Crisis

"Yo, finally here. I am currently still two short. When will I finally collect them all?"

After spotting Tao Yu's group, Winuo stood up and turned around.

It was clear that not only were his neck and the back of his head covered in callus-like skin, but his face also bore barbarian-like markings.

His entire body radiated wildness and savagery.

His burly body, over two meters tall, combined with that full suit of armor, truly made him look like a humanoid weapon. With the flickering firelight beside him, he resembled a demon even more.

The burning branches nearby crackled from time to time.

"Isn't it normal to have good luck?"

Yosef spoke without a care. It seemed he was fairly familiar with Winuo.

"But these giant snakes really are beyond what most Outer City newcomers can handle. The survival rate this time is probably going to be very low."

"Most? Looks like that B-rank Country Bumpkin of yours killed a giant snake."

Winuo wore a teasing expression as he held out his hand.

"Hurry up. How many fangs do you have? Let me make up the difference."

Yosef shot him an irritated glare.

"You're asking for help without even showing any manners. Here, five."

With that, Yosef directly handed all the Wish Power Snake Fangs to Winuo.

"Not bad. Together with mine, once we wipe out the snake nest, it should be just about enough. Even if we're still a little short, we can make it up with Wish Power."

Winuo tossed the snake fangs in his hand before stuffing them into his clothes.

Based on Yosef's previous estimate, Tao Yu judged that Winuo had likely collected quite a few himself.

Considering that he had found the snake nest, he had probably specifically tracked down these Giant Snakes.

"You're that happy over a skill like this? You'll probably need to take it easy after learning it."

Yosef mocked him from the side. As the two important figures from the Inner City spoke, everyone else remained silent.

"Heh, our paths are different. I don't know what skill these Wish Power Snake Fangs will grant, but a beast with such violent beauty should suit me well. Besides, it's a skill that has never appeared in the New Frontier."

Since Winuo himself had gotten what he wanted, he naturally did not care about Yosef's attitude.

They were always careful when learning skills. Since absorption could bring a degree of mental contamination, they usually chose skills that suited them better. Even if the skill granted by the giant python was weak, it would likely be quite useful to Winuo.

Tao Yu already knew what the two skills were. Stealth: Python aside, Burst: Python would probably make Winuo even more formidable.

The strain it placed on muscles and ligaments might be forcibly endured by Winuo's powerful mutated body, producing an effect beyond what ordinary people could achieve.

"By the way, which one is the B-rank Country Bumpkin?"

Winuo then casually looked over the four Outer City people, including Tao Yu.

"There, Tao Yu. He's a pretty good kid. He might make it into the Inner City someday. We'll probably be staying in this New settlement for a long time, so everyone should get acquainted."

Yosef casually pointed at Tao Yu. Perhaps because Tao Yu had accepted his "kindness," his words carried a bit of protection, almost as if he were declaring ownership.

A Space-Time Anomaly meant they would be opening up this area in the future. Having a Country Bumpkin with a B-rank talent under him was not bad. As long as Tao Yu got hooked on "happiness," he would be easy to control, and others would have to give Yosef some face instead of openly trying to snatch him away.

"Got it. You really are annoying, always trying to meddle in everything."

Perhaps Yosef's words had worked. Although Winuo looked Tao Yu up and down, he truly did nothing else. He merely said with a fake smile,

"Not bad. Hope I see you in the Inner City. Don't die during the awakening mission and waste that talent. You're way too skinny. Can't afford to eat?"

Then he seemed to remember something and let out an "aha."

"Oh, right, I forgot. You Outer City Country Bumpkins don't have much Wish Power saved up. Don't tell me you still don't have any skills you're proficient in? Can your families still support you after you go back?"

The obvious condescension and undisguised mockery in his words made Tao Yu sigh inwardly.

Tao Yu's self-proclaimed B-rank talent had clearly caused this Inner City man with a poor awakening talent to feel somewhat threatened.

He was merely venting his emotions, without caring whether there was any practical benefit. He was fully indulging in the spiritual and emotional satisfaction, gaining emotional validation.

These Inner City people were actually more like people their age.

Everyone was eighteen now, but the harsh environment of the Outer City, Tao Yu included, had worn away all their edges. Meanwhile, these Inner City people could afford not to care too much about gains and losses.

They always said youth was reckless...

Tao Yu glanced at the man's bald head. Unlike Yosef, Winuo had no mechanical enhancements. He wondered just how strong the hardened defense granted by his mutation was.

Glancing at the helmet on the ground again, Tao Yu felt it was probably harder than that head...

"Brother Winuo is right. Our foundations and savings are far too poor. Most of our skills are basic skills, and we usually do not get much meat to eat. The food here is already better than what we had before coming."

Tao Yu smiled as if Winuo's earlier words had not bothered him at all.

Winuo suddenly felt a chill on his scalp. After hearing Tao Yu's words, he seemed to notice something new.

"No way? Basic skills? Don't you have a few martial arts halls outside? Even Li Le has learned a few moves."

Winuo turned and glanced at the tall, sturdy young man named Li Le. Compared with the badly injured Outer City companion beside him, Li Le was clearly in much better condition.

Seeing Winuo's gaze, Li Le knowingly stepped forward and said respectfully,

"You flatter me, sir. I only have the Monstrous Strength (E) talent, so I'm far behind. I merely know a few ordinary skills. Though now, perhaps I am a little stronger."

Li Le knew how to read the room. He knew Tao Yu because his father worked with Tao Hu and had even exchanged greetings with him.

However, compared with the preferences of these Inner City dignitaries, such verbal promises meant absolutely nothing!

