Infinite Hunter

In the jungle, Cheng Yijiu's agility was no different from that of a large cat. Initially, he fled deeper into the forest at the same pace as an ordinary person. After running for a few kilometers, he retreated, following his footprints. When he found the right spot, he leaped from thin air and grabbed a branch overhead. Using his waist and abdomen to pull the branch down, he used the momentum to flip over and press his feet against the trunk again.

This was like a leopard leaping over a distance of five or six meters. This height was more than ten meters above the ground. Cheng Yijiu reached out and grabbed, the tips of his fingers almost digging into the bark, easily securing himself. Cheng Yijiu looked up to confirm his position, nimbly climbed up again, and then made a fast and long leap.

He came to a large tree near the door of the house, stood on a branch more than 20 meters above the ground, squatted down and began to observe the situation. More than two hours later, following the sound of barking dogs, General Zaroff and his giant servant with the dogs went out to enjoy their happy hunting life.

"You're dressed really well. Do you really treat this as a leisurely trip?" Cheng Yijiu thought in the tree. The hunting dogs barked deeply, pulling the rope extremely tight. If it weren't for the giant Ivan's size and strength, anyone else would have been dragged away by the dogs.

"It's really unfair. He has to carry outdated weapons and dogs. How can he not be confident in his tracking ability?" Cheng Yijiu thought, and once again confirmed that this general was not a hunter as strong as he said, but was just a hobbyist - in comparison, the American was a little stronger, but not much better.

Cheng Yijiu also had a dog, but it was like a pet now, and it hadn't been activated in a long time. He had always believed that relying on dogs for tracking and hunting was usually a bit weak. Cheng Yijiu just watched the group of people and their dogs pass below him. After they walked a little further away, Cheng Yijiu landed silently on the ground, pushed open the door, and walked in.

While guests were supposed to rest in the guest rooms, Cheng Yijiu went straight to the kitchen, where he grabbed a large loaf of black bread, a large sausage, some jam, and, of course, a large bowl of borscht simmering on the stove. He sat in the kitchen and devoured the food. He finished it in less than half an hour, rested for a while on the living room sofa, and then leisurely walked out.

This time he chose to leave in a different direction. That night, he did not meet the White Russian general again. But Cheng Yijiu could imagine how bad this guy's face must be... "I hope he will have a heart attack and die of fright."

Chapter 12

Cheng Yijiu disappeared into the jungle, this time wanting to survey the island's size and topography. He estimated the island's area to be no more than twenty square kilometers. Given the general's skill, he wouldn't have been able to capture the escaping sailors on a larger island. It took Cheng Yijiu two hours to traverse the jungle—and that was while he was hopping along branches—and he had almost pinpointed the coastline where the house crossed the jungle, about ten kilometers away.

The other side must be shorter, probably only three or four kilometers to reach the coast. This is the long side of the island. As for the width, you can always see at least one side of the coastline from the tree trunks, which means it is not wide. After studying the length and width, Cheng Yijiu climbed up the tree and fell asleep. In the villa, the general's expression was as Cheng Yijiu expected, very ugly - this was the first time, the first time he was tricked by his "prey", the first time the prey invaded his nest.

After invading, it brazenly devoured some of his stored food, even seemingly taking a leisurely rest. The thought of such prey lingering here, awaiting his return, filled General Zaroff with both trepidation and excitement. This was the kind of hunting he desired, the thrill of a blade against his neck, a life-or-death moment. And so, not long after, a shrill laugh like a night owl echoed from the house.

Cheng Yijiu couldn't hear anything. He had taken a nap on a tree near the beach, building a nice hut out of leaves—just like a gorilla. He didn't get wet even when it rained in the middle of the night. His strong physique made him completely fearless of these climate changes. As the sun rose, the sound of dogs barking could be heard from the house. Cheng Yijiu listened to the sound as it began to move away and then closer. "Searching in circles? It seems the dogs have trouble tracking my scent."

Cheng Yijiu began to move on the tree, actively approaching the general and his entourage. He used the lush leaves to hide his figure. Through the leaves, his eyes stared coldly at the two people and the pack of dogs below. He drew his hunting knife from his waist and said, "First, I'll collect a small interest."

Hunting dogs aren't particularly useful in the rainforest. Their purpose is to chase prey away from close range rather than to search for it. Their greatest use is to boost their courage and buy time. So Cheng Yijiu chose the little giant Ivan as his target. The hunter vanished silently in the woods, only to reappear behind the group. Cheng Yijiu covered himself in mud and silently approached from behind.

