Chapter 120: Wangjin
"Boom——"
A deafening explosion burst open above the streets at the edge of .
Scorching waves of flame, laced with reeking char, surged into the sky. An enormous " " , having received a rocket round's special attention, was reduced entirely to shredded flesh raining through the air.
sat in the passenger seat of the command vehicle, watching the black smoke billowing up behind them, a pleased smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Who could resist shooting at a giant meatball covered in eyes like that?
The convoy was speeding out of at full tilt.
Over the past two days, using as their temporary stronghold, they had thoroughly plowed through the outskirts of 's main urban area.
They had wiped out several thousand wandering zombies, scavenged the remaining supplies from three large chain supermarkets, and, along the way, pulled more than eighty survivors on the verge of death out of every nook and cranny.
Adding the children from before and the batch of screened survivors, the convoy's total traveling complement had already approached a thousand.
This had reached the logistical limit of the lightly equipped convoy.
"Boss, your hand is still giving off cold air." glanced at 's left hand resting on the edge of the window as he worked the steering wheel.
There, an extremely thin layer of frost was steadily radiating wisps of chill.
looked down, flexed his fingers slightly, and the frost shattered and fell away.
"It's nothing. I'm just running an experiment," he said in a flat tone.
Ever since he had abruptly erupted and frozen the mutated corpse at , he had noticed that the originally weak inside him had suddenly undergone a marked surge.
Where he had previously only been able to coat a blade with a thin layer of frost, he could now achieve complete freezing of an ordinary .
Of course, after freezing something he was spent, but compared to before, this was definitely a huge improvement.
"You're really building this up like a muscle—the more you train, the stronger it gets?" said, a little incredulous.
"Hey! See?" suddenly turned proud. "I told you my daily training was useful, didn't I? You guys just wouldn't believe it!"
But just then, 's voice came through the vehicle's speakers.
[Based on 's testing of , frequent use does reduce one's own physical consumption, and a certain amount of emotional stimulation can also promote the strengthening of performance.]
[However, the magnitude of your enhancement far exceeds what estimated. There is likely another reason.
I advise you to remain vigilant and keep close watch on your physical condition at all times.]
"Understood." nodded, fully dispersing the frost from his hand, and glanced out the window at the barren fields flashing past. "At least the ability isn't so useless anymore."
The convoy drove onto the national highway, and 's silhouette gradually blurred behind them.
On the horizon ahead, a new city was slowly revealing its full form.
City.
The environment here was completely different from 's. The first anomaly that caught and the others' eyes was the sky.
The color of the clouds above 's urban area was off. It wasn't the grayish-white or overcast gloom that had become commonplace since the apocalypse, but a strange, pale blue-gray.
It had an oddly translucent quality, like a colossal prism made of countless fine ice crystals—strange, yet magnificent.
When sunlight pierced through, it refracted into several fine shafts of colored light that slanted down among the ruins of the city.
The air was dry and biting, yet it wasn't purely winter cold. It was mixed with a metallic tang, faintly acrid when drawn into the lungs.
The vegetation on both sides of the road showed an abnormal gray-blue tint. The leaves of the shrubs were coated with an extremely thin layer of transparent crystals, glittering faintly in the setting sun.
Debris was scattered across the ground. One team member picked up a piece to look at it—a thumbnail-sized crystal shard. It didn't feel like ice; it was closer to quartz.
"Where are the zombies in this place?" swept his binoculars across the area. "Why haven't we seen a single one on the road?"
True. Since entering 's outer zone, they had encountered almost no zombies at all.
Here and there along the roadside they saw a few desiccated corpses, but the condition of those corpses was strange—they didn't look like they had been killed by bites or mauling, but rather like all the moisture had been drained out of them, leaving only a layer of skin.
[Attention: traces of human activity detected three kilometers ahead. Tire tracks, campfire remnants, and simple roadblocks.]
Just then, 's alert put everyone on edge again.
"Slow down. Stay alert and be ready to fight at any moment!" gave the order.
The convoy slowed, and the turrets swiveled to an alert bearing.
However, before they had even reached the roadblocks, they saw a group of people stand up from behind them.
It didn't look like an ambush—more like a welcome.
