"Whew..." Xiao Ming couldn't help but let out a satisfied breath as the feeling of becoming more powerful completely overwhelmed him.
It was a feeling hard to describe. It somehow felt like returning to his mother's embrace when he was still just a baby; filled with trust, affection, care, kind preoccupation, and so much more.
For high-level people, the amount of extra statistics that Xiao Ming gained might not be anything worth mentioning. But for him, who was just a normal level 0 human, those stats immediately made him two to three times more powerful than in the past. Not to mention the 10 status points he had received after reaching level 5.
Even so, Xiao Ming did not get carried away or swept away by the feeling of power. The dead person before him was the greatest proof that complacency would only open the gates of death for him sooner than fate had planned.
"Oh?" Xiao Ming bent down and picked up a skill scroll. But after hesitating for a bit, he didn't dare to learn it and simply kept it carefully in his military hunter.
Everyone was aware of the existence of the skill scrolls, after all, having been on so many zombie hunts, the armed soldiers had witnessed with their own eyes when the elite melee group occasionally received skills. However, the group had an extremely strict rule.
If a skill scroll, treasure orb, or any item related to the Soul Record was obtained, it had to be handed directly to the leaders or someone with real power in the Beginning Village. If anyone dared to break this rule and was discovered, the punishment could range from exile or even death.
Xiao Ming did not want to lose what he had gotten so far after receiving Bai Zemin's grace and favor as well as his own efforts. A simple skill was not worth it from his point of view.
Apart from the skill scroll, Xiao Ming also obtained a normal grade red treasure orb. He simply put both items away and calmly returned to his position.
Approximately five minutes later, about ten modified vehicles roared from the south; 3 military jeeps, 3 ambulances, and approximately 4 SUVs with several armed men.
A moment later, under the respectful and heated gaze of the soldiers, a Kang Lan dressed in a female military uniform which clung tightly to her body stepped down from the front military vehicle. Although Kang Lan was not a first-rate beauty, she was pretty in her own right. Especially her skin, it seemed to become more shiny and silky smooth every time she leveled up.
Immediately after, an even prettier Cai Jingyi descended from the passenger seat. She was still wearing her female police uniform, which hugged her tiny but lovely body as if it was unwilling to part too much from her skin.
Kang Lan's face turned a little ugly at the sight of the situation. As for Cai Jingyi, she frowned slightly for a second before her expression returned to normal.
"Lady Kang Lan, Lady Cai Jingyi..." Xiao Ming approached a little embarrassed. He had explained the whole situation before, but even though he knew that they were facing people with supernatural skills, this did not lessen his embarrassment in the slightest.
From his point of view, with all the weaponry they had and even with overwhelming numerical advantage, they should have crushed the enemy completely. However, his side ended up losing around ten fighters while the enemy side only had eight people.
"Where are the suspicious people?" Cai Jingyi asked calmly as she noticed that Kang Lan didn't feel much like talking.
"Yes... It's this way." Xiao Ming took a deep breath and led both women towards the house where the Nangong family was.
On the other hand, about five people with some medical experience began to give better medical treatment to the wounded people while the armed men reinforced the perimeter security.
...
Nangong Yi knew that Xiao Ming was the person with the highest position in this place, therefore, when he saw how respectful he acted to the two women, he was surprised and knew that these two girls who looked extremely young were the real deal.
Cai Jingyi and Kang Lan were also secretly surprised when they arrived at the living room heavily guarded by five armed men. What surprised them was the beauty of Nangong Lingxin.
The current Nangong Lingxin was nervous about the situation, but more than anything else she looked extremely worried about her father's life that seemed to slip through her fingers rapidly. Although she looked extremely miserable and pitiful due to the total loss of her Mana, although her dress was somewhat dirty due to the battles and hardships experienced during the running away road, she was undoubtedly the third most beautiful woman both girls had seen so far; only behind Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun.
At the sight of the wounded old man, Kang Lan's kind heart was moved. She stretched out her hand preparing to activate her skill when a voice stopped her.
"Kang Lan, wait a moment." Cai Jingyi interrupted her friend with a faint smile.
Kang Lan looked at her doubtfully. Although she still had yet to heal Bai Zemin on a daily basis, she knew that such a bullet wound only needed one of her two uses of Lesser Healing to close it. While the old man would not fully recover, he would undoubtedly escape the certain death to which he was quickly heading. Still, she stopped her movements.
Cai Jingyi looked at Nangong Yi with a slight smile on her immutable face and introduced herself: "Hello, how are you? My name is Cai Jingyi and this is Kang Lan. May I know who you are, where you come from, and how you got here?"
She seemed to ignore the injured old man completely.