The position was like this: Ivan was walking in front with the dogs, and the General was about two meters behind him, a body length apart, so they could see each other. Cheng Yijiu was approaching from the other side, with the General behind Ivan to the right, while Cheng Yijiu passed him from the left and then approached from an almost parallel direction, even getting down on all fours as he approached, like a tiger.

Ivan was attacked when he was within two meters of the target. Cheng Yijiu pounced on him from the side and stabbed his neck directly from the side. His arm moved his wrist, and the blade directly cut through the entire neck of the little giant, including the two arteries, esophagus and trachea, except for the cervical vertebrae and a little flesh on one side. The little giant was almost immediately disabled, and his life was in countdown.

Cheng Yijiu did not slow down at all. He completely ignored the double-barreled shotgun tucked under the little giant's armpit, and instead sank down and pounced, avoiding the general's aiming and firing - the guy's reaction was also extremely fast, and he pulled the trigger directly. If Cheng Yijiu had not held the little giant's body and sank down quickly, allowing half of the little giant's body to be hit by several buckshot, he would have been accidentally hit by one or two lead bullets.

Now he had grabbed the barrel of the other man's gun, and the general couldn't hold it under the force of the lever, so Cheng Yijiu snatched it away. The general still had a pistol, but Cheng Yijiu swung the gun, hitting the general hard, causing him to pause. The next moment, the blade was close to his neck, and Cheng Yijiu had already circled behind him. With a twist of his left wrist, he had already turned the general's gun over, grasped the handle, pointed it at the dogs, and pulled the trigger.

The deer bullets sprayed, and the dogs wailed. "I'll be back," Cheng Yijiu whispered in the general's ear. He then kicked the general away and disappeared into the jungle in a few seconds. The general must have looked very happy, so Cheng Yijiu left the place happily, deciding to come back tomorrow to kill the general's dogs.

As for General Zaroff, his hands were shaking. Death had never been so close. This was the most dangerous prey. Ivan the Giant, his faithful servant, had died without any effect, his face pale and every drop of blood drained from his body. The Tartar monster had killed Ivan as if he had killed a rabbit... Two of his dogs were killed on the spot, and another was so badly injured that he had to be freed.

The general recalled everything that had just happened. His teeth chattered, his back aching from the kicks from Cheng Yijiu. He was filthy, his so-called elegant demeanor gone. Could he summon his courage again? Find that thrill of life? Cheng Yijiu felt the possibility of a mental breakdown was even greater. His previous hunts had always gone smoothly, the kind where servants would herd the prey out and he'd just aim and fire.

Cheng Yijiu went to the beach and washed himself. There was a freshwater area there—that was the freshwater lens that accumulated when it rained every day on the island. It turned into spring water and could also wash away the salt on his body. As for food, Cheng Yijiu thought the dog he had killed could provide it—as long as he returned in time.

Indeed, the general hadn't even set a trap, allowing Cheng Yijiu to easily carry off a dog's corpse. He skinned it, rinsed it, and "purified" it with fire before enjoying a delicious meal. That night, they were still in the same leaf-covered hut from before. This hut was very difficult to spot from below, and the general hadn't taken his dogs out hunting tonight. As Cheng Yijiu approached, he heard roars and gunshots coming from the house.

The next day, Cheng Yijiu waited for a long time, but didn't see the general leave, so he approached the house. "What a coward! I'll just go in and end his life." Cheng Yijiu didn't go directly through the main door, but instead climbed onto the roof, ready to launch a surprise attack from above.

Chapter XIII

Without modern surveillance equipment, it would be impossible for the owner of a colonial-style mansion like this to control everything. "Ivan is really capable. This house is quite large, yet he manages to keep it quite clean—even though it rains every day in a place like this, so there's not much dust to begin with." Cheng Yijiu easily opened the skylight in the mansion's attic. As for whether the rainwater intrusion would cause the attic to leak and rot, that was none of his business.

Never mind General Zaroff, he's going to die soon and there's no need to worry about it.

Cheng Yijiu silently circled the attic, which was neatly packed and covered with white linen to prevent dust from accumulating. He found the small door, but he didn't open it because the latch was on the outside. He climbed out the window again, this time circling the outside of the house, trying to identify the general by the smell coming through the window. He first smelled the odor of a rotting corpse.

