"I'm going to catch a zombie and run some tests," Zhang Dingtian said before immediately leaving.
Not long after, Zhang Dingtian threw a zombie onto the ground and casually shoved an energy crystal into its mouth.
A few people stared at the zombie.
After quite some time, the zombie showed no reaction.
Zhang Dingtian and Bai Xue secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu Yin said calmly, "One zombie doesn't prove anything. Catch more and try again."
Zhang Dingtian nodded and ordered more zombies to be captured.
Half an hour later, over fifty zombies were tied up and brought in. Zhang Dingtian inserted more than fifty energy crystals, one by one, into their mouths.
A roar—
Suddenly, one zombie let out a low growl, its face contorted in pain, with blood-red eyes staring fixedly at Zhang Dingtian. Its skin was torn apart by an invisible energy, then with a bang, its entire body exploded.
Other than that one zombie, the rest showed no changes.
Dean Lian stared in shock at the scene. "The energy crystals triggered a reaction in some zombies. This proves this evolutionary path is viable."
Lu Yin looked at the scattered flesh on the ground. Suddenly, memories of Yin and that crimson, vertical eye flashed through his mind, making his scalp tingle—he didn't dare to take it out again.
"This matter must be kept strictly confidential. No one can know about it," Bai Xue said coldly, then glanced at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin replied calmly, "Looks like planetary evolution isn't as simple as we thought. Zombies are actually part of evolution. Could it be that they qualify to participate in the trials as well?"
"Zombies have no intelligence," Bai Xue said.
Lu Yin chuckled, "No intelligence? Not necessarily."
Zhang Dingtian immediately ordered everyone outside the city to return. He decided to use the remaining firearms to bomb the zombies. Zombies could never turn back into humans, and now that it was known they might evolve, they couldn't be left alive—especially since they could consume supernatural energy crystals and gain powerful abilities. That was unacceptable.
Dean Lian agreed. The zombie population was too large. Even if only one out of ten thousand zombies evolved successfully, that would be terrifying. That kind of supernatural power was beyond ordinary people's ability to counter—just look at Bai Xue. In fact, if not for her Ice talent, she might not have been a match for Paris. Because of her Ice talent, she easily defeated Paris and controlled Granny. That's how terrifying talent is.
That night, deafening explosions echoed outside Jing City.
Lu Yin looked up. Missiles rained down outside the city, sweeping the land mercilessly.
Zombies weren't scary; what was scary was their number. This was a consensus among everyone. Firearms were the best way to deal with their numbers.
The bombing lasted only about two minutes before stopping. Lu Yin was puzzled—Jing City couldn't be left with so few firearms, right?
Just as Lu Yin decided to continue gazing at the stars, a figure flew through the sky toward his residence. Lu Yin's eyes followed and was surprised to see it was Bai Xue.
This outrageously beautiful woman always looked down on him. Why was she coming to see him so late at night?
Lu Yin watched the graceful silhouette approach under the moonlight. He definitely didn't mind being cuckolded by Liu Shaoge.
Bai Xue landed at Lu Yin's place and let out a barely noticeable sigh of relief when she saw him.
Lu Yin asked curiously, "What's up?"
Granny came out of the room and looked at Bai Xue strangely.
Bai Xue said calmly, "Nothing, just passing by."
Lu Yin was speechless. "Are you sure?"
Bai Xue hesitated, then said flatly, "All personnel operating firearms are dead. All firearms have been destroyed and cannot be used."
Lu Yin was shocked. "Who did this?"
Bai Xue stared at Lu Yin without answering.
Lu Yin laughed, "So you came rushing here to prove my alibi."
"Hopefully, it wasn't you. Otherwise, we won't let you off," Bai Xue said coldly.
Lu Yin was puzzled. "You seem really wary of me. Why?"
Bai Xue didn't answer and turned to leave.
"Wait, you think you can just leave after showing up? Not that easy," Lu Yin's footsteps sounded softly as he appeared beside Bai Xue, reaching out to grab her hair. Bai Xue's eyes turned icy cold, and a freezing aura radiated from her body, sweeping toward Lu Yin. Lu Yin's right palm trembled, dispersing the cold energy, and he continued to reach for her.
Suddenly, a layer of solid ice appeared before Bai Xue's eyes, reflecting the moonlight.
Lu Yin slapped the ice with one palm, shattering it, while Bai Xue retreated several meters, watching him cautiously.
Lu Yin shrugged, "Just joking."
"Not funny," Bai Xue said coldly.
"You barged into my place at night and threatened me. That's not funny either," Lu Yin replied, his tone somewhat cold.
