101

Cheng Yang looked into Liu Wei's eyes and sighed. Finally, he turned back to the middle-aged woman. "Fine, I'll go. Find someone decently fast to show me the way."

"I've got boots that increase my Movement Speed by three, so I'll do it." The woman responded.

Cheng Yang nodded. "Liu Wei, come with us."

"But I'll slow you down." Liu Wei said. She wanted to go too, but she was worried that her inclusion would endanger the trapped women.

"Don't worry about that." Cheng Yang said, "I'll carry you. Besides, it's not safe for you to be left alone here."

Liu Wei wanted to refuse Cheng Yang's offer, but his last comment worried here. After watching the massacre, she was a little uneasy about staying with a bunch of people she didn't know.

Cheng Yang squatted down, allowing Liu Wei to crawl onto his back for a piggy-back ride. Luckily for her, it was the middle of the night. Otherwise, the deep crimson blush on her face would have been on display for everyone to see.

She wasn't the only person thankful for the low visibility. Cheng Yang wasn't interested in a relationship, but that didn't mean he wasn't interested in women. This was the first time he was physically close to a woman in both of his lives. Not to mention, the person in question was the stunningly beautiful Liu Wei.

Even though he was a man with an incredible force of will, he couldn't suppress the low throb in his pants.

Without waiting for his navigator to start, Cheng Yang jogged ahead of her so that no one would be able to see him before he calmed down.

Cheng Yang thought it was terrible when Liu Wie first crawled onto his back, but it was even worse once he started running. His jagged steps caused Liu Wei to bounce up and down behind him, allowing her chest to rub against him.

Liu Wei hadn't worn a bra today since they were a luxury few could afford. As such, Cheng Yang couldn't stop the fire in his pants from spreading to his face.

"Snap out of it!" He mentally scolded himself. "You can't date anyone!"

Even though he thought that, his subconscious was grateful for the treat. In reality, he really did want to find a woman to share his life with, but he knew that this cruel world would only take that person away.

He'd seen it happen too often in his past life. People lost their cherished ones in the apocalypse, and then if they found someone else, one of the two would get eaten by monsters.

Anyone in that world could tell you that the greatest tragedy isn't to live a life, never having found love. Instead, it was to have found the person you were destined to be with, only to have them ripped away from you.

Despair was a more deadly threat than monsters. Cheng Yang considered himself to be an emotionally stable person, but if he were to lose someone he loved that dearly, he didn't know how long he would be able to continue fighting without his second half.

Right now, Cheng Yang was confident he would be able to help everyone he knew survive until the point he lived in his previous life. But what about after that? Cheng Yang didn't know what would happen. Only one thing was certain: it would be exponentially harder to survive.

Maybe someday, if he lived long enough, Cheng Yang would find someone to start a family with. However, he would only do that if he could ensure a safe and happy life for his family.

.....

But maybe, if he might die anyway, it wouldn't be so bad to cherish the half-year safe period he had carved out.

"Ma'am, what's your name?" Cheng Yang started a conversation with his guide in an attempt to drive such thoughts from his mind.

Hearing that Cheng yang was talking to her, the middle-aged woman was happy to start a conversation.

"My name is Xiao Zhen. I lead a mercenary team from Cloud City." She said, introducing herself, "The people from earlier were part of my group. We used to have more than fifty people, but a dozen of them died in the fight."

Xiao Zhen was a talkative person. Cheng Yang only asked for her name, but she offered up a lot of information. If it weren't for her getting sad after bringing up the deaths of her comrades.

"Are there a lot of mercenaries like you in Cloud City?" Cheng Yang asked, rekindling the conversation.

"Not a whole lot. Maybe around three thousand or so split up between a few dozen teams. Our team isn't a big one, but we're also not the smallest." Xiao Zhen paused when she realized there was something weird about Cheng Yang's question. "….sir, aren't you affiliated with Commander Yuan?"

"You could put it that way." Cheng Yang replied, vaguely.

Despite how obvious it was that Cheng Yang was gathering information, Xiao Zhen realized he didn't want to divulge anything else about himself. Despite that, she decided to tell him more. After all, it wouldn't hurt to befriend someone so powerful.

"Although there's a lot of mercenaries in the city, the real power is held by the army. They have over ten thousand soldiers organized into battalions of two thousand. Compared to them, our mercenary teams are like ants."

"Why haven't you decided to join the army then?" Cheng Yang asked.

