Hundreds of miles southeast of Kyoto Base City stood a military district.
"Rumble—" The train slowly pulled to a stop at the military district's station.
One by one, fully armed Martial Artists got off the train. There were about fifty of them, and they naturally split into more than a dozen squads.
"Ji Yun, when we Martial Artists go out to hunt monsters, we usually stop at a military district for supplies along the way." Zhang Taofang pointed at a tower standing tall in the distance, some fifty or sixty meters high. "See that tower? Throughout Huaxia Nation—and even the whole world—every military district has a special area set aside as a Warrior Supply Base, where we can rest. These Warrior Supply Bases are usually built with a lighthouse like this. It symbolizes the light that guides us Martial Artists home."
"The lighthouse is also clearly marked on our maps, so we can find our way home."
The Warrior Supply Base was inside the military district. It had a series of quiet little buildings and a very pleasant environment.
"Eagle Strike Squad, you'll be staying in C5. Get some rest." An officer at the Supply Base, who also held a post in the Underground Alliance, handed the captain, Zhang Taofang, a key. He smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "Old Zhang, how long are you planning to hunt this time? If you find anything good, feel free to sell it to the Underground Alliance. I'll make sure you get a good price."
"Haha, we'll see." Zhang Taofang laughed. "Get someone to prepare lunch for us. We're heading to a great spot this time. We might hit the jackpot."
"C5, over there." Naili quickly spotted the villa marked C5. She swiped the crystal-key across the door, and it opened. The Eagle Strike Squad had exclusive use of the villa until they left the Supply Base.
Once everyone had found a place to lie down, Zhang Taofang clapped his hands.
"Get some rest while you can. We're setting out tonight. We'll have to walk a long way, and we won't have much time to relax over the next few days."
"Got it."
Zhang Yan and Li Ke answered, then promptly fell asleep. Naili went upstairs to find a room and rest, too. Only Ji Yun remained downstairs in the hall, unsure what to do.
"Captain, I'm not tired. I don't need to rest, do I?"
"A-Yun, we might have to walk day and night for several days. If you don't rest now, you'll be miserable in a few days. Besides, it's early September, the hottest time of the year. The best thing you can do during the day is conserve your strength. We'll set out at night, and the weather should be better for walking."
"Come on. Even if you're not tired, lie down for a while and rest up before we leave tonight," Zhang Taofang said.
At dusk, the five fully armed members of Eagle Strike Squad left the Supply Base and entered the Wilderness Zone.
Captain Zhang Taofang carried a large box on his back, and two sharp daggers, each over twenty centimeters long, were strapped to the outside of his thighs. They were clearly suited to close-quarters combat.
They had barely gone any distance into the Wilderness Zone when Zhang Taofang set down the box and opened it. Inside was a fully assembled, gleaming silver machine gun.
The rest of the box was packed with belts of bullets that had already been linked together. They could be fired as soon as they were loaded.
"RG112 Heavy Machine Gun. It's got a 12.7-millimeter caliber and tremendous power. It can fire up to 1,500 rounds a minute. This is about the pinnacle of single-soldier firearms. Any faster, and there'd be no point."
Zhang Taofang wrapped the ammunition belt around himself, cradled the gun in his arms, and slung the ammunition box over his back. "I'll walk in the middle. A-Yun, on my right. Zhang Yan, take the lead. Naili, on my left. Li Ke, bring up the rear."
"Our main concern is monster ambushes. Generally speaking, we shouldn't run into anything too dangerous."
"We'll follow this highway. In about four or five days, we should reach our destination: Dongying City in City 091." Captain Zhang Taofang explained. Ji Yun couldn't help looking at the highway before them. To people living in Base Cities, highways existed only in legends.
The highway beneath their feet had long since fallen into disrepair, its surface split by several cracks.
The highway stretched into the distance, littered with battered or shattered cars, vans, and trucks. Even old tires lay scattered everywhere. Every so often, they could see blackened bloodstains on the ground.
"Move out," Captain Zhang Taofang said quietly.
The reddish light of the setting sun fell over the highway, silent and abandoned for decades. The five members of Eagle Strike Squad hurried along it.
"A-Yun, take on an F-class monster first so we can see what you can do." Captain Zhang Taofang's voice rang out. "This is your first battle in the Wilderness Zone!"
"There's an F-class Tiger-Cat Beast up ahead. It's as fast as a cat but has the strength of a tiger. More importantly, these monsters used to live alongside humans, so they're at least as intelligent as ordinary Beast General Rank monsters."
"But with your War General strength, I'm sure you can handle it."
"A-Yun, this is your first fight. Don't let your guard down. These monsters are far more cunning and fierce than the ones kept in captivity at the military district," Naili warned him seriously.
The other three looked at Ji Yun, their eyes full of encouragement.
"Good. Watch me take its tail tendon."
Ji Yun took the spear off his back and tucked the sleeves of his white robe into his Combat Suit. Then he charged forward with the spear in hand.
Ji Yun strode quickly to the back of a low house and looked toward the Tiger-Cat Beast not far ahead. Its fur was tawny and glimmered faintly in the setting sun. Its sharp claws and teeth shone with a cold gleam.
