"RRAAAGH!!"
With an enraged roar, Pride emerged from the underbrush, dragging the final Fleshfang Beast by the scruff of its neck. This last one looked old, its body worn and frail, but the fact that it was the last to be captured spoke volumes. Despite its age, it was clearly the strongest and most experienced of the group.
Fleshfang Beasts, a subspecies of Vastaya.
They lived in tribal societies and revered hunting above all else, seeing skilled hunts as their highest honor.
Rengar, the Pridestalker, was one of them, the strongest among their kind.
Fleshfang Beasts were born hunters. Their bodies were perfectly adapted for jungle survival and pursuit. Some tribes lived in Shurima, while others thrived in the jungles of Ixtal.
Only prey of the highest caliber could bring a Fleshfang tribe together for a hunt, it was their nature to be drawn to the thrill of danger.
Now, standing before Duke were twelve of them. The fact that they had all gathered here? Highly irregular.
"Anyone here speak Common? Step forward and explain yourselves."
"RRAAGH!"
The last one to be caught, the old one, let out a defiant roar.
"Despicable human! Don't think for a moment you'll get a word from us!"
Duke shrugged, unbothered. Pride, seeing his father's signal, hoisted the roaring beast into the air. His jaws opened, glowing with a white-hot heat.
Zzzzzt!
A laser beam blazed past the beast's ear, carving into the distant jungle and erupting in a violent explosion.
Steam hissed from Pride's open maw, heat still radiating. He leaned his massive head forward until it was pressed against the elder beast's forehead, eyes glinting with primal menace.
"What about now?"
"Easy, little kitty," Duke said casually. "Think of your people. Don't be selfish."
He glanced over the captured group, among the twelve, a few were clearly female.
"We came here to hunt," the elder finally muttered, eyes closed. His voice barely audible.
In their tradition, a Fleshfang Beast could only die with honor in battle, never under enemy coercion. But for the sake of his kin, the elder, Raldan, stared briefly at his people… and compromised his pride.
"Hunting?" Duke raised a brow, rifling through the items the Vastaya carried. He shook his head slowly. "No… you're lying."
"If you were on a hunt, you wouldn't be carrying seeds and farming tools."
"You were driven out, weren't you?"
He had found seeds sealed inside a bamboo tube, proof. While Fleshfang Beasts did grow crops, they only did so when permanently settling somewhere. For nomads, seeds were unnecessary baggage.
Staring at the seeds in Duke's hand, Raldan clenched his eyes shut and choked out the truth:
"We weren't exiled… We're fleeing."
"Fleeing?" Duke raised an eyebrow. He pulled a chair from his inventory and sat down, opening his cigar case and flask. With a wave, he signaled Pride to release Raldan.
"You lot, go check the camp," Duke ordered. "I'll handle things here."
Captain Oz nodded, assigning a few men to help Duke oversee the Fleshfangs. The rest fanned out into the jungle to inspect the abandoned campsite.
"Our village was destroyed… monsters erupted from beneath the earth, tearing our home apart. We had no choice but to flee."
"Why didn't you fight back?"
"They tunneled through soil and roots like they were rotted weeds. We couldn't win. So we ran."
"Why come here?"
"Are you responsible for the disappearance of the people in this camp?"
"When we arrived, the camp was already deserted. But we found traces… of those monsters."
Raldan looked at his kin, then growled lowly, "We stayed behind to hunt them. For revenge."
"So you've been lying in wait, hoping the beasts that destroyed your home would show up again?"
Duke now had the full picture: these Fleshfangs had been unlucky, ambushed by burrowing Void creatures, Rek'Sai's kin, perhaps. Their settlement was annihilated, and now they had stumbled upon this abandoned camp, where the same Void beasts had struck again.
They had found tracks. So they stayed. Waiting. Plotting vengeance.
"Exactly."
Raldan nodded grimly, then glanced at Pride and spoke in a low tone:
"Stranger… we've harmed no one here. If you must vent your anger, take it out on me. But spare the young."
"I thought your kind were nothing but bloodthirsty hunters. You're different."
"I can't think only of myself."
As the last elder, Raldan had a duty to protect his tribe.
