“Young man, you…”
Before An Kang could finish his sentence, Zhou Ming cut him off.
The signal in the ravine was too poor, and they couldn’t even contact the Lantern Bearers.
Zhou Ming spoke quickly. He was nervous now; his Environmental Perception couldn’t pinpoint the enemy’s location, and he didn’t know how many people or ability beasts were on the other side. Moreover—
“Shut up! Something just attacked us! Was it an ability user? What’s their ability?”
“It… it’s an ability user. Their ability is to create transparent barriers that can block certain attacks.”
Observing the surroundings, Zhou Ming hadn’t noticed anything unusual. He didn’t dare act rashly. His gaze constantly swept over the trees around him, hoping to find an opening.
‘No wonder they paid so much—they didn’t even know if the attacker was an ability beast or a person. Even if they died, no one would find them!’
Whoosh!
Another volley of wooden spikes shot toward them!
Grabbing An Kang, Zhou Ming tightened his core and rolled them both to the side, dodging the attack.
Catching a glimpse of the hundreds of extremely thin wooden spikes deeply embedded in the soil, An Kang couldn’t help but swallow.
‘If those hit a human body… Hiss—even if they survived, it would be troublesome to deal with.’
“Young man, what should we do?”
‘They couldn’t drag it out. They had to take the initiative and seize control!’
Zhou Ming hadn’t planned to grind down his opponent—that would only drain his mental and physical strength. He had to take the initiative and use Environmental Perception to locate the enemy.
“Give me a barrier! I’m going to charge over and find where it is!”
He growled at An Kang, then drew the pistol at his waist and held it firmly.
“Hurry!”
An Kang quickly applied his ability to Zhou Ming and himself, stammering:
“O… okay.”
An Kang had really never seen something like this. He didn’t even know if it was human. He’d been taking these missions for years, but he’d never encountered such a thing.
‘Weren’t ability beasts all mindless? They’d charge at people they sensed and wander aimlessly otherwise. What the hell was this?!’
Hearing An Kang’s reply, Zhou Ming got up, protected his head with his arms, and rushed toward the direction from which the wooden spikes had been shot.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
From all directions, countless wooden spikes shot toward Zhou Ming.
The barrier An Kang had created broke after holding for a second or two.
Lowering his head, Zhou Ming blocked the damage with his hands and quickly dashed into the forest.
Activating Environmental Perception fully, Zhou Ming desperately tried to sense the exact location of the wooden spikes.
The ground covered in humus, the dry, rough bark, the lush canopies, the bushes swaying in the wind…
Found them!
He fired an Air Bullet toward the canopy of an ancient, lush tree, and at the same time raised his pistol to shoot at the surrounding tree trunks.
Not caring whether he hit or not, Zhou Ming quickly emptied the magazine.
As Zhou Ming fired, two snake-like ability beasts with plant characteristics that had been coiled around the trees revealed themselves.
Hiss—
After being exposed, they let out threatening hisses and shot even more wooden spikes from the vines on their bodies!
Dashing quickly beneath the tree, dodging most of the attacks, Zhou Ming fired an Air Bullet at the ability beasts that were trying to hide again, then swiftly reloaded and emptied another magazine at them.
Amidst the ceaseless gunfire, several holes burst open on the two snake-shaped ability beasts’ bodies, and then they dissipated into green smoke.
“Is that it?”
Zhou Ming was a bit incredulous.
‘Could it be that I was too nervous and overestimated these two beasts?’
An Kang was just as puzzled as Zhou Ming.
He hadn’t suffered any damage at all. The whole time, he’d only put a barrier on Zhou Ming.
‘Was this young man deliberately tricking me to ask for more money?’
Shaking his hands, Zhou Ming looked at his palms, which were stuck with over a dozen wooden spikes, and thought about how to deal with them later.
Soil splattered as a root about four inches thick suddenly burst out of the ground, sending Zhou Ming, who was deep in thought, flying back several meters.
Startled, An Kang quickly crawled toward Zhou Ming.
“Wha… what is this thing now?!”
Getting up, Zhou Ming quickly fired an Air Bullet at the root, then swiftly changed magazines and aimed.
Gadelia had only given Zhou Ming three magazines. Adding his original, that was only four. He’d already used two, so now only two remained—thirty bullets.
It seemed like a lot, but for a pistol capable of fully automatic fire, it was only a matter of seconds.
He had to admit, ability users’ bodies were indeed stronger than ordinary people’s. Even with his injured hands, Zhou Ming had no problem shooting.
The ground covered in humus cracked once more.
Six thick tree roots covered in soil with fine root hairs burst out of the ground, brandishing themselves at Zhou Ming and An Kang.
“Another intelligent ability beast?”
Zhou Ming muttered to himself.
‘Could these intelligent ability beasts sense each other? Why did they keep showing up in succession?’
A face like an old man appeared on a tall tree. It pulled all its roots out of the ground, then shot several roots toward Zhou Ming and An Kang as its massive body moved toward them.
“Run!”
Zhou Ming didn’t even have time to sense whether killing those two beasts gave him a new ability or strengthened him. He grabbed An Kang from the ground and turned to run.
Regarding ability beast strength, the most important thing Zhou Ming had learned in school’s general knowledge class was to estimate their level based on size.
If an ability beast’s body exceeded ten feet, it was basically at the Dust Resistance level, no doubt about it.
So when he saw a tall tree crawl out of the ground, Zhou Ming’s heart turned cold.
“Is this job always this hard?!”
“How could it be! This is the first time I’ve encountered something like this!”
Not caring about direction, Zhou Ming and An Kang threw away their trekking poles, thinking only of escaping with their lives.
“This damn thing is at least Dust Resistance level! Why am I so unlucky!!”
‘Recalling his experiences since being discharged from the hospital, Zhou Ming hadn’t had a single peaceful day. Every day, either something happened, or he was on his way to something happening. Even a workhorse in a production team needed a break!’
Crossing mountains and ridges, they ran for who knows how long, but still couldn’t shake off that ability beast.
“Ahead… ahead is the Tu family’s forest farm! Let’s run somewhere else!”
“If we keep changing direction, we’ll lose our lives!”
With a furious roar, Zhou Ming didn’t stop.
“Let’s focus on surviving first!”
Dragging An Kang, Zhou Ming charged straight into the Tu family’s forest farm.
Because the trees had been artificially planted, they were all pine trees. The humus on the ground was thick and soft, greatly slowing Zhou Ming’s escape.
His foot slipped, and Zhou Ming fell flat on the ground.
‘It’s over!’
Despair filled his heart, but Zhou Ming hadn’t given up. He quickly rolled, dodging the roots crashing down at him, then swiftly got up and ran.
“Stop!”
A shout came from afar. Zhou Ming’s heart leaped with joy, and he ran toward the voice.
Sharing the same thought, An Kang also ran toward the voice.
Not far away, six guards in uniform raised their guns at Zhou Ming. The leader shouted loudly.
“Stop! Submit to inspection!”
“Ability beast! There’s an ability beast!”
Tears and snot mixed on An Kang’s face as he showed the ecstasy of seeing hope in despair.
He waved his hands and shouted loudly:
“Help! Sir, please help!”
Just as they raised their guns to shoot, suddenly, the ground shook.
The six Tu family guards saw a tree-shaped ability beast about 16 feet tall moving toward them.
“Th… this…”
Those guards were so frightened their legs went weak, and even their hands holding the guns began to tremble.