Chapter 27: The Sand Pirate Chief Attacks!

"That plan is fantastic, meow!" Shaji appeared extremely excited. "Gathering a few more around this skeleton won't be a problem at all, meow!

Perhaps even the Yellow Velocidrome King can be dealt with using this method, meow!"

"It's not that simple." Aolang's expression remained largely unchanged. "However, we should still be able to fight alongside the 'Big Guy' for a while longer.

Stop looting the corpses for now; that meager gain doesn't matter. Focus on sharpening your weapons and recovering your stamina."

"Understood, meow!" Shaji pulled out a small dried fish, popped it into his mouth, and chewed while asking, "You just said it's not that simple. What did you mean, meow?

As for the Yellow Velocidrome King, is there a way to break through the limitations of this cover, meow?"

Synergy takes a long time to cultivate and accumulate. He and Aolang had not yet reached a level where they could guess each other's thoughts at a glance.

In that case, clearly communicating their respective thoughts was the key to smooth cooperation.

Aolang also realized that his previous instructions had been too vague. Speaking too little in such moments was not a good habit; he needed to correct that.

"After quickly eliminating two just now, the remaining number of Yellow Velocidromes is small. Using the skeleton as cover, we can handle them easily.

But if the number of Yellow Velocidromes doubles, with the Yellow Velocidrome King commanding, some will squeeze inside the skeleton's chest cavity while others linger outside. No matter where we maneuver, we will be attacked.

A slight slip resulting in even a minor injury could lead to muscle paralysis. At that point, we would be the ones on the defensive."

"I see, meow..."

"As for why we don't leave immediately, it's because the scent of blood will attract more Yellow Velocidromes. We can take this opportunity to further reduce the Yellow Velocidrome population, avoiding interference when we hunt the Yellow Velocidrome King later."

"But won't the Yellow Velocidromes act in a swarm once they sense danger, meow?" Shaji asked with some worry. "What if the Yellow Velocidrome King leads a huge pack of Yellow Velocidromes to attack us in a short while? Wouldn't that be very dangerous, meow?"

"They shouldn't. Based on Yellow Velocidrome habits, a swarm of three to five is the normal situation.

Usually, the number accompanying the Yellow Velocidrome King, moving in sync to guard him, is generally only two or three.

If there are too many subordinates, the Yellow Velocidrome King cannot command them all, so it is unlikely that the Yellow Velocidrome King would lead ten or so Yellow Velocidromes to charge over together."

"That makes sense, meow." Shaji, also raised in the wild, thought for a moment and felt Aolang's reasoning was sound.

"Let's use this place as our base to fight and reduce the Yellow Velocidrome numbers, meow. Give the order to withdraw when you think it's time, meow.

I will use Flash Bombs to create openings and break the encirclement, meow."

"So reliable." Aolang rubbed Shaji's head. "At that time, we will run north to the Gobi area filled with jagged rocks.

The terrain there is complex, making it convenient for us to fight a Guerilla war."

"Understood, meow!" Shaji puffed out his chest and performed a salute of "As you command."

Aolang looked at him with some amusement and continued sharpening the blade.

It had to be said that the reforged and strengthened Hunter Dagger had significantly improved sharpness.

Previously, after slashing four or five Yellow Velocidromes, the blade would surely have been notched. Now, however, it remained smooth and sharp, requiring only a little sharpening to continue fighting.

One man and one cat sat beside that massive skeleton, eating and resting. The corpses of the previous Yellow Velocidromes had been dragged by them to a place twenty or thirty meters away.

This would not interfere with the upcoming battle and could also distract the Yellow Velocidromes to some extent. After all, for a pack of Yellow Velocidromes, the corpses of their own kind were also edible food.

Time passed for nearly a quarter of an hour, and nothing appeared.

But Aolang did not feel anxious. Sitting on this familiar lakeside sand, leaning against the 'Big Guy's' bones, his emotions were strangely calm.

The anxiety and loneliness from the start of the journey had long been swept away.

Shaji curled up into a ball beside him, appearing to be asleep. But judging by his breathing rhythm, he was merely resting with his eyes closed, one ear pressed firmly against the ground, alert to any potential danger.

