Infinite Hunter

The adventure group was quite profitable. After the mutation, a lot of valuable items were produced. A considerable number of them were not domesticated and could not be artificially cultivated. However, these items were extremely magical—even granting people strange powers. Cheng Yijiu had no interest in these things. After all, no matter how strange they were, they could not withstand rifles. Even if they had abilities like stone skin, wouldn't they be directly shattered by full-power or large-caliber bullets?

Cheng Yijiu, in this world, increasingly felt as though something was wrong with him—his strength and speed were inhuman. He'd even wrestled with a giant rhinoceros. "The last time a rhinoceros appeared in the suburbs of Magic City was about three thousand years ago, right?"

The adventure group is now almost entirely male, all registered armed personnel, permitted to possess restricted weapons—of course, weapons are not permitted when taking the subway back to the city. There's a dedicated warehouse within the massive station for weapons storage, an official one. With officials, there are naturally poachers. Poachers are rare in the Magic City, but I've heard they're more common elsewhere, especially in the southwest and north.

Most of the poachers in Shanghai are just guys who sneak into the forest, mainly entering dangerous areas without applying for permission. Usually, they need people like Cheng Yijiu to rescue them - there is no other way, they still have to rescue them if they ask for help. As for going to jail and paying a lot of money after rescuing them, that is another matter.

Over the course of three days, six adventuring groups arrived, and two returned. Their results were quite good—Cheng Yijiu watched them drag a massive deer back to the square. This was a safe place, and it was the rule to allow the prey to be cut up, and Cheng Yijiu couldn't forbid them from doing so. Deer meat was edible—at least, it wasn't a protected species at the moment. Cheng Yijiu had also eaten deer meat, and found it very similar to beef, but more tender and leaner, making it less suitable for frying in steaks.

Deer antlers are excellent artifacts, but the most valuable items are definitely the deer's internal organs and glands. It's said that these can be used to extract specific medicinal products, which are extremely effective in treating certain diseases and promoting the body's "evolution." Furthermore, deer hunting is relatively safe, with a single deer bringing in around 400,000 yuan in revenue. Therefore, the vast majority of so-called adventuring groups are gathering and hunting deer, while those who truly venture into deep exploration are always professional teams organized by the state.

And now, Cheng Yijiu received an emergency report, "The adventure group was attacked, resulting in eleven people missing, six deaths, and fifteen injuries..."

Volume: The Most Dangerous Prey

Chapter One

While it's unlikely that Cheng Yijiu could expand outward, it could expand downward, particularly into the residential areas and storage rooms—though the renovations are still under discussion. The place isn't even fully staffed yet, so it's premature to discuss renovations. When Cheng Yijiu received the notice, the adventure group had just returned. They asked Cheng Yijiu to open the gate, and on the cart was a sika deer the size of a rhinoceros.

"Wow, we got another 500,000 or 600,000 this time. The blood, antlers, and even some of the internal organs of this thing are very useful for replenishing yang energy, right?" Cheng Yijiu also told them that there is a quota for hunting, and one of the main uses of this kind of deer is the most popular use for men in China...

Cheng Yijiu drove his armored vehicle out and headed straight for the accident site indicated in the notice. He was no longer needed for rescue efforts; the two adventure groups had successfully rescued themselves and fled to another base, where they had requested a military helicopter to transport their injured. Cheng Yijiu's only task was to search for the missing persons—who had already been declared dead—and to find the culprit behind all this.

Of course, the authorities would also send a special team to conduct a search and find the murderer, and Cheng Yijiu was the first to go. As he drove out, Arudimu La lazily stood up from the animal pen, flapped his wings and flew under the awed gaze of the adventure team members, and soon caught up with Cheng Yijiu's car from the sky.

Sheshan still has a road, but it's protected by barbed wire. The church and observatory on the mountain are also protected by barbed wire. The rest of the area is completely overgrown with forest. The surrounding area feels like it's been transported back to an ancient state eight thousand years ago, with forests and water everywhere. "Jiangdong is a wild and untamed land," Cheng Yijiu sighed. This kind of environment is a paradise for wildlife.

