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“I heard you’re pretty badass, huh?”
The golden retriever was bewildered.
Who leaked the news?
An eerie smile crept across An Chen’s face as he clapped his hands. “To be able to bark so fiercely in front of so many people, regardless of your strength, you sure have guts. Your strength must be pretty good too. I came to your base because I heard there’s a badass dog here, and I purposely brought my elephant to have a little competition.”
Mi Ling and Mi Li glanced at each other, wondering, “Which dog is he talking about?”
Did he mistake the dog?
An Chen pointed at the golden retriever again. “Do you have the guts to have a little competition?”
The elephant stomped its foot heavily on the ground, causing a slight tremor in the surroundings. The concrete road beneath the elephant’s feet collapsed.
The golden retriever stared in amazement. If it stepped on me, wouldn’t it turn me into pulp right on the spot?
“You won’t let it compete with me?”
The issue here wasn’t about courage at all.
The golden retriever was naturally timid and was already hiding behind the girls in fear.
Seeing the golden retriever lower its head in fear, An Chen couldn’t help but sneer. Is this it?
Indeed, his elephant was invincible. A dog that others might consider fierce had been scared into hiding as soon as it saw the elephant.
Mi Ling was speechless. Did he mistake the dog? Wasn’t he looking for the Thunderbolt king?
The Thunderbolt king, even with five of him—no, that was being too conservative—ten of him, might not necessarily be a match for it. What right did he have to challenge it?
Mi Ling waved her hand. “I have no interest in accepting your challenge. You can leave.”
An Chen found it amusing. “No interest? Are you afraid now? I’m actually quite interested in you.”
An Chen provoked, “I don’t care. I came all this way, and you’re telling me you won’t compete? You have to give me an explanation.”
“You brought your level four elephant and so many people here, and you want me to let you go?”
“Either you leave with me, or you give me a feast of meat.”
Mi Ling squinted her eyes. Was he deliberately trying her patience?
If he didn’t want to leave, then he shouldn’t.
Su Dazhu and Xia Haoran stepped forward immediately, leading the others, ready to teach An Chen a lesson and make him stay.
However, Mi Ling stopped them and said to An Chen, “You want someone to compete with your elephant? I’ll do it.”
A few days ago, when the mutant arrived, Mi Ling couldn’t do anything. Chen Luo had to handle everything, and she couldn’t even protect her own sister.
Mi Ling couldn’t tolerate it any longer.
She knew that extreme battles were the best way to push herself and bring out her potential.
This elephant looked strong enough and would make for a decent opponent.
When the Thunderbolt King quickly dealt with Ye Gaofei, Mi Ling faintly grasped something from it but couldn’t quite use it. She wanted to challenge herself.
Su Dazhu, Xia Haoean, and others looked at Mi Ling in surprise.
Mi Ling had made up her mind and politely declined the others’ attempts to stop her.
Just as Chen Luo appeared, he spoke up, saying, “Let her go, Mi Li. There’s no need to boost her with abilities. If she wants to go on her own, then let her.”
AN Chen Looked at Chen Luo as he arrived. He recognized Chen Luo as the leader, but before he could think much about it, he felt an intense stare from a dog.
This was a black dog, seemingly staring at him with a goofy expression. The dog’s face even held a human-like smile, and it was missing an ear.
Was this dog crazy?
What further baffled An Chen was that as soon as this dog appeared, people around him began to show deep respect.
“Dog Elder.”
” Dog Elder is here.”
The people around Chen Luo’s group greeted the Elder dog elder with reverence.
An Chen’s group burst into laughter.
“Haha, this dog is an elder?”
“It’s so funny”
Thunderbolt King couldn’t remain composed in that moment. You can laugh at my looks, make fun of my intelligence, but you can’t mock the Dog Elder position I worked so hard to attain.
However, Chen Luo immediately hugged Thunderbolt King. Although Thunderbolt King had advanced to level five, he couldn’t break free from Chen Luo’s level eight physique.
Thunderbolt King suddenly sniffed the air, sensing a tempting aroma nearby. But he was trapped by Chen Luo’s embrace and couldn’t go anywhere.
Chen Luo thought Thunderbolt King was about to act again, so he held on tightly. It was also time to train Mi Ling a bit.
Chen Luo said sternly, “If you dare not to follow orders again, I’ll strip you of your Elder status.”
Thunderbolt King pouted in annoyance.
Chen Luo moved a bit closer, ensuring he was within reach to rescue Mi Ling if she was in danger.
Both sides cleared a decent-sized area for Mi Ling and the elephant to compete.
An annoyed expression crossed An Chen’s face. He had brought this upon himself.
