Second-Rank Black Bear

Song Chen glanced at Wang Hai. The bespectacled young man had sharp eyes, but Song Chen did not explain. Instead, he looked at Captain Lei. "Captain, I want to act alone."

Captain Lei froze for a moment. "Alone?"

Song Chen nodded. "Yeah. After yesterday, I'm already used to fighting outside the city. I'm more efficient and flexible on my own. If I run into danger, I can escape by myself."

He had thought it through carefully. After last night's strengthening, his strength had taken another great leap forward. There was no need to form a group anymore.

Captain Lei fell silent for several seconds. He looked at Song Chen thoughtfully. In truth, he knew the squad could not keep a great Buddha like him. Still, Captain Lei asked once more, "Are you sure?"

"Sure."

He suddenly smiled. "Fine. With your strength, staying in our squad really would be beneath you. Killing alone is indeed faster."

Then he took something from his pocket and tossed it to Song Chen.

Song Chen caught it. It was a small communicator.

"This is an emergency distress beacon. Press it if you run into danger, and nearby squads will come rescue you. If there are high-rank mutated beasts nearby, it can also sound an alarm. Don't try to be a hero. Come back alive."

Song Chen slipped the beacon into his pocket. "Thank you, Captain."

With that, he turned and headed toward the Wilderness.

Behind him, Captain Lei watched his departing back. "I think this kid will one day become a figure who stirs the winds and clouds across all of Peaceful City—no, all of Great Xia."

Zhang Lie nodded. "Me too."

Song Chen entered the Wilderness alone. This time, he did not go to yesterday's ruins, but headed deeper inside.

The outskirts of Evergreen City were vast, and mutated beasts were unevenly distributed. They had nearly cleared out yesterday's area, so today he needed to find somewhere new.

After walking for more than an hour, he arrived at an abandoned industrial park. Collapsed factory buildings and rusted machinery lay everywhere, while weeds grew thick and wild. It was an ideal place for mutated beasts to hide.

The moment Song Chen entered, three Mutated Wild Dogs charged out from the ruins. He did not even draw his blade. With a raise of his hand, three bolts of lightning shot forth, and all three wild dogs fell at once, their bodies charred black.

[Killed First Rank mutated beasts ×3. Reward: 15 Killing Value.]

He stepped over the corpses and continued inward. Over the course of the morning, he killed more than forty First Rank mutated beasts, raising his Killing Value to 218.

At noon, he found a clean spot to sit down, ate some dry rations, took a drink of water, and then continued onward.

That afternoon, Song Chen was clearing out an abandoned warehouse district when he suddenly heard fierce fighting in the distance—along with the roars of mutated beasts and human screams.

At the same time, the communicator Captain Lei had given him began to ring. Someone was calling for help.

His brows furrowed. Someone was in danger. After hesitating for a second, he still ran in that direction.

If he encountered danger, he would immediately call for help. Now that someone else was in danger, of course he had to go.

The sounds of battle grew closer and closer. He rounded a collapsed factory building, and the sight before him stopped him in his tracks.

In the open space, a six-man squad was being besieged. Their attacker was no ordinary mutated beast, but an enormous Mutated Black Bear.

When the Black Bear stood upright, it was four or five meters tall. Its pitch-black fur stood erect like steel needles, and its blood-red eyes gleamed with madness. Every swipe of its paws carried terrifying force, and several massive pits had already been smashed into the ground.

Second Rank. Judging by its aura, it was a Lower Second Rank mutated beast. By human standards, its Vitality Value should have been around 20. It was no weak foe, while every member of this squad was below Second Rank. Even their strongest member, the captain, was only Peak First Rank.

They resisted desperately, but they could not withstand the Black Bear's attacks at all. Two people had already fallen to the ground, covered in blood, dead or alive unknown. The remaining four held on bitterly, but it was obvious they would not last much longer.

"Captain, take them and go!" a young man roared, brandishing his blade as he charged at the Black Bear.

The Black Bear slapped his blade away with one paw, then swung its other claw at his head. He closed his eyes.

Bang!

