Was there really anyone who, even in their unconscious, did not wish to be stronger?
In the past, human beings would try to acquire more money and when they finally had that money, they would want more. When they had enough money to make their lives as luxurious and comfortable as possible, human beings would seek political power or military command... The human mind always wanted more and was never really satisfied even after achieving its past goals.
This was even more so in this new world after the arrival of the Soul Record on Earth.
In this new apocalyptic world, the possibilities of becoming stronger were literally everywhere; all one had to do was to pick up any weapon and go out into the streets to fight zombies or any other existence that would allow them to evolve regardless of whether they were weak or strong.
However, while the possibilities of being stronger were everywhere, this rule also applied to the possibilities of dying. A person had to be mentally prepared for the fact that, at the moment of leaving, he or she might never come back.
While everyone wanted to be stronger, while everyone wanted power, to receive respect, to eat the best food, and to enjoy the praise and longing gazes of beauties; very few were willing to take the risk involved in attaining such successes.
Just now, Bai Zemin had given Fu Xuefeng the opportunity to become far stronger, but he failed to appreciate it and missed out.
Acquiring a weapon, especially a rare grade treasure, was far more important than even having food or safe shelter; because with a weapon of such caliber, even a normal human being would acquire the power to fight zombies or other creatures, evolve, and acquire food or shelter with their own hands.
Fu Xuefeng was not willing to kill? Sure, Bai Zemin would not force him. But even if he knelt down and begged crying tears of regret, it was too late. Such opportunities were not easy to obtain and since he chose his morality above all else, then he had to take responsibility for his own choices and consequences.
Feeling Fu Xuefeng's envious and regretful gaze upon her, Cai Jingyi gritted her teeth and raised the dagger with trembling hands.
"W-Wait! I beg you not to kill me!"
The student's eyes were wide open and the terror in his face was so great that he seemed on the verge of going mad. But how could he not be terrified? This was about death! His death!
"Just imagine what would have happened if you didn't have strength." Bai Zemin's voice sounded behind her, encouraging her and giving her bravery, "If your luck was bad, maybe you would be dead. If your luck was... shall we say, good? You might have been abused by scum like him."
Hearing his words, Cai Jingyi bit her lip and stopped hesitating. Under the terrified gaze of the student and the shocked look of the others, her arm waved at a speed difficult for normal people to follow.
The young student felt pain in his chest and as he looked down he saw blood begin to ooze from a small puncture; right into his heart. He looked up and momentarily met the eyes of his killer before the light in his gaze faded and his lifeless body collapsed on the ground.
Cai Jingyi's face lost all color and she brought a hand to her mouth as she looked at the red blood staining the ground. She took several unsteady steps backward, but two firm arms clung to her and kept her from falling to the ground.
"Good job. Now you have not only avenged those who died for his act of selfishness but also gained strength. Isn't that good?" Bai Zemin praised and encouraged her.
"Y-Yes... That's true..." Cai Jingyi could barely speak and nodded. While it was true that Bai Zemin's words were laced with all sorts of manipulations, the reality was that she was willing to hold on to them at this moment.
After calming his subordinate and under the watchful eyes of everyone, Bai Zemin took out another item from his backpack.
The object was a pair of gloves with pointed knuckles that seemed to be able to break a rock with their hardness. This pair of gloves was actually the second item he obtained from the Shadow Tiger's final orb; obviously, Bai Zemin was out of luck since he possessed better gloves.
[Power Gloves (Normal Grade Treasure): Able to break through the defenses of any enemy below level 15. When equipped, it automatically increases Strength by +3].
"Zhong De, do you want them?" Bai Zemin waved the gloves and asked as he looked at the big man.
While the gloves were not so good, the amount of stat points was equivalent to almost two levels; two initial levels might not seem much, but after level 15 leveling up was not so easy and required quite a lot of effort. Therefore, 3 stat points were really good from that point of view.
After a second of hesitation and seeing Cai Jingyi stroking her new weapon now more calmly than before, Zhong De nodded and took a step forward.
He said nothing and directly punched on the chest of another survivor who had incited the chaos, destroying his heart into pieces directly along with several bones. The male student spat blood and with eyes filled with disbelief collapsed lifelessly just like his previous companion.
Unlike Cai Jingyi, his face turned pale but his reaction was much calmer. He picked up the gloves and equipped them before falling silent again.
Seeing that he was a man of few words, Bai Zemin chuckled and praised, "Well done, Zhong De."
"Kang Lan, the next opportunity that comes your way will be for you as long as it is something that suits your style of evolution." He did not forget about his last subordinate and the only healer in the group.
Kang Lan took a deep breath and nodded firmly. She felt a little jealous that she didn't have the opportunity to acquire a treasure but at the same time she was relieved that she didn't have to kill a person. Such conflicting feelings caused her to unconsciously feel a little relieved to have more time to adjust to all the sudden change.
After the death of two more survivors, the other four who had caused trouble were naturally terrified. However, before they could utter a single word, a shadow appeared before them and crushed their necks in a second, ending their lives without hesitation and without unnecessary explanation.
After finishing off the main source of the problem, Bai Zemin looked at the survivors and this time he did not care in any way about the looks he was receiving.
"All of you, let me say this for the first and only time to you..." His voice as cold as his eyes echoed in the subway: "From this damned second on, if any of you dare to cause the slightest trouble or disobey, you will be whipped until you feel your flesh fall off your bodies! Don't you want to work? Don't you want to help? Sure! Then stay obediently in the corner and don't stand in my way!... If any of you dare to obstruct me even once, depending on the level of trouble caused, I will personally take it upon myself to end your dog's lives!"
The face of everyone present turned pale and they all nodded repeatedly. Although none of them had particularly done anything wrong, they were secretly reminding each other over and over again to be careful not to break any of the rules laid down as the consequences were too serious to bear.
Seeing everyone nodding obediently, Bai Zemin casually concluded, "If any of you are dissatisfied then you can get the hell out of here right now. Neither I nor anyone else will stop you."
Some people seemed hesitant to hear his final words. Especially some hot-blooded male students who were not willing to be treated like dogs. However, the hot blood of these people cooled down as they remembered the danger outside and obediently swallowed all their disaffection.
Seeing no one saying anything and no one standing out to leave, Bai Zemin coldly sneered before looking at Chen He and the rest.