Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

More people chose to focus their attention on Ying Qin Pass.

This person is rumored to be very strange.

Only when the skill difference is more than two major levels can you reliably achieve a one-hit kill. What does "reliable" mean? It means that out of ten fights, you can achieve a one-hit kill at least five times. That's what you call reliable.

Even with a significant difference in strength, the two can still determine a winner quickly. However, the actual outcome of a fight depends on the characteristics of their fighting styles. For example, Darius's magical warrior profession makes him extremely adept at quick battles. On the day of the City of Truth, his teacher, who was considered a weak first-rate expert, similar to Jiu Yi, only lasted a few seconds before being defeated.

Can it be... killed in seconds?

Darius, a top-tier warrior, was instantly killed?

This is truly mysterious. While theoretically, it's possible to achieve a one-hit kill in a fight between opponents of equal strength, that's primarily a matter of performance and the characteristics of different fighting styles, making it difficult to replicate.

If that's not the case, then the strength of Ying Qin Pass...

Ying Qin Guan glanced at him, his gaze lingering on Kui for a moment before quickly looking away.

He felt a little regretful that he hadn't brought any weapons, thinking it unnecessary. He hadn't expected to run into Kui, and he had originally had the opportunity to keep his promise... but in the current situation, it was probably not convenient to fight.

During the cherry blossom season, Ying Qin Guan made a pact with Kui that if he found a weapon, the two would have a real fight to determine the winner.

Later, Ying Qin Guan truly understood Kui's peculiar status in this world and realized that he had no source of intelligence. Ying Qin Guan himself was too lazy to take the initiative to find Kui and once thought that the agreement would be void. Unexpectedly, he met him here, which was a pleasant surprise.

"Nephalem, and this... Mr. Ying Qin Guan, please take your seats as well."

Seated at the head of the table was the UN representative in charge of this matter, the former military commander of the Morgan Kingdom. His hair was gray, and his face was covered in wrinkles, but his eyes remained incredibly sharp. He was the same man who served as commander-in-chief during the UN's attack on Black Dragon's capital. Having experienced several epic battles in his life, he was truly a legendary figure.

Nephalem responded and led Ying Qin Guan to their seats; they were the last to arrive.

"I'm sure you all had some understanding of the current situation before you came here," the commander said, his voice steady and powerful, with a kind of reassuring strength. "I won't say any polite words, I'll just tell you the truth... This may be another huge disaster that could overturn human civilization, following the Black Dragon Empire."

He interlaced his fingers and calmly said, "The fighting power of zombies is not worth mentioning. What is terrifying about them has never been their fighting power, but their ability to spread the disease."

"The transmission routes we have confirmed so far include air, water, and bodily fluids. The bodily fluid aspect is relatively easy to handle, since the virus has a short incubation period and an extremely rapid outbreak. The real problem lies in the air and water."

“There are a few survivors in Berg City, and they are currently in quarantine. But they brought a lot of intelligence… Lanxiu, you say.”

"Yes." The researcher next to the commander responded, stepped forward, opened the document in his hand, and read out a piece of data in a deep voice.

These are all survivors' accounts, with the vague memories that those people themselves couldn't quite recall removed, leaving only the parts that the people involved were relatively certain about.

Some of them are particularly frightening.

"In the early stages of the outbreak, a family of three hid in a closet. Zombies came and searched the area; the strong and healthy father was unharmed, but the son and the frail mother were directly infected."

There was no physical contact, no contact with bodily fluids, no actual handling, and the person was hidden in a closet that, while not completely sealed, still managed to block most airflow... and yet, despite all this, they still got infected.

That was in the early stages of the outbreak, when there weren't many zombie viruses in the city.

"To be honest, this is the first time we have seen a virus with such strong vitality."

