Cowardice

Zhou Jianjun suddenly slammed his fist against the rooftop railing. Rust and dust sprinkled down.

"Enough fooling around! This is too reckless!"

His eyes were red with worry. He had never imagined that his nephew, usually so composed he didn't seem like a young man at all, could be so impulsive.

That was a gigantic monster that made your heart tremble just to look at, not to mention dozens of Abyss Wolves!

But he knew this wasn't the time for regret. Lin Yi had already rushed out, and all they could do now was prepare for whatever might happen.

"Quick! Everyone back to the second floor. Get to the ladder and prepare to bring him in!"

Zhou Jianjun spun around and shouted at the others, "What are you standing around for? Move!"

He quickly looked over the young people beside him, finally settling on Li Jie, who was about the same build as Lin Yi and usually loved showing off the most.

"Li Jie!" Zhou Jianjun said urgently. "You work out a lot. Put on the armor Xiaoyi took off. If anything unexpected happens, you'll have to hold the line with me and guard the ladder!"

Everyone's gaze immediately fixed on Li Jie.

To everyone's surprise, though, Li Jie—who usually bragged, "If it were me, I'd do this and that," or "If there were another suit of armor, I'd go out and kill monsters too"—didn't answer.

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

Zhou Jianjun's expression hardened, and he was about to scold him when another voice spoke up calmly.

"Uncle Zhou, I'll wear it."

Everyone turned toward the voice and saw Zhou Yuxuan push up his glasses and step forward.

"I'm about the same build as Lin Yi. My stamina isn't especially good, but..."

Zhou Yuxuan's face was also pale. His voice wasn't loud, but everyone heard him clearly.

"I think holding off the Abyss Beasts depends more on the armor's protection. If it comes down to it, I can take a hit up front and buy everyone a little more time."

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

Zhou Jianjun looked deeply at the young man, who usually kept his head down and focused solely on researching the Guidance Technique, then gave a firm nod and said just one word.

"Fine!"

Time was short. Zhou Jianjun immediately waved his hand. "Stop standing around and get downstairs! Everyone else, take your assigned positions like we practiced. Move!"

The crowd sprang into action, hurrying toward the rooftop entrance in a panic, but in an orderly fashion.

Ye Qingyu, who had come up with the others, stood still and bit her lip. She glanced toward the direction where Lin Yi had disappeared, her expression complicated, then turned and hurried away with the crowd.

At the same time, 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 dashed to the edge of the roof, quickly found a spot beneath the railing with the best view, and dropped flat onto her stomach without hesitation. Her movements were highly professional.

The next second, she pulled a black military-grade high-definition camera from a military-green canvas pouch slung at her waist. She switched it on and adjusted it with practiced ease, then steadied the lens on the silver figure racing through the ruined streets below.

Her expression was so calm it was almost cold, as if what was happening below wasn't a life-or-death gamble but an ordinary military operation being documented.

In fact, establishing communications wasn't her only important task here.

The General Staff was closely following everything about Lin Yi, especially his fighting style and use of Source Energy.

So they had asked her to "record Comrade Lin Yi's training, combat, and teaching whenever possible, provided he gives his permission, particularly key footage of his Source Energy techniques in practice."

These firsthand combat recordings would provide vital reference material for the military's study of Source Energy combat and the eventual promotion of practical combat training.

Ren Yinuo had planned to formally explain this to Lin Yi and ask his permission once the equipment had been fully tested that day.

She hadn't expected that a battle would break out so suddenly just after the equipment had been tested through the night.

All she could do was record it for now. If Lin Yi objected later, she could delete the footage.

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

The nearly five-meter-tall Giant Rock Abyss Bear, looking as if it had been built from boulders, charged at the front with a roar. The more than fifty Abyss Wolves weren't crowding around chaotically; instead, they formed a tactical formation that made her heart jump.

Most of the Abyss Wolves followed close behind the Giant Bear, using its massive body for cover. Farther out on either side, three groups of wolves spread out like flanking units, advancing in sync.

"These beasts... They can coordinate like that?" Ren Yinuo was stunned.

The apocalypse had come without warning, and as a technical officer at General Staff headquarters, she had never fought Abyss Beasts face-to-face.

She had heard Tianpeng Squad talk about Abyss Beasts on the way to Hongfu Restaurant and knew that high-level Abyss Beasts were quite intelligent, but she had never had a clear sense of what that meant.

Only now, seeing with her own eyes that even Abyss Beasts from the lowest-level Nest could coordinate like this, did she truly understand the pressure faced by frontline units.

At the same time, she couldn't help worrying about Lin Yi.

"General Staff wouldn't be so invested in him if he were going to take risks without a plan... right?"

Trusting her colleagues at General Staff, Ren Yinuo put the thought aside and focused on tracking Lin Yi through the camera.

In the viewfinder, Lin Yi was moving at astonishing speed. The Flowing Cloud Light Armor drew a streamlined streak of Silver Radiance in the faint morning light.

He wasn't sprinting in a straight line. Instead, he raced forward with a rhythmic, almost musical stride.

It was the Wandering Star Steps he had first begun to master the night before.

Lin Yi had only just entered the technique, yet he was already displaying agility and efficiency far beyond an ordinary person's. He kept finding the best routes through the ruins, and somehow his speed only increased.

"Incredible..."

Ren Yinuo was secretly amazed. Even someone like her, a noncombatant with no expertise, could see the rhythm and elegance of the footwork.

And as the person who had delivered the crystal to Lin Yi, she was even more astonished by how much he had mastered in just one night.

"Is this what a genius's comprehension looks like?"

Her camera stayed locked on Lin Yi, capturing every one of his movements in clear detail.

Meanwhile, at a second-floor window...

Chen Yu was fumbling with the Portable Source Energy Detector Lin Yi had left them to use during their night watch before going upstairs to practice.

As the device powered on, a pale blue screen appeared.

"It's on, it's on! Brother Yi's Source Energy level is 34. That bear—holy crap! 200?! H-how many times stronger is it?!"

His voice wasn't quite a shout. It sounded more like a strangled groan, the overwhelming difference in the numbers filling him with despair.

Everyone nearby who heard him felt their hearts sink. Zhou Jianjun's face darkened, and his fists clenched until his knuckles cracked.