Volume One: The Planet of Ten Thousand Beasts Chapter Two: The Beauty

The hours of grueling practice had not failed him. Together with that faint, intangible stroke of luck, he had struck his target with perfect accuracy from more than 2,100 meters away, and it had been a moving target at that. At such a distance, not even the finest sniper could guarantee a perfect hit. Beyond skill, there was only luck to rely on.

The combat motorcycle had toppled over in the sand. From the skid marks across the ground, one could tell it had fallen hard. It had not exploded, nor had it caught fire; its build was remarkably sturdy.

The rider lay about seventeen meters from the bike. A flicker of pity passed through Li Juxu’s heart. After being hurled such a distance, survival was all but impossible. He bore this rider no grudge. He had only taken the job for money, and he did not even know who the target was, much less what they looked like.

He soon reached the scene. Across the sand, the motorcycle’s rolling and sliding trail stretched for more than fifty meters, with parts scattered everywhere. The sight was grim. There was a bullet hole in the combat bike’s engine, but the true reason it had overturned was the tremendous force carried by the bullet itself. Let alone at more than one hundred kilometers per hour, even at sixty, no rider could keep the machine upright after being struck by a sniper round. Rolling was inevitable.

The front end was badly warped; two of the three gauges were shattered, the headlight was completely destroyed, and the casing of the turn signal was broken. The right indicator still blinked weakly, still lit. The rear wheel was intact, though the front wheel was twisted, and a pool of engine oil stained the sand.

Li Juxu only glanced at the bike before turning his attention away. He moved behind the rider, and only then realized the rider was a woman. Her figure was spectacular. Even curled into a ball, one could still see the perfect sweep of her curves, full in front and full behind. Her hips, thighs, and back were badly scraped, and blood against her fair skin formed a stark, shocking contrast.

Her left arm was bent at a grotesque angle, her right hand trapped beneath her, and a hole had been blasted through the faceplate of her helmet. Through that opening, Li Juxu saw a face of devastating beauty. Her features were so exquisite they seemed the work of the greatest master sculptor, every inch of her eyes, nose, and mouth beautiful beyond fault, leaving no trace of imperfection. In that instant, a powerful sense of guilt rose in him.

He had actually fired at a woman this beautiful. Was he still human?

Then, just as quickly, he felt a wave of relief, joy, gratitude, and lingering fear. The woman’s long lashes trembled, pain gathering between her brows. She was not dead. She was still alive.

He hurriedly crouched down, intending to check her condition and see whether she could still be saved. But the moment his fingers touched the helmet, a warning flashed through him. It was as though a venomous serpent had coiled onto his back; he smelled the thick, oppressive reek of death. Without the slightest hesitation, he struck like lightning.

He seized the woman’s broken left arm and twisted hard. Her whole body convulsed, and the barrel hidden beneath her body jerked. The bullet skimmed past his thigh, and the searing heat it carried made gooseflesh erupt all over him. He threw his body down over her, using his own weight to crush her struggle, while his other hand snatched at her right wrist with lightning speed, spoiling her second shot.

Li Juxu tried to seize the gun, but in that instant of grappling, he discovered something unimaginable: the woman’s strength far exceeded his own. Not only did he fail to wrench the pistol away, he was in turn trapped by her and pinned by the left hand. He was a man in full condition, while she was severely injured. Under normal circumstances, disarming her should have been effortless, yet she had reversed the struggle. A storm surged in his heart. He knew then that he had run into serious trouble. This woman was no ordinary figure.

By comparing their strength, he judged that she must have taken a second-tier strength enhancer. Anyone able to buy such a thing was either rich or powerful. No wonder the client, despite having top-class snipers of their own, had not used them and instead sought out an outsider like him. They clearly knew how formidable this woman was, yet had offered not the slightest warning. Perhaps when the job was issued, they had never expected him to succeed at all. He had been nothing more than a pawn.

In a flash, many things occurred to him, but his hands did not slow in the slightest. A ruthless gleam passed through his eyes.

He yanked hard with his right hand, and the sound of bones breaking rang out. The woman’s already deformed arm twisted completely into a grotesque knot. Her whole body shuddered, and at last she could no longer suppress a pained groan. Her strength went slack all at once. The instant her right hand loosened, Li Juxu snatched the pistol away. He flung the gun more than ten meters off, then moved his hand in a smooth downward motion. In his grasp appeared a dagger and a row of gleaming silver needles.

Still not satisfied, he quickly searched her entire body while she was helpless, making sure she had nothing else on her. Only then did he remove the backpack, pick up the handgun, and leave.

“Wait—”

Her voice trembled with pain, yet remained hauntingly soft and melodious, almost unbearably beautiful. Li Juxu ignored her. He was not sure whether what he was doing was right, but he could not bring himself to finish her off. He admitted it: he had been conquered by that face. Had it been some ugly wretch lying there instead, he would already have put a bullet through them.

“You’ve been made into someone else’s expendable piece. Go back like this, and you’ll be dead for sure!”

Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, but her tone was perfectly steady, for she possessed information Li Juxu did not.

He still did not respond. He accepted the first half of what she said, but he did not believe he would die. He had entered the Savage Beast Planet when he was fifteen and had already been a hunter for nearly three years. He had enough experience to know how to survive.

