Encirclement

Looking at the scene before him, Liu Feng finally remembered what Han Bing had said earlier.

This place had originally been slated to become People's Park, so an artificial lake was perfectly normal. In the very center of that lake sat a man-made island about the size of a villa.

Unlike the weeds growing wild all around it, the flowers, shrubs, and trees on the island had clearly been arranged and pruned by someone. As a result, it looked much tidier.

At that moment, the wounded Mutant Beast lay curled up on a pile of dry grass, its legs tucked beneath it as it kept licking the wound on its belly.

"Holy shit, why is it a giant Black Cat?"

"Fuck off, Fatty. Have you ever seen a cat bigger and beefier than you?"

"Uh, you've got a point. But it looks way too much like a cat! Could it be a mutated cat?"

"Who can say in an apocalypse? Anything's possible."

The Black Cat Mutant Beast on the island seemed to sense something and looked warily toward the five of them. Fortunately, Han Bing reacted quickly and pulled everyone back in time. Otherwise, they would have been in for another fierce battle!

Only when the Black Cat Mutant Beast gradually lowered its guard did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

Han Bing looked at Liu Feng.

"Feng, what do we do next?"

Looking at the Black Cat Mutant Beast on the island, Liu Feng's mind raced. An island this neatly maintained certainly couldn't have been tended by a Mutant Beast, unless it had truly developed human intelligence.

Liu Feng thought of the hulking Mutant Zombie bound in chains, and a bold idea suddenly sprang into his mind.

Could someone be keeping this Black Cat Mutant Beast here, too? Then coming back regularly to bring it food and tidy up the area around its grass nest?

The idea sounded far-fetched, but it wasn't impossible. If that really was the case, whether to seize this opportunity to capture the Black Cat Mutant Beast became a pressing question.

"What do you all think?"

When Liu Feng suddenly asked for their opinions, no one spoke for a while. After a long silence, Uncle Ge finally raised his hand cautiously.

"I... I think we have to capture this Mutant Beast while it's injured. Otherwise, once it recovers, it'll cause us endless trouble!"

Ma Hou chimed in, agreeing with Uncle Ge. "I'm with Old Ge. We've wounded it now, so it's bound to hold a grudge. Our Residential Camp is so close to this place that taking revenge would be easy. When that happens, things won't be as easy to control as they are today."

Liu Feng turned his gaze to Han Bing.

"Ahem, Feng, I agree with Old Ge, too. This Mutant Beast is money on legs! We can trade it for two expertly modified Jeeps!"

After hearing everyone out, Liu Feng had made up his mind.

Once the gun was loaded, there was no taking the bullet out. They were going to capture this Black Cat Mutant Beast today, no matter what!

"Ahem!" Liu Feng cleared his throat and looked at Fatty. "Fatty, take advantage of this opening and teach it a lesson with your rocket launcher. Let it taste a beating from our resident tough guy!"

Fatty chuckled and immediately hoisted the Rocket Launcher onto his shoulder.

"Keep your eyes wide open and watch this!"

Boom!

Before his words had even faded, the Rocket shot out of the launcher and streaked straight toward its target.

In that split second, the Black Cat Mutant Beast actually detected the rapidly approaching Rocket. Enduring the pain in its abdomen, it pushed off hard with its feet and instantly leaped from the island to the shore of the Artificial Lake.

With a deafening blast, a huge crater was blown into the man-made island. The carefully crafted grass nest vanished in an instant, too.

"Fatty, you're way too unreliable! Didn't you see it run away? Move over and watch me!"

As he spoke, Ma Hou raised his rifle and sprayed bullets toward the Black Cat Mutant Beast. Although he had anticipated its movements, he still failed to hit it.

Seeing that things weren't going well, Uncle Ge and Han Bing joined the fight.

Meanwhile, Liu Feng, who stood off to one side, had already summoned his LV2 Exploding Insects.

"Go, Exploding Insects!"

Nearly a thousand translucent, crystal-clear Exploding Insects took flight, beating their wings as they chased after the Black Cat Mutant Beast.

But the Black Cat was a Mutant Beast, after all, and the Exploding Insects were far too small. Their speed simply couldn't compare to the Black Cat Mutant Beast's.

After a hail of gunfire, the black cat mutant beast had, unbelievably, escaped without a scratch. For the beast, that was nothing short of a miracle. For the four men other than Liu Feng, however, it was a disgrace. After all, not everyone could earn the distinction of tracing a target's outline with bullets.

The Black Cat Mutant Beast now stood on the opposite bank. It stared at the five of them with wide eyes, a threatening growl rumbling from its mouth.

It slowly lowered its body and dug its toes hard into the ground. Then, suddenly, it attacked. Although the Artificial Lake was more than ten meters wide, that distance was nothing in the Black Cat Mutant Beast's eyes.

Using the man-made island as a stepping stone, it reached the five of them in the blink of an eye.

"Holy shit, it's already been shot and it's still this badass! Don't tell me it can't feel pain, just like those zombies!"

"No way. It feels pain!"

"Fuck you and your ancestors! Since you insist on making me look bad, I'll give you a few more magazines!"

As they spoke, the men launched another attack.

For a moment, the entire area around the Artificial Lake rang with the rat-a-tat of gunfire. With so few people around and so much open space, the echoes were even louder.

"Rooowww!"

Suddenly, the Black Cat Mutant Beast extended its sharp claws. Ma Hou spotted them and jerked sideways, trying to dodge, but the claws still slashed across his chest.

Blood instantly burst from Ma Hou's chest like water from a ruptured pipe, spraying out in scalding streams.

At the horrifying sight, everyone's heart gave an involuntary jolt.

"Old Ge, go help Ma Hou! I'll hold the Mutant Beast off!"

The moment he finished speaking, Liu Feng summoned roughly 100,000 Iron-toothed Insects. With a sharp wave of his hand, the vast swarm surged straight toward the Black Cat Mutant Beast.

Seeing this, the Black Cat Mutant Beast casually swiped a paw, knocking a large swath of Iron-toothed Insects to the ground.

Although the sight pained Liu Feng, the Iron-toothed Insects that had died had served their purpose. Behind them, the long-delayed Exploding Insects finally appeared.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Hundreds upon hundreds of Exploding Insects exploded together, unleashing several times the power of a Rocket Launcher. Caught before it could react, the Black Cat Mutant Beast had no choice but to take the blast head-on.

(End of chapter)