341: Chapter 333 I'm not afraid of death, let me do it.

The moment Farid tackled the Young Woman, a bizarre creature that had appeared out of nowhere leaped over the spot where her head had just been.

Watching the monster land steadily and turn its body to face them, the Young Woman realized that if it hadn't been for Farid's quick reactions, she would have been a headless corpse by now.

"Wha... what is this?" Sitting on the ground, the Young Woman scrambled backward using both her hands and feet.

The monster's appearance wasn't ugly; one might even call it "beautiful," but the Young Woman was in no mood to appreciate it, as it absolutely defied any common biological knowledge in the human mind.

Even with her limited knowledge of biology, she could confirm this much.

Well... at least she had never seen or heard of a creature on Earth covered in scales with hair growing out of the gaps between them.

Farid finally scrambled to his feet, raising his pistol to aim at the monster, his peripheral vision catching a glimpse of a bullet that had flattened into a disc upon the dry leaves.

So hard...

A gloom settled over his heart. As he sighed at the thought that he might die in these woods, he regretted not bringing any heavy weapons on this trip.

"Fa... Farid." The Young Woman felt waves of palpitations as the monster's scrutinizing gaze fixed on her. "What is it?"

Seeing the monster stop not far away without immediately pouncing, Farid held his gun with one hand and slowly pulled the Young Woman back by her arm with the other.

"Didn't you see the news from China a few months ago?"

Perhaps Farid's relatively calm tone soothed her, as her voice stopped trembling. "News from China? Uh, there's so much, I don't know which one you mean."

"calamity," Farid said the word in awkward Chinese.

The calamity had caused quite a stir in China; after all, to suppress it, the military had been deployed and all the transcendent disciples had been sent out.

Plus, before Tevan entered Seventeen, he had mentioned that "the calamity is coming." The Young Woman, who was usually preoccupied with bars, finally remembered.

"That... that monster?!" Fear flooded her eyes again, and her pupils shook violently as if she were looking at the most terrifying existence in the world. She instinctively wanted to scream.

"Don't scream!" Farid quickly covered her mouth. "I've seen the videos released by China. This kind of monster doesn't attack easily. We might be able to use..."

"But it just pounced on me! If you hadn't been fast, I'd be dead!" The Young Woman forced herself to stay calm and pulled his hand away.

Farid was stunned.

That was true.

The monsters that appeared in China seemed wary of the Soldiers' firepower, confronting them for over ten minutes before making tentative moves. Why did this one...

Unless it had already tested it.

Farid's gaze fell on the monster's sharp claws; the tips were dark red.

Those were traces of dried blood.

"Listen." Farid knew that turning and running would be suicide. "We'll run in different directions. Don't turn your back; just back away."

This was a desperate move of last resort; maybe one of them could escape.

After a few minutes, the Young Woman understood the situation and realized this was the best plan. Swallowing hard, she nodded.

Then, according to their hastily decided plan, the two backed out of the forest, one to the left and one to the right.

The monster obviously wasn't going to let its prey slip away. Its eyes scanned the two for a few seconds before its slender body suddenly leaped, opening its large mouth in mid-air as it pounced toward the Young Woman.

"Damn it!"

Farid had thought the monster's target was the wolf bone and that it would chase him if they split up. He hadn't expected it to go after the worthless Young Woman.

"Get down!"

Farid knew shooting was useless, so he jumped and slammed into the monster from the side.

The weight difference was significant. Farid had the advantage of the angle, but he only managed to knock the monster slightly off course, while he himself was sent flying by the recoil.

"Roar—" The monster seemed enraged. After landing, it ignored the Young Woman and fixed its violent gaze on Farid. Its right claw scraped the ground a few times before it charged fiercely.

Farid's dynamic vision couldn't even track the monster's form. He instinctively dodged to the side, but he didn't notice his footing and was tripped by a dry branch.

He was dead.

Even in a fight between humans, losing one's balance and falling meant certain death, let alone against this monster with ghost-like movements. Farid was enveloped in despair.

However, ten full seconds passed after he fell, and the pain of his neck being torn never came.

What happened?

Quickly rolling over and scrambling up, Farid saw the monster stopped by a tree not far away, staring with a hint of fear at his...

Following its gaze, Farid lowered his head and looked at his chest.

The violent motion of falling backward had knocked the wolf fang out, and it was now lying quietly against his chest.

