Chapter 608: Gold Wolf Riders!
Translator: - - Editor: - -
One bespectacled girl gritted her teeth as she activated her ability, Gravity Manipulation, and a strong gravitational force pressed down on Yue Zhong, affecting his movements.
His eyes flashed coldly as he shot a glare at the girl.
When she was struck by his gaze, she felt like a terrifying bloodthirsty beast was staring at her, and her eyes widened in fear, as she retreated a few steps involuntarily.
When Zhao Jing Lei saw this, she shouted in alarm: “Tiantian! No!! Run!!”
Zhao Jing Lei was trying to pressure Yue Zhong with all her strength, and the fact that she could suppress him was due to her naturally awakened Second Order skill Heavenly Demon Blade. If she didn’t use this, Yue Zhong could have easily slaughtered her in a move. Just in the few exchanges, she could already feel his unfathomable strength, that was waiting to rear its head.
The moment her words came out the mouth, Yue Zhong flashed and disappeared from in front of her, and a fist smashed into the midriff of the bespectacled girl.
The pretty girl instantly doubled over from the force and crumpled to the ground. When the rest of the youths witnessed this, they stepped back in horror.
Zhao Jing Lei’s eyes flashed with a hint of madness and she chased after Yue Zhong like a goose, with her strange blade technique flashing towards him again: “Hurry and escape, all of you!!”
“Your strength is decent! But your discerning ability is truly lacking.”
Yue Zhong activated his own Gravity Manipulation, and a strong gravitational force caused Zhao Jing Lei’s entire body to sink.
At the next instant, Yue Zhong had already activated his Shadow Steps, and pushed his speed to the limit, evading Zhao Jing Lei’s blow with ease, and his right hand grabbed onto her throat. He then barked coldly: “Throw down your weapon!!”
Zhao Jing Lei’s expression turned extremely pale, gripping her silver blades tightly, not willing to let go. Her entire skill relied on these dual blades, and if she were to lose them, her combat strength would be reduced by over 70%.
“Leilei!!”
“Sister Lei!!”
“Let go of her!!”
“……”
The youths all looked helplessly and shouted when they saw Zhao Jing Lei’s plight.
Yue Zhong kept his fingers clenched around Zhao Jing Lei’s neck, and his voice was thick with killing intent: “I’ve already gone easy. If you want to continue resisting, you and your friends can forget about leaving alive today.”
“Don’t hurt them!!” Her face turned pale and she finally released her silver blades.
Looking at the pair of silver blades dropping on the ground, Yue Zhong then released his grip.
He looked at the rest of the youths and whisked out his Stinger: “I’ll say it directly! Little rascals, I admire your strength and abilities. The price of offending me is to serve me for 2 years. After that, you’ll be free to go.”
Zhao Jing Lei’s pale countenance finally regained some colour, and she asked: “We truly apologize for offending you today. May we please have another option? We’re willing to look for rations as payback.”
Yue Zhong aimed the Stinger at the pretty bespectacled girl still doubled over on the ground, his tone icy: “No! Serve me for 2 years, or die here. Your choice.”
Zhao Jing Lei’s strength was truly something else, Yue Zhong didn’t wish for anything untoward to happen the next day.
Zhao Jing Lei gritted her teeth in frustration and stared back at Yue Zhong with a clear gaze: “Fine! I’ll promise you. However, I’ll make myself clear, we will not be your swords to be used for anything against morals! You cannot touch my friends, and must ensure their safety and well-being. You cannot skimp on our resources allocation as well.”
Since the collapse of society, in the world where depravity was slowing consuming humanity, Yue Zhong had never seen such a clear pair of eyes before, and he couldn’t help but be moved. He gave his word and threw a few Life-Saving Grass to her, before saying: “Fine! Come with me! This is for your wounds, give them to your friends, and they’ll recover faster.”
Zhao Jing Lei took up the medicine and hesitated a while, before using it on herself. She did not dare to give things with unknown sources to her friends. She might be kind, but she wasn’t a fool.
