One Bear, Multiple Meals

'Accidents' came quickly. As they passed their usual patrol route, the glass on a nearby passage suddenly vibrated. Zheng Yichen's eye twitched, his hand already gripping his fishing rod tightly.

This item could be used as a fishing rod in daily life, and as a baton in combat. If necessary, it could be coated with an anomaly, becoming the black spear he had used in the dense fog anomaly before, a derivative of his own anomaly.

He could create such a thing after struggling and fighting with several mutated small animals. That thing gave Zheng Yichen a strange feeling. It was less like a weapon and more like a 'stinger' derived from his own anomaly.

For eating.

"Prepare for battle!!" Lewis roared, quickly retreating while aiming his weapon at the glass in front of him. The damaged glass shattered completely under the next impact.

An experimental subject, still adorned with mechanical equipment, ran out. It wasn't a humanoid experimental subject; such experiments were generally illegal and difficult to get approval for. Therefore, most experiments involved animals that had already mutated due to anomalies.

The one that ran out was a black bear.

The black bear had some exoskeleton on its body, with exposed bright red muscles in some areas. Part of its head was covered by metal, having undergone some kind of modification. The eyes in the metal-covered area glowed red. At first glance, it looked like a beast-like Terminator.

Zheng Yichen immediately moved far away. He used to kill chickens and rats, and at most bully cats and dogs. Now, a bear with a shoulder height of nearly two meters had appeared...

"Jamie, it's your time to shine."

"..." Jamie looked at the roaring black bear in the distance and swallowed. "I think we should fight side-by-side."

Through the hole broken by the giant bear, some damaged equipment could still be seen. It was difficult to determine what that equipment was used for before, as it was too thoroughly destroyed.

The giant bear panted heavily, its state exceptionally violent. Clearly, its warm-up was over, and it was in a bloodthirsty state, urgently needing a few living people to vent its rage.

"Move it!" Lewis directly threw a smoke bomb. Their patrol area was different. Since the experimental subject had 'lost control' and was a tough one, they needed to quickly gather with other Hunters and consider how to take it down later.

"Bad luck!"

Jamie and another Hunter were also very decisive. They had no intention of engaging in direct combat at the moment. Anomalous creatures like lions and tigers were somewhat manageable, but this bear was not easy to deal with.

Moreover, it had some modified parts and an exoskeleton formed by mutation. Its massive body meant it had high HP. This type of experimental subject was what most low-level Hunters didn't want to encounter.

There were also some insect-like anomalous creatures, some of which were equally troublesome. Animals, after mutating due to anomalies, mostly had their bodies strengthened. They might grow a few extra parts and become more ferocious, but most were primarily melee-focused.

Insects, however, were different. After mutation, they could perform chemical attacks, spraying acid, poison gas, venom, and so on, which were very disgusting.

In the smoke, the giant bear's roar echoed throughout the testing site. Other Hunters were also alerted. Zheng Yichen glanced back at the giant bear's state. The bear, affected by the smoke, grumbled as the smell stimulated it, appearing even angrier.

"He's running so fast!" Jamie watched the giant bear charge like a tank, firing back as he ran. He used two large caliber pistols. Although Jamie was slightly shorter than Zheng Yichen, his body was solidly built.

Wielding such weapons was not difficult. For low-level anomalous creatures, as long as the caliber of the weapon was large enough and the aim was accurate, the battle could end quickly.

His attacks were effective. Each shot left large splashes of blood on the giant bear's body, but the giant bear's muscles were very strong, and its body was protected by an exoskeleton. The damage was effective but couldn't take down the giant bear immediately.

Lewis and another Hunter chose to target its legs, and if possible, its head. However, the giant bear's head was covered with metal, and the bullets only left shallow dents.

Seeing this, they cursed. They didn't expect mutated creatures to have bulletproof helmets.

"This thing is not right. Even if that thing was covered on its head, it should have gotten a concussion from being shot," Lewis said quickly, reloading his weapon. If he couldn't hit the head, the legs would still be useful. After the Giant Bear's limbs were severely injured, its speed slowed down.

