Apocalypse Gachapon

Holding it in his hand, there was no scorching sensation; on the contrary, it felt somewhat cool.

Ye Zhongming couldn’t help but marvel at it. The object was as perfect as a piece of art, with no trace of artificial craftsmanship.

Once, Ye Zhongming had seen something similar to this—the metal platform beneath the Lava Sea that held the mysterious hammer. But that one was much larger than this and wasn’t a flat slab.

Yet for some reason, Ye Zhongming felt there was a connection between the two, not just because of the lava inside but also the sensation of holding it in his hand.

Ye Zhongming set it down and picked up the third item.

This was a metal ring resembling a bracelet, engraved with densely packed, chaotic patterns that were impossible to decipher. On one side of the ring’s inner surface was a small protrusion, about the size of a fingernail, with a suction cup-like tip.

On the opposite side, there was another protrusion, but unlike the first, its tip wasn’t suction cup-shaped but rather a blunt cone.

Ye Zhongming certainly didn’t know what this thing was for, but from its patterns, he caught a faint resemblance to the Gate of Blessing.

Of course, this was just his feeling. Whether this bracelet was actually related to the Gate of Blessing still needed verification.

The fourth item was an emerald-green cat’s eye stone, not the crystal-clear kind but one with beautiful, intricate textures.

From its appearance alone, Ye Zhongming couldn’t discern anything special about it. But when he held it in his hand, it resonated with him.

It could be said that among the dozens of items, this one had the strongest affinity with him—so much so that he could even control it.

Ye Zhongming immediately recognized what this was.

The Brown Bone Magic Pearl!

That very magic pearl from the Posthumous People that had shone brilliantly during the Siege of Saint Light Hall.

However, that item couldn’t be stored in a spatial device or pass through the Space-Time Gate, so it had to be left behind in the city.

Who would’ve thought it would reappear in this way now?

Ye Zhongming lifted the pearl and attempted to use it with the same method he’d employed in the secret realm. He found that it was still quite different from before, most notably, it had lost four abilities, leaving only six, with three still in a locked state.

Having traveled from a collapsing space to a brand-new one, this once-sacred relic of the Posthumous People had suffered some damage.

Then there was the fifth item—another pearl, but it seemed dull and unremarkable compared to the Brown Bone Magic Pearl.

The reason Ye Zhongming categorized it among the items whose purpose he roughly understood was because he sensed an intense life force emanating from it.

How could a pearl the size of a broad bean contain such an overwhelming amount of life energy?

Ye Zhongming was utterly baffled.

These five items were the ones Ye Zhongming could somewhat guess how to use or what they were related to. As for the rest, he would have to study them slowly later.

Due to his eye injury, Ye Zhongming temporarily put his original plans on hold and stayed at Cloud Peak to recuperate. He spent his time crafting equipment and discussing future developments with other members.

At the same time, he waited to see if any new, better boxes would fall from the sky.

Occasionally, Ye Zhongming found it strange. Although he was a spokesperson of the Taros Red Dwarves, his authority was clearly not high, and the beings of this race didn’t show any particular closeness to him.

As a result, Ye Zhongming was unaware of many things that higher-ranking spokespeople should know.

Sometimes, he also thought about the director of the God Hall. What exactly was that person worried about? Ye Zhongming had his guesses but didn’t dare confirm them.

During this period, Cloud Peak was busy digesting everything they had gained from the secret realm while also utilizing the items from the sky boxes. Even though some of the weapons weren’t particularly helpful to Cloud Peak, the wheel items were still of great value.

The district system had stabilized. Several controlled districts now occupied the area around the mountain villa. Any attack on Cloud Peak would first have to go through these districts, effectively raising Cloud Peak’s security to another level.

Moreover, the hardest part was the beginning. Back then, Cloud Peak had gone to great lengths for a single eight-star evolution potion. But now that Cloud Peak had many eight-star powerhouses, everything had become much easier.

