Chapter 696
Chapter 696 - 682: Hunter
1,604 words
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9 min read
"...Eat them."
Lu Ping’an wanted to loosen up a bit, but if the opponents were mere wolf pack fodder, he wouldn’t be too interested in toying with them.
In fact, a few minutes ago, he still had some expectations for their battle-profession. The two weapons they wielded seemed to be taboo items...
"...If it ends like this, I guess it’s no big loss."
If they couldn’t even break through the wolf pack and stand before him, feeding them to the wolves wouldn’t be much of a waste either.
The battlefield of the professionals is a bloody and cruel place.
When high-end combat power like Lu Ping’an entered the battlefield, it wasn’t just the intervention of an individual... it was the center of a fight system that included high-level tamers, gardeners, close-combat professions, war professions, and element manipulators.
Or perhaps, an emerging war legion.
After Lu Ping’an’s tactical system was established, this was the first time it had a comprehensive chance to reveal itself on the battlefield.
As the leader of the team, he’d been patiently playing the role of manager and leader for a while, and he’d nearly grown sick of it.
Now, taking on this mission voluntarily, perhaps it was just a chance for him to let off some steam...
Amidst the echo of gunfire, a tide of wolves surged forth... only to be cut short.
"...Tch, boring."
The wolf pack pounced, attacked, and overwhelmed.
Two individuals who looked like professionals tried to flee... Just as Lu Ping’an was about to intervene personally, those unfortunate souls were pounced on by the knights commanded by the Wolf King.
"What were they thinking? That they could outrun the wolf pack?"
The battle lasted a mere three minutes and forty seconds. Once the Aus people’s trump card—their Vortex-firearms—were rendered useless by Zhi Xi’s solid defense, the outcome was already clear.
This was also the root cause of the insufficient killing power of firearms against professionals on Earth...as long as there was targeted defense against guns, professionals had too many abilities and methods to kill the gunmen.
"Alright, everyone. It’s your turn now..."
However, when Lu Ping’an turned his gaze to the people he was rescuing, the smile on his lips made them involuntarily retreat or brace themselves defensively.
𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
This time, after pondering for a moment, Lu Ping’an spoke in a stumbling, heavily-accented Russian.
"We are... allies... Red Star... Eastern Country..."
Lu Ping’an didn’t know a single word of Russian, even though there were many people from the Eastern Country who spoke Russian in this world line. After all, even the original Lu Ping’an’s previous generation primarily studied Russian as a foreign language.
In this world, the persistent strength of the Red Star Republic made it an extremely useful second foreign language in this era, ensuring the continuity of the Eastern Country’s foreign language education.
In the Eastern Country’s schools today, a quarter of the students still choose Russian as their foreign language course... In the past, it was more than half, but with the increasing prevalence of English, it became more mainstream.
Lu Ping’an might not know Russian, but Big Cat did.
Now, as Big Cat whispered each phrase into his ear, he repeated them, stuttering but still able to communicate.
Well, at least he thought he should be able to communicate.
Lu Ping’an directly invited them to his camp as guests. As they hesitated and whispered among themselves, he casually petted his Wolf King, seemingly summoning a ball of flame on purpose.
In an instant, he was met with a flurry of enthusiastic nods.
"Alright, let’s move," he said, before reclining on his trailer.
He couldn’t be bothered to deal with these people in a half-baked foreign language. He would take them back and hand them over to someone who spoke Russian.
But at this moment, the woman who appeared to be an officer stepped forward again.
"We still have comrades scattered in this forest, and there are more squads of Aus mercenaries on the loose..."
Lu Ping’an paused, waiting for Big Cat’s increasingly fluent translation, then nodded in satisfaction.
"Fine, we’ll try to bring back as many people as possible... Comrades?" Lu Ping’an seemed to recall a word that was most suitable for allies.
Seeing Lu Ping’an agree, they were overjoyed.
The officer even hugged Lu Ping’an, repeatedly saying "товарищи (comrades)". This familiar yet strange address, along with the warm smiles of the past, made Lu Ping’an feel a strange mixture of emotions.
However, the turn of events was still too cruel.
