The apocalypse struck, and I became a druid.

Page 157

The air was torn apart by the high-speed vibration of the wings, producing a sharp, explosive sound.

Yu Ge's figure transformed into a gray shadow that was difficult to see with the naked eye, becoming one with the spear, and traversing a distance of more than ten meters.

All his strength, along with his long-suppressed rage, was concentrated in this spear.

The spear pierced the air, its tip flashing a blinding white light due to the rapid friction between energy and air, like a falling meteor, aimed directly at the invisible figure whose movements were slowed by Xu Ming's interference.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

The invisible man had just escaped Xu Ming's entanglement and didn't even have time to activate his invisibility ability again. His pupils only reflected that rapidly enlarging, cold star.

He tried to turn to the side and raised his dagger to parry.

"Pfft!"

The muffled sound of flesh being pierced could be clearly heard.

The spear pierced the stealthy man's left chest with pinpoint accuracy.

The immense impact sent him flying backward, crashing into the damp, cold rock wall behind him with a dull thud.

The purple dagger flew from his hand, tumbled a few times in the air, and landed on the rock with a "clang".

Crimson blood instantly stained the raincoat on his chest, flowing down the spear shaft.

His body convulsed violently, and his eyes showed extreme pain.

He tried to lift his head, but Xu Ming stomped on it.

I hate the way you look at me.

Xu Ming let the blood flow from his arms, then chopped the rock next to the invisible man with his axe, sending up a large amount of gravel.

"Humph……"

Knowing he couldn't escape death, the invisible man simply closed his eyes and pretended to be dead.

"Old Xu, what should we do with this guy?" Brother Yu stepped forward, slowly pulled back his spear, leaving a trail of blood, and asked casually.

"Leave him alive, take him back for interrogation," Xu Ming said in a low voice, catching his breath.

Meanwhile, the battle between Vice President Zhao and the harmonica player had reached a fever pitch.

Each swing of the giant steam axe whipped up a whirlwind, sending up large shards of rock.

The harmonica player scrambled to maneuver and dodge on the narrow cliff face, his harmonica playing completely out of tune.

His prized army of monsters looked utterly ridiculous in the face of Vice President Zhao's absolute power and defense.

The harmonica player attempted to use the music to command the monster to focus its attacks on Vice President Zhao's head and lower body.

However, Vice President Zhao only needed to slightly turn to the side or lift his leg to easily block or deflect those attacks.

The steam armor was left with only shallow dents, which were quickly repaired.

"Hide? Let's see how long you can hide!"

Vice Chairman Zhao was frustrated by his inability to break through the defenses.

He stomped his foot, and the rocks beneath his feet cracked inch by inch.

Using the force of the recoil, the massive body burst forth with considerable speed, like a large truck, crashing headlong into the rock where the harmonica player was, dragging the giant steam axe behind him with a clanging sound.

The harmonica player's face turned ashen; there was no way to escape.

"Where did this monster come from? I've never heard of such a person before."

He was at a loss when faced with a monster that could not be effectively attacked by physical means due to its mental impact.

The Vice President Zhao, who obediently followed orders in front of Han Ning, was now seen by the other Awakened as a peerless demon king, capable of destroying everything.

"No... if this continues, I will die."

A hint of madness flashed in the harmonica-playing man's eyes as he held the harmonica horizontally in front of him, attempting a final act of defense.

"Bang! Crack!"

The boulder shattered into pieces under Vice President Zhao's violent impact.

The man playing the harmonica seemed to have been hit by a large truck, screaming and spitting out a mouthful of blood. The harmonica flew out of his hand, spinning and falling into the raging flood below.

He was thrown backward by the impact, crashing into the cliff face several meters away. He slid down and collapsed onto the slippery rocks, unable to get up again.

With the harmonica player severely injured and out of control, the magic-eyed frog and spiny water lizard in the water below seemed to have lost their backbone, their attacks became chaotic and disorderly, and they even started tearing at each other, creating utter chaos.

"Clear out the minions!" Xu Ming, enduring the soreness and tingling in his right arm, picked up the iron axe from the ground and roared at the chaotic monster horde below the cliff.

Xiaoyu's figure flashed a few times on the cliff face, and her short blade precisely sliced ​​open the throat of a demon-eyed frog.

The other team members were also in high spirits, raining down arrows, spears, and even stones at the commandless monster below.

Soon, the remaining monsters were completely cleared out with everyone's combined efforts, and many monster corpses floated on the murky water.