He cautiously approached the window and observed. A man lay in the room, beginning to decay. A single glance told Cheng Yijiu that he had been shot dead in front of his face, then left to rot without a scratch. At this temperature, within twenty-four hours, he'd already grown into a giant. Flies had appeared from nowhere in the room, and maggots were crawling all over him.

"Without Ivan, you're too lazy to even clean up the bodies?" Cheng Yijiu sighed. He walked around the house and entered through a side door that should have been the kitchen. He casually took down a hanging sausage and started chewing on it. He hadn't eaten in a while and was already hungry. There was no drinking water in the kitchen, but there was alcohol. As expected of a Russian. He grabbed a large bottle of light beer and drank it.

After reaching the kitchen door, Cheng Yijiu finished his wine and meat and stood there without pushing the door open. He paused for a moment, took a large step sideways, and suddenly, with a sweeping kick, kicked the door open. Not surprisingly, a gunshot rang out. Cheng Yijiu had already grabbed a can of ketchup and slammed it against the door frame like a trebuchet, sending the can flying. A second shot rang out.

Cheng Yijiu was no longer on the ground. Instead, he swiftly climbed to the ceiling from a corner, using the wall as a tool. Relying on his extraordinary strength and the hunting knife in his hand, he easily moved across the ceiling. The general rushed in. As Cheng Yijiu had expected, he was armed with a double-barreled shotgun, already loaded, but also a six-shooter revolver. Cheng Yijiu's commanding attack caught the general off guard.

He roughly aimed at Cheng Yijiu, pulling the trigger, but only managed to fire two bullets before Cheng Yijiu pulled him down. One bullet missed, but the other struck Cheng Yijiu in the chest. Cheng Yijiu exerted his strength, forcing the bullet head out of the wound with his pectoralis major, where it clanged to the ground. By this time, Cheng Yijiu had already successfully broken the general's right hand, while his left arm had been sliced ​​by the hunting knife, severing the tendons.

Cheng Yijiu snatched the revolver away, and kicked the hunting rifle aside. "General Zharov, you're even less suited to being a hunter than you think," Cheng Yijiu said. "You've even lost the courage to draw your sword and fight." He stood there, looking down at the general lying on the ground. The general's eyes were filled with madness, but also with fear. "The only thing you had was waiting for me at the door just now. You have some skills—your perception is not bad. But your mentality is not so good."

After saying that, he fired the remaining four bullets at the general's head in one breath.

The general's head turned into a rotten watermelon, and he went to see God very straightforwardly. Cheng Yijiu threw the revolver on the dead body - Webley's tattered revolver was not a giant python or a red-headed eagle, and he would not want it even if it was given to him for free. "Is the mission over? Apart from being a little troublesome in the wild, his performance as a hunter is just average." Cheng Yijiu sighed.

Just as he expected. After pushing open the door, he returned to the small hall. "The mission is over?" Cheng Yijiu was a little unsure, but that didn't stop him from taking a shower and changing into a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Out of habit, he slung a Competitor single-shot pistol at his waist. When he opened the door again, he was in the wilderness again.

This time, however, he was accompanied by a shabby car, an old Toyota that appeared to have broken down. "Not finished yet? Oh, damn! I only had twelve rounds of ammunition," Cheng Yijiu cursed inwardly. Looking up, he saw that this was undoubtedly a temperate forest. A road stretched through the forest, leading off into the distance. Just as Cheng Yijiu began studying the trees, a car drove up from the road and, upon reaching his location, had also broken down.

"Damn it!" The five people who got out of the car, three men and two women, asked, "Hey, man, did you break down here too?" Among the men, there was a black man and two white people. The black man immediately asked. Cheng Yijiu nodded, "Something is wrong with this place." He kicked the tires, "All four tires are punctured. Someone spread spikes on the road." The same thing happened to the car of the five people who had just broken down. The rough but long iron nails pierced the tires, and three of the four tires were blown out.

The two cars couldn't fit together to create four complete tires, and there was no signal on the phone. "This hellhole feels a little familiar to me," Cheng Yijiu thought. The two women, one blonde and one brunette, were both considered beauties. The six of them began to debate what to do. Should they stop here and wait for passing cars, or should they go forward and find a gas station or a populated area to call for help? Cheng Yijiu thought heading into the mountains would be a better option, as he had almost figured out what this hellhole world was like.

