Chapter 63: Investigation

“I wonder how many monsters that Xu Feng had killed. An SR-grade talent, truly enviable,” Zhao Qiang thought to himself as he walked. “This clearing operation in Xinfu Village serves two purposes: the military wants to understand why the monsters in this town are so high-level, and it’s also said to be a testing ground where major factions select talents.”

It was precisely because Zhao Qiang heard this rumor that he didn’t hesitate to eliminate other competitors at the gas station to join the Wildfire Squad and enter this small town called Xinfu Village.

“Huh, Xu Feng?”

Zhao Qiang’s gaze fell ahead.

He saw two Insect Humans tangled with a figure. Additionally, Zhao Qiang noticed that not far away, another monster was lurking, silently crawling toward Xu Feng.

“Fighting two Two-Star Monsters is already your limit. Three of them, hmph…” A strange smile appeared on Zhao Qiang’s face.

Zhao Qiang had discovered many hidden cameras in the town, making him even more convinced of the rumor.

“Thunder Martial Hall, 104th Unit, Tai Chi Alliance, Doomsday Ark—these powerful factions might all be observing us from the shadows. What if you have an SR-grade talent? What if you have great potential and high strength? If you die here, everything becomes nothing!” Zhao Qiang sneered inwardly.

The lurking monster was a mature Insect Race creature. Unlike the Whip Tongue Insect encountered earlier, this mature Insect Race was smaller in size, with a carapace that presented a fluid beauty. Hidden in the shadows, it was difficult to spot without careful observation.

Xu Feng sensed that someone might be watching him from the shadows. He slightly frowned, swiftly thrust his sword, and with two swishes, severed the heads of the two monsters entangled with him.

“Such high attack power!” Zhao Qiang narrowed his eyes, couldn’t help but clench his fists, and felt his heart twitch. He thought, “If those two sword strikes were aimed at me, could I dodge them?”

Whoosh~

A faint sound of something cutting through the air suddenly arose. Xu Feng turned to face the sneaky mature Insect Race.

“It worked!” Zhao Qiang’s face showed a pleased expression. The timing of this mature Insect Race’s ambush was perfect. Xu Feng had just expended the force of his sword strikes; the time he needed to withdraw his sword and gather strength was enough for this mature Insect Race to tear Xu Feng to pieces.

However, Xu Feng simply turned around, and a small hand crossbow suddenly appeared in his left hand.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

Several short arrows gleaming with a silver light shot toward the mature Insect Race.

The short arrows pierced through the Insect Race’s body and flew into the distance. There were several penetrating wounds, each about the size of a bowl. For an ordinary person, these would be absolutely fatal injuries, but for the tough Insect Race, these were only minor wounds that could heal in a very short time.

Nevertheless, the impact force of these short arrows slightly halted the attacking momentum of the ambushing mature Insect Race for a moment.

The time it delayed the Insect Race was less than a second, but it successfully allowed Xu Feng to avoid the fate of being injured by the sneak attack.

With a flip of his left hand, the hand crossbow vanished into thin air. Xu Feng swung his sword and slashed toward the mature Insect Race.

Swift Wind Thrust!

Swish, swish~

In the blink of an eye, the ambushing mature Insect Race was split into three pieces.

After collecting the spoils, Xu Feng glanced in the direction where Zhao Qiang was, then gripped his long sword and turned to walk toward the unexplored area of the town.

A Black Iron Grade One-Star long sword was still somewhat inadequate against Two-Star Monsters. If it weren’t for the skill Swift Wind Thrust, and if it weren’t for Xu Feng’s incredible SSS-grade talent boost, a Black Iron Grade long sword would have difficulty breaking through the defense of a Two-Star Insect Race.

“It seems I need to find a way to get a higher-grade long sword,” Xu Feng thought to himself.

Zhao Qiang’s face looked grim as he stared motionlessly at the three mutilated monster corpses.

“How can he be so strong? How can he be so strong!”

Zhao Qiang was proud. Even though his talent was only R-grade, he never thought he was worse than Xu Feng with an SR-grade talent. But he never expected Xu Feng to kill three Two-Star strength monsters so easily.

Zhao Qiang put himself in the previous battle: killing two monsters would leave him lightly injured; as for the third monster, he could kill it by using his trump card, but he would temporarily lose his combat ability. Compared to Xu Feng’s ease, he was more than a step behind.

“No, it’s not just a step behind. The third monster was ambushing. If it had ambushed me, I definitely couldn’t have dodged that attack. Once successfully ambushed, even using my trump card, I could at most perish together with it or kill it while severely injured.” Zhao Qiang’s face turned even grimmer, and he began to feel somewhat wary of Xu Feng.

Zhao Qiang glanced at a hidden camera not far away. The camera was currently on, facing the scene of Xu Feng’s earlier battle.

“Xu Feng’s performance has already caught the attention of those major factions. I need to step up too, otherwise…” Zhao Qiang clenched his fists, gave a resentful look in the direction where Xu Feng disappeared, and turned to walk toward another direction.

In the enclosed town, the killing continued. The squads qualified to fight in the town were all teams with rich hunting experience. They moved in small groups of three to five; even if some members only had One-Star strength, with good coordination, they had no problem dealing with a Two-Star Monster.

As time passed, some squads gained abundant harvests. From time to time, someone would use a Two-Star Insect Crystal to level up on the battlefield. Other squads, having used up their consumables, had no choice but to withdraw from the fight and leave the town to rest.

Not far from Xinfu Village stood a three-story building guarded by many soldiers. In one room of this building, numerous screens flickered constantly, displaying scenes from various corners of Xinfu Village.

“These squads are all quite good. Some people’s skills are really eye-catching,” a man in military uniform and a burly man said as they sat on a sofa, watching the screens.

“You 104th Unit already have so many formally trained soldiers, yet you’re still competing with civilian factions like us for talent. Isn’t that a bit unfair?” The burly man glanced sideways at the military-uniformed man sitting rigidly beside him.

“That’s not entirely true,” the military-uniformed man said seriously. “After Earth’s Will awakened, almost all high-powered firearms became unusable. Ordinary guns can’t even break the carapace of a One-Star Monster. In times like these, the military’s strength declines the fastest.”

“Speaking of which, the rise of your Thunder Martial Hall is astonishing. In less than a month, you’ve established branches in over a dozen major cities across Huaxia. Your Hall Master Thunder is truly an impressive figure,” the military-uniformed man turned to look at the burly man.

“Hmph, troubled times produce heroes!” The burly man shrugged and said, “Our Thunder Martial Hall in Linhai City has just been established and needs a lot of talent. If there are any promising candidates in this test, you 104th Unit better not compete with me for them.”

The military-uniformed man gave him a cold sidelong glance and did not reply.