38 Chapter 38

The next morning, they woke up early right before sunrise. After discussing for a bit, they decided to go by the order from north, west, south, and lastly back to the center. This was in consideration of the number of beasts residing in the south which was the most in number. They were still going to go where the least people are.

Northern beasts were scarce but each of them was fierce and precious. In this situation, the probability of candidates choosing to go to the north part was low.

"Let's step up the pace for the next 3 days including today. The faster we finish this the better."

"We need to collect at least 6 beasts in a day. I hope we can bump into wandering beasts along the way." Bai Shui added.

"I'll lead in front with Lixue in the rear," Thirteen stood up, "Let's go!"

The three of them started dashing inside the forest. Because the sun hasn't fully arise yet, it was still dark beneath the trees. The cool air of dawn hit their face as they moved forward bringing with it the scent of earth.

[I just woke up from bed and suddenly the drone move so fast I thought a beast was chasing them…]

[What are they hurrying for? They only have to at least collect 9 beasts. Are they really thinking to collect 27 types?? Isn't that a bit impossible to do in only 5 days?]

"Hey, aren't we going to fast? What if we lose track of our location?" Bai Shui asked.

Thirteen's eyes flickered as he answered, "We won't."

They ran through the forest for a while before Lixue prompted, "Wolves."

"I see them." Thirteen took out his gun.

"They move in packs. We kill one of them, they'll kill all of us." Bai Shui warned.

Thirteen slowed down, followed by the other two, "So, what do you want to do? Kill them or leave them?"

"It's a waste to leave them just like this though… we don't even know if we can encounter 27 different beasts in these 5 days."

"Kill it is then."

The pack of wolves appeared in their sight to their left. Their fur was ashy blue with silver eyes. One of them, the closest to them, noticed their arrival and notified its pack.

"You take their back and I'll cover the front. Bai Shui, cover our back."

"Our back?"

Without waiting for Thirteen's reply, icicle spikes suddenly formed behind them and shot towards them. Lixue and Thirteen responded quickly by dodging to their side while Bai Shui barely ducked in reflex.

"Our back." Thirteen restated.

They spread out and started shooting the wolves one after another. Some of the wolves built ice walls in front of them for cover while others encircled the 3 of them and trapped them within a sharp ice border.

Lixue leaped out of the encirclement and attacked the wolves from their rear while leveling any ice walls high enough to block Thirteen's vision. This time, their plasma gun worked to their advantage because those ices were weak to the high-heat plasma and each shot affect a wider range of damage compared to bullets.

Thirteen and Lixue shot with great accuracy, blasting each wolf in the head whether they were moving or at standstill. On the other hand, although it wasn't as smooth as the other 2, Bai Shui managed to keep up with most of the icicles formed in the air and shattered them before they were completed. The numbers he missed were still avoidable and because the three of them were in constant movement, it also wasn't easy to lock on them.

The wolves became fiercer in their attack, aggressively using both their body and ability. They separated into two groups with one attacking Lixue and the other attacking Thirteen and Bai Shui.

Noticing this, Lixue moved out from the area and successfully lessen the wolves around the ice encirclement. He found a tree with a reachable branch and nimbly climbed up. He took advantage of the higher standpoint and finished off the wolves that were chasing him.

On the other side, Thirteen counted the remaining 6 wolves after dodging another icicle that lunged towards him. The wolves suddenly shifted and formed a 6-star formation. Thirteen reacted timely. He snatched Bai Shui's gun and shot the four wolves in a blink.

"Jump out."

Bai Shui nodded and followed him jumping out the ice border through the shortest spikes. When they're outside, there was only one remaining wolf observing them vigilantly with bloodshot eyes. It threateningly growled while taking careful steps, waiting for any opportunity to attack.

Thirteen knelt down. He put down one of the guns and put his free palm flat to the ground while his eyes were still locked on the wolf in front. He sensed the subtle movement on the ground next to him and his ears also picked up the rustling sound from the leaves being stepped on the ground.

There was a stomp on the ground and he deftly moved his hand holding the gun to aim behind him. The wolf in front of him found an opening and moved impatiently to attack with several icicles beside it.

"Watch out!"

Thirteen grinned and swept his hand to quickly pick up the gun lying next to him. He jumped up and stretched out both of his arms, successfully landing a solid shot on the wolves' heads.

The icicles pierced the ground where he was before. The invisible wolf lose its concealment and landed with a thump along with its comrade.

"Huang Lixue is still in trouble. Let's go help him."

Thirteen placed Bai Shui's gun into his hand, "Don't worry, he's fine. See?"

Lixue appeared from the path he ran to earlier without a single scratch. Even his glasses were still in the right place. He raised his hand showing the tail he cut off from one of the wolves.

"I can't believe we killed 17 Ice Wolves just to get a tail." Bai Shui lamented.

"If you regret it that much, you can pull out their core and sell them," Thirteen shrugged, "Besides, I asked your opinion whether to kill or leave them. You chose this so don't regret it more than us."

"To be exact, we got 2 tails."

Lixue knelt down next to the wolf that became invisible earlier and cut off its tail.

"Is that a Mirage Wolf?"

"To be exact, a level 2 Ice Wolf with concealment ability," Thirteen corrected, "It's fur is the color of Ice Wolf. In addition, wolf beasts only groups with their same type."

"I don't know if we're lucky or unlucky to encounter this," Bai Shui sighed, "Wait, do the same type of beasts with different levels considered separate types in this exam?"

"Should be. Although their name is the same, their genes are essentially already different."

"Meeting Ice Wolves here means we're nearing the northern area. If we continue with the same speed as earlier, we can reach there in around 3 hours or lesser including breaks." Lixue chimed in.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them shook. Not only them, all the candidates felt it. Birds fled in a hurry while the beasts they were fighting scurried away in alert. It only lasted 5 seconds before completely stopped.

Bai Shui lost his balance and fell while Lixue and Thirteen bent their knees to keep steady. Birds cried and flew past from above the trees.

"What was that??" Bai Shui exclaimed in panic.

Lixue questioned Thirteen with his eyes, but Thirteen shook his head. This was a numbered planet. Even Planetary Scientists wouldn't know the details of every single wild planet in the galaxy. Much less him.

He checked the situation through the drones' cameras nearby, but except for the beasts rushing out like their tails on fire, nothing else happened.

"An earthquake…? No, it didn't feel like that…"

Beside him, Lixue spread out his demonic energy. In the span of 5 seconds, every beast in their area has fled while smaller animals hid back into their nests, trees, holes, or anything around them that could shelter them from who-knows-what.

There were only the candidates left, with 5 groups in a radius of 2 km around them.

"Do you think it's a part of the exam?" Bai Shui asked while he stood up.

"Can't say. But our requirements felt too easy it's suspicious, so it's not impossible that there's still something in store for us."

Lixue didn't comment. He bowed his head thoughtfully. If what the Devil told him at the palace was really the truth, then there was a 50-50 possibility that this was either the work of General Yi or that that person with such identity existed and this was caused by him.

But frankly, he leaned more to the former because of how absurd the latter was.

In the ship, Xiao Huiqing looked worriedly at Long San, "Is this really a good idea?"

"We already warned them about the red zones and to memorize the map properly. Besides, they need to get into contact with these things sooner or later."