Chapter Twenty: Five Regions

Normally, viruses die quickly after leaving the human body. While some exceptions can attach themselves to other objects, such as rotavirus in feces, allowing them to survive for a considerable time, this zombie virus can indeed survive directly in the air, though the exact survival time is unknown. However, it appears to survive for at least five days, and its infectivity is extremely high. It doesn't even require scratching or body swapping; simply being in the same room, separated by a wardrobe, is enough to infect vulnerable women and children.

If this virus were to spread, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Its airborne transmission makes it impossible to guard against, and its long lifespan allows it to be carried by the wind to any place people do not want it to appear.

If it weren't for the UN's swift and effective response, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Even now, the situation isn't much better.

"It's almost impossible for anyone to be alive in the city." After the researcher finished speaking, the commander naturally continued, "Various countries have already sent energy to the City of Truth, intending to activate the apocalypse. But before that, two things must be confirmed. First, whether the apocalypse can kill that virus completely, utterly. This is none of your concern; it's the researchers' job. Second, to confirm..."

"What exactly did the agents of the Ang Empire bring out from the Black Dragon Ruins?!"

This matter is extremely important.

After the apocalyptic bombardment, this city will become a no-man's land. What if the agents of the Ang Empire brought out some kind of strange, highly radioactive material from the Black Dragon Empire, and this material caused the virus? And if the apocalypse failed to completely destroy that radioactive material... the trouble will be even greater than it is now.

“I know this request is unreasonable to you all. But we have to do it. We can’t leave any hidden dangers. Otherwise, it could brew into a bigger and more terrible disaster.”

"We already understand the situation."

Across from Yingqin Pass, a man spoke up, asking, "But what exactly are we supposed to do? Anyone can find something. But there are no living people inside, and we have almost no intelligence. Are we just going to go in and search blindly?"

"Regarding this, it's like this." The commander reached out, and a researcher handed him a roll of paper. The commander unfolded the paper, which contained a simple hand-drawn map marking several important areas.

"There are also some survivors in the city, although none of them are qualified to have direct access to the agents and what they brought back. But there are some high-ranking individuals among them who know some intelligence."

"There are five key areas of focus, the first being...this place."

The corps commander pressed the cap of his ballpoint pen and drew a circle on the map.

"The Special Operations Department is located in this area, but none of the survivors know exactly where it is. So you have to find it. Theoretically, the agents' intelligence, missions, and related records are all here. This is the first place you need to find; it's very important, extremely important."

"Secondly... are the agents' homes. According to survivors' recollections, this was the area where the unrest first occurred."

The commander circled another area with his pen, "This isn't a high-end residential area. Those qualified to have access to those top agents wouldn't live here. So, logically speaking, this should be the agents' home. Of course, even if it's not their home, as the first area to erupt, it should be thoroughly investigated. We suspect the agents have hoarded some items they obtained from the Black Dragon Empire... but perhaps it's because the agents have been in contact with those items for too long. So, being the first to erupt makes sense. In any case, this area needs to be investigated."

Then he fenced off another area.

"Thirdly, Ang's top research lab, this place needs no explanation."

"Fourth, the palace... Although there are places like the intelligence agency, truly confidential information is not all kept there. Mr. Nephalem should have a lot of experience in this regard."

Everyone looked at the Nephalem, and the legendary spy of the Seven Stars said with a wry smile, "Yes, Commander Piez."

—The Nephalem participated in the war against the Black Dragon more than a year ago. The opponent was the Supreme Commander, who was indeed his commander.

"Finally... here."

A man named Piez fenced off the last piece of land, the heart of the city, Bird Square.

"We've been exploring inside using various flying objects. But ordinary flying objects are basically killed as soon as they enter. The zombies inside seem to have no sense of smell. However, they will attack any moving object. Some of them are mutants with powerful jumping abilities and unpredictable movement speed, making them difficult to defend against. In addition, due to the limited control distance, ordinary detection objects are not very effective. So we can only observe from outside the protective shield. Everything else is fine, but there is one area that has always been shrouded in thick fog. This place is Byrd Plaza, the core of the city. Every day, a large number of zombies enter this area, but we have never seen any of them come out. This place must be extremely dangerous."

