Chapter 203: Five Kills in a Second

Chapter 203: Five Kills in a Second

"Ah?"

Everyone was stunned by Ji Xinghuo's generosity.

One hundred million Aya plus a super-limit exotic species, and this offer was for each of them, totaling seven or eight hundred million, even up to a billion!

Their breaths became heavy.

No one was a fool. For Ji Xinghuo to offer such a huge price, it could only mean that the exotic species was of a higher level than the super-limit—a star-falling exotic species!

Their mouths went dry as they stared at Ji Xinghuo, their gazes drifting uncontrollably back to the giant lizard's corpse.

The excitement that had filled the rift after their harvest dissipated, the atmosphere turning tense. Yet, Ji Xinghuo remained smiling and calm.

"You didn't have to tell us," said Chi Zhonglin, his voice turning hoarse. "You could have waited for us to leave, then returned for the body. No one would have known the truth."

As these words left his mouth, realization dawned on the others, their hearts jolting in surprise.

"I know," Ji Xinghuo nodded, his expression nonchalant. "But I couldn't bring myself to deceive my teammates, no matter how enticing the reward."

There was, in fact, a better way. After they left, Qinghong could secretly return to the rift and devour the giant lizard's corpse, or he could find an excuse to come back and hide the body in his dimensional pouch.

But as he'd said, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Principles were principles.

Ji Xinghuo's greatest ambition was to reach the pinnacle of evolution, but he wouldn't resort to unscrupulous means. He wanted to hold on to his basic principles—to maintain his sense of honesty and fairness.

With a straightforward complaint, his thoughts were understood!

Ji Xinghuo knew that with such a huge temptation, some of his teammates might not be able to withstand the test. However, he wasn't worried about losing the star-falling exotic species. If anyone did expose their greed and turned against him because of it, he still had many trump cards up his sleeve that would make them regret their actions.

Having said his piece, Ji Xinghuo waited for the others' responses.

"I agree," Lu Yunhai spoke first, his expression earnest. "Xinghuo, I don't need the hundred million or the super-limit exotic species. Just look after me more in the future, alright?"

"I agree too," Chi Zhonglin smiled. "But I have one condition. From now on, whenever we team up, you have to lend me the Heaven's Fury Scarlet Blood Spear."

Jing Ji and Yuan Chongzhen exchanged a glance, both of them nodding.

"We've faced life and death together. I've always trusted your character," Jing Ji said, clapping Ji Xinghuo on the shoulder.

Yuan Chongzhen continued, "However, I'll take that hundred million and super-limit exotic species."

"Of course," Ji Xinghuo laughed, then turned to look at Zhuo Liguotu.

Zhuo Liguotu was the teammate they knew the least, and he was the least familiar with them.

His expression was complex and changing, especially as he saw everyone waiting for his decision. The pressure was palpable, but after a long while, he finally sighed, "Since it's an incompatible exotic species, it's not meant for me. Getting a hundred million and a super-limit exotic species is already more than enough."

After saying this, Zhuo Liguotu seemed to have shed a heavy burden, his entire being relaxing.

"Thank you," Ji Xinghuo nodded solemnly at him.

Without further hesitation, he released Qinghong, immediately stimulating "Giant Transformation" to turn it into a twenty-meter-long giant python. The golden, cyan, and silver scales shimmered in the sunlight, its body twice as long as the giant lizard's, exuding a terrifying aura.

Zhuo Liguotu's expression changed slightly—this was his first time witnessing Qinghong up close.

If I hadn't agreed just now...

Qinghong's serpentine body coiled around the giant lizard's corpse, its snake mouth opening wider and wider. Half of its head seemed to split open as it devoured the giant lizard, taking several minutes to consume it whole. Its scales were stretched, the lizard's body slowly inching its way into its abdomen.

The giant lizard had almost doubled Qinghong's size, making even its movements difficult.

It immediately shrank back down to only a few centimeters in length, but it was still round and plump, resembling an overfed fat worm, a comical sight.

The group couldn't help but laugh.

Ji Xinghuo put Qinghong away before saying, "I'll borrow some money from Man Ying first, then transfer the funds to you all."

"Damn!"

"Holy sht!"

Jing Ji and the others couldn't help but curse and laugh. "I thought you'd struck it rich, but it turns out you're broke too, resorting to borrowing from your girlfriend."

"Damn it..." Chi Zhonglin was filled with envy. "I want a billionaire girlfriend too! Freeloading is the life!"

Ji Xinghuo shook his head, amused. "You'll be a billionaire soon enough."

"That's right!"

The group looked at the fifteen exotic species on the ground.

