Cowardice

Zhou Jianjun slammed his fist against the railing at the edge of the Rooftop, sending rust and dust cascading down.

"Reckless! Absolutely reckless!"

His eyes were bloodshot with anxiety. He never imagined that his nephew, who was usually far more composed than any young man his age, could be so impulsive.

That was a Giant Monster that made one tremble just by looking at it, not to mention the dozens of Abyssal Wolves!

But he knew this was no time for regret. Lin Yi had already charged out, and all he could do now was prepare for whatever might happen next.

"Quick! Everyone back to the second floor, get to the Rope Ladder Entrance and prepare for support!"

Zhou Jianjun spun around and roared at the group, "What are you standing there for? Move!"

He scanned the young men around him, his gaze finally settling on Li Jie, who was similar in build to Lin Yi and always the most eager to show off.

"Li Jie!" Zhou Jianjun's voice was sharp. "You train often. Put on the armor Lin Yi swapped out. If anything happens, you'll have to step up with me and hold the Rope Ladder Entrance!"

Every eye in the room instantly locked onto Li Jie.

However, to everyone's surprise, Li Jie—who always boasted, "If it were me, I'd do this and that," or "If I had a spare suit of armor, I'd go out and kill monsters too"—did not respond.

He instinctively took half a step back, his eyes darting around as he stammered, "Uncle... Uncle Zhou... I..."

Zhou Jianjun's expression hardened, and just as he was about to bark an order, another voice spoke up calmly.

"Uncle Zhou, I'll wear it."

The crowd turned to see Zhou Yuxuan push up his glasses and step forward.

"My build is similar to Lin Yi's. Although my physical strength isn't particularly great..."

Zhou Yuxuan's face was also pale, but his voice was steady and clear to everyone present.

"I think the armor's protection is what matters most when blocking Abyssal Beasts. If it comes to a critical moment, me standing in front can buy everyone a little more time."

He looked at Zhou Jianjun. "I'll wear it."

Zhou Jianjun took a long, hard look at the teenager who usually spent all his time buried in research on the Guidance Technique, then nodded heavily, uttering a single word.

"Done!"

Time was of the essence. Zhou Jianjun waved his hand immediately. "Stop staring, get downstairs! Everyone else, follow the drills we practiced—take your positions, move!"

The crowd surged into motion, flowing toward the Rooftop entrance in a panicked but orderly fashion.

Ye Qingyu, who had come up with the crowd, stood still for a moment and bit her lip. She cast a complex look in the direction where Lin Yi had vanished before turning to follow the flow of people.

Meanwhile, no one noticed that the Communications Officer, Ren Yinuo, who had run up to the Rooftop with them, had stayed behind.

The moment Lin Yi leaped down, she had dashed to the edge of the Rooftop, quickly finding a spot at the base of the railing that offered the best vantage point. She dropped to her stomach without hesitation, her movements highly professional.

A second later, she pulled a Black Military HD Camera from an Army Green Canvas Waistbag slung at her side, expertly powered it on, adjusted the settings, and steadied the lens on the Silver Figure sprinting through the ruined streets below.

Her expression was calm, almost cold, as if what was happening below wasn't a life-or-death gamble, but a routine military operation.

In fact, besides establishing communications, she had another important mission on this trip.

The General Staff was extremely interested in everything about Lin Yi, especially his combat style and his use of Source Energy.

Therefore, the General Staff had instructed her to "record his cultivation, combat, and teaching processes as much as possible, provided Comrade Lin Yi consents, especially key footage regarding the application of Source Energy Techniques."

These first-hand combat recordings would provide vital references for the military to study Source Energy warfare and even promote practical combat training.

Ren Yinuo had originally planned to explain this to Lin Yi once the equipment was calibrated today and seek his permission.

She hadn't expected that just as the equipment finished its overnight calibration, such an abrupt battle would break out.

She had no choice but to decide on the fly to record it first; if Lin Yi objected later, she could simply delete it.

Through the high-definition lens, Ren Yinuo clearly saw the Abyssal Beasts in the distance, already closing in rapidly.

The Giant Rock Abyss Bear, nearly five meters tall and looking as if it were built from boulders, roared as it charged at the front. The fifty-plus Abyssal Wolves were not swarming in a chaotic mess but were maintaining a terrifying tactical formation.

Most of the Abyssal Wolves followed closely behind the giant bear, using its massive body as cover, while two groups of wolves fanned out on the far left and right flanks, advancing in synchronization.

"These beasts... they actually have this kind of coordination?" Ren Yinuo felt a chill in her heart.

Since the apocalypse had descended, she, as a technical officer from the General Staff, had never fought Abyssal Beasts head-on.

Although she had heard plenty about them from the Tianpeng Squad on the way to Hongfu Tower and knew that high-level Abyssal Beasts possessed significant intelligence, she had never had an intuitive sense of it.

Only now, seeing beasts that were supposedly from the lowest-level nests display such coordination, did she truly grasp the pressure the frontline troops were facing.

At the same time, she silently broke into a cold sweat for Lin Yi.

"The General Staff values him so much; he shouldn't be doing something he isn't sure about, right..."

Relying on her trust in her colleagues at the General Staff, Ren Yinuo stopped overthinking and focused on capturing Lin Yi's movements through the lens.

In the frame, Lin Yi's speed was astonishing, the Flowing Cloud Light Armor trailing a streamlined Silver Glow in the morning light.

He wasn't sprinting in a straight line but moving at high speed with a rhythmic gait.

This was the Flowing Star Step he had begun to master just last night.

Though Lin Yi had only just entered the threshold, he already displayed agility and efficiency far beyond the ordinary, finding the optimal path through the ruins every time, his speed actually increasing rather than slowing down.

"Incredible..."

Ren Yinuo was secretly startled; the rhythm and aesthetic of this footwork were apparent even to an outsider like her, someone who wasn't a combatant.

Moreover, as the person who had delivered the crystals to Lin Yi, she was even more astonished by the level of mastery he had achieved overnight.

Is this the comprehension ability of a genius...

Her camera lens followed Lin Yi closely, capturing every one of his movements with crystal clarity.

Meanwhile, at the second-floor window.

Chen Yu was frantically operating the portable Source Energy Intensity detector that Lin Yi had left for them to use while keeping watch before he went upstairs to practice.

As the device activated, a pale blue Light Screen emerged.

"It's on, it's on! Brother Yi... Source Energy Intensity 34... that bear... holy crap! 200?! This... how many times is that difference?!"

His voice wasn't an exclamation, but rather a suffocating groan, a sense of despair brought on by the massive gap in the numbers.

Everyone nearby who heard him felt their hearts sink, and Zhou Jianjun's expression turned particularly grim, his fists clenching until they creaked.