Chapter Nineteen: Spoils of War…

Zhou Yang was taken aback for a moment before he understood what the other meant. As long as the other party was unwilling to give up the Gale Tiger, they would not leave easily.

“So what should we do now? Just wait here?” Zhou Yang asked after some thought.

Li Yao pondered briefly, then said, “No, waiting here is meaningless. He won’t come out so easily. He knows his position is likely exposed, and that we’re tracking him. By nightfall, he’d have no way out.”

Truth be told, Li Yao was feeling quite stifled. Facing off against a sniper in this terrain put close-combat fighters like them at a great disadvantage.

However, if they managed to spot the opponent and start tailing him, then with the speed of Bronze-rank Evolvers, the enemy would absolutely not escape!

The only problem now was that they only knew his approximate location and couldn’t pinpoint him. There was no way to track him.

No one could guarantee that, while searching, the enemy’s muzzle wouldn’t already be aimed at them.

Li Tao and Wang Cheng’s deaths made them acutely aware that the sniper across from them was terrifyingly skilled. They couldn’t take such risks.

They had no choice but to try something desperate.

With this in mind, Li Yao exhaled softly and continued, “You go now, immediately, to where Wang Cheng was hiding earlier. Conceal yourself well, don’t touch anything, and don’t show your head. I’ll go to Li Tao’s side… After killing two of us, that man might want to come collect the spoils.”

“Be careful on the way—approach from the back of the hill and don’t let him see you. If he really does try something like that, we may not even need to wait for Chang Le to get here…”

Zhou Yang’s eyes lit up, and he instantly straightened, replying in a low, steady voice, “Alright.”

At once, the two of them moved into action.

They had a rough idea of the opponent’s position. Under such circumstances, merely avoiding his line of sight wasn’t hard for them…

...

On the other side, Fang Mu was still wolfing down the Gale Tiger meat in his hand. After swallowing several mouthfuls, the dreadful hunger finally faded away.

He let out a long breath of relief. Thankfully, as long as he replenished his genetic energy in time, that hunger would not devour his reason…

“The flesh and blood of high-grade battlefield beasts is truly the best. Last time, I ate three Black Jade Bugs and even had a ‘Black Iron feast’ just to barely stave off that hunger…”

But this time was different from the last—after all, he had cultivated for five days straight before, and the energy gap from turning from an ordinary person into an Evolver was enormous.

This time, it was only due to excessive energy depletion; naturally, it couldn’t compare.

However, after the hunger faded, the meat that had tasted so delicious and sweet now filled his mouth with a strong, gamey stench, making it hard to continue.

Yet his body was still lacking in genetic energy, so Fang Mu forced himself to keep eating.

At least he could move again. Chewing on the meat, he peered through the scope, surveying the area below.

The tiger’s corpse lay undisturbed, and through the scope, he could see that the two men he’d shot were still lying motionless.

But when he spotted the sniper rifles by their sides…

Fang Mu’s eyes lit up instantly.

His own G-301 was on the verge of breaking down, but those two rifles were still intact!

Even though they’d been exposed to flames, the temperature of a Black Iron-ranked “Inferno” wasn’t enough to destroy firearms.

If he could get his hands on those rifles, his problem would be solved.

He was tempted.

But then he thought of the two close-combat fighters, and his brow furrowed again. While he’d been eating, they’d vanished without a trace. Now, he had no idea where they’d gone…

Even with a gun, he hadn’t dared to show himself within their probable range—let alone now, with his G-301 half-ruined.

Fang Mu pondered for a moment, then glanced at the Gale Tiger’s corpse below, his expression twitching as he exhaled softly.

Everything had been going so well; today’s hunt had been fruitful, and he’d brought down a Bronze-rank Gale Tiger.

Who could have predicted disaster would strike? Out of nowhere, he’d been sniped at, forcing him into a deadly confrontation.

Killing two of them had vented some of his anger, but at the same time… he now dared not go near the tiger’s corpse.

His G-301 was nearly destroyed!

He was a gunfighter—without a firearm, how dangerous was it to remain on this battlefield?

All because of these bastards!

They had no grudges between them—so why try to kill him?

Fang Mu gritted his teeth in frustration, but after a moment, he took a deep breath.

“Enough about that. I need to find a way to get my hands on a weapon. With this half-broken G-301, there’s no way I can bring down another Gale Tiger… even getting back will be dangerous.”

...

“But whether those two have really left is hard to say… Still, the odds are higher that they’re gone, right? After all, in this terrain, they can’t know my weapon is ruined and unusable. If they don’t leave, what else could they do?”

After considering, Fang Mu concluded it was more likely they’d left.

After all, in Tiger Roar Gorge, the advantage clearly lay with gunfighters. To engage in a standoff here would only bring them misery.

That much had been clear from their decisive retreat after the second sniper was killed.

They weren’t fools.

“Hm, they should have left. That means the spoils should be safe to collect, right?”

With that, he looked at one of the corpses through his scope, anticipation in his eyes.

Without further hesitation, he turned and started down the mountain to retrieve the spoils.

As he descended the slope, however, he suddenly paused, frowning slightly.

“Wait a minute. Those two are close-combat Bronze-rank Evolvers—they know the terrain puts them at a disadvantage, so likely they’d choose to leave. If so, that’s best. But… what if they haven’t left?”

This thought made Fang Mu cautious.

If they hadn’t left, where would they be?

“Not at the tiger’s corpse—that area’s too exposed. Knowing there’s a gunfighter like me around, they wouldn’t dare go there. So… where else?”

Fang Mu narrowed his eyes.

The answer was obvious.

The only places were where the two snipers had fallen!

Because if Fang Mu wanted to collect the spoils, he’d have to go to those two spots.

And those were the only places where they could reliably ambush him.

“Even if it’s just a guess, for safety’s sake…”

With that thought, Fang Mu no longer hesitated and continued down the mountain.