28: Chapter 28 has an ambush.

"Ha! Hahaha!"

The moment he saw the description clearly, Chen Ze couldn't help but burst into loud laughter on the spot. The long-suppressed panic and exhaustion vanished, leaving only extreme ecstasy in his eyes.

This trip was a narrow escape; snatching twenty or thirty e-rank tomatoes from the jaws of the ant colony was already a huge profit, but he hadn't expected that the flying soldier ant he killed by accident would also contain a genuine e-rank beast core!

You have to know, while graded food is rare, survivors can still obtain it by killing zombies, and some Fortresses even have talents that can produce it.

However, at this stage, there is simply no channel to obtain this beast core; the preciousness of this item is far beyond its rank.

Chen Ze even felt that the beast core in his hand might be the only one among all survivors!

"With this e-rank beast core, as long as I wait for my attributes to be stacked and reach the standard, I will be able to break through the shackles without any hindrance and successfully advance to e-rank!"

He said this, his gaze cast fiercely behind the Light Barrier.

"By then, I'll slaughter all of you!"

After finishing his harsh words, Chen Ze didn't intend to continue struggling with this group of beasts.

He composed himself, lowered his head, and carefully inspected the injuries all over his body; the more he looked, the tighter his brows furrowed.

There were dense scratches of all sizes all over his body, but the most serious one was his left shoulder, which had been viciously bitten by the flying ants, leaving several deep gashes with exposed flesh, swollen and red.

The intense formic acid kept eroding into the wounds, and the corrosive, numbing pain continued to spread. In just a short moment, his entire left arm began to go numb and stiff, and even exerting force became incredibly sluggish.

He took some water from his backpack and rinsed the wounds. Feeling uneasy, he sent a message to Wang Yalan, asking her to trade him some amoxicillin.

Ever since Chen Ze left, Wang Yalan had been staying in the Blockhouse, constantly watching the direction Chen Ze had departed in, afraid that she wouldn't notice if he returned.

Her heart was always hanging, fearing that Chen Ze might encounter an accident. Suddenly seeing a message notification, she immediately clicked to view it.

When she saw that Chen Ze needed amoxicillin, her heart instantly jumped into her throat.

"Chen Ze, what happened? Are you hurt? Where are you? I'll come to meet you!"

The message was sent urgently and quickly, and the hidden worry was evident between the lines.

"It's nothing, just some minor injuries. Asking for anti-inflammatory medication is just a precaution."

Chen Ze replied simply, not detailing the encounter in the forest to Wang Yalan.

Mainly because it was getting late, he had to keep it brief; getting back to the Blockhouse before dark was the priority.

"That's good! That's good! Come back quickly, I'll be waiting for you in the Blockhouse. Send me a message if you need anything."

Wang Yalan also knew that it was getting late, and the wilderness was becoming increasingly dangerous; this was not the time for long questions or chatting.

She immediately opened the system trading panel and traded all the remaining amoxicillin to Chen Ze, along with gauze and medical tape.

"Be careful with everything! Safety first!"

Looking at the gentle words of exhortation on the screen, Chen Ze felt a slight warmth in his heart.

In this cruel and cold different world, there was still someone silently waiting for him and caring about him; this feeling was unexpectedly not bad.

He swallowed an anti-inflammatory pill on the spot, but the numbness from the formic acid on his shoulder didn't alleviate in the slightest.

In the short moment of delay, the toxin continued to spread, and the stiffness in his left arm became heavier and heavier, to the point where even gripping his rifle was somewhat difficult.

Chen Ze's face sank, not daring to delay any further.

He didn't dare to gamble on how overbearing the toxicity of this mutant formic acid was; if the acid continued to spread, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He glanced coldly at the ant colony inside the Light Barrier.

"Just you wait, I'll slaughter all of you sooner or later!"

He took strides and hurried towards the Blockhouse.

The journey, which would normally take over two hours, was completed by Chen Ze—who was eager to return and burdened with injuries—in just an hour and a half.

