The High Ground

Along a narrow path, the seven members of the Fire Hammer Squad advanced with extreme caution.

"Stop."

Suddenly, Wei Tie, the elder of the Wei Brothers who was leading the way, raised a hand and stared solemnly ahead.

The others behind him looked out to see a massive Iron-Haired Wild Boar lying on the ground in the distance. Beside it, two Tiger Mastiff Hounds were lowering their heads, tearing into the flesh and devouring it. Suddenly, the Tiger Mastiff Hounds raised their heads to look at the Fire Hammer Squad in the distance. Becoming much more alert, they opened their mouths to growl, revealing blood-stained fangs.

"We'll go around; don't engage," Gao Feng said softly.

In the desolate zones of the highways, Luo Zhe and his companions could be carefree, killing monsters whenever they pleased. But in the city, it was different; every extra second spent in one place meant an extra bit of danger.

After carefully navigating the route and bypassing over a dozen encounters, while instantly killing eight ordinary soldier-level monsters, the Fire Hammer Squad finally arrived at their first destination: the "Blue Sky Residential District" in County-Level City 0201. The reason the Fire Hammer Squad chose this district as their first destination was that it contained three residential buildings, each twenty-one stories high.

"Let's go, up to the rooftop."

"Everyone be careful; a monster could pop out from anywhere inside these residential buildings."

"Don't make any loud noises."

The seven members of the Fire Hammer Squad proceeded up the stairs.

"Roar—" A low, guttural beast roar echoed faintly within the stairwell. The seven members of the Fire Hammer Squad frowned slightly. Wei Tie, who was in the lead, whispered, "It should be on the floor above. Everyone, be careful." Everyone held their weapons, ready to strike at any moment, while Chen Gu, who used firearms, was kept protected in the center.

They advanced step by step.

"Hm!?"

Upon reaching the seventh floor, Luo Zhe immediately spotted a Lion Mastiff Hound emerging from the corner of the doorway ahead. It stood two meters tall with long, shaggy fur and a bulk comparable to a large military off-road vehicle. As soon as the Lion Mastiff Hound ran out and saw the humans, it let out a low growl and charged forward, bringing a wave of stench with it.

The other members of the Fire Hammer Squad were still climbing the stairs and hadn't reacted yet, leaving Luo Zhe alone to face the brunt of the Lion Mastiff Hound's charge. The kinetic energy generated by its massive bulk made Luo Zhe feel a faint sense of pressure.

The cramped space was almost entirely occupied by the body of the Lion Mastiff Hound, leaving Luo Zhe with almost no room to maneuver.

Luo Zhe took a forward lunge. Just before his body made contact with the beast's sharp claws, he executed a back-bend, narrowly sliding past the Lion Mastiff Hound's two front paws. At the same time, he immediately thrust his shield forward, colliding with the beast at an angle and causing the Lion Mastiff Hound to lose its balance.

"Puchi!" A cold, arc-like glint snuck past the shield, slicing across the throat of the Lion Mastiff Hound, which was exposed due to its loss of balance. Blood sprayed out like a running faucet. Luo Zhe didn't even have time to dodge; he tensed his legs, unleashing a burst of strength, and used the shield in his left hand to brace against the beast's forward momentum, forcing his own body to move forward a short distance.

Then, he quickly rose and turned, his Blood Shadow Battle Blade whistling through the air as it pierced the eye of the fallen Lion Mastiff Hound, penetrating deep into the beast's skull.

"Heh... heh..." The Lion Mastiff Hound's four paws twitched unconsciously before falling limp.

During this climb, the Fire Hammer Squad encountered a total of three monsters, which was considered quite lucky. Besides the Lion Mastiff Hound killed by Luo Zhe, another one had charged up from the stairs below, which was cleanly and efficiently dispatched by the combined efforts of Zhang Ke and Luo Feng. The third was killed by the Wei Brothers, who were leading the way.

Exiting the stairwell, the seven members of the Fire Hammer Squad reached the rooftop of the twenty-one-story residential building.

"Close the stairwell door, seal it tight!" Gao Feng ordered. "Prevent any monsters from running up from below and reaching the roof."

"Understood."

Luo Zhe and Luo Feng immediately moved to close the iron door of the stairwell, specifically finding an iron rod to wedge it shut.

"Phew, I can finally catch my breath." Zhang Ke sat down on the rooftop, wiped the blood from his face, and took high-energy food and water from his backpack, tossing a towel to Luo Zhe. "Luo Zhe, here, wipe the blood off yourself. It'll be harder to clean once it dries."

"Thanks, Brother Zhang." Luo Zhe caught the towel and took a bottle of water from his backpack, pouring it directly over his head. He let the water slide down his cheeks, pool at his chin, and drip off before casually wiping himself with the towel.

"Everyone has their binoculars, right?" Captain Gao Feng asked. "Everyone take out your binoculars and look down from the edge of the roof to see if you can spot any commander-level monsters! Remember, don't expose too much of your body over the edge, or the monsters below will notice us and cause a bit of trouble!"

On the rooftop, it was actually quite safe.

The rooftop of a twenty-one-story residential building was generally inaccessible to most monsters from the outside.

Even if a commander-level monster directed a horde to storm the stairs, how wide was the stairwell? The threat wasn't significant. The Fire Hammer Squad would have plenty of time to escape.

County-Level City 0201 was a wilderness town with a relatively low danger level. Although the town was filled with a large number of soldier-level monsters—and the number of monsters in the dense urban areas was ten or a hundred times higher than in the wild—the number of commander-level monsters was pitifully small compared to the vast sea of soldier-level monsters.

After cleaning the remaining monster blood from his body, Luo Zhe took out his binoculars and crouched at the edge of the roof, glancing down at the streets below. Every street was filled with a large number of monsters; on one street alone, he could see at least several hundred monsters moving forward.

Even a wargod-level fighter would have little chance of surviving if they were surrounded by hundreds of ordinary monsters.

"Captain, they're all soldier-level monsters."

"I don't see any commander-level ones on my side either."

All six members, including the captain, were using binoculars to scan different directions below. Standing high allowed them to see far. From the rooftop of the twenty-one-story building, they could indeed see a great distance and observe many monsters.

"Click!" An iron case opened. Chen Gu, the only member of the Fire Hammer Squad not using binoculars, opened the iron case he had been carrying on his back. Inside, besides a large amount of ammunition, was a rectangular wooden box. Opening it revealed various firearm parts, which Chen Gu began to assemble with lightning speed.

A moment later—

A heavy sniper rifle, nearly two meters long and silver-gray in color, was fully assembled, complete with optical sights and other attachments.

Chen Gu pressed special bullets into the magazine, ten in total.

"Captain, notify me when you find a commander-level monster," Chen Gu said.

"Understood. Take a nap and rest up for now. Leave the search for commander-level monsters to us," Gao Feng nodded, then instructed the others, "Everyone, stay focused. Don't miss anything."

This was the easiest way to hunt commander-level monsters in a city: using a high vantage point to see further. It was ten or a hundred times faster than searching for them on the streets, and the safety was significantly higher.

Luo Zhe, Luo Feng, Zhang Ke, the Wei Brothers, and Gao Feng—the six of them carefully scanned every spot below with their binoculars, while Chen Gu cradled his heavy sniper rifle, squinted his eyes, and began to sleep.