Ding!
{Territory Link Activated}
Imdiately, Ivy felt everything within the territory.
At first, she couldn’t physically see them, but she could sense them.
Red dots were scattered all over the mountain....so dim and weak, others glowing brightly with terrifying intensity. Then, lines of information began appearing before her eyes one after another.
Ding!
{Territory Scan Activated}
{Detecting foreign lifeforms...}
{12 infected creatures detected}
{3 mutated beasts detected}
{Warning! One elite monster detected.}
{Threat Level: High}
Ivy swallowed hard, her throat suddenly turning dry, while beside her, Sunny let out a low, uneasy growl.
From the outside, the mountain had appeared peaceful and quiet, almost beautiful even. But now Ivy realized that the calm scenery was nothing more than bait carefully designed to lure desperate survivors in.
Her expression darkened.
Using the territory skill again, Ivy focused harder, extending her awareness deeper into the mountain.
She could now vaguely "see" everything through the territory connection.
Bitten survivors wandered aimlessly through the fog-covered paths, their bodies trembling as they struggled between retaining their humanity and transforming into monsters. So slamd weakly against walls while muttering incoherent words. Others crouched in corners, gnawing desperately on raw flesh.
And then there were the smaller creatures.
Tiny monsters resembling malford children crawled around on all fours, producing creepy clicking sounds from their throats as they skittered through the abandoned houses.
The hos scattered across the mountain were no longer abandoned.
They were occupied.
Broken doors hung crookedly from rusted hinges. Blood stains covered the floors and walls. Deep claw marks stretched across wooden surfaces, as though sothing monstrous had repeatedly scraped against them in hunger and rage.
So windows still had dried handprints sared against the glass.
The entire mountain was a death trap.
Survivors who had mistaken this place for a safe haven had unknowingly walked straight into a feeding ground.
Thinking about it carefully, Ivy suddenly realized how fortunate she and the children had been all this ti.
The only reason monsters had never reached their shelter was because of the system shield constantly surrounding it. Without that invisible protection, the creatures would’ve long discovered them.
Now that the mountain had beco part of her territory, Ivy no longer intended to tolerate their existence.
Her gaze sharpened coldly.
"Alright..." Ivy muttered while gripping the Sky-47 gun tightly. "Ti to clear this place of monsters."
Her voice was calm, but determination burned fiercely in her eyes.
She strapped a quiver of arrows onto her back before stepping forward cautiously. Sunny imdiately followed beside her, tail lowered but wagging faintly as though trying to stay brave for Ivy’s sake.
The deeper they ventured into the mountain, the colder the atmosphere beca.
After a few minutes, low growls gradually echoed through the fog.
The sound sent chills down Ivy’s spine.
Even Sunny no longer dared to bark. The usually energetic dog remained glued tightly to Ivy’s side, every hair on her body standing upright in alertness.
Thick smoke and mist covered the area, making it difficult for ordinary people to see more than a few feet ahead.
But Ivy wasn’t bothered.
Thanks to the territory link, she could sense every movent clearly.
Sothing was moving ahead.
Several things.
Slowly, Ivy tightened her grip around the gun.
Crunch.
A soft sound suddenly echoed beneath her boots.
Ivy froze instantly.
Sunny stopped moving too, letting out the faintest whine.
Looking down carefully, Ivy’s pupils contracted.
Bones.
Human bones and before Ivy could react further.....
Grrrrrrr...
A deep growl suddenly echoed from the thick fog ahead.
Then another....and another.
Soon, pairs of glowing red eyes began appearing within the smoke one after another.
Before the creature could pounce on Ivy....
Bang!
The gunshot echoed sharply through the mountain.
The monster dropped lifelessly to the ground with half its skull blown apart.
Only then did Ivy finally get a proper look at it.
It had once been human.
The infected woman hadn’t fully transford yet. Her stomach had been torn open violently, exposing rotting flesh and darkened organs. Her eyes were deeply sunken, almost hollow, while patches of gray skin peeled from her face.
Yet despite her horrifying appearance, traces of humanity still lingered faintly in her expression.
Ivy’s eyes darkened slightly.
But before she could study the creature any longer....
Grrrrrrr!
More monsters erged from the thick fog.
So crawled on all fours.
So staggered forward awkwardly.
So were child-sized creatures with twisted limbs, while others were fully transford adults with exposed teeth and bloodied claws.
A few still wore tattered human clothing.
Others no longer resembled humans at all.
Without wasting another second....
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots exploded continuously throughout the mountain.
Monsters charged from all directions, their terrifying growls mixing together into a chaotic storm of noise. So lunged recklessly toward Ivy while others targeted Sunny, but Ivy remained calm the entire ti.
Her movents beca smoother and sharper with every shot.
One bullet.
One kill.
Bodies dropped to the ground one after another.
Dark blood splattered across rocks and dead grass while Sunny growled fiercely beside her, occasionally darting forward to force back creatures that got too close.
A child-sized monster suddenly leapt from the roof of a broken villa.
Bang!
Its body flew backward instantly.
Another infected survivor stumbled out from behind a tree while shrieking madly.
Bang!
A clean shot directly through the forehead.
Soon, the sounds of gunfire gradually faded.
The loud growls of monsters disappeared alongside it.
Silence returned to the mountain once more.
Only the cold wind remained.
Ding!
{Congratulations Host. You’ve gained a total of one thousand points for killing twenty low-level monsters.}
{You now have a total of two thousand points.}
"That’s great!" Ivy exclaid with satisfaction, a smile finally appearing on her face.
Just then, her Territory Link skill activated again.
A strange sensation spread through her mind.
Sunny reacted first.
The dog suddenly rushed toward the half-transford female infected lying nearby. Growling angrily, Sunny bit down hard on the torn trousers of the corpse as though venting her hatred toward the monsters.
At the sa mont....
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several more gunshots rang out.
Monsters that had attempted to sneak toward Ivy from different directions were imdiately eliminated before they could even get close. Their growls died in their throats as their bodies collapsed heavily onto the ground.
The strong sll of blood and decay filled the air thickly.
But Ivy barely paid attention to it anymore.
Instead, she simply continued moving forward alongside Sunny, advancing deeper into the mountain together.
Ding!
"Hm?" Ivy raised an eyebrow curiously, resting one hand against her waist. "What now?"
{Congratulations Host. You’ve been granted additional points for further expanding your territory.}
"Oh?" Ivy’s eyes lit up instantly. "How many points?"
Ding!
{A total of one thousand points have been granted to the Host.}
"Oh yeah!" Ivy cheered excitedly. "That’s three thousand points now. At this rate, I might actually be able to buy the rifle sooner than expected."
A pleased grin appeared on her face.
"Thank you, System."
Ding!
{I did nothing, Host. You earned it yourself.}
Ivy chuckled softly.
Ding!
{A companion has been successfully detected.}
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