On the small hill, only two minutes had passed since the gunpowder exploded and till the kobolds surrounded the humans.

Looking at how nervous the seven men were, the kobolds wore malice on their faces as they steadily approached the humans.

Twenty steps...

Fifteen steps...

As the kobolds drew closer, the party of seven, who had their backs against each other, could almost see the gleam on the kobold warriors' spears, the staves clutched by the kobold mages, as well as...

Their fingers moving to cast spells.

"We can't wait any longer. If we don't go forth and fight these b*stards now, we're gonna end up dead anyway!"

Even though those fearless words poured out of Zhang Ren's mouth, the quivering steel sword in his hands and his ashen face gave away his bluff.

After he spoke out, contrary to what he imagined, his companions did not remain silent, but roared out at the top of their lungs with fiery fighting spirit.

"F*ck! Why the f*ck not! I was already f*cking done with living the moment I arrived here! If I hadn't been worried that my mother would miss her sorry excuse of a son when she eventually arrives, I would've gone and chopped these b*stards up the first moment I met them!"

"Well said! We humans would never bow to haughty and pompous b*stards like them!"

"I'm so done with this dumb life! Being a traitor to my people, my fellow human beings, what a f*cking inhumane thing I did!"

"I reckon it's better to die here at Su Mo's shelter, so no one else can get their hands on my shelter core even after I die. At least it would be like dying and returning to my Huaxia roots!"

"It's a shame we couldn't live to see the day that our firearms obliterate these b*stards for good!"

"So what if we have half our heads blown off? We'll be brave men again in 18 years!"

These men had not expected to see unyielding bravery from their comrades after being suppressed for so long.

Rumors would become truth if they were repeated enough, and as different people continued to chime in, these men gradually began to lose their fear of death, awakening their innate primal and ferocious nature. 

When the kobolds got closer, about ten steps away, Chao Gai unleashed a cry. The men wielded their steel swords and charged forward heroically.

This caught the kobolds by surprise. They were stunned, not expecting the humans they had surrounded to fight back.

These seven men took advantage of their enemies' stunned state. During those few brief seconds, three kobold mages that were unable to complete their magic casting in time had their heads slashed from their shoulders, falling to the ground immediately.

The other men did not hold back. Strength surged from their lower backs as they swung their swords, and four spear-wielding kobold warriors were beheaded!

In a blink of an eye, the difference in numbers had been greatly reduced. It was eleven to seven now!

The narrowed difference caused fierce hope to surge in the seven men. An intense fight broke out.

Fireballs from the kobolds flew everywhere, while the steel swords of the seven men showed no mercy.

The kobold mages' fireballs were not as scary up close. Once one grew familiar with the magic casting movements, the fireballs were really easy to dodge!

It was do-or-die, and the seven men fought like their lives depended on it. The remaining eleven kobolds were no match for the barbarous, vicious humans.

Without the kobold mages' long-range attacks, the kobolds lost their advantage and it became a lopsided battle soon after. All eighteen kobolds were annihilated at the cost of just five human lives.

The survivors, Chao Gai and Zhang Ren, looked at the treasure chests that had materialized on the ground while gasping for air. Both were exhausted from overexertion after the adrenaline had worn off.

"We survived, Brother Chao! We don't have to die! Hahaha!"

Zhang Ren guffawed uncontrollably as he gazed upon the blood-tainted snowy ground, high from the euphoria of having survived a calamity.

A delirious Chao Gai knelt beside him. Just as he was about to turn and speak to Zhang Ren, he heard a loud crack.

Right before his eyes, a splatter of blood and a chrysanthemum-shaped hole appeared on Zhang Ren's forehead while he was still laughing. 

Zhang Ren collapsed to the ground immediately from the impact.

Chao Gai could still see the smile that still hung on Zhang Ren's face, a stark contrast to the violent, painful spasms as the man died. Terrified, he crawled and tumbled frantically as he attempted to escape, and wailed at the top of his lungs, "Su Mo, we're the good guys. We're here to seek asylum! Don't kill me, don't kill me, I'll do anything!"

"We're Huaxians, we're brothers, don't kill me! I'll work hard! I can work 24 hours a day for you! I don't wanna die! Don't kill me!"

At that very moment, Chao Gai was begging for mercy; a dying man's last struggle. The leader's demeanor he once had was long gone.

Before he could make it further than two steps, fatigue overcame Chao Gai as he tried to push his overexerted body to escape. He fell to the ground once again and closed his eyes in anguish.

The gunshot sound he expected to hear did not materialize. Instead, he heard the bizarre sound of applause.

Clap clap clap…

Chao Gai, who was still crawling on the floor after the applause, turned his head and was stunned.

"Kento Maeda? It's you?"

In Chao Gai's eyes, Kento Maeda's wrinkly old face bloomed like a chrysanthemum as he walked towards him. Kento Maeda was still clapping.

