Chapter Fifty-Three: I Want the Man, and I Want the Weapons Too!

“What? An individual who might be at the Overlord or even Mythic level of evolution? Fine, I’ll contact the chief immediately.” The commander was perplexed. Why hadn’t this person appeared earlier or later, but right now—just as they unleashed their ultimate weapon? While slaughtering the zombies, over a hundred thousand ordinary people had also died. If news of this got out, it would be a heavy stain on the Southern Base’s leadership.

Was this evolved being targeting the Southern Base, or just a single person? If it was the latter, it could be resolved easily; but if the former, with such monstrous strength, could the Southern Base withstand it? Should it come to a point where he needed to reconsider his position, would he have to switch allegiances? Unease gripped him. Since the onset of the apocalypse, the commander’s sense of crisis had always been keen, able to anticipate danger—yet this time, he felt nothing.

From being a soon-to-retire soldier, he had climbed step by step to become the wartime commander of a base with hundreds of thousands. Though he wasn’t among the top echelon, he was certainly a leader of the second tier, and crucially, one with real authority. Having grown accustomed to high status, no one wanted to fall from those heights.

Since discovering this man at dawn, the commander’s heart had been racing. Based on past experience, this individual was extremely dangerous.

“Yes, yes, I understand. Alright, I got it.” The commander slowly set the radio handset down, took a deep breath, and exhaled the tension from his chest.

“Sir.” A few evolved soldiers spotted the commander and hurriedly straightened up, especially the captain, who stood rigidly. The commander had enlisted earlier than him; though his rank had been that of a sergeant before the apocalypse, he had once been this captain’s squad leader. Respect for the old squad leader lingered deeply. Scheduled to retire before the apocalypse, the squad leader had been forced to stay when disaster struck, ascending to Fifth Level solely by absorbing spirit fragments. This wasn’t something those artificially accelerated evolved could match.

“Squad leader, stay behind me. I’ll protect you as much as I can.” The Seventh Level evolved warrior glanced at the old squad leader, genuinely admiring him.

“It’s alright, don’t worry.” The commander nodded. Over half the soldiers in the Southern Base had been trained by him; this cemented his irreplaceable position among the second tier of power.

“Hello, I am Wu Jiang, the wartime commander of the Southern Base.” Wu Jiang looked at the man before him, appearing to be in his twenties. His features weren’t handsome, but they were strikingly defined. Not a single hair grew on his head. Though his expression was calm, his eyes were abyssal, mysterious, inspiring awe, with enigmatic currents flickering deep within.

“Are you any good at talking?” Ma Yi sized up Wu Jiang, the man he’d seen commanding the fighters atop the city wall from afar.

“I am. The chief has already instructed me—so long as your requests aren’t excessively unreasonable, our base will satisfy them.” Wu Jiang felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead, wanted to wipe them, but refrained. Standing before this man, the sensation was even more intense; when the man’s gaze fixed on him, Wu Jiang felt like a helpless mouse before a predatory beast.

“Oh, that’s good. I actually have two objectives: first, your team leader named Xu Qiang—I want him. Also, that strange knife, I want it too. And the old man, the one who wounded the Zombie King previously.” As Ma Yi spoke, he glanced at the tense, battle-ready evolved soldiers behind him.

“That’s all you want, sir? That’s acceptable. But could you hand over the Zombie King to us?” Wu Jiang had a hunch that this man and the Zombie King were connected, if not directly, then indirectly. So he probed with the question, regretting it as soon as he spoke; if they truly were together and this powerhouse turned unreasonable, his group wouldn’t even be enough for the man to warm up.

“That won’t do. I’m taking this little girl away.” Ma Yi’s gaze slowly shifted to Wu Jiang’s sweat-beaded face, speaking calmly. The warmth vanished from his expression, replaced by a sudden coldness.

“Alright, I understand. I’ll make arrangements immediately. You won’t attack our base anymore, will you?” Wu Jiang carefully raised his arm to wipe his brow, then cautiously looked at Ma Yi and asked.

“To be frank, I came here for revenge on their behalf. I underestimated your base—I didn’t expect you had such massive destructive weapons. Had I known so many would die on both sides, I’d have intervened sooner.” Ma Yi sighed helplessly. The situation had exploded too suddenly; he hadn’t had time to think it through.

