Chapter 134 Ordinary Person? Awakened?

Chapter 134: Chapter 133: Ordinary Person? Awakened?

In truth, the Black Snake Monsters maintained strict territorial divisions. Once an Elite Black Snake claimed an area, others of its kind would steer clear unless driven by special circumstances. In the past, despite their massive numbers, the Black Snake Swarms relied on relatively simple attack patterns, overwhelming their prey with sheer volume. However, the situation had taken a grim turn over the last two days.

Hunting squads ventured outside only to frequently encounter organized ambushes by the Black Snake Monster Swarms. Instead of rushing in mindlessly, the monsters had learned to exploit the terrain. Some Elite Black Snakes even used injured Awakened as bait, setting traps in the shallows to lure in others—a tactic they had previously employed during the ambush on Old Xie.

Furthermore, small groups of elite Black Snake Monsters had begun acting as "special forces," launching proactive raids and surprise attacks against the Awakened squads. Although the defenders barely managed to hold their ground by relying on the heavy firepower of the squirting cucumbers, the mounting pressure was palpable.

Faced with this escalating threat, Chairman Wu and the vice chairmen had no choice but to summon all the Awakened to discuss their countermeasures.

"We can’t keep operating in Scattered groups like this. We already have too few Awakened," Lin Qianqian analyzed, her brows tightly furrowed. "The swarm’s intelligence is clearly growing, and their tactics have evolved... Not to mention we’ve hunted down too many Elite Black Snakes. Could a highly intelligent commander behind them have noticed us? Something like that four-armed Black Snake we encountered last time?"

"The four-armed Black Snake..." Every Awakened who had participated in the operation with Han Ning to kill Sun Wuyan felt a chill run down their spines at the mere thought of that terrifying figure. After all, it was a formidable monster that even Mr. Han couldn’t defeat.

At this moment, Chairman Wu finally spoke up.

"From today onward, we are doubling the size of all hunting squads and reducing the total number of teams," Chairman Wu announced. "Each squad must be equipped with at least two squirting cucumbers. We are also shrinking our exploration radius. Our primary focus will shift from active hunting to gathering intelligence and tracking the movements of the Black Snake Swarm.

"The swarm’s behavior has changed, and we can’t afford to blindly push deeper. We will wait for Mr. Han to cultivate the second batch of squirting cucumbers and observe the situation for a couple of days.

"Also... Old Zhao, I want you to assign some Awakened with sensory abilities to double the number of hidden sentries outside our original outposts. Take the Earth Awakened and some regular survivors to set up simple early-warning traps and barricades around the office building, using the ruins and the stagnant water.

"All personnel are to remain on high alert at all times."

While the group held their meeting, a different scene unfolded in the wilderness.

Among a stretch of half-submerged building ruins, Xu Ming and Professor Ye stood one in front of the other.

Straight ahead of them, an Elite Black Snake Monster, nearly seven meters long, surged forward at high speed, riding the rolling waves. Not far away, another Elite Black Snake Monster of similar size lay stiff and paralyzed in the muddy water, its head smashed to a pulp. Standing on a broken wall a dozen meters away, Han Ning quietly observed the battle.

snow cake lay in the water, vigilantly scanning the surroundings. Whenever an ordinary Black Snake Monster tried to approach, it would explode into a blurry mist of blood without any warning. It was a bizarre and eerie sight.

With a low growl, Xu Ming tightly gripped a heavy, dark Iron Axe with both hands and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the Elite Black Snake’s venomous strike. His movements were unpretentious yet effective: a sidestep, a glide, and a low crouch to evade the sweeping tail. The moment the tail missed, he stepped forward. The Iron Axe cleaved through the air with a whistling howl, slashing into the monster’s relatively soft underbelly.

CLANG!

Striking the creature felt like hacking into thick, aged cowhide. The Iron Axe only left a shallow bloody gash on the Elite Black Snake’s abdomen. The sheer recoil forced Xu Ming to stumble several steps back, nearly tumbling into the stagnant water.

At that very moment, a golden light flashed in Professor Ye’s eyes. Bringing his index and middle fingers together, he aimed his long-prepared right hand at the Elite Black Snake Monster’s enraged eyes from afar.

HUM!

A speck of pure, blindingly radiant gold gathered at his fingertips, stretching into a condensed golden beam.

SWISH!

The beam shot forward silently, moving at a speed that surpassed the limits of visual perception.

SQUELCH!

Before the Elite Black Snake could even react, the beam pierced right through the vertical slit of its right eye.

Perhaps lacking sufficient piercing power, the beam didn’t exit through the other side of its head.

"HISS... SCREECH!"

The Black Snake Monster’s massive body shuddered violently. It paused in a momentary daze before thrashing wildly.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Three more golden beams shot forward in rapid succession, striking precisely into the Elite Black Snake’s left and right eyes.

Seizing the opportunity, Xu Ming let out a low shout. His arm muscles bulged as he relentlessly unleashed a flurry of side-cleaves against the Elite Black Snake Monster’s head.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

Half of its hideous head was chopped cleanly off. Utterly stripped of its ability to resist, the Elite Black Snake Monster crashed into the water, twitching faintly.

Xu Ming leaned heavily on his Iron Axe, panting violently. Professor Ye also let out a breath of relief as the glow at his fingertips slowly faded.

The two men wordlessly approached the massive snake corpses in perfect sync. Xu Ming used the Iron Axe to split open the bodies of the two Black Snake Monsters, rummaging through their innards. Soon enough, he dug out two irregularly shaped Crystal Stones, each about the size of a walnut and shimmering with a faint blue glow.

"Same rules as always," Xu Ming said, handing the slightly larger one to Professor Ye while keeping the other for himself.

Professor Ye nodded, accepting it without a word.

Clutching the Energy Crystals in their hands, the two men guided the internal Energy Flow into their bodies. In an instant, two entirely distinct Energy Fluctuations erupted from them one after another.

Xu Ming was the first to undergo a transformation. The veins across his entire body bulged out, and his bones let out a series of crackling pops. Crimson blood began to seep from his pores.

Instead of dripping down, the seeping blood was gripped by an invisible force, Gathering into a blurry red mist that swirled around Xu Ming. As the rain fell upon the blood mist, it sizzled loudly, distorting the surrounding air.

But the most striking change was in his arms. Those two limbs, previously rough and calloused from manual labor, had become as pale and lustrous as a newborn baby’s skin. Yet, despite their pale complexion, there was no lack of muscle mass. The muscle definition was so sharp they looked as if they had been chiseled from granite, radiating an undeniable, explosive strength.

Over the surface of his pale arms, the bloody mist thickened to its absolute limit. It looked like two clusters of boiling scarlet flames, continuously rising and burning.

"This is..." Han Ning’s expression shifted slightly.

He still couldn’t sense any elemental Energy Fluctuations coming from Xu Ming. For instance, his own Druid Spiritual Power carried an aura of nature and vitality. Recently, Professor Ye had begun emanating a scorching, holy presence akin to sunlight. Yet, Xu Ming still exhibited absolutely nothing of the sort.

Under Han Ning’s careful observation, the blood mist covering Xu Ming was eventually Gathering between his arms before fading into his skin.

Xu Ming joyfully inspected his pale arms, which formed a stark contrast with the skin tone of the rest of his body.

"Mr. Han, I feel this overwhelming sense of strength! And... it seems like there’s a new kind of Energy in my body that I can control!" Xu Ming exclaimed, continuously clenching and unclenching his fists as he described his current sensations.

"Try releasing that Energy and let’s see what it does," Han Ning said, his interest piqued.