Whoosh!
Their speed suddenly surged. The fur all over the two lion mastiff dog monsters instantly stood on end.
Luo Feng closed the distance in an instant. His feet moved in four strange steps, precisely the movement technique “Flowing Light” from Nine Stage Thunder Blade. He baited the lion mastiff dogs into lunging with their claws, then twisted his body, narrowly dodging their sharp claws. At the instant their bodies crossed past one another, the Blood Shadow Battle Sabre struck out viciously and treacherously!
Puff! It stabbed directly into the vital point of the neck.
Luo Feng immediately dashed forwards, then turned to look at the other lion mastiff dog monster.
“Roar～～” Seeing blood spraying wildly from its companion’s neck, the other lion mastiff dog monster let out a low growl before rapidly fleeing.
Gao Feng, Chen Gu, and the others from the Fire Hammer Squad all revealed faint smiles at the sight.
Although Luo Feng still lagged behind the Wei brothers in experience, his advantage in movement technique meant that his killing power was no weaker than that of the elder or younger Wei brother.
“Luo Feng, let’s go. We need to enter the county city quickly. Lion mastiff dogs live in packs. That one which escaped will soon return with a group of lion mastiff dog monsters.” Chen Gu said cheerfully. Luo Feng smiled as he regrouped with everyone. The six members of the Fire Hammer Squad finally entered their destination, County City No. 0201.
The Fire Hammer Squad quietly entered the suburban area of County City 0201.
“Luo Feng, during these three days of travelling, we followed the motorway, which was all barren land.” As they walked, Chen Gu lowered his voice. “The vast majority of monsters live inside cities, in densely built areas. County towns and urban districts are the truly dangerous places!”
“Understood, Brother Chen.” Luo Feng nodded.
He had long read about the habits of monster gatherings in forum posts.
During the long war between monsters and humanity, monsters discovered that if they lived in open barren regions without cover, human armies and martial artists could lock onto them from long distances. Heavy sniper rifles and even missiles could then be used for long range attacks.
But inside cities, countless buildings stood everywhere.
As long as monsters hid within densely packed buildings, sniper rifles would have very few opportunities, unless the snipers themselves entered the city. And once human armies entered the city to engage in street fighting with monsters, the monsters would gain a tremendous advantage. Dense urban areas were paradise for monsters.
“The goal of our Fire Hammer Squad is naturally commander level monsters. However…” Chen Gu reminded quietly, “Commander level monsters already possess a certain degree of intelligence, not much lower than humans. Commander level monsters command large numbers of beast soldier monsters to gather around them and obey their orders. Almost every commander level monster is surrounded by a huge number of beast soldiers, so killing one is extremely difficult.”
Luo Feng nodded.
The difference between beast soldiers and commanders was not just strength. Most importantly, it was intelligence!
To preserve their lives, commander level monsters naturally gathered large numbers of beast soldiers around them for protection. Apart from a very few monsters that preferred solitude, the overwhelming majority of commanders were surrounded by many beast soldiers.
“Everyone be careful. Ahead is a steel armoured bull nest.” Captain Gao Feng suddenly spoke. “The leader of this steel armoured bull nest should be a high level commander, and the number of steel armoured bulls there is huge. We’ll go around it. Chen Gu, don’t fire your gun. If a steel armoured bull attacks, remember, kill it instantly. Don’t let it call for companions.”
“Yes, Captain.”
The other five all nodded.
The suburbs and city districts were entirely different from the barren lands outside. They were far more dangerous.
Following a narrow path, the six members of the Fire Hammer Squad advanced cautiously.
“Stop.” Wei Tie, the elder of the Wei brothers at the front, raised a hand and stared seriously ahead. In the distance lay the enormous body of an iron fur boar, while beside it two tiger mastiff dog monsters were lowering their heads and devouring flesh and blood in huge bites. Suddenly, the tiger mastiff dogs lifted their heads to glance at the distant Fire Hammer Squad, becoming much more alert.
“We’ll go around. Don’t attack.” Gao Feng whispered softly.
Back on the barren motorway regions, Luo Feng and the others had acted freely, killing monsters whenever they pleased. But inside the city, things were different.
…
After proceeding cautiously all the way, avoiding danger more than ten times and instantly killing eight ordinary beast soldier level monsters, Luo Feng’s group finally reached their first destination, Blue Sky Estate within County City 0201. Blue Sky Estate had been chosen as the Fire Hammer Squad’s first destination because it contained three residential towers each twenty one storeys high.
“Let’s go, up to the rooftop.”
“Everyone be careful. A monster could emerge from somewhere inside the building at any time.”
“Don’t make loud noises.”
The six members of the Fire Hammer Squad continuously climbed the stairs.
“Roar～～” A low monster growl faintly echoed throughout the floors. The six members frowned slightly. Wei Tie at the front whispered, “It should be upstairs. Everyone stay alert.” Each person gripped their weapons tightly, ready to strike at any moment. Chen Gu, who used firearms, was protected in the centre.
Step by step they advanced.
