38: Chapter 38 Hunters and Scavengers

The USA official livestream.

In the footage, a massive city ruin stretched across the edge of a Level 3 Floating Island.

On the outskirts of the ruins, a burly blonde man over 1.9 meters tall strode across the gravel road.

Scott Miller.

A retired ace from the US Navy SEALs.

He wore only a camouflage top, his arms bulging with defined muscle lines.

His right hand gripped a spiked rebar torn from the ruins, while his left hand rested casually on his waist.

His method of exploration was almost the exact opposite of Lin Ye's.

No avoiding, no detouring, no slowing down.

His combat boots crunched over the gravel, making a noise that echoed far into the ruins.

"Hiss—!"

From under a scrapped van to his left, a grayish-white figure pounced out!

A Small Pale One!

It was incredibly fast, its front claws lunging straight for Scott's face.

Scott shifted his body half a step to the side, dodging the attack.

He then swung the rebar in a wide arc, smashing it squarely into the Pale One's skull!

Boom!

The spindle-shaped head shattered instantly, splashing black blood across half his arm.

The Pale One flipped twice in the air before slamming heavily onto the ground.

From the ambush to the kill, the entire process took less than two seconds.

Scott glanced down at the black blood on his arm, wiped it twice on his pant leg, and continued forward without looking back.

The USA livestream exploded instantly.

[USA! USA! USA!]

[This is the strength of a SEAL! This is the Beacon of the World!]

[Scott is practically a superhero! That monster couldn't even take one hit from him!]

[Compare him to that one-eyed guy from Great Xia; his cowardice is practically a joke!]

Soon, someone made a split-screen comparison GIF of both sides.

On the left was a close-up replay of Scott's instant kill, and on the right was footage of Lin Ye crouching in the corner of an apartment rummaging through cabinets.

The caption was highly mocking: Hunter vs. Scavenger.

This set of images was turned into a comparison GIF and quickly spread across major global social media platforms.

[USA: This is the difference! One is crushing everything head-on, while the other is shivering in a corner!]

[Kangaroo Country: So what if the Great Xia person snatched the first discovery? In the end, he doesn't even dare to fight a monster!]

[Island Country: The one-eyed guy spends ages searching an apartment, while Scott is going full 'Dynasty Warriors' on the streets!]

Great Xia netizens were fuming, their keyboards clacking like thunder.

But in the face of Scott's clean and efficient headshot, their counterattacks felt somewhat hollow.

Amidst the screen full of emotions, the sense of frustration was almost overflowing.

...

Blue Star, within Great Xia.

In a social group named "Freedom Mutual Exchange Group," message notification sounds rang incessantly.

Over five hundred people were lurking in this group.

Some had already renounced their citizenship and had their US immigration applications approved.

Others were fence-sitters who constantly talked about how "the air is sweeter abroad" but remained indecisive.

At this moment, the comparison GIF of Scott and Lin Ye was pinned to the top by the group administrator.

The group owner, "Wind of Freedom," jumped out.

"Did you see that, family? This is the strength of the Beacon of the World!"

"The SEAL ace dominates monsters with one hand! Look at that Lin Ye—he's just a cripple relying on luck! Finding a jar of salt in a broken building and acting like it's New Year's."

"How can Great Xia compete with America? With what, their heads?"

Rows of "+1" immediately followed below.

A group member with the note "Observing" weakly spoke up:

"But Lin Ye was the first to find the ruins after all... What if he gets something good? Won't we lose out if we renounce our citizenship now?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire group attacked.

"How is Great Xia going to turn things around? By relying on Lin Ye's jar of salt? You're killing me!"

"Wake up, brother. A comeback is a dream; jumping ship is the real priority!"

The group owner, "Wind of Freedom," dropped a bombshell.

"Inside info! US immigration applications are being approved instantly right now. Once their National Destiny takes off, the threshold will be terrifyingly high."

"If you don't leave now, you won't get in later even if you beg on your knees!"

This sentence accurately struck the most fragile nerves of these fence-sitters.

"Instant approval? Holy crap, my wife just asked if we should go. I'm filling out the form right now!"

"Stop hesitating. Do you want to stay here and be buried with that one-eyed guy?"

Once the psychological defense broke, the group fell into a frenzy.

