Haigang Survivor Base, conference room.
Ian Song grabbed the seat at the head of the table without a second thought. Zeke Guan sat on his left, and further down were the base’s original four leaders, including Charles Wang.
Charles Wang was just a regular guy, a little on the chubby side. For someone like him to make it as one of the base’s four leaders, he had to have something special going for him.
Next up was Hailey Zhou.
Hailey Zhou still wasn’t buying Ian Song as the new boss, so she walked in with a sour look and didn’t lighten up once.
Boris Hu sat on Ian Song’s right. Next came Jason Gao, who was keeping super low-key right now. Whenever Ian’s eyes swept his way, Jason just smiled—like he’d already forgotten that Ian nearly killed him before.
Jason Gao was basically a wolf in human skin. Sure, he looked all tame now, but give him a chance and he’d stab Ian Song in the back, no hesitation.
But would Ian Song be scared of him pulling something like that? Not a chance.
“Bet you’re all wondering where I came from, right? Let me introduce myself.” Ian Song gave everyone a quick look. “I’m Ian Song, leader of the South China University base. Our people are mostly students and faculty from South China University, plus three hundred armed police. All together, we’ve got about 1,300 survivors.”
When Hailey Zhou heard Ian’s base only had 1,300 people, she smirked with obvious contempt.
Ian Song caught her look and went on, “South China University’s base has around 450 fighters. And those 450? They could wipe out every single fighter in your base, easy.”
“No way!” Hailey Zhou sneered.
“Don’t cut me off—just listen. If you interrupt again, I’ll toss you out!” Ian Song’s eyes flashed cold as he shot a glare at Hailey Zhou. She instantly felt a chill all over and clammed up, not daring to say another word.
Some women just love to push it. Hailey Zhou was exactly that type, so Ian Song was done indulging her.
If she really didn’t know her place, Ian wouldn’t hesitate to throw her out of the room.
“Haigang base has at least two thousand fighters, right?” Ian Song asked Zeke Guan.
“Yep,” Zeke Guan nodded.
Those two thousand split into two groups: Zeke Guan and Boris Hu led fifteen hundred together, while Jason Gao had five hundred on his own.
Hailey Zhou’s few dozen hardcore fans basically didn’t count.
Ian Song kept going, “Two thousand fighters sounds like a lot, but let’s be real—most of your people are just regular civilians, never had any military training. Their actual fighting power? It’s basically zero!”
Hearing Ian Song talk down the base’s fighters again, Hailey Zhou wanted to snap back. But remembering his warning, she just opened her mouth, then shut it and kept quiet.
"Everyone here except Charles Wang is a martial artist, so you know what that means. Martial artists have way more stamina and power than normal people. And my 450 fighters? Every single one is at late-stage Dark-Strength! (Dark-Strength: a high-level martial arts realm, far beyond ordinary folks.)"
"No way—how’s that even possible?!"
The five leaders at the table all stared, eyes wide. Four hundred fifty Dark-Strength fighters? That was insane.
Ian didn’t give them time to process. "Oh, and I’ve got seven subordinates who are all late-stage Dan-Strength! (Dan-Strength: an advanced martial arts rank—a true powerhouse.)"
"Seven Dan-Strength fighters?!"
Four hundred fifty Dark-Strengths was already wild. Now Ian had seven Dan-Strengths too? How did a base of just over a thousand people have so many top-tier fighters?
Watching the five of them reel in shock, Ian grinned. "So, say I sent three hundred fully armed police, all at Dark-Strength, to attack you—could you hold out?"
Zeke Guan shook his head, struggling to answer. "Honestly? I doubt it."
Ian pressed on. "And what if I threw in seven Dan-Strength assassins, sneaking in for the kill?"
"No way we could stop that!" Zeke answered, dead certain.
Dan-Strength fighters were terrifying. Ordinary bullets barely fazed them. If seven Dan-Strengths came for them, these five would be toast.
Ian tossed out a question that made all five of them sit up, hearts pounding. "Want to know why I’ve got so many heavy hitters on my team?"
No hesitation—they all nodded, fast.
"Not telling you yet! But if you impress me, I’ll bump you up to Dan-Strength—or higher—in no time flat!"
Boom!
Temptation—pure, naked temptation.
In the apocalypse, more power meant a better shot at surviving. Who didn’t want to level up?
And now, Ian was handing them a chance to get stronger.
"Boss, I swear to you—I’ll be your most loyal flunky from now on!" Charles Wang jumped up, pledging his loyalty on the spot.