Qin Hu was caught off guard. The acid hit his left eye, and white smoke immediately rose up. His eye sizzled, and it hurt him so much that he wanted to die.
One of the black shadows that popped out of the subsurface plasma opened its mouth and went to bite his head.
It was a worm the size of a python.
The place where its head should be opened up in four directions to reveal a terrifying mouthpiece covered in fangs. It was like a blossoming man-eating flower.
The creature was a Grade Two superbeast, Slit-mouthed Anaconda.
Qin Hu instantly turned from a hunter into a prey.
He swung his saber instinctively and had his spirit flames surge. His blade swiftly cut off the Slit-mouthed Anaconda’s mouthpiece.
But another Slit-mouthed Anaconda tore off a piece of flesh and bone from his shoulder.
His blood splashed everywhere in the dark area.
After sensing fresh blood, more Slit-mouthed Anacondas crawled out of the subsurface plasma. They looked up and opened their mouths wide to “smile” hideously.
Qin Hu covered his wound with a pale face.
‘This idiot.’ Meng Chao stuck to the wall like a living corpse. He laughed coldly in his heart. ‘He knew that there was a Red Radiance Jade mine nearby, which is why the spirit energy here is rich, so it was obvious that the monsters here would be nourished to the point they evolved and mutated. Even if there were no high-grade superbeasts here, a lot of low-grade superbeasts or even normal monsters can give a hard time to someone at the peak of Earth Realm.
‘Subsurface plasma is the product of the spores from etherealized plants and glowing microorganisms fusing together. Hence, when there is subsurface plasma, there is definitely a large ecosystem in the area, so one has to be extremely careful of monsters and superbeasts.
‘Yet he didn’t explore the area and look for the species around him, but just released his spirit flames carelessly. He’s like a torch in the dark, so it’s only par for the course that all sorts of monsters come at him!
‘Slit-mouthed Anacondas are just Grade Two superbeasts, so they should not pose any threat to him, who is at the peak of Earth Realm, but with the nourishment provided by the Red Radiance Jade mine, they are especially huge and brutal.
‘As for him, he has been fighting for some time, and he even fell off a cliff. He’s exhausted, and he’s temporarily blinded in one as well. He might not even be able to bring out 30% of his fighting power.
‘He brought this on himself. Fighting against so many Slit-mouthed Anacondas alone is certain death!’
Just as Meng Chao expected, when more than ten Slit-mouthed Anacondas charged over, Qin Hu, who had been full off bluff and bluster, was immediately dragged into a vortex of death.
He did his best and killed two Slit-mouthed Anacondas, but more than ten wounds appeared on his body.
His blood gushed out, and when one wound stopped bleeding, ghastly white broken bones could be seen.
But he did not seem to notice it. He fought like a crazed tiger.
Since he was facing monsters, he temporarily forgot about Meng Chao’s existence. He acted on his instincts of a hunter and activated his vitality magnetic field to the max.
“Come on, you monsters! Whoever wants to eat me, come up and try!”
Qin Hu’s remaining eye shone with a brutal light. He laughed loudly and refused to retreat. He pounced into the midst of the Slit-mouthed Anacondas like a hungry tiger, and even with terrifying wounds on his body, he insisted on swinging his saber to make the monsters pay a terrifying price.
His nano fighting suit was swiftly torn to pieces by the Slit-mouthed Anaconda’s fangs.
Blood continued pouring over his arms. It made his saber hilt wet, and it became a little slippery.
He decided to just remove his shirt, which revealed his refined and strong body. He then used the torn shirt to bind his injured arm and saber tightly together.
The Slit-mouthed Anacondas were shocked by his momentum. They surrounded him and did not dare attack him for a moment.
Even Meng Chao was shocked for a brief moment as he watched him.
Regardless of whether it was in his previous life or his current life, he did not like Prosperous Resource Recovery Company’s boss. Qin Hu was just too crude, unreasonable, domineering, stupid, and indulgent of rascals.
