Sequence 9: Giant

Everyone froze at those words. Since the apocalypse began, no one present had any doubt about what that name meant.

If the darkness here meant fear and death, then dawn meant rebirth and hope.

This time, no one objected. Their opinions were surprisingly unanimous.

And so the convoy officially received its name.

The Dawn Convoy.

Captain: An Ning.

Deputy captains: Shen Ye and Song Shiya.

Member: Lin Wanqiu.

Four people, three vehicles. They officially set off west from the Fukuoka Gas Station.

Half an hour later, before the excitement of founding the convoy had even worn off, something happened.

A roar of engines came from behind them.

Shen Ye glanced at the rearview mirror, then instinctively reached over to touch the hilt of Ghost Head beside him.

A moment later, seven or eight vehicles poured out of a side road, led by a modified luxury RV.

Several steel plates of different colors had been welded onto its body, and a bull bar slightly smaller than the front end had been mounted on its nose. It was clearly a crude modification made after the apocalypse began.

The RV braked hard, blocking the three vehicles.

Then a dozen or so vehicles closed in from both sides, surrounding them.

Once the Dawn Convoy's three vehicles had been forced to stop, the luxury RV's door opened.

First, two young men who were clearly lackeys jumped out.

One was tall and thin as a bamboo pole, with a bird's nest of hair and a thoroughly sleazy grin.

The other was short and stocky, with a brutish face and a gold chain as thick as a little finger hanging around his neck.

Both had iron rods and machetes tucked into their belts.

Then the skinny man opened the driver's door and made an obsequious welcoming gesture.

A bald man a little over six feet tall jumped down.

A vicious scar ran across his bare scalp, stretching from his brow to the back of his head.

He wore a mud-stained white tank top, exposing two heavily tattooed arms twice as thick as an ordinary man's.

He lit a cigarette, stuck it between his lips, and sauntered over to the front of Shen Ye's vehicle. Planting one foot on the Volvo's hood, he grinned from ear to ear.

Seeing that the man meant trouble, Shen Ye immediately activated Ghost Head's Intangible effect. Only after the blade had completely vanished into the air did he get out, carrying it.

"Hand over everything you scavenged from that gas station back there. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you live. Don't be stupid."

He exhaled a mouthful of smoke and looked toward the drivers' seats of the two vehicles behind, finally resting his gaze on Song Shiya and Lin Wanqiu through their windows.

Unconcealed lust immediately flared in his eyes.

He chuckled and pointed at Song Shiya and Lin Wanqiu. "I take that back. You can keep a little of the supplies, but those two women stay with me."

By now, the people in the vehicles surrounding them had also gotten out. Their murmurs drifted over.

"Hey, those two women are real beauties. Looks like Zhao Biao's going to get his claws into them, though."

"No kidding. The woman in that delivery van is gorgeous, like a movie star. Think we'll get a turn after Captain Zhao's done with her?"

"Heh, you've got some nerve dreaming about that..." Shen Ye ignored their filthy remarks, staring coldly at the burly bald man before him.

The bald man wasn't annoyed. Instead, he leaned closer and whispered into Shen Ye's ear in an icy voice.

"I'll give you one minute to think it over. If I don't like your answer, I'll send you straight to hell."

With that, he swaggered toward Song Shiya's vehicle.

His two lackeys immediately came over as well, reaching to open the Volvo's trunk.

Shen Ye darted forward, charging straight at the bald man's back.

An invisible streak of cold steel cut through the air with a sharp whistle.

"Boss, watch out!" the skinny man shouted.

The bald man seemed to have been on guard already and lunged sideways.

The black blade brushed past his clothes and stabbed into the delivery van's body.

The bald man turned and saw what had happened. His cigarette fell from his mouth, and the shock in his eyes turned to fury.

"You're dead!"

He let out a furious roar.

His arms began to swell violently, bulging veins spreading over his entire body like steel reinforcement bars.

His body visibly grew taller and larger, rapidly bursting his clothes apart.

In less than a breath, a Giant over three meters tall stood before Shen Ye like an iron tower, its enormous shadow swallowing him whole.

An Ning poked her head out of the window. Her eyes turned from black to purple as she instinctively activated Eye of Perception.

"Shen Ye, watch out! That's a Sequence 9 Giant. Its attack and defense are both very high, but it moves relatively slowly. Be careful!"

Shen Ye tightened his grip on the hilt, pulled Ghost Head out of the vehicle's body, and lowered his stance, his gaze locked on his opponent.

The bald man looked toward the voice. His vicious glare frightened An Ning into immediately pulling her head back inside.

By the time he turned back, Shen Ye was already right in front of him.

The Giant grinned. "You really have a death wish!"

Before Shen Ye could even swing his blade, a fist the size of a palm-leaf fan came crashing down with a rush of wind.

He hurriedly dodged sideways.

The fist slammed into the ground, sending gravel flying and leaving a shallow crater.

The size difference is still too great. Even with the advantage in speed, it's hard to seize the initiative, Shen Ye thought.

Still, he took advantage of the opening as his opponent withdrew his fist and delivered a horizontal slash.

Hard Edge activated, combined with the Intangible effect.

An extremely shallow bloody line immediately appeared on the Giant's forearm.

The bald man paused, then grinned viciously. Assuming it was merely his opponent's Sequence ability, his eyes filled with mockery and contempt.

His other hand quickly swept toward Shen Ye.

Shen Ye instinctively raised his blade to block.

Fist met blade, and an enormous force surged through the weapon.

Shen Ye was sent flying three or four meters like a fallen leaf.

His back struck the metal casing of a fuel pump. He grunted, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"Shen Ye!"

Song Shiya rushed out, heedless of the danger.

"Boss, we'll help you!"

Seeing this, the two lackeys came straight over with their weapons, intending to attack Song Shiya first.

Shen Ye forced himself to endure the excruciating pain and quickly got up.

The two ordinary men had barely come within two meters of Song Shiya.

Shen Ye charged over at tremendous speed.

Then two streaks of black flashed through the air.

The skinny man's head was severed, and the fat man's chest was pierced through.

Both died with shock in their eyes.

But Shen Ye's all-out burst also tore open his injuries, sending agonizing pain through his entire body.

Song Shiya hurriedly lit both hands with Light of Holy Healing and pressed them against Shen Ye's chest.

At the same time, she cast Inspiration on him. Only then did the stabbing pain that felt as though his internal organs were shattering ease by more than half.

By then, the bald Giant had already thrown another punch, furious over the loss of his lackeys.

Shen Ye pushed Song Shiya away while dodging sideways himself, then used the opening as his opponent pulled back his fist to slash his lower abdomen.

But he only broke the skin, leaving an extremely shallow red line.

"Fuck, his defense is high."

Shen Ye retreated to put some distance between them, unable to hold back a curse. His gaze then roamed over his opponent's enormous body, searching for a weakness.

The bald man glanced at the insignificant wound on his lower abdomen, then at Shen Ye, who had regained his vigor after being bathed in white light for only an instant.

His anger immediately faded, and he sneered. "Turns out today's my lucky day. Not only do I get two beauties for free, one of them's even a healing-type Sequence Awakened."

"Don't get impatient. Your man Zhao will give you both plenty of loving in a minute."

Clearly, he had considered this little convoy his for the taking from the very beginning.

This young man was a decent fighter, but he couldn't sense any Sequence fluctuations from him. He obviously posed no threat.

There wasn't even a trace of Sequence fluctuations coming from him, so he believed this man

Meanwhile, the convoy members who had followed him here wore a variety of expressions.