Chapter 206

Chapter 206

Feng Chen felt a shock of realization.

After injecting himself with the serum, Chen Sizhe's bones and muscles had been enhanced, his instantaneous explosive power and strength far surpassing Feng Chen's. The two subordinates were running back, but the possibility of overpowering Chen Sizhe seemed impossible.

There were more than a hundred people here. If they tried to run back to the small camp on their own, none would survive the journey. Logic told him not to entangle further with Chen Sizhe; he had to temporarily give up and lead the group to safety.

"Everyone, head to the hillside! Wait there on the hillside!" Feng Chen shouted while kicking towards Chen Sizhe's chest.

From behind the left wall, a large group emerged, carrying children and supporting the elderly, clumsily scrambling up the hill.

Chen Sizhe, holding the briefcase in one hand and fending off Feng Chen's fierce attacks with the other, asked indifferently, "Xiao Chen, I'll ask you one last time, are you sure you don’t want to come with me?"

"Get lost!" Feng Chen squeezed out the word through clenched teeth.

After deflecting Feng Chen's punch, Chen Sizhe stepped back a few paces, "Fine, let's stop then." He gestured to his subordinates who were rushing over, "No need," and then said, "A syringe fell up there, go look for it."

As the two subordinates went to search for the syringe, a cry of alarm came from the crowd on the hill. Feng Chen turned and saw several zombies charging up the hill, the people desperately fighting them off with iron rods and stones.

He ran towards the crowd, using his mental power to kill the zombies, ignoring Chen Sizhe behind him.

"Xiao Chen, let me show you one last thing," Chen Sizhe suddenly called out.

Without turning, Feng Chen continued running, using his mental power to intercept zombies rushing from the camp.

"Don’t you want to see? Bang, bang, bang!" Chen Sizhe mimicked the sound of bombs exploding.

Feng Chen wanted to lead the group away first, sure that Chen Sizhe would eventually be captured by the Eastern and Western Alliance armies. But hearing those mock explosion sounds, a sense of foreboding made him abruptly stop and slowly turn around.

Chen Sizhe had handed the briefcase to one of his subordinates and now held a dark black metal bar in his cyanotic palm, a green light blinking on it like a remote control.

"You think blowing up a small part of the mountain is the end of it? No, no, no," Chen Sizhe wiggled his index finger at Feng Chen with a strange expression, "Bang, bang, bang…"

"Ha!" Chen Sizhe let out a short laugh, his voice almost cracking with excitement, "I've always been prepared for such a day. I’ve planted hundreds of explosives throughout the camp and Yinxiashan. Hundreds! Those explosives will level this entire area. Ha! Surprising, isn't it?"

Feng Chen's eyes fixed on the detonator in his hand, his breathing became heavy and rapid.

Chen Sizhe looked at him with pleasure, "Xiao Chen, I gave you a chance, but you refused. The Western Alliance Army is my enemy, and they deserve to die. Now, the Eastern Alliance Army has also betrayed me, so they shouldn't live either. Since you insist on staying with them, then stay."

"My people are in Central City. I'll press the detonator before I leave. Don't worry, there are so many people in the world who need redemption. I'll absorb the worthy ones as Cassandra's followers and restore the world to its rightful state. But by then, you won’t be here to see it."

Yan Bubu fought his way through the plantation, killing zombies. He couldn't attack with mental power like a sentinel, relying only on his firearms and two quantum beasts. However, when he and the beasts were overwhelmed, he used his mental power to control the zombies charging at the crowd, dealing with his immediate threats before killing them off.

The group he was escorting moved slowly and with difficulty, but under his and the two quantum beasts' efforts, they encountered no problems and finally made it through the plantation, reaching the camp.

Yan Bubu was still worried about Feng Chen, having thought he could return after leading the group to the camp. However, the camp was also swarming with zombies. Amid intense gunfire, sentinels and guides held their ground at the foot of the hill. Due to the severe shortage of manpower, even ordinary soldiers bore the responsibility of escorting hundreds up the hill.

Yan Bubu felt anxious, unable to connect with Feng Chen’s mental realm from this distance, but he couldn’t leave the people behind him. Fortunately, Saska was always by his side, and he repeatedly asked about Feng Chen’s situation, to which Saska nodded, indicating no problems.

However, each time he turned his head away, anxiety flickered in Saska’s eyes.

"Hurry up, this way up the hill, take them to the dark matter area," a soldier shouted hoarsely while firing ahead.

The hillside was dotted with moving lights, with people climbing towards the peak. Gunshots occasionally sounded from above, clearing zombies that followed from other areas.

Yan Bubu glanced back at the people following him, who were all looking at him expectantly, and then said to Binunu and Saska, "Let's go, we'll pick up the pace and take them to the top, then find brother."

