Absolute Zone Zero: Please call me the Dragon of Annihilation

Chapter 37 Recruiting Henchmen - Rescuing the Victims

The Dragon Abyss Black Gold Spear stopped less than a centimeter from the opponent's head. Ming Che looked down at Xiao Yu, who was kneeling on the ground, trembling all over. Ming Che withdrew the Dragon Abyss Black Gold Spear and turned away, no longer looking at Xiao Yu on the ground.

Ming Che coldly asked, "What are you doing here?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu kowtowed to the ground and pleaded with Ming Che, "Big brother! Please have pity on my brothers and take them in!"

Seeing that Mingche remained unmoved, Xiaoyu raised her head, crawled forward on her knees, and grabbed Mingche's leg, wiping her face covered in snot and tears as she rubbed it against Mingche's pants. Upon seeing this, Mingche's expression behind his mask turned to disgust, and he warned, "Let go!"

Despite his words, Xiaoyu remained tightly clung to Mingche's leg, refusing to let go. Seeing this, Mingche acted without hesitation, quickly lifting the leg Xiaoyu was clinging to and gently kicking him away a short distance. "Cough! Cough cough...!"

Xiaoyu lay weakly on the ground, coughing up blood that stained the brown carpet beneath him. He crawled with difficulty to Mingche's feet, grabbed his trouser leg, and weakly said, "They only have hope of survival if they stay with you."

Seeing that the other party still dared to come closer, Mingche silently took a step back, breaking free from Xiaoyu's grasp. He then squatted down, staring in bewilderment at the ant-like figure before him. Mingche asked, "Aren't you afraid of death?" Upon hearing this, Xiaoyu gave a bitter smile, his eyes filled with shame.

“I’m afraid… I’m even more afraid of my brothers being driven to desperation by following me.” After saying that, Xiaoyu took out a card from his pocket and handed it to Mingche, pleadingly saying, “This is all my savings. I’m giving it all to you. I hope you can accept it for the sake of this small profit.”

Mingche took the card, played with it for a few moments, and then put it in his pocket. Under Xiaoyu's puzzled gaze, Mingche scratched his right index finger with his fingernail, and a drop of black blood flowed from the wound. Mingche used his other hand to pinch Xiaoyu's face, forcing him to raise his head and open his mouth.

"Drink it." Mingche placed his still-dripping finger above Xiaoyu's open mouth. A drop of black blood dripped down his finger into Xiaoyu's mouth, and Xiaoyu felt a drop of liquid, like lava, with a fishy smell, enter his mouth.

"Ugh~ Ugh!" Xiaoyu opened his eyes instantly, forcing himself to swallow the liquid despite the intense heat. The moment he swallowed it, he regretted it. The drop of liquid was like a raging lion, carrying intense heat as it rampaged down his esophagus.

"Ugh... Ahh!" Xiaoyu lay helplessly on the ground, groaning in agony. He felt as if his internal organs were about to be burned away. Mingche released his grip, stood up, and silently took a few steps back, his eyes coldly looking down at the writhing Xiaoyu. About a minute passed like this.

Xiaoyu stopped howling, spitting out another mouthful of black blood before lying motionless on the ground. Seeing this, Mingche stepped to Xiaoyu's side and gently kicked his body. His tone was cold:
"If you keep playing dead, I might change my mind." Upon hearing this, Xiaoyu, who had been lying motionless on the ground, immediately scrambled to his feet and gave Mingche a fawning smile. At that moment, Xiaoyu was pleasantly surprised to find that the internal injuries he had sustained from being kicked away by Mingche had completely disappeared.

This change strengthened Xiaoyu's resolve to cling to Mingche's coattails. Xiaoyu quickly tried to ingratiate himself, saying, "Big Brother, you've accepted the gifts and passed the test, does that mean you accept us as your underlings?"

Upon hearing this, Ming Che, contrary to his usual demeanor, said, "Have you ever given me anything? I don't remember. As for whether or not I'll accept you, that depends on your own performance." Ming Che put his hands behind his back, acting as if nothing had happened.

