"I've been holding back for a long time, and today I can finally kill people. It feels great to level up!"
"I won't be soft-hearted like my mother. Kindness to others is cruelty to oneself!"
"Only by becoming stronger can I truly avoid being bullied!"
Xiumin murmured as she looked at the bodies scattered on the ground.
The mother she mentioned was Cui Zhiyan. They called each other mother and daughter, but they were not actually related.
They had met in the apocalypse and had supported and protected each other ever since.
However, this bond, forged through life-and-death trials, was stronger than any other relationship.
Cui Zhiyan's principle in the apocalypse was to endure humiliation and hardship. Many times, she had opportunities to kill the men who bullied her, but her weak personality caused her to miss many chances for revenge and growth.
Xiumin had witnessed these events. Furthermore, Zhang Chen had told her: "Only the strong have the right to choose who they want to be, and the right to trust others. The weak can only strive to survive."
From that day on, Xiumin was determined to become strong.
In fact, she had secretly killed many mutated creatures and infected beings.
However, killing them leveled her up too slowly.
Today was her first time killing a human, and she felt no nervousness or fear.
Instead, she felt a slight thrill from leveling up so quickly by killing survivors.
"Is this what it feels like to be strong? It's so addictive!"
Xiumin turned her head and smiled at a few foreigners who were preparing to ambush her.
Her pure and beautiful face, combined with a smile that exuded danger, created a chilling aura.
A single glance was enough to make the foreigners flinch and retreat in fear.
"Useless trash, you don't even have the courage to challenge me. What's the point of living?"
Xiumin appeared before them like a phantom.
With her slender hands, she quickly struck several pressure points on their bodies.
Soon, their faces contorted in agony as they withered away, their vitality draining.
"Hmm? I can't level up by killing them anymore after reaching the advanced stage of mutation?"
"How boring!"
Xiumin examined her leveling data, a hint of disappointment on her face.
"Save... save me... I mean no harm... please spare me..."
A foreign woman, Xiumin, slowly walked towards her. Terrified, she collapsed onto the ground, dropping her weapon and pleading with a trembling voice.
"Spare you?"
Xiumin revealed a radiant, girlish smile.
She squatted down in front of the woman and said,
"Don't think I don't know anything. Your gang grew quickly by killing other survivors."
"When you slaughtered a whole camp of living people, and encountered a little girl begging for mercy, would you have spared her?"
Without waiting for the woman's reply, Xiumin gently pressed a point on her heart.
With a single touch, the woman's face instantly turned deathly pale. Her mouth gaped open as she struggled to breathe, as if she couldn't get any air.
Then, her energy was rapidly stripped away, and her body gradually withered...
"You dare to touch my livestock?"
Suddenly, a man's voice came from behind Xiumin.
Before Xiumin could turn around, she felt a gust of wind rushing towards the back of her head.
She quickly ducked and crossed her arms to defend her side.
*Bang!*
The attacker was swift, and still managed to hit Xiumin.
With just one kick, Xiumin was sent flying twenty to thirty meters away. Her back crashed into the building's wall, leaving behind cracks before she finally came to a stop.
"Cough..."
Xiumin slowly slid down the wall to the ground, feeling as if her internal organs had shifted, causing immense discomfort.
As she got up, before she could even get a clear look at her attacker.
Suddenly, her vision went black!
Then came an intense pain, so severe it almost suffocated her!
The man with glasses jammed his knee into Xiumin's face, driving her head into the wall.
"Heh, this is the price for touching my livestock. I will take back everything I've lost, bit by bit. But before that, I will make you feel pain!"
The man with glasses stepped back, then accelerated suddenly, his right leg whistling through the air as he kicked towards Xiumin's chest.
*Bang!*
In a flash, Bai Hanlin appeared between the man with glasses and Xiumin, desperately blocking the kick!
In fact, Bai Hanlin had already been rushing towards the scene the moment he saw the man with glasses appear.
This was because he noticed the dark red ring on the man's hand.
Zhang Chen had repeatedly warned him to be wary of survivors wearing dark red rings!
However, even with Bai Hanlin at full speed, he couldn't prevent the sneak attack on Xiumin, and she still took two heavy hits.
"Bai... Doctor..."
Xiumin said with a slight tremor in her voice.
"You don't need to say anything. Leave the rest to me!"
Bai Hanlin clenched his right fist, and a foreigner immediately clutched his neck in pain, as if he were being strangled.
Soon, his life force rapidly dissipated.
Concurrently, Xiumin's wounds began to slowly heal.
But Xiumin was already an advanced stage mutant and had just sustained severe injuries.
The life force of an ordinary survivor was not enough to fully heal Xiumin. At best, it would stop her internal injuries from worsening and alleviate some of the pain.
"Healer? A rare profession!"
"But you could block my kick, which means you're quite skilled. Care to be my subordinate?"
"Power, resources, women – anything you want. You just need to be responsible for my treatment. What do you say?"
The man with glasses invited with a smile.
"I agree!"
Bai Hanlin nodded slowly, his arms throbbing as if they were about to break from the single blow.
"Excellent. You're a sensible person. With you, I don't need those other杂碎 (zázuì -杂碎, scum/riffraff)."
"Also... pick whichever woman you like. Consider it a welcome gift from me!"
The man with glasses beckoned towards the direction of the camp.
Several blonde beauties immediately swayed their hips as they walked over.
"I want them all!"
Bai Hanlin said calmly.
"Heh, you're quite greedy. But I like that. Those who are content with nothing are the hardest to deal with!"
The man with glasses chuckled.
*Swish! Bang!*
Bai Hanlin swiftly pressed a point three inches below the man with glasses' chest.
Bai Hanlin had put all his strength into this move.
However, for the man with glasses, who possessed a gifted physique, such an attack felt like a tickle.
"Heh, I knew you'd try some trickery, but I didn't expect your attack to be so weak..."
Bai Hanlin clapped his hands, then reached out to help Xiumin up, and walked away from the battlefield without looking back.
"You think you can just walk away by pretending to be fine? Really..."
*Thump, thump!*
The man with glasses, who had intended to toy with Bai Hanlin and Xiumin like a cat playing with mice,
However, he only managed to utter half his sentence before his heart began to pound violently!
*Thump, thump! Thump, thump!*
*Pfft!*
A mouthful of blood spurted out. Then, the man with glasses, his face etched with disbelief, vanished into a wisp of white mist.
"Death point..."
Bai Hanlin said faintly.