"If everything goes smoothly after exploring the first four areas, we will not explore this area. However, if many mysteries remain after exploring the first four areas, then everyone here will proceed to this area together..."

A dozen or so top-tier martial artists, plus one (actually two) god-level masters—whatever they might be involved, they should be able to handle it.

Commander Piez paused, allowing everyone to process the information, before saying, "Next, you will need to split into four groups and explore the four areas according to your respective areas of expertise."

This "each has their own strengths" does not refer to military force, but to other aspects. For example, Ying Qin Guan definitely cannot be sent to the research institute, otherwise he will not only fail to obtain information, but also destroy the original information. Another example is Nephalem, as a legendary agent, he will definitely have to go to the Special Service Department and search for intelligence there.

"Before that, you all need to have some understanding of those zombies."

Piez said, "I know you are all top experts in the world. In terms of combat power alone, those zombies can even defeat many ordinary second-rate martial artists. But there are some mutants among them, so you all need to be careful. Although top-level martial artists are not currently infected by viruses in the air, we have not yet conducted experiments on water or scratches, and we cannot conduct experiments on those either. Please be as careful as possible."

"Then, Lanxiu, distribute the information on the zombies."

Chapter Twenty-One: Grouping

The group received a document containing detailed information about the zombies.

Information about ordinary zombies is plentiful, including their movement speed, running speed, night vision, and bite force. For example, the bite force range is broken down to the single digit. In contrast, information about mutants is pitifully scarce.

A mutant martial artist.

He was a martial artist in life, and retained that fighting instinct after death, possessing the physical qualities to crush ordinary zombies... but his use of internal energy seems to be very rudimentary.

A mutated mage.

In life, they were magicians, but after death, they lost the ability to chant and cast spells normally. However, modern magic systems have greatly compressed the chanting of spells, and many magicians modify some minor spells themselves, so that they can cast spells by reciting just one or even a few specific syllables. This has created this variant, which can basically only use a few simple minor spells that the magician used in life, and their power is mediocre and not worth worrying about.

—If this were ancient times, without the ability to reduce the casting time of magic spells, this zombie would certainly not exist.

A primitive monster.

The bloodlines of magical beasts aren't as powerful as those of alien races. Many magical beasts, after being raised as pets, gradually lose their extraordinary powers and become domesticated pets. However, after being infected by the zombie virus, many animals begin to revert to their ancestral forms, activating a portion of their ancient magical beast bloodline and transforming into zombie magical beasts... possessing a certain level of combat ability. While certainly not comparable to top-tier martial artists, they still try their best to avoid being scratched by claws.

Although the zombie virus doesn't seem to be strong enough to infect top-tier martial artists, it's best not to try something so dangerous.

In addition, there is suspicion that plants may also mutate. After all, monsters are not just animals. Although no signs of actual plants reverting to their ancestral forms as monsters have been observed yet, caution is still necessary.

The arena fell silent. A group of top-tier martial artists either calmly looked at the intelligence report, or they disregarded it but still pretended to care, or perhaps they were like Kui, who didn't even want to pretend.

After a while, Piez coughed, interrupting everyone's reading—of course, after so much time, those who were supposed to have read the good parts had already read them, and those who hadn't were like those slackers who had been reading for ten minutes and were still reading the same page.

"When you set off, please take walkie-talkies for communication. Also, do not eat or drink anything inside. Every day at 5:30 pm, as it gets dark, unless there are special circumstances, it is best to evacuate Byrd on time and return for resupply."

Top-tier martial artists can survive for extended periods without food or water in extreme conditions. However, this is clearly not wilderness survival; top-tier martial artists are rare talents, appearing only once in 600 million people. Important figures in various countries don't need to engage in such life-or-death races. While maintaining the barrier is extremely costly and cannot be sustained indefinitely, "indefinitely" refers to "forever"—for decades, centuries, or millennia—not just something that would be unbearable in a few days. In comparison, the energy consumption of an apocalypse is far greater. A single attack like this now would cause the entire United Nations sleepless nights with worry.

