Hunter

Lu Yuan had only taken a few steps deeper when a crimson flash lit up.

A fireball flew out of the darkness deep within the passage. Lu Yuan's pupils contracted, and he hurriedly dodged aside.

Boom!

The fireball struck the stone wall not far from Lu Yuan, erupting with a thunderous blast. Flames surged, and a wave of heat rushed at him.

Lu Yuan looked at the scorched, cracked wall, the corner of his mouth twitching. Then he looked back into the depths of the passage.

Panicked footsteps rang out as four human warriors fled in this direction.

Three cat people followed close behind them.

One of the cat people wore a mage robe and held a wooden staff.

Spirit energy fluctuation surrounded him. A fireball the size of a human head formed at the tip of his staff and shot forward.

The four humans scattered to dodge, and the fireball flew toward Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan: "..."

What the hell, this was a disaster out of nowhere.

He hurriedly dodged as well.

Boom!!

The fireball struck the wall again and exploded.

Lu Yuan glanced over and saw a crater in the wall.

The immense power made his heart tremble slightly.

When the four human warriors spotted Lu Yuan ahead, they froze briefly. Then the tall guardian warrior leading them called out:

"Friend, those cat people behind us are Hunters! Run!"

Lu Yuan's pupils narrowed slightly at those words.

Hunters were a term for a particular type of Gene Warrior.

In Origin Land, if a Gene Warrior died, the gains from that expedition would drop, their spirit would be damaged, and the next time they could enter Origin Land would be delayed for a long while.

Most Gene Warriors were somewhat resistant to and wary of fighting to the death.

But some Gene Warriors were different.

They did not want to hunt ferocious beasts themselves or risk their lives for treasures.

Instead, they set their sights on other Gene Warriors.

They specialized in hunting other Gene Warriors to obtain all kinds of resources.

Such Gene Warriors were known as Hunters.

Hunters were generally stronger than ordinary Gene Warriors.

If they were not strong, they could not possibly hunt other Gene Warriors for resources.

That was why, when ordinary Gene Warriors encountered Hunters, the lucky ones could escape with their lives, while the unlucky ones might have to die and leave Origin Land.

Lu Yuan had not expected to encounter Hunters as soon as he entered the Sandstone Dungeon.

When the human warriors saw Lu Yuan, the cat people Hunters behind them naturally saw him as well.

They smiled.

"Didn't expect another one. Kill him too."

Though there were only three cat people Hunters facing Lu Yuan and five humans, they looked like hunters regarding their prey.

A curvaceous cat woman in black leather armor, holding a longbow, licked her lips.

"This human boy is pretty handsome. What a pity."

She drew her longbow, and a faint red glow flashed over the arrow.

When she released the bowstring, the arrow tore through the air with a piercing shriek and shot toward Lu Yuan.

The four human warriors' eyes widened.

"Watch out! That arrow is powerful!!"

Several of their companions had been killed by those arrows earlier.

Lu Yuan frowned slightly and raised his longsword horizontally to block.

Clang!!

A deafening clash rang out. Lu Yuan's arm trembled slightly, numbed by the tremendous force.

He was somewhat surprised.

Its power was several times greater than the arrows fired by that kobold Third Miss.

As expected of an archer who had recorded genes.

Moreover, this person had probably recorded an Extraordinary Gene specifically meant to increase the power of arrows.

Seeing that Lu Yuan had blocked the arrow without retreating a single step, the three cat people Hunters narrowed their eyes.

"Be careful. This human is quite strong."

When the four human warriors saw Lu Yuan block that arrow, they froze before delighted smiles appeared on their faces.

"He's an expert!"

"Friend! We'll help you!"

Seeing Lu Yuan's strength, the guardian warrior at the front gritted his teeth and decisively prepared to counterattack.

Hunters were mostly Gene Warriors with agile bodies and high speed.

They focused on killing with a single blow, and if that failed, they would flee far away.

Running away was merely a helpless choice when facing Hunters.

Now that they had a chance to fight back, these battle-hardened warriors naturally would not let it slip away.

Though the guardian warrior already had quite a few wounds on his body, he did not hesitate in the slightest.

The other Gene Warriors froze at his words.

However, they clearly trusted the guardian warrior. Once they came to their senses, they immediately prepared for battle.

"Fuck them up!"

"Damn it, those three bastards killed Little Qi and the others. Avenge them!"

Seeing the four Gene Warriors prepare to fight, the three cat people Hunters revealed scornful smiles.

"Hmph! Overestimating yourselves."

"I'll keep that human warrior occupied. You deal with the others."

The female cat person holding the longbow smiled faintly, her sharp emerald cat eyes fixed on Lu Yuan.

