In the yellow sands of Sargon, firefights and chases were common occurrences.
Bandits, mercenaries, armies, assassins, bodyguards—various violent groups—fought for their own interests above the bottom line set by the King Chief, often resulting in brutal clashes.
Even more terrifying was that these identities could transform into one another at any time; defeated armies could devolve into bandits, and bandits, if they grew powerful enough, could become mercenaries.
Alfonso was one of the smarter ones among them; he was just a low-key snakehead, skimming profits from border-crossers.
Even when he occasionally wanted to double-cross and eliminate some fat sheep, he had to conduct thorough investigations.
Only after ensuring that the target had no powerful relatives or friends, and that no one would know about his involvement, thus affecting his reputation, would Alfonso and his subordinates deal with those suckers and bury them deep in the yellow sands.
Alfonso had always been cautious.
After sending Kal'tsit into Iberia, he was approached by a well-dressed company representative and accepted a mission from that Columbia company, which left Alfonso conflicted for a long time.
Ultimately, torn between his father's dying advice and the olive branch from that top Columbia biological research company, Alfonso chose the latter and prepared for over half a month.
Originally, he only intended to deal with Kal'tsit alone.
Alfonso knew that bandits had previously targeted Kal'tsit, but many of them were lost, and they ultimately returned in defeat.
This seemingly frail scholar came from Leithanien, the art capital of this world, a country once ruled by the Witch King, filled with various artistic interpretations of Originium Arts.
Naturally, Alfonso speculated that Kal'tsit, this "scholar" who dared to travel alone in Sargon, was also a powerful Originium Arts user skilled in the craft.
So, for safety, he specifically hired three small mercenary groups to ensure the operation was foolproof.
However, an unexpected situation still arose: the returning Kal'tsit had brought two people from within Iberia.
One was a talkative and kind male, who looked very young and carried no weapons, only a walking stick; but seeing his tall, thin figure and steady, swift steps, Alfonso knew that he must be a mercenary with considerable combat prowess.
The other was a young girl, very well-built and beautiful, who seemed curious about everything, looking left and right upon entering the camp, but she only stayed by the man's side, and when her stomach hurt, he even had to accompany her to the restroom.
Therefore, Alfonso deduced that this girl was completely inexperienced in battle and had never seen blood—a mere show-off.
Although the massive greatsword on her back was particularly intimidating, it didn't signify anything.
There were many strong races—Sarkazs, Bovine, Ursus, Wyverns—whose strength Alfonso, a Liberi, could never match.
But fighting on the battlefield isn't solely determined by strength; many strongmen have been directly slaughtered by those Zalak rats using their agile movements. This naive young girl was not worth Alfonso's vigilance.
Finally, Alfonso speculated that these two bounty hunters were likely a master-apprentice pair—he had only heard that Iberia's Inquisitors liked to take apprentices, but he didn't expect bounty hunters to do the same.
According to his usual modus operandi, if an unexpected situation arose, he would immediately back down.
However, this time, although there were two additional targets, Alfonso weighed the pros and cons and decided to proceed.
He truly wanted to leave this cursed place and go to Columbia, a place countless Sargon people yearned for!
At the front of the convoy, which consisted of over a dozen vehicles, Alfonso, in the snakehead's car, stared intently at Kal'tsit's truck through the rear window, holding a radio, the feathers on his hair trembling constantly from his body's tension.
"Boss, we're in action, separated from the other cars—we're already engaged! Damn, this woman is ramming us with her car, is she crazy?! Haha!"
Through the walkie-talkie, Alfonso's subordinates kept reporting the situation to him, and he clenched his fists.
"Don't be so nervous, everything looks smooth, Alfonso. Your personality is only suited for being a smuggler; as a mercenary, you would have starved to death long ago—my lads are all top-notch marksmen. They must already be pinned down by the dense volley of crossbow bolts."
"That greatsword, though, is finely crafted; I hope it doesn't get shattered."
"I can't stand it, I'm going out to kill people, damn it, don't let those little punks kill them all!"
Behind Alfonso, the reactions of the mercenary leaders varied: the Liberi were exceptionally calm, the Sarkaz remained taciturn, while the Adaklis people were already itching to get involved personally.
But talk is talk; the mercenary leaders would not easily make a move, otherwise it would diminish their standing. They all had enough confidence in their subordinates.