Nangong Yi was worried about his father, but he knew he had to answer if he was to have any hope of him and his family surviving. Soon, he began to narrate the events.
It turned out that two days' drive from this position to the north, a large group of survivors had been gathered under the care of several police teams and other powerful people.
But what surprised Kang Lan and Cai Jingyi most was the number of survivors. The other party actually had three thousand people! One had to know that even they had barely broken the two thousand barrier recently and with great difficulty making use of satellite radio!
"When the apocalypse broke out, the police station of Tinyuan Town and the police station of the nearby Linqi Town moved rather quickly. Making use of firearms, both police stations consisting of a total of two hundred men in all, quickly defeated the zombies and began to build a safe perimeter as they gradually expanded." Nangong Yi narrated slowly.
"The problem was that three days ago, the two heads in charge of the different police stations had an altercation in which the son of one of the heads attempted to rape the daughter of the other while he was drunk. It was then that the barely visible line of order was almost completely broken. Both sides split on bad terms and power struggles often break out where both try to take over each other's forces."
"This is where our family came in." Nangong Yi sighed. A glint of sadness and remorse flashed in his eyes as he said, "Our family consisted of four people in the beginning. Namely, my mother, my father, my younger sister, and myself. Unfortunately, while we were fleeing, my mother was scratched by a zombie... and not long after that she mutated."
Kang Lan and Cai Jingyi listened in silence.
"After... You know, after I.... I ended the life of that beast that looked like my mother but wasn't really her anymore, I got my active skill and thanks to that the ride became incredibly smoother. Shortly after, while I was out looking for food, a zombie sneaked into the shelter we were in and my sister, to protect our weak father, had no choice but to fight. Fortunately and thankfully, she defeated the zombie and gained her own active skill, lightening my load tremendously."
"After four days of aimless wandering in which both siblings fought to exhaustion every day, we finally came across the camp set up by these two police powers and, because my sister and I had been fighting non-stop and had reached level 15 and 16 respectively, we were welcomed with open arms by Kang Rong, the head of Tianyuan Town Police Station and Kang Hong's father."
When Xiao Ming heard the word 'Kang' a strange expression appeared on his face involuntarily and a wild theory flashed in his mind.
Wasn't that the surname of the little bitch I killed? He thought silently, remembering when Nangong Yi angrily shouted Kang Hong's name when they were surrounded.
Nangong Yi continued with his story: "You can imagine our happiness back then. After going through so many hardships and sorrows, our family could finally rest in comfortable beds without having to worry about being eaten during the night."
"Everything was great. My younger sister Lingxin and I had to fulfill certain tasks occasionally such as going out in search of supplies and survivors along with the scouting teams, providing support, and other simple things for evolved people. Although the camp was somewhat messy, my priority was my family."
"The problems started when Kang Rong's only son, Kang Hong, with his perverted nature, tried to woo my sister. That little rat acted courteous at first, but where could he with his filthy, disgusting face and fake smile possibly capture the heart of a beauty such as Lingxin? My sister kicked him out several times and on one of those occasions, that brat got furiously drunk."
A cold smile appeared on Nangong Yi's face, "That idiot thought he was the God of the heavens or something. The jerk tried to force himself on the other camp leader's daughter and if it wasn't for the alcohol already eating his brain he could have had his way with her given his evolutionary strength. When the girl luckily managed to slip away, she naturally reported everything to her father and that's when all hell broke loose."
Cai Jingyi didn't need Nangong Yi to continue. She alone could imagine the rest of the events.
"Then, frustrated, this guy named Kang Hong, who realized that even the other police chief couldn't do anything to him under his father's protection, decided to use the force on your sister. Am I wrong?" She concluded. Her face still had the same faint smile from when she entered the room so it was hard to tell what she was thinking.
"That's right." Nangong Yi nodded with a hateful expression. "My sister specializes in defense and not offense. It was only because of that that she managed to withstand that damn beast's attacks until I arrived or else it would be hard to tell what would have happened."
Cai Jingyi and Kang Lan looked at Nangong Lingxin and saw that even though the woman was caring for her injured father, a glint of disgust and hatred flashed in her beautiful hazel eyes. Such deep emotion was impossible to simulate unless one was a Hollywood actor with several years of career and fame, so both girls concluded that even if Nangong Yi was not telling the whole truth, most of it was probably true.
"To escape persecution by Kang Hong and his gang, my sister and I along with our father were forced to leave the home we had earned. Although I was not frightened of Kang Hong in a one-on-one battle and had absolute confidence in killing him, the other seven evolvers following him were also powerful. Therefore, we had to flee until we got here... You must already know the rest."
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