Luciel led Yue Feiyan down the wide street that stretched below the high ground of Black Tortoise City.

The afternoon light was fading, casting long, golden shadows across the earth. Waiting ahead were Wei Geng and sixteen members of the hunting team, standing neatly in two rows. Their weapons were ready, and the faint air of nervous excitement filled the space around them.

"Lord City Lord!" Wei Geng called out respectfully the moment he saw Luciel.

"Sir!" the sixteen hunters echoed in unison, their voices crisp and disciplined.

Luciel nodded slightly. "Let's move."

He didn't waste words. With that single command, he led the group away from the back of the massive Rock Tortoise and descended to the barren ground below.

The wind was dry and cool. By now, the sky was beginning to dim; streaks of faint orange light painted the western horizon.

Luciel lifted his sleeve and glanced at the small, silver watch fastened around his wrist—it read a little past 4:30 in the afternoon.

Yue Feiyan, walking beside him, noticed the motion. "What's that?" she asked curiously, leaning in a little closer. Her bright red eyes reflected the soft gleam of the metal.

"It's called a watch," Luciel explained, lowering his arm again. "It tells the time."

The watch was one of the few precious items he had brought from Earth. In a world with no clocks or electricity, it had become a quiet reminder of civilization.

"Tells the time?" Yue Feiyan blinked, puzzled. She tilted her head back, gazing at the darkening sky. "But... can't you just tell by looking up?"

Luciel couldn't help but smile faintly. "Maybe. But I prefer precision."

He turned toward the dry wilderness ahead. "Come on. Let's try to finish before nightfall. I don't want to be out here when it gets dark."

The nights in this wasteland were freezing, and danger multiplied after dusk.

The massive Rock Tortoise had stopped at a distance from the edge of the dry woods. Luciel knew better than to bring it closer—the sheer size and aura of the creature would scare off any potential prey long before they arrived.

Taking the lead, Luciel walked ahead. Beyond them stretched a vast wilderness, dotted with hills and covered in lifeless, withered trees.

"Lord City Lord," Wei Geng called out after a while, pointing to the right. "We plan to enter the dry woods from that direction to search for prey."

Luciel followed his gesture. The dry forest loomed like a graveyard of trees, dark and silent. It would be nearly impossible to find beasts in the open wasteland, so splitting up in the woods was the better option.

"Go ahead," Luciel said, waving his hand.

Though this was his first organized hunt, he intended to observe their methods closely. He had already sent the Red Ghost Spiders and Tricolor Lizards ahead to scout the area.

Wei Geng turned to his men. "Follow the usual formation. Stay sharp."

"Yes, sir!"

The hunting team split into four groups, each with four members. Wei Geng stayed close to Luciel with one of the groups, ready to respond at a moment's notice should anything threaten the City Lord.

Luciel nodded toward Yue Feiyan. "Let's go in, too."

Together, they stepped beneath the skeletal canopy of the dry woods.

A chill wind blew through, whistling through the hollow branches.

"Neigh—"

The sound made a ghostly tone, like the faint cry of something unseen.

Yue Feiyan flinched, instinctively moving closer to Luciel. She hesitated several times, almost reaching for the edge of his sleeve—but pride and embarrassment held her back.

The eerie silence stretched between them. Finally, she spoke just to break it. "Luciel, why do you think all the trees here are dead?"

Luciel shook his head slowly. "I'm not sure either."

He'd been wondering the same thing since they left the city. How could such a large region be completely lifeless? If this decay stretched across the entire world... what would happen to the air itself? Was this some kind of natural disaster—or something man-made?

"If the trees here were like the ones in Black Tortoise City," Yue Feiyan said softly, her tone full of innocent longing, "that would be wonderful."

Luciel smiled faintly. "We'll build our own forest one day—inside the city. A living forest that will never die."

"You think it'll take a long time?" she asked, frowning slightly. Her red brows knitted together in worry.

She wanted to see it—before she grew old or before something else took her life first.

Luciel's expression softened. "Don't think too far ahead. Let's focus on finding our prey first."

He knew what was going through her mind. But with enough beast cores, even creating an entire forest was only a matter of time and resources—not of years or decades.

"Alright," Yue Feiyan murmured, pouting slightly.

The forest was monotonous and silent. Every direction looked the same—gray trunks, twisted branches, and cold wind. Only the shifting shadows of dead trees gave the illusion of movement.

As the minutes passed, the sun disappeared completely. Darkness began to blanket the wasteland.

"I still haven't seen anything," Yue Feiyan muttered, frowning. She raised her hand, and a small flame flared to life on her palm, casting warm light over the surrounding area.

