Chapter 95: The Relic Monster
“Bang, bang—”
“Roar—”
Gunfire, explosions, and the roars of tamed beasts rang out intermittently.
Perhaps it was due to grudges formed before entering the ruins, or perhaps for some benefit hidden within.
Whatever the reason, at this moment, the relic had already turned into a vast hunting ground.
Like a dark forest, every hunter did their utmost to conceal themselves while constantly searching for their prey.
But none of this had anything to do with Zhou Ming.
As long as no one provoked him, he wouldn’t go rushing into areas of conflict like a mantis trying to catch a cicada. His current goal was to reach the lowest level as quickly as possible.
“Roar!”
While swiftly advancing through the pitch-black passageway, Zhou Ming suddenly felt a foul wind surge toward him from the side—so fast that he almost couldn’t react.
Zhou Ming threw himself toward the ground ahead. His legs pressed close to the surface, muscles bursting into motion as he glided like a serpent, narrowly evading the attack and brushing past the assailant.
“Boom—”
Before Zhou Ming could even look back, a violent crash echoed behind him. The resulting shockwave and flying debris stung painfully against his back.
The floors of the ruins were made of steel—not as durable as today’s specialized alloys, but still far beyond what an ordinary mutated beast could damage. It was clear this power belonged to a Ferocious Beast.
But if it was a Ferocious Beast, how had it avoided detection by the Ironthread Snakes?
Although Zhou Ming had been moving quickly through the passage and couldn’t fully focus on the Radar Sensory Domain, if someone—or something—had been lurking nearby, the snakes would’ve sensed it immediately and alerted him.
How did the opponent evade the snakes’ perception?
Within the span of a heartbeat, Zhou Ming’s mind raced.
But the priority now was to eliminate the attacker and uncover the hidden Beast Tamer behind it.
In less than a breath’s time, Zhou Ming had retreated more than ten meters. He immediately commanded Inkband to prepare for counterattack, while his hands drew the dual pistols strapped to his thighs.
Left hand—Blood Hunter.
Right hand—Thunder.
With Zhou Ming’s current strength, his left hand could handle standard firearms, but the Thunder Type-2 Revolver still required his right hand to fully control.
Perched on Zhou Ming’s shoulder, Inkband received his order and launched itself into the darkness like an invisible assassin, darting straight toward the ambusher.
At the same time, Zhou Ming turned back to face his attacker, diverting part of his focus to extend the Radar Sensory Domain, searching for the hidden Beast Tamer.
“Return!”
When Zhou Ming finally saw the attacker’s appearance, he shouted the command to Inkband without hesitation.
Inkband, about to strike, immediately coiled its tail and withdrew.
A Beast’s first and foremost instinct was to obey its master’s command.
“A walking corpse… zombie… or some kind of creature made long ago?”
Only when Zhou Ming got a good look did he realize—the attacker wasn’t a beast at all, but a desiccated corpse.
Its body was covered only by a few scraps of gray-black fabric, weathered to near dust. Its entire form was bronze-colored, like dried jerky drained of all moisture—and its head was that of a tiger.
Seeing this, Zhou Ming instantly understood why there had been no gunfire support from a hidden Beast Tamer during the ambush.
Uncertain of the creature’s nature, Zhou Ming dared not let Inkband strike.
Its main attack was its venom, and judging from this thing’s condition, he couldn’t be sure the venom would have any effect.
Direct confrontation wasn’t Inkband’s strength either. Without knowing the enemy’s capabilities, letting it test the waters would be too risky.
If something went wrong, he’d lose a vital combat partner—and cultivating another Ferocious Beast-level pet would be extremely difficult.
As Inkband returned, Zhou Ming didn’t stay idle. Controlling several Ironthread Snakes, he sent them lunging toward the corpse while his left hand pulled the Blood Hunter’s trigger.
“Bang, bang—”
Gunfire echoed through the narrow passage.
“Roar—”
The desiccated corpse, having failed its ambush and startled by its prey’s sudden evasion, felt the impact of the bullets striking its body.
But the force was little more than a tickle to it. The undead creature only grew angrier.
As for the Ironthread Snakes—their sharp fangs couldn’t pierce its skin at all. Instead, they became prey for the monster.
With its limbs pressed against the ground, the corpse let out a guttural roar and suddenly charged straight at Zhou Ming.
“Boom!”
In the pitch-dark corridor, a deafening explosion rang out as the muzzle of the Thunder Type-2 Revolver spat a bolt of lightning.
“Bang!”
The charging corpse was blasted backward as though struck by a truck, crashing into the steel floor with a roar even louder than its initial attack.
“Roar—”
A bowl-sized hole gaped in its chest, yet even as it lay prone, the corpse howled furiously, attempting to rise again.
“Boom!”
Zhou Ming gave it no chance.
Seeing that the creature could still move, he aimed and blew its head apart.
In an instant, its skull burst like a smashed tomato, leaving a headless corpse sprawled across the passage.
“Looks like when I get back from the ruins, I need to reach the Gunfighter realm as soon as possible—ideally mastering the Thunder Type-3 Revolver.”
For the first time, Zhou Ming had needed a follow-up shot with the Thunder Type-2 Revolver, and the thought of the Type-3 made his blood surge with longing.
That revolver model could only be wielded, even once, by top-tier Gunfighters—those who had mastered both firearm arts and martial arts to the pinnacle level of the Alliance.
Even at Qinshan Base, no one sold that model; one had to go to a major base and request a custom order directly from the Thunder Revolver manufacturer.
It truly proved the saying: “All fear stems from insufficient firepower.”
Fortunately, Zhou Ming had trained in the New Martial Arts Beast King Body technique; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been capable of firing the Thunder Type-2 Revolver twice in quick succession.
“I didn’t think that intel report was actually true…”
Recalling the information he had bought, Zhou Ming had assumed the reference was to some sort of biohazard-type creature.
He hadn’t expected it to literally mean zombies.
Only such beings could survive in total darkness, in an environment utterly devoid of food.
At the same time, he thought of the Alliance’s suppressed information about the Beast Spirit Sorcerer profession—perhaps this occupation was related to such creatures.
The only good news was that these monsters were physical entities, not spectral beings from myth.
“Looks like I’ll have to handle these things myself.”
Zhou Ming muttered to himself as he looked at the corpse.
Although the undead’s strength didn’t surpass that of a low-grade Ferocious Beast, Zhou Ming’s tamed beasts were completely restrained by such creatures.
Inkband’s venom couldn’t paralyze them, Vermilion Jade’s fine bone blades couldn’t deliver fatal damage—the only real threat he had against them was his Thunder Type-2 Revolver.
Thankfully, he’d brought plenty of specialized bullets.
With monsters like this around, Zhou Ming dared not run recklessly anymore.
Since the snakes couldn’t detect these dead creatures, he intended to test whether the Radar Sensory Domain could. If it couldn’t, the danger level of this ruin had just multiplied several times over.
After a quick inspection of the corpse, Zhou Ming found its dried, bronze-colored skin to be incredibly tough. Coupled with its explosive power earlier, he understood how dangerous these walking corpses were.
Meanwhile, his right arm burned with pain. He needed to find a safe place to rest briefly—so he’d have the strength to fight back the next time he encountered such a creature.
Through the Radar Sensory Domain, Zhou Ming sensed several people approaching, drawn by the earlier commotion.
Not wanting to stir further trouble, he slipped away under the Domain’s guidance, leaving only the remains of a headless corpse behind.