Red light, stop; green light, go. Drive recklessly, and your loved ones will weep.
Lin Li noticed that the moment the light turned green, the young men and women—likely heading to the South District to watch the excitement—slammed on their accelerators and shot forward. It was clear they were in a hurry.
RUMBLE...
Lin Li started his van unhurriedly, maintaining a steady speed.
’This operation is huge. The authorities will have definitely cordoned off the area in the South District Suburbs near the wilderness. They won’t let these ordinary people get close to the action. If they’re really trying to go see the excitement like I think, they’re bound to be disappointed.’
Lin Li drove his van methodically toward the South District.
More than twenty minutes later, just as he was about to reach his destination, he hit the brakes.
The van slowed to a stop. Despite it being early in the morning, the wide highway was gridlocked. As far as the eye could see, the road was packed with an endless line of cars.
It was just as Lin Li had predicted. Acting on orders from their superiors, Security Officers had set up a cordon far back from the scene, prohibiting ordinary people from approaching the imminent battle.
’Tsk... Looks like I’ll have to go the rest of the way on foot.’
Lin Li had planned to find a deserted spot after arriving and store the van in the Mysterious Small Island.
But now, he was surrounded by people. There was no way to do it unnoticed in front of such a large crowd.
So, he pulled over to a parking spot, changed into a set of camouflage fatigues inside the van, and got out. Empty-handed, he started walking toward his destination.
「 」
Under the bright sun, a noisy crowd had gathered on the highway near the South District Suburbs.
"Come on, let us through!"
"Yeah! We just want to take a few pictures at the scene. We won’t cross the safety line or go into the wilderness..."
"Just bend the rules a little! We won’t cause any trouble when we get there..."
Several Security Officers stood before the brightly colored police tape.
With stern expressions and a firm attitude, they professionally refused the young men and women they had stopped—all of whom wanted to see the incident firsthand.
"Sir, the road ahead is currently closed to civilians." A Security Officer spotted a young man in camouflage fatigues about to cross the tape and walk on, so he immediately moved to block his path.
After the Security Officer stopped him, Lin Li, dressed in his fatigues, pulled his Exotic Beast Hunter certification from his pocket and handed it over.
"Oh, so you’re an Exotic Beast Hunter!" The Security Officer inspected the certification Lin Li had given him. After confirming it was authentic, he let Lin Li through.
As Lin Li started to walk on, the Security Officer looked at the young, unarmed Exotic Beast Hunter and called out to him.
"Sir, is it really a good idea to go to the front lines bare-handed like that?"
Lin Li knew the officer was saying it out of concern, worried that he would be in danger fighting on the front lines like this. He didn’t offer an explanation, but simply raised his right hand.
A faint golden Spiritual Light flashed at his fingertips, and a small Fireball materialized in his hand.
’So this Exotic Beast Hunter has awakened a Superpower,’ the Security Officer thought as he looked at the Fireball floating in Lin Li’s hand. ’With a ranged attack like that, it makes sense he’s empty-handed.’ He said no more.
Lin Li glanced at the young men and women held back by the Security Officers, their various pieces of equipment now useless. With a faint smile, he felt their envious stares as he strode briskly toward the site of the impending battle.
「 」
Several more armed helicopters appeared in the azure sky, flying in from the direction of the city.
As he hurried along, Lin Li looked up at the sky. He watched as the helicopters flew swiftly forward to rendezvous with others that were already hovering in the air. Once they formed an attack squadron, they all sped toward the target.
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH...
Suddenly, a series of whistling sounds filled the sky.
Lin Li saw the helicopter attack squadron on the horizon launch its assault.
In a sector just beyond his line of sight, the helicopters flying in the sky unleashed a volley of rockets.
Dozens of armed helicopters firing rockets in unison was a spectacular sight. The rockets, trailing flames, fell like dense rain, instantly blanketing a massive target area.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM...
ROAR...
A succession of explosions echoed from the distant wilderness, followed immediately by an earth-shattering roar.
Before Lin Li had even reached the scene, the interception battle had already begun.
After firing one salvo at the target, the dozens of helicopters in the attack squadron immediately turned and retreated.
Although the helicopters were equipped with heavy machine guns, such weapons were not enough to pierce the tough hides of the Mutant Beasts. They had to return to a supply point to restock on the more powerful rockets.
Lin Li had only ever seen armed helicopters launch attacks like this on television. To witness dozens of them unleash a salvo on a target with his own eyes was deeply shocking.
’With my current cultivation, an attack like that would most likely leave me critically injured and on the brink of death. If I broke through to the Peak of Tier Two, I should be able to evade it.’