It's afraid of the wolf fang?

A spark of hope lit up Farid's eyes. He took off the red string, gripped it in his hand, and with his arm stretched out straight, he slowly approached the monster.

"Grrr—" The monster bared its teeth, letting out a threatening low growl, but Farid continued forward.

Finally, seemingly unable to withstand the pressure, it turned and bolted into the darkness deep within the forest.

"Whew—"

The crisis temporarily averted, Farid took a heavy breath, turned, and ran to the grass where the Young Woman was slumped, helping her up as her legs felt like jelly.

"Let's go, quickly."

"Didn't it run away?" The Young Woman seemed unable to shake off the fear, her expression somewhat dazed.

"It's likely afraid of the power within the wolf fang, but I don't know how to activate it. I was just bluffing just now."

"Ah?"

Farid stopped paying attention to her and focused on his surroundings, wary of the monster's return as he quickened his pace back to the car parked by the road.

With a vehicle, both of them felt much more stable.

However, they didn't know the monster's top speed, and there was a risk it could be faster than a car. Farid didn't want to gamble; he quickly started the car and drove toward the nearest city.

On the way, the Young Woman took out her Mobile Phone, preparing to upload the news of the calamity's appearance. But when she opened the app and saw the video on the front page, she realized she wasn't the first person to encounter a calamity.

At the same time they were being attacked, similar incidents had broken out all over Russia.

Someone tallied the reports and realized that although the calamities appeared in distant locations with different terrains—mountains, plains, snowfields—they all had one thing in common: they were all near a wolf bone.

Indeed, only twenty-some hours after the burly man scattered the wolf bones, people had already found them or were near their locations.

Russia was indeed vast and relatively sparsely populated, but that couldn't stop everyone's enthusiasm once the whole nation was on the move.

Most importantly, they weren't stupid. They figured that since Seventeen was recruiting students, he certainly wouldn't throw the wolf bones in places humans couldn't reach, like the deep ocean.

Those with slightly faster wits had excluded such areas from the start.

This significantly narrowed the search range, so it wasn't surprising they could get close to the wolf bones so quickly.

After watching the video, the Young Woman learned that besides Farid's wolf bone, the approximate locations of the other four had been determined, making her feel a bit worried.

Did she no longer have a chance?

However, as the next video played, she became delighted; her worries were entirely unnecessary.

The monsters that appeared were very strange; they didn't hunt humans but stayed near the wolf bones.

Those who unfortunately died under the monsters' claws were all attacked after approaching a wolf bone.

Thus, everyone in Russia—citizens, tourists, and neighboring citizens who had sneaked across the border—found themselves in an extremely awkward predicament.

The wolf bone was right before their eyes, but they couldn't get it.

This was the first time a calamity had appeared in Russia, but not on Earth.

The videos released by China were still pinned to the front pages of websites. That physical power, which feared no heavy weapons, and that agility, which was untrackable by the naked eye, meant that no individual should dream of taking one on.

What to do?

For a time, the Russian internet was filled with wails of despair.

The President, who had arrived not far from a wolf bone, also felt his scalp go numb.

Everyone wanted transcendence, but if the price was one's life, what was the point of getting it?

No matter how much money you have, you need to be alive to spend it, right?

The President immediately opened his laptop and connected remotely with his Aides to discuss a strategy.

After discussing for several hours, they had no results.

There were two calamities that appeared in China a few months ago. Even after deploying the army and five transcendent disciples, they could barely keep them restricted to the deep mountains.

In the final battle, if the people from the Mountain Gate hadn't intervened, those five disciples would likely have died on the spot.

Given that, there was no need to mention how the surrounding army fared.

And what was the current situation in Russia?

They didn't even have any transcendent disciples. Forget about destroying a calamity; even controlling its movements was a pipe dream.

At this point, the President came to his senses. Why was I still thinking about how to get the wolf bone?

Shouldn't the priority be considering how to stop the calamities from entering the cities?!

The number of calamities this time was a full five!

Just as he was preparing to mobilize the army to surround the calamities, a call came from the secret base on the island in territorial waters, informing him that the group of guys who came by plane were shouting again.

The President was very irritable; where was the time to deal with them now?

However, after the person on the other end finished speaking quickly, the President changed his mind.

The matter was simple.

Those people had seen the news on their phones and knew that calamities were lurking near the wolf bones, and that Russia was currently helpless.