The death he had expected did not come. He opened his eyes and saw a figure standing in front of him.

It was a young man in an ordinary combat uniform, gripping a standard combat blade. His blade cut in from the side of the Black Bear's paw, evading the ferocious attack while driving the edge a foot deep into its paw. Blood dripped down.

He swallowed unconsciously. What kind of blade technique was that?

The newcomer was Song Chen.

The Black Bear let out an enraged roar and swung its other paw at him. He did not dodge. Raising his left hand, he fired a deep-blue bolt of lightning from his palm, striking the Black Bear directly in the eye.

The Black Bear screamed and staggered back, its eye scorched black by the lightning. Song Chen seized the chance to rush forward and slash at its neck, burying half a foot of the blade into it.

The Black Bear's hide was too thick and its neck too broad. That strike was not enough to kill it, but Song Chen did not stop. He pulled back his blade and struck again, then again, then again.

Every slash landed in the same spot, every slash cutting deeper than the last. Lightning coiled around the blade, continually numbing the Black Bear's body until it could not resist at all.

The seventh slash, the eighth slash... the fourteenth slash.

At last, the Black Bear's neck was severed. Its huge body crashed to the ground, making even the earth tremble.

[Second-Rank Mutated Black Bear killed. Obtained 60 Killing Value.]

Song Chen stood beside the Black Bear's corpse, splattered all over with blood, yet his gaze was calm—so calm it was as though nothing had happened.

The open ground fell deathly silent.

The four members of the squad stared blankly at the scene, forgetting how to speak. Even the two people lying on the ground struggled to lift their heads, their faces filled with disbelief.

The young man who had nearly been slapped to death stood there with his mouth hanging open, unable to close it for a long while. "A... a Second Rank mutated beast... killed with one slash... no, it was just... cut to death like that?"

His voice was trembling.

The captain was a man in his thirties. He swallowed and spoke with difficulty. "Brother... you, you are...?"

Song Chen wiped the blood from his blade and sheathed it. "Just passing by."

Just passing by? The four exchanged looks. He had passed by, then casually killed a Second Rank mutated beast?

Song Chen walked over to the two injured men, crouched down, and checked them over. One had two broken ribs, while the other had a fractured left arm, but neither was in mortal danger. He took out two healing pills from his pocket and handed them over.

"Take them."

The two accepted the pills. "Th-this is too valuable..."

"Take them. You had a hand in killing the Black Bear too," Song Chen repeated.

The two no longer dared refuse. They swallowed the pills, and the medicine worked quickly. Their complexions visibly improved.

The captain walked over and bowed deeply. "Brother, I'll never forget this life-saving grace. My name is Chen Shi, captain of the Iron Blood Squad. If you ever need anything in the future, just give the word."

Song Chen waved a hand. "No need."

Then he turned, plunged his blade into the Black Bear's heart, and took out its Second Rank Life Crystal Core. Then he turned and left.

Chen Shi hurriedly called after him. "Brother, could you at least leave us your name? So we know who saved us..."

Without turning his head, Song Chen said, "Song Chen."

His figure vanished into the ruins.

The six members of the Iron Blood Squad stood where they were, unable to move for a long time.

After a while, the young man who had nearly been slapped to death muttered, "Song Chen... why does that name sound familiar?"

Chen Shi was silent for a few seconds. "I remember now. Word spread like wildfire around the Mission Hall yesterday. A newly promoted warrior killed more than sixty First Rank mutated beasts by himself."

"It was him?"

"Probably."

The group fell silent again. They looked in the direction Song Chen had disappeared, their eyes filled with awe.

With First Rank strength, he had killed more than seventy First Rank mutated beasts and cut down a Second Rank Black Bear in ten seconds. What kind of monster was that?

Before long, the sky began to darken. Song Chen immediately returned to the city. He did not dare remain in the Wilderness at night.

On the way back, the sky continued to darken, while lights had already lit up along the distant city walls. He lowered his head and glanced at the system.

[Current Killing Value: 703.]

It was more than half again as much as yesterday. First, his strength had increased. Second, he was killing monsters alone, with no teammates to steal his kills.