Chapter 19: Fierce and Swift
"That guy is seriously skilled."
Yan Ziqian remarked to his friend Pang Peng with sincere admiration. He had noticed that when the arrow was mistakenly pointed at the man, he hadn’t shown the slightest hint of panic. He had simply raised his baseball bat, seemingly confident he could knock down a high-speed arrow if it came flying his way.
The guy’s courage was astonishing.
"You’d have to be skilled to be a lone wolf. He’s pretty tall, too. Maybe he’s a trained fighter," Pang Peng agreed wholeheartedly. His first impression was that while the man didn’t have bulky, bulging muscles, his broad shoulders and narrow waist radiated a sense of steady power.
You could tell at a glance he wasn’t someone to mess with.
And there was more.
Beyond his power and courage...
Yan Ziqian recalled the man buying a pile of non-perishable canned food at the campfire general store. That had been the right move.
After the small earthquake, when the fog had rolled in but before the mysterious zone had been revealed, everyone at the campsite already had plenty of food and drink. Even with the sudden earthquake and loss of internet and power, no one was thinking of panic-buying. Most of the terrified people had just jumped in their cars and fled at the first opportunity.
The man had made the right call, for whatever reason.
One thing was certain: civilization had left them behind.
There would be no more communication networks or stable supplies of water and electricity. Food, energy, and medicine would sooner or later become a massive problem.
Back then, if his younger sister, Yan Ruoruo, hadn’t convinced him with her knowledge of astronomy, he wouldn’t have been at the campfire general store in the first place.
Her reasoning wasn’t complicated.
The night sky had changed.
Aside from the sun, which felt intuitively wrong, many stars were now visible even in the clear daytime sky.
Normally, due to the sun’s glare, it was impossible to see any stars with the naked eye during the day, except at specific times of the year.
After some observation, Yan Ruoruo discovered that the celestial background was completely off. The constellations that should have appeared for the local summer had all vanished, replaced by a cluster of completely unfamiliar Star Maps.
And so.
Acting with an apocalyptic sense of urgency, they had preemptively bought a batch of supplies. Yan Ziqian himself had even intentionally added materials for making simple molotov cocktails, buying a case of empty wine bottles from the store under the pretext of using them for target practice.
As for the gasoline needed for the cocktails, if a real threat emerged, all he needed was a hose to siphon it from his own car’s gas tank.
Since the monster invasion, their eight-person group from the Jingcheng University archery club had unexpectedly made some decent gains using bows and arrows and simple molotov cocktails. Although they suffered constant injuries, they managed to pull through thanks to their healing methods. Overall, they had entered a stage of accelerated development.
And at Yan Ruoruo’s strong urging, after much hesitation, they finally came to the northern courtyard resort area to hunt monsters, gain experience, and level up.
「Meanwhile.」
After securing the archery range and several surrounding venues, Director Feng Zhiyuan led his people south, clearing and sweeping the outer perimeter of the base.
Some archery tournament contestants, high on the thrill of the hunt, even ventured into the Mysterious Forest in small groups of three to five, seeking excitement.
Looking at it this way, the Qingye Collection campsite had indeed survived the initial crisis.
...
"Not bad."
Su Chen naturally felt a sense of comfort and relief that more people were stepping up and working together.
He had no plans to leave the campsite anytime soon. If more people didn’t stand up to defend such a large area, he’d eventually be stretched too thin, unable to be everywhere at once.
After confirming they were heading to the right, he decided not to join them and continued along the backyard path. Heading north, he saw a villa smoking and on fire about thirty meters away.
Black smoke billowed from the first-floor living room, and the air was thick with the foul stench of burning wood and leather.
He couldn’t tell if a Demon Dog or a Fire Tiger Leopard had started the fire.
When Su Chen went to check, he found the back door locked tight.
Given the strength of an aluminum alloy door like this, a single Flame Burst would surely destroy it with ease.
’But there’s no need.’
His gaze shifted to the surrounding wall. For someone with his abilities, a wall about 2.1 meters high was no obstacle.
Besides, for aesthetic reasons, there were no glass shards embedded on top.
He placed his baseball bat on top of the back wall, then hoisted himself up with both hands on the ledge. His bicep muscles bulged slightly as he used just his grip and core strength to pull his entire body up lightly.
With a twist of his waist, he swung his legs over. The entire movement was fluid and effortless.
He sat on the courtyard wall, surveying the villa’s surroundings.
Flames crackled inside the living room, where the curtains and a fabric sofa were burning. A Demon Dog was gnawing on a half-charred corpse at the entrance to the courtyard stairs.
Su Chen’s survey from his high vantage point alerted the creature.
The Demon Dog jerked its head up, pushed off hard with its hind legs, and craned its neck forward. A crimson Flame Bullet suddenly shot out, aimed straight at the human figure on the wall.
In less than a second.
Su Chen simply vanished. The moment the Jingzhe Rune activated, a mysterious violet glint flashed in his eyes, and everything in his vision seemed to slow to a crawl.
Baseball bat in hand, he leaped from the high wall, as fast as a phantom.
After a run of only about half a second, he closed the seven-meter distance in the blink of an eye.
Before the Demon Dog could even adjust its stance, Su Chen was already upon it. He brought the baseball bat crashing down. Even without activating the Flame Burst Rune, the Power-enhanced strike was enough to cave its head in.
It didn’t even let out a whimper. Its skull collapsed severely, and both of its eyeballs burst into pulp. The vicious dog died in a single exchange.
"URK!!"
There was another Demon Dog present. Positioned in the living room entryway, it was terrified. It dropped the flesh and bone from its mouth, scrambled frantically with all four paws, and bolted straight out the front door.
Su Chen gave chase with all his might. Within the next breath, he activated the Jingzhe Rune again. His speed exploded, and he shot through the slowly burning living room, closing the distance as fast as a shadow.
The Demon Dog had almost reached the end of the front yard, its front paws already crossing the threshold.
But that was as far as it would get.
A black shadow shot forward from behind. Su Chen struck again, his right arm raising the baseball bat high before bringing it down in a simple, brutal chop, crushing another skull.
The Demon Dog’s entire body slid forward two meters from inertia, blood spewing from its mouth and nose. Then, silence.
Phew.
Su Chen slowly exhaled, once again ending the brief, transcendent experience. His elevated soul tumbled back into its mortal shell.
Aside from a slight physical discomfort, the muscles in his right arm were faintly sore and numb.
The muscles in his thighs and calves, however, were completely fine.
This was related to the many times Su Chen had swung his right arm for heavy blows before.
The Jingzhe Rune, upon activation, temporarily enhanced one’s cellular activity and muscle groups. Its effect was undoubtedly directly proportional to one’s physical conditioning.
If the user were an out-of-shape weakling who hadn’t exercised in years, the effect would likely be far inferior to that of a professional fighter.
In the hands of an ordinary person, it simply wouldn’t be as effective as it was for Su Chen.
Of course...
Setting aside the physical enhancement, just entering a mental state that transcended the Heart Stream was enough to make Su Chen’s stone throws incredibly accurate.
’The Rune’s compatibility is very high.’
’It’s practically tailor-made for me.’
However, Su Chen also had to be careful about when he used the Jingzhe Rune. He had to avoid using it at high intensity more than four times in a row, as that would be extremely taxing on his mind.