Chapter 124: Slaying a Powerful Enemy
As for Poison Sting, who was hidden to the side, Zhou Ming did not ignore him.
In the blink of an eye, he immediately abandoned shooting and made an evasive move.
However, Zhou Ming did not give up on the opportunity before him. When Vermilion Jade drew the Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard’s attack, he immediately summoned Inkband.
“Two Beast Tamers.”
After sensing Inkband’s appearance, Poison Sting was instantly shocked that Zhou Ming actually possessed two beasts.
This kind of thing that defied common sense was also the first time he had ever encountered it.
An ordinary Ironthread Snake might be controlled through special means, but Inkband, which was clearly summoned from a Beast Space, was definitely the opponent’s own beast.
Poison Sting immediately guessed that the person before him must be harboring a great secret.
In that fleeting instant, the Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard at the side relied on its flexible tail to heavily injure Vermilion Jade and knock her flying.
However, Inkband’s sudden appearance caught the Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard off guard. Its crimson venomous fangs pierced through the scales, and the mutated paralysis toxin was frantically injected into its body.
But as a dominant-level existence among low-tier Ferocious Beasts, the Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard possessed both physical strength and resistance to toxins far exceeding that of ordinary low-tier Ferocious Beasts.
Inkband’s snake venom was unable to kill the Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard in a short time. Instead, it allowed the Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard to seize the opportunity to heavily injure Inkband with its tail.
Zhou Ming’s and Poison Sting’s beasts clashed in a lightning-fast exchange, with both sides suffering severe injuries.
Seeing this situation, Poison Sting took advantage of the Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard not yet being deeply poisoned and immediately summoned it back to his side to inject an antidote.
Zhou Ming likewise immediately moved closer to Inkband and Vermilion Jade to inspect the condition of his beasts’ injuries.
There was no danger to their lives, but Inkband and Vermilion Jade had already lost their combat capability.
Inside the cavern, the two men tacitly recalled their respective beasts.
“I didn’t expect that, in the end, life and death would still have to be decided personally by the two of us Beast Tamers.”
Hearing Poison Sting’s words from afar, Zhou Ming did not continue ordering the Ironthread Snake swarm to attack.
The opponent had grenades on him. Even if a few Ironthread Snakes broke through the defense, it would be difficult to pose a real threat.
The snake swarm retreated, hiding in the corners around the cavern.
“In the end, it will surely be a fight to the death.”
“Bang, bang…”
As soon as the words fell, the two directly opened fire.
This time, Zhou Ming did not need to worry about the opponent’s beast. Using the rocks inside the cavern, he quickly closed in on the enemy.
Whether he wanted to unleash his own martial prowess or use the Thunder Type-2 Revolver, he needed to fight at close range.
As for smoke bombs modified with snake venom, as long as the opponent was not foolish, he would retreat in advance.
However, Zhou Ming did not use smoke bombs—Poison Sting did.
When Zhou Ming closed in on him, Poison Sting immediately tossed several smoke bombs around himself.
Darkness did not block the vision of either side, but the smoke bombs did.
Nevertheless, the Radar Sensory Domain constructed by the Ironthread Snake swarm coiled around the area still allowed Zhou Ming to detect the opponent’s movements.
Seeing Poison Sting proactively approaching, Zhou Ming immediately opened fire.
However, relying solely on the Radar Sensory Domain made it difficult to lock onto Poison Sting. After several shots, he failed to hit him.
“Close-quarters combat?”
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Zhou Ming’s mouth. He set down the dual guns in his hands and drew a serrated dagger from his thigh.
Amid the shrouding smoke, a gust of force swept in. Zhou Ming immediately raised his dagger to block, then lowered his body and unleashed the secret killing move, Dark Tail.
His left leg was like a giant axe, kicking toward Poison Sting with an extremely fierce momentum.
“Bang…”
Flesh collided, producing a dull sound.
Poison Sting suffered a violent blow, and a trace of blood instantly seeped from the corner of his mouth.