"Maybe it's a new type of Bulletproof Material from another Research Institute. Damn it, they're just making things harder for us!" Jamie sighed. He could already hear footsteps in the distance. Looking at the slowing Giant Bear, Jamie's expression shifted slightly.

"Newcomer, I'll create an opportunity for you later, and we'll take him down together."

"Don't be too reckless. There will be plenty of opportunities." Jamie's words made Lewis frown slightly. Performance wasn't limited to output; excelling in teamwork was also a form of outstanding performance.

But Jamie's actions clearly indicated he intended to take a risk.

"Of course, hurry up. It'll be too late later."

"Okay." Zheng Yichen threw away the Fishing Rod in his hand. Seeing the suspicious looks from the others, he poked the ground with the extended Fishing Rod, leaving a few small pits on the floor.

"It's fine now." Seeing this, Jamie said no more. The strength displayed by this Fishing Rod was sufficient. He even wondered if he should prepare one like this later, a weapon with such excellent camouflage?

Who would pay much attention to someone carrying a Fishing Rod when out and about? It would even be reasonable to carry such a thing in a wet market.

Jamie charged towards the Giant Bear first. Zheng Yichen let out a soft breath and followed. Lewis raised his gun directly and began providing cover with another Hunter. Their rate of fire was not high, only to distract the Giant Bear.

As they approached the Giant Bear, it became even more enraged and swiped at Jamie. Jamie, who had been prepared, quickly retreated. His peripheral vision caught sight of Zheng Yichen's figure, and then he focused on dealing with the Giant Bear, whose mobility had been greatly affected.

He thought this newcomer, Zheng Yichen, was good, worthy of his build. Without hesitation, he followed: "Find an opportunity to poke its eyes. Retreat immediately after hitting it!"

Jamie shouted, reminding him. This wasn't a fight against a human; bears were uncultured and wouldn't understand their conversation. His current shouting, besides conveying information to Zheng Yichen, was also a direct provocation to the Giant Bear.

Zheng Yichen did not reply, his eyes fixed intently on the Giant Bear. The Giant Bear had an implanted metal shell on its head with excellent cushioning properties. Its eyes were not large targets, and coupled with its violent movements, they were very difficult to hit.

As Jamie engaged the Giant Bear up close, subtle changes occurred within the Fishing Rod in Zheng Yichen's hand.

The strength of this Fishing Rod was not low; he had spent money to customize it. But its true strength lay in the 'Stinger' derived from his anomaly.

By deriving it inside the Fishing Rod, with the Fishing Rod as cover, it would be difficult for any surveillance to detect anything unusual.

The black Fishing Rod, the moment the Giant Bear turned its head, stabbed into the Terminator-like eye socket like a venomous snake. The red micro-light instantly extinguished, and blood sprayed out. The Fishing Rod that pierced the eye socket did not penetrate the back of the Giant Bear's head; instead, it hit a hard object and did not pierce through.

As the Giant Bear's enraged roar sounded, Zheng Yichen's expression immediately tensed. He retreated at the fastest speed. This thing's vitality was too strong; it didn't die immediately from such an injury.

Jamie was supposed to be covering Zheng Yichen. With Zheng Yichen's successful attack, the Giant Bear's aggro shifted directly to Zheng Yichen. Jamie, meanwhile, took the opportunity to jump onto the Giant Bear's back, one hand gripping the blinded eye socket, the other hand aiming his gun at the joint of the metal shell on the Giant Bear's head and firing continuously.

After breaking the connection point, he shouted and ripped off the metal shell on the Giant Bear's head.

The Giant Bear's massive body ran for two more steps before crashing heavily to the ground.

Jamie jumped off the Giant Bear's corpse and threw the metal shell in his hand to the ground, letting out a long sigh. During the brief struggle, his Protective Suit was already tattered. The Giant Bear's claws were very sharp and its strength was immense. A mere graze easily tore through his Protective Suit.

If he had been hit head-on, he would have been dead or crippled. Another hit would have definitely prevented him from crying out a third time.

"This batch of Hunters is unexpectedly excellent," a Researcher said in the Monitoring Room, looking at the concluded battle with a hint of regret. They had released the Experimental Subject early and even activated the Barrier between the test area and the outside environment, but this Giant Bear still did not show any secondary abnormal changes in the foggy weather.

