Chapter 53: Displaying Holiness Before Others

"Fine, you win. From now on, I'll be your sidekick," the White Fox said to Wang Feifei with a helpless look on her face.

Although she was a noble esper, she still abided by the rule that a bet is a bet.

Since she had made a wager with Wang Feifei from the beginning, she naturally had to honor the agreement now.

Wang Feifei said coyly, "How could I ever dare! Just promise not to bully me in the future."

"Oh, you little wretch, still trying to deliberately accuse me of bullying you! Are you purposely playing the pitiful card in front of Liu Yang? You are so scheming! See how I pinch you!" The White Fox immediately reached out and pinched the soft flesh around Wang Feifei's waist.

"Ah! Help, help! Liu Yang, look, she's always bullying people!" Wang Feifei shrieked as she ran away, hiding behind Liu Yang's back, grasping his black cape with both hands like a chick hiding behind a hen in a game of hawk and chicks.

After this wager, the relationship between the White Fox and Wang Feifei seemed to have grown much closer.

While the two women giggled and playfully chased each other nearby, Scarface Rat kept his eyes entirely fixed on Liu Yang.

Unable to help himself, he exclaimed in admiration, "Boss, your outfit looks way too cool! Especially this cape—how does this material look so textured? It doesn't even look like something made by humans! It's insanely cool!"

Hearing Scarface Rat's words, the White Fox and Wang Feifei instantly snapped back to attention.

At first, they had been too shocked by Liu Yang's ranking to notice the changes in his attire.

Now that they came to their senses and took a closer look, it was truly breathtaking!

Especially that pitch-black cape; it wasn't an ordinary darkness, but a purity of black so deep that it seemed to absorb all the light around it.

Wang Feifei couldn't help but reach out, grab a corner of Liu Yang's cape, and feel its texture. She even rubbed it against her soft cheek, a look of comfortable satisfaction spreading across her face.

Then, she said to Liu Yang in disbelief, "It's so smooth, so comfortable! I've never seen a material like this before! Liu Yang, where did you get this cape? Fabric this soft would definitely feel amazing if used to make underwear!"

Liu Yang: "……"

He patted Wang Feifei on the head and said, "I wear this Dark Cape to look cool, not to use it as underwear. This is the reward I obtained from clearing the Heavenly Ranking Test. What do you think? Cool or not?"

"The reward from the Heavenly Ranking Test?!" Everyone was startled.

At the same time, all their gazes shifted back to the pitch-black cape, filled with pure envy!

Scarface Rat chimed in, "Since it's a reward from the Heavenly Ranking Test, it surely can't just be for looks, right? It must have other uses too."

Liu Yang smiled and said, "Of course. How could the reward for claiming the number one spot on the Heavenly Ranking be just for show? As for its true functions, I'll tell you all in due time. Later on, gather everyone in the entire survivor base; I have something to say to them."

***

Additionally, let me ask you first, how was this base operated in the past?"

Although Liu Yang also owned a safe villa area, very few people lived there—only a few beautiful women.

Therefore, he was still not very familiar with the actual operation of a full-scale survivor base.

Scarface Rat replied, "The main source of supplies for the survivor base comes from people scavenging. Aside from espers leading scavenging teams, ordinary survivors also need to form teams to scavenge, and anyone who wants to survive in this base must turn in supplies.

The supplies handed over generally amount to something equivalent in value to a loaf of bread per family per day, or two eggs, or useful medicine and the like. If someone truly has nothing to hand over, they will be driven out.

Consequently, the more civilians a survivor base has, the wealthier it actually becomes. Population is an extremely important resource at any given time.

Conversely, espers are required to protect the safety of the survivor base and ensure that the civilians within are not threatened by zombies."

"I see," Liu Yang nodded.

The operation of a real survivor base was indeed different from what he had imagined.

The villa area where he lived relied solely on him to scavenge supplies to support multiple women.

In contrast, a true survivor base relied on civilians to scavenge and hand over supplies.

Liu Yang said to Scarface Rat, "Alright, I understand. Gather everyone, and once they've been assembled, come notify me. I'm going to give a speech. At the same time, I want to announce to everyone in the entire base that I, Liu Yang, have become the new master of this survivor base!"

"Understood, boss! I'll go notify everyone right now and have them gather at the villa area's gymnasium! Once everyone has arrived, I'll come lead you there!"

Scarface Rat nodded hurriedly, then rushed off to spread the word.

***

Soon, Scarface Rat gathered all the survivors in the gymnasium.

Liu Yang also brought the White Fox and Wang Feifei along to the venue.

Liu Yang nodded at Scarface Rat.

Understanding the cue, Scarface Rat dragged Black Tiger's corpse out and tossed it before the crowd.

All the survivors were startled.

Tragic!

It was simply too tragic!

It was horrifying beyond description!

By this point, Black Tiger was thoroughly and unequivocally dead. Furthermore, his hands and feet were entirely gone, leaving only four bloody stumps.

His eyes were wide open in a dead glare, refusing to close in death.

His skull had been blown open, the top of his head missing God knows where, leaving the interior of his skull hollow and his brain completely gone.

To use Black Tiger to establish his dominance, Liu Yang had deliberately spared his face from being blown to pieces.

At that moment, Black Tiger's corpse was covered in blood, and his mouth was mangled.

In short, it was a gruesome sight.

Looking at Black Tiger—who had once been high and mighty, acting as though he ruled the world—now reduced to such a miserable corpse, the survivors looked at each other in dismay, not daring to let out even a heavy breath.

They had no idea what would happen next, and could only anxiously and quietly await the verdict of their fate.

At that moment, Liu Yang, dressed in his striking black attire, stepped forward and announced to everyone present:

"My name is Liu Yang! Black Tiger was killed by me. Therefore, starting today, I am the new boss of this survivor base! Who approves, and who opposes?"

The survivors looked among themselves.

Oppose?

Even the almighty Black Tiger had been killed; how could mere civilians like them ever dare to object?

Seeing that no one spoke, Liu Yang continued, "Since no one opposes, what I say goes in this survivor base from now on. If anyone dares to disobey or play tricks behind my back, there will only be one outcome for them—the exact same end as Black Tiger!"

The latter half of Liu Yang's statement was delivered in an icy, highly oppressive tone that caused the survivors' hearts to skip a beat and their backs to be soaked in cold sweat before they even realized it.

Immediately afterward, under everyone's watchful eyes, Liu Yang stepped forward into empty air, walking step by step straight up into the sky.

Seeing this sight, everyone froze in utter shock.

How... how did he do that?!

He was actually walking on thin air?!

Was he human or a god?!