Chapter 66

Chapter 66: The End

The joyful smile on Third Brother’s face after the harvest had completely vanished.

Zhang Xiaobai and Zhong Xu were helped by a few soldiers without special abilities to a counter further inside.

From the tone of the other party, it was clear they not only wanted the supplies here and the big truck outside but also the crystal cores on their bodies.

A young woman walked over to the tall man and whispered a few words in his ear.

The tall man looked at them in surprise and said, “So many ability users? But they’re all just beginners. You decide whether to hand over the crystal cores or let us kill you and search your bodies ourselves.”

The young woman suddenly pointed at Xiang Xu and said, “And we want this little girl too. I’ve never encountered such a young spiritual power user before.”

Xiang Xu’s gaze sharpened, and she looked at the young woman with displeasure, while Xiang Yi frowned even more deeply.

The expressions of Third Brother and the others grew increasingly grim. Xiang Xu said to Third Brother, “All seven of them are ability users, and their energy fluctuations are very strong…”

Third Brother was stunned, and his face turned even uglier. Seven ability users? No wonder Zhang Xiaobai and Zhong Xu were in such bad shape.

Third Brother weighed his options and then said, “You can have everything inside and the truck outside. We’ll even give you the crystal cores on us. But not the people.” Otherwise, how would they explain it to Gu Ning when she returned?

The young woman shook her head and insisted, “No. We must have that girl.”

“Then there’s no other way,” Third Brother sighed, then suddenly activated his ability. Over a dozen earth spikes shot toward the group! At the same time, he signaled the others, who also unleashed their abilities and attacked!

Although Third Brother was the first to attack, Cheng Ming’s wind blades, known for their speed, actually reached the battlefield faster than the earth spikes!

The seven on the other side, perhaps overconfident in their strength, didn’t expect Third Brother’s group to strike first. When the earth wall rose, it only blocked Third Brother’s earth spikes, but Cheng Ming’s wind blades had already passed through the wall!

They concentrated their attack on the man at the front! The man didn’t retreat. As the wind blades approached, a water curtain barrier appeared in front of him, completely shielding his body. However, the sharpness of the wind blades seemed to catch him off guard. His expression changed slightly, and a second water curtain formed. After cutting through the first, the wind blades lost some of their momentum, and the second curtain only split halfway before stopping.

The water curtain was cut and then reformed. Not a single one of the dozen wind blades broke through the second curtain!

Just as the man’s guard began to relax, a wind blade silently sliced through—

“Watch out!” the young woman shouted, and a spiritual barrier instantly expanded!

The wind blade stopped an inch from the man’s throat, unable to advance further, then silently dissipated into the air.

The earth wall collapsed at that moment.

Seeing that his dozen wind blades had caused no harm, Cheng Ming’s heart sank.

The man’s expression changed slightly as he looked at Cheng Ming and said, “A mutated wind user, and with exceptional control. If you’re willing, I’ll allow you to join us—”

His answer was a flurry of wind blades rushing toward him with a sharp whistling sound!

The man’s expression remained unchanged as a massive water curtain appeared again!

As the water curtain formed, Cheng Ming’s eyes lit up, and he shouted coldly, “Daozhang!”

Jia Daozhang responded immediately, pushing his hands forward toward the massive water curtain. A surge of cold air rushed out from his palms! Jia Daozhang had been preparing for this moment and didn’t hold back. As the cold air touched the water curtain, it began to freeze at a visible speed! Before the man could react, he was shocked to find the water curtain slipping from his control! The once-floating water curtain turned into a massive block of ice and crashed to the ground with a loud “Bang!” sending shards of ice flying everywhere!

“A mutated ice user?! How can there be so many mutated users?!” the man exclaimed in shock as he was pushed back a few steps, staring at the ice wall that had once been his water curtain.

“I found the back door!” Xiang Xu’s eyes lit up. She had been using her spiritual power to search for another exit, and in just a few exchanges, she had located it.

“Good!” Third Brother shouted, then pushed his hands forward. An earth wall rose from the ground and slid forward, slamming into the ice wall! With a loud crash, the earth wall hit the ice, which, being slippery, was pushed forward!

The seven behind the ice wall were startled and quickly retreated!

Their retreat took them all the way outside the main gate.

Third Brother seized the opportunity, continuously raising earth walls without restraint, completely blocking the main entrance! He casually popped a replenishing crystal core into his mouth and shouted as he ran, “Go! Out the back door!”

“Third Brother! I’m still here—” a weak voice came from one of the counters.

Only then did everyone remember the two injured. They quickly lifted Zhang Xiaobai and Zhong Xu and hurried toward the exit under Xiang Xu’s guidance.

On one side, the group was desperate to escape.

On the other, the seven were stuck outside the main gate, their expressions a mix of shock and anger. This was the first time their team had experienced such a defeat. Despite severely injuring two of the enemy’s ability users, they had still managed to escape. This was unprecedented for their team.

It also made them feel deeply humiliated.

The man looked at the shattered ice on the ground, his gaze cold. “We must eliminate every last one of them. The grudge has been set. If we don’t take out those mutated ability users, they’ll be a problem in the future.” He turned to the young woman and said, “Jiang Xue, use your spiritual power to track them down.”

Jiang Xue nodded, and her spiritual power surged out, piercing through the earth wall and quickly chasing after them—

Xiang Xu, carried on Xiang Yi’s back, sensed a spiritual power locking onto them and anxiously shouted, “We’ve been locked onto!”

