Chapter 156: How Much Effort Are You Worth?

The Butcher lunged toward me again, his oversized hand tearing through another one of my vines before it could fully wrap around his arm.

The second the vine snapped apart, the baby vine around my shoulders let out a furious screech sharp enough that even the nearby zombies recoiled slightly. My baby sounded like it was in pain, too.

And just like that, I realized that I was actually pissed.

The excitement disappeared from my chest so quickly it almost felt cold.

No more curiosity.

No more watching.

No more wondering what the thing could do.

The Butcher had touched what was mine numerous times, so now he was going to die. The only thing I had left to think about was if it was going to die fast or slow.

The ground beneath the highway shifted so quietly that it felt like nothing was really happening. There was no grand gesture to reveal my plan, there was nothing in the air that would hint of what was to come next.

I learned in my past life that being flashy with your powers was a good way to die. So I made sure to prefect strikes that no one saw coming.

Suddenly, the vines erupting from the asphalt this time looked different from before. Thicker. Darker. With long black thorns that were pushing outward along the lengths of them. Bright green venom dripped slowly from every spike, sizzling wherever it touched the pavement.

The Butcher laughed again, thinking that I was going to do the same thing over and over again until one of us was no longer standing.

But I wasn’t.

The second one of the vines pierced through its shoulder before expanding its thorns into the flesh so that it had even more to grip on to, the laughter stopped.

Venom spread immediately through the gray flesh surrounding the wound, causing black veins to crawl outward even as chunks of skin started dissolving fast enough to expose muscle beneath.

Huh.

"Looks like we got an upgrade," I purred to my baby as I scratched its head. "And it looks like the poison worked better than I thought it would."

The Butcher roared violently before ripping the vine apart, but he couldn’t get to the one that was lodged in his shoulder. The one that was still injecting venom into his wound.

He laughed in frustration, and three more immediately slammed into its torso hard enough to shove the massive creature backward several steps.

Behind me, the guys were still fighting.

Not the Butcher but the zombie horde that was still advancing.

Honestly, that was probably for the best.

Lingyun’s fire exploded across the highway in massive waves while Chenghai bulldozed through zombies with enough force to shatter bodies apart completely. Zhenlan’s compressed air carved open paths through the crowd while Yuche manipulated twisted metal around them like floating blades, every strike aimed directly for cores now.

They were learning.

Slowly.

Like particularly violent kindergarteners who thought that might made right.

But they were still learning.

The Butcher ripped another vine apart before charging toward me again, his massive feet cracking the highway underneath every step.

I didn’t move.

One vine shot toward its throat but the Butcher caught it before it could do any damage.

Another wrapped around one leg, but the creature tore free immediately.

A third pierced directly into its side deep enough that venom flooded the wound before the Butcher ripped that one apart too.

Why couldn’t it be a good little monster and hurry up and die?

I knew the answer. Its skin was too thick to get to the heart of the matter.

Or the core.

But it wasn’t impossible.

"You know," I sighed while another dozen vines erupted around us, "I was actually having a pretty good day before you showed up."

The Butcher laughed and I took that as him disagreeing with me.

The thing slammed both oversized fists downward hard enough that the entire highway shook violently beneath us. Concrete exploded upward while abandoned vehicles flipped sideways from the force.

One of the cracks spread directly beneath me and the earth shifted.

But the little monster didn’t seem to understand that the earth didn’t respond to his command but mine.

With just a thought, the ground swallowed up the fissure whole before it could reach my feet.

What lay in front of me was perfectly smooth ground without so much as a single pothole.

The Butcher froze briefly as if it couldn’t understand why I wasn’t following the rules that he had in his head.

I wiggled my fingers in a wave and the creature roared louder before charging again.

But this time I moved.

The vines exploded outward so fast the air itself whistled sharply around them. Thick thorned lengths wrapped around the Butcher’s arms, legs, throat, and torso simultaneously while more erupted from beneath the highway to anchor the creature in place.

The poison spread faster now.

Black rot crawled through gray flesh while the spikes dug deeper every time the creature struggled.

Still, the thing kept moving.

Persistent little bastard.

Behind me, Lingyun suddenly swore loudly as several zombies lunged toward him at once. Fire exploded outward instinctively, but one of the evolved managed to push through the flames long enough to claw across his shoulder before Chenghai tore its head off.

"Watch your left!" Zhenlan snapped.

Yuche’s metal spikes immediately punched through three skulls before the zombies could close the distance further.

Good.

They were adapting.

That was the only reason I wasn’t ending this entire highway right now.

I could.

That was the funny part.

The earth underneath us could open whenever I wanted it to. The zombies, the highway, the trucks, the entire damn city block could disappear underground if I pushed hard enough.

But the men needed this.

Needed the fighting.

Needed to understand their powers before the world got worse.

And it would get worse.

Much worse.

The Butcher suddenly ripped one arm free from the vines and grabbed the thickest one wrapped around its torso.

Then pulled.

The entire thing snapped apart violently.

Huh.

The baby vine hissed furiously around my shoulders.

"Yeah," I agreed softly. "I’m getting tired of him too."

The Butcher lunged again.

This time I met him halfway.

Vines burst directly from my arms before spearing into the creature’s chest repeatedly, black thorns sinking deeper and deeper while venom flooded every wound. The Butcher roared violently before swinging one oversized arm toward me fast enough to crack the air.

I caught the hit with vines.

The impact still split the highway beneath my feet.

Okay.

That would have hurt.

The Butcher grinned suddenly, rows of broken teeth stretching wider as it realized it had finally forced me to block instead of standing there casually.

Then he laughed again.

Mocking.

Like it thought this was becoming fun.

My expression flattened.

"Oh," I murmured quietly while the vines around us started thickening even more. "You misunderstood."

The highway trembled as every zombie nearby suddenly stopped moving.

Even the Butcher’s grin faltered slightly.

Good.

Now it was paying attention.

"I’m not struggling," I told it softly. "I’m deciding how much effort you’re worth."