Information Gap

Wang Changle murmured to himself. He had a feeling that this Hardening ability could do more than just provide defense.

The information from Paradise described equipment or items, not armor.

So it should work on weapons, too. Wang Changle couldn't help looking at the Fire Axe in his hand.

The Fire Axe was probably his strongest weapon right now, but it was still inadequate against Level 2 Zombies. If it could be made stronger, he would be able to kill zombies faster!

He acted on the thought. The card in Wang Changle's hand transformed into a streak of light and sank into the Fire Axe.

The Fire Axe, with its wooden handle and hammer-shaped head, changed shape in an instant. The handle and axe head seemed to fuse together as if cast from steel, and it felt heavy in his hand.

The handle curved into a '7' shape, with the end of the '7' bent backward. A wooden hand rest had formed at the very end.

Its grip and the smoothness of its swing were both much more ergonomic.

The axe head had become flatter, while the blade had grown more than three times larger. Its cutting edge stretched out on both sides into a crescent shape, gleaming with a faint, cold light.

[Tip: You have given 'Crude Fire Axe' the characteristic Hardening.]

[Tip: 'Crude Fire Axe' has changed into 'Steel-hardened Battle Axe'.]

[Tip: You have obtained 1 Steel-hardened Battle Axe.]

As he swung it, the blade sliced through the air, and he heard a "whoosh" of tearing wind.

If the Fire Axe had been a weapon before, the Steel-hardened Battle Axe was now a murderous instrument.

A weapon born to sever limbs and take heads!

Without changing its length, the axe now had a blade more than three times wider than before. Its gleaming edge gave it greater attack power and a wider range.

[Steel-hardened Battle Axe]

White: 10 (Rare)

Attack Power: 7–15

Characteristic: Hardening: Ignores 5 points of defense (additional attribute)

Durability: 25/25

Equipment Requirements: 3 Strength; can be wielded with ease if Strength exceeds 6

Description: An axe for beheading.

Value: 1,200 Cycle Coins. This is a rule-bound item and can be taken out of the 'Derivative World'.

The Fire Axe had not only changed shape but gained entirely new attributes. Most importantly, it could be taken out of the "Derivative World."

Characteristic Cards could not be traded, but they could imbue a target with Paradise's rules, allowing that target to be taken out of the world!

Wang Changle casually swung the axe, and with a "shhk," it severed the Iron Skin Zombie's arm. The cut was clean and even.

"Wow. It's sharp!"

Wang Changle was sure that if he had been holding this axe earlier, he could have split the zombie in half with that first sneak attack.

With this weapon, Wang Changle felt even more confident about his next plan.

After resting for a while, Wang Changle was about to leave the warehouse.

He walked a few steps, then stopped and glanced at Dahua, who was trailing far behind him.

The boy, not quite grown, wore an ill-fitting uniform and had dyed his hair blond. He had been the loudest one earlier, but now he was acting so timidly.

It was hard to imagine that this scrawny-looking boy had been the one who ultimately survived. Sometimes, you had to admit that luck was a kind of strength.

"Hey, what do you want?"

Wang Changle looked at Dahua with a bemused expression. He hadn't gone looking for trouble with the kid, but now the trouble had come to him?!

"C-can I follow you, big brother?"

Dahua was timid, but his lowered eyes kept darting toward the steel axe in Wang Changle's hand.

"Follow me? Why?"

Wang Changle casually put away the battle axe and looked at the dishonest boy with amusement.

"I don't want to die. I want to live. If I follow you, I might have a chance of surviving. You're so strong, after all..."

Dahua's expression changed when the battle axe vanished from Wang Changle's hand. This world really was different!

"But why should I bring along a burden like you? Besides, you were just trying to rob me, weren't you?"

Wang Changle smiled noncommittally, but his eyes narrowed.

"I-I didn't. It wasn't me. It was Old Han who told me to do it. No, don't go! I was wrong. I'm sorry, big brother. I know I was wrong. I really do!"

Seeing Wang Changle turn to leave, Dahua panicked and hurried a few steps forward.

"Oh? Just now you were calling him 'Uncle Han,' and now you're calling him 'Old Thief Han.' You really are a white-eyed wolf!"

Wang Changle slowly closed the warehouse door, looking at Dahua with disgust.

"I-I just want to live! What did I do wrong? Don't I even have the right to live?!"

As he watched the door close, Dahua felt that something bad was about to happen. He shouted in despair.

"Sure, you have the right to live. But I have no obligation to save you. And besides, you provoked me."

A cold glint flashed. A leg flew into the air, blood spraying everywhere.

"Ahhh! My leg! Ah!"

"You didn't have to die. Well, you wouldn't have, if you'd kept your voice down."

Wang Changle glanced coldly at Dahua, who was wailing on the ground. He opened the door, beckoned to him, then turned and headed out of the hotel.

Not long after Wang Changle left, something in the darkness seemed to be drawn toward the place.