Third Brother, still running, shouted, “Can we shake them off?”

Xiang Xu said, “I’ll try.”

She pursed her lips, and her spiritual power surged out. Earlier that day, her spiritual power had been severely depleted. Compared to other abilities, spiritual power recovery was much slower, so even now, she was only at sixty percent capacity. Despite this, she didn’t hold back. Her spiritual power fluctuated intensely, forming an invisible net that spread out toward the pursuing spiritual power. At the same time, her face paled even further. She closed her eyes, her small face pale and weak as she leaned on Xiang Yi’s shoulder. Xiang Yi simply pursed his lips and ran even faster.

The net Xiang Xu had formed with her spiritual power spread out like a barrier. The pursuing spiritual power rushed into it and was immediately trapped, unable to pass through. The spiritual power struggled within the net, but it couldn’t break free.

Jiang Xue, who was running toward them, was shocked. “How can someone so young have such powerful spiritual power?!” If she knew this was only Xiang Xu at sixty percent, she would be utterly speechless.

The thin man asked, “Can we still catch up?”

Jiang Xue frowned, worried that if they escaped, the next encounter wouldn’t be so easy. She stopped holding back and unleashed her spiritual power, chasing after them at full speed.

Xiang Xu, not at her peak, couldn’t hold the net forever. Despite its strength, it couldn’t withstand Jiang Xue’s full assault.

As the net was torn open, Xiang Xu, still on Xiang Yi’s back, sensed it. She opened her eyes and shook her head at Third Brother, saying sadly, “I can’t stop her.” She knew that if they were caught now, they would likely die. Even if she survived, the others wouldn’t. Though they had only been together for two days, this was the first time since the apocalypse that she had felt the warmth of family beyond Xiang Yi. But now, that warmth was about to disappear.

Third Brother looked at Xiang Xu, who had always been strong and mature like a little adult, now showing such sadness for the first time. His heart ached.

He slowly came to a stop.

Then Cheng Ming stopped.

Jia Daozhang hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and stopped as well.

The others ran a dozen meters before realizing the three had stopped. They turned back in confusion, not understanding why they had suddenly halted.

Their confusion lasted only a brief moment before they realized the reason. Their expressions changed instantly.

Zhang Xiaobai looked at Third Brother, Cheng Ming, and Jia Daozhang in disbelief. “What are you planning?!”

Xiang Yi pursed his lips, unable to hide his sorrow. Xiang Xu, still on his back, had tears in her eyes, her voice trembling. “Let me go with them.”

Jia Daozhang said, “Don’t be foolish. Do you think handing you over will make them let us go?”

Cheng Ming said, “Don’t waste time. While they’re not here yet, go quickly.”

Third Brother looked at his soldiers and said, “Even if I die today, I hope you’ll remember you were once soldiers of the Third Company. Even if only one of you remains, don’t let the Third Company’s flag be tarnished!”

Third Brother suddenly shouted, “Zhang Yang!”

Zhang Yang instinctively stood at attention and saluted. “Here!”

Third Brother looked at Zhang Yang and said, “I order you! Take them and retreat now! You must reach the basement safely and meet up with Hong Jie!”

Zhang Yang stared at Third Brother, his lips tightly pressed together, saying nothing.

Third Brother barked, “Zhang Yang! What is a soldier’s duty?!”

Zhang Yang’s eyes were red, his voice trembling but firm. “Report! Obey orders without question!”

Third Brother smiled with relief. “Good, go!”

Cheng Ming suddenly walked forward a few steps and said to Zhang Xiaobai, “Zhang Xiaobai, if Gu Ning comes back, tell her I didn’t waste the crystal core she gave me.” Then, under Zhang Xiaobai’s tearful gaze, he smiled and resolutely turned to follow Third Brother and Jia Daozhang.

The soldiers watched the three figures. Aside from Third Brother, neither Cheng Ming nor Jia Daozhang were particularly tall, but in the soldiers’ tearful eyes, their backs seemed as towering as mountains.

Zhang Yang gritted his teeth and shouted, “Let’s go!”

Then he turned and ran toward the direction of Eleventh Square.

Third Brother took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and handed one to Jia Daozhang, then offered one to Cheng Ming. Cheng Ming waved his hand. “I don’t smoke.”

Jia Daozhang, as he squatted down, instinctively reached to adjust his robe, only to remember it had been burned. He simply squatted and took a deep drag, savoring it. “I haven’t smoked since I quit over twenty years ago.”

Third Brother also took a deep drag and smiled. “Old Jia, you’ve got guts.”

Jia Daozhang said honestly, “I just don’t have thick enough skin, or I would’ve run with them.” He sounded almost regretful.

Cheng Ming opened his mouth to speak but suddenly looked into the distance, his expression grave. “They’re here.”

Third Brother and Jia Daozhang took one last deep drag, then flicked their cigarettes into a puddle with synchronized movements and stood up.

Cheng Ming looked at the approaching ability users and asked, “Third Brother, do you think we’ll die today?”

Third Brother turned to Jia Daozhang. “Old Jia, what do you think?”

Jia Daozhang looked at the seven ability users charging toward them. For some reason, he thought he would be afraid, but instead, he felt an odd calmness, even managing to smile. “I don’t think so.”