Yu Qian unloaded her chamber, a single large casing falling onto the ground and giving off a clear metallic sound. “Too bad I only got half of your face. Why don’t you pop out again so I can help you round it out?”

She aimed toward the building and was about to shoot through the wall when Chu Long stopped her. “Stop! Quickly put away your stuff and let’s go! Our radar indicated that almost a thousand beasts are headed our way. We need to move, now!”

“Fuck!” Yu Qian scoffed. She was dissatisfied, either because Chu Long stopped her or because she hadn’t blown out the second cult member’s brain. Xiang Ning had already been treated by her and was currently discussing their next course of action with Gu Kun. He was indeed right about his body. 

After she cleaned his blood off, she found out that while the wound was large, it was mostly superficial. There was some bullet shrapnel embedded on the surface, but none of them had penetrated all that deep. It took her less than five minutes to remove all of it before she put on medication and bandaged it up. She didn’t even need to use stitches.

After Yu Qian put away her weapons, Xiang Ning and Gu Kun appeared in front of the team.

“There’s too many beasts. We’ve most likely alerted that tier six beast,” Chu Long reported as he watched the radar.

The sound of their fight, as well as the beast’s howls, would surely have alerted the leader of the area, but they weren’t sure whether it would appear or not. There were only five of them and a thousand beasts. If they were surrounded, they would be dead. Even Xiang Ning would perish there.

“What should we do? Those damned Seven Deadly Sins are monitoring us.”

Xiang Ning thought about it and proposed a plan. “Now that almost all of the beasts have been alerted, there shouldn’t be too many beasts left hiding in buildings. As long as we’re careful we should be able to cross the city without being seen.”

“But that’s a risky plan. One wrong move and we can kiss this world goodbye.” Gu Kun was hesitant.

“So.…”

“So?”

Xiang Ning swiftly came to a decision. “I’ll go lure the beast. All of you, take the chance to cross the city. Maintain radio contact. Find the tallest tree and I’ll meet you there.” 

Everyone was against it. Gu Kun shook his head. “No, it’s too dangerous. If there’s five of us, there’ll be a chance to fight through the beasts and return to the fortress. It’s too dangerous for you to go alone.”

“No, we have the cult on our back now. That means the area we’re heading to is extremely important. We cannot retreat.” Xiang Ning was adamant.

He looked at the other four members. “Trust me. You know how strong I am. I’m not afraid of a tier six beast. It’s also easier for me to run around if I’m alone, and I should be able to outrun the beasts.

All of them turned and looked at Gu Kun. He was the leader, after all.

“Alright, we’ll wait for you at the tallest tree.” Gu Kun didn’t say anything else. Chu Long and Long Xiaoqi were still against it. They couldn’t understand why Xiang Ning would risk his life like this.

Xiang Ning waved and left before they could even protest. Chu Long ran to hold Xiang Ning back, but Xiang Ning was faster. Chu Long looked at Gu Kun for help, but the latter merely gave him a bitter smile. “This is a dangerous mission. There’s no helping it. Sometimes we need someone to do certain things.”

Xiang Ning ran out of the building smiling. Long Xiaoqi saw that and felt shivers traveling up her spine. Wasn’t he in pain just now? Why’s he smiling right now? She felt like something was off. After Xiang Ning had disappeared, she uncertainly muttered, “Why do I think that he’s a bit… excited?”

Everyone heard her and was perplexed. Chu Long came forward and assured her, “Don't worry, he’ll be fine.”

“I don’t mean… I mean…. No, it isn’t important. Did you all not see his expression?” Long Xiaoqi felt that something was up with Xiang Ning. 

The sound of beasts howling in pain came from outside, along with some rumbling.

“Alright, I think the beasts have been lured away. We need to leave now.” Gu Kun took the lead and led them out.

“But… Xiang Ning! He… I….” Long Xiaoqi was still on Xiang Ning’s tail and felt that something was off about him. How could he smile like that? It was as if the beasts were like his… toys. No, that’s impossible. How could that be? How could fearsome beasts become mere toys? She felt like it was impossible, but kept thinking back on the mysterious smile. It was logically impossible, but what if…?

“Alright, let’s go.” Chu Long pulled her forward. He thought that she was so nervous that she had been seeing things. They crossed through the empty buildings and alleys as they moved toward their destination.

......

Back in the other building, Lord Vulture was squirming in pain, his voice hoarse from shouting and crying. The other cult members could only stare at him in silence. They were horrified by his face, which had been partially melted, revealing his teeth and charred flesh.

Lord Vulture’s face was covered in tears, saliva, and snot. He was thrashing about like a fish out of water. Soon, the sound died down as his low grumbling grew more sinister. But it was still louder than the sound of rain.

The cult members saw that and slowly backed away. They put as much space as they could between them and Lord Vulture. The moment his features contorted, they immediately turned around and hoped they hadn’t been noticed as Lord Vulture pounced on the dead cult member.

......

Back to Xiang Ning, he was now activating taunt and successfully attracted more than seventy beasts to fight him.

Fury Points +526

Fury Points +635

Fury Points +643

Fury Points +853

He ran circles around the building where the Seven Deadly Sins were hiding. Every time he was about to be caught, he would dart into an empty building and activate Disguise. He would then reappear on another street. He continued using that tactic and provoked the beasts to the point where they lost all rationality. All of them were running in circles in this particular area of the city.

More and more beasts appeared. The beasts that had been lured into the empty building tried rushing out of it to continue their chase, but the other beasts were blocking the entrance. Out of rage and frustration due to Xiang Ning’s taunt, they fought against each other in an attempt to chase after him.

That was out of Xiang Ning’s expectations. “Why’re they fighting each other?”

A shrill roar suddenly sounded and Xiang Ning knew that the alpha of this particular area had arrived.

The other beasts stopped what they were doing as the alpha had locked onto Xiang Ning, who smiled. He had been waiting for it.

He activated Taunt and used Language Proficiency. “Look at me! I’m so plump and juicy! You want a bite?” He disappeared right in front of that alpha as he ran into a building.

GRAWR! It was a giant crocodile. In terms of ferocity, it was tied with a Grim Claw. It was known as a Sawtooth.

Holy Shit Lord Vulture is off the rails crazy!