Chapter 87: A Deadly Pursuit in the Inner City

Who is it!?

Who’s out to kill me!?

Suppressing his reaction as best he could, Yenir forced himself to remain calm and strode forward without a backward glance.

Thanks to a willpower far beyond that of a Second-Stage Awakened, he could vaguely sense a murderous aura lurking nearby.

Even though his opponent was well hidden, the life‐and‐death trials of his previous life had made him extremely sensitive to such deadly threats.

After all, this was the Inner City of the Zhenjiang Security Zone…

By all rights, aside from Chen Yong, no one knew him. He had shown neither wealth nor equipment—who would target a mere ‘Zero Stage’ guy!?

Was it the Zhenjiang Third-Stager who had stolen his target, or had Chen Yong had a change of heart?

Impossible…

With his mind racing, Yenir quickly dismissed both possibilities.

Chen Yong had no reason to send someone after him, and the qi behind the attack was top-notch among Third-Stagers. Besides, no one in Zhenjiang could possibly know who he was… He hadn’t wasted a single second when he struck; no Strength Type could have detected him.

Was it the Blood Wolves, or was that damned woman Lin Lan out for revenge?

Amidst the overwhelming crisis, Yenir felt a deep, suffocating heaviness in his heart.

All his skills were on cooldown; if his enemy wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t have even a moment to fight back. No…

To be precise, even if his skills were ready, apart from Dimensional Slash giving him one chance to evade a Third-Stage strike, any attempt by a Third-Stager to assassinate him would be fatal!

Don’t be fooled by how effortlessly he dispatches Third-Stagers—each time he strikes while his opponent is completely off guard.

Simply put, against a Third-Stager, he’s nothing more than a high-damage, low-durability glass cannon!

Survivors on the main street strolled by laughing and chatting, while modified cars splashed water along the way.

Just as Yenir hesitated, contemplating whether to activate his Spiked Thunder Boots for a desperate gamble, the lethal intent lurking behind him vanished in an instant.

It arrived quickly and departed just as fast.

As if it had never even existed.

……

Maintaining a calm demeanor, he stepped into the largest tavern along the street. Drawing back the heavy wind curtain, a burst of boisterous music washed over him.

Beneath his cloak, Yenir was anything but relaxed—his right hand gripped his sword hilt tightly.

Unable to pinpoint the source of the murderous intent, he sought refuge among the crowd.

This tavern had only one entrance; if anyone continued tailing him, he would spot them immediately!

Who on earth… is it!?

After his rebirth, Yenir felt an unprecedented surge of unease.

No matter how often he replayed the recent mysteries in his mind, he still couldn’t determine who planned to strike him.

Had he held back earlier because he was in the Inner City?

If that were the case, the blame couldn’t fall on Zhenjiang Third-Stagers. On enemy turf, he had no choice but to act.

So was it that damned woman Lin Lan, or…

No—Lin Lan couldn’t possibly be in Tianfeng. Her Blood Wolf Squad had entered randomly.

Suddenly, Yenir recalled the incident when he lost consciousness. He had intended to investigate in Tianfeng who had harmed him, but an inexplicable force cut his investigation short.

Could it have been them?

A frown creased his face. He’d always suspected that things were never that simple—perhaps a higher power was orchestrating everything.

A mere trainee, driven by jealousy, had drugged him and then committed suicide; that act in itself was abnormal.

Yet before that, Yenir had believed that even if the culprit operated behind the scenes, their strength would be no higher than Second-Stage.

After all, Tianfeng had only one Third-Stager. If a Third-Stager wanted him dead, an ordinary person like him would have been long gone. Before his awakening, even a casual kill by a First-Stager would have gone unnoticed—there was no need to complicate matters.

The deadly intent came from a Third-Stager…

If that murderous aura was tied to a hidden mastermind, what was their real objective?

If they could make it to Zhenjiang, didn’t that mean he had been tracked all along!?

Taking a deep breath, Yenir calmly ordered a cocktail at the bar, striving to steady his nerves. The clues were far too few…

Nearby, a young woman out for some late-night fun seemed to notice him.

She cast several glances at Yenir’s face.

Her heart skipped a beat, and the effects of the alcohol prompted her to edge closer.

A few seconds later, a red-haired girl casually glanced at the Awakened mark on Yenir and didn’t bat an eye.

A handsome young ‘cutie’ looked slightly nervous about drinking—it seemed like her first time out.

“Hey, handsome.”

The girl chuckled softly as she sidled up to Yenir, her chest practically brushing against his hand without a care.

“Alone? Want to grab a drink together?”

Over the blaring music, the nineteen- or twenty-year-old girl leaned in close to Yenir’s ear.

Ever alert, Yenir instantly felt a soft, warm contact against his hand. With her sizzling figure, his fingers nearly slipped into a sensation as inviting as a white rabbit’s ear.

Instinctively, he glanced at the girl teasing him, but his expression remained unchanged.

The girl was pretty, though her once-delicate features were masked by heavy makeup. Her jingling earrings swayed as she spoke. Despite her provocative attire, it was clear she came from a well-off family—Yenir even noticed that the ring on her hand was actually a piece of equipment.

A non-Awakened person equipped with gear…

Their eyes met, and the girl’s gaze carried a wild intensity, as if he were nothing more than prey.

Yenir wasn’t surprised. In this post-apocalyptic world, girls were bold—if they fancied someone, they’d often take the initiative.

Slowly withdrawing his hand, Yenir paid no mind to the girl fixated on him. Had he not worried that his sudden departure might reveal his vigilance, he would have simply walked away.

With a playful arch of her eyebrows, the red-haired girl blinked, noticing Yenir’s subtle gesture. She had little use for the rough types in the tavern, and finding someone who matched her taste—and looked so cute—only fueled her mischievous intentions.

“Bartender!”

“Two rounds of ‘No Going Home Tonight’—on my tab.”

After ordering, the girl leaned casually on the bar, her eyes filled with interest as they tracked Yenir’s profile.

“Got the guts to play a few rounds with me, little man?”

The moment her words hung in the air, onlookers cast envious glances toward Yenir. In this crowd, nearly everyone was smitten by this girl. But those who had made it into the Inner City weren’t fools—they had also noticed the Awakened trailing by her side.

No doubt, she was the offspring of a big shot who had decided to come out and have some fun.

Glancing back at her, Yenir noticed two Second-Stage Awakeneds sitting expressionlessly nearby, pretending to drink.

It was obvious that these two were her lackeys.

An ordinary person guarded by Second-Stagers and even flaunting equipment—clearly, the girl’s backing was formidable. If not Second-Stage Peak Fighters, then only a Third-Stager could pull this off. As the thought struck him, Yenir’s heart stirred, and moments later he accepted the Sieve Cup from her hand.

……

“Brother Li… Miss, if she’s leaving with someone, what are we going to do!?”

“Commander Liang, what if he finds out about this!?”

At 4 AM on the Inner City Main Street, two Second-Stage Awakeneds stared blankly at the pair ahead.

They saw a red-haired girl intimately draping her arm around a young man’s neck, clinging to him like a lover. Her unsteady steps betrayed her drunken state.

“You dare to intervene? Try stopping her and she’ll have you feeding the zombies!”

“What do you suggest? Hurry up and follow her!”

Torn between tension and hesitation, the two Awakeneds exchanged a wry smile and hurriedly trailed behind, helplessly watching as Yenir led their young mistress into a luxurious hotel.