"Fatal Bend?" he thought. "So they're asking me to hunt cannibals? They're considered the most dangerous prey." But then he thought about it. These deformed creatures possessed greater stamina and strength than the average human, and their intelligence wasn't low. They were especially capable of setting vicious traps. Wasn't it inappropriate to consider them dangerous prey? Besides, didn't they also hunt the unfortunate for food? They were far more dangerous than the General.

Cheng Yijiu pulled a pistol from his waist, a move that immediately made the five men nervous. "Hey, guys, don't be like this. It's okay, it's okay. We're all good people," they all said, regardless of gender. "It's not you, it's this jungle that's dangerous. Don't you feel that?" Cheng Yijiu casually explained. He had looked inside the Toyota. There was nothing useful in the trunk or the cabin, except for a kettle, which might be of some use.

He took the canteen with him and said, "Stay together, everyone! Find something to use as a weapon. I'm going to go check out the woods. Damn, America is prone to producing these kind of messed-up highway murderers and serial killers!"

Chapter Fourteen

The general public in the US has a relatively rigid view of Asians—especially in movies, where they're known for their high IQ and weak, confrontational nature. Those hard-fought Asians are typically from Hong Kong and portrayed as comic relief. Cheng Yijiu's performance here, however, is even more Indian-esque. From their expressions, Cheng Yijiu understood the situation perfectly. "Don't you know the Chinese are a war-crazed race?"

This jungle was filled with deadly traps and traps—these guys weren't planning on eating people alive anyway, they were just chopping them up. The traps were crude, but quite brutal. Cheng Yijiu hadn't even gone twenty meters up the mountain when he found one—"Holy crap, that's too fucking brutal." A rolling raft was hanging from a tree, its logs covered in sharp wooden forks. If you got hit by one of those, you'd be dead.

There were traps underground, filled with sharp wooden stakes. Falling into them would be chilling. To Cheng Yijiu, whose senses were as sharp as a big cat and whose intelligence was that of a human, these traps were obvious. Cheng Yijiu half-crouched, hiding himself behind a tree. Using his full senses of smell and hearing, he could still hear several heavy footsteps approaching, and the wind carried a fishy smell...

It has to be said that the body odor of these mutants is stronger than that of the few white-skinned black guys outside, whose body odor is almost the same as that of a cesspool. If the wind is favorable, not to mention wild beasts, even humans can smell it from dozens of meters away. Cheng Yijiu can smell it even more clearly. He frowned and felt a little unbearable.

He lifted the competitor in his hand and used his ears and smell to identify the direction and height, but ultimately, he still needed to see with his eyes - so Cheng Yijiu crouched silently, his hands and feet touching the ground, moving as fast as his ancient ancestors. His mind was filled with the sounds and smells of footsteps coming from all directions, and he carefully chose an outside line to move.

"How ugly," Cheng Yijiu thought to himself. He had already spotted one of the cannibal monsters. He was moving upwards, essentially descending from the heights of the hills to catch the cannibals. He saw one first. It was nearly two meters tall, with a stout build. Its clothes were tattered, and its face was clearly deformed. "It even has facial features." He had never seen the entire movie "Wrong Turn," so Cheng Yijiu was astonished when he saw the face of one of the monsters.

Although the position is a little different, this thing really has complete facial features...

"I'm starting to get really curious about your skull. I really want to collect it," Cheng Yijiu thought, and he raised his pistol and aimed it at the midpoint of the torso. Firing at this angle would at least shatter the spine, causing paraplegia. It would usually shatter the lungs, causing death by suffocation, and of course, it could also shatter the heart, causing a quick death. Cheng Yijiu was using lead-core bullets, and one shot was guaranteed to achieve this effect.

The cannibals weren't wearing body armor, so... Cheng Yijiu's competitor's gunfire was quite powerful—it was a Magnum round, after all—and the cannibal was easily ripped in two by the bullet. The bullet did everything Cheng Yijiu had hoped for, first breaking his spine, then the shattered bullet ripped both lungs into shredded flesh. Luckily, his heart was spared for the time being...

The cannibal was almost instantly disabled, and collapsed against the tree trunk, pink bubbles coming out of his mouth and nostrils. The bow and arrow, although crudely made, was definitely very powerful, fell to the ground. Cheng Yijiu did not rush to collect it, but quickly moved his body to change the combat position. With a flick of his thumb, the gun barrel ejected, and the shell was ejected and fell to the ground. He took out the second bullet and loaded it, and locked it with a click of his thumb.