But Meng Chao had to admit it that if he ignored the man’s identity as Qin Hu, the man in front of him was someone who would fight even when drenched in blood and would rather die than retreat. He had the unyielding attitude of powerful humans.
‘Why isn’t he asking for my help though? He should know that I’m hiding nearby and am coldly watching him fight against these monsters.
‘… Well, makes sense. He knows that even if he asks for help, I won’t help. Our grudge runs deep, and he has been calling me a “bastard” throughout the whole fight. He even tried to kill me. There’s no way I would help him! And he claims himself to be a hero, so he would be ashamed to ask for help.’
Meng Chao was still in the status of a living corpse. His mind was affected by Walking Corpse, and a cold sneer formed on his lips.
He decided to just watch the fight.
In any case, Qin Hu had mistaken a Slit-mouthed Anaconda for him and swung his saber at it. That was how he had provoked the monsters. He deserved to be damned.
Meng watched coldly as the Slit-mouthed Anacondas pounced on Qin Hu once more.
He watched coldly as Qin Hu roared and cut the Slit-mouthed Anacondas until they were a bloody mess. His wounds continued accumulating, and burning blood flowed down the lines of his bulging muscles. It spilled all over the cold ground.
He watched coldly as a Slit-mouthed Anaconda shot forward and bound Qin Hu’s thigh. The hunter drove his saber into its gaping mouth, and his spirit flames surged forward. They tore through the monster’s upper body.
He watched coldly as Qin Hu killed in a frenzy and stuffed a Slit-mouthed Anaconda’s still squirming flesh into his mouth. While chewing on it, he laughed. “You want to eat me?! Well, I’m going to taste you first!”
Meng Chao thought coldly, ‘I shouldn’t help that idiot. Besides, I’m just a one-star superhuman. Slit-mouthed Anacondas are Grade Two superbeasts, and there are a lot of them. If I go, I’ll just be asking for my own death.
‘Besides, this idiot is the type that takes his revenge for even the pettiest of things. Even if I go and help him chase away all the Slit-mouthed Anacondas, he might not appreciate it. He might even end up stabbing me.
‘Also, there’s a high possibility that he’ll push me to the Slit-mouthed Anacondas and run away.
‘I won’t save him. He called me a bastard really happily just now. Why didn’t he consider that he might end up like this? I won’t save him. It’s not as if I can save him, anyway!
At that moment, Qin Hu’s arm was grabbed by a Slit-mouthed Anaconda. He flung it, and the creature landed around four meters in front of Meng Chao.
Qin Hu’s vitality magnetic field was now incredibly chaotic. His mind was burning as if a volcano was erupting in his brain. Naturally, he did not notice that Meng Chao was nearby.
But Meng Chao’s heart leapt to his throat.
Qin Hu staggered over and spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with teeth and flesh. Then, he swung his saber at the Slit-mouthed Anacondas.
This scene made it seem as if he was stepping forward bravely to protect Meng Chao behind him.
Meng Chao’s eyelids and lips twitched.
For some reason, the black skull instructor’s words rose in his mind.
“It’s only when you get rid of all unnecessary emotions and thoughts that you can turn yourself into a loyal and reliable killing machine. Then, you’ll be able to pave a bloody road for the survival of Earth’s civilization!”
When the apocalypse arrived, Meng Chao had carved those words deep into his soul.
But the eighteen-year-old Meng Chao rejected them instinctively.
Because of it, he could no longer remain a living corpse. His heartbeat instantly beat like a war drum.
A few Slit-mouthed Anacondas immediately noticed his presence.
At the same time as some pounced at Qin Hu, a few opened their mouths to attack Meng Chao as well.
He yelped and crawled on the ground like a human-shaped gecko. He only barely managed to avoid the attack.
His movement meant that he joined Qin Hu and was surrounded by Slit-mouthed Anacondas.
