Doomsday Lord

To the safe zone’s Professionals, Cheng Yang was both a person they were intimately familiar with and someone completely unknown. He was familiar because each of them had heard his name so many times that they could write a book about him. He was unknown because only a few dozen had ever seen his face.

If Cheng Yang tried to enter the safe zone, he’d be stopped by the guards. Even if he told them who he was, they would still block his path unless he demonstrated his strength. However, Cheng Yang had his methods. Even if they didn’t recognize him, there was someone whose appearance they would absolutely recognize: Enlai.

Therefore, he directed Enlai to rush right over to the barrier. When the guards noticed Enlai, they assumed it was another monster attack since they hadn’t seen the person on its back. Since a monster like that couldn’t possibly be weak, a formless pressure descended on them.

It wasn’t until they finally noticed the person on its back that they realized what was happening. Right now, there was only one person that was able to ride a monster like that: that humanoid monster named Cheng Yang.

The guard at the front made a split-second decision and jumped out of the Enlai’s path. The other Professionals quickly followed suit lest they be the one to try and block that indomitable charge. No one dared to think of the consequences of taking a direct hit from that white tiger.

With extreme speed and a huge hop, Enlai stopped on a dime in front of two professionals. This terrified them since if they were to piss Cheng Yang off, he’d slaughter them like livestock.

“You move pretty quick!” Cheng Yang said with a playful grin. “No need to notify Commander Yuan of my arrival. I’m not here for him today.”

After saying that, Cheng Yang squeezed into the safe zone, leaving behind a crowd of Professionals looking at each other in dismay. They didn’t know what Cheng Yang was planning to do after rushing into the safe zone, nor what they could do to stop him.

The refugees were even more confused. They had no clue who the man on the white tiger was, but since those powerful guards didn’t dare to let out a sound when he was around, he must be a big shot. Many swore in their hearts that they would survive and become like that one day.

Cheng Yang didn’t care what those people thought since he was already in a dilemma.

Ideally, he would have entered the safe zone without many people noticing, but it was better to charge in since that wasn’t possible quickly.

Now he was faced with a choice. He could go straight to where Tan Chao’s son was held or attempt to conceal his purpose. To do so, he’d need to find a place to shrink Enlai and then disappear.

Cheng Yang would prefer to take the second approach, but it wouldn’t be easy to find a place to disappear.

After some quick reflection, Cheng Yang realized there was an easy solution. Even if the streets were crowded, access to the buildings was heavily restricted.

Cheng Yang rode Enlai onto a crowded street, then entered a relatively high-class apartment building.

The interior wasn’t that different from that of an apartment building from before the apocalypse. It even had an elevator to provide quick access to each of the thirty floors. Of course, strictly speaking, it wasn’t an elevator but a magic item that used the Experience Fragments collected as rent to function.

The elevator was wide enough for Enlai to enter, without any discomfort. The only other person in the elevator ran out in fright, leaving Cheng Yang alone. It wasn’t surprising for only one other person to be in the lobby at the moment. Although the safe zone had a massive population, most of them couldn’t afford to live in an apartment like this. At most, twenty-percent of the rooms were filled.

Cheng Yang ordered Enlai to shrink the moment the doors closed, then he clocked on a few random floors and waited for the elevator to reach its destination.

In this way, even if someone were watching from the lobby, they wouldn’t know what floor he’d exited on.

On the twenty-first floor, which had six studio apartments, Cheng Yang stepped out of the elevator. He walked over to one of the unclaimed apartments and opened its system pane.

The apartment he chose was a little over twenty square meters for a hundred Experience Fragments a month. It was pretty cheap.

Cheng Yang paid the fee and entered the room.

Once inside, he fished out a change of clothes to disguise himself as a sorcerer and put it on. Although doing so would make him considerably weaker, nothing in the safe zone could threaten him even without it.

Cheng Yang ordered Enlai to wait in the apartment, then opened the door and left. Since he owned the room for a month, no one else would be able to enter without his permission. So, he didn’t need to worry about leaving Enlai here.

Cheng Yang got back into the elevator and quickly exited the building. When he did, he noticed several people watching the building.

Although he attracted a small amount of attention, it quickly dissipated. After all, there was no lack of unknown Professionals in the city, and Cheng Yang’s equipment was as ordinary as it could be.

For the next few minutes, Cheng Yang leisurely wandered the safe zone. This way, he would be able to tell if anyone was still following him.

Half an hour later, once Cheng Yang was sure no one was tailing him, he began to search for the building Tan Chao specified.

It would not be easy to find the Grocer in this urban jungle if it was your first time visiting the safe zone, but Cheng Yang knew its layout like the back of his hand.

A few minutes later, Cheng Yang arrived at the Grocery and spotted the building Tan Chao had described.

Cheng Yang entered the building and walked up to the fourth floor. Once he arrived, his expression soured. Room 401 was currently unowned.

“Tch. Lu Chenguang is too cautious. It’s possible Tan Chao’s son was never even here.”

Cheng Yang was unsure how to proceed from here. Even if he bought the room, there wasn’t a way to gather clues. Once an apartment was vacated, everything inside would reset. This was one of the gods’ rules.

At the very least, it was unlikely that Lu Chenguang had disposed of Tan Chao’s son. More than likely, she had switched his location.

“It seems I won’t be able to keep a low profile.”

The reason Cheng Yang had hoped to rescue Tan Chao’s son in secret was that if people knew you had a skilled assassin, they would be much more vigilant.

Unfortunately, his only choice at this point was to find Lu Chenguang and force her to hand over Tan Chao’s son. No matter how reluctant she was, Cheng Yang had ways to make her submit.

When he left the building, Cheng Yang headed towards the central square.

As can be expected, Lu Chenguang hadn’t settled for living in a shared building. She hadn’t in his previous life, and there was no way she changed her habits in this one.

Soon Cheng Yang came to a street lined by ordinary villas. Layer after layer of Professional guards lined the road, creating an imposing scene.

This was the center of power in the safe zone. Every influential individual lived here, including Yuan Jianzhe.

It’s not that they didn’t want to live in the top-tier villas, they just couldn’t afford them yet. So, they could only live here and guard the street heavily.