Hunting (Part 1)

The attack intensity of a spider mine was equivalent to twenty-five standard pulses, more powerful than a positron cannon, but lacked conductivity. Therefore, while its destructive force was strong, its paralyzing effect was weak. Reno needed to use four mines to neutralize an opponent with one strike.

Even so, Reno still carefully inspected the situation and confirmed that it was only severe damage to the mech, and the pilot inside was not in mortal danger; they were just stunned. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

However, this high-intensity explosion also scattered two of the ammunition boxes inside the mech.

All ammunition boxes were custom-made and could automatically transfer bullets. Once scattered, they needed to be reloaded. Reno didn't have time for this, which meant wasting two boxes of ammunition, leaving Reno feeling regretful. Fortunately, the energy cell didn't leak, and Reno absorbed it without hesitation, finally reaching forty percent total energy.

Having completed this task, Reno had almost exhausted the information advantage he had accumulated through the shuttle machine earlier. Although he knew there were still some resource points in other places, they were too far away from here. Not only was there no guarantee he could get there, but even if he did, the energy consumption would not be worth it.

So Reno didn't look for new resources but instead quickly headed towards the direction of the lizard-snake.

After about twenty minutes of running, Reno arrived at the lizard-snake hunting ground.

It was a vast grassland with a small hill in the center, surrounded by high-voltage electric fences to prevent the lizard-snakes from escaping. Warning signs were posted everywhere, forbidding any destruction of the fences.

After scanning the surroundings and confirming that there were no hidden contestants, Reno entered the hunting ground through one of the gates and then ran towards the central hill without stopping.

The hilltop wasn't very high, with a relatively gentle slope in the front and a steeper slope in the back. The density of the forest was high, making it suitable for concealment.

This meant it was more suitable for sniping.

As Reno made his way towards the hilltop, he wasn't sure if he was the first to arrive here, but at least when he used the satellite signal receiver, no contestants had entered this hunting ground yet. This was also why Reno was eager to get here; upon seeing this hill, he realized the importance of this terrain.

Arriving quickly at the hilltop, Reno found a spot with a wide field of vision and looked down from above.

He quickly spotted a group of lizard-snakes wandering at the foot of the hill. These creatures looked like mutated lizards, with dense and hard scales, powerful and stubby limbs, numbering twelve in total.

"It seems like the rules didn't specify whether to distinguish between large and small ones," Reno muttered to himself, raising the cannon in his hand. "Sniper mode."

The twelve barrels on the cannon began to retract, while a focusing barrel extended.

The Silver Wing Angel was a typical multi-functional and highly adaptable mech, equipped with various attack modes.

As the weapons changed, Reno loaded the newly acquired 20mm high-explosive armor-piercing shells into the barrel and aimed slowly at one of the lizard-snakes' heads before firing.

Bang!

With a loud gunshot, the head of the lizard-snake exploded, falling to the ground without even a cry.

These lizard-snakes had tough skin and strong vitality; ordinary 7mm bullets would do little harm to them, only these large-caliber armor-piercing explosive shells could cause fatal damage. However, this shot stirred up a hornet's nest, and the eleven remaining lizard-snakes let out angry hisses and charged towards the hilltop. Despite their short stature, when these creatures ran at full speed, they were surprisingly fast.

Reno remained calm and continued firing, but the erratic movement of the lizard-snakes made it difficult to aim. His second shot missed.

Reno wasn't in a hurry and continued with the third shot, the fourth shot, shooting methodically. As the gunfire continued, one lizard-snake after another fell on the charge.

By the time these fierce creatures reached Reno's side, only five smaller ones remained out of the original twelve. The rest had all died on their way. Reno put away his gun and wielded his energy blade, facing the lizard-snakes. With each flash of the blade, the five smaller lizard-snakes fell into a pool of blood.

Reno noticed that his score had risen from two points to four points—they didn't seem to differentiate between large and small ones.

"Not bad," Reno muttered to himself.

To be honest, although killing lizard-snakes only yielded points and no other rewards, it was a complete consumption process. But compared to the trouble of dealing with other contestants, dealing with lizard-snakes was obviously much more profitable.

Reno's previous ability to eliminate two contestants was entirely due to the fortune of unlocking powerful weapons ahead of others. As the competition progressed, more and more contestants gained points and unlocked weapons, making opponents increasingly difficult to deal with.

It was rare to harvest loot from opponents; it was normal to exhaust one's ammunition before defeating them.

But precisely because of this, Reno, who was currently in a period of firepower advantage, needed to prioritize dealing with other contestants—yes, he didn't come here to hunt lizard-snakes, but to hunt more people.

