Ambush?!

Lin Fan's mind stirred.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The 216 feather blades that had pierced into the giant ape's body flew back with beads of black blood trailing behind them. Every blade fitted seamlessly back together over Sky Splitter behind him, reforming into a pair of silver-white wings.

"Honestly, fighting as a Spiritual Force user really is easy."

He didn't have to fight up close or work up a sweat. All he had to do was stand at a distance and move his fingers, and a powerful Lord-level Monster turned into a pile of mush.

Strange, efficient, and elegant.

"No wonder they say Spiritual Force users are invincible at the same level. This really is... dimensional suppression."

Lin Fan walked over to the giant ape's corpse and swung Calamity in his hand.

Splurt.

Without any fancy moves, Lin Fan skillfully cut open the giant ape's head and chest, collected its heart's blood, peeled off its hide in one piece, and dug out its eyeballs...

"The heart of an Elementary Lord... What a shame it's a little damaged."

Lin Fan looked at the heart in his hand, riddled with several large holes, and a trace of heartache flashed across his eyes.

Those holes had brought the heart's value down by a considerable amount.

"But there's still the hide and the eyeballs..."

"If I take them to the black market, I'll get at least a billion or two for this haul."

Lin Fan was in good spirits. After all, this was the first Lord-level Monster he'd hunted, so it was only natural that he lacked experience. He'd just have to be more careful next time and avoid damaging the valuable parts.

"A billion or two... Not bad."

With that money, he could buy more metal to feed Calamity. His physical abilities would surge along with it, making this a win-win.

"This Wilderness Zone is practically a money-printing machine."

Lin Fan swept his hand, and all the valuable scraps scattered across the ground disappeared into his Space Ring.

As for the enormous corpse... It took up too much space. He didn't want it.

Ape monster meat didn't sell for much. Nobody ate it.

He put Calamity and Sky Splitter into his Space Ring and was just about to leave the blood-soaked street in search of another target.

Suddenly,

Lin Fan stopped dead in his tracks.

In that instant, the chilling sensation of a venomous snake's gaze shot up his spine and straight to his skull, making his scalp prickle.

"Someone's here!"

Lin Fan's pupils contracted slightly as his Spiritual Force spread around him like a rising tide.

He immediately sensed several humanoid figures hidden nearby.

Almost the moment he sensed them,

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three dull gunshots ripped through the night!

They were the distinctive roars of special heavy sniper rifles!

The sonic booms of the bullets tearing through the air rang out like shrill wails from vengeful spirits.

Three costly, custom-made armor-piercing explosive rounds formed a triangle, sealing off every escape route to Lin Fan's head, heart, and lower body.

Their bullets contained Kro Alloy and were designed to crack open the skulls of Commander-level Monsters.

What would happen if they hit a person?

Even through a combat suit, their enormous kinetic force would instantly turn a person's organs into a mess.

This was a robbery and murder attempt, plain and simple. They had no intention of leaving anyone alive.

Lin Fan's expression turned icy. He didn't move, but Sky Splitter appeared behind him in an instant.

At the last possible moment, the two enormous silver wings folded in front of him. Layer upon layer of feather blades locked together like a silver wall, shielding him.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three crisp impacts rang out almost simultaneously.

Sparks flew as the large-caliber armor-piercing rounds, powerful enough to shatter a Commander-level Monster's skull, struck Sky Splitter's paper-thin feather blades. They didn't even leave a white mark before bouncing away.

But the terrifying impact still sent Lin Fan flying. By sheer coincidence, he crashed into the ruins again.

"Hm?!"

A voice filled with disbelief rang out from the darkness.

"What the hell was that?! Is this brat a Spiritual Force user?!"

Their group had been drawn by the sounds of battle and hadn't seen Lin Fan fight the giant ape.

By the time they arrived, Lin Fan had already dealt with the corpse. They hadn't even seen Calamity or Sky Splitter.

So he'd assumed Lin Fan was just an ordinary martial artist who'd gotten lucky and scavenged the kill. Who could've guessed that this time, he'd kicked a titanium-alloy wall?

A Spiritual Force user—that was practically synonymous with being invincible at the same level and wielding unfathomable abilities.

But...

Now that they'd fired, there was no turning back.

Either they did nothing, or they saw it through to the end.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Seven or eight figures darted out of the ruins' shadows and fanned out, instantly surrounding Lin Fan.

They all wore dark blue combat suits. Their boots made no sound on the rubble, and the wolf-fang emblem on their chests, dripping with venom, looked especially sinister in the moonlight.

The Poison Fang Squad.

They were notorious scavengers in this area, specializing in robbery, murder, and preying on other hunters.

At their head was a burly man built like a bear, his face covered in fat, with a hideous scar running across half his face. Just looking at him made your stomach turn.

He held a heavy Nine Series Alloy Battle Blade, with traces of blood still wet on its edge.

As the squad's leader, he was already an Advanced War God.

Behind him, four Advanced Warriors held heavy firearms, their muzzles trained on Lin Fan.

Two other mid-level Commanders stood with cold weapons in hand, eyeing Lin Fan greedily.

More precisely, they were staring at the blood that hadn't yet dried beneath Lin Fan's feet and the pair of silver wings behind him.

They had no idea what the thing was, but it sure looked damn valuable.

"Kid."

The scar-faced man's gaze swept over the devastation. He slightly raised the War Blade in his hand and pointed it at Lin Fan.

"That Monster you killed was our Poison Fang Squad's quarry. We'd been tracking it for three days."

"We put a lot of effort into badly wounding it and followed it all the way here."

"Then you show up and try to take the whole haul. Don't you think you're... looking down on us a little too much?"

As far as he was concerned, even if Lin Fan was a Spiritual Force user, he was far too young, with a face so smooth it looked like you could pinch water from it.

What could some wet-behind-the-ears brat do against a squad as coordinated and ruthless as theirs?

Besides, money made people bold.

If they killed the kid, the materials in that backpack alone, along with those clearly priceless Spiritual Force weapons, would be enough to let them live it up at the clubs for the rest of their lives!

And as for offending a Spiritual Force user?

Dead men couldn't talk.

The wings behind Lin Fan slowly spread as he raised his head.

There wasn't the slightest trace of panic in his eyes, not even a hint of emotion. He looked at them as calmly as if he were staring at a group of corpses.

He didn't argue or get angry. He couldn't be bothered to refute such an idiotic lie.

In the Wilderness Zone, the fastest way to die was to try to reason with people.

Lin Fan simply looked at the scar-faced man and moved his lips, uttering two words:

"Dumbass."

His pronunciation was crisp and clear.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

It was as if the temperature had plunged to below freezing.

"..."

The scar-faced man's jowls twitched, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

"You're asking for death!!!"

He laughed in a fit of rage.

He'd thrown his weight around in City 003 for years. Even other War God-level fighters gave him some respect.

When had he ever seen such an arrogant little brat?

Since the kid refused to appreciate his offer, he had no choice. He'd originally planned to ask him a few questions, but now there was no point.

Killing intent erupted from the scar-faced man's eyes as he brought down his War Blade.

"Attack!!"

"Kill him!"