Chapter 809 - 18: Stalling (2)

Chapter 809: Chapter 18: Stalling (2)

The Long Saber hung at his waist, as he gripped a Long Spear in each hand, arriving at the target location and quietly waited in ambush—

Just as he expected, after the new campfire blazed brightly, the two didn’t approach, but instead began to move away.

He’d successfully startled them into action.

Now, the "snake" was under his influence, heading right for the new trap.

...

The massive Mammoth led the way, with shuriken and Stone trailing behind.

They deliberately drove the Mammoth onto areas of snow untouched by footprints, reducing the risk of stepping into traps again.

Up until now, the two still believed their prey merely intended to pit preset traps against them, launching a prolonged battle of attrition—never imagining Chen Zhou was already ready to strike first.

...

Hundred meters, eighty meters, fifty meters, twenty meters...

The bloody glow from the beacon and the two patches of fire couldn’t illuminate the prehistoric darkness of night; twenty meters out, Chen Zhou slowly rose, gripping a Long Spear in a textbook throwing stance.

Shuriken and Stone were almost directly facing him. When the two spotted the sudden figure ahead, it was too late to react—

Chen Zhou’s spear flew faster than their warning cries.

In the blink of an eye, the Long Spear, tipped with a shuriken, shot forward, impaling shuriken’s body with brutal force and pinning him to the ground.

The odd weapon in his hand dropped to the ground as he fell, instantly stained red with blood.

Yet faced with his companion’s devastating injury, Stone showed no panic; instead, he instantly hurled his own Long Spear.

Not only that, the two Mammoths at the front displayed uncommon ferocity, stomping forward, ears flapping, charging straight at Chen Zhou.

Stone’s spear arrived before the Mammoth did.

But at this range, with Chen Zhou prepared, it was impossible to hit him. He didn’t even need to make a drastic dodge; just a slight step to the side avoided the attack.

He’d planned to seize the chance and throw his second spear—

The first spear had already left one enemy completely incapacitated.

With two Mammoths and two men, all he needed was to eliminate the humans first. The remaining two juvenile Mammoths would be nothing but meat targets—not a threat at all.

However, the remaining man was cunning, aware of Chen Zhou’s long-range killing power, and immediately hid behind a Mammoth, charging forward under its protection.

The two Mammoths moving abreast were like mobile walls. There was no way Chen Zhou could get past them to attack again, at least for now.

Still, being able to create this scenario, he was already satisfied—

After all, Mammoths are beasts: fighting alongside humans is nothing like two men working together. Now it was essentially one-on-one.

Judging from the crude weapons in his hands, the heavy fur draped over his body, and the clumsy manner, along with what Chen Zhou had observed of the pair’s intelligence since discovering them, this was already a battle he could win.

...

Clutching his spear, Chen Zhou dashed forward, first plan: dodge the Mammoths’ charge, circle to the flank and seize the moment to throw his spear, wounding either man or beast, then switch to Long Saber for close combat.

The snow was shattered under their heavy footsteps, the terrain began to resist Chen Zhou’s movement.

But this barely affected his speed—he seemed almost to fly over the snow.

Five meters, ten meters, fifteen meters...

The distance widened rapidly.

Watching the prey race through the night—witnessing his terrifying speed—Stone finally realized what a troublesome opponent he was facing.

Afraid of Chen Zhou’s throwing weapons, Stone dared not expose himself to his line of sight, forced to run in circles behind the Mammoth’s bulk.

During this, he never spared shuriken a glance, as if his tribe-mate was utterly unrelated to him.

While shifting positions, Chen Zhou heard no groan, not even a whimper, from the one pinned in the snow.

At first, he assumed the man had been impaled fatally, killed outright.

But soon Chen Zhou realized things weren’t so simple—

These fools surviving for so long in such hostile terrain must have some advantage—

The one condemned, pinned to the ground, had clearly lost consciousness moments ago, yet was now waking up again.

From a distance, Chen Zhou watched as shuriken’s limp head gradually rose.

Then, the man seized his fallen weapon, letting out a beast-like roar, and forcibly pulled the spear from his body, inch by inch.

"Is this guy even human?"

Amazed, Chen Zhou’s pace even slowed in disbelief at such a freakish act.

He watched as shuriken gripped the bloodstained spear and hurled it right back.

Of course, no matter how stubborn the guy’s vitality, his strength and accuracy couldn’t compare to Chen Zhou’s. The attack, like Stone’s earlier spear throw, failed even to graze Chen Zhou’s clothes.

...

"Let’s see how long you can last!"

One enemy severely wounded, the other left with only one ranged weapon, and neither Mammoth built for endurance running.

Chen Zhou judged that as long as he dragged it out, the odds would swing ever more heavily in his favor.

Wear down the injured one, exhaust the Mammoths, and the last man’s death would be inevitable.

Chen Zhou was confident in both speed and endurance.

And he had one more advantage—

Cold resistance.

Having injected Genetic Modification Medicine, he could operate in freezing conditions for extended periods, unlike ordinary people, who’d be stiff and numb after a short stint in the cold.

The enemies’ clothing slowed their run; take off the thick hides and they’d freeze—how could they compete with him?

...

Minute by minute, shuriken and Stone’s attacks were neutralized by Chen Zhou.

As expected, the Mammoths grew exhausted, their speed flagging, even the frequency of trunk waving and ear flapping decreased, as if their anger was burning out with their strength.

Yet, even so, Chen Zhou never closed the distance for close combat.

Because he observed that the spear-pierced man still hadn’t collapsed—standing tall, armed, chasing Chen Zhou without staggering—nothing like someone just gravely injured.

Adrenaline could dull pain temporarily, but it couldn’t persist for half an hour. This made no sense.

Unless— 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Unless they also had a Regeneration Potion; with a fast-acting Regeneration Injection, regaining combat ability in short order was possible.

"But I didn’t see him inject or take any medicine."

Chen Zhou kept running rings around the pair and their beasts, deeply puzzled.

Maybe he missed the wounded man using some medicine, so he grew even more vigilant.

After all, regardless of whether he took medicine or not, things clearly weren’t as simple as Chen Zhou thought.

Perhaps the duo really weren’t too bright, but they’d managed to "win" so often, so they must have some unique advantage.

Whether it was ample supplies or a more sinister possibility—a "superhuman regenerative ability"—was a serious problem.

Chen Zhou had to hope he’d spot a flaw soon.

He was alone; the enemy had numbers—and two Mammoths supporting them.

With no guarantee of victory, he’d sooner walk away.

This was for his own safety, but also because, so far, only this team had entered the beacon zone.

If he scrapped hard for victory, suffering a painful loss to seize it, only to have someone else snatch the victory away, he’d be furious.

Thinking of this, Chen Zhou couldn’t help recalling the two Regeneration Injections he used on Tiger Third and Bi Kai, feeling a bit wistful—

If he still had those injections, with three lives to bank on, he’d have rushed in ages ago.

Unfortunately, both shots had unavoidable reasons for use. Now, he could only tough it out and spend more stamina.

Anyway, as long as the enemy couldn’t catch him, the initiative stayed in his hands.