After dealing with the twelve lizard-snakes, Reno quickly searched for his next target and soon found another group. He continued to shoot, harvesting two more points.

The number of lizard-snakes in the hunting ground was also limited. Reno quickly searched and kept hunting, steadily increasing his score, soon approaching ten points.

Just as Reno was about to lock onto another group of lizard-snakes to attack, he suddenly saw a glint of light not far from the foot of the mountain.

Without hesitation, Reno leaped up. A war axe missile was already whistling towards him with a long tail flame, arriving in an instant, hitting the sniper spot where Reno had been before, causing a violent explosion. The shockwave caught up with Reno, pushing him further away but causing no substantial damage.

The towering mech thudded to the ground, rolled once, then half-kneeled, lifting its head slightly to look forward. Reno chuckled, "Finally, you're here."

Down the mountain, a deep black mech was rapidly approaching.

Obviously, he had been drawn here by Reno's battle on this side.

The points hunting ground provided by the organizers was limited, which meant that each hunting ground would inevitably have a large number of contestants, leading to concentrated battles. This was the true meaning of the hunting ground—it wasn't for contestants to score points but to lure them into combat.

Reno had seen this from the beginning, so he didn't rush to the hunting ground. Instead, he armed himself first, then came here to seek opportunities for battle, to continue using his superior firepower to defeat opponents, and to enrich himself, while also killing lizard-snakes to earn points.

Of course, the idea was good, but whether it could be executed depended on strength and luck.

Reno's luck this time was obviously not very good; his opponent actually had missiles, which meant he had found at least one resource point.

Reno didn't immediately retaliate but took advantage of the terrain to continuously take cover.

At this stage, it was most appropriate to play possum.

Another war axe missile flew over.

Damn, did they have to be so merciless? Reno cursed inwardly as he fled in embarrassment. This time, he couldn't completely avoid it; the war axe exploded within twenty meters of him, and the shockwave created a wave on the energy shield, causing the mech's energy to drop by one percentage point.

Reno and the pilot of the deep black mech both felt a pang of heartache, feeling that they had both suffered losses.

The third and fourth war axe missiles came, this time two at once, and Reno couldn't avoid them any longer.

He raised the gun barrel; the sniper rifle had already switched back to cannon mode earlier. The twelve barrels roared and rotated, spewing out a large number of 9mm shell casings.

These small-caliber bullets were not very powerful against the massive mech, but they were very effective as missile interception weapons. As the iron curtain appeared in the sky, the two war axes exploded simultaneously.

Still, they didn't even scratch Reno; they just emptied half a box of 9mm shell casings in an instant, which was the result of Reno consciously reducing the firing rate.

Reno felt a pang of heartache again.

He couldn't let this squandering fellow continue like this. Reno put away the cannon, surged forward instead of retreating, raised the energy sword to meet the opponent, and at the same time activated the energy shield, aiming the shoulder-mounted positron cannon at the opponent.

The opponent, obviously also feeling the pain of missile consumption, stopped firing missiles when he saw Reno charging over. Perhaps he felt that missile attacks were no longer necessary and finally stopped launching them. He also wielded a light sword to meet Reno, firing the left shoulder cannon, but completely ignoring the rotating positron cannon.

Like the first loser, he thought Reno's positron cannon was just for show and couldn't possibly be effective. However, he didn't lower the intensity of the energy shield but fully expanded it.

This meant that although the positron cannon hit the opponent squarely, it only caused a huge energy consumption on the opponent's side without causing any substantial damage. Instead, the opponent's barrage also had a considerable impact on Reno's energy shield.

Faced with this situation, Reno had to intercept with two more war axes.

The contestant obviously didn't expect Reno to have war axes after the positron cannon, and especially not at such a close range.

He didn't manage to dodge either.

The two war axe missiles, with an attack intensity of twelve Standard Pulsars each, directly sent the mech into the air, exploding in a brilliant light, followed by a barrage of 12mm armor-piercing bullets.

When the mech landed, the already limited defensive shield completely shattered, and multiple damages appeared on the mech, but fortunately, no fatal injuries were sustained.

But the next moment, Reno swung down with the energy sword, and the contestant lying on the ground couldn't dodge in time. However, his reaction was not slow; he turned his light sword, preparing to counter Reno with a mutual destruction stance. If it were a real-life struggle, this desperate tactic would be effective, but in mech combat, sometimes desperation was futile.

At the moment he swung his sword, he realized that due to energy depletion, his light sword was basically powerless. Reno completely ignored this sword, letting it pierce his energy shield, and heavily slashed down with his energy sword.

This sword struck the central controller of the mech, penetrating it directly. With a burst of sparks, the mech completely lost its operational capability.

"You lose," Reno said.