Chapter 365: Forced Surrender

Translated by: Kun

Edited by: Ulamog, Dedition

[Book 3: The South]

"Fire the cannons!!" Zhang Zhi was currently in the command centre giving an order coolly.

With the flashes from 2 122m Howitzers, 2 rockets landed amongst the dead corpses of the Death God Team.

Following the huge sound and terrifying explosion, 30 dead Death God Team soldiers as well as the soldiers under Lao Hui were immediately blasted and sustained heavy injuries, many of them with missing limbs.

At the same time, a number of mortars had landed among the soldiers and exploded consecutively, causing 7 or 8 of the soldiers to be bombed into flying meaty bits.

Amidst the terrifying explosions, the soldiers' morale had dropped to almost zero, as the members of the Death God Team started to abandon their weapons and escape towards all directions. If Gan Luowang was still around, they could have withstood the attacks of the rockets, but since he was already dead, they had no morale or fighting spirit to put up a resistance.

After the detonation of the 2 rockets on Lao Hui's troops, they lost all sense of order as the warriors scrambled to get out of the area of impact. Even Lao Hui himself was rushing to escape.

Lao Hui was a Level 33 Enhancer, but even he could not withstand the impact and blast damage of a 122mm Howitzer round. Furthermore, the area of impact was more than 10m in diameter. He was not an Agility-based Evolver that could make use of [Danger Perception], and based on his abilities, even if he did manage to detect the danger, he had no means of dodging the area of impact.

Just 2 rounds of artillery could cause the soldiers of Lao Hui as well as the Death God Team to lose all bearings, this was the fundamental difference between a proper military and a militia. It was the first time for Lao Hui and the rest who had been fighting against zombies all this while to be facing a human enemy with modern weaponry.

Right as the 2 troops were focused on escaping, an entire platoon wielding .03 rifles appeared from behind them and charged at them!!

"Kneel down and surrender! We won't kill those who surrender!!"

"Kneel down and surrender! We won't kill those who surrender!!"

"......"

The platoon of soldiers charged forwards, shouting as they fired shots.

Wu Yin, who was decked in military wear, brandished his Dark Magic Blade and slashed about when he charged into the midst of the retreating soldiers, each time his blade flashed, a soldier would be killed.

It was a scene of slaughter. The soldiers under Lao Hui and Death God Team had lost their spirits, and had no way of resisting the assault of the soldiers.

Many of the Death God Team members and Lao Hui's troops were killed, while others were smart enough to quickly throw their weapons and hugged their heads with their hands as they quickly squatted, shivering uncontrollably, awaiting treatment from the enemy.

On the plateau at a distance, Shang Lun saw how quickly his comrades were dealt with, and his heart went cold.

He celebrated silently in his heart as he thought: "So this must be Yue Zhong's power? I'm afraid it's only one small part of it. He should still have plenty of moves that he hasn't yet employed. Fortunately I didn't charge in as well!!"

Even Shang Lun's subordinates were thanking the heavens that they did not follow suit early. If they had charged in to attack Jingxi Province, they might have been part of the collapse.

Zhang Liyang eyed Shang Lun as he asked: "Boss! What do we do now? Do we save them?"

The 400 soldiers that followed Shang Lun were brothers that have fought beside him in countless battles. Of the 400, 100 had rifles, 50 had handguns, there were only 3 sniper rifles, 12 shotguns, 6 fog shotguns, and 79 submachine guns. They were a decent sized force and could face the platoon of warriors.

Shang Lun's eyes flashed as he contemplated, before sighing heavily and said in a resolute tone: "No!! We're retreating now!!"

"Yes! Boss!!" Shang Lun's subordinates replied in unison.

"Although you have made the right decision, it was too late!! Since you guys are here, you can stay!!" Right as Shang Lun and his troops were about to retreat, 2 men and a girl came up from behind them, they were Yue Zhong, White Bones and Ming Jiajia.

Yue Zhong walked forward with huge strides, his eyes fixed on Shang Lun.

Hearing Yue Zhong's voice, Shang Lun's subordinates all reacted, as they held up their guns and aimed at him.

Yue Zhong eyed those guns and spoke out coldly: "I dislike people pointing their weapons at me! In 4 seconds, if you guys don't put it down, I'll have you all buried here, not a single one of you will be able to leave alive!!"

"What arrogance!!" Zhang Liyang heard Yue Zhong's words, and his eyes flashed with fury, as he scolded back.

"Put down your weapons!!" Shang Lun eyed Yue Zhong, as he narrowed his eyes and waved his hands, before asking Yue Zhong: "Who're you?"

The 100+ guns were all lowered, as everyone present shifted their gaze to Yue Zhong.

Yue Zhong responded indifferently: "I'm Yue Zhong! I'm here personally to advise you guys to surrender! You can do that, or choose to die here. There're only 2 options!"

"Yue Zhong! You're the leader of Jingxi Province Yue Zhong?" When Shang Lun heard that, his heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but exclaim. He had assumed that the person in front of them was a terrifying Enhancer, but he did not expect that it would be Yue Zhong himself.