Seeing this, Xiaoyu was also taken aback, then suddenly realized and chimed in, "Oh, right, right, I must have remembered wrong. How could someone like you, Boss, take my things? They were my tribute to you."

He immediately pledged his loyalty, saying, "Don't worry, boss. From now on, whatever you ask us to do, the brothers will never say a word of nonsense. No matter if it's going up mountains of knives or down into seas of fire, the brothers won't even flinch."

Ming Che was stunned by the guy's superb flattery. After the initial shock, Ming Che looked at Xiao Yu, who was eager to show off, and began to think about how to get all the victims trapped in the cave out.

Just as Mingche was at his wit's end, "Roar!" came Xiaobai's roar from the front of the train. A brilliant idea flashed in Mingche's mind.

...An hour later...

"Alright, all done." Xiaoyu took a few steps back, raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and lay in front of him a giant Yi Hai, as big as a small mountain. The giant Yi Hai was covered in dark gold armor, and silver arcs of electricity occasionally crackled on its thick tail.

Dozens of massive chains made of lightning were wrapped around Xiaobai's body. The other end of each chain was firmly welded to the train engine. A group of fake sheriffs, armed with guns, surrounded him to prevent other skeletons from approaching.

They all had one thing in common: a dragon scale pendant on their chests. Xiaoyu had to beg and plead to get even this small pendant.

For this, Xiaoyu was almost stabbed to death by Mingche. He acted subservient and like a grandson in front of Mingche, but in front of his brothers, he pretended to be nonchalant and said that the dragon scale was a reward given to him by Mingche for his extraordinary courage.

"Hey! Third brother, don't you feel refreshed ever since you put on this pendant? Even the effects of the etheric erosion are gone. And we've been here for so long, don't you find it strange that we haven't encountered a single etheric skeleton?"

Among the fake sheriffs standing guard, someone spoke first, voicing their doubts. This immediately drew agreement from those around them: "Ah!? You felt it too?" "I thought it was just my imagination." "Exactly, exactly..."

"Hey! How's it going over there?" Xiaoyu turned to the group feeding Yihai and asked, "Keep it up! Boss said that if we get everyone out safely, he'll take us on as his underlings!"

Upon hearing this, the men who were still carrying the ether explosives worked even harder. Meanwhile, Little White, who was lying in front of the train, waited contentedly as ants brought him food, which he then ate.

"One, two, three, lift!" The two men were struggling to move a large iron can when one of the thinner fake sheriffs said, "Fatty, give it your all!" The fake sheriff, called Fatty, gritted his teeth and said, "Skinny Monkey, don't rush me. I... I've already tried my best."

Just then, Extra Number One and Extra Number Two, who had finished feeding the animals, happened to pass by the two. Seeing that the two hadn't stopped yet, they couldn't help but ask, "You two look like you're having a hard time, do you need any help?"

"No, no, we can manage ourselves, you guys..." Before he could finish speaking, the two of them had already started helping to move the load. "Thank you~" the skinny monkey lowered his head and whispered his thanks, not expecting that the other person would hear him.

Upon hearing this, Extra Number One smiled brightly and joked, "Haha, what's the big deal? We're brothers, why are we thanking each other?" Just as the group was chatting, a dark shadow swept over their heads.

The second extra looked up excitedly and shouted, "Look! Boss is back!" The others looked up and followed his gaze. Under the enthusiastic gazes of the people around them, they saw Ming Che flapping his dragon wings and slowly landing beside Xiao Yu.

Mingche landed smoothly back on the ground and reached out to check the sturdiness of the chains. He nodded slightly in approval, saying, "Not bad, keep it up." Xiaoyu, praised, tilted his head slightly, accepting the compliment with great pride.

Then, disregarding the stares of those around him, Mingche took out a small metal canister filled with highly concentrated etheric energy from the box on his back. He walked up to Xiaobai and tossed the canister into Xiaobai's open mouth. He said to Xiaobai, "Time to get to work."

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(End of this chapter)