"I hope so..."
Before the mercenaries could finish arguing, several shrill screams and chaotic, roaring shouts suddenly erupted from the radio.
"Ah ah ah ah—monster, monster! In the car, in the car, it's gotten in, don't come closer—"
"Hold steady, hold steady, the car's going to flip, the car's going to flip—no no no, she just ripped off the roof... Ah!!!"
"She jumped over, she's running faster than the car, gas, floor the gas! Shoot her, shoot her! Her skin is harder than steel plate!"
"She threw him over, it hit his head! No, why is he still moving, did you really shoot him?"
"Explosives, explosives, just blow him up—these guys are all monsters! Boss, this is a tough one!"
In less than half a minute, countless chaotic wails began to echo through the radio.
"What's wrong?"
The mercenary leaders couldn't sit still; the hot-headed Bonehammer kicked open the back door of the truck.
What met the four of them was… a monster, leaping back and forth between several cars.
Then, a man's voice came through their radio.
Clang—clang clang.
Standing on a rusty, abandoned bus, with a blood vial filled with plasma strapped to his leg, Goki raised his broken wooden shield, barely repaired with nails, which was now bristling with sharp metal crossbow bolts.
Crack.
"It's broken again, never mind—"
With the firing of a specially made armor-piercing arrow, the broken wooden shield in Goki's hand shattered, and the sharp arrow pierced directly through Goki's palm.
"Got him, I shot him, hurry and finish him—Sarkaz, stop driving, come and chop him to death! He's still regenerating, damn it, what kind of monster are you?!"
In the carriage, a Liberi mercenary hadn't even had time to celebrate when Goki had already pulled out the armor-piercing arrow from his hand and casually took out the hand crossbow he had just picked up.
"This move is called, borrowing arrows with a human body—and I'm not a monster, at least you haven't seen me in my true beastial form yet."
Whoosh—bang.
Straining slightly to string the crossbow, Goki didn't need to aim; relying purely on instinct, he shot an arrow through the enemy's shoulder blade, pinning him to the carriage.
A true man doesn't even need iron sights; Goki always hip-fires.
With so many eyes around, Goki's pistol and sawed-off shotgun were inconvenient to take out; their size was enough to be mistaken for large firearms, and Goki didn't want to cause trouble for now.
"Ah!!! Blood, blood!"
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Listening to the enemy's shrill wails, Goki's heart remained undisturbed.
He wouldn't feel guilty for killing someone who wanted to kill him, nor would this level of hunting bring him joy.
Goki needed stronger prey.
"Damn it—blood! Slaughter!"
The Liberi had just fallen, and behind him, an Adaklis man with an alligator head, holding two hand axes, his eyes red, charged directly at Goki. He had green alligator skin, adorned with deep red war paint.
Goki knew that these people with distinct beastly features were the so-called "Ancients"; apart from their appearance, their physical qualities were no different from their kin.
However, Terrans seemed to have extra respect for these atavistic "Ancients"—the higher the furry degree, the more popular they were. Terra was indeed full of furries.
But unlike Sister Gavial, who was so beautiful, male Adaklis people almost universally showed atavism, all having large alligator mouths, so they weren't as rare.
Undoubtedly, looking at the slabs of muscle on the opponent's exposed upper body, and recalling an alligator's death roll during hunting, Goki knew that these Adaklis people certainly possessed considerable strength.
However, this was more interesting; ranged weapons were always considered weak. Goki even used guns for close-range Gun Counter—melee combat was the true charm of a hunter!
Seeing the Khornate alligator chosen one wielding twin axes, Goki unhesitatingly put away his effeminate telescopic cane and pulled out his Saw Cleaver from his back.
Click—Clang!
Accompanied by a heavy yet pleasant transformation sound, Goki transformed his saw into an open cleaver and let out a resounding war cry.
"Afraid of you? If you're a man, come and fight me—WAAAGH!!!"
And seeing this tall, lanky man suddenly pull out a big, handsome weapon, the alligator mercenary also excitedly opened his mouth, intending to have a true man's 1v1 with Goki!
"Good!"
And so, the two berserkers charged at each other along the carriage, finally colliding… "You f*cking cheated."
Lowering his head, looking at the huge wound extending from between his legs directly to his abdomen, the alligator mercenary cursed, clutching his wound, and collapsed to the ground.