A young oval-shaped face woman then suggested: “Sister Lei! Why don’t we run now! I don’t think he’ll be able to catch us!”
The rest looked at her and awaited her decision. They were from the same school prior to the apocalypse, and have been moving together. If it wasn’t for Zhao Jing Lei naturally awakening as an Evolver, they would have perished umpteen times. That was why their faith in her was so strong.
Zhao Jing Lei picked up the pair of blades, and looked at Yue Zhong’s departing back. She hesitated a while, but in the end, shook her head: “No! Let’s just observe for the time-being. Zhang Ying, Lei Tie, Zhao Yi, Tian Tian are all injured, we need some place to rest anyway.”
With a single sentence, the rest of them did not push the case, and followed behind Yue Zhong as they came to the villa.
“What a pretty girl!” The moment they entered, they say Tenpyo Saka and they were shocked.
Zhao Jing Lei looked at Tenpyo Saka and shifted her gaze to Yue Zhong, becoming more guarded: “This fellow is definitely a pervert.”
Tenpyo Saka looked back at them without any expressions, silently reading her Chinese textbook.
Ever since Takama-ga-hara wasn’t willing to use their machines to exchange for Tenpyo Saka, she had become totally withdrawn, and was brought to China by Yue Zhong. He made her study Chinese, and she who had lost faith in what she believed in before gradually became accustomed to listening to Yue Zhong’s commands.
He didn’t force her to do anything, nor anything she disliked. He gave the basic courtesy as a human being as well. In return, although she didn’t express her desire to work for him, she had already silently complied with his orders.
As the villa that Chen Fei Hua had arranged for them was big, Zhao Jing Lei and the rest found a room and moved in, taking care of their injured members.
Not long after, Li Guang who had gone to Ximen Lie’s came back and reported to Yue Zhong.
Li Guang began his report: “Leader! As per your instructions, I’ve agreed to join Radiant Sun Triad. He had even gifted a beauty to pull me closer. Your subordinate did not dare reject and hence accepted the beauty. Your subordinate seeks your understanding.”
Li Guang was also a powerful Evolver who had reached Level 42, and his experience was abundant. Together with his elite archer subordinates, they were considered a decent force out here in the Central Plains.
Yue Zhong smiled warmly and said: “Don’t worry! Since he had already gifted you a beauty, she’s yours. Those who work for me, will definitely be taken care of.”
Li Guang was overjoyed: “Thank you, Leader!”
There were all sorts of people in this world, and some heads were selfish, and wanted dips on everything their subordinates had. Such leaders would not really gain any true followers.
Yue Zhong and Li Guang continued their discussion.
Within a golden tent far out in the Central Plains, a burly man with a long knife scar on his face wearing a yellow robe and an emperor crown on his head stared out with his gaze fierce and his expression grim. A few men stood in 2 rows on either side in front of him.
This was the Khan of the Great Turkic Empire Wu-er Tuo Tuo. He was already a member of the East Turkestan Separatist Party.
When he had awoken as a natural Evolver, he had swiftly subjugated the rest of the members in the East Turkestan Party and started expanding. Many nationalists and extremists lacked the platform prior to the apocalypse, but when the world changed, it was a good strategy to gather people.
Wu-er Tuo Tuo had then expanded pretty smoothly in the Xinjiang region, but the zombie hordes had continually attacked his base of operations. After countless clashes, they had been defeated and were forced towards the deeper parts of Mongol to resettle and expand again. The main force under their banner was the 40,000 Uygur youths that he had manipulated into being loyal to him.
Wu-er Tuo Tuo surveyed his men around him and spoke slowly but sternly: “The Radiant Sun Triad’s Ximen Lie has organized a convention of the heroes, in order to form an alliance to defend against our Gold Wolf Riders. Who’s willing to go in This Emperor’s name, to take back the heads of these Han dogs, and turn Tian Mu Town into This Emperor’s base?”
Ever since he had conquered the East Turkestan Party and proclaimed himself as king, he had started using the term ‘This Emperor’ to refer to himself, as a form of distinction between him and the common people.
