Chapter 32

The Yellow Velocidrome King panted heavily.

Its head, neck, and chest were covered in wounds; perhaps none were deep enough to be instantly fatal, and many of the wounds could heal at least partially after a single night's sleep.

Yet every wound bled continuously; as the small losses accumulated, the Yellow Velocidrome King, having lost a vast amount of blood, became extremely weak, its movements far slower than usual, and even its steps grew unsteady.

Even so, Aolang, who lingered beside it, kept his Shield raised at all times, never relaxing his vigilance.

For how many examples were there of hunters who, forgetting caution because a monster had grown weak, were instead counter-killed by a monster fighting with its life on the line?

Step by step, he had methodically eliminated the Yellow Velocidrome, constantly ruling out accidents, steadily carrying the hunt to this point; he would never give his opponent a chance to turn the tables.

Perhaps with one more round of Fatal Combo, or Demon Dance, this weakened Yellow Velocidrome King would fall completely, but Aolang had no intention of launching another attack.

He planned to stick to the target like a plaster until it bled to death.

Doing so would minimize risk on one hand; more importantly, the wounds on the Yellow Velocidrome King were already numerous enough.

He still wanted to harvest as many materials as possible...

As the Monster and the Hunter ran and chased, passing through a canyon passage between rocky mountains, a flash of bright light suddenly appeared at the edge of Aolang's vision; he diverted a sliver of his attention and looked in that direction.

It was the Hunting Cat; it was reflecting sunlight with the shiny surface of its Hunting Cat Dagger. Having received the signal, Aolang raised his Shield slightly to indicate he had received the message.

He slowed his pace slightly, creating a distance of about twenty meters from the Yellow Velocidrome King.

He could not press too hard, nor could he let the Yellow Velocidrome King run wild; if it could continue moving forward slowly as he hoped, that would be best.

But this abnormal behavior instead made the Yellow Velocidrome King feel something was amiss; its forward steps became somewhat hesitant, as if it were wavering on whether to continue forward or, while it still had a bit of stamina, turn around and launch a final counterattack.

Aolang could not help feeling annoyed; it seemed impossible to make the Yellow Velocidrome King obediently comply using such a "gentle" method.

He suddenly struck his Shield several times with his Hunter Knife, producing a harsh metallic noise; immediately after, he shouted and chased forward, wearing a ferocious expression as if to say, "I will kill you right now!"

The Yellow Velocidrome King, which had been hesitating, shivered in fright, instinctively quickened its steps, and accelerated forward, completely failing to notice that the color of the ground at the end of the passage was slightly off.

The instant it stepped onto that patch of ground, the earth collapsed into a large pit; at the same time, a massive net woven from spider silk and tough vines (ivy) sprang up, tightly wrapping its body.

The Pitfall Trap set by the Hunting Cat had taken effect!

The Yellow Velocidrome King struggled desperately; perhaps it would not take long before it could break free from the net's bonds and escape the trap.

But the Hunter and the Hunting Cat clearly would not give it such an opportunity.

The Hunting Cat ran over holding a large bag of powder and dumped it all onto the Yellow Velocidrome King's head with a "Whoosh!"

"Go to sleep, meow!"

This was Capture Tranq Medicine mixed from Sleep Herb and Paralysis Mushroom; generally, the correct method of use was to load it into hollow material bolts and Crossbow Bolts to create Capture Tranq Balls or Tranq Bolts for use, thereby maximizing efficiency.

But with conditions limited at present, the Hunting Cat could not worry about such things; rather than laboring to concoct some material bolts, it was better to make more Capture Tranq Medicine and increase the dosage!

Its choice was undoubtedly correct; the Yellow Velocidrome King, having inhaled an excessive amount of Capture Tranq Medicine during its struggles, fell unconscious within an extremely short time.

"Capture successful, meow!" The Hunting Cat jumped up excitedly.

