By the time Yang Bin hauled Shen Hong back to the battlefield, the fight was still raging.
Chen Hao and the others had taken their share of hits. The enemy simply had too many bodies, and plenty of Tier-4 Evolvers among them.
The dozens of peak Tier-4 fighters in particular posed a real threat.
Tier-5 against Tier-4 was usually child's play-but stack enough Fourth-Orders together, and they could absolutely drag a Tier-5 down.
If the squad hadn't been watching the stars every night, pushing their strength well beyond ordinary Tier-5 Evolvers, and if the Barbell Rods in their hands weren't long enough to keep enemies at bay, they'd have suffered a lot worse than injuries.
Numbers still mattered.
But Yang Bin had always believed that once you hit a certain threshold of power, numerical advantage shrank to nothing.
Take himself, for instance. Against these Third and Tier-4 scrubs, getting injured wasn't even on the table. They'd be lucky to close within two meters of him.
Luckily, the squad was used to getting banged up by now. As long as nobody died, Hu Wenliang could patch them back together no matter how bad it looked.
That knowledge made them fearless. Every one of them fought like a maniac even while bleeding-that was the courage Hu Wenliang gave them.
The Wang family side, meanwhile, had already lost two to three hundred men. The survivors were starting to crack.
They were human, not zombies. Watching the people beside you drop one after another did things to your nerve.
The moment Yang Bin returned, he locked onto Wang Zhendong-still tangled up with Little Orange.
As the Wang family's field commander, there was no way he could be allowed to leave alive.
Yang Bin tossed Shen Hong aside, blinked behind Wang Zhendong, and brought the rod down on his skull.
Wang Zhendong-already getting run ragged by Little Orange-never even registered what happened before Yang Bin sent him off to reunite with his nephew.
A dignified Tier-5 Evolver. The Wang family's second-in-command. Dead on the ground without ever understanding why.
Maybe even in death he never imagined that coming to avenge his nephew would cost him his own life.
Wang Zhendong's death shattered whatever fighting spirit the Wang family had left.
Someone broke first-no one saw who-and then they scattered like roaches, sprinting in every direction.
The squad chased them to the residential compound's gate, cut down a few dozen more, then stopped.
Hundreds of people fleeing in all directions-no way to catch them all.
Killing that many was already a solid haul.
This single battle cost the Wang family half their force and their second-in-command, permanently. A catastrophic loss by any measure.
When Wang Zhenhong got the news, he'd probably lose his mind.
The man had grand ambitions for the apocalypse-never expected to get cut off at the knees before he even started.
When Chen Hao and the others filed back into the villa, they found a woman with killer curves lying in the middle of the living room floor. Yang Bin sat on the sofa, lost in thought.
"Bin-ge... you lonely or something?" Chen Hao stared at Yang Bin with a deeply suspicious expression.
"The hell do you mean, lonely?" Yang Bin didn't catch on immediately.
"Don't play dumb. We get it." Hu Wenliang flashed a knowing smile.
"......"
"Oh-you mean the woman." Yang Bin finally connected the dots.
"She's for Skinny Monkey."
"For ME?!" Skinny Monkey's eyes went wide.
"Yeah. What do you think-want her or not?"
"......"
"Hold on, Bin-ge, this is a bit sudden. Let me process."
Skinny Monkey stared at Shen Hong on the floor, his expression cycling through about six different emotions.
He was more into the innocent type, honestly. But this woman was objectively... not bad.
Maybe he should just go for it?
"No, no-that'd be straight-up degenerate."
While Skinny Monkey wrestled with his conscience, Yang Bin rapped him on the skull.
"What the hell are you thinking? I'm asking if you want her ability."
"Uh..."
Everyone blinked. Then collectively realized where their minds had gone.
Right. Of course. Bin-ge would never.
"So... Bin-ge, what's her ability?" Skinny Monkey asked, excitement creeping back in. Finally my turn?
"Charm-type. Makes people lose all sense of themselves." Yang Bin grinned.
"Ah... wait, what?"
Skinny Monkey's eager expression froze solid. The rest of the squad stared, mouths slightly open.
"Boss, you sure Skinny Monkey can use that?" Zhao Kun's face was doing something complicated.
Skinny Monkey was pale and scrawny, sure, but he wasn't exactly feminine.
"Yeah, Boss-isn't that a woman's ability? How's a grown man supposed to make people lose themselves in ecstasy?" Skinny Monkey's face went dark.
"Who says he can't? The ability doesn't discriminate by gender. Might even work better on a man-after all, men understand men best."
"......"
"I'm telling you, her ability lets you punch above your weight class. If you don't want it, I'll give it to Old Hei. He's just a bit dark-skinned-might not sell the illusion as well as you."
"......"
"Bin-ge, don't bullshit me. This thing can really let you fight above your level?"
"Absolutely. Once you've got someone charmed, they're at your mercy-do whatever you want. If I didn't have True Vision Eye, she might've gotten me." Yang Bin said it straight.
"When you put it like that... it really is strong."
"But the problem is-I'm a grown-ass man. Not making people puke would already be an achievement. How am I supposed to charm anyone?"
"When you activate the ability, in their eyes you'll look like a buck-naked bombshell."
"......"
"Think it over. If you want it, I'll keep her alive until tonight for the transfer. If not, we kill her now. She's from the enemy camp-she's never becoming a teammate."
Skinny Monkey fell silent, thinking hard.
Nobody interrupted. This ability would be a tough pill for any man to swallow.
But ability users didn't grow on trees. Pass on this one, and who knew when the next opportunity would come.
And Yang Bin was right-used properly, this ability was devastating. Punching up wasn't just possible, it was the whole point.
After a long silence, Skinny Monkey raised his head and asked in a small voice:
"This... using it doesn't require me to, like... pose seductively, does it?"
"Pfft-"
Old Hei, mid-sip of water, sprayed it across the room. The rest of the squad nearly collapsed laughing.
Yang Bin fought to keep a straight face. "No. But if you threw in a little something extra, the effect might improve."
"......"
Skinny Monkey agonized a moment longer, then clenched his jaw. "Fine. I want it."
"Good. Lock her up then. We'll do the transfer tonight."
"Got it."
Skinny Monkey nodded and walked over to grab Shen Hong.
But the instant he reached for her, Shen Hong's eyes snapped open-locking directly onto his.
Skinny Monkey's hands froze mid-air. He stood rooted in place, motionless.
Shen Hong rolled upright in one fluid motion, seized Skinny Monkey from behind, and pressed a dagger-materialized from nowhere-against his throat.
"Nobody move!"