75: Chapter 75 Clean House

The Fortress gates slammed shut behind them, sealing away the final wails and despair. On the plaza, less than a third of the survivors remained. They looked at the figure on the high platform, their eyes a mixture of fear, relief, and a purer form of awe born from having been selected.

Lin Chen's gaze swept over those who remained, cold and sharp like a quenched blade.

"Clean it up," he commanded simply, turning to walk down from the platform without any unnecessary comfort or encouragement. True loyalty required no words to maintain.

Su Qingyu immediately began directing personnel to clear the plaza and arranged for the remaining survivors to return to their posts. The entire Fortress began to operate again like a precision instrument, only with higher efficiency and a more focused atmosphere.

Zhang Hao scurried after Lin Chen, his face filled with the satisfaction of revenge and a hint of fawning. "Master, you were so magnificent just now! Those white-eyed wolves got what they deserved! Watching them get thrown out felt better than eating ten pounds of mutated beast meat!"

Lin Chen didn't stop walking, his voice flat. "Better? Zhang Hao, if I had told you just now that the resource depletion was real, what would you have done?"

The smile on Zhang Hao's face froze instantly, and cold sweat broke out immediately. He fell to his knees with a thud, his voice changing pitch. "Master! I, Zhang Hao, swear to the heavens! Even if... even if we really reached the end of our rope, I would absolutely stay by your side! If you tell me to go east, I won't go west! If you tell me to die, I... if I even blink, I'm not human!"

He kowtowed repeatedly, babbling oaths of loyalty over and over, as if he wanted to carve his heart out to show it.

Lin Chen stopped and looked down at him, his gaze deep and inscrutable.

After a few seconds, he finally spoke slowly: "Remember what you said today."

"Now, I have a mission for you."

Zhang Hao, as if granted a grand pardon, quickly looked up. "Master, please command me! Even if I have to climb a mountain of blades or jump into a sea of fire, if I, Zhang Hao, so much as blink..."

"There's no need for a sea of fire." Lin Chen interrupted his pledge of loyalty, pointing toward the direction outside the Fortress where blood-colored light loomed and Bizarre Monsters roared. "Do you see out there?"

Zhang Hao looked in that direction, swallowed hard, and nodded with difficulty.

"Those cleared out earlier were just the internal scum," Lin Chen said with a cold murderous intent. "Around the Fortress, there is still plenty of 'garbage' that needs to be handled. Those wandering Bizarre Monsters who harbor ill will toward us, those potential remaining spies of Director Zhao Yongfu... I don't want to be disturbed by these flies during the final battle."

He looked at Zhang Hao and issued the order: "You, take your direct squad and clear out all threatening non-friendly units within fifty miles of the Fortress."

Zhang Hao's face turned pale instantly.

Alone? With just one squad? Clearing a fifty-mile radius? What the hell was the difference between this and certain death?! Any slightly powerful Bizarre Monster out there could take his life!

"Ma... Master... this... I..." His lips trembled as he wanted to beg for mercy or bargain, but under Lin Chen's unwavering gaze, he couldn't say a single word. He understood that this was both a punishment and a test. If he passed, he could truly become an 'insider'; if he failed, his end would be no better than those who were thrown out.

"What? You don't dare?" Lin Chen's tone was flat, yet it carried an invisible pressure.

Zhang Hao gritted his teeth fiercely, a look of desperate ferocity flashing across his face. "I dare! I'll risk my life to complete whatever Master commands! It's just clearing garbage, right? I'll go!"

"Very well." Lin Chen nodded and tossed him a storage bag. "Inside are some basic supplies and Signal Talismans. Whether you complete the mission or... die, the Signal Talismans will activate."

No encouragement, no guarantees—only a cold focus on results.

Zhang Hao took the storage bag, which felt light but weighed as much as a mountain. He knew there was no turning back.

...

Half an hour later, the Fortress gates opened a crack once more.