Screenshots of renounced citizenship and immigration applications began to flood the group.

Someone even showed off three large packed suitcases.

Caption: "Red-eye flight tonight. Goodbye to the saline-alkali land, hello to the free world!"

This wave of renouncing citizenship was playing out for real in countless dark chat groups across Great Xia.

...

Disaster Prevention Administration, Command Center.

Zhou Jianping handed a red-marked report to Director Wei Tiejun.

"Director Wei, in just two short hours, the volume of national citizenship renunciation applications has surged by 327%."

"It's all because the video of that American soldier is being widely circulated! Several large immigration groups domestically are frantically pushing the narrative. The intelligence team suspects foreign forces are acting as the driving hand."

Director Wei Tiejun glanced at the numbers on the report.

"Old Zhou, what was the rule I set before?"

"Full clearance across the board."

"Tell the visa department to work overtime on approvals. Let these people buy their one-way tickets and get out!"

"They're in a hurry to go to America to be cannon fodder; we're just taking the opportunity to detoxify the country."

Zhou Jianping gritted his teeth. "Yes!"

...

Third Research Group.

Lu Chen stood with his arms crossed, staring at Scott's livestream on the big screen.

At this moment, Scott was continuing deeper along a main street, killing two more Small Pale Ones along the way.

Each time was a one-hit kill.

Clearly, his body had already digested a significant amount of 'pollution,' resulting in very powerful physical enhancement.

The bullet chat in the USA livestream was no longer just cheering; it was a carnival.

A cold, mocking smile appeared on Lu Chen's face, as if he were looking at idiots.

"Utterly stupid."

He pushed up his glasses.

A young analyst who had recently been transferred over couldn't help but ask:

"Group Leader Lu, that American soldier is indeed very strong. He didn't even break a sweat killing the Pale Ones..."

Lu Chen turned to look at him.

"The ruins Lin Ye found are micro-scale. The ones this American found are medium-scale."

"Tell me, will the gatekeepers of a medium-scale ruin be on the same level as those of a micro-scale one?"

The young analyst opened his mouth but said nothing.

Lu Chen sneered and looked back at the screen.

"Making such a big commotion in a place like this—does he really think he's strolling through his own backyard?"

"He will pay for his arrogance very soon."

...

Void Sea, underground ruins.

Lin Ye swallowed the last bite of jerky and licked the residual salt from the corner of his mouth.

He pushed himself up from the ground, stretched his shoulders, and looked down from the rooftop.

Walk on the ground?

How is that any different from being a delivery order?

He looked up, locking his gaze onto the roof of a four-story building across from him.

He took five steps back and took a deep breath.

Then, he sprinted toward the edge of the rooftop with all his might.

His left foot stepped heavily on the crumbling concrete railing, his thigh muscles exploding with power.

He leaped into the air.

Mid-air, Lin Ye raised his right arm.

Clang—!

The grappling hook shot out, biting into a protruding rebar on the roof of the building opposite!

Hum!

The cable pulled taut, the massive tension swinging his body through the air above the street.

Pressing the switch, the cable retracted.

He was pulled upward through the air.

Snap!

Lin Ye grabbed the railing of the opposite rooftop, tensed his core, rolled onto the inner side of the roof, and landed steadily.

In the Great Xia Live Stream, the viewers were stunned.

[Holy crap! That was way too smooth!]

[This 3D maneuverability completely outclasses that idiot with the stick on the other side!]

[This high-flying vibe—I've played Spider-Man and even he wasn't this stylish!]

Lin Ye didn't stop, continuing to traverse between the rooftops.

At every landing point, he would first use his left eye to confirm the safety of the landing zone.

A dozen minutes later.

His figure appeared on the rooftop of a six-story building in the deepest part of the ruins.

This was the highest point of the surrounding architectural complex.

He crouched low, pressing against the parapet wall and peeking out with half his head to look down.

What appeared before his eyes was a Japanese-style courtyard.

It was enclosed by crumbling high walls, the pond inside was dry and cracked, and all the plants were dead.

The entire courtyard exuded an aura of death.

Lin Ye held his breath, his left eye blinking slightly.

Eye of Destiny, activate!

In the courtyard, over a dozen red dots were densely packed together!

And that faint golden dot that had attracted him all this way...

...was quietly buried beneath the courtyard floor.