Facing the siege of six superpowered individuals, Shen Feng and his group managed to retreat safely. Lu Xian killed one of the superpowered individuals, while Shen Feng took down the other five. Shen Feng inflicted fatal wounds on all of them but, lacking the morbid pleasure of watching others struggle in their death throes, he departed after resolving the ambush.
Lu Xian promptly offered his praise, "City Lord, you are truly formidable! You single-handedly dealt with five individuals. In my eyes, you are undoubtedly the number one under heaven!"
Shen Feng was quite pleased with this flattery. As he walked, he said, "When we return to Yuzhou, I will reward you with some evolution potions, allowing you to evolve to the third stage. Your abilities are quite useful, and perhaps they will have even better applications in the future."
"City Lord, you are truly wise and mighty! I made the right choice following you!" Lu Xian was even happier. If he could become a third-stage, or even a fourth-stage superpowered individual, his strength would undoubtedly increase, and he would be better able to adapt to life in the apocalypse.
From many tall buildings in the distance, numerous people reluctantly lowered their binoculars. Indeed, many had their sights set on the evolution bases in Shen Feng's possession. They knew very well that to become stronger and break through the evolution barrier, evolution bases were essential. Besides the official channels, only Shen Feng possessed these items.
These people dared not confront Shen Feng directly, as their greatest concern was provoking his displeasure. They also lacked the confidence to defeat him, so they hid in the shadows, observing and trying to ascertain Shen Feng's combat power. The attack by six superpowered individuals was meant to force Shen Feng to reveal some of his true capabilities.
However, the outcome was one-sided. During the battle, Shen Feng's movements were erratic and elusive, like a phantom, swift and uncanny. He sustained not a single injury but successfully defeated five superpowered individuals. Especially the "Vast East Wind" he used, even from two hundred meters away, people could feel the strong gust of wind. Such violent natural phenomena were actually being unleashed by a human!
"Let alone five superpowered individuals, even if another five came, they might not be able to defeat Shen Feng!" everyone thought silently.
However, Wang Aoye, seeing the scene from afar, slowly lowered his binoculars and turned to the two people behind him, saying, "Let's go. It's time for us to pick up the scraps!"
Of the two people behind Wang Aoye, one was naturally his loyal subordinate, Yi Xingzhong. The other was a strange woman who had not appeared in the hall earlier. Her name was Gu Xu, and she was one of the earliest to follow Wang Aoye. At this moment, a charming smile appeared on her face as she looked at Wang Aoye and said, "My dear, whatever you say goes."
Wang Aoye then led the two to the scene of the battle. All six individuals still had a final breath. Shen Feng had not delivered the finishing blow but had left them with fatal injuries before departing. Thus, when Wang Aoye arrived, these people were still alive.
Wang Aoye watched them struggling for their lives, crawling on the ground with their hands and feet, blood staining the ground. Even ants cling to life, let alone humans.
"There are no hospitals nearby. If you want to live, you'd better beg me. Perhaps I can save you! But the price is that you'll have to follow me from now on," Wang Aoye said lazily to those desperately seeking survival.
Wang Aoye was not in a hurry to save them. These were all superpowered individuals with tenacious vitality. Even with fatal injuries, they wouldn't die immediately. Moreover, their deaths wouldn't be a loss to him. Gaining a few subordinates was enough; it wasn't necessary for everyone to become his subordinate.
After Wang Aoye finished speaking, several people on the scene immediately pleaded for help, "Save me, save me quickly, I'm willing to follow you."
Wang Aoye nodded with satisfaction and said to Gu Xu beside him, "You can save them now, but it's best to leave some means of control."
Gu Xu nodded and said seriously, "No problem. While saving them, I will also impose some restrictions on them, ensuring they cannot escape our grasp."
After saying this, Gu Xu walked up to one person, bit her finger, and let a drop of blood drip from her fingertip. Then, she smiled and said, "From now on, you are my slaves. If you betray me, you will die on the spot!"
As the blood dripped onto the dying man's wound, the wound immediately underwent a tremendous change. Small flesh buds suddenly grew at the wound site, and it began to heal. Even the severed blood vessels were rapidly closing. In just a few dozen seconds, the man's wounds had perfectly recovered.
In fact, this was Gu Xu's ability. She could rapidly heal wounds through her blood, essentially promoting cell division and elevating the regenerative capacity of the injured to a new level in a short period. As long as they weren't killed instantly, they could generally be saved.
For Gu Xu, as long as these people were not decapitated or their hearts pierced, they could be saved. Of course, if they were chopped into pieces, then it would truly be beyond help. Fortunately, Shen Feng did not have the habit of finishing off his opponents, otherwise, Wang Aoye would not have had the opportunity to pick up the scraps.
Meanwhile, Shen Feng had already returned to the camp with Lu Xian. Chu Chaoyan, seeing Shen Feng return slowly with bloodstains on him, couldn't help but frown and ask, "Where did you go tonight? And why did you take some evolution bases with you midway? Did you give them to someone?"
Shen Feng pointed to the refrigerated box in Lu Xian's hand and said, "Keep this box properly, and remember to charge it at all times. As for tonight's events, it's better if you don't know."
Chu Chaoyan was displeased with Shen Feng's attitude. She was clearly concerned about him, but Shen Feng's demeanor made her angry. Not telling her anything was too much. With a battle against hundreds of millions of zombies looming in a couple of days, he was being so secretive. It was excessive!