Zhang Hao led his squad—composed of ten Yin Soldiers and five relatively clever human survivors—out of the safety of the Fortress. When he looked back and saw the massive gate, a symbol of survival and order, slowly closing behind him, a wave of unprecedented loneliness and fear submerged him.

Outside was the true and cruel apocalypse. On the blood-colored wilderness, Aberrant plants twisted and writhed, the hair-raising roars of Bizarre Monsters echoed from afar, and the air was thick with the scent of blood and decay.

"Cap... Captain, where do we start?" a human team member asked with a trembling voice.

Zhang Hao took a deep breath of the metallic-smelling air, forcibly suppressing the fear in his heart. He forced a fierce expression onto his face. "What are you afraid of? The Master is watching! Everyone, stay sharp! We start from the east and conduct a carpet search! If we encounter anything alive that isn't one of ours, kill it!"

Brandishing an enchanted machete bestowed by Lin Chen, he took the lead and walked toward an abandoned residential area to the east. The squad members looked at each other and could only follow with grim determination.

The initial clearing went relatively smoothly. They mostly encountered low-level wandering spirits and Aberrations, which were quickly wiped out by the cooperation of the Yin Soldiers and the rest of the group. Zhang Hao even personally hacked down several pouncing zombie dogs, regaining a bit of confidence and ruthlessness.

But the good times didn't last.

When they went deep into an area that was once a commercial street, they encountered a tough nut to crack.

It was a mixed group of Bizarre Monsters consisting of dozens of 'Bone-Eroding Bugs' and several 'Shadow Lurkers.' The Bone-Eroding Bugs were only the size of a fist with hard shells, and their mouthparts could secrete acid that dissolved bone. They were numerous and surged forward like a tide. Meanwhile, the Shadow Lurkers could blend into the shadows of the environment to launch lethal sneak attacks.

The battle broke out instantly, and it was extremely brutal!

The Yin Soldiers formed a formation to resist, their soul fires clashing with the acid and making sizzling sounds. The human members struggled to respond with enchanted weapons and talismans. Zhang Hao roared as he swung his machete, splitting a Bone-Eroding Bug that lunged at him in half, its foul-smelling body fluids splashing all over him.

But the sneak attacks of the Shadow Lurkers were impossible to fully guard against. A human member screamed as sharp claws emerging from the shadows pierced his chest, killing him instantly! Immediately after, another Yin Soldier was torn apart by a Shadow Lurker that had crept up behind it while it was blocking acid!

The squad took casualties! Morale plummeted!

Watching his subordinates fall one by one, and seeing the seemingly endless Bone-Eroding Bugs and elusive Shadow Lurkers, despair surged in Zhang Hao's heart once again. The energy in his body was being consumed rapidly, and his arms were sore and numb from over-swinging.

"Hold on! Everyone hold on for me!" he roared at the top of his lungs, but his voice seemed so powerless amidst the screeching of the monsters.

A Shadow Lurker emerged like a ghost from the shadows behind him, its claws aiming straight for his heart! Zhang Hao could even feel the bone-chilling cold of the wind from the claws!

It's over! This was the only thought left in his mind.

In this moment of life and death, extreme fear and the desire to survive seemed to ignite something dormant inside him!

A cold, violent power, completely different from his usual aura, exploded from deep within his dantian! This power swept through his entire body uncontrollably. His eyes instantly turned pitch black, with no whites, only a darkness as deep as an abyss! Faint, twisted patterns like those of a Bizarre Monster appeared on the surface of his skin!

"Get lost!!"

He let out a low growl that didn't sound human and threw a backhand punch at the Shadow Lurker!

His fist was wrapped in thick black mist, which seemed to possess a life of its own, emitting faint shrieks!

Pfft!

The shadow claws that were sharp enough to tear through steel actually dissolved rapidly like snow meeting the sun the moment they touched the black mist! Then, the black mist spread up the Lurker's arm, and wherever it passed, the creature's body was quickly annihilated as if erased by an eraser!