Tao Yu also glanced at Li Le. Perhaps Li Le found him somewhat displeasing as well.

Was he so sure Tao Yu would simply endure whatever came his way?

Without the cheat, that really would have been the case when facing Inner City descendants.

And if "happiness" was added into the mix, then...

Thinking of the warning scenes in his mind, of people who could do anything that stripped away their humanity for a single hit, Tao Yu's heart sank.

There would truly be no hope of ever rising again!

"Monstrous Strength is at least two ranks higher than Dynamic Vision. If it were a little higher, perhaps your family could make a comeback in your generation."

Winuo himself followed a muscular close-combat style, so he showed Li Le, who possessed Monstrous Strength, a bit of favor.

The most obvious contrast was the Outer City youth beside him, covered in wounds and too frightened to speak.

"That is also our family's lifelong wish."

"Mm. From what I can see, you're still stronger than him for now. When the time comes, you'll be ranked ahead of him in the sequence."

Winuo casually set the tone, but then he looked at Yosef and asked,

"Brother Yosef, no objections?"

"You arrange it. Didn't you find the snake nest? Hurry up and settle this so we can find Young Master Sun and Miss Sun."

Yosef knew Winuo was doing it deliberately, but he would not refuse to give Winuo face over something so trivial.

Tao Yu would not object either, and everyone else considered it only natural.

That was simply how this world worked!

Even Chen Guan and Walter, who had originally been part of the same team as Tao Yu, looked at him with some schadenfreude.

Even Zhang Wei showed some hesitation.

The Inner City man had made his attitude clear. Zhang Wei did not dare grow closer to Tao Yu anymore.

Seeing that Yosef did not object, Winuo laughed heartily and looked at Tao Yu with satisfaction.

"You don't have any complaints, do you, kid?"

"Of course not. Everything will follow the will of the two Inner City lords. We only need to obey."

"Not bad. At least you know how to read the situation."

Seeing Tao Yu, who had a B-rank talent, act this way, Winuo clearly felt much better.

The frustration he had felt over his poor talent awakening had finally eased considerably.

So what if Tao Yu had good talent? Outer City was still Outer City! He was just a Country Bumpkin! He still had to bow before Winuo!

"Hurry it up."

Seeing that Winuo had finally calmed down, Yosef urged him again.

"Easy."

At the mention of business, Winuo grinned. He put on his helmet, then looked up at the sky.

"Let's leave right away. At this pace, we'll arrive by evening. We'll end this quickly and not drag it into the night. They should be in mating season. I don't know whether everyone in this village was eaten or whether they knew about the migration in advance, but it does not seem to have been abandoned for long."

Winuo's team had stayed here for a while, and they had already checked everything worth checking.

"Oh, right. We also found a strange python corpse. It's on the way, so you can come take a look."

Once Winuo's tall body was covered by full armor and his helmet hid that callused skin, he appeared even more imposing.

He easily lifted the double-bladed axe as tall as a person onto his shoulder and strode forward. His powerful steps made the ground seem to tremble.

Before long, everyone saw the shriveled corpse of a giant python.

"There, that one. We found it in the village. At first, I thought it had shed its skin, but then I realized it seemed to have been eaten by something. Still, it doesn't look like our people did it."

Winuo poked the snake corpse with the tip of his axe. It did indeed feel hollow, though it retained a trace of elasticity.

Tao Yu stepped forward to examine the corpse as well.

Was there something in this rainforest capable of killing a giant python like this?

What the hell was it?

There was only one huge wound on the giant python's corpse, located on its abdomen. Flesh and blood rolled outward, and when the wound was pried open, a large amount of flesh and tissue inside was missing.

But...

Tao Yu's sharp eyesight discovered in horror that the abdominal wound looked fucking like it had been torn open from the inside.

"The wound was torn open from within. It probably swallowed something troublesome, got eaten alive from the inside, and then the thing crawled out."

Winuo, who had already studied the corpse, naturally could not have missed that. He casually pointed it out.

Then, as if remembering something, he said,

"Oh, right. We also found a dead big bug nearby. Do any of you recognize it?"

As he spoke, Li Le quickly opened his backpack and took out a limp, white, spider-like creature. Its long tail hook hung lifelessly, instantly sending a chill from Tao Yu's spine to the tips of his hair.

A Facehugger!

The message from the earlier broadcast seemed to echo in his ears. "...That Wish Power Creature is skilled at stealth, extremely fast, and highly explosive. It poses an enormous threat to you..."

Big brother!

If you're going to do a good deed, then do it properly and explain it clearly! Its blood is strong acid, it has a powerful tail stinger and a projectile inner jaw—wouldn't that have made things clear?

And wasn't that thing supposed to be on the grasslands? Why had it come straight into the forest?!

Wish Power Creatures could generally be regarded as specialties of their current world.

Wasn't there supposed to be some obstruction preventing Wish Power Creatures from entering other world fragments? How weak was that obstruction?!

A Facehugger, a successfully implanted giant python... what kind of hellish start was this?!

The two Inner City men had ill intentions, but because of the Sun siblings' orders from the broadcast, their safety had been relatively secure for the time being!

But what were they supposed to do after encountering something like this?

Good thing he had not chosen to leave the team...

Tao Yu looked back at Yosef, with his mechanical enhancements and shoulder-mounted cannon, then at Winuo, wrapped in armor from head to toe. For now, he could only treat them as bargain-bin Iron-Blooded Warriors.

Please pull your weight. Don't disgrace the Inner City!

As for Tao Yu, he immediately focused his attention on his other relatively cheap skill.

Basic Shooting...