The Dog Pack Really Had Some Skills

On his second trip to the Main God Space, Russell did not know whether he would be able to embark on another World Quest. It would be best if there were quests to do, but it did not matter if he could not trigger one. Meeting more Reincarnators and farming a few cards to fill his inventory would make the trip worthwhile.

That was Russell’s current plan. If he could trigger a World Quest, he would make adjustments based on the mission when the time came.

After all, plans never kept up with changes. He often planned to stay for twenty-four hours, yet he had only succeeded a few times!

Russell kept Ying Yingying by his side for that very reason. When they had first met, she had revealed that this trip to Skull Island was a Team Battle. Keeping her close would increase the odds of encountering other Reincarnators.

"Why did you take so long to pee? I thought a Husky had carried you off. Sorry, I misspoke—it was a wolf that looked like a Husky!" Ying Yingying carried two huge packs on her back, her hands on her hips like a walking luggage rack. Her resentment was practically visible.

Russell ignored the mockery in her words and turned toward the center of the island. "You’re still young. Once you grow up and get a boyfriend, you’ll understand that it’s a good thing when a man takes a long time to pee."

"Pah, stop making dirty jokes! That baseless claim has no scientific basis whatsoever. It’s nothing but you men bragging. From a medical standpoint, taking too long to pee is an illness."

Ying Yingying hurried after him. Skull Island was the battlefield for a Team Battle, and with all her abilities diminished, she would only be safe by sticking close to Russell.

She was clearly overthinking it. Russell had brought her along specifically to lure out other Reincarnators!

As they ventured deeper into the ancient forest, the two walked for about an hour and gradually discovered traces of human habitation—not modern humans, but natives who had lived on this island.

A crude stone path, clearly built by human hands, stretched ahead in broken intervals. Moss grew thick in the cracks between the steps, and many tree roots sprawled across them.

On both sides of the stone path stood waist-high cylindrical stone statues from time to time. Their abstract faces had enlarged features that filled their entire faces, making them look extremely bizarre.

Their forms were crude and simple, their designs exaggerated. Their enormous, savage eyes had sharp brows and corners, while their gaping bloody mouths were filled with pointed fangs.

Russell had watched documentaries before and knew that the statues’ ferocious features were not a matter of unusual aesthetics, but rather the tribespeople’s superstition and longing. They yearned to become as terrifying as the statues, thereby gaining great strength.

With the stone path leading the way, Russell and Ying Yingying immediately picked up speed. They hurried onward and soon arrived before a stockade built against a rocky mountain.

Two stone walls, each about three meters high, had been piled from massive boulders and secured with clay. The gaps between the stones fit tightly together. Even though their technological level was extremely primitive, the tribespeople’s ingenuity could not be underestimated. The two walls were exceptionally sturdy, and something seemed to have been mixed into the clay, making it a glaring crimson.

Perhaps due to the passage of time, the stone walls had weathered severely. This was an abandoned stockade.

The stockade was terrifyingly quiet. Russell prepared to go inside and scout it out. At a critical moment, he stopped making things difficult for Ying Yingying, stored the two backpacks in his Space Ring, and took out a Dogleg Saber to hand to her.

He himself held Great Fast Blade Autumn Water and entered through the gap between the two stone walls, likely where the gate had once stood. On either side of the open space, earthen houses had collapsed, and thick weeds ran wild, faintly revealing the settlement’s former scale.

Ying Yingying followed behind Russell, maintaining a distance of one meter. She gripped the Dogleg Saber and vigilantly focused on her surroundings.

Just then, she stepped on a moss-covered tree root. Several of them suddenly sprang from the ground, their front ends opening into fanged maws as they bit down at her.

Those were not tree roots, but pythons whose camouflage matched the color of the moss. They were over four meters long, and when their jaws opened, a foul wind rushed out.

Swish!

Ying Yingying reacted with astonishing speed. She flicked the Dogleg Saber upward with a backhand slash, cutting off the fist-sized tongue and sending it to the ground.

Stinking blood splattered everywhere. The headless snake body twisted and coiled on the ground, making their scalps tingle.

Russell inverted his long blade and pinned the snake’s head to the ground. Sword qi erupted and shredded it to pieces. He did not know what species of snake it was, but judging by its vicious triangular head, it was most likely highly venomous. Snakes were also remarkably resilient, and even a severed snake head could survive for some time. He had to finish it off.

"Jason, I smell blood in the air!"

Ying Yingying’s nostrils twitched as she pointed toward the end of the stockade. The scent of blood she meant was not from the python at their feet, but from the largest and best-preserved stone house.

"Are you part Husky?"

"I used to be an assassin. I learned the relevant skills." Ying Yingying silently cursed him for being petty, then made a hand signal and walked ahead.

The two quietly moved forward a few steps, and the bloody smell grew stronger. Russell could smell it now as well.

A few seconds later, he saw skeletons scattered across the ground—some human, some beast. Not a single skeleton was intact. Most of what remained were hard skulls smeared with scraps of flesh, gnawed into a horrific mess.

Russell patted Ying Yingying on the shoulder and gently shook his head, signaling with his eyes for her to prepare to leave. Some predator had made the stone house its lair. They were not here to film a documentary; whatever creature was inside, there was no need to investigate it.

Ying Yingying nodded. Having not played the role of an assassin for so long, she had gotten too immersed in it and failed to react for a moment.

The two left the stockade one after the other, but though they had no intention of harming the tiger, the tiger intended to harm them. The beast in the stone house followed their scent out.

Four bipedal velociraptors, each over three meters long and nearly as tall as Russell when standing upright, emerged. Their bodies were shit-yellow, marked with red vertical stripes along their sides.

These four simple-minded creatures had clearly mistaken Russell and Ying Yingying for food. Their two-toned vertical pupils gleamed with bloodthirst, their long tails swayed, and their tooth-filled jaws opened as drool spilled all over the ground.

"You want to go, or should I?"

Just as Ying Yingying finished speaking, a hungry wolf’s roar came from deep within the jungle. The four velociraptors instantly stiffened. Their nostrils twitched slightly, and after letting out reluctant growls, they turned and charged away. Their thick hind-leg muscles tensed, and with a single leap, they cleared the three-meter stone wall and ran into the depths of the forest.

"Woof woof woof!!"

Four Huskies came running over with their tongues hanging out. They leaped around Russell, grabbed his black robe, and tugged him back toward the direction they had come from.

According to the laws of the food chain, predators only abandoned their prey when facing a superior predator. In other words, this Dog Pack really had some skills.

"Th-this… this…" Ying Yingying pointed at the Huskies, unable to speak properly.

"What’s with all the stammering? I told you before, they’re wolves. They even scared off the velociraptors!"

Seeing the disbelief on Ying Yingying’s face, Russell felt immensely proud. He crouched down, pressed the Husky that had bitten his black robe onto the ground, and rubbed its little belly.

When the other three Huskies saw one traitor monopolizing his affection, they each grabbed Russell’s black robe in their mouths, demanding equal treatment.

"Good Dog Pack… ahem, good wolves, be good. Are you hungry? I’ll catch a Kong and feed it to you." Russell scratched the bellies of all four Huskies in turn.

"Jason, I don’t think they’re hungry. I think they found living people." Ying Yingying could not stand it anymore and interrupted Russell’s self-praise.

"Living people!?"

Russell’s hand stopped petting the dogs. Jason had actually been outdone by Huskies!