My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Chapter 94: Chapter 89: Standoff

As an Extraordinary Being, he was incredibly energetic and could indeed go for long periods without rest.

That restaurant owner, Boss Huang, had probably stopped buying wild boars for the time being. Li Xiang couldn’t find any other buyers on short notice, but the official buyback program was the most convenient and reliable channel.

The government was only buying ten thousand boars. Given the current ”nationwide wild boar hunt” trend, more and more hunting teams were popping up. The quota of ten thousand likely wouldn’t last three months; it would probably be filled in less than a month, maybe even just half a month.

He had to sell as many as possible before time ran out.

However, there were probably many private buyers like Boss Huang. Other hunting teams would most likely sell to these merchants first, so maybe the official program would last a little longer after all.

After retrieving the gear they had previously hidden in the mountains, Li Xiang and his team changed direction and continued their search.

Once again, Jiang Jianguo operated the drone, scanning the vast mountainside.

There was no denying that a drone with an infrared camera was far more efficient than Li Xiang searching on his own. His previous high efficiency was only because he had ventured into the Primeval Forest. In a regular forest area, he couldn’t compete with the drone.

In fact, the government had designated prohibited areas for this ”nationwide wild boar hunt” operation—namely, the few Primitive Forest Reserves within the province. Li Xiang’s venture in there had been against the rules.

Many others had broken the rules just like Li Xiang. In fact, just this afternoon, a few hunting teams were caught red-handed by the forest police. They were accused of felling valuable trees and were all detained.

The Primeval Forest actually had some surveillance equipment, but not much. As an Extraordinary Being with keen eyesight, and having survived the chaotic Apocalypse, Li Xiang could spot the devices at a glance and would naturally avoid them on his way in.

Those other hunting teams weren’t as experienced as Li Xiang. Some were even bold enough to launch drones, which was practically an invitation to get caught.

Another factor was that Li Xiang had his system warehouse, allowing him to go in alone and travel light. In contrast, the other hunting teams often consisted of a dozen, or even twenty to thirty people. Such a large, noisy group, complete with Hunting Dogs and various equipment, was incredibly conspicuous. The police might not have wanted to patrol the area, but a crowd that large forced their hand.

That day, Li Xiang’s team caught eight wild boars. As usual, they paraded them through the village upon their return. Since the boars were all alive and there weren’t too many, the Jiang Family had cleaned out their pigsty to hold them. They would feed them there and wait until they had a larger batch before making a delivery.

Boss Huang proved true to his word. At a little after three in the afternoon, the final payment of 318,680 yuan was transferred to Li Xiang’s bank account.

This had been a private job for Li Xiang, something best kept secret. Therefore, he naturally couldn’t split the money with Jiang Jianguo and Li Yucheng.

’If they knew I caught over a hundred wild boars in a single day and night, their jaws would hit the floor. They’d think I hadn’t even been trying my best and was just taking them, two old-timers, out for fun.’

But the official rules required a team of three or more, so Li Xiang had no choice. Besides, he also wanted to help Uncle Jiang out with his household expenses.

When Li Xiang and his team set out again, they headed in a different direction. In a valley about ten kilometers from Li Family Village, they ran into two other teams: one was the Lei Family Gou Hunting Team, and the other was a high-end team from the city.

Why call them high-end?

For starters, they had no less than three drones, all of them expensive models. They also had over a dozen imported Hunting Dogs and even rode snowmobiles. Every one of them was dressed in flashy, stylish gear. They were probably just here for the experience, not to actually make money catching wild boars.

The Lei Family Gou Hunting Team, on the other hand, was using a drone and infrared camera that were even cheaper than what Li Xiang’s team had. They didn’t have any imported Hunting Dogs—they didn’t even have properly trained ones, just seven or eight local mutts.

At that moment, the two hunting teams seemed to be in a standoff, locked in a heated dispute.

Jiang Jianguo had spotted them with the drone. He turned to Li Xiang and Li Yucheng. ”Looks like the guys from the Lei Family Gou Hunting Team are being bullied by outsiders. Should we go take a look?”

Li Xiang and Li Yucheng nodded, and the three of them headed over.

It wasn’t just to watch the drama unfold. The Lei, Li, and Jiang families had been related by marriage for generations. Even though they didn’t keep up with social visits anymore, they were still branches of the same tree, after all.

WOOF WOOF WOOF~

The three men were still over a hundred meters away from the scene when Li Yucheng’s three mutts, who had been scouting ahead, suddenly charged forward. They joined forces with the Lei Family Gully’s mutts to face off against the high-end, imported Hunting Dogs.

Everyone at the scene was taken aback, especially the high-end team. ’Where did these three mutts come from?’ they thought.

Then, both teams simultaneously looked in the direction the mutts had come from, and the figures of Li Xiang and his two companions appeared in their line of sight.

Some of the people from Lei Family Gully looked hopeful for a moment, but their faces quickly fell. After all, there was no guarantee the people from Li Family Village would help them. And even if they did, there were only three of them; they would still be at a disadvantage.

As for the high-end hunting team, they were even less impressed. ’Just three country bumpkins,’ they thought. ’Look at their gear—not even a single bow for long-range attacks. Even their dogs are just mutts, and there are only three of them.’

However, a woman on the high-end team leaned in and said to her leader, ”Boss, I think that’s Li Xiang.”

”Li Xiang?” the team leader asked, completely clueless. ”Who the hell is that?”

The woman rolled her eyes. ”Seriously? He’s the one I told you about—the guy who went viral online, the badass who decapitated a wild boar with a single slash.”

”Oh, right. So that’s him.” A few of them grew tense. After all, a guy like that was on another level of intense.

Their leader just shrugged. ”It’s fine. No matter how tough he is, he doesn’t even have a ranged weapon. That just makes him a target, doesn’t it?”

Not only was their team large, but every member was equipped with a professional imported recurve bow. They had a range of a hundred meters and adjustable draw weights, each costing several thousand yuan. While not outrageously expensive, their gear was far superior to that of these country bumpkins. The Lei Family Gou Hunting Team had bows too, but only three crude, homemade ones, which were naturally far inferior in accuracy, range, and power.

If a fight broke out, the high-end team was absolutely confident they could steamroll the opposition. They were only holding back because they were afraid of killing someone, which was why they hadn’t started shooting yet.

”If a fight does break out, aim for their limbs only. Don’t shoot for the head or torso,” the team leader warned. ”We can handle minor injuries—pay some compensation at worst. But if someone dies, that’s a mess we can’t clean up.”

This wasn’t some lawless wasteland, and they weren’t vicious criminals. They were just a bunch of rich kids out to have some fun.

”Jiaming, what’s going on?” Jiang Jianguo was the first to ask.

”Uncle Jiang, Uncle Li,” Lei Jiaming greeted Jiang Jianguo and Li Yucheng first, then gave a nod to Li Xiang.

He was seven or eight years older than Li Xiang and had seen him a few times when they were children. But then Li Xiang had focused on his studies, so they no longer ran in the same circles. Besides, their villages were a bit far apart, and people’s appearances change as they grow up. The only reason he recognized Li Xiang now was from seeing him online recently.

Lei Jiaming then briefly explained what had happened.