Watching the man's attitude flip on a dime, even Yang Bin had to admit - this guy had talent.
Knew when to bend, knew when to stretch. Had something going on upstairs.
"Let's go. Pull into the service area and top off the tank." Yang Bin said.
"Of course, of course. Brothers, follow us." The middle-aged man wore an obsequious grin.
He led the group toward the service area ahead.
But the instant he turned around, his expression went cold.
Everyone climbed back into the vehicle and followed behind them.
Soon, they arrived at the service area.
The moment the vehicle pulled in, over a hundred people burst from the supermarket ahead, surrounding the car in seconds.
The middle-aged man - all smiles just moments ago - changed faces again, sneering at them.
"Hmph. Ability user, so what? We've got numbers. How many can you kill?"
"Get the fuck out of the car! You killed my brother - I'll fucking end you!"
"......"
Everyone stared at this guy, speechless. The speed of his face-changes could win him an Oscar.
"Get out." Yang Bin smiled.
The moment Yang Bin and the others stepped down, the leader pointed straight at Old Hei.
"That's the black bastard who killed Third Brother. Break his legs. Drag him to the warehouse - he's food."
At his command, a mob armed with makeshift weapons advanced on Old Hei.
"Who the fuck are you calling black bastard? Your whole damn family are black bastards!"
Old Hei was livid. He turned to Yang Bin. "Boss, can I kill this prick?"
"Kill him." Yang Bin said flatly.
"Hell yeah."
With Yang Bin's go-ahead, Old Hei grinned, yanked the Barbell Rod from the vehicle, and charged.
He'd been using abilities for every fight lately. It'd been too long since he felt the satisfying crunch of the Barbell Rod connecting.
The mob saw Old Hei charging solo and rushed him, blades swinging.
Old Hei swept the Barbell Rod in a wide arc. Everyone in front launched backward, chests caved in, blood pouring from their mouths.
He pushed forward without stopping. The Barbell Rod swung casually, almost lazily. Anyone it touched was dead or broken.
"!!!"
The leader's eyes went wide.
"That's... Tier-6?!"
He was a Tier-5 Evolver himself. One look at those moves told him everything - this wasn't a small gap. This was a full tier above him. Tier-6.
The realization hit like ice water.
Earlier, the guy had just tossed a fireball. He hadn't known the real strength behind it.
He'd figured ability users burned through Mental Energy fast. Drain it, and they'd be easy pickings.
But now he understood how wrong he'd been. Catastrophically wrong.
A Tier-6 ability user. What the hell was there to fight?
And that was just one of them. Eight more stood there with arms crossed, watching like it was entertainment.
If one random member was Tier-6, were the rest going to be any weaker?
The man wanted to slap himself.
"Stop! Everyone stop! It's a misunderstanding! All a misunderstanding!"
"I was just joking around." He slapped on another smile.
"Joking? Fuck your joke."
Old Hei planted a boot in his chest and sent him sprawling.
Others moved to intervene, but the man frantically waved them off.
He picked himself up off the ground. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but the smile stayed fixed in place.
"Brothers, this was all a misunderstanding. Having eyes but failing to recognize Mount Tai - that's me. Completely my fault."
"Holy shit, you can still smile after that?!"
Old Hei backhanded him across the face.
The man's body spun a full rotation in the air before slamming into the ground.
He got back up. Still smiling.
"Big brother, it's all my fault. Please - vent however you like!"
That actually threw Old Hei off. He didn't know what to do with this guy.
"He's a real talent," Fang Sijie murmured beside Yang Bin.
Yang Bin nodded.
This man must've been somebody before the apocalypse.
"So should we-"
Yang Bin shook his head.
"Can't use someone like this. You'd never see the knife coming until it was already in your back."
"I've got enough smart people with you lot. The ones below us don't need to be clever. The simpler, the better."
"Understood." Fang Sijie nodded.
"Old Hei. Kill him," Yang Bin said.
The man's expression finally cracked.
He'd thought they were just young guys - hotheaded, impressionable. A little self-inflicted suffering, a few groveling words, and he could buy himself a way out.
He hadn't expected them to be this cold.
In a flash, the man shoved the person beside him toward Old Hei and dove into the crowd behind.
Pfft-
A Tang Saber sliced through the air and punched clean through the man's neck, pinning him mid-stride.
He turned his head with agonizing effort. His eyes burned with defiance.
Then he crumpled to the ground.
"Boss! Come on, you said I could kill him!" Old Hei protested.
"You're too slow. Takes you half a day to finish one guy."
"Remember - even a lion uses full force against a rabbit. Giving the enemy a chance is just finding creative ways to get yourself killed."
"...Got it." Old Hei hung his head.
With the leader dead, the remaining bandits stood frozen. Fear and confusion painted every face.
They stared at Yang Bin's group, completely lost.
"Move." Yang Bin said.
The crowd parted without thinking.
"Old Sen, take Ah Kun to the gas station up ahead and refuel. If the pumps don't work, crack open the underground tank and fill up directly."
"On it."
The two nodded and drove off toward the station.
"Let's check out the supermarket."
Yang Bin led the rest straight toward the large supermarket inside the service area.
People around them shifted as if to block the path, but one look at the squad's strength kept them rooted in place.
They reached the supermarket quickly.
The shelves were stripped bare. In the far corner, dozens of women in ragged clothing huddled together, staring at the newcomers with terrified eyes.
"This again." Chen Hao frowned.
"Normal," Yang Bin said. "Women are physically weaker. In an apocalypse, they become the vulnerable group all over again."
"However fast their status rose before the end, that's how hard it crashes after."
"Plenty of men took shit from women before all this. Now they see a chance to take it out on whoever's available."
"Yeah. That tracks."
"Want to save them?" Yang Bin turned to Lin Yifei.
Lin Yifei paused, then shook her head.
"This is happening everywhere. We're not saviors. We can't rescue them all."
"These ones have it relatively good. Their eyes aren't dead. No visible wounds. They haven't been brutalized."
"Without those men outside, they wouldn't have survived this long."
"If they've accepted someone's protection, there's a cost. That's the transaction."
Yang Bin nodded. This woman was genuinely sharp.
Beside him, Fang Sijie glanced at Lin Yifei.
No wonder the captain had agreed to bring a woman into a squad full of men. She was different.