Hunter Ranking: First Place

There were not many people on the Wasteland, and even fewer Evolvers.

Therefore, when a mysterious powerhouse who killed an Ironwing Bird in a single blow appeared, it immediately drew the joint attention of the three factions.

No one dared ignore an Evolver who could enter the top ten of the Hunter Ranking. Floating Apocalypse did not dare, and neither did the other two companies.

South of the western mountain range, within a snowy mountain range, lay Burning Fire Company's front line.

At this moment, a battle had just ended, and the smell of gunpowder still lingered in the air.

A group of mutated beasts had just been cleared out by the company's army. Soldiers dressed in dark cyan padded coats were cleaning up the battlefield.

At the front of the battlefield, Burning Fire Company's upper ranks had gathered. At their head stood a pale, effeminate-looking man, using binoculars passed down from the Old Era to survey the distant mountains.

Through the lenses, shattered mountain peaks appeared and vanished from view.

"Pass down the order. Rest in place for fifteen minutes, then continue advancing," the man said hoarsely as he lowered the binoculars. "We are already behind Gray Mountain. We must catch up."

"Yes!"

The commander below answered and left. Then, everyone saw a messenger sprinting over.

"Latest news! An unknown A-Rank Evolver has arrived on the Great Western Continent!"

"What?" Several Burning Fire Company directors froze. Evolver danger ranks were a set of evaluation standards established by Floating Apocalypse.

They were roughly based on an Evolver's battle record, using different grades to mark their "danger level."

He reached out and snatched the freshly issued intelligence report, lowering his head to examine it closely. The CEO of Burning Fire Company's expression kept changing.

There were very few details in the report.

It only mentioned that three hunters had witnessed the mysterious powerhouse kill an Ironwing Bird in one blow, and that he seemed to possess some sort of long-range attack ability.

"Keep watching him! Find a way to determine his movements!" the man ordered decisively.

Although an A-Rank powerhouse was not much of a threat to the company, he was still worth taking seriously. At the very least, unless necessary, conflict should be avoided as much as possible.

If there was an opportunity, they could even try to recruit him.

"Classified as A-Rank?"

In an Old Era Relic in the northern mountains, Gray Mountain Group's Evolvers were busily moving intact weapons that had been sealed within the Relic.

Brand-new large-caliber mortars were carried out one after another and mounted onto modified Snow Transporters.

The Chairman of Gray Mountain Group was a tall, gray-haired middle-aged man. At this moment, he slowly lifted his gaze from the intelligence report and asked a director beside him:

"What do you think?"

"The intelligence should be genuine. We should observe cautiously. An A-Rank alone cannot affect the overall situation, but we must also prevent Burning Fire Company from recruiting him.

"Mm, Floating Apocalypse has definitely already sent people to keep an eye on him. They cannot possibly turn a blind eye. For now, we only need to wait for news."

"Then we'll do that."

The middle-aged man nodded. Then he glanced at the increasingly gloomy sky and loudly gave the order:

"The weather is changing. Set up camp where you are!"

Not long after his words fell, a cold current swept across the hills, and a blizzard descended without warning!

"Whooo..."

The blizzard had come far too suddenly. Even though Lin Tuo had noticed it early through Full Map Vision and relocated in advance, he was still harshly grazed by the tail end of the wind and snow.

In a sheltered mountain hollow, Lin Tuo and Hua Xi sat together, silently finishing their warm lunch before casually tossing their lunch boxes onto the ground.

"The wind and snow have weakened. Let's continue." Lin Tuo pulled up his windproof face covering and rose to his feet.

"Okay." Hua Xi hurriedly picked up her rifle as well.

By now, they had ventured deep into the mountains and begun sweeping through the red-marked areas on the "intelligence report"—the activity zones of Dangerous Beasts.

Because of that, they had not encountered many people nearby. Occasionally, they saw other hunters from afar, but neither side exchanged words.

"I keep feeling like someone is watching us."

After the two walked out from the sheltered area and once again made their way across slopes where the snowstorm was gradually fading, Hua Xi suddenly frowned, looking around as she spoke.

