Age of Evolution

The woman next to Li Mengxi was initially interested in Lin Zhen, but upon hearing Li Mengxi’s words, she immediately asked, “Mengxi, who is this handsome fellow?”

Li Mengxi turned to the woman beside her and said, “Ruoruo, this is Lin Zhen, my former neighbor, the one I’ve mentioned to you before….”

“Oh! He’s the one who used to pursue you, isn’t he? He’s quite handsome, but why does he seem familiar?”

The reason Lin Zhen looked familiar was naturally due to the video of his fight with Zhang Huai.

However, Lin Zhen knew that his fame lay mainly within the circles of martial arts students. Teams like these that were often out on missions were no longer in the category of ordinary students.

Take Li Mengxi and Ruoruo for example. Both women were now late-stage Level Nine Warriors. Because they fought mutated beasts regularly, they had more combat experience and greater abilities than their peers, and their courage and skills exceeded those of typical students.

Lin Zhen saw that both Li Mengxi and Ruoruo were carrying a sniper rifle on their backs and had a silver Desert Eagle V Handgun around their waist, and he felt a sense of understanding.

Most women who became martial artists chose to specialize in firearms. After all, due to natural physical constraints, their ability to master cold weapons was limited. Firearms were the easiest to learn quickly, making them the best choice.

Ruoruo frowned for a moment, unable to recall who Lin Zhen was, she lifted her head and said, “Lin Zhen, huh? If you like Mengxi, it would be best if you quit the Demon Hunter team. The reason is simple, our captain hates that team the most. By joining them, aren’t you going against Mengxi?”

Lin Zhen disliked Ruoruo’s tone and attitude, but he wasn’t petty enough to argue with a little girl. He simply laughed and shook his head, “As a brand new student, having a team willing to take me in is already great. How could I afford to be picky?”

“Hmph! You don’t appreciate kindness. It’s no wonder Mengxi rejected you. You deserve to remain single for life.”

Lin Zhen frowned, preparing to say something, when Zhao Liang walked over.

“Lin Zhen, what are you still doing here? It’s nearly time to enter. If you’re late, you’ll have to wait another day,” he said.

Seeing Zhao Liang approach, Li Mengxi and Ruoruo both turned to leave and went up front to line up.

Only then did Zhao Liang turn to Lin Zhen and ask, “You know those two girls?” “I know one of them. She’s my former neighbor and graduated a year before me.”

“Is that Li Mengxl?

“Yes, Brother Zhao, you know her?”

“I know her, but we’re not very familiar. It’s the three men in their team that are old rivals with our Demon Hunter team.”

“Why?”

“It’s simple. Our team is named ‘Demon Hunters’ while their team is named ‘Demon Gods.’ Our team’s name naturally offends theirs. Ever since then, those three, known as Saber, Spear, and Cannon, have been causing trouble for us. We’ve fought each other several times already. Do you know why our team was short one person and had to recruit from the students?”

Lin Zhen paused, “Could it be…?”

“Yes, Old Liu was once separated from us during a hunt and was ambushed by Saber, Spear, and Cannon. Although those bastards denied it, we know they were responsible.”

“Saber, Spear, Cannon… are those the three men?”

“Correct. Their captain is called Zhou Tie and he’s the one with the saber. He is the strongest, and no one in our team can beat him in a one-on-one fight.

Then there’s Hua Xiaofeng who uses a spear. His spear skills are very good so he’s quite hard to deal with. Finally, have you noticed the guy with the rocket launcher on his left hand? His name is Kong Shan, he has the most firepower.

He can even fire when in close combat. It was he who killed Old Liu last time. We couldn’t even find Liu’s complete body afterwards.”

Zhao Liang sighed: “Shi Lei just had an argument with them, they even made a bet. They vowed that whichever side obtained fewer spoils in the upcoming competition would unconditionally hand over a billion to the other team. Shi Lei believed that our team only had you as a warrior-level participant, while their team had two women who were both warriors. We held some advantages, but the individual strength of the three men, wielding their blades and firearms, might surpass the four of us who are war general-level. Therefore, tnls Det IS not entirely ravorame ror us.”

Lin Zhen remained silent. Shi Lei seemed impetuous, but the sentiment was understandable.

“Alright, all this talk is simply to caution you. Those two women on the other team are no pushovers. If they have their sniper rifles aimed at you, even a standard war general would struggle to escape their grasp. Keep your distance from them once we start.”

“Don’t worry, Brother Zhao. I won’t get in trouble.”

“Best if that’s the case. I’ll head off first, as it’s almost time to start. You should get in line as well.”

Shi Lei led his other three teammates to the right, while Lin Zhen headed to the left.

On arriving at the queue, Lin Zhen realized there were many people present. Li Mengxi and Ruoruo were five or six positions ahead of him in line.

The gates hadn’t yet opened, and there were already no less than fifty warriors lined up in front of him. Even more were arriving by car.

The town was enclosed with alloy fences, firmly secured with large iron stakes. With such a blockade, the monstrous mutant beasts inside the town couldn’t escape, but one could still hear periodic roars emanating from within the town.

A soldier stood at the front, shouting through a loudspeaker, “Everyone, get ready! We will be opening in ten minutes. There are numerous mutant beasts inside, ranging from F level to D level, and there might even be C level ones. Once you’ve killed a mutant beast, remember to sever a distinctive part of it, like an ear, to claim as spoils. F level spoils are worth one point, E level ten points, D level a hundred points, and C level a thousand points. Your score will determine your chances of proceeding. I know each of you has formed a team, so don’t let your war general-level teammates down.”

One of the martial artists asked, “Why are there C level variant beasts? It would be suicide for us warriors to take on a C level.”

“The town is so large, why would you specifically seek out a C level? This is meant to train your survival skills. If you can’t survive in a C level town, stepping into the county town is essentially a death wish. You might as well give up.”

This silenced the questioner, but they didn’t give up.

“If anyone wants to drop out, you should leave now, or you won’t be able to get out later.”

Not a single person withdrew. Every martial artist carries a proud heart, unwilling to step aside.

As time ticked on, amidst the queue, some people recognized Lin Zhen.

However, Lin Zhen didn’t see admiration or respect in any of the warriors’ eyes.

Instead, what he saw was defiance and disdain.

Lin Zhen understood why. His physical enhancement of 99% didn’t necessarily translate into combat skills. At best, it would just shorten his training time.

These warriors were different from the students of Base City. They had hunted monsters in the wild, more times than one could count. To earn their acknowledgment, Lin Zhen needed to showcase exceptional strength in the wilderness, otherwise, even a 100% physical enhancement would merely prove his good fortune.

Besides, Lin Zhen was only in the early stage of Level Eight. Those who frequently ventured into the wilderness were mostly Level Nine warriors, with Level Eight warriors being the minority.

There were no students from any martial arts academy here. Because, at present, their abilities didn’t match up. Lin Zhen might be one of the few students who had left Base City.

Facing the provocative stares of these martial artists, Lin Zhen was unfazed. The upcoming battle in the town would settle all scores.

The crowd quickly swelled to sixty or seventy people. The time to start was upon them. Whoever hadn’t arrived by now would have to wait for the next wave of admission in a day’s time.

The soldiers at the front opened the huge iron gate: “You can now enter the town, in one day’s time, we hope you’ll be able to emerge whole. We’d hate for

you to end up as monster excrement..”