Hunting Again

Song Chen clenched his fists.

Tomorrow, he would be going out again.

But this time, he wasn't a useless 0.6 anymore.

Song Chen turned and went back to bed, lying down.

His body was exhausted, but his mind was buzzing. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

Now and then, he heard the footsteps of patrolling soldiers outside, along with the faint roars of beasts in the distance.

He didn't know how much time passed before he finally fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, he saw a red seed take root in his heart and sprout, growing into a towering tree.

The tree was laden with fruit, and every piece was a Life Core.

He reached out to pick one, then woke up.

It was already light outside.

Song Chen sat up and stretched.

A new day, a fresh start.

He stood, put on his jacket, and opened the door.

By the time Song Chen reached the meeting point, the others were already waiting in an open space in the middle of camp.

Li Wei stood at the front, dressed in a dark blue Combat Suit, her hair tied back in a neat ponytail.

She looked much better than yesterday. The wound on her arm had been bandaged, and there was color in her face again.

Wang Jun squatted nearby, chewing on a steamed bun. His eyes were a little clearer than the day before.

Sun Qiang and Liu Tingting stood together, talking quietly. When they saw Song Chen come out, they both fell silent.

Li Wei nodded to him. "Morning, Song Chen."

"Morning."

Song Chen walked over and joined the group.

Zhang Zhenyun was leaning against an Armored Vehicle, smoking. When he saw everyone had arrived, he stubbed out his cigarette and came over.

"Roll call."

"Li Wei."

"Here."

"Wang Jun."

"Here."

"Sun Qiang."

"Here."

"Song Chen."

"Here."

Zhang Zhenyun nodded, his gaze sweeping over the people before him.

Then he frowned.

"Where's Zhao Wei? Why isn't he here?"

No one answered.

Sun Qiang and Liu Tingting exchanged a glance and lowered their heads. Li Wei remained expressionless, while Wang Jun kept chewing his bun.

Song Chen said nothing. He didn't know where the man had gone, either.

Zhang Zhenyun frowned harder, took out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and held it to his ear for a while.

Then he lowered the phone, his expression turning strange.

"Zhao Wei went back to the city last night."

"He said his leg was seriously injured and insisted on going back for treatment. The school actually approved it over an injury that minor. What the hell? Having connections doesn't mean you can ignore the rules like that."

The group fell silent for a moment.

Then Li Wei gave a quiet scoff. "Seriously injured his leg? It was just a scratch. My arm's in worse shape than his, and I never said I wanted to go back."

Sun Qiang muttered, "He was scared."

Liu Tingting said nothing, but the look on her face said it all.

Wang Jun finally finished his bun, raised his head, and spoke up for once. "Coward."

Song Chen stood among them, listening to their comments without changing expression.

Zhao Wei had left?

It was only to be expected.

After that slap yesterday, Zhao Wei had cowered in a corner and hadn't said another word.

People like him bullied the weak and feared the strong. They swaggered when things were going their way and were the first to run when trouble hit.

Song Chen would have found it strange if he'd stayed.

Zhang Zhenyun cut off the discussion. "All right, he's gone. It doesn't matter. Whether we have six people or five, we still have to kill the beasts."

His gaze landed on Song Chen, then suddenly stopped.

"You..."

Zhang Zhenyun stared at Song Chen, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

He stepped closer and looked Song Chen up and down.

"Your hand's healed?"

Song Chen raised his left hand and held it out to him.

Yesterday, it had been covered in bloody holes. Today, it had completely healed.

Zhang Zhenyun stared at the hand in silence for a few seconds. Then he looked up at Song Chen.

"Your Vitality Value... something's off."

Song Chen said nothing.

Zhang Zhenyun narrowed his eyes, his gaze as if trying to see right through Song Chen.

"You were at 0.6 yesterday. Today, you're around 1.1. How did it go up so much overnight?"

Everyone else turned to look at Song Chen.

Li Wei's eyes widened, and Wang Jun seemed more alert, too.

Sun Qiang and Liu Tingting stared at him, their mouths agape in disbelief.

More than 0.5 in one night?

What did that even mean?

An ordinary person would be lucky to gain 0.1 after a year of training.

Even the children of wealthy families, who took all kinds of supplements, only gained around 0.3 a year.

More than 0.5 overnight?

It was beyond anything they'd dare dream of.

Meeting their gazes without a hint of panic, Song Chen gave the excuse he'd prepared in advance.

"While we were lying in ambush yesterday, I found a fruit in the grass."

"A fruit?" Zhang Zhenyun raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Song Chen's tone was calm, as if he were talking about what he'd had for breakfast.

"It was dark and small, hidden beneath the grass roots. I didn't know what it was, but it looked unusual, so I picked it up."

"I got hungry last night, so I ate it."

The group fell silent.

The corners of several mouths twitched at the same time.

Zhang Zhenyun stared at Song Chen for a long time, his gaze pressing down on him.

An ordinary person would probably have started feeling guilty under that stare.

But Song Chen met his eyes calmly.

After a while, Zhang Zhenyun suddenly laughed.

"A dark fruit? You think I'm three years old?"

Song Chen said nothing.

Zhang Zhenyun stepped closer and lowered his voice until only the two of them could hear him. "I don't know where you got that thing, and I don't want to ask."

"But let me tell you, eating random things out here can get you killed. You were lucky today. What about tomorrow?"

Song Chen looked at him and nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Captain."

Zhang Zhenyun stared at him for two seconds, then stepped back and raised his voice to normal.

"All right. Whatever you ate, it's a good thing your strength went up. Now get in the vehicle."

He turned and walked toward the Armored Vehicle.

After two steps, he stopped and said without turning around, "Remember, if you find anything next time, show it to me first. If it's poisonous, I can at least help bury you."

Song Chen watched him go, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. This captain was kind of interesting.

The Armored Vehicle drove out of camp again, passed through the Defense Zone and the Alert Zone, and finally stopped in the hilly area from the day before.

It was the same spot, the same patch of waist-high grass, and the same tactic: lie low and wait for the beasts to come.

"Get out. Same as usual. Wait."

The five of them jumped out and crouched in the grass.

Zhang Zhenyun leaned against the vehicle and lit a cigarette, his gaze sweeping over the distance.

The sunlight was good today, and visibility was high.

Every detail of the ruins was clearly visible: collapsed walls, twisted rebar, and the occasional dark shape gliding over the ruins. Those were flying beasts.

Li Wei asked quietly, "Captain, are we waiting for wild boars again today?"

"Not necessarily," Zhang Zhenyun replied calmly. "We killed off that whole group of wild boars yesterday. What comes out today might be something else—stray dogs, maybe mutated wolves, or, if we're unlucky, a Mutated Bear."

Sun Qiang's face went pale. "A Mutated Bear? Second Rank?"

"Obviously. Even a First Rank bear is harder to deal with than a wild boar."

Zhang Zhenyun exhaled a puff of smoke. "But don't worry. There aren't many Second Rank beasts in this area. You're not that likely to run into one."

"And even if you do, I'll handle it. No need to be afraid."