He was also distracted by the information provided by the survivors at the first time. "It's really useless. Many people didn't even see what kind of monster it was. They only heard roars and heavy breathing, and seemed to see a huge body?" This was basically useless information. Fortunately, the injured could provide more.

"Bear! A very huge bear! But very strange!" The scars on those people's bodies also proved this. They were huge claw marks, and some looked like they were hit by maces. In short, they were very lucky to be able to survive.

We arrived at the scene of the attack, at the foot of Sheshan Mountain. The church and observatory on the mountain were both guarded, but in addition to the barbed wire, they had also set up huge concrete barricades around the perimeter. Fortunately, wild animals generally wouldn't attack these buildings, so they were safe so far.

But after the attack, within just two hours, the staff stationed here were evacuated and would not return until it was confirmed to be safe. The cleaning and management work here will probably be handed over to intelligent robots in the future - if such a thing exists...

Cheng Yijiu got out of the car with his weapon—an M70 series rifle firing Winchester Magnum rifles. He chose not to go with a semi-automatic rifle, purely out of personal preference. Of course, he also brought a pistol—as a member of the base, he naturally had a gun license. The pistol was a custom-made M1911A1 with an extended barrel and slide and a double recoil spring, firing the .45 ACP round.

Domestic gun factories had long lacked a domestic civilian market—China had previously lacked a civilian firearms market, but with the advent of the anomaly, this market emerged. While firearms could only be used by adventuring groups during adventures, this still created a huge market—at the outlying stations, there were, of course, large indoor and outdoor shooting ranges where people could practice with guns.

With the adoption of the custody system, the government has effectively relaxed the conditions for gun purchases. Anyone with an ID and a clean criminal record can buy a gun, and there's no limit on the number of guns they can buy. This can be said to greatly promote the development of domestic manufacturers, both in terms of design and craftsmanship, and foreign gun dealers are also delighted.

The cost of shooting a gun has plummeted compared to the past. With the advancement of technology, almost all bullets now use high-strength polymer casings, which are recyclable and reusable, and the bullets are no longer limited to metal. "It's a bit less tactile, and metal bullets are still more expensive." Cheng Yijiu naturally used polymer-cased bullets, but the bullets were undoubtedly made of high-strength metal.

Cheng Yijiu looked at the attack site. Even after almost two days, with the rapid growth of the forest plants, the scene still hadn't been covered up and was still in a mess. Cheng Yijiu half-crouched on the ground, tilting his head to look at it almost level. "Hmm, now I can see it more clearly." There were many footprints and other traces.

Cheng Yijiu was concerned about the huge prints among them. "It is indeed a bear's claw marks, but the size... and the weight are totally wrong. It must be an animal that has undergone a mutation." Among the mutations, gigantic size is the most common, and this bear should be an example.

Cheng Yijiu looked at the footprints, then took a step and measured them. "Oh my god, the distance between the front and back footprints of this thing is about six to eight meters. This means that the body length of this bear is more than ten meters. I estimate that its shoulder height is about five meters. If it stands up, it is definitely more than nine meters tall. Its weight is also unusual, probably twelve to fifteen tons?"

Cheng Yijiu looked at the gun in his hand. Could he handle such a big bear? "It should be possible. After all, their casualties were caused by the surprise attack. These people are not so much an adventure group as a hunting group paid by the young master group. If they really encounter an abnormality, their shooting skills will definitely be a mess."

There were still traces of blood, and Cheng Yijiu even found some items left behind that hadn't been retrieved, including a cell phone, wallet, keys, and even a pistol. "There were drag marks everywhere. It seems the creatures eating here aren't just bears, there are also some who are looking for bargains."

Cheng Yijiu was certain he'd find the remains of the deceased by following them. After a minute's deliberation, he decided to go looking. He touched the signal balls in his bag—these ping-pong-ball-sized gadgets could emit radio signals and serve as markers. Cheng Yijiu randomly picked a trail and walked forward.

