C15 Choice 27

He retrieved the fallen iron spears from the ground and plunged them deep into the heart of the wailing Ox Monster, which was clutching its face in agony.

Amidst the fallen beasts, Lin Yuan's face bore an expression of melancholy.

It had taken him three long years to reach the Dark Iron Tenth Rank in his previous life, yet now he had achieved it in less than three days. A change in attitude and choices led to vastly different outcomes.

With a shake of his head, he cast aside his reflections and, dagger in hand, effortlessly continued to claim the lives of the Ox Monsters.

A black mist seeped from the carcasses but did not drift towards Lin Yuan; it simply vanished into the air.

Beyond the Dark Iron Tenth Rank, slaying any number of monsters yielded no experience points.

To ascend to the Bronze level, one must defeat monsters of Bronze rank or higher and consume their blood. This was the only way to transform from Dark Iron to a Bronze Zero Rank Superpowered being.

The term 'Bronze', however, did not refer to the monster's power level, but rather to the classification of its race.

Take Goblins and Gnomes, for instance: even if their royalty and chieftains were legendary figures of the Gold rank, their racial status remained at Dark Iron.

Consider the Acarus as another example: their young are as vulnerable as ordinary humans, yet they are classified at the Gold rank by their race.

Upon a major transformation, Superpowered individuals gain a precious opportunity. Drinking the blood of certain rare monsters offers a high chance to inherit some of their unique talents, like the creature from Redhedge.

The warrior from his past life had leveraged a potent Devour Talent to extract abilities from monsters, which significantly amplified his combat prowess above his peers.

Soon, the ground was strewn with the bodies of Ox Monsters. Lin Yuan sheathed his dagger and, shouldering his rifle, approached the Ox Monster Chieftain who struggled in vain to open its eyes. He aimed at its head and ruthlessly squeezed the trigger.

"Da Da Da!"

The rifle's muzzle emitted a wisp of green smoke as the formidable Ox Monster Chieftain collapsed with a thunderous crash, like a boulder tumbling to the earth.

Lin Yuan looked at the rifle in his hands and shook his head ruefully. Firearms held a decisive edge in the early stages, capable of decimating nearly all opposition.

Regrettably, once superpowered individuals reached the Bronze rank, their abilities often fell short. Nearly all Bronze-ranked superpowered beings could fend off gunfire, with the exception of hits to vulnerable spots like the eyes, which could still inflict harm.

Subsequently, as the world underwent its monthly minor fusions, modern technological weaponry gradually vanished, leaving behind only a few special relics as evidence of their existence.

Lin Yuan slung his rifle over his shoulder, hefted the Ox Monster Chieftain's hefty totem staff, and made his way into the jungle. He was determined to retrieve his backpack and the Jungle Blade.

He chose not to eliminate the remaining dozen or so Ox Monsters; they posed no threat to him, and slaying them wouldn't yield any experience points.

It took a considerable effort, but he eventually gathered all his belongings, the Jungle Blade in particular, which he had nearly given up hope of finding.

Fully equipped with his backpack, sword, bow, spear, knife, and chunks of meat, Lin Yuan was laden like a pack mule. Thankfully, his immense strength made the load manageable, though it did hamper his mobility somewhat.

Upon reaching the ticket booth, he found that the remaining Ox Monsters had fled. Consulting the road signs, Lin Yuan set off at a brisk pace toward Redhedge.

With time pressing, he was committed to covering no less than fifty kilometers daily, leaving no room for delay.

Two days flew by in a flash. Lin Yuan pressed on with little rest, even continuing his journey through the night. Whenever exhaustion threatened to overtake him, a stamina grape would quickly revive his energy.

His body endured the relentless pace, but his mind began to falter, growing foggy and his vision occasionally blurred.

Lin Yuan estimated that he had covered nearly four hundred kilometers through the jungle in just two days, a feat not across plains but through a dense forest bristling with thorns.

Fortune smiled upon him along the way; periodic road signs kept him from straying off course.

This was a luxury of a world only beginning to experience its first fusion. As these fusions became more frequent, the remnants of the old world would grow increasingly elusive until they vanished entirely.

Finding an exceptionally sturdy tree, Lin Yuan, with his gear in tow, climbed up to rest.

Lin Yuan secured his belongings with vines and promptly fell asleep in the crook of a tree branch. Before long, he drifted off into a deep slumber.

Time passed, and Lin Yuan was roused from his sleep by distant shouts. Blinking awake, he glanced at the old mechanical watch on his wrist and saw that six hours had flown by; daylight had already broken.

"Run, don't delay!"

The cries grew louder, punctuated by sporadic gunfire.

Lin Yuan vigorously rubbed his face to shake off the grogginess, pulled out his rifle, and peered down from his perch towards the source of the noise.

A desperate group was sprinting below, a mix of men and women, with seven or eight armed police officers bringing up the rear. They occasionally spun around to shoot, stalling the pursuers.

The crowd was short on young people, mostly composed of middle-aged folks with bulging bellies, women, and children, all moving at a painfully slow pace.

A husband and wife, supporting each other, stumbled over vines and collapsed, unable to rise despite their struggles.

As the rest of the group reached the base of Lin Yuan's tree, they sat down, faces ashen, completely drained of the energy to run any further.

One of the officers approached, attempting to pull a middle-aged man to his feet to keep moving. The man, his hair tinged with gray, weakly gestured in protest.

"Captain Liu, please, just go on without us. We're only holding you back. You have a better chance of survival if you leave us behind."

"Director Li, don't talk like that. We've come this far; we just need to push a little further. If we make it to the military district, we'll all be safe."

From his vantage point, Lin Yuan silently observed the group, recognizing the significant role the officers had played in their survival in the jungle thus far.

But their situation was dire. Lin Yuan spotted at least a platoon of Goblins closing in from every direction. Escape was no longer an option.

"Ga Guo!"

An onslaught of arrows rained down, felling three officers in an instant.

"Shoot, shoot now!"

The officers shouldered their submachine guns and unleashed a barrage of bullets, cutting down Goblins as they advanced. But their ammunition was rapidly depleted.

Swarming in with clubs raised, the Goblins overwhelmed the officers in a matter of moments.

"Damn it!"

Liu Benfeng bellowed as he lunged forward, his arms and fists swelling and igniting into flames, brutally slamming into the goblins.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Not a single goblin could stand up to him—they were either blown to bits on the spot or sent flying by his powerful punch.

Lin Yuan's eyes widened in surprise. It was a skill—a very rare and potent one at that. It was no wonder this team had managed to survive this long.

Observing the officer's state, he had to be at least a Second or Third Rank Dark Iron Superpowered. To reach such a formidable level and acquire such a mighty skill in such a short time was no small feat. This cop was something else. If he could avoid death, he was bound to become a force to be reckoned with in the future.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

A volley of arrows came whistling towards him. Liu Benfeng weaved and dodged, but still, seven or eight found their mark. Thankfully, they struck non-lethal spots.

"Kill!"

With each passing moment, Liu Benfeng grew more ferocious, utterly disregarding his own wounds as he tore through the goblins with a frenzy.

With every goblin that fell, his power surged. The flames along his arms intensified, eventually spreading up to his shoulders, signaling a fearsome increase in strength.