17: Fierce Fight

【Mutant Hunter Leader】 (Mother Nest Will Empowered State)

Level: Lv.8

HP: 3900

Strength: 80 (Attack Power)

Agility: 72 (Attack Speed, Movement Speed)

Stamina: 70 (Recovery, Defense)

Intelligence: 70 (Mental Power)

Abilities: Predation Lv.8, Infection Spread Lv.8, Mother Nest Leader Will Lv.8

1. [Passive Predation Lv.8: The Hunter can prey on other organisms, including humans and other mutated creatures.]

2. [Passive Infection Spread Lv.8: As a vector for the virus, the Hunter can further infect other organisms, with a chance to evolve into a mutant.]

3. [Passive Mother Nest Leader Will Lv.8: An ability derived after the Mother Nest Will took control of the Hunter Leader, allowing it to summon all Infected within a one-kilometer radius to fight for it, with no limit on numbers, effective only on lower-tier Infected.]

...The Hunter Leader's power did not come from its strength or speed, but from its intelligence attribute, just like its name, Hunter Leader!

Its 'Leader' perfectly explained where its true power lay: it excelled at group combat tactics!

Roar!

Ignoring the newly appeared Supreme Hunter and Alex Mercer, the ascended Mother Nest Will was completely drawn to Li An's aura. It then opened its mouth and let out an enraged howl, accompanied by an unusually majestic roar that echoed within the Mother Nest. This massive roar even penetrated the Mother Nest's fleshy cocoon barrier, reaching the outside world.

In an instant, all Infected within a one-kilometer radius heard this roar, all turning their heads towards the Mother Nest, and in the next second, they surged forward madly.

At this moment, the Infected all felt the call from a higher being. This invisible summoning power caused them to gather towards the Mother Nest in unison.

Rumble!

For a time, the massive rumbling was ceaseless.

"What have you done?"

"This is..."

Suddenly, inside the Mother Nest.

The Supreme Hunter and Alex Mercer, who had just arrived inside the Mother Nest, both changed their expressions. With their keen senses, they could clearly perceive the ground shaking continuously. They knew very well what this signified: a large number of Infected were constantly approaching this location.

"Die! He, he... must... must die!!!"

The Mother Nest Will, having ascended to a Hunter Leader, with its high intelligence attribute of 70, could already understand what the two were saying. It then exuded a wave of angry emotion, glaring at Li An with furious eyes.

"What did you do?"

Seeing this, Alex Mercer frowned slightly, looking at Li An. Facing a fellow kind, Alex Mercer felt a headache; the other party was truly too troublesome.

"Just killed her."

Li An glanced at Alex Mercer with some surprise. The Alex Mercer he knew was not so approachable, nor would he actively speak to people, but now the other party was actually talking to him, which was quite unexpected.

"Hey, food should just die."

Suddenly, the Supreme Hunter moved without warning. He abruptly vanished from his original spot, and when he reappeared, he had already stirred up a terrifying gust of wind, striking down towards Li An's head.

"Hmm?"

Seeing the Supreme Hunter attacking Li An, Alex Mercer instinctively wanted to step forward to stop him, but at this moment, a strong gust of wind swept over, forcing Alex Mercer to stop in place and raise his hand to block in front of him.

Bang!

In the next second, Alex Mercer was sent flying backward. What Alex Mercer didn't expect was that he actually failed to block the opponent's attack; he was blasted away the moment of contact, crashing into the fleshy cocoon wall behind him.

"Mind your own business. If you help him, you will die too!"

The Mother Nest Will glanced at Alex Mercer, who had been knocked flying by it, and said with a face full of savagery.

Crack crack crack!

However, Alex Mercer, who was slammed against the wall, showed no intention of responding to the Mother Nest Will. In the next second, Alex Mercer slid down the wall and landed back on the ground. Feeling the vibrations in his internal organs, his expression gradually turned cold. As a man standing at the pinnacle of the food chain, he found it hard to tolerate being defeated!

"In that case, I'll kill you first."

Looking at the Mother Nest Will in front of him, Alex Mercer didn't hesitate at all, and boundless killing intent erupted from his eyes.

In the next second, before the Mother Nest Will could react, Alex Mercer, whose speed attribute was already higher than the Mother Nest Will's, appeared directly behind it. Immediately after, a sharp claw formed by biological tendrils plunged with a squelch directly into the Mother Nest Will's back.

Roar!

