Chapter 57: Chapter 57: We Only Rob, We Don’t Kill

Li Xingye had initially planned to kill the overconfident fools who had been tailing him, but he quickly realized something was off.

The survivors around here, even those who couldn’t gauge his true strength, wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack him in the flower and bird market. No one would risk betting that those inconspicuous seeds wouldn’t suddenly turn into deadly weapons.

Especially after overhearing their conversation, Li Xingye realized they didn’t recognize him. That could only mean one thing: these people had come from far away.

But that was even stranger.

After so many years of the apocalypse, any place with food had long been picked clean by survivors, the contents stored away by Space Superpower Users.

As a result, in these later stages, nearly everyone had to survive on the food that Space Superpower Users had previously stockpiled.

At the same time, everyone was gradually realizing that this was just a slow death. No matter how large the storage space or how much food they had, it would all run out one day.

Thus, to conserve energy and resources, most people didn’t venture far from their familiar territories. After all, the zombies were constantly evolving, and the longer the journey, the greater the chance of something going wrong.

This rising despair also caused some people to gradually lose their humanity.

By the tenth year of the apocalypse, it was rare to see a new face in any given region. So, Li Xingye was genuinely curious about where these people came from.

’Madmen from the Imperial City? In what way, I wonder...’

Li Xingye subconsciously stored the leftover fruit pit in his personal dimension. Lost in thought, he was a bit distracted.

The group that had been tailing him for hours thought they’d found their chance and suddenly lunged at him from all directions!

Li Xingye remained seated leisurely in the wicker chair, his chin propped on one hand, not a hint of surprise on his face.

The highest-rank attacker was the short-haired woman leading the charge, a blade of fire coalescing in her hand.

Compared to those who were starved down to skin and bones, she was only a little thin. There were even traces of muscle on her bare arms, a sign that she probably hadn’t been lacking for food until recently.

But when the woman saw the unchanging expression on Li Xingye’s face, her heart sank. ’It’s over!’

A second later, her fears came true.

Li Xingye barely moved, yet his attackers all froze in place before dropping straight to the ground.

They all looked down at their ankles in horror. A thin, parasitic vine had somehow wrapped around them. The superpower within their bodies was being siphoned away, flowing into the vine like a torrent!

Once their connection to their superpowers was severed, their attacks naturally fizzled out.

A tall, skinny man with a face full of stubble stared at Li Xingye as if he’d seen a ghost. "You... How is that possible? I’ve never heard of anyone who can absorb another person’s superpower! No, wait... Are you from the Imperial City, too?!"

The tall, skinny man’s words snapped the others out of their shock. Instantly, their eyes filled with a bone-deep hatred as they stared at Li Xingye. "You animals! Are you finally starting to prey on other territories?!"

Li Xingye said nothing. It was the short-haired woman who spoke first. "He Fang, everyone, calm down. This is Rong City. The Imperial City’s reach doesn’t extend this far. Even if they wanted to expand, they wouldn’t bypass closer targets for one so distant."

The woman looked at Li Xingye, her expression composed. "Look, believe it or not, we were just trying to rob you. We didn’t want to kill anyone. One of my companions is injured, and he won’t make it without food. I’m not making excuses; in this apocalypse, it’s the law of the jungle.

"But since you didn’t kill us right away, you must want to know something about the Imperial City. I can tell you everything I know, but I’m asking you to let my companions go. They were only following my orders..."

Before the woman could finish, the others immediately protested. "Boss! I’m not leaving! If we die, we die together! We never would’ve escaped the Imperial City alive if it weren’t for you!"

"Yeah, Boss! In the world today, it’s just a matter of dying sooner or later. We’re not afraid! It’s just... it’s a shame we can’t let Xiao Liu know..."

"Tch, it doesn’t matter if we tell him or not. Worst case, we’ll all meet up again in the afterlife."

...

Li Xingye watched with some exasperation as they worked themselves into a tragic fervor. For a moment, you’d think he was the one who had attacked them.

He had no patience for this pointless chatter. With a flick of his finger, the noisy voices instantly fell silent.

The woman’s heart clenched as she saw vines wrap tightly around her companions’ mouths. But she realized Li Xingye didn’t seem to want to kill them; it was as if he’d simply gagged them because they were being too loud.

She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling she had a slightly better read on Li Xingye’s character now. Without waiting for him to ask, she began. "My name is Liang Yushuang. I escaped from the Imperial City. The Imperial City is now divided between two large bases, each vying for control, but their methods are completely different.

"Baiyi Base was established by surviving soldiers. On the surface, its leader is an Eighth-Rank Water Ability User, but the true core of their power is a Seventh-Rank Healing Ability User.

"After reaching the Seventh Rank, a Healing System ability can perform group healing. But more importantly, he can cure the poisoning caused by eating crops grown in the post-apocalyptic soil. So, after all the normal food ran out, their base has maintained its strength by relying on that tainted food and the Healing Ability."

A flash of surprise crossed Li Xingye’s eyes. ’He had to admit, it was a clever method.’ 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

’It’s a shame that Healing Ability Users are so rare in the apocalypse,’ Li Xingye thought. ’You might not find one in a million people. What’s more, the Healing System offers little in the way of self-defense. Without a suitable team for protection, it’s difficult for them to grow strong.’

’The military is indeed the perfect environment for a Healing Ability User to develop.’

Liang Yushuang took a breath and continued, "The other is called Dawn Base.

"Originally, the people at Dawn Base split off from Baiyi Base. The story goes that an irreconcilable conflict arose between two factions, so the leader of what would become Dawn Base left with a group of followers, creating the schism.

"Dawn Base... is full of mad scientists."

Liang Yushuang seemed to recall a painful memory, and her voice wavered, but she quickly composed herself. "Their leader is a Spiritual Ability User. I don’t know his rank, and I’ve never seen him. No one can get close to him.

"He uses his superpower to control people for his experiments. He claims he’s trying to uncover the secrets of the apocalypse, to bring a ’dawn’ of hope to everyone.

"But in reality, no one outside their circle knows what they’re researching. The people who ’participate’ in the experiments... they just vanish without a trace.

"All we know is that they seem to have a special method for draining a person’s superpower completely."