Infinite Hunter

Thanks to Cheng Yijiu's extraordinary reflexes and the modern firearms in his hands, they returned safely to the first floor lobby. "There's still at least two-thirds of this house that I haven't explored, but I've almost found the likely location." He looked at the back of the lobby, where there was an indoor fountain, the main feature of which was a rather gorgeous female statue.

"I think this is very likely what we're looking for." Cheng Yijiu looked at the statue, which held a huge "gem" in its palm. Cheng Yijiu couldn't tell what kind of gem this fist-sized gem was, but a special sense of its presence attracted him. After carefully examining the fountain, Cheng Yijiu was about to remove the gem.

At that moment, accompanied by an eerie roar, a monster crashed through the door and slid into the front of the hall. "Is this thing haunting us?" It was the mutant bat we saw on the roof. Could it be infected with both a parasite and the T-Virus? In any case, charging in would be courting death, as there was no room for it to take off.

The hall was no more than five meters high, so the creature could only attack by crawling on the ground. "Go get the gem!" Cheng Yijiu shouted to Aso, raising his rifle and firing. Initially, he aimed at the bat's head and torso, sending blood flying everywhere. But the monster still managed to crawl around with full strength and attempt to attack. Hiding behind a pillar, Cheng Yijiu switched his aim to the creature's stomach.

After all, it was a rather fat belly, and sure enough, when the bullet entered, all that spurted out was yellow-green liquid, and the monster also let out a painful roar, "So this is your weak spot?" Cheng Yijiu fired a few shots, and without hesitation, he took out a grenade, pried off the safety with his thumb, and threw it directly and accurately into the monster's belly that was torn open by his bullet.

Its stomach exploded in two, yet the monster refused to die. It continued to crawl around, waving its claws and spewing venom, which made Cheng Yijiu feel troubled. Meanwhile, Aso had already taken the gem. As soon as he got it, the lights in the room flickered. Then, Cheng Yijiu noticed something unusual. "Do you think... the walls in this room are a bit yellowed? Like they're decades old?" he asked.

Before Aso could reply, the monster, still relentlessly trying to attack Cheng Yijiu, was ripped apart by bullets amidst the intense gunfire. The firepower was so intense that Cheng Yijiu grabbed Aso and quickly lay down behind the base of the stone pillar, even though the bullet that had penetrated the monster still sent rubble flying overhead. "Oh hell! 5.56 NATO bullets don't have that kind of penetrating power!"

Chapter 20 As expected

Pinned to the base of the stone pillar, Cheng Yijiu dared not even look up. Aso was so frightened he could not speak. He saw the biochemical monster being smashed to pieces. The enemy's firepower was terrifying. The gunfire was quite recognizable, because there were no single shots, but a continuous sound like a chainsaw or ripping cloth. "Damn it, I have a bad feeling!" Cheng Yijiu cursed, unconsciously switching to militia mode.

Although he had a premonition, Cheng Yijiu was still completely surprised when he saw the first guy rushing in. He was wearing a worn M43 combat uniform, an M42 helmet, and holding a familiar weapon: an MP40 submachine gun. He was undoubtedly a soldier from the German Third Reich. Cheng Yijiu also saw almost immediately that the soldier's face was just skin and bones, not the appearance of a living person at all.

"The way the flesh is half-rotten and then dried up and shrunk to wrap around the bones, and the half-bone hand is exposed, it's undoubtedly a zombie!" And it's definitely not a zombie infected by the T virus, more like something else - anyway, the movements of this Nazi soldier are no different from those of a living person, just as fast and agile. Although his nose looks like the nostrils of a rotten and shrunken skull, his eyes are intact.

The German soldier rushed in and quickly moved away to find cover. At the same time, several German zombies armed with K98s rushed in from the door. "Damn, I'm in big trouble now!" Cheng Yijiu wanted to curse but was afraid of attracting the attention of these zombies. Unlike the zombies infected with the T virus, these zombies should have complete intelligence. In any case, he heard all kinds of painful words and could see the soldiers covering each other.

"Damn, most likely the elite troops from the Eastern Front?" Cheng Yijiu rolled over without hesitation, then used the stone pillars on the other side as cover and began firing with his AR15. A 5.56 bullet hit a zombie, and then Cheng Yijiu quickly adjusted the muzzle of the gun for the second shot, hitting the zombie in the head. The zombie soldier he chose was wearing an M43 field cap, so Cheng Yijiu got a good shot.

