Tension Rising

While Jason and his team were making their training plans, in another room, Jake was glaring intently at the screen.

"Hmph, a mere Level 1 team, and they dare not take me seriously."

"What's up, boss? Did someone here not know their place and try to mess with you?"

"Yeah, I think someone's asking for trouble!"

The ones speaking were Simon and David, who, seeing their boss angry, quickly chimed in to flatter him.

"That new guy really hit the jackpot. How did he end up with such a stunning woman? Tsk tsk, just thinking about it makes me want to lose control," Jake said, lying on the bed, reminiscing about Sakura's perfect figure, his lustful thoughts growing stronger by the second.

"Boss Jake, you better watch out. If Lily hears you talking like this, you're done for."

"Heh, Carter, if I slept with that woman right in front of Lily Chen, she'd praise me for being awesome and wouldn't even try to stop me... Can't tell the difference between a small Wang and a big Wang, huh? Let's go to the hall, and let's take care of that kid! We'll grab that woman too." Jake said, standing up and heading for the door.

"Hey, boss! If we do this... what about the guards?"

"Who cares? I've got connections, don't you know? The guards will just turn a blind eye."

Seeing this, Carter immediately followed Jake and turned back to say, "Simon, go get Lily, bring her over here."

...

Meanwhile, Jason finished organizing the supplies and estimated that the food would last the four of them for about a month.

He then inserted his card into Ling Ling's screen and checked their team's survival points.

After checking, the team had a total of 40 survival points, which meant each person had an initial fund of 10 survival points.

Spending 8 hours a day in the training ground wasn't difficult, after all, even if you're just AFK, you still accumulate time. But compared to AFK training, it would actually be better to work in the industrial zone. There, 8 hours of labor would earn you an extra 40 survival points.

However, they'd chosen training because the Dawn Tower had its reasons for them to train. One reason was to prepare for the zombie apocalypse after the great catastrophe, and another was to increase their strength, ensuring they could secure a place for themselves in this post-apocalyptic world.

"Let's focus on training for now, earn more survival points, and get ready for the upcoming disaster," Jason said to the others.

"Captain, why do we need survival points?" David leaned over and asked.

"Save them for later," Jason replied.

"When is later?" David asked again.

"...Sakura, please give him a beating," Jason said, his face darkening. If he didn't have to maintain his image, he would have slapped David himself.

"Okay, okay, I won't ask anymore," David immediately paled, recalling the terrifying experience of being disciplined by Sakura.

"Alright then, let's keep pushing forward. If no one has any objections, let's get started."

Once the four of them reached the hall, suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind them:

"Fancy meeting you here... again."

Jason turned around and immediately recognized the speaker as Jake. At the same time, four other members were with him, seemingly prepared to stir up trouble.

Jason knew Jake would come looking for trouble, but he didn't expect it to happen so quickly. He helplessly asked, "What do you want?"

"Nothing, I just want the beautiful woman behind you to come with us," Jake said, pointing at Sakura.

"Are you serious... Didn't you already have a woman in your team? Why are you trying to steal mine?" Jason said, looking at the woman on the other side, feeling speechless.

This question caught Jake off guard. He couldn't exactly say in front of Lily Chen that she was nowhere near as good as Sakura, could he?

"You better recognize your place! Get to the arena with me!" Jake pointed at Jason and said sharply.

Jake didn't want to make a scene here, so he challenged Jason to the combat arena, where a fight wouldn't count as malicious aggression.

As the two teams started to clash, more and more people gathered around to watch. They began whispering amongst themselves.

"Looks like there's going to be a good show."

"Which team is this that picked a fight with the Crimson Flame team? They're out of luck."

"Never seen them before, they must be new."

"It's obvious, they're probably here for that silver-haired woman."

"Man, that beauty is going to get ruined by that guy, Jake. What a waste..."

At this point, David had figured it out—these guys were after Sakura?

Immediately, he pointed at Jake and yelled, "You bastard, you think you can mess with my goddess Sakura? Come on! I'll take you down first!!"

David's shout made Jason's mind race with expletives. Wasn't his enemy hatred already full enough without adding more fuel to the fire?

"Enough, David, don't waste time talking to them. Let's go," Jason said, turning to lead the three of them back toward the training area.

"Heh, Captain, weren't you just acting all tough? Now you're going to act like a coward?" Seeing that Jason wasn't taking the bait, Jake immediately mocked him.

"My legs are mine. I'll go wherever I want," Jason replied.

"Fine! I'll make sure your legs aren't yours anymore!"

Jake then charged forward.

Jason's eyes narrowed. He didn't expect Jake to completely disregard the Dawn Tower's rules and attack them directly.

When Jake launched a kick, Jason reacted quickly and took a defensive stance, but the moment the kick landed, he felt a powerful burst of force.

Boom! Jason was sent flying five meters, crashing hard to the ground, rolling twice before finally stopping.

"Captain, are you okay?" David rushed over to check on Jason.

"I'm fine! But the opponent is really strong. Don't engage with them," Jason said, holding his nearly broken arm.

As Jake moved in to deliver a finishing blow to the downed Jason, a figure suddenly blocked his path.

Seeing that it was Hank, Jason's heart filled with gratitude.

Looking at Hank blocking him, Jake sneered, "Your worthless captain got knocked out by me with a single kick, and you want to end up like him, huh?"

Jake swung a punch toward Hank's head.

Smack!

Jake's arm froze mid-air as Hank firmly grabbed his wrist.

Clearly, Jake hadn't expected this "fool" to grab his arm with such precision. In an attempt to break free, Jake raised his leg to kick Hank.

But just as Jake was about to strike, Hank twisted Jake's arm and threw him to the ground.

"What are you waiting for? Everyone, take them down!" Jake, now on the ground, yelled to his teammates.

The three men in Jake's group immediately joined the fight, engaging Hank in a fierce struggle.

Meanwhile, Lily Chen was slowly approaching Sakura.

"You little slut, wait until I ruin your face. Let's see who'll still want you then!" Lily gritted her teeth as she pulled a knife from behind and swiftly aimed for Sakura's face.

Clang!

The knife fell to the ground, and everyone heard the sound and turned to look.

They saw that Sakura had her own dagger now pressed against Lily's neck.

"Oh, come on... why make things hard for another woman? You want to ruin my face? You're really heartless," Sakura said, smiling as she slowly cut Lily's cheek with the tip of her knife.

Lily, though in pain, remained silent.

"Lily! Let her go now, or you'll regret it!" Jake, who was still fighting Hank, shouted.

"Oh? You think I'll let her go just because you said so? If you keep talking like this, I might just ruin her face for real," Sakura said casually as she held Lily in a headlock.

"Enough!"

Just then, a commanding voice came from the distance, and a group of fully-armed guards appeared in their line of sight!