Shen Feng, facing over thirty mutated dogs, felt a surge of excitement. His previous battles had either been massacres of ordinary zombies or assassinations of Corpse Kings; true combat had been rare. The last time he truly fought was a month ago against a second-tier speed-type zombie, whose speed and attack power were comparable to his own at the time.
Now, facing over thirty mutated dogs, Shen Feng felt a genuine challenge for the first time. It was akin to fighting more than thirty mutated zombies simultaneously. Although these mutated dogs were all first-tier, Shen Feng had never encountered so many enemies at once.
The battle commenced instantly. Shen Feng weaved through the pack of dogs with incredible speed, the dogs unable to track him due to his sheer velocity. The mutated dogs could only catch a fleeting glimpse of Shen Feng as he flashed past, their attempts to pounce proving too late.
Consequently, Shen Feng continuously killed the mutated dogs, his long sword a blur, like a ribbon of white silk. Wherever the silk-like blade sliced through a mutated dog, blood would gush forth. The mutated dogs had initially hoped to win through sheer numbers, as packs of dogs do cooperate. However, Shen Feng denied them the opportunity to coordinate. With his superior speed, if he sensed an impending encirclement, he would activate his "Wind King's Barrier," which the mutated dogs could not penetrate to attack him.
Thus, Shen Feng was in an unassailable position during the fight. If he couldn't win, he'd activate his barrier, and with constant attacks fueled by his speed, the mutated dogs were gradually reduced. Ultimately, except for the more than fifty mutated dogs that fled, not a single dog remained; Shen Feng had killed them all.
Only then did Shen Feng breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed his abilities were quite useful in group combat. While their killing power might be lacking, their defensive capabilities were sufficient. Shen Feng had become quite adept at utilizing his abilities, though he usually just used them for things like drying his hair after washing it, eliminating the need for a hairdryer. Aside from the lack of warm air, the wind's intensity was adjustable, making it incredibly convenient.
After killing all the mutated dogs in the yard, Shen Feng returned to the factory. There, he saw young men and women beating and kicking the deceased boss, along with four or five other adults who were also being beaten and verbally abused.
Shen Feng walked in and found the young man who had spoken out earlier. He asked, "You didn't answer my question earlier!"
The young man handed Shen Feng the blood-stained long sword and replied, "I did. My name is Ma Heying. In that situation, not standing up would have meant certain death. This scumbag vampire wanted to take us with him, but in reality, he intended to treat us as slaves for life. Now that the army has come to rescue us, we must stay to survive. Otherwise, leaving with such scum would ultimately lead to death."
Shen Feng took the long sword and found a cloth nearby to wipe the bloodstains from it, not wanting the sword to rust after some use.
Ma Heying continued, "Actually, after enduring these two months of hardship, I realized that the more we don't resist, the more these bosses will escalate their cruelty! I'm a vocational school student. Just before graduation, I was sent here for an internship, which essentially meant doing manual labor for meager pay. We worked hard every day, but these bosses would find countless excuses to deduct money. We had no choice but to comply, or the school wouldn't issue our diplomas."
Shen Feng was somewhat surprised by this and asked, "You were treated as cheap labor? Is this common?"
Ma Heying nodded and pointed to the fallen Tibetan Mastiff nearby. "We students had wanted to resist for a long time. Someone had even led a revolt before, intending to lead people away from here. But that dog was too ferocious; it only obeyed the boss. When told to eat people, it ate them. The leader was eaten. The rest of us could only remain silent. If the army hadn't come to reclaim the city, we would still be exploited."
Shen Feng patted Ma Heying's shoulder and said, "It's good that you dared to stand up and resist. You won't perish in silence. Speaking of which, the ones who came to reclaim the city weren't the army; it was me and my people. From now on, you'll all follow me."
Ma Heying was stunned for a moment upon hearing Shen Feng's words, then he laughed. "Brother, don't joke. I'm grateful you saved me, but the ones outside were definitely the army. I heard gunshots and artillery fire, and you have nothing on you, yet you claim they are your people!"
Shen Feng shrugged, not angered by the man's disbelief. He smiled and said, "You'll know if I'm telling the truth or not in a while. For now, you all wait here. I'll find people to rescue you. As for the scum here, it's best to clean them up."
Seeing the confident smile on Shen Feng's face, Ma Heying couldn't quite tell if Shen Feng was speaking nonsense. He didn't know what to say and could only nod blankly. He suddenly wanted to know what the outside world had become.
Seeing that the factory was no longer in danger, Shen Feng used "As the Wind Follows" and immediately departed. After just a few leaps over the wall, he vanished like a ghost. His speed was at its absolute limit. Ma Heying realized he couldn't even discern Shen Feng's movements before he gradually disappeared into the distance.
