607

“The poachers aren’t looking for this, right?” Chen Zhao’s heart jumped.

“What a pretty puma.”

Men and women focused on different things, clearly.

Men focused on whether it was valuable or not.

Women focused on whether it was pretty or not.

“Chen, do we have to keep going? Dad looks like he can’t walk anymore.”

“Then let’s rest for a while,” Chen Zhao said.

It had started getting dark. They indeed couldn’t continue walking.

It wasn’t a matter of energy. If they slipped or tripped over something, it could be very dangerous.

Just then, Black-Ma and White-Ma ducked out.

“Master, they’re getting close.”

Chen Zhao furrowed his brows. The poachers were so clingy.

He didn’t want to encounter them, but they just had to chase after him.

Didn’t they know that if they kept chasing, someone would die?

“Go hide behind the coverage,” Chen Zhao said. “The poachers have caught up.”

A few blurry shadows were approaching in the darkness.

Just then, Kane fired into the night sky.

“Hey, don’t get any closer!” Kane yelled.

At the gunshot, the poachers flattened themselves on the ground immediately.

If two groups of hunters met at night, they would often fire a gun as a warning if they weren’t sure of the dangers, warning the others to not get close.

Usually, if they didn’t have any negative intentions, they would also put distance between each other.

But the poachers clearly didn’t have good intentions.

“Boss, what do we do?”

Milfred Leon licked his lips. “What are you scared of? They have fewer people and our weapons are much better than a few hunters.”

“Hey!” Milfred called out. “Our hound got lost. We’re looking for it. Did you guys see it?”

“No, there’s no dog here. Stay away from us.”

There were only around 20 meters between them and they all hid behind the coverage.

Milfred gestured at his men. “Spread out.”

There was a lot of coverage, so it meant that the side with more people had another advantage.

“We suspect you killed our hound!” Milfred continued to call out. “We want to check your baggage. I hope you’ll cooperate.”

“F*ck you *ssholes!” Laurent yelled. “Whoever wants to die can come and check. My hunting rifle is waiting to meet you.”

“We have a dozen guys. Are you sure you won’t cooperate with us?”

“Then you better go find a dozen graves,” Laurent said.

Chen Zhao looked down and said to Fali and Faur, “When there’s a conflict later, don’t do anything. Just let us take care of it.”

“Chen, we can help too,” Fali said.

“Trust us. We can take care of it.”

“Fali, Faur, listen to Chen,” Laurent said as well. “We’ll take care of you two.”

Chen Zhao and Laurent messed with each other usually, but they were on the same side in protecting Fali and Faur.

“What should we do now?” Chen Zhao asked.

“Don’t worry,” Kane said. “We’ll hide behind the coverage. Whoever shoots first has the disadvantage.”

“Plus, we don’t have a lot of ammo and we have hunting rifles,” Howard said. “We can’t shoot impulsively.”

“But I think they’re coming over from the side,” Chen Zhao said.

“Huh? Why didn’t you say that earlier?”

“Whatever. You all take care of the front. I’ll take care of the side.”

With that, Chen Zhao crouched down and disappeared into the darkness.

Suddenly, Chen Zhao felt that it wasn’t just the poachers. There was a third party!

Huh? Fannity? Her team was here too?

…

At the moment, Fannity and her team were in the darkness.

“Leader, should we help?”

“Let’s see first,” Fannity said.

She wanted to help, but now wasn’t the time.

She wanted to appear suddenly when Chen Zhao’s group was feeling hopeless.

That way, she could make Chen Zhao owe her again.

And then she’d be able to ask Chen Zhao for help without shame.

“Leader, is that Chinese guy really that important?”

Fannity’s current team was all new.

They didn’t know about Fannity’s experiences, let alone know Chen Zhao.

She paused for a moment. “You’ve experienced dangerous relics, right?”

“I went to the one in the Quaint Trench,” a new guy said.

He was new in Fannity’s team, but he wasn’t new to the exploration world.

With his background, he was actually very experienced.

The Quaint Trench was one of the most dangerous relic clusters.

Anyone who could come out of it alive was a senior figure.

If they went to another team, they would be one of the core members.

Fannity looked at her new member. “Last time, I entered a relic with my original team. There was a very dangerous mutant species there—not only one but a whole group. We had horrible casualties. Our modified weapons had limited effects on the mutants.”

The new member fell silent. He’d run into mutants before too.

When facing mutants, a human relied the most on firearms.

If their firearms lost effect, then it would be a massacre.

“And he used a cold weapon and killed a dozen of them with brute force and helped the rest of us out of the relic.”

Everyone gasped. Most of them had encountered mutants before.

They knew how terrifying it was, but someone had used a cold weapon to massacre a dozen mutants.

“Then why don’t you invite him to our team? If he’s here, our team’s power will increase greatly.”

These explorers weren’t arrogant. After all, they searched for exhilaration in life-or-death environments. They naturally placed importance on skills.

“It’s not time yet,” Fannity said, eyes gleaming.

Suddenly, a pained cry came from the darkness.

“Ah…ah…ah, ah!”

Bang, bang, bang—bang, bang—

Pained cries sounded continuously, as if someone was in immense pain.

Fannity and her team were all frightened. They didn’t know what had happened.

“Save me…ah…Boss, save me…”

The one screaming was a poacher, but because he was in the dark, no one knew what had happened.

They could only listen to the poacher’s tragic cries in the dark.

Thud.

Just then, a corpse fell into the group of poachers.

“Motherf*ckers, get out or else you’ll end up like him.”

Milfred looked down. This was his man, but he was in pieces now as if torn apart by something.

