterpleting this, Edmund felt relieved.? Although he didn''t inflict severe harm on David this time, it served as a warning.? His appearance in human form was a reminder to David that the Zerg were not to be underestimated.? Edmund believed that if David treated them like the guys from the Kui tribe''s and Dark city, he was mistaken.


    As the most powerful Zerg in the wastnd world, they had absolute dominance over everything here.? So how could they tolerate human rule?


    one of Edmund''s top generals, the Devouring Demon Centipedes,After being killed by David.? , he sensed David''s ambitions.? However, he was more inclined to y a slow game with David.? Because this kind of slow torment was the true agony that made life not worth living.


    Thinking of this, Edmund, the Zerg King who had transformed into a human form, possessing mysterious and formidable strength, surpassing all creatures in the wastnd world, revealed a faintly eerie smile.


    "Not good!"? In the dark city, inside the base, David, who had been meditating in seclusion, suddenly opened his eyes and furrowed his brow.


    This startled Vi, who was beside him, and she quickly asked, "Is something happening?"


    David stood up and walked out of the base.? He didn''t say anything, but instead, he shot up into the sky and headed towards the courtyard.? Watching David''s direction, Vi immediately understood that he was going to the courtyard.? However, at the same time, she couldn''t help but wonder.? Did something happen at the courtyard?? Were the Zerg attacking there?"


    But when Vi thought about the daylight she had escorted Edmund out of the courtyard, it was calm and peaceful, with no hint of danger. Suppressing her inner doubts, Vi also hurried towards the courtyard.


    The reason David acted so suddenly was that he instantly realized in a split second that the bond between himself and Rainbow had suddenly broken. This immediately made him understand a crucial issue: there was an enemy presence in the courtyard.


    Rainbow and Bernard seemed to have encountered danger as well, which left him equally puzzled. Because very few people knew about the existence of the courtyard, how could someone be taking action there?


    Although Bernard''s strength could be disregarded, Rainbow was not to be underestimated. Now that his connection with Rainbow had severed, it suggested that Rainbow might have lost its consciousness, reverting to its original incense burner figurine form. This meant that the enemy''s strength was likely to surpass that of most zombie creatures, and it might even have some close ties to the? wastnd world.


    This immediately reminded David of Edmund, who had inexplicably appeared in the wastnd world during the day, deepening the seriousness on his face. In an instant, David arrived above the courtyard. He hovered in the void, first surveying the surroundings of the courtyard. All he saw was tranquility, with the thick night casting a peaceful aura, making it appear no different from any other ordinary day.


    Then David looked down at his feet. The room on the east side of the courtyard still had its lights on, and he didn''t detect any unusual scent from this vantage point. Just then, Vi also arrived, pushing open the door and standing in the center of the courtyard. Like David, she didn''t sense anything out of the ordinary.


    "It truly is someone with power, managing to conceal their presence so skillfully," David murmured to himself. He had faith in the connection between himself and Rainbow, so he believed that something unknown had transpired in the courtyard, with a hidden puppeteer behind it all, still lurking here.


    In an instant, David felt that he had encountered an enemy. He then cast his gaze towards the room still illuminated by light. It was Bernard''s room. With his feet touching the ground, David slowly made his way towards that room, with Vi following closely behind, not daring to make a sound as they reached the door. David didn''t hesitate as he pushed it open.


    "Creak!" The wooden door made a heavy sound.


    Suddenly, Bernard emerged from inside, gripping arge cleaver, his gaze fixed on the direction of the door. When he recognized the true identities of the two visitors, surprise immediately registered on his face.


    "Sote... What brings you here?" Bernard quickly put down the cleaver and warmly invited them into the room. David, using his peripheral vision, noticed that Bernard''s aura seemed somewhat hostile, emanating the scent of wet insects crawling on the ground during a rainy day. Vi, on the other hand, did not seem to notice this peculiarity.


    Once inside the room, Vi asked Bernard, "Has anything happened here?"


    Hearing Vi''s question, Bernard paused for a moment, then put on a thoughtful expression and shook his head, replying, "Not at all! I''ve been here the whole time, and nothing has happened." Afterward, his gaze unintentionally shifted towards David.


    At that moment, David smiled at him as he usually did, his face devoid of any extra expressions. "Swoosh!" A rushing sound pierced through David''s ears at that very moment.

 Chapter 321 subdue

    <h4>Chapter 321 subdue</h4>


    David and Vi looked up and saw Rainbow flying towards them. This made David''s face immediately darken, and his brows furrowed tightly.


    However, at this moment, Vi did not notice David''s expression. Seeing Rainbow approaching, she smiled and greeted it. Bernard''s lips also curled into an imperceptible smirk.


    Rainbow continued to fly in the air, and Vi watched it as she always did. Just when Rainbow was about a meter away from Vi, a fierce aura suddenly erupted from its sword.


    Vi also sensed this fierce aura at the very moment, but by then, it was toote to evade. She widened her eyes, watching as Rainbow closed in on her forehead, her face filled with terror.


    "Move away!" Just then, David''s voice suddenly rang in her ear. The next second, she saw a blur sh before her eyes as a pair of David''srge hands firmly grabbed Rainbow.


    "Trying to use an illusion in front of me? You''re too inexperienced! Show your true form!" David shouted loudly, tightly gripping Rainbow in his hand. At the same time, he nced at Bernard, who was sneering nearby. With a thought, a spatial de appeared in the void, shing towards Bernard''s neck like lightning.


    "Haha! We Zerg will dominate everything here! You humans are nothing more than ants we can trample underfoot! Consider this a simple lesson, if you don''t want to die here, you''d better roll away from here!" With Bernard falling to the ground, his body and Rainbow in David''s hand both transformed into a swarm of small ck, hard-shelled insects. These insects quickly flew into the courtyard''s airspace, gathering together and forming a dim figure in the vague outline. David could immediately tell that it was the guy named Edmund who had appeared in the wastnd world during the day.


    Edmund looked at David and Vi with a disdainful smirk, then spoke again, "You''re a pretty good esper, but in our Zerg''s eyes, you''re just a creature from the wastnd world. Since you''re a creature, you should submit to my feet. Perhaps I can grant you eternal life with our Zerg."


    As Edmund spoke, he looked at David with some anticipation, as if waiting for his response. The implication behind his words was clear: Edmund wanted to recruit David to serve the Zerg.


    Recalling the battle between David and the Devouring Demon Centipedes, Edmund could vividly remember the images in his mind. He believed that if David were willing to be his servant, the Zerg''s power might not be limited to the wastnd world. It might extend to many other hidden worlds as well.


    Hearing Edmund''s words, Vi looked at David with a sense of unease. If David hadn''t acted in time earlier, she might have been pierced through the head by Rainbow. At the same time, she also saw Edmund floating in the courtyard''s airspace.


    Edmund''s words made David chuckle coldly. He naturally understood that this was Edmund''s attempt at recruiting him. However, he had not expected Edmund to be associated with the Zerg. Could he be the Zerg King?


    After a brief moment of contemtion, David decided to probe Edmund''s intentions. He had to rify this issue because it would give him a new understanding of the Zerg''s power.


    So David looked at him and said in a deep voice, "Are you part of the Zerg? What does a human like you have to do with the Zerg? From what I see, you''re just someone trying to ride on their coattails."


    David naturally knew that Edmund wasn''t human. The reason he said so was to provoke him. Indeed, upon hearing David''s words, Edmund became visibly angry. His body,posed of insects, twisted in the air, seemingly trying to emphasize his immense power deliberately. He, the mighty Zerg leader, the Zerg King, couldn''t tolerate being spoken of in such a derogatory manner. If it weren''t for David''s potential usefulness to the Zerg, he might have killed him right there.


    "Hehe, me and the Zerg?" Suppressing his inner anger, Edmund sneered and spoke again. David focused his attention and listened carefully, "To be frank, I rule over all the Zerg because I am the Zerg King. A Zerg King in human form! Hahaha!"


    With that, Edmund burst into manicughter. Hisughter seemed to proim his power and status in the wastnd world. Thisughter echoed infinitely in the dark night, sending shivers down one''s spine and invoking terror with just a listen.


    At this moment, David finally got the answer he was seeking. However, his brows remained slightly furrowed as he looked at the frenzied figure of Edmund, and his expression grew increasingly serious.


    Vi, too, shared this sentiment. She hadn''t expected the human she had brought back from the woods during the day to be a Zerg, and even the Zerg King. In other words, she had brought their enemy into their own base, allowing him to leave right under their noses.


    As Vi thought about it, her fear grew, and her eyes were filled with dread. Beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead. However, when she saw David standing there, unmoving with a resolute gaze, her racing heart and terrified eyes began to rx.


    Because Vi knew that as long as David was present, they could ovee any challenge. Even if the opponent was the Zerg King, who struck fear into the hearts of all living beings in the deste world, she believed that David would not show any fear.


    As Vi had said, although Edmund''s true identity had shocked them, David''s face had never disyed a hint of fear.


    This surprised Edmund, who had been observing David all along. And at that moment, David calmly asked, "So... you killed Bernard and Rainbow?"


    Vi could clearly sense the anger in David''s voice as he asked this question. Edmund didn''t hesitate and nodded, saying, "A worthless sword and a worthless human. What use do they have in this world?"


    After saying this, Edmund chuckled disdainfully. It seemed that in his eyes, Bernard''s life was utterly insignificant, and Rainbow, possessing consciousness, was nothing more than a piece of scrap metal. However, what he didn''t understand was that both Bernard and Rainbow were, strictly speaking, members of David''s team in the wastnd world. Now that his team members had been killed by Edmund, how could David endure it? So David raised his head and looked at Edmund, who was still lightlyughing, with a strong intent to kill!

 Chapter 322 Self-blame

    <h4>Chapter 322 Self-me ?</h4>


    At this moment, Edmund also sensed David''s murderous intent. However, he remained remarkably calm. He controlled the entire wastnd world, so he was in control of everything that happened within it. While Edmund was practicing in that massive nest, he had already learned of David''s strength. That''s why he was soposed now because he knew that David wouldn''t confront him here.


    Because this was the apocalypse, not part of the wastnd world. In David''s mind, he had to defeat his enemies within the wastnd world. So, Edmund felt confident. In his view, whether it was David''s strength or his character, he had a firm grasp of it all.


    But the next moment, Edmund froze in ce, his eyes filled with a hint of confusion. David at this moment resembled an enraged lion, ring at him fiercely. In David''s deep eyes, a powerful aura burst forth, freezing the surrounding air instantly.


    "The one who killed me... will die!" David didn''t care where he killed Edmund. No matter where, he was determined to eliminate the Zerg. He had originally thought that the Zerg would graduallyunch attacks against him. He had never expected Edmund, the highest leader of the Zerg, to provoke him in such a way. How could he tolerate it?


    So, at this moment, David unleashed Absolute Zero. Space froze, and the flowing air turned into crystal-clear ice pirs. It seemed as if the world suddenly transformed into a frozen ocean.


    Though Edmund was surprised, he didn''t show any fear on his face. He looked at David and gave a faint smile. Then, countless ck insects erupted in mes, and when these mes met the ice pirs, a silent battle between fire and ice began. The ice pirs were constantly melted by these fiery insects, and at the same time, numerous insects extinguished the mes, freezing them into ice clumps that fell from the sky. It seemed that both of them were evenly matched, using their unique abilities to try to subdue the other. Watching this scene unfold, Vi stood still, biting her lip.


    In the next moment, Vi''s iron fan rapidly expanded in her hand, and with a strong swing, a hurricane mixed with countless ice pirs flew towards Edmund.


    Edmund, however, didn''t even bother to take Vi, who was of a lower level, seriously. He casually waved his hand, and hundreds of insects appeared out of thin air, directly devouring the hurricane.


    At the same time, these insects that had devoured the hurricane rushed towards Vi in a massive swarm. This left her stunned, standing still and unsure of what to do.


    David saw this and clenched his fist, smashing hundreds of insects with a deep surge of light that shed and vanished.


    "Not bad! You''ve got some strength!" Watching David''s powerful punch, Edmund praised him with a smile.


    "But I don''t want to waste time here with you. Next... I will unleash all of the Zerg''s power. Then, you''ll understand the true terror of the wastnd world! Hahaha!" Edmundughed maniacally.


    Then, with a light wave of Edmund''s right hand, all the insects around his body disappeared into thin air, and he slowly vanished from his original location, leaving no trace.


    "Watching Edmund flee, David didn''t immediately pursue him because he knew that Edmund had just challenged him. Additionally, he had a sense that the survival rules of the wastnd world had changed. If he were to attack recklessly, he could likely fall into an ambush set by the enemy.


    David''s guess was correct. The moment Edmund transformed into a human form in front of Vi, the wastnd world hadpletely changed. All the zombie monsters had been infested by the insects, and in just half a day, all living beings withbat abilities in the wastnd world had be puppets of the Zerg. In their perception, merely seeing David would immediately trigger their desire to kill. So, in the current wastnd world, all living beings had be Edmund''s subordinates.


    And David, in an intangible way, had be an opponent to everything here. If David were to chase after Edmund now, he would undoubtedly be surrounded by these zombie creatures. Even if he managed to break through and deal a heavy blow to Edmund, he estimated that he would still sustain some injuries.


    In David''s eyes, this was definitely not the most favorable deal. So, David looked at the dark light in the sky, his deep gaze filled with determination. This time, he must kill the Zerg, kill Edmund. He had to avenge Bernard and, more importantly, seek justice for his beloved Rainbow.


    Walking to a corner of the courtyard, David saw a skeleton with only bones left and a dimly lit incense burner figurine. The skeleton looked extremely miserable, its body twisted to the extreme, as if it had been struggling desperately before dying.


    The incense burner figurine had been shattered into two halves, seemingly beyond repair. David picked up the incense burner figurine and held it in his hand. Vi also approached.


    "If it weren''t for me, Bernard and Rainbow wouldn''t have been in trouble," Vi said with guilt. "It''s my fault for bringing Edmund here and into the courtyard. Maybe none of this would have happened today."


    With that, tears of self-me streamed down Vi''s face. David ced the incense burner figurine into the system storage and turned to Vi, speaking softly, "We can''t stop anyone who wants to kill us. If we had gone to the Zerg, we might have done the same. Don''t forget that this world is full of deception and treachery. So, this is not your fault."


    From start to finish, David never med Vi, and he could only attribute it to Edmund''s exceptional disguise, which had even made him lower his guard. Plus, the fact that Edmund managed to escape from his Absolute Zero ability.


    David felt that he had encountered a formidable opponent this time, and he even thought that Edmund''s strength might surpass his own. Listening to David''s words, Vi finally lifted her head. Her face was streaked with tears, and she said with anger, "We must avenge Bernard and Rainbow! Even if we have to sacrifice every member of the Kui tribe, I won''t regret it!"


    And so, the mes of vengeance ignited in Vi''s heart. Thinking back to how her blow had seemed ineffective in front of Edmund, Vi decided to intensify her training for the sake of Bernard, Rainbow, and for David, with whom she spent her days and nights. She had to be a capable warrior under David''s leadership.Vi clenched her fists in determination.


    And like this, David saw someone connected to him die in this world for the first time. In this moment, he seemed to have changed as well."

 Chapter 323 The Arrival of a New King

    <h4>Chapter 323 The Arrival of a New King ?</h4>


    Ever since this incident urred, David and Vi roamed the wastnd world every day, hunting and killing. When all the zombie creatures saw David, their murderous desires, imnted by Edmund, eruptedpletely!


    Every single zombie, every mutant creature rushed towards David as if they had gone mad, disregarding their own lives. However, these zombie creatures were the lowest-levelbatants in the wastnd world, and David effortlessly killed them all. Vi used this opportunity to continuously enhance her own strength.


    At the same time, Emlyn had been summoned by David from the ranks of the evil ghost. After spending so much time with hundreds of evil ghost, Emlyn had shed his infantile form and be a robust man.


    Under David''s guidance, he had be the leader of these hundreds of evil ghost. Thus, the wastnd world would see Emlyn leading these evil ghost, relentlessly killing the zombie creatures every day.


    However, David noticed that no matter how many zombie creatures they killed, more would appear before them. He spected that Edmund had summoned zombie creatures from other parts of the wastnd world as well. After all, this world had no boundaries, and thend they saw was just a small piece of the wastnd world. Nevertheless, this didn''t frighten David because, at this point, he had transcended the Escaping Dust level and reached the Dark God level.


    The so-called Dark God , It possessed unparalleled power and could even dominate everything within the darkness. After reaching this level, David had be one with the darkness, able to revel in killing and unleash his destructive power as if he were a part of it.


    Moreover, the wastnd world was perpetually shrouded in dark clouds, making David a true god here. Even during the rare moments when the dark clouds dispersed and the sun shone, his power was still like that of a world-shattering force.


    But David didn''t rest on hisurels because he knew that while he was leveling up, Edmund was also continuously improving his own strength. So, he couldn''t afford to pause and continued to move among the zombie creatures every day.


    One day, after crushing a Mountain-moving Ape with his bare hands, the mechanical voice of the system rang in his ears.


    [Ding!]


    [Congrattions, host, on obtaining ten fragments of the Staff of the Wastnd!]


    [Ding! Congrattions, host, on collecting one hundred fragments of the Staff of the Wastnd. Would you like to choose to merge them?]


    David had always harbored doubts about the Staff of the Wastnd, a mysterious object. Just from its name, he could sense its power. Therefore, he chose to merge the fragments without hesitation.


    [Ding! The Staff of the Wastnd is currently being merged!]


    [Ding! The merging of the Staff of the Wastnd was sessful! Congrattions, host, on obtaining the Staff of the Wastnd!]


    The mechanical voice of the system seemed to contain a hint of excitement. Then, a staff about three meters long with ten sapphires embedded on its top and inscriptions engraved on its shaft appeared in the void before David.


