Chapter 122: On the Brink of Explosion

The words from Rooster brought silence to everyone.

From Rooster’s information, they gathered quite a lot.

First, Rooster confirmed that Lin Xiao was right—there really were spirit beasts directly ahead, and in considerable numbers.

But with Rooster’s abilities, that was all he could discern.

It was impossible to determine the exact number or species of the spirit beasts just from the sounds.

This revealed the gap between Rooster and Lin Xiao.

Seeing the surprised looks directed at him, Lin Xiao realized the problem.

He had unintentionally exposed his true strength.

Yet Lin Xiao held no regrets. After all, having joined the War Wolf Mercenary Group, and with future missions ahead alongside them, his abilities would gradually reveal themselves. Since exposure was inevitable, why hide them?

With this in mind, Lin Xiao didn’t wait for anyone to speak. He simply pointed to his eyes.

“Understandably, you’re all surprised. It’s nothing special—my eyes are naturally exceptional, allowing me to see farther than others.”

Upon hearing this, Zi Shu and the others understood.

This wasn’t just exceptional—it was almost supernatural.

Zi Shu's gaze toward Lin Xiao changed. Before, though he sensed there was more to Lin Xiao than met the eye, he mostly regarded him as the team’s cook.

Now, knowing this skill, Lin Xiao’s status shifted.

In this secret realm, being the first to spot spirit beasts was of tremendous significance.

Like now, Lin Xiao could identify a pack of frost giant wolves 1,500 meters away, while they remained undetected.

This gave them ample preparation time, greatly facilitating their plan to slay the frost giant wolves.

At this moment, Zi Shu found himself admiring Lin Xiao more and more, and a sudden thought struck him.

If they could recruit Lin Xiao, it would be a brilliant idea.

This guy was a natural born ace scout!

He decided to observe Lin Xiao further; if his temperament and other qualities checked out, he might recommend him.

“All right, since the wolf pack has been spotted, shall we discuss whether to engage?” Zi Shu asked.

Immediately, everyone began debating.

“Let’s do it! Why not? One of our missions is to collect ten skins from level-five frost giant wolves. If we can kill them all, we might finish the task outright.”

Others nodded eagerly; unanimous agreement to attack.

Zi Shu shared the same intention—they all wanted to wipe out this pack.

“Good, then let’s proceed. Let’s discuss tactics now. Any suggestions?”

“We have the advantage since we’ve spotted the enemy before they detect us. We must use this advantage wisely.”

“I suggest using firearms this time. Charging in headfirst would waste our advantage.”

“Right, start with a few rounds of suppressive fire!”

No one objected to this.

Firearms could still be effective against level-five spirit beasts; a well-placed shot could kill outright.

Zi Shu was about to make the final decision when Shen Hou spoke up.

“Um, if we use firearms, won’t the meat get damaged? I’m hoping to have a decent dinner afterward.”

Shen Hou’s thought was instinctive; he was completely won over by Lin Xiao’s cooking and didn’t want their recklessness to ruin a delicious meal.

Zi Shu and the others realized this made sense.

In the past, they might have thought Shen Hou was crazy, but now they found his concern reasonable.

All eyes turned back to Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao simply curled his lips, showing a look of disdain.

“Wolf meat doesn’t taste good.”

“Okay, then we’ll proceed as planned. Everyone, follow me quietly and resolve this quickly!”

The War Wolf Mercenary Group immediately entered battle readiness.

“Hai Zhu, you’re on lookout duty. Report any changes immediately.”

Rooster felt a pang of jealousy.

Had his job been taken?

Lin Xiao gave an “OK” gesture.

The group began cautiously moving toward the frost wolf pack.

Lin Xiao once again sensed something unusual about these people.

At a safe distance, the mercenaries moved quickly; when they reached about a thousand meters, everyone became more cautious, hiding themselves well.

Here, they too spotted the frost wolf pack, though only roughly due to cover.

Their admiration for Lin Xiao’s eyesight grew even stronger—it was terrifyingly sharp.

The frost wolf pack remained unaware of the mercenaries’ presence, resting leisurely.

Spirit beasts had stronger senses than humans, so Zi Shu and others fell silent, communicating solely via hand signals.

They had told Lin Xiao about this precaution before entering the area.

Lin Xiao understood and had no objections.

He knew a bit of sign language himself.

When Zi Shu directed commands with hand signals and received Lin Xiao’s responses, Zi Shu was stunned.

He hadn’t expected Lin Xiao to know sign language too. What other surprises would this guy bring?

Although a thousand meters was within rifle range, maintaining accuracy and stopping power at that distance was difficult.

Zi Shu’s signals meant they would close in further—about five hundred meters—before opening fire.

Naturally, no one objected. One by one, they took cover and moved toward the wolf pack.

Chou Niu stayed close to Lin Xiao, tasked with protecting him.

His gaze was worried—Lin Xiao lacked formal training, and he feared Lin Xiao might cause unnecessary noise and alert the wolves, ruining the surprise attack.

But soon Chou Niu’s worry turned to shock—Lin Xiao’s stealth skills matched or even surpassed any of theirs.

This was a blow to their pride.

Others also noticed this quietly; if it weren’t such a tense moment, they might have asked Lin Xiao outright how he had so many skills.

The War Wolf Mercenary Group were veterans. Though they took extra time, they managed to approach within five hundred meters without detection.

At this point, the entire pack was clearly visible.

As Lin Xiao had said, there were exactly fifteen.

Their respect for Lin Xiao deepened.

Zi Shu resumed communicating with hand signals, quickly assigning targets.

Lin Xiao was given the lowest-ranked level-four frost giant wolf.

Lin Xiao felt a bit helpless.

Hmph! Who’s looking down on whom?

Of course, Lin Xiao didn’t show it; he would complete whatever task was assigned.

Everyone steadied their breathing, rifles aimed at their targets.

Lin Xiao activated his weak point detection and found the frost wolves’ vulnerabilities lay in the eyes and mouths.

With weaknesses identified, this would be easy. Prepare to face my fury!

Battle was about to erupt.

At any moment now.