“I understand.” The commander finally relaxed, instructing a nearby evolved soldier to relay his orders.

Li Li approached, escorted by three mice—the little rodents had been missing for days.

“Master.” Li Li came to stand before Ma Yi, glanced at the female Zombie King lying on the ground, and then at the opposing colonel.

“Wait here. Once we’re done, we’ll leave.” Ma Yi looked over at the female Zombie King. She was nearly recovered, though it would take a while longer for her to wake. This was the perfect opportunity to settle affairs.

For a Fifth Level evolved, the journey from the inner city here was nothing—barely ten minutes had passed when a group appeared in the distance, led by the Seventh Level evolved carrying a strange weapon, accompanied by two other Seventh Levels and several Fifth and Sixth Levels.

“Looks like your words don’t carry much weight after all.” Ma Yi grinned at Wu Jiang; the approaching evolved looked furious—not here for peace talks, surely.

“They’re legends, the Seventh Levels—not easy to manage,” Wu Jiang replied awkwardly. “Of the five evolved, only three are ours. The two others aren’t in our unit—sometimes they’re hard to control.”

“Alright, I get it. I won’t make things difficult for you.” Ma Yi smiled. He knew this guy wasn’t innocent either; during his fight with the female Zombie King, he’d used every trick in the book. In life-or-death moments, anyone would resort to cunning.

“Chief Wu, I’d like to see who’s bold enough to act so arrogantly!” The evolved with narrow, fox-like eyes—his thin lips gave him a sharp, mean look, but he did have some charm; in peacetime, he’d surely have been a heartthrob.

“Little Chu, you—” Wu Jiang started, but Ma Yi stood up, swallowing his words.

“Hey, isn’t that Miss Li Li?” A male voice sounded from the crowd. Li Li trembled at the sound, but raised her head to look—her nemesis Xu Qiang.

“So you’ve found someone to back you, huh? Hahaha, now I see why you insisted I come. Miss Li Li’s here for revenge!” Xu Qiang laughed, glancing at his companions, who joined in. Clearly, Xu Qiang had talked about Li Li among them before—Ma Yi frowned slightly.

“You’re dead this time,” Li Li said, nervous—this man had left deep scars in her psyche. Seeing him triggered a flood of memories.

“Dead? Me?” Xu Qiang was cocky—not because he was a Fifth Level evolved, but because the knife-wielding guy was his close friend, and more than a dozen Fifth and Sixth Level evolved stood with him, backing him up.

“Annoying,” Ma Yi said, glancing at Xu Qiang and then at the fox-eyed evolved, striding forward and speaking coolly.

“Looking for death!” The Seventh Level evolved frowned, about to charge, but Xu Qiang stopped him.

“Hand over the weapon. You may leave.” Ma Yi looked at the man towering forty centimeters above him, narrowing his eyes.

“What if I refuse?” The fox-eyed evolved also squinted, glaring at Ma Yi with vicious intent. If not for Xu Qiang holding him back, he’d have already killed this guy.

Xu Qiang wasn’t foolish; he watched Ma Yi closely—yet he couldn’t believe anyone could single-handedly take down so many of them, though the man’s strength seemed formidable.

“If I wish you to live, you will live. If I wish you to die, you will die.” Ma Yi’s calm words startled the evolved present; then they burst into laughter, while Wu Jiang’s brow furrowed even deeper.

“Is he really that terrifying—able to control others’ lives at will?” Wu Jiang signaled his former soldiers with a glance, the kind of silent communication honed by years in the military. They quietly moved closer, ready to intervene. They planned to wait and see: could Ma Yi really subdue the evolved? Would the other evolved withstand him?

Three factions had formed: Ma Yi, Li Li, and the fallen female Zombie King; the evolved confronting Ma Yi; and those gathered around Wu Jiang, the military’s own evolved.

“Toad yawning—what a boastful mouth!” The fox-eyed man bent slightly, staring straight into Ma Yi’s eyes, his hand slowly moving to the handle of his blade.

“I’ll give you one more chance to reconsider. Otherwise, I’ll take it myself.” Ma Yi stared into eyes only centimeters away, slowly opening his own, letting murderous intent seep out.