Volume One, Chapter 48: Integrating E City
This was no longer a battle; it was a crushing defeat—a celestial being’s overwhelming strike against mere mortals.
Li Hexuan did not look back. He strode slowly to where Zhao Wuji lay sprawled on the ground like a puddle of mud, towering above him with a cold gaze.
Zhao Wuji’s body was charred black, blood mixed with fragments of internal organs spilling from his mouth. He looked up at Li Hexuan, his eyes filled only with primal terror.
“Devil... you’re a devil...” he rasped, squeezing out the words with his last ounce of strength.
Li Hexuan’s face was expressionless as he slowly lifted his foot and pressed it down on Zhao Wuji’s dantian—the core where the source energy of an enhanced being converged.
“No... please don’t...” Zhao Wuji’s pupils contracted violently. He finally understood what Li Hexuan intended.
For a high-level enhanced being, death was not terrifying. What was truly dreadful was having everything that sustained one’s existence destroyed, reduced to a powerless wreck!
A cruel smirk curled at the corner of Li Hexuan’s lips.
“This is just the interest.”
Crack!
A crisp, bone-shattering sound echoed painfully.
A faint but pure surge of lightning power surged violently from Li Hexuan’s toes, brutally invading Zhao Wuji’s body and ruthlessly destroying all his energy channels.
“Ah—!!!”
Zhao Wuji let out a scream more harrowing than death itself. His entire body convulsed violently before going completely limp. The last flicker of light in his eyes faded, replaced by endless despair and lifeless ash.
Li Hexuan grabbed Zhao Wuji’s ankle as if dragging a dead dog, turned, and headed toward the modified off-road vehicle.
“Gather the brothers. We’re going home.”
His voice was calm, devoid of any emotion, as if he had merely stepped on an ant.
When Li Hexuan dragged Zhao Wuji’s “body” back to the official refuge in E City, the entire shelter erupted in chaos.
Zhao Wuji—the ace of the Apocalypse Group in E City, a high-level earth-element enhanced being!
Countless survivors and soldiers lined the roads, watching the charred figure being dragged across the ground, life uncertain, and then glancing at Li Hexuan’s cold, emotionless face. An indescribable chill rose in everyone’s hearts.
This was not a victor’s boast but a declaration.
A blood-soaked, direct proclamation to all forces in E City.
Lin Feng hurried forward. Even though he was no stranger to life and death, his pupils constricted when he saw Zhao Wuji’s pitiful state.
“He...”
“Is done for.” Li Hexuan casually threw Zhao Wuji to the ground like a piece of trash. “The remnants of the Apocalypse Group in E City are yours to deal with.”
With that, he strode straight toward the C District headquarters, never glancing back.
The news spread through the refuge like a plague.
Thunder God Li Hexuan, single-handedly annihilated the Apocalypse Group’s elite forces, captured the high-level enhanced being Zhao Wuji alive, and publicly crippled him!
This news was a bombshell that overturned the already turbulent situation in E City.
The Apocalypse Group had operated in E City for years and was deeply entrenched. Even with Zhao Qilong and Zhao Wuji’s downfall, their remnants remained a formidable force. Now leaderless, they were thrown into chaos and panic.
Other survivor factions in E City were trembling with fear.
They finally understood: the sky over E City had changed. The man named Li Hexuan was now the sole king.
That afternoon, an official military announcement spread to every corner of E City.
“All survivor organizations not under military command must register and surrender at the official refuge within twenty-four hours. Those who fail to comply will be regarded as hostile forces and eliminated.”
The announcement’s tone was resolute, leaving no room for negotiation.
Everyone knew this was Thunder God Li Hexuan’s final ultimatum.
In an instant, every survivor faction in E City faced a life-or-death choice.
Surrender meant handing over everything painstakingly accumulated, entrusting one’s fate to others.
Refusal meant confronting the man who had crushed even the Apocalypse Group with ease—the living god of war.
Most small faction leaders were wise; they hesitated little and immediately led their people and resources to the refuge. Against absolute power, any wishful thinking was suicidal.
Yet, some were blinded by power and greed.
E City’s Industrial Port District.
This was the territory of the city’s largest gang, the Iron Crocodile Society.
Its leader, “Iron Croc,” was a mid-level peak water-element enhanced being, ruthless and brutal, a local tyrant even before the apocalypse.
At this moment, he sat in a meeting hall fashioned from shipping containers, glaring down at several similarly resentful faction leaders.
“Damn it! Who does that Li Hexuan think he is? Just lucky to have found a broken rock!” Iron Croc smashed the bottle in his hand onto the ground, his face twisted with rage. “Surrender to him? He’s not worthy!”
“Brother Croc is right!” a scar-faced man stood up; he was the remnant leader of the Blood Shark Gang. “We’ve got over a thousand men combined, nearly a hundred enhanced beings! No matter how strong Li Hexuan is, can he fight a thousand of us alone?”
“That’s right! The port is easy to defend but hard to take, with waterways everywhere. Controlling it means controlling E City’s lifeline! Why should we hand it over?”
Incited by Iron Croc, these desperados’ ambition flared fiercely. They resolved to unite, seize the port district, proclaim themselves kings, and challenge Li Hexuan on equal footing.
They fancied themselves numerous and well-defended, thinking they could wrestle with Li Hexuan.
They did not realize that in Li Hexuan’s eyes, they were merely a herd of pigs gathered together, waiting to be slaughtered.
The twenty-four-hour deadline approached swiftly.
Li Hexuan stood atop the refuge’s wall, overlooking the crowd below—a dense mass of people who had come to surrender, nervously awaiting their fate.
Lin Feng approached, handing him a list.
“Mr. Li, except for a few stubborn factions like the Iron Crocodile Society and Blood Shark Gang holed up in the port district, all others have gathered.”
Li Hexuan took the list without looking and fixed his gaze toward the eastern port district.
“Good.”
He turned around and addressed the thousands of newly surrendered survivors below. His voice was low but clear enough to reach every ear.
“You have made the right choice. Now, it is time to deliver your proof of loyalty.”
He pointed toward the port district.
“The Iron Crocodile Society, for defying orders, is guilty of annihilation. Now, pick up your weapons and, as the vanguard, follow me to crush the port district!”
Everyone was stunned.
They were being ordered to attack their former “comrades”?
Such a ruthless move!
No one dared oppose. Under Li Hexuan’s icy gaze, they could only tremble as they took up arms and were reorganized into cannon fodder units.
Half an hour later, an unprecedented mixed force surged toward the Industrial Port District.
Dozens of heavy armored vehicles supplied by the military roared ahead, shaking the air with their thunderous engines. On the water, a dozen military-modified assault boats sliced through the waves like arrows, forming an amphibious blockade.