188: The corpse king escapes

Looking at the device storing Red Crystal Cores in his hand, Tian Ming looked at Xia Qi with some doubt and said, "I didn't expect you could make something like this."

"What's so surprising about it? It's just a simulation of the environment inside a Corpse King. But you, in just a few days, absorbed four Red Crystal Cores. That's quite unexpected for us."

The relationship between the two parties was not exactly tense, but neither was it friendly; it was merely a temporary collaboration due to a shared objective.

Tian Ming asked curiously, "Tell me, what do you need Red Crystal Cores for? It seems you can't absorb this directly. Are you taking them back to generate electricity?"

Xia Qi glanced at Tian Ming, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly said, "As zombies evolve, they contain more and more energy, and this energy produces Red Crystal Cores. For Ability Users, this energy is of the same origin and can enhance abilities. Furthermore, a quantitative change can even lead to a qualitative change, allowing Superpower Users to gain more elemental control. And the energy from Red Crystal Cores is much safer than Super Serum; at least the success rate of enhancement is a hundred times higher, and the risk is only ten percent of that of Super Serum."

Tian Ming asked with some interest, "You mean this can enhance Ability Users?"

Xia Qi nodded. Since Tian Ming could directly absorb Red Crystal Cores, there was no need for him to hide anything from Tian Ming. The enhancing effect of Red Crystal Cores would soon be known to all major forces. Currently, powerful Corpse Kings are relatively rare, and any Shelter with a bit of strength would send Ability Users out to capture Corpse Kings.

Tian Ming pondered for a moment, secretly calculating in his mind. If Red Crystal Cores could enhance Ability Users, then the Ability Users in his Shelter would still have room for advancement. However, Tian Ming was not clear on the specific method of enhancement, as not everyone was like him, able to withstand the direct energy impact of Red Crystal Cores.

"How do you introduce the energy from the Red Crystal Cores into the Ability Users' bodies?" Tian Ming asked.

Facing such a question, Xia Qi smiled: "I'd like to know too. This is confidential; we First-Class Ability Users don't have the right to know. Once my team collects five Red Crystal Cores, then we will be qualified for enhancement."

"Oh, I see." Tian Ming nodded and stopped pressing the issue.

Xia Qi's team's mission was to collect five Red Crystal Cores, and they had already collected three, leaving only two more to complete the mission. However, the third one was picked from what Tian Ming had left over.

Xia Qi had considered ending the cooperation, but he was very afraid that Tian Ming would kill them and take their goods. If the other party wanted to burn their bridges, the three of them would be helpless.

"Get a good night's rest. We'll continue tomorrow." After Tian Ming finished speaking, he closed his eyes to rest. He hadn't rested for several days, but he could clearly feel his body constantly strengthening itself.

Initially, Tian Ming was as susceptible to injury as an ordinary person, but as he became more proficient in using his abilities, although his body still appeared normal on the surface, his skin, internal organs, and physical strength grew increasingly stronger.

For instance, now, after so many days without proper sleep, he still felt full of energy. The last time he went without sleep for over ten days, he would still feel mentally fatigued, but this time, with high-intensity combat, his body actually grew stronger and more alert with each battle.

A buzzing alarm broke the stillness of the deep night. The device in Xia Qi's hand emitted a piercing hum, and the energy field of the entire city surged. Each larger energy block represented a Corpse King.

"Not good! The Corpse Kings are starting to escape!" Xia Qi shouted.

Tian Ming instantly opened his eyes and quickly stood up: "Let's go, chase them."

"How do we chase them? They've split into over a dozen routes. By the time we deal with one route, the others will have long disappeared," Xia Qi said.

"See which direction has the strongest energy reaction. We'll just chase the largest Corpse King."

"Okay, the strongest energy reaction is to the northeast!" Xia Qi and his two teammates also stood up.

Tian Ming was the first to rush out, taking the lead directly and flying towards the northeast. Xia Qi and his two teammates watched Tian Ming quickly disappear, instantly gritting their teeth in frustration. But there was nothing they could do; the three First-Class Ability Users, although capable of manipulating airflow to fly, had not practiced it, and with everything pitch black, they simply dared not fly.

They could only sprint rapidly in the direction Tian Ming had disappeared.

At this moment, the expressway out of the city was densely packed with zombies. There were many Corpse Kings in this city, but their luck was not so good, because Tian Ming's Shelter was right next to the city.

The Corpse Kings, having learned that Tian Ming was slaughtering the kings of their kind, finally decided to flee. They had only evolved for about half a year, and now confronting Tian Ming would be suicidal.

The road was a vast expanse of black, with dark, wriggling figures on the white snow, which were large numbers of zombies. Looking down from high altitude, it was like an ant migration, densely packed.

Tian Ming's mind stirred slightly, and a dozen Nitrogen Bombs were dropped.

Immediately, an explosion sounded, and a powerful shockwave directly blew away a large group of zombies, instantly clearing a wide space on the previously crowded road.

But the zombie horde remained unfazed, continuing to quickly flee towards the outskirts of the city. These zombies were all controlled by Corpse Kings, and their communication was more advanced than humans', able to communicate directly via radio waves.

With such a large group of zombies, how could one find the Corpse King within the horde? After Tian Ming landed, he was instantly submerged by zombies.

With a rumble, an explosion sounded, and the elemental bomb in Tian Ming's hand exploded again. This time, it directly blew away hundreds of zombies.

"This isn't going to work," Tian Ming thought to himself. Corpse Kings were not that easy to find. The Corpse Kings had so many zombies covering their retreat, and their purpose was to create confusion.

But Tian Ming would not give the Corpse King any chance to escape. He concentrated his mind, and the surrounding air pressure instantly dropped by more than 70%, as a huge Nitrogen Bomb slowly formed.

This thing weighed several tons, and its diameter reached seven or eight meters. When Xia Qi and his two teammates arrived, they saw the Nitrogen Bomb from a kilometer away.

All three of them instantly felt their hair stand on end; they just felt their scalps tingle.

"Is he crazy? This thing exploding is like a small nuclear bomb. Playing like this, isn't he afraid of blowing himself up?" Xia Qi was terrified, but he ran incredibly fast, as that thing could explode at any moment.

Tian Ming's heart was also pounding, but he didn't think much about it. After the super Nitrogen Bomb appeared, he immediately soared into the air and instantly accelerated to twice the speed of sound. At 150 meters, Tian Ming lost control of the bomb.

The Nitrogen Bomb exploded. Suddenly, everything became quiet, as if time had stopped. Then, a destructive force rose from the ground, tearing through the air and whipping up gales. A dazzling light instantly illuminated the entire world, and scorching high temperatures caused everything around to ignite.

In an instant, that area became a sea of fire, buildings were destroyed, and roads were submerged in scorching flames. Countless zombies were directly vaporized and disappeared in the high temperature.