A group of survivors with hungry faces but wary eyes, holding an assortment of cold weapons and a few firearms, formed a defensive line behind the barricades.
At their head was a young man who looked under twenty. Medium height, short hair, a scabbed scar across his forehead, wearing a filthy windbreaker, and holding no weapon.
"Stop! This is our territory ahead!" His voice was a little hoarse but full of energy. "Who are you people? What do you intend to do?"
As he spoke, a glimmer of hope flickered in the young man's eyes—clearly, the armored vehicles at the head of the convoy had stirred some expectations in him.
signaled the convoy to stop, opened the door, and jumped out, both hands empty and raised at his sides to show he meant no harm.
" , City, , , , ." He stated his identity in a calm voice. "We're here to rescue people. We mean no harm."
" ? ?" The young man opposite was clearly taken aback, then a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes. "That's a long way... Could you be...?"
"No." shook his head. "We haven't fully reclaimed the other places yet. We're only here as an advance team to investigate the situation."
Hearing this, the youth, who looked almost too young, showed a trace of disappointment deep in his eyes.
But he quickly composed himself and said instead, "I see. Hello, my name is .
I'm currently in charge of this stronghold. Since you're a search and rescue team, could you provide us with some food and medicine?
We can trade supplies, if there's anything you need."
"Of course." nodded. Talking to a smart person made things easy. "We can do some supply exchanges, and we can also provide adequate food and medicine for you. That's precisely our purpose."
Hearing this, the young man calling himself visibly relaxed a little. Then, he said gratefully, "Then thank you so much!"
As he spoke, he flicked his hand to the side.
On the ground nearby, the soil suddenly churned, pushing the obstacles blocking the road to both sides.
Seeing this, surprise flashed in 's eyes.
Another user, and one who seemed able to control earth. Were there really this many ability users in this area?
***
's camp wasn't large—a bit over two hundred people—stationed in an abandoned logistics park.
Sheet-metal warehouses had been converted into simple lodgings, and the earthen wall built up around the camp was fully three meters tall.
Order inside the camp was passable. The food looked scarce, but the children's faces didn't have the sallow, malnourished grayness of extreme deprivation—at least it showed these people still possessed an above-average amount of humanity.
"Not bad," observed as he looked around. "Your ability must be well suited for building defensive works, right? It should be very efficient."
"Good enough for our needs." 's tone was restrained. "We have few people. We can't fight those things, so all we can do is build the walls thicker."
"But," asked with a hint of concern, "you just used your ability—doesn't it bother you here?"
pointed at his head. He could naturally tell that the man had used his ability just now for the purpose of "showing off his muscles."
And he was curious whether this man, like and , would have "aftereffects."
Hearing this, 's expression changed abruptly, and his eyes flew wide. "How did you...?"
He didn't finish, because he saw a layer of frost forming on 's hand.
"So you're a user too!" let out a long breath. "Don't worry, nothing will happen in .
It's only here in —not only does using your ability make you stronger, but you don't have to worry about hearing those terrifying sounds. In fact, if you're lucky—"
But just then, the roar of engines cut off 's words.
Five modified pickup trucks, their beds full of armed men, pulled up. On the lead vehicle, a man with a buzz cut stood on the roof, a shotgun in his hand, shouting from a distance.
" ! The day's come! Have the goods ready?"
's expression instantly darkened, but quickly returned to calm.
He turned to , said "Be careful of them," then walked toward the camp entrance.
The buzz-cut man jumped off the truck and swaggered in with a dozen or so men.
He swept his gaze over the armored convoy parked on the outskirts, raised an eyebrow, and his expression grew a few degrees more serious.
"Oh? We've got visitors?" He grinned at . "What, found yourself some backup? Useless. Even if you found ten thousand men, they'd still be nothing in front of the boss."
didn't respond, only saying coldly, "The supplies are ready. Take them and leave."
"Supplies?" The buzz-cut man bared his teeth in a grin. "Supplies alone aren't enough anymore. We're short on people over there now.
The boss said that now the stronghold's stable, we need to grow the population. Those wastes won't be wastes anymore. So... heh heh."
" ! You want to die?" 's fists clenched instantly, his gaze turning ice-cold, and the ground beneath his feet trembled faintly.
"This is our camp. I will never allow you to do as you please!"
