Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies Chapter 1456: The Sacrificer

After returning from the Southwest Region, Zhang Yi only felt a slight weariness in both body and mind.

After all, having endured a grueling great battle, he needed a good rest. However, once he returned to Tianshui City, all these problems ceased to be issues.

No matter how cold and cruel the outside world was, his sanctuary remained like eternal spring—warm and comfortable.

Lying on the soft, large bed, enjoying the four-handed duet of Zhou Ke'er and Yang Siya as they soothed every muscle in his body, this sensation made him utterly intoxicated.

Over the next few days, he didn't bother with other matters, only wanting to enjoy life to the fullest.

But during this period, Zhu Zheng still called him on the communicator, asking about what had happened in the Southwest Region.

Zhang Yi didn't hide much and gave him a general account of the events.

After hearing this, Zhu Zheng's tone turned somewhat resentful.

"Zhang Yi, we're old friends now, and you're the top combat power of the Jiangnan Region. When you encountered something like this, why didn't you give me a heads-up?"

"If you showed up on Southwest Region turf, who knows what kind of trouble that would stir up. Don't forget, the six major regions can't interfere with each other."

There was one more thing he didn't say, and it was his truest thought.

As things stood now, the Jiangnan Region could only offer him intelligence and Love of Death in direct operations.

As for combat power?

Sorry, no matter how many Transcendents below Epsilon-class there were, they meant nothing to him.

Having now advanced to Black Chariot-tier, Zhang Yi could easily obliterate large numbers of captain-level Transcendents in an instant.

"I won't dwell on that, but... did you manage to get any God Essence over there?"

When this topic came up, Zhu Zheng's tone became noticeably eager.

The curve of Zhang Yi's lips grew wider.

"What are you thinking? This time, several factions were involved, and we were facing a powerful existence from the underground civilization. Even Love of Death was deployed. Do you think I still had a chance to get God Essence?"

Zhu Zheng let out a soft sigh. "That's true. After all, it's not like it's cabbage."

This conversation didn't yield much useful intel for Zhu Zheng.

He slowly shut off the communicator, his expression turning serious as he leaned back in his chair. The pale daylight outside the window feebly illuminated his face, stretching his shadow long across the floor.

He propped his hands under his chin, his face as unchanging as black iron, leaving others clueless about what was on his mind.

His secretary, Lan Xincheng, walked over and spoke in a low voice. "Zhang Yi's concealment from you is becoming more and more obvious."

Zhu Zheng shot him a glance.

"If you had his strength, you could be just as arrogant!"

Lan Xincheng's words caught in his throat, but Zhu Zheng let out a long sigh.

"There's no helping it. Who else can the Jiangnan Region rely on now? After the Great Mutation era began, this world became the domain of Transcendents. The only thing we can depend on—Love of Death—is actually highly unstable and can't be used recklessly."

Lan Xincheng couldn't deny that.

Never mind Epsilon-class.

Back then, just a group of Transcendents led by Gao Changkong nearly stormed the combat command center and killed Zhu Zheng, the supreme commander of the Jiangnan Region!

"We need to have our own Epsilon-class!"

Lan Xincheng said in a grave tone.

Zhu Zheng curled the corner of his mouth slightly.

He stood up from his chair. "Come on, let's go check on the experimental center!"

The two of them went downstairs. The research department headed by Li Lingxue was located directly beneath the combat command center, a super military facility two hundred meters underground.

Zhu Zheng and Lan Xincheng took a dedicated elevator, descending all the way to the experimental center.

It was a massive white building, as dreamlike as a scene from a sci-fi movie, guarded by Transcendents clad in black combat suits.

The combat suits they wore were ones Zhang Yi had never seen before.

A brand-new investigation team.

The experimental staff inside were already used to Zhu Zheng's arrival. A female researcher with shoulder-length hair immediately came over to receive him.

"Commander!"

Zhu Zheng nodded. "How is the experiment progressing?"

The female researcher stepped aside to clear a path. "It's proceeding on schedule as planned. At the current pace, we expect to achieve a breakthrough in the test subject with Experiment No. 238."

Zhu Zheng followed her forward, passing through a long, narrow white corridor. Along the way, though nothing was visible on the surface, the internal smart system had already identified them multiple times.

If anything seemed off, it would trigger powerful mechanisms to attack them.

Finally, they arrived at an enormous laboratory.

Li Lingxue, the head of the research department, wore a white lab coat, her gaze serious as she stood before a glass window, staring straight ahead.

More than a dozen researchers around her busily operated their workstations and instruments.

Li Lingxue stared ahead, her eyes focused and mesmerized, as if she were gazing at the most beautiful masterpiece of her life.

Zhu Zheng walked over slowly with his hands behind his back, standing beside her, looking at the massive transparent container with a sigh of admiration.

"So, she's a fantastic test subject, isn't she?"

Only then did Li Lingxue notice Zhu Zheng's arrival. She said indifferently, "She is perfect in herself! We're merely tapping into the potential within her genes."

"It's hard to imagine—if we had cultivated the original mother specimen, how powerful would she be now?"

Zhu Zheng couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

He was still wondering now—if Yuan Kongye hadn't died at Zhang Yi's hands back then, what would things be like today?

But that unstable religious leader was far harder to control than this semi-finished replica created from Ice Soul.

Before them stood a massive instrument over ten meters tall. Inside a transparent cylindrical glass vessel in the middle, a naked young girl floated silently.

Her long hair, like seaweed, drifted in the green liquid, making her look like a white sea fish sealed in a canned seafood container.

Connecting to the transparent tank were countless dense pipelines.

Li Lingxue suddenly waved her hand decisively and shouted, "Begin!"

All the researchers immediately started frantically operating the equipment at hand.

"Rumble!"

On both sides of the lab, thick metal plates slowly rose, revealing dozens of smaller transparent containers behind them.

They were a few sizes smaller than Zhu Yu's container, but each one, without exception, held a naked human body immersed in green liquid.

They were men and women, old and young, but all were uniformly unconscious.

With a grand sweep of Li Lingxue's hand—

"Puff!"

A human in one transparent container instantly exploded into bloody mist! The blood plasma thoroughly stained the green liquid, mixing it into an indescribable color.

"Puff!" "Puff!" "Puff!" "Puff!"

In an instant, all the humans in every transparent container were obliterated in this manner!

Behind Zhu Yu, the bloated, massive machine extended dozens of pipes like octopus tentacles, greedily sucking up the substance from the containers and finally injecting it into the tank where Zhu Yu resided.