Begging for recommendation votes! Thirteen thousand collections—I only ask for another 5,000 votes tomorrow!! Help me climb the recommendation rankings!!! Regardless of the outcome, there will be four updates tomorrow anyway! …… “Roll the stones!” Ye Chen commanded with a calm expression.

The soldiers propping up the wooden beams snapped awake and quickly moved to the other side of the boulders, adjusting their aim to find the right spot to wedge the beams in. In a flash, Ye Chen snatched two nearby buckets of sugar water and hurled them towards the oncoming monsters. With a flicker of movement, he had already ripped the machine gun from the back of a nearby Colonel.

The Colonel froze for a moment, then broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn't even seen Ye Chen move. If Ye Chen had harbored ill intent, the Colonel realized, he would probably be lying dead in the wilderness like the two battalion commanders.

Bang! Bang! Bang…

Ye Chen grabbed the machine gun and, with practiced ease, aimed it at the two sugar water buckets suspended in the air. His fingers danced across the trigger guard with surprising rhythm. The bullets didn't spray out like a typical burst from a machine gun—which usually spewed out seven or eight rounds instantly with a single squeeze—but rather struck distinct points in the air, behaving almost like bursts from a handgun.

It was well known that machine guns possessed an incredibly high rate of fire; some advanced models could discharge five or six thousand rounds per minute. The moment the trigger was fully depressed, an unstoppable torrent of lead was unleashed.

Yet, in Ye Chen’s hands, the weapon’s firing rate was deliberately suppressed. Each bullet struck a different spot. His fingers were a blur of motion; those with weaker constitutions could only perceive a faint afterimage. He would barely graze the trigger—less than 0.01 seconds—and immediately jerk his finger back in the opposite direction, preventing the trigger from completing its full cycle, which would have unleashed several more rounds regardless.

Employing the machine gun in controlled bursts of singles…

Many nearby soldiers stared, dumbfounded. Although most were civilians before joining the army, they had all received basic instruction on operating rifles, including the crucial techniques and taboos surrounding handguns. Therefore, everyone present knew that achieving handgun-like single shots with a weapon of this caliber was nearly impossible.

Moreover, this particular machine gun was standard issue for a Colonel, boasting a fearsome rate of fire that was notoriously difficult to manage; a slight pull of the trigger almost always resulted in an uncontrolled spray of seven or eight rounds.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ye Chen fired three shots in rapid succession at three different zones. Just as a sugar water bucket was about to drop, the impact of the bullet would alter its trajectory, lifting it upward again. None of the buckets managed to descend for a long time.

“Roll the stones, aim for the stone steps on the left!” Ye Chen barked.

Everyone nearly fainted. To maintain such supreme control over his firing while simultaneously directing other operations seemed utterly inhuman.

The men holding the wooden beams followed orders without question. They adjusted the angle of the falling boulders towards the steps on the left, levering them forward. With a resounding boom, a dozen stones began to cascade down the steps. Clustered on those very steps was a horde of monsters, led by a monstrous Green-Scaled Serpent—ten zhang long, as thick as a water barrel, with terrifyingly savage fangs.

Rumble~~~

The massive stones rolled down. The Green-Scaled Serpent roared and rammed forward. Several hard scales on its forehead, incredibly dense, managed to stop the first boulder dead in its tracks. But before the beast could celebrate, the second stone followed, slamming right behind the first.

Crash!

The two boulders collided.

The serpent shuddered and was shoved back several meters. Its eyes flashed with savagery, its powerful muscles tensing as it strained to push upward again.

Crash!

The third boulder tumbled down.

The Green-Scaled Serpent was pushed back another few meters. In its rage, just as it prepared to charge again, the fourth, fifth, and sixth boulders followed in quick succession…

Boom, boom, boom…

Stone after stone plummeted. The Green-Scaled Serpent was quickly crushed into a flat pulp beneath the weight, and the swarm of insects behind it were likewise ground to dust.

Ye Chen shouted, “Follow the stones! Rendezvous at the foot of the mountain!”

The crowd hesitated for only a second. Glancing at the other directions where monsters were closing in, they no longer delayed. They stowed their weapons, discarded anything unnecessary, and sprinted down the slope, treading over the flattened corpses of the monsters, using the rolling boulders as a path of violent clearance straight down the mountain.

Swish, swish!

