Morning. Inside the luxurious villa.
The first thing Wang Ruikai did after waking up was grab his lackey Wang Yueming and head for the backyard.
Checking whether any Tier-4 Zombies had been born was the highlight of his day.
But when they arrived, the four guards who were supposed to be hidden had all come out. They stood around the iron cage, staring at it with confused expressions.
"What's going on?" Wang Ruikai frowned.
"Young Master Wang, one of the zombies got bitten to death." One of them pointed inside the cage.
"Bitten to death? By what?"
Wang Ruikai hurried over. Sure enough-a corpse gnawed down to scraps.
"Other zombies did it. When we checked this morning, a bunch of them were still feeding on the body."
"That doesn't make sense. Zombies don't eat their own kind." Wang Ruikai shook his head.
"Maybe they weren't hungry enough before," another guard said quietly. "Starving long enough, they might turn on each other. They've been caged up a while now."
"What about the crystal?"
"It seems... that got eaten too." The guards exchanged awkward glances.
"What the hell are you people good for? I told you to keep a close watch!" Wang Ruikai exploded.
"Sorry, Young Master Wang. We had no idea zombies would eat their own kind." They kept their heads down, not daring to meet his eyes.
Wang Ruikai wanted to tear into them, but held back. These men were the Wang family's most loyal subordinates-people who'd stuck with them even through the apocalypse. He couldn't afford to push them away.
He took a deep breath. "It's not your fault. I didn't see this coming either. But now that we know it can happen, keep a tighter watch."
"Don't worry, Young Master Wang. It won't happen again." They thumped their chests in assurance.
"Mm." Wang Ruikai nodded. "Any Tier-4 Zombies born today?"
"Not yet. We just tested every one of them."
"Still nothing? Is Tier 4 really that hard? Or is this batch just garbage?" Wang Ruikai muttered.
"Brother Kai, Tier 4 genuinely is tough. There aren't many Tier-4 Zombies out in the wild either. But ours were among the earlier Tier-3 ones. Give it another day or two-we should get one."
"Fine."
Wang Ruikai sighed. Something felt off, but he couldn't pin down what.
Inside another villa.
"A-Kun, this is for you." Yang Bin tossed the Tier-4 Crystal from last night to Zhao Kun.
They'd agreed on this beforehand-prioritize breakthroughs. Get everyone promoted first, then funnel resources to one person.
Zhao Kun stared at the crystal in surprise. "Brother Bin, where'd you get this?"
"Heh. Picked it up next door. Someone's raising Tier-4 Zombies for us. Might be getting crystals delivered every night from now on." Yang Bin grinned.
He'd seen it clearly-plenty of zombies in that cage were already at Tier-3 Peak. Over the next few days, breakthroughs to Tier 4 would start happening nightly.
"Are you serious!?" The others' eyes went wide.
"Heh." Chen Hao chuckled, then laid out the whole story from last night.
Everyone's faces lit up. They hadn't imagined such an operation was possible.
"Let's move. First stop is the gym to grab Barbell Rods for the rest of you. Then we go hunting."
"Hunting?"
"Yeah. Find Tier-4 Zombies in areas with fewer regular ones. Residential zones have too many-sure, the odds of a Tier-4 showing up are higher, but the efficiency is garbage."
"Got it."
"Brother Bin, you know where there's a gym?"
"Yeah. There's a big one in that residential area. Spotted it yesterday."
"Then let's go! I've been wanting to switch weapons forever!" Zhao Kun said, fired up.
They had plenty of weapons now-Fire Axes, machetes, Tang Sabers.
But for crowd fights, nothing beat a Barbell Rod. As long as you had the strength, no zombie could get within a meter of you.
Soon, the group left the villa under the watchful eyes of Wang Ruikai and Wang Yueming.
"Brother Kai, they're gone. Should we hit their place for some food?" Wang Yueming was still fixated on those carts of supplies.
"No rush. This group leaves during the day and comes back at night-probably out killing zombies. They look capable. Let's not make enemies yet," Wang Ruikai said.
"Then should we try recruiting them?"
"Mm. Worth considering. We'll approach them tonight when they get back."
"Alright."
Yang Bin led the team around the densest zombie clusters in the residential district, arriving at a recreational zone on the far side.
Indoor swimming pool, gym, billiard hall, KTV-the usual entertainment strip.
Zombies were noticeably sparse here, but corpses littered the ground everywhere. Clearly, a group of Evolvers had already claimed this territory.
Yang Bin activated True Vision Eye and scanned the area. Bad luck-that group was inside the gym, and several of them were carrying Barbell Rods identical to his.
Judging by their builds, these were gym regulars. Every one of them sported the kind of inverted-triangle physique that turned heads.
Yang Bin didn't hesitate. He led everyone straight upstairs.
They came for Barbell Rods. He wasn't leaving empty-handed just because someone else got there first. What he set his eyes on was already his.
They reached the second floor and knocked on the gym door.
To his surprise, it opened immediately. They'd obviously been spotted from the windows.
"Come in." The guy who opened the door turned and walked back inside without another word.
"???"
Yang Bin and the others exchanged glances. That easy?
Still, they followed.
The gym was massive-every type of equipment you could ask for.
Over fifty people stood inside, watching them with flat, appraising expressions.
What caught Yang Bin's attention: more than twenty of them were Tier 3. Two had reached Tier-3 Peak.
"Gym rats," Yang Bin noted internally. "No surprise they're strong."
"Set your packs down. Open them up so I can check if you've got enough to offer. If it's sufficient, I might let you tag along with us." The speaker was a tank-top-wearing man whose arms looked like they'd been carved from stone.
"???"
"The hell? Tag along with you?"
Everyone blinked-then it clicked.
These people thought they'd come to join up.
"My bad. We're not here to join anyone." Yang Bin smiled. "We're here to take something."
"Take something?" The muscular man looked confused.
"Yep." Yang Bin turned to Zhao Kun and the others. "Grab what we need. We're on a schedule."
"On it!"
Zhao Kun and two others walked straight over. Before anyone could process what was happening, they plucked the Barbell Rods right out of three men's hands, turned around, and headed for the door.
"???"
Now it was the gym crew's turn to short-circuit.
"What the fuck-they took my Barbell Rod!"
The three victims stood frozen for a solid two seconds before their brains caught up.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" The muscular leader's voice dropped low and dangerous.
"Taking things. We liked these, so we're taking them." Yang Bin shrugged, already turning to leave.
But the gym crew wasn't about to let that slide. Bodies closed in from every direction, boxing them in.
"You think you can rob us and just walk out?" the muscular man growled.
"If we want to leave, you can't stop us. I'd suggest stepping aside. If this turns into a fight, it's going to hurt-and not us."
"That so? Nobody's disrespected me like this in my entire life. Today I find out what makes you pricks so cocky." He cracked his neck. "Get them!"