Slaughtering Jungle (Part 1)

The camp, which had seemed crude just yesterday, now had a proper setup. Metal walls about five hundred meters long and wide enclosed a small, square city. Inside, several rows of simple metal barracks, fuel tanks, a power generation room, a kitchen, and other buildings had been constructed. A four-hundred-meter-long field runway had even been set up, with two small attack aircraft taking off from it.

Siren was in one of the metal barracks used as a command center, happily chuckling as he reviewed a data report.

The planet's richness was beyond expectation: a perfect natural environment, a flawless ecosystem, and astonishingly abundant mineral deposits. It was a treasure planet bestowed upon the Holy Unicorn Mercenary Group by the heavens. In just one night, reconnaissance drones had surveyed a five-hundred-kilometer radius, discovering five veins of rare Zakla Energy Crystal ore. The reserves were so rich that even Siren, with his insidious mind, couldn't help but laugh out loud. Not to mention the two large gold mines that were practically exposed on the surface in the form of natural gold nuggets.

To hell with the Federation's "Interstellar Frontier Law"! This planet would become the Holy Unicorn's secret base. Give Siren ten years, and he would possess the strength to challenge the Federation!

"The world is not short of geniuses and heroes; they just lack a little luck." Siren clicked his tongue and pulled at the corner of his eye, making a funny face. "Without a doubt, I am a very lucky hero, and I never lack luck."

Sighing with satisfaction, Siren gestured, and a silver light flashed before him. A beautiful, hot-bodied young woman in a traditional maid's robe appeared from the silver light. As soon as she materialized, the girl knelt respectfully before Siren. "Great Master, your servant is willing to do anything for you."

Siren smiled wickedly. He cupped the girl's face and was about to bring her head towards his lower body when the command center door was suddenly pushed open forcefully.

With a crisp sound, the girl dissolved into specks of silver light and vanished into the air. Siren turned angrily towards the person who had barged in.

Bursting into the command center was a tall, beautiful woman with fiery red hair, as agile as a leopard. She was also Siren's most trusted confidante and his adjutant.

"Uh, Aredia, could you knock next time?" Siren's gaze, like a fly's proboscis, swept over the prominent chest beneath the red-haired beauty's silver uniform.

"I don't have time for that, Siren!" Aredia slammed a document down in front of Siren, two sparks burning fiercely in the depths of her eyes. "A team of nearly three hundred people chasing Gu Xiechen was ambushed and killed by him. Their leader, 'Hyena,' was injured by him. And what were you doing? Playing with your puppets again?"

"No!" Siren looked at Aredia with eyes as pure as a holy angel. "Those poor energy polymers, how could I have any impure thoughts about them? Hmm, let me see the intelligence."

Grabbing the document in front of him with fumbling hands, Siren quickly scanned the intelligence and then jumped up.

"Praise all the goddesses, this is good news! At least it proves this guy is no more than a hundred kilometers away. He's still around here!"

"May all the male gods who have defiled the goddesses go to hell! This guy is a ruthless individual who holds grudges! Deploy the 'Dawn' squad and eliminate him at all costs. If possible, capture him alive!" Siren waved his hand forcefully. "Killing him would only get us a batch of low-priced munitions. Capturing him alive would allow me to extort the Gu Group at least three more times!"

Aredia frowned. "The Dawn squad? You finally managed to assemble them, and you're really going to deploy them?"

Siren walked up to Aredia and carefully reached out to touch her shoulder. "My dear little witch, their purpose is to serve me. Now is the chance for them to fulfill their purpose. Why wouldn't I deploy them? Hmm, Gu Xiechen is still within our control. This is truly good news!"

Siren was in a very good mood, so he 'accidentally' leaned his head close to Aredia's face, his lips 'coincidentally' brushing against hers. Even when he was blown away by a sudden Explosive Flame Bullet, covered in black smoke, Siren's mood remained excellent.

This good mood only lasted for three days.

Five mercenaries advanced cautiously in a standard jungle search formation. Gu Xiechen hung down from the branches like a large python, his arms moving like boneless snakes around the five mercenaries' necks. With a surge of sinister, tenacious internal force, the five mercenaries' necks rotated 360 degrees with a sharp "crack."

A team of twenty mercenaries cautiously approached a pool of water. Three mercenaries were left on a mound about thirty meters behind to keep watch. The other mercenaries went to the edge of the pool to refill their canteens. Gu Xiechen emerged from a hole in the mound as if he had foreseen this. Like a ferocious tiger, he unleashed three claws, tearing open the chests of the three sentries, and then grabbed a multi-barreled machine gun, unleashing a furious barrage on the mercenaries by the pool. By the time nearby search teams heard the gunfire and rushed over, only corpses littered the ground.

Two fighters from the Holy Unicorn Mercenary Group, along with over four hundred mercenaries, were pursuing Gu Xiechen's trail in a grand fashion. The trunk of a large tree suddenly exploded. Gu Xiechen, hidden in a tree hollow, rushed out behind the two fighters with a gust of wind. The Snow Soul Divine Claw, carrying a bone-chilling cold, landed on the vital points of the two fighters' backs. As the fighters spat blood and fell, Gu Xiechen let out a dragon-like roar and charged into the front of the formation. Braving the gunfire of hundreds, he broke out from the rear of the formation and disappeared into the dense jungle. Over two hundred mercenary corpses were left behind, along with over a hundred mercenaries with broken bones and torn muscles, groaning in pain on the ground.

