Chapter Twelve: The Wolf Pack

As Xiao He inspected the strange beasts, Jiang Yu casually mentioned, “Captain, I think certain parts of these mutated creatures could be used as materials for weapon-making. When I fought them earlier, I noticed that some of their bones were incredibly hard—my dagger couldn’t even scratch them.”

“Good. I’ll have someone bring samples back for study,” Xiao He replied.

He had noticed the same thing Jiang Yu described. It seemed these mutants were not only stronger in terms of power but also had enhanced physical toughness.

When the mutants first appeared, they had tried to study them but found nothing useful. These creatures were inedible and served no other purpose. Prolonged exposure could be dangerous, so all slain mutants were gathered and destroyed.

Before long, Yu Zhou arrived with his team.

“Xiao He, are you sure it’s here?” he asked.

“Not certain, but very likely. Let’s scout ahead carefully. I suspect there are still some mutants that haven’t been eliminated. Tell your team to be cautious; these mutants are much stronger than the ones you encountered.”

“Understood.”

Yu Zhou had already gathered most of the intelligence on this area during his journey and briefed his team accordingly.

The group moved forward cautiously, alert to their surroundings and ready for battle at any moment.

Jiang Yu followed behind them. She wasn’t worried about encountering those mutants anymore but rather feared that other places might face the same issue.

If this were happening elsewhere too, things would become dire. It meant everything was accelerating. Given their nation’s current strength, they had no chance against these enhanced mutants.

It seemed she needed to speed up unlocking the system’s marketplace.

[Ding! Host, a bottle of Talent Awakening Serum has been applied for and sent to your inventory. Please check.]

“System, do you know why these mutants suddenly became so powerful? Be honest—are there such enhancement materials everywhere?”

“Host, this situation is an exception.”

“So, there aren’t enhancement materials like this in other places?”

“Not necessarily. But rest assured, Host, I believe with your abilities, you will resolve this perfectly.”

The system had previously scanned the area and found that other players had introduced enhancement stones into this world. Such occurrences were permitted, and the system was powerless to intervene. The humans here would have to resolve the crisis themselves.

If they couldn’t, it would just mean misfortune for this world’s inhabitants.

Jiang Yu was at a loss for words; it seemed she couldn’t rely on the system this time.

She recalled the Talent Awakening Serum the system mentioned earlier. She hadn’t taken it out in a hurry—it wasn’t going anywhere in the system’s inventory. Now that she had awakened, she no longer needed it. It was better to hand it over to the researchers upstairs for early study. She knew they could replicate it.

Though it wouldn’t guarantee a 100% awakening effect, an 80% chance was still promising.

“Oh, and will killing those enhanced mutants increase my points?”

“Confirmed. Host’s request is reasonable. Points system adjusted: killing one enhanced mutant awards 5 points.”

Jiang Yu was quite pleased with the system’s point increase. She had expected the stingy system to reject the idea.

—

They had traveled for a long time without finding any sign of mutants. Just as they thought the area was clear, a sudden disturbance appeared ahead.

A dense flock of sparrows burst out from the forest, darkening the sky as they flew overhead.

“What’s happening?”

“Everyone stay alert. Watch out for attacks from these sparrows.”

“Don’t move forward. Gather toward me. Don’t get separated.”

They were in complete darkness, some pulling out phones for light.

The sparrows simply flew over their heads without any sign of aggression. Naturally, they didn’t provoke them; otherwise, even dealing with these birds would be difficult.

Jiang Yu stood quietly, watching the flock linger without leaving. She suspected these birds might also be affected by the enhancement.

After nearly five minutes, the sparrows finally left the area. But as their vision returned to normal, an eerie sensation of being watched crept over them.

Looking ahead, they saw pairs of eyes—fierce, wolf-like—glowing from the forest.

“What are those things?”

They didn’t look like mutants; mutants wouldn’t appear in such dense numbers.

“Looks like a wolf pack.”

“No way. Wolves here? That’s absurd.”

Counting the eyes, there were at least a hundred.

Jiang Yu found it just as strange; even in her past life, she had never encountered this. And was it reasonable for wolves to be here?

“Watch out, they’re coming.”

Sure enough, a massive, dense pack of wolves came into view. Their eyes betrayed their intent—they saw the group as prey. Though they approached slowly, they had already marked them as their next meal.

No chance of escape. Xiao He and the others realized that if they tried to retreat, the starving wolves would attack relentlessly.

“Prepare for battle.”

They knew what was coming. It was either kill or be killed.

Jiang Yu gripped her weapon tightly, eyes sharp.

A tall, majestic white wolf in the center suddenly howled to the sky.

The surrounding wolves seemed to respond to a signal. In an instant, they all howled and charged toward Jiang Yu’s group.

The group reacted swiftly. All were awakened and specially trained. Whether by using their innate skills or weapons, they could easily dispatch these ordinary wolves.

The lead white wolf watched the fight with deep, piercing eyes. It seemed to realize the wolves in front were no match for Jiang Yu’s team. Suddenly, it howled again.

The attacking wolves heard the call and, without hesitation, stopped fighting and quickly retreated.

Jiang Yu and her team didn’t pursue but stayed vigilant. They felt the ordeal wasn’t over yet.

“Howl~”