Luciel scanned the gloom ahead. "It's normal. Prey is rare here."

He focused briefly, connecting to Xiaohong and Xiaocai, his domesticated beasts. They, too, had found nothing.

"Eh? Why do you say it's normal?" Yue Feiyan asked, happy to have something to talk about.

Luciel glanced back at her. "Because of the food chain."

"The... food chain?" she repeated, confused.

He nodded. "All living things are part of it—plants, herbivores, carnivores. When one link breaks, everything else collapses. No plants means no herbivores. No herbivores means no predators. Only insects and small, adaptable creatures can survive that kind of imbalance."

He paused, his tone darkening slightly. "Or... those that have evolved into something else entirely."

"Evolved?" Yue Feiyan blinked. "I don't get it."

Luciel smiled faintly. "I'll explain later. For now, be quiet."

He lifted a finger to his lips. "Something's nearby."

Yue Feiyan's eyes widened. She immediately dimmed the flame in her palm, leaving only a faint glow.

Luciel narrowed his eyes, every sense sharpening. The faint rustle of air, the shift of soil underfoot—he could feel it. Something had been following them for several minutes now, watching from the shadows.

He sent a mental command to the Red Ghost Spider and the Tricolor Lizard to circle around the area, forming a loose trap. Whatever it was, it would soon reveal itself.

Yue Feiyan swallowed nervously. The silence pressed in.

"Gulup—"

The tiny sound of her gulp echoed louder than it should have.

Then—

Crackle.

A subtle sound came from below.

"Careful!" Luciel's expression hardened.

Before Yue Feiyan could react, Luciel's arm wrapped firmly around her waist. His legs tensed, and with a powerful kick, he leapt upward more than five meters into the air.

Boom!

A moment later, the ground beneath where they had stood exploded.

Dirt and shattered rocks burst outward as a monstrous creature erupted from the earth. Its gaping mouth split into four fleshy petals, lined with rows of sharp, twitching tendrils that whipped through the air like living whips.

"So it was hiding underground," Luciel muttered, scanning the thing even as they hung in midair.

Still holding the red-haired girl close, he fired a strand of spider silk from his wrist. It shot through the air and latched onto a dead tree nearby. With a swift kick, he swung them both toward it and landed on a thick branch.

"The... Nine-Segment Demon Insect!" Yue Feiyan gasped in horror.

Her arms tightened instinctively around Luciel's waist, her red eyes wide with fear. Below them, the monstrous worm writhed furiously, its segmented body twisting as it searched for its lost prey.

"'Nine-Segment Demon'?" Luciel repeated, his gaze sharpening.

Now that he could see it clearly, he noticed its body—massive and ringed with thick, rounded joints, like a chain of fleshy wheels.

Yue Feiyan nodded quickly. "Yes. The Nine-Segment Demon Insect is a mid-tier, low-grade beast. I've seen sketches of it from the hunting teams."

She had spent long evenings pestering the hunters for stories and details about the creatures they faced—hoping that one day, she'd be strong enough to join them.

Luciel's eyes brightened slightly. "A mid-level beast, huh? That's not bad."

Even if he didn't domesticate it, the beast core alone could provide him with at least a thousand evolution points.

"Shreee—!"

The monster hissed loudly, its tendrils lashing through the air. Sensing its prey had escaped, it began to burrow back into the earth.

Luciel's lips curved in a cold smile. "Trying to run, are you? Not this time."

He released Yue Feiyan gently—but when he tried to move, he realized her hands were still locked around his waist.

He patted her hand lightly. "Get ready. I'll capture it."

"Okay," she said quickly, blushing as she let go and grabbed the tree trunk instead.

Swoosh!

Luciel raised his hand, and more than a dozen threads of spider silk shot out, gleaming faintly in the darkness. They struck the worm's body, wrapping around its thick segments. The other ends anchored firmly to several nearby trees.

The Nine-Segment Demon Insect let out an ear-splitting screech, its three-meter-long body thrashing violently. The tension snapped branches and made the anchored trees creak and crack under the strain.

"Strong, aren't you?" Luciel muttered, leaping lightly to the ground.

Now face-to-face with the creature, he could see its features clearly—and he frowned slightly. The thing was grotesque, its slimy skin pulsating faintly, giving off a strange, unpleasant stench.

He hesitated. Should he even bother taming something so foul?

After all, every additional domesticated beast consumed precious evolution points—especially large ones. The Rock Tortoise alone required sixty points per day just to sustain its massive body.

And more importantly, he had to think strategically. The cooperation and growth of his domesticated beasts would determine the strength of his city—and his future.

Luciel watched the monster thrash within its silken restraints, his mind already calculating possibilities.

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