Ho, the Directors were happy! You're afraid of death, but I'm not!

Let me do it!

The President was shocked at first. Did they really want "money" over their lives?

Then he was overjoyed. Excellent! They weren't his own people anyway, so he wouldn't feel bad if they died. He would use them as bait!

A perfect plan formed in the President's mind.

It took time for a calamity to hunt. Two teams would approach from two directions; the bait would be responsible for luring the calamity away from the wolf bone, while the main force would take the opportunity to take the wolf bone away.

The President speculated that once they got the wolf bone, the person from Seventeen should appear. At that time, what trouble could a mere five calamities cause?

The only tricky part was that the bait would likely be sacrificed. If his political enemies spread the news that he had sent Soldiers to their deaths, it would certainly become a stain on his record.

But the appearance of those idiots perfectly solved the President's concerns.

No sooner said than done.

He assembled an elite squad while ordering the secret base to transport the people to his location.

The base commander was very efficient. An hour later, the transport plane landed at the airport closest to the President.

To tell the world he hadn't forced anyone, he took reporters along specifically to meet them.

As the people walked down the stairs, he shook hands and greeted them one by one, a solemn look on his face. "Have you thought it through?

Transcendence is indeed worth desiring, but everything is predicated on being alive."

The Directors knew perfectly well that if they didn't cooperate and play their parts well, they couldn't dream of getting near a wolf bone.

"The value of transcendence is above our lives!" The Directors were also good actors; each one wore a look of determination, as if transcendence were their only wish in this life.

Alright, the preparations were done. Everyone could stop acting and set off.

The Directors requested enough weapons from the President, then took their private bodyguards and sped toward the wolf bone in armored vehicles.

The armored vehicles soon turned a corner at the end of the road and disappeared. The President smiled and clasped his hands behind his back. "It's hard on them, having to go into battle personally at such an age.

Have our people set off?"

"They are already in their designated positions."

"Very good."

...

Farid and the Young Woman drove for over two hundred kilometers.

The mountains blocking their view on both sides of the road turned into an endless wilderness. Seeing that the monster hadn't pursued them, their tense leg muscles slowly relaxed.

"We're safe."

Originally, the two wouldn't have had to flee so frantically.

From the videos others had posted, it seemed the calamities wouldn't leave if they guarded the wolf bone, so they only had to throw the wolf bone away to be safe.

However, Farid was unwilling to give up his chance to become transcendent, and even the Young Woman, who didn't have a share in this wolf bone, was willing to risk her life to flee with it.

Because if they lost this one, Farid's promise to help her find the next one would certainly be void.

After driving for an hour in a state of extreme tension, Farid couldn't hold on much longer and pulled over to rest for a bit.

"Where should we go now?" The Young Woman in the back seat sat up straight, staring at his profile, seemingly worried about something.

Farid turned his head and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll keep my promise."

Having her thoughts exposed, the Young Woman felt a bit embarrassed. She awkwardly touched her fiery red long hair draped over her shoulders, wanting to explain that she wasn't rushing him, but then she felt that would be a bit hypocritical. She stammered for a long time but said nothing.

Sensing her predicament, Farid changed the subject. "Check your phone and see where the nearest wolf bone is."

Since it concerned whether she could step into transcendence, the Young Woman didn't care about blushing anymore and quickly tapped on her phone, scrolling through the screen.

"Huh, the President actually let those people in."

"Those people?"

"The ones who said their plane had a malfunction and requested an emergency landing in our country, only to be thrown to the overseas base by the President."

The Young Woman didn't quite understand, muttering, "Why share the opportunity with foreigners?"

Farid, who had spent years in official circles, figured it out almost instantly.

The President was using them as bait.

After a moment of thought, he asked, "Where are those people now?"

"They're already on their way to find the wolf bone."

As expected.

The Young Woman's answer confirmed Farid's suspicion. He narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking carefully.

He didn't know if the deterrent function of the wolf fang still worked, or if other calamities were stronger and not afraid of it. If so, it would be nearly impossible to grab another wolf bone.

Hmm... but with those people acting as bait...

Farid broke into a smile. "Give me the location."

"What location?" the Young Woman looked up and asked, confused.

"The location of the wolf bone those people are targeting."

"Oh, it's at XXXX."

Entering the address into the navigation, Farid released the handbrake. "Sit tight!"

Before the Young Woman could react, the car roared forward onto the road.