The 400 warriors under Shang Lun had a huge change in expressions as well, their eyes flashed with a strange glint. The boss of Jingxi Province was right here in front of them, as long as they could capture him, Jingxi Province would practically fall into their laps.

Yue Zhong replied mildly: "That's right!"

Shang Lun looked at him fearfully, while suppressing the notion of capturing Yue Zhong and asked: "Yue Zhong! Even if you're truly powerful, on what grounds do you think you will be able to keep the 400 of us here?"

"Is this enough for you?"

Yue Zhong lightly clapped his hands, and behind him, countless Mutant Leopard Cats led by Lightning stepped out from the forest, eyeing the 400 soldiers with a ferocious gaze.

"Type 2 Mutant Leopard Cat!! You're actually able to command a Type 2 Mutant Beast???" Shang Lun took one look at Lightning, as a look of horror appeared on his face, as he muttered out dejectedly.

A Type 2 Mutant Beast could take a Level 40 Enhancer down easily. To deal with one, it required the cooperation of numerous experts. Otherwise, only modern weapons such as rocket launchers, tanks and assault helicopters would be of use.

Just Lightning itself would be able to take care of Shang Lun and his soldiers within a matter of seconds. Needless to say the rest of the Mutant Leopard Cats that followed behind.

All 400 of the soldiers under Shang Lun were around Level 5 or 6, and was by no means able to compare with the Mutant Leopard Cats in terms of speed. Without any structures, running about would just mean death.

Seeing the 100 or so Mutant Leopard Cats, the expressions of the soldiers of Shang Lun turned ugly. If Yue Zhong really could control those Mutant Beasts, in just a single call, they would be totally wiped out. At most, they could kill a few Mutant Leopard Cats in retaliation.

"Surrender! Or death?!" Yue Zhong reached out to pat Lightning's head, while glancing at Shang Lun and pressured once more.

Shang Lun immediately quietened down. He could feel the gazes of his comrades behind him, and just a single command could result in their deaths.

Shang Lun hesitated, before saying: "Yue Zhong! If I surrender, what will happen to my brothers and I?"

Yue Zhong replied in a low voice: "If there are no major misbehaviour, you guys will be immediately drafted into my troops, and undergo military training. If there are problems and past offences to be ironed out, those troublemakers would be directly thrown into the Scum Battalion, and can only rely on their own power and actions to crawl out from there."

By absorbing these warriors, Yue Zhong would usually separate them, and make them undergo training and reform, before filling up his troops. The disadvantage was that the power of these troops would not be enough to bolster his fighting force. However, the advantage was that these people would find it hard to leave and stand on their own afterwards.

Shang Lun looked at his hands, before looking at Yue Zhong and said slowly: "Yue Zhong! I'm willing to get my brothers to submit to you. Please do not harm their lives!"

Yue Zhong replied: "Not a problem!"

The soldiers following Shang Lun were all painstakingly trained up by him. While their levels were not high, most of them were above Level 5, and had better physique than most people and were in the best conditions to fight for him. Yue Zhong would naturally not kill them for no reason.

After obtaining Yue Zhong's promise, he ordered his subordinates: "Everyone put down your weapons!!"

Under his orders, the 400 soldiers all surrendered the weapons in their hands.

Zhang Liyang shouted out, while his hands still held his submachine gun: "Boss!!"

Shang Lun stared and berated: "Put it down!!"

Zhang Liyang gritted his teeth, before throwing his gun down as well.

After commanding his subordinates to surrender, Shang Lun then stared at Yue Zhong and said: "However!! Yue Zhong!! If you want me to submit to you willingly, please do your best to defeat me! If you can defeat me, I will follow you wholeheartedly!! I'm called Shang Lun, a Level 42 Enhancer. I'm skilled at close combat, and my skills have been enhanced thrice!"

Seeing Shang Lun being so agreeable earlier, Yue Zhong decided to honor his request: "Sure!! I'll do as you wish!!"

Shang Lun waved his hands, and his subordinates immediately stepped back, leaving a space for the 2 to battle.

Yue Zhong gazed at Shang Lun and said: "Please start!"

"Be careful!!" Shang Lun's eyes turned cold, as he suddenly stepped forward with a strange movement, getting extremely close to Yue Zhong. The steps he used were truly mysterious, and in that few seconds, his speed actually exceeded that of the Agility-based Evolver Gan Luowang.

Yue Zhong stared fixedly at Shang Lun as his eyes narrowed, and he activated his [Art of Fear]. In that instant, the oppressive Spiritual attack overwhelmed the mind of Shang Lun.

Shang Lun was instantly enveloped in that crushing pressure, and he was stopped in his tracks.

Yue Zhong then kicked out savagely, his foot landing on Shang Lun's abdomen, sending him flying back by 3m. At the same time, he pulled out his Stinger and aimed at Shang Lun's head before saying coldly: "You've lost!"

Shang Lun endured his pain, as he climbed out slowly, his eyes full of bitterness: "I've lost!"