A Post-Apocalyptic Journey to Another World

Due to his outstanding performance last time, the investigation task once again fell to Zhang Xi. Of course, not all eggs should be put in one basket, and other investigation teams were also dispatched accordingly.

Zhang Xi's military achievement also earned him a promise from Division Commander Huo: Zhang Xi could freely enter and leave any part of the division, even the division commander's room, and could enter at any time to report on situations. Moreover, he could form his own reconnaissance team, and could freely select fifty men from the entire division.

Zhang Xi directly named Long Wenzhang and Xu Liang, but unexpectedly, Xue Gang himself came over, wanting to join as well. Strictly speaking, a battalion-level commander shouldn't be involved in such frontline reconnaissance missions. However, Zhang Xi couldn't persuade Xue Gang otherwise, so he simply handed over the manpower allocation and combat command to Xue Gang. He figured it was best to leave the professional work to the professionals; after all, Xue Gang was just bored, otherwise why would he have desperately squeezed into this reconnaissance team?

……

In a sewer in Plains City, an Amur Leopard Cat-Man was running for its life. As it fled, it kept looking back, and a figure in its yellowish-brown pupils was getting closer and closer.

The leopard cat-man shrieked and activated its innate ability, transforming. The Amur leopard cat-man's innate ability allows it to switch between human and cat forms. A flash of light swept across its entire body. Without pausing, it sprang to the ground while running, its furry paws quickly transforming into claws, its head changing from a humanoid form to the inverted triangular head characteristic of felines, and its body instantly shrinking in size.

All of this was accomplished in almost a second. The Amur Leopard Cat Man, now in cat form, leaped forward with all its might, instantly doubling its speed. From behind, it had completely transformed into a large cat covered in black leopard prints.

After transforming, the giant cat finally used its speed advantage to shake off the humans chasing it. It ran at full speed for several more minutes before stopping to rest. For the fast-paced, germaphobic leopard cat, vigorous exercise in the stench-filled air of the sewers was the most severe form of torture.

This is a female leopard cat-person. Among all the beastmen, they have the most flexible bodies and are the smallest, with an average height of less than one meter in human form. Therefore, they are relatively weak in combat. However, the leopard cat-person race has its own way of survival: attaching themselves to powerful groups. Almost every powerful beastman group shelters some leopard cat-person tribes because leopard cat-people are natural scouts. They have excellent night vision, move silently, and their ability to transform provides excellent cover.

Originally, because they could transform into cats, it was very convenient for them to enter any human city to conduct reconnaissance, and humans were unaware of the existence of leopard cat people, which was their greatest advantage.

However, in this actual operation, their leopard cat forms encountered enormous challenges for a bizarre yet perfectly reasonable reason. For the people of Plains City, who were constantly in a state of semi-hunger, a half-meter-long cat was incredibly tempting. As for why such a large cat existed, they would have to catch and eat it first to find out, wouldn't they? Thus, the leopard cats' reconnaissance mission was fraught with difficulties, and they finally experienced the feeling of being a rat crossing the street, coveted by everyone.

The rats in Pingyuan City are indeed a popular food source. Zhang Xi had eaten them in his previous life; rat meat, if prepared properly, is quite delicious, somewhat like rabbit meat. Because the population density increases closer to the city center, even at night it's not much better. This Amur leopard cat scout was eventually forced back into the sewers.

Based on the experience of the previous two days, people usually give up once they enter the sewers; the sewers are pitch black, and people instinctively avoid them. But today, one human was incredibly persistent, following them in. The leopard-cat-man switched forms, intending to kill this human. While its strength was inferior among the orcs, killing a few ordinary humans was still quite easy, especially in the darkness. However, this very thought nearly cost it its life; in a single exchange, it was wounded and fled.

After confirming that it was far away from its terrifying pursuer, the Amur Leopard Cat-Man switched back to its human form, its abdominal wound still bleeding. In cat form, it couldn't properly tend to its wound.

For the Leopard Catman's size, the wound was enormous, extending from its belly to its chest. Fortunately, it wasn't too deep. If it weren't for the Leopard Catman's naturally flexible physique, which increased its evasion attribute, it would have been chopped in two by an axe long ago.

It produced a small green pill from somewhere, chewed it for a while, then spat out mouthfuls of green-stained saliva and smeared it on the wound. The bleeding stopped quickly. However, it didn't have much blood left to bleed; the gaping, pale flesh at the edges of the massive wound looked like a gaping maw mocking the leopard-cat-man's earlier overestimation of his abilities.

After treating its wounds, the leopard cat-man breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, a slender, fair hand suddenly emerged from the shadows behind the leopard cat-man, grabbed the back of its neck, and squeezed it. The leopard cat-man didn't even have time to make a sound before it let out a long breath and went still.

The dead leopard cat people slowly transformed back into cat forms. Zhang Xi was already used to this. These leopard cat people would turn into cat forms after they died, which was somewhat like the monsters in ancient Chinese mythology who would reveal their true forms after death.

Zhang Xi, carrying the dead cat, glanced at Amber in his arms. If the smell of the sewers was torture for the Leopard Cat Man, then it was true torture for Amber.

The little creature was almost fainting from the fumes, so Zhang Xi quickly sped up to find an exit. The small waterways of Pingyuan City were newly built ten years ago. After several severe floods, people decided to rebuild a huge sewer network. It was this network that saved many lives in the early days of his previous life.

This place is a maze of passageways, and the stench masks other odors. Most orcs are extremely sensitive to smells, and they are unwilling to expend extra effort to enter and hunt ordinary humans. Thus, it became a popular escape route for many humans, much of which they were unaware of its existence until later.

It must be said that Amber was incredibly skilled; even disoriented by the fumes in such an environment, she still managed to quickly locate the fleeing leopard cat-man by scent. Zhang Xi, even at full speed, couldn't catch the transformed leopard cat-man, so he had no choice but to bring Amber along as well. Soon, Zhang Xi found a manhole cover.

With a light leap, he lifted the heavy manhole cover with one hand, only realizing he'd been chased all the way to the eastern suburbs once he was out of the ground. Zhang Xi patted Amber's head. "Luckily you were here, otherwise that leopard cat-man would have really gotten away."

Seeing that no one was paying attention, Zhang Xi quickly put the manhole cover back in place, picked up the leopard cat man's corpse, found a secluded spot, and disposed of it by skinning it.

Speaking of Leopard Cat Man's skin, it's top-grade fur. Zhang Xi planned to make two Leopard Cat Man skin hand protectors for Zhao Yu. That little girl always washes all her clothes by hand when Han Caiping isn't looking, and as a result, she's developed frostbite on her hands.

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