Chapter 100 – Salvation

“It seems you’re quite confident!” Cheng Yang sneered coldly. “If you’re in a hurry to die, go ahead and make your move. If not, wait until I finish asking my questions.”

Without waiting for the scar-faced man’s response, Cheng Yang turned to the middle-aged woman. “Madam, don’t worry. Though I’m alone, these people are nothing to me. Tell me everything in detail. Where are the women they’re keeping? How did you find out about this?”

The woman replied, “Just ahead, there’s an underground parking lot. The upper floors collapsed during the earthquake, but the underground part remained intact. These scum have taken over the parking lot as their base. We met a woman today who escaped from there. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have known about this.”

The scar-faced man, feeling uneasy at Cheng Yang’s calm demeanor, immediately retorted, “You’re lying! We saved those women from the ruins! They’d have starved without us. We even find food for them daily. They stay with us willingly. What’s wrong with that?”

“Bullshit!” The woman spat angrily. “If they were willing, why was Xiao Ling covered in bruises? Don’t think your disgusting deeds can be hidden. We’ll fight to the death to eliminate scum like you!”

“Kill me? Let’s see if you have what it takes!” The scar-faced man’s temper flared. Without warning, he raised his wooden bow and shot an arrow at the woman.

The arrow struck her abdomen before she could react. Though the wound wasn’t fatal, it ignited Cheng Yang’s fury.

“You really have a death wish!” Cheng Yang raised his mithril staff, and an ice sphere slowly formed at its tip.

The appearance of the ice sphere shocked everyone present. While they had seen mages before, none had witnessed ice magic. The scar-faced man’s expression shifted from shock to fear.

“W-what kind of skill is that?” he stammered.

Cheng Yang smirked. “Never seen this before? It’s not just pretty – it can kill.” With a flick of his staff, the ice sphere shot toward the scar-faced man’s forehead.

The man’s life force was instantly drained. The impact sent his body flying several meters before it crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

Everyone froze in shock. The scar-faced man had been at full health, yet Cheng Yang had killed him in one strike. The realization of Cheng Yang’s power sent chills through the crowd.

The middle-aged couple, who had been friendly with Cheng Yang, finally found their voices. “Y-you…” they stammered, overwhelmed by what they had witnessed.

Cheng Yang smiled reassuringly. “Don’t be surprised. You’ll reach this level soon enough – within half a year, in fact.”

Turning to the remaining enemies, Cheng Yang’s expression hardened. “Since you’ve lost your humanity, you don’t deserve to be human anymore.” Without hesitation, he began launching ice spheres, killing each opponent instantly.

The remaining enemies, realizing their dire situation, charged at Cheng Yang in desperation. But their efforts were futile. Even their shields couldn’t withstand the power of his magic.

As the battle raged, the middle-aged woman’s group saw their chance and joined the fight. The scar-faced man’s followers, their morale shattered, began to flee.

Cheng Yang stopped his attack, not out of mercy, but because he couldn’t distinguish friend from foe in the chaos. Without his intervention, the middle-aged woman’s group easily finished off the remaining enemies.

After the battle, the middle-aged man approached Cheng Yang with some equipment. “Sir, these are the items they dropped. They’re all attribute-enhanced.”

Cheng Yang waved them off. “Keep them for yourselves. They’re useless to me. As for the captive women, you can handle their rescue. I won’t be joining you.”

As Cheng Yang turned to leave, the middle-aged woman called out, “Sir, could you help us one more time? There might still be enemies in the basement. If the escapees return, the captive women could be in danger. We might not reach them in time…”

Cheng Yang hesitated. Having survived a year in this apocalyptic world, he had grown indifferent to life. He had only intervened because the scar-faced man’s group had lost their humanity. But he didn’t want to get too involved with these fighters.

“Lord, perhaps you should help them,” Liu Xiyue’s voice came from behind a broken wall. She had been watching the entire time.