"Yang Yong Xing, this is my turf, you've crossed the line" Chen Di Xi wielded his Biomass Gear as well as his Disasforce weapon, staring coldly at the opposition.
"A young man like yourself shouldn't be trying to act like a gangster, seriously" Yang Yong Xing was a middle-aged man with glasses, narrowing his eyes as he spoke: "In this apocalyptic world, everyone has a certain need to maintain their health and mentality, so those in need would come to me seeking help. Isn't that completely normal? There's no such thing as 'crossing the line'"
"Wouldn't you say so, little Ma?" Yang Yong Xing smiled while narrowing his eyes, glancing at the young man next to him.
Yang Yong Xing's words caused the young man next to him to be startled before he turned to shout at Chen Di Xi: "That's right! They only came to uncle Yang seeking medical attention. I only went around spreading the news of uncle Yang's clinic for a bit and they already came running, that just means there's an issue with your management, completely unrelated to me and uncle Yang!"
In this apocalypse, Chen Di Xi had managed to recruit many people under him thanks to his [Soul Blade] ability. Those who couldn't find a Disasforce weapon and had no confidence in being able to retaliate against the collective consciousness of the germs would pledge their allegiance to Chen Di Xi and relied on his ability to achieve their first stage of release.
However, Chen Di Xi wasn't the only person who had a useful ability in this apocalyptic setting.
Yang Yong Xing was the leader of another area, one of the first to find a Disasforce weapon and quickly released the first stage of his [Origin], thus obtaining an ability---- [Lightning Blade].
Without mentioning its high destructive capabilities, Yang Yong Xing had combined the medical and psychological knowledge he had with [Lightning Blade] to explore another use for it: Through stimulating their bodies with electric currents and using psychological suggestions, he had the ability to hypnotize or even brainwash others.
This use of his ability led many to pledge their allegiance to him, expanding his faction's territory, and grew to be the force they were today.
"While earning a livelihood on my turf, you deceived MY people to run to this old fogey's territory. You think this is going to end with your pathetic excuses?" Chen Di Xi narrowed his eyes and glared at Yang Yong Xing; little Ma was nothing but a pawn that he sent out.
In this apocalypse, population was one of the most crucial resources for an organization. Without people, a faction's base would have no potential to expand, let alone reclaim land, grow crops, or rediscover industry. It hadn't been just once or twice that survivor factions fought against one another in order to steal people.
A little while ago, this young man called little Ma came to Chen Di Xi's turf but didn't join his faction. This was common, as there were many capable people who chose to run from place to place without settling down.
Chen Di Xi didn't mind such people, as long as they did not cause too much damage after failing to recruit them; after all, a faction couldn't stay closed forever, and a bad reputation would deter others from migrating to him.
Back then, he didn't predict that this man would sneakily beguile a large number of people to defect from Chen Di Xi's side to Yang Yong Xing's faction, which ended up with this confrontation.
However, due to the lack of population as well as the existence of superpowers, ordinary people were mostly delegated to production and birth; leading to the two leaders directly facing off to resolve the dispute despite how big their factions were.
"So a patient needs your permission to even seek medical help from me, that's a dictatorship if I've ever seen one; no wonder they have so many psychological issues" Yang Yong Xing kept his eyes narrowed and a smile plastered on his face: "From the looks of it, leader Chen also needs medical help"
"Courting death!" as Chen Di Xi brandished his Disasforce weapon, the sword started to change, becoming almost incorporeal. With the aid of his Biomass Gear, he directly lurched forward.
Yang Yong Xing was also the same, the sword in his hand became slimmer and smaller with electricity circulating along the blade, a suit of Biomass Gear also covered his body as he received Chen Di Xi's blow.
Their swords clashed, allowing the electricity to transfer into Chen Di Xi's body, causing him to feel a numbing sensation. Yang Yong Xing's electricity grew stronger, transferring even more through their interlocked swords into Chen Di Xi.
"And here I thought you'd be a lot stronger, have a taste of my lightning!" Yang Yong Xing's amiable smile completely vanished, revealing an expression of cruelty as he directed the electric current towards Chen Di Xi's head.
Electricity could affect neurons in the brain, hijacking and stimulating the release of various hormones in the body, thus affecting a person's chain of thought. If this was used in conjunction with psychological knowledge, it was very possible to brainwash another person.
This was something that Yang Yong Xing was used to doing, and also what he was attempting to do now. First, he would shock Chen Di Xi into being heavily injured, then brainwash him through this 'electro-therapy' for a long period of time, eventually gaining a loyal general.
"Is that all you have?" Chen Di Xi's Biomass Gear shifted, causing the muscles on his arms to bulge as he swung his [Soul Blade], repelling Yang Yong Xing's sword. It turned out that he wasn't paralyzed by the opponent's electricity.
In that split second, Yang Yong Xing felt like he saw countless demons manifesting from Chen Di Xi's body, followed by an overwhelming pressure of guilt. As every action that he had ever done that went against conscience flashed through his vision, he began to witness everything he found to be fearful.
As he shouted in fright, his Biomass Gear began to break down, which resulted in Chen Di Xi swiftly taking off his head with his sword.
Having developed a faction as large as it was today, he didn't rely solely on his ability to draw people in, but also true strength.
After realizing his shortcomings, he sought out people who could teach him swordsmanship; through his relentless practice and studies, he also explored and developed various uses of his ability.
The event that left the deepest impression on Chen Di Xi was none other than his meeting with Negary who bestowed him the knowledge of Biomass Gear. Although he didn't actually see Negary directly with his eyes, the immense pressure that personage exerted on his mind and soul was something that he would never forget.
Combining his memory of that pressure with his [Soul Blade], he created this technique----- [Revenant Souls]
He would cut off the souls of the enemies he killed, then used his ability to graft them to his Biomass Gear. When necessary, he could trigger these souls to unleash an attack that struck directly at his enemy's soul, giving them a feeling of being surrounded by demons, and thus create a gap in their mentality.
When Chen Di Xi was about to cut off Yang Yong Xing's soul and add it to his collection like he always did to his enemies, he found that Yang Yong Xing's soul had completely vanished, a sense of fear abruptly emerged in Chen Di Xi's heart.
Immediately after that, electricity began to pour from Yang Yong Xing's headless body, the electric current instantly altered the shape of his dropped Disasforce weapon, turning it into metal spikes that shot straight into Yang Yong Xing's severed head.
With a huge discharge of electricity, Yang Yong Xing's body started to grow larger and larger until it turned into a jet-black sphere with countless metal spikes on its surface, arcing electricity.
This sphere hovered in the air before rushing towards Chen Di Xi.
This eerie sight caused Chen Di Xi to scowl and swing his sword, cutting this sphere in half. He then realized that it was actually a mass of material charred back from the electricity, which swiftly fell to the ground before once again being gathered by the electric currents. A sense of unnerving chaos and nausea began to plague Chen Di Xi's mind.
…
At the same time, Negary seemed to have noticed something as he put the book in his hand down, muttering: 〖 So it has begun? 〗