“How could there be such terrifying strength?”
Borrowing Zhou Ming’s force, Poison Sting immediately withdrew and retreated, not daring to continue engaging Zhou Ming head-on in close combat.
However, he also did not dare to slow his attacks. Zhou Ming’s earlier gunfire made him vaguely guess that the opponent possessed special sensory means.
If he hid himself, the opponent would certainly use firearms to attack.
Just as Zhou Ming was about to use the Radar Sensory Domain to lock onto the opponent’s position, Poison Sting charged at him once more.
This time, however, he did not intend to confront him head-on. Instead, using an eerie footwork, he circled around the front and stabbed the dagger in his hand toward Zhou Ming’s neck.
Yet the Mad Python Martial Way that Zhou Ming practiced provided additional enhancement to both bodily control and flexibility.
His upper body swayed like a giant python, evading Poison Sting’s attack, and Zhou Ming immediately counterattacked at close range.
As long as he managed to grab hold of him, Zhou Ming was confident he could crush the opponent’s bones.
Sensing danger, Poison Sting immediately retreated to evade.
At this moment, Zhou Ming also discovered a problem—that once the opponent moved more than one meter away from him, it became difficult to determine his position.
Unless he split his focus to use the Radar Sensory Domain.
An assassin?
Thinking of the opponent’s beast and fighting style, Zhou Ming immediately thought of a special profession.
By training to conceal one’s aura and form, one could achieve a single fatal strike at close range.
This was a profession pioneered by ordinary warriors during the Doomsday Era. Before Beast Tamers were born, they relied on this method to deal with weaker alien races.
Among them, the top-tier assassins were also proficient in setting traps, lockpicking, infiltration, and other methods.
A portion of the transcendent knowledge obtained by Blue Star’s humans was stolen from alien races through assassins.
However, the person before him was still some distance away from being a true assassin.
He mainly relied on the feedback traits brought by the Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard and the obscuring effect of smoke bombs to barely qualify as one.
If he were a true assassin, his close-quarters combat ability would almost reach the limits of humanity.
Just as thoughts flickered through Zhou Ming’s mind, Poison Sting suddenly launched another attack from behind.
This time, Zhou Ming did not continue dodging. His qi and blood circulated as he activated the Beast King Body.
“Clang…”
A sound like metal rang out.
With protective combat gear on his body, coupled with the short-term physical enhancement of the Beast King Body, Zhou Ming forcibly endured the sneak attack.
“How is that possible?”
Seeing that his dagger could not pierce Zhou Ming’s body, Poison Sting clearly could not accept it.
His attacks were no worse than bullets in terms of penetration. With a sharp dagger added, they should have had even greater effect.
In the instant of Poison Sting’s shock, Zhou Ming did not miss the opportunity. He immediately seized the opponent’s arm and pulled him into his embrace.
Mad Python Martial Way, secret killing move—Strangle.
Zhou Ming wrapped around Poison Sting like a giant python, using his waist as the core of exertion, and with devastating force crushed and broke the bones throughout Poison Sting’s body.
“Ah…”
Bones shattered, and Poison Sting collapsed onto the ground like mud, unable to stop the wail escaping his mouth.
“Bang.”
Not wanting any accidents, Zhou Ming raised his gun and fired at Poison Sting’s forehead.
Poison Sting died. The Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard surfaced from the Beast Space, but it too no longer showed any signs of life.
“Your strength was very strong. If I had met you a year ago, perhaps the one who survived would have been you.”
Looking at the corpse at his feet, Zhou Ming finally gave the opponent an evaluation.
At that moment, noisy footsteps appeared in the karst cave passage in the distance.
“Big Brother, I’m here.”
This was Yang Yi’s father’s rescue team finding Yang Yi, and he was leading people over to provide support.
Seeing this, Zhou Ming immediately retrieved the surviving Ironthread Snake swarm back into his Beast Space, and at the same time stored the Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard into his Spatial Ring.