The campfire illuminated the entire campsite, casting a red glow over the excited faces of the women.
After taking a healing crystal given by Ye Zhongming, Wang Xiaorui’s injuries had improved significantly. Though she still couldn’t fight, she could move freely now.
This was thanks to a seven-star evolved’s robust physique, and the crystals’ potent healing properties left behind by Teacher Park’s skills.
The Soul Merchant members had already revealed everything Ye Zhongming wanted to know. None dared to lie—though the method of separate interrogations wasn’t novel, it was effective. To survive, they even provided detailed accounts.
However, none of them lived to see the next sunrise. After the interrogation, Ye Zhongming handed them to the women for disposal.
How deep was the hatred the “livestock” held for Soul Merchant? The brutal executions made it clear.
Beside Ye Zhongming lay Ao Cha, still unconscious. As an Eight-Star evolved, he would wake within half an hour unless lethally injured. Ye Zhongming repeatedly knocked him out, only allowing him to stay awake long enough to witness the slaughter of his men.
Like many of her sisters, Xiao Hua gradually snapped out of the bloodlust-fueled cruelty. After washing off the blood in a nearby pond, she returned and sat beside Ye Zhongming.
Despite owing their rescue to him, none of the women dared disturb the solemn King of Cloud Peak—except Xiao Hua, who had interacted with him the most.
Years of torment had stripped these women of their confidence, leaving only hesitation and timidity.
“Here.”
After killing the Soul Merchant members, the black spheres detached from their bodies. Having seen Ye Zhongming collect them earlier, Xiao Hua gathered the ones from the corpses and brought them to him.
Ye Zhongming took them without a word and stored them away.
Xiao Hua opened her mouth but hesitated, finally blurting out, “What are those?”
Seeing her awkward, almost fawning expression, Ye Zhongming was reminded of the female guards in their early days—Xiao Min and the others had worn the same look.
But under Xia Bai’s ruthless leadership, they had channeled that ferocity into their collective style.
“Origin Spheres. They… have many uses,” Ye Zhongming answered briefly.
He had crafted seven pieces of purple-grade equipment using materials from two level-nine lifeforms. After leaving three with Deacon Water, Li Daqian, and Commander Mu, he still had four left. Aside from the gauntlet used to kill Veterinarian Meng earlier, he had utilized two more today: the Greed Bracelet on his left wrist and the Reaper Shooter—a fusion of the Crystal Energy Gun and the Earth Sniper Rifle.
The black spheres released before the battle were an ability of the Greed Bracelet—Essence Plunder. When activated, the bracelet would fire Plunder Spheres that attached to targets. Upon death, the spheres would absorb 10% of the target’s total energy before detaching as Origin Spheres.
The amount of energy plundered depended on the user’s evolution level, increasing by 5% per star.
This was equipment usable only by Seven-Star evolved or higher. At Seven Stars, the plunder rate was 5%.
The Plunder Spheres could be dodged when fired, but could not be removed once attached.
The Essence Plunder skill had no cooldown, but the spheres took time to generate—one every five hours. The Greed Bracelet could store up to 100 spheres.
Once plundered and transformed into Origin Spheres, they could be used for evolved absorption, equipment crafting, beast rearing, energy device replenishment, and more.
This was the might of purple-grade equipment—unpredictable and immensely powerful.
The spheres could target both humans and mutated lifeforms.
In Ye Zhongming’s eyes, this ability alone made the Greed Bracelet worthy of its purple-tier status.
“Origin Spheres,” Xiao Hua repeated, nodding before falling silent again.
“You can keep the equipment from those Soul Merchant members. Aside from the two level-seven magic crystals from the ogres, the rest are yours too.”
Ye Zhongming ate absentmindedly, his mind occupied with planning. He spoke these words without much thought.
The best equipment among those Soul Merchant members was only green-grade, which held no appeal for Ye Zhongming. As for the ogre magic crystals, aside from the two level-seven ones, the rest were too low-level and too few in number to be worth keeping. He might as well let the women have them.
Instead of being pleased, Xiao Hua’s face fell with disappointment.
“You… are you going to the Soul Merchant’s base?”
Ye Zhongming turned to her, his gaze sharp.
Knowing something was one thing—voicing it was another.
The questions he had asked the Soul Merchant members and Wang Xiaorui earlier all pointed to one thing: he was searching for their base.
“We… can help.” Xiao Hua mustered her courage and finally voiced what she and the others had discussed.
They wanted to join Cloud Peak.
But they knew—what was Cloud Peak’s status now? What level were its members? How could a group of strangers who didn’t even know how to fight measure up, trust issues aside?
But the apocalypse was harsh. Having finally seen hope, how could they let it slip away?
To join Cloud Peak, they had to prove their worth.
And Ye Zhongming’s search for the Soul Merchant’s base? Even the dullest among them could guess his intentions. An opportunity had presented itself.
A dangerous one—many of them might die—but they couldn’t let it pass.
After discussing it, they sent Xiao Hua to persuade Ye Zhongming.
“We drew a map based on what we know. We… came up with a plan. Maybe… it could work.”