At this time, he had already formed a situation of sneak attack from behind with the second prey. Even though the cannibals had the advantage of being familiar with the geography in the jungle, Cheng Yijiu had a greater advantage physically - they were actually fighting against a Bengal man-eating tiger that could use guns and had human intelligence, so there was no way they could win.

In fact, these cannibals are quite clever. They were circumventing the traps in the jungle to launch their attacks, and now it seems that prey has appeared. Those Americans who stopped on the road were seeking their own death. "They heard the gunshots and didn't hide in the car?" Cheng Yijiu saw them and heard their footsteps. "Five of them actually came together?" He was also astonished.

If they stayed on the road, Cheng Yijiu could protect them if he was quick, but if they went up the mountain, they would have to leave it to fate - if they fell into a trap, there would be no way to save them.

Ignoring them for now, Cheng Yijiu aimed at the second axe-wielding fellow. He couldn't see the face of this cannibal, but judging by the bumpy, potato-like head and the sparse yellow hair on it, he was certain he was a terrifying figure. He wanted the head too, as he did of most cannibals. So he aimed for the torso again, and this time, he fired a clean shot.

The distance was less than 20 meters, and Cheng Yijiu couldn't possibly miss at this distance. He fell instantly after one shot, and Cheng Yijiu was too lazy to check whether he was dead or not. Regardless of whether he was dead or not, he would definitely be dead after killing the other cannibals.

There were still three cannibals left, a fact Cheng Yijiu had been certain of from the start. Gunfire rang out again, but unlike his own, this one was from a shotgun. "Oh, it looks like they're going to use hot weapons," Cheng Yijiu said, ejecting the shell and reloading. This time, he stood up and ran quickly. In the blink of an eye, he was face to face with a short cannibal. A quick glance revealed the guy's face—aside from the different sizes of his eyes, there was nothing unusual about it. So, he decisively fired, blowing his head off before he could react.

The head wasn't good enough, so Cheng Yijiu shot him in the head from a close range of less than five meters. The opponent was holding a spear, so he couldn't reach Cheng Yijiu. Moreover, the opponent was not mentally prepared at all and was hit in the blink of an eye. Screams drifted through the woods, and it seemed that something had already happened there. Cheng Yijiu walked over at a moderate pace - he didn't want to be careless and run into a trap, which would be a joke.

Finally, two cannibals gathered, one holding a shotgun and the other a machete, as they cut up the body of a little black man. The little black man had died a horrible death, his stomach nearly shattered by the shotgun. It must have been the cannibal with the machete who decisively chopped off his head to put an end to his suffering...

Chapter 15

The three of them exchanged bewilderment, two stunned, one prepared. Cheng Yijiu pulled the trigger with lightning speed. The Magnum bullet instantly exploded in the chest of the cannibal holding the shotgun, carving a hole in the front and a basin-sized crater in the back. If they could still aim and fire, then these cannibals were definitely not Earth creatures.

The other cannibal was easy to deal with. Reloading the bullets was probably too late, but rushing over and fighting was definitely a no-brainer. The pistol was quickly drawn, and the hunting knife was already in hand. When Cheng Yijiu rushed over, the cannibal had just stood up. With a flick of his arm, Cheng Yijiu reversed his grip on the hunting knife and stabbed him. With the force of the rush and the strength of his own arms, the cannibal, who was only two meters tall and the strongest, was no match for him.

He thrust his knife in, then braked quickly to avoid running into the stinking creature. He then unleashed a powerful blow, slicing through its tough flesh and skin, and of course, its internal organs. His stomach was ripped open, and the severed organs began to splatter out. His impending death was arguably even more tragic than Xiao Hei's.

Xiao Hei ate heartily, but the cannibal had to struggle for at least twenty minutes. Thanks to his strong vitality, the struggle might last up to half an hour.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, that's really neat! I think it's just like that for a piece of pork." Cheng Yijiu shook his head repeatedly as he looked at the black guy's condition. It was true that his skull had been chopped off, and it was still quite fresh, probably no more than twenty minutes old. "I guess I'll split it open later and take away the brains." Cheng Yijiu glanced at the big knife next to the struggling cannibal on the ground. It was heavy and sharp, and it would definitely have no problem cleaving open the skull.