The zombie took four bullets, two in the head, but surprisingly, it didn't "die." Instead, it yelled and half-turned, preparing to fire its MP40. The other soldiers all noticed Cheng Yijiu, watching their weapons swivel. Cheng Yijiu immediately pulled a grenade from his waist and threw it, then dove behind the goddess statue in the fountain and lay down. A torrent of bullets enveloped his crouching position, followed by a massive explosion.

Cheng Yijiu crawled forward as the strafing outside resumed. The MG42, a formidable weapon, had no trouble suppressing Cheng Yijiu. If they weren't inside a building, even 81mm mortar shells would have been dropped. The grenade explosion killed the zombie he had hit. Cheng Yijiu watched as the creature fell to the ground, gradually turning into a skeleton covered in tattered military uniforms.

This wasn't the T-Virus at all; it was simply a "mysterious force" that had resurrected the long-dead Nazi soldiers. "Think about it, this is a fantasy world... ah, everything makes sense." Cheng Yijiu had figured it all out. Now his only challenge was to win this battle. Zombie soldiers could be defeated; they were just a little tougher than living human soldiers.

"I need a weapon with full-power ammunition?" Cheng Yijiu took advantage of the slight advantage after the grenade explosion and continued firing with his AR15, mowing down the second helmeted soldier. "I wonder if I can capture their weapons?" Cheng Yijiu wondered. The MP40 didn't matter; it used 9mm PA ammunition, and its power and accuracy were completely incomparable to his AR15. And Cheng Yijiu didn't need the Kr98 either.

He wanted the M24 grenades these guys had. They had a large charge and were powerful, and crucially, they had long handles, allowing them to be thrown far and accurately. Of course, if he could capture an MG42, he wouldn't be out of the question to charge forward with it. Anyway, Cheng Yijiu moved quickly, observing the soldiers he had knocked down, reduced to mere skeletons. He did find a few grenades.

Modern automatic firearms still have advantages in this kind of indoor combat. As long as Cheng Yijiu avoids the fire suppression of MG42 at the main gate, lies down and fires on the other side of the wall and doesn't stand up to be knocked down by bullets shot from the window, he can steadily knock down one German soldier after another - there is no other way, the continuous firepower of Kr98 really can't suppress Cheng Yijiu, and Cheng Yijiu dodges too quickly when it comes to grenades.

Cheng Yijiu killed all seven incoming German zombies, but the machine guns outside continued to roar. "I wonder if Aso is still alive?" Cheng Yijiu looked at the mess in the hall. He crawled to the window. The wall below could block 7.62mm bullets, so he carefully squatted and quickly looked out. "Found it! Machine gun fire point!" He saw the muzzle flash, and the machine gun position was about a hundred meters away.

Cheng Yijiu was in a dilemma. The distance was too far. He definitely couldn't throw a grenade. If there were two of them, they could try to suppress the enemy with firepower and then climb out to throw the grenade. But that was impossible now. "We can only climb to the roof and solve the problem from above with a rifle." Cheng Yijiu did it right away. He just took a quick look and found that Aso might not be dead, but it was impossible to go over and pull her out. He could only shout, "Keep lying down!"

Cheng Yijiu quickly ran up the stairs. He had already cleared out the biochemical weapons in here; at least now, they couldn't just appear out of thin air. Cheng Yijiu quickly reached the rooftop. He carefully crawled behind the decorative stone pillars and took a look. The enemy's bullets quickly began to sweep towards the rooftop. "Thankfully, due to the angle, he couldn't hit me unless I climbed to the edge and exposed my head. But the problem is that I couldn't hit him either." He could only throw grenades from a high position, and now he should be able to throw them hundreds of meters.

Just as Cheng Yijiu was thinking this, the machine gun suddenly stopped firing. The opponent was an experienced marksman, not holding his gun. He was suppressing the enemy with short bursts of fire. Cheng Yijiu risked a glance and spotted a Tyrant. The object on the Tyrant's shoulder looked familiar. "RPG?" Cheng Yijiu saw the machine gun fire again, this time aiming decisively at the Tyrant. The long bursts easily shredded the Tyrant's restraining bulletproof coat. The rockets fired by the Tyrant suddenly flew into the sky and landed far away to explode.

The Tyrant fell to the ground right after firing the rocket. It was unknown whether he would evolve or not. Anyway, Cheng Yijiu realized that the machine gunner might need to change positions. The other party knew that he had reached the rooftop and would definitely change positions quickly. Cheng Yijiu immediately took out his gun and opened fire. Unfortunately, this zombie seemed very powerful because this bastard was actually moving while holding the machine gun and firing. The key was that he was quite accurate. So Cheng Yijiu immediately retreated.

