Liliath was in low spirits all night. Gu Ding chose to remain silent as well, afraid he might say something wrong again.
The long night ended in silence, and dawn finally broke.
Gu Ding woke Liliath. After eating some compressed rations, the two finally set off.
"How's your stamina?" Gu Ding did not think highly of Liliath's endurance. She was young and small, and generally speaking, people like her were not very strong.
"You don't need to worry about her. She's a Second-Order Gene Body. That giant sniper rifle yesterday weighed at least twenty kilograms, and she handled it like a toy. You should be worrying about yourself instead." Sea Emperor had seen through Liliath's capabilities at a glance.
"You don't need to worry about my stamina. I received professional training in this area from a young age." After ** had soothed her, Liliath's low spirits finally improved somewhat. She summoned her Gun Armament and transformed it into two silver pistols. After attaching silencers and loading them, she hung them at her waist on either side.
"Your ammunition is limited. It's best if I handle things whenever possible." Gu Ding summoned his own armament as well.
Liliath paused slightly when she saw Gu Ding's armament. She had not expected him to have one too. Hearing what he said, she nodded. "All right."
One after the other, they sprang down from the volcano and raced in the direction of the shipyard.
Gu Ding initially used only half his speed. Liliath curled her lips. "You should go at full speed. This is too slow."
Hearing her say that, Gu Ding had no choice but to increase his speed. Yet Liliath kept up with ease. When she noticed Gu Ding looking at her, she explained, "Because of my family, I received all kinds of survival training from a young age. Physical training was merely one of the simplest kinds."
Seeing that Liliath still had the energy to talk and was not even breathing hard, Gu Ding finally believed that the little girl had been telling the truth. He had initially thought she was just putting on a brave front. He was finally relieved and focused all his attention on the road ahead. "Stay close. If you can't keep up, call out to me."
Liliath also knew that Gu Ding said this because he did not want to be distracted in such a dangerous place. But keeping up with him was no difficulty for her. Even now, she was using only seventy percent of her speed.
They soon encountered virus-infected beasts blocking their path, three of them at once. Liliath placed her hands on the two guns at her waist. If Gu Ding could not take on all three by himself, she would have to deal with the rest.
Gu Ding did not slow down and charged straight at them. In an instant, he threw two punches and a kick. The heads of all three monsters burst almost simultaneously, leaving Liliath astonished.
"What terrifying martial arts!" This was the first time Liliath had truly witnessed Gu Ding's strength. Seeing him leave without even turning his head, she accelerated after him.
For five hours, Gu Ding never slowed down. Even when monsters blocked the way, he ended the fight instantly and never wasted a single second. Liliath, whose nerves had been tense the whole time, never got a chance to act. When Gu Ding gradually began to slow, she knew his stamina had reached its limit and that he needed to rest for a while.
Gu Ding finally stopped beneath a large tree.
Liliath climbed directly into the tree and called softly to Gu Ding, "Come up. It's safer in the tree than down there."
"She's right. The branches and leaves can block those monsters' line of sight, and this tree is so tall that it will also interfere with their sense of smell to some extent. More importantly, most non-feline monsters can't climb trees." Sea Emperor explained from the side.
Gu Ding had actually learned these things at military academy as well. They had been part of survival training. It was only when Liliath and Sea Emperor mentioned them that he remembered.
He climbed the tree in a few quick movements, then sat on a branch with his back against the trunk to recover his strength. Liliath took on guard duty instead. She had barely exerted herself along the way, merely running behind Gu Ding, so she felt a little embarrassed.
"We shouldn't be discovered anytime soon. And we left behind plenty of monster corpses along the way. The other monsters will definitely have to finish eating before they catch up." Gu Ding had gained a certain understanding of these virus-infected creatures.
"Your martial arts are impressive." For Liliath, this already counted as praise.
"Thanks. I saw your marksmanship yesterday too. It was impressive." Gu Ding smiled.
"How far is the shipyard?"
"About another four hundred kilometers." Gu Ding calculated silently. Of the six hundred kilometers, he had only covered two hundred.
"At this speed, we should arrive in around twenty-two hours. There are still thirty-four hours until nightfall. Unless something unexpected happens, we should make it before dark." Liliath had spent so many days on this planet that she knew the duration of its days and nights. Her estimate included Gu Ding's rest time and was fairly accurate.
Gu Ding's stamina continued to recover. Nearly half an hour had passed when a beast's roar suddenly came from somewhere nearby.
Liliath's heart tightened. Through a gap in the leaves, she caught sight of a massive creature over ten meters tall walking in their direction. She turned to Gu Ding and made a silencing gesture, then whispered, "It's huge. Stay close to the trunk. Don't let it spot us."
Gu Ding nodded, rose to his feet, and pressed himself against the trunk with his back toward the direction the monster was coming from. The thick trunk completely concealed both of them.
But the giant beast's sounds grew closer and closer. Gu Ding and Liliath could even feel the branches beneath their feet tremble slightly with every step it took.
"This one is comparable to a Third-Order Gene Body. The two of you don't stand much chance against it. Avoid it carefully!" Sea Emperor warned in Gu Ding's ear.
On the far side of the trunk, neither of them dared breathe loudly as they patiently waited for the giant beast to leave. Several minutes later, when its footsteps gradually faded, they finally let out a sigh of relief.
But at that moment, a monster darted past not far from the giant beast. The beast saw it and immediately gave chase. The monster fled in panic toward where Gu Ding and Liliath were hiding, with the giant beast relentlessly pursuing it from behind.
Watching the approaching monster, a sharp glint flashed through Liliath's eyes. The armament in her hands transformed back into the heavy sniper rifle from the previous evening. She swiftly attached the silencer, loaded the magazine, and pulled the trigger at the monster.
With only a soft pfft, Gu Ding saw the monster suddenly collapse. Its corpse lay less than two hundred meters from their tree.
The giant beast was clearly stunned when it saw the monster suddenly fall, but it immediately rushed over, tore open the corpse, and stuffed it into its mouth in a few bites. After burping, it wrinkled its nose as though sniffing for something.
"Did it find us?" Gu Ding frowned and withdrew his gaze. Predatory monsters like this were extremely alert. Even a simple gaze could draw their attention.
Liliath's palms were slick with sweat as well. Pressed tightly against the trunk, she did not dare look in the giant beast's direction.
Both of them hid there anxiously, hoping they could escape this disaster.
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