Now that he'd felt the handgun's power firsthand, Yang Bin had a clear read on what ordinary pistols could do.
He stopped wasting time. The Barbell Rod punched forward in a blur, piercing through the leader's skull before the man even registered the movement.
The remaining thugs froze in shock, then scattered in every direction.
After watching Yang Bin catch bullets bare-handed, not one of them had any fight left.
"No survivors," Yang Bin said coldly.
"Got it."
Chen Hao and the others nodded and gave chase.
The thugs tried to run-only to discover, with dawning horror, that they'd barricaded every single door with Shelves.
They could've slapped themselves. If only they'd left one exit open.
Under the team's pursuit, bodies dropped one after another.
The last dozen or so, seeing no way out, collapsed to their knees.
"Please, don't kill us! This was all the boss's idea!"
"Yeah! We just followed him! We never did anything bad!"
They knelt there begging, gambling on the mercy of young people.
Bad bet. Mercy was something Hu Wenliang might have once felt. Yang Bin never did.
Yang Bin had given the order. They would carry it out.
And after Yang Bin's steady influence, Hu Wenliang was adapting fast to the rules of this new world. This time, even he felt nothing.
Because what these men had done crossed every line he had.
The team ignored the pleas entirely. Barbell Rods came down on skulls without hesitation.
Minutes later, all sixty-odd thugs lay dead.
Everyone gathered back around Yang Bin, who was turning the dead leader's pistol over in his hands, studying it.
He'd seen these on TV plenty of times, but this was his first time holding one.
Every man seemed to have a thing for guns. Yang Bin was no exception.
Unfortunately, the magazine was empty. No spare rounds on the body either.
No telling where the bastard had gotten it.
"Brother Bin, how much of a threat is this thing to us?" Chen Hao asked.
The others eyed the pistol curiously.
Honestly, they felt like they could probably take a hit. But there was something primal about staring down a gun barrel-an instinct that ran deeper than logic.
That kind of fear was normal. Especially when you'd just watched that black hole of a muzzle swing toward your face.
Yang Bin smiled. "Based on what I just felt, this thing is still a real threat to First and Tier 2 Evolvers. But Tier 3 and above? Not so much."
"A Tier-3 Evolver's body is tough enough that a hit would be a minor wound at worst. No real impact. Unless you take one in the eye-that's a different story."
"Tier-4 Evolvers can basically ignore a pistol like this. Even a direct hit would barely break the skin. Wouldn't reach the muscle layer."
He opened his palm. A small dent marked the center-where he'd deliberately caught a round flat against his hand.
Seeing the 'wound,' everyone relaxed. So handguns weren't all that scary after all.
Yang Bin's expression hardened immediately. "Don't get cocky. This is just an ordinary pistol. The military has plenty of serious hardware. Those assault rifles the soldiers were carrying earlier? They'd turn us into Swiss cheese in seconds. And that large-caliber heavy machine gun they rolled out?"
"That thing made the Tier-5 Zombie run."
"So remember-never underestimate firearms. We are nowhere near strong enough to go up against real military weapons."
"Understood!" They all nodded.
Just then, movement came from behind them.
The women had gotten to their feet at some point. They said nothing-no thanks, no relief. Just stared at the team with hollow, dead eyes. The look of people who'd already accepted whatever came next.
Yang Bin and the others frowned.
These women had clearly changed hands before. Probably more than once. They assumed this was just the next set of owners.
"Put some clothes on," Yang Bin said.
The women glanced up at them, then numbly reached for the torn rags on the floor and started pulling them on.
"..."
"Go to the clothing section and pick out something decent!" Yang Bin snapped.
Damn it-those shredded rags covered less than nothing. Did they not notice they were surrounded by young men?
This time, something shifted in the women's expressions. A flicker of surprise.
Young guys. Different tastes, apparently.
They shuffled toward the clothing section.
"Let's go grab food," Yang Bin said.
"Yeah."
Everyone grabbed a shopping cart and headed for the rice, flour, and cooking oil aisles.
The plan was to stock up heavy on rice and noodles. The villa had a kitchen-they could cook proper meals.
Instant noodles, crackers, and bread too. Field rations for zombie-hunting runs.
The place lived up to its name. A supermarket this size had damn near everything.
Still, they prioritized food. The villa already had daily essentials covered.
Before long, six carts were loaded to overflowing.
Each of them grabbed a large mountaineering pack-the heavy-duty kind-and stuffed those full too.
This location wouldn't stay untouched for long. The Survival Base had thousands of mouths to feed, and the demand for supplies was enormous.
Once the first wave of rescue missions wrapped up, scavenging would be priority one.
Walmart was barely ten kilometers from the base. It'd be the military's first stop.
So they needed to haul as much as possible now. Next visit, the shelves would be stripped bare.
With everything packed, they got ready to leave.
That's when the women came back, fully dressed.
When the team saw what they were wearing, every pair of eyes went wide.
No wonder these women had suffered so badly. Every single one of them was stunning-faces and figures alike.
But-black stockings and uniforms? Seriously? Were they trying to torment honest men?
They'd completely misread Yang Bin's instructions.
Yang Bin drew a slow breath. His voice came out flat and cold.
"We're leaving. You can keep hiding in here, or you can pick up the machetes off the floor and go kill zombies. Your choice. But remember this-in the apocalypse, if you don't want to be someone's property again, you make yourself strong. No one else is going to do it for you."
He turned and led the team toward the exit, carts rolling.
"Wait!"
One of the women finally spoke.
"You're really not going to...?"
Yang Bin didn't turn around. "You're overthinking it. Yeah, the apocalypse killed off most of what made people human. But some of us still have lines we won't cross. Lucky you-you finally ran into that kind. So you're free. Whether you stay free?" He shrugged. "That's on you. Fate's in your own hands."