Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

Everyone in Fortress Three wanted to see how Xiang Ning would lose. He had been far too headstrong in these few days.

Only Qi Jiuming and Lei Zhongyuan were supportive of Xiang Ning. Both of them bitterly smiled, but there was nothing they could do. The better Xiang Ning’s performance was, the more excited Lei Zhongyuan was. As long as he could recruit Xiang Ning into the military, with his talents he would become an extremely strong individual. It would be even better if he could learn some method of increasing his martial technique from him. But now, Xiang Ning was facing a difficult situation. The rumors about him were rampant in the city. Dong Qianyi had already told him about how Xiang Ning was rumored to be an evil person who didn’t help those in need. The entire Marsh City already knew about him by now.

Rubbing his temples, Lei Zhongyuan wasn’t able to figure out a good plan to counter this. But it wasn’t like he needed to directly address it. As long as Xiang Ning gets first place, then there would be ways to get him conscripted into the military. And as long as he was in the military, there would be no way for the rumors to affect him. In another two years, no one would remember him anymore.

Looking at the rankings, first and second place were only fifty thousand dollars apart.

…...

Xiang Ning returned to the abandoned building where his squad mates were resting. They had already fought more than a few times and were exhausted. Initially, they were the ones who fought first. Xiang Ning would only step out if they couldn’t win against their opponents.

While it may look like Xiang Ning was being lazy, everyone knew that he was giving them a chance to train themselves in a battle. In this world, fighting against beasts was important, but fighting against and learning to defend themselves from humans was even more important. After all, ferocious beasts may be dangerous, but the human heart was even more so. There were even people that would harm their own families and friends for monetary benefits. Under such intense battles, his companions had learned and grasped many new things.

“Xiang Ning, aren’t we being too arrogant?” Li Zimo was leaning against a pillar teasing him. Since he had befriended Xiang Ning, he had been able to talk naturally. The days where he had to think twice before speaking were long behind him.

No one would be crazy enough to rob every single squad that they encountered like Xiang Ning. Li Zimo felt very refreshed looking at the exasperated students who were defeated by them.

“I don’t think we’re being too arrogant. We’re just following the rules! If they had the power to do so, they would do the same.” Xiang Ning shrugged. When the other academies were robbing their beasts, no one had batted an eyelash.

Fang Rou was looking at the rankings as she smiled. “We’re now in second place. We just need another fifty thousand dollars, shall we go and steal their beast?”

Everyone silently looked at her.

Liu Ruoxue laughed, “Fang Rou, to think you’ve changed!”

“Yeah! You’re just like a robber!” Xiang Ning chimed in.

Fang Rou stared daggers at Xiang Ning and he instantly shut up. He coughed and finally told everyone his plans. “We rest for another half hour, then depart for the city center. It’s time for payback.” He didn’t like to be framed. For the past two weeks he had been hearing rumors about how he didn’t save those in trouble and had even ignored the other squads from Qiling Academy! Even then, every time a Qiling Academy squad had been beaten, they were told to blame Xiang Ning!

That was something that he simply could not tolerate. He needed to regain his honor.

......

Three kilometers from the city center, Wu Rui’s squad had also found a place to rest. Xiang Ning’s squad was catching up and Zhao Huatai was worried. “Senior Wu, they’re already in second place. They only need fifty thousand dollars to surpass us.”

Wu Rui was also worried. Xiang Ning’s progress far exceeded his expectations. He had shot past the fifth and fourth place within an hour. And that was only yesterday. They were now in second place, and even threatening Wu Rui’s ranking. It was intolerable!

“Continue hunting beasts, and make it quick! This is the city center, and they’ll surely come and find us. There are no beasts left in the periphery of the city.” Wu Rui narrowed his eyes. Everyone knew what he meant. As long as Xiang Ning appeared, Wu Rui would stand in his way.

“Yes leader!”

“Leader Wu! Come quick! It’s a tier two, one-star Tyrant Spider! It’ll earn us at least one hundred thousand dollars!” one of the scouting members shouted.

Wu Rui came to his side and saw the tyrant spider hiding amongst the rubble; only its leg was exposed.

Tyrant Spiders were a new beast that had shown up only recently. It was a beast with extremely strong attacks and sharp senses. Usually, when a martial artist detected one, it would have already detected the martial artist as well. Every single one of them had the potential to become a tier three beast.

The current Tyrant Spider, however, was still in its infancy.

“Leader Wu, Tyrant Spiders are fierce beasts. Their defenses are strong, too. Only you can face this one.”

“No problem, everyone attack from afar and break its rhythm. I’ll kill it.”

“Leader Wu, look! It’s right here.” Zhao Huatai pointed to the spider beneath the rubble. It looked like it had been hurt!

“Hahaha! It looks like we’re lucky! Look at its abdomen. It seems that another beast has wounded it. It’s a good time to kill it!”

Wu Rui saw that it was indeed hurt. He was now absolutely confident that he could kill it. But just as they were about to lure it out of hiding, a bullet flew past them and shot through the spider’s head, which exploded in a rain of blood and torn flesh. Everyone stood still, not knowing what had happened.

What just happened? What’s going on? Why did its head explode?