We walked less than fifty meters, but of course it took more than ten minutes. Walking in the forest is so slow... "Okay, the first one..." Cheng Yijiu said.

Chapter two

The man had died tragically, his body completely mutilated—aside from the upper body, the skull, arms, and lower body were all gone. Even the upper body had been hollowed out, and the wounds were infested with maggots. Cheng Yijiu used a telescope to zoom in on the wound, but the smell was too strong to approach. The wound, judging by the blade, was indeed a massive scimitar—not the kind with a very blunt edge, resulting in jagged edges.

"It was a rough cut. Fortunately, the force was strong enough. Death should have been quick, with no time for further pain." Cheng Yijiu muttered. He didn't intend to disturb the feeding maggots. This was how adventure groups were supposed to be—a cenotaph was enough. Bringing the body's ashes wasn't necessary. The prevailing custom was to return to the heavens where the death occurred, and at most, the bones would be collected later. In reality, this was because most adventurers who died in accidents had companions who simply couldn't spare the energy to bring back the body, and most didn't even have any.

In this natural environment, the remains will turn into difficult-to-decompose bones within a week at most, and the organic matter on them will be eaten up by various scavengers.

Cheng Yijiu walked past the wreckage and continued to follow the huge footprints. "Wow... It's just as I expected." Behind him, the scorpion lion Arudimula followed silently. "What do you mean?" the scorpion lion asked. "Look, these claw marks high up. This is one of the ways bears mark their territory." Cheng Yijiu pointed above his head. More than ten meters high, the bark and part of the trunk were torn, leaving an obvious white scratch on it.

"A broken branch with hair hanging from it... red." Cheng Yijiu pinched the hair. "A red bear? That's rare. Here, can we find it by smell?" Arudimula wrinkled his nose, and an embarrassment appeared on the lion's face. "The scent is very weak."

"That's fine," Cheng Yijiu said. "Tracking a beast like that isn't difficult. If I hadn't had you, I'd have to worry about whether my weapons would be effective. Now that doesn't matter." Arudimuala, a scorpion lion, was smaller than the bear, but with its wings spread, it looked even more majestic. Cheng Yijiu didn't think the scorpion lion would lose if it came into battle.

This bear also had a habit of wild beasts—it hid excess food. So Cheng Yijiu wasn't surprised to see a hellish scene: a pile of half-buried corpses, not just human, but also several wild boars and deer. "A quick count shows there are probably... six or seven human corpses here. This guy has a pretty big appetite. This bear is not very scientific. Logically, other bears, including brown bears, are more likely to be vegetarians, except for polar bears, but this one looks like a pure carnivore."

Cheng Fangyi hadn't planned on dealing with this place for a long time. He circled the slaughterhouse, observing his surroundings carefully. Who knew if this monster might be hiding somewhere and suddenly attack? Don't underestimate the hidden abilities of wild animals.

Arudimurra shook his mane. "No ambush."

Cheng Yijiu carefully observed the ground. "In and out, here are the latest traces. Come on, let's find it." Cheng Yijiu was very careful to stay downwind of the footprints, tracking from the side and changing direction according to the wind. He just hoped that this monster wouldn't circle around and end up downwind of Cheng Yijiu. Otherwise, it would be fun.

Fortunately, Cheng Yijiu's luck was always good. After an hour of tracking, he found his target—just upwind of him, trying to catch fish by the stream. "Don't you consider its size? Will catching a hairfish make up for the calories I've burned?" Cheng Yijiu looked at the massive bear in front of him—undoubtedly a mutated creature.

Generally speaking, this guy is still a bear, and as huge as Cheng Yijiu expected - the length of this guy from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail is undoubtedly more than ten meters, but it should not be twelve meters. Cheng Yijiu dared to conclude this, "About ten point four or ten point five meters." Cheng Yijiu said silently with his eyes narrowed, and Arudimula beside him had already crouched down.

