Chapter 266: Hunting

“It’s tough!” Yang Bo carefully examined the valley. Starting a fire wouldn’t work. The tall grass wasn’t dry enough to ignite.

And the zombies would return after a certain distance, so luring them to tricky terrain wouldn’t work either.

The grass had to be cut down and left to dry for several days before it would catch fire. Also, Yang Bo wasn’t sure if this would become a real game instead of just using Remote Control. After all, Game Officials were known to pull such tricks. Players stockpiling bombs in the Mecha Game thought it was virtual only.

The Officials could switch Remote Control to a real game at any time.

After observing the terrain, Yang Bo came up with a bold plan.

He ran back and forth to the respawn point, first carrying ropes, then bullets on his last few trips.

He also brought a few throwable bombs, like grenades but much bigger.

Then Yang Bo found a few large trees on both sides of the valley. He stretched ropes across the middle of the valley, twisting two strands together for extra strength.

Yang Bo climbed up to test it. The ropes could easily handle his bionic body’s weight.

The middle of the ropes was about 50 meters high. Yang Bo tied bombs to one end of a rope, hanging them on a tree. With a pull, the bombs would drop from the tree, slide along the rope, and reach him in the middle.

On the other side, he prepared bullets and guns. Once a gun’s durability ran out, he could just pull over a new one along with more bullets.

With both sides ready, Yang Bo began his operation.

He approached the farm and threw a bomb from a distance.

Gained three Charge +2 skills.

Then he quickly ran as zombie sheep flooded out like a tide behind him.

Yang Bo reached the rope, leapt up, grabbed it, and tied it to his waist as he climbed.

Halfway up, the zombie sheep arrived. Yang Bo quickly threw another bomb down.

Another series of Charge +2 skills appeared.

By the time he climbed 50 meters high, a dark mass of zombie sheep gathered below.

Yang Bo started shooting at the zombie sheep in the distance.

He didn’t shoot the ones directly below because it was hard to aim. Plus, too many bodies might pile up and create a mound.

The highest the zombie sheep could jump was five meters.

As the bullets flew, more Charge +2 notifications filled Yang Bo’s mind.

Soon, he’d used up all the bullets he had on him. He pulled the rope, fetching bullets and guns from the other side.

He didn’t hang them in the middle earlier, afraid the rope couldn’t handle the weight.

He brought a second gun because it had durability points.

Yang Bo understood. Gun barrels wear out, and Game Officials wanted to recover costs. Bionic Remote Control wasn’t cheap after all.

Even if the barrel didn’t wear out, they’d still make you pay.

With plenty of bullets, Yang Bo didn’t stop shooting.

He fired rapidly. His headshot accuracy was 99.99%. It wasn’t that he never missed, just very rarely.

“Impressive!”

“Damn!” Two players were searching for mission items on the mountain. The city was too dangerous—full of both zombies and reckless players attacking each other.

They had crossed a ridge when they heard strange noises—zombie growls and what sounded like gunfire.

They took out binoculars and saw Yang Bo in action.

“This guy must be crazy!”

“Each zombie costs at least 20 game coins to kill.”

“Think there’s something valuable in that farm?”

“Let’s keep watching!” The two players scanned the area with binoculars.

After a thorough search, they found nothing valuable from the distance.

“So many zombie sheep?”

“There must be a reason. Let’s keep watching.” They inched closer, convinced Yang Bo wouldn’t play like this unless there was something worthwhile.

One player had a shield and spear. The other held a rifle equipped with a suppressor.

“Recording this will definitely go viral, right?”

“No doubt! This guy’s insane. Each bullet costs 20 credits. In one minute, he spends thousands.”

“This video will blow up. People spend huge amounts of money for this game, yet the experience is terrible.”

“Agreed. Let’s think of a good title.”

“How about ‘Goat Butcher’?”

While Yang Bo focused on slaughtering zombie sheep, the first wave was wiped out within minutes.

He had already worn out one gun. After 1,000 bullets, its durability hit zero.

His second gun was nearly done too.

“There must be four or five thousand sheep left.” Yang Bo glanced at the remaining herd.

Though the exact number was unclear, Yang Bo’s real body felt tense, like his skin had been coated with glue.

He set the game aside and stood up to stretch.

His entire body cracked and popped as soon as he stood.

After stretching for over ten minutes, the tightness in his muscles finally eased.

“My physique has improved by several times at least!”

“I’m starving though.”

“It’s inconvenient eating at someone else’s place. If I were at home, I’d just recharge instead.” Feeling hungry, Yang Bo stepped outside.

He headed downstairs, where he found Fat Boss and Zhou Rui sitting on the couch, staring at each other.

“You guys continue talking. I’m grabbing some milk. Lately, I’ve been burning through it,” Yang Bo said, grabbing a big bottle.

Hearing this, Fat Boss commented, “Eat all you want. Superhumans don’t need to worry about overeating.”

“Exactly!” Zhou Rui nodded at Yang Bo.

Yang Bo returned to his room upstairs, wondering what the two were discussing.

But as soon as he entered the game room, something attacked his in-game character.

The two players who had been watching Yang Bo’s slaughter were puzzled when he suddenly stopped moving.

“Why’s he just hanging there?”

“Is he having fun dangling in midair?”

Their confusion grew because in-game time costs credits.