Indeed, several squads of Red Star soldiers were hiding in the mountainous and forested areas, having evaded the Aus people using vehicles. They even ambushed and captured a few high-quality guns through the terrain.
But all of this happened more than a month ago... The medical camp could last until now because they had medics and logistics, which allowed them to provide simple medical care and some supplies.
Lu Ping’an even sensed a familiar smell from one of the men... That was a 2-tier Gardener, under such circumstances, he could provide a certain level of food for the small team.
Even if he couldn’t stop and "farm", he could identify poisonous fruits, wild vegetables, and wild fruits through sensing, adding meals for his fleeing companions. He could also avoid powerful beasts through Life Perception. In this environment, he was the true reason for the team’s persistence.
There’s no need to mention the importance of the Logistics Department, as it is already common for middle to high-level logistics personnel to be three or four times more valuable than pure battle professions in the labor market... Anfeya’s team had already run out of bullets and food, so it goes without mentioning for other teams.
On the way, wolf packs spread on the ground, War Eagles soared in the sky, and Lu Ping’an indeed showed his advantages as a Warlord, becoming the king of the wilderness.
He also met another team as scheduled, and this time, it ended even faster than last time.
Encountering wolf packs from all directions in the woods, they only managed to fire one round of fuse guns before getting fatally attacked by the wolves.
This team had three professionals... but in the face of hundreds of first-tier wolves, as well as the hidden "Assassins" and "Knights", the two 2-tier battle-professions and one third-tier Element Manipulator from the old era met their doom.
They fought, they resisted, they retreated helplessly, they screamed, and they cried out in despair...
The giant metallic figure crushed the loudest battle-profession as it landed.
And the captain, the strongest third-tier element manipulator, was just about to call out an element...
With a scream, he was lifted up by a steel arm, his bones and body unable to withstand the grip.
Then, he was thrown to the ground like a ragdoll, in too much pain to breathe.
"Clap." Lu Ping’an clapped his hands, and out of respect for the third-tier profession, he activated his "Black Flame Generator."
And so, the deadly and scorching black flames encircled the element manipulator, who was in pain from head to toe.
"...Try to move."
Lu Ping’an’s simple English level was still on point, at least when he spoke, the intimidation effect was 100%, and quite effective.
With a faint sense of the "Death" power in the fire, the captain, who suspected he was facing a Decree strongman, didn’t move at all, like a dead person, even as his teammates screamed and died in front of him.
Leaving one "interpreter", Lu Ping’an wasn’t interested in bullying the weak anymore...
"Time to eat."
The wolf pack had another source of food, a win-win situation!
After a while, a giant wolf jumped up, stood on the rocks, and roared toward the sky.
Its muscles suddenly swelled up, and in its gluttonous pupils, there seemed to be flames swirling, while its claws and teeth grew wildly.
In just a short minute or so, it grew into a 3-meter "Giant Beast", and the saliva dripping from its scarlet tongue corroded the ground directly.
"Demonized... Great! This place is truly a treasure, so soon!"
And in his ear was the joyful voice of the big cat.
Demonization, or contamination, is a common process for tamers. Lu Ping’an and his team had been working on this for a while. The quick results were due to...
"Thank you for your full devotion."
Lu Ping’an thanked the lying corpse.
"Worthy of being a third-tier nutritious treat, it’s a great tonic. Its evolution is quite good."
Contaminants cannot disappear, only be transformed. Once those professionals entered the beasts’ stomachs, the "Orderified" contamination became the best nutrition for the newborn tamers.
Compared to ordinary contamination potions and prey, not only was the "nutrition" more abundant, but the flesh and blood containing their "professional order" would also reduce the chance of demonized wildlife losing control.
At least, at this moment, the big cat thought its evolution was quite perfect.
This again proved the potential of this wolf pack and made her eager to see more.
"This should be a knight, give it a name, oh right, there’s one over there..." Her malicious gaze fell on the surrendered third-tier, her eagerness completely undisguised.
"No, at least not now. We still need his information." Lu Ping’an rubbed his chin, laughing ambiguously.</p
— End of Chapter 696 —