Invincible Copy System
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Chapter Summary
Though the gear was shabby, it still offered some protection; Liu Ning and Luo Dong put it on and, following in the footsteps of those before them, prepared to move out. You're the sixth group.” Fang Qiang's words sent chills through them; they had known the Wilderness was dangerous, but not that some survived barely thirty minutes. Before the survival of our Clans, any one life is nothing.” Liu Ning's composure pleased Fang Qiang; at least the boy hadn't wet himself in fright.
Though the gear was shabby, it still offered some protection; Liu Ning and Luo Dong put it on and, following in the footsteps of those before them, prepared to move out.
“I won't waste words. You've all heard how deadly it is Outside the City—some who followed me lasted only half an hour. You're the sixth group.”
Fang Qiang's words sent chills through them; they had known the Wilderness was dangerous, but not that some survived barely thirty minutes.
“I don't want to be here anymore—I want to go back—help—!”
Luo Dong finally cracked; under such pressure most newcomers broke, especially when confronting these figures for the first time.
Fang Qiang, long experienced, knocked Luo Dong flat with a single punch, splitting the fellow's lip without the slightest restraint.
“This is your first and only warning. Next time, it won't be a Vicious Beast that kills you—it'll be me. Before the survival of our Clans, any one life is nothing.”
Liu Ning's composure pleased Fang Qiang; at least the boy hadn't wet himself in fright.
After helping Luo Dong up, the two followed Fang Qiang on patrol. This first five hundred metres beyond the City Wall were the outermost buffer; beyond it, danger rose with every step.
Cannons and radar atop the wall could monitor this strip, so within it you were relatively safe—though some Vicious Beasts burrowed beneath, impossible to spot; if you met one, blame your luck.
Liu Ning had just learnt that the Patrol Team was tightly organised.
At this Gathering Point the Patrol Team was split into eight squads, each led by a vice-captain. Every squad worked six hours a day, rotating every forty-eight, so once you got back, rest time was decent.
Three hundred in total; whenever someone was lost, conscription began at once throughout the Gathering Point—strength had to be maintained.
After years of drafts, decent Young People were scarce; Now roughly one in fifty was a Patrol Team Member—a perilous ratio—with over seventy percent of youth serving.
In their Base City, hundreds of thousands of Patrol Team Members went out daily, and tens of thousands died; population had not grown for years, directly because of this.
“We've crossed the five-hundred-metre mark—watch yourselves and stay alive.”
Beyond the line Fang Qiang grew visibly tenser; here, real danger began.
Liu Ning glanced around: other squads had been nearby, but the Jungle beyond five hundred metres was so dense you could barely see a few metres.
“Step exactly where I step; when there's rock, use it—never tread on loose soil. Who knows what's underneath.”
As he walked Fang Qiang instructed them; the fellow seemed cold, but he taught what had to be taught.
Luo Dong was better Now, at least no longer wailing like some woman.
Following the advice, both chose firmer footholds—when Liu Ning felt the ground tremble.
Right beneath him.
Sensing danger, he grabbed Luo Dong and yanked them both backward.
Fang Qiang felt it too; without a word he dived forward and hit his alarm.
Where Liu Ning had stood the earth ripped open and a two-metre black leg shot out.
“Black-Horned Ant—take cover!”
Fang Qiang recognised it: the enemy Patrol Team met most often. Harmless to a Martial Artist, fatal to them.
It was an ant from before the Great Catastrophe, Now grown four or five metres long, two or three metres tall, its head crowned by a black horn.
From where Liu Ning stood he saw two corpses dangling from that horn; the thing had already killed two Patrol Team Members elsewhere.
The commotion drew other Patrol Team Members, but after sounding their alarms they melted into the Jungle without a shout.
To survive in the Wilderness everyone had his own method; none were simple.
The rookie's life-expectancy here was under half an hour; seeing this, Liu Ning knew Fang Qiang had spoken true.
As Liu Ning and Luo Dong backed away, nowhere offered cover; the Black-Horned Ant spotted them first.
Fang Qiang slammed a tree in frustration—the two were done for... beep... Black-Horned Ant's Shell Physique detected... Copy?
Cost: thirty thousand.
At that life-or-death instant the System's prompt reached Liu Ning; luckily he had the cash, or he would have died then and there. Without hesitation he chose Copy.
Copy complete. The Black-Horned Ant struck; in moments they would be paste.
With nothing else to block, Liu Ning raised his arms instinctively.
Idiot—rolling away would have been better; human arms, even Steel, couldn't stop a Black-Horned Ant. everyone assumed Liu Ning was dead.
Clanngg... a sharp ring of hard striking hard.
Luo Dong, right beside him, saw it clearly: the sound came from Liu Ning's arm meeting the ant's horn.
He had even seen sparks—was it an illusion?
How could a human arm be so hard?
Though the lowest Vicious Beast, even a Martial Artist avoided meeting a Black-Horned Ant head-on, let alone an Ordinary Person.
A gurgle came as the ant foamed at the mouth, like a man spewing after a fight.
The Black-Horned Ant was bewildered; in its experience the humans roaming here were weak prey, the strong ones arrived later—by then they would have fled. What was happening today?
“Die, you bastard!”
Instead of falling, Liu Ning launched a second strike, shattering one of the ant's legs with a punch.
It was the Thousand Jin Fist he had just copied—brutal enough to give any Vicious Beast a headache.