Insta-kill!

Not only that Shadow Lurker, but even several Bone-Eroding Bugs that lunged at him were eroded by the invisible black mist field when they got within a certain range of Zhang Hao. Their shells shattered, and their bodies turned to ash!

This sudden turn of events stunned both the remaining squad members and the monsters!

Zhang Hao himself was dazed. He looked at his hands wrapped in black mist and felt the strange and powerful force within him. A sense of unprecedented control surged into his heart. He... he seemed to be able to control this black mist? No, more than just control—he felt like he could... sense the fear and... submission of these low-level monsters around him?

He tried to focus his will on the remaining Bone-Eroding Bugs and Shadow Lurkers, releasing that cold aura.

In the next moment, an unbelievable scene occurred.

Those ferocious monsters actually stopped their attacks. They prostrated themselves on the ground, their bodies trembling slightly, emitting faint whimpers of submission!

Ghost Taming?! Had he awakened the ability of Ghost Taming?!

Ecstasy instantly dispersed his previous despair and fear! Zhang Hao looked at the submissive monsters and then at his hands, which contained such power, and couldn't help but let out a long howl toward the sky!

"Hahaha! Heaven will not let Zhang Hao die!"

Leading this newly 'recruited' squad of monsters, he began to sweep through the surrounding areas even more efficiently, like a rolling snowball. If he met weak ones, he killed them; if he met strong ones, he first tried to intimidate and subdue them with the black mist, and only killed them if they wouldn't submit!

His clearing efficiency improved exponentially!

When Zhang Hao returned to the Fortress gate three days later, leading a 'ragtag army' several times larger, composed of all sorts of bizarre low-level monsters, along with his only three surviving human members and five Yin Soldiers, his entire temperament had undergone a world-shaking change.

His previous fawning and slipperiness were replaced by a ferocity and confidence forged through blood and fire. Although he remained respectful when facing Lin Chen, there was now a hint of confidence in the depths of his eyes stemming from his own power.

"Master! I have fortunately fulfilled the mission! The area within fifty miles of the Fortress has been cleared!" He knelt on one knee and reported in a booming voice.

Lin Chen looked at Zhang Hao, noting the cold aura that hadn't yet been fully retracted and the group of monsters lying obediently on the ground behind him. A flash of realization that was hard to detect crossed his eyes.

"It seems you've had quite a harvest on this trip," Lin Chen said flatly.

"It's all thanks to Master's cultivation!" Zhang Hao quickly lowered his head. "This subordinate... this subordinate seems to have accidentally awakened an ability that can control some low-level monsters."

"Mhm." Lin Chen nodded noncommittally, seemingly unsurprised. "It's a good ability; use it well. Let these 'new members' of yours play a part as well."

He changed the subject: "They should know something about the 'Lord of the Ultimate End,' right?"

Zhang Hao was taken aback, then reacted immediately. He turned around and used his black mist-infused will to communicate with several monsters behind him that seemed slightly more intelligent.

A moment later, with a mix of excitement and solemnity on his face, he turned back to report:

"Master! They say... the Lord of the Ultimate End is not invincible! It has three power cores that must be destroyed simultaneously to kill it! And... they vaguely feel that the speed of the Lord's awakening seems... even faster than expected! It might... it might be in less than five days!"

Five days!

That was two days earlier than the seven days warned by the soul suppressing pagoda!

Lin Chen's eyes narrowed suddenly.

The pressure had increased.

But at the same time, a clear path to breaking the situation finally unfolded before him.

Three cores, destroyed simultaneously!

He looked at the still massive one-billion nether talisman gap on the system interface, then at the high-spirited Zhang Hao who had gained a new ability, and the strange team of humans, Yin Soldiers, and monsters behind him.

Perhaps the final pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together.