    The moment the Staff of the Wastnd appeared, the ruthless mutant creatures rushing towards David in the vicinity immediately stopped in their tracks and stood still. They all fixed their gaze on the Staff of the Wastnd in front of David, as if they had seen something terrifying. Fear welled up in their eyes.


    David reached out and gripped the Staff of the Wastnd in his hand. As he made contact with the staff, he immediately felt a surge of majestic power emanating from it.


    This majestic aura seemed to gather the essence of the entire wastnd world, allowing David to instantly sense the presence of every living being in this world.


    "Insight?" David eximed as he felt this sensation. It was clear to him that the Staff of the Wastnd granted him the ability to perceive everything in thisnd, regardless of distance or defenses. It could prate through mountains and forests, conveying the essence of every ce to David''s senses. Meanwhile, the inscriptions on the Staff of the Wastnd began to emit a continuous red light.


    A stream of information quickly flowed into David''s mind. He absorbed all the information about the Staff of the Wastnd''s capabilities. His gaze at the Staff of the Wastnd was filled with excitement because from the information, he understood the immense power it held. Not only could it allow him to perceive every inch of thisnd, but it also bestowed upon him the power over life and death. This staff symbolized kingship, and all living beings would instinctively fear a king. Now, David was that king, and all the zombie creatures and living beings of the wastnd world would submit to his rule.


    David slowly opened his eyes and scanned the hundreds of zombie creatures and mutant beasts in the vicinity. Then, he gently raised the Staff of the Wastnd and struck it against the ground. creatures and mutant beasts made a deep "thud" sound.


    These sounds radiated outwards like shockwaves, spreading in all directions. When the nearby zombie creatures heard this sound, they didn''t have time toment; they suddenly exploded! Instantly, within a hundred miles, all living beings could hear the sound emitted by the Staff of the Wastnd.


    Explosions erupted everywhere! The air was quickly filled with the smell of blood. The reason for this was because when David struck the ground with the Staff of the Wastnd, he silently uttered the word "death." He intended to make all living beings controlled by Edmund die before him.


    In the next moment, David floated into the air, holding the Staff of the Wastnd. From above, he saw countless corpses piled up like small mountains, including some mutated Zerg creatures.


    Clearly, before the Staff of the Wastnd, these beings were nothing more than ants. If David wished, he could instantly turn them into lifeless corpses.


    At this moment, a faint smile appeared on David''s face. Meanwhile, Emlyn and Vi, standing on the ground, werepletely stunned as they watched David, who seemed like a god.


    After a while, Emlyn finally came to his senses. He looked at the dismembered bodies and muttered, "A new king... has arrived."


    At the same time, in the western forests of the wastnd world, Edmund was meditating in a massive nest. Suddenly, his body tensed, and he quickly opened his eyes, gazing at the sky at the entrance of the cave.


    "Oh? This human seems to have quite some abilities," Edmund chuckled. "In that case, I can only let you taste the vor of suffering. Because here, only I am the king..."

 Chapter 324 Worries of Team Members

    <h4>Chapter 324 Worries of Team Members</h4>


    It''s been over a month since David left Dragon City. The members of the Embers team once again found themselves missing David. In the past, David would visit them from time to time, but now a whole month had passed, and they still hadn''t seen him. This raised concerns among all of them, wondering if something had happened to David in the wastnd world.


    "David is so powerful, he shouldn''t be in trouble, right?" Several of them were sitting in a room, and Arnold was the first to break the silence.


    Listening to him, Charles nodded in agreement, saying, "You''re right. Our captain''s strength has already reached Escaping Dust, surpassing all the espers. He shouldn''t run into any trouble."


    At that moment, Fatso, who was drinking beer, seemed to remember something suddenly and asked Charles, "Charles, don''t you have the ability to see into the future through stargazing? Why don''t you try to see what''s happening with our captain right now?"


    Hearing Fatso''s suggestion, everyone looked at Charles with anticipation, but Charles chuckled and exined, "Thews in the wastnd world are different from our world''s, so my abilities aren''t limited to the wastnd world."


    If he could really do that, he would have done it a long time ago. Unfortunately, even though he had reached level eleven, he couldn''t break the rules that separated the two worlds. This exnation left everyone in silence once again.


    Finally, Duke couldn''t help but speak up, "Why don''t we go to the wastnd world today and find David? Let''s see if he''s encountered any trouble."


    This suggestion stirred something in everyone''s hearts. They had been unable to enter the wastnd world before due to their levels, but now, most of them had reached level eleven. Plus, with the advanced pronuclei David had given them, they could freely enter and exit the wastnd world.


    However, David had always emphasized that they shouldn''t enter the wastnd world, so they hadn''t considered it before. Now, hearing Duke''s suggestion, they thought it might be a feasible n.


    Although everyone knew how powerful David was, once worry took root, it was hard to shake off. Moreover, the horrors of the wastnd world, as described by David, were entirely different from those of the apocalypse.


    If David had truly encountered some world-ending zombie creatures, it was not entirely impossible. Among the team members, Sally was the most worried. She hesitated for a moment after hearing Duke''s words but ultimately decided they had to go to the wastnd world. David was too important to her. He was not just a partner but also the key figure in their survival during the apocalypse.


    Sally''s thoughts were echoed by every member of the Embers team. David held an irreceable ce in their hearts, so their current concerns were by no means baseless.


    "In my opinion, we should pay a visit to the wastnd world. If David has indeed encountered danger, our presence might be able to help him. Besides, we are a team, and we can''t afford to let any of our members face adversity alone. David is our captain, and without him, we would have likely be skeletons by now," Sally''s words left everyone feeling deeply moved.


    "Exactly! In this world, David is not only the closest but also the most respected person to them. If he''s really in trouble, what''s the point of us livingfortably here every day?"


    "Right! David is the one who gave me a second chance at life. We must ensure his safety!"


    "Let''s do it! We''re going now!"


    "If anything dares to harm our captain, I''ll be the first to devour it!"


    As they spoke excitedly, they unanimously decided to enter the wastnd world today to find David. Just as they were preparing to leave, a figure suddenly walked over from the corner, apanied by a mocking voice, "I''m really touched by your camaraderie! I never expected you all to be such loyal and righteous folks!"


    When this voice echoed in the room, it immediately caught everyone''s attention. They turned to look at the corner, where the voice had originated.


    "Who''s there?" Arnold revealed his Wolverine ws, furrowing his brow and asking coldly. Others also recognized the potential danger and assumedbat stances. Fatso even dropped his beer and drew therge bone club from his waist.


    "Hehe, you don''t need to know who I am." The speaker continued to move forward, emerging from the shadows into in view. It turned out to be Edmund.


    The current Edmund looked at each member of the Embers team with disdain and amusement. The team members were filled with confusion and shock, as they hadn''t sensed his arrival at all. It was as if he were a ghost who had silently bypassed their senses, only to appear before them. Moreover, his aura was extremely eerie and peculiar.


    "If David knew how loyal and courageous his subordinates are, he''d be deeply moved," Edmund said as he paced casually.


    Sally, upon hearing that the stranger knew David, became even more nervous. She quickly asked, "You know David?" The others also stared intently at Edmund, awaiting his response.


    Edmund nodded with a sly smile. "Not only do I know him, we should be quite familiar with each other by now." Edmund couldn''t help but chuckle at the thought of David.


    This answer only increased Sally''s anxiety. She hadn''t expected this stranger, who had suddenly appeared, to know David. So, she gleaned some information¡ªthat he hailed from the wastnd world.


    "So, what''s your purpose foring to Dragon City today?" Charles asked sternly, sensing the strange aura emanating from the stranger. He felt that this individual was far from being a good person. He even faintly detected a hint of hostility in the stranger''s words.


    "I came here today for a purpose," Edmund responded, his voiceced with sarcasm. He casually picked up a bottle of red wine from the table, uncorked it, and brought it to his nose to inhale the aroma. After savoring it for a while, he finally put the wine bottle down and turned to the members of the Embers team. "My purpose today is to take you to the wastnd world."

 Chapter 325 as bait to lure

    <h4>Chapter 325 as bait to lure</h4>


    Edmund''s statement left everyone puzzled once again. Why would this guy want to take them to the wastnd world? They had no idea what Edmund''s true intentions were.


    Fatso, at this point, stepped forward with hisrge bone club and scoffed, "Kid, there''s no need for you to act all mysterious. We''ll go to the wastnd world on our own; we don''t need your guidance."


    Just like Charles, Fatso sensed the malicious intent in Edmund''s demeanor right away. Thus, his tone naturally carried a hint of hostility. If it weren''t for the uncertainty regarding the stranger''s abilities, he would have already swung his club at Edmund''s head.


    Edmund, on the other hand, shot Fatso a disdainful nce and remarked, "Do you dare to speak to me like that? Are you even qualified?" As he spoke, he swiftly raised his right hand, and a ck energy shot out from his sleeve, heading straight for Fatso''s chest.


    The ck energy moved at incredible speed, catching everyone off guard. It struck Fatso''s chest with the force of a freight train, causing him to crash into the wall behind him as if he had been hit by a lotive.


    Everyone gasped in shock, and they rushed over to help Fatso to his feet. At this moment, they realized that the stranger was here to cause trouble. However, before they could unleash their powers, Edmund sneered and said, "Don''t waste your efforts. Even if all of you team up, you''re no match for me. I suggest you cooperate and follow me willingly." With that, he raised his hand again, releasing another burst of ck energy.


    "Watch out! It''s poison!" Sophie shouted, trying to warn the others. But it was toote. The ck poisonous gas quickly surrounded them, and within moments, their bodies felt as though they had turned into limp mud, with no ability to react.


    Edmund looked at them disdainfully and then casually tore open the fabric of space in front of him, pulling all of them inside.


    Before David became the new king of the wastnd world, Edmund was well-informed about his every move and had all the information he needed. So, he believed that targeting David''s closest allies would be a much easier task. Despite being a Zerg, Edmund had evolved his intelligence, and his cunning exceeded that of ordinary beings.


    "Where... where are we? My head... it hurts so much!" Arnold was the first to open his eyes and, overwhelmed by the excruciating pain in his head, let out a painful cry. The others quickly woke up, their faces filled with dread as they surveyed their surroundings. There were no signs of nt life or buildings, and the sky was covered in thick, oppressive clouds. The hostile atmosphere hung heavily in the air, making it difficult to breathe. Combined with the menacing presence of countless zombie-like creatures surrounding them, it felt as if they were about to be devoured at any moment.


    "If I''m not mistaken, this should be the wastnd world," Charles said solemnly as he observed their surroundings. This revtion left everyone with furrowed brows.


    From David''s descriptions, they knew that the wastnd world was deste and terrifying. However, actually being there made them realize that the horror exceeded their worst expectations. Moreover, they were surrounded by numerous bizarre creatures that looked at them greedily, as if they were food waiting to be consumed.


    "Damn it! Who the hell is that guy? Why is he doing this to us?" Arnold struggled to stand up but found that the poison still hadn''tpletely dissipated from his body. His limbs felt weak, and he couldn''t summon any strength or use his abilities. The others were in the same state as Arnold; they were all helpless.


    At that moment, Edmund emerged from the rift in space and looked at the struggling members of the Embers Squad with a mocking tone, "Wee to the wastnd world! Maybe here you''ll get to see how your captain met his end at my hands. I regret to inform you that you''re nothing more than pawns in my game."


    After speaking, Edmund helplessly spread his hands, then burst into maniacalughter. Hisughter incited furious roars from the surrounding zombie-like creatures, and their eyes gleamed with ferocity as if they were about to charge forward and tear the group apart.


    "If you''re so tough, release me, and we can duel like real men! Whoever''s afraid is the grandson!" Fatso barked fiercely. He wanted to pick up hisrge bone club that had fallen to the ground, but his weak and feeble arms prevented him from using any strength.


    Hearing Fatso''s words, Edmund disdainfully nced at him. He had never regarded the members of the Embers Squad with any importance. In his eyes, these people were just weak survivors in this world. He believed that with a simple gesture, he could easily eliminate them. But right now, he intended to use them as bait to lure David to him. Having David''s closest allies in his grasp would surely be a source of great satisfaction.


    At this moment, Edmund''s ruthless nature was on full disy. He disappeared into the rift in space, leaving only the members of the Embers Squad surrounded by countless zombie-like creatures.


    "Sophie, can you remove the poison from our bodies?" Charles turned to Sophie after watching Edmund depart.


    Sophie was the only healer in their squad, and she should know how to expel the poison and restore their strength. Sophie frowned and shook her head.


    While Sophie had taken countermeasures when Edmund released the poison, the poison''s potency was overwhelming. Her body had be feeble, and she couldn''t use her abilities at all.


    After some thought, Sophie remembered that she still had ten high-level pronucleus capsules in her pocket. These were gifts from David when hest visited Dragon City. She had nned to consume these capsules in the afternoon to enhance her abilities, but Edmund''s arrival had disrupted those ns.


    Sophie had an idea. She struggled to raise her hand and retrieved the ten high-level pronucleus capsules from her pocket. The others noticed her intention and quickly surrounded her to shield her from view. Their hopes now rested on Sophie. They had to protect her at all costs.


    Sophie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She carefully ced the ten high-level pronucleus capsules in her palm and began to focus on absorbing their power.


    Meanwhile, Edmund appeared in front of David.

 Chapter 326 Going There Once, Whats The Harm?

    ?


    David, standing in an open area, watched the horizon with a furrowed brow, his expression serious. In the brief moment earlier, he had sensed Sally''s presence through the Wastnd Staff.


    It wasn''t just Sally; he had sensed the presence of all the Embers Squad members. This made David immediately understand that his people had been captured and brought here by Edmund. The intent was clear: to force David into submission.


    As Edmund suddenly appeared, Vi and Emlyn approached, questioning, "What''s going on?"


    Before they could finish their sentence, a dark wind swept in like a tidal wave. As it subsided, Edmund''s figure was revealed. Seeing him appear, Vi and Emlyn immediately adoptedbat stances, their eyes filled with anger and contempt. After giving them a disdainful nce, Edmund shifted his gaze onto David. He was about to say something when David''s voice cut in.


    "What have you done to them?" David''s voice was icy, carrying a strong undertone of killing intent.


    Edmund was momentarily taken aback by David''s cold tone and then chuckled as he replied, "I didn''t expect you to know already."


    Edmund noticed the Wastnd Staff in David''s hand. In the instant their eyes met, he felt an overwhelming, oppressive aura that seemed to surpass not only the Zerg but also the entire Wastnd world. It sent a shiver down his spine.


    However, Edmund quicklyposed himself. He understood that, in terms of strength, influence, and knowledge of the Wastnd world, the Zerg were a force to be reckoned with. They were like kings in this world, and this realization bolstered his confidence. So, he calmly continued, "Oh? It seems you''re already aware. In that case,e with me. I believe your teammates would love to see you right now."


    Saying this, Edmund produced a peculiar disc from his sleeve. The disc was adorned with various engravings of insects and emitted a strong Zerg aura.


    David immediately recognized the disc in Edmund''s hand as the Zerg Heart. Vi also noticed it and couldn''t contain her excitement. When she had first teamed up with David, one of her conditions had been to help her acquire the Zerg Heart.


    In the Wastnd world, possessing the Zerg Heart meant wielding the ultimate power, controlling the fate of this world, and fulfilling the dreams of every living being in this harsh realm. However, at this moment, the Zerg Heart was casually manipted by Edmund, who wore a smug expression. It was his scepter of authority in the Wastnd world, allowing him tomand all creatures here as his puppets.


    Hearing Edmund''s words, David''s serious expression remained unchanged. He hadn''t anticipated that Edmund would enter the Apocalypse and capture all his squad members. He understood Edmund''s purpose very clearly ¨C to use Sally and the others as hostages, forcing David to submit to his demands, and possibly meet his demise in this ce.


    David''s mood was solemn, not because of the despicable tactics employed by Edmund, but because he was uncertain about the well-being of Sally and the others in this treacherous wastnd. Despite their level being above eleven, and with the additional consumption of high-level pronucleus, which increased their knowledge of the Wastnd world, this ce was still a dangerous and deadly realm.


    David''s gaze remained fixed on Edmund as he lifted the Wastnd Staff. Vi and Emlyn followed David''s lead and disappeared into the void.


    Seeing David vanish, Edmund''s face held a smug expression. He understood the deep bond between David and his squad members, and he believed that by using them, he could make David sumb and eventually meet his end in the Wastnd world. This would restore order to the Wastnd, allowing the Zerg to reign supreme once more and exert their dominance over all living beings. With a smirk, Edmund also disappeared.


    "Sophie, how are you doing?" The Embers Squad members were still extremely weak, their bodies tainted by poison, leaving them powerless. They had ced all their hopes on Sophie. If she could recover, they believed she could purge the poison from their bodies and restore theirbat capabilities.


    In response to their inquiries, Sophie''s face showed determination. "I''m doing my best."


    With that said, Sophie''s first high-level pronucleus had finally transformed into a wisp of white smoke, wrapping around her. In the blink of an eye, it entered her body. Thanks to this smoke, Sophie regained some strength. However, it was only a drop in the bucket given the overwhelming poison inside her. Moreover, the hostile environment of the Wastnd world affected her pronucleus consumption rate.


    Half an hour passed, and Sophie had only managed to consume one pronucleuspletely. If she wanted to recover her esper abilities, she needed to consume all ten high-level pronuclei she had in her possession. Drawing on the faint strength emerging within her, Sophie continued to consume the second high-level pronucleus.


    The others watched Sophie''splexion improve slightly and breathed a collective sigh of relief. Though they were anxious, they understood that it was a challenging task for Sophie to consume pronuclei in the Wastnd world. They didn''t want to rush her and instead kept their guard up against the hostile creatures surrounding them.


    Captain Duke suddenly spoke up. "Captain David... he''ll be alright?"


    "Duke, what are you talking about? David is an esper surpassing level twelve; how could anything happen to him? If you keep talking nonsense, I''ll have to give you a good thrashingter," Arnold responded with a weak but exasperated tone.