Chapter 21: Escape

When he looked out again, Cheng Yijiu discovered the arrival of new troops - these damn Nazi zombies actually had reinforcements. He watched as the BMW truck with broken glass but relatively intact body and the 251 half-track vehicle that seemed to be burnt but also relatively intact drove to the front of the house with the roar of the engine. Under the cover of short bursts of machine gun fire, the zombie soldiers jumped out of the car nimbly and prepared to attack.

There were over twenty soldiers here, plus a machine gun emplacement and the machine gun fire from the Type 251 half-track. It was completely impossible to fight them. "Damn it, we really need to get out of here." He noticed that Aso had also fled upstairs. This girl was quite clever, and she might be a good guerrilla fighter. Cheng Yijiu decided that the best option was to escape from the back as quickly as possible, find a rope, and rappel down.

Outside was a forest. If it were a guerrilla operation in the woods, Cheng Yijiu had some confidence. But as for the street fighting inside the building? Judging by the zombies' movements, they were definitely veterans of street fighting and positional warfare on the Eastern Front. Cheng Yijiu had only gained a small advantage before; if he continued like this, he would probably be dead. After completing the descent with Aso on his back, Cheng Yijiu scrambled back into the woods.

From the house came the roars of real T-Virus zombies and tyrants, before their voices were drowned out by the sound of gunfire. "Damn, there's a rhythm to the gunshots and explosions! No matter how many zombies and tyrants are out there, they're all gone." In the glow of the explosion, Cheng Yijiu could see the silhouettes of the soldiers coordinating with each other. Their skillful tactical movements were beyond the reach of a mediocre militiaman like Cheng Yijiu.

So Cheng Yijiu led Aso quickly through the woods, away from the house. If they wanted to escape completely, they had to go through the woods, around a single building that looked like a church, and then there seemed to be a road. "Don't move!" Cheng Yijiu asked Aso to squat down, and he squatted down himself, using the shadows of the bushes and trees to hide himself. From not far away, a strange conversation came from the voices. Cheng Yijiu could tell it was German. These zombies could actually communicate with each other after being resurrected from the dead.

The light swept across the woods, and Cheng Yijiu carefully looked through the gaps in the bushes. What he saw were zombie soldiers standing on the dirt road, waiting for orders. They were wearing old and even a little torn M43 combat uniforms. Some zombies were wearing M44 camouflage, and the weapons in their hands were either MP40 or Kr98. However, the degree of motorization of this army was quite high - at a quick glance, behind the more than ten soldiers he could see, there were at least two BMW dump trucks.

Cheng Yijiu also saw silhouettes of trucks and what looked like tanks. This was most likely an armored grenadier company... "Bucket trucks, 2 series armored vehicles, 251 half-tracks... Don't get discovered! Damn it." Cheng Yijiu simply lay on the ground motionless. He asked Aso to do the same, and prayed that these zombie soldiers would leave quickly.

Cheng Yijiu had a telescope with him. Shortly afterward, as the enemy started their vehicle, he secretly used it to peer at the building they had escaped from and spotted a swastika flag hanging from the roof. "They took it so quickly? Cleared it of any T-Virus derivatives? Pretty efficient." As the lights faded with the roar of the engines, Cheng Yijiu revised his view. This was a so-called battle group, a mixed formation. He had seen the Panzer IV H tank pass by.

If you see a Tiger tank, it should be a heavy armored battalion...

Since this was the territory of the German zombies, Cheng Yijiu figured he'd just run as far as he could. Without the protection of armored vehicles, Lao Gan Ma, infantry guns, and attack aircraft, he had no desire to fight these zombies. He already had the gem in his arms, so he decided to try and get back to the entrance. Maybe he could even leave. After crossing the woods, Cheng Yijiu felt his luck had finally arrived.

He spotted two German zombies leaning over to the side, "smoking." Smoke drifted from their shattered throats and even from their punctured helmets and skulls, yet they seemed to be smoking blissfully. Next to them was a BMW motorcycle with a trailer and a mounted machine gun. Cheng Yijiu fumbled with his dagger, pondering how he could take out both zombies at once.

"How much easier it would be if it were a human..." Cheng Yijiu thought. Breaking a zombie's neck wouldn't work at all. Even stabbing or cutting its neck with a knife wouldn't be effective against a zombie like this. Cheng Yijiu decided to give it a try. He carefully examined his gear. He didn't know how the German zombies formed. Would he get infected if bitten by one? While the mechanism was likely completely different, he still had to be prepared.

