Chapter 38 - Killing Without Remorse (Part 1)

Surprisingly, instead of backing away, Qiao Long gritted his teeth and punched his fist forward.

Boom!

A powerful air cannon collided with the huge hammer, stopping the attack and giving Qiao Long time to retreat and change direction. At the same time, Liang Peng's timely interruption ended up buying Shangguan Bing Xue the necessary time.

Among the crowd of survivors, Bai Zemin looked at everything coolly.

"What a surprise..." Lilith's voice sounded beside him. "To think that human actually has a skill as strong as your Blood Manipulation."

"No. His skill is weaker." Bai Zemin shook his head softly and replied in a whisper.

"Good. It's true that in advanced stages your skill is stronger... But how do you know?" Lilith looked at him with a raised eyebrow, waiting for his answer.

"Instinct." Bai Zemin smiled slightly.

"Bah." Lilith rolled her eyes.

Qiao Long was really strong. Although not as much as Shangguan Bing Xue, he was powerful. His skill had already been discovered by Bai Zemin and was indeed very strong; however, it was strong in the initial stages, Bai Zemin knew that his Blood Manipulation skill was going to become extremely horrifying in the future. On the other hand, Qiao Long's skill would only become more and more insignificant in comparison.

"Why don't you go and finish him off?" Lilith was getting a little bored and apparently wanted to see some blood.

"Although I know I am strong, in my battle against the Blazing Beetle the reason I survived and emerged victorious was because of my intelligence and not my strength as I was clearly weaker." Bai Zemin narrowed his eyes and a strange glint flashed deep inside it. "Now, we are all in the same group, but in the future, it won't necessarily be like that."

Lilith's eyes widened and she looked at him with noticeable surprise as she asked in amazement, "You... Are you studying the strength and weaknesses of each of them?"

Bai Zemin smiled faintly but did not reply, instead, he focused on the movements of Shangguan Bing Xue, Chen He, and Liang Peng.

Know what you are capable of doing, learn about your enemy, plan, and you will emerge invincible in every battle. This was a proverb that Bai Zemin had been fond of since he was young.

Although he and they were currently allies, Bai Zemin had already suffered an assassination attempt from a person he did not even know. Bai Zemin had no desire to be stabbed in the back ever again in his life, once in the past was enough.

"Better safe than sorry." He whispered to himself.

As she looked at Bai Zemin acting as if he was a computer, Lilith couldn't help but feel even a bit of pity in the midst of her happiness. She was happy that he thought that way since his survival would be much smoother and the probability of him dying would be much lower... However, she also felt pity as he was changing too fast. Compared to that young man she had seen for the first time, that young man who had been scared when he saw his first zombie and even screamed when he saw the level 5 Big Bee, the current he was a lot more cold and cold-hearted.

What skill did he acquire? Lilith was going crazy trying to find out but she couldn't get to the answer she was looking for.

It was simply impossible for him to change so much in just six days. Therefore, he must have acquired a powerful passive skill but with side effects as a consequence.

As Lilith looked at him with complicated emotions, while Bai Zemin analyzed the movements of each evolved, the battle continued,

Shangguan Bing Xue was clearly stronger, but Qiao Long was extremely cunning and used Chen He's safety to force her to stop her ice attacks and erect defensive walls, which was causing her to expend a large amount of Mana.

Qiao Long naturally knew that the two of them were friends since they were young, after all, Shagguan Bing Xue and Chen He were both well-known characters before the apocalypse. Therefore, he used this against them.

Chen He was strong, but his forte was in ranged attacks. However, every time he wanted to move away, Qiao Long would appear before him at higher speeds than him so he was completely and utterly suppressed.

As for Liang Peng, although he possessed the power to threaten Qiao Long's life, his Agility was simply too low to catch up with him. Therefore, Liang Peng stood beside Shangguan Bing Xue without allowing Qiao Long a chance to get close.

"Bai Zemin, what are you doing? You still don't plan to move?" Shangguan Bing Xue finally couldn't help but get frustrated and shouted out loud while looking back.

She really intended to kill Qiao Long, but he was like a slippery cockroach running around. As if that wasn't enough, she had exhausted almost all of her Mana protecting Chen He and her mood had turned extremely ugly at this moment.

Qiao Long's face changed when he heard Shangguan Bing Xue's words and he hurriedly retreated while making use of two air cannons under his feet. Currently he was already in huge trouble, if another evolved appeared then it was likely that he would have no choice but to retreat.

"Sure. I just thought you wanted to do it by yourself." Bai Zemin walked out with casual steps as he looked at Qiao Long with a smile that wasn't a smile.

"It's you!"

When Qiao Long saw him, his pupils contracted to the size of a needle and he couldn't help but gasp. In fact, he was shocked to the point where he couldn't help but yell out.

Although it was dark that night and Qiao Long had not been able to make out Bai Zemin's appearance, the black coat and the sword in his hand were something Qiao Long would never forget no matter what.

"I'm glad you remember me." Bai Zemin nodded with a smile, as if greeting an old friend. Since Qiao Long wasn't playing dumb, it was easier for him to not have to beat around the bush.

"You know this scumbag?" Shangguan Bing Xue looked at Bai Zemin cautiously and walked away from him.

Bai Zemin looked at her and instead of answering, he asked, "That stormy night three days ago, the reason those zombies surrounded me was because of him. Do you think I know him or not?"

At first, she was surprised. However, she soon let out a small sigh of relief. Since Qiao Long had planned to kill him, that meant they were not friends; if Bai Zemin and Qiao Long were friends and joined forces, then things would be difficult.

Bang!

Qiao Long's face turned pale and without even a moment's hesitation, he turned around to flee. The ground under his feet cracked slightly due to the air cannons and he sped away.

The people in Qiao Long's group were shocked to the point of not being able to believe what they were seeing. He, who was arrogant as hell and called himself 'King' was actually running away like a cowardly chicken?

But how could Bai Zemin allow him to come and go at will?

"Where do you think you are going?"

Suddenly, Qiao Long's footsteps stopped abruptly. A moment later, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and knelt on the ground while clutching his stomach growling lowly.

Bai Zemin approached step by step and without haste. At this point, he didn't mind showing off a bit of his main skill... Anyway, it was unlikely that anyone would be able to identify it with such little testing.

Arriving next to Qiao Long, Bai Zemin squatted down and with his healthy hand grabbed him by the hair, forcing his head up and to look directly into his eyes.

"Ugh..." Qiao Long couldn't help but grimace in pain. However, when he looked into Bai Zemin's eyes, he was so startled that for a moment he forgot the pain he was feeling.

Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes were cold by nature and it was as if all her life she had had that frozen gaze with no sign of emotion. But the coldness emanating from Bai Zemin's gaze was brimming with a cruelty that seemed to come from every fiber of his being.

"A little bird told me that you like to play with zombies? Sounds interesting!"