Ryan's voice was devoid of emotion as he pointed his gun at a pale-faced male team member.
"No! Ryan, you'll get me killed!"
The male team member backed away in terror, his body trembling violently. Why! Why was he the one chosen out of so many people!
"Either take a gamble—lure it away and you might live—or die right now."
Ryan's finger tightened slightly on the trigger; that cold muzzle was more persuasive than any words.
The man's face turned ghostly pale. He looked at the poised giant python, then at Ryan's emotionless eyes and the indifferent trio of Lucas behind him. Finally, the instinct for survival overrode his fear.
He let out a desperate roar, grabbed a rock, and hurled it at the distant python!
"Thud!"
The sound caught the Blood Python's attention, and its massive head snapped toward the man.
Taking the chance, the man scrambled to the side, making noise as he ran.
The Blood Python was quickly drawn to the fleeing man. Its body twisted, sliding off the fallen log with a gust of rank wind as it chased the figure into the dense vegetation.
At this moment, the fallen log connecting to the cliff was free from the python's threat, but the Blood Pythons in the deep pool were starting to stir. Had they not been mating, they would have climbed up long ago.
Ryan knew time was of the essence. He had to seize this brief window. The dark muzzle of his gun immediately turned toward the only female scientist in the team, Sam.
"Now, you go! Harvest the blood orchids!"
Sam's face was as white as a sheet, but under the threat of the gun, she had no choice.
Seeing this, the story's protagonists could only grit their teeth. If it were just Ryan, they would have resisted long ago, but behind him stood the exceptionally powerful trio of Lucas.
Having witnessed the strength of those three, they knew they stood no chance against such ruthless individuals who could hunt Blood Pythons.
Staring at the intertwined Blood Pythons in the deep pool, Sam's throat bobbed as she swallowed hard. Her body wouldn't stop shaking as she cautiously stepped onto the slippery log, every step feeling like walking on a blade's edge.
The murky pool below was like the maw of a giant beast, waiting to swallow anyone who slipped. Those Blood Pythons tried to climb upward to devour the intruder.
Hanging upside down in the shadows, Lilith took everything in.
She suppressed all her aura, her gaze fixed intently on their movements, waiting for the moment of peak chaos.
Sam finally reached the cliff with great difficulty. She grabbed the backpack Ryan had tossed over and quickly gathered the enchanting red flowers until the bag was stuffed full.
Seeing that the Blood Pythons below were about to climb up and the withered wood was on the verge of snapping, Ryan pointed his gun at Sam, his eyes filled with excitement and tension.
"Throw the backpack over! Hurry!"
Faced with the threat of the firearm, no matter how terrified she was, Sam could only comply. She prayed that once Ryan got the blood orchids and left, she might be able to escape her current predicament.
However, at the very moment Sam exerted all her strength to hurl the backpack full of blood orchids back to the shore...
A sudden change occurred!
Lucas, who had been standing behind Ryan watching him, moved!
His movements were startlingly fast. With a sudden stride, he appeared behind Ryan.
A dagger had appeared in his hand at some unknown point. Before Ryan could react, he accurately and ruthlessly slit his throat!
Ryan clutched his spurting throat, his eyes full of shock and resentment. He turned to look at Lucas, opened his mouth to speak, but ultimately collapsed heavily, his body rolling into the deep pool.
Shiki and Leon also stepped forward. They didn't even look at Ryan as he fell into the pool; instead, they approached the backpack, intending to pick up the one filled with blood orchids.
But a white shadow was faster than them.
Lilith dived down like a cannonball! When her one-meter wingspan unfurled in the moonlight, the shadow it cast made everyone's breath hitch.
"What is that thing!"
The people around them cried out in shock. When they saw the creature's true appearance, they couldn't help but step back, their faces filled with horror.
The size and appearance of this bat exceeded their understanding; it couldn't possibly be a normal creature! Moreover, it wasn't any species of bat they had ever seen! This was an entirely new species!
Shiki and the other didn't expect things to take such a turn. The moment they bent down, Lilith's sharp claws accurately snatched the backpack off the ground! She quickly flew toward the sky, the entire motion clean and efficient without the slightest hesitation.
However, Lucas seemed to have anticipated all of this.
His gaze was locked onto Lilith. The combat instincts from his long-term military training allowed him to make the correct reaction instantly: draw, aim, and fire—all in one fluid motion!