In reality, the authorities did not permit private combat between superpowered individuals or evolved beings. Once private fights were allowed, they would inevitably lead to grudges and infighting among humans. The most important task now was to eliminate the zombies and then rebuild a peaceful society. Such acts of self-consumption as private fights had to be stopped.
Therefore, Shen Feng was well aware that while tonight's events could be spread privately, they should not be blown out of proportion, or headquarters might have objections. His decisive actions were also likely to deter some of the people below.
Shen Feng was not worried about the onlookers tonight spreading the news widely, as he had leverage over them. If they dared to report him, he would, in turn, report them for smuggling. It would then be up to the authorities to decide which issue to address.
After Shen Feng slept, he learned of the ship's arrival the next day. Ships would arrive at noon to pick up reinforcements, finally docking at Jinmen. From there, they would take a train to Yanjing. It was strange, but the zombies seemed unaware of the relationship between Jinmen and Yanjing, not cutting off contact with such close cities, but rather ignoring them.
Upon hearing this, Shen Feng frowned and muttered to himself, "What are these Corpse Kings thinking? Why aren't they cutting off Yanjing's contact with the outside world? Is it a pincer movement with one side open? But that doesn't make sense either. With the significant advantage zombies currently possess, wouldn't surrounding them be the most beneficial?"
The intelligence of the Corpse Kings was certainly no inferior to humans. Especially since Corpse Kings retained much of their memories from life, their thought processes were very similar to humans. This led to a question: the Corpse Kings knew very well that Yanjing could continuously receive reinforcements via the railway from Jinmen, yet they did nothing about it. This behavior was completely illogical!
"Could there be a deeper conspiracy? But it will snow soon. Don't the Corpse Kings know this?" The more Shen Feng thought about it, the more he felt something was amiss. Under such unfavorable circumstances, what was the Corpse Kings' strategy? Was it simply a human wave tactic?
Seeing Shen Feng in this state, Chu Chaoyan couldn't help but shake her head and urged him, "City Lord, hurry up and issue orders! Without your command, everyone doesn't know what to do!"
Shen Feng then snapped back to reality, found several key personnel, and began issuing orders, telling everyone to pack their belongings and prepare to board the ship at noon. Five thousand people were quite a lot, and they would certainly occupy multiple ships. The organization and management during the assembly and boarding process were all issues. Shen Feng had to let key personnel manage them, otherwise, it would be utter chaos.
At noon, the ships arrived at the port. Tens of thousands of reinforcements were already preparing to board. This was Shen Feng's first time sailing at sea, and he found it quite novel. Before, even when he took boats, it was on rivers. Even on the Yangtze River, he could see the end to some extent. But at sea, it was different. Looking into the distance, even if he strained his eyes, he couldn't see the horizon. In the distance, the sky and the ocean seemed to merge, a true "water and sky in one color."
After boarding, Shen Feng stared blankly at the sea. He suddenly recalled the Corpse King he met in Rongcheng. According to the Corpse King, there were more terrifying things in the ocean. But at this moment, the ocean was very calm, which didn't add up. Shen Feng suspected that the Corpse King might have lied to him back then.
"What are the more terrifying things in the ocean? Are they not visible in the nearshore?" Shen Feng thought to himself.
As Shen Feng pondered the ocean, Chu Chaoyan also walked onto the deck. The ship was quite stable; as long as it didn't encounter strong winds and waves, there wouldn't be violent shaking.
Chu Chaoyan, inspired by a poetic mood, walked up to Shen Feng, cleared her throat, and said seriously, "Every time I see the sea, infinite emotions surge in my heart. The ocean nurtures life and occupies the largest surface area on Earth. The land is already so vast and boundless, but the ocean is even more unfathomable!"
Shen Feng was focused on contemplating the Corpse King's earlier words, trying to understand what he meant. He paid little attention to Chu Chaoyan's words, only saying, "Oh."
Chu Chaoyan frowned and continued, "Don't you have any feelings when you see the ocean? Facing such a vast and magnificent scene, don't you have anything to say?"
"Oh." Shen Feng still didn't respond to Chu Chaoyan.
Shen Feng merely leaned on the ship's railing, gazing into the distance, but his consciousness was elsewhere. He was still contemplating what dangers lurked in the ocean. Even whales had ways to deal with them, so wouldn't the danger be something he didn't know?
Seeing Shen Feng like this, Chu Chaoyan became angry, "Are you being too perfunctory? I'm talking to you. Can you answer me properly?"
Shen Feng snapped back to attention, shrugged, and replied, "What questions can I answer? If you want to discuss literature, I'm afraid I can't help you. I only know works I've seen in textbooks; I'm completely unfamiliar with other literary works. If you want to discuss comics, I can chat with you, but if you want me to express my feelings, then I can't."
"Alright, I won't bother you. I'll find someone I can talk to." Chu Chaoyan gave up. She regretted why she had sought Shen Feng for a chat. Their professions had nothing in common, and talking to him about these things was like playing a lute to a cow.
"Wait, I just remembered a couple of lines of poetry, I don't remember who wrote them: 'The movement of the sun and moon, as if emerging from within; the Milky Way, brilliant, as if born from its depths.' How about it? Although I didn't say it, it has the right spirit, doesn't it?" Shen Feng replied.
Chu Chaoyan nodded and walked towards her cabin.
On the vast sea, several ships were sailing in an orderly fashion, and their final destination was still far away. Conservatively estimated, they would arrive late at night. During this time, the people on board could only rest in their cabins. If they had brought playing cards, they could also entertain themselves a bit.