Aolang walked over, rubbed its head, and said, "Well done. I will bleed it; prepare to harvest."

"Meow?" The Hunting Cat tilted its head. "Since we have successfully captured it, should we not consider transporting it back, meow? The Guild will settle a higher reward, meow."

"No need. The Sand Ship we rode here cannot accommodate it; we would have to find a specialized transport team to move it. It is only a Yellow Velocidrome King; there is no need."

Saying this, Aolang paused for a few seconds, and his voice grew lower. "Moreover, I have some other uses for it."

The Hunting Cat blinked its eyes. "Okay, meow. I will listen to you, meow."

This was an Oasis about to be swallowed by the Desert.

Around the long-abandoned village, dried and broken skeletons were visible everywhere.

In the center of the Ruins of the Abandoned Village stood an exceptionally large skeleton; its massive curved horns, connected to the skull, pointed straight toward the sky like two flagpoles.

Hanging from the tip of one of the large horns was the head of a Yellow Velocidrome King.

Sand blew through the holes in the skeleton, producing a faint "wuu-wuu" sound like weeping, slowly air-drying that blood-stained head.

Luokelake, Assembly Hall Tavern.

"To celebrate Ahlun's Little Brother successfully advancing to Two-Star, cheers!" Hot Sand raised his wine glass high, shouting loudly.

"Cheers!"

"Meow!"

Several wine glasses clinked together, spilling some of the golden liquid inside.

"Ha! I truly didn't expect you to advance to Two-Star so quickly." After draining the Wheat Beer in his cup in one breath, Nuri slammed his glass onto the table and laughed.

Asa, who could not stop talking, quickly chimed in, "Exactly! I am still slowly climbing at One-Star; how have you already run to Two-Star just like Big Brother?"

"Isn't that simply because you yourself are too useless?" Hot Sand mercilessly mocked. "Look at how many missions Ahlun's Little Brother has completed these past few months; how many have you completed yourself?

If you were to devote half the time you spend with your big mouth to training, you would be about ready to prepare for advancement by now!"

"So harsh..." Asa chuckled but offered no rebuttal.

Although he spoke without thinking and often provoked anger, he had one virtue: his temper was good; no matter what others said about him, he did not take it to heart.

"You are not drinking, meow?" The Hunting Cat, holding a glass of green Silvervine Wine, looked at Aolang.

The latter had been staring blankly at the wine glass in his hand; only when the gazes of the others also turned here did he come to his senses, quickly raising the glass to his lips and gulping down a large mouthful.

"Cough, cough..."

The taste was completely different from what he had imagined; under the stimulation of the distinctive bitterness of the Wheat Beer, Aolang choked and began coughing.

After coughing for quite a while, he looked up to meet the strange gazes of the three humans and one cat; Aolang said somewhat shamefacedly, "This is my first time drinking alcohol."

"Ah?"

"No way? I started accompanying my father to drink when I was thirteen or fourteen; Big Brother seems to have started even earlier."

"Meow-meow—"

"Come to think of it, we indeed have never seen Ahlun's Little Brother drink alcohol before." Nuri pinched his chin. "I thought you were more self-disciplined, or simply did not like drinking."

"My teacher did not allow me to drink before." Aolang explained briefly. "But it is fine now; should I not drink a few more times to get used to this taste as soon as possible?"

"No need, no need, burp—" Hot Sand let out a burp, waving his hand. "Liking to drink is not something worthy of pride; there is no need to deliberately adapt to it.

Oh, right, there's something I almost forgot to tell you.

The Workshop's owner asked me to pass along a message: from this month through next, all the Workshops in the city will be very busy, so the Yellow Velocidrome King materials you submitted will likely need a while longer before they can be forged into Equipment.

"I understand, no rush." Aolang took another small sip, trying to savor the subtle bitterness.

"The Monsoon Season is coming soon; the number of tourists and Merchants in the city is increasing, and the annual Harvest Festival is approaching."