270: No more shit.

Tian Ming was still wearing the Alliance instructor uniform, but he had removed the instructor's insignia. He was probably the instructor with the shortest career in the Alliance.

"Then I'll be going. I'll come back occasionally, it's only a minute or two anyway," Tian Ming said.

Shen Yuan stood up and handed a piece of paper to Tian Ming, saying, "This is a list of raw materials the Shelter is short on that I've compiled. If you find any, bring some back."

Tian Ming took it and glanced at it. They were all rare metallic elements, such as gallium, germanium, cerium, hafnium, and many rare earth elements.

These elements have low abundance and are extremely difficult to refine, making them quite troublesome to acquire.

"I'll check later and have the Alliance send me a mineral distribution map. I can just make a detour on my way back."

"Mm, then be careful with everything. I'll be here overseeing the Shelter," Shen Yuan said with a sweet smile.

"Alright, then I'm off!" Tian Ming said, then vanished into thin air.

About three hundred kilometers southwest of Donghai City, there was a city called Xilin. Before the Apocalypse, it had a resident population of over five million people. When the Donghai City Corpse King migrated out, some of them entered the city of Xilin.

Tian Ming's first stop was to clear out the Corpse King in Xilin. As soon as he landed, he felt something was off. The howling of zombies came from ahead, and the buildings here were more severely damaged.

There were two waves of zombies, fighting over territory, their numbers extremely vast, a sprawling dark mass.

Tian Ming watched these zombies fighting each other as if observing a foreign spectacle. He couldn't understand why zombies would fight other zombies.

There were clear visible differences. Of the two waves of zombies, one had metallic-looking skin, while the other was pitch black.

There is no competitive relationship between evolutionary elements. The intake of organic matter, inorganic matter, and even metals is ubiquitous. As Jiang Chen said, zombies do not face a food crisis.

Tian Ming activated his illusionary ability, becoming invisible in the air, and floated towards the center of the battlefield.

As he floated, he used his perception to locate the Corpse King. His attack had to be swift, otherwise, the intelligent Corpse King would be the first to flee.

Across the entire battlefield, there were over a dozen lesser Corpse Kings and a total of four greater Corpse Kings, evenly distributed. The Corpse Kings used psychic contracts and ultrasonic waves to command these zombies in battle.

However, no battle tactics were discernible, and the clothes on these zombies had long since rotted away, making the entire battlefield appear indecent and indescribable.

Tian Ming quickly locked onto one Corpse King. It was hidden in the shadow of a tall building, constantly roaring and commanding the zombies to attack.

This Corpse King's physique was larger than other zombies, and its skin had a deep black metallic luster, appearing extremely hard.

Tian Ming's figure flickered, and in the next instant, he appeared directly above the Corpse King's head. The Corpse King reacted instantly, but it was already too late.

Within Tian Ming's control range, the Corpse King was immobilized, unable to move.

"Ow, human, you have no martial ethics, you ambushed me!" The Corpse King let out an unwilling howl, and began to curse.

Tian Ming had no time to argue with this zombie. With a thought, the zombie's body twisted in a strange posture, and its metallic body rapidly melted.

In less than a moment, a Red Crystal Core appeared in Tian Ming's hand. It was just an ordinary blue Red Crystal Core. Tian Ming merely glanced at it before directly absorbing it.

The surrounding zombies, seeing this scene, stopped their attacks and charged towards Tian Ming instead.

But Tian Ming did not linger. He immediately activated his illusionary ability and vanished from his spot. He instantly appeared in another direction, launched another attack, and killed another Corpse King.

In just a few minutes, Tian Ming had already killed two Corpse Kings. The remaining two Corpse Kings clearly also realized the danger.

"This human is dangerous, retreat!" One of the Corpse Kings cursed under its breath and turned to flee.

But Tian Ming would not let it escape so easily. A flash of light appeared before its eyes, and that terrifying human had already appeared in front of it.

The Corpse King didn't hesitate for a moment, and with a thud, knelt down.

"Mercy, master, mercy, mercy!"

Watching the Corpse King in front of him directly kneel and beg for mercy, Tian Ming was slightly stunned. His figure flickered, and another Corpse King not far away exploded and died.

The begging Corpse King hadn't even reacted when it saw Tian Ming appear before it again. He held a blue Red Crystal Core in his hand, which slowly shrank and was absorbed by Tian Ming.

All three Red Crystal Cores were blue, only enhancing element control, and the control radius increased by less than 30 centimeters. Blue Red Crystal Cores were becoming less and less effective for Tian Ming's improvement. It seemed that higher-grade Red Crystal Cores were needed.

"Why are you corpse race fighting here?" Tian Ming asked, looking coldly at the Corpse King.

"Master, there's a leader in our area named Gang Dan. They keep over 600 human sacrifices in the underground air-raid Shelter in this city. We're fighting over the ownership of these human sacrifices. Those of us kin who don't get food have risen up in rebellion. If we don't resist now, once they become smarter, we kin will only become mindless tools for them to drive," the Corpse King dared not conceal anything and quickly spoke the truth.

A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Tian Ming's mouth: "So, you also don't want to be a slave."

The Corpse King nodded repeatedly and said, "Smarter kin evolve faster and can selectively ingest elements that suit them based on their needs. Other kin either become nutrients or tools for them to drive. I don't want to be a slave, and even less do I want to become their nutrients, so I can only lead my subordinates in rebellion."

"Then I can help you!"

The Corpse King was overjoyed: "Thank you, thank you, master."

Tian Ming raised his hand, and with a grasp in the air, the air on either side of the Corpse King's head transformed into a transparent, giant pair of pliers, *crunch*. The Corpse King's head was directly crushed by Tian Ming.

Tian Ming was expressionless. With a casual wave, the Red Crystal Core formed by the Corpse King flew into his hand. It was still a blue Red Crystal Core. Tian Ming sighed.

"It seems you weren't very smart either. The Red Crystal Core is still blue. But, now that you're dead, you won't have to be a slave," Tian Ming muttered to himself, absorbing the Red Crystal Core.

The mindless zombies below, losing the Corpse King's command, immediately became disoriented. Some charged towards Tian Ming, while others, who had a bit more sense, began to scatter and flee. Tian Ming didn't bother to chase them. Those with a bit of sense hadn't reached the Corpse King's level and didn't have Red Crystal Cores inside them.