Chapter 58: Growth Through Rescue

The aircraft finally stabilized, but this marked the true beginning of danger. Countless zombies had already tightly surrounded the plane, leaving everyone with no choice but to carry the pilot and flight attendants onto the cabin roof to make a desperate last stand.

"Save... save me... I beg you..." The flight attendant was a pretty girl in her early twenties. As an ordinary person, where had she ever witnessed such a scene? She was already scared out of her wits and deeply regretted taking this trip. The moment she reached the cabin roof, she burst into tears and tightly hugged Ye Yang's arm, refusing to let go no matter what.

"As expected of Brother Ye, still trying to pick up girls at a time like this..." Tang Xiaobao and Lin Xiaotian sighed.

"Scram! Pick up my foot!" Ye Yang's face was twisted with exasperation. Could these two kids be serious for once? Furthermore, couldn't they tell how awkward he was right now? He had a girl clinging to his arm while he still needed to fight mutated creatures!

"We can't hold out like this, we have to go help them!" Ling Fengyan said in a deep voice. Following the direction of his finger, Ye Yang finally noticed that a large warehouse-like building not far away was completely surrounded by countless zombies. Gunfire within was intensely dense, and the explosions of rocket launchers and grenades could be seen from time to time.

It was too far to tell how many people were inside, but the situation was clearly extremely perilous because, aside from the zombies, several mutants and predators were lurking outside.

"I'll go, take a few people, you stay behind to protect the aircraft!" Su Yi said with a faint smile. As he spoke, he gestured toward Lin Muyang and Gao Ting, then pointed at Lin Xiaotian. Surprisingly, he also selected Ye Yang to go along.

"Uh... I want to go, but this... who's going to take over?" Ye Yang shook his arm awkwardly. The female flight attendant was still clinging to him with her eyes closed, swinging in the air as he shook, yet she refused to let go.

"I will! Roar roar!" Tang Xiaobao lunged forward with glowing eyes. Ye Yang was left speechless; having this girl tag along was probably several times more dangerous than following the zombies.

Five people rushed out to provide rescue while the rest remained behind to guard the aircraft. Actually, if not for the need to protect the two pilots and the flight attendant, the plane could have been completely abandoned. Oh... and protect Sang Shi. Ye Yang no longer envied Sang Shi's powerful ability because he discovered that once Sang Shi finished firing his magical cannon, he became a total burden, even worse off than himself.

"Wind blades pave the way! Girls cover the flanks, and you-know-who, rear guard!" Su Yi commanded swiftly.

"Uh... My name is Ye Yang, not you-know-who." Although Ye Yang knew this wasn't the time to retort, he simply couldn't help it.

"Alright! Good! You-know-who, take the rear!"

"..." Ye Yang gnashed his teeth.

Watching the combat prowess of his companions at close range, Ye Yang was truly shocked.

Lin Xiaotian's strength was exceptional; he was basically a human-shaped artillery turret. Whenever any zombie or mutant lunged forward, he would flick his wrist, sweeping out a wind blade generated by compressed air. It was a guaranteed one-hit kill, and even predators were blasted into bloody pulps instantly.

"Awesome, right? I call this Wind Slash!" Lin Xiaotian chuckled.

"Yeah! Very awesome, and the name sounds badass too." Ye Yang felt a wave of envy. This Wind Slash was simply too cool, and once again he couldn't help but feel jealous and resentful—why didn't he have such an ability?

However, he could never count on having supernatural abilities. What Ye Yang really observed closely were Gao Ting and Lin Muyang. Up close, he realized he completely lagged behind Gao Ting's rhythm. The girl's speed was more than twice his, and her transitions between offense and defense were superb. True to someone with martial arts training, her lethal moves were simply mind-boggling.

Lin Muyang! A Level 4 trainee from the Capital of Yan and Huang. He remembered Su Yi praising her as the strongest trainee in recent years. She didn't seem to have practiced martial arts like Gao Ting, so her technique had minor flaws, but!!

