Volume One, Chapter 14: Brothers United in Purpose

The Power of the Titan Awakens!

“Die… right… now!”

Zhang Nan suddenly leapt up from the ground, his massive frame unleashing an unparalleled fierce aura!

Facing the giant fish monster lunging at him again, he neither dodged nor flinched. His right fist clenched tightly, muscles bulging and veins coiling like furious dragons along his arm. With a savage roar, he slammed his fist forward!

The impact of his fist against the fish monster’s hard skull no longer produced a dull thud but a sharp clang, like metal striking metal!

“Bang—crack!”

The arrogant small leader-level fish monster’s skull shattered on the spot!

Its tough headbone splintered, a mixture of red, white, and dark greenish, foul-smelling blood gushed out. The huge body convulsed and collapsed with a heavy thud on the ground.

Zhang Nan stood there, chest heaving violently, every muscle taut and bulging. His bronze skin gleamed with a rugged luster under the dim sky.

He lowered his gaze to his fist, as big as a clay pot, then glanced back at the fallen fish monster, still grimacing in death, bewildered for a moment.

“What… what’s happening to me?”

“Nanzi! That’s my man!” Li Hexuan’s voice snapped him out of his shock.

Li Hexuan’s face was still pale, but he quickly regained his composure. Electric sparks danced at his fingertips, showing no sign of slackening despite Zhang Nan’s fierce eruption.

“Don’t stand there! The fish aren’t retreating yet!”

Before his words faded, with the leader dead, the fish monster pack momentarily fell into chaos, but their innate ferocity remained undiminished. They roared and surged from all directions toward Zhang Nan, intent on tearing apart the one who killed their boss!

At this moment, Zhang Nan felt power coursing through his entire body. The pain from the earlier collision had noticeably lessened.

He let out a roar and charged straight into the midst of the fish monsters.

“Come on! You worthless beasts!”

His fists, his body—right now, he was the most formidable being around!

The claws of ordinary fish monsters scraped against his bronze skin with a dull metallic “clang,” leaving only shallow white marks without breaking his tough hide.

“Damn! This skin’s too tough!” Zhang Nan was shocked himself, then overwhelmed with joy.

Is this the “Titan Power” granting “Diamond Invulnerability”?

And this was just the beginning, yet it was already this fierce!

Every punch he threw carried terrifying force; fish monsters died on impact, their bones shattering incessantly.

For a while, he was like an ironclad warrior, tireless, slaughtering through the fish monsters again and again, leaving broken flesh and shattered bones wherever he went.

Li Hexuan watched clearly. Zhang Nan was in his prime, unstoppable.

He no longer cleared the area with wide-range lightning attacks but wielded his “Electric Control” ability with exquisite precision.

Small electric serpents darted from his fingertips, striking exactly those fish monsters attempting to flank Zhang Nan or sneak through gaps in the defenses.

The electric shocks slowed the fish monsters’ movements, giving Zhang Nan perfect openings to strike hard, while easing the pressure on the others considerably.

“Sister Su! Hurry! Show Brother Nan what you’ve got!” yelled a survivor, his arm slashed deep to the bone.

Su Mengyi had just recovered from her earlier fright.

Watching Zhang Nan’s reckless fury dispel much of her fear, she found new strength within herself.

She grabbed the first aid kit and, under the cover of a few still capable survivors, rushed to the wounded.

Seeing the mangled flesh on Zhang Nan’s chest and the fresh wounds on his body, her eyes instantly reddened.

“Brother Zhang!”

She fought back tears, pressing her hands firmly on a gash ripped open by a fish monster’s claw.

A faint green glow of the “Ode to Life” radiated, brighter than ever before.

Zhang Nan felt a warm heat seep into the wound, the burning pain instantly easing.

More importantly, he felt his strength returning.

“Good girl! Your hands… are damn miraculous!” Zhang Nan grinned, swinging his fists even more fiercely.

Li Hexuan’s deadly electricity, Zhang Nan’s reckless fighting style, and Su Mengyi’s miraculous healing all combined to lift everyone’s spirits!

“Brothers! Let’s fight to the death!” shouted engineer Zhou Yong, swinging a steel pipe and smashing down a fish monster attempting to breach the barrier.

The others threw caution to the wind.

Behind Zhou Yong’s makeshift defenses, armed with stones, wooden sticks, and scrap metal, they fought fiercely against the ferocious fish monsters.

Shouts of battle, monster roars, and clashing weapons echoed all around.

The fighting was brutal, with survivors constantly wounded or falling, but none retreated.

Near the corpse of the fish monster leader whose skull Zhang Nan had smashed, a white-glowing stone rolled out. It was much brighter than the dull gray source crystals.

“White Source Crystal!” Li Hexuan’s heart jolted.

Zhang Nan was now bloodthirsty, seemingly tireless.

Su Mengyi kept healing him. Though the recovery was slow, it was enough for him to keep going.

He locked onto another slightly smaller but fierce fish monster leader, who was leading a group to breach a defense gap.

“Beast! You’re facing me!” Zhang Nan roared as he charged.

Li Hexuan seized the chance, sending an electric arc to strike the fish monster leader’s joints, causing it to falter.

Seeing the opening, Zhang Nan grabbed the monster’s head with one huge hand and hammered down with the other fist like a hail of blows!

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Powered by Zhang Nan’s awakened strength and Li Hexuan’s precise electric assaults, the fish monster leader never managed a proper counterattack before its skull was crushed to pieces!

Another white source crystal tumbled out.

The second fish monster leader fell as well. With the two deadly foes down, the reckless fish monsters finally began to waver and lose cohesion.

Their assault slowed, and their blood-red eyes flickered with fear.

Some low growled, unwilling to advance further.

“They’re retreating!” Zhou Yong immediately noticed.

Li Hexuan did not relax, sparks still dancing at his fingertips, his gaze coldly fixed on the water’s surface.

Finally, after a few reluctant roars, the remaining fish monsters began to retreat, slipping back into the murky water.

At the foot of Luoye Mountain, an eerie silence fell, broken only by heavy breaths and the suppressed groans of the wounded.

The stench of blood hung thickly in the air.

After a brief deathly stillness, a thunderous cheer erupted at the mountain’s base!

“We… we are still alive!”

“We won! Damn, we actually won!”

Survivors dropped their various battered weapons, some collapsing into the muddy water to weep aloud, others embracing and jumping in joy, tears and snot streaming down their faces.

All survivors stopped moving and turned their heads in unison to look up at the two bloodied figures halfway up the mountain.

The air was thick with the wild joy of survival and an indescribable awe.

These two men were their saviors, the only hope in this cannibalistic apocalypse!

Li Hexuan exhaled a breath of foul air and walked over to the still gasping Zhang Nan, pounding his blood-stained shoulder.

The battle was over, but their legend had just begun.