Chapter Sixty-Four: Y-Type Alien Plant

At the same time, the man’s photograph was projected into the sky, with a giant red X scrawled across it. Remaining survivors on the island: seventeen.

After the man was killed by that woman, Qin Fei drew his pistol and aimed at her head.

Perhaps afraid the gunshot would attract other survivors in the vicinity, the woman moved swiftly. She touched the green pillar of light, grabbed the supply crate without even looking at its contents, and stuffed everything into her backpack. Then, she quickly scanned the items dropped beside the man’s corpse, rapidly picking out a few things she deemed valuable and adding them to her pack, ignoring the rest.

This place was now unsafe, between the airdrop beacon and the gunfire. Without hesitation, the woman abandoned the remaining loot and turned to leave. Every movement was cautious and deliberate.

Because the woman was always on the move and still some distance from Qin Fei, he wasn’t confident he could score a clean headshot. That was why he hesitated.

Anxiety crept into Qin Fei’s heart. The woman was about to disappear; if he didn’t shoot now, he’d lose his chance once she left.

Bang!

Qin Fei pulled the trigger.

The bullet struck her right calf. She staggered, her leg buckling beneath her, and dropped to one knee.

Strike while the iron’s hot.

Qin Fei fired several more shots in quick succession.

But the woman’s reflexes were razor-sharp. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she rolled away from her position, narrowly evading the remaining bullets.

Qin Fei frowned. After taking a bullet to the leg, it was impossible for an ordinary person to react like that.

Clearly, judging from her evasive maneuvers, she must have already obtained the passive skill “Basic Constitution Enhancement” from the Ark. This was a fixed imprint skill—any survivor who visited the Ark could acquire it.

Moreover, the distance between him and the woman was considerable, so it wasn’t surprising she managed to escape, even after being shot.

After dodging Qin Fei’s shots, the woman paid her injury no mind. She turned and fled in the opposite direction from the gunfire—toward a patch of dense woods.

She wouldn’t get far.

In her wounded state, and with the island’s forests teeming with dangerous predators, Qin Fei was confident he could catch up if he remained cautious.

He sprang up from his crouch and leapt onto Big Nose’s back.

He patted Big Nose’s rump, signaling it to give chase in the woman’s direction.

Once she slipped into the woods, the woman vanished from sight.

Qin Fei had lost her trail.

But it wasn’t a major problem. With him close on her heels, she’d have no chance to bandage her wound.

Inside the forest, drops of her blood dotted the ground.

Qin Fei slid off Big Nose’s back, swapped his pistol for the shotgun, and followed the trail of fresh blood.

Even with her enhanced constitution, the woman couldn’t recover instantly from a gunshot wound.

After about a hundred meters, the bloodstains became thicker and fresher—still glistening, barely congealed.

She had to be close.

Qin Fei heightened his vigilance, gripping his shotgun tightly as he scanned his surroundings.

Suddenly—splat!

The earth beneath his feet erupted, and several red plant tendrils shot out, instantly ensnaring him where he stood.

What the hell was this?

Qin Fei found his arms and legs tightly bound, immobilized on the spot.

A flash of panic crossed his face.

It was over...

He shouldn’t have chased her into the dense forest like this. His recent overconfidence had led him straight into a trap.

Glancing down, he recognized the tendrils—they were almost identical to the Y-Plant Traps from the Ark game.

Y-Plant Traps were produced by a mutant Y-Plant, which, once mature, had no offensive capability itself. But its fruit could be harvested by survivors and buried as a trap. When triggered, the Y-Plant’s roots would spring from the earth, binding any creature that passed by.

But Y-Plants were unique to the Scorched Earth world of Ark. There shouldn’t be any on this island.

The only possibility was that the woman had obtained this trap from the airdrop crate.

Just his luck—he’d walked straight into it!

As he struggled in vain against the Y-Plant’s grip, the woman emerged from a nearby thicket, a look of triumph on her face.

She watched him for a moment, then raised her pistol—

“Wait! Don’t shoot!” Qin Fei shouted.

The woman hesitated for a few seconds at his plea, but didn’t respond. Everyone knew the classic lesson: villains talk too much and die for it.

Without a word, she fired a shot into Qin Fei’s leg.

Bang!

Damn it!

The pain was excruciating. Qin Fei’s face twisted in agony as the bullet tore into his calf.

The woman was nothing if not vindictive. She hadn’t killed him outright, clearly wanting to pay him back for that earlier sneak attack.

“No, wait!” Qin Fei cried, seeing her aim at his other leg. Through the pain, he fumbled in his backpack and tossed out a massive green crab claw, which still shimmered faintly with green light.

It was the ancient artifact, the Hunter, his trump card—thrown out in desperation to buy himself a few more seconds of life.

But the woman saw through his ruse. She sneered, bent down, and stashed the artifact in her backpack without so much as glancing at its description or saying another word to him.

Yet, as she did so, a faint smile appeared on Qin Fei’s lips.

Though the woman was cautious, the few seconds she wasted bending down to collect the artifact were enough.

Catching sight of his expression, her face changed.

Why was he smiling?

Something was wrong...

Afraid of dragging things out and inviting disaster, the woman decided not to torment Qin Fei any further. She raised her gun, aiming for his chest—

But before she could pull the trigger, her body was hurled several meters away, rolling over the ground.

She’d been rammed by Big Nose, who had circled around behind her.

Already weakened by blood loss, and now struck by a creature weighing over a hundred kilos, the woman finally couldn’t hold out any longer and fainted.

Seeing her collapse, Qin Fei finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He’d thought Big Nose wouldn’t make it in time. Fortunately, the beast’s intelligence was nothing to scoff at—he’d come charging in at the critical moment, knocking the woman unconscious and saving Qin Fei’s life.