This was the first time the team had left Ye Zhongming for so long.
During the month, Ye Zhongming left the deepest impression on their hearts.
None of them were fools. They had guesses about Ye Zhongming. However, they wouldn’t think he had revived, but they felt he understood the apocalypse and knew about it beforehand.
Although many would lose the habit of analyzing things and trying to find the root cause during the apocalypse, when conditions allowed it, everyone wanted to understand the world they lived in. So the team started to question and look forward to the apocalypse. They hoped that one day they would know what it was.
Of course, those were thoughts that happened late at night. They were thinking about how to live now and not why they were living. But the sense of safety and superiority that Ye Zhongming brought them was already deep in their hearts.
When you saw that the streets were covered in corpses, when you saw broken arms and legs hanging from buildings, when you see zombies with smelly black saliva in beautiful malls, even if you had a good mentality, you would still be terrified.
People who were even stronger than you before were now bodies covered in maggots.
People on the team felt the same.
Each person would go through such a stage during the apocalypse. Ye Zhongming helped them to pass it.
Some more than others but all of them were grateful.
Gratefulness would strengthen and become closeness. As for now, everything depends on interests.
In other words, is life better with you or with others?
Not everyone else; it just had to be better than most people.
If he only saved their lives and expected them to risk their lives to get fed, the team would collapse and break apart after some time.
It might sound not kind, but that was reality.
Before this, since they left the city and passed some areas, the team felt how strong they were. When they came to Ying City, this feeling got stronger.
This was what made the team stick together.
Ying City was a hunting ground.
This was something they all understood after coming here for some time.
This hunting ground belonged to the survivors, as there were countless zombies around the city. There were also many mutated monsters and also many beasts.
The crystals on their foreheads were resources that humans craved the most.
Each day, survivors in and around the city would obtain resources from these monsters. Each day, people would evolve, and each day people would be filled with surprises.
Legends and stories would spread from the city, becoming stories that survivors who survived in the dirty sewers and ruins could tell one another.
This was also the hunting ground of mutated lifeforms.
Humans and other monsters contained the energy they needed to evolve. When there were no humans, they targeted other monsters. When there were humans, they aimed at humans.
There were many of them and also many humans. This Hunting ground was of all lifeforms.
Each day, many things would happen.
“Put down the crystals and then scram!”
A man with a huge beard raised a double-barrel hunting gun that lost some paint and shouted at the team dealing with zombie bodies.
Liang Chuyin raised her head and looked at these humans; her expression didn’t change.
“Damn, isn’t that the that? Right, Liang Chuyin, she was an influencer.”
A younger guy held a shovel and pointed at her excitedly.
“Then leave the crystal and this woman. The rest of you scram!”
Little Tiger slowly smoked on the side; his face was excited. He even whistled at Liang Chuyin to tell her she was being targeted again.
She stared at him, “Solve the problem. I told you to be a sentry and solve the problems you caused.”
“Keke, Little Tiger didn’t slack; he was why we could draw the zombies here.”
Le Dayuan’s helper helped Little Tiger explain, and he was sucking up to him.
“Old Kang, you have taste.”
Little Tiger raised a thumb, and that amused the others.
Seeing that the four with guns pointed at them did not care, the guy and his men were furious.
A dozen of them had guns, but what did these people have? Apart from that beautiful girl with a decent whip, the rest had normal-looking daggers. Such equipment wasn’t much in front of the double-barrel hunting rifle.
“Tsk, you won’t cry until you see your coffin, right?”
The guy was about to fire at Little Tiger, but when his finger moved, a person charged right at him, holding a giant shield. He knocked a bunch of them aside. The rifle also tilted and hit another side.
“Big fellow, I gave you so many signals; why are you so late?” Little Tiger stood up casually without the rifle threat and picked up a wooden stick. He walked into the crowd and beat up the group of them.
“Sorry, I fell asleep.”
Shengyuan scratched his head and apologized for his mistake, causing the rest of them to roll their eyes.
Little Tiger tossed the broken stick and started to check the belongings of this bunch who had their ribs broken.
The double-barrel rifle seemed strong, but it looked really old. The bullets didn’t threaten Little Tiger, who had a grey vest. The reason why he said that to Shengyuan was because he wanted to make it sound funnier.
When Ye Zhongming wasn’t here, the team found Cloud Peak and didn’t occupy it. They started to gather information about it.
Since they decided to build a base here, they had to understand the area around it.
Apart from this, the team didn’t slack. They started to collect crystals. They would attack if the team didn’t bump into over a hundred zombies. They could do so without any losses. If they had a land advantage, they would also attack hundreds of zombies.
During these few days, they collected around a thousand crystals.
What the team cared more about were level two crystals. The team attacked lone level two mutated lifeforms. Even groups of less than five were hunted by them. Although it would be dangerous sometimes, as they got more and more familiar with one another, they collected dozens of level two crystals with the support of the super strong defensive Shengyuan and Teacher Park’s recovery.
