The woman gazed at Lu Yin with resignation. "You know, if you'd just ask, I could help you. I have people behind me too."
"No need," Lu Yin replied coolly.
The woman sighed. "Alright, keep in touch. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them for you. I'm off." With that, she flashed Lu Yin a smile, turned, and left, leaving behind a trail of fragrance.
Lu Yin closed his eyes once more, the woman's visit having no effect on him whatsoever.
In the dead of night, the alluring woman returned. She smiled at Lu Yin, "Congratulations, your troubles are over."
Lu Yin looked at her, puzzled.
The woman explained, "I asked my brother to intervene. Zhang Tong has been captured. My brother wants you to come and discuss how to deal with them."
Lu Yin's eyes flickered. He stood up. "Let's go."
The woman smiled and led the way, passing through the flames to a spot about three hundred meters from the team. Though still unsafe, it wasn't too far.
When Lu Yin arrived, he saw Zhang Tong - the evolved being who had abused those women - and over a dozen others kneeling on the ground. Before them stood a tall man with his hands behind his back.
"Brother, Lu Yin is here," the alluring woman cooed as she approached the man.
The man turned, smiling at Lu Yin. "So you're Lu Yin?"
Lu Yin nodded.
"I'm Liu Sheng, one of the captains of this team," the man said, lifting his chin slightly, looking at Lu Yin with pride.
Lu Yin replied calmly, "I know."
Liu Sheng frowned, disliking Lu Yin's attitude. "How do you want to deal with these people? It's up to you."
Lu Yin looked at Liu Sheng. "Conditions?"
Liu Sheng's lips curled into a smile as he stared intently at Lu Yin. "Let's not beat around the bush. I've heard about you, observed you. You haven't absorbed any energy crystals from mutant beasts, have you? Yet you're incredibly powerful. Care to tell me why?"
Nearby, the alluring woman looked at Lu Yin expectantly, as did Zhang Tong and the other kneeling evolved beings.
Lu Yin smirked. "Is that why you lured me here?"
Liu Sheng smiled faintly and looked at the alluring woman.
The woman stepped forward, moving to Lu Yin's side. She breathed softly on him, her voice sultry. "Brother Lu, won't you tell us? Is it another path of evolution? Telling us is like telling all of humanity. All of humanity will be grateful to you. And I... I could keep you company," she said, leaning towards Lu Yin.
Lu Yin turned to look at the alluring woman. "I told you, next time, death." As the words left his mouth, his iron rod flashed. The alluring woman clutched her throat, blood seeping through her fingers, staining her clothes. She fell, disbelieving. She hadn't taken Lu Yin's words seriously, never imagining he'd dare kill her in front of Liu Sheng, a captain and a human-level expert!
Liu Sheng was stunned too, equally shocked by Lu Yin's audacity.
Lu Yin swung his iron rod. "You're all so annoying. You've been watching me since this team formed. Tonight, it all ends." With that, he charged at Liu Sheng, his iron rod swinging down.
Liu Sheng, enraged, shouted, "You're seeking death!" He drew a long sword from his waist, blocking the iron rod. In his mind, this move would not only stop Lu Yin's attack but severely wound him. However, reality defied his expectations. His sword was split in two, and the edge of the iron rod left a deep, bone-deep gash on his right shoulder.
This scene left Liu Sheng in disbelief. He was a human-level expert, capable of taking on many ordinary evolved beings single-handedly. How could he be defeated by Lu Yin in one move?
Having wounded Liu Sheng with one strike, Lu Yin didn't pause. His iron rod swept horizontally.
Liu Sheng hurriedly dodged, flipping to the side and throwing his sword hilt at Lu Yin. Lu Yin deflected the hilt with his rod, the energy from the blow slicing into the ground like a blade, leaving a small fissure.
"What are you looking at? Attack together! Kill him!" Liu Sheng roared, glaring at Zhang Tong and the others.
Zhang Tong and his companions didn't dare hesitate. They drew various weapons and attacked Lu Yin.