They launched attacks everywhere, hunting down level-eight lifeforms. During Ye Zhongming’s recovery period, several more members evolved to eight-star status. By now, all of Cloud Peak’s core members and key figures from Chameleon team had become eight-star evolved.

As for seven-star evolved, there were even more. The entire female guatar, as were the core members of other combat te, were at seven-starams. Even some outstanding ordinary fighters had reached this level.

Six-star—this was now the minimum evolution level for Cloud Peak’s official members. Even researchers and support personnel were all at this level.

And among the families of many members, five-star evolution had become universal.

The entire Cloud Peak was in a state of explosive growth. Even the strength of several districts was rapidly improving. Any one of them could rank within the top 50 in the country, and some, like the Star Beauty Company, which had maintained its structure well, might even break into the top 20.

It could be said that, in the country, Cloud Peak now had no rivals.

No other faction could boast so many top-tier experts.

Beyond people, Cloud Peak also had beasts.

Led by Yellow Ball, Yangos, and the Three-nosed Elephant, this group of battle beasts still reigned supreme among their kind. Ye Zhongming’s two ice birds had recently evolved into level-eight lifeforms. Combined with the other battle beasts that had fed on high-level, even level-nine lifeform flesh, Cloud Peak’s mutated lifeforms, like their masters, had entered a peak evolution phase.

This didn’t even include the Death King Tree, which was still in slumber but might awaken as a level-nine being.

Even Ye Zhongming himself couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride when he thought about all this.

In his past life’s ten years, he had never heard of any faction with momentum like Cloud Peak’s now.

But as the old saying goes, “Fortune and misfortune are intertwined.”

Just as Cloud Peak was thriving and Ye Zhongming’s eyes were gradually improving, a message from afar shook Cloud Peak’s upper echelons.

The messenger was… a zombie.

A level-six zombie, a psychic-type. It arrived near Cloud Peak and made contact with Brainchild, who then relayed the message to Ye Zhongming.

“Save me, Yakutsk!”

After receiving this message, Ye Zhongming fell silent for a moment before asking the people around him, “Can someone please tell me where the hell this Yakutsk is?”

Yakutsk was in Russia.

It was a place known as the coldest city in the world, where unearthed mammoths were found perfectly preserved, bodies buried there never rotted, and extreme temperatures had once reached nearly -70°C!

A quick search would reveal this information.

The Talking Lady had sent the distress signal.

Since when had that fellow run off to Russia?

Many core members had this question in their minds.

Even if, in the apocalypse, she could move freely as a zombie, hadn’t she been near Cloud Peak not long ago? What was she doing running so far away?

Deep down, everyone understood that the Talking Lady and her cat weren’t exactly willing to be controlled by Cloud Peak. Unlike Brainchild, who had completely submitted under coercion and incentives, they weren’t so compliant.

Now they had fled the country, putting distance between themselves and Cloud Peak, all to escape Ye Zhongming’s control.

Yet now, they had run into trouble and were asking Cloud Peak for help…

To anyone, this seemed a bit unfair.

But should they refuse to help?

After some thought, everyone agreed they should. Regardless of anything else, the Talking Lady had contributed greatly to Cloud Peak—whether it was the districts or the expansion of Cloud Peak’s influence. She had been the first to scout locations, help control zombies, and turn zombie-infested towns into easy targets for Cloud Peak.

She had done much for Cloud Peak.

Even her desire to break free was simply her nature. After all, she wasn’t like Red Hair, who inherently depended on Ye Zhongming. Wanting freedom was only natural.

She had done many things for Cloud Peak and owed them nothing.

From Ye Zhongming’s perspective, he also knew something others didn’t—the Talking Lady might have been a level-nine entity in his past life. It seemed she and her kind simply enjoyed wandering around, which was just part of their nature.

Russia, huh?

Ye Zhongming stared at the map everyone had brought, lost in thought.

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