Chapter 43: Take Action

“Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!…”

The summer thunderstorm came swiftly.

Just a moment ago, the night sky had been clear, yet in the next instant, torrential rain poured down.

Standing in the shadows, Zhou Ming adjusted the brim of his cap that shielded him from the rain. Then, nearly a hundred Ironthread Snakes slithered out from the spatial area surrounding his body.

At this moment, space rippled like the surface of a disturbed lake, and the snakes leapt out as easily as fish breaking through water.

Under Zhou Ming’s command, the summoned Ironthread Snakes spread out and completely surrounded the Yixin Hotel.

“Hiss… hiss…”

The Ironthread Snakes encircling the hotel kept emitting sharp hissing sounds, but these were completely drowned out by the roar of thunder and the patter of rain.

Zhou Ming’s intention was merely to let them release their presence—to confuse the Cunning Fox’s beast.

It was like a black ball placed inside a box filled with white ones—so conspicuous that anyone could spot it immediately. In that case, one simply had to pour in a bottle of ink, turning more of the white balls black—making it much harder to find the original black one right away.

Could Night Fox sense danger?

Then Zhou Ming would make the entire Yixin Hotel brim with danger, so that the Night Fox couldn’t distinguish the true threat among the countless false ones.

After all, no matter how extraordinary the Night Fox was, it was still a low-grade Ferocious Beast—its rank limited its capabilities.

Moreover, the scattered snakes also provided Zhou Ming with his Radar Sensory Domain, allowing him to detect danger in advance.

“Tap, tap…”

The sound of footsteps splashing in puddles echoed. Zhou Ming recalled the Yixin Hotel’s structure and the target’s location, then quietly approached through the rain.

“They’re here.”

Inside the Yixin Hotel, Cunning Fox—who had been enjoying a massage from Mei Fox—suddenly opened his eyes and called out.

“Can Night Fox sense which direction it’s coming from?”

Mei Fox immediately stopped her hands and asked the man before her.

“It can’t sense it.”

After communicating with his beast, Cunning Fox’s expression turned doubtful.

“How could that be?”

Mei Fox was equally astonished by his response.

Ever since Cunning Fox had tamed the Night Fox, he had focused on nurturing its sensory abilities.

Even an Official Rank Beast Tamer could only conceal their aura deliberately to avoid being sensed by the Night Fox.

But now, the Night Fox had sensed danger—yet couldn’t tell from which direction it came.

Hearing this, Mei Fox’s expression instantly grew grave.

As a member of Cunning Fox’s squad, she wasn’t just a pretty face—she understood the danger perfectly.

“Notify Flying Fox and the others of the current situation. Also, tell everyone not to stray too far apart. They should stay within range for fast mutual support, and report their status every minute.”

Even faced with such an unusual circumstance, Cunning Fox remained calm, his expression hardening as he issued his orders.

Mei Fox picked up the communicator at her side and quickly relayed his instructions.

“Do you think this operation might backfire?”

After setting the communicator down, Mei Fox’s face showed concern—worried that this mission might end up costing the entire team, the result of Cunning Fox’s years of hard work.

“Don’t worry. As long as it isn’t an Official Rank Beast Tamer, we still have the strength to fight back. This time, the only reason it looks bad is because our opponent is hidden while we’re exposed.”

After saying this, Cunning Fox paused for a few seconds before adding calmly,

“If things reach a truly critical point, throw those two people out—along with everything they’re carrying. They were the ones who contacted us privately, so we don’t need to worry about our reputation in the Hunter Guild.”

“Understood.”

Hearing that, Mei Fox’s lips curved into a knowing smile. This was the Cunning Fox she knew.

“Boom!”

Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the rain-soaked night. In that moment, Zhou Ming vaulted over the fence and reached the ground floor of the Yixin Hotel.

“How diligent.”

Through the Radar Sensory Domain, Zhou Ming detected several figures—someone in the corridor on the third floor, and three more standing guard on the rooftop terrace.

As he sensed movement from the lobby, Zhou Ming immediately hid himself.

A burly man stepped out, scanning his surroundings cautiously before muttering something into his communicator.

Seeing that the enemy was on alert, Zhou Ming didn’t attack right away.

Instead, he waited several minutes—long enough to learn that they reported via communicator once every minute—before making his move.

A dozen Ironthread Snakes had already climbed up to the rooftop through the drainage pipes.

When the burly man in the lobby finished his report, Zhou Ming immediately commanded his snakes to swiftly eliminate the three guards above.

With the storm as cover, the small snakes slithered close with ease. Though the guards’ instincts, honed by years of life-and-death combat, warned them of something amiss, it was already too late—the snakes struck almost simultaneously, dropping all three within moments.

Without protective combat suits, every exposed part of their bodies became a target for the Ironthread Snakes’ venom.

While taking out the rooftop guards, Zhou Ming also dealt with the burly man in the lobby.

As for the two receptionists working the night shift, Zhou Ming ordered his snakes to lightly bite them as well.

Fortunately, he had controlled the dosage of venom—otherwise, two innocent lives would have been lost tonight.

Zhou Ming had his reasons for sparing them.

First, his principles—he wasn’t the kind of man without limits. If he could do anything to achieve his goal, he would already be nothing more than a puppet controlled by power.

Second, the impact—killing ten hunters caused far less commotion than killing two civilians.

The logic was simple: if you follow the rules and are bound by order, then the rules must protect you—otherwise, they lose all meaning.

If you defy order and reject restraint, then you must live by the law of the jungle.

For the deaths of these two types of people, the former would spark media attention and investigation, while the latter would simply end with the Security Bureau collecting their bodies—perhaps even reducing the pile of unsolved cases.

Zhou Ming admitted he wasn’t yet skilled enough to erase all traces of his actions, so he naturally avoided doing anything that would draw the Security Bureau’s attention.

After dealing with the guards on the rooftop and in the lobby, Zhou Ming immediately advanced toward the third floor.

The closer he got, the sharper the Night Fox’s senses would become. Zhou Ming knew the confusion tactic wouldn’t last long.

He had to eliminate all of the enemy’s fighting strength before the Night Fox discovered him—only then could he face Cunning Fox head-on.

“One… two… three.”

Zhou Ming carefully probed the third-floor corridor—three glowing dots were moving back and forth within his sensory field.

“Looks like I’ll have to handle this myself.”

A classic Blood Hunter Type-1 Handgun appeared in Zhou Ming’s hand. Its extended barrel suggested that he had already attached a silencer.

The Yixin Hotel, being an accommodation facility, had excellent soundproofing.

The corridor was wide and open, offering little cover—making it difficult for the Ironthread Snakes to approach undetected.

As for Inkband, Zhou Ming still needed it to handle the enemy’s beast, Night Fox, so he dared not let it stray too far from him.

Just as the one-minute communication cycle arrived, Zhou Ming drew the handgun he’d purchased from the Black Market—his moment to strike had come.