    Arnold''s remark silenced Duke immediately. He knew that uttering such words at this moment was foolish. However, gazing at the destion of the Wastnd world and the countless raging monsters surrounding them, Duke felt fear creeping in. He realized that this world was on an entirely different level than the Apocalypse. It was a terrifying ce, and he admired David for surviving here.


    Duke wasn''t the only one with these thoughts; the other members of the Embers Squad shared them. They found the Wastnd world harsh and unweing. Moreover, facing Edmund, who had brought them here, left them feeling fearful. They had been separated from David for a long time, and they worried about his current situation.

 Chapter 327 Believe

    ?


    After a moment, Sally raised her head and looked into the distance with a determined expression. She spoke up, "David will be fine. The reason that guy brought us here is to show David. Maybe even to use us as leverage against him. David won''te to harm."


    Sally''s analysis caused a wave of relief to wash over everyone. They understood her implication ¨C Edmund had only brought them here because he feared David''s strength. This meant that David was a force to be reckoned with. Realizing this, they rxed, assured that David was safe.


    "I knew David was amazing! That guy is nothingpared to our Captain!"


    "Yeah! I could take him down even in a one-on-one fight!"


    "As long as the Captain is fine, we have nothing to worry about."


    At that moment, everyone breathed easier. They also continued to monitor Sophie''s progress as she consumed the pronuclei.


    However, within the horde of monsters, a golden insect began to crawl towards them. As it approached, the insect transformed into a young man with a smug and disdainful expression. He effortlessly stood up and then addressed them, "You''re quite the optimistic bunch, aren''t you? Even at the brink of death, you''re still concerned about your Captain."


    The young man opened his palm, revealing two fist-sized golden insects. He casually ced his fingers near their mouths. With a crisp snap, the insects viciously bit into his fingers, drawing blood. Surprisingly, the young man appeared to take pleasure in this gruesome act. The Embers Squad members were frozen in shock, unable toprehend the nature of this individual.


    "Pitiful humans! Do you think your Captain wille to rescue you?" The young man continued, feeding his fingers to the golden insects one by one. His hand soon transformed into a mangled, fingerless mess, with blood flowing freely.


    "He will! David will definitelye to rescue us," Sally asserted firmly, suppressing her inner fear. In this world, she could trust no one but David. He had been with them every step of the way, protecting them from the perils of the Wastnd. David was their beacon of hope, and they believed he would never abandon them.


    The young man burst intoughter once more. As one of the guardians of the Zerg King, he held a deep grudge against David. He saw David''s extermination of the Demon Centipede as a direct challenge to the Zerg, a challenge he couldn''t let go unanswered. Hence, he decided to take his anger out on David''s teammates, using them as an outlet for his fury.


    After he sinisterlyughed twice, the two insects in his palm suddenly began to grow rapidly! In just a moment, these two insects transformed into creatures resembling two young calves. Their emitted aura was incredibly fierce and aggressive, as if they could easily annihte anyone in their path.


    "Pitiful humans, taste the terror of our Zerg!" The young man spread his hands and startedughing manically like a madman. The two golden insects, with their sharp teeth and limbs resembling curved des, crawled towards the onlookers.


    Everyone involuntarily swallowed their saliva. Powerful! Too powerful! Invisibly, they felt that the strength of these two insects surpassed anyone among them. Even if they wanted to resist at this moment, the poison inside their bodies left them weak and unable to unleash any supernatural abilities. Even Sophie, who had regained some strength, helplessly watched them.


    The terror of death began to spread in their hearts at this moment. They felt that this time, they might die in this wastnd world.


    David''s image shed through their minds, along with memories of them fighting together,ughing and ying together, and even Sally''s eyes welled up with two clear tears.


    The two insects were getting closer to the onlookers, and they could already smell the putrid odor emanating from them. Meanwhile, the young man stood still,ughing even louder. Each of hisughs felt like a sharp knife cutting into the bones of the team members.


    Finally, the two insects, now right in front of the onlookers, raised their extremely sharp forelimbs. After letting out a strange cry, their faces revealed the frenzy of ughter.


    The next moment, just as they opened their huge mouths to devour the onlookers, a sonic boom suddenly erupted in the air! It seemed like something had torn through the void and was heading straight for the two golden insects.


    The young man also sensed this anomaly and quickly turned to look. He saw a ck object about three meters long leaving a blurred trail in the air, heading directly towards the two golden insects.


    The speed of this inexplicable object was so fast that the two insects couldn''t react in time. Then, a muffled sound rang in the ears of the onlookers, and the smell of blood immediately filled the air.


    The ck object came to a halt beside the corpses of the insects, gradually revealing a tall man¡ªit was indeed David. His de was stained with the golden blood of the insects, his gaze resolute, and his expression calm.


    The young man''s mockery came to an abrupt end with David''s appearance, reced by an unprecedented fear. David''s presence changed the entire situation, akin to a bright lightning bolt piercing through the dark night sky. The people''s hope rekindled, knowing that as long as David was there, they had the strength to ovee any adversity.


    David surveyed his surroundings, his gaze fixing upon the young man, unmistakably identifying him as Edmund. Edmund stood there, facing David''s scrutiny, feeling as though he was being seen through by unrelenting eyes, his heart filled with dread.


    Seizing the moment when Edmund was distracted, David suddenly disappeared into thin air, almost instantly reappearing beside the team members. "How are you all?" he inquired.


    "Captain, we were poisoned and passed out, brought here by this person," Sophie saidboriously.


    Sophie had already absorbed over a dozen advanced pronuclei, significantly recovering her strength, although she remained somewhat weak.

 Chapter 328 Monster

    ?


    "Eat the gic fruits," David said, taking some gic fruits from the storage system and distributing them quickly to the team members. Then he added, "Sophie, replenish your energy first, and then provide treatment to everyone."


    David shifted his gaze and looked at Edmund not far away. At the same time, Edmund was staring at David as if he were watching prey about to be devoured.


    Finally, Edmund suddenly erupted into a chillingughter, "Hahaha! From the moment you set foot in this wastnd world, your fate was sealed¡ªyou can only be a dead man! And today is your day of reckoning!"


    Edmund didn''t hide his intense hostility towards David in the slightest. In the next moment, holding the Zerg Heart in his hand, he rapidly moved his throat, and a series of cryptic and iprehensible sybles emerged from his mouth.


    David furrowed his brow, observing every move carefully. It seemed like Edmund was summoning something. And indeed, after uttering the final syble, Edmund suddenly opened his eyes wide. His eyes were now soaked in what appeared to be blood, with a thickyer of crimson coating his eyeballs.


    Not only that, but even Edmund''s skin began to turn blood-red, as if all the blood beneath his skin had rushed to the surface, making him look like he had just emerged from a blood pool. Edmund twisted his neck, and the sound from his throat was no longer cryptic and iprehensible; it was more like a "creak" sound, extremely diforting to listen to.


    "The terror of the Zerg... you can''t even imagine it!" Edmund stared at David with his blood-red eyes, his words eerie and his expression bizarre.


    David remained calm andposed, still standing in ce. Sinceing to this wastnd world, he had witnessed too many bizarre urrences. Even now, with Edmund neither fully human nor fully inhuman, he remained remarkablyposed. He was sure that this guy in front of him was about to make a move. So, he secretly tightened his grip on the Staff of the Destion in his hand.


    At that moment, David suddenly felt a familiar presence behind him. With a quick nce, he saw a run-down wooden hut.


    "Hmm? Why is Clive here?" David was puzzled.


    At this point, Clive had already pushed open the wooden door and carrying the bamboo chair he often lounged in,walked over to David. "I had toe in this situation. This guy has gonepletely insane."


    Without waiting for David to inquire further, Clive furrowed his brows tightly, looking with rm at Edmund, whose bones were still contorted. The moment Edmund raised the Zerg Heart, Clive, far away in the Abyssal Graveyard, sensed an aura that was beyond this world, spreading endlessly. It even affected the Apocalypse, causing the zombies in the graveyard to go on a rampage.


    Clive knew that David was in a dire situation, and he rushed over immediately, even though he knew he was no match for Edmund. But somehow, he felt that he had to be by David''s side.


    Edmund''s body remained grotesquely twisted, to the point where it was no longer recognizable as a normal human shape. This caused Clive''s expression to darken even further. Seeing Clive''s rmed gaze, David remained calm and didn''t say anything. At this moment, he didn''t need any assistance. In other words, no one could help him.


    Edmund''s formidable and mysterious power could only be matched by him. For anyone else, they would be mere cannon fodder. However, David knew that Clive''s presence still had some benefits, such as his knowledge of the wastnd world. Even though he now possessed the Staff of the wastnd, which allowed him to perceive everything in the wastndnd, having a living person by his side was still somewhat convenient.


    Edmund continued to emit a grating "cackling" sound, and his gaze towards David became even more malicious.


    Seeing this, David had run out of patience. He knew that Edmund was about to unleash a deadly attack. In that case, he had to strike first. He raised the Staff of the wastnd and soared into the air, suspended high like a beam of light.


    In the next moment, David aimed the staff at Edmund''s body. With a thought, a zing and dazzling beam of light erupted from the staff, heading straight for Edmund. The tremendous explosion shook the entire wastnd world violently, creating a shockwave that turned hundreds of nearby super-beasts into minced meat. Dust rose to thousands of meters in height, covering everything in its path.


    David waved the Staff of the wastnd again, and the towering dust cloud was instantly sucked into the void. He gazed at Edmund''s peculiar behavior. Chunks of ck substances continued to fall from Edmund''s body, resembling a creature shedding its skin. As these ck objectsnded on the ground, their red-glowing skin became exposed to David''s view.


    At that moment, Edmund suddenly lifted his head, and David noticed a hint of amusement in his eyes. The earlier beam of light hadn''t harmed him; instead, the insects on his body had protected him.


    Understanding this, David was taken aback. He hadn''t expected that, at the critical moment, this guy could summon so many insects to form a protective armor around him.


    "This guy... has this kind of power," David thought. He no longer underestimated Edmund and kept a cautious eye on him. The earlier attack had not been very forceful; David had merely wanted to test Edmund, but inadvertently triggered one of his abilities.


    David''s words made Clive tense up, and his hand gripping the bamboo chair began to sweat. Arnold and the others stared at Edmund as if he were a monster.


    No, this guy was indeed a monster! When all the ck insects hadpletely fallen off him, Edmund''s entire body was exposed to David''s view, his skin blood-red. He still raised his head, staring fixedly at David.


    "Do you want to taste the vor of death?" Edmund said in a garbled, unclear voice, his mouth torn all the way to his ears.


    In the next moment, David suddenly heard a buzzing sound all around him. Everyone present also heard it and looked up.

 Chapter 329 Open Peace!

    ?


    When everyone looked up in response to the surrounding sounds, expressions of profound shock immediately spread across their faces. They saw that at some point, the sky around them had be filled with countless ck insects.


    These insects were of various kinds, each one extremely peculiar, some with irregr bodies. They seemed to have heard some kind of call and came flying in from all directions in a frenzied manner. In an instant, the entire deste world became shrouded in darkness, and the sky lost all its brightness, plunging intoplete darkness.


    "Hahaha! Come, my minions!" Edmund saw the bizarre insects swarming all around him, and he went into a frenzied state. These insects, like a hurricane, rushed towards him madly.


    However, when these insects came into contact with Edmund''s body, they suddenly disappeared as if absorbed into his skin. Edmund''s expression showed signs of enjoyment.


    These insects, after entering his body, kept wriggling beneath his skin, causing the areas they passed through to tremble eerily. In this way, the overwhelming insects disappeared within a blink of an eye, as if Edmund had absorbed them all into his body. The darkness faded, and the wastnd world returned to its dimly lit state.


    Everyone opened their eyes and looked at Edmund. At this moment, he still stood there quietly, his skin still blood-red. A muffled sound reached the ears of everyone as a pair of ck wings with intricate patterns suddenly emerged from Edmund''s back.


    Not only that, the muffled sound continued, and rows of ck, barbed insect limbs sprouted from Edmund''s ribcage. These insect limbs broke through his skin like mushrooms after the rain, and each one dripped with a greenish liquid, seeming to be some kind of deadly poison.


    In just a minute, Edmund had grown ten insect limbs under his ribcage. Each one looked nauseating, making the guy in front of them appear like an enormous mutated insect.


    The aura emanating from Edmund was filled with a strong malevolence. This malevolent aura, centered on Edmund, rapidly spread to the surroundings. Trees within a radius of thousands of miles instantly turned yellow, their roots rotting into mud. The terrifying power made the wastnd world brim with horror.


    David, seeing this, didn''t hesitate. He reached into the warehouse and grabbed an advanced pronucleus. Without waiting to consume it, he swallowed it directly. He knew that the current Edmund had merged with the power of all the Zerg, representing the entire Zerg race. As the dominant force in the deste world, he had to use his full power to deal with Edmund.


    At this moment, Clive, seeing Edmund''s appearance, also didn''t hesitate any longer. He knew that if he kept waiting like this, he might not even have a chance to act. He let out a loud roar and instantly lifted the worn bamboo chair in his hand. The bamboo chair began to disintegrate and transform in that instant. In the end, it took the shape of a two-meter-tall general dressed in bamboo armor.


    "To sacrifice with blood" Clive took a step back and didn''t hesitate to bite his own finger. Using the blood droplets from his fingertip, Clive drew a symbol on the general''s back. When thest stroke fell, the general suddenly came to life. He slowly moved his limbs, and the bamboo spear in his hand was raised.


    But Clive''s face appeared unusually pale, as if he had suffered a great loss of vitality. Seeing Clive in this state, Emlyn was immediately astonished and said, "This... this is Clive''s Mastery of Command! Why did he reveal his hidden ability now?" After speaking, Emlyn''s expression turned worried.


    "Mastery of Command? What is that?" Fatso asked, puzzled, while shaking the thick blood off hisrge bone club.


    Emlyn didn''t have time to exin much and simply said, "It''s an ability that consumes one''s own lifespan. Every time he summons a General Armor, he loses one year of his life. Judging by how weak this old guy looks, it seems he sacrificed even more of his lifespan to enhance the General Armor''s power."


    These words left Fatso stunned in his tracks. Not just Fatso, but everyone else also heard Emlyn''s words and looked at Clive with shock.


    David also heard Emlyn''s exnation and suddenly felt a wave of emotions. He had noticed Clive''s attachment to his old bamboo chair for a long time, and Clive had always kept it close, even standing by his side during thest crisis. Now he finally understood.


    That chair was the medium for Clive to use his powers. What puzzled David, however, was why Clive would consume his own lifespan to help him? He looked at Clive''s face, whichcked color and appeared aged, like a withered old man.


    Meanwhile, the General Armor was full of vitality, swinging his spear with ease and making the air around him hum loudly. David realized that the General Armor had absorbed Clive''s lifespan, making him a formidable force. While he continued to contemte this, Clive suddenly lifted his head and looked at David, grinning widely as he shouted, "Kid! Watch closely! This is my move. I''m going to Open peace to humanity!"


    Clive shouted loudly, and there was a touch of solemnity in his voice, as if he was invoking a heroic spirit. Without waiting for David to respond, Clive''s expression suddenly turned serious as he stared firmly at Edmund. "General, I''m sacrificing three years of my life. Please, let this guy experience the might of humanity."


    As soon as Clive finished speaking, his expression became even more exhausted. The General Armor heard Clive''s words and silently nodded. Then, he turned his gaze towards Edmund. He brandished his long spear, rushing towards Edmund like a gust of wind. The spear''s tip shone with a cold light, and it moved as swiftly as a flying dragon.


    Seeing this sudden arrival, Edmund didn''t show any fear. Instead, his bizarre expression became even more pronounced. The insect limbs under his ribcage continued to rub against each other, creating a sense of oppression with their sharp barbs.


    At that moment, the General Armor''s long spear had already reached him. Edmund slightly tilted his head and easily dodged the attack. Before the General Armor could react, he raised his fist and struck forcefully against the General Armor''s chest.


    BOOM!The General Armor was sent flying several kilometers away by Edmund''s punch. The powerful shockwave created by the punch caused everyone''s ears to ring loudly. The General Armor struggled to get up from the ground, panting heavily.

 Chapter 330 Stand For Humanity And Fulfill Your Purpose!

    ?


    Seeing how easily Edmund had neutralized the first attack of General Armor, even causing the General to look so distressed, Clive''s expression immediately tensed. He didn''t hesitate any longer. He bit his finger again and said, "General, I''m willing to sacrifice ten years of my life!"


    As his words hit the ground, Clive''s once-gray hair visibly turned white at an rming rate. The wrinkles on his face seemed like deepening crevices. He stood there, swaying like an elderly person in the twilight of life, but the one thing that remained unchanged was his resolute gaze.


    General Armor, as if rejuvenated, suddenly propelled himself into the air with a powerful leap when he heard Clive''s offer. His enormous figure descended upon Edmund like a small mountain, with even more ferocity and power than before.


    David watched General Armor charge towards Edmund once again, and then nced at Clive, who was trembling unsteadily. He knew that General Armor had absorbed Clive''s life force, which had made him so formidable.


    As for Clive, a man already in his sixties, he had suddenly sacrificed thirteen years of his life. His life had surely reached its twilight. But most importantly, why had he done this? David couldn''t be certain if General Armor would prove to be Edmund''s match in the end. If, in the end, General Armor didn''t manage to harm him at all, hadn''t Clive wasted over a decade of his life in vain?


    It wasn''t just David; all members of the Embers team understood everything. This made their gazes towards Clive fill with seriousness and admiration. An elderly man who had already aged, willingly giving up his remaining years of life to stand against Edmund.


    What was all of this for? Nobody knew, including Emlyn, who was frozen in ce. Perhaps only Clive held the answer behind his resolute gaze. It was that hidden answer that had given him the courage to sacrifice his life.


