Chapter 490: Marking, and a Treasure Chest Competition

Chapter 490: Chapter 490: Marking, and a Treasure Chest Competition

The Cat Demon’s eyes were secretly glancing into the distance.

There, new Players were rushing over.

Seraphina Sullivan: "..."

She cursed inwardly.

’This thing... is acting?!’

Those miserable roars, that weak posture, that teetering appearance—it was all an act!

It wasn’t injured at all!

It was fishing!

A sting operation.

"No," Seraphina Sullivan’s voice grew grave. "This thing is too smart.

It knows there will be a constant stream of Players coming to their deaths, so it’s deliberately pretending to be on the verge of dying to lure more people over."

Flora Sullivan understood now, her small face filled with shock. "It’s... it’s playing possum?"

"Exactly." Seraphina Sullivan took a deep breath. "This Raging Cat Demon is a greater threat than I imagined."

Being powerful is one thing.

Being powerful *and* smart is another thing entirely.

Those Players thought they were the hunters, oblivious to the fact that they were the prey.

"Boss, what should we do?" Flora Sullivan asked. "Should we go in now?"

Seraphina Sullivan shook her head.

"No." Her gaze was fixed on the "performing" Cat Demon. "This thing won’t be easy to deal with. Let’s watch for now."

She paused before adding,

"Let it wear down the others first."

In the distance, another batch of Players was charging toward the fiery glow.

And the "dying" Cat Demon’s lips seemed to curl into a slight smirk.

Seraphina Sullivan kept her cool.

Watching the Raging Cat Demon continue its "performance," she knew perfectly well—charging in now would be suicide.

A Lord Level Monster wasn’t something you could take down in a one-on-one fight.

Besides, this Cat Demon wasn’t just terrifyingly strong; it also knew how to fucking fish for victims.

She reached into her Space and took out an ancient-looking Compass.

[Three Realms Compass]

No need to worry about not being able to find the Raging Cat Demon.

This was the perfect time to use it.

[Effect One: Life Mark] — Can apply a mark to any target. Afterward, no matter where the target flees, the Compass will point to its location. Lasts for 72 hours.

With a flicker of her thought, the Compass glowed with a faint golden light.

An invisible mark silently fell upon the "dying" Raging Cat Demon in the distance.

"It’s marked." She put the Compass away. "Now we can find it whenever we want."

Flora Sullivan blinked. "So we’re not fighting it?"

"No rush."

Seraphina Sullivan swung herself onto the deer. "This Cat Demon is too cunning. If we go fight it now, we’ll just be serving ourselves up on a platter.

We have three days. There will be plenty of opportunities.

Let it wear down the others first, then we’ll figure something out."

Flora Sullivan nodded and hopped onto the back of the Four Seasons Deer Alpha.

The two of them turned around and galloped off into the distance.

Behind them, the Raging Cat Demon continued its "performance"—miserable roars, a teetering body, as if it would collapse at any second.

And in the distance, another batch of clueless Players was charging toward the fiery glow.

Seraphina Sullivan didn’t look back.

A lot can happen in three days.

The priority now was to find more Treasure Chests before dawn.

The Four Seasons Deer galloped wildly through the night.

Seraphina Sullivan summoned her birds again—but this time, she ran into trouble.

The ordinary birds simply couldn’t withstand the terrifying high temperatures of the extreme heat disaster.

Less than a few minutes after flying out, several of them plummeted from mid-air, their bodies stiff and feathers scorched black. They had been steamed to death.

"This won’t work." Seraphina Sullivan frowned. "This temperature is too horrifying."

She sent out another batch.

Still no good.

Within minutes, they were all wiped out.

The [Bird Manipulation Technique] was effective, but its vessels were too fragile.

In this kind of extreme environment, ordinary creatures couldn’t survive for long.

Even Chubbs—the plump pigeon—couldn’t take it.

After being summoned, it had barely flapped its wings twice before it started panting heavily, its feathers drooping, looking like it was about to get heatstroke.

"Coo, coo, coo..." (I can’t take it, I can’t take it...)

Helpless, Seraphina Sullivan could only recall it.

Only Tubbs—the Flame Chicken—was completely unaffected.

It stood on the Four Seasons Deer’s back, chest puffed out, and even stretched comfortably.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck!" (You bunch of weaklings, you still have to rely on me in the end!)

Its smug little gaze made Seraphina Sullivan want to laugh.

It made sense. The Flame Chicken was a Fire attribute creature to begin with. What was hell for others was practically a vacation for it.

"Alright, I’m counting on you then." Seraphina Sullivan patted its head. "Fly a little higher and help me find some Treasure Chests."

Tubbs proudly tilted its head back, flapping its wings and soaring into the sky.

With Tubbs as a "heat-immune" scout, their search efficiency immediately skyrocketed.

Throughout the night, Seraphina Sullivan and Flora Sullivan rode the Four Seasons Deer, racing across the wilderness.

Before dawn, they found three more Treasure Chests.

The first was in the underground fuel tank of an abandoned gas station.

The second was inside the wreckage of a truck overturned on the roadside.

The third was the most ridiculous—it was actually stuck in the fork of a large, scorched tree.

Seraphina Sullivan didn’t open them on the spot.

All three Treasure Chests were stored in her Space.

"Let’s go, it’s almost dawn." She glanced at the faintly whitening sky in the east. "Let’s head back to meet up with Sean Chandler and the others to discuss how to deal with that Cat Demon."

The Four Seasons Deer Alpha gave a low cry, turned around, and galloped toward the underground garage.

Behind them, the first ray of sunlight was rising from the horizon.

The daytime of the extreme heat disaster was about to begin again.

Soon, everyone had returned to the underground garage one after another.

The first thing Seraphina Sullivan did was release the [Weather Cloud] and set it to "Hail Mode."

Tiny hailstones rained down from the cloud, landing on the scorching ground with a "TSSSS" sound.

The hail melted rapidly, absorbing a large amount of heat in the process and causing the temperature around the RV to drop by several degrees.

Although it was still muggy, at least they could breathe.

"My god... it’s hot enough to kill someone..." Dexter Luther collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. His face was baked red, and sweat poured off him like rain. "If it weren’t for the Insulation Suit Sullivan gave us, I really don’t know how anyone could stay outside in this godforsaken weather!"

Crystal Lynn was also exhausted, leaning against the Wall and resting with her eyes closed.

Seraphina Sullivan said nothing, taking out a large bucket of ice from her Scavenger’s Farm—it was something she had stored in advance during the extreme cold disaster.

Good thing she had the foresight.

She poured a large glass of ice water for everyone.

"GLUG, GLUG, GLUG—"

Dexter Luther chugged half the glass in one go and let out a long sigh, looking like he’d been brought back to life.

"I’m alive... I’m alive..."

Everyone drank their ice water, slumped in their chairs, enjoying this rare moment of coolness.

After resting for a few minutes, Seraphina Sullivan spoke up. "How was the haul?"