This creature had long, red hair on its head, like a Mohican. The hair on its cheeks, shoulders, back, and front legs had transformed into scales like a pangolin. Its front legs, in particular, had spikes like wolf teeth, making it look like a mace. Of course, from its cheeks to its butt, the middle section of its body was covered in red, stiff hair that stood out from the normal hair.

This guy even had a long tongue, flicking around in his open mouth, his small red eyes looking a bit crazy. "You have a shell? Even if it's just a mutation of hair, it's quite exaggerated. Let me see how hard your shell is." Cheng Yijiu ejected the bullets and pulled out a row of five bullets from the cowhide magazine at his waist. The bullets weren't made of steel, but tungsten alloy, which could be said to be armor-piercing bullets.

Cheng Yijiu thought it unlikely that some creature could have scales harder and stronger than tungsten alloy—at least not at the moment. He loaded the five rounds into the chamber with the clip, then pushed the bolt to chamber the gun. He aimed directly at the bear's chest—normally, this would be where the vital organs were. It wasn't like this creature had its heart in its asshole and its lungs in its belly button, was it?

Cheng Yijiu was a highly skilled marksman. He took brief aim before decisively pulling the trigger—hunting was like that; the longer you aimed, the more likely you were to make a mistake. A 7.62mm bullet was fired, but the monster across from him was considerably larger than an African elephant. Would the bullet really work?

It turns out that it is useful.

The tungsten alloy bullet penetrated the scales. The heavy bullet did not roll over, but it did not shoot out from the other side. Instead, it stayed in the body - a straight and deep wound. It did not cause a cavity, but it had already caused heavy internal bleeding.

Cheng Yijiu saw it clearly and quickly pulled the bolt, ejected the shell, and fired another shot at the bear. The intersecting trajectories should have caused at least one extremely serious damage, right? Anyway, the violent bear, although large in size, was already weak inside. It roared in Cheng Yijiu's direction, its red mane dripping with color, and it pounced on him recklessly, tongue wagging.

Aldimu pulled, and the scorpion lion roared and charged towards the armored bear.

third chapter

After taking two bullets, the bear must have been seriously injured. Cheng Yijiu couldn't say how deep the bullets had penetrated. If they had only penetrated a meter, they might not even have reached the organs. "Tungsten alloy bullets shouldn't be that weak. They should penetrate at least two meters." To be honest, this type of bullet had never been tested on gel, so Cheng Yijiu couldn't say how deep it would penetrate into flesh.

There was no problem against the beasts of the past, even whales were enough—the whaling cannon wasn't about penetration, so its penetration shouldn't be as good as this alloy bullet. But now the beasts have mutated, and their bodies have grown hard scales, and the subcutaneous fat and muscles are very tough, just like composite armor.

In short, Cheng Yijiu continued to pull the bolt, while Arudimuara had already held it with his front paws, and the two monsters were engaged in a frenzied attack. In this regard, the scorpion lion had the advantage - not to mention its highly venomous scorpion tail, the phosphorus fire spewed from its mouth alone was enough to cause great harm to ordinary giant beasts.

The armored bear was now ablaze with phosphorescent flames. It was a ferocious bear, treating the flames as if they didn't exist. Granted, the flames, while venomous, were only a little over a thousand degrees Celsius. The hair and scales on the monster seemed to insulate and resist fire, preventing the flames from burning any deeper. "Hold them!" Cheng Yijiu roared.

Arudimurra must have heard it. The scorpion lion's muscles squirmed, and after spreading its wings, it pinned the giant bear down tightly, biting the bear's shoulder and throat, while the armored bear bit the base of its wings. In short, the bear's head didn't move for a while, so Cheng Yijiu closed in at a distance of about 20 meters and shot the armored bear in the head.

