Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies

After a brutal battle, Gao Tianwu and his brothers finally managed to kill all the mutated cockroaches.

However, they paid a heavy price for this victory.

Gao Tianwu was covered in blood, bearing over a dozen wounds inflicted by the cockroaches’ slashes. A chunk of flesh had even been torn from his shoulder.

Xiao Guang had been beaten so badly that he was forced out of his Autobot transformation. He lay on the snowy ground, his lips turning purple from the cold.

Fortunately, Frog’s protection prevented them from being devoured by the cockroach swarm.

As for Frog himself, he was completely unscathed. Those giant cockroaches might have looked terrifying, but in Frog’s eyes, they were just oversized bugs.

The Insect Master, having lost the giant cockroaches he had painstakingly cultivated, knew deep down that he wouldn’t survive the day.

A chilling laugh escaped his lips. ”It seems my operation this time has failed. Master, I have been incompetent!”

He raised the knife in his hand and stabbed it fiercely towards his own chest.

At that very moment, a bullet pierced through his withered wrist, stopping his final act of offering his flesh to feed the cockroaches.

From the void, Zhang Yi stepped out, his expression impassive. Beside him stood Zhou Ke’er and Yang Xinxin, the latter dressed in a black Lolita outfit, cradling the sleeping Hua Hua in her arms.

”Zh... Zhang Yi!”

The Insect Master’s face paled with shock. Despite his earlier bravado, in Zhang Yi’s actual presence, he was utterly insignificant.

Yang Xinxin gently stroked Hua Hua’s fur. Behind her, a six-winged angel slowly materialized, its three pairs of wings each a different color.

Red represented love and desire; black represented hatred and loathing; blue represented judgment.

The Desire Angel drew her bow, nocked an arrow, plucked a crimson feather, and shot it into the Insect Master’s chest.

In an instant, the desperate, suicidal look in his eyes completely vanished. He became as docile as a lamb, gazing at Yang Xinxin with infatuation.

Zhang Yi instructed Zhou Ke’er to go tend to the Martial Gate members’ injuries first.

He had actually witnessed everything that happened here today.

After all, Zhu Zheng had long since granted him control over Tianhai City’s satellite surveillance.

Every movement on the ground here was within Yang Xinxin’s grasp.

Zhang Yi had been watching since the fighting broke out.

He hadn’t rushed to intervene. He wanted to see if Gao Tianwu and the others had any potential worth nurturing.

The results proved they were indeed young, possessing both ruthlessness and fighting spirit.

For a Tianhai City currently suffering from a talent shortage, they were a promising infusion of fresh blood.

Hua Hua hopped over and pinned the Insect Master’s head to the ground with a single paw.

”Boom!”

His body was slammed deep into the snow.

Yang Xinxin and Zhang Yi walked up to him. Yang Xinxin began her interrogation.

”Who are you exactly? Why are you causing trouble in Tianhai City?”

The Insect Master, without the slightest hesitation, spilled the entire truth. To love someone is to offer oneself without reservation.

”My name is Lachad. I am a Gu Master. My master ordered me to come here and create trouble for Zhang Yi.”

Yang Xinxin and Zhang Yi exchanged a glance.

Master?

It seemed this Insect Master was just a small-time underling.

The real mastermind was the one pulling his strings from behind.

”Who is your master?”

Yang Xinxin asked.

The Insect Master slowly uttered a name.

When Zhang Yi heard that name, his eyes widened in utter disbelief.

”Him?”

The name was not unfamiliar to Zhang Yi. He just couldn’t fathom, no matter how hard he tried, that this person was still alive and had come to Tianhai City for revenge.

Zhang Yi furrowed his brow, utterly perplexed. He truly couldn’t understand why that person would return. And what gave him the audacity to oppose him?

”Take him back. Interrogate him thoroughly. Extract every single useful piece of information from his mouth!”

Zhang Yi said calmly.

Hua Hua’s body instantly enlarged. With a hint of disdain, she picked up the Insect Master in her mouth.

This guy reeked of a nauseating stench.

Zhang Yi turned and went to see Gao Tianwu and the others.

They were quite severely injured. Without timely treatment, they would surely die quickly in this weather.

Yet, upon seeing Zhang Yi’s arrival, they still forced themselves to stay conscious, waiting for him to come and speak to them.

Zhang Yi looked at these young men with their determined gazes and nodded.

”You did well this time. I’ll have you treated and give you a generous reward.”

Gao Tianwu, however, shook his head. ”We don’t want a reward!”

Zhang Yi raised an eyebrow, a faint, ambiguous smile playing on his lips. ”No reward? So, you’re implying what I’m offering isn’t enough?”

If someone says they want nothing, it’s almost certainly because they want something much bigger.

Gao Tianwu didn’t deny it, speaking with startling honesty. ”Mr. Zhang, my brothers and I... we want to follow you!”

Zhang Yi let out a derisive snort.

”Follow me? You guys?”

”Yes, us!”

Zhang Yi took a deep breath. ”Your strength is still too lacking. Following me wouldn’t be of much use. However, considering how diligently and wholeheartedly you’ve handled your duties, I can arrange a place for you to stay.”

”As for the future... that will depend on your performance.”

Although Zhang Yi didn’t explicitly say it, the implication in his words was clear: he was willing to let Gao Tianwu and the others follow him.

The unspoken message, however, was that whether they could advance further and secure a higher position in Tianhai City in the future would depend entirely on their subsequent performance.

Gao Tianwu and his brothers were filled with excitement.

”Yes! Thank you, Boss!”

Zhang Yi waved his hand dismissively. ”Don’t call me ’Boss.’ Just keep calling me ’Mr. Zhang.’ The title ’Boss’ sounds too much like a gangster. I’m a refined man. I read the Spring and Autumn Annals.”

Regardless, Zhang Yi’s agreement to take them in was excellent news for Gao Tianwu and his group.

Zhang Yi planned to assign them to the Dawn Rain Base.

After all, it was a coastal location and currently Tianhai City’s most crucial defensive base, though its combat strength was also the weakest among the three major bases.

However, Zhang Yi was clearly far more interested in Frog.

He had observed the entire battle from start to finish. Frog’s strength was evidently significant, yet there was always a sense that he was holding back, being lazy.

”Ribbit! Since the matter here is settled, I plan to head back. Xiao Wu, you’re welcome to come visit me sometime!”

Frog patted his snow-white belly, saying with a cheerful grin.

Gao Tianwu was taken aback. ”You still plan to go back? Wouldn’t it be better to stay in the big city? We could make a name for ourselves together.”

Frog shook his head. ”No, no, no. Compared to all this, I much prefer rolling around in my pond. The fish, shrimp, and loaches in the pond are all frozen now. Saves me the trouble of hunting for food, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!”

He always seemed so happy, hopping around in a particularly endearing way.

Zhang Yi said with a smile, ”The pond you’re staying in is too small. There’s an Egret River in front of my place. How about you go there instead? There are plenty of fish there. Loaches too, of course.”

Author’s Note