Ye Yang discovered that her speed was actually faster than Gao Ting's—so fast that he couldn't even see her clearly. Even more outrageously, when she attacked, her short sword triggered ripples of force. Even if she missed, those ripples helped her shred zombies into pieces.

"Yoki value exceeding one thousand! Truly terrifying," Ye Yang sighed. Ling Fengyan had said that once the Yoki value reached over a thousand, attacks imbued with it would produce this ripple effect. Even without an ability, this kind of attack was definitely not inferior to any supernatural power.

Since Ye Yang had no abilities whatsoever, his only hope was to achieve this kind of Yoki-surpassing-a-thousand force ripple effect, along with Gao Ting's techniques and Lin Muyang's speed!

Rear-guard duty was actually quite relaxing. As long as no mutants or predators skirted around, Ye Yang could easily resolve problems by casually swinging his blade and gun. Under the superposition of Yoki, those zombies couldn't even get close.

"So, twisting the body during an attack can integrate offense and defense..."

"So, this move can be used like that too? Damn! Dash speeds are so fierce..."

Ye Yang learned move by move, unleashing his Yoki without reservation and pushing his speed to the limit. He was desperately mimicking the combat styles of the two girls, adopting all their motions and techniques.

Although this was merely an accidental battle, for Ye Yang, it was an exceptional opportunity that he had to seize. Growth sometimes relies not on immense potential, but on one's ability to seize opportunities and strive with all one's might.

Growing rapidly amidst this harmless battle, Ye Yang was evolving at a breakneck pace. Perhaps he hadn't even anticipated it himself, but he was simply instinctively learning how the two fought.

With a thud, Ye Yang's back slammed against an iron door. He had been practicing how to fight while retreating, failing to notice that the other four had already stopped outside the warehouse door.

"Uh... I'll take the vanguard," Ye Yang said awkwardly, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Help... help..." Several soldiers holding submachine guns shouted from the warehouse roof. They were on the verge of collapsing, and Ye Yang even noticed a large hole broken in the corner of the warehouse where zombies were frantically crawling inside.

"Here they come!" Ye Yang let out a furious roar and lunged forward first. He didn't even use his long spear, instead grabbing a zombie by the neck with one hand and yanking it out. The zombie was still thrashing and attempting to bite Ye Yang when he shattered its head with a single kick, sending brains splattering everywhere as Ye Yang dashed inside.

"Bang..." Ye Yang tumbled right back out. A rocket-propelled grenade had exploded inside the warehouse, almost blasting him to the point of permanent disability.

"Damn! Friendly fire!" Ye Yang roared in anger.

"Bang..." Another shell went off.

"Uh... My name is Yang Ye! Mr. Yang!"

"Rat-tat-tat-tat..." A heavy machine gun fired in a furious burst.

Ye Yang felt awkward, looking at Su Yi with a tearful expression and falling silent. Fine, his English was truly garbage, and after all these years, he had long since returned it all to his teachers.

Su Yi was left啼笑皆非 (between laughter and tears), wasting no time as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, dumping out a large basin of water with a splash. Ye Yang stared in utter astonishment. Damn! This guy used his phone's storage space to carry water?

An incredible thing happened: the water poured out, but instead of falling to the ground, it slowly rotated and flowed around Su Yi's hand. Within moments, a water shield was fully formed. Su Yi smiled faintly and leaped right into the warehouse.

The sounds of machine guns and artillery shells continued unabated, but Su Yi paid them no mind. Those bullets and shells were completely blocked by the water shield. The defense and Yoki density of this water shield were simply terrifying.

The water shield gradually expanded as all five entered the warehouse, yet it continued to shield them securely. In mere seconds, the people on the other side realized something was amiss, and at the cry of "STOP!", the gunfire instantly ceased!

"Humans? Hunters? Guests of the Chinese Alliance?" A petite blonde woman walked up.

Ye Yang was so moved he almost cried; he actually understood that... But this girl was speaking in Chinese, clearly acting as a translator. The moment she saw them, she rushed forward, letting out bursts of cheers. In an instant, everyone inside the warehouse understood the situation, and joyous cheers filled the air.