Of the other two cat people Hunters, one was an elemental warrior who had mastered a fireball combat skill, while the other was an assault warrior wielding a longsword.

The assault warrior activated a combat skill. His skin turned slightly red, and his speed surged as he charged toward the four Gene Warriors.

He spoke coldly:

"That guardian is fairly strong. Kill the others first. Let's make the swordsman our first target."

"Don't worry. As long as you can disrupt their formation."

The elemental warrior in the mage robe smiled and began condensing another fireball.

Among the four Gene Warriors, the sword-wielding assault warrior looked the youngest. His face still carried a trace of childishness, and he appeared to be around Lu Yuan's age.

When he saw the cat people Hunters turn their attention to him, his face went pale and cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

The guardian warrior was a middle-aged man with a steady expression. He snorted coldly and slammed the battle shield in his hand, nearly as tall as he was, onto the ground.

"You'll have to get past me first."

The sword-wielding cat person Hunter curled his lips into a smile and rushed before the guardian warrior with his greatly increased speed.

He planted his feet in a strange stance, gripped his greatsword with both hands, drew a deep breath, and roared.

His sword swept sideways, white currents of air appearing around the blade.

Clang!!

The longsword collided with the great shield.

The guardian warrior's face turned pale. He gave a muffled groan and staggered back half a step.

He already had many wounds on his body. Under that strike, they split open further, and blood poured out.

The Cat Person Swordsman spoke casually.

"My Blood Berserk combat skill, combined with the Greatsword Body Cleaving Art—being able to block it is already quite impressive. Too bad you're injured."

"Get him together!"

Seeing the guardian warrior suppressed, the remaining three human warriors widened their eyes and attacked the Cat Person Swordsman together.

The Cat Person Swordsman snorted and shifted his body, dodging the attacks of the three human warriors.

At that moment, a fireball flew over, heading toward the young human swordsman.

Feeling the scorching heat, the human swordsman's pupils contracted. Fear appeared on his face as he rolled across the ground to evade the fireball.

Boom!

The fireball exploded on the ground, instantly scattering the formation of the three human warriors.

Seeing this, the Cat Person Swordsman grinned viciously and roared as he slashed again and again, attacking the guardian warrior from all kinds of tricky angles.

The guardian warrior struggled to block the attacks. The wounds on his body tore open further, blood gushed out, and his face gradually turned pale.

As the guardian warrior's defense became increasingly strained, the Cat Person Swordsman revealed a vicious grin.

The other three wanted to help, but the cat person elementalist suppressed them with fireballs, leaving them with no choice but to keep dodging.

Just as the situation became extremely unfavorable for the human Gene Warriors, a scream rang out.

The cat person warrior and elementalist both changed expression.

They turned to look in another direction.

The cat woman's face was pale. A black longsword had pierced through her abdomen.

Lu Yuan gripped the sword, his expression cold and stern.

An arrow was embedded in the armor over his shoulder as well.

The cat woman was very strong. Her arrows were powerful, and she was extremely agile.

If this had been an open area, Lu Yuan truly would not have been able to do anything to her.

After all, the genes he had recorded leaned toward defense, and his speed was actually rather average.

He could withstand her arrows, but he could not catch up to the cat woman.

But this was a dungeon.

The entire passage was only around thirty meters wide, and part of it was occupied by the others fighting.

The cat woman had to keep Lu Yuan occupied and prevent him from rushing into that battlefield to put pressure on the Cat Person Swordsman.

This greatly reduced the area in which the cat woman could evade.

Lu Yuan could use his powerful defensive ability to continuously force the cat woman into a worse position.

In the end, he forced her into a corner.

Even so, when Lu Yuan launched his final charge, the cat woman still fired an arrow that he found difficult to dodge.

Fortunately, he twisted his body slightly at the last moment, causing the arrow originally aimed at Lu Yuan's heart to strike his shoulder instead.

He was also wearing Graystone Beetle Armor, which blocked part of the arrow's power.

Combined with his powerful Black Iron Body.

In the end, only the arrowhead pierced into Lu Yuan's flesh. It did not even touch bone, much less pierce through him.

It could only be considered a minor injury.

"Molly!"

When the two cat people Hunters saw this, their eyes widened as they roared at the same time.

"Damn it!"

The Cat Person Swordsman immediately abandoned the human guardian warrior, who was nearly at his limit, and turned to charge at Lu Yuan.

The cat person elementalist in the distance also condensed a fireball toward Lu Yuan with an icy expression.

Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes, his face indifferent.

He pulled out the Beetle Claw longsword. Molly collapsed to the ground, gasping harshly as blood rapidly flowed from her abdomen and stained the floor red.