Back home, everyone unloaded the supplies. Yang Bin and Zhong Yuansen headed straight for the kitchen to fire up the stove.
With today's haul, they could put together a proper feast.
Fang Sijie stepped into the villa and lost his composure. Sharp as he was, even he needed a moment to process what he was seeing.
This was the apocalypse? How could he not feel a single trace of it here?
Spotless rooms. A mahjong machine sitting in the living room. Playing cards still scattered across the table from the last game. Every detail screamed that these people were living without a care in the world.
It was like everyone else was surviving the end of the world while these guys were on vacation.
"Stay calm..."
Chen Hao clapped Fang Sijie on the shoulder, mimicking Yang Bin's tone: "The apocalypse? That's other people's apocalypse. What's that got to do with Star Fall Squad?"
"......"
"'Other people's apocalypse.' Star Fall Squad really is something else." A smile spread across Fang Sijie's face.
Perhaps this was the kind of team he'd been searching for.
"Hao-ge, that crystal of yours..." Old Hei sidled up to Chen Hao, rubbing his hands together with a shameless grin.
"Hao-ge, Hao-ge-here, have some water. You must be tired. Let me rub your shoulders." Skinny Monkey materialized with a glass of water, wearing an equally sycophantic expression.
The boss had already spoken-this crystal was Chen Hao's to distribute. He'd swiped it through his own skill. Without him, they wouldn't have even known it existed, and might've walked into danger blind.
Judging from Chen Hao's wound, that guy's ability had been strong. If he'd broken through to the Yaoguang Realm, a surprise attack could've genuinely threatened them.
So Chen Hao had earned the right to decide where it went.
"Mm, Monkey knows how to treat a man right." Chen Hao leaned back with a satisfied look.
"Hao-ge, I'll do your laundry for a whole month! Underwear included!" Old Hei said through gritted teeth.
"You're going THAT hard?!" Skinny Monkey's eyes went wide.
"What-scared to match it?"
"You're insane! It's just one or two days earlier, is it really worth that much?" Skinny Monkey folded immediately.
With their strength, getting a Yaoguang Realm crystal would take two days tops. A whole month of underwear duty? That was psychotic.
"Heh, who told you to awaken before me? To get ahead of you, I'll pay any price!" Old Hei looked like a man who'd abandoned all dignity.
"Haha, deal! It's yours!" Chen Hao tossed the crystal over without hesitation.
"Hehe, thanks, Hao-ge!"
Old Hei snatched it, dropped to the floor right there, and swallowed it.
Everyone gathered around him without a word, watching expectantly.
Fang Sijie observed the scene in silence. The atmosphere here-it sat right with him.
He didn't ask questions. He preferred to read situations rather than interrogate them.
What you hear and see isn't always the truth. Only what you feel tells you what's real.
From these people's unguarded gestures and expressions, he could glean plenty.
This team might truly be worth following.
Five minutes later, Old Hei opened his eyes. His face lit up.
"Well? What'd you get?"
"Hehe. Dark-element control ability."
"Someone help me test it?"
"I'll do it." Zhao Kun stepped forward. "How?"
"Kun-ge, just charge at me."
"Got it."
Zhao Kun nodded and rushed him.
A pair of pitch-black energy hands erupted from the ground and clamped around Zhao Kun's ankles.
He stumbled, nearly face-planting. Yanked his foot. Couldn't break free. His eyebrows shot up.
"Not bad."
He wrenched again, harder. It took real effort before he tore loose.
"Hehe, Kun-ge, in a real fight? I throw a few fireballs while you're stuck and you're cooked!" Old Hei couldn't keep the smugness off his face.
"Oh? Growing a spine now, are we?" Zhao Kun's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Want to go? See if your fireballs hit harder than my fists?"
"Uh... nope. Nope nope nope. Kun-ge, you're my brother forever." The image of those bone spikes on Zhao Kun's knuckles flashed through Old Hei's mind, and he folded instantly.
"So what about your original ability? How'd it evolve?"
"Hehe-got Fire Rain. Basically went from single-target to AoE." Old Hei puffed his chest out.
"Nice! That makes you our main DPS from now on!" The others perked up immediately.
Finally, group damage. Clearing zombies just got a whole lot faster.
Fang Sijie pieced together plenty from their scattered comments. His eyes widened.
So the sixth rank brought changes this dramatic.
The chatter continued until Yang Bin and Zhong Yuansen started ferrying dishes to the table.
"Alright, alright, shut up and come eat."
"Coming!"
Eight people settled around the table. A perfect fit.
Fang Sijie stared at the spread and let out a breath. "This is obscenely luxurious."
"Heh, it's alright. Monkey, grab two bottles of red wine. We're celebrating tonight-welcome to the squad, Sijie."
"On it."
They ate until they were stuffed, drank until they were warm, played a few rounds of mahjong, then drifted off to their rooms.
Late that night, everyone brought Fang Sijie up to the rooftop to watch the stars.
Fang Sijie adapted fast. You only had to tell him something once and he got it. No follow-up questions, no hand-holding needed.
Yang Bin liked him more by the hour. Talking to this guy saved so much breath.
After another full night under the stars, Yang Bin's strength broke through to the peak of the Yaoguang Realm.
He felt the power brimming inside him and allowed himself a satisfied nod.
Next question: how long until Tier 7?
Tier 7 meant lighting a new star. The threshold wouldn't be small.
He glanced down at the zombies penned in the courtyard. No new Yaoguang Realm specimens. He shook his head.
Everyone caught a few hours of sleep, then rose around nine.
"Boss, what's the plan today?"
They asked over breakfast, chopsticks still moving.
"You guys go hunt Yaoguang Realm zombies on your own today. Chen Hao and I are paying the official base a visit."
"We're doing it?"
"Yeah. No point dragging it out. Time to settle this."
"But just the two of you-isn't that risky?"
"Two of us is the safest option. If something goes sideways, we can disengage. If all of you come along, that's when we actually can't get out."
"...Alright. Boss, you two be careful."
"Relax." Yang Bin's voice was easy, certain. "Nobody alive right now can keep the two of us somewhere we don't want to be."