Chapter 329 - Old Zhi And Gu Tao
The blood that represented the death of one of the militants had not yet finished touching the ground when the Shadow Tiger stomped hard on the ground and lunged towards the second one, decapitating it a moment later.
Only three or four seconds had passed but the beast had already crossed the back lines and ended the lives of two militants and two soul evolvers!
One had to know that the militants and soul evolvers were still struggling to contain over two thousand Unclassified beasts!
Although they had firearms to help give them some advantage from afar and the soul evolvers were struggling to contain the Unclassified beasts to prevent them from approaching, the great disadvantage in numbers was still persistent so that with each passing second more soul evolvers were wounded and occasionally some of them were cruelly killed before being devoured.
At the beginning, there were over 400 soul evolvers and around 600 or 800 armed men, however, even though the battle had only lasted for approximately 30 minutes, those numbers had dropped to approximately 250 soul evolvers; the only ones who had suffered practically no casualties were the armed men thanks to the sacrifice of these soul evolvers who were striving to keep the seemingly unstoppable army of beasts at bay.
Of course, while roughly half of the soul evolvers had died, those who still persisted and were still fighting fiercely had become tremendously more powerful compared to what they were 30 minutes ago just before the battle broke out. If previously the average level was about level 5, now the average level was easily over 14.
This was the reward for surviving this fatal head-on collision with dangerous beings. Bai Zemin had been experiencing this kind of fights from the first day of the apocalypse and that was precisely why he was so powerful.
While Bai Zemin and the other main fighters of his faction were constantly facing maximum dangers, most of the surviving humans only dealt with zombies whenever they went out in search of supplies or when some stray beast appeared.
But such things were completely different from facing death itself.
If you failed, then death would embrace you whether you wanted it to or not.... However, if by some kind of miracle, coincidence, or anything else you managed to survive such a deadly situation, you would definitely rise like a dragon to the skies.
This was precisely what the soul evolvers were experiencing. In the fervor and lust of the battle, the ecstasy of feeling how they became abysmally more powerful every time they absorbed the tiniest bit of Soul Power from the enemies they defeated or helped defeat made these men and women completely ignore the constant danger they faced and fight tooth and nail.
To grow stronger, to evolve beyond, and become much more powerful!
In that sense, humans were no different from beasts. But it was precisely that madness that kept the human defense from collapsing even when all seemed to be lost and despair was right before their eyes!
Swoosh!
The Shadow Tiger decapitated and tore off the heads of ten other armed men just as a group of ten soul evolvers rushed forward in an attempt to stop him. The instinct within them told them that the monster they faced was beyond their current capabilities, but at the same time, they could feel that they would become insanely stronger if they could defeat it.
Unfortunately, even though the lowest level among them was 17 and fortunately two of them managed to reach level 20, these soul evolvers were still far away from the power of a First Order beast... A First Order agility-type beast, which was one of the most dangerous ones.
With a couple of quick steps, like those of an intangible shadow, the Shadow Tiger appeared in the middle of the group of soul evolvers and with a fierce swing of its claws to the left and right, four of them were decapitated.
Before the heads rolled on the ground, the beast lunged forward and opened its jaws wide, biting the head of another soul evolver and causing it to explode like a watermelon falling from a tenth floor.
Blood, encephalic matter, skull fragments, and flesh stained the ground and the extremely unpleasant smell filled the atmosphere, joining the smell of storm-washed blood.
"Damn beast!" roared a gray-haired old man, and ignoring his own safety he lunged forward to cling to the monster's neck in an attempt to suffocate it, "Gu Tao! Kill it! Even if we die here we must take revenge for the leader!"
This old man was one of the lowest survivors in the past. Before the arrival of Bai Zemin, his life was worse than hell and he could not even eat enough to fill his stomach, let alone live with dignity. However, when the new regime came into rule after Bai Zemin's takeover, this old man whom everyone called Old Zhi could not only eat his fill but also gained honor, prestige, and many comrades whom he cherished greatly after losing his meaning in this life when his wife turned into a zombie during the outbreak of the mana wave.
This Old Zhi was loyal to the death to Bai Zemin and to his group as they were the ones who gave him the life he was living right now. Therefore, he was more than willing to give his all for them.
The Shadow Tiger shook fiercely in an effort to break free and even tried to bite Old Man Zhi. However, the old man was extremely cunning as he held on in such a way that the beast would not be able to use its claws to scratch him nor would it be able to use its mouth to bite him.
Even so, the shaking caused his internal organs to move out of place and the blood in his body began to stir. Involuntarily, Old Zhi opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood... However, he proved to be an extremely tenacious person as he not only did not let go of the tiger, but tightened his grip even more!