The sudden intense pain immediately made the Mother Nest Will let out a cry of agony. Immediately after, the Mother Nest Will began to shake its body wildly, attempting to shake Alex Mercer off.

At the same time.

Just as Alex Mercer and the Mother Nest Will were entangled in battle, the Supreme Hunter also found Li An.

Bang!

However, with a collision sound, the Supreme Hunter actually took a step backward in the next second. Although the Supreme Hunter was not yet using its full strength at this moment, this sudden change still made his expression turn stern.

The Supreme Hunter originally thought Li An was still like before, someone he could easily crush, but after Li An actively met him and punched him back, the Supreme Hunter's expression immediately became unsightly.

He was actually repelled!

"No, how is this possible!"

The Supreme Hunter looked at Li An with an incredulous expression, but the latter had no intention of talking to him. Li An had already mastered the Supreme Hunter's information; currently, it seemed that apart from his strength value being higher than Li An's, Li An had already surpassed him in all other attributes.

Clang!

"Do you think it's still like before?"

"Now you are going to die!"

Li An's face was extremely cold. As he spoke, the biological tendrils on his hands rapidly changed. Finally, Li An's right hand transformed into a blade, while his left hand returned to its normal five-fingered state.

"Seeking Death!"

Seeing that Li An actually dared to provoke him, a piece of food in his eyes dared to provoke a predator, this immediately enraged the Supreme Hunter.

The Supreme Hunter attacked again. He swung his right arm's sharp claw down with a crash, directly aiming for Li An's head, but the latter moved his body forward at this moment, first making the Supreme Hunter's attack miss, and then his right arm's blade stabbed out, attacking its armpit.

Puff!

Relying on a speed far exceeding the Supreme Hunter's, Li An's blade immediately pierced through the Supreme Hunter's muscle without obstruction, penetrating into his body. This sudden pain immediately caused the Supreme Hunter to let out a cry of agony. At this moment, Li An was about to exert a second force to stab the blade deeper, but then the Supreme Hunter finally reacted, raising the spike on his left arm to stab Li An's head.

However, Li An seemed to have anticipated this at this moment. He feigned a move, first using his terrifying speed to dodge the incoming spike, then continued to move his body forward, almost pressing against the Supreme Hunter.

And with Li An's actions, the blade on his right arm once again advanced inward a little, directly piercing out from the other side of the Supreme Hunter's body.

"Ah ah ah!!!"

This scene happened too quickly. From the Supreme Hunter's counterattack to Li An's dodge, and then to Li An's second attack on the Supreme Hunter, it all happened in an instant.

Bang!

Puff!

Suffering such heavy injuries, the Supreme Hunter completely went mad. In the next second, he actually endured the blade embedded in his body, raised his foot, and directly kicked Li An, sending him flying.

At the same time.

As Li An's body flew backward, the blade that had been embedded in the Supreme Hunter's body was also pulled out at the same moment, instantly bringing out a jet of blood that sprayed out, arcing through the air, and finally splattering on the ground.

Hooosh~

Hooosh~

As the blade was pulled out, the Supreme Hunter actually knelt weakly to the ground for a moment. Li An's stab was too deep, almost critically wounding him.

The Supreme Hunter gasped, and his passive super recovery activated at this moment. The flesh cocoon at the wound where Li An's blade had cut him continuously creeping (wiggled/squirmed), this was self-healing!

"Still trying to recover?!"

Li An, who had been kicked away, finally stopped after retreating several steps. Seeing the Supreme Hunter's aura slowly recovering, his eyes immediately filled with ferocity.

Bang!

In the next second, the ground beneath Li An's feet exploded, and Li An vanished from his original spot. It was undeniable that the Supreme Hunter's strength was indeed much greater than Li An's, but it was only strength. In other aspects, the Supreme Hunter was far inferior to Li An.

Therefore, the outcome was already decided!

Boom!

When Li An reappeared, he was already in front of the Supreme Hunter. He raised his foot and kicked towards the Supreme Hunter's head. Under severe injury, the Supreme Hunter's reaction and perception were already significantly weakened, and he had no time to react.

This kick landed squarely on the Supreme Hunter, sending him reeling backward. At the same time, Li An followed closely, pressing his advantage, raising the blade on his right arm high and then bringing it down.

Puff!

This was an incredibly powerful and heavy blow, almost unleashing Li An's current maximum strength. The blade fell rapidly, directly slicing through the Supreme Hunter's head without obstruction, splitting his upper body in two.

