Chapter 438: Chapter 356: Awakening [2]
He stood on a rock, surrounded by the deathly silence of the ochre desert wasteland.
Directly ahead lay a massive lake. The survivors had named it Rock Lake, for the jagged, bizarre rock formations that surrounded it.
"Reporting to the Chief, I discovered that Wild Beast right here. I saw it with my own eyes as it submerged itself in this lake..."
A survivor in ragged clothes knelt beside Hu Qi. As he spoke, he seemed to recall the scene, and a flicker of residual fear crossed his face.
Behind him stood a group of Hunting Team members.
A closer look revealed that their expressions were also incredibly tense.
"Very good. Go collect your reward when you get back. For now, leave this place. Go wait three kilometers away."
Hu Qi’s tone was flat.
"Yes!"
Hearing his words, the group’s tense expressions eased slightly.
A Tier Three Wild Beast could easily destroy any small or medium-sized settlement.
If it weren’t for Hu Qi, they wouldn’t have dared to come here at all.
When it came to actually hunting down a Tier Three Wild Beast, they had no confidence at all. The firearms in their hands could, at best, barely harm a Tier One Wild Beast.
Their weapons were useless against a Tier Two, let alone a Tier Three.
Now, hearing Hu Qi tell them to leave, the men couldn’t help but breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Soon, everyone was far away.
Hu Qi gazed at the massive lake before him.
The surface of the vast, oval-shaped lake was as smooth as a mirror.
The water was crystal clear at the edges, but grew progressively darker and murkier toward the center.
All around was silent. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
However, the excessive quiet was itself strange.
Normally, any water source would be teeming with life; even Wild Beasts needed to drink.
Yet this lake was like a stagnant pool, devoid of any trace of Wild Beast or animal.
THUMP!
Hu Qi raised his leg and kicked a nearby rock twice the height of a man.
The rock shot out like a cannonball and landed in the water, creating an enormous splash and a loud noise.
A few seconds passed.
ROAR!
Suddenly, a deep, tremendous roar echoed up from the bottom of the lake.
At the same time, the once-calm surface of the lake began to roil as if it were boiling water.
SPLASH!
The lake’s surface bulged upward. A torrent of water shot into the sky like a geyser as the surface violently exploded.
As the water fell back, a figure was slowly revealed.
It was a white bear of unimaginable size, slowly rising from the lakebed.
The part of its body visible above the water was at least fifty to sixty meters tall. At a glance, it resembled a moving Snow Mountain.
Strangely, the white bear had two heads, each one as massive as a small hill.
Its two heads swayed, four deep, azure eyes glinting with an eerie light.
Droplets of water slid down its thick, white fur—each strand as coarse as a steel needle—and splattered against the lake, creating ripples of spray.
It stood tall in the middle of the lake, its two heads tilted slightly upward as it let out a roar like a great bell, echoing between heaven and earth.
The tremendous roar made the very air hum and the ground tremble slightly. Its power was staggering.
At the same time, an astonishing chill emanated from its body. The droplets and splashes of water that had just been sent flying instantly froze solid in mid-air.
"Hmm?"
Seeing this, Hu Qi’s eyes narrowed.
’Not bad. With power like this, it’s definitely no ordinary Tier Three Wild Beast. It must be at least at the Tier Three Peak.’
While Tier One and Tier Two Wild Beasts were merely physically powerful, a Tier Three Wild Beast could already exhibit a degree of Extraordinary Power.
At this moment, Hu Qi could clearly feel the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy churning with the white bear’s appearance.
Just then, the two-headed white bear’s gaze locked onto Hu Qi. It immediately raised a massive paw and slammed it down.
BOOM!
With a tremendous crash, the spot where Hu Qi had been standing shattered and collapsed like tofu the instant the paw landed.
When the paw was lifted, a shockingly deep, massive paw print was left in its place.
However, upon seeing this, the two-headed white bear didn’t stop. Instead, its two heads scanned the area, as if searching for something.
At the same time, a dazzling blue aura, suffused with a terrifying chill, began to gather around its body.
Suddenly, it seemed to sense something and turned its heads to look in a specific direction.
Just then, a streak of black light flashed past like lightning.
The white bear froze. The blue light in its eyes and around its body sputtered and died.
Then, with a thunderous crash, the two-headed white bear—a creature as immense as a towering Snow Mountain—its four azure eyes abruptly lost their light. Its massive body toppled straight over, crashing down with a heavy, dull thud.
The members of the Hunting Team, who had retreated three kilometers away, saw the massive commotion clearly.
Their faces instantly contorted as the pressure from a creature at the top of the food chain filled their hearts with terror.
Some even began to wonder if they should run farther, doubting whether their Chief could truly defeat such a terrifying monster.
However, before they could even react, the massive Wild Beast crashed to the ground.
It all happened too quickly, from the moment it appeared to the very end.
Not even ten seconds had passed.
The power displayed by their new Chief far exceeded their imagination.
At this thought, the Hunting Team members exchanged glances, a complex look appearing on each of their faces.
For them, this was not a bad thing. Quite the opposite, in fact.
The stronger their Chief, the safer and more secure their settlement would be.
...
「Back at the shore of Rock Lake.」
The two-headed white bear’s massive, hill-like body lay prone on the ground, completely still.
And upon its corpse stood a tiny figure, hand tightly gripping a Damaged Black Banner.
