Faced with the lizard man's threat, Noah remained expressionless. With one hand, he grasped the immobilized Ahu, lifting him up while silently invoking, "Take what you can."
[Detected a plunderable target]
[Please choose the direction of plunder]
"Replicate ability"
[Ability acquired: Iron Arm F]
Although the Iron Arm ability was somewhat lacking, every little bit counts, serving as practice to increase skill proficiency.
"Boss, save me!" Ahu's face turned red as he weakly called out to the lizard man for help.
The lizard man exploded into action, transforming into a blur of shadows rushing towards Noah with incredible speed. Noah casually tossed Ahu towards the incoming lizard man.
Before Ahu could feel relieved about his release, the lizard man, undeterred, struck down with a grab. "Get lost!" With two soft sounds, Ahu was dismembered before he could even scream, becoming several pieces of flesh scattered on the ground.
The lizard man continued his assault on Noah. Noah's body sparked with electricity as the watermelon knife, swirling in the air, targeted the lizard man's eyes.
The lizard man roared and quickly covered his eyes with his hands. Metal clashed, sparks flew, and the knife was deflected yet again. However, the lizard man remained unscathed, the blade only leaving a white mark on the back of his hands, indicating even higher defense there.
"Kid, it's useless. I'm invulnerable to blades and bullets, hahaha..."
But in the brief moment the lizard man's vision was obscured, Noah burst forward, closing the gap instantly, his right arm gleaming with a metallic luster.
Seeing Noah's speed, the lizard man was shocked and swiped his claws towards Noah's head. "Die!"
But Noah was faster. Activating his power boost, he launched a punch towards the lizard man's chin with built-up momentum.
With a muffled sound, the lizard man's massive body was sent flying several meters into the air, emitting a beast-like scream.
Electric light flashed again. Noah snorted coldly, "Lock!"
Several steel railings flew swiftly, coiling like serpents, instantly ensnaring the lizard man. Moments later, the lizard man became a large iron ball wrapped in steel, thudding to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Still, the lizard man refused to give up. He roared, trying to break free, his scaly limbs exerting tremendous strength, causing the steel encasing him to creak and groan.
Then came another burst of electric light, the entire iron ball crackling with blinding currents. "Arghhh..." Under the intense electric shock, the lizard man quickly lost the ability to resist, collapsing limply on the ground, his body charred, emitting an unpleasant burnt smell.
Noah approached the lizard man emotionlessly, placing a hand on his forehead and silently invoking, "Take what you can."
[Detected a plunderable target]
[Please choose the direction of plunder]
"Plunder wealth"
[Successfully plundered wealth, gaining 17000 points of wealth in materials]
[Remaining 1000 points of human wealth could not be plundered due to insufficient skill proficiency]
[Please choose the location for material storage]
"Store it in the base villa."
[Materials have been transferred, please check as soon as possible.]
"Please... spare my life. I'll... I'll follow you from now on, do whatever you say," the lizard man weakly begged for mercy.
Noah glanced at the lizard man indifferently, stood up, dusted off his hands, and walked away. "Sorry, you're of no value to me anymore."
The iron ball tightened rather than loosened. Several steel rods drilled into the lizard man's orifices, quickly turning him into minced meat from the inside out. The lizard man died without even a chance to scream.
"Noah, are you hurt?"
Liu Xiaoyu, carrying a baseball bat, jogged up with a look of concern, while also dragging a man who had been beaten badly. In total, three people had come; two were dead, and the only survivor, who tried to flee, was captured by Liu Xiaoyu.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Noah said, glancing at the howling man. "Kill him. There's no use keeping him alive."
"Ah? Do I... do I have to do it?" Liu Xiaoyu hesitated, shrinking back. While she didn't hesitate to kill zombies, the idea of killing a person weighed heavily on her, having grown up in a civilized society.
"Can't do it?" Facing Noah's indifferent gaze, Liu Xiaoyu tensed up, avoiding his eyes and stuttering, "I...understand."
After hesitating, Liu Xiaoyu gritted her teeth and swung the baseball bat, ending the man's life. As she looked at the blood on the ground, her hands trembled involuntarily.
Noah placed a comforting hand on Liu Xiaoyu's head. "To survive in the apocalypse, you must be willing to dirty your hands, or else you'll be the one who dies. In this world, you might even pity the zombies, but you cannot afford to pity others. Human nature is more terrifying than floods and beasts."
Liu Xiaoyu had performed better than Noah had anticipated in their short time together. She had a strong combat sense and was clever. Noah considered nurturing her potential.
"Okay, I'll listen to Noah," Liu Xiaoyu said with a sweet smile. She knew Noah meant well, but she still needed time to adjust her mentality to the harsh realities of the apocalypse.
As for Xue Qingyu, she remained indifferent, showing little discomfort over the deaths of the three men.
Noah didn't say much more and walked over to the back of the truck, opening the cargo door. It wasn't to look for supplies, as he had already plundered the men's resources, and he expected the truck to be empty of goods. His main intention was to load the zombie corpses into the vehicle and haul them away.
After opening the truck, Noah discovered it was filled with around seventeen or eighteen people, both men and women, all bound and gagged, making muffled noises as if seeking help. These individuals were likely captured by the lizard man, possibly to be used as labor or as fresh meat, or even both, given the complete loss of humanity in the lizard man, who would not hesitate to consume human flesh.
Noah maneuvered a piece of metal through the crowd, swiftly freeing everyone from their bindings.
"Thank you, man, for saving us," one of the rescued said. "I thought I was dead when that monster caught us."
"That creature is dangerous, let's get out of here before it catches us again," another added, urging the group to flee.
As the group attempted to leave, Noah punched the side of the truck, creating a loud noise and a large dent, halting their escape. With a cold voice, he addressed the shocked crowd, "Did I say you could leave?"