Supreme Hunter, dead!

At this moment, listening to the notification sound in his ear, Li An's stern face finally relaxed. The Supreme Hunter was finally dead.

"Is it over?"

At this moment, Li An first glanced at the Supreme Hunter's corpse, then turned his gaze to another battlefield not far away. That battlefield was clearly much more brutal than his.

On his side, although the Supreme Hunter's strength was stronger than his, he completely crushed the Supreme Hunter in other aspects, so winning was not that difficult.

But the battle between Alex Mercer and the Mother Nest Will was completely different. From the basic attribute data, Alex Mercer's agility was higher than the Mother Nest Will's, but in other aspects, the latter basically crushed Alex Mercer. Logically, if two people with such a large gap were to fight, it would almost be a one-sided victory.

However, on the battlefield at this moment, what Li An saw was different. Alex Mercer was actually able to fight the Mother Nest Will to a standstill, and they were both fighting in the most primitive way, which was what shocked Li An the most.

Alex Mercer and the Mother Nest Will were like two wild beasts, constantly tearing and gnawing at each other's flesh and blood. At the same time, Alex Mercer's form had also greatly changed; countless tendrils engulfed Alex Mercer, transforming him into a three-meter-tall humanoid creature with sharp five-fingered claws, a slender tail, and black scales covering his entire body.

This was a new form that had never appeared in the game!

Li An stood in place, watching the two monsters entangled in battle. At this moment, he did not intervene again, merely silently observing the fight.

"It's truly cruel."

The battle between the Hunter Leader and Alex Mercer did not last too long. After only a few minutes, the Hunter Leader was completely devoured by Alex Mercer amidst unwilling wails.

And with the Death of the Hunter Leader, Alex Mercer, as the victor, immediately saw his attributes skyrocket by a large margin, and the aura he exuded instantly became even more terrifying.

Li An was not surprised by this outcome. Alex Mercer's victory was foreseeable. Although his attributes were weaker than the Hunter Leader's, who was Alex Mercer? He was the collective entity of the blacklight virus, a true monster with a multitude of abilities. In fact, the Hunter Leader should never have fought Alex Mercer by mutual devouring, because that would only enhance Alex Mercer's power. One must remember that Alex Mercer had a passive ability called Virus Containment.

[Passive Virus Containment Lv.9: Immune to the erosion of external blacklight virus, and further suppresses the recovery of targets that have already taken damage, preventing them from continuously restoring HP during combat.]

With this ability, even if Alex Mercer was initially weaker than the Hunter Leader, as he continuously gnawed on the Hunter Leader's flesh and blood, Alex Mercer continued to evolve due to the virus's evolutionary characteristics, while the Hunter Leader was suppressed. Not only could he not recover lost HP, but he would also be weakened. Who could endure that?

Therefore, the Hunter Leader's Death was actually inevitable.

"You don't seem surprised?"

At this moment, Alex Mercer had also finished absorbing the Hunter Leader. He came before Li An, looking at him with a slight smile and saying.

"Of course, you are Alex Mercer!"

Li An looked at Alex Mercer in front of him, saying with a sigh of emotion.

It was just a pity that, apart from himself, no one else could understand the meaning of his words. Even Alex Mercer, upon hearing the change in Li An's tone, was merely somewhat puzzled.

"Why do I sense a familiar aura about you?"

Alex Mercer looked at Li An. When he first saw the latter, he didn't think there was anything different about this Asian, but when he saw him a second time, he detected the aura of a fellow kind on him, as if... he was of the same origin as him?

This unexpected discovery made him very confused, because he didn't know who else was like him besides himself.

"Perhaps it's fate."

"God is selecting a more suitable predator."

Li An looked at Alex Mercer meaningfully. At this moment, he was not sure if Alex Mercer already had that idea in his heart, but now that his trial mission was complete, yet he had not yet met the return conditions, so he was merely following the game's plot development to see if he could trigger the return conditions.

"Fate?"

"A more suitable predator?"

Hearing this, Alex Mercer's eyes immediately flickered with an unusual glint. As he had no more rivals in Manhattan, he had gradually begun to feel a sense of loneliness. At the same time, he also realized the danger posed by the existence of the blacklight virus, as well as some conjectures about himself, which caused different thoughts to gradually arise in his heart.

And at this moment, Li An's words clearly told him that he might already know his thoughts.

Thinking this, Alex Mercer's eyes immediately became cold, and intense killing intent surged out, rushing towards Li An.