Above the ruins of City 003, heavy clouds obscured the stars. Only the pale moonlight occasionally slipped through the gaps, spilling in patches over the devastated streets.
Lin Fan's figure was like a black phantom, skimming swiftly over the ground and slipping soundlessly through the shadows of leaning skyscrapers.
The Elite Squad's ambush had not slowed him down.
On the contrary, the killing had sharpened his mind and made his desire to "make money" burn even hotter.
"We're here."
Lin Fan stopped on the rooftop of a high-rise and looked ahead.
A massive shadow gradually emerged from the mist, revealing its fearsome shape. It was an abandoned stadium.
Its rusted steel dome pierced the sky, while the shattered glass curtain walls reflected a faint glimmer in the weak moonlight.
This had once been a symbol of the splendor of human civilization. Now, dense vines had wrapped around it, turning it into a paradise for monsters.
With a few quick strides, Lin Fan lightly landed at the edge of the highest row of seats.
The combat boots beneath his feet pressed into the thick moss without making the slightest sound.
Lin Fan surveyed the central field below, then fixed his gaze on the middle of the stadium.
A creature with an almost perfectly streamlined body lay lazily atop a pile of bones.
Its entire body was silver-gray, its fur gleaming like liquid mercury in the darkness. A crescent-shaped patch of white fur on its forehead gave it an eerie air.
"An Elementary Lord, a Silver Moon Dire Wolf..."
This thing was a terrifying creature famed for its speed and cunning. In terms of how difficult it was to deal with, it was far more troublesome than the Black Rock Giant Ape, which relied on brute force.
After all, if you couldn't beat a Black Rock Giant Ape, you could still run. But if a Silver Moon Dire Wolf set its sights on you and you still couldn't beat it, you might as well wait to die where you stood. There was no way you could outrun it.
Lin Fan studied the Silver Moon Dire Wolf carefully.
"That hide, those claws, and that heart..."
"There's not a single part of this thing that isn't valuable."
Just as Lin Fan was turning this over in his mind,
the Silver Moon Dire Wolf, which had been lying there as if asleep, suddenly twitched its ears.
Its eyes, gleaming with a ghostly green light, snapped open and fixed on Lin Fan in the stands.
"Hm? It noticed me?"
"Awwooo!!"
A piercing howl instantly rang through the stadium. The sound waves seemed almost tangible as they surged in every direction, making the nearby glass shards clatter.
Then, the Silver Moon Dire Wolf gave Lin Fan no time to react.
It stamped all four paws against the ground and charged at him.
In Lin Fan's eyes, the Silver Moon Dire Wolf's body was nowhere to be seen. All he could make out was a silver-white blur tearing through the darkness and hurtling toward him.
It was moving at nearly the speed of sound, far beyond the visual tracking limits of an ordinary War God!
Lin Fan's pupils contracted. Though the Silver Moon Dire Wolf's imposing presence was intimidating, he had no intention of dodging and waiting for an opening.
If he retreated now and let his momentum falter, he could suffer badly against a Lord-class monster built for speed.
He had to be faster than it—and fiercer!
Whoosh.
The Sky Splitter on Lin Fan's back gave a violent tremor. Silver-white light swirled behind him, and in the next instant, he shot into the air.
Crack!
The moment he took off, the concrete railing where he had been standing shattered, sending fragments flying.
The Silver Moon Dire Wolf missed its strike but did not slow down.
It kicked off hard against the vertical wall with all four paws, using the recoil to force a midair turn. Its claws swept toward Lin Fan again with a shrill whistle as they tore through the air.
This midair change of direction, so contrary to common sense, was the creature's most terrifying killing move.
It forced its prey to leap to dodge, and that was when it bared its fangs.
But...
This time, things were completely reversed. Lin Fan had been waiting for exactly this moment.
A cold glint flashed in Lin Fan's eyes. One hundred and eight feather blades shot out, rapidly assembling in midair. A giant peng bird appeared before him.
The first stage of the Sky-Splitting Escape Method.
"Shadow Sweep!"
The instant the peng bird took shape, it blasted toward the Silver Moon Dire Wolf's abdomen.
"Copper head, iron bones, tofu waist."
This was the wolf clan's eternal weakness. Even mutation couldn't change its basic anatomy.
"Die!!"
The Silver Moon Dire Wolf twisted its body wildly in midair. Its thick tail lashed like an iron whip, trying to knock the peng bird away.
But how could a peng bird made of feather blades be stopped by its claws?
The peng bird tore through its defending right paw, then pierced straight through its abdomen.
The agony drove the Silver Moon Dire Wolf completely mad. The green light in its eyes instantly turned a bloodthirsty crimson.
But under the peng bird's assault, its strength gave out in midair, and it plunged toward the ruins below.
Watching the Silver Moon Dire Wolf fall, Lin Fan grinned from his position high above.
He gripped Calamity in both hands and plunged down like a meteor!
The Silver Moon Dire Wolf, its abdomen wracked with pain, looked up in terror. All it saw was a streak of black blade light growing endlessly larger in its eyes.
All of Lin Fan's strength erupted, while his Spiritual Force pressed down with crushing force. Every bit of power converged into this single strike.
"Mountain Collapse!"
Squelch!
One slash, one severed beast.
Rumble.
Lin Fan and the headless Silver Moon Dire Wolf crashed into the center of the stadium at the same time.
Thud.
The Silver Moon Dire Wolf's enormous head landed nearby, its eyes still fixed on Lin Fan.
Lin Fan twirled Calamity in his hand, flicking the blood droplets from its edge, and gazed indifferently at the corpse beneath his feet.
"What good is speed?"
"Once I've read your movements, it only takes one slash."
The fight ended faster than he had expected.
The Sky Splitter and Calamity were simply too powerful. He had barely exerted himself before taking down this Primary Lord.
After recalling all his feather blades, Lin Fan walked over to the Silver Moon Dire Wolf's corpse.
"Time to carve it up~~"
When the first rays of dawn pierced the heavy clouds and fell over the ruins of City 003, Lin Fan finally stopped hunting.
At that moment, he looked as if he had been hauled out of a pool of blood.
His combat suit was soaked through with dark red blood, which had dried into a hard crust.
His once dark-gray Alloy Combat Boots were now stained a deep red, almost black. Each step left a deep footprint on the ground.
The enormous backpack he had been given was now so full it looked ready to burst.
The camouflage fabric had been stretched to its limit, revealing the outlines of the hard objects inside.
A small mountain of monster materials had already piled up inside the Space Ring on his finger.
Lin Fan raised a hand and casually wiped the still-wet blood from his cheek.
He narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the city, which remained fearsome and sinister in the morning light.
The roars of beasts in the distance had grown sparse. With the arrival of daylight, most nocturnal monsters had gone into hiding.
"I should put something in the backpack. Otherwise, it'll look too fake."
Lin Fan glanced back at the backpack.
"This should do."
Standing on a broken overpass, he checked that his outfit looked convincing, then turned and sprinted toward the Supply Base.
Before you continue