Professor Zhao's Pursuers
Night fell like a vast black curtain, weighing heavily over the city.
A deathly silence surrounded the abandoned mall. Only the occasional zombie roar broke it, like a ghostly whisper that sent chills down one's spine.
Ever since Li Gou'er had latched onto Lu Chen, he had walked with a swagger.
He had just been entrusted with the important task of guarding the perimeter, and now he was swaggering around on patrol with a few of his underlings.
"Brother Gou, what's Master Chen's background, anyway? He's insanely strong!" one of the underlings asked ingratiatingly.
Li Gou'er slapped him on the back of the head. "Why are you asking so many questions? Is Master Chen's business yours to pry into? Remember, we're members of the Godslaying Legion now, so hold your heads high!"
Before he had finished speaking, several dark figures suddenly darted out of the darkness, swift as ghosts.
"Enemy attack!" Li Gou'er roared, charging forward with his steel pipe.
But the enemy had clearly come prepared.
The well-trained soldiers carried standard-issue weapons and unleashed fierce firepower.
Li Gou'er's ragtag bunch were pinned down in an instant, unable to lift their heads.
"Damn it, they're regular troops!" Li Gou'er cursed inwardly as he was driven back step by step.
Just then, a shadowy gaze locked onto the battlefield from a window on the mall's second floor.
Lu Chen stood in the shadows, a cruel smile curving his lips.
"Heaven offered you a path, but you refused it. Hell had no gate, yet you barged right in. Professor Zhao, you really couldn't wait, could you?"
Lu Chen was in no hurry to act. First, he wanted to find out what he was up against.
His SSS-rank Full-Area Scan activated instantly, like an enormous radar, displaying every detail of the battlefield clearly in his mind.
The enemy's positions, numbers, and firepower-even the rate of their breathing-were all laid bare.
"Huh? There's even a sniper?" Lu Chen's gaze locked onto a figure concealed in the darkness.
C-rank Ballistic Correction? Interesting.
Lu Chen silently copied the sniper's talent and instantly elevated it to SSS rank.
The next second, Lu Chen moved.
He appeared at the window like a ghost, a modified handgun now in his hand.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Three gunshots rang out like the whispers of the grim reaper.
Three bullets tore through the night sky, striking three soldiers precisely between the eyes.
They fell to the ground before they could even scream, their blood staining the ground red.
"What?!"
Chen Feng was directing the battle from behind an abandoned car. When he saw this, he was stunned speechless.
"How is that possible?!"
He had clearly arranged for a sniper to provide suppressing fire, so how could the enemy have located them so precisely and killed them with single shots?
"Retreat! Fall back to the parking lot!" Realizing the situation was bad, Chen Feng hurriedly ordered a retreat.
He had planted a large number of bombs in the parking lot beforehand. All he had to do was detonate them, and he could level the entire mall.
What Chen Feng didn't know, however, was that Lu Chen had set his sights on him long ago.
During the earlier melee, Lu Chen had quietly copied his B-rank Demolition Specialization talent and elevated it to SSS rank.
"You want to play with bombs? I'll play with you to your heart's content!"
Chen Feng fled to the parking lot with his remaining soldiers, battered and disheveled.
He quickly activated the bombs' detonator, a vicious grin spreading across his face.
"Die! All of you damned bastards!"
But the next second, his grin froze.
"Boom!"
A deafening explosion rang out, but it came not from the mall, but from... their own position!
Using SSS-rank Demolition Specialization, Lu Chen reversed the direction of the blast, turning the entire parking lot into a sea of fire.
Scorching flames engulfed everything in an instant. Screams, explosions, and the sound of twisting metal intertwined into a hellish symphony.
The sudden explosion startled Li Gou'er as well. He hurriedly led his underlings behind cover, where they trembled as they watched everything unfold before them.
"Master... Master Chen is insanely strong!" one of the underlings stammered.
Li Gou'er swallowed hard. Now he finally understood just how powerful a backer he had found.
"What are you standing around for? Grab your weapons and charge with me!" Li Gou'er roared, leading his underlings into the enemy ranks.
By now, the enemy troops had been scattered by the blast, their morale gone.
Like a tiger charging down a mountain, Li Gou'er swung his steel pipe with whistling force, taking down one soldier with every blow and leaving them howling.
Chen Feng had also been caught in the explosion. He was covered in blood and in a sorry state.
He struggled to stand, only to find that his legs would no longer obey him.
"Impossible... This is impossible..." Chen Feng stared at the raging sea of flames in despair, muttering to himself.
Just then, a figure appeared before him.
Lu Chen looked down at him, his gaze icy, as though he were looking at a dead man.
"Y-you... What kind of monster are you?!" Chen Feng asked, his eyes wide and his voice trembling.
Lu Chen didn't answer. He simply raised the knife in his hand, slowly...
The blade flashed, and blood splattered. Lu Chen cut Chen Feng's body in two at the waist.
Lu Chen stood amid the ruins, looking into the distance. "Professor Zhao, the game has only just begun..." he said coldly.
When the smoke cleared, the air was thick with the nauseating stench of burning and blood.
Lu Chen stood in the middle of the wrecked parking lot, Chen Feng's severed corpse at his feet. His eyes were like shards of ice in the depths of winter, so cold they sent a chill through one's heart.
"They thought they could control me? Wrong. I'm the one controlling them." Lu Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an imperious air that looked down upon the world.
In the distance, Li Gou'er and his underlings were busy cleaning up the battlefield. They knew that from today onward, they had truly boarded Lu Chen's pirate ship... no, the great vessel sailing toward a new world!
Lu Chen took a deep breath, feeling the power surging within him.
SSS-rank Demolition Specialization had given him more than the ability to control bombs; it had also given him a sense of control over energy.
He could almost feel the fire elements drifting in the air, cheering and leaping as they waited for his command.
"Power is the only passport in the apocalypse," Lu Chen murmured, his gaze sweeping over the wreckage around him.
Suddenly, his gaze settled on a car nearby that had been blown beyond recognition.
That car seemed a little familiar...
Lu Chen frowned, an ominous feeling rising in his heart.
He hurried over and pried open the warped car door. A pungent stench of blood hit him in the face.
On the twisted seat, he saw a familiar flash of green...
"Xiao Lu?!" Lu Chen's heart sank, and a powerful fear seized him instantly.
He hurriedly checked Xiao Lu's breathing. Thankfully, she was still breathing.
"Damn it! Professor Zhao, you're fucking asking for death!" Lu Chen roared. Killing intent erupted from him as though it had taken physical form, and even the air around him seemed to freeze.
He carefully picked Xiao Lu up. Her body was cold and weak, as though she might disappear at any moment.
Carrying Xiao Lu, Lu Chen walked out of the parking lot step by step, each step as though he were treading on the tip of a blade.
He had to find a safe place to treat Xiao Lu as soon as possible.
"Professor Zhao... I'll make you pay!" Lu Chen's voice was low and hoarse, filled with endless killing intent.
He looked up into the distance,
Suddenly, Lu Chen stopped in his tracks.
He sensed an unusual fluctuation... That was... the aura of evolution!
He looked down at Xiao Lu in his arms. Her body was trembling slightly, and a powerful energy was building inside her.
"Could it be..." Lu Chen's evolution in the apocalypse often came with enormous risks.
Could Xiao Lu make it through?
The night wind howled, tousling Lu Chen's hair and dispersing a trace of the unease in his heart.
He held Xiao Lu tightly and quickened his pace.
Don't worry, Xiao Lu. I won't let anything happen to you, Lu Chen said silently, his gaze firm and gentle.
What he didn't know was that an even greater storm was quietly approaching...