Chapter 22: Madness (1)

Middle-aged man’s intuition was ominous, as if a blade were resting against his neck, causing discomfort.

But seeing just a Wolf Demon didn’t confirm whether it was a show of force or a warning.

Or perhaps, this was merely another intruder casually killed by that person.

The thirty individuals split into six or seven groups, quickly separating left and right, searching along the edge of this small mountain range.

The middle-aged man warned them not to go deeper, then stood alone, waiting.

The more he thought, the more frightened he became, until eventually his scalp tingled.

If this person was warning them using such methods,

then they had already stepped one foot into the gates of hell.

To blindly advance deeper might result in them becoming the Wolf Demon corpses lying here.

This pit, several thousand meters wide, was not small by area.

Truly circumnavigating its perimeter would take considerable time.

After about ten or so minutes, the first returning group brought back bad news.

“One Wolf Demon and five Demon Apes were instantly killed with one strike.”

Hearing this, the middle-aged man’s expression darkened further, becoming even more unnatural.

“Wait a bit longer. Let’s see what the others report,” he inhaled deeply, still clinging to a sliver of hope.

Within half an hour, several teams gradually returned.

The news they brought was almost identical.

In total, six Wolf Demons and eighteen Demon Ape corpses were scattered around the mine.

All monsters died the exact same way—instant death.

Judging from the wounds, they were all done by one person. The worst case was a punch so hard it exploded the head.

There were no Star Soldiers near the Wolf Demons, but human footprints, stained with Wolf Demon blood, led away nearby.

“Good Lord, the person who claimed to occupy this place is this powerful,” someone gasped in disbelief. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would never believe someone could instantly kill a Wolf Demon at this time.

At this moment, someone recalled something and exclaimed, “I remember hearing that yesterday when Lin Ting led people out, they were ambushed by Wolf Demons and Demon Apes. A guy named Lu Yu saved them. That person had the ability to instantly kill a Wolf Demon.”

“I heard about that too. But that Lu Yu used a Star Soldier to kill the Wolf Demon instantly. This person here killed them bare-handed! Look at these wounds, a single punch pierced the heart. How could they possibly be the same person?”

Initially, people somewhat believed that the person here and the Lu Yu summoned to the camp might be the same person, but now they completely disbelieved.

“Lu Yu, is this the person Liu Ming mentioned?”

Suddenly recalling what Liu Ming had said, a group of people looked at Liu Ming together.

“If the name isn’t a coincidence, it must be him,” Liu Ming nodded, saying, “The Lu Yu I was about to mention is exactly this person.”

Someone remarked, “Now that you mention it, I remember too. According to those who returned, Lu Yu killed a Black Wolf Demon with a maximum life of two thousand and over a thousand attack power. The information about Black Wolf Demons circulating in the camp now comes from this person.”

“I know someone who was present at the scene back then. Killing the Wolf Demon was entirely Lu Yu’s luck—he choked the Black Wolf Demon’s neck and actually broke it. In a direct fight, Lu Yu wouldn’t stand a chance against the Black Wolf Demon. I think it’s likely this person here is Lu Yu, slightly stronger than a Wolf Demon. We don’t need to be afraid.”

“Big Brother Luo, are we going in or not?” Seeing these people becoming hesitant, Liu Ming couldn’t help but ask, “We can’t mine any ore just standing here.”

“Yeah, Big Brother Luo. Let’s just go in,” many were unwilling to give up the Star Spirit Stones and return empty-handed.

“Even if this person can instantly kill a Wolf Demon, we still have over thirty people. Facing a Wolf Demon, even two at once, we could instantly kill them all.”

Everyone urged the middle-aged leader, none willing to back down at this moment.

If this place was truly the source of Star Spirit Stones, they would have claimed an entire mine!

Even if each person mined just ten Star Spirit Stones, it would be enough to upgrade a Star Soldier to its peak and enhance a skill.

Once powerful, they could have anything they wanted, unafraid of anyone.

No one wanted to miss such an opportunity.

The middle-aged man was also hesitating, his eyes flickering, somewhat reluctant.

“Damn it, if it’s not possible, we’ll just fight,” the middle-aged man finally made his decision, clenching his fist tightly.

Liu Ming nodded enthusiastically beside him, excitedly saying, “Exactly, Big Brother Luo. The world has changed like this, why worry about so much?”

Everyone tightly gripped their iron rods, kitchen knives, and other weapons, swinging them around.

Thinking about how soon these weapons could be replaced with real Star Soldiers, allowing them to truly hold their heads high.

Thinking about that stall owner who got lucky and upgraded to a Star Soldier, his arrogance had reached its peak in the past few days.

Just as these people were preparing to advance deeper, the final team returned.

These people ran back, some even bleeding from scrapes caused by sharp stones.

Their faces were filled with disbelief and panic.

“Zhao Haibo, what happened to you guys? Are there monsters behind?” the middle-aged man asked the returning group.

Hearing this, the thirty people immediately tightened their grip on their weapons, nervously looking behind the returning few.

Don’t be ridiculous.

In a place like this, encountering monsters wouldn’t just be a few Demon Apes.

“No, it’s not that there are monsters. It’s… damn it, this is just too incredible,” several of them panted heavily after running back.

