Chapter 149: The Hunt |
The Giant Hyaenodon King shook its head, and in that instant, Qin Ziwen seized the opportunity to drive the iron fork deep into its neck.
Three sharp tines sank into flesh and skin, blood spurted out, splattering on the wall.
The Giant Hyaenodon King below, in pain, tried to struggle.
But as its hind paw touched the ground, a sharp pain made it twist its foot; the serrated bite of the animal trap was deep enough to reveal bone, making it difficult for the beast to exert force.
It staggered backward, the animal trap on its foot scraping across the ground with a harsh, grating sound, finally crashing with a loud clang as its back slammed heavily against the wall, collapsing in the corner of the landing.
The cramped space made it difficult for its massive body to flip over.
Du Yu at its side pulled out his long spear and thrust it towards the creature's heart.
This spear thrust was both accurate and vicious.
It struck the heart directly.
Qin Ziwen gripped the fork handle with all his might, his right foot braced against the stair step behind him. His entire body was pulled forward, the base of his thumbs going numb from the strain.
After a long while, the struggling force of the Giant Hyaenodon King grew weaker and weaker.
A few more minutes passed, and the Giant Hyaenodon King's body surface erupted with a large number of light points, which finally coalesced above its form into a green card.
"It's finally over," Qin Ziwen let out a long sigh of relief. Thankfully, this animal trap was strong enough. If they had been in a more spacious area, it would have been very difficult for the Giant Hyaenodon King to step into it.
He rubbed his arm; he had used too much force earlier, and his arm ached.
Both he and Du Yu were peak humans with five-star physiques. They had the advantage of height and traps, yet they had barely managed to subdue this Giant Hyaenodon King.
It just goes to show that humans still have their limits.
There's a gap in physical prowess compared to wild beasts.
"Strange, I remember besides this one, two other Giant Hyaenodons also entered the complex. Why didn't they follow?" Wang Yun couldn't understand.
Qin Ziwen, hearing the commotion outside, put away the card and led everyone out of the building unit.
They saw on the open ground not far away, two Giant Hyaenodons were trapped under two large nets. A group of residents holding long weapons were surrounding and attacking them.
One of the Giant Hyaenodons suddenly broke free from the net and pounced towards the nearest person.
A single swipe of its massive paw sent the human crashing to the ground.
Then it lowered its head, biting down on the resident's upper body while another paw pressed down on his lower half, and gave a fierce shake!
The resident's scream was abruptly cut short.
Like a torn cloth doll, chunks of flesh and entrails flew everywhere, blood spraying out in a fan-shaped arc.
This scene of extreme violence not only shocked the surrounding residents, but also made Qin Ziwen's breath catch.
This thing's bite force is that terrifying?!
Good thing they hadn't given the Giant Hyaenodon King a chance to show off earlier.
In the center of the area, the Giant Hyaenodon spat out the half-eaten corpse in its mouth. Its fur was now stained red with blood, much of it its own.
It didn't run away. Instead, it charged towards another nearby person!
Enduring the attacks of long spears, it lowered its head and simply knocked the resident in front of it down. Its rough paw slammed into his chest, caving it in on the spot.
Qin Ziwen noticed a detail: when the Giant Hyaenodon charged, the long spear in that person's hand did initially strike the target, but it was quickly lost from their grip. The lack of follow-up damage gave the Giant Hyaenodon the chance to close in.
The core issue was still the disparity in strength.
Of course, when facing a charging unit like this, holding a spear in hand is the inferior strategy. The superior strategy should be to plant the spear butt into the ground at a forty-five-degree angle, relying on the earth's resistance to counter the charge.
It's just that the ground in the complex is concrete; the spear butt can't be planted.
Within the crowd, this Giant Hyaenodon rampaged wildly, seemingly oblivious to pain.
