The second day.
“Vice Leader Jax， you’re familiar with the gun now. The mutated beasts are big… we’ll let them get close， and you shouldn’t miss. Should we leave today?” Talan asked.
Jax waved him off impatiently.
“Talan， there’s another old saying: more haste， less speed. Yesterday I practiced on stationary targets. But mutated beasts aren’t dead— they move. Today we practice moving targets.”
Talan suppressed his fury and reluctantly nodded.
The third day.
“Vice Leader Jax， you’ve practiced moving targets. It’s time to move! Our food is almost gone， and we’re low on bullets. If we wait any longer， we’ll collapse before we defeat the beasts. Let’s go—”
“Talan， there’s another old saying: those who rush arrive last.”
Jax had barely started when Talan nearly exploded. Where did he get all these old sayings?!
He was about to snap when Jax added quickly.
“But another old saying says: speed is the essence of war. Strike fast and clean. So… no more delays. Let’s move out now!”
Talan stared， speechless.
His chest heaved. He glared at Jax with his triangular eyes， so angry he wanted to split Jax’s head open and see how many proverbs were stuffed inside.
“Talan， what are you waiting for? Let’s go! Move out! The people of Ashwood Town are suffering from hunger and fear because of those beasts. It breaks my heart!”
Jax had already walked several meters away and called back impatiently， as if Talan was the one delaying everything.
Talan took a deep breath and followed with his men， killing intent boiling inside him. He could barely hold back anymore.
As soon as Jax used up his life force on the beasts， he swore he would kill him immediately. Otherwise， he would go mad from anger.
After a long walk， the group reached the walls of Ashwood Town.
They were hardly walls at all， just dirt， bricks， and barbed wire piled together. Crude， but effective.
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“Jax， you look even better than before.” Viper smiled and greeted him from the wall， ignoring Talan completely.
Now that Jax was clean and well-fed， in the prime of youth， even in ragged clothes， he radiated bright， youthful energy.
Jax glanced at Viper and said flatly.
“Call me Vice Leader Jax.”
His cold tone gave no respect to Viper， leader of the West District. Strangely， this made Talan feel better.
So Jax wasn’t just picking on him. He treated everyone like this.
Viper narrowed his eyes， thinking to himself. He had heard how Jax acted toward Talan. Conflict between the two played right into his hands. The last thing he wanted was for them to act like brothers— that would put too much pressure on the West District.
Logically， since Jax and Talan were on bad terms， Jax should have been nicer to him， leader of the West District.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend， after all. But Jax treated him the same way. That made Viper wonder.
Was the boy just drunk on the Forbidden Artifact， thinking he was invincible and looking down on both leaders?
Or was he pretending to be arrogant to lower their guard?
In truth， Jax wasn’t pretending. He simply looked down on everyone. The leaders of a small town? He hadn’t cared about them before， and he cared even less three days later.
Three days apart， and you must see someone with new eyes. That applied perfectly to Jax… because after three days， his stored Time Stop had reached three minutes and fifty seconds!
What did three minutes and fifty seconds mean?
It meant Jax could kill Viper， Talan， and all their men in an instant.
That was why he didn’t bother being friendly with either of them. To normal people， the leaders of an eight-hundred-person town were powerful figures who held life and death in their hands…
But to Jax? Sorry. Everyone here was trash.
He wasn’t sparing them out of kindness. Though he came from a civilized world， he was no fool. Viper and Talan had committed enough crimes in Ashwood Town to be shot a hundred times over. Killing them gave him no guilt.
It was the mutated beasts.
There wasn’t just one— there was a pack. Jax needed Viper and Talan to help fight them. If the beasts broke through the walls， he would be trapped too.
Talan handed Jax a worn tactical scope.
“The beasts are hiding nearby. Those bastards never come within a hundred meters of the town. They just surround us. Anyone who steps out gets attacked.”
Jax lifted the scope. All he saw was a desolate land， yellow-brown ground cracked open like ugly wounds. Wind howled， lifting clouds of sand and dust.
You would think no plants could survive in such terrain… but weeds， dead trees， and even small bushes grew sparsely across the ground.
These were mutated plants， though not twisted enough to become living Forbidden Artifacts.
He scanned the land through the scope and soon spotted several pairs of scarlet eyes in a waist-high bush about a hundred meters away!
The wind blew， bending the bush， revealing their true forms.
Hyenas.
These mutated beasts were twisted hyenas. Their original brown fur had fallen out in large patches， replaced by grayish-purple growths covered in vein-like bulges. Their claws and teeth were sharp as blades.
“Why so few?” Jax lowered the scope.
“These are just scouts sent by the Hyena King to watch us and make sure we don’t escape，” Talan explained.
“Clever dogs. What’s the plan?”
“We go out，” Viper said， his eyes fixed on the hyenas hidden in the bush.“Talan and I will take our elite fighters， and you’ll come with us. We’ll engage the hyenas in close combat， and you use the Breath of Bone to take them down.”
“Why go out?” Jax asked， surprised.“Lure them in， and we shoot from above. Wouldn’t that work?”
Viper shook his head.
“We tried that before. We sent men as bait to lure the hyenas within a hundred meters， then opened fire. We killed a few， but after that， the hyenas learned. No matter how we lure them， they won’t come close. We have to go out and fight.”
Bait? Jax’s mind flickered. He didn’t need to guess what happened to those baits. They were surely eaten alive.
In the Wasteland， human life was worth less than nothing.
