?
Below, Zhao Kun and the others were still fighting for their lives against the zombie onslaught.
Three Tier-5 Zombies had joined the fray, and the situation had gone from bad to catastrophic.
Zhao Kun, Hu Wenliang, and Zhong Yuansen each squared off against one of the Tier-5 Zombies, while Old Hei and Skinny Monkey faced a swarming mass of Tier-4 Zombies.
The group had been scattered long ago. Every one of them was bleeding from multiple wounds.
It wasn't that they couldn't handle Tier-5 Zombies one-on-one-but zombies pressed in from every direction. They had to fight the big ones while fending off everything else clawing at their flanks. The result was total suppression.
Yang Bin and Chen Hao took one look at the scene below and felt their stomachs drop. They rushed forward immediately.
But they were behind the horde. Rescue meant cutting through.
Four to five thousand zombies stood between them. By the time they carved a path, Zhao Kun's group would already be dead.
Then Yang Bin vanished.
A figure materialized behind the Tier-5 Zombie locked in combat with Zhao Kun. One swing of the Barbell Rod caved its skull in like a rotten melon.
Zhao Kun's brain short-circuited.
He stared at Yang Bin, who had appeared out of thin air, and couldn't form a coherent thought.
Chen Hao, still stuck in the rear, went wide-eyed.
"Is that... another new ability?"
"So damn cool!"
Yang Bin grinned at the frozen Zhao Kun. "Quit gawking. Go help Old Hei."
"Ah-oh-right." Zhao Kun nodded dumbly and sprinted toward Old Hei's position.
He had a thousand questions, but he knew this wasn't the time.
Zombies surged at them from all sides. Yang Bin swept the Barbell Rod in a lazy arc and the entire front wave launched backward, bowling over the ranks behind them like dominoes.
Yaoguang Realm. Over five thousand kilograms of raw strength. These things couldn't even get close.
He plucked the crystal from the Tier-5 Zombie's shattered skull and turned toward Hu Wenliang's fight.
Hu Wenliang wasn't in great shape either, though the guy had clearly been healing himself between exchanges.
Out of everyone here, his injuries were the lightest. Typical.
Yang Bin blinked out of existence again-and reappeared beside the Tier-5 Zombie pressuring Hu Wenliang. One casual swing. Done.
"Brother Bin, you-" Hu Wenliang's eyes went round.
"Questions later. Go help Old Hei."
"Got it." No hesitation. Hu Wenliang took off running.
Yang Bin pocketed the crystal and turned toward Zhong Yuansen's fight.
Except Zhong Yuansen had already finished his opponent off.
Combat-type ability users really were built different.
The squad regrouped. With Yang Bin's monstrous strength clearing the way, he bulldozed a path straight through the horde, dragging everyone with him.
"Move!"
They sprinted. Zombies howled and gave chase-
Then a parked car on the roadside ripped itself off the ground and hurtled into the pursuing pack.
BOOM.
The car plowed through the front runners and flattened a dozen more behind them.
By the time the zombies untangled themselves, the squad was gone.
............
Inside a house, everyone lay sprawled across the floor like corpses. Nobody wanted to move.
Hu Wenliang dragged himself upright and started making the rounds.
"Liang Zi, take these two first." Yang Bin pressed the two freshly harvested crystals into Hu Wenliang's hand.
The man had fought just as hard as anyone else, and now he had to patch everyone up on top of it. Nobody in this squad worked harder.
Back when it was just the three of them, Hu Wenliang always healed the others before himself-often pushing until he passed out cold.
That was why Yang Bin looked out for him. That was also why he kept trying to find the guy a girlfriend.
Zhong Yuansen fished a Tier-5 crystal from his pocket and held it out. "Liang Zi. Here."
Not a single person objected. Hu Wenliang had saved every life in this room at least once.
In a world without hospitals, the man was nothing short of divine.
Hu Wenliang accepted without false modesty. Every bit of strength he gained made his Healing Ability that much more effective.
This wasn't a two-man team anymore. Six or seven people needed patching up. The workload was brutal.
Aside from Yang Bin, who'd come through mostly unscathed, Chen Hao was in the worst shape. That Yaoguang Zombie had nearly opened him up from sternum to navel.
For over an hour, Hu Wenliang cycled between healing and resting, healing and resting-until every serious wound in the room was closed.
The minor cuts and scrapes would handle themselves. Tier-5 Evolvers healed fast enough.
"Brother Bin, spill it already-what's different about the Yaoguang Realm?" Chen Hao demanded the instant his wounds sealed.
"Yeah, Boss! What was that back there? You just appeared behind the zombie. New ability?"
Every pair of eyes locked onto Yang Bin.
He smiled and laid it all out-the Void Space, the light motes, the five-minute window.
"Wait-so when we hit the Yaoguang Realm, we get Special Abilities too?" Zhao Kun's voice cracked with excitement.
"Yeah. The Void Space is full of them. What you get is pure luck of the draw."
"They all seemed fairly basic, though. My guess is the next realm unlocks stronger ones."
"Then how the hell did you luck into teleportation right off the bat?" Chen Hao pressed. "That's top-tier for a basic ability."
No offensive power, sure-but for escape, pursuit, and ambush? Practically perfect.
"You guys can only grab one at random." Yang Bin's grin widened. "I'm different. I can see what every single light mote is. So I get to pick."
"!!!"
The room went silent. Then the jealousy hit like a wave.
"I'm fully convinced now-your ability is a straight-up BUG. Completely broken." Chen Hao's voice dripped with envy.
Everyone nodded solemnly.
The longer they spent around this man, the more absurdly versatile his power revealed itself to be. It was useful everywhere.
"At least Brother Bin's ability doesn't have offensive capability," Zhong Yuansen sighed. "Otherwise what chance would the rest of us even have?"
"Yeah, about that." Chen Hao's tone went flat. "That car that flew into the zombies when we were running? That was him. His ability attacks now too."
"......"
"Telekinesis?"
"Yep." Yang Bin nodded.
"......"
"Are you even gonna let us live?" The collective groan was more resignation than complaint.
"Boss-does that mean ability users' powers also evolve when they hit the Yaoguang Realm?" Zhong Yuansen leaned forward, eyes bright.
"Yeah. Ability users end up with two powers, and their original ability gets enhanced. So even at the Yaoguang Realm, ability users still have an edge over everyone else."
"Hell yes. I can't wait to see what mine becomes!" Zhong Yuansen was practically vibrating.
Chen Hao and Hu Wenliang exchanged a look, both grinning with anticipation.
Zhao Kun and the other two went quiet. Their expressions dimmed.
"I figured once we hit the Yaoguang Realm, we'd finally be on equal footing with ability users." Zhao Kun shook his head. "Guess not."
"Don't lose heart." Yang Bin clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I've got a theory. If it pans out, you might be able to get abilities before reaching the Yaoguang Realm."
"Seriously?!" All three of them snapped their heads toward him, hope blazing in their eyes.
"Would I lie to you?"
"Boss-thank you!"
"Don't celebrate yet. It's just a theory. Still needs testing."
"That's fine. Having hope beats having none, right?"
"Right."
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