Gu Tao was a burly middle-aged man. He was a husband and at the same time, he was also a father.
In the past, he and his family could only maintain a weak existence by eating the relief food provided by the previous base government. His growing son suffered from malnutrition and his and his wife's physique could no longer be sustained and they too began to lose strength.
However, as with Old Zhi, Gu Tao's life was completely transformed after the arrival of Bai Zemin and his faction. To say that Gu Tao and his family went from living on the tenth level of hell to living on the ninth cloud was not an exaggeration at all.
This Gu Tao was precisely the man who a few days ago was lining up to receive the new relief food under the supervision of Shangguan Bing Xue.
(A/N: CAP 281)
That same day, Gu Tao hurried to the lines where registrations were being received for all those who wished to become soul evolvers and fight on the front lines. Despite his initial fear, he soon realized that zombies were not as scary as they seemed and when his level reached a certain threshold, even the lower level Unclassified savage beasts were no longer a major challenge for him.
Now, not only could he enjoy a sumptuous meal every day, but his family had been moved from the west of the base where there were only wooden houses and the poorest of the poor lived to the east.
From living in wooden houses to owning a luxurious villa in the privileged area of the base!
Today, Gu Tao had managed to reach level 20.
From a normal weak human that no one respected to a powerful soul evolver that everyone looked up to wherever he went!
Gu Tao's life had also changed drastically for the better in about a week... All thanks to Bai Zemin and his faction!
"DIE!"
A piercing roar broke out amidst the lightning as he raised a bone saber and slashed ferociously towards the skull of the beast that had momentarily halted its movements.
Bang!
The heavy bone saber struck the skull of the Shadow Tiger, leaving the beast slightly stunned. Blood began to flow from the impact site, but Gu Tao's strength and the power of his weapon were not enough to break through the Shadow Tiger's natural defenses because despite being an Agility-type beast with low defense, a First Order beast was a First Order beast.
Exhausted after so much fighting, that blow had drained basically all of the Stamina in Gu Tao's body. Therefore, his saber that weighed over a hundred kilograms finally fell to the ground and he fell to his knees while breathing heavily.
Old Zhi also began to lose strength in his grip as his internal injuries grew worse and worse. Although the Shadow Tiger was briefly stopped by Gu Tao's strike, such a meager amount of time was not enough to recover from such injuries at all.
"Damn..."
A bitter smile formed on both men's lips as they looked at each other with a hint of sadness. With no strength left, Old Zhi fell to the ground unable to bear it anymore and flew right next to Gu Tao.
Looking at the tiger who was staggering and shaking its head to wake itself up, Old Zhi declared, "This old man is 55 this year. Tonight I killed over three hundred beasts by myself and saved the lives of several bros! What is there to be afraid of then?"
Gu Tao nodded. Although he was sad that he would never see his family again after dying, he firmly believed that people who followed Bai Zemin and the ice princess Shangguan Bing Xue would not let his son and wife suffer injustice if mankind managed to overcome this seemingly bottomless abyss.
The Shadow Tiger finally recovered from the dizziness it felt and glared with furious eyes at the two men in front of it. The beast roared, exuding from its mouth the smell of flesh and blood from the lives it had taken earlier and then lunged forward.
Just as Gu Tao and Old Zhi's head were about to be sent flying by the sharp claws of the First Order monster, a flash of lightning different from those in the sky crackled in the distance and before the two men knew it a tall figure appeared before them.
Although Gu Tao was taller, inwardly he felt that this silhouette that had appeared before him at the last instant was actually as tall as a tower. This person's back seemed to be as wide as to block the wind itself and its shoulders capable of supporting the weight of the heavens themselves.
Even without having seen this person's face, the black armor that he had once managed to see from afar made Gu Tao and Old Zhi's heart pound like never before.
However, although the two humans seemed to recognize the newcomer, the beast did not.
In fact, the beast did not care who it was and continued to charge furiously forward as it opened its jaws wide and aimed for the newcomer's neck.
Unfortunately for the Shadow Tiger who specialized in Agility and whose power had been enough to become everyone's despair, the person before it was now so fast that those swift movements seemed to have become slow as those of a snail.
The person stretched its right hand forward with what appeared to be a slow motion camera movement, but before the two men knew it, they saw a flash, and then the head of the beast that had become their despair was seen flying through the air in a beautiful curve before falling heavily to the ground.
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A/N: Okay guys, 3/3. Done!
Thanks a lot to all those who use their Golden Tickets to vote for BW <3