Chapter 86: Calculating Each Other
The golden crow sank westward as the jade rabbit rose into the sky.
The glow of the setting sun had yet to fade completely, yet the bright moonlight had already begun to spill across the land.
It could be seen that tonight’s moon was in quite a hurry, as if afraid of appearing even a moment late.
Having left the Safe Zone not long ago, Zhou Ming noticed the night descending swiftly, so he decided not to continue moving forward. The wilderness at night was far more dangerous than during the day.
By a rock covered by dense forest, a group of Ironthread Snakes—thin as chopsticks, their bodies clad in black-gray scales—poured out from beside Zhou Ming like a tide, rapidly crawling in all directions under the shadows of the trees.
The reason Zhou Ming had only now summoned the snake swarm was mainly because the Safe Zone had a wide field of view, with patrols and surveillance from the City Defense Force. Zhou Ming had been worried about exposing his abnormality.
Now, this environment was perfect—not only did it obscure him from prying eyes, but it also allowed him to detect approaching danger in advance during the night.
Although the Ironthread Snakes were agile and fast, spreading out over a kilometer-wide perimeter around Zhou Ming still required some time.
Zhou Ming planned to wait until the Radar Sensory Domain was fully formed before scouting for any hidden threats nearby, as well as to decide on a suitable camping spot.
“Hunters? Still out here?”
Just as Zhou Ming focused his attention on the Radar Sensory Domain, he saw four white dots moving slowly not far behind him.
By now, Zhou Ming had a clear understanding of the Radar Sensory Domain.
White dots represented humans, red dots represented Ferocious Beasts, and the brightness and size of each dot indicated the strength of the target.
“Could it be the Qin Family? Or Hu Peng from Xin Hui Construction Group? Or perhaps some other force?”
Based on what Zhou Ming knew, only these two groups had the highest chance of coming after him.
Especially Hu Peng and his crew—after Zhou Ming had slain their beasts, they must have hated him to the bone.
Two or three months would be just enough for them to recover their Spiritual Power and regain control over new beasts.
Withdrawing his focus from the Radar Sensory Domain, Zhou Ming looked solemnly toward his rear, his mind analyzing who these people could be.
He didn’t believe they were just passing hunters. To avoid ambushes, he had deliberately taken small paths.
Moreover, those heading toward the Northern Wasteland now were all aiming to get a share from the ruins there—how could they possibly depart later than him?
After thinking it through, Zhou Ming decided to confirm whether their target was indeed him.
After all, there were four of them; making a move would involve considerable risk.
Abandoning his search for a campsite, Zhou Ming continued through the dense wilderness, with the Ironthread Snake swarm moving alongside him as his vigilant guards.
“Boss, did that kid notice us? The sky’s almost dark and he still hasn’t stopped to camp.”
Looking up at the sky, Shi Lei saw that only a faint trace of the sunset remained. Night had already arrived.
Seeing Zhou Ming still on the move, the burly man began to doubt.
Indeed, hunters who survived long in the wilderness were rarely as simple as they looked.
At first glance, one might think Shi Lei, with his bald head and strong build, was all brawn and no brain.
Hearing Shi Lei’s words, Hu Peng also stood still, deep in thought.
By now, it was dark, and the surroundings were a mess of forests and hills. If Zhou Ming got startled and fled recklessly, running into a powerful Ferocious Beast would be a big problem.
“Map.”
At once, Da Yong handed over the map he carried. Hu Peng took it, turned on his flashlight, and examined the terrain.
“According to the route he’s taking, he’ll definitely pass through the Windback Gorge.”
“Even if Zhou Ming suspects someone’s tailing him, he won’t know exactly who. We’ll just head straight for Windback Gorge openly, let him think we’re hunters going to explore the base ruins in the Northern Wasteland.”
“When he arrives, we’ll block his escape routes in advance. My new Lightning Mink will deal with his beasts. You’ll close in under cover of your beasts and surround him.”
“Once his beasts are dead, capturing him will be a piece of cake.”
At the thought of the pain of Spiritual Recoil, the corner of Hu Peng’s eye twitched involuntarily.
Perhaps unwilling to make the plan too rigid—after all, anything could happen—Hu Peng added,
“If something unexpected happens, it’s fine to bring back the corpse. But don’t damage his eyes.”
“Understood.”
Hearing Hu Peng’s clear instructions, the other three felt reassured.
Then Hu Peng and his group mounted their beasts and set off quickly, not worried at all about Zhou Ming noticing them—it looked just like a group of normal hunters passing through.
“They left? Did I guess wrong, or do they have another plan?”
Through the Radar Sensory Domain, Zhou Ming noticed the group heading swiftly toward the Northern Wasteland, passing just four or five hundred meters away from him—practically brushing past.
“If only it were daytime…”
Zhou Ming could only make out their figures riding beasts, not their faces.
Still, with his Radar Sensory Domain, he wasn’t afraid of being ambushed.
Seeing them leave his detection range, Zhou Ming decided not to continue traveling and planned to rest for the night before moving on.
Using the Radar Sensory Domain, Zhou Ming located a cave once inhabited by a Mutant Brown Bear.
The host graciously offered him shelter and food; after blocking the entrance, Zhou Ming even lit a fire.
With his snake swarm around, he had no fear of being surrounded.
To avoid waste—and to keep the scent of blood from attracting other predators—Zhou Ming only took a piece of bear meat, letting the snake swarm take turns eating inside the cave.
Of course, his main combat beasts, Inkband and Vermilion Jade, were not neglected either.
That night, under the alternating guard of the snake swarm, Vermilion Jade, and Inkband, Zhou Ming rested peacefully, undisturbed by any blind beasts or Ferocious Beasts.
After all, the aura exuded by Inkband and Vermilion Jade was enough to make most predators in the wilderness halt in their tracks.
At dawn, a thick fog still lingered in the early-spring forest.
Beams of sunlight pierced through the canopy, scattering over the mist, giving the forest an otherworldly mystique.
Yet Zhou Ming ignored the beauty before him. After breakfast, he checked his firearms and ammunition carefully—no room for any mishap.
He couldn’t afford to have his equipment malfunction in a life-or-death fight. If that happened, he’d have to slap himself a few times before lying down to die.
“Judging by the surroundings, I should be able to use grenades safely.”
So far, aside from mutant animals, Zhou Ming hadn’t encountered any Ferocious Beasts. If his guess was right, the hunters heading toward the Northern Wasteland had already hunted them all along this path.
“Human tide, huh?”
Amused by the irony, Zhou Ming muttered to himself.
Usually, beast tides threatened the Alliance’s safety—but now, driven by profit, it was humans forming a tide instead, slaughtering the beasts.
“Perfect. Then I can use grenades freely.”
Zhou Ming still remembered those four clearly from last night.
He took two high-explosive grenades from his backpack, placed them at his side, and smiled as he left the cave.
This time, he wasn’t bringing just one grenade.