On a wide road, a massive crowd fled in a frenzy.
Behind them, seven people followed close, reaping lives as they went.
This time, Yang Bin clearly had no intention of letting any of them leave.
You came all this way. Might as well stay.
Seven people hunting over a thousand - the scene was absurd by any measure.
But that was the reality. These men had been scared witless, every shred of courage beaten out of them. Their only thought was to get as far from here as possible.
The problem was, a thousand-plus people sprinting for their lives made one hell of a racket.
The route had been cleared on their way in, but noise like that was a dinner bell. Zombies came from every direction, converging on the crowd.
Faces went white across the group.
Zombies ahead. Death incarnate behind. The word "fucked" didn't begin to cover it.
In the end, they gritted their teeth and charged toward the zombies.
The calculus was simple - those seven behind them were far more terrifying than any undead.
Zombies and humans collided in a brutal melee, the fighting savage and immediate.
The Wang family had sent quality fighters for this operation. Nearly everyone was Tier 4 or above.
They'd been slaughtered like lambs against Yang Bin's squad, sure - but that didn't mean they couldn't fight. Against a horde of zombies, they still had teeth.
At the rear, Yang Bin and the others stopped. Bags of sunflower seeds materialized from god-knows-where, and the seven of them cracked seeds and watched the carnage ahead like it was a matinee.
Better to stay out of it. Zombies didn't check IDs - they'd bite anyone within reach.
They weren't afraid of the undead, but these zombies were drawn by the enemy's noise. No reason to do their pest control for them.
"That leader's knife looks solid," Zhao Kun said between seeds. "Sharp and sturdy. I'm taking it after. This Barbell Rod - I can't even swing full-force at Yaoguang Realm without worrying I'll bend the damn thing."
"Just use your fists, dumbass. What do you need a weapon for?"
"Abilities drain too much. Can't keep them running nonstop."
"Fair point. Not everyone's as unhinged as Old Hei - dude literally knocked himself out using his own power."
"......"
"Got carried away," Old Hei muttered, embarrassed.
He'd just unlocked his ability and went full throttle without thinking - whatever felt good, he did. Overdid it. Vision went black, hit the ground like a sack of rice. If Zhao Kun hadn't pulled him out immediately, he'd have been hacked to pieces.
Lesson learned: abilities feel incredible, but moderation exists for a reason.
The others weren't as reckless, but they'd all burned through a lot too. The entire fight had been ability-heavy.
This time they'd been fighting people, not zombies. Everyone had been showing off at least a little.
Mental Energy recovered at a crawl, so all of them were running on fumes right now - Yang Bin included.
He hadn't used abilities much in direct combat, but redirecting that rocket and chaining teleports had drained him just as badly.
"Man, if only we could pop low-order crystals to recover like Little Orange does," Chen Hao sighed.
"Huh. Maybe we can now. Try it," Yang Bin said suddenly.
"We tried before. Didn't do shit."
"We weren't at Yaoguang Realm before. Maybe it's different now - like how Self-Cultivation unlocked."
"...That actually tracks. Alright, I'll try. Not like we're short on crystals."
Chen Hao pulled a Tier-4 Crystal from his pack and tossed it into his mouth.
Then he froze.
"Holy shit!? It actually works."
"Yeah right. Quit messing around."
"Try it yourselves."
Half-skeptical, everyone fished out a crystal and popped one in.
One by one, their eyes went wide.
"Holy shit, it really restores!"
"Haha! We can go all-out now without worrying about running dry!" Excitement lit up every face.
"Why can't I feel anything?" Old Hei said, deflating.
"Probably need to be at Yaoguang Realm," Yang Bin said, thinking it through. "Before Yaoguang, it's all body tempering. After Yaoguang is when real cultivation starts."
"...Alright then."
"But the recovery's not great," Hu Wenliang said, wincing. "One Tier-4 Crystal only gets you back to half. Using crystals for this feels insanely wasteful."
"Agreed. These things will probably have other uses down the line. Unless it's an emergency, natural recovery's the way to go."
"Mm. But at least now we know it works. Peace of mind - don't have to stress about bottoming out mid-fight."
"True."
While they chatted, the battle ahead wound down.
Credit where it was due - the group had real combat power. They'd ground through several thousand zombies and come out the other side. Cost them a few hundred men, but they'd survived.
Then they looked back.
Those seven bastards who'd been cracking sunflower seeds the entire time were walking toward them again.
"You... you really want to wipe us out completely!?" Wang Hui stared at Yang Bin, voice cracking.
"Don't you think that sounds pathetic?" Yang Bin's smile didn't reach his eyes. "You brought an army to our doorstep, and we're not allowed to hit back?"
"This was our mistake. I'll go back and tell the Family Head - we'll never bother you again. You didn't even take any losses here. Can't you let us go? We'll compensate. Whatever you want."
"It's past that now. You didn't just come looking for trouble - you pissed me off. So it's not just you. The Wang family doesn't need to exist anymore."
Wang Hui wanted to spit back, "You and what army?" He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
He'd seen what they could do. The certainty he'd carried his whole life - that the Wang family was untouchable - was crumbling like wet sand.
The Wang family was strong. But against these monsters? Maybe not strong enough.
A heavy breath left him. "Everyone's just trying to survive the apocalypse. There aren't many humans left. Can't you leave us a way out?"
"I left your Wang family a way out at Jinghe Garden." Yang Bin's voice went flat. "We moved all the way out here. You're the ones who came looking to die. Don't blame anyone else."
"Kill them."
The words dropped, and Chen Hao and the others moved.
After the crystal top-up, everyone's Mental Energy was back at peak. Abilities flared to life across the board.
The remaining few hundred were already battered and spent. Under the squad's onslaught, they were wiped out in minutes.
Only Wang Hui was left alive - deliberately.
His face was the color of ash.
Not in his worst nightmares had he imagined this. Two thousand men. Heavy weapons. Rockets, Barretts, machine guns.
Total annihilation.
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