"No?" The buzz-cut man's smile vanished. " , get a clear picture of your situation. If we wanted to, we could level this shabby place of yours anytime.
Besides, we've got plenty of food and supplies over there. Maybe the girls are already eager to come. What's there for you to be unhappy about on their behalf?
Don't really think anyone's willing to keep living with you, eating garbage like this? Am I right?"
At that, the man's gaze turned toward the camp, and he adopted an extremely confident, deeply affectionate tone: "Ladies, we let you suffer here long enough. Once you come with us, the , I guarantee your days will be comfortable and fine!"
"Bullshit!" A girl in work clothes with her hair in a ponytail, who had been mixing cement, was the first to spit. "A bunch of animals. Why don't you take a piss and look at yourselves in it to see what you really are."
Soon, her words drew a chorus of agreement.
"Exactly! Exactly! Even if I died, I'd never stay with scum like you."
"Animals! Get the hell out!"
Hearing this, the man called lost his composure, and his gaze turned vicious in an instant.
"You don't appreciate kindness, huh?"
Then he abruptly raised his hand.
The dozen or so henchmen behind him immediately raised their guns, muzzles aimed at the wall top.
"I'll count to three. If you don't hand the people over, I'll fight my way in! When that happens, the ones who should come with us will still come with us—but as for those who don't qualify, not a single one will survive!"
"I advise you to think it over carefully before you speak."
"Three!"
The survivors around gripped their weapons, but fear was unmistakable in their eyes.
"Two!"
took a deep breath and raised both hands again. The ground around him began to tremble visibly as he prepared to fight for his life.
"One—"
"Bang!"
A dull gunshot cut off 's countdown.
One of his henchmen let out a scream, then fell backward and went completely still.
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone.
whipped his head around toward the direction the bullet had come from.
Then his pupils abruptly contracted.
A hundred meters away, was walking unhurriedly toward them with more than twenty fully armed soldiers and two " " drones.
The black " " exoskeletons they wore gleamed with a cold metallic luster under the pale sunlight.
's expression shifted several times, and in the end he actually bared his teeth in a grin. "This isn't your business. I advise you not to go looking for trouble.
You must be new around here, right? My advice is to go pay your respects at our boss's stronghold first, and don't get mixed up with a bunch of idiots.
Our shoulders the great cause of restoring civilization. We've always welcomed capable people without discrimination.
You lot clearly have what it takes to be honored guests at our boss's table. Don't make the mistake of ruining yourselves!"
didn't stop walking, nor did he answer the man's nonsense.
In fact, he was already struggling hard to hold back his laughter.
Seriously, it had only been a few months since the cataclysm? How were gangs already popping up? What kind of bandit play was this?
? No, he had to keep a straight face. He had to uphold the dignity of a .
In the end, he simply raised his hand and made a tactical gesture.
and immediately leveled their electromagnetic rifles.
Seeing this, 's eyes flashed with brutality.
Then, instead of backing off, he stepped forward and swung his right hand sharply.
The next second, the two " " drones at 's side suddenly burst into sparks and plummeted straight from the air.
Then, the portable " " on his chest also let out a shrill alarm.
"Whirrr—"
A pale blue energy shield instantly materialized in front of . Dense ripples violently undulated across its surface.
The shield load indicator jumped from green to yellow in an instant, rocketing straight to 50%!
"Open fire!" reacted quickly, pulling the trigger and barking the order at the same time.
[It's something similar to high-density bony outgrowths,] 's voice sounded through the earpiece at breakneck speed. [Shaped like bullets, with a muzzle velocity of 1.5 times the speed of sound, and the opponent appears able to control the trajectory of the bone needles.]
[I didn't notice it in time. We got caught off guard.]
's eyes turned cold.
Just as he thought. The reason the man dared to be so arrogant was that he was also a user—and an extremely dangerous one at that.
Bone needles that were silent, fast as bullets, and able to track their target were absolutely a lethal move that was all but impossible to defend against in combat.
Unfortunately for him, he had run into a search and rescue team where everyone was equipped with energy shields.
The moment the battle erupted, more than twenty team members' shields lit up simultaneously, and their electromagnetic rifles opened fire in unison.
