Ambush Behind the Scenes

This time, Zeng Shisan intended to trap the five survivors along with the casual four men under Bozi. However, in the end, those four men knelt and begged for mercy, and they ended up betraying Zeng Shisan and joining his side, so they were spared.

According to the agreement, the other party wouldn't come to find Zeng Shisan until tomorrow night at the earliest to pay him his due reward: more firearms and ammunition.

Bozi was well aware of Zeng Shisan's character; he was someone who didn't play by the rules. So he asked if Zeng Shisan had secretly investigated the man in black's situation. At first, Zeng Shisan said no, but Bozi waved his hand, implying Tom to continue enjoying his revenge, which immediately made Zeng Shisan confess.

After being scolded by the man in black in the last transaction, Zeng Shisan held a grudge. So he secretly followed the man in black and found out that he would eventually enter a room on the first floor, guessing that it was his temporary hiding place.

Tom interjected, asking, "Do you still have gems and crystals on you?"

Zeng Shisan hesitated for a moment but honestly admitted that he did.

Uncle Qi and his men used to live in the next room, but after the incident where over 180 people were attacked, they moved back. Zeng Shisan hadn't taken all the gems to trade with the man in black; the cunning man had kept a few hidden in a small cabinet in the next room.

Tom immediately took Bozi and two men to the next room, following Zeng Shisan's instructions to find the bedside cabinet. After opening the cabinet door, they indeed found the gems hidden by Zeng Shisan in a hidden compartment.

There was one large red, one green, and two yellow gems, and Tom's red crystal, which he had been wearing on his wrist, was also there.

Unfortunately, the two large red crystals, the size of backpacks, were missing, which made Tom very angry.

With such good items, and so many people taken out to feed the ants by Zeng Shisan, they had only exchanged for eleven guns and some bullets. That man in black was truly heartless.

The gems on hand were still too few. It would take a lot of time to go through all the people in the camp. After obtaining the gems, Tom first let Bozi try activating them, teaching him the tricks, which were... there were no tricks. It was just a matter of doing it. He planned to start with Bozi and his few men since they were the youngest and strongest armed personnel in the camp and could be considered "reliable."

As a result, after being guided by Tom, Bozi actually activated the gem.

Tom could triple his strength, while Bozi, unfortunately, only doubled his.

It seemed that with the same gem and ability, the effects could vary depending on the person.

Bozi's enhancement from the red crystal was also only triple strength, and the enhancement effect was similarly not very noticeable. Nevertheless, Tom was quite pleased. With at least one red gem and one red crystal, they now had two people in the camp who could enhance their strength. Plus, with the captured eleven firearms, they would have the power to fight against mutated ants or cockroaches.

Although the harvest was small, Tom and Bozi were still happy to return to camp with the gems.

After meeting with Uncle Wei, Tom had a radical idea.

Taking advantage of the fact that the man in black had not yet learned that his agent Zeng Shisan had been defeated, Tom planned to ambush him, not necessarily to defeat him, but at least to drive him away.

With a treacherous man coveting over a hundred people in the camp nearby, Tom couldn't sleep. Now that he had finally overthrown Zeng Shisan, he didn't want the camp to be destroyed by the man in black. 

Uncle Wei thought Tom was too hasty. Now that Zeng Shisan had just been overthrown, the hearts of the people in the camp were not yet stable, and the rules were not yet mature. Neither internal order nor external threats were guaranteed. So launching a reckless attack would affect the camp's safety.

After some thought, Bozi agreed with Tom's idea. He also believed that they had to counterattack before the man in black could react, to gain a time difference advantage. By solving this external threat first, they could better develop internally.

Uncle Wei quickly agreed to Tom's proposal. So Bozi immediately gathered his men, his nine underlings, each armed with a gun, and he and Tom took the red gem and red crystal, quietly making their way to the man in black's temporary hiding place. They aimed to launch a sudden attack, either defeating him or at least driving him away, to give the camp more time to recuperate and develop.

As soon as they finished dinner, with the sky darkening, the group set out.

Bozi wore the large red gem, Tom retrieved his platinum ring guard to wear on his right hand, tied the red crystal on top, and naturally bound the blue crystal to his left hand. When needed, he could activate both crystals at the same time to increase defense, becoming the team's top tank.

The big knife was definitely strapped on, and there was also a large green gem in the backpack. Although the green gem hadn't been found to combine with other gems to create new effects, Tom's motto was better safe than sorry.

Arriving on the first floor, they easily found the room where the man in black was hiding. Skinny quickly found a small hole next to the one-meter-high window, went in to check, and then stuck his head out and made a cat call to signal that there was no one inside.

The group climbed up the rope and entered the room through the window.

Following the pattern discovered by Zeng Shisan, the man in black usually returned late, so they decided to lay in ambush and wait for his return.

