"How do you know my ability!?" Lin Yifei's eyes went wide.
"Oh, I know more than just your ability." Yang Bin smiled. "I also know you don't look it in uniform, but you're hiding quite the figure under there."
"......."
At that moment, voices crackled through Liu Yong's earpiece.
"Sniper 1 in position. Target locked. Awaiting orders."
"Sniper 2 in position. Target locked. Awaiting orders."
.....
"People on the upper floors are blocking line of sight. Mortar crew in position, ready to fire on command!"
Liu Yong listened to the reports and hesitated.
He knew the moment he gave that order, there'd be no stopping until one side was dead.
Truth was, he'd never actually wanted to kill them. He'd chased them here out of curiosity more than anything else.
After witnessing their strength firsthand, he wanted them as enemies even less.
If they were the type to slaughter indiscriminately, he'd throw everything at them without a second thought.
But every piece of evidence pointed to the Wang family starting this. These people weren't mindless killers.
His soldiers could die fighting zombies-that was the job. But he refused to spend their lives settling someone else's personal vendetta.
Liu Yong raised his hand and waved.
"Fall back!"
"!!!"
"Division Commander, what-"
The troops behind him stood dumbfounded. They'd marched all the way here, and now they were leaving without firing a shot?
"Division Commander Liu, have you forgotten why you came here? The killer is standing right in front of you, and you're retreating?" A young man stepped forward, frowning.
The military's rescue operations were stretched thin, but Ma Zhongguo hadn't been idle either. He'd embedded his own people within the military ranks under the guise of "assisting with rescue coordination." Their real purpose was anyone's guess.
This young man was one of Ma Zhongguo's plants-Xu Hui, currently holding the title of political commissar.
"Political Commissar Xu." Liu Yong's voice went cold. "Combat decisions are not yours to make."
"Division Commander Liu, I'm merely reminding you-don't forget your purpose here. How will you explain this to Mayor Ma?"
"I don't answer to anyone."
"Move out!"
Liu Yong turned to leave.
"Division Commander Liu, this is harboring criminals!" Xu Hui snapped.
"Criminal my ass!"
The voice came from nowhere.
Then Xu Hui's head burst apart like a watermelon.
Yang Bin lowered the Barbell Rod.
"You're the criminal. Your whole family are criminals."
Every eye locked onto him. No one had seen it coming.
"You-"
Liu Yong's mouth opened. Nothing came out.
"Don't look at me like that. He was framing me and about to make a move. Self-defense." Yang Bin shrugged.
"......."
"Self-defense my fucking ass..."
We were literally about to leave, Liu Yong screamed internally. You just had to stir shit up. What, is my life not hard enough?
His expression cycled through several emotions before he clenched his jaw.
"Move out!"
He turned and walked away fast, terrified something else would go wrong.
Yang Bin watched his retreating back, eyes thoughtful. Then he called out.
"Division Commander Liu. A word of advice."
Liu Yong didn't stop.
"This isn't the old world anymore. Human nature is selfish. Don't waste your loyalty on people who don't deserve it."
Liu Yong's stride faltered for half a step.
Then he kept walking.
He wasn't a fool. He knew exactly what Yang Bin meant.
But the situation was already a disaster. If the military and government turned on each other now, Star City was finished.
All he wanted was to kill more zombies. Save more people. Everything else could wait until the higher-ups arrived.
He believed-had to believe-that the country would find a way to end this.
Human nature is selfish. But someone has to do the thankless work.
People trust soldiers because no matter what happens, soldiers stand between civilians and the darkness. That's the job. That's always been the job.
Ma Zhongguo might be self-serving, but at least he kept the Survival Base running smoothly enough for Liu Yong to focus on rescue operations.
Only with military and government working together could Star City's people survive this.
But the thought of facing Ma Zhongguo after this made his head throb.
Not only had he failed to bring anyone back-Xu Hui was dead. Ma Zhongguo was going to lose his mind.
"Haah..."
Liu Yong sighed and quickened his pace.
Once the formation disappeared from view, Chen Hao and the others dropped down from the building and gathered around Yang Bin.
"Bin-ge, you absolute legend! Talked a thousand soldiers into retreating without a single shot fired!" Chen Hao laid the flattery on thick.
Yang Bin shook his head. "It's not that I'm good. Liu Yong never intended to fight us."
"Huh. So the government types aren't all on the same page."
"Boss, if it actually came to a fight-could we have won?" Zhao Kun asked.
"No. Everyone except me would've died here."
"......"
"Seriously?"
Genuine shock on every face.
They'd been so far ahead of other evolvers for so long that a sense of invincibility had crept in without them noticing.
Even facing the military, they'd never felt fear. They trusted their own strength.
"I counted over ten snipers positioned around us. All using high-powered rifles-the kind that don't care how tough your body is."
"They were spread out. Even with teleportation, I could take out two or three at most. The rest would've put bullets through your skulls before you moved."
"Add heavy-caliber machine guns and mortars on top of that. Your odds of getting out alive were slim."
"......"
"So that's why you went alone first and revealed your teleportation." Zhong Yuansen's eyes lit up with understanding. "You were establishing deterrence."
"Partly." Yang Bin nodded. "If it came to blows, my first move would've been seizing their commander-forcing them to let you leave. As for me..." He smiled. "They can't catch me."
Teleportation gave him that confidence. Without it, he'd have been sweating too.
"Fair enough. Boss is Boss." Old Hei scratched his head. "But they were already leaving. Why'd you have to kill that guy? Weren't you worried it'd set them off?"
"His mouth pissed me off. Couldn't help it." Yang Bin looked slightly sheepish.
"Besides-that guy wasn't one of Liu Yong's. Liu Yong wouldn't go to war over someone like him."
"And Liu Yong's smart enough to know that even if his side won, the losses would be catastrophic. He wasn't going to pull the trigger over one dead commissar."
"Boss, your read on people is scary good." Zhong Yuansen shook his head in admiration.
"Alright, enough ass-kissing. Pack up. We're moving."
"Roger."
"Where to, Boss?"
"Somewhere nice. A good residential compound. We're living in a villa again." Yang Bin stretched. "It's the apocalypse-no reason to rough it."
"Hell yeah."