“Part Two of Three”

“You’re not a professional assassin. You took the job for money, didn’t you? Name your price, and I’ll double it!” The woman was growing anxious and spoke without thinking.

“How are you going to pay me?” Li Juxu suddenly turned around and fixed her with a burning stare.

“...” Enduring the pain, the woman sat up. At his words, a flicker of astonishment crossed her face, but she quickly recovered and said, “How can I know you won’t go back on your word?”

“Do you have another choice?” Li Juxu’s face was expressionless. Hesitation appeared in her eyes; she could not decide.

“You don’t have much time!” Li Juxu reminded her.

The woman gritted her teeth and struggled upright. Limping over to the motorcycle, she pressed something on it, and a hidden compartment was revealed. The fuel tank actually had two sections, and one of them was stuffed full of gold coins.

“Then we’re partners now!” Li Juxu tossed the pistol back to her. He took out a bag and stuffed all the coins inside. There were more than two hundred of them. The rich really were different, carrying that many gold coins around everywhere.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?” The woman stared at Li Juxu’s back. She raised the pistol several times, but in the end still gave up.

“If I die, you’ll only die faster. If the two of us work together, you still have a sliver of a chance to live. My life is worth nothing. Yours is worth a great deal.” Li Juxu stuffed the coin-filled bag into his chest, zipped it shut, and only then extended his right hand.

When he opened his palm, there was a handful of golden bullets. It turned out he had already removed all the rounds from the magazine.

“Tell me what you know first?” The woman took all the bullets as if nothing had happened.

“It’s too late. Run!” As soon as Li Juxu finished speaking, he took off running. The woman had just begun to think he was being dishonorable, taking the money and fleeing, when she immediately realized she was wrong.

A bullet hole appeared at her feet. White vapor hissed up from it, carrying a trace of heat. She said nothing, only sprinted after Li Juxu.

Within a radius of two hundred meters, the ground was flat and bare, with nowhere to hide. Only beyond that, more than two hundred meters away, was there a heap of broken rock. The enemy was over 2,500 meters out. Li Juxu knew that since the employer had sent people to kill and silence them, they had to be elite snipers—not some weakling sent casually. But at such a distance, hitting a target depended heavily on luck. The sniper was gambling on luck, and so was he.

He had missed two shots in a row, and rather than feeling relieved, he grew anxious. There were actually two snipers. The employer had truly taken this seriously. He was about to check on the woman when a shadow flashed past him. A red rear end stood out all too clearly, tracing a perfect curve.

The woman’s waist was truly slender. It was hard to believe such a slim waist could explode with such astonishing strength. Just now, when he had fought for the pistol, he had been pressing down on her body, and the contest was not confined to their hands. His legs had locked around her, their torsos tightly pressed together, and he had deeply felt her strength. If he had not held onto her broken left arm, she might already have thrown him off.

When they were twenty meters from the rubble, the woman vanished behind a rock more than a meter high. A bullet skimmed the rock’s edge, spraying a burst of stone chips. Then Li Juxu heard the sound of bullets chasing after his own rear. The two snipers had lost the woman as a target and shifted all their fire onto him.

Though injured and starting late, she still outpaced him by a mile. Li Juxu was both startled and frightened. He had truly provoked someone he should never have provoked. This side job had been far too reckless. If the woman were uninjured and in perfect condition, then in a direct confrontation she could probably kill him in three seconds.

Luck was on his side. As a bullet hissed overhead, he dashed behind the rocks. They were only half a meter high, but thick enough, at least for now, to spare him the snipers’ threat.

“At present, I’ve located eight enemies: two snipers of unknown position, two machine guns, one rocket launcher, and three others with miscellaneous weapons. They’re moving toward us rapidly. If we can’t deal with the rocket launcher first, we’re going to have trouble.” The woman held a shard of glass in her hand, probably a fragment of the motorcycle’s rearview mirror. In just a few seconds, she had mapped out the enemy’s situation. Her combat instincts were first-rate.

“The rocket launcher’s effective range is four hundred meters, and its maximum range is one thousand. I’ll take him out when he reaches one thousand.” Leaning against the rock, Li Juxu silently adjusted his breathing rhythm. He held the NC-22 sniper rifle in both hands. His eyes were closed; he did not look at the enemy’s positions, yet carried an undeniable confidence, as though whatever he said, he would surely accomplish.

“How are you planning to deal with the two snipers?” the woman asked.

“Who exactly have you offended? Or rather, who is it that wants you dead?” Li Juxu did not answer. Instead, he asked about something else.

“You’d better not know,” the woman said unwillingly.

“You know someone wants to kill you. If that’s the case, why did only one person show up? Do you still have backup?” Li Juxu asked.

“Don’t hope for miracles. I’m the only one.” Her tone was blunt and decisive.

“If I were the one trying to kill you, and I knew you well enough, I’d send people to block both ends.” Li Juxu had barely finished speaking when the woman’s expression changed. A low rumble came from ahead: a combat vehicle was approaching at high speed.

At a time like this, if a battle vehicle appeared, even a fool could guess it was not some traveler merely passing by.

“Part Three of Three”