Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies Chapter 1253: Quick Blade

Loren suddenly received a signal from a subordinate. Upon discovering that yet another group was closing in on the Snowy Region, his sharp gaze chilled, mirroring the curved blade resting at his hip.

"Again? It seems these folks truly have no fear of death."

"Understood. Leave these stragglers to me."

Loren took one final, deep draw from his cigarette before discarding the butt and grinding it into the frozen earth under his boot.

He shoved the vehicle door wide. "Move out, the sheep have finally arrived!"

This particular patrol unit comprised seventeen men in total.

Each one was a superhuman, forged further by the gruelling discipline of the Sangha Monastery, granting them terrifying physical power.

They functioned as a disciplined force tied to the Sangha Monastery, boasting combat prowess that far eclipsed the personal guards of the four great families.

However, with the position of Khenpo at the Sangha Monastery recently usurped by Yasha Langtai Deji, alongside the Lord of the Charnel Ground originating from the same clan, their distinction from the Yasha Langtai family’s private militia had all but evaporated.

Within the week, the Snowy Plateau Region would host its most sacred and solemn Prayer Festival.

The entire region was braced for a significant shift in power.

Though the Yasha Langtai clan commanded the Lord of the Charnel Ground and held the greatest military might, they were forced to remain vigilant against rival family factions and the burgeoning resistance.

Because of this, these patrol squads maintained absolute lock-down procedures at the entry points to the Snowy Plateau Region.

Their mandate was the systematic purging of any mercenaries daring to push into the territory.

Loren’s motorcade surged forward into the distance. They held the region's singular choke point; despite its small size, seventeen men and five vehicles were more than enough to turn it into an impenetrable fortress.

Before long, a black snow vehicle emerged from the mist on the horizon, crawling steadily toward their position.

Loren brazenly blocked the intersection with his car, then hopped out with a languid, unbothered air.

Clad in a sheepskin coat like a wandering plainsman, he gripped the hilt of the curved tribal blade tucked at his waist.

He appeared entirely disinterested, yet his fingers were already white-knuckled around the weapon's grip.

The arriving vehicle rolled forward, coming to a halt just a dozen meters away.

Two men stepped out of the cabin.

They were both heavily armed.

"This territory is off-limits to your kind. Turn back."

Loren scanned them, his yellow teeth bared in a hollow, mocking grin.

The two men traded a glance, but their expressions remained light, bordering on amused.

The younger of the two curled his lips in a smirk.

"Yet, no road I choose to travel has ever been successfully blocked by another."

Loren let out a dry chuckle. "Boy, you have a long life left to live. Don't go throwing it away here."

The young man’s expression hardened, his smile vanishing completely.

"Move aside!"

Loren bowed his head, though the amusement in his eyes turned into a sudden, murderous chill.

"Thwip!"

The wet sound of spray cut through the air. The blade was obscenely fast. In the biting gale, the sound of blood misting into the air was almost musical, scattering wide. Torrents of scalding blood splashed from the armored suit onto the snow, instantly creating a crimson pool that began to crust over in the freezing air.

With a clean 'shing,' Loren’s blade slid perfectly into its scabbard.

The younger man had been bisected mid-torso, his steaming corpse collapsing heavily to the frozen earth.

The strike had been too rapid. He died without even witnessing the draw.

His partner stood frozen in shock for an entire second before scrambling to react, his right hand whipping forward to unleash his own power.

"Shing!"

Another rhythmic flash of steel tore through the atmosphere.

Before the mercenary could even trigger his ability, his arm—and his skull with it—went airborne.

A sneer twisted Loren's face. "I told you to leave, yet you insisted on finding your grave here. What were you even hoping to achieve?"

A subordinate behind him chuckled. "Boss, their transport is quite top-tier."

Loren offered a thin, cold smile. "Take it. Clear the debris. These days, there’s no shortage of people rushing to deliver their own supplies to us!"

He turned away, his nonchalant air returning.

But suddenly, the unmistakable vibration of another engine echoed from the distance.

The sound of friction against the snowy air was surgical in its clarity. To an experienced tracker like him, the sound carried clear as day.

Loren glanced backward, raising an eyebrow. "More of them?"

Before long, the vehicle rolled up and slowed to a crawl.

Upon seeing the bloody remains scattered on the road, Zhang Yi understood the situation immediately.

Liang Yue gripped her saber hilt, murmuring to Zhang Yi, "Shall we engage?"

Zhang Yi exhaled. "I am a man who detests unnecessary complications."

"Then what?"

Zhang Yi retrieved his Holy Judgment in silence, reaching out to unlatch the door.

"But when a threat cannot be sidestepped, it must be met head-on."

"Remain in the vehicle; I will be finished in a moment. I’ve been cramped in this seat far too long; I need a bit of a stretch."

The onlookers stared at him as he exited, their eyes wide with shock, as if witnessing a phantom.

Typically, this influential master preferred to keep his distance from any immediate danger.

Given his usual disposition, firing a single shot from a thousand miles away to liquidate an opponent from safety was his preferred method of operation.

Zhang Yi stepped out. His features were hidden behind tactical goggles, and clutching his blade in his left hand, he paced toward the squad.

Loren narrowed his eyes, meticulously observing the stranger from head to toe.

Zhang Yi reached into his coat and produced a communicator, displaying the digital credentials issued by the Pagyi Family.

He stated calmly, "We have been invited as guests of the Pagyi Family. I request passage."

Upon seeing the digital signature, Loren and his squad erupted into raucous laughter, as if they had been presented with a master-class in comedy.

Simultaneously, the way they looked at Zhang Yi turned significantly more predatory.

Several men hooted, looking at Zhang Yi as if he were already a corpse.

Anyone carrying the seal of the Pagyi Family was their most prized target.

Loren licked his lips, affected a sigh of feigned helplessness, and addressed Zhang Yi with a tone of mock-sincerity.

"Boy, I’ve already spilled enough blood today. Let me do you a favor and let you walk away! You have a future ahead of you; don't waste it here."

Zhang Yi lifted his head. His tactical lenses hid the satisfied grin spreading across his face.

"So, even with the credentials of the Pagyi Family, you refuse to clear the path?"

The smirk on Loren’s face widened, turning icy.

He couldn't fathom why the man would ask such a thing.

Was it intentional agitation, or was the fool simply blind to reality?

Regardless, it was trivial now.

He had offered the man a exit.

With a fluid motion, he drew his blade; the steel sparkled with a lethal glow as it slashed toward the target. The draw was nothing short of an artistic triumph.

It was impossibly swift. A blur of motion. When he killed, it was a precise, clean work of art, devoid of messy, crude injuries.

"Thwip!"

An immense spray of gore erupted. The steam rising from the liquid heat provided a ghostly warmth in the freezing climate.

Loren maintained his smug expression—until, quite suddenly, the humor died in his throat.

The entire patrol squad fell into a frantic, bewildered silence.

The intruder, clad in that strange, pitch-black combat gear, stood unmarked.

Instead, a deep, jagged fissure had opened across Loren’s own chest.

No, not just his chest.

The cut went clean through, slicing from front to back, bisecting him as easily as one might cut through a flimsy paper doll.