One Punch Kill

Catherine and the others carefully helped patrol the surroundings, afraid that an unexpected event might interrupt Rein's advanced meditation.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly. They didn't encounter any strange thieves or monsters. Apart from a few Skeleton Monster struggling out of the sand, which were easily smashed to pieces by the group, they encountered almost no trouble.

As for hunting and exploring the wilderness, Catherine was no longer in a hurry.

Sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood. After all, without a main force like Rein who can both fight and heal, and with the team's survival rate low as they venture deep into the desert, things will be much easier. Once he advances to the Third Tier the Transcendent, the efficiency and safety of everyone's exploration will actually increase exponentially.

Of course, others don't receive the same treatment; they get the president of a major chamber of commerce to protect them.

Also because he is Rein.

Information about Black Dragon City is now top secret, but Catherine is one of the few who knows it.

She knew very well that the future operation center of their "Black Gold Merchant Guild" would be in Black Dragon City, and would be centered around the Lord Rein.

Moreover, they will most likely remain "one family" in the future.

Right now, she felt that nothing was more important than Rein's Transcendent advancement.

Catherine had no objections, and the others naturally had no objections either.

Although he didn't know why their president was taking such good care of Rein, he guessed that the relationship involved was probably quite unusual.

Rein's breakthrough in seclusion lasted for a full day and night.

By the time he emerged from the earth element barrier, it was already evening of the following day.

At that time, Catherine and the others were sitting together, eating simple dry food.

Hearing the commotion, they all turned around. When they saw Rein emerge with a joyful expression, they sensed something was amiss, and all stood up with delight.

Judging from his imposing manner, Catherine guessed that he had successfully advanced and was the first to offer her congratulations. "Mr. Rein, congratulations on advancing to the Third Tier the Transcendent and entering the High-tier Extraordinary realm!"

The others also offered their congratulations.

"I managed to advance by sheer luck."

Rein nodded to each of them, walked over, and said with a smile, "Thank you all. I'm sorry to have troubled you all for the past day and night."

Catherine smiled and shook her head. "It's not much trouble at all."

Gannix, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, asked, "Mr. Rein, may I ask a question?"

Rein turned to look at him and smiled, "What's wrong?"

Gannix asked, "Just how strong are you now?"

Upon hearing this, Catherine and the others looked at Rein with curiosity, waiting for his answer.

They were also very interested in this question.

Rein raised an eyebrow, unsure how to answer the question, "The potion hasn't been fully digested yet, but it is indeed more potent than before."

His strength has increased more than threefold overnight, his battle aura has increased more than fourfold, and other attributes such as his five senses and resilience have also increased exponentially.

Moreover, once the effects of the Gene Potion are fully developed in the future, it will likely increase several times over.

These figures have surged, and combat power has indeed increased exponentially, but it's hard to say exactly how much more powerful it has become.

Gannix's eyes darted around, his curiosity still piqued, and he continued, "What if we were to face that 'Ghost Shadow' Qilos again now?"

"It's hard to say."

Rein smiled, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said, "However, there's no real threat."

He wasn't used to making definitive statements, but he did think about it and figured that dealing with Qilos probably wouldn't take more than a few moves.

If the opponent uses all their methods, it should be within three moves;

If the opponent underestimates me, I might only need one move.

Previously, he could catch up with the Ghost Shadow -specialized Ghostly Qilos using only his physical speed, but now the speed is incomparable.

It can be said that once they meet, the other party will not even have a chance to escape.

Absolute speed crushes the enemy's chance to escape, and absolute power suppression multiplies the damage from punches and kicks.

As for toxins?

The Voodoo Master's extremely high poison resistance also makes those insidious methods less and less effective.

"Huh? This?"

Upon hearing Rein's nonchalant "there's no threat," Catherine and the others immediately became extremely shocked.

Although they knew that Rein's strength must have increased dramatically after advancing, they never expected him to say such a thing!

That's the [Ghost Shadow] Qilos, who assassinated Fourth Tier Transcendent and was regarded as a nightmare by most High-tier Extraordinary. And yet, he doesn't even take him seriously?

What was said without malice was taken to heart by the listener. At that moment, Catherine and the other three all sensed the overwhelming domineering aura in his tone.

The reason why Rein is so confident is that after advancing to the Third Tier, his strength in both aspects has been qualitatively improved.