Lu Yin's gaze turned cold. He flipped his iron rod, his legs suddenly exerting tremendous force. A visible shockwave cracked the ground as his body leaped over ten meters. The blade of his iron rod slashed horizontally. In an instant, Zhang Tong and the others all looked down at their chests. Blood dripped from their wounds. Soon, they lost all sensation and fell to the ground, dead.
At this moment, Lu Yin's heart was as hard as iron. This was the worst of times, without constraints, but it was also the best of times. Evil could be eradicated completely.
Liu Sheng stared at Lu Yin in shock. "How is this possible? You... you... you must be an earth-level expert. Absolutely an earth-level expert. A human-level couldn't be this strong."
Lu Yin's gaze was icy.
Liu Sheng trembled and fell to his knees. "Lu Yin, no, Young Master Lu, spare me, please spare me. I can be your dog, I can kill for you, I can find women for you, I can do anything you want."
Lu Yin raised his head, gazing at the starry sky.
Liu Sheng's eyes turned vicious. He suddenly pulled out a blade from his bosom and stabbed at Lu Yin. The blade seemed to pierce Lu Yin successfully, but the Lu Yin before him gradually faded. It had been just an afterimage.
Liu Sheng's pupils constricted as he stared at this scene in disbelief. What was this?
"It's called the Phantom Step, a battle technique from... the stars," Lu Yin said calmly. His iron rod swept past, and Liu Sheng's head drooped, his body still kneeling as he died.
Lu Yin sighed, putting away his iron rod. He continued to gaze at the starry sky. "I'm merely a guest, yet I'm stealing the show."
Soon, Lu Yin took the energy crystals from Liu Sheng and the others, bringing them close to the ring on his hand. Suddenly, those energy crystals disappeared abruptly, as if they had never existed.
This was the Void Ring, a precious ring that could store items, and like battle techniques, it also came from outer space.
No one cared about the disappearance of Zhang Tong and the others, but Liu Sheng was different. He was the captain, and now he had also disappeared, which caught the attention of the other captains.
However, because Liu Sheng wanted to steal Lu Yin's evolution method, he had deliberately hidden his whereabouts, so no one came to cause trouble for Lu Yin. It could be said that Liu Sheng brought this upon himself.
At noon the next day, the army of tens of thousands looked towards the distant sky. They had just received news that the Criminal Saint Zhou Shan was about to arrive.
Soon, a black dot appeared before everyone's eyes. Then, in the high sky, a man appeared. He was strong, over two meters tall, with short hair. In his hand was a giant axe over three meters long. He stood in the sky, looking quite imposing.
Everyone stared at this scene in awe. Could humans really fly? Was this what a Sky-level expert looked like? One of the Seven Saints of Hua Xia.
With a thunderous sound, Zhou Shan said nothing and raised his hand to press down on the ground below. The air waves kicked up dust, making it difficult for tens of thousands of people to open their eyes.
All the evolved beings looked eagerly at the front. This was a Heavenly-level expert, with power enough to destroy mountains and rivers.
From underground, huge vines emerged, fiercely sweeping towards Zhou Shan.
Zhou Shan snorted, the sound exploding in everyone's ears. Then, he raised his giant axe high, the air behind him fluctuating, vaguely forming transparent wings. "Storm Slash!" With a loud shout, Zhou Shan's body rolled down with the giant axe, fiercely chopping at the vines.
A sky-shaking boom erupted. On the ground, huge cracks extended in all directions. The earth was filled with flying dust, and streaks of energy scattered. Fortunately, there were evolved captains blocking the front, otherwise, these energy streaks alone would have been enough to cause massive casualties among the survivors.
Lu Yin stared intently at the front. Yesterday they had guessed that the vines were at the Earth level, but in reality, only he felt that the vines were definitely at the Heavenly level. This was also why Zhou Shan had gone all out.
As the wind blew and the dust settled, what appeared before everyone's eyes was Zhou Shan's imposing figure carrying the giant axe. The vine had been completely shattered, and on the ground was a huge pit filled with green liquid.
Tens of thousands of people looked up at Zhou Shan with reverence, cheering.
