"Bang!"
Fang Yi punched through a stone wall and emerged through the hole into the city's Middle Ring.
The fighting sounds in the distance had drawn him in this direction. Under his analytical scan,
he spotted three Martial Artists fighting fiercely with a Red Crystal Horned Deer in the middle of a street. It was as large as a bus, and its entire body was covered in scarlet crystals.
"The Red Crystal Horned Deer is named for the crystals formed from blood that cover its entire body... It's a rare monster. It isn't very aggressive, but it's extremely valuable."
Watching the battle in the distance, Fang Yi assessed the information revealed by both sides.
The three Martial Artists were all at the Intermediate War General level. A Junior War General sniper was positioned farther away.
The four of them working together to deal with one Red Crystal Horned Deer should leave little room for anything to go wrong.
Without lingering, Fang Yi headed to another street to continue exploring.
Several minutes later,
the four-person Martial Artist team successfully killed the rare deer.
As the group excitedly began carving it up,
another team suddenly appeared. A twin-headed goshawk with fierce, cruel eyes was emblazoned on their chests. They were the Goshawk Squad, a five-person team.
With a gunshot, the arm of one Martial Artist who had been carving up the deer was blown off!
"Xiao Cai!"
The team captain's eyes widened in shock. Seeing his younger brother shot in the arm, he hurried to rush over and pull him back.
But two other teammates dragged him away.
"Captain, hide first!"
The group then looked up from their hiding place and scanned their surroundings.
When the Martial Artist captain recognized the squad emblem, he clenched his fists, consumed by rage.
"The Goshawk Squad... You bastards!"
As soon as he finished speaking,
another bullet shot from the high-rise, instantly piercing the injured Martial Artist's head!
"Pfft!"
Blood splashed across the ground, and a few drops landed just in front of the dark corner where the others were hiding.
The Martial Artist captain trembled as he stared at the blood from his younger brother, just a short distance away.
At the same time,
a gruff voice echoed out.
"Now... hand over my spoils."
The Goshawk Squad's captain
was a bearded white man. He watched the people below with great interest, their faces twisted with fury.
He seemed to be enjoying it immensely.
A Martial Artist beside him, carrying a heavy sniper rifle and aiming into the distance, said,
"Captain, when we first arrived, I think I saw someone dart past several kilometers away. I remember him—Fang Yi, the guy who recently became a Martial Artist and made a name for himself."
"Hmm? Fang Yi... He sounds familiar. But why would a rookie Martial Artist dare come here?"
The Goshawk Squad's captain furrowed his brow. The Demon Cave was a terrifying monster stronghold, after all.
Anyone who came here to hunt
needed at least two War General-level Martial Artists on their team. Otherwise, they could only hunt on the outskirts.
And if they were unlucky enough to run into an Advanced War General-level monster, they'd be doomed.
Yet now,
someone who had only recently become a Martial Artist had dared to come here alone.
"I heard he's exceptionally talented. Apparently, he's already reached the War General level... Maybe he's even an Intermediate War General now, which is why he dared come here alone."
Another member of the Goshawk Squad, a man wearing glasses, offered an explanation.
"Hmm... Interesting. Keep track of where he goes. I'd like to see how far this genius Martial Artist can get. Hahaha! But for now, let's go collect the spoils we worked so hard to win."
At that,
the other team members all chuckled.
"Bang!"
After the Goshawk Squad left, the Martial Artists who had been hunting the deer hid in a distant corner. Of the four of them, only three had survived.
The captain gripped his weapon tightly, his teeth clenched.
He held the Martial Artist who had been shot in the head in his arms. Bandages covered the man's entire head, concealing his features.
They had done so to leave his body as intact and dignified as possible.
He had promised their parents
that no matter what happened, he would bring his younger brother home...
Now,
at the very least, he had to give him a proper burial. He couldn't leave him lying in the wilderness to become monster food.
All the survivors
looked furious.
A young Martial Artist, covered in blood and badly wounded but fortunate to have received timely treatment, asked weakly, his face a mixture of grief and confusion, "Captain, who exactly are that squad?"
"You just joined us, so it's normal that you don't know."
The Martial Artist captain took a deep breath, as if trying to calm himself, then explained, "The Goshawk Squad formed recently. I've heard people speculate that whenever this team shows up in a county or city, quite a few Martial Artists end up dead. Looks like they might be attacking people in secret..."
"Bastards. They're a bunch of animals!"
Noon.
The light of the Star Level sun
swept across the high-rises, long since reduced to ruins and overrun by plants. Though they had weathered countless cycles of day and night, traces of their former splendor could still be glimpsed.
Despite the sunlight and the midday hour, the ambient temperature was still below 10 degrees.
Near the Middle Ring,
the Demon Cave had four rings.
From the inside out, they were the Inner Ring, Middle Ring, Outer Ring, and Suburban Ring.
"I've come from the Suburban Ring and reached the border between the Outer Ring and the Middle Ring. Monsters here are basically Lord Rank or above. Even near the border with the Outer Ring, there are plenty of Primary Lords."
Fang Yi scanned to his left, right, and ahead.
With just a casual sweep, he spotted hundreds of Advanced Fighter-level beast soldiers lying in wait inside the high-rises, dozens of War General-level monsters scattered throughout the area, and more than ten Advanced War General-level monsters!
But none of those were Fang Yi's target.
In the distance,
stood a high-rise that looked ready to collapse at any moment. A vast artificial lake lay beyond its edge.
The artificial lake was a pool of stagnant water, its surface littered with trash, dead leaves, and all manner of floating debris.
At its edge, a huge, thick body stretched between the high-rise and the lake. At first glance, it looked like an enormous round pipe connecting two structures.
But a closer look revealed that it was the body of a monster!
Using the full power of his Double Pupil Eyes to scan and analyze, Fang Yi made out the creature's complete form.
It was a huge, horned serpent whose body stretched across the lower-middle floors of the high-rise. Its skin was covered in scales and marked by numerous interlocking black lines that encircled its body.
"From its markings and the horns on its head, this is definitely a Lord-level Black-lined Flood Dragon! Excellent. I can't believe the first Lord-level monster I've encountered is a flood dragon."
Fang Yi could hardly contain his excitement.
At the edge of the high-rise were dozens of Primary Beast General-level Black-lined Snakes, along with an Advanced Beast General-level Two-headed Black-lined Snake—far more than the Lion Mastiff Dogs he'd encountered earlier.
Yet even with so many enemies,
Fang Yi felt no fear. He was only getting more excited.
"Let's go!"
As soon as he spoke,
Fang Yi stepped onto his shield and flew off.
At the same time, he considered his plan for the coming battle. There were too many enemies this time;
he absolutely couldn't charge in recklessly like before.
The high-rise had already collapsed through most of its structure, held up only by its remaining support columns and reinforced concrete walls. As a strong gust swept past, the upper floors swayed precariously, as if the whole building might collapse at any moment.
"Got it."
Fang Yi stepped onto his shield and flew forward at high speed.
Just as he approached the high-rise and the nearby edge of the artificial lake, the Black-lined Flood Dragon, resting inside the building, suddenly opened its eyes...
Before you continue