Back on the mountain, everyone charged straight up the slope.
With two Yaoguang Realm fighters in the group, there was nothing to worry about.
Zombies lunged at them nonstop along the way, but none could slow them down.
Yang Bin and Chen Hao took point, leading Star Fall Squad up the mountainside like a blade cutting through flesh.
Yang Bin still had his slightly warped Barbell Rod. Chen Hao wielded the two halves he'd sliced off earlier, one in each hand.
It didn't slow him down. If anything, he killed faster.
When black light coated those rods, Chen Hao's kill speed went through the roof.
His hands blurred. Zombies died on contact. Everyone watched with naked envy-Yang Bin included.
Yang Bin grabbed the dagger back from Chen Hao and sent it dancing through the horde with Telekinesis, punching into zombie throats one after another.
Zhong Yuansen saw the carnage and joined in, lobbing massive stones into the crowd like bowling balls.
Zhao Kun shifted into Metal Arms and started one-punching zombies like they were toddlers.
The rest of the squad could only stand there awkwardly watching the show.
Skinny Monkey, who'd just awakened his ability, was itching the worst-but nobody was about to let him use Charm on a zombie.
So they kept swinging Barbell Rods the old-fashioned way.
In under half an hour, the squad reached the summit.
Then the real battle kicked off.
They fought until past five in the afternoon. Every zombie was dead except five Tier-5 ones with shattered limbs.
Yang Bin had left those five alive on purpose-future seeds for cultivating another Yaoguang Realm zombie.
"Let's go pick out a villa."
Only eight villas sat on the mountaintop, each covering six or seven hundred square meters. Gardens, courtyards, pools-every one of them worth a fortune.
Good air, beautiful scenery. The kind of place the ultra-rich loved.
Only downside: terrible access. Even buying groceries meant a trip down the mountain.
Then again, people who could afford places like these didn't buy their own groceries.
Every villa showed damage to varying degrees. Interiors trashed, blood smeared across walls and floors.
Clearly, people had been home when the apocalypse hit.
Survival odds up here were actually better than in dense residential areas.
But luck hadn't been on their side. This mountain spawned a freak.
Reaching Yaoguang Realm that fast-the thing must have been Tier 1 from day one.
A zombie like that, in those early hours when nobody understood what was happening? Pure slaughter.
Any survivors up here were almost certainly dead by its hand.
They picked the least damaged villa, went inside, dropped their gear, gave the place a rough cleaning, then collapsed onto the sofas one by one.
Today had been beyond excessive-over ten thousand zombies killed. Everyone was running on fumes.
"I'll check the other villas for rice or whatever. Cook you all something decent tonight."
"Rest up a bit, then go dig out the crystals. We earned every single one of those. Don't let them go to waste."
"Got it." Everyone nodded.
"Boss, we've already got a ton of crystals. Why bother with all these low-order ones?" Zhong Yuansen asked.
"They're still energy. Bound to be useful later. Grab what we can."
"Alright."
"Haozi, head down and haul the iron cage up to the backyard. Toss those five Fifth-Orders in while you're at it."
"On it."
Tasks divided, Yang Bin headed for the other villas. Secure existing resources first.
These hilltop villas were far from any market, so they'd definitely have stockpiled food. Staples like rice and flour-things you ate daily and stored easily-wouldn't be in short supply.
Sure enough. First villa, separate storage room: three fifty-jin bags of rice, plus cured meat, sausages, dried mustard greens, and more.
The other villas yielded decent hauls too, though two were picked completely clean-survivors inside must have held out for a while.
But once the Yaoguang Realm zombie appeared, no one on this mountain was making it out alive.
Judging by how fresh the blood was, the people in those two villas had died just a couple days ago.
Yang Bin moved everything back to their villa's storage room. Food was no longer a concern for the foreseeable future.
Then he got a fire going and started cooking.
After dark, the others trudged back loaded down with bags.
Killing zombies had taken two or three hours. Digging out crystals took another two-plus.
With this few people, crystal extraction was a project in itself.
That night, everyone ate well. A proper dinner to celebrate the new home.
Over the next few days, Yang Bin led Star Fall Squad on sweeps of the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, the Survival Base was falling apart.
The military, under Zhao Hu's command, broke away from the Survival Base.
Ma Zhongguo was livid. He sent forces to intercept.
A full-scale battle erupted. Both sides took heavy casualties. But in the end, Zhao Hu pulled out with over three thousand soldiers.
With the military gone, Ma Zhongguo seized total control of the Survival Base and launched sweeping reforms.
Every evolver inside received an ultimatum: join him, or get out.
Plenty of evolvers who couldn't guarantee their own survival outside had no real choice. They joined.
But others-those who valued freedom, or harbored ambitions of their own-chose to leave.
Inside a house-
"Pack your things. We're going too." Fang Sijie swung his backpack onto his shoulders and looked at Qin Wei.
Qin Wei didn't move.
"Sijie, I've thought it through. We're safer here. We have over a hundred brothers counting on us." Qin Wei's tone was measured, serious.
"......"
Fang Sijie paused. Then nodded.
"Understood. I'm out. Hope the brothers make it."
He turned toward the door.
"Sijie!" Qin Wei grabbed his arm.
"We've been brothers for years. Why can't you just stay?"
Fang Sijie met his eyes. "Remember what I told you? If you join the official side, I walk."
"Why are you so dead-set against it? What's wrong with joining? Food, water, security-all handled. It's the apocalypse. Isn't staying alive the whole point?"
Fang Sijie shook his head. He pulled Qin Wei's hand off his arm.
"Different roads. No point walking together."
"Take care."
He headed for the door again.
"You walk out that door, I guarantee you won't last two days!"
"Then that's on me."
Fang Sijie left without looking back.
"Idiot." Qin Wei's fist clenched at his side.
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