On the other side of the area, ten residents who were still desperately pulling on the hunting net, trying to restrain the other Giant Hyaenodon, saw the one charging towards them and quickly let go. But one person still couldn't dodge in time and was pounced to the ground.
Seeing the situation growing increasingly chaotic and developing in an uncontrollable direction, He Biao, standing at the back of the crowd, anxiously shouted, "Don't run! What are you afraid of? There are so many of us! One spear each could kill them all! Everyone, attack!"
A resident who had retreated shot him a disdainful look. "Captain He, why don't you go first? Lead by example and show everyone."
He Biao's face flushed red. Who wasn't afraid? This thing was like a god of slaughter.
Even if they could kill it in the end, his own life would be gone!
Zou Jianghe glanced sideways at the hesitant, retreating He Biao. Although he was also afraid, he knew this was a critical moment and they couldn't back down.
Forcing down his fear, he took a few steps forward and roared loudly, "Brothers of the Alliance, don't be afraid! There are only two of them! Kill them, get the cards! Share the meat!"
"Everyone, follow me!" A powerful, resonant voice came from the diagonal rear. Zhang Liang, leading nine residents, slowly advanced. They stood shoulder to shoulder, ten long spears held forward.
Soon, two more hunting teams joined them. They formed a fan-shaped formation and began to encircle the Giant Hyaenodon.
As more and more people joined, the surrounding residents spontaneously formed groups, surrounding the blood-soaked Giant Hyaenodon in the center.
Meanwhile, the Giant Hyaenodon wrapped in the hunting net, finding no one around it, glanced at the dense crowd and directly fled towards the North Gate.
Only the abandoned Giant Hyaenodon remained in the midst of the crowd.
It looked towards its fleeing companion.
Letting out a roar of discontent.
A large net fell from above, covering it.
Slowing its movements.
Immediately after, long spears from all directions closed in.
The Giant Hyaenodon leaped forward, instantly overwhelming the two people in front of it. But then, seven or eight spear shafts were already pressed against the side of its neck, and even more spears thrust in, forcibly halting its charging momentum and flipping it onto the ground.
The Giant Hyaenodon lying on the ground let out a mournful howl.
But its howl seemed so feeble and powerless against the dozens of spears pressing down on it from all sides.
After the Giant Hyaenodon was hunted down, the crowd dispersed. Some people simply plopped down on the ground, sitting.
Qin Ziwen noticed the key point—those large nets.
Although they seemed to have limited durability, they could restrict and slow down the beasts' movements, giving the spear formation more time to attack.
He was thinking about how he would deal with these Giant Hyaenodons if he faced them in an open area.
These things charge like little tanks.
The dead ordinary Giant Hyaenodon didn't drop a card. Qin Ziwen speculated that at least leader-level creatures within Level 1 hunting units, or Level 2 hunting units, would drop them.
"Captain Qin," Zou Jianghe walked over.
"President Zou."
"You've already dealt with the one in the building?" Zou Jianghe was somewhat surprised.
"Yes, it's been dealt with," Qin Ziwen nodded.
Zou Jianghe looked at him deeply. The one that went inside seemed even larger than the two outside.
But to be resolved so quickly... he suddenly understood why Qin Ziwen could become the Complex's Number One.
He said a few words to the people behind him. Soon, they dragged several hunting nets over.
Zou Jianghe said, "Let's go. Let's go see how things are going on their side."
After everyone gathered, a dark mass of over a hundred people headed towards the North Gate.
At this moment, the fire on the first floor of the Teaching Building had mostly died out.
Near the stairwell entrance lay the corpses of two Giant Hyaenodons.
Outside the building corridor, the ten Giant Hyaenodons that had lost their leader were now leaderless, pacing anxiously downstairs, emitting low, urgent roars.
Each of these Giant Hyaenodons was larger than a Siberian tiger.
Even though many of the Giant Hyaenodons were wounded and bleeding, some even had short spears still embedded in their bodies, for the moment, no one stepped forward.
......