Chapter 59: Double Kill

"What a pity!"

Watching the vicious hound that had narrowly evaded the armor-piercing round, Zhang Ran shook his head with some regret, then gripped his military dagger, preparing to face his enemy.

Although the combination of an automatic rifle and armor-piercing rounds was formidable—enough to threaten even mutated creatures with a physique of 10 points—there was a prerequisite: the bullet had to hit its target.

This was not a simple matter. In reality, as long as a mutated creature maintained a distance of over a hundred meters from the muzzle and had an agility above three points, it had more than a fifty-percent chance of dodging bullets from an automatic rifle. As for those higher-level mutated beasts, hitting them required a sniper rifle, a psychic firearm, or a corresponding ability.

Just as Zhang Ran raised his dagger, the uninjured vicious hound in the distance had already steadied itself. It sprang forward with all four limbs, bounding effortlessly across the wasteland, its eyes gleaming with murderous intent as it charged toward Zhang Ran.

Facing a hound as large as a Tibetan mastiff, Zhang Ran showed no fear. Brandishing his level-2 alloy military dagger, he was brimming with energy as he went forth to meet the beast. When dealing with a lone level-1 mutated creature like this, Zhang Ran was confident in his ability to finish it off.

In less than ten seconds, he and the vicious hound came face-to-face. The hound suddenly leaped and, with a swipe of its paw in midair, slashed fiercely at Zhang Ran's head.

"Well come!"

Prepared for this attack, Zhang Ran remained unflustered. With a swift motion, he slashed his level-2 alloy dagger forward, a cold gleam slicing through the air to meet the hound's deadly claw. At the same moment, Zhang Ran focused his mind and activated the ability rune within his sea of consciousness.

As his thought stirred, the crimson "Blood Plunder" rune on the first layer of that mysterious evolutionary tree within his mind burst into light. A razor-sharp blood spike shot out from his arm, tracing a scarlet arc through the air as it plunged fiercely toward the hound's eye.

Clang!

In less than half a second, the level-2 alloy dagger in Zhang Ran's hand collided with the hound’s claw in midair, producing a metallic clang and a shower of sparks.

As a level-1 mutated beast, the hound's claws were strong enough to tear through thin steel plates, boasting hardness and resilience comparable to a weaker level-2 alloy—just a notch below Zhang Ran's dagger. At the moment of impact, the beast’s claw was only nicked, not severed.

The force of the collision sent Zhang Ran stumbling back two steps before he regained his footing. His arm, gripping the alloy dagger, was left tingling, and his palm ached.

The hound’s strength was at 3.4 points—slightly higher than Zhang Ran’s—and with the momentum of its charge, it was reasonable that Zhang Ran was forced back. Yet, the hound itself was also flung away by Zhang Ran’s strike.

As the hound hung in the air, unable to dodge, Zhang Ran’s blood spike pierced mercilessly into its eye, bursting the eyeball, then shooting straight through its skull and deep into the brain with residual force.

Under the immense power of the blood spike, the hound’s brain was instantly churned into a mess of pale gray matter. Its body, robbed of all control, collapsed limply to the ground. Its limbs kicked convulsively out of instinct, and its body writhed in grotesque spasms. The light of life faded rapidly from its remaining eye.

Though the vicious hound, as a level-1 mutated beast, possessed extraordinary vitality, it could not survive with its brain shattered. In less than ten seconds, the creature's movements ceased completely, and not a trace of life remained in its solitary eye.

With the hound's death, a surge of evolutionary energy drifted from its corpse into Zhang Ran’s body. At his mental command, the blood spike activated the special effect of "Blood Plunder." Instantly, the hound’s body shriveled and dried up.

With a tap of his finger, a large sphere of blood welled up from the hound’s mouth—the blood spike along with the blood it had absorbed. Gazing at the dark gray blood, Zhang Ran shook his head again.

"The radiation is still too much. It seems that only the blood of humans or higher-level mutated beasts absorbed by the blood spike is actually useful. Still, draining an enemy’s blood in battle can greatly weaken them—quite practical, really!"

At his thought, the blood sphere around the spike dispersed and drifted away, creating a small blood rain. The spike itself flowed back into Zhang Ran’s body, merging once more with him.

Having slain the vicious hound, Zhang Ran picked up the AM41 automatic rifle from the ground and strode over to the previously crippled hound. The beast was still writhing and howling in pain, but Zhang Ran raised the rifle, aimed at its head, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A burst of flame leapt from the muzzle. An armor-piercing bullet shot out, striking the hound’s head and shattering it instantly like a smashed watermelon—red and white matter splattering everywhere. Another surge of evolutionary energy drifted from its body into Zhang Ran.

"Vicious hound slain. Evolution energy absorbed. Evolution point condensation increased by 2.12%. Current progress: 10.52%. Current evolution points: 0 out of 3."

"Vicious hound slain. Evolution energy absorbed. Physical attributes enhanced: Strength +0.003, Physique +0.002, Agility +0.003, Spirit +0.002."

The chip’s notification sounded in his mind. At the same time, Zhang Ran bent down and wielded his dagger to slice off the ten front claws of the hound. These claws, as hard as level-2 alloy, could be easily refined into weapons or used as materials for level-2 synthesis.

Next, Zhang Ran turned over the hound’s body, exposing its belly. He stabbed the military dagger in hard, then sliced downward, opening up the beast.

Probing within the hound’s abdomen, he soon found an oval, gray-black object in its stomach. It resembled a stone, but shone with a luster beyond that of ordinary rock, studded with several rounded protrusions.

This stone-like object was the hound’s bezoar, which had potent detoxifying properties and was an ingredient required for many level-2 and level-3 potions—quite valuable indeed.

With a slight lift of his lips, Zhang Ran took out a special container and stored the bezoar. He then repeated the same process with the other hound’s corpse.