City 023

Time passed, and the sky gradually brightened.

After trekking through the mountains and rivers all night, Yang Wu finally rode his beloved little motorcycle to the outskirts of City 023 early the next morning.

City 023 was formerly Suzhou. Many places still retained ancient-style architecture, but unfortunately, it had now become a paradise for monsters.

At this time, dawn had only just broken. A breeze swept past, bringing waves of chill.

"Roar!"

"Hrrh... hrrh..."

Beastly roars continuously echoed from the city.

This was the time when monsters hunted. Even without human martial artists hunting them, monsters would still slaughter one another for food.

However, those frenzied roars had no effect on Yang Wu whatsoever.

He slung his backpack over his shoulders, picked up the Po Jun Spear, and headed toward the city. As for that battered motorcycle, he simply left it by the roadside.

Monsters did not know its value, and martial artists would not care for it either.

He left it there without a worry!

Though he had wanted to ride it, reality had ultimately defeated him.

The roads were simply too terrible.

More importantly, highways were mostly built in desolate areas, where monsters rarely appeared.

But in the suburban city districts, monsters were extremely dense—some flew through the skies, while others ran across the ground.

One poke, and you would stir up an entire nest.

The vast majority of land monsters roamed within abandoned cities, living amid densely packed buildings. This was where monsters truly thrived.

Unless humanity launched an all-out assault and rained missiles, even nuclear bombs, into the cities, it would be difficult to reclaim ownership of them all.

But what humanity needed was to recover lost land, not a lifeless wasteland.

Along the way, Yang Wu bypassed dozens of Soldier-level Monsters. Of course, a few foolish ones came looking for trouble and were instantly sent off to meet their great-grandmothers.

Yang Wu had come to the Wilderness Area mainly for money. Did they think he was here on vacation?

His targets had to be Beast General-level Monsters at the very least.

Soldier-level Monsters could be killed with modern firearms. Materials from monsters of that level were like products churned out on an assembly line—generally not worth much.

Only materials from Beast General-level Monsters were valuable, while Lord Level Monsters fetched astronomical prices.

However, Beast General-level Monsters already possessed intelligence no lower than that of humans.

Aside from the few monsters that preferred to travel alone, the vast majority of Beast Generals were surrounded by many Beast Soldiers.

Therefore, if one wanted to kill a Beast General-level Monster, it was best to form a team and cooperate. Trying to take one down alone was only possible if there was an overwhelming gap in strength between the two sides.

Otherwise, it was often just a waste of time.

An hour later.

Yang Wu arrived at his first destination: a twenty-eight-story residential building.

After glancing at the relatively well-preserved building, Yang Wu stepped through its ruined entrance without hesitation and steadily climbed the stairs.

The residential building was not safe. A monster could suddenly emerge from anywhere, and in cramped spaces like stairwells, Yang Wu's strength would also be restricted.

However, that did not matter.

"Pfft!"

At the stairway corner, a Lion Mastiff Monster spotted Yang Wu and immediately pounced at him.

Yang Wu merely shifted sideways, and the Po Jun Spear in his hand easily swept across the Lion Mastiff Monster's head.

Thud!

The staggering Lion Mastiff Monster unconsciously kicked its four legs twice.

Then it collapsed to the ground, its head separated from its body.

When an Advanced Beast Soldier faced an Advanced Warrior Level martial artist, unless the former had sufficient numbers, it could only be slaughtered by the latter.

The difference between them was simply too great.

Even though Yang Wu's strength was somewhat restricted, it was fine as long as the monsters hiding in the building did not come out. But once they did, he could practically kill one with every thrust.

The A6 Grade Po Jun Spear cut through Soldier-level Monsters as easily as slicing tofu.

After dealing with several Soldier-level Monsters blocking his path, Yang Wu finally emerged from the stairwell and arrived at the rooftop of the twenty-eight-story residential building.

To prevent monsters from secretly coming up the stairs to the rooftop without his knowledge and causing unnecessary trouble.

Yang Wu closed the iron door to the stairwell, then found an iron rod and wedged it shut.

Though the iron rod and door could not stop monsters, ordinary monsters would not ram into sealed-off places. And if they did, it would make noise.

He was not afraid of them, but if Soldier-level Monsters really came one after another to offer themselves up, he would still find it annoying. They were worthless and wasted his time—unless a Beast General-level Monster came.

Yang Wu found a relatively clean spot, set down his backpack, and took out water and high-energy food to replenish his strength.

Then he leaned against the wall and rested briefly.

After lying down for about ten minutes.

Yang Wu got up, took out a pair of high-powered binoculars from the backpack on the ground, stood at the rooftop's edge, and began searching for prey.

The higher one stood, the farther one could see.

From the rooftop of a twenty-eight-story building, with the aid of high-powered binoculars, nearly the entire city lay within view.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but devastation.

Beneath the gray sky, ruins and wreckage were everywhere. This dilapidated city was permeated by an aged, desolate air.

Yang Wu shifted his gaze and focused the lenses on a nearby area.

On the streets, vast numbers of monsters could be seen everywhere. Some crawled along the ground, some tore apart and hunted prey, while others were feasting on their kills...

"Rumble..."

A deep yet chaotic sound immediately caught Yang Wu's attention. He turned the lenses toward the direction it came from.

About two thousand meters away, two groups of monsters were engaged in a pitched battle in the middle of the street.

That was right—they were fighting each other!

The leaders of both sides were Beast General-level Monsters. More than two hundred monsters were slaughtering one another in the street.

But Yang Wu also noticed something else. In the dark, shadowy alley on the other side of the two battling monster groups, several pairs of glowing green eyes flashed past.

While the snipe and clam fought, the fisherman stood to gain.

To hunt monsters in an abandoned city like this, one had to be swift, ruthless, and precise.

Otherwise, it would not only be easy to trigger a large-scale monster riot, but one might also end up being taken advantage of by other lurking monsters.

Moreover, in abandoned major cities like this, a monster horde was often led by several Beast General-level Monsters and consisted of thousands of Soldier-level Monsters.

If such a horde rioted and formed a massive beast tide, even with Yang Wu's strength, he would not dare charge straight into it carelessly.

As he had said before: he was not afraid, but it was troublesome.

He could not fight a beast tide head-on.

Once surrounded by the endless beast tide, let alone an Advanced Warrior Level martial artist like him, even an Intermediate War God Level martial artist would be worn to death alive.

But he had legs. He could run.

With his current strength, unless he was trapped in the center of a beast tide from the start or had a reason he could not leave, an ordinary beast tide truly could not do much to him.

Yang Wu, standing on the rooftop, quickly locked onto a target.

"You'll do!"