Lin Tuo did not turn around. He merely said calmly:

"Your feeling is right. Someone is indeed following us, but they are quite far away."

After a pause, he added, "They are from Floating Apocalypse."

By switching his consciousness back to his main body, he could easily overlook the entire Great Western Continent, as though he had activated Full Map Vision. He had noticed them long ago.

"Them?" Hua Xi did not doubt Lin Tuo's words. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Then what do we do? Should we warn them?"

"No need."

Lin Tuo answered as calmly as ever. His eyes remained fixed ahead, locked onto an unusual python hidden in the snow. His body trembled as he entered a combat state. "Just keep an eye on them for me."

"They seem to have discovered us."

Far away, at the edge of a forest, several hunters sent by Floating Apocalypse headquarters were hiding.

Each of them had been equipped with binoculars.

At this moment, one person looked at the "small figure" who had turned around in the lenses and was looking their way, then spoke.

The instant his words fell, everyone else sucked in a cold breath.

"The Great Snow Python was killed... so fast?"

The group exchanged looks. One of them gave a bitter smile and pointed at the record book in his hands.

It contained the battle record they had observed and documented for Lin Tuo, listing the species he had killed and their corresponding points.

"How long has it even been? This page is nearly full already. Everything he hunts is a Dangerous Beast. He does not even spare ordinary mutated beasts a glance, and even when he kills them, he does not collect them. What exactly is he trying to do?"

"I don't care about what he is thinking. All I can think about is what expressions the higher-ups at headquarters will have when this record is sent back..."

Another person wore a strange expression. "I fear his rating will be adjusted as well."

After their brief conversation, one of them stood and sent the battle record back to headquarters, while the others continued following.

Time passed. In the blink of an eye, the sun had sunk in the west, and the sky grew ever darker.

At night, the danger level in the wilderness increased exponentially. Many hunters returned before dark.

Hunter's Home bar was packed with people and exceptionally lively.

Yet tonight, the atmosphere there had become very strange.

By the fireplace, once the returning Evolvers bought the latest "intelligence" and finished reading it, every one of their expressions changed noticeably.

"Hiss... Where did this fierce monster come from? An S-Rank rating? How many years has it been since a powerhouse with such a rating appeared?"

"Them? I happened to run into them during the day. One big and one small, two people. The tall one's clothes had a very strange style, while the small one carried a rifle..." someone said.

"...I ran into them too. I nearly attacked them back then..." another person said with lingering fear.

An S-Rank Evolver!

If A-Ranks could still be found in fair numbers across the Wasteland, then S-Ranks were few and far between. Even among the Three Major Powers, someone with that combat strength alone could easily become a high-ranking figure.

"...I heard it does not stop there. It is just that S-Rank is the highest rank Floating Apocalypse has... so..."

"Did you not notice? Look at the Hunter Ranking! This mysterious person has already climbed to second place. Eight hundred and fifty-one points! He is about to catch Lone Wolf! He only used half a day!"

At the reminder, many people turned their eyes toward the Hunter Ranking.

This ranking was updated with every new issue of intelligence.

At this moment, Lone Wolf still held first place through accumulated time, but his position was already swaying on the brink of collapse.

Second place, meanwhile, was occupied by a scarlet "question mark."

"At this pace, Lone Wolf will probably be squeezed into second place by noon tomorrow." Someone spoke with a complicated expression.

At the same time, he glanced from the corner of his eye at a hunter in leather armor drinking alone in a corner of the bar.

In the eerie atmosphere, that figure set down his cup, picked up his weapon, said nothing, and silently pushed open the wooden door.

Amid the hesitant expressions of some of the others, he resolutely stepped into the black snowbound night.

Tap.

A gust of snow blew into the room and fell into the fireplace, producing a faint crisp crack.

The air throughout the room grew increasingly murky as well.

That night, the hunters stayed there. By the following morning, when heaven and earth brightened and the wind and snow ceased—

They climbed up one after another from the floor and the corners, stretched their bodies, picked up their weapons, and prepared to enter the mountains.

It was at that very moment that the door of Hunter's Home was violently pushed open.