This was composite armor. First, there was the scales that covered the entire head. From Cheng Yijiu's observations, their hardness was roughly comparable to armored steel of the same thickness. Then there was the muscle layer beneath the scales, which was probably as tough as old rubber. Finally, there was the skull, which was just as hard as the scales but much thicker. A 9mm bullet wouldn't even penetrate the scales and would definitely bounce off.

The tungsten alloy bullet, with its lead core, was still heavy enough to prevent it from drifting, and naturally, it also had greater kinetic energy. The shot landed squarely between the armored bear's eyebrows. The angle of impact was truly excellent, almost vertical. Cheng Yijiu practically watched as the armor shattered, a hole appearing on the bear's forehead. To the naked eye, it looked like the bullet had entered the body.

The armored bear suddenly stopped moving. "It's luck, and it's also because I have Arudimula. Those adventure groups were just hunting deer or something, and suddenly this beast with excellent speed, defense and strength rushed out. It's easy for them to be beaten to a pulp in a panic." In fact, it can be seen from the corpses that many of them were killed by their own bullets.

It was only later torn apart by the bear, but the fatal or serious injuries were definitely caused by human ammunition.

The armored bear's mouth was loose, its tongue hanging out. As a seasoned hunter who had killed many bears, Cheng Yijiu knew this bear was doomed. Sure enough, with a rumbling sound, the beast collapsed to the ground, its flames extinguished. "Even lying on the ground, it's still taller than a human."

Cheng Yijiu confirmed that the armored bear was dead. The bullet had penetrated the scales and skull directly, much like an armor-piercing bullet after piercing armor. The bullet shattered, messing up the entire brain, and the bear died quickly and efficiently. In this case, the bullet's armor-piercing ability was quite good. The bear's scales and skull were indeed comparable to steel of a corresponding thickness, roughly equivalent to World War I armor steel.

The combined thickness of the armor was enough to penetrate a half-meter thick steel plate. This armor-piercing capability is truly exaggerated. It was a stroke of luck...

Anyway, what Cheng Yijiu knew was that even with a tungsten carbide bullet, the 7.62mm caliber Winchester Magnum rifle bullet should not have such strong penetrating power. It can only be said that this shot was a coincidence... sometimes it's just a coincidence.

He used a branch to test the depth of the two bullet holes in the bear's body. "Damn it! They're less than a meter deep! They haven't even penetrated the bear's muscle layer at this depth!" Cheng Yijiu cursed. If it weren't for the third shot and Arudimu's fighting spirit, he would have been fleeing in disgrace today. The weapon in his hand was becoming more and more like a firewood stick...

"I'll have to use a 12.7mm rifle from now on. Really... do you know how heavy this caliber is?" He also had to consider the exaggerated recoil. Cheng Yijiu felt that a muzzle brake was necessary, and he also had to rely on a good physique to absorb the recoil... "I'm afraid my shoulders are going to suffer."

He definitely wouldn't use 700 rounds. The round nose is fine for pachyderms, but absolutely useless against armored animals. So he'd definitely use the specially formulated 12.7x99 round, which is very versatile. He'd probably have to make his own rifle, but bolt-action rifles are surprisingly simple.

Let the manticore drag the dead bear out—they'd have to heal its wounds first. Despite its thick fur, the bear's bite was strong, leaving a large, bloody hole at the base of its wing. So Cheng Yijiu had to use his veteran hunter skills to see if there were any abnormalities with Arudimurra's tendons, and if possible, try to sew them up.

"There might be a problem with the tendon. I can only stop the bleeding. Wait for me to call two heavy-lift helicopters to take you to a large hospital for treatment and take this monster for autopsy." Cheng Yijiu ran to the car and picked up the long-distance communication phone. Then he activated the autopilot system and drove the car back along the road. He took the helicopter with the manticore and the armored bear corpse to the station.

"This thing's fur is quite prickly." Cheng Yijiu stroked the bear's mohawk, a red with a hint of blood. Its front paws were quite developed, disproportionately large. If Cheng Yijiu hadn't fired both bullets into the back of the bear's shoulder, severely damaging one of its front legs, Arudimuola might have been dizzy from the slap.