From the rock faces, swarms of Blood Ants began to climb, flowing like water, rapidly pursuing the main body of soldiers.

Ye Chen, still clutching the machine gun, glanced back at Xu Tianguo and the others. Seeing them keeping pace with the soldiers, he felt reassured. He turned, engaged the machine gun, and swept fire backward, covering the army’s retreat while running.

Squeak, squeak!

Once the Blood Ants reached the area where the main force had been, they paused. Seeing the others retreating far ahead, they shifted their target toward the other monsters and bugs that had been drawn up the mountain by the scent of blood.

On this mountain, both the Blood Ants and the Green-Scaled Serpent and its kin were all Dark Creatures that had undergone zombification. They should not have been fighting amongst themselves. Yet, at this moment, the Blood Ants swarmed toward the other monsters, particularly those drenched in the sticky sugar water. Soon, they covered the larger creatures, severely impeding their movement. Coupled with the counter-pressure from the ants, the two factions plunged into utter chaos.

Whoosh!

Ye Chen and the main contingent followed the path cleared by the rolling stones, plunging down the mountain. Any monsters obstructing their path were crushed underfoot. In a short time, the large group of people reached the bottom, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. That brief journey had taxed them to their absolute limit, as if every reserve of their potential had been instantly exhausted, leaving them weak in the knees.

Ye Chen checked on Xu Tianguo and the others. Xu Tianguo was leaning against the large truck, gasping heavily despite the sweat pouring down him. Huang Tianci, having set his sister down, flopped onto the ground, taking deep, ragged breaths. It was astounding that, during such a perilous moment, this man had still possessed the stamina to carry his sister while running wildly—a testament either to incredible physical fitness or terrifying willpower.

“The monsters will be down soon. Tell them to prepare their attack!” Ye Chen ordered the Colonel beside him.

“Yes!” The Colonel snapped his reply, turning instantly to shout at the main troop: “If you don’t want to die, get up! The monsters are coming down. Set up the defensive line, prepare to fire!”

Every face paled slightly. They scrambled to their feet, grabbing their handguns, rifles, heavy machine guns, and other weaponry, aiming them squarely at the mountain path. As soon as the first monsters appeared, a furious barrage would commence.

The rocket launchers strapped to the trucks were also aimed and held in readiness. Ye Chen gripped the side railing of a flatbed truck, using his arm strength to vault himself upward until he was standing on top of the vehicle. Positioned right at the edge of the hood, he looked like he was suspended in mid-air as he peered up the mountain. He saw many of the original monsters locked in deadly combat with the Blood Ants; after reaching levels two or three, the Dark Creatures developed rudimentary emotions, and rage was certainly one of them.

Although the Blood Ants were bloodthirsty, they possessed no resistance to sugar whatsoever. Their simple minds focused only on crawling onto the monsters coated in the sweet syrup, utterly unaware of the consequences.

Soon enough, a few monsters managed to break free from the entanglement of the Blood Ant swarm and charged down the mountain road.

Ye Chen’s voice was cold: “Rocket launchers, fire!”

Whoosh!

The waiting rocket launcher crews immediately controlled their weapons and fired toward the designated area. A long streak of fire trailed the rocket as it slammed into the center of the mountain path. The few charging monsters had no time to evade and were instantly atomized!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The continuous launch of rockets decimated many of the descending monsters. Large craters were blasted into the mountain path, and numerous trees caught fire, igniting a massive blaze.

Smoke billowed thick, whipped by a sharp wind.

Monsters that survived the rocket barrage screamed and charged down the mountain, only to be met by an endless hail of bullets. In the blink of an eye, they were riddled with holes. Several heavy machine guns, in particular, fired with blinding speed, their concentrated fire tearing the monsters’ limbs to shreds.

This Tiger Tooth Mountain had once hosted abundant wildlife. After the virus outbreak, some creatures became Dark Creatures, while others evolved into mutated animals. These two factions did not coexist peacefully and engaged in constant warfare. Although the Dark Creatures eventually won, they paid a heavy price; consequently, the mountain wasn't as densely populated with monsters as one might expect.

On the summit, the Blood Ants and the monsters covered in sugar water were locked in a ferocious struggle, eventually engaging in full-scale combat. Countless Blood Ants were slapped to death, while the large, powerfully built monsters were killed by the sheer swarm tactics of the ants.

One hour later.