An Evolver responsible for delivering intelligence swept an indifferent gaze across the crowd, then said to the "receptionist":

"Latest news. Lone Wolf is dead."

The Wasteland Hunters had ultimately misjudged the situation.

In truth, before noon even arrived, the strongest hunter had died while fighting ferocious beasts in a dangerous area and vanished from the ranking.

Some said Lone Wolf had been ambushed and killed by a ferocious beast while searching for that mysterious person.

Others said he had hunted high-level mutated beasts through the night and died of exhaustion.

No one could say for certain.

This name was quickly forgotten as well.

In short, that morning, before Lin Tuo's second "battle record" had even been delivered here, he became the name at the very top of the Hunter Ranking.

Lin Tuo knew nothing about this. Even if he had known, he probably would not have cared.

The only thing he sensed was...

"Why are people from all three factions converging on me?"

Deep within the mountains, somewhere.

Taking advantage of a break, Lin Tuo switched his consciousness back to his main body and discovered something unexpected.

Burning Fire Company in the south, Gray Mountain Group in the north, and the few scattered Wasteland Hunters in the central region had all, with remarkable tacit understanding, dispatched teams, changed their direction of travel, and rushed toward his location.

They came in a menacing tide, faintly forming the shape of an encirclement.

Naturally, Lin Tuo did not know that his strength had already caused the three factions immense apprehension, successfully shattering the balance of power in this area.

Originally, the three sides had agreed to divide the land and compete against one another.

Then a powerful, unfamiliar predator suddenly barged in. Naturally, it provoked the Three Major Powers into sharing a common hatred for the enemy.

With little communication, the three factions tacitly moved at the same time, attempting to surround and kill Lin Tuo.

Their intention was to erase this unexpected variable.

No one wanted one more person competing for the Secret Seal.

"They noticed me? They are worried that I will compete with them for something, so they are temporarily joining forces to kill me?"

Though he did not know the exact situation, Lin Tuo could roughly guess their line of thought.

"They are coming. What do we do? You cannot beat so many people. They have too many guns and cannons."

Hua Xi's little face had gone white, utterly bloodless. At this moment, she had already seen the enemies forming an encirclement from the left, right, and rear, while fierce beasts blocked the front.

It was a perfect encirclement.

No matter how strong Lin Tuo was, he was still human. He could not possibly escape beneath thousands of gun barrels, and she would likely die here too.

"What is there to fear? If we cannot beat them, we hide." Lin Tuo's tone was calm.

"Hide? How?" Hua Xi's eyes widened.

"Mm... like this. Come here, hold onto me, and do not let go. Otherwise, if you fall later, I will not have time to catch you." Lin Tuo thought for a moment, then suddenly said.

Hua Xi looked completely bewildered, unable to understand at all. Yet in a daze, she was pulled over by Lin Tuo, her head buried against his chest while both arms wrapped around his waist.

"Hold tight. I'll take you flying."

After making sure she was secure, Lin Tuo looked at the dense masses of troops pouring out from both sides of the mountains, a smile in his eyes as he murmured softly.

At the same time, the light in his eyes dimmed as his consciousness withdrew and returned to his main body.

"Switch!"

Lishan Martial Arts School, inside the study.

Lin Tuo bent over beside the Sandbox, narrowing his eyes as he reached his hand into it, lowered it among the mountain range, and controlled his Avatar to leap into his palm together with Hua Xi.

Under normal circumstances, there really is no escaping. But I can fly. With that mutter in his heart, Lin Tuo blew lightly toward the mountain range and swiftly raised his hand.

Great Western Continent, atop the mountains.

When the people of Burning Fire Company, Gray Mountain Group, and Floating Apocalypse finally locked onto the two figures, one large and one small, within the encirclement, joy had not yet appeared on their faces when they witnessed a shocking sight.

A blizzard descended out of nowhere, blocking their vision.

Within the wind and snow, someone vaguely noticed two black dots flash past.

Several breaths later, the wind ceased and the snow stopped.

Across the boundless white earth, where was Lin Tuo's shadow to be found?

The mountains fell silent.

Only after several full breaths did someone finally come back to their senses.

"The target... the target... disappeared!!!"

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