The shrill wails gradually turned into "munch, munch" sounds, as if something was being devoured.

Showing mercy to an enemy was cruelty to yourself!

After leaving the hotel, Wang Changle looked at the ruined, pitch-black streets, his heart surging with excitement.

"Whew~"

Images of the fight flashed through his mind: the life-or-death tension, the exhilaration of turning the tables in an instant, and the gruesome sight of a shattered head.

All of it made Wang Changle feel more exhilarated than ever, a thrill that seemed to rise from his very bones!

When he had first entered Cycle Paradise and been transported into this Derivative World, Wang Changle had been confused and unsettled. Now, however, he had adapted.

It wasn't a physical or bodily adjustment. It was a change in his mindset.

Yes, faced with a battle where his life had hung by a thread, he hadn't felt fear or resistance. Instead, he had felt excitement, exhilaration, and freedom.

So this was what it felt like to hunt. This was the thrill of battle.

He seemed to understand why Cycle Paradise had chosen him as a Hunter.

The coldness toward life buried in his bones, along with the flashes of insight he'd had during battle, proved that he was perfectly suited to the role.

During the fight, every cell in his body had seemed to howl, sing, burn, and roar.

In his mind, a voice seemed to cry out:

Fight! Kill! Enjoy it!

The rush of adrenaline, the heat rising to his head, the racing heartbeat—even just remembering the sensation filled Wang Changle with excitement and intoxication.

"This feeling is incredible!"

Blood-soaked slaughter, destruction, and annihilation. Power not only strengthened a person's will, but also changed their nature. Perhaps this was what it felt like to wield power.

With his state of clarity still upon him, Wang Changle sensed something in his heart and took out the white treasure chest.

He had a feeling that the chest contained something that could help him go further.

With a strange sense of excitement and anticipation, he opened the white treasure chest when the system prompted him. A slender green potion fell into his hand.

[Tip: You opened 1 treasure chest (White).]

[Tip: You obtained 1 One-star Evolution Potion.]

A One-star Evolution Potion!

After he injected the potion, an intense heat swept over him. Fine beads of sweat appeared all over his body.

Though he was out in the cold night, he felt as if he were standing in a furnace. The muscles throughout his body began to spasm, his heart raced, and he groaned in pain before collapsing.

As the pain washed over him, he sensed a new power awakening inside him, a violent energy coursing through every inch of his body.

Amid his ragged breaths, Wang Changle stood up again and opened his personal information.

Health: 100% (This data cannot be displayed precisely)

Mana: 80 (Intelligence × 10; current recovery rate: 2.5 per hour)

Strength: 6 (+1)

Agility: 7 (+1)

Stamina: 8 (+3)

Intelligence: 8 (+2)

Charisma: 8 (+1)

Luck: 1 (Related to opening items and crafting. This attribute is extremely difficult to increase. Contractors should treasure every opportunity to improve it.)

Note: The standard attributes for an adult male are 5 points; Luck is 1 point.

This One-star Evolution Potion really could change a person's species. One vial had increased all his attributes, for a total gain of eight points!

Even Cycle Paradise contractors needed at least two or three worlds to achieve such a massive increase in attributes. And now a single One-star Evolution Potion had done it!

An LV8 world really was full of danger and opportunity!

Fortune favored the bold!

Feeling the power within him, Wang Changle glanced at the map in his hand and set off into the night. He hoped he could make it in time!

Yingcheng, tennis stadium.

At the stairway leading to the second floor of the tennis stadium, Ye Zhongming took out a baseball bat that gave off a faint gray glow and handed it to the policewoman, Mo Ye.

Ye Zhongming gestured with his hand. Mo Ye nodded, then darted out, immediately drawing the attention of three Blood-tongue Lizards.

The leading Blood-tongue Lizard spotted the prey that had escaped earlier back in its field of vision and immediately let out a hissing cry.

It suddenly sped up, chasing the policewoman, Mo Ye, toward the training hall.

The moment Mo Ye entered the basketball court, the leading lizard darted in after her.

"Whoosh~"

Its scarlet tongue lashed out like a whip toward Mo Ye, but she nimbly dodged it.

"Ha!"

Mo Ye dodged the leading Blood-tongue Lizard's attacks while countering with the baseball bat in her hand, using her martial arts skills. Every time she landed a hit, the lizard let out a cry of pain.

Just as half the second lizard's body had passed through the doorway, she suddenly saw a flash of cold light slice through the darkness.

It looked like a battle axe!

"Shhk!"

The gleaming battle axe traced a silver arc through the air, spraying blood as it chopped off a half-meter-long tail.

The lizard, struck by the sudden blow, immediately lost its balance and rolled into the basketball hoop stand.

"Clang~"

The tailless lizard felt a tearing pain from behind. It turned to look around and saw a man holding a battle axe in the shadows, with its tail beneath his foot.

"Hmm... I cut a little off target!"