Blood Debt

Lu Feng quickly bent down, intending to pick up the beetles scattered around and throw them outside the Energy Shield.

But the Multi-headed Python horde nearby had already noticed him. Seeing him as a rival for food, they immediately twisted their bodies and lunged at him.

"Damn it!"

Lu Feng's heart tightened, and he turned to run.

Just then, dozens of gunshots rang out.

The Chasing Wind Squad arrived in time. Its members raised their High-Energy Heat Melting Guns and fired fiercely at the python horde.

Dense beams of energy instantly engulfed the battlefield. The Second- and Third-Tier Multi-headed Pythons suffered heavy casualties beneath the barrage.

But the seven Leader-level Multi-headed Pythons were completely unharmed. Instead, the attack only roused their fury.

Their massive bodies suddenly leaped into the air and crashed down toward the crowd.

"Everyone, fall back!"

Gao Zhan shouted, yet charged forward against the tide of retreating people.

He seized the long tail of a Leader-level Giant Python with perfect timing, then threw the full weight of his body into swinging it aside.

Fang Qing followed almost at once, striking at another Leader-level python's weak point.

Nearby, Hong Kun swallowed nervously, hesitation flashing across his face.

Three Innate Realm warriors against seven Exotic Beasts of the same Realm.

Could they win this fight?

But there was no time to think. A Leader-level Giant Python was already swinging its huge body at him.

The other squad members kept firing as they quickly retreated.

Everyone knew they couldn't get close to the attack range of these Leader-level Exotic Beasts.

If one of them got hit, they'd be lucky to escape with their lives.

"Big brother, watch out!"

Yang Qian, who was firing his gun, suddenly shouted and rushed toward Hong Kun, who was battling a Leader-level python.

He had spotted another Leader-level python silently circling behind Hong Kun, its enormous jaws about to snap shut!

Without hesitation, Yang Qian charged forward and raised his High-Energy Heat Melting Gun, firing wildly at the python's head in midair.

The sudden attack enraged the python. Its tail, more than ten meters long, whipped around—

"Pfft!"

Yang Qian was sent flying by the heavy blow, blood spraying from his mouth as he sailed through the air.

"Yang Qian!" Hong Kun turned and saw what had happened. He cried out in shock.

"Uncle Yang!" Lu Feng shouted from a distance.

But before Yang Qian could hit the ground, another python's long tail came crashing down from above.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, Yang Qian was slammed into the ground. He lay motionless.

"I'll fight you bastards to the death!" Hong Kun's eyes reddened as he roared and repeatedly plunged his Alloy Dagger into the python in front of him.

Yang Qian had been his brother since they were children. They were closer than blood brothers.

He had thought that joining the expedition would be their chance to become Martial Experts together.

He never imagined things would end like this.

The next moment—

Another python's tail whipped around and wrapped around Hong Kun's arm, lifting him into the air.

In the blink of an eye, another Leader-level python had coiled its body tightly around him.

"President!"

Another member of the Skyfire Club rushed out from the team.

"I'll kill you!"

He aimed his gun at the python holding Hong Kun and fired desperately.

But the heat gun was nearly useless against a Fourth-Tier Exotic Beast. Instead, it only enraged the enormous creature.

As the crowd watched in horror, the python's gaping maw snapped shut around him, swallowing him whole!

"Xiao Chen!"

Hong Kun's voice was almost broken.

In the depths of unbearable pain and despair, Hong Kun raised his still-functioning left arm, gripped his Alloy Short Blade, and resolutely cut off his right arm, which was trapped in the python's coils!

The instant he broke free, he unleashed all the strength of an Innate Realm Warrior and threw himself at the python in front of him, his dagger striking like raindrops.

Blood sprayed. Flesh tore.

He cut the Leader-level python clean in half!

The battle elsewhere was just as brutal.

With the strength of an Innate Realm Fifth Level warrior, Gao Zhan faced one mid-stage Fourth-Tier Multi-headed Python and one early-stage Fourth-Tier Multi-headed Python alone.

He was in a difficult position, but still managed to hold on.

Fang Qing, however, was on the verge of defeat.

She was only at the early stage of the Innate Realm, yet faced two early-stage Fourth-Tier pythons at once. She kept dodging between their relentless attacks.

She knew she couldn't let the pythons trap her. The Alloy Dagger in her hand was the only weapon she had that could inflict real damage on them.

Every time she thrust the dagger with all her strength, she had to endure a heavy blow from a python's tail.

It was a desperate fight in which each side traded wounds for wounds.

Just then, a python suddenly dove from the air, all four heads opening their enormous jaws at once.

Fang Qing hurriedly dodged sideways, driving her dagger into the back of the other python as she moved.

The wounded python let out a roar that shook the heavens, its body thrashing violently.

Fang Qing gritted her teeth and dodged again, but failed to notice another tail sweeping toward her from her blind spot—

"Bang!"

The tail slammed into her back.

Worse, the raised scales along its length pierced the back of her head like blades.

Fang Qing flew backward like a kite with its strings cut, spraying a mouthful of Blood Mist through the air. She hit the ground hard and lost consciousness.

"Fang Qing!"

Gao Zhan witnessed it, his eyes bloodshot.

With a furious roar, he seized the long tail of the python in front of him and swung with all his strength, hurling its massive body more than a hundred meters away.

But the opening left him exposed. The upper body of another python slammed into him, and he staggered several steps before managing to regain his footing.

Ignoring his own injuries, he rushed straight to his fiancée's side.

"Captain, watch out!"

Several Chasing Wind Squad members cried out together. Behind Gao Zhan, a python had opened its enormous jaws and was about to swallow him.

At the critical moment, a figure shot toward them from afar.

The person leaped into the air and kicked the python's head like a cannonball, sending it flying dozens of meters away.

The newcomer was a squad leader from another outpost of the 115th Legion.

After receiving orders from the Command Center, he had immediately led his entire squad to support them.

Soon afterward, the second and third support squads arrived on the battlefield as well.

The arrival of fresh troops quickly turned the tide.

The remaining Second- and Third-Tier Multi-headed Pythons were swiftly wiped out. Several Leader-level pythons were also killed one after another by a combined assault from multiple Innate Realm experts.

But the disaster had cost the Chasing Wind Squad dearly.

Seven members had died, the Skyfire Club had lost two people, and Hong Kun had lost an arm.

Fang Qing was rushed to the Medical Pod aboard the Dawn Starship for emergency treatment. Gao Zhan and the squad members waited anxiously outside.

Yet not one of the Legion Commanders at the Grandmaster Realm had shown up.

"Captain Gao, this disaster was caused by someone," Lu Feng suddenly said.

"What?" Gao Zhan whipped around, eyes wide.

"I suspect the Night Owl Squad did it."

"Do you have proof?"

Lu Feng shook his head.

He had only seen a Mecha flying past overhead. How could he possibly have proof?

After hearing his account, everyone in the Chasing Wind Squad gritted their teeth in fury.

Gao Zhan's fists clenched so tightly they creaked.

"Zheng Yi... I'll make you pay with your life!"