Ye Chen dispatched various squads, organized into search teams, to enter the mountain, eliminate any remaining threats, and use the evidence cameras they had brought to take photographs everywhere, proving that the monsters on the mountain were neutralized.

Most of the original monsters on the mountain had been drawn uphill by the concentrated blood essence of a few hundred people. They ended up fighting amongst themselves, entangled with the Blood Ants, and were killed. The survivors were mopped up by the dispatched small teams.

Although the mission directive was to clear all monsters from Tiger Tooth Mountain, achieving absolute zero was impossible. Clearing the vast majority counted as mission completion.

Following the aggressive baiting and killing strategy, about eighty percent of the mountain’s monsters were eliminated, fulfilling the objective. Cameras documented most areas, certifying the absence of threats.

Finally, they extracted the Basal Mutations from the monster corpses, piling the remains together for incineration.

“How much Basal Mutation material did we collect in total, Ye Chen?” the Colonel asked.

“Around a few hundred jin,” the Colonel replied quickly. In reality, he didn't know the exact amount, but answering his superior with "I don't know" was the most foolish response. Thus, he offered his best estimation; being wrong was better than admitting ignorance.

Ye Chen nodded. “When we return, everyone gets two bottles of Gene Agent.”

One jin of material could yield three bottles of Gene Agent, with 50 grams leftover. Some of the higher-grade Basal Mutations collected could yield over a dozen bottles of Gene Agent each. He had no intention of hoarding it all for himself.

Ye Chen remembered his previous life. He had joined the military and risked his life on missions, only for the Basal Mutations they killed for to be entirely distributed among the high-ranking figures above. The lower ranks received nothing. The memory still burned with indignation. If he had been reborn only to become the type of grasping superior who hoarded everything, it would truly be a tragedy.

“Really?” The Colonel was momentarily stunned, then asked in amazement, “Everyone gets it?”

Ye Chen nodded.

The Colonel looked at him with reverence, then his face flooded with excitement. He turned and roared to the resting soldiers: “The General has decreed! Upon our return, every man will be rewarded with two bottles of Gene Agent!”

Whoa!

A clamor erupted among the crowd.

Everyone stared at Ye Chen in disbelief. Two bottles of Gene Agent—equivalent to about 300 grams of Basal Mutation material—meant that, based on the conversion rate, they would need to kill at least sixty zombies to acquire that much, a process fraught with the constant risk of losing their lives.

Yet, Ye Chen was giving it to them freely!

They looked up at Ye Chen, their expressions of shock quickly transforming into reverence and fervor. These soldiers were all from the lower strata, fighting daily just to survive, naturally prioritizing their own needs over helping others.

In the apocalypse, everyone was selfish.

Ye Chen was a stranger to them, yet he was willing to reward each person with two bottles of Gene Agent. This struck their hearts deeply, sparking an emotion that had long been dormant: gratitude!

Ye Chen watched the shift in their attitudes, feeling a strange stirring within him, though he didn't dwell on it. He turned and walked back to sit on the flatbed truck.

There were only about five hundred people total. Two bottles of Tier One Gene Agent each was negligible to him; a single piece of Tier Twelve Basal Mutation material could yield six or seven hundred bottles of Tier One Agent when converted proportionally.

Giving these people agents was partly rooted in his memory of standing in their shoes—risking everything only to end up with nothing—and partly because, while the expenditure was minor to him, the reward instilled such immense excitement and hope in them, dramatically increasing their chances of survival.

To live a little longer…

Leaning back against the truck, Ye Chen glanced down at the excited glint in the soldiers’ eyes, and his heart wavered for a second. Perhaps humanity was ugly, but when facing their kin, their loved ones, perhaps a flicker of kindness still existed.

Everyone had a tender spot.

Wasn't he an example of that himself?

A faint smile touched Ye Chen’s lips. He looked up at the boundless blue sky where clouds drifted like an inverted ocean, making the world feel infinitely vast.

He spread his arms wide and inhaled deeply.

Sunlight bathed him.

In that instant, it felt as if he were embracing the entire world!

Ye Chen opened his eyes. What he saw wasn't the eager anticipation of devouring Basal Mutations to boost his strength, nor the desire to kill more monsters. It was the longing to return quickly to the base city, to see his sister, to taste the food she cooked with her own hands, and to hear her joyful laughter—that alone would bring contentment!

The longing for home!