Chapter Twenty-Nine: Hunting the Beast General

In District 0201, a county-level city, the seven members of the Firehammer Squad moved with utmost caution. In the desolate outskirts, they could afford to be a bit freer, but within the city limits, care was paramount—this was where the monsters congregated.

Thanks to Luo Yuan’s terrifying display of strength, he now took the lead at the front of the squad. Along the way, any beast-soldier level monsters they encountered were taken down by the Wei brothers, while the beast-general level monsters—of which there were thankfully few—were swiftly dispatched by Luo Yuan himself, especially since they were only low-level beast-generals.

After weaving their way through the ruins, the group finally arrived at their first destination: the “Blue Sky Community,” a residential complex in District 0201. The reason Firehammer Squad had chosen this as their initial target was simple: the complex boasted three residential towers, each rising twenty-one stories high.

“We need to secure the high ground. Come on, let’s get to the rooftop,” someone urged.

The seven of them climbed the stairwell, steadily making their way upward.

Suddenly, from above, a monstrous Tibetan mastiff—at least two meters tall, its fur long and dense, and as massive as a military off-road vehicle—charged down the stairs at them, its breath reeking with a foul stench.

“Out of the way!” Luo Yuan shouted, swinging his Bloodshadow Battle Blade and cleaving the beast clean in two. Blood and viscera splattered the stairwell, painting a grisly scene. Luo Yuan merely frowned; the Wei brothers quickly stepped up to harvest the monster’s materials.

Encountering no further threats, the squad reached the rooftop of the twenty-one-story building.

“Shut the stairwell door—lock it tight!” Gao Feng ordered. “We don’t want any monsters sneaking up on us up here.”

“Got it.”

Luo Feng and Zhang Ke personally secured the heavy iron door, wedging it shut with a sturdy iron bar.

“Phew, finally we can breathe a little easier,” someone sighed as the group pulled out food and water from their packs to replenish their strength.

“Our main mission today is to hunt beast-general level monsters and collect materials from their bodies. Everyone, get your binoculars and start scanning,” Gao Feng instructed, lifting his own binoculars.

“Let’s look for monsters, brothers! Luo Yuan’s luck is something else, running into two lone beast-general mastiffs in the wild,” Chen Gu commented, grinning as he set up his machine gun.

“The trouble with beast-generals is that they’re usually surrounded by a pack of beast-soldier minions. That makes things complicated,” Gao Feng added.

“Heh, so what if they have more underlings? They’re just a bunch of cannon fodder. We’ll cut them down all the same,” Luo Yuan said with supreme confidence as he wiped the blood from his A9 Bloodshadow Blade.

“Haha, Luo Yuan always seemed so low-key, but when it comes to slaying monsters, he sure doesn’t hold back!” Zhang Ke remarked, giving Luo Yuan a thumbs up.

Suddenly, Chen Gu produced an iron case he’d been carrying the whole way—never letting it out of his sight. Luo Yuan couldn’t help but grow curious.

Chen Gu opened the case, revealing assorted metal parts that, judging by the look of them, could be assembled into a gun.

A moment later, a nearly two-meter-long, silver-gray heavy sniper rifle was fully assembled, complete with all its optical targeting equipment. Chen Gu began loading the magazine with special bullets—ten rounds in total.

“Brother Chen, this gun is awesome!” Luo Feng exclaimed in awe.

“Haha! This thing cost me a fortune. All right, Captain, let me know when you spot a beast-general,” Chen Gu replied.

“Sure, you get some rest for now. Leave the monster spotting to us,” Gao Feng nodded.

Everyone began scanning the cityscape with their binoculars, while Chen Gu, cradling his massive sniper rifle, closed his eyes for a nap.

Luo Yuan lowered his binoculars and gazed over the ruined city from the rooftop: shattered buildings, abandoned cars, and a landscape of desolation. This post-apocalyptic scene gave him an even deeper understanding of the world he now inhabited.

“Captain, look over here!” Zhang Ke suddenly shouted, pointing down at a particular street.

Everyone turned their binoculars in the direction he indicated. There, moving slowly down the street, was a bizarre, blood-red monster the size of a tank, surrounded by a herd of pig-like creatures.

“That’s a Bloodthirsty Tank?”

Among the pig-type monsters, the Bloodthirsty Tank ranked second in power. Though called a tank, it was actually one of the pig monsters—its body covered in heavy scales, its defense formidable. At first glance, it really did look like an armored vehicle. In terms of defensive power and impact, it was a match for an actual tank.

“It’s a Bloodthirsty Tank!”

“That’s a big catch.”

“Captain, judging by the color of its scales, it’s a low-level beast-general—maybe even close to mid-level,” someone observed.

The squad began to chatter excitedly.

“Old Chen!”

“Chen Gu!”

At the sound of his name, Chen Gu opened his eyes and stood up with a smile. “What’s up, guys? Found a beast-general?”

“Take a look for yourself—it’s a Bloodthirsty Tank! Time for you to shine,” Gao Feng grinned.

“Haha, watch this!” Chen Gu sprang into action, grabbing three bullets with blood-red casings from his case and loading them into his rifle.

With a low, powerful boom, the sniper rifle fired.

In an instant, the bullet tore through the air and struck its target. The high-velocity alloy armor-piercing round hit the scaled area behind the monster’s ear, sending up a shower of sparks and boring a hole straight through. Minutes later, the Bloodthirsty Tank collapsed.

Luo Yuan watched as Chen Gu took down a beast-general level monster—famed for its defense—with a single shot from his heavy sniper rifle. He couldn’t help but feel a new wariness toward the firearms of this world. Even with his near-superhuman evasion skills, he realized he could not afford to let his guard down; not every attack could be dodged.

The seven members of Firehammer Squad made their way down from the rooftop to collect the Bloodthirsty Tank’s corpse, and Luo Yuan quietly picked up the attribute orbs dropped along the way by both monsters and their squad.

All in all, the operation went smoothly—the beast-soldier level boars posed no threat at all.

Half an hour later.

On the rooftop of the eighteen-story Haihao Grand Hotel, Luo Yuan and the others gathered quietly.

“Haha, good job, everyone! We made a tidy profit today. Who would have thought we’d score such a haul on the very first day? This is a great start. If we keep this up for a month, our rewards will be considerable,” Captain Gao Feng said with a smile.

Everyone in Firehammer Squad laughed in satisfaction.

They began to settle in on the rooftop to rest. Luo Yuan sat cross-legged, starting to absorb the attribute orbs he’d collected throughout the day, his strength growing rapidly. He wondered what changes his golden finger would bring when he broke through to the War God level. The thought excited him. So far, nothing in this world had truly frightened him, but he kept his guard up—this was, after all, the wilderness, the monsters’ domain.

PS: The pace has been a bit slow up to this point, but things are about to heat up! Dear readers, please support with tips, bookmarks, and monthly votes—Luo Yuan thanks you all!