On the way out of Linjiang University, Jiang Yang held nothing back as he displayed his strength. The Black Gold Ancient Blade danced freely in his hand, cutting down every Zombie that rushed at him as easily as chopping vegetables.
Although Qiu Chan had exhausted much of her stamina and was panting heavily, she clearly did not want her kill count to fall behind Jiang Yang's.
Her steps were as graceful as lotus blossoms. With every step she took, she harvested a Zombie that drew near.
Jiang Yang, meanwhile, remained utterly at ease. He pulled out an unpainted metal round shield, almost identical to Captain America's shield. The only difference was that this one had no paint and no Captain America emblem.
What Jiang Yang cared about most, however, was the shield's material.
Name: Vibranium Round Shield. Category: Defensive Equipment. Rank: B. Description: The same shield used by Captain America, forged from vibranium, the strongest metal in the Marvel universe.
B-rank?
Jiang Yang was slightly surprised. When he looked at his Black Gold Ancient Blade, its attributes now showed a rank as well, though it was listed as unknown.
Then he looked at Qiu Chan's Tang Saber. Its rank was displayed as B+.
"System, why couldn't I see the ranks of these pieces of equipment before?"
Jiang Yang remembered that when he had previously used Plunderer's Insight on his Black Gold Ancient Blade and Qiu Chan's Tang Saber, no rank had been visible.
In the original novel, weapons and items all had ranks. The lowest was D, and the highest was S, though certain weapons and items exceeded that limit, such as the Black Gold Ancient Blade.
As the host used Plunderer's Insight more often and increased its proficiency, it could reveal increasingly subtle details.
Quite refined. I wonder if it can see through things.
Jiang Yang looked at Qiu Chan. During the battle, both sleeves of her kendo uniform had been torn off, and there were several holes elsewhere on it as well.
It seemed she was wearing only underwear beneath it?
The School Beauty really had an incredible figure!
Jiang Yang stared without blinking until Qiu Chan's pretty face flushed slightly and she began to look displeased. Only then did he stop.
By all rights, Qiu Chan would not have been embarrassed by something like this before.
It seemed that now, it depended on the person.
Jiang Yang hummed a little tune, inwardly planning what to do after properly conquering Qiu Chan. Just then, a clear yet anxious female voice rang out from nearby.
"Brother Jiang!"
It was Ye Qingwei and Xiao Wan. The two were being chased by several Zombies.
Without another word, Jiang Yang stepped in and killed the Zombies. Ye Qingwei then disregarded everything and threw herself straight into Jiang Yang's arms.
"Wuwuwu... Brother Jiang, Brother Wu Lei was left behind!"
"Don't cry yet. Tell me what happened."
Jiang Yang hurriedly comforted Ye Qingwei, then looked at the panting Xiao Wan beside her. Seeing the two women in such a state truly pained him.
"It's all my fault... I shouldn't have let those people in..."
Ye Qingwei sobbed incoherently in grief and self-blame. Jiang Yang was suddenly startled. He had nearly forgotten that Ye Qingwei had a bit of a saint complex in the original novel!
Damn!
How had he forgotten that?
Jiang Yang had already guessed what happened next. He had renovated the top floors of the hotel, so the people on the lower floors must have come up to the area he had prepared.
They had begged for shelter under all sorts of pretexts.
Ye Qingwei had surely agreed, only for those people to turn on their hosts afterward.
And that was exactly what had happened. Through her tears, Ye Qingwei explained the whole sequence of events.
"Wu Lei stayed behind to cover our escape. Otherwise, all of us would have been captured and dragged back!"
Xiao Wan clenched her fist fiercely, while Ye Qingwei merely lowered her head, looking exactly like a little girl who had made a mistake.
"How many of them are there?"
Jiang Yang felt somewhat helpless. This was a plot point from the original novel. Back then, Ye Qingwei had also let some people into Ye Fan's small base out of kindness, only for them to turn on their hosts afterward.
But now was not the time to lecture Ye Qingwei. The priority was to rescue Wu Lei first.
"How many are there?"
"More than forty. Over half of them are men." Compared with the weeping Ye Qingwei, Xiao Wan was relatively calm, her every word and action still carrying her usual capable decisiveness.
"They have a lot of crossbow bolts, all of them ours. I was even shot by one on the way here."
Xiao Wan raised her arm. There was not even a scar on it, but a trace of blood remained.
She really had been hit by a crossbow bolt when she fled, but Ye Qingwei had healed her with her ability.
"Alright, let's go!"
After getting a basic understanding of the situation, Jiang Yang headed toward the hotel.
Ye Qingwei and Xiao Wan froze for a moment. "Brother Jiang, there are too many of them. Shouldn't we make a long-term plan first?"
"I've already thought of a solution."
Jiang Yang spread his hands. More than forty ordinary people posed no real threat to him now. Even if they had crossbow bolts, he could easily dodge them. He just needed to charge straight through.
In the original novel, Ye Fan had encountered this situation after obtaining the Dragon Totem, and the people occupying that base had included several Professionals.
That was why Ye Fan had spent some time planning before taking action.
But Jiang Yang did not need to do that. They were just more than forty ordinary people.
So his solution was simple: crush them with force!
Ye Qingwei and Xiao Wan exchanged a glance and were about to follow when a handsome figure swept past them. It was Qiu Chan.
"Do you need me to act?"
Holding her blade in one hand, Qiu Chan asked calmly.
Li Shun and Zhang Yao also stepped forward.
"No need. Just stand to the side and watch later. It might get a little bloody, so prepare yourselves mentally. The Apocalypse is here. When dealing with enemies, it's either you die or I die."
Jiang Yang shook his head. Taking other people's things was one thing, but if they came to take his things, he would scatter even their ashes!
Inside the luxury hotel, the aroma of hot pot filled the air as a group of people gathered around a table.
"Pair of threes."
"Little joker!"
"A little joker beats a pair of threes?"
The group ate hot pot and played cards, living quite comfortably.
Wu Lei was covered in blood and tied to one of the hotel's load-bearing pillars.
"Who were the ones who ran out just now?"
A young man in gold-rimmed glasses crouched in front of Wu Lei, idly playing with a crossbow bolt in his hand.
"You people have prepared so thoroughly. Did you know the Apocalypse was coming?"
"The one who killed that giant lizard earlier was your boss, right? What's his name?"
The young man fired off several questions in a row, but Wu Lei only shook his head before glaring at him viciously.
"You animals repay kindness with enmity!"
"We should never have let you in!"
The young man adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. Two other young men walked over, preparing to beat Wu Lei.
Just then, someone spoke up.
"Young Master Yu, isn't what we're doing a little inappropriate?" A middle-aged woman spoke, followed by several other middle-aged people.
"That's right, Young Master Yu. They let us in, yet not only did we take their place, we even drove them away. What kind of behavior is that?"
"Exactly. Don't beat that brother anymore. When the owner of this place returns, can't we just clear up the misunderstanding?"
"A misunderstanding?" Yu Chang adjusted his glasses and pointed at the hot pot and playing cards on the table. "The food you're eating and the things you're playing with were all taken from this place. Do you think he'll agree to that?"
"You've all seen the situation outside. We don't know when rescue will arrive, and if things get worse, there might not be any rescue at all!"
"Starting today, everyone's food will be distributed uniformly!"
"And everyone must contribute to our group. Otherwise, get the hell out of here!"
Before you continue