"What should we do with them?" They all looked at Ji Xinghuo. "We'll follow the principle of distributing spoils from starry hunts. If anyone in the team needs them, the highest bidder gets them. If no one in the team wants them, we'll sell them externally and split the money."

This was fair, and everyone agreed.

The others turned warily, looking up towards the top of the rift.

A small aerospace fighter jet sped by overhead, slowing down to hover in mid-air above the rift. The rear hatch opened, and several people jumped out, landing on the ground about two to three hundred meters away. They spread out and began walking towards Ji Xinghuo and his companions.

Judging from their weapons and equipment, they were a hunting team.

There were five people approaching.

The four men and one woman all had high bridges of their noses and deep-set eyes, clearly not citizens of the Asia-Pacific Community. Leading them was a tall, robust man with a sleek build. He wore lightweight alloy armor and carried a spear and a round shield on his back. He had on a pair of sunglasses and sported a thick beard.

His teammates held guns and took positions about 150 meters away, spreading out slightly to the left and right.

"They're all superhumans," Jing Ji whispered.

Ji Xinghuo had recognized this from a distance. The man in front was a top-notch superhuman with formidable strength, and the other four, while not as skilled as him, were still quite capable.

This was an elite hunting team.

"Do you know them?" Ji Xinghuo asked.

As he spoke, he glanced at the small aerospace fighter jet hovering above. This was the opponents' biggest advantage, and the laser cannon on the jet was already aimed at the ground, ready to fire at any moment.

Chi Zhonglin frowned and said, "I think I've seen them before."

"Hello!"

The man in front removed his sunglasses and greeted them with a cheerful smile. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Herrera, also known as the 'Flying Roman.' I believe you must have heard of me."

The translator simultaneously conveyed his words, allowing Ji Xinghuo and the others to understand him.

"Number 674 on the Tower?" Chi Zhonglin recalled.

"That's right, it's me!" Herrera was delighted, as if he were an old friend they hadn't seen in years. But his next words carried none of the warmth of a friendly reunion. "You have ten seconds to hand over the exotic species, or the laser cannon will tear you to shreds."

Then he began to count down: "10, 9, 8..."

Everyone's faces turned pale.

They weren't afraid of a direct confrontation, but with an aerospace fighter jet hovering overhead, even a small one, the laser cannon it carried posed a formidable threat.

The jet had already ascended to a height of over 200 meters. At this distance, even with concentrated fire from electromagnetic rifles, they couldn't penetrate its armor.

Aside from Jing Ji, who was the fastest, the others would struggle to dodge the jet's firepower.

Moreover, the jet was likely equipped with missiles as well.

"What should we do?" Lu Yunhai asked anxiously. Everyone looked at Ji Xinghuo, awaiting his decision—whether to fight, flee, or hand over the exotic species.

Ji Xinghuo remained calm, his gaze fixed on Herrera. "I'm curious, how did you find us?"

Africa was vast, and the giant lizard's range covered four million square kilometers. Even though they were within the borders of the East African Kingdom and only 300 kilometers away from the giant lizard's last appearance in Mashindi, it seemed unlikely that the other party could have arrived so quickly without a specific purpose or prior knowledge.

Many teams had come to Africa in search of the giant lizard, and in the past few days, they hadn't encountered a single one in the wilderness. Now, they had stumbled upon one of the most elite hunting teams, capable of posing a real threat.

It was clear that they had come prepared.

However, Herrera didn't answer. He looked at Ji Xinghuo and the others as if they were already dead.

"5, 4, fire!"

Herrera interrupted his countdown with the order to fire.

But as soon as he said "fire," Ji Xinghuo was already in motion. Without moving his feet, he drew the hammer from his waist.

Before the fight, Ji Xinghuo had also injected himself with a neuroenhancer, which was still in effect. The high-frequency thought activation from the acceleration ring further enhanced his neural response by half.

The iris of his right eye flashed, and he entered the state of seeing all possibilities.

The world fell silent.

In Ji Xinghuo's eyes, time seemed to freeze, and countless streams of light danced before him, showing him countless possible futures.

He rotated his gun-wielding right hand by ninety degrees, bringing the gun horizontally in front of him.

An imaginary line extended from the muzzle of the hammer, pointing at the leftmost enemy.

Ji Xinghuo pulled the trigger.

The fourth-level Thousand Spirit Dexterity skill was at its most effective, and in the blink of an eye, he pulled the trigger five times in rapid succession. With each shot, the gun recoiled horizontally, but under his precise control, the muzzle moved just enough to the right to target the next enemy's head, and he fired again.

Bang!

Five gunshots overlapped into one, and the heads of the five people in front of them, from left to right, exploded almost simultaneously.

Herrera, standing in the middle, reacted the fastest.

