If you slap me, the whole world will suffer the same harm.

Lin Chen sat down cross-legged and pressed a level-five evil energy crystal against his chest.

"boom.......!"

A massive surge of evil energy flooded into his body.

His veins bulged all over his body, dark red light flowed beneath his skin, and his fel armor automatically appeared, then shattered and reformed repeatedly.

"Well.......!"

The intense pain made him groan, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.

System notifications kept ringing:

"Ding! Host has absorbed a Level 5 Fel Energy Crystal, Fel Energy Transformation level is increasing..."

"Ding! Host has broken through! Current level: Level 5 (Early Stage)!"

"Ding! Host has absorbed a Level 6 Fel Energy Crystal, Fel Energy Transformation level is increasing..."

"Ding! Host has broken through! Current level: Level 5 (Peak)!"

Two days and two nights later, Lin Chen opened his eyes.

At this moment, his fel transformation had reached the peak of level five, and his aura was several times stronger than before.

He slowly stood up, and with a thought, the Evil King Spear appeared in his hand.

"cut!"

He waved his hand towards the distance, and the Evil King Spear unleashed a huge black blade of energy that flew out like a crescent moon, cleaving a three-meter-high concrete wall in two.

"Level 5... I can finally attack from a distance." Lin Chen's lips curled up.

Of course, others also made breakthroughs.

It can be said that the main force has broken through to level five, level three has become level four, and even those who have just been bound for a short time have reached level two.

As for Level 1, it's safe to say that there isn't a single person there so far.

At this moment, Iron Wolf swung his giant axe, and a burst of axe energy flew out, splitting a three-meter-long trench in the ground.

"Awesome! I can do ranged attacks now!" Iron Wolf laughed.

Zhang Han swung his slender sword, unleashing a torrent of sword energy that sliced ​​through the air.

Chen Hu's cleaver unleashed a blade of energy, which, while not as powerful as Tie Lang's axe energy, was faster.

Xiaoxue, Hongji, and Xiaoya have all mastered ranged attacks.

"Now, all of us have improved our strength to a new level," Lin Chen said.

"But that's not enough."

Zhang Han asked, "Isn't that enough?"

"Last night's Level 6 Evil King almost wiped us all out. What if a Level 7 or Level 8 one comes next?"

Everyone fell silent.

"Getting stronger is a continuous process." Lin Chen looked into the distance. "This world won't let us off the hook just because we're hiding in a shelter."

Iron Wolf gripped his axe tightly: "So, what's next?"

Lin Chen pondered for a moment: "Continue hunting, continue leveling up, and at the same time, expand our team."

Chen Hu: "You mean, recruit all the people who aren't officially affiliated?"

Lin Chen nodded: "Only by sticking together can we survive."

Xiaoxue: "Will they listen?"

Lin Chen smiled: "They already have someone waiting for us."

He turned and looked at the square.

Sure enough, at the edge of the square, thousands of people gathered, their eyes filled with longing and awe.

"Brother Lin...we want to join you."

"You guys were amazing last night! We'd like to help too!"

"We don't want to hide in this building and wait to die anymore!"

"Please take us in!"

Lin Chen led the group over.

"Joining us is possible." He paused, "but there's one thing you need to understand."

"What?"

"Following me might be painful and shameful."

Someone in the crowd laughed.

"Brother Lin, you guys even took your clothes off last night, what are we afraid of!"

"Exactly! You guys aren't afraid to run around naked, so we aren't!"

Lin Chen's face darkened: "Anyone who brings up last night's events again will experience level ten pain!"

Everyone fell silent instantly.

Xiaoxue whispered, "This trick really works."

Hong Ji: "Hmm, very intimidating."

Xiaoya: "I...I'd rather take it off than go through that again..."

(／／／ω／／／)

Lin Chen stood in the center of the square, watching more and more people gather around.

He knew that from this day forward, this shelter for ten thousand people would truly unite around him.

A month is neither a long nor a short time.

But for Lin Chen and his group of over six thousand people, this past month has been nothing short of paradise.