Firstly, the fighting spirit, which embodies "momentum," has become incredibly solid.

With this kind of fighting spirit enhancement, the damage from low-level Transcendent attacks is extremely limited, and more than 90% of the damage will probably be blocked by the fighting spirit gauze.

The main reason why Rein couldn't defeat Qilos in a short time the night before was that the Second Tier Transcendent couldn't break through his Bodyguard Battle Qi, and their attacks couldn't cause fatal damage.

But now...

Although Rein's battle aura is not as solid as that of a veteran Third Tier Extraordinary, his damage parry rate is definitely no more than 50%. Moreover, this value will decrease as his cultivation level increases.

Even though he blocked 50% of the attacks, his punches and kicks, now enhanced by his Monstrous Strength, have increased several times in power, posing a deadly threat to any Third Tier Extraordinary.

Moreover, there is a very important second point.

That is, after reaching the Third Tier, one's battle qi can remain outside the body for a long time.

The so-called sword energy, saber energy, fist force, and penetrating damage of magic are all direct combat power brought about by this ability!

For him as a fighter, the overall power of the "Six Secret Techniques" will be greatly enhanced, especially the two martial arts techniques such as [Sky God Strike] and [Storm Slash].

The ability to separate one's fighting spirit from one's body and the ability not to separate them are completely different skills.

After Rein reached the Third Tier, this close-combat fighter truly gained the ability to "attack from a distance"!

This upgrade not only enhances attack power but also greatly improves survivability.

After the amount of Dou Qi surges several times, the number of "Gang Threads" will also skyrocket, and the efficiency of [Powerful Demon God's] secret method practice will skyrocket several times. He can finally touch the threshold of the "Divine Power Realm" and then reach the "Divine Strength Realm" where King Kong is undefeated.

With his Third Tier Bodyguard Battle Qi, [Secret Technique: Vajra], Bloodline Worms, [Great Strength Demon God], and the increased resilience from the magic potion, his current survival ability is extremely strong.

Previously, there was no need to worry about being headshot by a sniper rifle; now it's almost impossible. Firearms pose virtually no lethal threat to High-tier Extraordinary.

For Third Tier Extraordinary being, the current Rein is an absolute nightmare!

The next morning, everyone got ready to set off.

The lingering spiritual energy that Catherine saw inside the Golden Mask provided them with a general direction for their hunt for treasure.

After finding several vaguely familiar ancient cities amidst the swirling yellow sand, Catherine pinpointed the exact location of the "royal city."

After walking in the desert for another five or six days, the group of five finally saw the first completely eroded "flat-topped pyramid".

With yellow sand filling the sky, the pyramids, hundreds of meters high, have been eroded by time, leaving only the outline of a mound of earth.

After carefully cleaning away the mud and sand, Catherine confirmed that the pyramid was indeed a small pyramid located on the outskirts of the capital.

She had seen this tower within that fragment of spiritual energy!

"The appearance of the pyramids means that Ancient Monkel Kingdom should be within a few dozen kilometers of the capital. The closer to the capital, the larger the pyramids."

Catherine said with a hint of excitement, "There should be a royal tomb at the foot of each pyramid, but I think we should go to the capital first, where the largest pyramid and Underground Palace are located!"

"Good."

Hearing this, Rein and the others were also filled with excitement.

After several days of arduous trekking through the vast desert, the group finally saw a glimmer of hope for a harvest.

If this is an ancient ruin that has never been developed, perhaps there really is a temple for worshipping gods, and perhaps there will be unexpected discoveries.

But they didn't expect that they would hear intense gunfire before they had gone very far.

The group of one person and five people immediately stopped.

The guard Jimmy, ran up to the top of the sand dune, grabbed a pair of binoculars, and immediately spotted the site. He reported, "Master, a huge city ruin and pyramids have been discovered to the northwest. However, there are also the banners of several large Scavenger Gang: 'Iron Hammer Brotherhood,' 'Scythe of Death,' and 'Three Muskets.' They are fighting some giant insects."

Catherine listened, her brow furrowing slightly, and muttered, "Someone found it first."

However, it was also expected. Large-scale Scavenger Gang have a large number of explorers and have even ventured into the desert, so it's not surprising that they could find the ruins of a royal capital.

But what she was more curious about was, "Insects?"

Bodyguard Jimmy: "Yes! It looks like the Sand Worms we've been told about."