At the very start, a ball of fire erupted from Mi Ling’s palm and rapidly spread across her entire body in the next moment. Wrapped in flames, Mi Ling looked like a fire spirit.
People on Chen Luo’s side were astonished. How was it possible? The flames hadn’t even singed her clothes!
In the previous encounters, when Thundebot King used his Thunderous Palm technique, it had inspired Mi Ling. She discovered that the elemental abilities could also be used in close combat.
During this time, Mi Ling had been experimenting with her abilities. She had a feeling that she could merge all her bodily energy into one point and unleash an unparalleled force.
If the current temperature of the flames surrounding her was around a thousand degrees, Mi Ling aimed to increase it instantly to three thousand degrees or even five thousand degrees.
The elephant had no intentions of sparing any delicacy and charged straight at Mi Ling, its trunk coiled and ready to deliver a powerful blow. Countless people had already perished beneath its enormous trunk.
Mi Ling didn’t attempt to dodge, standing her ground as the elephant approached.
She remained remarkably composed, driven by her determination to grow stronger for the sake of her beloved family.
Onlookers began to cry out in shock. Were they suicidal? Why didn’t they take advantage of the elephant’s lack of agility and engage in guerrilla tactics instead of just standing there?
Chen Luo held Mi Li’s hand, which provided her with some reassurance.
Just as the elephant’s trunk was about to strike, a rushing sound echoed, and Mi Ling sprang into action.
All the flames that had enveloped her body converged rapidly toward her fingertips.
Eventually, all the flames condensed into an irregular, fiery red shape about the size of a small bowl, resembling a crimson lotus.
Chen Luo squinted his eyes, recognizing that this might be a rudimentary form of Mi Ling’s signature move, the “Red Lotus Eruption.” However, he had no idea that Mi Ling had learned this technique by observing the Thunderbolt King.
Mi Ling brandished the Red Lotus, colliding with the descending elephant trunk. The elephant sensed the danger, its eyes widening with fear, but it was too late to escape.
As soon as the elephant’s trunk touched the Red Lotus, it began to burn intensely. In just the blink of an eye, the front end of the elephant’s trunk was incinerated.
The Red Lotus seemed to possess a sentient quality as it continued to burn. The elephant’s trunk evaporated entirely, and the flames proceeded to consume the elephant’s head.
The elephant howled in excruciating pain, rolling on the ground in a futile attempt to extinguish the flames.
Mi Ling’s forehead was drenched in sweat, and she breathed heavily, feeling drained. She had come dangerously close to reaching the fifth level but didn’t have enough energy left for her abilities; it had been a strenuous endeavor.
The shocking turn of events happened in an instant. Seeing his beloved elephant in such a pitiful state, An Chen let out a heart-wrenching roar and rushed forward.
“Attack! Kill them!”
Chen Luo raised an eyebrow. Weren’t they supposed to have a one-on-one battle? Were they bullying his big sister alone?
The elephant’s head was severely burnt, and the Red Lotus had lost its supporting power, extinguishing on its own. However, with half of its head gone, the elephant’s vitality wasn’t high enough to continue living.
It could be said that the elephant was killed in an instant by Mi Ling.
Without Chen Luo’s command, members like Su Dazhu, Xia Haoran, and others automatically moved forward. The difference was that Chen Luo’s group surged forward like wolves and tigers, while An Chen’s group hesitated, appearing fearful and hesitant.
Who didn’t know that An Chen relied entirely on his elephant? Now that the elephant was dead, what else could he do?
In the eyes of his subordinates, An Chen had lost his utility.
….
I’ll explain a few points regarding the power levels in the story.
First, not all characters who are at the fourth level are the same. The time it takes for individuals to advance to the fourth level or higher can vary, and the main characters have been at this level for quite some time. Progression to the fifth level isn’t easy, and even Chen Luo had some difficulties. Since the apocalypse has only been going on for a little over three months, there isn’t much of a gap to be gained.
Second, the upper limits of power levels are different. Not all fourth-level characters are equal, and some may have unique talents or abilities that make them stronger despite being at the same level.
Furthermore, characters like Mi Ling and Mi Li haven’t absorbed many advanced crystals. They mostly rely on the crystals left by Chen Luo. Chen Luo’s crystal shattering wasn’t meant to limit his power but to provide opportunities for the main characters to grow stronger. If he had advanced to level seven or eight early on, the lower-level zombie crystals wouldn’t have been as useful to him, and he would have been stuck at that level for a long time.
The goal was to ensure that the main characters had a legitimate way to become stronger. It was never the intention to allow any survivors, at any time, to be stronger or have a higher level than the main characters.