Gradually, as more and more mercenaries were killed or injured, Gu Xiechen acquired more and more lethal weapons.

As the search team mercenaries rested in the jungle, five or six grenades were suddenly thrown from a distance, causing chaos among the mercenaries.

Several small attack aircraft flew by at low altitude. Three missiles, trailing long flames, shot out from above the treetops, instantly blowing up two attack aircraft in mid-air.

By the third day, the situation had finally reached a point Siren could no longer tolerate. Early in the morning, as Siren was brushing his teeth outside the command center, three gunshots rang out. The three sentries standing in front of the command center fell instantly, each shot through the forehead, their heads blown off by a long-range sniper.

In three days, the Holy Unicorn mercenaries had lost over 1,300 men, with over 2,000 severely injured. Not a single person suffered minor injuries. The first batch of mercenaries sent to apprehend Gu Xiechen was almost completely annihilated, with all nine Innate-level fighters wounded. The Dawn squad that Siren had dispatched hadn't even caught a glimpse of Gu Xiechen. They always arrived at the scene of an attack just in time to find that Gu Xiechen had already fled miles away. Where could they find him in the vast, dense jungle?

Perched on the treetop of a giant tree a hundred meters tall, overlooking the Holy Unicorn camp, Gu Xiechen, covered in moss and dust, looked like a wild man. He slowly chewed on the field rations he had snatched from the mercenaries, occasionally taking a sip of wine from a small flask. A branch beside him held a field backpack filled with food like sausages, bacon, cheese, chocolate, and canned wine. If it weren't for the overcast sky brewing a storm, it would have been a perfect spring outing.

Gu Xiechen carried another field backpack on his back, filled with grenades and plastic explosives. All firearms had embedded tracking chips. Since Gu Xiechen couldn't remove the chips, he had to discard all firearms immediately after use. Only consumables like grenades and explosives lacked tracking functions, so he dared to carry them with him.

"I'll give you a taste of my power."

He dug a hole about a foot deep into the tree trunk with his finger, stuffed the field ration packaging bag into the hole, and sealed it firmly with wooden pieces, cleaning away all traces.

"I must give you a taste of my power."

An old, trembling voice seemed to echo in Gu Xiechen's ears: "If you want to survive, you must fight back with tooth and nail, with blood for blood. When someone only wants to harm you, the best way is to kill him and everyone related to him first."

"The old man is right!" Gu Xiechen bared his teeth. He sat cross-legged on the branch, gazing at the camp, and pondered, "I need to show you my power, but... it's a bit troublesome."

Trouble arrived.

Gu Xiechen watched as several heavy mining vehicles, escorted by a large number of mercenaries, entered the camp. Among these mercenaries were over thirty lean, powerful men dressed in white. Gu Xiechen recognized these white-clad men; they had arrived at the scene within five minutes after he attacked the mercenaries several times. All of them possessed formidable strength, each being an Innate-level expert. Moreover, the condensation of their Innate Qi was no less than his own. Any one of these white-clad men had the strength to defeat Gu Xiechen head-on.

The mining vehicles stopped in the center of the camp. Their beds slowly lifted, and a large pile of raw Zakla Crystal ore was dumped onto the ground.

Estimating from a distance, this pile of raw Zakla Crystal ore was at least thirty cubic meters. After fine processing, it should yield twenty-five cubic meters of standard energy crystal blocks. Gu Xiechen's eyes turned red. Twenty-five cubic meters of Zakla Crystal – how much would that increase his cultivation? Not to mention, with these energy crystals, he might be able to truly awaken his Realm and possess the power that a Realm Master should have.

Siren emerged from the command center and stood in the center of the camp, slowly raising his right hand towards the sky. As if knowing Gu Xiechen was watching, Siren pointed his middle finger straight up at the sky. A long cry erupted from Siren's mouth, his abundant Qi carrying the sound far away. Like a tiger roaring in the jungle, the surrounding dense forest rustled.

"Hiss!" Gu Xiechen disdained Siren's provocation, sitting cross-legged on the branch and waiting for Siren's next move.

A silver light floated beneath Siren's feet, and he hovered above the pile of raw Zakla Crystal ore. A silver light shot out from his eyes. The silver light entwined with the raw ore, and streams of brilliant light continuously flowed into Siren's body. Even from several kilometers away, Gu Xiechen could sense the immense energy radiating from him. Time ticked by, and gradually, wisps of silver light began to spray out from Siren's body. Each wisp of silver light transformed into a maiden in a silver uniform, holding a long saber. As soon as they appeared, these maidens shouted "Long live the Master!" and marched in formation towards the dense jungle.

"Damn it!" Gu Xiechen was stunned.

Streams of silver light continuously sprayed out, and maidens, some charming, some innocent, some beautiful, some alluring, were constantly born from the void.

A new week, a new start... Comrades, give me your recommendation votes and clicks...

Recommend, recommend, recommend! (To be continued)