Upon hearing this, Rein and his companions went up the sand dune, and then, for the first time, they saw those insects.

It was a strange insect that resembled a combination of a cobra and a scorpion. It could stand upright, and was three to five meters long in total, with its upright half being more than two meters long. It had compound eyes and sharp mouthparts on its head, more than ten pairs of slender, sickle-like legs on both sides of its body, huge pincers and a tail stinger, and its entire body was covered with a hard shell that was almost the same color as sand.

As the intelligence suggested, the muskets were not very effective; the bullets sparked as they hit the armor, but very few managed to penetrate it.

Moreover, the insects can easily slip into the sand and disappear without a trace.

Those large Scavenger Gang in the distance seemed to have discovered the entrance to an Underground Palace and were engaged in a fierce battle with insects emerging from the ground, with cannons bombarding the entrance.

Everyone looked at the ferocious insects with a solemn expression.

Upon seeing this, Catherine frowned slightly. She pointed to the sachet hanging from her waist and asked Rein beside her, "Mr. Rein, is your Insect Repellent Powder effective against these kinds of insects?"

Rein, however, didn't think it was a big problem and replied, "It should be fine. If it doesn't work, I brought several other stronger medications."

This time, Insect Master Elder Imyu gave him a lot of Insect Repellent Powder to deal with this situation.

"That's good."

Catherine's expression brightened.

As a woman, she didn't really like these insects.

But thinking about it, it makes sense; otherwise, they wouldn't have come all this way without encountering a single insect.

She added in a light tone, "Forget it, let's go around. This royal city is huge; let's dig in a different direction. There's no need to stick with them. Let them fight bugs here."

The Ancient Monkel Kingdom is vast, and it's impossible to explore it all in a short time. The core area she remembered wasn't even here.

Moreover, with these elusive insects lurking in the sand, no one dares to trespass on the ruins.

"Good."

Rein and the others nodded, descended the sand dune, and prepared to explore in a different direction.

Rein and her group avoided other Scavenger Gang to prevent conflict, but things didn't go as planned.

The five hadn't gone far when a patrol of guards caught up with them.

They discovered the large Scavenger Gang, and those people discovered them too.

A group of more than ten Steam Locomotive cavalrymen carrying the banner of "Lord of Black Wind Territory" blocked their way.

From a distance, the leader barked an order in a rude tone, "Where did you guys come from? Stop right now!"

Rein and Catherine exchanged a glance and stopped in their tracks.

The opponent's aura wasn't strong; the captain looked to be only at the Second Tier of the Transcendent, posing no threat to them.

Moreover, the other party was flying the banner of "Lord of Black Wind Territory," and they were also very curious about why the other party had come to their door.

More than a dozen knights caught up, riding Steam Locomotive and circling around Rein and his companions, the roar of the locomotives creating a very loud noise.

Catherine frowned and asked, "Is there something you need?"

"We are the Knights Guard under the command of 'Duke Valentine'!"

The knight leader said arrogantly, "This is the private hunting ground of the 'Rosas Family.' No one is allowed to approach except for the Hunting Guard specially authorized by the territory!"

The Rosas Family, one of the Five Great Families of City of Radiance, owns Black Wind Territory, which is the private domain of Grand Duke Valentine Rosas.

After a pause, the knight leader continued, "Now I order you to remove your gas masks. Once we confirm you are not wanted criminals, you may leave!"

Despite being called a knightly order, they were probably newly recruited hunters, still retaining that carefree air. They even had a bit of a bandit-like demeanor, perhaps they were once phantom thieves.

Upon hearing this, Rein and his companions immediately understood that those guys wanted to monopolize the ruins and essentially "book" the entire place.

As for taking off the mask? Hehe.

The wasteland is considered "high seas," and the lord's authority doesn't extend to such a wide area.

The group ignored the order and stood quietly in place, coldly watching the arrogant motorcyclists.

"Leave here? Why?"

Catherine frowned upon hearing this and asked, "This is a wasteland. When did it become a nobleman's private hunting ground?"

The knight captain then forced an explanation. "This is territory that 'Duke Valentine' has just declared to be occupied!"

"Is that so?"

Upon hearing this, Rein sneered.