After all, the Manticore isn't big enough...

Half an hour later, two heavy-lift helicopters arrived, one behind the other. There wasn't enough space here, but there was a built-up area about fifty meters away where they could land. A small flatbed truck then took the body and the Scorpion Lion to the helicopters. Cheng Yijiu also boarded the Scorpion Lion helicopter and took off for the station.

He was actually quite curious about what the bear was good for—perhaps its bile had some miraculous properties? He definitely couldn't eat the paws; they were covered in scales, with sharp claws, and the flesh must be tougher than old cowhide. He'd probably press them in a high-pressure steamer for a whole day and night without softening them—he'd have to use chemical methods to do it.

Chapter Four

The carcass brought to the station attracted a crowd of onlookers—a bear-like mutant of this magnitude was truly rare, so rare that half its hair had transformed into scales, perhaps borrowing a technique from pangolins. Its fashionable, rebellious hairstyle and unusually developed front paws only confirmed the bear's exceptional strength—giving it the air of a street urchin. The fact that the Administration could actually hunt down such a massive monster reassured everyone.

Cheng Yijiu was certainly commended. They'd originally planned to dispatch an entire processing team, but unexpectedly, a single investigator managed to complete the task. The biologist in charge of the autopsy exclaimed to Cheng Yijiu, who was watching from the side, "You're damn lucky!" Facing the armored bear, whose skin had been peeled off, revealing the underlying muscles and a portion of the skeleton, the biologist leaned in to examine the hole in the center of the skull.

"A tungsten carbide bullet actually penetrated. I'm sure the second one you fired nearby probably got stuck there." The biologist had a hard time getting the bone sample. The small electric bone saw was visibly sparking. With sweat pouring down his forehead and cramped hands, he finally managed to cut off a fingernail-sized sample. Cheng Yijiu just smiled and said, "My luck has always been good."

The bear bile in this thing is almost as big as a water tank. When it was taken out for analysis, the biologist looked at Cheng Yijiu and said, "According to the rules, you are rich! This thing may have special miraculous effects on liver and gallbladder diseases." The biologist is also a half-medical expert. He can make a rough inference just by looking at the ingredients - some ingredients have not even appeared before, and they can only be roughly distinguished as certain molecules. In short, the effect can be seen from the bear bile.

The meat is definitely inedible. I guess you'll have to add a lot of baking soda or acetic acid to cook it, or you can try marinating it with digestive enzymes. But don't expect too much effect...

While performing the autopsy, the biologist chatted with Cheng Yijiu, "Mental strength has been proven to be a form of power. I think the reason your bullet penetrated this guy's skull is because your mental strength at that moment broke through a limit and attached to the bullet, thus achieving a 'miracle'."

"Have you figured out this so-called spiritual power? The world has changed so much." Cheng Yijiu watched him examine a tendon. In another medical room, the manticore had a veterinarian examine the bite site to see if the tendon was twisted. If not, they'd simply apply some medicine and let it heal. In the anatomy room, a group of people worked together to dissect the giant bear into its components.

"After the mutation, most of the internal organs of this thing, except for the body, are treasures." The biologist pointed to the numbers on the screen and said, "Look at this activity! And these separated unknown components." Even the scales of this bear are useful, and its red hair has been confirmed to have special activity as well, which seems to have miraculous effects on hair growth or something.

In short, if the bounty is included, this thing can bring Cheng Yijiu nearly 10 million in income - this is because there were no samples before and the purpose of many collected organs is still unknown. If the purpose is figured out later, it may be possible to sell it for tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.

"Hey, it's been a while. Most of this station is now finished." This is a massive commercial center, a kind of fortress. Here, you can buy all your daily necessities and adventuring supplies, recycle all your loot, and there are also offices for various professional research institutes and companies to discuss partnerships. There's also a well-equipped hospital and a museum showcasing biological life. Of course, there's also an annex to house the adventuring team members.

