Resistance

Upon receiving feedback from the biological instincts of the Blacklight Virus, Xia Leng became instantly alert, leaping from the roof of the scrapped vehicle he had been occupying and quickly pressing his back against the rear of the car.

Since acquiring these abilities, this was only the second time he had received such a dangerous warning, signaling that something capable of threatening his life was about to occur!

However, he had not aligned himself with the group of people ahead; Xia Leng had long guessed that these hastily assembled bands of drifters would soon collapse, which was why he had remained in the rear, merely observing.

Sure enough, these guys had only hunted a single zombie before intense internal conflicts erupted.

As for that Apocalypse Warrior, he was carrying a drifter's corpse on his back while walking toward the gray crystal.

Had he arrived at the fortress earlier, his status as a Baptized One would naturally have allowed him to move in; otherwise, he would not have lowered himself to compete with these common drifters for entry tickets.

But now, those idiots were intimidated by his status, and he figured they wouldn't have the guts to harbor any crooked ideas.

However, he had forgotten that, aside from himself, there was another individual in the group who stood on equal footing: an Apocalypse Hunter.

Just as he bent down to pick up the gray crystal, a sharp whistling sound of a weapon cutting through the air suddenly erupted from behind him!

Puchi~

An arrow instantly pierced through the corpse on the Apocalypse Warrior's back, the tail of the arrow vibrating with intensity!

"I knew you bastard had ill intentions! I'll dig the crystal right out of your skull later!" Startled, the Apocalypse Warrior cursed viciously.

As expected, the one who fired the arrow was the vision-enhanced Apocalypse Hunter, though he hadn't hit the target's body directly.

The Apocalypse Warrior was also glad he had been prepared, using the drifter's corpse on his back as a shield.

That hunter was only a vision-enhanced type, so his speed shouldn't be much different from his own.

Moreover, even a strength-based warrior possessed leg power superior to the average person, so his movement speed was naturally not slow.

He quickly picked up the crystal, clutched it in his palm, and immediately turned to run toward a sunlit spot, maneuvering the corpse to block the arrows flying from the front.

The Apocalypse Warrior wore a sinister smile, watching the hunter who was still firing arrows at him; he was determined to smash that man's head in!

The Apocalypse Hunter showed no signs of wanting to flee, continuing to fire arrows in rapid succession!

Just as the distance between them closed to about 20 meters, the hunter suddenly revealed a strange smile and pulled the bowstring to its limit once more, aiming at his opponent.

Only this time, he tilted the arrowhead slightly downward, firing during the brief moment the opponent's legs were exposed while running!

Shua!!

The arrow struck the Apocalypse Warrior's thigh, causing him to feel a sharp pain that immediately slowed his running speed, though it did not yet threaten his life.

"You bastard!"

Pained and enraged, the Apocalypse Warrior cursed loudly, holding the drifter's corpse even tighter in front of him to ensure no further openings were exposed.

Shua!

Another arrow flew straight at him, and this one pierced directly through the back of the drifter's corpse, striking the Apocalypse Warrior square in the heart!

This time, having received a fatal blow, the Apocalypse Warrior could no longer run; he stumbled and collapsed to the ground, the gray crystal in his hand falling to the side with a crisp clatter.

He looked in disbelief at the back of the corpse, which was now riddled with numerous arrows.

Most importantly, these arrows had almost all hit the exact same spot, forcibly gouging a hole through the body!

This final, fatal arrow had passed through that very hole and pierced his heart!

Only a vision-enhanced Apocalypse Hunter could possess such precise and exaggerated accuracy...

"You..." Lying on the ground and spitting out a large mouthful of blood, the Apocalypse Warrior seemed to want to say something, filled with unwillingness.

Puchi!

The sharp arrow fired once more pierced directly through his right eye and into his brain, taking away his final breath...

"Hmph, arrogant fool."

The Apocalypse Hunter looked coldly at the corpse and the gray crystal ahead, not intending to pick it up himself, planning instead to threaten a scapegoat into completing the task for him.

Just as he turned his head to order a trembling, underage drifter boy nearby to do it, a strong premonition of danger suddenly came from behind!

Clang~

A wooden club studded with rusted iron nails swung down, striking the bow the Apocalypse Hunter had raised in a quick reflex!

Seeing that it was a gaunt, terrified female drifter who had actually tried to ambush him, a wave of irritation flooded his heart.

"What, you want to die too?!"

The Apocalypse Hunter immediately raised his right foot, intending to kick the woman away.

However, the drifter boy behind him, who had looked timid as a mouse, suddenly pulled a wooden dagger from his clothes and stabbed it into the hunter's waist!

"Let go of my mother!!"

The Apocalypse Hunter looked down, seeing the wound where only the hilt of the dagger remained, the intense pain instantly filling his eyes with bloodshot veins.

Anger and agony intertwined in his heart!

"You little bastard!"

Enduring the excruciating pain, he pulled out the dagger, preparing to send this mother and son to the afterlife together.

Clang~

With a dull thud, a rusty hammer swung from someone's hand and slammed viciously into his head!

Immediately, a streak of viscous blood trickled from his forehead down across his face...

The Apocalypse Hunter was left dazed by the blow, his eyes wide with shock as he scanned his surroundings.

He saw that the cowardly drifters who had just retreated to the side had gathered around, their faces all wearing expressions of cold indifference.

"You..."

Bang!

Another iron rod struck him, then a second, then a third...

The drifters didn't say a word; each of them picked up their own weapon and silently hammered away at this "noble."

They seemed to cherish this rare opportunity, putting every ounce of their strength into each strike, the continuous dull thuds of impact echoing through the crowd.

About a minute later, the once high-and-mighty Apocalypse Hunter had been beaten into a pulp of flesh and blood, trampled under the feet of the mob!

As for the crystal inside his skull, it was snatched away by someone in the chaos...

"Alright, now that the two Baptized Ones who thought they were special are dead, it's just us drifters left. We're all on a level playing field now—whoever grabs that stone gets to keep it!"

No sooner had the man finished speaking than he lunged forward.

The others quickly reacted, swarming into the gloomy street like a hive of bees!

Their only goal was the gray crystal on the ground that could buy them a stable life; no one thought about cooperating to hunt living corpses again.

Once they grabbed their own ticket to survival, what did the lives of others matter to them...

Xia Leng watched this dramatic scene unfold from the rear, feeling somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected these drifters, usually so servile in front of the Baptized Ones, to ever rise up in rebellion.

However, he still did not make a move, because that faint, lingering sense of danger had not dissipated—in fact, it was growing heavier...