H, G, and F corresponded to Primary Beast Soldier, Intermediate Beast Soldier, and Advanced Beast Soldier ranks. There was no doubt that the Tiger-Cat Beast before him was F-class.
Having figured that out, Ji Yun stepped out in front of the Tiger-Cat Beast.
Ji Yun flicked his spearhead, as if taunting the Tiger-Cat Beast and asking whether it dared to face him head-on.
The Tiger-Cat Beast licked its lips, its oily green eyes fixed on Ji Yun as though searching for an opening. Suddenly, it sprang forward, shooting toward him like an arrow, its sharp claws almost upon him.
Ji Yun immediately dodged to the side and pulled back his spear. In the same instant, he thrust it toward the softer flesh of the Tiger-Cat Beast's belly.
"Die!"
Ji Yun adjusted his position to match the Tiger-Cat Beast's movements. It tried to change direction midair, extending its claws to rake him. As Ji Yun dodged again and again, the beast swiped at him several times. In the end, Ji Yun's spear pierced its belly.
The thrust only pierced through the beast's abdomen; it didn't pass straight through its body as Ji Yun had expected. The Tiger-Cat Beast struggled helplessly in midair a few times, then fell to the ground along the spearhead and lay still.
Ji Yun pulled out his spear and was about to cut off the Tiger-Cat Beast's tail tendon when its eyes suddenly flew open. Its foul-smelling jaws lunged for his neck.
"What—A-Yun!" The four watching them tensed up. They had expected the Tiger-Cat Beast to be quite intelligent, but hadn't thought it would play dead in a bid to take Ji Yun down with it. It knew that the spear wound would kill it, so it had come up with this way to get revenge.
"Hm?" Ji Yun was startled and instantly leaped backward. At the same time, he punched the side of the Tiger-Cat Beast's head, sending it flying.
"Thud." The Tiger-Cat Beast's heavy body hit the ground. Ji Yun's furious punch had unleashed the first layer of Fierce Wind, producing nearly 16,000 kilograms of force. His punch had crushed the beast's brain in midair, killing it. Blood flowed from its head and abdomen, quickly winding into a small stream.
Ji Yun breathed heavily.
"That was close. If I hadn't been so much stronger than it physically, I might have been done for today."
The other four finally relaxed. They would have had a hard time explaining Ji Yun's death to Ji Shan, but more than that, they wanted him to become a rising star among humanity.
"A-Yun has good combat instincts, strength, and technique," Li Ke said with a smile now that the danger had passed.
"Yeah. He just lacks experience in the Wilderness Zone, but experience is the easiest thing to gain. Give him a little time to hone his skills, and I'm sure he'll become a good fighter."
"Still, that last punch of Ji Yun's must've had the strength of a Mid-Level War General," Zhang Yan said, his expression surprised. "My strength is barely at that level, but even I'd have a hard time sending a monster flying with one punch."
Thinking back to Ji Yun's punch, all four of them were slightly taken aback.
After taking more than twenty seconds to steady his breathing, which had sped up from the shock, Ji Yun walked over and harvested the Tiger-Cat Beast's tail tendon.
"Captain," Ji Yun said, returning to his teammates with the pelt.
"You killed it, so the spoils are yours," Zhang Taofang replied.
The materials from Beast Soldier Rank monsters were generally not worth much. After all, Beast Soldier Rank monsters could be killed with firearms. Even a Junior Warrior with a machine gun could easily kill one after another, as long as he had good aim. That was why Beast Soldier Rank monsters weren't worth much!
"This tail tendon should fetch four or five thousand if you sell it to the Martial Arts Hall. You'd also get a few Contribution Points. If you sold it to the Underground Alliance, you could probably get six thousand," Li Ke said with a smile.
"A-Yun, your performance just now was pretty good, but out in the Wilderness Zone, it wouldn't be enough to keep you alive," Naili said. She had been silent until now.
"Li-jie?" Ji Yun looked over at her. "I was too careless."
"That's an experience issue. Don't worry; you'll learn quickly." Naili smiled gently. "I'll show you how to tell whether a monster is dead with an example in a bit."
The squad continued forward. Before long, Naili killed an F-class canine monster.
Looking at the canine monster's body, Naili said to Ji Yun, "Don't judge whether a monster is dead by whether it's still moving."
"Many monsters, especially Beast General Rank monsters, can hide their presence and make Martial Artists let their guard down."
"If you knock down a monster, check how much it's bleeding. If it's lost too much blood, its muscles won't have the strength to support a counterattack, even if it's still alive."
"If it loses more than a third of its blood, it's as good as dead."
Sure enough, once the canine monster had lost about a third of its blood, it stopped struggling and collapsed to the ground.
Then Naili stepped forward and cut off the canine monster's tail.
"A-Yun, there's still a lot you don't know. We'll teach you over the next few days. Don't rush."
"Thanks, Li-jie," Ji Yun said with a smile.
"What about me?" Perhaps because strong, burly men tended to be cheerful, Zhang Yan was usually a bit of a goofball.
"Then thanks, Brother Yan, Brother Li, and Captain."
Ji Yun pressed his hands together in a prayer gesture and said to them, "Everyone, thank you very much."
"Hahahaha." Everyone burst into laughter.
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