The big man was beside Kento Maeda, the weapon in his hand still held in the same position as when it killed Zhang Ren.

"Mr. Chao Gai, why can't it be me?" Looking at the still-smoking crater, Kento Maeda patted the big man on the shoulder and cackled hysterically.

It was the kind of evil laugh that sent chills down another's spine. Paired with his expressions, he looked exactly like a smugly flourishing villain in the stories.

"Did you know why I ordered you to keep an eye on Marshall?"

"Can you also guess how these kobolds knew where you were?" Kento Maeda was still clapping.

Chao Gai felt as if each of the claps clapped directly against his chest. It made him uneasy.

"You old dog… You planned this from the start. Do you want it all? Can you chew all that you've bitten off?" Chao Gai laughed bitterly as he instantaneously understood Kento Maeda's plot.

"Hahahaha! You Huaxians are so dumb, and this includes your supposedly 'Almighty Su'. In this stupid doomsday world, you can't trust anyone but yourself. Everybody is an enemy. Oh well, too bad he didn't understand such a simple concept even with all the treasures he had."

"C'mon, take a guess. He's still not out after such a long time. What shape do you think he is in right now beneath all that rubble?"

Chao Gai turned around and looked at where Kento Maeda was pointing at.

Lo and behold, what was once a huge crater had now collapsed.

He could not see how much the shelter had collapsed due to the haze from the smoke, but after he heard what Kento Maeda said, Chao Gai could almost imagine how the rest of the story would play out.

"You can stop hoping for someone to save you, Mr. Chao Gai. Hope you're no longer so naive in your next life, alright?"

Once he was done talking, Kento Maeda shot the big man a meaningful look, who got the message right away. Pulling the trigger, he shot Chao Gai.

Bright red blood oozed from Chao Gai's head as he fell to the ground begrudgingly, and died with an unsettled grievance!

Right after that, both Kento Maeda and the big man each took three steps back, putting some distance between them.

The big man pointed his gun nervously at Kento Maeda, who was also had his gun out, but was pointing it emotionlessly at the ground.

"Mr. Mitsuchi, what is it that you're doing? Let's split all the riches and glory from this 'treasure cove' between ourselves and rule this new world together, okay?" Kento Maeda snickered sinisterly as he looked at the big man with a slight sneer.

He truly lived up to his character as a despicable villain. He had seen how guarded the big man was, yet he threw his arms wide open, signaling that he meant no harm.

At this point, Mitsuchi, who was still guarded, seemed to believe Kento Maeda's lies.

However, after a moment's reflection, Mitsuchi's eyes were colored with malice. He pressed his finger against the trigger and jerked it against Kento Maeda's forehead.

Unfortunately, a loud crack was heard after the trigger was pulled.

The crack he heard had not come from the gun in his hands, but instead from the one in Kento Maeda's hand.

A hole could be seen in Mitsuchi's chest, where a bullet had gone straight through, hitting him directly in the heart.

Kento Maeda watched as Mitsuchi fell on his knees unwillingly, his hands still weakly pulling on the trigger, but the only sounds that greeted him were the hollow clicks of the firing pin.

"I'm guessing you must be wondering, how did the gun you repeatedly checked before leaving the castle malfunction now…?"

"Too bad, too bad, Mr. Mitsuchi. You know what? In this day and age, if you're not up to date with the current state of things, you're out!"

Kenta Maeda sounded indescribably wistful. But, if anyone could have seen his face, that image of wistfulness would immediately transform into gloating!

Mitsuchi's face was filled with pain as Kento Maeda droned on.

"In this post-apocalyptic world, don't trust anyone. Not family, not brothers. There is such thing as eternal friendship, only eternal profit."

"Too bad, you don't understand!"

With that, Kento Maeda cruelly held his pistol up and shot Mitsuchi in the head.

This shot blew Mitsuchi's head off, and blood splattered everywhere.

Looking around, Kento Maeda nodded with satisfaction as he took in the corpse-filled view of the snowy ground. Then, he made his way toward the exposed crater.

The gunpowder smoke from the explosion was already starting to disperse.

"Where are you, my darling Su Mo?"

"Allow me, Kento Maeda, to take your place in this world please, to take over your adventure as well~"

Kento Maeda was like a black butterfly, his strides were graceful and nimble as if dancing fleetingly among the flowers.

Yet...

What greeted him at the site of the explosion was not what he had imagined it to be—collapsed stone walls, rubble everywhere.

Under that mud-covered outer layer, an opening had appeared from the explosion. However, that opening was merely half a meter wide.

Through the outer layer, it could be seen clearly that the inner layer was still intact, without any signs of collapsing at all.

"This…"

Before he could finish his sentence, a black shadow flitted past him before ruthlessly piercing through the back of his hand. 

Kento Maeda lost his grip from the immense pain. The gun he had held tightly in his hand fell to the ground.

At the same time, a voice rang faintly beside him.

"Excuse me… Are you looking for me?"