No house, no car, no money—as a young man in his thirties, Gao Mingming's favorite thing to do every day was to hide in his rented room and play games.
The rest of the time, he watched educational foreign action movies, and his favorite was the mixed-race actress Yoshizawa, who excelled in skill, figure, and looks.
In peacetime, beautiful women like the bespectacled lady wouldn't even glance at a good-for-nothing like him.
But after the apocalypse arrived, he drew and successfully awakened the Mythical-grade Talent "Demonic Shadow Clone."
With the help of the Demon Shadow Clone, he seemed to become a character from a novel, successfully casting himself as a protagonist of the 'cautious' archetype.
He only needed to hide behind the scenes, relying on the Demon Shadow Clone's characteristics to remotely control and slay Zombie Kings one after another, instantly teleporting the acquired items back to his side.
The world suddenly changed; those once high-and-mighty leaders were scared witless by the Zombie Kings.
Those elite white-collar workers who once looked down on him were easily torn apart by the Zombie Kings.
Yet, he continued to live very well; for every small realm he advanced, he could conjure an additional Demon Shadow Clone.
Whether it was attacking Zombie Kings, cooking meals, or ambushing those self-important powerful Awakener, the Demon Shadow Clone could easily do it.
Like Liu Qian, the bespectacled lady, her husband used to be the boss of an advertising company and one of his car repair clients.
Liu Qian's daily pocket money alone was more than his three months' salary.
However, at the very beginning of the apocalypse, her husband was infected and turned into a Zombie King.
Gao Mingming rescued Liu Qian just as she was about to be devoured by a Zombie King, and through the PUA techniques he learned from past tutoring classes, he made Liu Qian his slave, obedient and compliant to his every whim.
She would have no objections, but rather cooperate even more.
"What a great era!"
"It's just that my strength is still improving too slowly; it's time to consider establishing a force."
"The Lei Family, Zhou Family, Ji Family, and the Su Family, which is closest to me in the Demon Capital, frequently appear on the server-wide chat channel, and their forces are growing stronger."
"Although my Talent is powerful, my main body, unlike the Demon Shadow Clone, cannot be fearless of death or pain; my main body must never be exposed to the outside, otherwise, it is highly likely to encounter misfortune."
Gao Mingming sat at the dining table in the living room, calculating his next plan.
Just then, the well-maintained, voluptuous mature woman walked out of the bedroom and asked Gao Mingming in confusion, "Master, why is it so noisy outside today?"
"Aren't there only three of us left in our community?"
"I think I heard the sound of cars."
"What did you say??" Gao Mingming suddenly stood up upon hearing this, realizing something.
Cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead; he instantly pulled Liu Qian out of the kitchen.
He directly turned off the gas stove and pushed both of them into the bedroom, locking the door.
Before locking the door, he even used black tape to tie them both to the bedside, their mouths tightly gagged to prevent them from making any sound.
"No way... no way..."
"Just a coincidence, impossible!"
"Su Yufeng absolutely cannot find me; it must be other survivors passing by accidentally." Gao Mingming muttered repeatedly, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
He cautiously approached the window, poked his head out, and looked outside.
One... ten...
There were more than twenty camouflage off-road vehicles downstairs???
Moreover, the Awakener who got out of these camouflage off-road vehicles approached the old building he was in with a clear objective, locking all entrances and exits of the old building.
He even saw many Awakener in camouflage uniforms appearing on the rooftops of the neighboring residential buildings.
This was literally locking down all his escape routes!
Could it really be Su Yufeng?
Besides him, no one in Qianjiang City possessed such a large force.
Hundreds of Sky Awakening Realm Eight-Star Awakener!
The two major Awakener strongholds in Qianjiang City combined didn't have so many powerhouses.
He was currently only a Sky Awakening Realm Six-Star; even with the Demon Shadow Clone, he couldn't contend against those hundreds of Awakener.
Thinking this, Gao Mingming quickly retracted his head, and the scene of Su Yufeng ferociously beating a Tier 3 Four-Star Zombie King to death flashed in his mind, causing him to shiver involuntarily.
A wave of regret permeated his heart.
Why did I have to provoke Su Yufeng?
I could have grown rapidly by relying on the Demon Shadow Clone; if only I had enough time, even the Su Family wouldn't be my opponent.
No!
I absolutely cannot sit still and wait for death!
Listening to the approaching footsteps in the hallway, Gao Mingming immediately split off a Demon Shadow Clone, which merged into the shadows, squeezed through the door crack, and entered the hallway.
It silently approached a Su Family Awakener.
The Demon Shadow Clone's stealth ability was extremely strong; this Su Family Awakener didn't even notice a black shadow overlapping with his own.
Gao Mingming gritted his teeth, controlling the Demon Shadow Clone to instantly solidify; its dark arm transformed into a dagger, which he unhesitatingly thrust towards the Su Family Awakener's back.
This speed-focused Demon Shadow Clone moved extremely fast; even though this Su Family Awakener's cultivation was stronger than his, he still couldn't react in time.
"Clang! Clang!"
The dagger in the Demon Shadow Clone's hand suddenly struck the Su Family Awakener's back, emitting a metallic clang but failing to advance further.
"There's a black shadow here, everyone be careful!"
"Mages, immediately cast the Mana Sphere Cage to lock him down!"
"Archers, snipe him!"
A trace of disdain flashed in this Su Family Awakener's eyes; he used the Demon Shadow Clone's force to create distance and immediately shouted.
Facing this level of assassination-style attack, they had dozens of ways to respond.
As core guards of the Su Family, their daily training was extremely rigorous; everyone's Talent was A-grade or higher, and they received the most resources for their daily cultivation.
The equipment obtained from slaying mutated creatures was also prioritized for their use.
What had just blocked the Demon Shadow Clone's attack was a Tier 1 Excellent-grade armor, which provided him with hundreds of points of defense.
Gao Mingming's Demon Shadow Clone couldn't even break through his defense!
"Mana Sphere Cage!"
A Mage finished chanting in just one second, and the blue Excellent-grade staff in his hand glowed.
Immediately, yellow chains appeared around the Demon Shadow Clone, locking all its limbs and sealing it within a spherical light shield.
"You!"
"Let me go!!" Gao Mingming roared, only to find that this Demon Shadow Clone was already unable to move.
A sharp pain suddenly came from his brow, as dozens of black arrows pierced through his body, and the crimson arrow in his brow even exploded.
"Continue!"
"Target Room 613! Speed up!"
"The Family Head is watching us from behind; we cannot make any mistakes!"
The Su Family Awakener, seeing the Demon Shadow Clone successfully eliminated, urged everyone to immediately quicken their pace.
"Impossible!?"
"I'm surrounded???"
............