    Watching General Armor descend from the sky, Edmund let out a coldugh. His enormous wings behind him began to p rapidly. Simr to General Armor, he leaped into the air, and in his hand appeared an inexplicable long de. General Armor''s long spear also made its way towards him. "ng!" Their weapons shed violently, creating a shockwave that sent tremors through the earth.


    Having absorbed Clive''s life force for over a decade, General Armor''s strength had visibly surged. His attacks were cunning, aiming to cut down Edmund.


    However, Edmund, as the leader of the Zerg, seemed even more formidable. Edmund effortlessly dodged General Armor''s every attack and seemed to be ying with him.


    This enraged General Armor, who possessed some level of intelligence. He roared in anger, gripping his long spear tightly, and thrust it towards Edmund''s chest with astonishing speed, tearing through the very air like a dragon unleashed.


    "Oh? You think you can kill me with that?" Faced with General Armor''s furious thrust, Edmund showed no sign of panic. Instead, he calmly raised the long de in his hand.


    "ng!" A crisp sound rang out as Edmund instantaneously appeared behind General Armor, forcefully cleaving his shoulder with the de.


    "Puff!" Clive, who had been trembling in ce, suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his body swayed even more violently. General Armor, in apparent pain, angrily reached out to remove the embedded de from his shoulder.


    "Hmph! Just a paper-thin waste!" Without waiting for General Armor''s right hand to touch the long de, Edmund''s ten insect limbs beneath his ribs extended viciously, piercing into General Armor''s body.


    In an instant, the body of General Armor,posed of bamboo, cracked open with a sharp "crack." General Armor fell from the high sky as if he had lost his life, crashing to the ground with a resounding "boom!" After the impact, his body shattered into pieces, leaving only an intact head.


    "Puff!" Clive, seemingly suffering from a bacsh, once again coughed up blood. Finally, his trembling body couldn''t support him any longer, and he copsed to the ground.


    Seeing this, David immediatelynded and helped him up. "Clive," as David looked at Clive''s weakened state and his head full of white hair, he couldn''t help but feel a mix of emotions. His interactions with Clive had been limited, strictly speaking, they were acquaintances who had met by chance.


    The biggest challenge now is how to find these individuals. As long as we can locate them, the safe zone we establish next will be rock-solid, and it may even be the strongest base in the entire Chinese battle zone. Find them? In an instant, rk suddenly realized the true purpose of the second mission reward: the broadcast authority in the battle zone!


    Even so, he was willing to risk his own life to fight Edmund. This filled David with a deep sense of admiration.


    After catching his breath heavily, Clive, with David''s support, managed to stand up reluctantly. With a bitter smile, he said, "Kid, I''ve made a fool of myself. This time, I''ve gone all out!"


    Suddenly, Clive found a surge of strength from somewhere, breaking free from David''s support. He rushed towards General Armor, leaving everyone wide-eyed in astonishment. They couldn''t fathom where he had found the strength, enabling him to move with such incredible speed.


    David had intended to stop Clive, but the lightning-fast pace left him momentarily stunned. Clive swiftly arrived at the scattered parts of General Armor, picked up the intact head, and then turned to look at David.


    "Kid, watch closely! My second move is called ''Shatter Without Fear,'' to stand for the humans'' existence!" Cliveughed heartily as he held General Armor''s head, hisughter filled with ease and determination. His head full of white hair and his stooped figure seemed like that of a hero who would never return.


    Watching Clive, tears welled up in the eyes of everyone. Emlyn clenched her fists tightly, staring intently at Clive''s back.


    "General, I''m willing to sacrifice my own flesh and request to kill this guy!"


    After calming down, Clive spoke with a cold tone. Simultaneously, he looked at Edmund with a mocking gaze. "You, a human, should not fear a mere Zerg."


    Then, Clive''s head in his hand violently trembled. In the next moment, the scattered bamboo pieces on the ground seemed to be drawn towards him, covering his body in the blink of an eye. The massive head he held suddenly rose and merged tightly with his own head. The cracking sound of joints breaking echoed in the air.


    Clive had transformed into the likeness of General Armor, and his entire body rapidly erged. Only David knew that General Armor had devoured Clive, using his flesh to reshape the body of General Armor. In just a few dozen seconds, a colossal General Armor, towering at a height of thirty to forty meters, emerged in the wastnd world.


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    £¨Dirk, in a deep voice, shook the girl lying at his feet. Although he was sure that the training he had undergone in his unit should prevent him from colliding with people like this, the girl was covered in blood. Arnold was behind him, and after rk''s warning, he looked a bit more alert.


    "Water... water..."


    The young girl on the ground had a hoarse voice and slowly opened her eyes. Dirk quickly took out his water bottle from his waist and handed it to her. It seemed like she hadn''t had water in a long time, so she took the bottle and drank eagerly.


    "How are you feeling? Can you move?"


    Dirk instinctively expressed concern for the girl on the ground, not out of any lustful intentions, but because he had a kind-hearted nature, having a military background. In a way, he was simr to Arnold, considering helping others as his duty.


    The girl remained silent, and a trace of reluctance shed imperceptibly in her eyes as she pulled up her legs hidden beneath her skirt. Dirk caught a glimpse of it, and his pupils suddenly contracted. The girl''s knees were pierced through by iron nails, with transparent fishing lines wound around them. Due to their military instincts for danger, he instantly realized what the problem was.


    With such injuries, the girl couldn''t have crawled onto the highway by herself. She must have been deliberately maimed and left here!


    Bullets were chambered, and a group of people suddenly sprang out from under the highway guardrail, aiming their guns at him.


    "Hands on your heads, everyone out of the car! Otherwise, I''ll shoot him!"£©

 Chapter 331 Charging For A Devastating Blow!

    ?


    As everyone stared at the colossal General Armor, they were frozen in ce. Their expressions revealed shock and awe, surpassing even their astonishment at the wastnd world itself. They couldn''t believe that Clive, an ordinary-looking elderly man well into his senior years, possessed such incredible power. Among the crowd, only Emlyn''s expression was filled with sorrow. She kept reying Clive''s words in her mind.


    "For the sake of humanity, to stand for our existence." In this moment, it seemed like she understood the true thoughts hidden in this old man who had been with her all along. David, at this point, was also watching General Armor with a solemn expression. Clive''s earlier words had left him astonished as well. He hadn''t expected Clive to be willing to sacrifice the remainder of his life to confront Edmund.


    This made David deeply moved, realizing that he had underestimated Clive all along. Despite Clive appearing unremarkable, he harbored a deepmitment to the future of humanity. Witnessing General Armor, who had been knocked down by David''s punch, rise again was nothing short of astonishing.


    Edmund, on the other hand, felt a tinge of surprise but quickly reverted to his earlier arrogance. In his eyes, if he could defeat Clive once, he could defeat him twice. Moreover, this was the wastnd world, his domain, where he held control over all life forms. To him, Clive was just an opponent made of bamboo, nothing more.


    Edmund looked at General Armor and burst intoughter, "Hahaha! You''ve grown bigger, so what? In this ce, I am a god! I am everything! You humans, like ants, will all be souls under my control!"


    Edmund''sughter grew more manic, and his facial expression became sinister. In his eyes, David and the others were already as good as dead. Hearing Edmund''s roars, General Armor slightly lifted his head. The once vacant gaze in his tenacious eyes began to shine.


    David understood that these two beams of light belonged to Clive. He didn''t know how much damage Clive could inflict on Edmund by sacrificing his life, but he was certain that Clive would make Edmund understand the terror of humanity.


    General Armor stared intently at Edmund, his eyes filled with a sharpness as if he had crawled out of a battlefield from a pile of corpses. Then, he raised the long spear in his hand high and aimed it at Edmund.


    "Kill!" A deep and heavy word, brimming with murderous intent, burst forth from his mouth. As the word "kill" left his lips, the long spear in General Armor''s hand trembled slightly, like a weapon thirsting for ughter. The air within a thousand miles grew restless, and the undead monsters gathered in the vicinity began trembling with fear, as if sensing an invisible terror.


    "So powerful!" Arnold couldn''t help but exim. It wasn''t just him; others were also overwhelmed by the immense pressure. They watched in astonishment as the once brutally aggressive zombie-like creatures, now lying on the ground, trembled in fear.


    Edmund, however, only paused for a moment. He stared fiercely at General Armor, his face filled with a thick killing intent. "Trash! I''ll kill you first and then dispose of all the ants!"


    With that, Edmund began to rotate the Zerg Heart in his hand. However, General Armor was faster. As Edmund''s thoughts began to drive his actions, General Armor shouted loudly and instantly rose from the ground. His long spear resembled a swimming dragon as he released a series of crackling lightning bolts.


    The aura emanating from General Armor made everyone present feel a momentary suffocation. His bamboo-built body produced a series of deafening sounds, as if muscles made of steel were rapidly sprouting like bamboo shoots in the spring. This boost in power and speed pushed him to the pinnacle.


    In that very moment, the entire wastnd world underwent a transformation. The winds around them howled like wails from an ancient battlefield. The air was filled with an oppressive sense of ughter, as if one could feel des cutting through the air with every breath. Even the usually fearless David was stunned by the sudden eruption of General Armor''s aura. He knew that this was Clive''s life-risking move.


    General Armor shot forward like a released arrow, charging towards Edmund. Edmund didn''t have time to activate the Zerg Heart, but he immediately used it as a shield in front of him.


    Thepass-sized Zerg Heart instantly transformed into a ck shield, adorned with various shapes of insects. At a nce, one could sense the dense defensive aura it emitted.


    At this moment, General Armor''s long spear had already reached Edmund. He shouted loudly, exerting all his strength, and fiercely thrust his long spear into the shield formed by the Zerg Heart. A deafening roar resounded in the air. Under the tremendous force, the long spear pierced through the shield, with its tip thrusting into Edmund''s abdomen.


    A torrent of ck blood gushed from Edmund''s abdomen, apanied by intense pain spreading throughout his body. However, General Armor did not stop there. He swiftly withdrew the long spear, clenched his right hand into a fist, and began a rapid and relentless barrage of punches on Edmund''s body, so fast that it exceeded Edmund''s ability to track them with his eyes.


    All Edmund could see were afterimages continuously striking his body, followed by excruciating pain spreading through him like tearing agony. In this relentless assault, General Armor struck Edmund with hundreds of punches.


    Finally, General Armor brought both fists together, gathering his strength for a final blow to Edmund''s head. As he prepared to deliver this punch, the bamboo pieces on his body began to emit cracking and exploding sounds, as if the power within him had be too overwhelming for his body to bear.


    A hint of pain flickered across General Armor''s face, but he quickly concealed it with his unwavering determination. He roared in anger once more, and his fist came crashing down on Edmund''s skull.


    With a resounding boom, under the immense power of this punch, Edmund''s body plummeted to the ground like a projectileunched from the heavens, crashing violently upon impact.


    The following content is incorrect, please check the next chapter


    £¨"Arnold, wait a bit before you make a move. I hope this situation leaves asting impression on him and he gets a taste of human nature in the apocalypse," rk said.


    "Alright, rk! Do you want me to put on a show?"


    rk didn''t reply and simply closed his eyes to rest. He had yet to tell Arnold one thing: there was an awakened individual hiding among these people. Indeed, their squad was strong, and at the current stage, only third-tier mutants posed a threat to him. But what about the future? yers'' strengths would inevitably increase, and even the zombies would gradually mutate. Arnold was too impulsive, and rk intended to make him more cautious.


    In the apocalypse, threats weren''t just limited to zombies; often, humans could be the ones who wanted to kill you.


    "Get that pretty boy inside toe down. Trying to y dead, huh?" Scarface, aiming at the off-road vehicle, pounded on the car window and loudly cursed at rk, who had his eyes closed inside.


    Another person, near the car door opened by Arnold, yanked Clifford out and dragged him to the ground.


    "No... please, don''t kill me!"


    Clifford, pulled out of the car, sped his hands to his head, curled up on the ground, begging for mercy.


    This is bad, it''s really bad now. Dirk watched as hisrade was pulled out of the car, with rk held at gunpoint, and he felt a deep sense of anger and frustration. Even Arnold, who was standing next to him, seemed frozen in ce.


    Fists clenched. It''s all my fault! Vi was being humiliated, and I felt utterly powerless. It''s so simr. Why? Why am I so powerless!


    The leader looked at the people controlled inside the car and then walked straight up to Dirk.


    Bang!


    He kicked Dirk''s knee fiercely, causing Dirk''s legs to give way.


    Of all the people present, only Dirk seemed to pose a threat and carried himself like a soldier. As for Arnold? The big guy had lost a hand and was probably too shocked to react. The pretty boy inside the car was pretending to be dead, and the little girl and Clifford seemed utterly harmless.


    "I told you to kneel, got it?"


    "You want to resist, don''t you? You think I don''t know you want to grab the gun? I''ll shoot yourpanion right now!"


    "Boss, I should just kill this guy."


    "Damn it, this useless guy still wants to y dead? Such a softie!"


    The gun-wielder who had rk at gunpoint cursed and grumbled while taking off the safety.


    Seeing the situation, Dirk bitterly smiled. He knew that if he didn''t give up resistance and kneel down, they would truly shoot rk to establish dominance.


    A man''s pride was a precious thing; it was about dignity. If rk wasn''t under threat, he would rather die than kneel down. It was humiliation, despair. Dirk slowly sank to his knees.


    "Arnold!" rk instantly opened his eyes, intense killing intent shing in the depths of his gaze.


    Dirk had experienced enough by now, but if these people intended to humiliate his brother, he wouldn''t let them continue to degrade Dirk.


    Damn it, he became stronger to protect the people he wanted to protect, to ensure that they could live well. If, in the name of further toughening up Dirk, he allowed his brother to be humiliated and lose his dignity, then he would be a fool! No matter who they were, even a king, they wouldn''t make his brother kneel!


    "Kill them! Leave no one alive!"


    "Got it, rk!"£©

 Chapter 332 Let The Human Race Rise!

    ?


    In the blink of an eye, a crater with a diameter of a hundred meters appeared on the ground. Edmund was fiercely smashed into the deep pit by General Armor''s punch.


    The crowd couldn''t help but gasp in shock. They hadn''t expected General Armor''s punch to be so explosive in power. And it seemed that this punch had consumed all of his strength.


    After smashing Edmund into the deep pit, General Armor''s body suddenly shrank back to its original size. Then, like a kite with a broken string, he fell heavily to the ground.


    Everyone rushed over. By this time, General Armor''s true form had disappeared. All that remained was a tattered bamboo chair. Clive''s appearance returned to the group.


    "Clive," David rushed forward and helped him up from the ground. Clive, at this moment, looked like a hundred-year-old man with white hair and wrinkles etched across his face like knife cuts. His body had be feeble, as if all the bones inside him had shattered.


    "Old man! What are you doing?" Emlyn hurried over, crouching down to look at Clive with concern.


    Clive slowly opened his eyes at this moment. After ncing at everyone, he gave a weak smile and spoke slowly, "This is the only thing an old man like me can do. Our human race... is no less than any other race."


    After saying this, Clive suddenly coughed up arge amount of blood. Seeing this, Sophie immediately approached to use Ster Healing to help Clive, but Clive shook his headboriously.


    "Don''t bother. Even if you heal me, I don''t have much time left," he said, looking at David. "Kid, remember one thing: let the human race... rise!"


    After uttering these words, Clive''s face disyed a contented smile. He knew that his wish couldn''t be fulfilled, but with David here, even if he died here, he believed that David could aplish this task. Thinking about entrusting the lifelong goal he had fought for to the young man in front of him, Clive''s heart was filled withfort. And just as a faint satisfied smile appeared on his face, he stopped breathing weakly.


    "Clive!"


    " Old man! "


    "Don''t die! Grandpa!"


    Everyone''s emotions immediately turned sorrowful. Emlyn, in particr, couldn''t hold back his tears and wept bitterly as he held Clive''s lifeless body.


    In the apocalyptic world, without Clive, Emlyn would have be a wandering soul long ago. Although they often argued, their feelings for each other were strong. While others may not have had much contact with Clive, seeing him sacrifice himself to defeat Edmund filled them with admiration.


    And at that moment, a voice filled with contempt and disdain suddenly echoed from the deep pit, "Heh, did you really think the fists of mere humans could kill me?"


    The crowd was startled, quickly turning their heads to look. In the deep pit, arge amount of ck smoke suddenly billowed out. The smoke swirled, seemingly intent on engulfing everything in its path.


    Within the smoke, there were also numerous ck insects, as if they had suddenly emerged from the void. They kept circling in mid-air, forming a insects swarm.


    Beneath the swarm of insects, a massive creature with wings and golden armor suddenly flew up. When the swarm saw this gigantic creature, they emitted excited sounds and flocked towards it.


    In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of insects entered the body of this massive creature, causing its size to increase significantly. The entire creature looked incredibly sturdy, and its aura exuded an unknown and terrifying power.


    "Edmund?" Vi stared at the giant creature, taking a moment to realize what was happening.


    As Vi spoke, everyone else quickly understood that this enormous creature must be Edmund''s true form¡ªthe Zerg King.


    "It... transformed into a bug? Did Clive''s punch not kill it?"


    The group was puzzled.They had initially thought that Clive''s incredibly powerful punch would at least severely injure Edmund, but instead, he had transformed back into his true form as the Zerg King. Moreover, it appeared that his aura had be even more menacing, and his strength had significantly increased.


    "Haha! Did you really think it would be so easy to kill the Zerg King? In this wastnd world, I am the ruler here, and no living being can kill me! And I can kill any living being!" Edmund, now in the form of the Zerg King, continued to speak with a human voice, but it was apanied by the horrifying and eerie sound of the Zerg. In his words, he showed nothing but disdain for David and the others, as if he could obliterate them with the snap of his fingers.


    Listening to Edmund''s words, David''s expression turned solemn. He nced at Clive''s lifeless body and softly said, "Clive, rest assured. I will kill it. I''ve taken up the banner for the human race."