"Shhk—shhk—shhk—"
In an instant, all the henchmen who had come with fell to the ground screaming, their limbs pierced clean through by electromagnetic rounds.
saw the situation was bad and turned to run.
But the moment he lifted his foot, a layer of white frost spread up from the ground and covered his lower leg.
Then an electromagnetic round punched through his right knee.
"Ahhh—!"
He shrieked, crashed heavily to his knees, and the searing pain robbed him of all will to resist in an instant.
walked over, crouched down, and looked at the buzz-cut man, , who was drenched in cold sweat.
"Your is pretty interesting." His tone was very calm. "Should I cut you into a human husk?"
"No, please don't!" forgot even to cry out in pain and shouted desperately. "I won't dare anymore! I'll never dare again! Please, spare my life!"
The man begged nearly to the point of tears and snot streaming down his face, but there wasn't a trace of sympathy in 's heart—if it hadn't been for the shield, he would probably be dead right now.
***
The interrogation took place in the camp's warehouse.
"Wh-who the hell are you people?" clutched his broken leg, sweat pouring down, his eyes full of terror.
"Right now, I ask, and you answer." 's tone was calm, without any emotional inflection. "What's the story with your ? And who's your boss?"
Hearing this, gritted his teeth and tried to put up a brave front: "Kill me if you've got the guts! won't let you get away with it! He's a man who's eaten the green crystal and is destined to become a god!"
nodded without wasting words.
He raised the muzzle and aimed it at 's other leg.
"Shhk!"
"Ahhh!! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" At that, completely broke down and no longer dared to be stubborn.
"Then start by telling me—what's this green crystal you mentioned?"
Over the following ten minutes, amid 's intermittent howls of pain, pieced together the current state of City.
Everything originated from that strange ice-crystal cloud layer in the sky.
City periodically experienced bouts of " ."
Sometimes the ice crystals contained larger crystals of various colors.
If an ordinary person was lucky enough to eat a white crystal, they could greatly enhance their physique, or even awaken a .
But if they ate a red, black, or other colored crystal, they would instantly mutate into a terrifying monster that lost all reason.
"Then what about what you said earlier—your boss ate a green crystal. What's that about?" pressed further.
"I don't know." gasped through the pain. "I just know our boss is different. He ate a green crystal and didn't mutate. On the contrary, his ability became incredibly strong.
Even those huge fleshy ball monsters covered in eyes are no match for him.
He says it's because he's the man chosen by the gods. I figure that's about how it is.
He's now the strongest user in City. He's occupied the area with the most supplies in the city as his base."
At this point, seemed to find a bit of his confidence again. He stared hard at .
"So what if you have good equipment? A while back, took us to the Lake forest area. There's a wartime supply depot there.
We went through hell and pulled out five tanks and a bunch of infantry fighting vehicles! We're about to unify the whole of City!
If you know what's good for you, let me go right now! Otherwise, by the time those tank barrels are pointed at your heads, you won't even have a chance to beg for mercy on your knees!"
was silent.
and were silent too.
A few seconds later, couldn't help turning his head away, his shoulders shaking slightly.
"What are you laughing at?!" snarled.
"Nothing." rubbed his face and forced down the smile. "It's just... yeah, pretty scary.
But you know, we've already done all this to you. Even if we let you go, you wouldn't let us off either, would you?
So wouldn't it be better to just kill you and hit the road?"
At this, 's face instantly went a terrifying shade of white. "No, please don't! I was just kidding around with you.
We're friends now that we've fought! Please, let me go. If you spare me, from now on, you'll be my lifesavers.
From this day forward, I'll go through fire and water for you! Brothers!"
As he spoke, he was practically sobbing.
"Fine!" nodded. "Then why don't you tell us in detail—what abilities does your boss have?"
But unexpectedly, at this question, —who had been scared out of all his dignity moments before—hesitated again.
"This one I really can't say. If I do, I'll die."
"What kind of time is this to be playing games with us?" barked sternly. "Talk! Tell us everything you know—"
But he didn't finish his sentence, because right in front of everyone, —who had been begging for mercy just a second earlier—suddenly changed expression.
The next second, he fiercely clutched his own throat. Then his entire body "shrank."
In only a few moments, nothing was left on the ground but a layer of human skin.
"What is this?" and the others shot to their feet, their faces full of shock and uncertainty.