Cheng Yijiu motioned for Aso to stay put. He used the shadows to silently approach the two zombies, just like a tiger silently approaching its prey in the jungle. He kept approaching until he could clearly smell the smoke, and the two zombies were only an arm's length in front of him. Cheng Yijiu suddenly moved.

He slammed a zombie to the ground with a shoulder strike, while his outstretched arms gripped another zombie tightly. Raising his right hand, he pushed up the zombie's helmet, and then, with the momentum, he stabbed the monster's skull with his knife. Simultaneously, Cheng Yijiu shifted his body, placing his weight and boot firmly on the fallen zombie's neck. His knife didn't work, but his arm did—he exerted enough force to rip the zombie's neck apart...

Cheng Yijiu quickly used his dagger to pry open the guy's cervical vertebrae, and the blade smoothly cut through the dry flesh, and the guy's head fell to the ground. The weight of the entire zombie suddenly lightened. Cheng Yijiu let go, squatted down, and cut the second zombie's neck with a single blow. Cheng Yijiu gasped for breath. This brief battle had caused him to secrete a large amount of adrenaline, and his heart was beating violently. Cheng Yijiu needed a little relief. "Get in the car!" he said.

Aso quickly climbed into the truck bed, while Cheng Yijiu got on his BMW, luckily still having half the fuel left. It was a relief to know that the various motorized vehicles these zombies were using actually burned oil, not some mysterious mechanism. Motorcycling was much faster than walking, after all, and it allowed him to ignore the zombies on the road—even the giant parasites couldn't fly as fast as a motorcycle.

They can fly, but only for short periods of time.

Soon Cheng Yijiu passed the square again, ignoring the villagers' pursuit, and drove directly to the original entrance. He took out the gem and found that it was glowing. Cheng Yijiu didn't know what happened to Xiao Zhang, so he decided to go and check on him.

End of Chapter 22

Sadly, when Cheng Yijiu returned to where they had parted, he discovered that the church Xiao Zhang had supposedly visited had been sealed again. He could see scratches left by something like a hard whip, but following these traces, he was completely blocked by a solid iron door. Cheng Yijiu's weapon wasn't enough to blast the door open, so he had no choice but to return to his previous entry point on his motorcycle.

"The gem is glowing, but how do we use it? Step forward?" Cheng Yijiu asked Ma Sheng to sit in the back of the motorcycle and then tried to ram the motorcycle into the exit door. The next moment, they appeared on the mountain road they had come in from, covered with fallen leaves that had been crushed into mud. Cheng Yijiu and Ma Sheng were both lying on the ground. The motorcycle they had been riding had disappeared.

The gem was still there, and it had been transformed into a rather antique-looking pendant. The red gem was set in the center of what was probably a silver frame, looking like a giant eye. This olive-shaped red gem was the size of a child's fist and was still emitting a faint red light. The cat's eye-like scattered light in the center of the gem was simply breathtaking.

The next moment, several figures appeared behind them—looking horrible. There were also the wreckage of numerous damaged military trucks, helicopters, and infantry carriers, but no bodies of dead soldiers were to be found. Among those miserable individuals was Xiao Zhang. Their clothes were tattered, and they all bore wounds, bruises, and even bloodied heads and broken limbs.

Cheng Yijiu looked over and saw that half of the dozen or so people were Benzi—this bunch of counterfeit and shoddy trash who had been sent in actually accounted for almost half of the survivors, and the other half were American soldiers. At this time, the communication signal was restored. Cheng Yijiu called for help as quickly as possible. Then, Humvees and other vehicles rushed in first, and medical personnel in isolation suits quickly took them to fully enclosed ambulances.

Cheng Yijiu wasn't injured, but he still couldn't move freely. He, too, had to undergo blood tests, just as everyone else underwent MRIs and other tests, fearing viral or parasitic infections, or even more terrifying, memetic infections. His gemstones were also taken away, and his quarantine, like Xiao Zhang's, was handled by mainland authorities. The Americans were only responsible for handling their own people.

The gem's theft by the book's owner was essentially the work of the Americans. Cheng Yijiu couldn't possibly have concealed this—Aso was also involved. Cheng Yijiu still hadn't discovered the gem's purpose beyond ending the adventures in this world and freeing all living beings. This time, it was a stroke of luck that the four survived.

The Americans and Benzi had paid a considerable price, especially several American action teams, along with a large number of soldiers and equipment, lost in this fantasy world. Benzi's situation was similar, with over a hundred investigators sent in. If this fantasy world could be contained and utilized, it might be a good thing. Cheng Yijiu didn't know whether these guys had actually used it.

