Assassination

"I'm going to catch a zombie and run an experiment," Zhang Ding Tian said, then immediately left.

A short while later, Zhang Ding Tian dropped a zombie onto the ground and casually tossed an Energy Crystal into its mouth.

The group watched the zombie.

After quite some time, the zombie showed no reaction.

Zhang Ding Tian and Bai Xue secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Yin said calmly, "One isn't enough to prove anything. Let's catch some more and try again."

Zhang Ding Tian nodded and ordered people to capture zombies.

Half an hour later, more than fifty zombies were brought over, bound. Zhang Ding Tian dropped over fifty Energy Crystals into their mouths one by one.

Roar!

Suddenly, one zombie let out a low growl, its face contorted with pain. Its blood-red eyes fixed on Zhang Ding Tian as energy surged erratically across its body, tearing open its skin. Then, with a bang, its entire body exploded.

None of the other zombies showed any change.

Dean Lian watched in shock. "The Energy Crystals affect certain zombies. The fact that one reacted proves this path of evolution is viable."

Lu Yin looked at the chunks of flesh on the ground. Silver and that Scarlet Vertical Eye suddenly came to mind. Even now, the memory made his scalp crawl. He didn't dare take it out at all.

"This matter must be kept strictly confidential. Certain people must never find out," Bai Xue said coldly, then looked at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin said calmly, "It seems planetary evolution isn't as simple as we imagined. Zombies are part of the evolution process too. Could they also qualify to participate in the trial?"

"Zombies have no intelligence," Bai Xue said.

Lu Yin chuckled. "No intelligence? I wouldn't be so sure."

Zhang Ding Tian immediately ordered everyone outside the city to return. He planned to use the remaining conventional weapons to bombard the zombies. There was no way the zombies could turn back into humans, and now that they knew the zombies might evolve, they couldn't be allowed to remain—especially since they could swallow supernatural Energy Crystals and gain tremendous power. That was intolerable.

Dean Lian agreed. There were simply too many zombies. Even if only one in ten thousand managed to evolve, that would be terrifying. Ordinary people couldn't stand against that kind of supernatural power. Bai Xue was proof enough. In reality, without her ice talent, she might not have been a match for Paris. It was precisely because of that talent that she had easily killed Paris and controlled Granny. That was how frightening talents could be.

That night, thunderous booms rang out beyond the Capital City.

Lu Yin looked up. Missile after missile crashed down outside the city, sweeping across the land without restraint.

Zombies weren't frightening; their numbers were. That was everyone's consensus, and conventional weapons were the best way to deal with sheer numbers.

The bombardment ended after barely two minutes. Lu Yin found it strange. Surely the Capital City had more conventional weapons than that.

Just as Lu Yin decided to keep gazing at the stars, a figure flew through the sky toward his lodgings. He looked over and was surprised to see Bai Xue.

This breathtaking woman had always been hostile toward him. What was she doing looking for him in the middle of the night?

As he watched her graceful figure approach beneath the moonlight, Lu Yin certainly didn't mind putting a cuckold's hat on Liu Shaoge.

Bai Xue landed where Lu Yin was staying. The moment she saw him, she let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief.

Lu Yin was puzzled. "What is it?"

Granny stepped out of the room and eyed Bai Xue strangely.

"Nothing. I was just passing by," Bai Xue said blandly.

Lu Yin was speechless. "Are you sure?"

Bai Xue hesitated, then said coolly, "All the personnel responsible for firing the conventional weapons are dead. All the weapons have been destroyed and can't be used."

Lu Yin was startled. "Who did it?"

Bai Xue stared at Lu Yin without answering.

Lu Yin chuckled. "So you rushed over to establish my alibi."

"I hope you weren't the one who did it. Otherwise, we won't let you off," Bai Xue said coldly.

Lu Yin was puzzled. "You seem very wary of me. Why?"

Bai Xue didn't answer. She turned to leave.

"Wait. You can't just show up and leave whenever you feel like it." Lu Yin lightly tapped his foot and appeared beside Bai Xue, reaching for her hair. Bai Xue's gaze turned icy as freezing mist swept from her body toward Lu Yin. His right palm shuddered, scattering the frost, and he continued reaching for her.

A layer of ice suddenly appeared before Bai Xue, glinting in the moonlight.

Lu Yin struck the ice with his palm and shattered it. By then, Bai Xue had retreated several meters, watching him warily.

Lu Yin shrugged. "I was just joking."

"That wasn't funny," Bai Xue said coldly.

"You broke into my home in the middle of the night and threatened me. That wasn't funny either," Lu Yin said, his tone growing chilly.

Bai Xue's eyes flickered. "I'm sorry." With that, she flew into the sky, leaving behind a faint fragrance.