Another ten minutes passed, and Yang Bo still hadn’t moved. Bewildered, they kept watching.

“Look up!” One of them pointed at the sky.

“Damn! Did this guy plan for that monster to show up?”

“Each one of those monsters is worth tens of thousands of credits.”

“And there are six of them! That’s hundreds of thousands!”

“Don’t record this part. I’ve heard people sell these flying monsters for tens of thousands.”

“Could this guy be one of them?”

“No wonder he’s playing bait.”

They observed the monsters circling in the sky. After five minutes, one swooped down to attack Yang Bo’s character.

Yang Bo’s character remained motionless as the monsters attacked.

After a few strikes, one monster let out a screech and landed.

More followed, and one even scratched Yang Bo’s character.

Yang Bo, realizing his character was under attack, rushed back to the game. If his Bionic Remote Control was destroyed, it would cost tens of thousands of credits for a Revival Token.

He sat down just in time to see his character surrounded by strange flying monsters from the farm he’d cleared.

Some had leathery wings, others had feathers, or bizarre combinations: a rat’s head, a duck’s body, an ostrich’s frame, but with a snake’s head.

Some had scales. Others were feathery. Some had smooth skin.

“Sneak attacks? Really?” Yang Bo inspected his character, which had suffered significant damage.

He raised his gun and immediately fired precision shots at the six monsters on the ground.

The monsters, however, swiftly scattered after seeing Yang Bo’s character move.

Yang Bo managed to shoot down two, wounding another two before running out of bullets. He hurried to reload.

Then, gunshots echoed from the distant forest.

Four remaining monsters were shot at—one was hit and fell, causing the rest to fly erratically.

Yang Bo finished reloading and fired a long burst.

The remaining monsters dropped to the ground.

Six Rip +8 skills gained!

“We mean no harm!” The two players emerged from the forest, shouting.

Yang Bo climbed to one side of the mountain. The area below was covered in zombie sheep corpses, and his character would be poisoned if it touched them.

“Thanks for the help. Let’s split those four monsters,” Yang Bo said to the two players, one wielding melee weapons and a shield, the other holding a gun.

Yang Bo meant the four he didn’t kill himself.

“Thank you, big bro!” The players were thrilled. Each monster was worth tens of thousands of credits.

Yang Bo went to gather blood from the four downed monsters.

“Big bro, you’re not going to collect the zombie sheep horns?” one player asked.

“Nah, you guys can take them. Just burn the bodies afterward. I’ll be back tomorrow. You can also keep the flying monsters’ feathers.” Yang Bo examined the sheep horns. Only the males’ were valuable, worth 50 game coins each.

“Thanks, big bro. Should we bring you more bullets tomorrow?” The two players, feeling grateful for Yang Bo’s generosity, offered.

“Thanks.” Yang Bo had to return to the respawn point. His character had been poisoned and seriously injured, requiring treatment.

He knew his Bionic Remote Control sustained damage from the monster attacks.

And after the players burned the zombie sheep, he’d be back to hunt the next wave.

“That guy’s amazing.”

“He must be rich.”

“We should run a few errands for him after we’re done. We could get rich collecting what he doesn’t want.”

“Let’s ask him tomorrow. There are at least 500 male sheep, nearly 1,000 horns—worth tens of thousands.”

“Let’s get to work.” The two players started plucking feathers from the monsters before cleaning up the zombie sheep.

Yang Bo used his superpower to check his Bionic Remote Control. His character’s armor was shredded, revealing parts of its skeleton and control system.

“Time’s about up for today.” Yang Bo noticed he’d spent nearly his entire allocated playtime.

Repairs for the Bionic Remote Control wouldn’t be quick. Plus, his improved physique needed exercising.

“Still made decent profits today.” After turning in his quest, Yang Bo earned over 200,000 game coins for the monster blood, even after spending 5,000 coins on healing and ammunition.

“Monsters that eat zombies, huh?” Yang Bo logged off, pacing the room while pondering this development.

“Rip looks like a strong skill. From the damage on my Bionic Remote Control, it seems to add a tear effect to attacks.” Yang Bo thought about his new ability while moving around and drinking milk.

Meanwhile, Zhou Rui agreed to Fat Boss’s proposal after much thought.

They reached an agreement, signing a secret contract. Zhou Rui would help Fat Boss find suitable Energy Suits and Energy Weapons within one year. Failure would result in a penalty of one billion credits.

Fat Boss also signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Guild President’s family on March Planet. The Guild President’s Clan Leader signed via remote video.

“What’s your relationship with the Guild President?” Fat Boss curiously asked about Zhou Rui’s connection.

“That’s none of your concern,” Zhou Rui replied coldly.

“Now, tell me, what’s Yang Bo’s real talent?” Zhou Rui asked with interest.

“One of Yang Bo’s talents is in pharmaceuticals. He’s the most gifted I’ve ever seen.” Fat Boss answered.

Fat Boss revealed Yang Bo’s talent because getting high-level Gene Serum Materials was tough for him. Only the Black Market had them, and using it meant huge exposure risks.

The Bounty Hunter Guild was much safer. Since Zhou Rui represented the Guild President, they could discreetly acquire top-tier Gene Serum Materials.

“Pharmaceutical talent?” Zhou Rui was quite surprised.