The body had been cut up, the skin already peeled off, and the meat was cut into large chunks like a pig or a cow's limbs. The viscera were already separated—the liver and heart were good stuff, so they were kept separately. Human intestines were probably not suitable for sausages? They seemed to be thrown away. Xiao Hei was clearly being treated like this—when Cheng Yijiu arrived, he was probably trimming the thighs to make smoked ham.

Only Xiao Hei died here, and I don't know what happened to the others. But since all the cannibals here are dead, I think they shouldn't die if they don't run around. As for the appearance of the two cannibals in front of him, Cheng Yijiu carefully examined them to see if they were worth collecting - they had to be deformed. "The brow bone is a little deformed, but the rest of the head is almost normal. Oh, and the teeth are not aligned. That's it. Both heads are not good."

He quickly returned to where the previous cannibals had fallen and cut off two heads—yes, they were already dead when he got there. Judging from their deformed but still hideous expressions, they must have died in extreme pain. With a twist of the hunting knife along the spinal joints, Cheng Yijiu easily removed the two heads. He followed the footprints and found the cabin in the woods.

He found a wooden block outside the house and sat down, knife in hand, and began to peel the skin and flesh from the head. The scalp was unnecessary, so it was peeled off first - this was a traditional American policy. The scalp was casually put on the wooden block, and the blade was used to cut away the muscles on the head. If it weren't for the sink next to him, this job would be really dirty. After a while, Cheng Yijiu raised his head and looked ahead - four people emerged from there.

It was the original group of five. The little black guy had been cut up. If Cheng Yijiu hadn't killed those cannibals, his flesh might have been fried in a frying pan. The four men looked dusty and dirty, and there was even blood on their clothes and bodies, but at least their bodies were intact and not seriously injured. The white man in the lead looked the best. He had a military temperament and must have relevant experience.

They were also very surprised to see Cheng Yijiu. After being attacked and the little black man was taken away, they heard gunshots but thought that the yellow man must have been killed by the monsters here. These monsters were very strong, appearing and disappearing at will, and their strength was extremely strong. The most terrifying thing was the countless traps. They were lucky not to fall into any of them, otherwise they might have been wiped out.

But ever since the gunfire stopped, the entire forest had become incredibly quiet. They hadn't encountered any other cannibals on their way up—a cannibal had appeared briefly before, incredibly strong, and if the four of them hadn't worked together, they wouldn't have been able to repel it. When they came up, they saw that the Asian was actually alive and well, though a bit ferocious.

His hands were covered in blood. What was he holding? A bloody human head, and he was still removing the flesh. One of the skulls was almost reduced to a skeleton. The other one still had the skin on. Everyone knew he was a cannibal. "Oh, you killed them?" the leader couldn't help but blurt out. The others looked at Cheng Yijiu with fear.

"Well, man-eating monsters." Cheng Yijiu gestured casually at the small house behind, "A slaughterhouse on earth... It's simply exaggerated in here." Then he continued to pick the meat on it, "A tooth for a tooth, don't you think their skulls with deformed facial features are quite collectible?" Cheng Yijiu said with a smile, and then saw the people opposite shudder with satisfaction.

"Don't worry, there were only five cannibals here, and I killed them all." Cheng Yijiu stopped talking after that. The most dangerous prey should have ended here, but not in a lukewarm way—Cheng Yijiu had his thoughts on this. Shouldn't the most dangerous prey face the Iron Blood Predator head-on in a tropical jungle or a tropical city? That thing is the most shameless and dangerous thing in the galaxy—hunting in a low-tech world and wearing an invisibility cloak...

He's said to be a warrior fighting with cold weapons, yet he's actually using a plasma shoulder cannon... Never mind that everyone's using ranged weapons, so it's even. Using an invisibility cloak is the most shameless, even if they're just showing up and engaging in a direct fight. Cheng Yijiu feels this thing is truly formidable—there are so many small parts on it, even a naked choke can be broken with a wrist blade. If there's any strength or weakness in the opponent, it's their vision mode.

It's hard to say whether natural spectrum vision or infrared vision is better...

Chapter 16

Is infrared vision suitable in a tropical rainforest? It should be quite suitable, comparable to natural light vision. It's just that this invisibility isn't very friendly to natural light. Using this method, Tiexue appears to be a very capable hunter. Cheng Yijiu had already scraped the flesh off the first skull, removing the tongue and other parts and discarding them in the bushes.

