Universe Infinite Canteen

Ma Lu couldn't retract his chef's knife in time, so he had to kick out at the Two-Headed Hyena's left flank first.

The kick sent it flying away, crashing into a concrete slab on the roadside.

Ma Lu took a quick glance at his character status bar and noticed that his strength bonus had increased from the previous 65% to 112%.

That meant the bite from the first Two-Headed Hyena had given him a 47% strength increase.

No wonder that kick was so fierce.

Ma Lu flexed his ankle and, holding the chef's knife, walked toward the Two-Headed Hyena that had been kicked away.

The hyena was clearly in pain, barely managing to get up from the ground, but its left foreleg was still trembling slightly.

Ma Lu didn't give it a chance to recover. Noticing that its movements were affected, he immediately charged at it and swung his knife at the left head!

The blade came down fast and hard!

The Two-Headed Hyena attempted to dodge, but was still unable to evade the strike, and Ma Lu decapitated it with one swift blow, blood splattering everywhere!

And this time, Ma Lu had learned his lesson, retreating immediately after striking, hit or miss, to regain a safe distance.

The hyena, having lost one of its heads, did not fall dead on the spot, but it clearly recognized the danger, as the roles of hunter and hunted had been reversed.

It tried to flee.

But Ma Lu wasn't about to let the blessings that had been delivered to him slip away.

Just as the Two-Headed Hyena lifted its leg, Ma Lu rushed forward again with a stride, swinging his knife at the nape of the fleeing hyena's neck.

With a squelch, the chef's knife easily penetrated the hyena's neck, slicing downward and severing its vertebrae.

As his prey fell to the ground, Ma Lu felt a sense of emptiness.

His wound on the right shoulder had completely healed, and his strength bonus had also fallen back to 65%.

Then Ma Lu walked over to the grievously injured Two-Headed Hyena, ending its suffering and collecting one Purple Blessing and one Blue Blessing.

Ma Lu looked at the Purple Blessing that had been upgraded by the Heartbeat Lottery, another familiar one.

[Backstab: When a team member attacks from behind the target, there's a 33% chance to increase speed by 40% and cause double damage.]

Though it wasn't the Bloodsucking Style of Blessing he preferred, its strength was considerable in itself.

However, the remaining Blue Blessing was somewhat mediocre; three of the four options were related to Psychic Power, and one had been downgraded by the Heartbeat Lottery to a White Blessing.

Ma Lu chose a [Too Trappy] without much thought.

If he could meet up with the other members of the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group, this blessing could be useful for Seta.

Dealing with the two Two-Headed Hyenas took some time, and Ma Lu contemplated where he should head next.

Eventually, he decided to look around the Hunter's Guild, mainly because he wasn't very familiar with the Giant Curtain; there were only a handful of places he had visited – Boggy's apartment, the Little Bear Bar, the marketplace, and the Hunter's Guild.

If there were any survivors left in the city, it seemed likelier that they would gather at the Hunter's Guild.

Having made up his mind, Ma Lu dipped his hand in the blood of one of the Two-Headed Hyenas and left a message on the ground for Boggy, although he wasn't sure if Boggy would ever see it.

This made him feel somewhat downcast.

Ma Lu soon realized that the road to the Hunter's Guild was not going to be easy.

The Giant Curtain had almost been overrun by various beasts; he could hardly walk a few steps without encountering a large pack of them.

Ma Lu would first assess the strength gap between him and the beasts. If he thought he could win, he'd fight to harvest more blessings; if not, he'd flee.

To facilitate his escape, he would prioritize blessings that enhanced speed, in addition to strength.

However, there were still times when escape was impossible, and then he had no choice but to grit his teeth and face the fight.

Fortunately, after several rounds of battle, Ma Lu's strength had also rapidly improved, and even if he accidentally got injured, he could rely on the [Blood of Immortality] to suck the blood back.

Despite this, it took him a full three hours to finally reach the entrance hall of the Hunter's Guild with great difficulty.

The bad news was that the Hunter's Guild was not spared either, and the situation was even worse than Boggy's apartment, which had turned into complete ruins.

The good news was that along the way, Ma Lu had not seen any human corpses. Of course, it was also possible that they had been eaten by the beasts, but the fact was that he had not seen many weapons or pieces of equipment either.

It seemed more like an organized retreat. Ma Lu remembered Boggy mentioning that there were two more levels underground in the Giant Curtain.

He surmised that the city's inhabitants had strategically abandoned the surface, retreated, and taken defense underground, which meant that Boggy and others were likely still alive.

However, given Boggy's character and usual behavior, it was puzzling that he hadn't tried to contact him or even left a message, which left Ma Lu somewhat perplexed.

But with no way to communicate at present, Ma Lu could only temporarily suppress his questions.

Just then, he heard a rustling sound from behind.

Ma Lu turned around and saw a Spiked Whip Spider Queen leading five Spiked Leg Tailless Scorpions, closing in on him.

A wise man does not court danger.

Seeing this, Ma Lu turned and fled, but after running only a few steps, three Lava Giant Lizards appeared above the ruins, spewing out a stream of lava and blocking his path.

Ma Lu sighed and once again gripped the Chef's Knife in his hand tightly.

His previous journeys to the Different Dimension were generally easy and enjoyable.

Although he was a Hunter, most of the time, the fighting was done by Boggy, Seta, and Sadie.

He just had to choose the blessings, make the strategies, and along with Mai Mai, cheer on the side.

But now, with only him left on the team, if he didn't want to wrap up and go home early, he would have to carve out his own survival.

...

The first basement level. The second hospital was already filled to capacity.

Not only the wards, but even the corridors were full of injured people.

Outside the operating room, Boggy just received the news that Seta was out of danger, which somewhat eased his worried mind.

Even though two Six-armed Giant Apes had been successfully dealt with by their team a week ago, the danger had not passed.

In the following days, fierce beasts emerged one after another, and even the sturdy walls of the Giant Curtain could not withstand the endless, violent charges.

Finally, two days ago, the walls could no longer bear the burden and collapsed over a large area.

Realizing the severity of the situation, the city council issued an evacuation order immediately.

All Hunting Groups were forcibly conscripted as escorts, including the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group. They were attacked while escorting a group of civilians to the underground retreat.

Even though Boggy did his best to command the battle and took the lead, without Ma Lu's Meat Pigeon Ability, the power of the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group dropped sharply, and the magic was no more.

In the end, it was Mai Mai who turned the tide by unleashing an Electric Field, allowing them to escape the peril, and Seta, who was injured by the tusk of an Earth-Splitting Porcupine while protecting a mother and child, had just completed surgery and stabilized.

Boggy looked again at the wireless communication device in his hand. Before retreating, he had left Ma Lu's equipment and another communicator in the bathroom of the apartment.

Based on the timing, Ma Lu should have already arrived at the Giant Curtain by now, but for some unknown reason, there had been no sound from the other side of the communicator until now.