"Can he handle it?"
"This mutated creature is far more terrifying than the zombies."
The two young men following behind Yue Heng looked suspiciously at Ye Chen, who was walking toward the mutated rat. They asked Bai Long, occasionally glancing at Ye Zhu—no man would dislike looking at a beautiful woman.
Bai Long merely smiled. He had personally witnessed Ye Chen killing a mutated dog the size of a lion, let alone this small mutated rat.
Ye Chen left the wall and walked forward.
The mutated rat was a creature with the strength of eight men. Nearby, four or five zombie corpses lay with their heads shattered, bodies dismembered on the ground. The black blood flowed everywhere, and the air was filled with a foul stench. The mangled limbs were covered in dried blood, crawling with maggots.
After a few steps, the first-tier mutated rat sensed the unfamiliar presence. It turned its head and, seeing fresh prey, immediately bared its sharp teeth and charged forward.
Ye Chen's eyes were cold. He didn't use the fire axe in his hand. As the mutated rat lunged, he took a step forward, moving close to the rat's face. His arm snapped out like a whip, and his stone-like fist struck the rat's forehead.
**Bang!**
The mutated rat's skull cracked under the blow, blood oozing from the top of its head, covering its face and making it look even more ferocious. Its body was sent flying by the force of the punch.
With Ye Chen's strength, the punch was incredibly powerful. If he hadn't held back 40% of his strength, the mutated rat's head would likely have been smashed to pieces with just one hit.
"Bai Long!" Ye Chen suddenly called out.
Behind the wall, Bai Long, who was preparing to watch the show, was taken aback. Somewhat confused, he stood up and walked out, asking, "What's up?"
Ye Chen no longer paid attention to the fallen, injured mutated rat. He turned and walked toward Bai Long, saying, "It's up to you now."
Bai Long was stunned for a moment. Just as he was about to say something, the mutated rat had already struggled to its feet, charging again with blood-red eyes and bared fangs, looking extremely ferocious.
"Damn!" Bai Long was flustered, no longer distracted by Ye Chen. He raised the fire axe in his hand and began to circle the mutated rat.
Ye Chen retreated back to the wall, watching quietly.
"Brother, is it dangerous to train him like this?" Ye Zhu asked worriedly. She could see Ye Chen's intention with just one glance.
Ye Chen shook his head and said, "Don't worry, the mutated rat's skull has already been hit by me. Its nervous system is in chaos, and it will only fight instinctively. Bai Long also has the strength of five men now. As long as he's careful, he can take it down."
Ye Zhu nodded and didn't say anything more. She trusted that Ye Chen knew his limits.
At this moment, Bai Long and the mutated rat were already fighting fiercely. Bai Long was dodging in all directions, using clumsy moves like the donkey roll and cat leap. Occasionally, he would seize an opportunity to counterattack, but the effects were not ideal.
Before long, Bai Long's stamina was greatly depleted, and his movements became sluggish. In a split second, as he turned, he was a beat too slow, and the mutated rat's claw struck him, tearing his skin and causing blood to flow profusely.
"Damn it!" A flash of anger appeared in Bai Long's eyes. He swung the axe in his hand fiercely at the mutated rat, showing a desperate determination. The axe cut into the rat's back.
The mutated rat let out a sharp scream. The intense pain drove it into a frenzy. It lashed out with its claws, aiming for Bai Long's head. If it succeeded, half of Bai Long's head would be torn off.
**Bang!**
Blood splattered, warm against Bai Long's face.
The claw, which had been growing larger in his eyes, was flung away. In its place was an axe. He heard Ye Chen's calm voice in his ear: "Did you notice your flaws? First, excessive dodging led to a decrease in stamina. Second, your attacks were hesitant, weakening your attack power significantly. Third, you didn't hit the right spot."
Bai Long was completely dumbfounded. He had somewhat guessed Ye Chen's intention in having him fight the mutated rat, but he didn't expect this cold-blooded pervert to point out his flaws in front of the mutated rat, without even solving the rat problem first…
"Watch!" Ye Chen said.
Before Bai Long could react, he saw the fire axe in Ye Chen's hand start to move. It swung toward the mutated rat.
The mutated rat let out a shrill roar and used its other claw to grab the fire axe. If the axe were to come down directly, the arm holding it would be torn apart by the rat's claws before the axe could hit its body.
Bai Long couldn't help but exclaim.
At that moment, he saw something he would never forget. The fire axe gave a slight twitch and then brushed away the mutated rat's claws, slicing into the center of its head.
**Squelch!**
The head burst open, blood splattering everywhere.
Bai Long stared blankly at the scene. After a long moment, he exclaimed in disbelief, "How is this possible?"
Ye Chen put away the fire axe and said calmly, "Nothing is impossible. I used the same amount of force as you did. In the situation just now, there were at least dozens of ways to handle it. Besides the one I used, I could have kicked the mutated rat's claws away, quickly switched the weapon to the other hand, and so on."
Bai Long was stunned. Although these methods were simple, how could someone think of so many options in a life-threatening moment?
It's like when someone suddenly sees a knife coming at them, they instinctively close their eyes, cover their head with their hands, or turn and run. Who would think of kicking the attacker in the stomach and tripping them by squatting?
How calm must one's mind be to think of all these things in a blink of an eye?
"Alright, clean up the corpses. We can't stay here; the blood will attract zombies soon," Ye Chen said calmly and turned to leave.
Bai Long looked at the corpses on the ground and smiled wryly.
Ye Chen walked to the side, bent down, and put his ear to the ground. He immediately heard the sound of many footsteps approaching from not far away. This was something he did often, and his experience was extremely rich. Just by the volume and pace of the footsteps, he could tell whether it was a monster, zombie, or human.
In the post-apocalyptic world, human footsteps are cautious, light, and hesitant.
The footsteps of monsters are swift and nimble, sometimes heavy.
Zombie footsteps are always even, like machines, never too fast or slow.
Through the ground, Ye Chen could tell that the scent of blood had attracted more than a hundred zombies, with even more coming from afar.
"Hurry up!" Ye Chen frowned.
Bai Long quickly sped up. The two young men also stepped out from behind the wall and went over to help. Yue Heng, staring in disbelief at the mutated rat lying in a pool of blood, glanced at the cold-looking Ye Chen before quietly approaching Ye Zhu and whispering, "Are you really human?"
Ye Zhu looked at the young man, his face clearly saying, "Tell me, I won't tell anyone."
"What do you think?" Ye Zhu chuckled.
"No!" Yue Heng shook his head firmly.
Ye Zhu smiled but didn't argue. Their strength indeed went beyond the human range. They were evolving toward a new type of human…