In his opinion, this thing can only be used as a real life game, at most to train special forces in actual combat, what else can it do? It doesn't even know how to switch themes - for example, switching from the Resident Evil series to other games, such as Battlefield or Medal of Honor. If it can switch to the space world, maybe it can also obtain some technology?

If you think about it carefully, it is actually impossible. The underlying logic of those technologies is the fantasy world, and the fantasy world cannot transform into an entire universe. Then the so-called cosmic adventure is just a change of scenery in the same location. Such scenery change can certainly be called space folding jump, but in real life it can only be regarded as a change of scenery in a stage play.

"There should be something like this back home, right?" Cheng Yijiu asked casually. "There are similar ones, but this is the only one I've seen that's this big and this powerful," replied Xiaotian, the logistics officer. "I hope they turn it into an amusement park, or maybe a filming studio, but not a haunted house." Cheng Yijiu laughed. This thing is actually very dangerous...

After the work was done, it was time to go back home and quarantine. Miss Aso couldn't send them off because she didn't even know where she would be quarantined. Apart from the gems, Cheng Yijiu's only loot was the clothes on his body and an M17 pistol in his hand. The AR15 and 1911 he had obtained before, along with three-quarters of the collected ammunition, disappeared, just like the BMW motorcycle.

The initial diagnosis was that Cheng Yijiu and Xiao Zhang were normal, not infected with the T- and G-viruses, nor parasitic. In fact, aside from their injuries, any viral infections or parasites would have vanished the moment they were "cleared." This was the conclusion everyone had reached over the past few days.

Xiao Zhang had several broken bones and several scratches and penetrating wounds. In the past, such injuries would have caused a certain degree of disability, but now Cheng Yijiu had heard from Xiao Tian that there was a certain "technology" or medicine that could completely heal such injuries without any sequelae. Xiao Zhang was excited, and it seemed that everything in the fantasy world really did seem like a super-realistic physical game to him.

"This guy is crazy, having so much fun playing a game with only one life." Cheng Yijiu thought, but when he thought about it, it seemed quite interesting. The real danger was only after the last group of Nazi zombies appeared. He also remembered the expressions of those notebooks and Americans after he told them about the appearance of the last group of zombies. Their slightly depressed expressions were really interesting.

Although he hadn't actually engaged the battle group, Cheng Yijiu instinctively felt that the tanks inside were definitely not right. If anti-tank missiles were brought in from outside, it would be a disaster. Furthermore, Cheng Yijiu felt that if he encountered the soldiers in that battle group again, even with an AR15 in hand, he would most likely be defeated.

Those are truly experienced elite veterans, and they are not afraid of casualties. When Cheng Yijiu mentioned this, Xiao Zhang asked if it was a medal of honor? "I really don't know, but I know that if the two of us were surrounded, we would be dead."

The time between inside and outside was one to one. Cheng Yijiu smiled as he recalled the Hachiya Lady. "The Hachiya Lady in Resident Evil, but I think she is completely different from the one in the game. Although she is still tall and mature, her appearance is more oriental. I have to say she is indeed a big beauty." Cheng Yijiu said to Xiao Zhang, and Xiao Zhang also smiled. "It's a pity that I can't see her."

Chapter 23 Records

The plane returned to the mainland, and Cheng Yijiu returned to his shop after three days of isolation. Later on, he also obtained something during his isolation. It seemed that the gem he obtained was indeed one of the core elements of this fantasy world. Although it could not be transported away from this fantasy world, it could open and close this alternate dimension.

According to Benzi, the idea is to close this space, but Americans may have different ideas - all of this has nothing to do with the mainland. After all, Benzi is a dog of the United States, not the mainland. Another piece of news is that when the fantasy space was closed, several unexplained thefts occurred almost simultaneously in Benzi.

The vast majority of items stolen in these cases were of historical significance, even including the recently confiscated homemade iron cannon, the Taiko-kiri. Perhaps the next time the fantasy world fills up and is forced to form, something even more formidable will appear, luring nearby residents in.

It looked like Cheng Yijiu's team was about to officially get down to business. He'd received a lot more briefings than before, many of which had him very interested—most of them were anomalous creatures. As a hunter, Cheng Yijiu was very interested in them. Unfortunately, he couldn't just go hunting.

Because many of these briefings were gathered from overseas, anomalous creatures were relatively rare in China, and most were found in remote areas, rarely causing serious impacts on residents. In foreign countries, the search for the dead was more common, especially given the foreigners' natural tendency to venture into the wilderness. Cheng Yijiu had come across various sightings and disappearance records from the United States.