Bai Xue's gaze flickered. "Sorry," she said, then took off into the sky, leaving a faint, pleasant fragrance behind.
Lu Yin looked up at the sky, wondering—who destroyed the firearms? Don't they want the zombie tide bombed?
Granny marveled as she watched Bai Xue's departing figure. "Every time I see her, I'm amazed. No wonder Zhou Shan called her the Goddess of Luoshui. Just in terms of appearance, she can rival the Star Gatherer."
"Star Gatherer?" Lu Yin asked, puzzled.
Granny gazed at the stars, full of longing. "The Star Gatherer is one of the most beautiful women in the starry sky. Legend says she can walk the stars, often appearing at the trial grounds looking for destined people. Some say she can foresee the future and look into the past. She is a dream for countless people in the starry sky."
Lu Yin was speechless. "You're a woman, and she's your dream?"
Granny rolled her eyes at Lu Yin. "She's my idol. I heard she comes from a top, mysterious sect in the Inner Universe. Any disciple from that sect can easily sweep through the younger generation of the Great Universe Empire. And the Star Gatherer even made it onto the Starry Sky Battle Rankings." Granny paused, pouting, "If I told you, you wouldn't understand. Forget it, I'm going to sleep."
Lu Yin didn't pay much attention to Granny's words. The universe was vast and boundless. Even small things could be exaggerated into myths—foreseeing the future, looking back at the past. There's no such person, he thought. Looking up at the night sky, two stars rotated faintly over his right palm, and a third star seemed to appear.
The firearm bombing of the zombie tide was temporarily halted. Lu Yin didn't know how Zhang Dingtian and the others were handling it, nor did he care. Checking his personal terminal, about forty days remained until the second batch of trial participants arrived—soon.
One hundred thousand Huaying Evolvers left the city in batches, under Zhang Dingtian's orders. They didn't have to face mutated beasts, only to slaughter zombies.
This mission wasn't difficult. To the Evolvers, zombies were much easier to kill than mutated beasts.
On the steel city walls, Zhang Dingtian and Bai Xue stood watching.
"Even if we clear all the zombies around Jing City, it's just a drop in the ocean," Bai Xue said helplessly as she looked at the vast Huaying army marching out.
Zhang Dingtian said in a deep voice, "Better than doing nothing. I've already sent people to Jinling and Hubei to inform them of the situation and order them to eliminate the zombies with full force to prevent uncontrollable factors."
Mentioning Hubei, Bai Xue's eyes flickered. "Is he alright?"
Zhang Dingtian looked at Bai Xue and said faintly, "I don't know."
Bai Xue fell silent.
The zombie cleanup went fairly smoothly. The hundred thousand Huaying Evolvers could kill nearly two million zombies a day. Within a few days, the outskirts of Jing City became much emptier. Countless zombies were slaughtered and burned, and thick smoke rolled around the city, emitting a pungent smell.
On the west side of Jing City, at the firearm launch site, Zhang Dingtian returned once again. He had been investigating the culprit for days but found nothing. The killer's method was clean and decisive—one strike to kill. Over five hundred people at the launch camp died in less than a minute. The killing speed was extremely fast.
"Do you think it could be that Lu Yin?" Bai Xue asked from a distance.
"Didn't you witness it yourself?" Zhang Dingtian said in a low voice, his gaze sweeping the ground.
Bai Xue pursed her lips. "We'd better contact Jinling soon. Lu Yin's identity is mysterious. I always feel he's an alien student."
Zhang Dingtian looked at Bai Xue. "So what if he is? This world can distinguish friend from foe, no need to distinguish races. Earth no longer has the qualification to distinguish races."
Bai Xue's eyes darkened, and she said nothing.
Zhang Dingtian turned and headed inside. Just as he opened the door, a streak of white light flashed, rapidly slicing toward his neck. Zhang Dingtian's eyes narrowed. At the last moment, he turned to dodge, but his neck was still cut, leaving a bloody wound.
Under the white light, a silver-haired man smiled wickedly. The butterfly knife stabbed at Zhang Dingtian again. Zhang Dingtian drew his long blade to block it. The butterfly knife twisted around the blade with a strange arc, aiming for Zhang Dingtian's eyes—this strike intended to blind him.
As the butterfly knife approached, Zhang Dingtian didn't close his eyes. Instead, he charged forward. Energy burst violently from his body, slowing the knife's movement for a moment. His long blade swung horizontally, a massive slash forming a visible blade aura that cut the camp in two, even cleaving the earth beneath.