Yanshan Base.
Everyone was eating dinner.
Han Xiao and He Jiajia wolfed down their food.
After the punitive long-distance run, both their stomachs were rumbling with hunger, wishing they could gnaw on their plates.
"Where's Zhou Haiyang?" Han Ling suddenly asked.
"Why don't... I go check?" Zhang Heng stood up.
He no longer harbored any resentment about Qin Feng not giving him a chance to join the Divine Punishment team.
Too strong!
Anyone in the Divine Punishment team was beyond his ability to contend with.
Take Han Ling, for example.
Or Han Xiao.
Either of them could kill him with ease!
And that's not even mentioning Zhou Haiyang.
Just a few days ago in Shangjing, he had single-handedly taken on his entire team, defeating all five of them!
A moment later.
Zhang Heng ran back quickly, his tone clearly anxious, "Something's happened! Zhou Haiyang... he's gone!"
"What do you mean gone?" Han Ling was bewildered.
"Look!"
He handed over a note.
Left by Zhou Haiyang.
It essentially said he was going out alone to train, and they shouldn't worry. If the captain returned and found out, they didn't need to look for him.
"He's alone? He's crazy!" Han Ling exclaimed in shock.
Aside from Qin Feng, no one else possessed the ability to single-handedly fight hordes of zombies.
Facing a few ordinary zombies was manageable.
But encountering a legion-class...
That would be suicide!
"Should we go look for him?" Liu Pi stood up.
"How would we even look?"
Han Ling sighed helplessly, waving her hand. "We don't even know which direction he went, or where he's going specifically."
If they all scattered to search, they would all be in danger.
This matter.
She had no authority to decide, nor did she dare to.
All they could do was wait for Qin Feng to return.
...
Early morning.
Thirty kilometers outside the base.
In a dilapidated mountain village.
Zhou Haiyang woke up and got out of bed.
The village had long been devoid of life.
Before the nuclear blast, it only had about a hundred to two hundred inhabitants, mostly the old, young, women, and children.
Some died during the cold snap.
After the cold snap.
The dead turned into zombies.
Ultimately, the entire village was annihilated!
Last night, he had killed all the zombies in the village, a total of less than thirty.
After getting up.
He didn't eat immediately. Instead, he took out ten level 2 crystals – spoils from last night's battle.
He held five crystals in each hand.
And began to absorb them.
Today was the ninth day after his breakthrough.
About ten minutes later.
All ten crystals were absorbed.
He waved his hand.
A creature of black energy appeared, a size larger than the one he summoned yesterday.
He shook his head with a wry smile.
Level 3!
The summoned beast was definitely stronger than a level 2.
The problem was, without deeper comprehension, there would be no qualitative change.
Simply relying on level upgrades to increase strength was far from enough!
After all.
Zombies also evolved!
"Now... is it possible for me to fight a level 4 mutant?" His mind raced.
Go to the city!
There were too few zombies in the mountain village.
The chance of encountering a mutant was extremely low.
He wanted to get stronger!
As one of Qin Feng's original core members, he knew he was already falling behind.
Bird Grandpa had long ago comprehended Wind Blade.
Xiao Ruoruo had fused Vines with Fireball.
Their combat power had doubled!
If.
Bird Grandpa and Xiao Ruoruo had followed Qin Feng for longer, what about the others?
He Dong had comprehended!
Thanks to Han Ling's influence in entering the base, even Han Xiao, whom Qin Feng had called useless, had comprehended Soul Burst.
Only he...
Since his awakening, he hadn't changed at all.
Solo trials!
Facing various crises, even desperate situations.
That was the best way to become stronger!
"Huh... why are all the zombies dead?" A familiar voice sounded from outside.
"Zhang Tianbao?!"
Zhou Haiyang's pupils constricted.
He would never mistake the voice of that scumbag!
...
The village had only one main road.
Along both sides of the road stood many houses.
Some were three stories tall.
Some were two stories.