It would be better to follow the original plan and release it after the giant bear's testing and refinement have progressed further. Enough data has been collected for now.

The metal shell on the giant bear's head exceeded expectations in terms of protection, and its body also showed excellent resistance to bullets. It could still fight for a period even with direct brain damage. If it weren't for Jamie's desperate efforts to directly dismantle the giant bear's modified skull, the hunters who rushed over would have had to intervene to quickly resolve this test subject.

"Alright, retrieve the experimental subject and proceed to the next stage of research."

The giant bear's corpse cannot be wasted; it can still be used after recovery. Next, based on the data collected, they will let these hunters deal with an upgraded experimental subject in a week.

At the testing site, the gathered hunters looked at the giant bear's corpse and conversed with amazement. Some of them arrived in time and didn't immediately engage because someone had chosen to fight the experimental subject in close combat, and suppressing it with firepower would kill their teammates.

People must take responsibility for their own actions. The best way is to wait for the outcome from the close-combat hunters: either they get killed by the bear or they kill the bear.

The hunters killing the bear has no impact on them. They receive a fixed reward for this. It makes no difference whether a group of people or one person resolves the experimental subject. There are too many types of hunters who accept commissions. It's normal for some powerful individuals to occasionally want to experience their past lives and accept ordinary commissions.

In such situations, they just need to lie down and win. Although they didn't encounter a powerful individual this time, it's still good that a peer worked so hard to resolve the target. Of course, slacking off is impossible; the research institute keeps relevant records.

If they deliberately slack off, they'll be blacklisted. It's like that, the money in the research institute isn't that easy to earn.

Soon, people from the research institute arrived to retrieve the experimental subject, and the scene was cleaned up thoroughly. Apart from some signs of destruction, it was as if no battle had taken place.

In the temporary dormitory, Jamie, bandaged and eating meat and drinking beer, had some medicine bottles nearby. "Hahaha, this fight was damn good this time."

Zheng Yichen smiled as he watched Jamie. His mood was also excellent. Although stabbing that experimental subject didn't allow him to absorb blood, he also managed to extract some of the experimental subject's blood.

Initially, he was worried if that kind of experimental subject would affect his abilities. After actually trying it, he was completely relieved.

Experimental subjects are also abnormal creatures. Ordinary creatures cannot become experimental subjects. Even after modification, it does not affect the essence of such beings.

The extracted blood from the experimental subject was transmitted to himself through the stinger generated by his own abnormality. Others couldn't tell if he had changed, but Zheng Yichen knew his own condition.

It's impossible to completely eliminate the wilting disease caused by his abnormality, but this time his physical condition has also improved.

As a result, Zheng Yichen is now full of energy and wants to find a place to lift weights.

Lewis picked up a piece of meat and started eating. The canteen offered normal meals, but all four of them favored meat. "Less than half the time has passed, don't be too careless. Those research institutes won't lose money."

Jamie nodded. Indeed, that bear was recovered, and who knows what new abnormal creature experimental subject this research institute will come up with next. That thing will probably be even harder to deal with.

Three strikes and you're out. Generally, one more time is enough. If the research institute goes too far, the hunters will also resist.

The following week was very leisurely. They conducted daily patrols, and after returning to the dormitory, they exercised vigorously, exchanging the strength of their muscles with their roommates.

On the third to last day of the commission, while the hunters were on patrol, an 'accident' occurred again at the testing site. It was the usual procedure. This time, he saw a more thoroughly modified giant bear rampaging and fiercely confronting the anti-riot facilities.

After destroying all of them, it broke through layers of 'protection' and successfully escaped. Those protections included tempered glass and some special synthetic material.

The giant bear's destructive attacks were equivalent to a violent test of those protections.

It was the ultimate form of "one bear, multiple meals."

"I think we should team up with others," Lewis, with his ample experience, suggested very seriously, looking at the giant bear's state.

Last time, the bear was primarily biological. Their temporary team could handle it with a bit of risk. This time, half of its body has been replaced with machinery. Who knows how this research institute 'revived' this bear.