In the settlement, there were more young and middle-aged people, the groups that were the easiest to survive when the apocalypse began, while the numbers of the elderly and children were much fewer in comparison.
The Phantoms were also born in similar proportions, with more young and middle-aged, gathering together as if they were very familiar with each other.
Chen Tiannan also noticed that real people and Phantoms gathered in different places, with a clear dividing line. But just from appearance, there was no difference, no anomaly at all, as if they were simply members of the settlement, puzzled about what exactly was happening to gather them all together.
"This makes it much more convenient."
Chen Tiannan gestured to the crowd in the square to separate the Phantoms, getting the others to step back, and then also separating the Phantoms hidden among the real people, gathering them all in the square.
This process did not last long and was completed in less than an hour, gathering all the Phantoms in the settlement into the square.
While these people were still looking at each other in bewilderment, Chen Tiannan walked onto the square, looked at them, and calmly said, "We are the Law Enforcement Team, specializing in dealing with out-of-control Extraordinaries. You have been heavily polluted, so you must be executed!"
As soon as the words fell.
The people in the square hadn’t yet reacted to what was happening when the law enforcement team started slaughtering.
More than ten Law Enforcement Team members acted simultaneously, standing in different corners of the square. They were all Tier Seven Extraordinaries, and dealing with these people in the settlement was naturally a piece of cake.
This was a simple massacre, with no surprises, no disturbances.
Xia Hong ordered the square to be sealed off, preventing anyone from escaping.
Outside the square, after a brief period of chaos, people quieted down, surprisingly discovering that although the people in the square were from the same settlement as them, they seemed strangely unfamiliar, like familiar strangers whom they saw often but had no relationship with, perhaps never even having spoken a word.
The sentiment of indifference was fully expressed.
The people outside the square did not voice any resistance, coldly watching this scene, as if it had nothing to do with them, knowing that once pollution spread, it might endanger them.
There had been a settlement before where many people died due to environmental pollution, and that settlement now seemed to have been destroyed.
Compassion was a precious thing for most people in the apocalypse, with many abandoning it, and their personal feelings gradually worn down day by day, growing numb.
Numbness in people is never formed in an instant; it develops slowly, and once they realize it, there is no turning back.
Chen Tiannan personally participated in the massacre, his hands stained with blood, his firearms covered in blood, becoming slippery and no longer clean.
He had always opposed such massacres, believing them to be inadvisable and a self-consumption of humanity.
Regardless, large-scale massacres are a humanitarian destruction.
Yet he kept questioning himself inside, can these really be considered human?
Some people in the massacre lost their bodies and disappeared quickly, but this strange scene was not seen by anyone except Chen Tiannan. Others seemed to subconsciously ignore this point, including Ximen Long.
The more this happened, the more Chen Tiannan felt that he was doing the right thing. If they did not take action, they might unknowingly step into the darkness, like dying in sleep; painless, yet so sudden.
After the massacre was complete, the bodies in the square were conveniently disposed of, cremated together, black smoke billowing with a burnt smell.
"Are they really polluted people?" Xia Hong asked again, feeling that Chen Tiannan and others were hiding something, as these people showed no signs of pollution, at least not visibly abnormal.
However, after the massacre began, he also sensed something amiss, feeling unfamiliar with those who were killed.
Chen Tiannan, covered in blood, turned his head to look at him and calmly said, "They were people who shouldn’t have existed, who shouldn’t appear in this settlement or in this world, perhaps only existing in imagination."
After speaking, Chen Tiannan turned to leave, walking away from the settlement, appearing extremely cold-blooded, having killed so many without a hint of emotional fluctuation.
"Nonexistent people?" Xia Hong obviously didn’t grasp the meaning but didn’t ask further, feeling much more settled internally, considering Chen Tiannan a reliable person.
This feeling seemed inexplicable, probably because of Chen Tiannan’s inherent reliability, a sort of personal charisma.
After the bodies were cremated, more people began to sense something was wrong. Initially, some felt sorrow for those who had died, but then they suddenly couldn’t recall which people had died, and the faces of the deceased blurred.
Xia Hong flipped through the settlement’s records, finding pages upon pages of blank spaces, or only incomplete information, and couldn’t help but draw a chilly breath: "What are they exactly······"
He thought that this was definitely not a simple pollution but a more serious and terrifying thing, so much so that even the law enforcers didn’t tell him the truth.
"Chief, what on earth is going on, why have the records of those who died turned out like this?" A tall, thin young man with black-rimmed glasses asked, trembling slightly with instinctual fear.
Xia Hong saw his appearance, reassuring him: "No need to worry, those people have already been dealt with."
"Will they reappear······"
...
Su Changxing, having received the Extraordinary Crystal sent by the Big Horn, ate it in one gulp. This Tier Seven Crystal was much smaller than that of a giant lizard, so it could be directly held in his mouth, though it was a bit of a tight fit, as he felt his mouth full and slightly numb, with a layer of white frost on his lips.
About half an hour later, with the progression of the Tier Seven Extraordinary Crystal, his Extraordinary Process reached about 40%, and the frenzy was enhanced again.
This time, he chose not to enhance Marching Speed but to enhance Hunger.
Hunger is a significantly more potent ability and certainly the optimal choice. With Hunger, the combat capabilities of the Undead Tide were increased by more than double, able to stand toe to toe with powerful Extraordinary Creatures like the dark green fish.
If it were before, he definitely wouldn’t have chosen to strike first. Even if he defeated it, the losses to the Undead Tide would have been exceedingly severe, instead impacting the efficiency of collecting Extraordinary Crystals, which would not be worth it.
Hunger v1—Hunger v2
Hunger v2: After entering combat status, the Undead Tide continuously devours the target’s life force, recovering its own by 1.5% every five seconds. Zombies in the Undead Tide, while fighting the enemy, also continuously devour the target’s flesh, recovering 3% of their own life per second, including physical form and bodily integrity.
With the boost of Hunger v2, the Undead Tide became more like an immortal army, seemingly never to fall.
Many times, battles looked fierce, but as they ended, it was discovered that few zombies had actually died, and even when bodies were smashed to pulp, they could stand again in battle.
Even a dozen ordinary zombies could deal with a Tier Nine Extraordinary Creature, relying on their fast recovery and their hard-to-kill nature.
The expeditionary Undead Tide continued to advance deeper, looking for other Tier Seven Extraordinary Creatures, having changed their target from Tier Eight to Tier Seven, whilst simultaneously clearing out the Tier Eight Extraordinary Creatures.
During the journey, they encountered a Tier Eight Extraordinary Zombie, but with the current capabilities of the Undead Tide, it couldn’t be assimilated. So Su Changxing had no choice but to order a harsh kill, having the Undead Tide corner it, seize its crystal, and share its flesh.