Lu Yin looked up. Who had destroyed the conventional weapons? Did they not want the zombie horde bombed?

Granny watched Bai Xue's departing figure in amazement and praised her. "Every time I see her, I'm dazzled. No wonder Zhou Shan described her as the goddess of the Luo River. Just based on looks, she could rival the Star Picking Girl."

"The Star Picking Girl?" Lu Yin asked, puzzled.

Granny gazed up at the stars, her voice full of longing. "The Star Picking Girl is one of the most beautiful women in the starry sky. Rumor has it she can walk among the stars and often appears in trial grounds, searching for someone fated to meet her. There are also stories that she can divine the future and gaze into the past. She's the dream of countless people across the stars."

Lu Yin was speechless. "You're a woman, and she's your dream too?"

Granny rolled her eyes at Lu Yin. "She's my idol. I heard she comes from an incredibly powerful and mysterious sect in the Inner Universe. Any disciple from that sect could sweep aside the younger generation of the Great Yu Empire, and the Star Picking Girl has even made it onto the Astral Combat Rankings. She..." Granny stopped there and pursed her lips. "You wouldn't understand even if I told you. Forget it. I'm going to sleep."

Lu Yin paid no attention to Granny's words. The universe was vast beyond measure, and even the smallest things could be spread into wild tales. Divining the future and gazing into the past? There was no such person. As he thought, Lu Yin raised his head to look at the night sky. Two stars revolved above his right palm, and faintly, a third star appeared.

The bombardment of the zombie horde temporarily stopped. Lu Yin didn't know how Zhang Ding Tian and the others planned to handle things, and he didn't care. He checked his Personal terminal. There were about forty days left before the second batch of Trial Takers arrived. Soon.

The Huaying Camp's hundred thousand evolvers left the city in groups. Under Zhang Ding Tian's orders, they didn't have to face Mutant Beasts; their only task was to kill zombies.

It wasn't a difficult task. For evolvers, zombies were far easier to kill than Mutant Beasts.

Zhang Ding Tian and Bai Xue stood atop the steel city wall.

"Even if we clear out all the zombies around the Capital City, it'll still be a drop in the ocean," Bai Xue said helplessly as she watched the vast Huaying Camp forces march out.

Zhang Ding Tian said solemnly, "It's better than doing nothing. I've already sent people to Jinling, Hubei, and other places to inform them of the situation and urge them to do everything they can to eliminate the zombies and prevent anything from getting out of control."

At the mention of Hubei, Bai Xue's gaze shifted. "Is he doing well?"

Zhang Ding Tian looked at Bai Xue and said blandly, "I don't know."

Bai Xue fell silent.

The zombie cleanup went fairly smoothly. The hundred thousand evolvers of the Huaying Camp could kill nearly two million zombies a day. After just a few days, the area outside the Capital City was much emptier. Countless zombies were slaughtered and burned, and thick smoke billowed around the city, filling the air with a pungent stench.

On the western side of the Capital City, at the site where the conventional weapons had been fired, Zhang Ding Tian came back again. He had been investigating the culprit for days but hadn't found anyone. The killer had worked cleanly and efficiently, killing with a single slash. All five hundred people at the firing site had been killed in less than a minute. The killer had been extremely fast.

"Do you think Lu Yin did it?" Bai Xue asked from nearby.

"Didn't you confirm with your own eyes that it wasn't him?" Zhang Ding Tian said solemnly, his gaze sweeping over the ground.

Bai Xue pursed her lips. "We'd better contact Jinling as soon as possible. Lu Yin's identity is mysterious. I keep thinking he might be an alien student."

Zhang Ding Tian looked at Bai Xue. "So what if he is? This world can distinguish friend from foe; there's no need to distinguish by race. Earth no longer has the luxury of making distinctions by race."

Bai Xue's gaze dimmed. She said nothing.

Zhang Ding Tian turned and headed inside. The moment he opened the door, a streak of white flashed, slashing toward his neck at incredible speed. Zhang Ding Tian's eyes narrowed. At the last possible instant, he turned aside, but a cut still opened across his neck.

In the flash of white, the Silver-haired man's lips curled into a wicked smile. His Butterfly knife stabbed at Zhang Ding Tian again. Zhang Ding Tian drew his long saber and raised it to block. The Butterfly knife twisted around the saber at an impossible angle and came within inches of Zhang Ding Tian's eyes. This strike was meant to blind him.

As the Butterfly knife closed in, Zhang Ding Tian didn't shut his eyes. Instead, he charged forward, energy erupting from his body and slowing the knife for an instant. His long saber swept sideways. A massive slash formed a visible blade of energy that cleaved the firing site in two and even split the earth.