As a "Divine Walking Warrior," an advanced profession of the martial artist and the flier, he was incredibly fast and agile. He immediately sensed the danger and dodged to the side.

Against Ji Xinghuo's gun, any attempt to dodge would be futile.

The hammer's lethality was something even Legendary Exotics would fear. Being hit in the head would spell the same gruesome end as any ordinary person.

The Divine Walking Warrior excelled in bursts of speed and agility, but their defense was rather mediocre.

Herrera's head was the third to explode.

Ji Xinghuo had one last high-explosive round in his gun, and he raised it to aim at the sky above.

As he entered the Myriad Phenomenon State, he unleashed an invisible electromagnetic pulse with all his might. The pulse instantly affected the aerospace fighter jet, causing its engines to shut down and its internal circuits to spark. The laser cannon was rendered useless, and the jet began to wobble and fall.

Bang!

The last high-explosive round pierced the cockpit glass of the jet, and a small shard of shrapnel penetrated the pilot's forehead.

The uncontrolled jet immediately plummeted.

Ji Xinghuo exited the Myriad Phenomenon State and checked the interface. The star power he had consumed from slaying the giant lizard hadn't fully recovered, and now, after using another large chunk of it, he was left with less than 200 star points.

He rubbed his temples, feeling a stabbing pain in his head.

The Myriad Phenomenon State, combined with the neuroenhancer and high-frequency thought activation, had caused his brain to overload.

His teammates were stunned, their mouths agape.

What had just happened was too fast for them to process. From their perspective, Herrera had ordered them to open fire, and then his head had exploded.

All the enemies had their heads blown off in an instant, and even the aerospace fighter jet was falling.

"This..."

Zhuo Liguotu drew in a cold breath, secretly grateful for his decision to give up the giant lizard's body.

Boom!

The aerospace fighter jet crashed into the rift, causing an explosion. Fortunately, it had spiraled a few times during its fall, so the crash site was relatively far away.

The loud explosion echoed through the rift, frightening countless wild animals, which scattered in all directions.

Ji Xinghuo's teammates were also shaken.

However, they were more startled by the sudden turn of events than anything else, and the way they looked at Ji Xinghuo had changed, leaving them momentarily speechless.

"Let's go."

Ji Xinghuo's magnetic field senses detected danger, and more people were approaching—a lot of them.

"Our Velociraptor is still up there."

"Forget it!"

Ji Xinghuo said sharply.

The Velociraptor was only useful for long-distance running and lacked burst speed. Now was the time to rely on their own abilities to escape.

He took the lead and sprinted towards the north of the rift, and the others quickly followed, with Jing Ji using the Silent Phantom to conceal the team's figures.

In the sky, several aerospace fighter jets appeared, bearing the emblem of a black crown. They belonged to the East African Kingdom's army and were circling the area, searching the ground. Although Ji Xinghuo couldn't see radar waves, he guessed that their target was his team.

On both sides of the rift, along the cliffs, there were also several hunting teams.

All of them were elite squads.

The leader of each team was at least a Superhuman, and they were not allied with the East African Kingdom's army. They maintained a mutual non-aggression pact but were all advancing into the rift.

Soon, the six of them had run for several kilometers.

However, Ji Xinghuo realized that the number of enemies he detected was increasing. A single aerospace fighter jet formed a encirclement, blocking off this stretch of the rift, which was over ten kilometers long.

There were also armored vehicles on the ground, setting up checkpoints and firing positions at the gap in the cliff where the rift opened up.

"We're screwed," said Chi Zhonglin, his face turning pale. He saw the large number of troops on both sides of the rift.

"Are they after us?" Yuan Chongzhen asked, confused as to why hunting down a monster would warrant such a huge response.

Jing Ji nodded. "Most likely."

His forehead was already sweating, and maintaining the Silent Phantom while running at high speed was extremely taxing on his control.

Suddenly, Ji Xinghuo stopped running.

"What's wrong?"

Ji Xinghuo looked at the rift ahead and said solemnly, "We've been spotted."

As he spoke, a large aerospace fighter jet flew into the rift and landed about 300 meters away from them.

The hatch opened, and a tall, skinny Black man emerged.

He was over two meters tall and naked from the waist up, revealing his muscular chest. He wore only a pair of sturdy black leather shorts and was barefoot, with a blade of grass in his mouth. In his hand, he dragged a massive black battle sword that was taller than him, its blade as wide as a door. As he walked, the sword left a long groove in the ground.

The Black man could see right through the Silent Phantom and approached Ji Xinghuo and his team expressionlessly.

Behind him, a hundred-strong army poured out of the large aerospace fighter jet and spread out in formation within the rift.

The troops and hunting teams from behind also closed in.

In an instant, this section of the rift was enveloped in a tight net, leaving no room for escape.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end