Chapter Thirty: Mutual Destruction? (1/5)

To buy Zhu Liang and Chen Ming some time to escape, Yang Fan kept stalling the Zombie King. The longer it went on, the more alarmed Yang Fan grew. He had always believed his own strength was among the best, but now he realized he had misjudged things—this Zombie King, at the peak of the Silver level, was vastly superior to him in every way. Even wearing the divine set did him no good.

"If this chase keeps up, I’ll be dead for sure." After fleeing for several minutes, Yang Fan finally grasped the gravity of his situation. With a solemn expression, he clambered up a high wall as the Zombie King blurred into a shadow and charged after him. Yang Fan struck back with a Taiji punch, forcing the Zombie King back several steps.

"This Zombie King’s intelligence isn’t high—not even as much as a regular Matriarch. Even if its abilities outclass mine, there must be a way to deal with it." Muttering to himself, Yang Fan kept running, pondering his options. It was odd—a max-level, Silver-grade Zombie King with less than human intelligence? Normally, beings of this rank were even smarter than humans.

It was strange, but Yang Fan didn’t let his guard down. Instead, he focused on crafting a strategy. Suddenly, an idea struck him. "That’s it. This could work," he thought.

He abruptly stopped and called out to Zhu Liang and Chen Ming, "Hurry! Run to Baisheng Supermarket and wait for me there!"

Without another word, Yang Fan darted sideways into a residential complex. The Zombie King, its hatred completely fixated on Yang Fan, gave chase.

The entrance to the complex was quite large, with a pool just ahead. In an instant, Yang Fan activated his invisibility.

The Zombie King was furious. It had been hunting this weak but elusive ant, and just as victory seemed within its grasp, its quarry vanished—without a trace.

For a moment, it was utterly bewildered. Its intelligence was so low that it simply wandered around the pool, confused. At that moment, a thunderous explosion shook the entire complex, setting all the car alarms blaring.

It was an Explosive Talisman.

The blast from the Explosive Talisman cratered the ground by half a meter and destroyed everything around the pool. Smoke and dust billowed everywhere. The Zombie King remained standing but was severely injured.

Yang Fan reappeared—his invisibility, a skill granted by the Divine Cloak, had allowed him to plant three Explosive Talismans around the area after vanishing. Now, one had detonated. In a flash, he placed three more around the Zombie King, then retreated a dozen meters.

With a roar, the Zombie King, seeing Yang Fan, charged without hesitation. Another tremendous explosion erupted. Yang Fan was elated—even if these two Explosive Talismans didn’t kill the Zombie King, they would at least sap thirty percent of its strength.

With invisibility on a ten-second cooldown, Yang Fan had to flee quickly. If the Zombie King caught him before he could vanish again, he’d be finished.

The Zombie King burst from the smoke, roaring as it gave chase, its speed so great it nearly overtook Yang Fan in the blink of an eye.

But just then, a black beam of light whistled past Yang Fan’s ear and struck the Zombie King. Instantly, its speed dropped noticeably. Yang Fan had no time to wonder who had helped—he could only dodge and run as fast as possible.

Reaching a temporary safe spot, Yang Fan saw a group of six or seven people—male and female in equal number. One woman, dressed in a white dress, held a jet-black bow. Clearly, she had fired the arrow that just helped him.

That arrow must have been a Corrosive Arrow, reducing movement speed by twenty-five percent for five seconds.

A Dark Mage.

Not a particularly powerful class, but somewhat rare.

The girl in the white dress glanced at Yang Fan, her eyes clear as water. He returned her gaze with a friendly smile, then rushed forward, once more activating his invisibility. Slipping in front of the Zombie King, Yang Fan set three more Explosive Talismans before retreating.

A deafening blast followed—he was caught in the ten-meter shockwave and suffered minor injuries, but the Zombie King’s clothes were burned away, its body torn and battered. Severely wounded, it roared but dared not advance.

"Ranged attackers, fire now!" Yang Fan shouted to the group.

There were seven of them: three women and four men. The girl in white was an Apocalypse Inheritor; another woman wielded an iron spear. Among the men, one held a staff, another a broadsword, and the remaining two brandished white weapons, sharper than ordinary blades.

The power of the Zombie Eye was immediately apparent.

The group glanced at Yang Fan, then at each other. Only now did Yang Fan notice that the girl in the white dress had pale gray eyes—strikingly unique. Her appearance was otherwise unremarkable, but there was a spiritual quality to her that made her unforgettable. She didn’t seem special at first glance, but her image would be seared into one’s mind.

"Don’t get involved. That thing is too powerful. It has nothing to do with us—let’s go," said the staff-wielding man, unexpectedly retreating first.

The others followed without hesitation. Only the girl in the white dress drew her bow and fired another Corrosive Arrow, saying, "This is as much as I can do." She, too, left, guided by the others—she was blind.

"Thank you," Yang Fan called after her. In this apocalypse, no one pitied others—sometimes it was hard enough to keep oneself alive. Their actions didn’t anger him; instead, he sincerely thanked the girl before turning to face the Zombie King.

"Is he trying to get himself killed?" sneered the staff-wielding man, a trace of disdain curling his lips.

"Looks like it. Let’s get out of here," another handsome young man laughed, addressing the group.

Yang Fan walked straight toward the Zombie King—a seemingly suicidal act. The man with the staff had activated a special bloodline, the Eye of Spirit, a level above Yang Fan’s Zombie Eye. He could see the Zombie King’s true strength, more clearly than Yang Fan himself.

That’s why he said what he did.

The others trusted him completely—if not for him, they’d all be dead already.

Meanwhile, Yang Fan produced twenty Explosive Talismans, his expression calm as he strode forward. Seeing him approach, the Zombie King charged mindlessly.

"Is he trying to die together with it?" The staff-wielder saw the talismans in Yang Fan’s hand. Although he didn’t know what they were, he guessed they must be the same as those that had caused the previous explosions.

Twenty Explosive Talismans—the Zombie King would be annihilated.

And Yang Fan would die too.

"Die!"

With a furious roar, Yang Fan triggered the talismans. The resulting explosion was so powerful that windows throughout the complex shattered.

Twenty Explosive Talismans—the force of twenty grenades unleashed at once.

(I love you all, my friends! Five chapters today!)