Just as they were about to collide, Goki suddenly executed a slide tackle, passing beneath him and delivering a critical hit to his crotch.
"Guess what, praise the f*cking Lord of Change, this is the despicable outsider!"
Shaking the blood off his Saw Cleaver, Goki always prioritized efficiency over fighting style; when there was a way to cheat, anyone who fought head-on was a big idiot.
Whoosh—
And then, Goki suddenly felt a premonition of danger, retreating backward just as a greatsword grazed his hat brim, kicking up a gust of wind.
A Sarkaz strongman, with two jet-black horns on his head, a head taller than Goki's already tall frame, and a body a full circle thicker, with solid muscles like a Demon Mountain, was holding a greatsword even larger than Skadi's weapon with both hands, staring at Goki through his mask.
Wielding the greatsword with both hands, this Sarkaz mercenary was clearly not as easy to deal with as the previous enemies.
Even though they were all native Sarkaz growing up on Sargon's land, the Legacy of Kazdel's greatsword techniques was still passed down among every Sarkaz.
"You are strong, I can feel it. I am a little… afraid of you, Hunter, but you won't get out of here."
For some reason, looking at this bounty hunter, the Sarkaz mercenary instinctively felt a pang of fear, and the Originium crystals on his body suddenly felt faintly hot.
"Hmm, but I advise you to take a look behind you."
Goki, meanwhile, retreated while pointing twice behind the Sarkaz mercenary.
"Put away your little tricks you used on that idiot, that won't fool me. You are strong, let's face each other—"
Bang!
The next second, two muscular long legs, clad in crotchless pants, stomped through the rusted metal roof of the old bus as if tearing paper.
A flying Orca descended from the sky like a meteor, directly stomping this Sarkaz greatswordsman into the ground, emitting a bone-shattering sound that made one's teeth ache.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth; this is probably the story of the Orca arriving."
Goki shrugged, a little helpless.
Skadi held her blood-stained greatsword, her other hand stained with some iron filings, evidently having just leaped continuously between several vehicles.
"Goki, how are you—looks like you're fine."
Although the car was moving fast, Skadi could still easily leap between them; even if she fell on the road, she could still jog to catch up.
"It was a bit bad just now, but listen up now, you worked hard, Skadi."
Smiling at Skadi, Goki's gaze lingered for a few seconds on Skadi's chest, which swayed up and down with her intense movements, before turning away.
While searching for the walkie-talkie on the Sarkaz mercenary, who was still alive with tenacious vitality despite being stomped into the ground by an Orca's strike, Goki looked at the situation outside the car.
Kal'tsit's truck was still driving steadily, and around her, a four-legged black behemoth was galloping rapidly on the ground, its instantaneous speed even exceeding one hundred kilometers per hour.
Each time it approached a vehicle, this beautiful creature would leap violently, pouncing like a terrifying robot.
Amidst desperate wails and fearful roars, Mon3tr would drill into the vehicles, eliminating the sources of sound one by one, finally discarding the silent vehicles at will, and continuing its next hunt.
Undoubtedly, three monsters were participating in this hunt.
And Goki was probably the least efficient one.
Looking at the slowly increasing number in his mind due to the mercenaries' deaths, Goki shook his head.
"Sigh, my physical fitness isn't enough, and blood echoes are scarce. I hope there are more wild beasts here in Sargon; I remember there are many Rock Crab (Pan Xie), right? I can't possibly kill people just to farm blood echoes; it's better to hunt more wild beasts."
It was a pity that the Operators of Team Rainbow Six would not arrive for several more years; otherwise, Goki would have surely caught the essence of evolution and made it spawn more little ones for him, preferably allowing for infinite blood echoes.
"Come, Skadi, a hug."
Sighing silently in his heart, Goki skillfully bent down, allowing Skadi to easily hoist him onto her shoulder, while pressing the walkie-talkie.
"Hey, Mr. Alfonso, Doctor Kal'tsit is very satisfied with the surprise you gave us. In return, we plan to personally return the favor to you—just you wait."
The next second, Skadi pushed off with her legs, breaking the sound barrier, and leaped high from the unmanned bus, jumping towards another car.
After tonight, the hunter's name, through the mouths of survivors, will gradually spread throughout Sargon.
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