Chapter Forty-Three: Unease

After returning to the room, Yang Fan glanced at Liu Xue, who was already fast asleep, then sat down on the sofa, lost in deep thought. At last, he clenched his fists, his voice chilling as he muttered, “Don’t let me find out that you’re hiding those five people. If you are, everyone will die.”

The five people he referred to were that psychopathic group of five. In the earliest days of the apocalypse, they had gained enormous benefits, and then began to throw their weight around. Whenever Yang Fan recalled the events of his previous life, he couldn’t help but clench his fists. Still, it was only a suspicion—he wasn’t certain. If he were, he would have long since taken action.

Sitting on the sofa, Yang Fan began to assess his current strength. He still had over fifty Explosive Talismans left, which, combined with the Divine Might skill, made for a perfect solo boss-killing technique. In terms of abilities, aside from the Steel Armor, Tai Chi Fist, and the stealth effect from his equipment, there wasn’t much else.

His overall attributes were seventeen times those of an ordinary person. He was level five, with only a few thousand apocalypse coins left. Most importantly, his weapons needed some adjustment. His main offensive equipment consisted of the Thunder Edge Blade, Azir’s Broken Greatsword, Glorious Bracers, and Domi’s Critical Ring.

He had Liu Qiaoqiao, who was in training, buy him a silver-grade Appraisal Talisman. Normally it cost three thousand apocalypse coins, but with his connections, he only needed to pay twenty-four hundred. Yang Fan specifically requested the non-transferable kind, which was sixty percent of the price—just eighteen hundred coins.

He had Liu Qiaoqiao handle the appraisal. This way, he saved twelve hundred apocalypse coins, and Yang Fan produced a ring from thin air.

[Accessory Equipment]

Domi’s Critical Ring.

Current Grade: Silver.

Potential Grade: Gold.

Strength: 20

Effect—Critical Hit: Normal attacks gain 15% critical chance; spell attacks gain 8% critical chance.

Effect—Amplify: Critical damage increased by 50%.

——

Silver-grade accessory equipment was truly formidable. Yang Fan clicked his tongue in amazement, then slipped Domi’s Critical Ring onto his finger. His strength immediately increased by a fair margin. All things considered, as long as he didn’t run into a tier-one silver-ranked boss, he could handle almost anything with ease.

“All the mutated beasts have fled north—this is no ordinary occurrence. On the way, the beasts devour zombies and humans, but that’s just to sate their hunger, not out of aggression. If they’re all heading north, something must be happening, as if some divine will has guided them, just as humans receive divine decrees. The north must hold the path to survival. I need to improve my strength as quickly as possible—and theirs as well.”

Yang Fan murmured to himself. Within the Portrait of Beauties, as long as enough food was provided, he could cultivate special goddesses of war and support goddesses. The others could also receive appropriate training. So Yang Fan planned to select certain women to enter the Portrait—not only to pave his own road, but also as a way of protecting them.

As for the men, they could not enter the Portrait. They must undergo bloody battle, where the strong evolve and the weak are eliminated.

Once qualified, the Portrait of Beauties would grant him a point in all abilities for each woman. At present, only Liu Qiaoqiao, Bai Su, Wu Yinmei, and seven others had contributed, for a total of ten points. If he could find fifty more girls who met the standard, his overall abilities would increase fivefold. Then, in a world ravaged by mutated beasts, he would be nigh invincible.

These thoughts raced through Yang Fan’s mind when suddenly a voice sounded outside.

“Sir, your request has been fulfilled. All the refugees are waiting outside.”

It was the officer outside. Yang Fan stood up, only slightly surprised by how quickly they had assembled the people.

He opened the door and was led downstairs by an armed man. The seventh floor of the Baisheng Supermarket was a hotel, but everyone had been gathered on the first floor, with their belongings neatly arranged around them, all standing in orderly rows.

At a glance, out of every ten people, eight were women, ranging from four or five years old to some in their thirties, most of them fair-looking. Of course, by Yang Fan’s usual standards, few could compare to Bai Su in beauty.

There were more than two thousand women and fewer than five hundred men. They all looked up at him standing on the second-floor staircase, their thoughts unknown. Yang Fan also detected dozens among them who were inheritors of the apocalypse system, though their abilities were suppressed and they were little different from ordinary people.

“Brother, we’ve done everything you asked. What exactly do you want these refugees to do?” Chen Yu approached first. Chen Bao and Chen Hu didn’t come, but Yang Fan didn’t care about the other two. He simply looked at Chen Yu and explained briefly, “I’m picking out some useful people for combat.”

“Oh.” Chen Yu was a clever man, sensing Yang Fan was being evasive, so he didn’t press further and stayed by Yang Fan’s side.

With the Portrait of Beauties’ Eye, Yang Fan scanned the crowd and quickly identified several women who met his standards. After ten minutes, he had picked out seventy women who could increase his abilities, and among them, four or five had the potential to become goddesses of war or support.

Yang Fan was overjoyed. He had expected only thirty at most, but now he had seventy—meaning his total abilities would increase by seventy points. If his combat power was currently seventeen times that of an ordinary person, with these seventy, it would rise to about twenty times. In terms of fighting strength, he would be almost unbeatable.

“That one, that one, those over there...” Yang Fan pointed them out, gathering all seventy, then said to Chen Yu, “I’ll be taking these people for now.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the women he’d singled out were led forward, but as they climbed the stairs, several of them broke into terrified sobs and screams.

“I don’t want to! I don’t want to! Don’t take me there! Please don’t take me!”

“Let me go, please, I’m begging you, let me go!”

...Their panic made the keen-eyed Yang Fan sense something amiss. He was about to speak when Chen Yu suddenly roared, “What are you screaming for? Keep it up and you’ll all be killed—along with your relatives and friends!”

At his words, no one dared make another sound, not even the terrified women.

Yang Fan immediately sensed something was off.

“Sorry, but we can’t let you take so many. We need women to help relieve stress too,” Chen Yu said first, signaling to the men below. The rest of the group was immediately forced back, but Yang Fan stepped in front of him without hesitation, drew the Desert Eagle from his side, and fired a shot into the air.

Bang.

Everyone was startled, and dozens of gun barrels were instantly trained on him. Yang Fan was utterly unafraid.

Pointing at the women, he shouted, “I want all of them. If a single one is missing, I’ll kill one of you. Do you believe I can do it?”

Yang Fan stared coldly at Chen Yu, the unease in his heart growing ever stronger.

(Irritated... Sitting in front of my computer for four or five hours and only managed to write two chapters... My brain feels fried, I just can’t come up with any more for now. Things have been so busy lately. I’m really sorry. I’ve got a headache—going to rest for a bit. By the way, please vote, bookmark, and support with membership points~~)