Two days later, in the Southern Forest, Zheng Yichen rode his bike back to the place and breathed in the fresh air as he made one last check of his gear. His current belt was made from a Unicorn Mule's tongue. Once treated, it could be preserved and used for a long time, much like processed cowhide.
It was even tougher than cowhide, and it hissed when swung. Since it hadn't undergone any special processing, the sound affected both sides indiscriminately.
It was like giving both of them a mental debuff. Still, Hunter Arno had said it was quite practical.
As long as Zheng Yichen didn't use it against people, that was. Animals tended to have much weaker willpower and mental resistance than actual warriors. What made beasts so ferocious was that, when it came time to fight, they had few reservations. They either didn't fight at all or went straight for the kill.
The sound could disrupt a beast's mental state, making it less savage when fighting for its life. As long as it dulled their ferocity, even making them hesitate or grow anxious was useful to a hunter.
Against people... it depended on the mental fortitude of both sides.
As for the processing Arno had mentioned, he hadn't explained exactly what it involved, but Zheng Yichen could guess. It was probably something like magical processing. He'd seen Undead Creatures already, so surely magic wasn't that far-fetched.
Zheng Yichen even suspected that Longcheng, a place full of hidden talents, had someone capable of using magic.
And those researchers studying the recovered Skeleton Soldiers, Skeleton Mages, and the like had to be able to figure something out, right?
When those Undead Creatures invaded through the anomalies, quite a few skeletons had unleashed energy attacks.
As for protective gear, he was using a set of Bulletproof Armor that had cost a little over three thousand. He'd even had to buy it under his Hunter License, and it came with a registered serial number. Ordinary people couldn't buy it at all. Better sets started at thirty or fifty thousand.
There were even more expensive ones that cost millions. Some looked pretty much like what Batman wore. Zheng Yichen thought they looked cool, but he couldn't afford one.
Even so, the set he had wasn't bad. If he'd been wearing it when he fought the Unicorn Mule, he would've taken somewhat less damage.
But it wouldn't have reduced it by much. Most of his injuries back then had been from impacts, as the mule rammed him into tree after tree.
His emergency medicine was all there, as was his Fishing Rod. He had all the materials for bait. Good.
After checking his belongings, Zheng Yichen entered the Southern Forest without drawing much attention. It was the same as before: though the Southern Forest had forest rangers, their main duties were preventing fires, driving out ordinary people who tried to venture deep into the forest, and keeping an eye on hunters who fired carelessly.
Dealing with Abnormal Creatures wasn't within the rangers' jurisdiction. Poachers?
Outside Longcheng, poaching was a crime worthy of death. But why poach in the Southern Forest near Longcheng? He could just get a Hunter License and enter openly to hunt. It was legal, and he'd even earn a reputation for it—assuming he survived after entering the depths of the Southern Forest.
"Clean as a whistle." Out of a mixture of wishful thinking and a little reluctance, Zheng Yichen had gone to the place where he'd killed that mule before. Apart from the traces of the fight fading with time, there was nothing left.
He switched on the camera mounted on him, then checked the footage on his phone to make sure the camera angle was good before heading deeper into the forest. He had to admit, moving around the Southern Forest was much more convenient with technology to help him.
It could even pick up birds hidden in the canopy. The traces of ordinary birds were faint in the footage, but those of Abnormal Creatures stood out clearly. Their body temperatures were much higher than those of normal creatures.
The sound of flapping wings rang out beside him. Zheng Yichen drew his shotgun and fired toward the noise. He hadn't guessed where to shoot; the camera had detected the creature attacking him. It was an abnormal bird.
Its abnormal mutation wasn't too severe. From its appearance, it seemed to be a corvid. Its open mouth was full of tiny, writhing "worms." Its claws were like blades, and the feathers on its wings had become much like those tiny worms.
In any case, Zheng Yichen didn't want it getting close. Pellets filled the area where the bird was diving. After being hit, it let out a piercing shriek. An Abnormal Creature's tough constitution kept it from dying on the spot, but it was a bird, and after taking the shot, it was in no shape to keep flying.
Before it hit the ground, a Fishing Rod pierced through its body. With the camera recording, Zheng Yichen had to hold back a little and didn't completely coat the Fishing Rod in Black Gun.
He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the grotesque bird. It was a common type of abnormal bird, and birds that retained such a "complete" form were usually found among the corvids.
Among researchers, this thing was like something you'd find at a roadside stall: worthless, but every now and then, you might come across one that surprised you. Though only occasionally.
Zheng Yichen could compare it with other specimens on his phone mainly because he'd downloaded a recognition app. It worked offline and came in both free and paid versions. He was using the more accurate paid one... When you were out and about, you had to take responsibility for your own life, right?
He looked at his phone. The signal had dropped to less than one bar and kept fluctuating. He'd only gone a little way into the Southern Forest, yet after walking less than fifty meters farther, his phone signal had died completely. He could no longer contact the outside world at all unless he turned back.
"Does this make me the textbook example of a newbie who's asking for trouble?" Zheng Yichen muttered as he walked. When he saw that the number of abnormal red dots detected by his camera had clearly increased, he immediately shut his mouth. Was there really that much of a difference between the outer and inner regions?
He hadn't gone very far at all, yet there were already so many Abnormal Creatures. What would it be like farther in? The places in this forest that he'd once been unable to reach were amazing.
Along the way, he also saw some signs hanging from trees. Though weather-beaten, they were still legible. They were directional markers scattered throughout the Southern Forest.
They helped hunters avoid getting lost. The markers were spread far apart, but finding one let you work out your direction and kept you from blindly pressing on into the depths of the Southern Forest.
Besides these markers, other signs had been embedded in some trees. They were partly camouflaged, making them less likely to be damaged by the forest's beasts. They had also been installed only within a certain range. The deeper you went into the Southern Forest, the fewer there were, but they were enough for Zheng Yichen.
He had no intention of entering the truly dangerous areas. Staying within the range covered by these markers was enough.
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