Chapter 77: Forceful Persuasion

The red-haired Awakened Ones felt his vision go dark, and a huge palm instantly slapped in front of his face.

Under the double First Level strength, Zhang Tie's speed far exceeded his reaction; in desperation he didn't even have time to release the Blazing Sun in his hand.

The tall thin man's heart filled with shock; he was actually another Awakened Ones!?

Unable to avoid being locked onto by An Jing Tian, he strained his right hand trying to shield the red-haired Awakened Ones.

"Crack!"

His arm snapped, and an incomparable force instantly shattered his right hand.

"Ahhhh!"

"My hand!"

He let out a miserable cry, not daring to block any further; his once-proud beastified arm, now a bloody mess, lay limp to one side, and he could only watch helplessly as the giant palm's undiminished force swung toward his companion.

"Boom!"

The flames were violently smothered, a foul burnt smell scorching the bear hair, and they were instantly extinguished.

The red-haired man's face turned ashen; a violent blow directly shattered half his shoulder into scattered fragments, and his body flew backward under the immense force.

Still trying to escape?

"Frenzied Charge!"

Zhang Tie let out a sinister laugh, his whole body bursting with red light.

The skill activated, the earth trembled.

The massive bear-like body lunged forward in an instant, and a foot came crashing down onto the red-haired man's lower body.

"You think you're so cool, huh!?"

"Ahhhhh!"

A piercing wail.

With the momentum of the charge, Zhang Tie stomped his lower body into a pulp.

"Stop!"

"Armorize!"

A cry of shock and anger.

Not far away, the school gates suddenly burst open as the last sturdy man rushed out, panicking as he hastily activated his skill.

A suit of silver-white armor instantly covered his whole body, like full plate armor from the age of knights.

He wanted to stop Zhang Tie; as the captain of the two, he could not imagine how to explain to his superiors after losing two Awakened Ones.

Damn it, everything happened too fast!

Zhang Tie didn't even look back, treating him as if he were farting; when the red-haired Awakened Ones first tried to threaten ordinary people, why didn't you stop him then?

He clenched his right fist and unleashed another blast!

"Damn you, stop pretending to be tough!"

"Boom!"

The ground instantly exploded into a deep pit, and this punch slammed the red-haired man's head hard into the bottom.

"Bang!"

Like a violent egg smashed to pieces.

All that could be seen at the pit's bottom was a pool of red and white, no discernible shape; the corpse lacking a head and half a shoulder was no longer recognizable as human.

"Oh dear, why is he so fragile?"

Zhang Tie grinned, then turned his head toward the sprinting sturdy man; his feigned smile instantly turned cold.

"You too..."

"Want to die!"

The black bear's killing intent surged, causing his steps to falter, and the curse he had just blurted out got stuck in his throat.

"You... you guys!"

Regret, anger, fear.

The sturdy man's lips trembled with rage; he never imagined Zhang Tie would actually strike to kill.

You should know that even during the fiercest clashes between the two factions within their institute, no one had ever died.

In the greenhouse, the bloodiest thing they had ever seen was cleaning up the zombies inside the institute.

The scene before him was so brutally savage that, even if he were confident he wouldn't lose to Zhang Tie, he instinctively chose not to act.

"You dare kill my institute's Awakened Ones! Wait..."

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

Sparks flew everywhere.

Before he could recover, a continuous barrage of dagger strikes came from behind his waist, and he felt a piercing force capable of penetrating his organs, causing pain in his viscera.

"Pfft!"

He couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood; lacking combat experience, he frantically turned his head back, yet didn't even see his enemy's silhouette.

Black mist rose and dissipated.

"Who?!"

"Who exactly?!"

"Behind you!"

The man wielding the beastified arm let out a startled cry, wanting to warn him, but this time he dared not go up to cooperate with his companion.

The warning was useless.

The armored man felt his vision suddenly go dark, a chilling killing intent appearing before him.

His throat felt cold, Jing Tian's lips curled with a hint of mockery, the dagger in his hand precisely pressing against the man's neck through the armor's gap.

Dare to make a move?

Heh, if it weren't for everyone wanting to avoid creating more killing karma.

Following Lin Dui's style, they're probably subduing people in the academy, getting ready to eat!

How could they be turned away at the door? And still be mocked?

"Shut up, now begin. I ask, you answer."

The armored man nodded with difficulty, his heart filled with shock.

Clearly the man before him has only rank 0 strength, yet why is his speed so fast, his movements ghostly and strange?