The United States has seen the appearance of large bears and inexplicably aggressive moose. These creatures, along with the sudden appearance of large wolves, have altered their diets, resulting in over thirty deaths and disappearances. Certain US government departments haven't addressed this issue, perhaps due to budget constraints.

Perhaps these people were seeking their own death—after all, the photos of the victims in the briefings Cheng Yijiu had seen showed many of them dressed in typical hunting attire, and most of them were middle-aged men. There was no doubt that the men and women who looked like college students at the beginning were accidental victims, but the middle-aged men who came later were probably those who heard about this kind of thing and were ready to hunt big game for themselves with their hunting rifles. Of course, there was also a sense of justice among them.

It was a shame that their actions only added another name to the list of the dead and missing. The giant bear in the ten-plus seconds of video Cheng Yijiu had watched had already killed over thirty people. As an experienced hunter, Cheng Yijiu watched the ten-plus seconds of video over and over again. Unfortunately, he couldn't capture the entire bear, but just the large head and part of its front paws showed how enormous it really was.

Comparing it with the red pine next to it, Cheng Yijiu had roughly estimated the size of this bear - "The shoulder height is about 1.8 to 2 meters, and the standing height is about 4.5 to 4.8 meters - based on the proportions of a brown bear. It would have been considered a large bear tens of thousands of years ago." Cheng Yijiu thought of the killer bears he had hunted. This guy was definitely much larger than the one in Japan, and about the same size as the one he hunted in Japan the second time he went there.

The atavistic brown bears hunted in the United States were similar in size to this one, perhaps even slightly smaller. Cheng Yijiu was genuinely interested in going to the United States to hunt this creature, but unfortunately, it wasn't possible. The next page on the computer was much simpler. There weren't even any photos or videos of the killer moose, only some photos from the on-site investigation.

The snow was covered in blood, the ground was a mess, many bushes were broken, and of course there were human remains. The photos showed the marks of the surveyors, which were the hoof prints of individual moose in the snow. Most of the hoof prints were blurred because of repeated trampling, but a few were very clear and also surprisingly large.

The briefing estimated the moose's length, based on its hoofprints, to be over three meters, and likely over two and a half meters tall. The question is, how did the moose manage to tear people apart? Sixteen hunters, including four poachers, were killed by a moose. All of them strong and experienced hunters.

Cheng Yijiu felt that something was wrong with the hoof prints. He also looked at the hoof prints again and again. "Strange, no matter how you look at it, there are only two legs. Does this moose walk upright? I have a bad feeling." Not to mention the wolves and the lake monster in the lake, every briefing mentioned multiple lives.

The same thing happened in Europe. Cheng Yijiu was flipping through the files on his computer. He saw a giant man-eating wild boar in Europe. Fortunately, there weren't many of these beasts in Europe, and only a few still existed in Eastern Europe. As for China, there were very few, with records only in the northeast and northwest. Most of them were witnesses, without any injuries. The records from the Indian subcontinent were the most terrifying—the world's largest number of large cats killing people.

This was a three-month briefing document. San'er's side had already lost over two hundred lives. Just like the early 20th century, it reminded Cheng Yijiu of his first few missions. The man-eating tiger had left a deep impression on him. He hadn't seen the man-eating tiger from Chavo until the mission failed. And now, the same thing was happening—in San'er's jungles, active tigers were killing quite a few poachers.

It's not just tigers, but leopards too. Even the most courageous and experienced rangers are afraid to enter the jungle, which has curbed poaching. Briefings rarely include photos of the scene, because no one dares to go. It's just that someone went hunting in the woods and never came back...

As for the number of San'er people who died of poverty due to being unable to gather in the forest, there was no statistical data at all. Cheng Yijiu felt that the number was definitely greater than those killed by tigers and leopards. This was originally where he could use his skills, but he couldn't go there.

"Look, here are more detailed domestic cases, all of which are unresolved. I don't think they will be resolved for the time being, but maybe we will evaluate the situation with some experts." This was an electronic document that Xiao Zhang had brought for him. Cheng Yijiu, a consultant who did not need to be in the office, opened the new document with great interest.

"It's much more detailed than the briefing. What's this? A water monster in Hunan? Unidentified creatures in this semi-artificial water conservancy lake? Are you kidding me?" The first case struck Cheng Yijiu as a bit unbelievable, just like the Tianchi monster. Tianchi erupted only a few hundred years ago, and it was a volcanic crater before. A water monster in a crater lake like that? It's impossible, no matter how you slice it. The same goes for this case. It was originally a pond, but it became a lake due to a water conservancy project in the 1960s. It's an artificial lake.

