127: Chapter 127 Encounter with the Enemy in the Icicle Forest

The White-Armored Beast's head slammed into the Nano-wire.

Lin Ye pressed down hard with his right hand.

A high-frequency hum emanated from within the Dark Weaver bracer.

Three anchor points retracted simultaneously.

Several transparent, thin lines interlaced and tightened within a half-meter radius.

Splat!

The White-Armored Beast's forward momentum was abruptly halted.

Its several-hundred-pound body was ripped open from head to chest by the cutting net.

The bone armor shattered.

Hot blood and shredded meat exploded onto the snow.

Severed limbs thudded down.

A blood-stained fang grazed the tip of Zhao Mengmeng's boot and embedded itself deep into the ice crust.

Zhao Mengmeng's finger was already pressed against the trigger of her crossbow.

Lin Ye reached out and pressed down on her crossbow arm.

"Don't shoot."

Zhao Mengmeng's throat tightened: "It was right in my face!"

"It's dead, but the sound of the crossbow string will carry."

Lin Ye's voice was extremely low.

His eyes were fixed on the dissected carcass of the armored exotic beast ahead.

"The person who killed that beast is still nearby."

"That spear wound wasn't left by an exotic beast."

Zhao Mengmeng's expression changed instantly.

She had almost pulled the trigger just now.

In this kind of open snowfield, the sound of a crossbow breaking the air would echo off the rock walls and be audible within a hundred-meter radius.

If there really were top-tier hunters ahead, it would be equivalent to giving away their position.

The Great Xia Live Stream chat exploded.

[Holy crap! He could actually hold back from firing the crossbow?]

[Brother Eye just finished saving someone, and his brain is still calculating sound propagation!]

[If it were me, I would've fired wildly just now; once I finished, we'd all be served on the dinner table.]

[When the White-Armored Beast ambushed them, I almost dropped my phone!]

Lin Ye crouched down and quickly examined the White-Armored Beast's carcass.

The outer bone armor was hard, and the abdominal muscles were clean.

But he didn't cut any meat.

The scent of blood was too strong.

They couldn't stop here.

The White-Armored Beast is an ambush predator that hides under the snow crust waiting for scavengers.

The carcass of the armored exotic beast ahead was likely bait intentionally left by someone else.

Lin Ye raised his hand to signal Zhao Mengmeng to retreat.

Zhao Mengmeng immediately stepped in his footprints and retreated behind the black rock.

Her crossbow was lowered, the bolt aimed constantly at the snow surface near the carcass.

Lin Ye didn't take the original path.

He circled to the side of the armored exotic beast's carcass and ran his fingertips over the bloodstains on the frozen ground.

The heat from the carcass's abdominal cavity hadn't fully dissipated.

The person who dug out the liver had left less than half an hour ago.

Three sets of footprints were scattered on the snow, leading in messy directions.

One set led west.

One set led north.

One set intentionally stepped into the broken ice area, the tracks ending at the edge of a crevice.

Lin Ye stopped in front of the broken ice area.

He briefly activated his left eye.

The snow crust, ice powder, and black rock crevices were rapidly deconstructed.

The footprints to the west were normal in color, with the indentations turned outward; the person had been walking backward while making them.

The indentations to the north were too light; they avoided the hard snow, which was an over-complication of the disguise.

The real tracks were hidden along the edge of the black rock.

A thin trail of blood had been blown by the wind into dark spots.

It clung to the base of the rocks and led all the way east.

Lin Ye closed his left eye.

"They're engaging in counter-tracking."

Zhao Mengmeng cursed under her breath: "Are they really peers?"

"Worse than peers."

Lin Ye pointed to the east.

"Stay along the edge of the ice pillars, don't touch the open snow."

The two left the White-Armored Beast's carcass.

The cold wind swept across the pool of blood, dragging the stench in all directions.

Rustling sounds came from under the snow slope in the distance; small scavenger beasts had already been drawn out by the smell.

Lin Ye didn't look back.

The scent of blood would mask some of their presence, but it would also attract more things.

They had to shake them off before the predators gathered.

The terrain ahead began to change.

Huge ice pillars jutted out from the snow.

The tall ones were over a dozen meters high, while the short ones rose above an adult's shoulder.

Black rocks were interspersed among them, forming a natural labyrinth.

The wind passed through the wind-eroded holes on the surface of the ice pillars, emitting a sharp whistling sound.

Zhao Mengmeng followed behind, her footsteps extremely light.

This place was too suitable for an ambush.

Sightlines were fragmented, sounds were amplified, and frozen, cracked ice crusts were everywhere underfoot.

Behind any corner, there could be people or beasts hiding.

Lin Ye stopped behind a thick ice pillar.

He raised his left hand.

He made a fist.

Zhao Mengmeng immediately pressed herself into the shadow of the ice pillar.