These were just the team’s income alone.
Ying City had over 10 million people. The population was terrifying if you added some satellite cities and other areas. Thus, there were many monsters and many survivors too.
People had slowly adapted to the apocalypse and accepted the gachapon. They started to evolve, so undoubtedly, they would face uncomfortable matters.
The most common thing would be robbery.
The team met robbers every day, so they felt it was normal. They were very solemn previously. When people got close, they would warn them. They would let them go if they realized they weren’t a threat. Then… Rob them.
They stole hundreds of level one crystals and a few level two crystals.
This time was no exception, and they got a few dozen crystals.
“When will the boss return? A few days have passed, and he is making us anxious.”
No one replied to him. The ease on their faces disappeared, and what replaced it was seriousness. Little Tiger didn’t care and started gathering the items, moving toward where Liang Chuyin and the others were.
The team was now split into three. Xia Lei, Park Xiuying, and Le Dayuan were waiting for Ye Zhongming outside the dungeon. Mo Ye led Le Dayuan’s three helpers. Liang Chuyin, Little Tiger, Shengyuan, and Le Dayuan’s last helper were one team. The teams moved with a certain distance between them and would gather every night.
Today was the same. They met in an area to spend the night. They had run a circle around Cloud Peak. They would rest tonight and meet Xia Lei and the others in the morning.
They were familiar with camping, and they had their roles. Suddenly, a red signal bullet shot into the sky that covered the area in color.
The team was shocked. A thought appeared in their minds.
Something happened!
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Ye Zhongming looked at the figure and squinted his eyes.
Misty Roc!
Level four!
He clenched his fist and decided to give up.
Could he kill this fellow?
After having a medium-grade ice gem, he was 70% sure he could kill it. But what would he get? One level four crystal and a bunch of level four materials.
The price? 30% danger and a mid-grade ice gem.
Was it worth it?
In the future, it was worth it. Level four crystals were mid-grade crystals and were rare. In ten years, many people will be stuck at this stage.
But to Ye Zhongming, who wasn’t even three-star, it wasn’t meaningful to him.
He watched this roc with colorful feathers circle around and then land in the valley. Those level two Cloud Hooves were lamps to the slaughter for it. They were picked up by it and eaten.
After it was a fool, it flew away elegantly.
Candy and the others were so terrified that they shivered. They feared level two monsters, so much less level four ones!
Ye Zhongming shook his head helplessly. Compared to the team he nurtured, these one-star evolved were weaker.
Maybe because the level four monster visited, the valley was silent for over an hour. Some Cloud Hooves stood up and walked about. They wanted to call out to their brothers, but it wasn’t effective. Only a few dozen of them could move.
Outside, there were rustling sounds. The red mane on their necks stood up, and they roared towards the entrance to warn them. But the gory scent made those warnings futile.
Monsters that had long snake bodies and four legs charged in. They saw the huge groups of fallen Cloud Hooves and cried excitedly.
Honk Monsters?
Ye Zhongming was delighted. These level-two monsters were ideal hunting targets. Apart from their crystals, if you soaked and dried their sacs and ate them with wine, they could increase your resistance to poison. These were as useful as immunity potions and were very valuable. Before Ye Zhongming revived, each sac could exchange for a two-star potion. If you met a rich person, you could get better things.
Their territories were close, but as there were too many Cloud Hooves, they were always the ones who suffered.
This time, these monsters sniffed an intense blood stench. They saw that their enemies had lost badly, so they wouldn’t let go of this chance. They charged at the corpses and planned to have a feast.
The strongest few Cloud Hooves charged. They knew they would die but still wanted to protect their families.
They couldn’t even last for a minute in front of the healthy group of Honk Monsters with superior numbers.
They wanted to leave but noticed that there was a wooden stick. Then a blue lotus appeared that launched a sharp attack at them.
Under its strong attacks, the monsters not known for speed or defense couldn’t fight back. A basic-grade ice crystal cleared them out.
“Quick quick quick! Keep the demon crystals!”
Ye Zhongming told the three others to collect the crystals, getting another few dozen. Then they hid on the hill.
Just like that, Ye Zhongming started his camping technique. He didn’t strike each time and would only do so when there were groups of level two or lone three monsters. Each day, he would only attack once. He would attack more at some special times, like when some monsters ate more or didn’t leave.
But the more he used the Nature Staff, the fewer gems he had left. If an accident occurred, he couldn’t attack for a full day. But he was lucky, and such a thing only happened once.
Three days later, he collected 500 level two crystals and seven level three crystals. The price he paid was one life, most of the Cloud Hooves’ bodies, and the remaining four nature gems. Among them were three basic and one intermediate.
Ye Zhongming knew that his hunt was over.
He looked at the two level three and over 200 level two Fang Beast Cavalries; Ye Zhongming could only sigh.
But a familiar connection appeared in his mind when he was about to retreat and take those Cloud Hoof eggs.