Night raid

Zhong Xuezhi was destined not to get any sleep tonight.

His brain had barely shut down for a few minutes before it was abruptly forced back online.

A powerful instinct compelled him to snap his eyes open in the darkness. A moment later, he scrambled to his feet.

He shouted, "Night raid! Everyone, wake up!!!"

Mu Yi, who had likewise only just closed his eyes, went rigid with shock at the shout.

Fuck...

He clutched his thin blanket and took a good while to recover before clambering out of the tent in disarray.

Outside, Zhong Xuezhi's entire squad was already ready for battle. Clearly, they had dealt with plenty of sudden emergencies like this.

They stood on full alert, but Mu Yi seemed to have been born without any sense of tension. After leaving his tent, he slowly stretched.

Halfway through his stretch, however, the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to tremble faintly.

He paused, then finished stretching and muttered, "What's coming? Why's it making such a racket?"

Zhong Xuezhi twitched his ears, which were still in their animal form, and replied gravely, "Warthogs."

"Warthogs?" Qiu Cai exclaimed in alarm. "The same herd of Grade A warthogs we fought earlier?"

Zhong Xuezhi nodded. "Most likely."

"Holy shit..." Wenren Jin was alarmed too. "I knew warthogs were infamous for holding grudges, but isn't this a bit far to chase us?!"

Zhong Xuezhi waved a hand. "Enough chatter. Get away from the campsite first."

They moved quickly, relocating to a relatively spacious clearing within half a minute.

The charging warthogs were also beginning to take shape in the distance.

It was around three in the morning, and visibility was extremely poor. All Mu Yi could see were several towering black hills thundering toward them.

Just as he was straining his eyes to make out their appearance, Zhong Xuezhi suddenly clipped something onto his head.

"Here, put these on."

Mu Yi reached up and felt what seemed to be goggles. He pulled them down over his eyes, and his vision instantly cleared.

They were night-vision goggles, and the colors looked almost the same as they did in daylight.

Impressive. High tech.

With that high-tech assistance, Mu Yi could finally see everything clearly.

There were about five or six warthogs racing toward them. Each was powerfully built, averaging roughly two meters tall and three to four meters long.

They also had robust skulls and sharp tusks, and they rampaged straight ahead, leaving devastation in their wake.

Mu Yi couldn't help clapping in delight at the sight. "Holy shit! Now this is exciting! This is exciting!"

Zhong Xuezhi glanced at him, inwardly calling him a "little lunatic," then hurriedly gave him a few warnings, still uneasy.

"Grade A is the dividing line between lower- and higher-tier Variants. Their damage output and defense are both much stronger than anything we've encountered before. Don't underestimate them."

"And there's one more thing you need to remember. Grade A warthogs have high infection levels and can infect others. The source of infection is the contaminated matter they vomit from their mouths."

"Protect yourself while fighting. Don't get hurt, and above all, don't let any wounds come into contact with the contaminants."

After hurriedly finishing his instructions, Zhong Xuezhi spun the Ice Scythe in his hand and darted out first, wreathed in cold.

The group of four followed close behind, carrying their respective weapons.

Mu Yi shook his head, shaking half of Zhong Xuezhi's lecture out of it, then activated his pheromones with a crackle and cheerfully followed.

With the night-vision goggles helping him, Mu Yi moved as freely as he would in daylight. Once he picked an opponent he liked the look of, he immediately fired two streams of electric flame at it.

Nothing happened.

A Grade A Variant's defenses really were extraordinary. Throwing level-four electric flame at it was like giving it a tickle.

The warthog shook its enormous head unconcernedly, then charged at him with its eyes glowing red.

Mu Yi knew how hard that thing's head was and didn't dare delay. He immediately darted far away.

Having missed its first strike, the warthog turned and charged again.

Mu Yi dodged once more, simultaneously drawing out an enormous electric net and dropping it over the warthog's head, enclosing it completely.

Then he hurled a blast of level-six electric flame at it to test its defenses.

Yet even level-six electric flame barely affected the warthog.

The warthog scrambled to its feet and thrashed about, snorting and grunting as it tried to escape the electric net.

Mu Yi immediately tightened the net and raised the electric flame straight to level eight.

Level-eight electric flame represented a massive leap in power. Levels six and seven couldn't even come close.

He refused to believe the warthog could withstand that.

Sure enough, shortly after the electric flame grew stronger, the warthog's supposedly formidable defenses clearly began to fail.

The tightly bound warthog began struggling violently, kicking its limbs with all its strength. At the same time, it opened its huge, tusk-filled maw and let out a piercing roar.

The roar was so shrill that it disturbed the entire mountain forest, sending flocks of birds fleeing into the air.

Mu Yi drew a deep breath and suddenly felt unusually agitated. Gritting his teeth, he raised his hand, intending to push the electric flame's intensity straight to its maximum.

Before he could, however, a blast of biting cold reached the warthog first.

Zhong Xuezhi swept closer in a blur of afterimages, raised the Ice Scythe high, and sliced off the warthog's massive head with a wet crunch.

Its howling stopped abruptly.

The warthog's head rolled away, revealing a basin-sized stump from which blood sprayed in an unceasing torrent.

Zhong Xuezhi liked to stay clean, yet this time he neither dodged nor moved aside. He simply stood there, letting the scalding blood drench him.

Mu Yi paused, too preoccupied even to curse him for stealing his kill, and called out doubtfully, "Zhong Xuezhi?"

Zhong Xuezhi slowly turned around. His expression was as cold as his body, and his voice was several degrees lower than usual.

He spoke without the slightest inflection. "Once Grade A warthogs enter the second phase of their attack, they activate the 'Quake roar' skill."

"It lowers its targets' mental strength across a wide area while gradually making them irritable and quick to anger. Prolonged exposure can easily drive them mad."

After hearing that, Mu Yi suddenly understood where his earlier agitation had come from.

He looked Zhong Xuezhi over and asked, "Did it affect you?"

Zhong Xuezhi took a moment before replying, "A little."

It really was only a little. What affected him more were the aftereffects of excessive energy use.

Zhong Xuezhi moved his arm, then rummaged somewhat unsteadily through his pocket and pulled out the flat, rectangular box containing the suppressant.

Then he slid open the lid, tipped his head back, and poured a whole mouthful of tiny white pills into his mouth.

Mu Yi: "..." Is it really fucking safe to take that many?