"Wow... Foreign girls!" A figure lunged forward at top speed. Needless to say... it was that utterly shameless little fellow, Lin Xiaotian!

The girl completely ignored him and walked straight up to Su Yi, obviously recognizing at a glance that he was the leader.

"Thank you, thank you for your support." The blonde woman gripped Su Yi's hand with joy and even gave him a hug, making Lin Xiaotian bare his teeth in jealousy.

"This is no time for thanks." Su Yi smiled and waved a hand. The water shield in his palm trembled violently, and several water arrows shot backward, instantly blasting an incoming mutant away.

"Hold the entrance, I'll go up and check the situation! You-know-who, check who's been bitten and administer the serum," Su Yi instructed, sprinting directly toward the stairs. The battle at the warehouse roof was where the real intensity lay.

"I am not you-know-who!" Ye Yang gnashed his teeth as he took out his phone and caught the serum vials tossed over by Gao Ting and the others.

The situation inside the warehouse was several times more severe than Ye Yang had imagined. A whole section of people had fallen to the ground; those bitten by zombies numbered well over two dozen. The blonde woman followed Ye Yang with a worried expression—their serum had long since run out.

"Save those bitten by mutants and predators first. Those bitten by zombies can wait a moment; our serum is limited too!" Ye Yang frowned. He only had a little over a dozen serum syringes in his hands, and several had to be kept in reserve.

"Save him... save him... He was bitten by a predator and is already... already about to..." The blonde woman anxiously pulled Ye Yang aside. Lying on the ground was a robust man, his entire body convulsing as terrifying roars escaped his mouth.

"This..." Ye Yang was stunned. Although he had seen zombies biting people, he had never witnessed a human on the verge of mutation after being bitten. Could this person still be saved? He had no idea whatsoever.

A hand grabbed his arm—it was Lin Muyang. The girl furrowed her brows deeply and shook her head, her meaning abundantly clear: he couldn't be saved?

"Help... help..." A middle-aged woman sat beside the man, desperately pleading. Although Ye Yang couldn't understand most of what she said, he understood that this woman must be his wife, and she wanted him to save her husband.

Another cry rang out—it was a blonde girl of about twelve or thirteen. Ye Yang was surprised to find her in the warehouse. Was she... the robust man's daughter?

"I'm sorry, please tell them that this person cannot be saved; the mutation has gone on for too long," Lin Muyang sighed. The blonde woman's expression stiffened, her body trembling. She was a translator, but how could she bring herself to say such words?

The little girl seemed to understand something and threw herself onto the robust man, sobbing loudly. The middle-aged woman covered her mouth tightly, tears streaming down like a broken thread. Nearby, several soldiers wearing the same uniform as the man wore grief-stricken expressions.

Suddenly, the little girl raised her head, her small hands tightly grabbing Ye Yang's arm as she spoke frantically. The speed of her words made it impossible for Ye Yang to understand, but her intent was crystal clear.

"Save him! It's worth a try!" Ye Yang gritted his teeth, dropping swiftly to a crouch, and immediately prepared the serum syringe.

"But... but he..." Lin Muyang tried to argue, but was silenced by a glare from Ye Yang, whose eyes were filled with bloodshot veins.

"Even if there's only a sliver of hope. Life is more important than anything else."

"But we don't have enough serum..." Lin Muyang gritted her teeth in rebuttal.

"They can wait! Wait for rescue, wait for new serum to arrive! But he can't wait!" Ye Yang practically roared.

As if understanding his words, several soldiers who had stepped forward to receive serum injections gritted their teeth and stepped back. They shook their blood-soaked arms, smiling bitterly and shaking their heads, as if to say their injuries weren't that severe.

"Think of his daughter, his wife, and think if this were your own father... It's just a syringe of serum," Ye Yang said grimly, swatting Lin Muyang's hand away and plunging the needle in without hesitation.

Lin Muyang froze completely. She stared at the mutating man for a long time, finally biting her lip and nodding. She turned and walked away, but after taking two steps, a self-mocking smile surfaced on her face.

"Sorry, my fault. Perhaps because... I never had a father in the first place."