“What exactly happened?”

“If you have something to say, say it quickly. Why are you panting like that?”

Startled, several people complained while looking at the returning group.

One of the returning individuals said, “Do you all remember the news Officer Lin brought back to the camp yesterday?”

“Isn’t it just the data on the Black Wolf Demon and the information that the Wolf Demon carried a Star Soldier? What does that have to do with here?” someone replied, “Why are you bringing this up now?”

“Damn it, who said there’s no relation?” one person shouted angrily, “There’s a dead Black Wolf Demon over there.”

Pointing behind him, the person continued.

“What… what?”

Everyone gasped in shock.

That was a monster with two thousand health points and one thousand attack points.

“And… and the wounds look very similar to these monsters,” one person said, pointing at the Demon Ape corpses on the ground.

“Let’s go take a look.”

The middle-aged man waved his hand, letting Zhao Haibo lead the way.

Everyone’s mood suddenly became extremely heavy.

If this was truly the case, then they couldn’t enter here anymore.

The person who claimed to occupy this place was too terrifying, powerful to such an extent.

Killing ten Wolf Demons, twenty, wasn’t that big of a deal since Wolf Demons weren’t that strong.

But Black Wolf Demons were different.

When everyone arrived at the Black Wolf Demon’s corpse, their faces changed.

The Black Wolf Demon’s gruesome state chilled their hearts.

The towering giant wolf’s jaw was clearly torn off violently, not yet regenerated.

Its single eye was covered in blood, one front leg missing a large chunk of flesh—these weren’t fake.

At the back of the head, the broken bone was likely the fatal wound.

Then the wolf’s chest was torn open, ribs shattered, and the heart crushed. That was the final killing blow.

Each of these wounds was brutal and fierce.

The thirty people’s hearts sank to the bottom, truly understanding what it meant to feel ice-cold all over.

“This… this definitely isn’t Lu Yu’s doing. With his abilities, there’s no way he could kill a Wolf Demon like this,” Liu Ming trembled as he spoke.

“This was a complete one-sided domination.”

“Look at the wounds on the Black Wolf Demon. He is warning us,” the middle-aged man’s final resolve vanished at this moment.

“We don’t stand a chance,” someone sat on the ground, truly unwilling to accept it.

But seeing the Black Wolf Demon’s state, how could they dare challenge it?

Last night, if not for Lu Yu’s information, many more would have died.

They had witnessed the Black Wolf Demon’s strength.

Today, they saw the Black Wolf Demon’s death.

Only one type of wound, killed by one person.

Whoever claimed ownership of this place was too terrifying.

Lu Yu’s strength couldn’t reach this level. Perhaps he had just coincidentally passed through here. Or maybe he had some connection with the one here, thus obtaining the Star Spirit Stones.

Regardless of who the person here was, he had already issued a warning to all intruders using these corpses.

“Let’s go. We can’t go in anymore,” the middle-aged man shook his head helplessly, “At least we can’t. If we don’t want to end up like this, we should retreat. To occupy this place, we need at least half the camp’s population here for any hope.”

If such a warning still didn’t scare them away, then they were simply fools.

Liu Ming stared at the Black Wolf Demon’s corpse, his whole body trembling.

His dream was truly shattered.

They began to retreat, though unwillingly.

But they knew they had to leave.

They came here full of confidence, only to return empty-handed.

“Return to the camp and spread the news about the mine,” the middle-aged man gritted his teeth, saying, “If we let this person monopolize the mine, we won’t have any chance at all.”

…

Lu Yu was rummaging through a half-collapsed supermarket.

He was trying to find something to eat.

But he couldn’t find even half a slice of bread.

The changes in Fanggang had been going on for some time.

What had spoiled was already spoiled; what hadn’t might still be taken by survivors.

Lu Yu believed that in this city, many people must have survived.

Human survival abilities weren’t weaker than wild beasts.

Driven by hunger and survival, people always found ways to live.

Therefore, Lu Yu wasn’t too surprised that the food here had disappeared.

This city wasn’t limited to just this one supermarket.

So, when one supermarket had no food, Lu Yu searched the next.

But the food in these supermarkets was almost gone.

A few moldy, spoiled breads and smelly meat from the refrigerated cabinet became the only visible food.

“Finally, this day still came,” Lu Yu had tried to ration his food, but in the end, food still vanished completely.

If things continued like this, the future would become even harder.

Lu Yu originally wanted to take the moldy bread. But seeing the thick green layer on it, he lost all desire.

He threw the bread away, deciding to try other supermarkets to see if any food remained.

As he walked out of the supermarket, he saw dozens of yellow-skinned, emaciated people surrounding the supermarket entrance.

These people looked terrible; some had sunken eye sockets, others had vacant expressions.

Each person swayed slightly in the breeze.

These people were men and women, some once well-dressed, some once beautiful and charming, but now all were thin with prominent cheekbones. They stared at Lu Yu, scanning him from head to toe.

Lu Yu felt ice-cold all over, as if knives were cutting his flesh.

The few people at the front swallowed hard, then took steps toward Lu Yu.

Lu Yu thought of something.

Instinctively, he stepped back.

These people, thinking Lu Yu was trying to escape, rushed toward him like madmen.