Exhausted and in pain along the way, he took out three e-rank tomatoes and ate them quickly. Not only did they instantly replenish his exhausted stamina, but a continuous stream of gentle alienation energy was also constantly tempering his body.

His attributes also surged again, with his three dimensions reaching 19, 18, 19—just one final step away from reaching the e-rank advancement standard.

It was precisely because of this comprehensive improvement in attributes and physical strengthening that the mutant formic acid raging inside his body was finally forcibly suppressed.

The numbness no longer spread downwards, remaining firmly locked near the wound on his shoulder, without further deterioration.

Chen Ze was secretly relieved, and his hanging heart settled slightly.

Thinking back on this high-risk trip to the dense forest, the whole process was like dancing on the tip of a knife, with his life hanging by a thread.

From rashly breaking into the ant colony's territory, being surrounded and chased by tens of thousands of giant ants, being bitten and poisoned by flying ants, to finally giving his all to rush out of the Light Barrier.

If any part of the journey had gone wrong or been half a step slower, the only ending awaiting him would have been being devoured completely.

A desperate run for his life, a bloody escape; every step was a dead end.

Fortunately, he survived the danger, and the rewards were ridiculously generous.

A full twenty-eight e-rank tomatoes, his three-dimensional attributes were about to be completed, and he had a unique e-rank beast core in his hand—he held the capital for an exceptional advancement.

The sky gradually darkened, and most of the daytime sultriness had subsided.

The outline of the Blockhouse in the distance became clearer and clearer, and he could vaguely see a figure standing in front of the observation window on the third floor; it was Wang Yalan.

Chen Ze sent a message to Wang Yalan.

"I see the Blockhouse, I'll be back in five minutes!"

The latter immediately sent a reply.

"That's great, I'll turn on the searchlight right now, hurry back!"

Just looking at the text, the image already appeared in his mind.

That charming wife, upon receiving the message, was filled with joy, hurriedly wiggling her little bottom as she rushed to the roof, hastily turning on the searchlight, just to light up the last leg of the road home for him.

"No wonder everyone likes married women? Young girls wouldn't know how to do this!"

Chen Ze's mouth curled up unconsciously, and his pace quickened a little more.

"Click!"

The searchlight on the Blockhouse turned on in response, and a stark, blinding beam of light cut through the darkening night, slowly sweeping towards Chen Ze's direction.

This searchlight was a system product, with astonishing brightness; wherever it passed, even the gravel in the corners and the weeds by the roadside could be seen clearly.

Wang Yalan held the joystick of the searchlight, her gaze closely following the movement of the beam, her heart filled with the sense of security of being about to see Chen Ze.

But just as the beam swept past an ordinary single-story house not far away, her smile suddenly froze, and her pupils contracted violently!

In the shadows behind the house, three or four figures were sneakily hiding! They were hunched over, holding their breath tightly, as if they had merged with the darkness.

The beam of the searchlight happened to sweep over the top of one person's head, and a blinding oily sheen instantly reflected back.

That bald head, who else could it be but Yang Wei!

Wang Yalan's heart instantly sank to the bottom.

Having been with Yang Wei for so many years, how could she not know this man's character.

Narrow-minded and vindictive, having had his heart of the fortress taken by Chen Ze before, he must be harboring a grudge.

Without waiting for her to think it through, a terrifying thought instantly struck her.

Chen Ze was rushing towards this side, and this road was the only way back to the Blockhouse! Yang Wei didn't appear by chance at all; he was ambushing Chen Ze!

"Oh no!"

Wang Yalan's heart raced wildly, and cold sweat instantly soaked her back.

She knew Yang Wei's cowardly nature too well; usually, he bullied the weak and feared the strong. If he dared to take the initiative to ambush this time, he might have hidden a backup plan, or there might be more than just these three or four people!

In a panic, Wang Yalan didn't have time to send another message; she directly leaned over the observation window of the Blockhouse and shouted with all her might towards the night sky below.

"Chen Ze! There's danger! There's an ambush! It's Yang Wei!"