For Fighters whose physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people, the mere two li
could be covered in less than a minute at a full sprint.
Yet on the outskirts of City 003, where danger lurked everywhere,
the Fire Hammer Squad spent a full half hour
reaching the perimeter of Vanke Dream City, a residential complex that had been abandoned for decades, as though crossing a minefield.
For that half hour, every step was taken on a blade's edge.
They were ambushed twice by snake-type monsters.
They killed more than thirty ordinary Beast Soldier Level monsters wandering about.
They were even forced into a head-on fight with a Junior Beast General Iron Armored Boar lurking in the ruins!
Had Luo Feng not disrupted the boar's charging rhythm with his Spiritual Force at a critical moment,
and Gao Feng and the Wei Brothers not joined forces to attack its weak point, the battle would never have ended so quickly.
"Whew... I heard City 003 was dangerous, but I didn't expect things to get this exciting the moment we reached the outskirts!"
Chen Gu leaned against a broken concrete pillar,
quickly changing the magazine in his sniper rifle, excitement flashing in his eyes.
"We were so careful, and we still got forced into a fight with a Junior Beast General!"
"This really is a monster lair. That density, that intensity!"
He licked his slightly chapped lips.
"Still, we got a decent haul! The materials from that Iron Armored Boar are worth a lot!"
"Don't celebrate too soon. We made quite a commotion just now, and it might draw other creatures here."
Gao Feng warily scanned the abandoned buildings around them, a forest of concrete, and spoke in a low voice.
"Come on, let's get upstairs! We need to find a relatively safe place to stay!"
The others didn't dare delay and quickly cleared the battlefield.
They collected the most valuable materials.
Then, under Gao Feng's lead, they slipped silently into a residential building whose main structure looked reasonably intact.
The building was a full eighteen stories tall, its exterior badly weathered and many of its windows shattered.
Starting on the first floor, they encountered monsters that had made their home inside.
They fought their way up, clearing out monsters until they reached the twelfth floor.
Only then did they finally find an apartment with a wide view.
After quickly clearing out the few small monsters scattered around the apartment, they were finally able to catch their breath for the moment.
It was a large apartment of more than a hundred square meters, with three bedrooms and a living room.
There was also a study and a walk-in closet.
The furniture had long since rotted away, and a thick layer of dust covered the floor.
In the old era, an apartment like this
would have cost at least ten million.
An ordinary person could have worked a lifetime and still never afforded it.
"While we're in City 003, this will be our temporary resting place."
Gao Feng looked around and made his decision.
"Remember, you must never go onto the large rooftop terrace!"
"Unlike those small county towns, City 003 has a large number of flying monsters circling overhead."
"Understood!"
Everyone nodded.
Just as everyone had relaxed a little and begun checking every corner of the apartment,
preparing to set up some basic defenses, Wei Tie scratched his head.
He looked at Luo Feng, who was sitting in a corner of the living room, silently wiping his Blood Shadow Battle Blade.
He spoke with some puzzlement.
"Luo Feng, why did I get the feeling... that something was a little off with you during the fight just now?"
At his words, Wei Qing and Chen Gu looked over as well.
Even Gao Feng gave him a questioning look.
Thinking back carefully on the perilous journey of the past half hour,
especially the fight with the Iron Armored Boar, Luo Feng's performance had indeed been subtly different.
His footwork had still been agile, but when he fought up close with his blade,
he always gave the impression... that he wasn't moving smoothly enough.
The angles of his strikes and his timing seemed half a beat slower than usual.
They lacked that flowing grace and the sharpness of a strike certain to kill.
Several times, he could clearly have dealt with the monsters more simply and efficiently,
yet Luo Feng had used somewhat awkward moves instead.
Although he had killed the monsters in the end, he had seemed a little absent-minded during the process, not focused enough.
"Yeah, Luo Feng, are you... a little nervous?"
Chen Gu picked up the conversation, concern in his voice.
"It's your first time in a big city like this, and the monsters are packed so densely. It's normal to be nervous."
"My hands were shaking the first time I entered a prefecture-level city."
Gao Feng also walked over to Luo Feng and spoke gravely.
"Luo Feng, are you all right?"
Faced with his teammates' undisguised concern,
Luo Feng felt a warm current rise in his heart, though he was also a little embarrassed.
He couldn't very well tell them that half his attention had been on killing monsters,
while the other half had been in his sea of consciousness, comprehending blade techniques, could he?
Luo Feng stopped wiping his battle blade and raised his head.
A slightly weary but sincere smile appeared on his face, and he waved a hand.
"Captain, Brother Chen, Brother Tie, Brother Qing, I'm fine."
"Maybe it's just... that I've been on edge from traveling these past few days and haven't rested well."
"I'm a little tired, and it affected my performance. It's nothing serious. I'll get back into shape soon."
What he said was partly true.
It was just that traveling wasn't the only reason for his fatigue.
Gao Feng stared into Luo Feng's eyes for a few seconds.
Though his eyes were a little bloodshot, his gaze was still clear and resolute.
Gao Feng nodded, though his brow did not fully relax.
After a moment's thought, he made a decision.
"In that case, today's hunting plans are canceled."
"We just went through a battle, and we need to rest too."
"This afternoon and tonight, we'll stay here and get ourselves back into shape."
"Luo Feng, you don't need to take part in the night watch. Get a good night's sleep and recover your energy."
"Captain, but..."
Luo Feng was taken aback. He hadn't expected Gao Feng to cancel the operation outright so he could rest.
He actually wanted to use the pressure of real combat to speed up his comprehension of blade techniques.
"Do as I say."
Gao Feng's tone brooked no argument.
"In City 003, being in poor condition is courting death."
Seeing that the captain was firm, Luo Feng could only nod.
"Yes, Captain."
He smiled wryly to himself.
Before long, the apartment had been given a basic cleaning and setup.
The Wei Brothers checked that the other rooms and the bathroom were safe,
and blocked up unnecessary gaps around the doors and windows with odds and ends.
Chen Gu took a window in the master bedroom with the best view and set up his sniper rifle.
Gao Feng set up a simple early-warning system of bells and thin lines at the entrance and in the main passageways.
Luo Feng was assigned a secondary bedroom to rest in.
All that remained in the room was a rusty iron bed frame, its mattress long since crumbled to dust.
He swept it off, laid down the moisture-proof mat he'd brought, and lay down fully clothed.
Outside the window was a vast city, deadly peril hidden within its deathly silence.
Inside came the sounds of his teammates walking about and talking in lowered voices.
Luo Feng closed his eyes.
In his sea of consciousness, Lin Mo's voice sounded unhurriedly.
"Tsk, they're treating you like a newcomer who needs looking after?"
"That's fine too. You can take advantage of the quiet to sort through what you learned in the fight just now."
Luo Feng did not argue. Instead, he calmed his mind
and began replaying every detail of the battle in his head, over and over.
In particular, he focused on the feeling of striking with his blade.
Luo Feng had finally gotten on the right track with the first of the Three Blade Techniques.
Although he had yet to truly comprehend it, he was close.