Night rain mixed with blood poured over the ruined campus.
Zhao Hu's legs had already gone numb. The C-rank Giant Strength talent gave him explosive power, but it couldn't give him endurance. Behind him, the sound of wet footsteps never hurried, never slowed—like a hunter playing with food that had already accepted its fate.
"Help! Anybody—military! Police! Save me!"
He finally saw the temporary cordon ahead: floodlights, armored vehicles, soldiers in exosuits with live ammunition. A major with three bars on his shoulder was directing the defense line.
Zhao Hu crashed straight into the cordon like a dying wild boar.
"Save me! There's a monster behind me! He killed the Rat King with his bare hands—he's not human!"
The major frowned and raised a hand. Two squads instantly formed a firing line, electromagnetic rifles humming.
Only then did Zhou Jun walk out of the shadows, step by step, into the floodlights.
Rain slid off the black-red keratin armor that now covered half his body. His right hand was still dripping with fresh blood. In his left hand he lazily dragged the upper half of the Rat King's corpse—like dragging a torn sandbag.
The soldiers' pupils contracted.
That was a Level 15 Elite monster. Even a full platoon with heavy machine guns would have to pay at least ten lives to kill it.
Yet this young man dragged it with one hand.
The major's voice carried the unique hoarseness of a battlefield veteran:
"Student, stop right there. Put down the monster corpse and raise your hands."
Zhou Jun smiled and tossed the Rat King's corpse forward. It rolled accurately to the major's feet, the broken neck still spurting blood.
"Gift," he said lightly. "I heard the military is collecting high-level materials."
The major did not look at the corpse. His eyes were fixed on the panel that only officers above major could see:
[Target Threat Assessment: SSS (Extreme)]
[Talent: Infinite Devour (Growth-type, no upper limit detected)]
[Current Combat Power Estimation: Level 18–22 (fluctuating)]
[Recommendation: Do not engage in hostility. Prioritize recruitment. If recruitment fails—monitor, do not provoke.]
Cold sweat slid down the major's temple.
Zhao Hu, who thought he was saved, was still shouting:
"Sir! He murdered! He killed more than a dozen students in the playground! Arrest him!"
The major's muzzle slowly lowered.
"Private Zhao Hu," he said without expression, "according to the Emergency Martial Law Act Article 7, all personal grudges before the establishment of a safe zone are temporarily frozen. No one is allowed to pursue them without authorization."
Zhao Hu was stunned.
Zhou Jun laughed out loud.
"In my previous life, the military protected you for three full years, Senior Zhao."
He took a step forward. The keratin armor on his body made a crisp collision sound.
"Three years later, you brought people to dig up my sister's grave, chopped off her head to exchange for an A-rank skill book. Do you remember?"
Zhao Hu's face turned the color of dead ash.
The major's voice became even lower:
"Young man, give the country some face. Whatever hatred you have, after tonight—"
Zhou Jun raised a finger and shook it gently.
"I'm giving the country face right now."
He pointed at Zhao Hu, who was paralyzed behind the firing line.
"That piece of trash—I won't kill him tonight."
The major secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But Zhou Jun's next sentence made the air freeze again.
"I will only take one of his arms—the left one. The one he used to push my sister into the monster pile."
"After I take it, I'll leave immediately and won't embarrass the military."
"Major, are you going to stop me?"
Forty electromagnetic rifles were already humming at maximum charge. The exoskeleton servos of the soldiers whined.
The major's finger was on the trigger, but he did not give the order to fire.
Because the white-haired general's exclusive communication channel in his earpiece had already exploded:
"Stand down! All units stand down! That's an order from the highest level!"
"Anyone who points a gun at Zhou Jun tonight will be court-martialed immediately!"
The major's muzzle slowly dropped.
Zhao Hu realized what was happening and let out an inhuman scream. He turned and ran, trying to burrow into the armored vehicle.
Zhou Jun's figure disappeared from the spot.
Boom!
The ground cracked. He crossed thirty meters in a single step, grabbed Zhao Hu by the neck, and lifted him like a chicken.
"No—no!! Sir, save me!!"
The major closed his eyes.
Kacha.
The sound of bone and tendon tearing was extremely clear in the rain.
A left arm still wearing half a school uniform was casually thrown to the ground.
Zhou Jun patted Zhao Hu's face with the bloody broken end.
"Keep the remaining one. In the future, every time you use it to eat, to wipe your ass, to hold a woman—remember that you owe my sister a life."
He turned and left.
No one dared to stop him.
Behind him, Zhao Hu rolled on the ground holding his severed limb, howling until he fainted.
The major looked at the back walking into the night rain and muttered to himself:
"This kid… is more terrifying than the Cataclysm itself."
Far away on the watchtower, a female sniper put down her sniper rifle, her voice trembling slightly as she reported:
"Target has left the school area… heading toward the first instance dungeon 'Abandoned Subway Line 13' alone."
In the capital, inside the highest command center.
The white-haired general stared at the real-time image on the big screen—Zhou Jun walking alone in the rain, dragging the Rat King's corpse behind him, leaving a long trail of blood.
An aide asked in a low voice:
"General, do we really not recruit him? An SSS-rank with unlimited growth… If he sides with another force…"
The general was silent for a long time before speaking:
"Some people are born to be wild wolves. You can't tame them—you can only choose not to stand in their way."
He turned and issued an order that would soon shake the entire Dragon Country survivor circle:
"From now on, Zhou Jun enjoys the highest non-hostile authority second only to the central government."
"Anyone who becomes his enemy is an enemy of the military."
"Anyone who becomes his friend… the military will remember the favor."
Outside the school gate.
Zhou Jun stopped, raised his head, and let the rain wash the blood from his face.
"Next," he whispered, "it's time to clear the first dungeon alone."
"And devour everything inside."