Chapter 2

The classroom was filled with the crackling sound of lightning arrows.

A person who had opposed earlier was directly struck into a charred corpse, dead as could be.

"You, how can you kill people!"

"He is our classmate, Zhao Hui, are you crazy!?"

"Ugh, Mom, I want to go home..."

Seeing the crowd getting noisy again, Zhao Hui frowned, raised his hand, and released another lightning arrow.

Another body fell to the ground.

This time, the crowd fell completely silent, and no one dared to speak up.

Zhao Hui nodded in satisfaction and continued:

"Now, is there anyone else who opposes?"

The crowd was silent.

Lu Li quietly retreated to the back of the crowd, dragging the two charred corpses to the side.

This seemingly very sycophantic act actually earned him 2 soul points.

And he gained two abilities, [Speed] (Silver) and [Strength] (Silver).

Unfortunately, these two soul absorptions did not offer the option to retain consciousness, so Lu Li had to let it go.

Zhao Hui noticed Lu Li's actions, smiled smugly, and continued to address the crowd:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the world has changed. Now, the strong rule. If you want to survive, you must know the times!"

"Learn from Lu Li. Although he is just a scrap of Black Iron, by following me, he can survive in this apocalypse!"

The crowd all looked at Lu Li, their eyes complex.

There was confusion, jealousy.

But mostly, there was disdain.

Lu Li naturally didn't care about their gazes; he had his own plans.

The ability to absorb souls, though powerful, was very weak in the early stages.

So Lu Li planned to develop stealthily until he was strong enough.

Murmurs of discussion spread through the crowd, and soon someone made a decision.

"Brother Zhao, my awakened ability is [Healing], at the Gold level. Let me stay by your side."

As she spoke, Wang Xu Yan gave Zhao Hui a flirtatious look.

Even a fool knew that going out to hunt monsters was no different from suicide, and staying by Zhao Hui's side was the only way to truly survive.

Even a waste like Lu Li, Zhao Hui was willing to take in, so why couldn't she, Wang Xu Yan, with a Gold-level [Healing] ability, stay?

Sure enough, upon hearing that Wang Xu Yan had awakened a healing ability, Zhao Hui immediately took her in.

Another voice came from the crowd:

"Brother Zhao, my ability is also [Scouting], but it's at the Bronze level. I can replace Lu Li!"

Hearing this, Lu Li couldn't help but look deeper into the crowd.

It was Tian Yu Hao.

In the previous life, this person had seen Lu Li's soul absorption ability and groveled to become his follower.

In the end, he chose to betray because of self-interest!

And in this life, because Lu Li had not directly revealed his ability, Tian Yu Hao chose to compete with Lu Li for the same role out of self-interest.

Tian Yu Hao must die!

"Ah? Your [Scouting] ability is at the Bronze level, that's good. Then follow me! Lu Li, go outside the classroom to hunt monsters, and bring me the essence crystals when you're done!"

Zhao Hui raised an eyebrow and gave Lu Li an order.

He was now completely inflated and didn't worry at all that Lu Li would be dissatisfied.

In the world of the apocalypse, where strength ruled, his rules were the rules!

The crowd laughed, assuming Lu Li would be angry.

But Lu Li just responded calmly and obediently walked out of the classroom.

Lu Li was actually worried that Zhao Hui would keep him by his side, because then he wouldn't be able to go out and hunt monsters.

The top priority was to improve his strength.

This was the early stage of the apocalypse, and every second was precious.

Next, more and more people in the crowd volunteered.

But Zhao Hui only picked a few pretty girls, and the rest were driven out of the classroom.

Following his memory, Lu Li quickly headed to the back of the school.

He remembered there was a mantis nest there.

Over time, the mantis nest would grow rapidly, eventually evolving into a territory that required hundreds of people to clear.

But now, the apocalypse had just begun, and the mantis nest should only contain a mantis queen and a nest of unhatched mantis eggs.

...

Beijing, Zhao Family.

A bearded old man stood in the center of the room, his expression gloomy.

In front of him was a blue holographic projection, with three figures standing inside, one woman and two men.

The youngest man, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, spoke first:

"Grandfather, the other two families have already obtained essence crystals. Why don't we just let our subordinates level up instead of worrying about that old book?"

The bearded old man's face turned cold, and he scolded:

"Old book, old book. If we hadn't taken this ancient book from the Lu family, do you think our Zhao family could have stood firm in this 'Revival War'?"

"If you insist on acting rashly, don't blame me for kicking your branch out of the family!"

The man dressed as a scholar tried to mediate:

"Grandfather, calm down. Younger Brother Three is just thinking about the family."

"If we can show our strength first, other families might reconsider their stance on our Zhao family, right, Sister?"

He looked at the woman in military uniform beside him.

To his surprise, she first nodded, then shook her head:

"Showing strength is right, but I think we should follow Grandfather's plan to be safe."

Seeing his suggestion rejected, the scholar man didn't get angry but instead showed a curious look:

"Sister, is there any news from the military?"

The woman in military uniform was silent for a moment before replying:

"I only know that the 'Revival' process is accelerating, and the higher-ups are still waiting, without giving specific orders."

"Waiting? What are they waiting for?"

"I don't know. My rank is too low to access the core information."

The woman in military uniform answered truthfully:

"But one thing is certain: the higher-ups have forbidden anyone from absorbing essence crystals to level up. All we do is hunt monsters and collect essence crystals."

"From this, it seems the military has its own experts. The ancient book's prophecy is probably accurate..."

The scholar man changed his tone and immediately took a stance against the man in the tight-fitting outfit.

"Hmph, a fence-sitter!" The man in the tight-fitting outfit rolled his eyes.

"Words are wasted on you! Zhao Jin, clean up your mouth. No matter what, I am your elder brother."

The scholar man's face darkened, and for the first time, a fierce look appeared on his usually kind face.

"I damn..."

Just as the man named Zhao Jin was about to retort, he was interrupted by the bearded old man's angry shout:

"Enough! Now that the revival has just begun, every second is crucial. If you want to argue, wait until the Zhao family reaches the Earth level!"

"Zhao Jin! Put away your impatience. If you really want to strengthen the family, you should collect more essence crystals and cultivate a few potential seeds!"

Zhao Jin's face showed difficulty:

"Grandfather, the Zhao family branch in Yongcheng has only a few members left, and they've all been cultivated. I can't just randomly recruit people, can I?"

"Random recruitment is not acceptable, but we can still develop the collateral branches. After all, we are all of the Zhao family."

The old man took a deep breath, and the gloom on his face dissipated somewhat.

"If there are Zhao family members at the Platinum level or above, we can recruit and cultivate them..."