Chapter 50: Violent Means
“Hu, hu……”
Having narrowly escaped from the brink of death, Zhou Ming gasped violently, his heartbeat soaring uncontrollably.
After slightly calming his trembling emotions, Zhou Ming immediately took out the bottle cap and used his left hand to seal the glass vial that was overflowing with some of the Violet-gold Liquid.
If he had spilled all the Violet-gold Liquid, then all his efforts—and the risk of death—would have been for nothing. That would have been far too great a loss.
“Hiss, hiss……”
Inkband and Vermilion Jade had silently returned to Zhou Ming’s side.
Zhou Ming did not immediately order them to counterattack—facing ambushers guarded by their beasts, it was difficult to ensure a killing blow. Worse, he could end up exposing his own trump cards.
“Hu, hu… Looks like I was discovered remotely by a sniper. To avoid revealing their position, they didn’t send anyone in first, so my Radar Sensory Domain didn’t detect them.”
After stabilizing his breathing, Zhou Ming quickly analyzed the cause.
Because half of the serpent swarm had been lost during the mission inside the base, the range of the Radar Sensory Domain had drastically decreased. That was the reason Zhou Ming was successfully ambushed.
“Monkey, that guy probably can’t use the Thunder Revolver again for a while.”
Within moments, the experienced hunter made his assessment and shouted to his nearby companion.
“Damn it.”
Fortunately, wireless communication didn’t work well in the wilderness—otherwise, the enemy could have approached silently.
Still, Zhou Ming cursed under his breath. These guys were definitely veterans.
“Bang, bang……”
The attacker continued firing at the rocks where Zhou Ming was hiding. The beast and the gunman advanced slowly, while a sniper hidden in the distance prepared for a fatal shot.
“Don’t think I came unprepared.”
Zhou Ming pulled out a grenade—one he had bought from an arms dealer in the base. As long as it wasn’t brought into the base, no one cared.
Right now, Zhou Ming no longer cared if the explosion would trigger a Ferocious Beast riot within the Green Mist Jungle. Since the enemy wanted to play, he would accompany them in this deadly game.
The serpent swarm had not been recalled, so it still maintained a Radar Sensory Domain.
When Zhou Ming sensed that the enemy was within fifty meters, he didn’t dare peek out. Instead, he directly pulled the safety pin.
“One, two…”
As the count reached its end, Zhou Ming hurled the grenade toward the attackers behind the rock.
“Grenade! Take cover!”
Although Zhou Ming had great arm strength and the grenade flew quickly, the enemy still detected it instantly.
They dropped flat to the ground, while their beasts moved to protect their masters.
“Boom!”
The explosion was even more deafening than a Thunder Type-2 Revolver’s roar.
The impact sent stones flying like arrows shot from a strong bow, the fragments hammering against Zhou Ming’s cover with violent bangs.
This grenade was meant for dealing with Ferocious Beasts—yet Zhou Ming had used it against human ambushers.
However, Zhou Ming guessed the enemy would at most be injured. It was not time to celebrate yet—there was still a sniper lurking in the distance.
“Hiss.”
That sound didn’t come from Inkband or Vermilion Jade—it came from the smoke grenade in Zhou Ming’s hand.
Zhou Ming understood his situation perfectly.
Without his beasts to defend against bullets, he was extremely vulnerable when facing hunters.
In the wilderness, which hunter didn’t carry a gun?
The first time he left the base, Zhou Ming hadn’t bought a firearm—mainly because he had no money, and the area he went to rarely had hunters.
But this time was different.
Besides buying a high-explosive grenade for emergencies, he had also prepared plenty of smoke grenades—perfect for coordinated attacks with his Ironthread Snake swarm.
As soon as the explosion faded, Zhou Ming tossed one, then another, then a third.
Before the enemies could react, thick white smoke engulfed everything within dozens of meters, completely blocking their sight.
“Your turn.”
Zhou Ming patted Inkband and Vermilion Jade—his biggest trump cards.
Ordinary Ironthread Snakes couldn’t pierce the combat suits of hunters, so it was better to maintain the Radar Sensory Domain.
Inkband would draw attention and pin down the opponent’s beast, while Vermilion Jade would silently eliminate the Beast Tamer.
The two Ferocious Beast–level Ironthread Snakes attacked one target, one in front and one behind.
“Bang, bang……”
Within the Radar Sensory Domain, just as two hunters were regrouping for retreat, Inkband struck first.
Although Zhou Ming couldn’t see what kind of beast the enemy had, his order to Inkband was to engage and restrain it—so he didn’t worry much for its safety.
As for firearms—in this dense smoke, they were no better than sticks.
“Hound, support me! The opponent’s beast is a venomous snake—fast and deadly!”
As soon as “Monkey,” the seasoned hunter, shouted that, he rolled along the ground, fearing Zhou Ming might fire blindly at the sound.
His beast—a Sword-tailed Lizard—clashed with Inkband, its sharp and agile tail slicing through the air.
“He’s coming!”
Twenty meters away, “Hound” responded and dove flat as well.
“Boom!”
The Thunder Type-2 Revolver roared once again, revealing its fangs.
A two-meter-long Human-faced Spider seemed to be smashed by an invisible hammer, its body sliding several meters before stopping.
“Ah!”
“Bang!”
Suffering a psychic backlash, the hunter nicknamed “Hound” screamed in agony and fell to the ground.
At the same time, the distant sniper, using the flash from the Thunder Revolver’s muzzle as reference, fired blindly toward Zhou Ming.
After Zhou Ming fired that shot with his recovered right hand, he immediately ducked back into cover. He wasn’t a rookie—his time in the shooting range had paid off.
He had managed to hit the opponent’s beast thanks to his Radar Sensory Domain allowing him to judge its position within the smoke.
The beast’s large size and moderate distance had given him the lucky chance to land a blind shot.
As the saying went: When opportunity comes, those who fail to seize it will be punished. This time, luck was on Zhou Ming’s side.
“Hound…”
This time, “Monkey” didn’t shout—it was a low, furious growl.
He already knew his companion’s fate.
Knowing that Zhou Ming needed time to recover before firing the Thunder Revolver again, he ordered his beast to attack Inkband with full force.
Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know Zhou Ming had not one, but two Ferocious Beast–level Ironthread Snakes.
As the Sword-tailed Lizard lunged at Inkband, its master stepped out of its protection range.
“Swish.”
A flash of red light sliced across his neck. Without his beast’s protection, the Beast Tamer was nothing but prey before Vermilion Jade’s ambush.
“Ugh……”
A thin red line appeared on his neck, followed by a sudden gush of blood. His throat filled with frothy blood, producing a faint gurgle before he collapsed lifelessly.
Not far away, the Sword-tailed Lizard entangled with Inkband also instantly lost its vitality.
After finishing off “Monkey,” Vermilion Jade immediately turned to dispatch the still-agonized “Hound.”
“Roar……”
“Rumble, rumble……”
Two or three minutes after the grenade’s explosion, Zhou Ming had eliminated the ambushers—but the riot of Ferocious Beasts was already rapidly approaching.
Hearing the distant roars, Zhou Ming quickly recalled all his beasts and prepared to retreat.
As for the sniper hiding far away—Zhou Ming didn’t believe that person would escape safely from the Green Mist Jungle.
Snipers dedicated to marksmanship were rarely Beast Tamers. It simply consumed too much mental energy.
Any Beast Tamer with ambition would always prioritize advancing along the path of a Beast Tamer.