Universe Infinite Canteen
Chapter 35: Chapter 35 Lucky Strike

Having had two previous hunting experiences, Boggy had already developed sufficient trust in Ma Lu.

Furthermore, he was carrying the "helper" that Ma Lu had given him.

Boggy's gaze flicked to the Young Flame Lizard hanging at his waist, which was tirelessly gnawing at his hunting clothes.

Boggy adjusted his breathing and struck a defensive pose, feeling the surge of strength.

It wasn't long before the first prey appeared, a cheetah.

At the first sight of the cheetah, Boggy's pupils shrank dramatically, but once he saw that the markings on its body were dark brown rather than golden, and its fur was sandy yellow with a smaller body size, his heart settled down again.

It was a Grey-Spotted Cheetah, not the much-feared Golden Leopard that made countless hunters change color.

Although the difference was only one word, the combat power of the two was vastly different.

The strength of the Grey-Spotted Cheetah was slightly higher than that of the Two-Headed Hyena, roughly equal to two Two-Headed Hyenas in a fight. If a Golden Leopard were here, their deaths could have been declared ahead of time.

But after all, this was just a Level 2 Hunting Area. The chance of encountering a Golden Leopard was about as likely as a Giant Curtain being hit by a meteor.

Boggy realized he had been too concerned with the name, and he quickly shifted his attention back to the opponent before him.

The Grey-Spotted Cheetah might not be as challenging as the Golden Leopard, but it was still not easy to handle, and he had to be fully alert.

The Grey-Spotted Cheetah, attracted by the smell of innards, had also discovered the human in front of it early on.

So it quickened its pace, trotting, but didn't pounce immediately. Instead, it started circling around Boggy.

Seeing a puzzled expression on Ma Lu's face, Mai Mai quietly explained.

"It's looking for the prey's vulnerabilities in this way. If you get dizzy from its movement or become distracted, even for an instant, it will seize the moment and exploit it," Mai Mai whispered.

As soon as Mai Mai finished speaking, the Grey-Spotted Cheetah launched its attack.

Seizing the moment Boggy turned his head to change his field of vision, the cheetah squatted down, curled into a ball, then abruptly kicked off the ground, propelling itself forward and turning into a blur as it lunged at its target!

Its limbs were long and strong, full of the sense of motion when it ran.

Just like Mai Mai had said, the Grey-Spotted Cheetah chose a very good moment to strike, and its path was exactly in Boggy's blind spot.

However, in this desert, the roles of hunter and hunted could switch at any moment.

The vulnerability just now had been deliberately exposed by Boggy, with the intention of luring the Grey-Spotted Cheetah into his trap.

His movements weren't as fast as the Grey-Spotted Cheetah's. Even if he had the upper hand in strength, once the Grey-Spotted Cheetah sensed danger and switched to a hit-and-run strategy, the battle could become a stalemate.

If another wild beast appeared at that point, his situation would become very passive.

Therefore, Boggy had decided early on to fight a quick battle. As the Grey-Spotted Cheetah initiated its pounce, the Mechanical Spear in his hand moved as well.

However, to dull the cheetah's alertness, Boggy was turning his back to it. Unable to turn the spearhead in time, Boggy used the Mechanical Spear as a stick instead.

He swung it violently backward, hitting the back of the Grey-Spotted Cheetah.

Mai Mai let out a soft gasp, because that spot was not the Grey-Spotted Cheetah's vital point, and Boggy had used the shaft instead of the spearhead, resulting in limited lethality.

Contrary to that, although the Grey-Spotted Cheetah got hit, it closed the distance with Boggy and was almost immediately ready to bite down with its mouth.

Mai Mai, upon seeing this, couldn't help but grip her backpack tightly.

However, the thing she was worried about didn't happen. The Grey-Spotted Cheetah seemed to have only been grazed, but it lay on the ground, unable to stand up for a long time, just constantly howling in pain.

Boggy's last strike, under the effect of [Charge with Hits], erupted with a force of 1043%, directly breaking the spine of the Grey-Spotted Cheetah.

The battle started quickly and ended just as fast, with the outcome decided in a single round.

Afterwards, Boggy turned around, plunged the Mechanical Spear into the Grey-Spotted Cheetah's head, ending its suffering, and also presented Ma Lu with a new three-choice opportunity.

The Grey-Spotted Cheetah, just like the Two-Headed Hyena, was a 2-star ingredient, and in theory, should have yielded Blue Blessings, but this time Ma Lu's luck exploded.

Although it didn't trigger the heart-pounding jackpot upgrade effect, it hit the rare event of a 2-star ingredient yielding Purple Blessings.

The very last one was a Purple Blessing, and it was a familiar one at that.

[Endless Bloodflow: The entire team has a 33% chance to trigger a bleeding status with their attacks, and the bleeding amount is increased by 100% under the bleeding status.]

This blessing came just in time, working well with [Water Conductivity], allowing Boggy's Water Shield to come in handy again.

While they were going down to handle the Grey-Spotted Cheetah, Ma Lu and Boggy swiftly exchanged thoughts on their next battle strategy.

On the other hand, Mai Mai, who was dealing with the prey, felt secretly alarmed; she had already noticed the abnormality on the back of the Grey-Spotted Cheetah. The place where it had been grazed by the Mechanical Spear was now a blur of flesh and blood, with the bones underneath deformed.

What terrifying force must it have been to cause such damage?

Mai Mai looked up, then glanced over at Ma Lu and Boggy, only to replace that the two of them seemed to take this astonishing scene for granted.

And Mai Mai recalled the previous battle, where evidently Boggy had been fully confident before making a move.

But how could that be possible?!

Before Mai Mai could voice her doubts, the trio were greeted by a new visitor; this time the prey came from the sky.

—Flesh-Crested Hook-Beaked Vulture

This type of vulture, nearly 2m in body length, has red fleshy flaps on either side of its neck and a beak sharp and pointed like a long hook, capable of easily slicing open the belly of its prey with the aid of its sharp talons.

Moreover, they possess the ability to fly, making them one of the least favorite opponents for Hunters.

The diet of the Flesh-Crested Hook-Beaked Vulture is very diverse, almost anything goes, but they particularly favor carrion, and they had clearly come for the innards of the Giant Claw Lord.

Despite the Traveler's Bracelet rating them as 2-star ingredients, it still couldn't dispel Ma Lu's doubts about the edibility of these things.

Perhaps Old Wang has some way of eliminating the bacteria and pathogens they carry, but it's very likely that it would still require some special ingredient or cooking method.

It feels like they would be troublesome to process, but now wasn't the time to think about that; even if they didn't plan to take them back for snacks, they still needed to deal with these Flesh-Crested Hook-Beaked Vultures.

If the bait were to be snatched away by them, then the bait-fishing would have to end prematurely. Moreover, it would be quite dangerous if they were left unattended, as they could swoop down unexpectedly during later battles and launch a sudden attack.

Mai Mai began to worry about Boggy again, not knowing how he planned to deal with these enemies in the sky.