As soon as he finished speaking, Saska, who had been calm, suddenly changed, baring sharp teeth and hatefully scraping its claws on the ground, then roaring angrily at the sky.

"Saska!" Yan Bubu called out urgently.

But in the next second, Saska vanished into thin air.

Binunu spun around, confirming Saska's disappearance, then nervously locked eyes with Yan Bubu.

Yan Bubu's face turned pale, and he muttered in a daze, "Binunu, brother has taken Saska back into his mental realm. Something dangerous must have happened to him!"

"Bubu!" Yan Bubu suddenly heard Yu Yuan's voice.

"Uncle Colonel Yu!" He turned sharply, seeing Yu Yuan running from deep within the camp, followed by a hundred or two civilians.

Yu Yuan noticed Yan Bubu's expression and quickly glanced around, asking, "Is Feng Chen still behind?"

"Yes, he took back Saska. He usually wouldn't do that. I'm a bit worried."

Yu Yuan turned to shoot a zombie charging at them and said, "You take these people up the mountain, including those behind me. The military was previously blocked in a gorge but has now come out. You'll meet them on your way. I'll go back to the main camp to meet Feng Chen."

"I should go. You take these people I'm escorting," Yan Bubu suggested.

Although Yu Yuan was reluctant, he knew how important Feng Chen was to him. Plus, as a bonded sentinel and guide pair, their coordination and abilities would be more effective than his intervention. After a moment's thought, he agreed, "Okay, wait here. I'll call some soldiers to accompany you."

Yan Bubu, knowing that manpower was scarce and he didn’t need soldiers to protect him, said, "No need, Binunu is all I require."

Binunu had already turned and dashed towards the plantation, with Yan Bubu quickly following. Yu Yuan took a few steps towards Yan Bubu, but seeing the large group of civilians waiting beside him, he stopped, shouting after Yan Bubu, "Be careful!"

"Got it…"

Yan Bubu sprinted through the cornfield, with Binunu by his side. Zombies occasionally burst out, but Binunu swiftly dealt with them before Yan Bubu could even fire his gun.

Hidden stones beneath the broken leaves on the ground tripped Yan Bubu several times, but he quickly scrambled up each time. His mind was focused solely on moving faster and faster...

Two fully enclosed tracked vehicles, pulling heavy barrier machines, had just left the small camp and were soon overtaken by Yan Bubu. Both vehicles, including the barrier machines behind them, were crawling with zombies, forming three massive zombie balls, moving extremely slowly towards the crack in the mountain.

The main camp.

After showing the remote control to Feng Chen, Chen Sizhe withdrew his hand and said meaningfully, "Xiao Chen, we'll meet again if fate allows."

He then smiled and said to the two subordinates still searching for the syringe, "Stop looking, let's go."

Chen Sizhe turned towards the crack and walked a few steps before suddenly spinning around, punching precisely at Feng Chen's fist aimed at his head. With a loud bang, Feng Chen was sent flying backwards, crashing heavily to the ground.

As their fists collided, Feng Chen felt a piercing pain and knew his wrist bone was shattered. But as he fell, he immediately sprang up, gripping a dagger in his left hand, and charged at Chen Sizhe again.

Chen Sizhe stood still, his dark eyes coldly fixating on Feng Chen. Only when the gleaming dagger nearly pierced his face did he swiftly dodge, evading Feng Chen's strike with unbelievable speed.

Realizing he had missed, Feng Chen tried to withdraw his dagger, but before he could, a punch landed on his chest. Accompanied by the muffled sound of breaking ribs, he was once again sent flying backwards.

Feng Chen crashed heavily onto the ground about seven or eight meters away, eliciting gasps from the people on the hill. Gritting his teeth, he tried to rise but spat out a mouthful of blood and fell back to the ground.

"I reasoned with you patiently, yet you told me to get lost," Chen Sizhe said, looking towards the nearby ruins as if facing a vexing problem. "I gave you chances to live, to come with me, but you chose a dead end. Xiao Chen, you're really disobedient, which makes me somewhat angry."

"Dog, mongrel…" Feng Chen, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, slowly forced out three words. Staring at the detonator in Chen Sizhe's hand, he propped himself up with his uninjured arm, struggling to get up.

Chen Sizhe coldly approached Feng Chen step by step. "Think you're impressive as a sentinel? That you can definitely kill me? Look at yourself, Feng Chen. You're nothing but a worthless being, just lying there gasping for air."

Chen Sizhe stopped beside Feng Chen and slowly crouched down. Feng Chen lay on the ground, watching him, but suddenly rolled over, thrusting the dagger towards his face.