Zhou Shan rose into the air carrying his giant axe and shouted loudly, "Let's go, back to Jinglin, it's safe there."
"Thank you, Criminal Saint!"
"Long live the Criminal Saint!"
"Criminal Saint!"
...
Tens of thousands of people cheered Zhou Shan's name. In this apocalyptic era, heroes were desperately needed, and Zhou Shan was a hero, as were the Seven Saints.
Lu Yin gripped his iron rod tightly. His current strength had not yet reached the Heavenly level. As Liu Sheng had said, he indeed hadn't absorbed energy crystals. He wanted to take another path of evolution, the true path of evolution from the stars. Thinking this, Lu Yin looked up, "It should be soon, it should be coming soon."
With Zhou Shan's protection, the team advanced smoothly. This world certainly had creatures far stronger than Zhou Shan, but such creatures were too rare to encounter.
A day later, the team of tens of thousands arrived in Jinglin. It was only at this moment that many people put down their burdens and cried out loud.
Jinglin was under martial law, surrounded by huge earthen walls. On the walls, rows of evolved beings silently watched as tens of thousands of survivors entered, their gazes sorrowful. From the start to the end of their journey, this team had lost at least one-tenth of its population. They had emerged from despair.
Lu Yin had visited Jinglin in peacetime. Back then, Jinglin was beautiful, with ancient trees lining the streets. However, now Jinglin had shrunk significantly. The outskirts had been abandoned, filled with countless wandering zombies. If not for Zhou Shan clearing the way, they would have had to fight a bloody battle to enter the Jinglin gathering point.
Survivors would be arranged by one group of people, while evolved beings would be arranged by another.
This team had over 500 evolved beings, compared to tens of thousands of survivors. This meant that one evolved being protected nearly a hundred people, a very low ratio, which indirectly proved how difficult it was to kill mutated creatures.
Unfortunately, zombies didn't have energy crystals inside them, otherwise, the number of evolved beings would certainly be much higher.
The Criminal Camp was an organization created by the Criminal Saint Zhou Shan to manage evolved beings. All evolved beings in the Jinglin gathering point, whether they joined or not, had to register at the Criminal Camp to test their combat power and physical condition. Lu Yin and the others were brought to the Criminal Camp.
The so-called Criminal Camp was not just a single camp, but a vast complex occupying Jinglin's Bell Mountain. Legend had it that when it was first established, Jinglin was full of zombies and mutant beasts. Zhou Shan led all the evolved beings and spent a month to take Bell Mountain. This was only possible because Bell Mountain had been a tourist area in Jinglin and didn't have many wild mutant beasts.
With Bell Mountain as its center, the Criminal Camp radiated outwards, gradually helping survivors take over the Jinglin gathering point, becoming one of the largest survivor gathering points in Hua Xia's East region.
The Bell Mountain Criminal Camp was solemn and dignified. Surrounding evolved beings looked enviously at the uniformed evolved soldier of the Criminal Camp. They would be here in the future too.
"It's only been half a year, yet the Criminal Saint has created such a huge organization as the Criminal Camp. It's unbelievable," someone sighed.
Someone immediately echoed, "When the apocalypse came, many people were still hiding, but the Criminal Saint had already established the Criminal Camp. He will definitely dominate Hua Xia in the future."
As soon as these words were spoken, many people agreed.
Lu Yin walked among the evolved beings, looking at the evolved soldiers passing by from time to time. His gaze flickered; these soldiers were real soldiers.
Logically speaking, when the apocalypse descended, no matter how charismatic a person was, it would be impossible to create such an organization. Zhou Shan especially shouldn't have been able to. But the Criminal Camp still appeared. There was only one reason: the people here were real military personnel, and Zhou Shan represented the state.
Hua Xia had not collapsed due to the apocalypse, but had stabilized in another form. Zhou Shan was from the military, and possibly all Seven Saints were. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to reach the Heavenly level in just half a year.
It's unclear whether to be grateful, but the apocalypse didn't cause a complete communication breakdown. Otherwise, even the state wouldn't have been able to stabilize the situation in such a short time.