During the day, those who should hunt should hunt, those who should sleep should sleep, and those who should stockpile supplies should stockpile supplies.

At night, the evil creatures attacked as usual, but all of them were level three or below. Although there were many of them, they no longer posed a fatal threat.

Lin Chen divided his men into three groups to take turns keeping watch at night.

Tonight, Iron Wolf will lead one team; tomorrow night, Zhang Han will lead one team; and the day after tomorrow, Chen Hu will lead one team.

Everyone else is taking a break, playing cards, and enjoying their lives.

"Ding! The host has slain 3 level-two evil creatures and obtained 3 level-two evil energy crystals."

"Ding! The host has slain 7 Level 1 Evil Entities and obtained 7 Level 1 Evil Energy Crystals."

The system notifications kept ringing every day, but Lin Chen was already numb to it.

He sat on a broken sofa by the square, holding a level-two fel crystal in his hand, and sighed.

"System, absorb."

"Ding! Absorption begins... Absorption complete. Host's current fel energy transformation level: Level 5 (Peak), experience points +0.001%."

Lin Chen: "...Are you serious?"

System: "Ding! The level 2 fel crystal has too low an energy level to significantly enhance your level 5 peak fel transformation. It is recommended that you absorb a level 4 or level 5 fel crystal to obtain the energy needed to break through to level 6."

Lin Chen rolled his eyes: "Level four or five? Do you think I run a supermarket? Those kinds of evil creatures are few and far between, and you need props and thousands of people ganging up on them to kill them."

System: "Ding! The host can continue to accumulate masochistic points for future use."

Lin Chen: "Okay, okay."

He looked at the busy crowd in the square, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

In the past month, he has exchanged a large number of low-level evil crystals for a lot of living supplies.

Food, drinks, medicine, clothes, and even several cases of beer and a bunch of snacks.

In the apocalypse, these things are more precious than gold.

"Brother Lin, there's braised pork canned food for dinner tonight! Half a can per person!" Xiaoxue skipped over, holding a tin can in her hand, her eyes sparkling.

Lin Chen smiled and ruffled her hair: "Eat less. Last time you ate so much you cried out in the middle of the night that your stomach hurt."

Xiaoxue blushed: "That...that was an accident! Besides, Sister Xiaoya gave me digestive medicine!"

"Digestive medicine isn't a cure-all either," Lin Chen said, speechless.

Red Princess walked past, carrying a fel energy staff taller than herself, and said expressionlessly, "She's right. Last time you were rolling around in pain in your room, which scared Iron Wolf into thinking some evil creature had broken in."

Xiaoxue covered her face: "Sister Hongji! Stop talking!"

Xiaoya came over with a cup of hot water and whispered, "Xiaoxue, drink more hot water, it really helps."

Xiaoxue: "...I'm not on my period!"

(＞﹏＜)

Iron Wolf was arm wrestling with Chen Hu not far away, and a crowd of people gathered around them, making a fuss.

Zhang Han leaned against the wall, his eyes closed as if he were dozing, his slender sword lying horizontally on his knees, like an ice sculpture.

"Lin Chen, come here for a second," Zhang Han suddenly said.

Lin Chen walked over: "What's wrong?"

Zhang Han opened his eyes and lowered his voice: "Have you noticed that the evil creatures around us have been behaving strangely lately?"

Lin Chen frowned: "Something's wrong?"

"The number hasn't decreased, but the level hasn't gone up. Logically speaking, as the blood moon goes on for longer, the evil creatures that appear should become stronger and stronger."

Lin Chen nodded: "I've been thinking about this issue too. In the first half of the month, there were still some level three evil creatures showing up from time to time, but in the last half month, even level three ones have become rarer, and it's all level one and level two trash.

Zhang Han: "Doesn't it look like the calm before the storm?"

Lin Chen didn't reply, but just looked up at the hazy horizon in the distance.

The blood moon hung high in the sky, its crimson light casting an eerie glow over the entire shelter.

"No matter what, keep everyone on their guard," Lin Chen said.

"Um."

However, their peaceful life was eventually disrupted.