Will there be a water monster here?

Volume: America Again

Chapter 1 Enter

Unfortunately, the mission might be about to begin, and Cheng Yijiu couldn't possibly go there, so he just studied the information in his hands carefully. Usually, if he could see it, it meant that the relevant departments would assign their team to investigate and assess the situation. These days, there weren't many people who could handle this kind of thing. Considering the large population of the mainland, there were probably only about a hundred teams.

There are professional departments, as well as unified and powerful analysis and logistics departments, but there are only about a hundred teams going out on field work.

Cheng Yijiu looked at the pictures on his computer screen, from low-resolution black-and-white photos to high-definition color photos and videos, with detailed descriptions below. "Before the 1960s, it was a pond, a pond covering an area of ​​about 100 mu. It had dried up many times, with an average depth of about 1.5 meters and a maximum depth of about 3 meters." Cheng Yijiu thought as he looked at the copied images of the beach in the black-and-white photos.

During a drought in the 1950s, when the water level dropped, locals resorted to draining the river, ultimately catching fish that were only about the size of a three- or four-year-old child. Then, in the 1960s, water conservancy projects began to be built. The following photos show the massive project, involving tens of thousands of people. By the end of the 1960s, the original pond had long since vanished, replaced by a lake covering over ten square kilometers, formed by the rising water level.

"The average water depth reaches six meters, and the deepest is about 7.5 meters. How can such a depth hide the giant water monster that the witnesses said is more than ten meters long? You can't even joke about that." Cheng Yijiu felt that it would be better to classify it as hysteria, and the rumor about the water monster only came out recently - there were rumors about it before, but the water surface of this lake has shrunk to a certain extent several times over the years, and no water monster has ever been seen.

There had always been people fishing here, and a few years ago, someone had even contracted the lake to farm freshwater fish. Cheng Yijiu thought it was more likely that there were large black carp in the lake, and it was just a mistake. However, more than one person swore in the report that they had seen them. There was even a ten-second night video that captured a very clear V-shaped ripple on the water's surface and a tiny bit of its back protruding from the water. Judging by the ripples alone, it looked like the creature was truly enormous.

Cheng Yijiu leaned back in his chair and clicked the mouse to turn to the next page. "It's even more ridiculous." Giant wolves have appeared in the Inner Mongolia and Gansu regions, killing the herders' horses, cattle, and sheep. Several herders have even gone missing or been killed—the remains have been found, with huge tooth marks on the remaining bones. "A wolf bigger than a camel?" Cheng Yijiu suggested it might be possible. After all, bizarre things have appeared. The question is whether there's something wrong with the wolf.

Anyway, all this can only be understood now. They just came back from Benzi and need to rest soon. Although Xiao Zhang's injuries have healed, he has developed symptoms of neurasthenia, which seems to be the sequelae of going to the fantasy world. Cheng Yi has not felt it for a long time. I heard that most of the survivors have developed mental symptoms.

Cheng Yijiu still didn't register as a firearm owner, but no one believed he couldn't use one. With this mission about to begin, Cheng Yijiu carefully inspected the weapon. "Sure enough, it's another bolt-action weapon. I'll stick with my usual M70. I'll probably pick the 30-06 round model this time. It seems to be quite old." After selecting his primary weapon, Cheng Yijiu began choosing his secondary weapon.

There wasn't much of a choice for a secondary weapon—in the past, Cheng Yijiu had used various pistols that looked quite fancy, but now he'd simply opted for a modified M21 double-barreled shotgun. If a beast got close, this thing would probably be more effective than an M1911 or similar. Even a semi-automatic pistol wouldn't fire many rounds anyway. His final weapon was a saber, and that was it.

For clothing, he simply wore the most popular M65 military jacket, and any pair of outdoor pants. He then carried a large backpack and clattered a bunch of stuff into it—from a water bottle to cutlery. He also brought canned food, rations, and, of course, the tent's tarp, rolled up and stored away. He kept the old cowhide magazines, stuffed with bullets. "Oh, and don't forget your hat," Cheng Yijiu said, grabbing a mountain hat and putting it on.

This outfit cost him a few points, and he looked in the mirror before changing it again - the time hadn't come yet, so there was no need to rush.