If I weren't a pure defensive talent, that strike to his back just now would have killed him on the spot!

Can't even see him, how can we fight?

I'm clearly a First Level!

Jing Tian paid no heed to the armored man's astonishment, calmly asking:

"First, the exact number of Awakened Ones in the academy, and who is the strongest?"

"Second, the current number of Survivors, and are there any trapped Survivors?"

"Third, how large a safe area have you cleared, and are there any other dangers around?"

"Fourth, are there still zombies inside the academy."

As a former scout, Jing Tian possesses excellent battlefield judgment.

His thinking is agile, striking straight to the point.

Four questions, each being the most critical information.

Lin An, who had been watching from the shadows, nodded slightly; Jing Tian had fulfilled his duty, though he had originally worried that Jing Tian would be disturbed by those past events.

It seems that with a little more time to grow, he will surely become a capable aide.

The armored man's mind was in turmoil, he couldn't help but take a deep look at Jing Tian.

So professional, with extremely strong purpose.

Could he be personnel sent by the military?

"3."

Death countdown.

"I'll speak!"

He didn't even need two seconds; the man in knight armor had no doubt that further delay would surely result in blood spilling on the spot.

"My name is Liang Yu, from the Physical Institute..."

Jing Tian pressed the dagger harder against Liang Yu's throat, indicating he should cut the nonsense.

Wronged, is my name considered nonsense?

"The academy has a total of 37 Awakened Ones, uh... now probably 36. The strongest..."

"No one is the strongest. Only two are recognized as the strongest. One is the Earth-system Awakened One Huang Haitao from the Engineering Institute, dual first-level."

"The other is the Body-system Awakened One Li Hua from the Physical Institute; he should also be dual first-level, though no one has seen him go all out."

Jing Tian frowned slightly, two dual first-level plus thirty-six Awakened Ones?

No wonder this group from Linjiang Academy is so arrogant, and no wonder Brother Lin told them to be careful.

With such a lineup, the strength they display might not be enough to intimidate this group.

Even...

A flicker of doubt crossed Jing Tian's eyes; perhaps Brother Lin might not be able to suppress them either.

Liang Yu noticed the change in Jing Tian's expression, and a hint of self-satisfaction appeared on his face.

Precisely because they have numerous Awakened Ones, they managed to clear most of the academy into a safe zone in such a short time.

Heh? Kid, now you know fear?

But his life is still in others' hands, so he dare not show too much emotion.

"The academy originally had 30,000 teachers and students; now about 3,000 remain alive. As for any other survivors, there probably aren't any."

"As for the safe zone, the academy has been mostly cleared, except the dormitory building, which hasn't been cleared yet. The zombies there are very concealed; we once organized ten Awakened Ones to clear it, but even then, one person got infected during the ambush."

"Besides, there's hardly any supplies there, so we gave up clearing it; the academy basically has no other dangers now."

A flicker of unusual color flashed in Liang Yu's eyes; seeing that Jing Tian didn't press further, he continued speaking.

"There definitely are zombies, but only a few scattered in the sealed-off dormitory area."

"By the way, we also encountered four Lickers; fortunately, Chairman Li—that is Li Hua—and Huang Haitao stepped in and dealt with them."

"That thing is terrifyingly strong!"

When Liang Yu spoke of the Lickers, he deliberately emphasized his tone, but seeing Jing Tian's expressionless face, with no reaction,

he couldn't help but snicker inwardly; it seems the person before him has likely never encountered a mutant, probably not even knowing what a Licker is.

Otherwise, any survivor who had seen such a monster would surely show a change in expression upon hearing news of its killing.

Such a monster simply cannot be opposed by just a few Awakened Ones!

After hearing Liang Yu's information, Jing Tian fell silent for a moment.

Lin An gave only one day to "persuade" this group, and he wasn't sure if it could be done.

"Two Awakened Ones who have come from afar, I don't know if you could first release our people."

Suddenly, a noisy commotion came from afar; a deep-voiced man followed by ten people rushed out of the academy gate at great speed.

Though the words were polite, Jing Tian heard a strong dissatisfaction in them.

In just a few seconds, eleven Awakened Ones who had rushed from the academy glared hostilely and quickly surrounded them.

Various hues of spiritual energy emanated from the eleven, swirling splendidly.

The leading man appeared to be about thirty years old; after catching sight of the corpse of his own people in the pit, his gaze turned icy as he stepped forward and slowly said:

"Release the people, or you will die."