Chapter 401: Xing Tian’s Legion


    Around midday, Xing Tian finally arrived at Xu Family Town with a group of his men.


    Their slow pace made Zhang Yi suspect they were also struggling with inadequate transportation. But operating on his own turf, Zhang Yi had little reason to fear.


    He called for Uncle You and Fatty Xu, along with Hua Hua, before setting out. Liang Yue, meanwhile, remained secluded in her own world. She had be oddly withdrawn—no longerining to others, but instead spending her days alone in her room, quietly contemting with her Tang Sword in hand.


    Zhang Yi wasn’t sure if this change was good or bad. For now, he decided not to disturb her and left her out of this mission. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The group set off cautiously in a snow vehicle, heading across the river toward the meeting point.


    Meanwhile, Xing Tian and his entourage, as Zhang Yi had predicted, arrived at Xu Family Town with rudimentary transportation: dog sleds.


    It was no surprise—one couldn’t expect a team of steelworkers to master vehicle modification, nor did they have the abundant fuel resources of Yangsheng Base or Chaoyu Base.


    However, the dogs they bred were massive, hardy, and well-suited for survival in the apocalypse. Unlike pampered pets of the past, these dogs were fierce and versatile, equally adept at fighting and hauling sleds. Being omnivorous, they were also rtively easy to feed.


    At the forefront of the pack was a gigantic silver-gray dog, towering like a small house. On its back sat a cute little girl, humming a familiar nursery rhyme as the icy wind whipped around her.


    Xing Tian wore nobat gear, d instead in his signature gray-blue worker’s uniform. Not even a thick coat adorned his frame. Yet despite the biting cold, he stood tall and unbothered, as if hispact, muscr body were forged from steel.


    The other workers around him were equally robust, their years in the steel mill evident in their hardened physiques.


    Nobody in their right mind would want to fight a team like this—strong, unyielding, and as solid as the steel they once forged.


    Standing in the biting wind, Xing Tian rolled up his sleeve to nce at the Patek Philippe watch on his wrist. The luxury timepiece, said to cost over ten million yuan, was looted from Director Gou. Despite its price tag, Xing Tian valued it not for its mary worth—money was meaningless now—but for the sense of fulfillment it gave him, a symbol of the luxuries he could never have afforded before the apocalypse.


    “Zhang Yi is slow,” he muttered, wiping frost from the watch face before carefully tucking it back under his sleeve.


    At that moment, a few workers approached him.


    “Boss, we found some survivors in the area!”


    Xing Tian raised an eyebrow. “What’s their rtionship with Zhang Yi?”


    “They don’t seem to have one, but they’re terrified of him,” one worker reported.


    Xing Tian nodded thoughtfully. “Makes sense. If they were under Zhang Yi’s protection, he wouldn’t have brought us here. Leave them be.”


    A mischievous grin spread across the workers’ faces.


    “Boss, there are a lot of women in this town. And they’re young,” one said, rubbing his hands together suggestively.


    The Qingfu Steelworks still had several thousand workers alive, 99.9% of whom were men. The few women who remained had long been imed by the supervisors. The rest of the men had little chance to find femalepanionship, especially in the deste surroundings of their base.


    It was no wonder they struggled to suppress their desires.


    Xing Tian smirked but said, “Let me discuss it with Zhang Yi first. This is his territory, after all, so we should give him some respect.”


    Then, with a sly grin, he added, “Of course, if I make the request personally, he’ll have to return the courtesy.”


    The workers eagerly nodded, excitement lighting up their faces.


    “Absolutely!”


    “Boss, you’re the man!”


    ---


    Before long, the roar of an engine echoed from the distance.


    Zhang Yi’s snow vehicle appeared, approaching cautiously.


    Xing Tian’s eyes sharpened as he watched Zhang Yi’s arrival. Standing in the middle of the road with his arms crossed, he exuded an air of challenge. The icy wind whipped at his cor, but it did nothing to shake his imposing stance.


    Zhang Yi stopped the vehicle and carefully stepped out. The atmosphere between the two groups was tense. Though they had agreed to cooperate, neither side fully trusted the other. Any slight misstep could spark an immediate confrontation.


    It had been nearly ten years since the two hadst seen each other. Both had changed significantly.


    Zhang Yi had grown steadier, his once youthful brightness reced by an aura of cold detachment. His mere presence was enough to put Xing Tian and his men on edge.


    Zhang Yi wasn’t doing anything intentionally threatening, but the sheer number of lives he had taken had etched a deadly aura into his very being. Whenever he focused, that aura seemed to seep from his every movement and gaze.


    “This guy is not someone to mess with,” thought everyone from Qingfu Base, even Xing Tian himself.


    But as the leader, Xing Tian had to maintain hisposure.


    They scrutinized each other. Xing Tian had also changed—a more muscr physique and the ability to endure subzero temperatures in nothing but his worker’s uniform suggested a significant enhancement of his physical capabilities.


    Zhang Yi recalled the West Hill Base’s report on Xing Tian. His power was said to be unique: a group-wide buff that significantly boosted his and hisrades’ strength.


    And then there was the enormous mutated dog. Its presence alone was impossible to ignore.


    Hua Hua and the beast immediately locked eyes, their throats rumbling with low, dangerous growls.


    The girl on the dog’s back, Zhou Lingling, patted its head gently. “Lele, be good. Don’t growl at others.”


    The dog calmed down, squinting its eyes as if pacified. Hua Hua, meanwhile, seemed disinterested, standing quietly by Zhang Yi’s side but keeping its sharp gaze fixed on the other animal.


    “Hahaha! Long time no see, old ssmate!” Xing Tian suddenly broke into heartyughter.


    “Who would’ve thought, after ten years, we’d meet again under these circumstances?”


    Zhang Yi smiled warmly. “Indeed. I thought the next time we’d meet would be at a ss reunion over a drink!”


    “But look at you now, Xing Tian—one of the big shots of Tianhai City!”


    Zhang Yi’s ttery visibly pleased Xing Tian, whose smirk lifted slightly.


    “Not bad, not bad. And you’re doing well yourself. Even if you don’t have a vast territory like mine, you’re still a significant figure in Tianhai City.”


    Xing Tian sighed theatrically. “Who would’ve thought that someone as inconspicuous as I was back in school would end up here?”


    It was a humblebrag, meant to highlight his achievements.


    Zhang Yi chuckled inwardly, choosing not to expose him. He knew exactly what Xing Tian sought: admiration and validation, a remedy for his years of insignificance and inferiority.


    Author''s Note