The houses in this area were rented by poor people and didn't have much inside. There was a small compartment behind the house, but due to time constraints, they didn't explore it. Instead, they hid outside in various spots.

Tom chose the area directly under the glass window. When the man in black entered, this area would be in his blind spot. Coupled with the invisibility ability of the blue crystal, he would have a very good effect as a surprise attacker when launching the attack.

Skinny looked out the window for a while and then quickly waved, indicating someone was approaching. Without a doubt, it was the man in black returning. Everyone quickly hid, waiting for the man in black to come back.

The man in black easily leaped through the window and landed on the ground with a soft thud.

"Hmm, it's rude to enter someone else's home casually," he said.

How did he find out? Tom, holding the blue crystal, was shocked. But it seemed the man in black hadn't turned to look at him, so he probably hadn't detected Tom, who was currently invisible.

Bozi was the first to emerge from behind the table leg, and others came out from various corners, holding guns. Some were behind the cabinet, some next to the garbage bin, and some just stood up from a stool. Some had pistols, others had automatic rifles.

"Oh, it seems you guys took care of him," the man in black recognized the firearms they had, "Just this morning, he sent people to feed the ants with bodies. He's been taken care of so quickly. What a waste."

"Who are you? What's your purpose?" Bozi asked.

"You don't need to know who I am. My background might scare you. Since you have the ability to take care of him, that's fine by me. Let's make a deal. I'll give you more guns and bullets, and you continue to send camp people to feed the monsters for me. You don't have to run far; just bring them here," the man in black proposed.

"We've all diminished. It's hard to survive in this dangerous world on our own. We won't sell out our companions for profit," Bozi refused outright. "It was you who had Zeng Shisan trick people into feeding animals. We know you're capable. Please leave, and we won't pursue you."

Not pursue? Tom was so anxious he almost wanted to stand up. After over a hundred deaths, they were just going to let the other side walk away? That was unreasonable.

"Hahaha! A young man with self-awareness, I like it! But it's a pity. Each one of you, in my eyes, is like a breathing energy crystal. How could I let you go?" the man in black laughed.

"Fire!" Bozi fired the first shot, and his men followed suit, shooting at the man in black.

Ten guns fired in succession, but unfortunately, in this dark environment, only a few shots hit, and even if they did, they were just like Tom's attacks—scratching the clothes but not harming the man in black's tough skin.

Tom's attack advice was to use a staggered attack, with every three people firing at once, leaving no time for him to switch power effects.

There was an interval between the blue-red crystal combination for defense enhancement and the simple enhancement of strength by the red crystal. Since the bullets couldn't penetrate him, it meant he only activated defense enhancement at the moment, and the strength enhancement was not active.

They didn't have many bullets; each person only had two magazines. After firing one, they had to stop and wait for the next opportunity.

In the man in black's mad laughter, the bullets were exhausted, and everyone became somewhat hesitant.

Bullets couldn't harm the outer layer, so relying on cold weapons was even more hopeless.

However, Bozi couldn't care less. He rushed forward alone with a big knife, then suddenly activated double strength. With the momentum of "Thunder Strikes," he slashed down.

The man in black caught the descending big knife with one hand, curiously staring at Bozi's arm glowing red. "So you've discovered the secret of the energy crystal."

"Heyah!" Bozi roared and pushed forward with force. The man in black, amused, slowly retreated along the direction of his force, watching Bozi's performance as if toying with him.

"Interesting. It seems you still know a little bit," the man in black said.

Gradually retreating, he approached the corner where Tom was.

Getting tired of it, he grabbed Bozi's collar with his other hand and threw him out. "Haha, you're so weak that killing you would be a waste. Come with me. Since you've awakened, you're qualified to leave the category of feed."

"Who..." Tom suddenly attacked, almost standing up. His big knife pierced through the man in black's chest.

"Wow!" The man in black was surprised. "You can... turn invisible!"

Seizing the opportunity, Tom used 4.5 times the strength, and with luck, he delivered a punch straight to the man's head. If it landed, his head would shatter like a watermelon.

With a dull thud, Tom's fist was bounced back. "This..."

The man in black pushed Tom away, creating distance, and pulled out the big knife.

The opponent had quickly switched to defense enhancement. Tom's 4.5 times strength enhancement couldn't harm him.

"A bit cunning, haha, but it's still a little slow. Now... even if you have a hundred guns, you can't break through my reinforced defense," the man in black said.

Bozi loaded up with bullets and approached. "Then we'll keep hitting you until dawn, and we'll see who gets tired first, you or you bleed to death first."

"Haha, it's not that easy. See what I've brought!" With a clap, the wooden door of the small compartment was pushed open, and a huge black shadow rushed over to them.

"A black dog?" Tom recognized the shape of the shadow. "Or... mutated!"