Translator: mianbao Editor: Aelryinth
Edited by RED
Qian Wei City, Ding Feng Corporation headquarters, top story…
Zhang Yujie was standing with his hands behind his back, looking through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the rows upon rows of houses and lively crowd outside. There was not a trace of emotion on his face.
There was a gentle knock on the door. Zhang Yujie snapped back from his deep thoughts, retracting his peaceful gaze. He said evenly, “Come in!”
An employee pushed the door open, and said respectfully, “Zhang-shao, we just received a report that Tian Yin Squad’s Xu Ao and his men suddenly moved, rushing to the spatial gateway.”
“Oh? It seems like they found that Sun Che’s tracks?” Zhang Yujie revealed a deliberate smile.
“It probably is so. The manager in charge of the military site just sent news as well, saying that the Tian Yin Squad was stealthily following an unfamiliar man who was riding on a scarlet elephorse. However, it didn’t look very much like that Sun Che.”
A glint flashed in Zhang Yujie’s eyes. “Hmm? Doesn’t look like Sun Che? Does this kid actually know how to disguise himself? This is getting more interesting. I’m really curious about his true identity.”
The employee immediately put forward a suggestion, “Then, Zhang-shao, should we mobilize our forces and thoroughly investigate that Sun Che’s background again? I don’t believe he didn’t leave behind any traces at all, unless he’s not someone from Qian Wei City.”
“No!” Zhang Yujie raised his right hand, waving it slightly. “Don’t make any reckless moves for now. There are too many uncertainties around this man. Don’t take any actions before we’re sure of his background.”
“I understand, Zhang-shao.”
The door was shut once more. Zhang Yujie’s eyes narrowed to a slit, mumbling to himself, “A scarlet elephorse? Heh heh, how interesting! It seems like this Sun Che was the reason behind why the herd of elephorses suddenly migrated…”
——
In the beast world, Zhang Che was riding Hanxue, bringing along the Fiery Scorpion and the Wind Shadow Wolf, killing any low-tier exotic beasts they came across on their way, heading further west without hurry. Without realizing it, they gradually headed into an area of short hills.
Looking further west beyond this area of hills which basically had no tall vegetation, Zhang Che could vaguely see the stretch of tall mountain ranges from yesterday.
“Mmm, I can’t go further in any more, or it’d get ugly if we encountered any tough exotic beasts.”
Zhang Che patted Hanxue, indicating he should stop, and he dismounted from his back.
Looking up and around him, Zhang Che didn’t notice any anomalies in the clear skies. However, Zhang Che was still not feeling at ease and got the Large-Beaked Raven to circle around him. Similarly, the raven didn’t detect any threats.
“It looks like the Tian Yin Squad’s main force is about to reach us soon. That scouting-type flying beast probably went back to lead them here.”
To be on the safe side, Zhang Che moved under a thick bush to ensure that he was not easily seen from the skies. Afterwards, he summoned the Gluttony Monkey and handed the bow case and quiver to him, saying, “You go look for a vantage point and wait for my orders. Remember: don’t move carelessly without my instructions!”
“Zhizhi!” The Gluttony Monkey received the bow case with an excited look, giving him a gaze telling him to not worry. His nimble figure entered the undergrowth and soon disappeared from Zhang Che’s sight.
“It’s rude to only be on the receiving end. Tian Yin Squad, I’ll have you taste what it’s like to be ambushed with arrows!”
Zhang Che turned around to look in the direction he had come from, his lips curling into a smirk.
——
A few kilometers away from Zhang Che, Xu Ao’s group were each riding on their own exotic beasts, dashing forward under the guidance of a black dot in the sky.
This time, other than Xu Ao, who was still carrying that black bow of his, the others’ bows were nowhere to be seen. Instead, each of them were carrying a large bundle. God knows what was in those bags…
Xu Ao was riding a four-star, silver-quality subdued beast that resembled a tiger, and had a murderous aura to his gaze as he yelled, “Hurry, that Sun Che shouldn’t be far ahead now!”
Behind him, the members of Tian Yin Squad yelled out in response one after another, beckoning their subdued beasts to speed up, ignoring the unusually uncomfortable riding experience.
—
Less than a quarter hour later, Xu Ao and the rest of the group arrived at the outskirts of the small hills. The man tailing Zhang Che from before went up to them quickly, saying, “Chief, that Sun Che should be ahead in there somewhere. When my Cloud Sparrow was checking him out earlier, it discovered that he had a scouting-type beast, the Large-Beaked Raven. It was likely used to guard against our tracking.”
“Large-Beaked Raven?” Xu Ao looked surprised for a moment, before breaking out into a chuckle. “The useless crow that can only scout a kilometer around? Haha, does he think he can shake us off with that kind of trash? How naive!”
After a short pause, Xu Ao commanded, “Xiaoqi, get your Cloud Sparrow to scout that kid’s trail thoroughly. You others, quickly assemble the Herculean Crossbow. This time, I want to give him a huge surprise. Let’s see if his elephorse king or the Herculean Crossbow is faster!”
“Rest assured, Chief, that Sun Che is dead for sure!”
“That’s right, Chief, I don’t believe that elephorse king of his can be faster than sound! The Herculean Crossbow’s shots are infinitely close to the speed of sound, its effective range close to a kilometer; he should be content even in death for us to bring out the Herculean Crossbow to deal with him.”
However, Xu Ao held back his smile and scanned his men with a stern gaze, saying with a low tone, “Don’t get careless now. Sun Che shouldn’t be this easy to deal with. He knew we were looking for him, and yet he dared to show himself. He must have some ace hidden in his sleeves. Follow my orders closely later. We mustn’t get too close, in case there’s some trickery.”
“Yes, Chief!” the group answered. Each of them put down the huge bundle on their backs and unwrapped the parts to assemble.
Soon, a total of six killing machines with a black metallic luster revealed their true appearances.
The Herculean Crossbow was also manufactured by the Shooting Sun Research Institute, fully utilizing neo-materials to produce them. It was a mid-large crossbow machine requiring the combined strength of two people to load its bolt. The bolts it used were as thick as a thumb, their destructive force comparable to a large caliber rifle. Using armor-piercing bolts, it could penetrate a centimeter-thick ordinary steel plate with a single shot within five hundred meters.
A moment later, the man known as Xiaoqi suddenly lit up happily and reported to Xu Ao, “Chief, my Cloud Sparrow has discovered that kid’s position. He’s halfway up a slope in the hills ahead of us, less than two kilometers away from us.”
“Good. Let the Cloud Sparrow pay close attention to the situation on that side. At the same time, get it to drive Sun Che’s flying beast away. Don’t let it detect our position.”
Zhang Che was currently putting on an act, surrounding a three-star bronze-quality exotic beast known as a Purple-Eyed Fox with his two subdued beasts, when he suddenly received the message from his Large-Beaked Raven that the enemy’s flying beast had returned and was launching an offensive on it.
“So they’re going to remove my eyes?” Zhang Che wasn’t alarmed. Instead, he was happy. His heartbeat accelerated, and his lips showed a strange smile, whispering at a level only he could hear, “Five seconds until the enemies’ arrival on the battlefield!”