He said, "According to the 'Regulations on the Division of Noble Territories,' a duke can consider an area within a 300-kilometer radius of his main city as his private territory. This desert is uninhabited, without even a single Mechanical City. You think you can just occupy it like that? Besides, even Grand Duke Valentine should abide by the 'Hunter's Covenant,' right? Everything in the wilderness belongs to whoever finds it. When did the concept of 'private ownership' come into being? The ruins are a common treasure bestowed upon us hunters by the wasteland. When did they become the private property of nobles?"

If you encounter an ancient ruin and plant a flag, declare it the private property of a noble, then other hunters should give up and just declare the whole world belongs to the nobles.

This so-called "private hunting ground" is completely untenable!

"You"

The knight captain was rendered speechless by the barrage of questions, and his expression grew increasingly hostile. "You dare disobey His Excellency the Duke's orders?"

Upon hearing this, everyone around him raised their muskets, pointing them at Rein and his companions, displaying a fierce readiness to open fire at the slightest provocation.

Rein, however, remained unfazed and sneered, "The Hunter's Covenant is a law applicable to any territory. What right do you have to expel us? And why are you pointing guns at us?"

Unable to answer the question, the knight captain resorted to force, angrily saying, "We suspect you are wanted criminals. Take off your gas masks immediately and surrender, or I'll shoot!"

Rein sneered and responded just as firmly, "We are free hunters. This is not anyone's private property, and we have no obligation to accept your inspection!"

These guys "booked out" the entire place, which is a major taboo in the game. For both reason and emotion, Rein has no reason to back down.

Moreover, he now strongly suspects that the "wanted criminals" these guys are talking about might actually be them.

"Black Skull" is clearly working for the "Sunflower Merchant Guild," which is City of Radiance's only officially cooperating merchant guild. Whether or not they killed "Ghost Shadow" Qilos, if Catherine dares to reveal her identity in this wasteland, they will definitely face endless trouble.

After being rebuffed several times, the captain of the knights could no longer conceal the murderous intent in his eyes. "Hmph! Refusing to be questioned, we suspect you are wanted criminals and have the right to execute you on the spot!"

As he spoke, he narrowed his eyes and sized up the fearless Rein and his companions, guessing that they might have some skill. He sneered repeatedly, "What? You still want to violently resist the law? Attacking a knight is a crime of 'treason,' punishable by hanging. Do you dare?"

"Ha ha ha ha."

Upon hearing this, all the motorcyclists burst into laughter, their faces filled with smug confidence. They were now knights of the Duke's Mansion, true nobles. How could some Civilian Scavengers dare to offend them?

For a commoner to attack a noble is tantamount to suicide. No matter how powerful you are, can you shake the entire Radiant Kingdom?

If it were any other hunter, even High-tier Extraordinary, they would really have to consider the consequences.

The entire area west of the Alkolon Mountain Range is now the territory of the "Radiant Kingdom". If you offend "Duke Valentine" here and are wanted, you won't be able to survive in any other territory.

This is not like the two great empires where you can hide and flee.

Without the protection of the Mechanical City under the Black Tide, one is doomed to die sooner or later in this wasteland.

Other hunters certainly wouldn't risk their future survival for a moment's anger. They would probably swallow their pride and do as instructed.

But this does not include Rein and his group.

Rein squinted at the gun pointed at his head, his anger rising. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. "Fine! I'm leaving now. I want to see if you dare to shoot me, a free hunter!"

With that, he walked straight forward, heading towards the knight captain. He did this, naturally, to draw most of the firepower to himself.

As for those dozen or so muskets?

Hehe

Even when he was at the Second Tier of the Transcendent, it wasn't fatal to him, let alone now.

Rein hadn't intended to bother with some patrolling guards, but if those guys were really going to shoot and kill people, then he would have a reason to kill them too!

However, just as he took two steps, a musket shot rang out in his ears.

The knight captain fired at Rein without hesitation.

"Court death!"

Rein's pupils contracted, and he moved even faster!

He had already moved the moment the knight captain pulled the trigger.

"Smack!"

Almost at the same moment the gunshot rang out, a figure flashed by.

With near-instantaneous speed, Rein appeared in front of the Second Tier captain and punched him on the head.

The gun muzzle just spits fire when the fist hits the face.

The arrogant smile on the knight captain's lips was still slightly raised when his head exploded.

I wanted to try increasing the word count per chapter to raise the average subscription rate, but it kept dropping, which was very frustrating. So I combined the word count of three chapters into two.