"Alright then."
Duke stashed away his flask and lit his cigar just as Captain Oz returned from the camp, face tense.
"Every tent had a deep pit under it. Something tunneled up from beneath and wiped them out without a trace."
"Tch. What a headache."
Duke rubbed his temples. So much for a smooth operation.
Their forward team was gone, wiped out. Without their scouts, Duke's crew was effectively blind in this unfamiliar jungle. Moving forward would be a nightmare.
Unless...
Duke looked at the Fleshfangs before him, his lips curling into a smirk. What luck. A group of jungle-born hunters, right when he needed them most.
"Alright. I'll give you two options."
He spread his arms.
"One: you work for me. I'll provide food, weapons, supplies, everything you need."
"And the second?" Raldan asked.
"I beat you into submission and make you work for me anyway," Duke said, chewing on his cigar. "With slightly worse pay, of course."
"So you're not giving us a choice at all," Raldan growled.
"I don't really have one either," Duke replied with a shrug. "We came to rendezvous with this camp's crew and begin exploring the area. Now they're gone, and we've lost our guides."
"In a jungle this vast, we're screwed without help. And here you are, so no, I can't just let you go."
"You're taking full advantage, huh?"
"I call it… a win-win."
[0 ········· Please send flowers ····· 0]
"Don't worry. If you work for me, you'll be rewarded. And I promise you this, those monsters that destroyed your home? I'll stuff and gift you every last one of them."
"We only submit to strength," Raldan said. He shot a glance at Pride, voice defiant. "Not to metal beasts."
At that, Pride hissed, releasing a blast of searing steam from his jaws.
"I could kill you all in one breath, you scrawny kittens."
"Cool it, Pride," Duke said, raising a hand. Then, turning to Raldan, he added with a grin, "So… should I beat up just you, or all of you?"
"As the last elder, I have the authority to decide for my people."
"Great. Let's get physical."
Duke shrugged off his coat and draped it over his chair. "Give me a few minutes," he told Oz.
"No problem, sir."
"Right here then?" Duke rolled up his sleeves. Seeing this, Jinx's eyes lit up, she waved over the sailors and started taking bets.
"Place your bets! Place your bets!"
Having grown up in the Slaughter Docks tavern, Jinx was a natural at gambling. Seeing her loudly hawking bets, Duke rolled his eyes and muttered, She's writing a ten-thousand-word apology when this is over.
Five meters apart, Duke and Raldan squared off. The elder Fleshfang hunched low, nostrils flaring, lips peeling back to reveal his fangs.
"RAAARGH!"
The moment his roar rang out, Raldan vanished, leaping straight at Duke with claws bared, aiming for his throat.
"Old hunter, huh?" Duke murmured.
His foot slid silently along the ground.
Raldan landed, but Duke was gone.
Then, from behind, whoosh!, a howling fist was already upon him.
Raldan's pupils contracted. His heart pounded violently, he could feel death closing in.
If this punch landed, he'd die.
He tried to dodge, but there was nowhere to run. The fist was like a cannonball, screaming toward him.
Zzzzzt!!
The air tore as the punch came to a stop, just a single centimeter from Raldan's face. The wind pressure alone made his mane flutter wildly, like branches in a storm.
The force nearly knocked him over.
Fist-Gun Combat Style.
Once unleashed, it's a strike of death.
And Duke still had his ultimate ace: the Ten-Second Superhuman Card.
If he used it, not just these kitties, but even Ascended beings would be flattened.
But a trump card, after all, should be saved. A knife unsheathed too early loses its bite.
"Gear up," Duke said. "You've got work to do."
He turned and walked away, leaving Raldan frozen in place.
Moments later, the old hunter's knees buckled, and he dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.
His fur and back were soaked with cold sweat.
(End of chapter)
We're still in the early chapters fam! and to everyone who's joined the Patreon, thank you so much! 🙏Your support truly means the world. You're the reason this story keeps growing, chapter by chapter, world by world. I promise to give it my all! more content, more depth, more epic moments, to make sure your support is always worth it. You're part of the foundation that keeps this universe alive.
🔹 Hexcore Initiate – 15 chapters ahead
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