The brain was a little troublesome, but now he could use a stick to insert it through his nostrils to stir it, and then grind it into pieces and let it flow out. This job was never a good job, it could be said to be dirty and disgusting, but Cheng Yijiu had no choice - if he had a lot of mealworms, he could let the worms do it for him.

"Looking at those crooked facial features and those messed-up gums makes me want to see Tiexue's skull even more," Cheng Yijiu muttered to himself. Against Tiexue, his eyes wouldn't be much use—or that damned invisibility. As for Tiexue's weapons? Cheng Yijiu figured he could probably block them with cold iron.

But it seemed this mission wouldn't necessarily bring him into direct confrontation with the Iron Bloods. Thinking of this, Cheng Yijiu clasped his fingers around the eye sockets of the other head. With this hand, clutching the white skull, he walked deeper into the jungle under the horrified gazes of the white men. Cheng Yijiu's style was something these men had never seen before—how could they possibly understand the character of a nation that had long cherished the construction of Jingguan temples?

There was a door standing alone in the jungle. Cheng Yijiu breathed a sigh of relief, pushed the door open and disappeared.

The head was thrown into a mealworm jar, while the skull was soaked in a gasoline can. Then, it was bleached in hydrogen peroxide to remove fat. After drying, a skeleton specimen was ready. Cheng Yijiu took off his clothes and threw them into the basket, which he would then dispose of directly in the incinerator without washing. After a good bath, he had a feeling that his next bath might be a mud bath.

"Next time, I'll bring the cold iron greatsword, and also the lion skin... These missions don't allow you to bring it, but I'll try it next time." Cheng Yijiu had this feeling and thought.

This mission was safe. Cheng Yijiu hadn't felt the danger from beginning to end. With modern firearms and his extraordinary perception, simply hunting ordinary creatures wouldn't pose a threat to him. Extraordinary creatures were another matter... If a life-or-death battle truly came to pass, Cheng Yijiu's weapons would be limited.

Or give those man-eating beasts more abilities - such as intelligence or something. So far, they are just ordinary cunning beasts, and they still follow the laws of nature, that is, only old, weak, sick and disabled beasts will eat people...except bears.

Cheng Yijiu's collection hall was different from other hunters'. He didn't have those majestic deer, argali, or bison heads; instead, his collection consisted entirely of ferocious beasts. No new specimens had been added to this mission—which was perfectly normal, as Cheng Yijiu felt that, unlike General Nawo, he had no interest in collecting taxidermied human heads or anything else.

It's enough to collect odd-shaped skulls...

"What's with this blank pedestal? Are you letting me build my own skull tower?" Cheng Yijiu looked at a square space marked off by red brocade ropes. There was a square pedestal, about half a meter high, that looked like it would be perfect for stacking skulls. "Let's do the math. Five skulls fit on each side. A five-story tower would hold exactly fifty-five skulls..."

Cheng Yijiu looked at the human head crawling with insects in the glass box and estimated that it would be eaten up in about 24 hours. As for the skeleton, it still needed to be soaked in gasoline for two days, and then in hydrogen peroxide for two days. He pushed open the door and returned to his base.

Arudimuara had already stood up, his front paws almost resting on the railing on Cheng Yijiu's working floor below—it was indeed a large beast. Unfortunately, they hadn't hunted together much, except for the last time they killed that red-haired mutant bear. Cheng Yijiu looked down and threw a large piece of meat down. "I think this world is still changing, and bad things are getting more and more."

There shouldn't be any restrictions on things that affect oneself, but methods targeting external objects will probably have various rules and restrictions - for example, there may be monsters that cannot be killed by weapons propelled by chemical or electromagnetic means, monsters that are immune to modern firearms and can only be killed through close combat or bow hunting, and so on...

Such a situation was bound to happen, and Cheng Yijiu felt he could accept it. After all, with Arudimurra, the scorpion lion, fighting those mutated beasts was no problem. Even without the scorpion lion, hadn't he killed the black dragon and the lion of divine blood? The Chosen One of Light was no sham, and by then he should be able to fully unleash the power bestowed by Apollo. The interesting thing is that the power bestowed by the gods is often beyond their control... The gods are more like wish-granting machines.

The snowstorm had subsided, but the temperature continued to drop. The forest and the surrounding base had reached a temperature never before seen in the Magic City—minus 45 degrees Celsius. This was completely unrealistic, as the temperature at the station behind them was over ten degrees Celsius, a difference of fifty or sixty degrees. Furthermore, the temperature hadn't risen gradually, but had suddenly and drastically increased after a certain period of time.

