Skinny Monkey led the visitors into the living room.
"Sit." Yang Bin gestured at the sofa.
"Sure."
Wang Ruikai and Wang Yueming sat down. The two bodyguards remained standing behind them.
Yang Bin activated True Vision Eye and swept his gaze over the four. Surprise flickered across his face.
He hadn't looked closely before. He hadn't expected the man in front of him to be an Ability User-and a strong one at that.
Metal-Type Ability. Partial Metallization of the body, massively boosting both defense and attack power.
An ability like that was an enormous force multiplier in combat. At the same tier, few opponents could match him.
Moreover, all four of them had already reached Tier-3 Peak. They were probably waiting for the zombie in their backyard to break through to Tier 4 so they could advance themselves.
As expected-powerful backing meant staying ahead of the curve, even in the apocalypse.
"With zombies everywhere outside, I notice you still head out every day. Your strength must be quite impressive," Wang Ruikai said, his tone deliberately casual.
"Strong my ass. It's not like we have a choice-we have to go out and scrounge for food. Otherwise we'd just starve to death hiding in here." Yang Bin put on a helpless expression.
"Ha, you're quite the joker. How could you possibly be short on food?"
Wang Ruikai's mouth twitched. If I hadn't watched you push multiple overloaded carts of supplies back here, I might've actually fucking believed that.
"In the apocalypse, who isn't short on food? If you've got extra, how about lending us some? We're practically scraping the bottom of the rice bag over here."
"......"
"Sure, sure, we can talk about that," Wang Ruikai said awkwardly.
"Since you're short on food, why not go to a Survival Base? With your strength, you should be able to make it there on your own."
"A Survival Base isn't nearly as comfortable as this place. I never got to live in a villa before, so I figured-hey, it's the apocalypse, might as well see what it feels like."
"Gotta say, rich people really know how to live. This villa is something else." Yang Bin sank deeper into the sofa, looking thoroughly content.
Wang Yueming eyed them with undisguised contempt. Just as he'd guessed-a bunch of broke nobodies who'd never set foot in a villa before.
"Ha, villas are comfortable, sure. But it's only temporary. This place isn't nearly as safe as a Survival Base. If a horde rolls through one day, it's over," Wang Ruikai said with a smile.
"Eh, no worries. As long as we've enjoyed it. Even if zombies eat us, at least we lived the good life first."
"......"
"I notice there are only six of you. Have you considered joining a larger faction? At least your safety would be more secure."
"Larger faction meaning?"
"A major family, for instance. Big families offer excellent treatment-supplies, crystals, and you'd still get to live in a villa. You could even live a life above ordinary people."
"Sounds pretty nice. Which family are you with?"
"We're with the Wang family. This is our Wang family's eldest young master, Wang Ruikai!" Wang Yueming announced proudly.
"The Wang family is Star City's number one family."
"Oh, Young Master Wang! Pleased to meet you, pleased to meet you. But the government's still around-aren't you basically staging a rebellion?"
"......"
"Brother, you jest. You know what kind of world this is now. The authorities have lost control. In the apocalypse, powers rise on all sides. Strength is the only law that matters going forward. Choosing a powerful faction now means truly standing above others in the future." Wang Ruikai's voice carried the smooth cadence of a well-rehearsed pitch.
"So how strong is the Wang family right now?"
"Our Wang family currently has over a hundred Tier-3 Evolvers and over a thousand Tier-2 Evolvers. Tier 1? Too many to count." Wang Ruikai said it with obvious pride.
"Damn, that does sound impressive. What are the requirements to join?" Yang Bin asked, curiosity written all over his face.
"As long as your strength has reached Tier 3, I can personally approve your entry into the Wang family. Full access to all our resources."
"Uh... Tier 3, huh. That's a shame. None of us here are Tier 3." Yang Bin sighed.
Wang Ruikai frowned. This wasn't what he'd expected. In his mind, people who dared go outside every day had to be at least Tier 3. He hadn't imagined this group wouldn't have a single one.
"If your combat ability is exceptional, Tier-2 Peak would also be acceptable." Wang Ruikai lowered the bar.
Yang Bin shook his head again. "Man, looks like we're out of luck. We don't even have a Tier-2 Peak among us."
"Brother, you can't be serious. Without even a Tier-2 Peak, how do you dare go outside?" Wang Ruikai clearly didn't buy it.
"We don't go far. Just wander the neighborhood looking for scraps. Guess we've been lucky-haven't run into anything too nasty yet." Yang Bin shrugged.
Wang Ruikai studied Yang Bin's face carefully. The man didn't seem to be lying. His frown deepened.
"Could I have been wrong? Are these people just a bunch of low-tier Evolvers?"
If so, there was no point wasting more time here.
With that thought, Wang Ruikai suppressed the urge to kill and forced a thin smile. "We've taken up too much of your time today. We'll head back. Let's do this again sometime."
"So can we still join the Wang family?" Yang Bin looked at Wang Ruikai with hopeful eyes.
Wang Ruikai's mouth twitched. He managed a strained smile. "I'll go back and discuss it with the family."
"Great, great!"
As the visitors disappeared through the door, the hopeful expression slid off Yang Bin's face. A cold smile took its place.
"Brother Bin, this Wang family seems to be making big moves," Zhao Kun said, thoughtful.
"Of course they are. These big families were already scheming behind the scenes before the apocalypse. Now that the world's ended, it'd be stranger if they weren't making power plays."
"Looks like things really might devolve into a warlord era."
"That's still a ways off. For now, the military is still the strongest force."
"But the military's attention is entirely on the zombies. Once they've ground each other down enough, that's when these families will make their move."
"So what do we do, Brother Bin?"
"Stick to the plan. Focus on building our own strength. As long as we're strong enough, it doesn't matter how they fight among themselves-none of it touches us."
"Besides, zombies are getting stronger and smarter. Kill difficulty is climbing fast. If nobody deals with that threat first, winning some power struggle is meaningless."
"True." The others nodded.
"That said-Wang Ruikai is way too close to us. There's a real chance he drags us into whatever conflict is coming. So I'm wondering whether we should just take him out." Yang Bin's tone was casual, like he was discussing dinner plans.
"......"
"Wouldn't that be kicking a hornet's nest? The Wang family would come down on us hard. A family like that definitely has firearms. Things could get ugly."
"That part doesn't worry me. Worst case, we relocate. What I actually find hard to let go of is his ability. I'm wondering if there's a way to strip it from him."
"He's an Ability User?" Everyone's eyes went wide.
"Yeah. A powerful combat-type, too. Partial Metallization-massive boosts to both defense and offense. If I'm not wrong, once he reaches a certain level, he'll be able to metallize his entire body. At that point, he'd be an absolute war machine."
"That broken?!"
"Very. So I'm a bit reluctant to kill him now. Maybe once we're stronger, there'll be a way to transfer abilities."
"So... kill or no kill?"
"Leave him. For now."