Tang Ye looked up at the sound and saw a young man standing on a crooked-neck tree above, holding two shiny knives and staring coldly at him.
Before he could ask who the other man was, he heard Niu Xiaosan scream in alarm.
Tang Ye narrowed his eyes and began to scrutinize this man. Unlike Niu Xiaosan’s description, Chen Zhou’an did give off a human aura. It was just somewhat peculiar compared to the New Humans he had seen before.
As to what was peculiar, it was quite clear. The aura of flesh and blood emanated by the New Humans he had seen before felt human, while in Chen Zhou’an, it felt more like a bloodthirsty beast.
"Who am I? Huh, are you Chen Zhou’an?"
Chen Zhou’an glanced over at Niu Xiaosan, deep in thought. It seemed as though he was trying to recall whether he had any impression of him before. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke: "I don’t know who you are, but you seem powerful. As for the guy in front of you, if I’m not mistaken, I think he used to be one of mine."
"You escaped with Wu Xing and the others, that’s a stroke of luck for you. But let me give you a piece of advice, if you don’t want to die here, you’d better leave. The farther, the better. Of course, you don’t have to listen. I won’t stop you if you want to keep going forward."
On hearing this, fear flashed in Niu Xiaosan’s eyes. He looked at Tang Ye and then at Chen Zhou’an, comparing them in his mind. He still felt that this Zombie King was more terrifying.
Not for any specific reason, but this Zombie King’s mystical ability was enough to strike fear into anyone’s heart!
"If that’s what you mean, then everything else you said is nonsense!"
The light in Chen Zhou’an’s eyes flickered, and his aura violently surged. The beast-like scent of his flesh and blood became heavier.
"Lord... This..." Niu Xiaosan hesitated.
"You seem to be powerful, but that doesn’t mean I’m scared of you!"
"Try me if you dare."
"You’re courting death!"
Chen Zhou’an narrowed his eyes, the two knives crossed in his hands pointing towards Tang Ye. Bending his knees, he dived towards Tang Ye with an enraged momentum. Seems like Chen Zhou’an doesn’t indulge in niceties before striking!
Since the start of the Apocalypse, Chen Zhou’an has never suffered anyone’s provocation, let alone endure someone’s contempt.
Niu Xiaosan realized that something was amiss. He quickly bent over and rolled off the motorcycle. Although he got a bit hurt, it was much better than losing his life.
Chen Zhou’an’s knives twirled smoothly in his hands like a pair of sharp wings.
"Huh, let’s see who’s really courting death"
Tang Ye ridiculed, pulling out the fleshy blade from behind, and took the challenge. There’s an indomitable demeanor from Chen Zhou’an, the confidence of a dominant fighter.
The eerie blades clashed with Tang Ye’s flesh and blood saber. As a result, the surrounding air was pushed back. Chen Zhou’an leaped off the crooked-neck tree, leaving afterimages in the air, his aura majestic.
"Humph, you’re nothing but riff-raff!"
Chen Zhou’an snorted coldly. In his eyes, Tang Ye moved as slow as a snail. With his abilities, he considered himself a pinnacle figure in the Apocalypse, and he doesn’t believe anyone could defeat him.
However, in Tang Ye’s eyes, isn’t Chen Zhou’an’s movement as slow as a snail?
The beast-like Chen Zhou’an lunged at Tang Ye’s blade. For a moment, the surrounding air seemed to solidify as his Will stirred the forest!
Chen Zhou’an roared angrily, like a ferocious tiger in the wilderness. Before their blades even collided, he was already picturing Tang Ye being decapitated.
But with a crisp sound, his vision was interrupted. At the very moment their blades met, both his knives got smoothly chopped off by the strange, fleshy, reddish-brown saber in Tang Ye’s hand!
Chen Zhou’an’s eyes went blank. Before he could show any shock, he felt a choke in his throat as he looked down to find Tang Ye’s hand gripping his neck tight. He hadn’t noticed even a bit of Tang Ye’s movement!
With a mocking smile, Tang Ye tossed Chen Zhou’an aside like a dead dog, making him roll several tens of meters away. He only stopped after churning up plenty of dust.
Tang Ye dismounted from his motorcycle, glanced at Chen Zhou’an who hadn’t gotten up for a while, retracted his blade, as he didn’t kill him. The Chen Zhou’an in front of him wasn’t as cruel and ruthless as Niu Xiaosan had previously described.
At first, Tang Ye took the Chen brothers to be brutal, ruthless, feeding zombies with humans, and being utterly wicked people.
But the words Chen Zhou’an spoke earlier made Tang Ye overturn all his impressions of him. Would someone truly evil warn another person against venturing into dangerous territory?
Chen Zhou’an propped himself up with difficulty, staring blankly at Tang Ye, his eyes wide open in disbelief. He couldn’t believe he had been thrown aside like a sack of sand.
When a person has been living within their comfort zone for too long, without any outside information, they start to believe that they’re the greatest being in the world. Besides, Level 4 New Humans have quite the standing in the post-apocalyptic world.
However, when they encounter tougher individuals from the outside, they’re bound to feel as though their worldview has been shattered. It’s a humbling realization that there is always someone better than you.
"Who are you?" He glared at Tang Ye and asked.
"I’m not someone, I’m your father, your ever-superior father."
Tang Ye jokingly said, although he was not really joking. He indeed wasn’t human and he was definitely better than Chen Zhou’an.
Upon Tang Ye’s message, Chen Zhou’an didn’t reveal any reaction. He looked deeply at Tang Ye, glanced once more at his broken blades, and casually threw them into the nearby bushes.
The motorbike gangs or survivor groups rummaging in the cities might compete among themselves, thanks to their potential to evolve. But they didn’t have the ability to independently develop weaponry.
Take, for instance, Guanglan Base. They had successfully harnessed the anti-life material feature to create H-Steel, while the motorbike gangs and survivor teams were still using pre-apocalyptic weapons.
These weapons sufficed in the early Apocalypse, but as the Apocalypse proceeded towards its latter stages, and as the zombies evolved to higher levels, these weapons essentially became useless amidst the survivors.