“Mhm?” Luo Feng suddenly spotted a lion mastiff dog monster appearing around the corner ahead. It stood over two metres tall, with long fur all over its body, and a size comparable to a large military off road vehicle. The moment the lion mastiff dog monster saw the humans, it growled lowly and charged over with a foul wind.
The Fire Hammer Squad was climbing upwards, while the lion mastiff dog monster was diving downwards, its huge body generating enormous momentum.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
At the very front, the Wei brothers Wei Tie and Wei Qing moved almost identically, shield in one hand and curved blade in the other, simultaneously charging upwards. They nearly brushed past the lion mastiff dog monster. As they crossed by one another, the curved blades traced arcs that sliced precisely across the joints of the lion mastiff dog’s front claws.
Wei Tie and Wei Qing used identical techniques!
This caused the lion mastiff dog monster’s two front claws to stumble, making it land unsteadily upon the stairs. At that moment, Iron Spear Zhang Ke, directly behind the Wei brothers, instantly stepped forward while thrusting his alloy spear with a sharp whistling sound towards the staggering lion mastiff dog monster’s head.
Puchi! The spear instantly pierced through the lion mastiff dog monster’s eye and penetrated straight through its skull!
“Hrrgh hrrgh～～” The lion mastiff dog monster unconsciously twitched its four claws twice before collapsing weakly.
The coordination between Wei Qing, Wei Tie, and Zhang Ke was indeed exquisite. The first two injured the lion mastiff dog’s front limbs, destabilising its footing, while Zhang Ke instantly thrust his spear for a fatal blow. Zhang Ke’s spear technique was frighteningly precise, directly piercing through the eye.
…
During this climb upstairs, the Fire Hammer Squad encountered a total of three monsters, which counted as rather good luck. One of those monsters had actually rushed up from the staircase below. At that time, Luo Feng and Gao Feng were at the rear of the team, so naturally Luo Feng acted swiftly and cleanly to kill that g class monster.
Walking out of the stairwell, the six members of the Fire Hammer Squad arrived on the rooftop of the twenty one storey residential tower.
“Close the stairwell entrance, seal it tightly for me!” Gao Feng ordered. “Prevent monsters from running up from below onto the rooftop.”
“Yes.”
Luo Feng and Zhang Ke personally shut the iron stairwell door, specifically finding an iron rod to jam it firmly shut.
“Phew, finally we can relax a little.” Zhang Ke rarely revealed a smile as he sat directly on the rooftop and took out high energy food and water from his backpack.
“Everyone brought binoculars, right?” Captain Gao Feng spoke. “Take out your binoculars and look down from the rooftop edge. See if you can find any commander level monsters! Remember, don’t expose too much of your bodies over the rooftop edge. If the monsters below discover us, it’ll cause a bit of trouble!”
On the rooftop, they were actually very safe.
A twenty one storey residential rooftop was generally impossible for ordinary monsters to climb from the outside.
Even if commander level monsters directed monsters to attack up the stairwell, how wide could the stairwell really be? The threat was not significant. The Fire Hammer Squad had more than enough time to escape.
“Begin searching for commander level monsters.”
“Brothers, let’s find some monsters.”
Luo Feng also took binoculars out from his backpack. Everyone carried auxiliary tools such as binoculars and steel wire anyway, since they were not heavy.
Squatting at the rooftop edge, Luo Feng immediately saw the streets below filled with countless monsters everywhere. “The number of monsters in densely populated city zones really is ten or even a hundred times greater than in the wilderness.” On one particular street alone, a single glance revealed at least several hundred monsters moving about.
Even a commander level martial artist would have little chance of escaping alive if surrounded by several hundred ordinary monsters.
“Captain, these are all beast soldier level monsters.”
“I haven’t seen any commander level monsters on my side either.”
Including the captain, all five members held binoculars while observing different directions below. Only by standing high could one see far. From the rooftop of the twenty one storey building, they could indeed see very far and observe many monsters.
Click!
An iron case opened. Chen Gu, the only member of the Fire Hammer Squad not using binoculars, opened the case. Inside, apart from large quantities of ammunition, was a long wooden box containing firearm components. Chen Gu quickly assembled them.
Moments later…
A silver grey heavy sniper rifle nearly two metres long was fully assembled, complete with optical sights and other equipment.
Chen Gu loaded special bullets into the magazine one by one, a total of ten rounds.
“Captain, notify me once you find a commander level monster.” Chen Gu said.
“Mhm, get some sleep first and conserve your energy. Leave the search for commander level monsters to us.” Gao Feng nodded, while instructing the others, “Everyone pay close attention. Don’t miss anything.”
This was one of the easiest methods for hunting commander level monsters within a city. From a commanding height, they could see far.
This was dozens or even hundreds of times faster than searching for commander level monsters on the streets, and it was also extremely safe.
Luo Feng, Zhang Ke, the Wei brothers, and Gao Feng all carefully scanned below with binoculars. As for Chen Gu, he hugged the heavy sniper rifle and narrowed his eyes to sleep.