The large warehouse was used to store weapons and ammunition, and the returning train was filled with unarmed personnel.

There was no need for Cheng Yijiu to go to the warehouse. He could just carry his gun and find a ride with the adventure group that was passing by. If there was no ride, he could spend the night here. If there was still no ride, he could ride the scorpion lion back.

The next mission seemed to be approaching—the mission cycles seemed a bit shorter lately. "I didn't drive here, otherwise I could have bought a lot of stuff to take back." He was also browsing the mall—unlike the big malls in the city, this mall not only sold a lot of daily necessities, but also a lot of things that couldn't be sold in the city. From bulletproof vests and crossbows to guns, ammunition, and various accessories.

"The closest thing to legality here are the various hunting knives. A blade no longer than ten centimeters is legal - unfortunately, no hunting knife has a blade shorter than ten centimeters. Many folding knives and utility knives are legal, but these can also be bought in the city." Cheng Yijiu looked at the various knives on the knife counter, many of which were American brands - in fact, due to cost considerations, most of the knives of some commercial brands are still produced domestically.

Only a few high-priced hand-forged knives are made in the United States. Now, with the emergence of a domestic market, some domestic knifemakers have also embarked on the path of custom-making high-end hand-forged knives. The knife counter is large, and next to it is the bow and crossbow area. A variety of hunting bows and compound bows are displayed on the shelves, and of course there are also a wide variety of crossbows.

These cold weapons do have some use. According to the biologist, when spiritual power emerges, it can imbue arrows with it, unleashing extraordinary abilities. Normally, they're only useful for hunting ordinary creatures, perhaps even deer with mutated bodies. Encountering an armored bear is a sure thing. The biggest buyers of these items, including knives, are actually residents visiting from the city—after all, there's this new-age "zoo" here.

Besides, you can play with guns here...

The firearms and ammunition area was several times larger than the area for knives, cold weapons, and bows and crossbows. Pistols, rifles, submachine guns, assault rifles, and even machine guns, all secured with safety cords and placed on shelves enclosed by tempered glass, were a dazzling array. The Americans had abolished the ban on automatic weapons. They were experiencing similar changes there, and due to population distribution, the situation was even more complex than back home.

China, however, had never established a ban on automatic weapons from the outset; it simply liberalized everything, though regulations on handguns were tightened. Even Cheng Yijiu found himself immersed in the gun sales area, joining the throngs of tourists. The liberalized Chinese market was enormous, boasting brands from every small arms manufacturer in the world. Glock, SIG Sauer, Beretta, and even Hucker, Colt, and many others were all heavily marketed.

Unfortunately, there are no skilled gunsmiths in China yet, and customized private adjustments are not yet supported.

chapter Five

Cheng Yijiu reached the rifle. He hadn't seen any bullpup rifles in the adventure group, but he'd heard quite a few tourists bought them. The rifles the adventure group bought were mostly high-powered, mostly semi-automatic. Fully automatics, due to recoil, were only used by truly strong men. Hunting large beasts like those without full-power ammunition was a real challenge. With the help of powered exoskeletons, Cheng Yijiu had seen people wield the Cospree Rambo.

They typically used modified PKM or MG machine guns equipped with magazines and detachable belts, firing the standard 7.62 Winchester Magnum round. They prioritized power—the standard NATO full-power rounds and the Russian Type 54 round were considered underpowered. The adventuring groups' vehicles were uniformly equipped with Lao Gan Ma—a proven and reliable weapon. Many also used the Type 89 heavy machine gun.

A few are also equipped with 14.5 anti-aircraft machine guns, which are used to suppress any giant and ferocious armored beasts that may appear.

What would happen if you actually encountered one of these beasts? Normally, you'd force them back, rarely kill them outright, and more often, you'd be injured. The armored bear's scales, combined with the underlying muscle cushioning, have proven that 12.7mm machine gun fire only causes minor injuries, as the scales jam the bullet and the fat cushioning muscles bruise.