The movements were as smooth as if they had been practiced a thousand times!
"Bang!"
The gunshot rang out.
A crisis alarm instantly exploded in Lilith's mind. She had already detected his movement the moment he raised his hand.
Even she hadn't expected that Lucas would have a firearm and keep it hidden until now.
During her two days of surveillance, she hadn't seen Lucas use a pistol even when facing the threat of the Blood Pythons or other critical situations.
Lilith struggled to veer off course, but the bullet's speed far exceeded her flight speed!
Lilith felt a sharp pain in her right Bat Wing as a tearing sensation washed over her. Her flight posture instantly spiraled out of control, and she crashed sideways into the dense shrubbery below along with the backpack.
The moment her body was obscured by the grass, Lilith endured the intense pain and focused her consciousness.
"Store!"
The weight beneath her claws vanished as the backpack full of blood orchids was instantly taken into her system space!
The two Reincarnators followed closely, charging into the grass to search for the backpack.
However, Lucas shouted loudly from behind!
"Careful! It's a Hunter!"
Just as Lucas finished speaking, Lilith suddenly lunged out of the grass. Ignoring the gunshot wound on her Bat Wing, she flapped her wings with all her might, pouncing like a sharp arrow directly at Leon, who was closest to her.
Her Wing Blades drew a cold, glinting arc in the air!
Leon hadn't expected this bat to be a Hunter. Faced with Lilith's sneak attack, he tried to dodge in a hurry, but it was already too late.
The Wing Blade grazed Leon's throat, slicing a gash directly across it.
Seizing this brief moment, Lilith flapped her Bat Wings and exerted her full strength to fly toward the opposite cliff.
She couldn't fly far now. Below the cliff was the deep pool where the Blood Pythons lurked. As long as she crossed this pool, the barrier of the water and the pythons would give her enough time to hide and wait for the story to end so she could Return.
As for any other route, it would be impossible to evade the search of the three Reincarnators.
"Bang! Bang!"
Lucas's eyes were cold, his vision locked onto the flying Lilith.
He had suspected earlier that a Hunter was lurking nearby. Especially when killing the Blood Pythons, he could feel a pair of eyes watching him from the shadows.
Therefore, Lucas had been on guard against third-party intervention, which was why he hadn't revealed that he possessed a handgun.
Out of the six participants, one had always been missing. That participant was likely lurking in the dark, waiting for an opportunity.
He just hadn't expected that this last participant wouldn't even be human!
Bullets whistled through the air. Lilith felt her body jolt again as the edge of her left wing and a hind limb were hit in succession, her strength draining rapidly.
She could no longer maintain flight. Like a broken kite, she slammed heavily onto the edge of the cliff covered in moss and rubble.
Lilith struggled to get up, only to hear an ominous cracking sound from the rock layer beneath her.
At the same time, Sam, who had fallen toward the pool, climbed back up, with a Blood Python hot on her heels.
The Blood Python watched Sam as she reached the shore, arching its body and opening its massive maw to strike at her.
Sam quickly grabbed a nearby fuel canister and threw it at the python, but by sheer coincidence, the python bit into it, tearing it open before tossing it into the pool below.
Seeing this, the Black team member quickly found a flare gun in a backpack on the ground and fired it into the python's mouth.
The residual fuel was instantly ignited, and the python fell into the pool below along with the flames.
An explosion followed, sending water spraying into the air as firelight illuminated the dim night.
The surrounding cliff walls began to loosen and slide. Lilith's figure plummeted into the deep pit along with the collapsing cliff, buried alive without a trace... On the shore, Lucas arrived with a livid expression because he couldn't find the backpack where the bat had fallen.
He only found a few stray blood orchids left behind.
"Damn it, all that work for nothing!"
Shiki supported Leon as they walked over from behind, their faces grim. Lucas looked at Leon's wounded neck, then shifted his gaze to the story's protagonists. He gave them one of the blood orchids, completed the mission, and chose to Return.
The blood orchid habitat had been destroyed. If what the natives said was true, the predators from the deepest parts of this forest had likely been disturbed. Every extra second spent here meant more danger.
The protagonist's group stared blankly at the blood orchid in their hands, then at the silhouettes of Lucas's trio disappearing into the jungle, a bitter smile appearing on their lips.
They had thought Lucas's trio had betrayed them, but it turned out they were just beating them at their own game, while they themselves had been cursing them in their hearts...