Chen Sizhe swiftly dodged the dagger, simultaneously smashing his fist onto Feng Chen's knee.

"Sentinels are worthless!" he whispered.

Feng Chen groaned, closing his eyes in pain, but at that moment, a mental image flashed in his mind.

He saw himself in the image, just as he was now, eyes closed, lying motionless. He knew this wasn't just a representation of his current state; it was Yan Bubu telling him the way to survive.

Stay down! Don't move!

Just lie there, don't provoke Chen Sizhe too much!

Seeing Feng Chen motionless, Chen Sizhe indeed refrained from further attacks. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his hands, stood up, and said to his subordinates, "Let's go. Let this arrogant sentinel suffer a bit longer. This area is about to be blown up anyway."

Chen Sizhe turned to leave, but Feng Chen, who had been feigning unconsciousness, suddenly sprang up, using his uninjured leg to propel himself forward, stabbing his dagger towards the back of Chen Sizhe's head.

Both his right wrist and left knee were shattered, and his ribs were broken. Chen Sizhe hadn't expected him to leap up. Only when the blade neared did he dodge to the side, but his neck still received a deep cut.

Feng Chen was still in mid-air, not yet landed, when he thrust another knife. But this time, Chen Sizhe quickly dodged, causing Feng Chen to miss and crash to the ground amid gasps from the onlookers.

Chen Sizhe reached to touch his wound. Although the knife had split his flesh, there was no blood flowing out.

His two subordinates immediately moved to intervene but were stopped by his raised hand, as he coldly said, "Let me handle this."

Feng Chen spat out two more mouthfuls of blood, lying on the ground gasping heavily. Despite his violent efforts, fortunately, his broken ribs had not punctured his internal organs. But that last effort had drained all his strength, leaving him unable to rise again.

"…Since you so wish to die, then I shall grant your wish."

Chen Sizhe's voice faintly reached his ears, along with the sounds of the nearby group fighting zombies. Ignoring everything, Feng Chen crawled forward bit by bit, stubbornly stretching his fingers, reaching for the dagger that had fallen to the ground.

He must not let Chen Sizhe press the detonator... Yan Bubu would die... his parents would die... Lin Fen and everyone else too... He must not let him press the detonator...

Yan Bubu sprinted forward. Once the mental image appeared in his mind, he had seen Feng Chen's current state and witnessed the screen silently going black.

The moment the screen blacked out, he stumbled and fell. It was Binunu fanning his face and biting his shoulder ferociously, growling at him, that pulled him out of the abyss of extreme pain.

Forcing himself to calm down a bit, he got up and continued running towards the main camp.

Yes, when he had jumped off the cliff and fallen into Central City, the mental image had disappeared too, but he had still survived.

The mental image could only predict imminent danger, not the unknown variables.

Zombies would suddenly appear on the road, and he, in a daze, didn't even know to dodge, just kept running forward. Fortunately, Binunu was there, killing any zombies they encountered along the way.

This was the plantation where he and Feng Chen often walked. He knew it only took forty minutes to walk from one end to the other, and sometimes they would walk it twice.

Why did those two laps always pass quickly, but now the plantation seemed so vast, as if he could never reach the end...

Feng Chen continued to inch forward, trying to grasp the dagger that had fallen ahead of him. Blood kept spilling from his mouth, dripping onto the ground.

A pair of boots, slightly dusted with dirt, followed him at a leisurely pace. Just as his fingers were about to reach the dagger, the boots halted, casting a looming shadow over his head.

Chen Sizhe, having lost his patience, aimed a punch at the back of Feng Chen's head.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out from close by, causing Chen Sizhe’s body to shudder. The hand descending towards Feng Chen's head halted in mid-air.

He looked down at his chest to see a hole the size of a peanut in his shirt over his chest. Swiftly raising his head towards the source of the sound, he saw someone in the cowering crowd aiming a gun at him, continuing to pull the trigger.

Amidst consecutive gunshots, Chen Sizhe instinctively retreated, attempting to dodge the bullets. As he moved away from Feng Chen, an elderly voice commanded, "Smash!"

"Kill him!" Suddenly, countless stones appeared in the sky, hurtling towards him with a whoosh.

Perhaps finding the situation somewhat amusing or insignificant, Chen Sizhe stood still. But as the stones flew, another gunshot rang out, a bullet mingling among them.

His current speed allowed him to dodge bullets, but with the sky full of stones, it was impossible to distinguish the bullet's position, so he had to raise his arm to shield his face.

After a muffled thud, a small hole appeared in the sleeve of his arm. He rotated his arm to see half a bullet protruding from his skin.

He pinched the end of the bullet and pulled it out, leaving only a small, dark pit in his skin.