Several more minutes passed, and Shaji suddenly lifted his head.

"Something is coming, meow."

"Very cautious, aren't they? We are ready as well."

Aolang supported himself with his hands on his knees and stood up steadily. Shaji also shook off the sand stuck to his fur and looked toward the direction the sound came from.

Several figures walked across the dry, cracked lakebed, approaching this place.

The Yellow Velocidrome is a monster with absolutely no "charm." When walking, it always keeps its head low, glancing left and right from time to time, giving the impression of a cowardly yet cruel and cunning rogue, like the minions in a bandit gang.

But the figure striding forward with its head held high, surrounded by a few Yellow Velocidromes, gave a completely different feeling.

Its massive, forked Crown was as conspicuous as a royal crown. Merely the height of its spine exceeded two meters, its body length was nearly six meters, and its weight surpassed one ton.

Its scarlet eyes, following the movement of its head, looked down on the surroundings. It was like a Sand Pirate Chief carrying a large blade, surrounded by attendants front and back, searching for the next robbery target with a picky gaze.

"The momentum is completely different." Aolang tightened his grip on the Hunter Dagger in his hand.

The Yellow Velocidrome King, drawn by the scent of blood, also turned its gaze toward this place. It paused its steps, tilted its head, and sized up the Hunter and Elu beside the massive skeleton from a distance.

In nature, size is often an important standard for measuring an opponent's strength. Compared to large monsters that are often over ten meters long, the size of humans and Elu could only be described as having no deterrent power.

At this moment, the Yellow Velocidrome King did not even regard them as the murderers of its kin, thinking only that they were some kind of small predator attracted by the scent of blood a step ahead of them.

The Yellow Velocidrome King looked left and right again but saw no sign of other monsters as it had imagined.

Have they already left? It was a pity that, out of caution, it had called a few more companions to come along and check the situation.

Fortunately, it wasn't a complete loss. Although those two "small animals" were not large, they were still enough to fill its stomach.

"Gao-ao—" The Yellow Velocidrome King let out a low roar.

The four Yellow Velocidromes beside it, who had been eager to act, accelerated their run. Two launched a frontal assault, while the other two dispersed to flank behind the Hunters, preventing their escape.

The Yellow Velocidrome King itself stopped in place, appearing too lazy to engage.

"Eliminate the two in front as quickly as possible." Aolang's tone even carried a hint of delight.

"Understood, meow!"

Aolang and Shaji charged out together.

Charging forward to accelerate before the opponent, he sidestepped, raised his shield to deflect the attack, and then smoothly drew his sword to cut the opponent's throat. Aolang eliminated the first one in the blink of an eye.

This was experience summarized from countless missions to subdue Yellow Velocidromes over the past few months, effective without fail against a single Yellow Velocidrome.

Shaji, relying on his own lightness and agility, dodged the attack of the other Yellow Velocidrome and jumped onto its back.

Similar in size to Aolang's Hunter Dagger, the Hunting Cat Dagger, which required two hands for Elu, sliced deeply into the Yellow Velocidrome's nape.

While the Yellow Velocidrome cried out in pain and twisted its head, Shaji jumped off its back, dived under its belly, raised the Cat Sword with both claws, and slashed hard, splitting the Yellow Velocidrome's abdomen open.

Internal organs flowed out along with the fresh blood; the Yellow Velocidrome howled and collapsed to the ground, its life force draining away rapidly.

The Hunters and Elu, having dealt with their respective opponents, swiftly returned to the skeleton. With the help of this perfect cover, they quickly eliminated the other two Yellow Velocidromes flanking from behind.

The Yellow Velocidrome King, remaining in place, watched all this with a stunned expression. When it came to its senses, the four subordinates that had accompanied it lay dead in the pool of blood.

Shaji stuck out its small tongue and made a face at the Yellow Velocidrome King not far away.

Aolang squatted halfway down and, right before the Yellow Velocidrome King's eyes, took out a whetstone and began sharpening the blade.

"Gaa-ao!"

The Yellow Velocidrome King's eyes turned blood-red, but it did not let rage cloud its judgment and charge recklessly at the "cover" that had immobilized it.

Instead, it raised its neck in place and let out howls summoning its subordinates.