When they took in the scene inside the supermarket, everyone froze. Every face hardened into an expression of sheer vigilance. The supermarket was a slaughterhouse, the floor carpeted in the bisected corpses of zombies.
Originally, their squad of over ten men would have been more than enough to handle Zhang Jinglin alone.
But now?
The guy holding Zhang Jinglin's katana seemed far more dangerous than Zhang Jinglin himself.
They couldn't afford to take him lightly.
As they ventured deeper, the bare, looted shelves left them even more baffled.
Yellow Dog spoke up first. "What the hell is going on here? The whole place has been cleaned out. That's impossible! They took everyday items like clothes, bowls, and chopsticks, too? How many survivors are living around here?"
Even with giant tactical backpacks, a scavenging run could only net so much-a week's worth of food at most.
To completely strip a supermarket of this size, how massive of a survivor group would that take?
Besides, the zombie blood on the ground was fresh. These creatures had been killed only moments ago.
Could someone have cleared out the inventory while dodging live zombies? That was insane.
The entire situation was downright eerie.
Giant Bear shook his head. "Forget it. Our main priority is finding Zhang Jingyu!"
His primary directive from Black Tiger was to bring back Zhang Jingyu. He didn't care about anything else.
Yellow Dog nodded.
His nose twitched as he tracked the scent straight toward the supermarket's storage warehouse.
Inside, Liu Yang's enhanced hearing caught the sound of approaching footsteps.
He frowned.
He had already wiped out all the zombies outside. Had some desperate survivors seen the empty perimeter and ventured in looking for food?
He had zero intention of sharing his haul.
Fortunately, he had already stashed every last supply into his space. It was the perfect time to meet these uninvited guests.
Katana in hand, Liu Yang stepped out of the warehouse with Zhang Jingyu right behind him. The two groups came face-to-face.
The moment Giant Bear spotted Zhang Jingyu, his eyes widened, flashing with sudden excitement. "Zhang Jingyu? Fantastic! You're still breathing! Looks like I get to report a successful mission after all!"
"Ah!" Zhang Jingyu gasped, the color draining from her face.
Panic instantly seized her features.
"What's wrong? Who are they?" Liu Yang asked in a low, sharp tone, his gaze locked on the intruders.
"They're from Black Tiger Survivor Base," Zhang Jingyu whispered fearfully. "That hulking guy is Giant Bear, their third-in-command. He's an ability user, and he's extremely strong-only slightly weaker than my brother!
"The two next to him are Yellow Dog and Scarface Mouse, also ability users. The rest are Black Tiger's top enforcers. Before the apocalypse, they were mercenaries and professional hitmen. Every single one of them is a hardened killer.
"I can't believe Black Tiger Base sent three ability users and a dozen elites just to hunt us down!"
Terror consumed Zhang Jingyu's expression.
Three ability users at once. Even if her brother were still alive, he would have been overwhelmed!
"Three ability users, huh?"
Liu Yang tightened his grip on the katana.
This was his first time encountering other ability users in the wild.
Judging by their aura, though, they didn't seem particularly impressive. A couple of ice needles would probably settle them easy enough.
Still, Liu Yang was in no rush to kill them instantly. He wanted to gauge how far ahead he was compared to standard ability users. That way, he could better estimate where he'd rank when testing himself against the Ranking Stone.
He decided against using his elemental abilities. He'd test his raw, physical melee combat with the katana alone.
While Liu Yang evaluated Giant Bear's squad, they were sizing him up in return.
Unsure of his depth, Giant Bear's squad hesitated to make a blind move.
Yellow Dog's eyes landed on the blade in Liu Yang's hand. "Kid, we're with the Black Tiger Survivor Base. Whose base do you belong to? Taking things that don't belong to you isn't healthy. Hand over the woman and that sword, and maybe we'll let you walk away alive."
"Oh? And what if I decline?" Liu Yang replied, a faint, mocking smile playing on his lips.
"Then don't blame us for getting nasty!" Yellow Dog spat through grit teeth, unholstering a gleaming, heavy machete from behind his back.
"Let's see how nasty you can get, then."
Before the words even faded, Liu Yang burst forward. Before Yellow Dog could even register the movement, a flash of cold steel whipped across his vision.
"Slick!"
Yellow Dog's snarl was still frozen on his face as his head slid off his neck, striking the floor.
A high column of crimson erupted into the air. Without breaking momentum, Liu Yang flicked his blade in a rapid series of arcs, severing the heads of several thugs standing right beside Yellow Dog.
"What insane speed!"
Giant Bear's face paled in sheer horror.
The survivors scrambled backward in a panic, their eyes filled with utter terror as they stared at Liu Yang.
"Huh? Running already? Don't back off yet-I was just getting warmed up!" Liu Yang sneered.
Blood dripped steadily from the tip of his pitch-black katana.
The supermarket air reeked of raw rust and iron.
Four headless corpses lay sprawling at his feet.
In that single exchange, Liu Yang had already pinned down the capabilities of these so-called ability users.
Their physical stats-strength, speed, agility-were roughly double that of a baseline human.
Meanwhile, Liu Yang's stats were 16.5 times the human baseline!
The gap was a chasm. To Liu Yang, their movements were practically happening in slow motion.
As for their specific abilities, he didn't know and didn't care. Clearly, none of them were formidable enough to activate before getting sliced into pieces.
Cold sweat broke out across Giant Bear's forehead.
The surviving mercenaries were practically paralyzed with fear.
This man was a monster!
He moved so fast their eyes couldn't even track him. Even their overall leader, Black Tiger, wouldn't stand a chance against a killer like this!
Giant Bear's heart pounded against his ribs.
If his own combat power was eight hundred and Black Tiger's was a thousand, the absolute demon standing in front of them had a power level of at least five thousand!
They weren't even playing the same game!
How could they fight this? Unless the entire Black Tiger Base mobilized en masse, they had zero chance of survival.
Giant Bear raised his hands in a frantic gesture of surrender. "Brother, hold on! This is all a misunderstanding! The woman, the weapon-take whatever you want! We'll leave right now, how about it? If you let us walk, I swear none of us will ever show our faces in front of you again!"
"That won't do... I haven't had my fun yet."
The moment he finished speaking, Liu Yang lunged forward again.
Giant Bear roared in desperation, "Run! Get back to the base and bring reinforcements! I'll hold him off!"
"[Bear Form]!"
"ROAR!!!"
Giant Bear's body expanded violently, thick fur sprouting rapidly across his skin as he transformed into a massive, gray killer bear!
"Oh? Your ability is just turning into a bear? Talk about underwhelming," Liu Yang taunted, stepping seamlessly into his guard. "Why give up being a human just to become a beast?"
With a swift, blinding arc, Liu Yang's blade severed the massive bear's head before Giant Bear could even raise a paw to defend himself.
Liu Yang plunged into the fleeing crowd, turning the corridor into a abattoir. These hardened mercenaries and elite assassins were nothing more than squawking chickens before his blade, devoid of any capacity to resist.
In under a minute, every last one of them lay dead.
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