Moreover, there was no air convection between the two, as if the transfer of temperature was cut off. "Hunting activities have to be suspended. I don't know how those beasts can survive in such low temperatures." Cheng Yijiu stood on the tower and looked at the forest through a telescope. It looked like it was frozen, but the ecology of the woods and the marsh was not severed.

He could even see fist-sized insects flitting through the forest, and blossoming flowers that looked like ice crystals, reflecting the light with exquisite beauty. Naturally, giant elk and other animals roamed through the woods, nibbling on the remaining leaves and shrubs. Birds also soared through the trees, and once, Cheng Yijiu even spotted a giant white wolf stalking a herd of deer.

The severe cold weather only slightly altered the forest's ecology. Those creatures that couldn't tolerate the cold should have all gone into hibernation, deep underground or in caves. "Steelblood probably wouldn't be well-adapted to this kind of environment—even though their Alien Trial Grounds are in Antarctica..." Cheng Yijiu thought.

The base had ample energy and thick insulation, so the rooms were warm as spring, even in Arudimu's stables. The security and service personnel had already left by bus before the temperature dropped. Besides Cheng Yijiu, the only people left were the three doctors from the medical station.

Chapter 17

On the computer was an analysis report from the last time a mutant armored bear was hunted. "The value of this thing is greater than originally estimated. Now it seems that there are more and more sightings. This thing might have become a population..." At least nine different individuals of this type of mutant bear have been sighted, but none of them were as big as the one killed by Cheng Yijiu.

Dangerous creatures have multiplied. Even in the bitter cold of winter, reconnaissance planes have spotted giant pythons tens of meters long swimming in the misty warm lakes. Deep in the jungle, birds with wingspans of tens of meters fly. If human aircraft weren't faster, they would probably be shot down.

Fortunately, modern weapons still work, and research into the special abilities of certain mutant creatures has made some progress. This has led to the development of a number of custom weapons made from "organisms." These weapons are made from specific organisms, making them difficult to mass-produce and requiring custom orders. Only those with wealth, power, and talent can access them; wealth and power alone are not enough; those without talent cannot use them.

Cheng Yijiu watched the manticore wallowing in the snow. "If I sold it, I'd probably get a lot more for it." He felt the growing power—an extraordinary power, the divine power bestowed by Apollo growing stronger. "The power of absolute materialism is being confused... How sad," he sighed.

He had already taken out the cold iron sword, but he didn't take out the lion skin. The space on the tower was limited and not enough for practicing swordsmanship. However, he had originally taken it out to try to kill some dangerous mutant creatures.

The massive, ice-armored monster, resembling a cross between a lizard and a lion, was the first to be spotted by Cheng Yijiu nearing the human border—the very reason for their existence: to provide timely warnings of dangerous creatures. "Has your brain been damaged? Coming to test you?" Cheng Yijiu learned all this through a report from above. These mutants, when powerful enough, emit special radiation, and it's precisely this radiation that has led to the development of detection technology.

This monster was detected within 20 kilometers of the border, and all base stations along the route received an alert. Cheng Yijiu used a telescope to identify the monster. "It's about 24 meters long, and it's shaped like a terrestrial crocodile. That's rare. It turns out it doesn't have a lion's head, but fleshy tentacles. They look quite similar."

This monster's body is covered with an ice shell, and its defense seems to be extraordinary. Cheng Yijiu looked at his gun and said, "This thing is definitely useless. We need to use small-caliber artillery to deal with monsters like this. Large-caliber artillery will probably not hurt it unless it hits it directly, otherwise the shrapnel will not hurt it."

Then try the Cold Iron Greatsword. Cheng Yijiu had a feeling this monster might be the beginning of a transformation. He pushed open the door, walked to the second floor shelf, and took down the lion skin. He took out the ointment and began to apply it to his body—a magical ointment bestowed by Apollo that could insulate against both cold and heat. Then, Cheng Yijiu put on the equally blessed armor that protected his calves.

His pants were, of course, ordinary shorts, and he had a box of ointment hanging from his belt, along with a small knife. He wore a short-sleeved, tight-fitting pullover, and a lion skin draped over his body. Cheng Yijiu grabbed his sword and headed out in the freezing weather—the three doctors were all holed up in their rooms playing games and surfing the internet, not even leaving to check on him.