A Post-Apocalyptic Journey to Another World

The next morning, Zhang Xi, along with Tanuki and Amber, arrived at the place outside the eastern suburbs where the leopard-cat people had been hunted the day before. Zhang Xi took out a piece of fur and let Amber smell it. Amber sniffed around again, then found a direction and dashed off.

An hour later, Zhang Xi and his group arrived at an abandoned mining area. Apart from killing a few black wolves along the way, they did not encounter any unexpected events. Amber finally stopped in front of one of the many abandoned mines.

This is a small coal mine. Mineral resources are not abundant near Pingyuan City, and judging from the abandoned facilities, it was likely a privately developed mine that was abandoned long ago after the coal was mined out. The mine shaft is pitch black less than twenty meters in, but this does not hinder them. Zhang Xi's eyesight is now far beyond that of ordinary people, and Tanuki and Amber themselves have night vision.

Zhang Xi only carried an M500 with him and did not carry a rifle. It would be unwise to fire a gun indiscriminately when he was alone in the wild, so he did not intend to use the gun unless absolutely necessary.

Tanuki carried two daggers. After a period of adventuring together and collecting elemental crystals, Zhang Xi discovered that Tanuki could increase their strength by killing other monsters, albeit very slowly—somewhat like Amber, but not exactly the same. This puzzled Zhang Xi, but since increased strength was a good thing, he decided to put aside what he couldn't understand for now; it wasn't a bad thing anyway.

Zhang Xi entered the mine first, his hand axe slung behind his back. Amber followed closely behind, while Tanuki brought up the rear. Tanuki carried a state-of-the-art military-grade high-alloy dagger. Zhang Xi had been tempering it with elemental energy crystals recently; although the tempering was only minimal, it had significantly increased its sharpness and toughness. Moreover, the dagger was a dark brown color, with no reflection even at the blade. From a design and craftsmanship perspective, it was far superior to Zhang Xi's gleaming hand axe, only smaller and less sharp.

Looking at the gleaming hand axe in his hand, Zhang Xi realized he needed to find a suitable weapon. He casually pulled a piece of cloth from his backpack and covered the reflective blade of the axe.

Zhang Xi entered the mine and waited in a recessed area for a while, observing for a long time. Seeing that there was no movement around, he relaxed. The leopard cat people were not very socialized, even less so than the gray werewolves. Therefore, their military skills were also low, as could be seen from the fact that no sentries, whether visible or hidden, were stationed around the mine. Zhang Xi had dealt with these guys a lot in his previous life, and he knew the habits of the leopard cat people very well. He didn't normally need to be so careful, but he was naturally cautious, so he did this just in case. After all, he had already experienced something like being reborn, so the possibility that the leopard cat people had suddenly started setting up hidden sentries couldn't be ruled out.

It wasn't until they had ventured dozens of meters deeper into the mine shaft that they found two leopard cat-men guarding the elevator. The two leopard cat-men were sitting around a small fire, roasting meat.

One of the biggest differences between orcs and wild beasts is their attitude towards fire. Wild beasts fear fire, while orcs love it, and some orc tribes even worship fire as their tribal totem. Unlike the fastidious leopard cats and werewolves, who are known for their cleanliness, orcs are very meticulous when cooking meat, such as plucking fur, cutting it into pieces, and washing it.

From a distance, Zhang Xi could see what the two beasts were roasting. It was two arms, and judging from their size, they were likely not human arms. These damned beasts not only sneaked into the city to scout, but they also stole children!

Although such scenes were not uncommon in his previous life, seeing them now still made Zhang Xi feel nauseous. Enraged, he hurled his hand axe. The axe was still spinning in mid-air when he was already flying after it. The raccoon licked its lips and charged forward as well. It didn't seem to care about the arm on the fire, but Zhang Xi's enemy was its enemy.

Zhang Xi used all his strength in this attack, and one of the leopard cat-men hadn't even noticed the enemy before its head flew high into the air. Even after its head hit the ground, its face still showed a somewhat bewildered expression.

The other leopard cat-man first saw its companion attacked, then turned to look for the enemy, only to find a tall figure already standing in front of it. This fellow made a feint, trying to escape, but Zhang Xi ignored its feint and punched it in the neck. The remaining leopard cat-man's head hung from its body at a strange, twisted angle as it fell to the ground, dead.

The raccoon arrived just in time with its dagger. It kicked the corpse on the ground with a hint of regret and said with dissatisfaction, "Boss, you were too fast. And this kind of minor character should have been left to me. In our tribe, the leader can't just take action!"

Zhang Xi smiled and comforted him, "There are plenty of fights for you to fight." After saying that, he came to a side tunnel and saw bones scattered all over the ground, some of other animals and some of humans. This pile of bones seemed to foreshadow a new rule for the apocalypse: humans were no longer separate from other species, and they would eventually return to the brutal competition for survival.

Zhang Xi returned to the campfire expressionlessly, inspected the two leopard-cat corpses, and found nothing but elemental crystals. Only then did Amber leisurely approach, sniffing around the elevator entrance. It was clear it hadn't intended to participate in the battle from the start. Looking at Amber, Zhang Xi suddenly remembered what Tanuki had said earlier: leaders don't easily join battles. He touched his nose, looking at Amber's arrogant demeanor. "Does this little thing think it's the leader? So cocky."

Looking back, Amber truly deserves the word "arrogant." It never eats anything that falls on the ground, and it's extremely clean. Aside from Zhang Xi, it rarely speaks to anyone else. Even Tanuki, someone it can directly communicate with, is beneath its notice. Tanuki, with its slightly violent tendencies, doesn't react to this at all, as if it's perfectly normal.

After cleaning up the scene and dragging the two corpses aside, Zhang Xi went to the elevator entrance and slid down the cable. Below were still two leopard cat men guarding the elevator, which were easily dealt with. This time, Tanuki finally managed to snatch one.

With Amber's help, they killed over ten leopard-cat men along the way, arriving at an elevator. They slid down again, searched for a while, and then came back up. There was no trace of leopard-cat men on the third floor. It seemed they only occupied the first two floors; the lower down the coal mine, the darker and damper it became, which didn't fit the leopard-cat men's habits. They probably only occupied this place temporarily because it was so well-hidden.

As they explored their way forward, with the help of Amber, Zhang Xi always managed to gain the upper hand. In fact, the Leopard Cat People had occupied this place first and knew the terrain better, but now they were being outmaneuvered. Since entering the mine, more than twenty Leopard Cat People had been unjustly killed by Zhang Xi.

These leopard cat-men, outmatched in direct combat, fought so easily that most eventually gave way to the raccoon, since Zhang Xi lacked experience in monster hunting, while the raccoon had it. This raccoon, though seemingly cute, was incredibly ruthless in battle. Every strike aimed straight for vitals, first slitting the throat and severing the vocal cords, then seizing the opportunity to kick the groin or stab the eyes. Watching this, Zhang Xi shook his head; judging character by appearance was indeed unreliable.

Tanuki was having a blast killing his way through, but good things always come to an end. His unrestrained killing spree was finally interrupted by Zhang Xi in front of a tunnel.

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