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

Chang Chengye's face was ashen, while Chang Hao, standing beside him, was even paler, his fingers trembling slightly involuntarily.

Should we retreat? And fight again in five days? A strong sense of resentment welled up in Chang Chengye's heart.

That would mean completely losing the initiative and barely surviving under the other side's nose.

His eyes flashed with a sinister light, and he subtly gave Han Xiaoyang a wink.

Han Xiaoyang understood and immediately led a few trusted men to quietly retreat and quickly return to the troop transport vehicle behind them.

Before long, a suppressed cry of pleas came, and more than a dozen members of the Li family were pushed and shoved over, staggering and kneeling on the snow.

"Mayor Chang, please spare us! It's all that bitch Li Ya's fault for being so ignorant, it has nothing to do with us!"

"Yes, yes, although her surname is Li, we've never acknowledged her as our sister!"

"Please, Mayor Chang, let us go!"

The cries and the sounds of kowtowing mingled together, particularly jarring in the quiet night.

Chang Chengye ignored the wails behind him. He took a deep breath, looked at Lin Chen again, and even managed a seemingly calm smile.

"Mr. Lin, it seems you are not aware of these people's identities." He spoke calmly, as if introducing an insignificant object, and reached out to drag the slumped Qin Anhui to his side, ignoring her screams.

"This is Li Zhenbang's legal wife, Qin Anhui. She is also... the culprit who caused the death of Li Ya's birth mother back then."

He paused, then added meaningfully, "I heard that Li Ya is now the second-in-command at your shelter? And also your... bedmate?"

Then, he pulled over the trembling Li Yan: "This is Li Yan, the eldest son of the Li family."

"This is the eldest daughter, Li Jia."

"This belongs to Li Zhenbang..."

He identified each of the twelve members of the Li family one by one, speaking calmly without uttering a single direct threat.

But he believed that the meaning couldn't be clearer—the lives and deaths of these hostages, and the emotions and moral obligations that might be tied to Li Ya, were the bargaining chips in his hands.

After the introduction, Chang Chengye stared intently at Lin Chen, waiting for his reaction.

Under the snow and car headlights, the ugly sight of the Li family members, with tears streaming down their faces and kowtowing repeatedly, was laid bare.

Lin Chen's gaze swept over the group of panicked people, his brows furrowed slightly, and a clear hint of annoyance flashed in his eyes.

He didn't even bother to lift an eyelid at Chang Chengye's implicit coercion, simply coldly repeating his previous question:

"Have you made up your mind? To fight, or to retreat?"

Chang Chengye's composure froze instantly.

He never expected Lin Chen to react this way—not with anger, not with weighing the options, but with complete disregard!

It was as if the cards he had carefully revealed were nothing more than a pile of unsightly garbage.

"Mr. Lin...won't you reconsider?" Chang Chengye's voice involuntarily rose, filled with undisguised astonishment and a hint of exasperation. "If you're so kind as to let us go, the Yangcheng official shelter, and these Li family members, are all yours!"

Lin Chen chuckled, his laughter ringing out clearly and coldly in the night: "Do you think you could have kept the Li family trapped like this long if I really wanted to save them?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping across Chang Chengye's face like a blade. "As for the shelter... ha, it's as if you could actually 'give' it to me right now."

"You—!" Chang Chengye was so shocked by these merciless and sharp words that his blood boiled and he was speechless for a moment.

All the calculations and all the escape routes seemed to be seen through at a glance and crushed by the other party.

A surge of shame, anger, and ruthlessness, born from being driven to the brink of despair, suddenly welled up within him. Since appeasement and threats were useless, then only…

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and his mental connection fluctuated abruptly. A silent yet sharp command pierced directly into the depths of Leng Zhijie's dormant consciousness—Attack!

Leng Zhijie, who had been standing still like a statue, suddenly had a flash of cold, eerie blue light that had been forcibly activated in his empty eyes.

He moved without warning!

S-rank, Tier 3 ice-based superpowers erupted instantly!

Centered on him, a visible, pale, and chilling aura swept towards Lin Chen like a raging tide. The moisture in the air was instantly frozen, turning into countless sharp and ferocious ice spikes, which, mixed with the howling extreme cold air, rained down on Lin Chen!

On this already frigid winter night in the apocalypse, the power of the ice ability is amplified by the natural environment, making it even more chilling and piercing, enough to freeze or pierce through ordinary experts instantly!

Leng Zhijie himself transformed into a blurry white shadow, following closely behind the superpower. His five fingers formed claws, with deadly ice crystals condensing at the tips, and he lunged straight at Lin Chen's vitals!

This attack was unrestrained, swift, ruthless, and precise. Combined with the extreme amplification of the environment, it was a decisive blow!

Faced with this sudden and violent attack, Lin Chen seemed to be stunned, standing still without even moving a finger.

The icy breath was already upon his face, and the sharp tips of the ice spikes were almost touching his clothes...

Just as Leng Zhijie's hand was about to grip Lin Chen's throat—

"Too slow."

A bland, even somewhat boring, judgment clearly reached everyone's ears.

Lin Chen simply and casually raised his right foot.

The movement didn't seem fast, but at the critical moment, it struck first despite being behind!

"Bang--!!!!"

A dull, teeth-grinding bang exploded!

Before anyone could see what happened, they only saw a blur before the white figure that was rushing towards them flew backward at several times the speed it had come from, as if it had been hit head-on by a giant battering ram!

"BOOM—!!!"

Leng Zhijie's body slammed heavily against the exterior wall of a building more than ten meters away. The thick brick wall instantly caved in, and spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly, with broken bricks and dust falling down in a flurry.

He was deeply "embedded" in the wall, his limbs twisted strangely, the ice armor covering his body shattering inch by inch, and then he was silent, his fate unknown.

The entire street was deathly silent.

All that remained was the mournful howl of the cold wind and the suppressed sobs of a few members of the Li family in the distance.

Chang Chengye, Chang Hao, Han Xiaoyang, and all their confidants were frozen in place, their eyes wide open, unconscious "hoarse" sounds escaping their throats, and cold sweat instantly soaking through their inner shirts.

They didn't even see how Lin Chen kicked the ball!

Lin Chen slowly withdrew his right leg, and as if he still wasn't clean enough, casually dusted off non-existent dust from his trouser leg.

His gaze swept over the pale faces of Chang Chengye and the others, his tone as calm as if he were discussing the weather:

"I didn't go all out; I was holding back. An S-rank, third-tier ability user has incredibly strong vitality; they won't die."

He paused, looked at the wall with the person embedded in it, and added, "Aren't you going to...pry the person out?"

He wanted to say "rescue," but looking at Leng Zhijie's deep entrapment in the wall, the word "sink" was clearly more appropriate and also more jarring.

This seemingly casual remark sent a chill down Chang Chengye's spine and filled him with despair more deeply than any roar or threat.