There were also dilapidated single-story tiled houses.
Zhang Tianbao was quite frustrated.
This village...
He hadn't seen a single zombie. Instead, there were many zombie corpses, as if they had been wiped out.
When zombies were wiped out, if there were any survivors, they would definitely have taken the opportunity to flee.
He couldn't find any meat for Big Brother.
"Damn it! What a wasted trip!"
Zhang Tianbao turned around, preparing to leave.
"You're not leaving."
Swoosh!
Zhou Haiyang leaped down directly from the second floor.
He drew his saber.
His heart was filled with excitement.
He never expected that during this solo training expedition, he would encounter Zhang Tianbao.
That scumbag should have died long ago!
Back then.
When the captain set up an ambush, one of the most important objectives was to eliminate this guy.
But unexpectedly, he escaped through the sewers.
"You..."
Zhang Tianbao's eyes widened as well.
How could he have guessed?
They would run into each other like this!
"Zhou Haiyang? Haha... what a coincidence!" Zhang Tianbao grinned.
"I'll skin you alive today!" Zhou Haiyang snarled.
"Big Brother! Time to eat!"
Suddenly!
Zhang Tianbao turned and ran.
Zhou Haiyang went to give chase.
With his doubled stamina reward, that scumbag wouldn't be able to escape!
"Roar!"
A roar echoed.
Not good!
Zhou Haiyang's expression changed drastically.
From the entrance of the village, a zombie over two and a half meters tall, moving at over a hundred meters in three seconds, was sprinting towards them.
Missing an arm.
It was the Zombie King!
Zhou Haiyang was completely stunned.
The Zombie King had fought with the captain, lost an arm, and escaped.
Zhang Tianbao had escaped through the sewers.
How could they possibly meet?
He couldn't win!
He was here to train and improve, not to die.
That was a level 5 mutant!
Let alone him, no one in the entire base, except the captain, could pierce its defense.
Zhou Haiyang turned and fled.
Unfortunately.
The speed difference was too great.
He watched as the distance rapidly closed.
Black energy permeated the air.
A dark creature, larger than a small calf, with a silhouette like a lion, appeared out of thin air.
It lunged directly at the intelligent zombie.
"Roar!"
No technique was needed.
The intelligent zombie charged head-on.
Bang!
Under the immense impact, the dark creature was sent flying.
Still in mid-air, before it could even land, the intelligent zombie caught up.
Missing an arm,
It grabbed the dark creature by the neck with one hand.
And slammed it onto the ground with all its might.
It stomped down with its foot.
Boom!
The ground shook.
Leaving a pit more than half a foot deep.
The dark creature was instantly crushed, scattering into a large mass of black energy.
"Not good!"
Zhou Haiyang ran, glancing back as he did.
He had broken through to level 3.
But!
With the strength of a level 3 dark creature, it was impossible to block the Zombie King – that was a level 5!
Summon again!
Another dark creature appeared.
But this was no solution!
Summoning consumed a lot of mental energy.
In normal combat, the summoned dark creatures could sustain themselves.
But now...
They were merely summoned to tie down the enemy, only to die in an instant.
How could he withstand such a frequency of consumption?
One chasing.
One running.
With intermittent summoning of dark creatures for distraction.
Yet, the distance remained constant.
Zhou Haiyang only had double the stamina reward.
He couldn't outrun it!
His mental energy was rapidly depleting.
He even hesitated to summon again, lest his mental energy be completely exhausted.
But!
Without the dark creatures to distract, the distance would close rapidly!
"I can't die!"
"I still have to return to Blue Star, to Great Xia Country!"
Sweat beaded on his forehead.
Closer and closer!
Closer and closer!
"I—can't—die!"
A golden light flashed in his eyes.
Deep within his soul, a certain point seemed to be suddenly touched.
"Die!"
Suddenly!
From the houses on both sides of the village road.
The metal doors and windows began to explode.
Peeling away.
Reshaping.
Exactly the same as when He Ming used his ability!