The giant beast walked upright like a gorilla. The six blood-red eyes on its forehead sent chills down anyone's spine. Thick fur covered its entire body, while its abdomen and back were overlaid with black scales. One glance was enough to tell that its defenses were terrifying.
The beast had an exceptionally keen sense of smell. It soon followed the scent toward the tree where the two were hiding.
Gu Ding clenched his fists, while Liliath closed her eyes and adjusted her breathing, trying to slow her heartbeat as much as possible.
One step, two steps, three steps...
The beast's footsteps drew ever closer. When it reached the vicinity of the tree where they were hiding, it stopped and looked around. Then it let out an enraged roar, apparently failing to discover their hiding place.
Just as the two of them began to relax slightly, the beast suddenly went berserk and violently pounded the surrounding trees. Though it did not know exactly where its enemies were hiding, it could tell from their scent that the ones who had killed its prey were still in this forest. So it chose the stupidest method possible—breaking every tree around it to force its enemies out.
"Damn it!" In just a few seconds, large swaths of surrounding trees had collapsed. The beast's fist then smashed into the largest tree. The trunk shook violently from the blow, nearly throwing the two of them off.
Seeing that one tree had remained intact despite its attack, the beast grew even angrier and began frantically assaulting the giant tree.
"Run!" Gu Ding barked, grabbing Liliath's wrist and leaping down from the tree, darting deeper into the forest.
The moment the beast spotted them, it stopped attacking the trees and gave chase. Every stride it took covered an enormous distance. Gu Ding gave it everything he had, but the gap continued to shrink.
At that moment, Liliath broke free of Gu Ding's hand. Under her control, her Gun Armament transformed into a massive, pitch-black cannon barrel. She swiftly took a shell the size of an adult's fist from her Storage Space and loaded it into the chamber. Then she abruptly turned, aimed the barrel at the beast, and pulled the trigger.
"Boom!" A violent explosion shook the entire forest. The fierce blast struck one of the beast's eyes on its forehead. Yet her slender figure remained firmly rooted in place, her gaze burning but calm.
After that shot, she did not flee. Instead, she took out a second shell and loaded it into the chamber. The black cannon, nearly two meters long, rested steadily on her shoulder as she fixed her eyes on the beast, which was no more than a dark silhouette amid the swirling dust.
"I told you she was an excellent gunner. You really struck gold this time!" Sea Emperor spoke again upon seeing this.
Gu Ding smiled but did not respond to Sea Emperor. He had stopped as well, doing his utmost to adjust his physical condition. A Third-Order Gene Body would not be taken down so easily. Even with Liliath using a Nuclear Energy Sniper Cannon, she could only inflict flesh wounds on a Third-Order Gene Body. Landing a fatal blow would be difficult. The battle ahead still had to be resolved by him; Liliath could only provide support.
Mainstream gunners were generally divided into two schools: the brute-force suppression school and the team support school.
The so-called brute-force suppression school relied on high-quality firearms, dense barrages, and bullets that countered the opponent's abilities to crush them completely, leaving them unable to fight back. Those who used this school generally came from wealthy families, because firearms themselves were expensive, and the consumption of various types of ammunition was an enormous expense.
The team support school, on the other hand, had originally been a school for the poor, used by those who could not afford good firearms or enough ammunition. Because resources were scarce, every bullet had to be used at the most critical moment. Their role in a team was therefore not to kill, but to restrain and support. They used bullets to lock down an opponent's movements, preventing them from unleashing their full strength while assisting other team members in killing them. Of course, this school demanded a great deal from a gunner. It required astonishing predictive and computational abilities—being able to calculate an opponent's attack trajectories and timing, and predict their movements.
Gu Ding knew that Liliath was an excellent gunner, but so far, everything she had displayed belonged to the brute-force suppression school. Whether she could use the methods of the team support school to restrain the enemy would be the key to winning this battle.
Within the cloud of dust, the massive shadow staggered to its feet before letting out an enraged roar. The piercing shriek made Gu Ding frown, and it sent the other monsters in the area fleeing frantically into the distance.
The beast suddenly burst forward, charging out of the dust cloud and rushing toward them. Three of the eyes on its forehead had already been destroyed.
Liliath remained calm. She leaped into the air and fired another shot, her body rapidly recoiling backward from the blast. She knew that she had been the beast's target when it had lunged earlier.
"Boom!" This time, the beast blocked the blast with its palm. It flashed Liliath a mocking grin, paused only briefly, then immediately pounced on her again. As for Gu Ding, it ignored him completely.
"This giant beast seems to have retained a certain degree of intelligence." Sea Emperor gave his assessment based on its reaction.
At that moment, Gu Ding had also adjusted his body to the state required for the Limitless Body Technique Second Layer. As a First Order Gene Body, using the second layer of the Limitless Body Technique already pushed his body beyond its limits. But Gu Ding had no choice. To kill this opponent, he had to pay a price. Judging from the beast's current condition, even the second layer of the Limitless Body Technique might not be enough to harm it.
Gu Ding stepped out with Shadow Step, silently appearing above the beast's head. Ghost Foot, carrying overwhelming force, smashed down toward the beast's eye.
However, the beast quickly noticed him as well. Enraged by Gu Ding's provocation, it swung an arm and grabbed at him. Gu Ding withdrew his attack and flashed away with Shadow Step, dodging the strike.
The beast's attention had finally been drawn to him. Meanwhile, Liliath seemed to realize something. The Gun Armament in her hands transformed again, becoming a thick, long sniper rifle—longer and sturdier than the one Gu Ding had first seen. She quickly loaded a round, pressed the stock against her shoulder, and aimed at the beast's eyes again, but did not fire immediately.
As the beast pursued Gu Ding, she finally found an opening and forcefully pulled the trigger.
After being hit, the beast let out a howl of agony. It lost another eye, which drove it into an even greater rage, and it attacked Gu Ding even more frantically.
Even with Shadow Step, Gu Ding could only desperately evade under the beast's mad assault. In barely two or three minutes, he had already endured several hits. The Gale Body of the Limitless Body Technique Second Layer was on the verge of collapse, and every blow that struck him felt like lightning coursing through his entire body.
"The second layer of the Limitless Body Technique can't hold on any longer. I have to use the third layer!" Gu Ding knew that rashly using the third layer would have severe consequences for his body, but it was still better than being killed by this monster.
At that moment, Liliath found another opening and struck one of its eyes again. At this point, the Six-Eyed Giant Beast had only one eye left.
Before you continue