Vice President Zhao dissipated the steam, returning to his normal size, and walked up to the limp harmonica player, looking down at him.

The harmonica player's face was covered in blood, his eyes filled with fear, but he no longer had the strength to struggle.

Xu Ming and Brother Yu also dragged the invisible man over.

Brother Yu lifted the body of the invisible man, who had fallen into a coma, and then looked at the seriously injured harmonica player, and said in a deep voice:

"These two are quite strong and work together seamlessly. They are definitely not ordinary survivors. It seems there are quite a few experts in this mountain range."

Vice President Zhao nodded, his gaze sweeping over the chaotic battlefield and the rescued team members before finally settling on the harmonica-playing man. His voice was icy: "Take him back and interrogate him thoroughly."

Below the cave, in a mud pit in the deep water, Xuebing poked half its head out, staring in the direction of the battle.

"Not bad, your strength has improved a lot."

Through Xuebing's perspective, Han Ning witnessed almost the entire scene of Vice President Zhao and Xu Ming defeating the enemy.

He estimated that those two were around level six, and Old Zhao could easily defeat them.

Han Ning was quite satisfied with the improvement in the abilities of his subordinates in recent days.

...

Caves in the settlement area.

Inside a room that had been temporarily used as an interrogation room.

The generator outside was humming loudly, and the bright light from the energy-saving bulbs illuminated the two faces covered in abrasions very clearly.

These are two young men, both between 25 and 35.

Chapter 176 Distribution of Power in the Mountain Cluster Area

The two people, tightly bound to the wooden chair by rough vines, were prisoners captured by Vice President Zhao and his team.

The harmonica player and the invisible man.

Han Ning stood at the edge of the shadows, arms crossed, his gaze calmly sweeping over the two of them.

Xu Ming stood beside him, holding a notepad in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Name, background." Vice President Zhao's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a subwoofer, making the room rumble.

The man on the left, playing the harmonica, was breathing heavily; blood was still seeping from the wound on his forehead. He licked his chapped lips, his eyes gleaming.

“My name is Jiang Lin… his name is Liang Hongfa… we are members of the patrol team in the ‘Rock’ settlement area.”

His voice was hoarse and had a heavy local accent.

"Rock Solid?" Vice President Zhao took a step forward. "Exact location? How many people are there? Who is the leader?"

Jiang Lin's eyes darted away, glancing at Liang Hongfa beside him, whose head was drooping and whose breath was weak, as if he were weighing some kind of decision.

Finally, he said dejectedly, "In...the southwest, about ten kilometers from here, there is a place we call Broken Valley, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack."

"There are... about three hundred people, about 30% of whom are Awakened. The leader is called Blackie. He used to work on construction sites. He's incredibly strong and can break steel bars with his bare hands. He's much stronger than me, about the same as you."

"Similar to me? What is your mission? Why are you attacking our people?" Vice President Zhao pressed, his voice low.

"Yes...it was Blackie's order."

Jiang Lin lowered his voice and said honestly,

“Recently, the resources in these mountains have become increasingly scarce. Hei Pi wants to expand his territory and sent us out to explore and find out the details of other settlements.”

"While we're at it, let's see if we can recruit some Awakened Ones or... steal some stuff to take back."

“Our team was responsible for the northeast direction and ran into your people... Seeing that you were carrying a lot of supplies, we wanted to test your strength.”

"Let's test the depth?"

Old Yu snorted coldly, stepped forward, and toyed with the sharp dagger he had captured.

"If they knew we were weak, they'd probably just kill us off, right?"

His eyes were sharp, filled with suppressed anger.

Jiang Lin did not respond.

Vice President Zhao raised his hand to stop Lao Yu, and turned his gaze to Han Ning, who had been silent all along.

Han Ning nodded slightly, signaling him to continue asking.

Vice President Zhao nodded and turned to Jiang Lin:

"Tell me what other settlements you know in this mountain range, and the distribution of power within the military."

This is a key question.

All eyes in the room were on Jiang Lin.

As an Awakened One, he felt a sense of oppression emanating from the man who remained silent in the corner of the room.

For some reason, it felt like being hit by a prehistoric behemoth, and a chill ran through my body.

The sense of oppression was even greater than that emanating from the towering, muscular man in front of him.

He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing.

“There are many settlements in these mountains, mostly in the central, northern and western parts of Bailu City, and a small number of people who have come from the east.”

Jiang Lin licked his chapped lips.