Chapter 931: Recall
During this week that Zhang Yi spent recuperating at home, none of the various factions remained idle.
Zhu Zheng urgently recalled all field investigation teams from the entire Jiangnan Region.
Any urgent mission became less pressing when compared to the key item [Divine Source] that could enable someone to advance to Epsilon-level.
On this day, a figure draped in tattered robes with disheveled hair and a grimy face appeared before Blizzard City's massive thirty-meter-high walls.
Through long eyelashes, a deeply emotional gaze fell upon the seemingly impregnable walls, then transformed into a profound sigh.
He walked up to the city gates.
Beneath the enormous main gate was a smaller door large enough for one person to pass through.
Before he could even approach, a robotic voice issued a warning.
"Halt! Please verify your identity information!"The man thought for a moment, then pulled out a golden card from his pocket and held it up.
Soon, the robot completed its identification of the visitor.
"Celestial Squad Captain, Deng Shentong, codename [Erlang Shen]."
The city guards could hardly believe their eyes.
The once lofty, arrogant investigation captain, the noble young master of Jiangnan, now dressed like a beggar.
But the robot's verification couldn't be wrong, so they hurriedly opened the gate and went to welcome him.
Deng Shentong had been away from Blizzard City for several months.
He hadn't brought any subordinates nor reported his whereabouts to the Deng Family.
He went alone to train in the most dangerous areas of the Jiangnan Region.
For the first time in his life, he truly understood the brutality of the apocalypse.
Traveling alone through the vast icy wilderness, he faced death multiple times.
In the most ridiculous instance, while resting in a cave, he was nearly killed by a Beta-level venomous snake.
If not for carrying antidote with him, he might have become the captain with the most absurd death in Jiangnan Region.
He never expected cold-blooded creatures to be active during this cold season.
But he quickly realized the key issue—the Great Mutation Era had arrived, and this world could no longer be understood through past logic.
Dangers lurked everywhere outside.
Traveling alone felt like walking on thin ice; no matter how powerful one was, there was no guarantee of absolute invincibility.
This instilled a sense of fear in his heart.
He also quickly understood why superhumans like Zhang Yi existed.
Months of arduous training had profoundly changed his mindset and completely transformed his combat methods and philosophy.
In life-or-death battles, victory rarely depended solely on personal strength.
Strategy, environment, and even luck were all critical factors.
Just like in the arena, even without sharp teeth or claws, an adult wild buffalo could use its brute strength and horns to kill lions or tigers.
Deng Shentong smiled and greeted the city guards when he saw them.
His unexpectedly friendly attitude made the guards somewhat uncomfortable.
The guard leader promptly arranged for a vehicle to transport Deng Shentong into the city.
Deng Shentong didn't refuse; he needed to go to the new Operations Command Center first to meet Zhu Zheng.
After Deng Shentong left, the guard leader suddenly remarked with emotion.
"That makes the fourth one. All the field captains have now returned!"
...
Over at the East Sea Region.
Following Li Guangxiao's orders, Li Tianyang dispatched an elite investigation team to the waters between Star Island and Malaya to investigate the Divine Source.
The ridiculous part was that they didn't believe the actual destination Zhang Yi had plainly provided them, instead falling for the diversion tactic.
Naturally, they found nothing.
Since the area was close to Malaya, their submarines didn't dare surface.
Thus, their investigation couldn't be sustained for long.
Li Tianyang believed it was understandable that they hadn't gotten results yet simply because the sea area was vast.
He didn't doubt Zhang Yi's later statements at all.
After all, Zhang Yi had no special abilities at that time and had consumed a truth serum dose no human could possibly resist.
Meanwhile.
At the Tianlong Pirate Crew.
The Dragon King had his Mirage Dragon avatar shattered by the combined efforts of Zhang Yi and Linghu Feixue, and lost his most capable subordinate, 1st Squadron Commander Nirot.
This enraged the Dragon King to the extreme.
Before dying, Nirot had relayed information obtained from Zhu Yunque.
Although she didn't know the exact location of the Divine Source, Zhu Yunque vaguely knew that something very important was located where Li Zongyu had been.
Combined with Li Zongyu's identity as a teacher at Star Island's elite school.
This made the Dragon King realize that the Divine Source was likely on Star Island.
Although Star Island was small, it was still a country.
Finding an energy source across an entire nation was extremely difficult.
But for the Dragon King, the Divine Source was something he absolutely had to obtain!
Because he had lost too much and now faced a massive crisis of power.
When encountering supreme forces like Columbus Ocean or Huaxu Kingdom, he could only submit to their mercy.
To change this situation, he had to break through his limitations and advance to become an Epsilon-level superhuman!
Once he succeeded, even the supreme powers would change their attitude toward him.
Therefore, the Dragon King also gathered a group of elite subordinates and began planning how to advance toward Star Island.
...
While storms were gathering outside, what was Zhang Yi doing?
Compound 3 had a one-week delayed release period.
During this time, he stayed home, playing with his cat and walking his dog.
That's right, there was now a dog in his home.
The dog was actually kept by Xing Tian's goddaughter Zhou Lingling, but it was currently at Zhang Yi's place.
After biological mutation, creatures seemed to become smarter than usual.
Hua Hua's intelligence was no less than a human's, while Le Le seemed a bit slower but could already understand human language.
Lu Keran created a translation set for them.
Essentially devices that received their brainwaves and converted them into language.
Thus, both Hua Hua and Le Le now wore black scarf-like translation devices around their necks.
Hua Hua remained lazy as ever, stretching out on the rug in front of the burning fireplace.
Le Le was a big dog, only Gamma-level in ability, far inferior to Hua Hua.
Therefore, it clearly understood its place in the household and tried hard to please everyone.
Zhang Yi sat on the sofa with Le Le lying at his feet as a footrest.
"Le Le, your name sounds a bit too childish. I don't think it sounds imposing enough for times like these. How about changing your name to Black Panther?"
"Woof! Woof!"
Le Le barked twice but kept shaking its big head side to side, clearly dissatisfied with this name.
"My name is Le Le. This is the name my owner gave me. Whether you like it or not, I'm Le Le."
Zhang Yi rested his chin on the back of his hand. "But when we go out to fight later, I'm afraid our opponents might die laughing when you introduce yourself."
Author's Note