    At this moment, David finally understood why Clive had selflessly sacrificed his life. It was because he was a member of the human race, and he had a duty to ensure the survival of their kind in this world. It was a mission as well as a matter of pride.


    David, also a member of the human race, had now inherited Clive''s legacy. He was ready to fight for the human race once more. David stood up with determination, holding the Staff of the Wastnd in his hand, and he stared fiercely at Edmund.


    At this moment, David was no longer fighting for himself but for the entire human race on this. His heart held no fear, not even a ripple of hesitation.


    Seeing David''s resolute expression, no one had time to grieve anymore. They knew that the most important thing now was to kill the creature before them. Only by doing so could they avenge Clive and prove the human race''s ce in this world.


    "I''ll ughter you!" Emlyn, burning with anger, didn''t hesitate for a moment and charged towards Edmund. Behind him, dozens of evil ghost with bared fangs followed closely.


    Seeing Emlyn, a human willing to sacrifice himself, Edmund didn''t hesitate either. He spread his golden wings, and from them shot forth sharp arrows of light. In the span of a breath, the dozen or so evil ghost behind Emlyn were struck down in their tracks by these invisible arrows.


    At the same time, the thick, arm-sized arrow aimed at Emlyn under Edmund''s sneer.

 Chapter 333 Impossible

    ?


    The speed of this arrow was so fast that it couldn''t be captured by the naked eye. Although Emlyn had shed his infant form and gained significant strength, his entire fighting power came from the evil ghost. So, whether in speed or strength, he couldn''tpare to Edmund in his Zerg King form. Just as the arrow was about to touch his skin...


    Emlyn suddenly felt a strong intent to kill surging towards his face, and he anxiously raised his head, only to see the sharp arrow pointed at him.


    "Boom!" Emlyn froze on the spot, unsure of what to do. He wanted to dodge the arrow, but the overwhelming pressure from the arrow made him unable to move an inch.


    In that moment, Emlyn truly felt the approach of death. The rest of Ember Squad watched in horror, as if they had already anticipated what was going to happen.


    Especially Fatso, whose face was already filled with sorrow. But just when everyone thought Emlyn was about to meet a tragic end, they suddenly heard a sound of something tearing through the air.


    David opened a rift in space with his hand, and in an instant, he appeared in front of Emlyn. He reached out and effortlessly grabbed the massive arrow. The oppressive aura that emanated from the arrow shattered as soon as he arrived.


    Feeling the air clear around him, Emlyn finally opened his eyes and saw David''s back. He knew that David had saved him. The expression of someone who had narrowly escaped death appeared on his face, and at the same time, his gaze towards Edmund was filled with anger.


    Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that David had arrived in time. Otherwise, Emlyn would likely be lying there lifeless.


    "Hmm?" Edmund, seeing his attack effortlessly thwarted by David, vibrated his wings and red fiercely at him. David held the massive arrow in his hand and with a slight squeeze, the arrow made of refined iron crumbled into dust.


    "Have you asked for my permission to kill him?," David retorted, looking at Edmund with disdain. He knew that Emlyn was no match for Edmund. That''s why he had allowed Emlyn to test Edmund''s strength by putting himself in danger. Now, in his eyes, Edmund had indeed be stronger.


    However, David was not afraid. Clive had died at Edmund''s hands, and he wouldn''t allow anyone else to die here. He also knew that only he could stand as a true opponent to Edmund. So, he stepped forward without hesitation.


    Listening to David''s words, Edmund''s golden wings trembled more frequently, as if mocking David''s words: "I said before, here, I can kill anyone I want. You''re just a foolish human in my eyes. With a mere flick of my finger, I can make your soul scatter."


    Edmund red at David and spoke harshly once again: "Hmph! An arrogant fool!" David, however, paid no attention to Edmund''s words. Instead, he nced at him and lightly struck the ground with the Staff of the Wastnd.


    "Boom, boom, boom!" The entire ground immediately emitted a deep sound, and the staff in David''s hand emitted a dazzling light. This light was particrly bright, as if it contained some powerful unknown force. Combined with David''s spatial abilities, this light in the void seemed to move like a serpent, disappearing and reappearing.


    Continuing on, David raised his head and looked at Edmund. "Today, I will let you taste the power of the human race. I swear by my name, David, I won''t let you live!"


    As these words left David''s lips, his eyes suddenly turned crimson, resembling the red glow in the apocalyptic sky. The light emitted from the Staff of the Wastnd also turned a murderous shade of crimson. David raised his hand, forming a clenched fist. "Absolute Zero!"


    "Crack!" The surrounding air immediately froze, and Edmund, sensing David''s unleashed powers, quickly concealed his exposed body within his massive carapace.


    At this moment, David made his move! He was like a shooting star traversing the gxies, moving at a speed beyond the speed of light, charging towards Edmund.


    Edmund, who was busy dealing with the freezing air around him, felt David''s intense killing intent approaching. He raised his head in panic. "So... fast!" Watching a fleeting blur in the void, Edmund was caught off guard.


    "First Strike! For Clive''s vengeance!" David''s voice, like thunder, echoed before his figure even materialized from the void.


    Edmund hastily looked in the direction of the voice. He saw the Staff of the Wastnd descending upon him like a, radiating a crimson light that resembled the roar of a demon.


    Edmund was shocked and desperately pped his wings to disperse the ice that had formed around him. He also began moving his massive insectoid body in an attempt to evade David''s attack. However, David''s speed was simply too fast, leaving him with no chance to react. Edmund exerted all his strength to slightly tilt his colossal insectoid head.


    In the next moment, the Staff of the Wastnd struck down like a falling star, fiercely hitting Edmund''s carapace. A series of sparks erupted upon impact, and Edmund felt as if he had been thrown from an altitude of billions of meters. The pain was excruciating. He struggled to activate his wings once again, managing to escape to the side just in time, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow from David''s staff.


    However, he hadn''t even caught his breath when he heard David''s resounding shout, "Second Strike! To avenge all the living beings killed for you."


    Edmund, still experiencing intense pain, once again raised his head in rm. The shadow of the Staff of the Wastnd appeared before his eyes.


    "Boom!" Another heavy blow! This time, Edmund felt as if all his internal organs were about to be shattered. His once-proud defensive carapace began showing small cracks under this attack.


    "Impossible, absolutely impossible! My carapace has absolute defense against all living creatures. How can a mere human hurt me?" Edmund eximed as he staggered to the side. He was not wrong; ordinary creatures would have no chance against him. However, his current opponent was David, a terrifying being who had long surpassed the ordinary, bing the new king of the Wastnd world.

 Chapter 334 Insects Return to the Ancestral Homeland

    <h4>Chapter 334 Insects Return to the Ancestral Homnd</h4>


    David didn''t pay any attention to what Edmund had said. At this moment, his heart was filled with extreme anger. This anger stemmed from Clive''s death and Edmund''s disdain for humanity. So his gaze towards Edmund grew even colder.


    After enduring two attacks from David''s Staff of wastnd , Edmund''s extremely tough carapace began to show cracks. These cracks seemed irreparable, swirling around Edmund''s body, making him appear especially agonized. Finally, he couldn''t bear the pain any longer and reverted to his human form, the shape of the Zerg King. He had transformed into the Zerg King to leverage its massive size and sturdy defense to deliver a powerful blow to David. However, he didn''t even withstand David''s third strike and struggled to get back up from the ground.


    Edmund''s eyes had turnedpletely ck, and ck insects continued to emerge from beneath his skin. This was a symbol of Edmund''s anger and the reason he had to do this when facing David. He realized he had underestimated the true strength of the human before him, so he had to show David something impressive.


    "Is this all you''ve got? I don''t look down on you, but in our Zerg, your strength only qualifies you as a dog under mymand! Hah, did you really think that wielding the Staff of wastnd would make you the king of this world? Delusional!" Edmund said, looking at the Staff of wastnd in David''s hand.


    Having spent so long in the wastnd World, he naturally knew the power of the Staff of wastnd. He had searched the entire wastnd World in the past trying to obtain it, but had alwayse back empty-handed. So when he saw David holding the Staff of wastnd, it stirred ayer of shock in his heart.


    "As long as there are ces the human race wants to reach, they will ughter all enemies. And you are an enemy of our human race," David replied, his tone extremely cold, no longer paying attention to Edmund''s harsh words.


    "Hahaha! Then I''ll show you my true power!" Edmundughed manically in response to David''s words. He felt he had to bring out his hidden strength to show David what he was capable of. If he could kill the Armored General, he could certainly kill David!


    "Come forth, my insect progeny!" Edmund stood still, spreading his arms and calling out, "I am the King of the Zerg! I need your power; the time for sacrifice hase!"


    To everyone''s confusion, they couldn''t make sense of Edmund''s strange words. They felt a pressure they had never encountered before, as if the entire sky was bearing down on them, making it hard to breathe.


    "This is bad! This guy is about to unleash his ultimate move!" Charles gritted his teeth and said with a serious expression. Others also understood the significance of Edmund''s strange words.


    Edmund was about to summon all the Zerg''s insects and sacrifice them to be even more powerful. This was Edmund''s ultimate move as the King of the Zerg, the Insects Return to the Ancestral Homnd.


    As he activated "Insects Return to the Ancestral Homnd," he would absorb all of the Zerg''s power, and his strength would increase dramatically. Edmund had never thought he would have to use this ultimate move. However, he couldn''t help but smile with cold satisfaction, knowing that as long as he used this move, David''s fate was sealed in his eyes.


    Don''t mention David, the human. Even heavenly immortals can''t escape death. And he''s just a member of the human race. Can hepare to heavenly immortals?As Edmund''s calls echoed, the entire Barren World seemed to plunge into a sea of Zerg. Countless insects swarmed before everyone''s eyes¡ªcrawling from the ground, emerging from the forests, and darting out of the void.


    Even the ones in by the Ember Squad and resurrected under Edmund''s summons. Tens of thousands of insects appeared in an instant. They surged towards Edmund like a tidal wave.


    In the blink of an eye, Edmund was surrounded by these insects, and his figure vanished from sight. The onlookers, filled with horror, watched this scene unfold. They had never witnessed anything so terrifying in their lives.


    However, they were also curious about what would be of Edmund, now that he was surrounded by the insects. David, on the other hand, could clearly see Edmund''s situation. He had reached the level of a Dark God, and with his spatial abilities, he could easily traverse through the swarm of insects to discern the truth. He saw it in his eyes.


    Edmund''s flesh and blood were torn apart by these insects. The insects then entered his body one by one, rapidly turning into a ck mist that disappeared. As this ck mist dissipated, David could clearly feel Edmund''s aura growing stronger, and even his physical form was expanding.


    "Absorbing the power of the insects to enhance his own strength?" David said softly. He had anticipated that Edmund would resort to this move. In his eyes, the Zerg, with so many insects, existed not just as ordinarybat forces but had a more significant purpose¡ªto provide strength to Edmund.


    This way, Edmund would be a true Zerg King with their power! Realizing this, David didn''t hesitate any longer. He knew that to defeat Edmundpletely, he had to disrupt Edmund''s n to absorb the power of the insects. So he turned to Sally and said, "Quickly use lightning to turn these insects into ashes!"


    Upon hearing David''s words, Sally was momentarily surprised but quickly understood his meaning. She nodded and took a step forward, suspending herself in mid-air. "Exhale!" The dark clouds in the sky suddenly grew denser. In Sally''s eyes, two lightning-like beams shed.


    "Rise, thunder!" As Sally pointed to the sky with one hand, a purple lightning bolt was immediately summoned down. "Go!" Sally shouted, and the purple lightning bolt rushed toward theyers of Zerg. "Boom!" The lightning struck the densely packed insects, causing intense explosions. Countless insects were turned to ashes, emitting ck smoke. However, when these insects fell to the ground, even more insects continued to crawl from all directions.


    Sally continued to summon lightning to strike the insects. Seeing this, others no longer hesitated and began to use their own abilities. Arnold transformed into an eleventh-level werewolf mode and charged at the insects. Duke used Shadow Damage techniques to restrain and kill some of therger guardian insects. Fatso wielded arge bone club, smashing down and killing dozens of insects with each strike. Emlyn, apanied by the evil? Ghost, rushed into the fray, allowing the evil? Ghost to devour the insects to its heart''s content.

 Chapter 335 Clash

    <h4>Chapter 335 sh</h4>


    ?


    Under the relentless waves of attacks from everyone, a significant number of the insects surrounding Edmund were finally killed. The members of the Ember Squad were gasping for breath.


    Although these insects seemed weak inbat, their rapid reproduction rate made it impossible for the team to take a break. They kept attacking relentlessly.


    Finally, as Sally summoned a thick purple lightning bolt resembling an ancient tree, the influx of insects ceased. The ck insect corpses piled up on the ground, creating a carpet-likeyer in the Barren World.


    Everyone paused.


    "David, what''s going on with this guy?" Arnold gasped and asked. During the entire process, Arnold had charged into the swarm of insects, using his wolf ws to tear them apart one by one. However, he had no idea about Edmund''s current situation, and he looked to David for answers.


    David narrowed his eyes and looked again. With many insects killed by his team members, Edmund had visibly weakened. The remaining insects no longer emitted the same intense aura as before. David spected that this change might be rted to the number of insects.


    "Rest up, everyone. Leave the rest to me," David said, leaving these words behind as he approached Edmund, clutching the Staff of wastnd.


    At this moment, as David had guessed, with the substantial reduction in the sacrificed insects, Edmund''s strength had been significantly affected. However, he had still absorbed the essence of tens of thousands of insects. After these essences circted within his body for a moment, as Edmund opened his eyes, they suddenly exploded, radiating outwards in all directions!


    Instantly, within a range of nearly a thousand kilometers in the wastnd World, not a single de of grass remained. Everything had been obliterated by the shockwave from Edmund''s outburst. Even the Ember Squad members, who had reached the eleventh level, were almost overwhelmed by this force.


    Fortunately, Emlyn promptly had his Evil Ghosts positioned in front of them, which managed to shield them from the shockwave. However, the price was steep ¨C out of his hundred Evil ghosts, only around twenty survived.


    Meanwhile, David continued to advance toward Edmund as if he hadn''t noticed the shockwave. Edmund hadpleted the sacrifice of all the insects and reappeared before everyone.


    "Hahaha!" After opening his eyes, Edmund burst into maniacalughter.


    "I''ll soon make you taste the pain," Edmund said, leaving this remark behind. Edmund''s body suddenly began to rapidly grow in size, and even a pair of enormous metallic wings emerged from his back.


    When Edmund''s body reached approximately a hundred meters in size, he finally came to a stop. Everyone on the ground looked up at him in awe and trepidation.


    "This guy... he can actually grow thisrge?" Fatso stared with wide eyes. Even as a seasoned Dawn Scavenger, he had never witnessed anything like this before.


    "He''s even taller than General Armor. This strength... it''s terrifying!" All of them were left dumbfounded, unable to move.


    They had initially found it inconceivable when General Armor grew to such a colossal size, but now Edmund had shattered that record once again, leaving them awestruck.


    David halted his advance as well, raising his gaze to the towering Edmund, shrouded in the dark clouds. "Hmph! Overestimating yourself!" David snorted and began to shake the Staff of wastnd. Under his movements, the staff emitted a dazzling light.


    Subsequently, the entire wastnd World seemed to be covered by this radiance, blinding everyone. Within this light, David''s body also began to rapidly increase in size, surpassing even Edmund''s height by a head. He ceased growing once he towered over everyone, and the blinding light that had enveloped the wastnd World suddenly dissipated.


    Everyone opened their eyes. They looked at David, who was now taller than Edmund, standing there, stunned.


    "Is this... still David?" After advancing to the level of a Dark God, David could freely control the size of his body. He had be a god, and his understanding of this world surpassed all living beings.


    Moreover, the Staff of wastnd held the secrets of the Barren World. By shaking the staff, David''s aura could spread throughout the world, enhancing his strength here.


    As Edmund saw David growrger than him, a look of surprise briefly crossed his face. However, this surprise quickly vanished because he knew that his current move was unbeatable. He wore a sinister smile and slowly reached behind his back, where he grabbed a pair of metallic wings.


    These metallic wings were suddenly detached and held in his hands, now serving as weapons. These wings, in addition to being used for flight, could also be utilized for attacks. Crafted entirely from the rare Xuan Iron Metal of the wastnd World, they were incredibly sturdy, with razor-sharp edges along the periphery. Even when held by Edmund, they emitted an intimidating aura.


    "Kid, I''ll make you suffer!" Edmund''s words had just fallen when he swung the wings in his hand towards David. He had only taken one step, but the entire wastnd World''s ground trembled violently. This prompted everyone still on the ground to hastily fly to a distant mountain.


    Facing Edmund''s aggressive charge, David remained calm. He raised the Staff of wastnd in his hand. "ng!" The wings in Edmund''s hand collided violently with David''s Staff of wastnd, creating a thunderous metal collision that reverberated throughout the wastnd World.


    Seeing his first attack blocked by David, Edmund quickly changed his angle. He twisted his wrist and swung the metallic wings towards David''s ribcage. David gently shifted the Staff of wastnd, easily deflecting the attack.


    At the same time, David freed his left hand and unleashed a strike known as the "Gctic Shatter Fist" towards Edmund''s face. Edmund hadn''t expected David''s reaction to be so swift, and with his hands both constrained by David''s Staff of wastnd, he had no chance to evade. Thus, he gritted his teeth and could only withstand the blow.


    "Boom!" David''s punch seemed to unleash the ultimate power, sending Edmund flying over a thousand meters. His massive form floated in the air like a wisp of cloud, hurtling towards a small mountain in the distance. "Boom!" Another resounding crash! The mountain, hundreds of meters tall, was directly smashed into a t in by Edmund''s impact.

 Chapter 336 Petty Skills

    David''s blow sent shockwaves through the onlookers standing on a distant hill. They knew David''s level had reached a terrifying state, but they hadn''t expected his power to be this astonishing.


