Very soon, the train arrived at Fortress Three. Li Zihao stood up from his seat, his height rightfully scaring Xiang Ning. He hadn’t noticed his height when seated, but was that really a sixteen or seventeen-year-old? He was even taller than Lei Zhongyuan. 

“Hehe, don’t look at me like that. My ancestors gave me this height, I didn’t have a choice. My genes were like this, I’m befuddled too.” Li Zihao scratched his head. He was already 2.21 meters tall at seventeen. Although human physiology had improved after the Great Disaster, few achieved two meters, let alone more. 

If this were before the Great Disaster, his parents would have considered getting him checked for gigantism. 

After receiving the mission, both parties made a formal contract that the points would be split eighty-twenty after the mission. That was to prevent anyone from breaking their promise. 

“Alright, let’s not waste any more time. Let’s go,” said Li Zihao with a smile. 

It wasn’t an easy assignment; there were nineteen kilometers between the two fortresses. Under normal circumstances, that wasn’t too far and wouldn’t take too long to travel on foot. However, there were many beasts along the way this time, and they’d been informed that the scouts had found Beast Generals too. But Li Zihao remained confident. If this were a game, he would be the tank. He was great at withstanding attacks. 

Their city’s geographical location was similar to Marsh City, both of them peripheral cities that allowed for training in the wilderness, and he had experience successfully hunting tier four beasts. 

However, their city was much richer than Marsh City, with more people and a larger area. 

“Little Rou, sister, wait for me. I’ll be there soon.” Xiang Ning looked up at the sky and out at the plains outside the fortress. They hopped onto the armored truck specially arranged by the fortress. Xiang Ning and Liu Yi, who was Wu Rui’s squad member, sat together. 

“Brother Xiang, thanks for the medicine.” Liu Yi was a timid boy. He used to be a more introverted kid, the type that was often bullied, but since meeting Lei Zhongyuan, he had started changing, though the shyness in his bones was never completely wiped out. 

“It’s nothing. You did very well. If you and your team hadn’t fought so hard and well, Wu Rui wouldn’t have been able to advance to the next level,” said Xiang Ning. 

“Mm, Brother Xiang, could you teach me cultivation next time? I’m a little slow, but I’ll work hard,” said Liu Yi, smiling. 

Liu Yi looked like a timid fanboy. Seeing his unbridled enthusiasm, Xiang Ning liked him very much and his mood brightened. “Of course.” This was a separately-arranged mission. If anything happened to them, they could only request help from the fortress and wait to be rescued. 

“Aren’t you worried?” Li Zihao’s instructor looked at Mu Ronghua, who was turning to leave. 

“Count yourselves lucky.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Your mission today will definitely be completed. Don’t worry, all we need to do is wait for the path to be cleared,” Mu Ronghua said as he left.

“What’re you talking about?!” the other instructor muttered, looking at him doubtfully. 

Fortresses One and Three were nineteen kilometers apart; the area was scouted every hour. The most recent report from thirty-one minutes ago said that there were more than a thousand beasts within the area, including Beast Generals. The good news was that the beasts were moving. As long as the path was cleared, both fortresses could send people to set up new checkpoints. 

There were usually checkpoints connecting fortresses, but they’d had to retreat due to the aggressive stampede; staying would have meant certain death. After the first wave passed and humanity launched a counterattack against beasts in strategic locations, the area would be mostly clear. 

The armored truck encountered beasts less than a kilometer out. Initially, Xiang Ning had wanted to flex so he wouldn’t be wrongfully gossiped about, but Li Zihao’s team was enthusiastic so he changed his mind. 

Along the next three or four kilometers, they met more than ten beasts. Every time, Xiang Ning wanted to stand up, but the others would get to it first. After a few times, Xiang Ning no longer wanted to stand up. 

They weren’t enthusiastic for nothing, they were working for points. 

“Brother Xiang, do you think they’ve crossed a line?” Liu Yi whispered as the other people got off once again. 

“It’s fine, as long as we arrive at Fortress One. We’ll get the points,” said Xiang Ning. 

“Mm, I understand.” Xiang Ning was now Liu Yi’s rock. 

On the sixth kilometer, they encountered a tier four beast. Li Zihao’s team could usually defeat an ordinary tier four beast, but this was a Grimclaw, a tyrant of a beast. It was a bear-type beast, one that had reached the Beast General rank, too. In the precious little footage that humans had, it’d displayed incredible power that could rival a Pale Moon, but with even fiercer attacks. 

“No, it’s powerful in both offense and defense, not even I can withstand a few moves from it!” 

“Why is this stupid animal here?!” 

“Dammit, why’s there an old tree on this path!” 

“The Grimclaw has taken this place as its new home!” 

Within the truck, Xiang Ning frowned as he watched the battle outside. It was taking longer than expected. 

“Brother Xiang, I think they’re losing. What now?” As Liu Yi spoke, Li Zihao was struck by one of the Grimclaw’s paws and a chunk of his armor was torn off, revealing bloody flesh underneath. It wasn’t a deep wound, though, only a centimeter deep. Any deeper and his guts would have spilled out. 

“Xiang Ning, ram it with the truck! The Grimclaw is too powerful, we need to retreat!” yelled Li Zihao, forcefully holding his pain back. But there was no reply. When they turned around, they saw Xiang Ning pouncing like an arrow off of a bow, so fast he was a blur. 

“Mountain-Splitting Slash!” 

Xiang Ning’s voice wasn’t loud but they all heard him clearly. The Xiang Ning of today wasn’t the same boy who had fought the Pale Moon. The aura from his attack was enough to make the two-thousand-ton Grimclaw feel a hint of fear. 

“Hah!” The moment they came into contact, Xiang Ning’s muscles tensed and the blade cut three inches deep. However, it still didn’t cut the Grimclaw's paw off. The injured Li Zihao retreated back to the group.

Liu Yi drove up from the back and yelled, “Hurry and get inside to treat your injury.” 

To be honest, he was a little happy to see Li Zihao in pain. 

“There, that’s how strong Brother Xiang is!” 

How I imagined the Grimclaw would look like. This is Arzuros from the Monster Hunter franchise