Chapter 1518

zk「Died!? 」

But we need to keep the quotes? The original includes Chinese quotation marks 「」. We should keep them? The instruction: translate faithfully, preserve meaning. Usually we replace Chinese quotes with English quotes? Not specified. We can keep the Chinese quotes? Better to translate the content and keep the punctuation. The line includes zk then Chinese quotes. We'll output: zk「Died!? 」. That seems fine.

「Tufu died!? 」

Heiges panickedly put down his knife and fork, amidst the clamorous assembly sounds; no matter how indifferent he was to the movements outside the city, he now realized something was beyond his control!

But we need to keep it as one line. Ensure no extra commentary.

「Leader! Monsters! So many monsters!! 」

「They're charging in from outside the city! 」

「The third ranks we sent always die mysteriously from head explosions! 」

Terrified, horrified.

Although after the second trial, the number of third ranks in major safe zones worldwide has surged considerably.

But as merely an average-sized Black Gold, their safe zone's third ranks, counting Heiges himself, amount to only about eleven.

Among them, three belong to the Truth Society.

Tufu died.

The two third ranks who had previously defected to him also died.

Without exception, whenever these three third ranks tried to slaughter the rioters, an unknown attack would blast them mid-air.

Such a horrifying scene, for the lower-tier survivors, is no less than the most inspiring miracle!

Behind them, there truly is a god!

Of course.

Upon hearing this news, Heiges could roughly guess that this was the work of a psychic-type Awakened One.

Just being able to kill three third ranks!

Such strength is nothing like what he previously imagined! Perhaps even he is no match!

「Where are the Truth Society people!? Weren't they supposed to investigate already!? 」

「Where are their people!? Where are the later-arriving church high-level officials!? 」

He grabbed his subordinate's collar in one hand.

Everything happened too abruptly, too absurdly, and Heiges urgently asked.

With his hearing, he could naturally hear that the inner city had already descended into chaos.

Moreover, according to the people below.

This group of lowly commoners seems to actually gain power when they kill! Turning into incomprehensible monsters!

「Sir! Those few from the Truth Society have gone to find the source! 」

「The others, the others are still on their way here!! 」

As his words fell, he thought the Truth Society people had been investigating from daytime until the next day.

Almost a full twenty-four hours of investigation yielded no movement...

That would mean...

Damn it!! He should have noticed this abnormality long ago!

Realizing that the hidden existence behind this riot likely exceeds his own strength, even if it doesn't, he doesn't want to face such a bizarre opponent!

Having reached this thought, Heiges simply made the quickest decision:

「Take all elite troops! We'll withdraw first! 」

「Damn it! Let the Truth Society people face off against this bunch of monsters! 」

Being able to survive until now in the apocalypse and become a regional leader.

Heiges knows very well what is most important.

It's simple: rely on strength to squeeze every exploitable lower tier for resources to strengthen himself.

Avoid all threats; staying alive is more important than anything.

Just like pre-apocalypse capital, after the apocalypse the best off are not top-tier powerhouses or heroes.

But people like them.

Run when there's danger, loot when there's none. Repeatedly, they are like pre-apocalypse capitalistic crocodiles; they are the elite who can survive to the end.

Religion, monsters, the black hand capable of killing third ranks.

Damn it, who knows what's behind this chaos!

Early morning, 4:16 AM.

The first ray of dawn dispersed the dark sky, shining into a tranquil canyon.

Accompanied by successive piercing sonic booms.

Flying at top speed to arrive, the three Truth Society scout investigators continually searched for traces on the ground.

Hidden within the clouds, watching the crowds below, as dense as ants, entering the canyon.

They instantly realized this might be the source of the Black Gold riot.

「Go down! Be careful! There might be trouble here! 」

A flash of gold flickered in his pupils.

A third-rank fugitive glanced at the area's marker information, his eyes filled with doubt.

According to the superiors' fugitive instructions, although their search wasn't very thorough, during this period they swept through every area they controlled in the North American Region.

Black Gold had no abnormalities before; the abnormality started only the day before yesterday.

Precisely, it began twenty hours ago with the first death of a Truth Society member.

Descend carefully.

Follow the direction of the sound.

Soon, several people, concealing their aura, quickly crossed the not‑so‑high mountain peak and saw the scene in the valley.

Only seen in the valley, one after another triangular stone mortar structures resembling tombs were rapidly built amidst the fervent slogans of a large number of survivors.

What is this!?

The three were shocked.

Unlike the ordinary third rank, as controllers of human escapees, even though they were the lowest among the escapees, they still recognized what this was.

"Pyramid structure!?"

"Those African escapees once made something that killed themselves!?"

"Wait..."

Upon seeing the familiar yet impossible-to-exist-in-North-America "structure," the three carefully sensed it and their expressions drastically changed.

In this large number of simple pyramid devices, they actually felt streams of the most familiar Term: Faith Power rushing to gather at the central position.

Thinking of the abnormality the High Level was seeking, the person they were seeking.

The three instantly reacted, realizing who might be behind this!

Either it's Lin An!

Or it's another existence attempting to absorb Term: Faith Power!

But just as they were preparing to report the news at the fastest speed, a clear, cold voice suddenly entered their thoughts.

"Escapees?"

"Bang!!!"

Half a minute later.

Lin An slowly hovered in midair, gazing at the sun gradually tearing open the sky.

On the horizon, a frantically fleeing figure was rapidly receding.

Casually controlling mental power to throw the two escapees' corpses into the crowd below, Lin An's eyes deepened as he silently clenched his fists.

One escaped.

His strength, or rather his mental power, had recovered to the third rank.

But... this power was insufficient to let him keep the opponent.

He knew.

He had been discovered.

"Come on..."

"See... you won't make it in time... to kill me!"