    With just one punch, he sent Edmund flying over a kilometer away. This made them doubt if their captain was still human. Little did they know that David''s level had already reached that of a dark god.


    In other words, David was both human and divine. After taking David''s punch, Edmund struggled to get up from the ground.


    "Damn it!" Edmund cursed and threw a pair of metallic wings he held in his hands with all his strength. Immediately, the metallic wings tore through the air, creating a deafening sonic boom, and headed straight for David.


    Seeing this, David calmly opened a spatial gate. His towering figure disappeared from Edmund''s view within a hundred meters. The pair of metallic wings flew past a forest, cutting down all the tall trees in their path.


    At that moment, David''s figure reappeared in front of Edmund. It happened almost instantly. David raised his fist once more, and with a thunderous boom, he smashed it towards Edmund''s chest.


    However, Edmund, having learned his lesson from the previous encounter, was prepared. He transformed his body into countless ck insects and met the fist. David''s punch struck the ground, but it also killed thousands of insects on impact.


    "Avoided it?" David stood up and looked at the swarm of ck insects flying around. In an instant, these ck insects gathered together again, and Edmund''s figure appeared in front of him. "Did you really think I would keep taking hits? You underestimate me. I am the King of the Zerg, and I have absolute control over all life here! You can''t defeat me!"


    ck insects continuously burrowed into Edmund''s skin, and a sinister smile spread across his face again. However, there was a momentary flicker of pain in his eyes, quickly caught by David.


    David suddenly understood. Edmund''s increased size and strength were a result of his body beingposed of countless insects. The quantity and quality of these insects directly affected his power. David''s previous punch had evidently weakened Edmund''s strength by killing thousands of insects.


    "In that case, I''ll just have to kill all the insects inside you!" David sneered and stared at Edmund emotionlessly. However, he noticed that Edmund was still standing there, wearing a sinister smile on his face.


    "Admit defeat; you are no match for me," the seemingly victorious Edmund said coldly. Then, he clenched his right fist tightly.


    What''s going on? David''s heart skipped a beat! Next, he heard a sound behind him, a sonic boom tearing through the air. Without turning around, David understood that it was the pair of metallic wingsing back again, and their speed and power were several times stronger than before. It seemed that Edmund had enhanced their capabilities through some supernatural means.


    David still attempted to evade using his spatial gate. However, he was taken aback as the pair of metallic wings was even faster than his ability to tear through space.


    So, David''s heart sank, and he directly activated the faint golden defensiveyer on his body. As his level had reached that of a dark god, his faint golden defensiveyer had reached its peak defensive state.


    David mobilized all the energy in his body, concentrating it onto this faint golden defensiveyer. Just as theyer began to emit a faint glow, the pair of metallic wings struck his back with tremendous force. The impact created a massive explosion on the spot, and the metallic wings, like meteorites from outer space, were incredibly powerful. After hitting David, they crashed heavily into the ground, raising a cloud of dust that spanned hundreds of meters.


    "David! Captain!" All members of the Embers team witnessed this scene, and their hearts leaped into their throats. However, they could do nothing but widen their eyes, unable to see David''s current condition through the dust and smoke.


    "Hahaha!" Seeing that his surprise attack on David had seeded, Edmund burst intoughter once again. With this strike, he had gathered all his strength umted over the years in the wastnd world. He believed that David, being a mere human, wouldn''t be able to withstand such a powerful attack.


    He thought David was surely finished now. Thinking about killing David and bing the most powerful being in the wastnd world once again filled Edmund with excitement. "In this world, no one can challenge my position. What can you humans amount to? Just insects in my eyes. One day, I''ll step into your territory and turn all of you into my ves!" After "killing" David, Edmund shifted his gaze to the members of the Embers team.


    Fear overwhelmed everyone, but just then, a sound tore through the air, splitting the heavens and the earth, emanating from within the dust and smoke.


    "Have you asked my opinion before trying to kill my kind?"


    "Huh?" Hearing this familiar voice, Edmund was momentarily stunned and quickly turned to look at the lingering dust and smoke. The members of the Embers team were also filled with hope.


    "It''s David''s voice! David is not dead!"


    "Of course! David couldn''t possibly die!"


    "This is fantastic! Absolutely fantastic!"


    As everyone was getting excited, David''s figure slowly emerged from the dust and smoke. Seeing David alive and standing before him again, Edmund panicked. "No! This can''t be! Myst strike contained all my power; how could you have survived?"


    Fear was evident in Edmund''s words. He firmly believed that his previous attack had inflicted significant damage on David. But now, seeing David unharmed, he was at a loss.


    "ying with little tricks when you can''t even handle the basics?" David''s entire body radiated a faint golden light. Indeed, the sneak attack by Edmund had been formidable, but David''s faint golden defensiveyer had reached its ultimate state. Not even weapons from a mix of the wastnd world and the apocalyptic world could break through it.


    "From today onwards, the wastnd world will no longer have Zerg''s presence!" David dered coldly, then slowly raised his right hand. On his right hand, he held the pair of metallic wings that belonged to Edmund.


    Then, David gathered his strength and threw the pair of metallic wings at Edmund. Simultaneously, he opened a spatial gate.

 Chapter 337 Divine Clan

    ?


    As the metallic wings soared toward Edmund at supersonic speed, David also shed and disappeared into the void. Watching his own weapon flying towards him, Edmund burst intoughter.


    "You''re underestimating me too much! How could your weapon harm me?" Edmund said, extending his hand confidently to catch the metallic wings circling towards him. But at that moment, he realized David had vanished from his original position.


    "Oh no!" Edmund cursed inwardly, realizing that the metallic wings were just a diversion created by David. He quickly looked around, attempting to locate David''s presence. But just as he was about to turn around, David appeared behind him at a speed surpassing light.


    "No need to search, you''re already a corpse," David''s voice rang out. Edmund was taken aback and instinctively swung the metallic wings in his hand toward David behind him.


    But how could David give him an opportunity? As Edmund raised his hand, David lifted the Staff of wastnd Earth, saying, "Born from wastnd... die in wastnd... this is your destiny!"


    With a single thought, David activated the strange patterns on the Staff of wastnd Earth, unleashing a powerful burst of light. David inserted it into Edmund''s heart without hesitation.


    "Thud!" A massive, muffled sound reverberated through the wastnd world. Edmund, holding the metallic wings aloft, immediately halted his actions. He lowered his head in disbelief as he watched the Staff of wastnd Earth prate his heart.


    "Die!" David shouted with a deep voice, filled with anger. The sound echoed through the heavens and the earth, turning countless rocks into dust in an instant.


    "Boom!" Without giving Edmund any time to react, David swung the Staff of wastnd Earth. Intense light beams pierced through Edmund''s body like swords, causing him excruciating pain. He tried to reach for the staff embedded in his chest with his right hand, but as soon as he extended it, his entire body exploded like a thousand-ton bomb.


    His vision was instantly filled with a sh of blood, and his body shattered into countless pieces.


    "No... impossible!" This was Edmund''s final utterance. Then, a blinding light consumed everything, apanied by a tremendous explosion that violently shook the entire wastnd world.


    At the same time, the zombie-like monsters writhing in pain on the ground also exploded. The pungent smell of blood filled the air, and the sky was filled with flying pieces of flesh. It seemed like a battlefield of demons.


    Under the feet of Ember''s squad members, the high mountain turned into t ground in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, they reacted quickly and immediately took to the air to avoid this catastrophe.


    Several minutester, the wastnd world returned to calmness once more. However, unlike before, there were no more mountains in this world. All the high mountains had been turned into t ground by the explosion, and even therge rocks on the ground had turned into powder. Watching the dust rising in the barren world, David slowly returned to his normal size.


    As for Edmund at this moment, his body had also returned to its normal state, but all that remained were scattered fragments on the ground. His severed head rolled on the ground, and his sinister ck eyes red fiercely at David. His severed hand reached out towards the Zerg Heart lying nearby.


    Now, this was Edmund''s only hope. As long as he obtained the Zerg Heart, he could regain the power of the Zerg and resurrect himself. He had lost all his fighting capabilities by now, and the insects that had entered his body had all turned into ck corpses.


    David let out a coldugh and walked towards the Heart of the Zerg. After picking it up, he looked at Edmund and asked, "Are you looking for this?"


    With that, David raised the Staff of wastnd Earth. The sharp tip of the staff pierced through Edmund''s palm, causing intense pain.


    "Ah! You..." The severe pain contorted Edmund''s face instantly, and his gaze towards David turned malicious once again. It seemed like he wanted to jump up and bite David right now, but he couldn''t summon the strength to do so. His entire body could only move his head. Helplessly, the mighty King of the Zerg in the wastndworld was being trampled upon by David like an ant.


    "You... you will face retribution!" Edmund struggled to speak. At this moment, the members of the Embers Squad also arrived in front of David.


    "Do you think you''re powerful? Killing me means nothing. In front of the Spirit Emperor, you are just an ant! Even if you kill me, the Spirit Emperor will avenge me! Hahaha..." Listening to Edmund''s words, David frowned slightly.


    "Spirit Emperor?" It was the first time he had heard this name, and he had a vague sense that it represented another force. He looked at Vi, who shook her head, indicating that she had never heard of this name either, and the others were equally clueless.


    So David released his foot and looked at Edmund again. "Tell me, what is the Spirit Emperor?" He wanted to extract information about the Spirit Emperor from Edmund.


    "Hmph! What harm is there in telling you? The entire wastnd world was created by the great Spirit Emperor! As a deity, the Spirit Emperor is omnipresent, holding the lives and deaths of all beings and controlling the entire Barren Earth world. Your human race is nothing more than his ythings! Killing me won''t save you from the Spirit Emperor''s grasp!" Knowing he was doomed, Edmund gritted his teeth and spitefully told David.


    In the entire Barren Earth world, the Dark City, Kui n, and Zerg were just three insignificant forces. Above these three forces stood the Divine n, which ruled over the world. The Divine n controlled the entire Barren Earth world and had even turned the entire Beast n and Zerg into their puppets.


    The Spirit Emperor was the leader of the Divine n, existing in the void, soaring through the cosmos.


    Listening to Edmund''s words, David immediately understood. Edmund was nothing more than a puppet of the Divine n''s Spirit Emperor. The entire wastnd world was created by the Spirit Emperor.


    But what about the apocalypse? Why did it suddenly ur? Why did normal humans and animals turn into zombies and strange beasts? Could it be that the Divine n was the mastermind behind it all?


    David''s heart was filled with doubts at this moment. He had never expected that this world still had a Divine n, and they had been manipting everything from the shadows. The human race was merely a ything in the hands of the Divine n.

 Chapter 338 Three-Wheeled Blood Moon

    ?


    Seeing a hint of confusion on David''s face, Edmund''s smile became even more disdainful. "What''s the matter, scared? Hahaha! Fear from a coward! You will never conquer the Wastnd world!" Edmund seemed to have forgotten the fear of death, continuing to spew harsh words.


    "Noisy!" David''s eyes turned cold, and he spoke sharply. Then, he ced a foot on Edmund''s skull.


    "Smack!" Edmund''s head was instantly crushed into a pile of flesh by David. And thus, the most powerful force in the Wastnd world, the Zerg, waspletely eliminated by David.


    All the surviving creatures in the Wastnd world turned into ck smoke and disappeared in an instant. There was no trace of the Zerg''s existence left.


    However, David knew that even though he had eliminated the Zerg, his greatest enemy was now revealed¡ªthe Divine n. He had never heard anyone mention this n before, and he had only heard of its existence in legends.


    So when Edmund mentioned it, David was still somewhat puzzled. But looking at Edmund''s arrogant and confident demeanor, he felt that this guy wasn''t deceiving him; otherwise, he wouldn''t have revealed this information before his death.


    Edmund''s purpose in saying all this was to intimidate David. He was gambling on whether he could scare David and win himself a chance at survival. So he had to disclose some information that David would find interesting. He guessed correctly; David was indeed interested in this information. However, he had no intention of letting Edmund live.


    Dealing decisively with people like him had be a rule of survival in David''s heart. Therefore, it was destined that Edmund would not survive. As David looked at Edmund''s shattered head, a sinister smile still hanging on his face.


    Suddenly, David felt a sense of horror that he had never experienced before¡ªan unknown fear. It seemed like there were a pair of eyes watching him from high above.


    David quickly raised his head to look at the sky. The sky was still cloudless, and even the previously overcast scenes had suddenly changed. Upon careful examination of every corner of the sky, David didn''t notice anything unusual. Could it be his imagination? David was puzzled.


    "What''s wrong?" Sally noticed David''s unusual behavior and hurried over to ask.


    David shook his head and didn''t share his feelings with her. The Divine n hadn''t fully appeared yet. If he told the others, it would only needlessly make them anxious. Seeing that David was okay, Sally finally rxed.


    Then, David suppressed his inner doubts and looked again at Edmund''s shattered head.


    [Ding!]


    [Congrattions to the host for killing the King of the Zerg!]


    [Congrattions to the host for obtaining one thousand advanced pronuclei!]


    [Congrattions to the host for gaining an opportunity to upgrade the Staff of Barren Earth!]


    [Congrattions to the host for triggering a hundredfold critical hit, gaining one million advanced pronuclei!]


    The system reward announcements continued to ring in David''s ears. In this battle, he had received generous rewards, and he even had the opportunity to upgrade his Staff of Barren Earth. David, however, wasn''t in a hurry to upgrade the staff in his hand. Instead, he initiated an extraction.


    [DING! Congrattions to the host for extracting one thousand ck pronuclei!]


    [DING! Congrattions to the host for extracting one thousand green pronuclei!]


    [DING! Congrattions to the host for obtaining the speciespendium!]


    "Hmm? The speciespendium?" David wondered in his mind. Then, a yellowed ancient book that only David could see suddenly appeared before his eyes. The cover of the book seemed to be made of some kind of animal skin, with strange characters written on it that David couldn''t recognize, but he knew they must spell "speciespendium."


    This made David more convinced of Edmund''s words. This world was not just inhabited by humans, Zerg, and beasts. There were also the Divine n and other hidden species in the darkness. This speciespendium contained information about various species.


    David felt that this was a timely gift. Now, he could uncover more secrets about this world, perhaps even the reason for the apocalypse. So, with a thought, the speciespendium appeared in his hand. He was about to take a look when suddenly, David felt an intense, anxious gaze on his back!


    This gaze was like a fiery me, piercing his soul and making it difficult to endure! David quickly threw the speciespendium into his inventory and raised the Staff of wastnd world, turning around rapidly.


    "Who?" David shouted loudly, following the unsettling feeling. At the same time, the members of his team, including Vi and Emlyn, had all fallen into unconsciousness without him noticing. David''s heart suddenly tightened. He looked up and saw that the sky had suddenly filled with three blood-red moons! The red moons looked as if they had just been dredged from a pool of blood, and their color was horrifying. Just a nce was enough to send shivers down one''s spine.


    "Blood moons? Why are there blood moons, and why three?" David frowned. Meanwhile, the gaze that had made him uneasy returned. And the three blood moons suddenly began to rotate in a strange pattern.


    This made David suddenly feel dizzy, as if he had been thrown into the vast cosmos, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t suppress this feeling of faintness. He could only grit his teeth and endure it. In a daze, he saw the three blood moons suddenly stop.In the midst of them, a ck crack appeared.


    "A rift? Another damn rift!" David cursed angrily. He knew that whenever a rift appeared in the sky, it was a bad omen.


    Then, from the rift emerged a figure of immense height and majesty! David''s heart skipped a beat. He wanted to get a clear look at the figure''s appearance, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t see it clearly. It was as if there was a veil of mist between them.


    David endured the headache and had already stored the Staff of wastnd worldin the system inventory. So he quickly drew the Space de and the alloy dagger with both hands, attempting to cut through the ufortable feeling.


    But as soon as he raised the two des."Crack!" Two crisp sounds rang out instantly! The alloy dagger and Space de had broken into two pieces under the pressure, shocking David!


    The towering figure suddenly shrank and slowly approached David. He dropped the two broken des, attempting to retrieve the Staff of wastnd world from the system inventory. However, he realized that the staff was his only weapon now. The unknown figure before him was clearly not someone that ordinary weapons could withstand. So David abandoned the idea. He raised his head and quietly watched the blurry silhouette in front of him.

 Chapter 339 True Or False Sally

    ?


    David saw the blurry figure still approaching him, and he tried to step back. However, his legs felt as heavy as lead, and when he attempted to lift his arms, it seemed like all strength had been drained from his body. The blurry figure eventually reached David, and a chilling voice echoed in his ears, "Human? Daring to kill my people!"


    This voice carried immense authority, and each word felt like a heavy hammer, relentlessly pounding on David''s eardrums. It caused him unbearable pain, and blood began to seep from his ears. He had never experienced such overwhelming pressure, enough to make him feel as though he would disintegrate in an instant.


    However, it was clear that the figure had no intention of killing David. She just gazed coldly at him. From her voice earlier, David deduced that she was a woman, or perhaps a goddess?


    David instantly thought of the Spirit Emperor of the Divine n mentioned by Edmund. Only such a being could exert such terrifying pressure on him.


    "Who... who are you?" David managed to speak through the pain and difort. Upon hearing his question, the figure smiled faintly.


    "You don''t need to know who I am. From today on, you will be an enemy of the Divine n. I''m quite curious to see what kind of waves a mere human can stir up in this world. While Edmund was nothing in my eyes, the fact that you killed him suggests you have some capability. Are you prepared to face everything thates next?" The figure''s cold voice continued to ring in David''s ears.


    This made David even more convinced that a member of the Divine n had appeared. In Edmund''s words, their hidden strength was the Divine n. In a daze, David saw the figure reach out her arm and pluck one of the blood-red moons from the sky. She yed with it in her hand and smiled faintly at David. "Young man, you are still too young to bear the fate of the human race! The Divine n will rule over everything. Hehe."


