Entering the Monster Mountain Range

"Kid! If you're scared, you can hide behind big sis~" A strikingly beautiful female mercenary licked her lips and said with a smile as she looked at the fourteen-year-old Yun Shu.

Yun Shu: "..."

On the way to the Monster Mountain Range, Yun Shu had successfully joined an unremarkable Mercenary Group.

It was called a Mercenary Group, but it was nowhere near as large as the Wolf Head Mercenary Group. It was merely a small team of seven.

The captain was a Two-Star Dou Zhe, while the other members were all at the Dou Qi stage, around Seven-, Eight-, or Nine-Stage Dou Qi.

In truth, not many Mercenary Groups had been willing to take in Yun Shu, who was only at Five-Stage Dou Qi and around fourteen years old.

Yun Shu was simply too young. He had only just turned fourteen. At that age, no matter how impressively he talked himself up, he would probably wet himself the instant he saw a magical beast.

In their eyes, such deadweight would not only fail to provide any useful combat power, but would also end up taking a share of their reward...

Thus, Yun Shu had initially been rejected by countless small Mercenary Groups. Left with no other choice, he had found this relatively friendly-looking group and said that he did not need any share of the gains from their expedition.

Only then had they accepted him.

Yun Shu told them that he merely wanted to visit the Monster Mountain Range to broaden his horizons, and that he could forgo any gains from the trip.

Yun Shu knew that going along like this could very well get him used as a sacrificial pawn. After all, which of these mercenaries who lived by the blade was not ruthless? Even if they were treating Yun Shu politely now, the moment they encountered danger, they would likely push him out without hesitation...

However, Yun Shu had not come unprepared. He had readied some weapons, naturally taken from Buma's Omni-Pill.

Though there were only a few pistols and submachine guns, pistols were absolutely deadly against ordinary people when used for sneak attacks, especially with a shot to the head.

Those at the Dou Qi and Dou Zhe stages could not project Dou Qi outward, so firearms could at least harm anyone below the Dou Master level.

As for why he did not use guns against magical beasts...

In real life, even a sniper rifle might not kill a normal wild animal with one shot unless it landed a precise headshot.

A pistol was even less powerful. Using one against magical beasts, whose hides were tougher than those of wild animals, would probably be little more than scratching an itch.

Not to mention that Yun Shu was a complete novice who had never handled a gun before. Well... he had practiced shooting before, but he had only fired one magazine. His accuracy had been around seventy percent.

With the enhancement of Dou Qi, his strength had already far surpassed that of an ordinary adult man from his previous life. He could therefore control a firearm's recoil and fire continuously.

After entering the outer region, everyone became alert. Magical beasts already appeared here.

A mercenary's daily work was to hunt magical beasts and exchange anything valuable from their bodies for Gold Coins. These mercenaries quickly got into the rhythm, leaving Yun Shu alone, holding a Short Sword and looking around...

And that Short Sword had been borrowed. He would have to return it when they went back.

Yun Shu had used everything on the Lottery, so he had forgotten to set aside money to buy weapons and armor.

"Careful! There's movement ahead!" The captain gestured for everyone to quiet down, then led them cautiously forward.

Hearing the captain's hushed words, Yun Shu held the Short Sword in a reverse grip in his left hand while keeping his right hand behind his back, ready to pull out a pistol at any moment.

To deal with magical beasts, or give his teammates a painful surprise...

Yun Shu knew the score. No one wanted to die. If they encountered a magical beast they could not handle, Yun Shu would definitely be the first one pushed out to die.

So Yun Shu had already prepared for the worst: shooting all of his teammates to buy himself time to escape.

Over the past three months, Yun Shu had adjusted... completely changed his mindset. In this world where strength reigned supreme, the strong—those with power—were right no matter what they did. So even turning on his teammates would not burden Yun Shu in the slightest.

As long as he survived, that was enough.

"It's a Medicinal Horn Deer! Great, Captain! If we bring back those Deer Horns, we'll have enough to live it up for half a year!" Upon seeing the magical beast that had caused the disturbance, a mercenary exclaimed excitedly.

The Medicinal Deer was a first-rank magical beast. Unlike other magical beasts, it possessed little strength, while its horns were an extremely rare Medicinal Herb.

Because both humans and magical beasts had hunted them extensively, there were not many of these magical beasts left. The value of their Deer Horns had skyrocketed. If they could secure this deer's horns and take them back to the Mittel Auction House, they could definitely sell them for several hundred thousand Gold Coins.

"You lot, circle around from the side! Lu Fei, follow me. Don't rush in. Only make your move when I tell you to!" The captain swiftly settled on a plan, and everyone began to act.

Lu Fei was naturally the alias Yun Shu was using. There was no way he would tell unrelated people his real name.

"Got it!" Yun Shu did not know how valuable the deer was, but he could tell from what that man had said that taking it down would earn them a fortune.

Damn, I regret this! Yun Shu felt rather helpless. He was desperately short on money too. His system required heavy spending to draw good things.

So anything valuable was something Yun Shu needed...

Ah, forget it! But after thinking it over, Yun Shu gave up on the idea. Without confidence that he could take everyone out, it was better not to stir up trouble.

"Go!!" Seeing that everyone was ready, the captain gave the order, and they all pounced toward the Medicinal Horn Deer.

Since this magical beast was not particularly strong, they could take it down with sheer numbers, even without weapons. There was another reason not to use weapons as well: this kind of deer could not be killed.

These magical beasts were already nearing extinction. Such an easy source of money posed little threat, so they would naturally be released afterward. Otherwise, if everyone caught and killed them all, they truly would not be far from extinction.

Unfortunately, humans were not the only ones hunting Medicinal Horn Deer. Quite a few carnivorous magical beasts hunted them too. The reason was the same: Medicinal Horn Deer were weak and easy prey...

The captain had not told Yun Shu to act, so Yun Shu naturally stood to the side and watched as they broke off the Deer Horns before releasing the Medicinal Horn Deer...

"All right, rest for a while, then we'll head back!" Because of the Deer Horns, they no longer planned to remain in the outer region of the Monster Mountain Range. However, since they were still some distance from the exit, they planned to rest before leaving. Otherwise, if they encountered danger later, they could easily get wiped out.