Chapter 18: Kill Them All!

Following the previous method, Lin Huang lured out each Sand Butcher one by one, letting Bai ambush and kill them. After more than an hour, the entire Sand Butcher outpost had been wiped clean, save for the final chieftain. Behind a dune less than a hundred meters from the outpost, massive corpses were strewn all over the ground, most of them decapitated.

Inside Lin Huang’s Wheel of Fate, fifty-two of the original gray ticks had turned white, and his Fate Light was now brimming to the edge. He had also collected thirty-three Sand Butcher fragments. In fact, once he had gathered thirty fragments, he could have synthesized a Sand Butcher of Black Iron, First Rank, but he chose to set it aside for now.

Standing outside the Sand Butcher outpost, Lin Huang gazed from afar at the last Sand Butcher. This was the largest creature in the entire outpost, nearly ten meters tall. Judging by its size alone, one could tell that it was close to breaking into the Bronze Rank. It was undoubtedly the chieftain of the Sand Butchers, and at this moment it lay snoring thunderously in its slumber, wholly unaware that all its kin had been slaughtered.

Lin Huang retrieved the Gray Eagle 17 from his storage space, loaded ten explosive rounds into the chamber, and then crept silently toward the last Sand Butcher.

The wind in the desert wailed mournfully. Lin Huang’s nostrils were assaulted by waves of acrid stench, making his stomach churn; the foul odor wafted from the Sand Butcher huts all around. He had to admit, the hygiene of these creatures was appalling.

He bent low and moved in small, cautious steps, terrified of making any noise, inching closer to the Sand Butcher chieftain. Thirty meters, twenty meters, ten meters, five meters…

Suddenly the chieftain’s nose twitched, as if it had caught a scent. It couldn’t help but open its eyes.

At that moment, Lin Huang had nowhere to hide—he had been discovered. The chieftain froze, thinking it was still in a dream, while Lin Huang, startled, raised his gun to fire. The chieftain’s claw lashed out.

Just then, two streaks of blood-red light surged out, transforming like ribbons and binding the chieftain’s arms. Lin Huang, seeing this, didn’t flee. Instead, he strode forward, aimed the muzzle at the chieftain’s eye socket, and pulled the trigger.

In the darkness, two flashes of fire burst in quick succession—two explosive rounds shot straight for the chieftain’s eyes.

With a roar of agony, the Sand Butcher bellowed. Although it had sensed danger and shut its eyes just in time, the armor-piercing explosive rounds, fired at such close range, unleashed terrifying power. They didn’t blow its head apart, but both of the chieftain’s eyes were obliterated.

This strike dealt the creature a grievous wound. The Sand Butcher immediately flew into a berserk rage, breaking free of Bai’s blood energy restraints almost instantly.

As soon as his attack landed, Lin Huang dove to the left, rolling out of the way. The rampaging Sand Butcher rose with a roar, attacking everything around it in a blind fury.

Its voice carried for dozens of kilometers. Far ahead of Lin Huang, a group of assessment participants had just settled down for the night, finishing their meal and preparing to rest, when they heard the Sand Butcher’s roar and were struck with dread.

“That’s the howl of a Sand Butcher—it sounds like it’s gone mad…”

“In the desert, only the Direfang Wolf packs, another branch of giant creatures, dare attack a Sand Butcher outpost at night. But unless they’re starving, even Direfang Wolves don’t usually take the risk. There’s bound to be a bloody battle at that outpost tonight!” said a bespectacled man among the participants, who seemed well-versed in the desert’s monsters. Yet he was gravely mistaken, for the rapid dissipation of gunfire meant they couldn’t hear it from so far away.

Back at the distant outpost, the chieftain was in a frenzy, its fists lashing out and smashing everything nearby to pieces. Bai shifted fully into combat mode, his eyes turning a blood-red hue, the wings of blood energy at his back transformed into two sharp crimson blades.

He darted about, dancing with the Sand Butcher, expanding the damage with every sweep of his blood blades. The Sand Butcher’s wounds multiplied, but Bai had yet to be struck even once.

Lin Huang, hiding not far away in another direction, swapped out the explosive rounds from his Gray Eagle 17 for regular bullets. He then began firing in bursts, each shot aimed at the chieftain’s face—its ruined eye sockets, nostrils, mouth, even its ear canals. Although the hit rate was low, the constant harassment only drove the beast madder.

He never fired from the same spot for long—after a few shots, he would change position before attacking again.

It had to be said: this ten-meter-tall Sand Butcher was far tougher than the others. Bai’s blood energy blades could slice through other Sand Butchers’ arms with ease, but on this one, they only cut down to the bone before being blocked, unable to sever completely.

As time passed, both Lin Huang and Bai grew exhausted, while the Sand Butcher, from heavy blood loss, became visibly weaker.

Lin Huang marveled at the sheer tenacity of the creatures in this world. The Gray Eagle 17 had already fired over a hundred rounds, all at the creature’s face. Even if not every bullet hit, the Sand Butcher was still alive—an astonishing fact. After all, the Gray Eagle 17’s firepower rivaled that of Black Iron–class firearms, and far exceeded an AK-47 from Earth.

The Sand Butcher’s movements grew sluggish as it bled out. Bai, though tired, attacked with even more precision, but the chieftain still stubbornly guarded its vital spots.

Lin Huang was weary as well; he ran less, but his rate of fire never slackened, every shot aimed at the chieftain’s face.

Under their relentless assault, the Sand Butcher finally collapsed to its knees. Though not dead, both Lin Huang and Bai knew it wouldn’t last much longer.

Growing bolder, Lin Huang moved directly in front of the beast to fire, knowing this angle would improve his accuracy by several percentage points.

But just as he found his stance and fired a few shots, the kneeling Sand Butcher suddenly gathered its strength, let out a furious roar, and lunged straight at him.

Lin Huang stood his ground, not budging an inch. His lips curled into a slight smile as he ejected the spent magazine, lightning-quick, reloaded with explosive rounds, raised the gun, and aimed into the Sand Butcher’s gaping maw.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three shots rang out in rapid succession. The explosive rounds detonated inside the creature’s mouth. Blood spurted from every orifice; its massive body crashed heavily to the ground.

[Congratulations, Host! You have acquired a complete monster card: Sand Butcher x1!]

[Host has slain an enemy of a higher rank—reward: one advancement card!]

“Ha, trying to pull tricks on me? I’ve been waiting for this!” Lin Huang said with a triumphant grin, blowing the smoke from his barrel before returning the Gray Eagle 17 to his storage space.