Wilderness Zone

Early the next morning, Chen Hao packed his luggage, brought some changes of clothes, bought plenty of cooked and instant food, then took a car to the train station.

He boarded a train out of the Base City, heading for the Wilderness Zone—a military garrison several hundred miles north of Jiangnan Base City.

The train slowly stopped at the military district station. Fully armed Martial Artists stepped off one after another, dozens of them in total.

Among them was a young man carrying a backpack and an A4-Level Blood Shadow Second-Generation Battle Sword, dressed in a D4-Level Combat Suit.

After getting off the train, all the Martial Artists were clearly divided into groups of four or five as they gathered together and headed into the military district.

Only the young man was alone, looking completely out of place amid the surrounding crowd.

Ignoring the curious looks from the other Martial Artists, Chen Hao examined a steel tower dozens of meters tall not far from the station.

He then headed toward the Martial Artist base inside the military district. The supply base was beautifully maintained, with quiet little buildings standing throughout it.

An officer looked at the young Martial Artist in surprise. "Hello, sir. Don't you have a squad? Going into the wilderness alone is extremely dangerous. Why not set out with one of our military hunting teams? At least it'll be safer that way."

The officer's advice brought a trace of warmth to Chen Hao's heart. Compared to the soldiers inside the Base City, the soldiers here had a completely different bearing. This was what a real military force should be.

"Thank you, but there's no need. I'll just get accustomed to the wilderness outside the military district first. I won't go too far in."

Seeing Chen Hao refuse, the officer did not press the matter. "All right. Are you heading out now?" When Chen Hao nodded, he immediately opened the gate leading into the wilderness for him.

Chen Hao sincerely thanked him. "Thank you. You're the real soldiers!" Then he leisurely walked into the wilderness.

Watching the young Martial Artist leave, the officer shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of regret. "I wonder whether that young man can survive out there. What a shame—he looks like promising material. I wonder if he offended someone. Judging by his age, he probably just graduated from university."

It was only mid-May, and the weather was still fairly cool. Even during the day, it was not stiflingly hot.

After leaving the base, Chen Hao looked upon the vast open wilderness and immediately felt as though he had broken out of a cage and finally gained freedom.

But for ordinary people, such freedom came at a price—the constant danger of losing their lives.

"Xiao Mei, find a direct route to County 0201 and plan out the walking route." Now that he had left the Base City, there was no need to be overly cautious.

Xiao Mei appeared beside him. Of course, no one except Chen Hao could see her. "Master, about eight hundred meters ahead to the left, there is a highway. If you follow it and travel at full speed, we should reach County 0201 by around noon today."

Chen Hao understood immediately. It seemed that this was the highway the Fire Hammer Squad had taken in the original story.

After checking the map Xiao Mei provided and confirming the direction, he sped toward the highway.

Before long, Chen Hao looked at the highway beneath his feet and was deeply shaken. As far as the eye could see, the endless road was littered with wrecked and even shattered sedans, vans, trucks, and more. Black bloodstains could still be found in many places.

The heavily weathered wrecks were clearly remnants of the convoy's evacuation during the Great Nirvana. From the condition of the vehicles alone, one could tell how brutal the fighting had been.

At that moment, Chen Hao no longer felt as though he had escaped a cage and gained freedom. He turned back to look at the Base City's towering walls.

For the first time, he felt reverence for those enormous structures.

Under the reddish morning sunlight, Chen Hao sprinted at full speed, moving even faster than the bullet trains of his previous life.

As his figure continuously flashed past, monster roars occasionally sounded from both sides of the highway. Some monsters even darted out and tried to pursue him, but Chen Hao was simply too fast. In the blink of an eye, he had left them far behind.

Chen Hao felt no anxiety toward the monsters that emerged. Beast General Level creatures were rare within this area.

Most of the monsters were low-level Beast Soldiers. The military regularly cleared out the surrounding monsters, especially Beast Generals, which were the primary targets of the military's Martial Artists.