"Finally... here's the group arrangement. If you have any objections, please raise them. If you don't have any objections, please respond or nod."

One of the researchers stepped forward and said, "First of all, Darius, Chen Fang, Ed, and Ming, all four of you have received a proper and good education and have a certain foundation. Please go to the research institute to investigate."

Darius, with his black and white dreadlocks, nodded slightly, perhaps relieved to hear that he wouldn't be paired with Ying Qin Guan.

Chen Fang was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, except for the many frightening calluses on his fists. He nodded and said calmly, "That's fine too."

The man called Ming wore a hideous bronze demon mask. It was said that he was exceptionally handsome, with a male body and female features, and was therefore ridiculed. So he put on this hideous mask, and even after no one dared to mock him anymore, he never took it off. He nodded slightly and remained silent.

The last one was Ed. He had long, flowing blond hair that cascaded wildly over his shoulders. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, a white lab coat, and was tall and slender. He also wore white gloves, giving him an air of both intellect and wildness. He propped his feet up on the table and casually said, "Whatever."

"Then, the second group."

"Nephalem and the Ten Commandments, you two gentlemen have more or less experience in this field, so you can find the relevant intelligence more efficiently. I'll leave it to the Special Service."

Nephalem nodded slightly, without saying anything more.

The Ten Commandments is a man whose body is covered in bandages—of course, in addition to that, he is also dressed in shabby clothes. He is not simply running around naked with bandages on. Surprisingly, he has even his eyes covered, making people worry about whether he can see anything. He has a giant sword on his back, almost as long as one and two God Hearts. The blade is thick and wide, probably forty centimeters wide and at least thirty millimeters thick.

He spoke, his voice hoarse, as if someone had choked him and poured ten kilograms of quicklime into his mouth, along with a large bucket of water—that's pretty much the kind of voice that would produce.

"it is good."

Ying Qin Guan listened from the side, somewhat bewildered, wondering if the Ten Commandments leader, like the Nephalem, was going to become a secret agent.

Are you kidding me... You won't even be able to get through customs like this.

"The third group, Ying Qin Guan, Kui, and A Tuo She... all three are powerful. Please go to the palace to explore... There are many mutated martial artists and mages in the palace. Although our subsequent statistics show that most of the experts in Bird City above the second rank have escaped without showing signs of infection, a small number of second-rank experts remain there, and there may also be some first-rank experts whose whereabouts we don't know. In addition, the emperor of the Ang Empire has a particular fondness for all kinds of rare and exotic beasts, and these magical beasts have most likely been infected as well... The palace area is extremely dangerous, so please be careful."

The other party paused, then added, "The palace area is extremely large, and the three of you cannot search it all. So, you only need to clear out the dangers in the palace area. The specific search can wait for the other three groups to join us."

Theoretically, the zombie virus poses no threat to top-tier experts. After all, according to UN statistics, 70% of second-tier experts escaped, and not a single top-tier expert recorded in the Ang Empire was infected. Let alone top-tier experts, the danger in the Royal Palace area is mainly due to those reverted demonic beasts.

Ying Qin Guan waved his hand, saying nothing more.

Kui crossed his arms and nodded calmly.

The man named Athos was shirtless, with an ancient and mysterious symmetrical pattern tattooed on his chest. He had dark red stripes on his face and neck, and his black and red hair was unkempt and disheveled. He nodded casually to indicate that he understood.

"Fourth group, Feng Luocige, Liang Zhen, Pinalo, Cameron, and Li, please proceed to the suspected spy residential area... It requires a very thorough search. Remember, do not touch anything unnecessarily. If you find anything, please leave someone there to guard it, and the rest of you should return to report before making a decision."

None of the five people had any objections.