Becoming a Hunter

"That had to be one handsome bastard."

Li Zu broke into a run. Compared to Dick's graceful running form, his movements looked ridiculous.

But Dick, who had seen him turn a living person into a toy with his own eyes, did not think so.

Turning living people into toys.

Using cuteness to decorate horror.

It was like tying a pink bow onto a submachine gun. No matter how elaborate the decoration, it could not change the fact that it existed to kill.

Dick envied that power immensely. If he had possessed it, he would have turned around and taken out those bastard women behind them.

When Li Zu turned that woman into a toy and handed her over to Dick to deal with as he pleased, madness had been like gravity, dragging him down into it—and Li Zu had been the one who gave him a gentle push.

They ran into town, bringing the blood-crazed Amazon warriors with them.

The fleeing townspeople ran into those warriors.

And so, another bloody slaughter began.

Dick Grayson was furious.

Li Zu, meanwhile, panted heavily beside him, as though running had drained all his strength, leaving him with no mind to care about anything else.

Or perhaps he simply did not care about anything else.

Before long, Dick noticed Li Zu stop beside him, leaning against a wall by the roadside and bracing his hands on his knees to rest.

He was out of stamina. He looked like someone with terminal laziness who stayed in his bedroom all year without seeing sunlight—and who probably skipped breakfast often.

Yet he knew acrobatics and was physically agile.

An acrobat with terrible stamina? He was a complete contradiction.

Dick stopped as well. "The train station is still far away! Keep running! If they catch up to us, we're dead!"

"There's a place ahead where we might be able to hide."

Li Zu pointed at the pork processing plant ahead.

Dick still had strength left, but seeing Li Zu gasping for breath, he decided to go with him. Boston Brand, the dead man only Li Zu could see, shouted furiously beside them, but no one paid him any attention.

They entered the pork processing plant.

The lights were still on, but there was no one inside.

Skinned pig carcasses had been split in half and hung from iron hooks.

Half a carcass, then another half, then another.

They occupied eighty percent of their field of vision.

The place gave off an icy chill, yet it looked far more "cozy" than the hellish scene of corpses strewn outside.

Dick hugged Nabu's Helmet and began searching through the plant.

Once Li Zu had rested, they would have to keep moving.

"Why not make Dick throw away the helmet? They only want that worthless-looking thing!" Dead Boston Brand loudly berated Li Zu. "Give it to them, and you'll be safe too!"

Dick Grayson could not see him, so Boston could only question Li Zu.

Li Zu lowered his head and rummaged through piles of pork.

"Compromise is like suggesting a shark take just one lick of your hand first."

In his eyes, it seemed the word "compromise" had never existed.

Boston Brand froze at that.

Li Zu gritted his teeth and pulled a large blade from the pile of pork.

A sharp Meat Saw.

One side was a sharp blade.

The other was lined with fine teeth, likely meant for sawing through bones.

Pig fat made the handle shine with grease. To improve the grip, the butcher had wrapped a layer of burlap around it, making it comfortable to hold.

"You think you can beat Amazons?" Boston watched Li Zu swing the Meat Saw and did not spare his laughter.

Those women were not only immensely strong—some were even impervious to blades and bullets, and some could fly!

What could a green-suited freak who knew a little acrobatics and a circus boy possibly do?

"You've already used up all your strength just holding that knife!" Boston said.

"To be honest, I'm only interested in exploring this world. Fighting lies outside my range of interests." Li Zu shook the Meat Saw, his arm already a little sore.

Boston was right. Simply lifting the blade had exhausted all his strength.

"This makes things much easier~"

In his hand, the Meat Saw rapidly shrank and transformed into a plastic Toy Meat Saw.

"You're planning to chop people with a toy?" Boston mocked.

"A toy?"

Li Zu suddenly flicked his wrist. The toy rapidly expanded... transforming from a toy into a Meat Saw gleaming with pig fat!

Thud—

The Meat Saw struck a half carcass with a dull chop, cleaving it in two.

Its sharpness and weight proved that it was a terrifying Meat Saw, not a plastic toy.

"Ha! I knew this was how you used the thing!" Li Zu shouted excitedly.

Dick had already returned, wiping sweat from his forehead. "What do we do? If we just stay here, they'll catch up with us soon!"

He had only asked Li Zu out of instinct.

If those bastards in Gotham found out, they would certainly laugh at him without restraint.

"If you want to survive a hunt... then make yourself the hunter, not the prey."

In the center of town.

The red-haired woman in silver-white armor sounded somewhat irritated. "My patience has run out. How many have we lost?"

"Three."

"A shark monster bit Sia to death, Kaya had the back of her head punched through, and Lanna has gone missing. We only found a toy that looked like Lanna, but it was smashed." The voice reporting beside her was filled with anger.

"What about Nabu's Helmet? We must claim the queen's bounty!" The red-haired woman seemed to feel nothing over her companions' deaths.

"Those two are somewhere in this town. Someone has already gone to investigate. I'm sure the living will give us an answer that satisfies us!"

The Amazon warriors standing in pools of blood looked over the silent town before them.

Just minutes ago, the place had been bustling, with countless people screaming as they fled for their lives.

Now, they had shut their mouths forever.

A warrior returned and reported, "They're in a factory. Their footprints are there, and their steps look frantic."

"Surround the slaughterhouse!"

The red-haired woman instructed, "Remember, we only need the helmet!"

The Amazon warriors who received their orders moved toward the pork processing plant. Their synchronized steps and wall of spears and shields blocked every possible route of escape.

The pork processing plant was surrounded so tightly that not even water could pass through.

"The queen has waited long enough. Once we get Nabu's Helmet, it'll be time to leave~"

A small team—a team of seven—rushed into the pork processing plant.

"This is... did we come to the wrong place?"

They froze at the sight before them. The air smelled of raw meat, yet there was no meat—only toys hanging from iron hooks, countless toys.

Judging by their shapes, they looked much like pig carcasses split into halves.

They spread out and searched this toy pork processing plant for signs of living people.

"Someone's over there!"

The braided Amazon warrior raised the Blacksteel Shortsword in her hand. The figure in the green suit in the corner, holding a Toy Meat Saw, froze as though he had not expected to be discovered.

His face still showed a little panic.

"Nabu's Helmet is in his hands!"

"I'm coming, Adeline!" A warrior with a mohawk heard her voice and jogged over.

"This boring chase can finally end." Adeline raised her Blacksteel Shortsword. They only needed the helmet, not some freak wearing it and dressed in a tasteless green suit!

Therefore, this man's fate was already decided.

Squelch!!

A longsword pierced through her body from behind, its bloodstained blade emerging from her chest.

Her chest had been pierced, and her strength was draining away, but the Amazon's powerful vitality let her force herself to turn around.

"Crosta, you!!"

The one who had ambushed her was her former companion!

(End of Chapter)