"Yes, Captain."

Iron Spear Zhang Ke walked toward Chen Gu, who at that moment was disassembling his heavy sniper rifle and stowing it in a wooden case, then handed the iron chest, which held the case and a large quantity of ammunition, to Zhang Ke. Chen Gu himself then opened another iron chest and pulled out that menacing machine gun. Large ammunition belts were wrapped around his body, one end of the chain directly connected to the machine gun.

"Tsk, tsk," Luo Feng couldn't help but marvel at the sight.

High-end thermal weapons still had considerable utility against 'Beast Soldier level' monsters. For example, the one shot that killed the 'Bloodthirsty Tank' earlier. That shot was partly due to luck, after all, the head that could be killed with a single shot possessed the hardest skull cap. The Bloodthirsty Tank was massive, so even if shot, the impact was not significant.

Therefore—

The places where a single shot could be instantly fatal were few. Such as the eyes, or the area just beneath the skull cap, behind the ear. Achieving such precise shooting required both skill and luck. Had the Bloodthirsty Tank been slightly more alert and shifted its movement direction, that shot would have missed.

"Let's go, down."

With a command from Gao Feng, Luo Feng and the other four immediately descended the stairs and quickly left the Blue Sky residential area.

※※※

Five minutes later, Luo Feng and his group were in a narrow alley. Wei Tie, leading the way, cautiously peered outside, then turned back. "Captain, that Bloodthirsty Tank is down and dead."

"Old Chen, you're amazing," Gao Feng gave a thumbs-up.

Chen Gu chuckled.

"However, Captain," Wei Tie continued, "several hundred monsters have gathered around the Bloodthirsty Tank's corpse. Getting the corpse will be very troublesome." This was indeed a difficulty when targeting a Beast General level monster from a distance; even if successful, retrieving crucial materials from the corpse was perilous.

But—

It was certainly much safer than fighting a Beast General level monster amidst a horde of monsters.

"Same old rule: Wei Tie, Wei Qing, you two scatter the swarm. We'll rush in together during the chaos," Gao Feng ordered, then turned to look at Luo Feng.

Luo Feng held his breath. Charging into a horde of hundreds of monsters was indeed the most dangerous situation he had faced since joining the Hammer Squad. Of course, according to some posts he had read, this was merely a relatively simple scenario for a martial artist squad; there were situations ten or even a hundred times more dangerous.

"Luo Feng, stay right next to Chen Gu when we go. Your mission is to protect Chen Gu and prevent any monster from attacking him," Gao Feng stated solemnly.

"Don't worry, Captain, I won't let a single monster get close to Brother Chen," Luo Feng nodded.

"Good, move out!"

Gao Feng gave the order.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two streaks of black light flew from the hands of the Wei brothers, Wei Tie and Wei Qing, landing in the distant monster swarm like lightning bolts, covering over a hundred meters. These two black streaks of light turned out to be two oval black spheres, marked with red time signals.

Monsters that noticed these objects grew wary and avoided them.

Beep! Beep!

"Rumble~~~"

The two timed explosives detonated suddenly. The powerful blast and flying shrapnel sent two monsters near the bombs reeling, covered in blood. Simultaneously, the two timed bombs generated a large amount of smoke that rapidly diffused in all directions.

In terms of raw power, the two timed bombs had only managed to kill one monster and injure five or six; more monsters were only affected by the smoke.

"Charge!" Gao Feng commanded.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Luo Feng erupted with all his strength, shield in one hand, Shadow Blood Battle Blade in the other, sprinting rapidly alongside Chen Gu. The six members of the Hammer Squad all exhibited astonishing speed, reaching the Beast General level corpse within the horde—a distance of only one hundred and fifty meters—in four or five seconds. This was despite the reduced speed from charging into the swarm.

"Hah!"

Captain Gao Feng moved like lightning, charging at the very front. Wielding a heavy hammer with one hand, he swung it rapidly like lightning. With two muffled thuds—"Peng!" "Peng!"—the heads of two Beast Soldier level monsters burst open. One was a mid-level Beast Soldier monster; the other was a human martial artist who carried the title of 'Initial Stage Warlord' but possessed strength close to that of a 'Mid-Stage Warlord.'

The difference in strength was too vast!

With the heavy hammer in one hand, Gao Feng held a dagger in the other, instantly closing the distance to the Beast General level monster, the 'Bloodthirsty Tank's,' corpse. The dagger rapidly stabbed toward the bullet hole behind the Bloodthirsty Tank's ear on its skull. While Gao Feng was dissecting it to extract the corpse materials, the other five members of the Hammer Squad faced peril.

"Quickly, Luo Feng, protect Old Chen," Zhang Ke wielded his long spear.

The Wei brothers, Wei Tie and Wei Qing, protected Captain Gao Feng. Given the Bloodthirsty Tank's defense, dissection by someone like Wei Tie or Luo Feng would take a long time. But Gao Feng, with his astonishing strength, needed only half a minute.

"Roar~~"

"Hah~~"

The surrounding monsters noticed Luo Feng and the others and immediately roared, charging over. It was like being charged by a heavy Hummer traveling over one hundred kilometers per hour.

"Get lost." Luo Feng executed a masterful two-step maneuver, dodging while slamming the shield on his left arm hard against the body of a charging One-Horned Boar. Struck suddenly from the side by this powerful force, the One-Horned Boar's four legs twisted, its massive body tilting and stumbling to the ground, causing the already cracked concrete street to shake violently and kick up a cloud of dust.