    As she spoke with an etherealughter, she inserted the blood moon into David''s body with a single movement.


    "Ugh!" The intense pain was almost unbearable for David. Even though he had reached the level of a Dark God, in the presence of the figure, he knew that his level was just a measure of strength, not his status. The agony he felt was because he had encountered a true deity.


    The blood moon slowly prated David''s body, feeling like a steel de stabbing into his skin. Cold sweat immediately covered his forehead. He wanted to scream, but no matter how hard he tried, his throat couldn''t produce a sound. He could only silently endure the pain of the blood moon entering his body.


    "Fall into a dream. Whether it''s real or fake, it''s up to you to decide. If you can withstand it, you will live. If you can''t... hehe, you will be a corpse," the figure said before turning to leave.


    In that moment as she turned to leave, David slowly raised his hand and brought his finger to his mouth. With all the strength he could muster, he bit down on his own finger. The self-inflicted pain brought him back to his senses, and the hazy surroundings became clear.


    He could finally see the figure clearly. She wore a colorful robe and a phoenix crown on her head. Sensing David''s change, she paused and turned around once more.


    "Do you recognize me?" When the woman''s appearance came before David''s eyes, he suddenly felt his entire heart stop beating. He opened his mouth wide and stared fixedly at the woman in front of him. This face, he couldn''t be more familiar with it¡ªit was Sally!


    "No... it can''t be!" David said, furrowing his brow and shaking his head.


    "Is what you see... real? Or is it fake?" The woman said before disappearing on the spot, and David also did at that moment. Everything went ck, and he passed out.


    "David will be fine! Why did we suddenly lose consciousness? Why did the captain pass out too? What happened in between?"


    "Stop arguing, let''s all leave and let David rest."


    It''s unknown how long passed. David heard a familiar voice in his ear. He could tell that all of them were the voices of people around him, and thest one was Sally''s voice.


    Then, footsteps were heard leaving the room. Suddenly, everything fell silent, except for faint sobbing: "David, you must not be harmed, you must wake up! What will I do without you?"


    David could hear clearly. It was Sally crying. Huh? Sally? That elusive and mysterious woman? Could Sally be rted to the Divine n?


    A series of questions suddenly popped into David''s mind. He needed to solve these questions, so he abruptly opened his eyes.


    Sally, who had been crying while looking at David, was startled by his sudden awakening. Then her face, streaked with tears, froze in ce. After a while, an excited smile appeared on her face, and she rushed over to hug David tightly.


    "You''re finally awake! You scared me so much! I''m so relieved!" Sally held David tightly, as if afraid he would faint again.


    Feeling Sally''s warmth and that familiar scent, David furrowed his brow again. Because he didn''t sense the aura of that woman on Sally.


    Could it be... that woman was trying to confuse him? But why did she take on Sally''s appearance? Why not Arnold, Duke, or Fatso? Could Sally really be rted to the Divine n?


    In that moment, memories of meeting Sally, falling in love with her, and even fighting together flooded David''s mind. He couldn''t find anything unusual about Sally no matter how hard he tried. This left David puzzled once again.


    Sally also noticed David''s unease and quickly let go of him, asking nervously, "What''s wrong with you? Are you still feeling unwell? You''ve been unconscious for three whole days. Are you hungry? I''ll go make your favorite braised pork for you. Just lie down and rest."


    Saying this, Sally carefully released David and prepared to go to the kitchen to cook braised pork for him. Her words, mentioning his favorite dish, didn''t seem suspicious in any way. So David smiled and nodded.


    Watching Sally hurry out, Davidy on the bed, deep in thought. He remembered the blood moon that the divine woman had imnted in his body before leaving.


    "What is the purpose of the blood moon?" David asked to himself, trying to get an exnation from the system, but the system didn''t respond as it usually did. This made David feel uneasy.

 Chapter 340 Hallucination？

    ?


    "Could it be that the system has no effect in the presence of the blood moon?" David suddenly had this question in his mind. However, he quickly dismissed this idea. As his own "golden finger," the system had the ability to manipte everything, so it couldn''t be ineffective against the blood moon.


    The only possibility was that it wasn''t the right time. Just like the activation of his "extraction" ability. If he hadn''t entered the wastnd world, he wouldn''t have gained this ability, so he needed to wait for an opportunity. That opportunity was the system''s exnation regarding the blood moon.


    With this thought, David calmed down. Although the system hadn''t provided any exnation about the blood moon, David could faintly feel its influence on him.


    Reflecting on the moment when the divine woman appeared, David couldn''t understand why she looked exactly like Sally. Could it be that Sally had been hiding her true identity, and she was actually part of the Divine n?


    This thought surfaced in David''s mind once again, and this time, he didn''t quickly dismiss the spection. Because he knew that the wastnd world had changedpletely since Edmund''s death and the appearance of the Divine n. Everything here had be eerie and mysterious, including the atmosphere in the wastnd world. There was a pervasive feeling that David couldn''t quite put his finger on, as if it came from a hazy source.


    "Hmm? Hazy? Could it be a hallucination?" David suddenly seemed to remember something, and he sat up abruptly from the bed.


    Furrowing his brow, he carefully recollected every moment before he passed out. The sudden appearance of the divine woman, the indistinct face, the ethereal voice, and the identical face to Sally.


    These pieces of information shed through David''s mind like a movie, and even when he tried to recall these scenes, they felt incredibly unreal.


    "It can''t be... how could such a vivid hallucination ur?" David muttered to himself, shaking his head.


    Just then, Sally walked in with a bowl of chicken soup. As David watched her approach, he hesitated for a moment, preparing to ask her something. He wanted to know if anything had happened after he passed out, and if the divine woman had visited.


    But just as David was about to speak, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest! It was as if his lungs were being seared by intense mes, causing unbearable agony. David clutched his chest, and the world before him started to blur, while he curled up on the bed in pain.


    "David, what''s happening to you? Please don''t scare me! What''s going on with you? Snap out of it!" David could only hear Sally''s panicked voice as she rushed towards him, shouting. Amidst her frantic cries, the sound of a ceramic bowl shattering could be heard. David tried to lift his head to see Sally clearly, but the haze in front of him prevented him from seeing anything clearly. He could only vaguely make out Sally''s silhouette.


    But the next moment, David froze in ce. Because he saw Sally in front of him, wearing a phoenix crown! This familiar attire immediately reminded David of the mysterious divine woman.


    "What on earth is happening?" David wanted to reach out and touch, but his arm felt weak and powerless. Even when he exerted all his strength to lift his hand and reach out, it barely made contact with the hazy figure before him.


    A sudden sound like shattering ss echoed! Meanwhile, the burning sensation in his lungs intensified, making it nearly impossible for him to breathe. David endured the difort and quickly retrieved the Staff of the Wastnd from the system''s inventory. He struggled to stand up and forcefully struck the staff against the ground.


    As crisp sounds reverberated, the haze in front of David began to slowly dissipate, and his strength gradually returned.


    "Go to hell!" Seeing an additional figure with vague strength before him, David took the opportunity to reach out and grab one of the burly figures by the neck.


    "David! David! Don''t scare me! Is this world real or fake? Will the Divine n rule everything?"


    "Captain! Wake up quickly!"


    "Hehe! The human race will ultimately fail. Do you want redemption?"


    "It''s not a dream; what you see is real."


    Various voices continued to echo in David''s ears. In an instant, he seemed to see the divine woman again, as well as other Divine n, and his own Embers squad members.


    "What in the world... is this?" David silently strengthened his grip on the figure.


    "Crack!" A cracking sound rang out in front of David. The haze that had been slowly dispersing suddenly shattered like ss at that moment, bing fragmented. The burning sensation in his chest also disappeared entirely.


    David raised his head and saw the clear world before him¡ªthe real world.


    "No... Captain! Let go... let go, please! I... I was about to die!" Suddenly, Fatso''s strained voice reached David''s ears.


    Startled, David quickly turned his head to look. He realized that his right hand was tightly gripping Fatso''s neck, almost like a vice. Fatso''s face had turned purple, and it seemed that if David didn''t release him, he might actually suffocate to death.


    In response, David quickly let go of his hand, and Fatso, finally saved, copsed on the ground, gasping for breath.


    After a moment, Fatso finally returned to normal. He looked at David without any resentment and asked with concern, "Captain, what happened to you?"


    "You should at least let me know if you want to strangle me to death!" Fatso appeared quite aggrieved. The others also looked at David nervously and puzzled, not knowing what had happened to him.


    After hearing Sally''s shout, they all rushed in. As soon as they entered, Fatso was grabbed tightly by David''s neck, and no matter how they struggled, they couldn''t pry David''s arm away. David was furrowing his brow at this moment.


    "Did I just enter a hallucination?" Reflecting on what had just happened, David''s expression turned serious. Then, he shared the questions he had intended to ask Sally.


    "When we woke up, we found that you had already passed out, so Fatso carried you back," Sally said, puzzled.


    "Did you see any other woman?"


    "Woman?"


    "No."


    The group recollected the scene from earlier. Hearing this, David breathed a sigh of relief. It meant that the divine woman hadn''t interfered with his team members. But why did she say those things to him?


    "Is this world truly real or fake? Are the things you see really true?" Reflecting on these words, David fell into contemtion.

 Chapter 341 The Staff Of The Starry River

    ?


    Now, the only thing David could be certain of was that the Divine n woman had challenged him. Implicitly, it meant that the Divine n had already begun to target the human race.


    But what puzzled David was why the Divine n didn''t take direct action? It was well known that the Divine n possessed much greater strength than the human and beast ns. They could easily control the human race at any time and ce. So why choose this indirect approach?


    After pondering for a moment, David felt that the only answer was that the Divine n seemed to fear something about him. Otherwise, two days ago, they would have decisively killed him to establish dominance over the human race. But what exactly did they fear about him? David couldn''t figure it out for the time being. He believed that he wouldn''t get the answers easily.


    At the same time, David had also learned the function of the blood moon embedded in his body. It allowed him to control his entry into a hallucination. The reason he had suddenly entered the hallucination earlier was due to the intense burning sensation in his lungs. Now, David had found the only way to exit the hallucination¡ªa staff called the "Staff of the Wastnd" standing nearby.


    The reason he had quickly thought to use the Staff of the Wastnd to strike the ground was because it was the only method he could think of. The Staff of the Wastnd originated from the wastnd world, a world created by the Divine n''s Spirit Emperor. So, the Staff of the Wastnd was very likely a symbol of authority of the Divine n.


    To David''s surprise, he had actually managed to break the hallucination by trying it out. This brought him back to reality. After this experience, David summarized several important pieces of information: the blood moon could control his entry into the hallucination, in the hallucination, he could still hear sounds from the outside world, the Divine n woman and other Divine n members could appear in the hallucination, and he became extremely aggressive in the hallucination.


    Lastly, the Staff of the Wastnd could effectively alleviate the pain caused by the hallucination. These were all the pieces of information David had gathered to face the Divine n.


    Seeing David return to normal, the group let out a sigh of relief. They had been truly frightened by his crazed state just moments ago. David had always been the core of their Embers squad and the lord of Dragon City and Phoenix City.


    If something were to happen to David, they wouldn''t know what to do next. Seeing their worried expressions, David smiled faintly. "I''m fine, maybe I was just too nervous. Everyone, please leave, we have something to doter."


    Everyone nodded and left David''s room. Sally, however, remained by his side, looking at the spilled chicken soup and shattered porcin bowl. David wore an embarrassed smile.


    Just as he was about to bend down and pick up the pieces, Sally quickly supported him back to the bed. "Don''t move, I''ll clean it up," she said, swiftly tidying up the fragments.


    Then, Sally poured another bowl of chicken soup and handed it to David. "Drink up, you''re weak right now. It will help replenish your nutrients."


    David nodded with a smile, realizing that he indeed needed some nourishment. Without hesitation, he tilted his head and downed the entire bowl of chicken soup.


    "Delicious!" David couldn''t help but give a thumbs-up to Sally as he felt the vorful soup, a satisfied smile forming on his face.


    Sally finally felt at ease. After David had consumed threerge bowls of soup in session, he finally felt satiated. Sally left to attend to the tasks he had entrusted to her.


    Watching Sally''s retreating figure, David''s expression becameplex. After a short rest, he remembered that the Staff of the Wastnd could be upgraded. He immediately called upon the system.


    "System, upgrade the Staff of the Wastnd," David said, and the system responded promptly.


    [Ding! Upgrading the Staff of the Wastnd. Please wait, Host!]


    As soon as the system finished speaking, David saw the Staff of the Wastnd, which had been standing nearby, suddenly disappear into thin air. He carefully sensed it but couldn''t detect the presence of the Staff of the Wastnd even in the void.


    This left David puzzled. However, he realized that the current Wastnd World was not the same as before. The rules of survival might have changed, and various things might have changed ordingly. After about five minutes, the system''s voice rang out once more.


    [Ding! Congrattions, Host, on sessfully upgrading the Staff of the Wastnd!]


    David immediately became more alert. Now that the Space de and Alloy Short Sword had been broken by the Divine n woman, the only weapon he had left was the Staff of the Wastnd. He had been curious about what form it would take after the upgrade. More importantly, the Staff of the Wastnd was currently his only means of alleviating the effects of the hallucination.


    [Ding! Congrattions, Host, on upgrading the Staff of the Wastnd to the Staff of the Starry River!]


    "The Staff of the Starry River?" Following the system''s announcement, the air in the room seemed to be filled with a dazzling starry river in an instant. Every corner of the room dimmed, leaving only a radiant starry river in front of David. Gazing at this starry river, David felt an immense power, one that transcended time and shattered the heavens.


    "So powerful!" David murmured. Just then, a dazzling light pir over ten thousand meters tall suddenly appeared within the starry river. The moment this light pir appeared, it absorbed all the stars in the starry river, making the light pir even more dazzling.


    Following that, the light pir gradually shrank and eventually turned into a three-meter-long scepter, emitting pure white light all over. It was indeed the Staff of the Starry River, a staff that harnessed the power of the starry river, transcending the constraints of time.


    David reached out and gripped the Staff of the Starry River in his hand. As soon as his palm made contact with it, he felt an endless power emanating from the cosmos. The radiance on the staff dissipated, leaving only three faintly visible stars.


    David knew that the Staff of the Starry River he held now was far more powerful than the Staff of the Wastnd. With it, his own strength had greatly increased. Sensing the cosmic power within him, David clenched his fist in determination.


    At this moment, he was no longer the David who had once ruled over the Wastnd World. His enemies had been eradicated, and new enemies, the Divine n, had emerged. To face them, David had to enhance his own strength. The Ancestral God level appeared to be inadequate when facing the Divine n woman.


    David needed to break through the limits of his current level and reach a level that could truly rival the Divine n. With the guidance of the system, he gained a deeper understanding of his future levels.

 Chapter 342 Wasnt Clive Dead?

    ?


    As David broke through the ordinary Level 12 of his psychic abilities, he entered a transformative level. This transformative level could be subdivided from low to high into six stages: Escaping Dust, Dark God, Spirit Disciple, Spirit Emperor, Spirit Saint, and Spirit Sage.


    To reach a strength level equivalent to the Divine n, he had to advance to the Spirit Disciple stage and then gradually cultivate and improve. The Divine n woman who had appeared before David corresponded to the Spirit Emperor level, which matched the hierarchy mentioned earlier.


    Escaping Dust and Dark God, however, were transitional levels within the transformative stage. Although the term "god" was used in Dark God, it was merely a formless deity for the Divine n. In other words, a false god. Against any power outside the Divine n, this level was more than sufficient, but it would be challenging when confronting the Divine n itself. David found himself in this transitional level.


    Understanding these six stages, David gained a deeper insight into his own abilities. His current enemy was the Divine n, so he had to elevate his level beyond Spirit Disciple. Only then would he have the strength to challenge the Divine n. With these thoughts in mind, David''s fighting spirit reignited.


    His immediate task was to familiarize himself with the changes in the Wastnd World and understand the new rules it had derived.


    David got up from the bed and walked out of the room. Sally and the others were waiting at the door. When they saw Davide out, their expressions were resolute. They knew that this time, they were stepping into a new Wastnd World, a journey even more mysterious and perplexing.


    When David had passed out earlier, Arnold had brought C, Little ck, Duane, and Shirley with him. Seeing everyone gathered, David nodded lightly and started walking out of the Dark City.


    The sky outside was unbelievably blue, with a few cloud formations resembling fluffy cotton candy. Birds flew overhead, and the overall scene was no longer as deste as the original Wastnd World; it had a touch of warmth.


    David suddenly stopped, gazing up at the deep blue sky. Sally hurried over and asked, "What''s wrong?"


    David shook his head, not saying anything, and continued walking towards the city gate. The others didn''t ask further questions and followed suit.


    The Dark City was still guarded by the Kui tribe under Vi''smand. Following David''s orders, they had a tight defense, with a guard stationed every ten steps. Upon seeing David''s figure, these Kui tribe members quickly stood upright.


    They passed through the oval-shaped city gate, and David led his team into thends of the Wastnd World. The soft soil, the green trees as far as the eye could see, and even the distant sound of flowing water for hundreds of kilometers¡ªall appeared to be incredibly beautiful. It was as if this ce was not the Wastnd World but the world before the apocalypse.


    "This is where humans used to live. It''s so beautiful! There''s even a floral scent in the air. I''ve missed this smell!" The members of the Embers Team slowly rxed, immersed in the environment of birdsong and blooming flowers. However, the beautiful scenery only furrowed David''s brow slightly.


    Has the Wastnd World changed? Why is it so sudden? David looked around and indeed, there was no sign of the destion that had characterized the Wastnd World before. However, he didn''t get lost in the beauty of it like the others. Instead, he sensed something unusual. Could it be that the Zerg were responsible for the destion in the first ce?


    This thought crossed David''s mind because the Zerg had always controlled the Wastnd World. Their continuous breeding and expansion had undoubtedly contributed to its destion.


