"Pike, control your breathing rate! Your filter canister is almost depleted!"

The most robust man, holding a heavily modified firearm, lowered his voice and issued a stern reprimand.

The voice beneath the mask carried a sense of seasoned steadiness.

He grabbed the child’s shoulder and pulled him into the range of the cold light tube’s illumination:

"I sent you for perimeter reconnaissance, why are you so scared? Did you encounter a Black Monster?"

"Black Monster"?

Fang Cheng, above, heard the term and raised his eyebrows slightly.

From the man’s taut muscles and the unconscious elevation of the gun barrel.

The so-called "Black Monster" is truly a terrifying existence in this wasteland world.

"No... no Black Monster, Uncle Kael."

The child named Pike shook his head desperately, the filter canister on his gas mask clicking with the movement.

He swallowed, his voice trembling noticeably:

"It’s a person... a very strange-looking person!"

"Person?"

The slender woman beside, holding a steel spear upside down, came forward.

Her voice transmitted through the mask, with a hint of chill:

"Pike, did you inhale the sulfur gas and start hallucinating? In these deep radiation zones, apart from us hunters from Iron City, who else can move alone at night?"

"It really is a person, sister Ira!"

Pike gestured eagerly, trying to describe what he saw:

"He wasn’t wearing protective gear or a mask! His skin was very white, taller than Uncle Kael."

"Moreover... when I saw him, he was sitting by the fire, eating meat!"

Saying "eating meat," Pike’s throat emitted a swallowing sound.

Even across the mask, Fang Cheng could sense the child’s frantically producing saliva.

"Not wearing protective gear? Eating mutant beasts raw in the radiation zone?"

The third man, who hadn’t spoken, let out a deep cold laugh.

He held a long gun with a rough aiming sight, leaning against the ticket machine wreckage:

"Pike, even if you’re making up stories, at least make it believable."

"Never mind eating those radioactive poisoned meats before processing, standing on the surface without a mask for half an hour would burn lungs into a pool of blood; you’re just starving, aren’t you?"

"Roken is right."

The woman named Ira patted Pike’s head:

"You must be seeing a newly deceased mutant corpse and got confused."

"I wasn’t confused!"

Pike stomped anxiously, turning to the leader:

"Uncle Kael, he was really eating meat! A big piece, cooked and dripping with oil!"

"Could he be... from another survivor tribe? Or the legendary..."

"Shut up!"

Kael rudely interrupted Pike.

He tightened his grip on the heavy machine gun, a cold gleam flashing under his mask:

"Whether it’s a madman from another tribe or a hallucination from your hunger, our target now is only one: our prey."

Kael scanned the other three, his voice as heavy as iron:

"Folks, the Iron City Tribe has been eating synthetic fungal paste for half a month. Old Grego can’t survive this winter. The Savior’s light is still a distant hope to shine into this hell, we can only rely on ourselves."

"If we can’t bring back enough meat tonight for the whole family for a week, none of us hunters will return..."

High in the darkness, Fang Cheng listened quietly to the conversation between these Otherworld humans.

"Iron City," "fungal paste," "Savior," "Hunter"...

One by one, fragmented pieces of information rapidly pieced together in his mind, roughly depicting the survival conditions of these natives.

In this utterly devastated post-apocalyptic world, they hide like rats in an underground shelter named "Iron City."

The double gravity of the surface, poisonous air, and energy radiation force them to wear heavy protective gear to venture outside.

The extreme scarcity of food compels these "hunters" to risk their lives to hunt mutated monsters in the radiation.

"Pike, report position, where did you scout the prey?"

Kael quickly inquired.

"It’s... at the crossroads two streets north."

Pike finally caught his breath and reported softly:

"A Thorn Armor Pig is digging for moss in the ruins there. It’s big enough to feed us for days."

"Thorn Armor Pig? Good stuff."

Kael pulled the gun bolt, producing a crisp metallic clashing sound.

He swiftly entered battle mode, issuing corresponding instructions:

"Old rules, Roken, lure the beast near this collapsed pit. Ira, control its movements, don’t let it scatter our formation."

"As for little Pike, stealthily retreat and secure our escape route."

"Everyone understand? Ready to act!"

"Understood!"

The three quickly dispersed.

Fang Cheng remained lying in the shadow of the load-bearing pillar, not altering his breathing rate.

He locked his keen gaze onto the hunter named Roken.

Roken hunched down, using the ruins for cover, swiftly threading north.

Within minutes, the sound of breaking glass bottles rang out in the distance, followed by two brief gunfire flashes.

Roar——

An extremely unpleasant howl erupted from two streets away.

The heavy footsteps thumped like dense drumbeats, bouncing the volcanic ash on the ground.

Fang Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling the subtle tremors transmitted from the load-bearing pillar.

In double gravity, a creature making such disturbance must weigh quite a lot.

"Here it comes, get ready!"

Kael crouched behind a stone pillar, resting his heavy rifle on the rubble, firmly aiming at the corner of the street.

Roken’s figure darted out from the corner first.

He ran frantically, clearly slowed by the heavy protective suit.

Just as he dove into the edge of the collapsed pit.

A mutated wild pig over two meters long, covered in black sharp bone spurs, emerged.

It crashed through half a brick wall at the corner like an out-of-control armored car, roaring out.

Its eyes flashed bloodthirstily, its tusks adorned with pieces of unknown biological flesh, appearing particularly fierce.

"Fire!"

Kael shouted, pulling the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The crude homemade weapon erupted in deafening roars instantly.

The gun barrel spewed half a meter long crimson flames, the massive recoil jolting Kael’s shoulder backward repeatedly.

Finger-thick bullets tore through the air, precisely hitting the Thorn Armor Pig’s head and chest.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew wildly.

These bullets, capable of piercing ordinary steel plates, merely cracked a few lines on the pig’s bone armored shell, not causing any fatal injury.

The intense pain thoroughly enraged the beast.

It pawed the ground aggressively, crushing large areas of concrete, altering its charge path directly toward the fiercest firepower, Kael.

"Ira! Control it!"

Kael shouted loudly, not dodging back but firmly pressing the gun barrel, continuing the firepower.

Ira sprang up on the other side.

She didn’t raise her steel bar but tore off the heavy gas mask, revealing a pale face filled with blue veins.

Her eyes fixated on the charging Thorn Armor Pig, hands grasping in the air before her chest.

Buzz——

Standing afar, Fang Cheng clearly detected a bizarre high-frequency distortion in the air around the collapsed pit.

This was not True Qi or other abnormal energies.

Instead, it was Spiritual Telekinesis capable of interfering with reality’s physical laws.

Yet, under double gravity, attempting to counter a multi-ton, high-speed charging mutated wild pig with telekinesis alone is like a mantis trying to stop a cart.

Seeing this, Fang Cheng’s eyes gleamed with interest, attentively observing the battlefield scenario.

The strength system of this world might reveal its essence at this moment.