When the mutated frog died, everyone felt like they were dreaming.
They all stood frozen in place, not moving at all.
It wasn’t until Sang Chu used her small portable healing pod on the child who had escaped the frog’s mouth that he managed to come back to life.
Zuo Xuefeng stared at her, stunned for a while before finally regaining his senses. “You’re Sang Chu?”
She nodded. She wiped the blood off her clothes with her longsword. “Sorry, when we met that day, I had just woken up. My throat was in bad condition—I couldn’t speak.”
“No… no problem. You’ve been hunting mutated creatures outside all this time?”
“Mm.”
Zuo Xuefeng said, “No wonder Hua Xi couldn’t find you. Later, someone with your exact name uploaded footage of mutated creatures from their storage box to calculate the reward. She was terrified at first—thought it wasn’t you. Who would’ve thought…”
After seeing her skill today, Zuo Xuefeng didn’t doubt for a second that the mercenary who earned those sky-high bounties was Sang Chu.
Cao Dianhui, drenched in sweat, took off his helmet, shook off the water in his hair, and walked over.
“Thank you for saving us. I’m Cao Dianhui. Might I ask… how did you kill the mutated frog?”
That was crucial information for them. Zuo Xuefeng looked at Sang Chu with the same hopeful expression.
Sang Chu took out her longsword. “I found this weapon in an earth dragon’s nest. It’s strange, but very effective. It can kill mutated creatures. Also, sharpened bamboo can pierce their skin. There’s a bamboo forest over there—I set traps there and hunted a mutated frog using those. Rocks, trees, anything sharpened can injure mutated creatures.”
Liu Weipeng said, “No way… those things work better than our weapons?”
Sang Chu knew it was hard for them to accept, so she opened the holographic view of her storage box.
“It’s probably elemental restraint. I killed the frog with bamboo. Those bees, mosquitoes, and mutated little creatures—I lured them into pits and burned them alive. The crocodiles were pierced with sharp rocks. The earth dragon was killed by vine strangulation. I was afraid it would regenerate, so I kept it wrapped. You’ll know once you try—there’s no way to fake this.”
Seeing the contents of her storage box, no one dared question her anymore. Their eyes widened, afraid to miss a single detail of a method that could kill mutated creatures.
Kang Liqian stared at her yellow blade, so different from a laser knife.
“You said you found that knife in the earth dragon nest—why don’t you have any mutated creatures killed with that knife?”
Sang Chu scratched her head awkwardly. “I was curious when I picked it up, so I tried it on a dead mutated creature. Then… I sliced the long-tail fish and grilled it to eat.”
“Hahaha!”
Seeing her embarrassed expression, the mercenaries burst into loud laughter. Zuo Xuefeng patted her shoulder.
“What’s there to be embarrassed about? Anyone who stays in the wild long enough wants to eat meat!”
Kang Liqian hadn’t expected that answer—he was just curious. “Then… Sang Chu, later could you use that blade to help us cut some things?”
Liu Weipeng: “Yeah yeah yeah—we caught a few wild mountain chickens. Can you process them for us?”
Sang Chu: “Sure.”
Zuo Xuefeng said, “Sang Chu, that mutated frog is your trophy. Put it away quickly. Want to rest at our temporary base?”
Sang Chu looked at him. “You don’t want the mutated frog?”
Its bounty was high. She had originally planned to offer them a split—but seeing how many were injured, and remembering how Zuo Xuefeng had previously saved her, she felt embarrassed to bring it up.
But she really, desperately needed money.
Kang Liqian said, “You killed it—we can’t take what’s yours. Hurry, store it and come back with us to the base. I want roasted wild chicken!”
Food attracted them more than money.
To mercenaries, who killed the creature didn’t matter. What mattered was that the mutated creature was dead and their teammates were alive. That was more valuable than the reward.
And now they’d learned important new information—when they returned, they had to get the footage from the guild and spread this hunting technique. That would greatly reduce future casualties.
Hearing their words, Sang Chu was deeply shaken. She never imagined people in this mutated world would be like this.
She thought only Zuo Xuefeng and Hua Xi were kind.
But now she realized—most people in this world were kind.
Sang Chu had originally wanted to sell the golden longsword for money, but now she stared blankly at it.
Tu You noticed her distraction. 【A-Chu, are you alright?】
When she didn’t answer, Tu You just squatted on her shoulder quietly, watching her efficiently process the Level 5 creatures the mercenaries had brought.
Not saying a word.
Zuo Xuefeng sat beside her. “A-Chu, are you okay?”
She shook her head. Liu Weipeng thought she might be unhappy about processing too many creatures, so he quickly said:
“A-Chu, no need to do so many! This is enough! Just wait and eat—our cooking is great!”
Sang Chu stopped working and looked at them. Seeing the concern written on each face, she took a deep breath and handed the longsword to Zuo Xuefeng.
“I like living in the wild. I might find more things like this later. Take this sword—consider it thanks for saving me.”
Zuo Xuefeng: “No way, no way. This is yours—I can’t take it.”
Liu Weipeng: “Yeah, A-Chu, you got that from killing mutated creatures. It’s clearly a rare resource. You keep it!”
“That’s exactly why I want you to have it. With this, you’ll be much safer in the wild. You’re good people. I want you to stay safe.”
Her words left Zuo Xuefeng silent. Mercenary missions were life-and-death. Everyone wanted to survive if they could—but they couldn’t stop clearing mutated creatures.
The more mutated creatures existed, the less land humans could inhabit.
Zuo Xuefeng said, “A-Chu, I don’t want to refuse. Everyone knows how strong this weapon is. But I can’t let you give it for free. I’ll hand it to Dr. Li—whatever reward you deserve, you must receive.”
“It’s okay, take it. I’ll go check the earth dragon nest later—I didn’t search thoroughly. There might be more.”
Cao Dianhui laughed. “Silly girl, people above have money. Don’t be polite—take what’s yours. But yes, this thing is great. Where is the nest? We’ll go with you. More people, more strength.”
“It’s in the pit not far from here. You eat first—no rush.”
She needed to hurry and condense gold for Tu You to toss inside the nest. They couldn’t see Tu You, so it was perfect.
(End of this chapter)