“The poachers aren’t looking for this, right?” Chen Zhao’s heart jumped.

“What a pretty puma.”

Men and women focused on different things, clearly.

Men focused on whether it was valuable or not.

Women focused on whether it was pretty or not.

“Chen, do we have to keep going? Dad looks like he can’t walk anymore.”

“Then let’s rest for a while,” Chen Zhao said.

It had started getting dark. They indeed couldn’t continue walking.

It wasn’t a matter of energy. If they slipped or tripped over something, it could be very dangerous.

Just then, Black-Ma and White-Ma ducked out.

“Master, they’re getting close.”

Chen Zhao furrowed his brows. The poachers were so clingy.

He didn’t want to encounter them, but they just had to chase after him.

Didn’t they know that if they kept chasing, someone would die?

“Go hide behind the coverage,” Chen Zhao said. “The poachers have caught up.”

A few blurry shadows were approaching in the darkness.

Just then, Kane fired into the night sky.

“Hey, don’t get any closer!” Kane yelled.

At the gunshot, the poachers flattened themselves on the ground immediately.

If two groups of hunters met at night, they would often fire a gun as a warning if they weren’t sure of the dangers, warning the others to not get close.

Usually, if they didn’t have any negative intentions, they would also put distance between each other.

But the poachers clearly didn’t have good intentions.

“Boss, what do we do?”

Milfred Leon licked his lips. “What are you scared of? They have fewer people and our weapons are much better than a few hunters.”

“Hey!” Milfred called out. “Our hound got lost. We’re looking for it. Did you guys see it?”

“No, there’s no dog here. Stay away from us.”

There were only around 20 meters between them and they all hid behind the coverage.

Milfred gestured at his men. “Spread out.”

There was a lot of coverage, so it meant that the side with more people had another advantage.

“We suspect you killed our hound!” Milfred continued to call out. “We want to check your baggage. I hope you’ll cooperate.”

“F*ck you *ssholes!” Laurent yelled. “Whoever wants to die can come and check. My hunting rifle is waiting to meet you.”

“We have a dozen guys. Are you sure you won’t cooperate with us?”

“Then you better go find a dozen graves,” Laurent said.

Chen Zhao looked down and said to Fali and Faur, “When there’s a conflict later, don’t do anything. Just let us take care of it.”

“Chen, we can help too,” Fali said.

“Trust us. We can take care of it.”

“Fali, Faur, listen to Chen,” Laurent said as well. “We’ll take care of you two.”

Chen Zhao and Laurent messed with each other usually, but they were on the same side in protecting Fali and Faur.

“What should we do now?” Chen Zhao asked.

“Don’t worry,” Kane said. “We’ll hide behind the coverage. Whoever shoots first has the disadvantage.”

“Plus, we don’t have a lot of ammo and we have hunting rifles,” Howard said. “We can’t shoot impulsively.”

“But I think they’re coming over from the side,” Chen Zhao said.

“Huh? Why didn’t you say that earlier?”

“Whatever. You all take care of the front. I’ll take care of the side.”

With that, Chen Zhao crouched down and disappeared into the darkness.

Suddenly, Chen Zhao felt that it wasn’t just the poachers. There was a third party!

Huh? Fannity? Her team was here too?

…

At the moment, Fannity and her team were in the darkness.

“Leader, should we help?”

“Let’s see first,” Fannity said.

She wanted to help, but now wasn’t the time.

She wanted to appear suddenly when Chen Zhao’s group was feeling hopeless.

That way, she could make Chen Zhao owe her again.

And then she’d be able to ask Chen Zhao for help without shame.

“Leader, is that Chinese guy really that important?”

Fannity’s current team was all new.

They didn’t know about Fannity’s experiences, let alone know Chen Zhao.

She paused for a moment. “You’ve experienced dangerous relics, right?”

“I went to the one in the Quaint Trench,” a new guy said.

He was new in Fannity’s team, but he wasn’t new to the exploration world.

With his background, he was actually very experienced.

The Quaint Trench was one of the most dangerous relic clusters.

Anyone who could come out of it alive was a senior figure.

If they went to another team, they would be one of the core members.

Fannity looked at her new member. “Last time, I entered a relic with my original team. There was a very dangerous mutant species there—not only one but a whole group. We had horrible casualties. Our modified weapons had limited effects on the mutants.”

The new member fell silent. He’d run into mutants before too.

When facing mutants, a human relied the most on firearms.

If their firearms lost effect, then it would be a massacre.

“And he used a cold weapon and killed a dozen of them with brute force and helped the rest of us out of the relic.”

Everyone gasped. Most of them had encountered mutants before.

They knew how terrifying it was, but someone had used a cold weapon to massacre a dozen mutants.

“Then why don’t you invite him to our team? If he’s here, our team’s power will increase greatly.”

These explorers weren’t arrogant. After all, they searched for exhilaration in life-or-death environments. They naturally placed importance on skills.

“It’s not time yet,” Fannity said, eyes gleaming.

Suddenly, a pained cry came from the darkness.

“Ah…ah…ah, ah!”

Bang, bang, bang—bang, bang—

Pained cries sounded continuously, as if someone was in immense pain.

Fannity and her team were all frightened. They didn’t know what had happened.

“Save me…ah…Boss, save me…”

The one screaming was a poacher, but because he was in the dark, no one knew what had happened.

They could only listen to the poacher’s tragic cries in the dark.

Thud.

Just then, a corpse fell into the group of poachers.

“Motherf*ckers, get out or else you’ll end up like him.”

Milfred looked down. This was his man, but he was in pieces now as if torn apart by something.