Unless they are all equipped with tungsten carbide bullets, that’s another matter.

If that happens, the adventure group will go bankrupt.

Therefore, most people who actually venture into the woods use semi-automatic rifles. A small number of rounds can be quite effective with mutual cover. As for shotguns firing slugs? Again, they're underpowered. They need to replace the propellant or adopt new ammunition—like a 12-gauge shotgun with an extended cartridge, extending the cartridge to 110mm. For lead ammunition, either use slugs or six-bullet 00 rounds—and considering penetration, tungsten alloy pellets are a good option.

It's definitely not a pump-action shotgun, as the magazine only holds three or four rounds. It's better to just use a double-barreled short-handed cannon or a double-barreled shotgun. This thing is a weapon for close-range, desperate fights. Even 12.7mm armor-piercing bullets can't kill monsters, and don't expect to be instantly killed by tungsten alloy bullets at very close range. It can only make you look a little brave and unyielding.

It's the same as a pistol on your waist.

In reality, the real culprits for these kinds of situations within these adventuring groups are their bazookas or rocket-propelled grenades. Equipped with armor-piercing warheads, they're incredibly effective against heavily armored creatures—for example, the mutated giant crocodiles and monitor lizards now common in the south. These reptiles are several times larger than before and are rapidly reclaiming their historical range.

Mutated saltwater crocodiles have reappeared in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and parts of Hunan. These monsters rapidly grow to over ten meters in length, their carapaces thick enough to rival steel. A 54R intermediate-power round leaves only a white spot. They require large-caliber machine gun fire within 500 meters to inflict damage—and large-caliber sniper rifles are surprisingly effective in this regard.

A skilled shooter could easily kill a crocodile like this with a single shot into its eye from several hundred meters away. The success rate was roughly 20%, but failure meant the crocodile would be chasing him.

"That's too much, isn't it? Even the Yangtze alligators are growing to over three meters tall, but they're still pretty harmless, primarily surviving on small animals, fish, and frogs." Cheng Yijiu was still at the station. He'd booked a hotel room and was scrolling through the news on the large screen on the wall. It listed a number of mutant animals that had appeared in various places, including the reappearance of extinct species.

For example, the Chinese Hanyu crocodile—a fish-eating crocodile that became extinct at the end of the Tang or Song dynasties—seems to have been reported in Fujian province, with a long-snouted crocodile measuring over ten meters long. It's not a gharial, so it must be this extinct crocodile. Furthermore, reports have also emerged from Southeast Asia and Australia, where some species still survive, of giant saltwater crocodiles measuring around twenty meters long and giant anacondas of roughly the same length.

These are monsters that ordinary bullets can't deal with...

I heard there were even more terrifying monsters in South America. Hundreds of farms and settlements originally established in the rainforest have vanished in the Amazon's "rebound," leaving few survivors. The Amazon rainforest has expanded significantly, not only regaining its 16th-century size but even growing. Several Brazilian cities were abandoned and swallowed by the rainforest. Fortunately, the population escaped in time, so only a few hundred thousand people died.

The problem with the Amazon is that tens of thousands of insect species have been discovered to have mutated, becoming large, beautiful, and incredibly ferocious and poisonous. This is much better in subtropical and temperate climate zones. At least there aren't as many colorful venomous insects and countless venomous snakes... The Amazon also has a plethora of poisonous plants, some of which are now showing signs of evolving into active, predatory, carnivorous plants.

Of course, the native animals of the Amazon have also mutated, and they have progressed together with the plants.

Cheng Yijiu flipped through the ever-lengthening catalog of mutated creatures. "I'm afraid the Earth's ecosystem is about to undergo a complete transformation. The number of unmutated protozoa is dwindling. Sigh..." Could this be another mass extinction? But it didn't look like it right now, as many extinct species had reappeared and mutated, making it hard to say. I heard the Huangpu River area was fine, but large aquatic animals were appearing throughout the Yangtze River basin.