Apocalypse: The Primordial Pearl Recognizes Its Master, Starting with Infinite Space

Finally, Lin Chen spoke.

"Quiet."

Lin Chen's gaze slowly and coldly swept across the entire room.

He swept past the burly men who had just been committing violence but were now kneeling most "devoutly," past the shrewd individuals with shifty eyes who were secretly calculating, and past the elderly, weak, women, and children who were truly filled with despair and trembling with fear.

Finally, his gaze settled on the dozen or so security guards led by Captain Tan.

"I am not a savior." Lin Chen's voice was calm and even, without the slightest sentimentality or pity. "Shanshui Garden is not a refugee camp either."

These words were like an icicle, piercing the bubble of illusion that had just risen in some people's hearts. The color drained from several faces instantly, revealing a deeper desolation.

"However," Lin Chen changed the subject, his gaze sweeping over everyone again, "I can give you a chance."

"An opportunity?" someone murmured, a glimmer of light rekindling in their eyes.

"Not bad." Lin Chen's lips curled into a barely warm smile. "Those who killed just now purely for venting and amusement, step forward."

The hall was deathly silent. Everyone looked at each other, puzzled by the meaning of this action.

The burly man who had tried to kill Tian Tian earlier had a violent glint in his eyes, and veins were bulging on his forehead.

Several of his accomplices, who had also been ruthless and fierce-looking during the earlier riot, instinctively shrank back.

"Don't try to get away with it." Lin Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it struck everyone like a hammer blow. "Stepping forward voluntarily might offer a glimmer of hope. If I 'invite' you out..."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Then I can only ask you to ascend to paradise ahead of time."

Despite the extreme cold, fine beads of sweat appeared on the burly man's face, instantly freezing into ice and hanging on his eyebrows and temples, making him look incredibly eerie.

He could feel Lin Chen's gaze, almost tangible, constantly and subtly falling on him.

He knew he couldn't escape it.

"Damn it..." the burly man cursed under his breath, spat out a mouthful of saliva, and stood up with a stiff upper lip.

With him leading the way, more than fifty people, their faces grim, came out one after another.

Without exception, these people all emanated energy fluctuations, some strong and some weak—they were all awakened beings.

Having gained superhuman strength, some people's mentality has become distorted. They regard ordinary people as worthless ants and kill only to vent their violence, without any connection to hunger.

"Very good." Lin Chen nodded, his tone as if discussing the weather. "I'm giving you a mission. Go kill zombies, second-tier ones. One second-tier crystal core in exchange for your life. If you succeed, I can temporarily overlook your previous misdeeds and give you a chance to live. If you fail..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the unspoken meaning sent a chill down the spines of the fifty-odd people present.

"Why should I?!" the burly man finally roared, his fleshy face trembling. "In this apocalypse, who has clean hands? The strong prey on the weak, it's only natural! These useless trash are just wasting food if they live, so what's wrong with killing them? Haven't you ever killed anyone?"

His words resonated with many awakened individuals who stood up, and they echoed him in hushed tones.

The ordinary survivors around them turned pale and instinctively shrank back.

"What you said is true to some extent." Lin Chen actually nodded, his tone still calm. "Fighting to the death for limited resources is part of the laws of the apocalypse, and I can't be bothered with it. But..."

His gaze suddenly sharpened like a knife. "To swing the butcher's knife at our helpless compatriots purely for amusement and venting is to cross my bottom line."

"I didn't want to get involved in this mess, but you all came to me yourself." Lin Chen shrugged, seemingly somewhat helpless. "Since I've taken action, then it has to be done my way. This tower may not have much else, but it certainly has plenty of zombies; there are even Tier 2 ones downstairs. Go and prove that your power should be used in the right way, not to bully the weak."

"I...I only have E-level abilities! How could I possibly kill a second-level zombie? You're sending us to our deaths!" a tall, thin Awakened One cried out in a trembling voice, his face filled with fear.

"Idiots," Lin Chen commented bluntly. "Zombies have no brains, and neither do you? You can't beat them one by one, so why don't you team up? Why don't you use the terrain, tools, and cooperate? Your ferocity is only for the weaker ones?"

"I'm not going!" The burly man was completely reckless, his neck stiff. "I'm not asking you for help anymore, okay? I'm leaving right now. You do your thing, I'm going my own way!"

As he spoke, he beckoned to his five accomplices, who also had menacing expressions, and turned to move toward the fire escape on the other side, trying to get away from this place of trouble.

"It's too late." Lin Chen's voice seemed to ring right in his ears.

The next instant, Lin Chen's figure appeared directly in front of the burly man like a ghost, so fast that almost no one present could see how he moved.

His left hand shot out like an iron clamp, precisely gripping the burly man's throat and slowly tightening.

"Uh...ha..." The burly man's eyes bulged out, his face instantly turned red and purple, and he tried in vain to pry Lin Chen's fingers apart with his hands, while kicking his legs wildly.

"Lord Lin!" Tian Tian couldn't help but exclaim softly, but Duan Rong held her arm tightly.

Duan Rong gently shook her head at her, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

Captain Tan and the others also gasped for breath.

Seeing this, the other five accomplices were shocked and enraged. Almost simultaneously, they grabbed steel pipes and machetes and charged at Lin Chen from different directions, attempting to relieve the siege by attacking from the rear.

Lin Chen clenched his right hand out of thin air, and the Tang sword that Qi Wei had enchanted reappeared.

He didn't even turn around; he merely flicked his wrist, and the blade traced several simple, sharp arcs in the air.

puff!puff!puff……

The dull thuds of sharp blades slicing through flesh rang out one after another.

The five men's charge suddenly froze, their weapons clattering to the ground. They clutched their necks, blood gushing from between their fingers, their faces filled with disbelief and horror. They collapsed to the ground, twitching a few times before falling still.

It was crisp, efficient, and without any hesitation.

The whole process took less than three seconds.

Lin Chen then turned his gaze back to the face of the burly man in his hand, whose eyes had already rolled back, and slowly increased the pressure on his fingers.

"I...said...that..." he said slowly and deliberately, his voice icy, "Since you want me to take action, I won't give up halfway."

"Let...me go..." the burly man managed to squeeze out a broken plea for mercy from his throat.

"Click."

The crisp sound of bones cracking was particularly jarring in the silent hall. The burly man's head tilted to one side at an eerie angle, the fierce light in his eyes completely extinguished, and his body went limp.

Lin Chen let go as if throwing away trash, letting him collapse to the ground.

He flicked non-existent dust off his hands and glanced at the remaining fifty-odd superhumans who were silent and pale.

"So, what's your decision now? You dare to wield the butcher's knife against your own people, but you don't dare to face the real monster?"

Those fifty-odd people were already terrified out of their wits, and dared not utter a single objection.

Faced with this man who could kill six people with ease and whose methods were as ruthless and decisive as a demon, the thought of resistance had long been crushed.

They shakily picked up the still-intact weapons from the ground and, under the complex gazes of over a thousand people, headed towards the direction from which the low growls of zombies came from outside the hall, as if they were going to their execution.

At least, they might have a sliver of hope when facing mindless zombies, but when facing Lin Chen... the fate of those people just now serves as an example.

At this moment, all that remained in their hearts was endless regret—this jinx was something they had "asked" for themselves.

Lin Chen stopped looking at them and turned to the remaining 1,400-plus survivors who were still in shock.

"Alright, the troublemakers have been eliminated." He clapped his hands, as if he had only dealt with a few trivial matters. "Now, let's begin the formal screening."