This mission seemed to be in North America again. Cheng Yijiu couldn't figure out how many times he'd been there. North America actually had very few large carnivores: bears, wolves, and nothing else. Cougars were big cats, and they weren't usually known to eat people. Next, they'd have to go to South America, where they might encounter more troublesome carnivores—jaguars, crocodiles, and pythons. Generally speaking, after the end of the Ice Age, the number of carnivorous beasts on the North American continent decreased.

"What damn guy has done this time? I vaguely seem to remember that Americans like to raise lions and tigers. There may be more than 20,000 tigers raised privately." Cheng Yijiu muttered to himself. It is not ruled out that someone's tiger ran away, and the possibility was not reported at all in order to avoid fines.

The time was almost up. After taking a shower and having a fairly sumptuous meal, Cheng Yijiu put on his full set of gear and opened the door.

Luckily, there was a Willys Jeep parked right in front of him. Cheng Yijiu casually tossed his backpack onto the car. He left his gun in the car and drove back to the road. The scenery before him was a plain, with some ups and downs, but it was endless. The mountains were no more than a hundred meters high. He had no idea where in North America this was, but as long as there was a road, it would be fine.

Cheng Yijiu finally arrived at a small town before running out of gas. It was a typical American town—there was a gas station, a supermarket, a movie theater, and then scattered houses. As soon as Cheng Yijiu drove into the town, a police car followed him. The car model was a classic example of the 1970s, and the sign at the gas station reminded Cheng Yijiu that it was 1971.

The police car signaled him to pull over, so Cheng Yijiu obediently pulled over. A typical American redneck white sheriff with a big belly got out of the car. He was chewing bubble gum and his thumbs were tucked into his belt in front of him. "Aha, yellow man. Don't make trouble, kid." The sheriff looked at Cheng Yijiu's face, then looked at the gun and bag he threw in the car, and showed a look of contempt, signaling him to get out quickly.

"If it were a black guy, he would have gotten out of the car and lay on the ground." Cheng Yijiu thought. He saw that the sheriff seemed to say something to his companion in the car, and the two of them laughed together.

Chapter II Cases

Whether now or in the future, Minions are generally regarded as harmless in the United States, unlike Nig and Amin. Nig might have been beaten by American Iai by now, and Amin has probably been beaten with a baton and has a bloody head. Only Minions like Cheng Yijiu, even if they are wearing military jackets and obviously carrying rifles, the redneck local police still turn a blind eye and wave them away.

Of course, Cheng Yijiu filled up his tank first. The local motel looked dingy and dingy—"This kind of place is infested with bedbugs, it's really not a good place." But having a place to stay is always a good thing. No matter how much he complained, he could only choose the relatively cleanest room. By the time he opened the door, it had already darkened. He parked the car in the motel's parking lot, armed only with a knife, and prepared to go to the bar for a drink and maybe even a movie.

There is a church not far away, but Cheng Yijiu is not planning to go there.

He finally figured out where in the United States he was. This was Montana. "Fuckin' Montana again," Cheng Yijiu cursed, pushing open the bar door. The bar must have been filled with the town's idlers. The stench nearly knocked Cheng Yijiu over the moment he entered. Seeing it was a Minion, the idlers didn't challenge him. Cheng Yijiu walked to the bar, "A glass of bourbon," he said.

Next, he pricked up his ears to listen to the guys here bragging - a lot of local intelligence was obtained from bragging. However, these guys kept talking about topics like a woman's big butt. Cheng Yijiu was quite patient. As he listened, he heard someone say that livestock had been killed and eaten by wolves recently. He was going to kill those wolves - "No matter what those federal bastards say! My sheep were eaten! I have to kill those wolves!"

Perhaps this was the breakthrough. Cheng Yijiu had been through so many missions that he knew full well that this was the intelligence he needed. "Hunting a pack of man-eating wolves? Wouldn't that be too easy?" Cheng Yijiu wondered. He downed his drink in one gulp, opened the door, and headed to the theater. "Okay, a crappy movie I haven't seen yet." He bought a ticket and walked into the empty theater, casually watching the big screen.

The people who come here to watch movies are either weirdos or adulterers who are taking advantage of the opportunity to do something. Cheng Yijiu couldn't stand it after watching for more than ten minutes, so he simply went back to the motel and fell asleep on the bed.

The night temperature wasn't high, but that didn't stop a drunken wretch from driving his rickety car back home—the same guy who'd said he was going to hunt wolves. The greasy, red-necked fellow, wearing a plaid shirt and a jacket, parked the car, climbed out drunkenly, and didn't forget to close the door. Then, keys dangling from his hand, he walked toward the house. "Hmm, what's that noise?" Even drunk, the guy could still hear the strange noise coming from his own corral.