As he neared the road outside County 0201, Xiao Mei suddenly spoke. "Master, there is a group of One-Horned Wild Boars ahead. Total number: thirty-one. The leader is at the Elementary Beast General Level. There are six high-level Beast Soldiers, twelve intermediate Beast Soldiers, and twelve low-level Beast Soldiers."

Chen Hao's eyes lit up. "A herd of One-Horned Wild Boars? Those are not easy to encounter. Most One-Horned Wild Boars prefer to roam alone. If they can gather into a herd, then having a War General Rank leader is only natural."

In that case, he would use them as the first targets of his first battle in the Wilderness Zone.

Like an agile mountain cat, he swiftly leaped onto an overturned sedan and looked toward the herd of One-Horned Wild Boars in the distance.

The One-Horned Wild Boars not far away were pitch-black all over, their fur like black steel spikes. Together with their dark gray horns, they were nothing but killing machines.

Under the blazing sunlight, their sharp horns gleamed with a cold, sinister light.

Whether in presence or size, these One-Horned Wild Boars were fiercer than the Iron-Haired Wild Boar Chen Hao had encountered during the Warrior Assessment. They also looked far more agile.

Before Chen Hao could provoke them, the Junior Beast General Level One-Horned Wild Boar leader had already noticed the human ahead. It let out a howl.

The entire herd immediately stirred, all of them turning to look at Chen Hao before charging toward him like a boiling tide.

Watching the boar leader take the lead, Chen Hao drew his battle blade with his right hand and raised his shield with his left. He jumped down from the car and used the impact of his landing to charge straight at it.

Seeing the human charge toward it, the One-Horned Wild Boar leader was startled. Confusion flashed through its eyes before it became excited again. Lowering its head slightly, it rammed toward the approaching human.

Naturally, Chen Hao would not compete in strength with a One-Horned Wild Boar. Even if his strength rivaled that of the boar leader, what would be the point of practicing movement techniques and blade techniques if he simply fought head-on?

With the One-Horned Wild Boar leader in front, he had to be cautious. In just a breath, he reached its side and could seemingly feel the stabbing pain radiating from the tip of its horn.

He slapped the side of its face with the flat of his blade, borrowed the force, and sprang into the Beast Soldiers behind it. A flash of blade light swept upward, cutting across the neck of a high-level Beast Soldier.

Then, using the snout of a middle-level Beast Soldier as a foothold, he drifted down behind the entire herd.

At that moment, blood mist sprayed from the throat of the One-Horned Wild Boar whose neck had been cut. It seemed to lose all strength in an instant, tumbling forward and crashing down, throwing the boars behind it into chaos.

Chen Hao did not stop. Instead, he turned and charged back into the herd. Each flash of blade light brought down another One-Horned Wild Boar, leaving it twitching on the ground. Within a few breaths, more than half the herd had fallen.

His blade light was tightly controlled, without wasting the slightest bit of strength. Seeing this, the Beast General leader flew into a rage.

It smashed aside two subordinates blocking its path and charged directly at Chen Hao. Hearing the wind, Chen Hao merely shifted slightly and dodged the impact.

His battle blade stabbed fiercely into its shoulder blade. Chen Hao frowned. Although his strength was sufficient, the battle blade was clearly lacking. Against the defense of an Elementary Beast General, it was somewhat inadequate.

Looking at the slightly worn tip of the A4-Level battle blade, he frowned. I shouldn't have expected anything from an ordinary weapon. He put away the battle blade, and an S-Grade Battle Blade appeared in his hand.

When it charged at him again, he advanced instead of retreating. At the instant the One-Horned Wild Boar leader lowered its head, his blade swept upward.

A massive boar head flew into the air, while blood gushed from the boar leader's neck. Boar-type monsters that could not turn were the easiest to deal with.

The surviving One-Horned Wild Boars immediately fled in terror. Chen Hao gave a faint, cold smile as an S-Class Flying Knife appeared. Then blade light flashed, his figure blurred instantly, and the knife returned to Chen Hao almost in the blink of an eye.

More than a dozen fleeing One-Horned Wild Boars staggered after only a few steps and collapsed to the ground. White brain matter spilled from the holes in their heads.