Published: February 11, 2025
“Let me introduce, Mr. Ye Zhongming from Cloud Summit Villa,” Tong Steward smiled as he raised his hand towards Ye Zhongming, clarifying his identity to everyone.
Now, less than three years into the apocalypse, many titles still retained the habits of the peaceful times, such as Mr., Miss, handsome, and beautiful. However, in five years, titles like captain, leader, steward, president, and even those that used to sound a bit ridiculous, like king or saint, would become mainstream.
Tong Steward didn’t go into great detail, but with the national leaderboard in place, as soon as “Cloud Summit” and “Ye Zhongming” were mentioned, everyone knew who it was.
Many people displayed various expressions because of this.
Some were surprised, after all, he was the leader of a superpower ranked sixth in the national area, and his personal combat strength also ranked in the top ten.
Others thought more deeply, feeling that someone so formidable entering their midst was clearly a threat to their livelihood, undoubtedly adding some uncertainty to the distribution of rewards.
Naturally, there were two factions whose thoughts were different from the others—one of them was Zhang Zhongzheng. Their resistance zone was ranked first in comprehensive strength in the national area, but in front of Ye Zhongming, they had little confidence. What had happened in districts C and T was somewhat unclear to others, but he knew clearly the role Cloud Summit Villa had played back then.
Although Ji Rui Guang couldn’t publicly announce what happened in the special Earth Spirit roulette space, it was impossible to hide how he got there and how he returned. Given Zhang Hengtai's understanding of his companion, even if he didn’t guess everything, he could get a rough idea and naturally realized the role that Cloud Summit Villa and Ye Zhongming played in it.
Moreover, because the resistance zone had more accurate and faster information, their understanding of Cloud Summit was far deeper than that of outsiders.
Seeing Ye Zhongming, Zhang Hengtai felt a bit flustered. Although it was a slight feeling, it was clear enough for him to capture it.
After all, strictly speaking, Ye Zhongming was a member on the same level as his father, and he was still a bit lacking. Even though he had become a seven-star evolver because of his protective father and entered the national area leaderboard, he still felt the gap.
After the apocalypse, relationships became unstable; perhaps the only reliable bonds were the most direct blood relations, such as parent-child relationships.
However, this was not absolute. For instance, in Cloud Summit, Ye Zhongming's relationships with several women, his subordinates, Liu Zhenghong, Le Da Yuan, and others were also very solid, yet they were not of this reproductive nature. Some people, on the other hand, were cold-hearted; even their biological parents or children could be sacrificed when necessary.
The other faction, naturally, was Garan and Mina, who were already being ignored by everyone behind them.
They didn’t expect to encounter old friends here.
When facing the threat of being swallowed by the resistance zone, the two women had indeed considered seeking out Ye Zhongming, as they were already aware of the enticing bounty from Cloud Summit.
However, firstly, they had established a mature base and were unwilling to abandon it easily. Secondly, they didn’t feel that Ye Zhongming and his Cloud Summit Villa had any obligation to help them; going there would just be escaping from one danger into another. Lastly, they believed that even if Cloud Summit sincerely wanted to help, it would still be powerless against the resistance zone.
Thus, the thought of seeking help merely flashed through their minds without deep consideration.
But now it was different; Ye Zhongming had personally appeared before them, accompanied by two five rings society stewards, which was a treatment even Zhang Zhongzheng hadn’t enjoyed. Although Zhang Zhongzheng wasn’t the boss of the resistance zone, his father was, and his status wasn’t low. The fact that Ye Zhongming received a treatment that Zhang Zhongzheng didn’t made it seem that Ye Zhongming was at least comparable to Zhang Hengtai.