    David thought that after Edmund''s death, the world had reverted to its original state. However, what he hadn''t expected was that it had turned into a paradise. At this moment, David tried to let go of the tension he had been carrying and immerse himself in the beautiful scenery.


    "Hmm? Something''s not right!" Suddenly, David''s heartstrings seemed to be plucked, and his eyes emitted a sharp aura. Rapid streams of information shed through his mind. Then, he became tense. He realized that the creator of the Wastnd World was the Divine n.


    The sinister force behind the Zerg, the Spirit Emperor of the Divine n. In other words, the changes in the Wastnd World had nothing to do with the Zerg. They were just puppets. The ones truly capable of affecting the Wastnd World were the Divine n.


    "Divine n! It''s the Divine n!" David shouted in his heart, now realizing that the scenery before him was intentionally created by the Spirit Emperor of the Divine n. It was an illusion. But... why would she do this?


    David''s mind was in chaos as one question after another arose. He looked down at his chest. This time, there was no burning sensation in his lungs. Could this not be an illusion?


    David felt a bit lost. The information he had just discovered seemed to have lost its effectiveness. In other words, everything he saw around him was real, not an illusion.


    After some thought, David decided to go to a particr ce. He took off and flew towards the east of the Wastnd World. As they saw David leaving, the members of the Embers Team quickly followed.


    In no time, they arrived in a valley. This was where David had encountered the shapeshifting couple during his first visit to the Wastnd World. Later, David had established his first base here. Hended in an open space and looked at arge rock. When he had moved his base, he had taken everything inside with him, but the base''s core remained here.


    Behind thatrge rock, the base did not belong to the Wastnd World; it was a product of his system. David believed that it might not have been affected by the changes made by the Divine n. He slowly approached therge rock, attempting to see something.


    The rest of the team had also arrived by now. David gestured for them to stay put while he continued walking toward therge rock.


    If the base existed, it would confirm that everything before his eyes wasn''t an illusion. If the base was gone, it would indicate that it had been concealed by the Spirit Emperor using some sort of illusion, and the entire Wastnd World would be an illusion as well.


    David approached cautiously. Soon, he saw the scene behind therge rock. "Thud!" When he saw what was in front of him, David''s heart sank. Instead of the base, there was a dpidated wooden cabin.


    "A cabin... Clive!" David immediately recognized this as Clive''s cabin. But wasn''t Clive dead? Why was his cabin here?

 Chapter 343 Its All An Illusion.

    The sudden appearance of the small cabin sent a shock through David. He knew that Clive had died at the hands of Edmund, and the cabin had been destroyed at that moment. How could it suddenly appear before his eyes?


    Furthermore, David saw Clive''s old, tattered bamboo chair right as he was contemting the situation. Just as David was filled with questions, a creaking sound marked the opening of the cabin''s door, jolting him from his thoughts. He raised his head and saw the familiar figure.


    Clive slowly emerged from the cabin, just as he had before. He was dressed in a faded blue robe, his face naturally etched with deep wrinkles. As he stepped out of the cabin, his gaze immediately locked onto David, as if he had already anticipated David''s arrival.


    "Clive? You''re not..." David''s voice trembled slightly. Suddenly, he seemed to recall something. His eyes shed with a hint of sharpness.


    "An illusion! This is an illusion! Clive is dead, and the dead don''te back!" David kept shaking his head. However, the next moment, he was once again left bewildered. He lowered his head to his chest, seemingly waiting for something. Yes, he was waiting for the burning sensation that the Blood Moon brought him. He had deduced that whenever an illusion appeared, the Blood Moon would burn his lungs. But strangely, that excruciating pain hadn''t manifested.


    "What''s going on? Could I be wrong?" Just as David was lost in thought, Clive suddenly settled into the bamboo chair and smiled at him.


    "Hahaha! Kid, you actually thought I was dead. This old man here isn''t so easily killed. Well done, you''ve withstood my test." Clive appeared rather pleased, and there was a hint of admiration in his gaze as he looked at David.


    At that moment, the other members of the Embers Team arrived behind David. When they saw Clive reclining in the bamboo chair so leisurely, their mouths dropped in astonishment.


    "This old guy... He''s not... He''s not dead? How is he still alive and kicking?" Fatso said incredulously.


    Clearly, everyone found it hard to believe what they were witnessing. Even Emlyn, who had been friends with Clive for a long time, was bewildered.


    "Clive? Are you really Clive?" Emlyn asked hesitantly, suppressing his doubts.


    In response to Emlyn''s question, Clive gave him a side-eye and retorted, "Of course! Who else would I be? What, did you think I died?"


    "Really? You didn''t die?" Hearing Clive''s words, Emlyn suddenly felt a surge of joy. Yes, he could tell from Clive''s tone that this was indeed Clive. Even the way he looked at him and his words were just like before.


    So, Emlyn stamped his foot forcefully and eximed, "You old man, you didn''t die? You nearly scared me to death!" With that, the excitement on his face became apparent.


    However, Clive''s appearance continued to leave everyone immensely puzzled. After all, they had all witnessed him apparently dying at the hands of Edmund alongside General Armor . How could he suddenlye back to life? David seemed to sense something and looked at Clive with a questioning gaze.


    Clive met David''s gaze, gave a faint smile, and reclined on the bamboo chair, crossing his legs. He said, "I know what''s on your mind and I understand your questions. Yes, I died, but only my physical body. I can have many physical bodies. Besides, do you think that Zerg fellow could really kill me? Hmph, ridiculous! We Divine n aren''t that trash."


    As Clive spoke, his self-satisfied expression grew more pronounced. Hearing Clive''s words, David finally understood that Clive had multiple physical bodies.


    "What?! Divine n?!" Suddenly realizing, David''s pupils contracted sharply. He stared intently at Clive, and the Star River Staff immediately appeared in his hand. His current enemy was indeed the Divine n.


    Clive imed to be part of the Divine n? David was extremely sensitive to this term. His aura surged, and the others were once again shocked. Was this old man truly part of the Divine n?


    Emlyn, seeing the anger building up in David, knew that his master was probably about to take action. So he urgently shouted at Clive, "Have you lost your mind? Enough with this Divine n nonsense! You''re Clive!"


    But Clive seemed unfazed by David''s anger. He extended his finger and snapped it. Suddenly, a dense mist enveloped him, and a woman wearing a phoenix crown emerged from it. She looked at David and spoke, "Young man, do you remember?"


    Seeing the Divine n''s Spirit Emperor, David didn''t hesitate. He lifted the Star River Staff and rushed forward. However, in the next moment, as Clive snapped his fingers again, the woman disappeared.


    "What you saw was indeed an illusion," Clive said as he stood up.


    David stood still, looking at Clive. He felt that this man was hiding too many secrets. Resurrected suddenly, iming to be part of the Divine n, and summoning the Divine n''s Spirit Emperor¡ªDavid''s mind was in turmoil. He felt as if he were trapped in a vast puzzle. He wanted to see everything clearly, but it remained hazy. He knew that Clive held the answers.


    So, David calmed himself down and looked at Clive once more. "So, the Spirit Emperor was also an illusion."


    With David''s realization, Clive nodded with satisfaction. He hadn''t expected this young man to catch on so quickly:"Not just her. Everything she said was a creation of my illusions. I didn''t expect you to have such a quick understanding. Impressive."


    In reality, Clive was indeed part of the Divine n and the creator of the wastnd world. The Spirit Emperor mentioned by Edmund was one of the three inner demons he hadn''t been able to y in his heart. He had been practicing for the end times, aiming to finally eliminate it.


    Clive intentionally faked his death at Edmund''s hands because he had a purpose. He wanted to test David''s suitability to rule the wastnd world. This included the pressures he applied through the Spirit Emperor. Clive used these terrifying elements to examine David''s character. The current result pleased him greatly.


    David had withstood his test, and now Clive could confidently pass the mantle of the wastnd world''s ruler to him. He would also allow David to take his ce as a Spirit Emperor, the one and only true god in this world.

 Chapter 344 Become That Gentle Breeze

    ?


    fact, Clive had been observing various Espers before the Apocalypse. Eventually, he set his sights on the young Esper, David, seeing hope for humanity within him.


    In this world, the three races of gods, humans, and beasts were in a delicate bnce. As the only Spirit Emperor, Clive hoped for the three races to coexist peacefully. However, the beast race''s uprising led to the Apocalypse. Divine n''s Spirit Emperor, who had be Clive, descended during this crisis to suppress it and also sought his sessor. After losing faith in every Esper due to their greed, selfishness, and excessive bloodlust, he realized that David was the one who could carry the torch.


    When David entered his Abyssal Graveyard, Clive knew that David was ready to take over. That''s why he asionally appeared by David''s side to help him with various challenges.


    However, David was still puzzled by Clive''s words. He remembered Clive''s fear when facing Edmund and his ultimate sacrifice. How could such a person be part of the Divine n? Weren''t Divine n members supposed to be extremely powerful?


    Clive sensed David''s thoughts and chuckled, saying, "If I didn''t act a little, how could I test you properly? I must admit, my acting skills are quite good."


    David was still uncertain. He asked, "But you are a Divine n member. Why would you want to help humanity and bring peace? Divine n and humans are two separate races. Shouldn''t Divine n members prioritize their own kind?"


    Clive''s expression turned serious as he responded, "Which Divine n member wasn''t once a human? Although I am part of the Divine n, I am first and foremost a human. If I were to forget my roots after bing a Spirit Emperor, then I wouldn''t deserve to be a god. Humanity has suffered so much in this world, and I can''t bear to see it continue."


    David suddenly felt a deep sense of admiration. He hadn''t expected that Clive, now a deity, would still care so much for humanity. Most people, when granted ultimate power, would be arrogant and disregard humanity or even turn against them. David finally understood why Clive had returned from the dead and why he had seen those illusions.


    With this newfound understanding, David felt a profound sense of purpose. He then asked Clive the final question that had been bothering him: "What is the blood moon that entered my body? I''ve always been curious about this strange phenomenon. Initially, I thought it was something the Divine n used to create illusions within me. But with your appearance and words, it seems my previous assumptions were incorrect. I even have a feeling that this blood moon is closely rted to you."


    Upon hearing David''s question, Clive nced at his chest and replied, "That blood moon is the umtion of all my celestial qi over the past century. ording to the timeline, it has already taken root and sprouted within you. In other words, you have now reced me as the world''s one and only true god."


    So David quickly tried to sense the changes in his body. Indeed, there was now a supreme power coursing through him, a power unlike any of his abilities, seemingly emanating from high above the ninth heaven, especially vigorous and immense. Clearly, it was the power of a god.


    And David could also clearly feel his own rank, breaking through from a Dark God to a Spirit Lord in a single breath. However, because he had notpletely digested the blood moon yet, his aura had not been exposed.


    "Why did you do this? Without these immortals'' aura, how will you survive?" David looked at Clive and asked in a deep voice. He didn''t know why Clive had done this, but he knew that if a true god lost their immortals'' aura, their life woulde to an end. He couldn''t understand Clive''s actions.


    But Clive, after hearing his words, only smiled faintly and showed an expression of eptance. Clive spoke calmly, saying, "I am old, and the world belongs to you young people now. From now on, I will be a part of the vast qi in the world, free and content."


    When Clive said these words, there was no trace of sadness on his face; he appeared carefree and natural. But what he really wanted to say was that David was destined to be a god in this world, and all he had to do was give up his position.


    Clive willingly did all this because he knew that this young man before him was worth it. Only he could bring peace to the human race and maintain the bnce among the three races. In other words, it was Clive''s mission. At this moment, Clive looked up at the sky, as if waiting for something, and the rising sun hung in the sky.


    "My time is running out. I hope you can bear this responsibility. I believe in you." Suddenly, Clive reached out and patted David''s shoulder, then he walked towards Emlyn. "Emlyn, stick with David, he''s your benefactor. If you miss me,e find me on the mountain, but make sure to bring strong liquor!If you try to trick me with that lousy liquor again, be prepared for me toe out and give you a beating,"


    Emlyn also understood what Clive was going to do next. A clear tear streaked down his cheek, and he nodded heavily.


    "Alright, my time hase."


    At this moment, the sun in the sky reached its zenith. The scorching sunlight bathed them, but it didn''t feel hot; it brought a sense of tranquility.


    "I will always be watching over you. The human race is worth it with you! I''m off to be that gentle breeze now! Hahaha!" Clive burst intoughter. Then, his body slowly began to blur. In no time at all, he disappeared from where he stood. A gentle breeze passed through the people, paused for a moment, and then flew off into the distance.

 Chapter 345 Fulfillment (Final )

    ?


    As Clive transformed into a gentle breeze and disappeared into the wastnd world, everyone fell into silence. It seemed that each person had felt a majestic power emanating from Clive, a power beyond imagination.


    David stood quietly in ce, gazing into the distance. He knew that Clive had ced his trust in him, and this trust filled David with unwavering determination.


    "Clive, rest assured, I won''t let you down," he whispered to himself, gripping the Star River Staff tightly in his hand.


    In the wastnd world, the sunlight was warm, and a gentle breeze brushed by. Unbeknownst to them, every inch of thisnd began to sprout beautiful Tibetan gentian flowers. These flowers grew rapidly, and in a short time, they transformed the destion into a sea of blossoms. David stood amidst this floral paradise.


    Even after bing the Spirit Lord of the Divine n, David did not stop. He knew that the burden on his shoulders was heavy, as it concerned the existence of the Divine n and the Beast n. So he shuttled between the two worlds, and in doing so, he discovered the truth about the impending apocalypse.


    The Beast n had disrupted the peaceful coexistence among the three races in their quest for world domination. They had torn through the heavens, bringing about the apocalypse. This prompted the entire human race to take up arms and resist.


    David was one of them. Now, the wastnd world had quieted down, but the apocalypse had not ceased. Although David had established the peaceful territories of Dragon City and Phoenix City in the apocalypse, the wastnds were vast, and various cities were upied by the Beast n and the undead.


    So, David led his team back to the apocalypse. The guards of Dragon City and Phoenix City, upon seeing David''s return, disyed excited expressions. They had a vague sense that David''s return meant they were about to embark on something significant.


    And indeed, it was the case. David quickly announced a war against the Beast n. In this moment, emotions ran high as everyone brandished their weapons and charged towards the cities.


    Empowered by David''s invisible buff, they broke through one city after another, wiping out the Beast n members. The formidable Beast n members were swiftly dispatched by David with a snap of his fingers. In just three days, David had reimed all the cities within a thousand-mile radius.


    After conquering these cities, David immediately beganprehensive renovations. Simultaneously, he dispatched team after team to hunt down the distant Beast n members.


    In just one month, all the cities previously upied by the Beast n in the apocalypse had be David''s territories. His team had grown to over a hundred thousand members.


    Among them were Espers and survivors. Regardless of their strength, David was their only god in their hearts, so they willingly carried out all their duties within the cities.


    Surveying the revitalized cities, David nodded in satisfaction. At this moment, the Beast n had beenpletely eradicated.


    The world had returned to normal. Peace and prosperity had been restored.


    David brought out all the resources from his system warehouse and continuously upgraded and transformed the cities. Soon, one modern city after another reappeared on the.


    The inhabitants of these cities regarded David as their patron saint. After resolving the apocalypse, David returned to the wastnd world once again.


    Reflecting on the first time he had set foot on thisnd with Danny, David''s memories were still vivid. However, he hadn''t anticipated that in such a short time, he wouldpletely rule this world. Moreover, the wastnd world had transformed into something entirely different; it was now filled with the fragrance of flowers, and various mountains, rivers, and streams had appeared on the surface.


    No longer were there super-powered exotic beasts running amok in the woods; instead, cute little animals roamed freely. Watching this scene before him, David smiled heartily. He felt that everything he had done was worthwhile. Regardless of the hardships he had endured and the dangers he had faced, the current view of the deste world made him feel proud of his aplishments as a victor and as someone with great power.


    In the wastnd world''s Dark City, David had transformed it into a metropolis. Simultaneously, he had brought some Espers and survivors here,pletely revitalizing the metropolis. This turned the previously monster-infested wastnd into a ce with the warmth of human life.


    Although David had be the highest authority in the Divine n, he had not forgotten Clive''s instructions. He was determined to contribute his lifetime of effort to the rise of the human race and the peace among the three races.


    Sitting in the grand hall, David looked at those in attendance: Arnold, Sophie, Duke, Sally, Charles, Fatso, Vi, Emlyn, Duane, Shirley, Mandy, C, and Little ck. He nodded in satisfaction. Whether they had joined his team from the beginning orter on, all of them had provided significant assistance. He was grateful for their help and for their constantpanionship. Likewise, those in attendance felt the same way.


    If it weren''t for David at the beginning, they would likely have be wandering souls and ghosts here. Where else would they have the opportunity to stand here today? So, their gazes towards David were filled with respect. In their eyes, David wasn''t just a god; he was also their belief.


    "This is great; it''s the first time our team is soplete. I suggest we hold a feast today. What do you all think?" Arnold suggested with a smile, instantly gaining unanimous agreement from those around him.


    David smiled faintly and immediately arranged for preparations to begin. In the evening, a feast exclusively for David''s team began in the Dark City. Everyone raised their sses, their faces beaming with happiness,pletely devoid of the tension and fatigue from the past.


    Seeing their joyous faces, David quietly made his way to a small hill outside the city. Standing at the hilltop, he gazed into the distance. He knew that he had obtained everything he had ever wanted, and he had be a truly unique existence in this world.


    "A long-awaited life of happiness," David murmured.


    At this moment, Sally appeared behind him. Looking at his tall figure, she wore a happy smile on her face, then opened her arms and tightly embraced David.


    "This world has you. That''s wonderful," Sally said gently.


    David smiled and reached out to pat her head. Then, he looked up at the night sky and whispered, "My name is David, and in this world... there is no longer an apocalypse..."


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