(Translator notes: 朕 - an emperor’s way of referring to himself. Some translators use the term ‘We’, but I’ll just make it clear that he calls himself an emperor as an ego-complex thing.)
Another burly man with a deep-set gaze and high nose, stepped out and his voice rang out: “Great Kahn! Dong-er Molei is willing to go in Kahn’s stead, to lead men and conquer Tian Mu Town, to kill the men and gift the women and children to Great Kahn!”
Dong-er Molei was also one of the members from the East Turkestan Party, and he killed without batting an eyelid. He was truly a great general, and had helped fight for Wu-er Tuo Tuo all the way. The number of survivors that had died at his hands truly numbered too many to count.
Wu-er Tuo Tuo roared out in laughter: “Good! Dong-er Molei, This Emperor will grant you 4,000 Gold Wolf Riders to attack Tian Mu Town, you must ensure that the grounds bleed with their blood. Gugani, you shall be his second-in-command, and to help him obtain Tian Mu Town.
While the Radiant Sun Triad had thousands of survivors, not everyone had weapons. 4,000 Gold Wolf Riders were more than enough to take down tens of thousands of a motley bunch. Wu-er Tuo Tuo was thus extremely confident in his soldiers.
Another man with a medium-statured who looked like an ordinary Han person replied respectfully: “Yes! My liege! Your subordinate will definitely assist Dong-er Molei!”
Dong-er Molei’s expression was solemn as he looked back at Wu-er Tuo Tuo, not saying anything.
Before the apocalypse, their relationship had been good, and could speak freely. However, since proclaiming himself as Emperor, Wu-er Tuo Tuo had thus gained much prestige, and Dong-er Molei did not dare to be on casual terms any longer.
The 4,000 Gold Wolf Riders thus rode out in a cloud of dust.
In a small villa that stood on its own, there were hundreds of people gathered. These were the various solo warriors from all over the plains, as well as some members from the Blue Triad, Red Triad, and various other gangs.
Xinmen Lie had invited all the various heroes together, with the pretext of fending off the other powers with their own Han people, while in fact bolstering his own strength.
In truth, the number of Hans out here in the Central Plains were truly numerous, however, the powers were all scattered, and had no way of contending against the united forces of the Gold Wolf Riders, or the Huangjin Clan, or even the Manchu Empire.
If they truly all gathered, they would become a force to be reckon with, that was larger than the rest of the factions.
It was precisely because of this, that the rest of the factions would choose to band together to annihilate any outstanding Han hero even while fighting amongst themselves.
In the villa, in preparation for the congregation, there was a stage set up, with 10 seats. Below the stage, 2 long tables were set up, where the various heroes had gathered. Only the well-known Han experts had the qualifications to sit at that table. Someone like Yue Zhong who was not well-known around these parts could only stand aside.
Barbequed lamb, beef, milk, were brought out by numerous beautiful servants. The various heroes began to grab the meat and ate without a care for their image.
After the apocalypse, the lives of these solo wanderers had been extremely tough. Most of the cattle out in the Central Plains were owned by various factions. The game in the wild were tough and vicious Mutant Beasts. In the cities, there were still many zombies roaming about. Even Evolvers faced the possibility of dying. Therefore, these solo wanderers were forced to be bandits, otherwise they would die of hunger. Even in the event that they successfully hunt down some Mutant Beasts, they could only bring it back to sell it to the larger factions who usually exploit them.
Many of them lived meal to meal, now that they were invited to this feast, they would naturally not hold back.
As they ate, the leaders of the other factions eyed each other and began to engage in quarrels. The entire scene was like a huge marketplace. There were many of them who did not like to study when they were younger, and were coarse and boorish people. The curses thrown got more vulgar and coarse as time passed.
There were many strong rice buckets who were here, but at the same time, there were true powerful Evolvers like Zhao Jing Lei.
Yue Zhong stood quietly and observed the people, noting many of the useless loudmouths, but at the same time, discovering some true talents.