Chapter 52: Calling for Reinforcements—Take Him Down!

Suddenly receiving Erlong’s call, Zhang Ze felt a deep sense of worry. Despite their constant bickering whenever he and Fatty met, the bond between them was beyond doubt. He handed over all the gains he and Peng Fei had collected, entrusting them to be taken care of, and set off straight for Changping Village.

On the road, Zhang Ze received a bank message; his wealth value also responded with a change.

Wealth Value: 1.12 million.

Yet, Zhang Ze was in no mood for joy. He was restless and furious. Arriving at Changping Village by noon, he finally relaxed after seeing Huang Ming and Fatty’s condition.

“Fatty, you really haven’t made much progress, have you?” Through the system, Zhang Ze saw clearly Fatty’s cellular strength was only at 86S.

Huang Ming’s right leg had been broken by someone, and he lay on a bed across the room.

“This guy never listens to me. As soon as night falls, he runs off to his family,” Zhang Ze barely finished before Huang Ming interrupted.

“Damn it—”

“I nearly got beaten to death saving you, and you dare rat me out?” Fatty, lying on the bed, was understandably irritated and questioned Huang Ming.

Fatty wasn’t wrong. He wasn’t even a martial artist, and Jia Yao’s men hadn’t really planned to harm him last night. But worried about Huang Ming, he threw himself into the fray and got knocked out by a single punch.

The three chatted idly for a while. Seeing their conditions stable, Zhang Ze finally let out a breath of relief. He instructed them to rest well, then went to find Erlong and Blind Chen.

“Brother Long—”

Gone was Zhang Ze’s earlier ease; his face was grim as he spoke. “I’m afraid the pills can’t be retrieved now.”

Upon seeing Zhang Ze, Erlong shook his head softly, his voice low. “No—”

“Not only must we get the pills back, but I want Jia Yao utterly humiliated!” Zhang Ze had mulled over this on his way. He’d dared to barge into the Investigation Bureau alone; now, as a second-rank martial artist with many allies, he felt even more emboldened.

“Zhang, don’t act rashly. Jia Yao has been building his power around Mengyang County for years. He’s not someone we can confront head-on,” Erlong remembered the outcome at Chen’s Village and hurriedly tried to dissuade him.

But he hadn’t expected not only Zhang Ze to insist on action, but even Blind Chen to voice his support.

“Erlong, I stand with Zhang Ze on this,” Blind Chen said frankly. “We chose Zhang Ze’s pills, so we’ve already taken a side, haven’t we? If we swallow our anger now, do you think Jia Yao will just let us keep using Zhang Ze’s pills? Impossible!”

Erlong fell silent at Blind Chen’s words.

“Uncle Long, everyone’s long past tolerating this. If Jia Yao robs us once, he’ll do it again!” At some point, Li Tian and a group of young men entered the room.

They caught Zhang Ze’s eye; after more than half a month, Li Tian had become a martial artist as well.

In the end, with everyone’s insistence, Erlong made his decision—to storm Xie Village that very night and reclaim their batch of pills.

Around the same time,

Southern River Province, Xiangcheng County.

The Star Gate, which had been in turmoil for days, finally began to settle. Above Li Guiying and the others, a crack nearly ten meters long and three to five meters wide appeared out of thin air.

The crack spewed torrents of energy; even Li Guiying and the other powerful figures wore solemn expressions.

“It’s time. Let’s move,” Li Guiying said, without any grand speeches. She lifted her long blade, soared upward, and plunged into the crack.

As her figure vanished, the crack trembled violently, a terrifying roar echoing from within.

“We’re going too!” Yang Yunfei, Lin Feng, and the others followed swiftly, disappearing into the rift after Li Guiying.

On the right side of Wolf Fang Mountain,

Here gathered a martial corps of several hundred, each soldier a top-tier second-rank martial artist.

Unlike the fools Zhang Ze had encountered before, these soldiers had earned their rank by repeatedly brushing the edge of death.

From their vantage point near Wolf Fang Mountain, they could clearly see the high-ranking warriors charging into the crack first.

The hundreds-strong unit watched Li Guiying and her group silently, each saluting in perfect military fashion.

To these soldiers, those who had just entered the crack were without exception heroes of the nation, heroes of humanity!

With flesh and blood, wielding all their martial knowledge, they would carve out a sliver of survival on the other side of the Star Gate.

When the time came, they too would enter the Star Gate, to halt the alien races from invading Earth and threatening humanity!

If Zhang Ze were here, perhaps he’d notice a familiar figure among these soldiers.

That night,

Looking at Li Tian beside him, Zhang Ze asked with a smile, “Are you afraid of killing?”

The abrupt question made Li Tian’s eyes widen in shock. Though he’d been eager to reclaim the pills, he’d thought it would just be a show of force to pressure Jia Yao into returning what belonged to them.

But hearing Zhang Ze’s words, he suddenly understood.

“Heh—”

With a soft chuckle, Zhang Ze said no more. He swept his gaze across the young men before him and spoke coldly, “If you’re with me, don’t you dare chicken out.”

“When I wasn’t even a martial artist, I dared to stir up the Investigation Bureau. What’s Jia Yao to me? He’s nothing, daring to steal my pills.”

“Tonight, I want to see whether it's the Qian family pulling the strings or Jia Yao acting on his own!”

Most of the group were eighteen or nineteen, hot-tempered from years of martial training. Fired up by Zhang Ze’s words, they were itching to hack Jia Yao and his men to pieces.

Seeing this, Zhang Ze smiled quietly and glanced at Erlong and Blind Chen.

“Be careful—”

“Go all out! The lads from Chen’s Village have never feared Jia Yao!” Their personalities differed, as did their words.

Li Tian had regained his composure and whispered to Zhang Ze, “I’ve never killed before, but I’ll never fear it!”

At that moment, Li Tian’s mind flashed to his parents’ current condition. To support his martial training, to allow him another precious pill, his parents had exhausted themselves.

Everything they could sell from their bodies had long since gone.

Only then could Li Tian reach his current cultivation. Yet Jia Yao could just seize their pills—whether acting for the Qian family or the Lin family.

If they wouldn’t let him train, he’d kill them!

Zhang Ze had no idea what Li Tian was thinking. After giving a few instructions, he led the dozen young men away into the night.

Fatty and Huang Ming, struggling to get out of bed, watched Zhang Ze lead his group away and sighed.

“Who’d have thought—”

“Zhang Ze’s pretty good at brainwashing people—” Fatty grumbled in annoyance.

Luckily, Huang Ming’s injured right leg kept him from kicking Fatty.

Still, he couldn’t help but curse, “You’d do well to get off women and focus on your cultivation.”

Fatty suddenly asked, “Brother Huang, do you think those martial sisters are more intellectual?”

“….”