Luo Feng sought not to kill, but only to endure these ten seconds with maximum efficiency.

"Swish!" "Swish!"

Zhang Ke, now wielding his long spear, killed two Beast Soldier level monsters and repelled three. Then, three enraged monsters roared and simultaneously swarmed Zhang Ke. Zhang Ke had no shield, relying only on his long spear.

"Not good." After parrying one strike, Zhang Ke's expression changed.

"Roar~~" The charge speed of an Iron-Haired Boar easily reached fifty meters per second; its size was comparable to a small truck, but its speed rivaled a sports car. Zhang Ke had no time to block again, as he was surrounded by three monsters.

"Looks like I'm going to be seriously injured this time," Zhang Ke gritted his teeth.

"Peng!"

A dark shadow shot in from the side and kicked the charging Iron-Haired Boar squarely in the body. At extreme speeds, control over body stability is significantly weaker. The Iron-Haired Boar's massive body was thrown off balance by this kick and stumbled, before quickly scrambling back up.

"Brother Zhang, let's stay close," Luo Feng said.

"Luo Feng, thanks!" Zhang Ke shouted gratefully. Had Luo Feng not intervened just now, Zhang Ke would certainly have been seriously injured. Zhang Ke thought to himself, "Bringing Luo Feng into the Hammer Squad was definitely the right choice, and his footwork is so fast, so agile."

"Good movement," Chen Gu, who had been protected, commented.

This batch of monsters numbered in the hundreds. As the initial dozens engaged Luo Feng and the others, more monsters were rapidly drawn in. Fortunately, the smoke obscured vision, preventing the monster swarm from utilizing its full, effective power.

"Not good, Captain, hurry up," Wei Tie couldn't help but cry out.

With every second that passed, the danger to the Hammer Squad increased. The surrounding monsters were rapidly multiplying.

"Chen Gu, fire!" Gao Feng, crouched beside the Bloodthirsty Tank's corpse and protected by the Wei brothers, commanded.

"Yes."

Chen Gu licked his lips and grinned ferociously. Luo Feng and Zhang Ke, standing next to Chen Gu, immediately stepped back one pace. As Chen Gu pulled the trigger, a torrent of light—"Tutu-tu~~~"—erupted wildly from the muzzle. Every bullet was an expensive armor-piercing round Chen Gu had purchased. These rounds posed a small threat even to General level monsters.

"Roar~"

Immediately, numerous surrounding monsters let out cries of pain as the intensely fired armor-piercing rounds entered their bodies. These monsters were massive and possessed strong vitality; bullets entering the body generally couldn't kill them. Only shots to the head could achieve instant death! These rounds couldn't penetrate the skull of a Beast General level monster, but they posed little problem for the Beast Soldier level ones.

Peng! The brain matter of one monster sprayed out.

Pfft! A fallen monster gained a bloody hole in its body.

"Haha... Die, die," Chen Gu acted like a madman, the gun barrel containing Chronium alloy firing armor-piercing rounds ceaselessly. The wildly sprayed bullets almost instantly suppressed the monster swarm on one side. Meanwhile, Luo Feng and Zhang Ke prevented monsters from other directions from attacking Chen Gu.

The continuous gunfire also allowed the monsters in the smoke to instantly pinpoint their location and charge wildly. In a mass engagement, Chen Gu's proficiency with the machine gun made him equivalent to ten martial artists! But the moment the machine gun fired, it instantly drew the attention of the monsters.

"That's enough, let's go."

Having successfully collected the materials, Gao Feng let out a low roar, and Luo Feng and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The six members of the Hammer Squad fled in a sprint.

"Rumble~~~" Hundreds of enraged monsters pursued them. The running of even one monster made the concrete ground vibrate. Hundreds running together was like an earthquake; the entire street, and even the dilapidated buildings and houses nearby, vibrated slightly, emitting a rumbling echo.

"The swarm is terrifying," Luo Feng glanced back at the furious, frenzied hundreds of monsters charging after them; the scene was incredibly imposing.

"This way."

The Hammer Squad immediately turned into an alley. The alley was very narrow, preventing the monsters from entering two abreast; they could only come in one by one. Taking advantage of this, the Hammer Squad constantly turned within the dense cluster of buildings and entered one small alley after another. Soon, they completely shook off the monster swarm.

※※※※

Half an hour later.

Luo Feng and his group quietly arrived on the rooftop of the eighteen-story Haihao Grand Hotel.

"Haha, everyone did well this time," Captain Gao Feng smiled. "Chen Gu's shot was spectacular, and Luo Feng, you weren't bad either, saving Zhang Ke's life. Well, this 'Bloodthirsty Tank' was an Initial Stage Beast General, and it’s considered one of the trickier ones among that rank. This time, we made a decent profit. To have such a haul on the very first day, this is a good start! I estimate our earnings over the next month will be considerable."

Luo Feng, Chen Gu, and the others all laughed.

Luo Feng glanced at his combat watch, then suddenly startled: "A call?"

This combat communication watch would not interrupt a martial artist even if someone called. Only when the martial artist checked the watch would they discover the incoming call.

"A call from home," Luo Feng smiled and issued a voice command. "Call back!"

"Beep, beep, beep, beep..."

The communication watch quickly dialed Luo Feng's home number.