A Single Blade

The seven members of the Fire Hammer Squad maintained their formation as they slipped quietly out of the Haihao Hotel, vaulting over a wall into a residential courtyard beside the street. The dilapidated walls of this residential area bore the scars of past battles, with over a dozen sections clearly collapsed, while the concrete paths were long since overgrown with weeds and the corners of the walls were thick with moss.

"The fat sheep are right ahead." Wei Tie, the eldest of the Wei Brothers, peered cautiously through a gap in the collapsed wall toward the street outside. "We're in luck; there aren't many monsters around, just sixteen Tiger Cat minions led by a Two-Tailed Tiger Cat."

Luo Zhe also peered through the wall gap to look outside.

About fifty meters away on the distant street, a group of Tiger Cats led by a Beast General Level Tiger Cat was prowling.

"Listen up, brothers."

Gao Feng whispered his instructions, "First, your task is to kill the ordinary Tiger Cats. As for that Beast General Level one, stay far away to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Leave it to me; it's only an initial Beast General Level Tiger Cat, I can handle it alone. Second, Chen Gu, keep your machine gun holstered. Don't fire unless there's an emergency... and once you do fire, we must immediately flee the area."

"Understood."

Luo Zhe and the others nodded solemnly.

Gunfire easily attracted the attention of monsters. If they were on the rooftop of a high-rise, the distance would make it impossible for monsters to pinpoint the source of the sound. But fighting on flat ground meant that firing a gun would expose them instantly. It would quickly draw a large swarm of surrounding monsters, and the longer they stayed, the more would gather.

Just like last time when they scavenged the corpse of the 'Bloodthirsty Tank', the moment Chen Gu opened fire, everyone had to run for their lives.

"Alright, let's make this quick! Move out!" Gao Feng waved his hand.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Seven figures bolted forward almost simultaneously. Even Chen Gu held his machine gun in his left hand and a short, sharp blade in his right, clearly intending to show off his martial arts skills.

The seven of them transformed into seven blurred shadows, charging toward the pack of Tiger Cats.

"Roar--" The leader of the pack, the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat, saw them coming and its fur stood on end as it let out a furious, thunderous roar. The sixteen Tiger Cats around it also emitted angry, frenzied howls that echoed across the street, shaking the air as the agile, powerful beasts lunged at the humans.

"Kill!"

"Die, you beast!"

Gao Feng charged straight at the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat, his twin bright silver hammers whistling with terrifying momentum. Sensing the threat, the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat led a few of its minions to meet him head-on.

Luo Zhe stayed close to Chen Gu, his Blood Shadow Battle Blade gripped tightly as he assessed the battlefield. With only sixteen Beast Soldier Level monsters, there was no need for him to join the fray immediately.

Luo Feng, Zhang Ke, the Wei Brothers, and even Chen Gu all picked the nearest Tiger Cats to engage the moment they reached the scene. Luo Feng's performance was the most ferocious; his Micro-Level footwork and strength nearing the Advanced Warrior Level allowed him to toy with two Tiger Cats at once, even finding the energy to counterattack.

Suddenly, a Tiger Cat lunged at Luo Zhe from the front right like a bolt of lightning. Luo Zhe shifted his feet, sliding sideways by over a meter in an instant. Using the momentum of his sidestep, his Blood Shadow Battle Blade traced a cold, circular arc, slashing upward toward the Tiger Cat's throat! The lunging beast let out a low growl, actually dipping its head slightly, attempting to block the strike with its chin!

The beast's plan was sound, but it hadn't expected the already lightning-fast blade to accelerate mid-air. It grazed the creature's jawbone and drove straight into its throat. Splurt! Blood sprayed everywhere. The calf-sized Tiger Cat stumbled forward for two steps, swayed, let out a final hiss, and collapsed into the dust.

These Tiger Cats have such fast reflexes. If not for the unique power-generating method of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade, which allowed the blade to accelerate a second time, it might have actually blocked that strike, Luo Zhe thought to himself.

By now, Luo Feng and the Wei Brothers had each finished off two Tiger Cats. Zhang Ke, using a long spear, was at a slight disadvantage against the incredibly agile beasts, but he had managed to take down his first opponent.

Only Chen Gu remained in a stalemate. Because he rarely engaged in direct melee combat, and because the Tiger Cat he had chosen—judging by its fur—was at the higher end of the Advanced Beast Soldier Level, he was struggling and even falling slightly behind.

Seeing this, Luo Zhe immediately sprinted over. Taking advantage of the beast's overextension during an attack, he struck. His blade moved with precision, piercing the blind spot and driving deep into the chin of the Tiger Cat as it leaped through the air.

He yanked the blade out, pushed off with his legs, and kicked the beast away in mid-air.

Splurt-- Blood sprayed wildly. The Tiger Cat died before it even hit the ground. Its corpse rolled a long distance, slamming into the wall of the residential area and kicking up a cloud of dust before finally coming to a halt.

"Look out!"

Before Luo Zhe could say anything to Chen Gu, a loud shout rang out from behind him.

CRASH!

Wei Tie and Wei Qing were sent flying almost instantly. Wei Tie slammed hard into the residential wall; with a thunderous boom, the long-neglected structure collapsed, and Wei Tie spat out a mouthful of blood as he hit the ground.

Luo Zhe focused his eyes and saw that the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat had escaped Gao Feng's control and gone berserk. Having just sent the Wei brothers flying, it was already charging toward Luo Feng!

The sight of the berserk beast made Luo Zhe's eyes burn with rage. He exploded into a full-speed sprint, but the twenty-meter distance felt like an impassable chasm; no matter how hard he ran, he couldn't reach them in time.

At that moment, Luo Feng had just finished slicing the throat of a Tiger Cat. Hearing Gao Feng's warning, he turned, only to be shocked by the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat's speed. He instinctively tried to dodge with a lateral shift.

But Luo Feng's physical stats were far inferior to the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat's. Even with his quick reaction, his evasion speed was just a fraction too slow. Just as the beast's claws were about to rake across him, Luo Feng's lateral shift suddenly widened, as if an invisible force had pushed him, causing the claws to graze past his body by a hair's breadth!

Clang!

Luo Feng reacted, throwing a fierce upward slash! The blade struck the beast's right forelimb, but the sharp Blood Shadow Battle Blade only emitted a metallic screech against the fur, failing to even break the skin.

Before Luo Feng could marvel at the beast's terrifying speed and defense, Luo Zhe, having pushed himself to his absolute limit, arrived like a bolt of lightning. His blade seemed to shimmer with faint cyan threads, carrying the weight of his fury as it crashed down onto the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat.

The beast had just landed, its claws gouging deep holes into the old concrete, when it was struck by Luo Zhe's heavy, powerful blow.

The Two-Tailed Tiger Cat, which had shrugged off Luo Feng's strike as if it were nothing, was suddenly cleaved by Luo Zhe's blade. It was as if an invisible, sharp force had sliced through it; its tough hide offered no resistance, parting like paper.

Splurt! The Two-Tailed Tiger Cat was cut clean in half!

"You beast!!?" Captain Gao Feng, who had been enraged by his own carelessness leading to his partner's injury, charged over like a wrathful guardian deity. His face was twisted, and his massive hammers spun like wheels, ready to crush the beast.

He froze, staring in shock at the sight of the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat severed in two by Luo Zhe's blade, unable to utter a word for a long time.

"You! You! Luo Zhe!?" Gao Feng turned to say something to him, only to see Luo Zhe's body suddenly collapse backward. He realized then that the young man had fallen into a dead faint.

Gao Feng lunged forward, catching Luo Zhe's falling body just in time.