Chapter 457: Divine Punishment Descends

"Puff, puff, pah, pah!"

Zhao De, covered in dust, spat out grit from his mouth, then turned and saw Zhang Su with his back turned—he leapt in front of him with an exaggerated expression: "Big bro, you didn't swallow the whole bottle, did you? That light was twenty meters tall just now!"

He clearly remembered the explosion experiment he'd done in the mountain stream—the purple sphere then had been only five to ten meters wide; the huge discrepancy was mainly because he'd been focused on protecting Yu Qing and hadn't paid close attention.

But this time he'd watched clearly through his binoculars, using the blurred zombie bodies as reference—he estimated the explosion's sphere diameter exceeded twenty meters. Though he was just a fish butcher, he knew the volume inside a twenty-meter sphere was far more than double that of a ten-meter one! "Holy shit!"

Chen Hanzhou shook his head, blocking his face with his mechanical prosthetic, the other hand holding binoculars—he'd seen the purple sphere clearly, just as Zhao De said, roughly twenty meters tall.

"A ten-meter sphere has a volume of about five hundred cubic meters; a twenty-meter one is four to five thousand? Did I miscalculate…?"

Doing the math made Chen Hanzhou doubt himself. He didn't say it outright, but the implication was Zhang Su had used an enormous dose—because in his understanding, explosive power and yield weren't perfectly linear; there was decay. For example, increasing explosive power tenfold required more than ten times the yield.

"Ask your wife when we get back!"

Zhang Su didn't answer Zhao De directly—his silence meant don't ask now. He turned around and saw the dust slowly settling. Several people had climbed onto the roof of the FJ Land Cruiser and were gazing into the distance. Others needed binoculars—he didn't. A miraculous sight appeared.

Nearly two kilometers away, a dark patch was faintly visible on the ground. No need to guess—it was the area previously engulfed by the purple bubble. The earth had been scooped clean, like an ice cream scoop carving out a perfect circle from a flat dessert. Zombies thrown by the blast were scattered everywhere—limbs and torsos were the least of it; some were just upper bodies, hollow below the chest, dragging themselves forward. Worse still were the skulls, teeth bared. The scene surpassed hell itself.

Too bad they couldn't lure the western No. 1 horde northwest to merge—more zombies would've been killed! But this was already shocking enough for Zhang Su, because he knew exactly how much Heaven-Primal Essence he'd used: just one milliliter, double the test amount.

He didn't understand why doubling the dose had multiplied the explosion's power tenfold. He'd have to ask experts later—maybe they wouldn't know either, because this stuff defied science! Could there have been a Venom Zombie at the blast site? Impossible…

Zhang Su instantly dismissed the thought. They'd checked those hordes repeatedly—petrified-skin zombies were hidden among them, but absolutely no Venom Zombies. If there had been, they'd have been found long ago…

It was precisely because they confirmed no Venom Zombies that they dared to light the fireworks. If even one Venom Zombie brimming with raw venom had been detonated just now, even at two kilometers, they'd have had no chance of survival—only one person could've lived: Pan Guoliang inside the iron tank.

Zhang Su wasn't the only one watching the aftermath. Many others climbed onto vehicle roofs, using binoculars to observe. The distant scene was laid bare, sending chills up their spines and accelerating their heartbeats.

These people had endured the apocalypse's arrival. The mere appearance of zombies had already been surreal enough; their minds weren't short on imagination—they could vividly picture what such an explosion would do to them.

Four words: vaporized.

That's what the distant scene looked like—so many zombies simply vanished without a trace. David Copperfield? Liao Youzhi and Gong Chengming's groups had been wiped out by Flame Zombies, but at least some bone dust remained. The purple bubble had erased every single thing within its radius—the blast site resembled a micro-black hole strike, evoking soul-deep trembling. "This is how we protect our camp at Tianma Isle—the Big Firework. What do you all think?"

Zhang Su stood on the roof, ears silent. Everyone seemed to have forgotten how to speak—occasional exclamations were empty. So he decided to open with a humble remark.

As soon as he finished speaking, something amusing happened.

The numbers in his mind representing each faction's sincere members joining Tianma Isle began climbing—each digit jumping up one by one!

"That purple light isn't of this world! Oh my God, Lord Yama, you must be the embodiment of light—this is surely the Divine Punishment Flame you borrowed from God, purifying the evil wandering the earth!"

Yang Xin lowered his binoculars, stood atop an SUV, turned to Zhang Su, and devoutly made a cross over his chest. In his eyes, Zhang Su's back seemed to glow.