She knelt halfway down.

She rested the crossbow on her knee.

Lin Ye turned sideways and, using the narrow gap between the ice pillar and the black rock, briefly activated his left eye.

Thirty meters ahead.

Three clusters of red light.

The red lights were stable, clean, and without gray spots.

Extremely aggressive.

Humans.

Lin Ye closed his eye, a slight stinging sensation radiating from his temple.

He adjusted his angle and looked through the ice crevice.

Behind a massive fallen boulder.

Three burly white men were surrounding a medium-sized exotic beast.

The moment his line of sight was unobstructed, a pale blue screen popped up before his right eye.

[Nationality: Germanic]

[Nationality: Germanic]

[Nationality: Germanic]

The three were tall and sturdy, their movements clean.

The person crouching on the ground was using a short blade to cut the exotic beast's hind leg.

The blade edge ran along the fascia, avoiding the joints with every stroke, conserving energy to the extreme.

The other two weren't scrambling for the meat.

One held a spear, back against an ice pillar, eyes scanning the left passage.

The other held a military dagger, standing on the opposite side of the boulder, responsible for the right side and the rear.

There was no talking throughout the process.

Only communication via hand gestures.

Zhao Mengmeng inched closer and asked in a hushed voice: "How many people?"

Lin Ye held up three fingers.

He then pressed his palm down, signaling her not to move.

Someone in the Great Xia Live Stream had already recognized their identities.

[The Germanic Hans squad!]

[These three are all retired special forces soldiers; I saw that segment of them killing an exotic beast a few days ago, their tactics are incredibly steady!]

[They often use prey carcasses to lure people; they've already tricked and killed Challengers from two small countries.]

[It's over; this team isn't just thugs fighting for food, they're professional killers.]

The Germanic broadcast room was spamming wildly.

[Hans has spotted them!]

[Those two Great Xia people are covered in furs and dried meat; taking them down means supplies!]

[No competitors can be left on the road to the Giant Tower.]

[Captain Hans will teach them what discipline and death mean.]

Behind the ice pillar.

Hans looked up to check the wind direction.

He was the captain of this three-man squad.

Before entering the Void Sea, he served in the Germanic mountain special forces.

After reaching the Level 4 Floating Island, they lost one teammate.

He died due to three seconds of insufficient vigilance against a strange Challenger.

Those three seconds cost him a dagger plunged into his kidney from behind.

Since then, Hans has had only one rule.

Everyone approaching a supply point is deemed an enemy.

After the central Giant Tower appeared, the road to it had to be cleared.

Food, furs, weapons—everything must be taken from the living.

Hans lowered two fingers.

The team member cutting the meat stopped his blade.

But he didn't look back.

The spearman on guard lowered the spear tip slightly, the movement so natural it was imperceptible.

Lin Ye understood.

The opponent hadn't relaxed.

They were using the exotic beast carcass as a temporary supply point and also as bait to sift for prey.

The White-Armored Beast that hadn't been killed earlier was their first line of defense left on the perimeter.

Anger flared in Zhao Mengmeng's eyes.

"That White-Armored Beast, did they leave it on purpose?"

Lin Ye didn't answer; he gestured for her to retreat.

His plan was simple.

Do not engage head-on here.

The three Germanic Challengers were positioned too steadily; a frontal fight would turn the entire stone forest into a meat grinder.

Zhao Mengmeng had to secure the high ground on the flank first.

With the crossbow suppressing one line, Lin Ye's Dark Weaver could set up a kill zone between the ice pillars.

He pointed to himself, then to the protruding black rock on the left.

Zhao Mengmeng understood the command.

She bent down and moved along the base of the ice pillar.

Her boot soles stepped over a thin layer of snow.

The sound was extremely light.

Thirty meters away.

Hans suddenly froze.

He didn't turn his head.

But the spear in his hand shifted its angle.

The Germanic team member cutting the meat stopped his blade in the flesh, his back muscles tensing instantly.

The wind blew through the ice holes.

Zhao Mengmeng froze in place.

Lin Ye briefly opened his left eye.

The three clusters of red light suddenly flared brighter at that moment!

Hans turned his head, his gaze pinning toward the direction of the ice pillar where Lin Ye was hiding.

No shouting.

No probing.

Hans signaled three tactical commands in succession with his right hand.

Disperse.

Flank.

Kill.

Two team members simultaneously abandoned the exotic beast carcass.

The spearman slid toward the left ice pillar, his steps kept extremely low, the spear tip locked onto the angle where Lin Ye might rush out.

The team member holding the dagger vaulted over a half-section of black rock and rapidly circled to the right, sticking to the back of the rock.

Hans himself remained on the central axis.

He drew the bone blade from his waist and advanced step by step, using the massive boulder as cover.

A fan-shaped encirclement rapidly opened up in the stone forest.