"The army is too strict. Unless you were originally a soldier, you aren't allowed to have any individual freedoms. Some people don't care, but now that being a mercenary is an option, most choose to be one. Of course, there are black sheep like that scarred man you killed. They started as a mercenary team but relocated to outside the safe zone to become bandits."

As they talked, the rescue party drew close enough to the safe zone to see the shimmering barrier. The conversation itself wasn't particularly useful to Cheng Yang. He was only able to confirm things he already knew in between learning various bits of gossip.

A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination.

"Mr. Cheng, the car park is over there." Xiao Zhen said, pointing towards a cave in the ruins.

At the same time, a man ran towards them from out of the darkness. When he saw Cheng Yang standing near the mouth of the cave, his expression changed to one of terror.

It was one of the bandits that had fled the battle. How could he have expected to run into Cheng Yang after barely surviving earlier?

When Cheng Yang noticed the bandit, he cleanly sent an Icicle Blast into the man's chest. Cheng Yang wouldn't hesitate when it came to executing someone with such a wicked heart.

When she saw Cheng Yang kill a man without batting an eye, Liu Wei's eyes flashed with anxiety. She knew the man deserved to die for what he had done, but it was hard to watch someone that couldn't fight back get squashed like a bug. She nestled her face into Cheng Yang's hair, finding comfort in the warmth of his body.

"Let's go in." Cheng Yang said softly, putting Liu Wei down.

"Of course, follow me." Xiao Zhen had also been stunned by Cheng Yang's ruthlessness, but she had been able to snap out of it when she remembered the women in the cave.

Xiao Zhen went into the cave, followed by Cheng Yang and Liu Wei.

"How dare they!" Xiao Zhen, who was a room ahead of the others, cried out angrily. "Mr. Cheng, don't… don't let your companion in. She doesn't need to see this."

Xiao Zhen hadn't elaborated as to what she had seen, but it wasn't hard to imagine. Cheng Yang turned towards Liu Wei, intending to stop her.

"I'm going in." Liu Wei said stubbornly.

Cheng Yang gave up trying to stop her and turned around to walk inside.

"Ah…" When Liu Wei rounded the corner, she couldn't suppress her surprise and disgust with what she saw. Initially, when she saw Cheng Yang kill the bandits, she felt a bit squeamish, but now, she thought killing them was too light of a punishment.

There were dozens of women scattered around the car park with glazed eyes and bruised bodies.

In addition, there were a few bandits still in their base, committing atrocities.

Suddenly, one of the bandits fell to the ground.

The bandit beside him laughed. "What's wrong Old Huang, too tired to keep going?"

When the bandit looked over his shoulder to check on his companion, he realized something was wrong. He crouched down and checked the fallen bandit's pulse.

"Dead?" The man had a great deal of fear in his voice. There wasn't a single wound on the bandit's body, so how had he die? He looked around wildly, seeing not only Cheng Yang and his companions but another dead bandit as well.

"Enemies! There are enemies in the base!" the man shouted, warning the dozen or so other bandits in the car park. They stumbled around like clowns, desparately wielding weapons while entirely naked.

"Calm down Liu Wei, let me handle this." Cheng Yang whispered. Next to him, Liu Wei was bristling with anger. It was actually her that had killed two of the bandits just now. Her intense anger had allowed her to use the Smite skill on humans. It was her first murder.

Even though she was far from calm, Liu Wei remembered that she wasn't supposed to show her skill to others when Cheng Yang reminded her. Sending one last bloodlust filled glare towards the bandits, Liu Wei turned around and left the basement. If she stayed a moment longer, there was no way she could stop herself from killing again.

Cheng Yang sighed. It seemed that Liu Wei was a far more vicious person than everyone believed her to be. Still, it was a trait that would serve her well in this new world.

Then, Cheng Yang waited for the bandits to close in on him before using Petal Blizzard. At that point, only the four ranged bandits were left alive.

The first time Cheng Yang used that spell, Xiao Zhen hadn't gotten a good look at it, but now, she was able to see what had happened. Cheng Yang had an ability that allowed him to slaughter humans like dogs, even when they were Professionals.

She'd also seen the prowess of Cheng Yang's defense. Six or seven people had attacked him, but he didn't seem to have been injured at all.

Xiao Zhen could tell that if news of Cheng Yang got out, it would cause him to become a public enemy. Even if every soldier and mercenary in Cloud City banded together, what could they possibly do to stop a person like Cheng Yang?