Zhang Su smiled and spread his hands. "You mention light—I forgot to tell you all: Tianma Isle has abandoned the Gregorian calendar. We now use our own Light Calendar. Today is… Light Calendar Month One, Day Twenty-Five. Remember this great day."

Before this, anyone hearing that would've sneered—many factions had changed calendars, all mocked as fools…

But after witnessing the Big Firework called "Grape," no one laughed. They felt a force capable of such weapons deserved its own calendar—truly possessing the power to rebuild civilization and seize control! "Light Calendar…"

Li Zongkai muttered the name, an unexpected reverence rising in his heart.

Many members of the Civilization Protectors felt goosebumps rise on their arms the moment the purple bubble's explosion passed their ears—especially when they saw the black patch on the ground, as if stamped by a Hell emissary. The goosebumps spread to their necks. Whether it was God's Divine Punishment Flame or Hell's tread, the result was unchanged: the horde from the northwest had been mostly devoured by the Grape, the few remaining blasted away—dead or maimed. First, use loudspeakers to lure the horde toward the center, packing over twenty zombies per square meter. Even eight thousand zombies only filled four hundred square meters. If the Grape's diameter truly reached twenty meters, the blast radius covered over three hundred square meters!

The area seemed small, but with sufficient horde density, the lethality was already formidable—after all, it had taken less than ten minutes.

Ten minutes to kill seven or eight thousand zombies, plus a free Big Firework and a gentle breeze—worth every second!

Liu Yao's face flushed unnaturally red. Overwhelmed by the explosion's power, his blood pressure spiked—he forgot whether he'd taken his antihypertensive pills that morning, dizziness and vertigo surged, stirring up every buried fragment of fear.

He shuddered threefold in hindsight—was this a weapon humans could control? Tianma Isle had been hiding such a weapon? He recalled his earlier plan to come alone and cause trouble—it seemed absurd.

Like a three-year-old waving a plastic toy shovel, boasting he'd take on a fully armed special forces soldier. His little eagles probably wouldn't even see the Grape bomb—they weren't even worthy.

Liu Yao rarely showed fear. Now he stared at the man on the roof with dread, wondering how many more secrets he held—was this guy made of copper and iron? Was he immortal?

"Liao Youzhi, Liao Youzhi… you should've seen what kind of monster you provoked. I'm truly impressed."

Wu Baokang couldn't help but lament Liao Youzhi's stupidity. He pinched his temple and shook his head; his other hand, gripping the steel rod, was slick with sweat—but the non-slip gloves kept his grip firm.

"Miracle… this is absolutely a miracle! Lord Yama is invincible! Yama Legion is unstoppable!"

Zhang Xin snapped out of his shock, raised his fist, and shouted loudly: "So what if the horde came? Kill them! Right now, I just want to scream out my excitement—only one thing matters: flattery!" The Vanguard Team Three of the Survivor Alliance joined Zhang Xin in shouting.

"Lord Yama is invincible! Yama Legion is unstoppable!"

Soon after, Vanguard Team Two and Search Team Three joined in.

Just as low morale had spread like a virus, excitement was contagious too—Little Eagles, Civilization Protectors, and the Apocalypse Group all began shouting.

In the end, even Tianma Isle's reserve members joined the chorus—crowd sentiment surged.

The Yama Legion didn't shout—they were savoring the praise. Not everyone could accept it calmly, since not everyone had participated in discovering the Venom Zombies.

"Survivor Alliance: 46/298, Civilization Protectors: 26/129, Apocalypse Group: 21/133, Little Eagles: 21/77"

With each shout, everyone present sincerely wished to join Tianma Isle. In the apocalypse, admiration for strength was amplified infinitely—when an absolute powerhouse appeared, he became the inevitable object of worship.

Zhang Su didn't immediately stop the shouting. He'd chosen to fight the horde precisely for this moment.

Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshanyi stood among the crowd, gazing at Zhang Su with adoration, hearts pounding. They'd never imagined a day when hundreds would praise them—everything stemmed from their man.

Zhang Su felt the women's gazes and responded tenderly—but then his eyes swept and caught that inappropriate gaze again: Su Xiaoya.

Standing behind Yang Liehuo, surrounded by the Women's Corps, Su Xiaoya's burning eyes fixed on Zhang Su—completely different from the affection of the older women.

Should I find time to talk to Su Xiaoya? But maybe it's unnecessary…

Su Xiaoya hadn't taken any further action yet. Fueled by emotion, she was moving positively—a good sign.

(End of Chapter)