‘Oh no!’ Meng Chao groaned. ‘I’m really going to die because of this idiot!’
“Bastard, you were hiding so close by and acted like a rat who wouldn’t even make a squeak? I just knew you’re a coward afraid of dying!”
Qin Hu was shocked and angry. He wanted to continue yelling at Meng Chao, but eight Slit-mouthed Anacondas attacked them at the same time.
They could not bother with fighting against each other. They anxiously swung their sabers in different directions.
With Meng Chao helping to deal with the enemies behind him, Qin Hu only needed to fight against those in front of him. His saber glare instantly grew, and he smoothly cut a Slit-mouthed Anaconda which was more than half a meter in diameter in half.
Meng Chao’s chain saber bound a Slit-mouthed Anaconda’s mouthpiece tightly. His spirit energy surged through the carved lines of the runic symbol, and as if he was slicing beancurd, he cut off the four flaps around its mouthpiece. Now, the Slit-mouthed Anaconda was left with only a bare body, and it trashed around as if it was mad.
Since they were facing incredibly fierce monsters, the two men had to pay full attention to their fight. Gradually, they forgot about the other person’s existence and only focused on fighting together until their backs touched each other.
As if they were electrocuted, they jumped away from each other.
They turned their heads around and saw the surprised and disgusted expressions on each other’s faces.
They instinctively lifted their sabers to attack the other.
But they saw Slit-mouthed Anacondas jumping at the other’s back.
Both of them swung their sabers over each other’s shoulders and cut the monster behind them.
After more than ten mangled carcasses lay on the ground, the Slit-mouthed Anacondas finally left.
They slowly squirmed into the depths of the subsurface plasma while letting out rustling sounds.
The two humans were covered in wounds and gasping for breath. They were exhausted and knelt on one knee.
Even so, they held their sabers tightly and stared at each other like trapped beasts. They did not dare to lower their guard in the slightest.
Qin Hu was much more injured. After the stalemate lasted for a long time, he was finally unable to hold himself back and asked, “B-Bastard, do you reckon these Slit-mouthed Anacondas crawled far away? How many monsters are left in the subsurface plasma?”
“Qin Hu, if you friggin’ call me a bastard one more time, I swear that even if there are monsters around us, I’m going to kill you and then myself!” Meng Chao said fiercely.
“… Son of a gun, do you think I grew up being afraid of other people? I’d be humiliated if I stop calling you names just because you asked.” Qin Hu glared at him.
Meng Chao cackled. “Is there a difference between ‘son of a gun’ and ‘bastard’?”
“… Brat is fine, right? This is my limit. I won’t relent more than this!” Qin Hu spat out another mouthful of blood, but he did not have the strength to spit it far away, so his moustache was a mess.
Meng Chao snorted coldly. “The Slit-mouthed Anacondas have never suffered such a major loss here. Of course they won’t go far. So, what do you want to do?”
Qin Hu gritted his teeth and hissed. “I want to kill you. If you didn’t drag me here, how would I have ended in this state?”
“I want to kill you too. Then, I’ll split your skull open like a harvester and see whether your stupid brain is as big as a walnut. If you had talked to me calmly up there, we wouldn’t have ended up in this state.”
Meng Chao flicked his chain sabers. “So, are we going to attack now, or are we going to rest for three minutes before we kill each other?”
Qin Hu’s eyes shone with a fierce light.
When the killing intent from the two people rose, the rustling sounds in the subsurface plasma became grating to the ears.
Qin Hu narrowed his eyes. With great reluctance, he quelled his killing intent. “You want to kill me, and I want to kill you too, but we know that humans don’t always get to fulfill every single one of their wishes.
“I want to become a Deity Realm elite and reach the peak of Supernatural Tower. I even want to become a superhero that is respected by millions of Dragon Citizens! But I can’t do it now, so I don’t need to be bothered by it. It’s the same thing as me wanting to kill you, so I shouldn’t be bothered by it, right?”