It was only then that Ma Heying remembered he hadn't asked for his savior's name, feeling a pang of regret. He wished he had asked for his name before explaining the situation. However, at this moment, the most important thing was to deal with the remaining scum here!
The students had now unleashed all their pent-up resentment. The reason they had come to this factory in the first place was that the factory and the school had colluded. Students going to the factory for internships were actually doing the same work as regular factory workers but received less than half the pay. The reason for the meager salary was that the originally decent wages were gradually skimmed off through various layers of intermediaries, resulting in a significantly reduced take-home pay.
Moreover, after the zombie outbreak, the factory boss, due to his mutated Tibetan Mastiff possessing immense combat power, did not protect everyone. Instead, he continuously exploited the students, arbitrarily assigning them tasks. Disobedience resulted in severe beatings, and resistance was met with a simple solution: the many dogs needed food, and anyone who resisted would be fed to them.
Furthermore, the female students also suffered greatly. If the boss found a girl attractive, he would take her to his room and ravish her. The boss's few henchmen were also sycophantic and bullied anyone they deemed weak. These henchmen also participated in bullying the girls. Of the over forty students present, almost all of them harbored deep hatred for these individuals, but they lacked the strength to resist and could only endure. Now, they could finally vent their grievances.
The boss's five or six henchmen had been captured by the students and were now tied to tables and chairs. The students beat them mercilessly, leaving them in a pitiable state.
Ma Heying walked over, looking at the bound henchmen, and said through gritted teeth, "These scumbags, they still wanted to bully us. Everyone, kill them!"
A middle-aged man who was tied up shouted, "Do you want to be murderers? I'm telling you, murder is punishable by death. Don't make any more mistakes!"
The others exchanged glances, unsure whether to proceed. They then looked at Ma Heying. Ma Heying was the first to resist, and only he could make the decision now. So, they asked, "Brother Ma, what should we do now?"
Ma Heying recalled Shen Feng's words before he left and immediately made a decision. "Listen to me, everyone. We are all here now. Let everyone stab them once, so everyone is involved. Afterwards, no one is to mention what happened here. Just say these scumbags killed each other, and that's why they all died. Understand?"
Everyone nodded quickly, indicating they understood. They couldn't let these people go without retribution, but they were afraid of being discriminated against as murderers if they killed them. Thus, they could only act together and then deny everything.
Ma Heying was the first to act. He found a fruit knife and plunged it into the middle-aged man's chest. With someone taking the lead, the others also acted. The middle-aged man pleaded for mercy, but no one paid him any mind, as these henchmen had only intensified their cruelty when they had begged for mercy before.
In the end, all these enablers were killed. Ma Heying looked at the various bones scattered in the yard. Many of them belonged to students who had resisted before, and some were from zombies. As the dogs grew larger, they consumed a lot of energy daily. To meet their food requirements, the mutated dogs had eaten many nearby zombies, making the area temporarily safe.
"Brothers and sisters, we have avenged you!" Ma Heying said mournfully. He remembered the scene of his good brother being bitten to death by the Tibetan Mastiff. At that time, he wished he could kill everyone on the other side, but he ultimately didn't stand up. Only now had he killed these scumbags, but his former brothers could never return.
Shen Feng returned to the residential area and instructed a hundred people to go to the factory in the north of the city to bring people back. He then began to ponder, "Are there more people waiting for rescue? Are there more people living in hell?"
Initially, Shen Feng was reluctant to reclaim the city. But now, he began to wonder if there were more people who needed help, if there were more people suffering in dire straits. Would more people die because he was unwilling to reclaim the city? He was now an ability user with greater strength; it seemed he should save more people!
Chu Yangtian had said similar things to Shen Feng before, but Shen Feng felt morally blackmailed and didn't want to hear it. Now, Shen Feng had to consider if those words were right.
Shen Feng found Chu Chaoyan and said, "Come with me. I want to ask about the common people."
Then, Shen Feng led Chu Chaoyan to the rooftop, where they watched the soldiers reclaiming districts in the city, fighting desperately. Why were these soldiers fighting? There seemed to be no specific reason. Some hoped to save others, some wanted to kill all zombies, some only fought for better benefits, and some fought for their families!
Although Chu Chaoyan studied literature, she had lived with her grandfather since childhood and could answer many questions.
"I want to understand, for ordinary people, do they expect to be rescued? In other words, do ordinary people expect stronger individuals to save them?" Shen Feng asked.
Chu Chaoyan quickly replied upon hearing the question, "Of course, they are counting on others for rescue. Ordinary people won't give up on self-rescue, but their abilities are limited, so they place their hopes on people with greater abilities, hoping to receive their help."
Shen Feng continued, "Then, are people who gain powerful abilities willing to save others?"
Chu Chaoyan didn't know how to answer this question. She vaguely guessed Shen Feng's thoughts: should people with powerful abilities save others, or is it also an option to refuse to help those in need?