Infinite Cosmic Cafeteria Chapter 103: Stealing the Kill

Translator: StellarNovels Editor: StellarNovels

As soon as the hunting squad left the city, they were ambushed, but this time, only elite hunters were deployed.

The beasts that charged at them were quickly dealt with by the vanguard hunting teams at the front, and the ambush did not affect the squad's pace.

It wasn’t until the 7th minute when they encountered a Giant Claw King, a beast that had secretly amassed an army during the beast tide.

Although the beasts under its command were not as powerful, their sheer numbers posed a threat. The cunning Giant Claw King had its minions charge while it hid beneath the sand, waiting for an opportunity to ambush.

The vanguard alone couldn’t immediately handle such a large number of beasts, forcing the squad to slow down. Many hunters even jumped off their motorcycles to fend off the swarming beasts.

He Yueji maintained her composure as she killed a Gray-backed Jackal that approached with her flying scythe, then nodded towards two of her teammates.

“Find that Giant Claw King and take it down.”

Upon hearing this, a petite female hunter crouched on the sand and activated her beast-type psychic ability.

The next moment, every sound within a one-mile radius was captured by her enhanced hearing. However, due to the abundance of creatures nearby, it took her a full 4 minutes to locate the sneaky Giant Claw King.

“There.” The petite hunter stood up and pointed to the base of a sand dune.

A tall, slender man with a face covered in dense tattoos stepped forward toward the dune.

When he reached it, he plunged his hands into the sand and chanted an incantation. Unlike the other hunters, his ability activated particularly slowly, taking nearly a full minute to charge up.

Soon, Ma Lu saw the sand dune tremble as a giant claw emerged, followed by a forelimb.

The Giant Claw King seemed intent on crawling out from beneath the dune, but it got stuck after only exposing a small portion of its body.

No matter how much it struggled, the rest of its body couldn’t break through to the surface, as the surrounding sand was compressed by an invisible force.

Now’s the time!

The hunters of the Sai Blade team had hunted together countless times and had a seamless level of cooperation.

As soon as the Giant Claw King got trapped, two hunters immediately rushed forward with thermal cutters, slicing off a section of its hard shell, then driving a mechanical spear into its exposed area.

The impaled Giant Claw King thrashed violently, and blood trickled from the tattooed hunter’s nostrils.

But soon, the Giant Claw King’s struggles weakened. Just before it took its last breath, a massive bullet with a diameter of over 16mm drilled into its wound, snatching its final sliver of life.

He Yueji whipped around to see Ma Lu holding the Destroyer and snorted coldly, “Mind your own business!”

“It’s none of yours.”

Ma Lu spat back without hesitation, then whispered to Mai Mai in the back seat, “Thanks.”

She flashed him an OK gesture.

For Ma Lu, hitting a large, immobilized target like the Giant Claw King was easy, but precisely striking its exposed weak spot wasn’t.

So, that shot was actually taken by Mai Mai.

Mai Mai, a top-tier hunter praised by Captain Li, had impeccable marksmanship and timing. Paired with the newly acquired high-powered weapon, the Destroyer, she managed to steal the kill from the Sai Blade team.

And Ma Lu’s good luck continued today.

Upon the Giant Claw King’s death, the effect of 【Puppeteer】 was triggered, successfully turning it into a corpse puppet.

Ma Lu was experiencing having a corpse puppet for the first time.

In his field of vision, the massive body of the Giant Claw King was highlighted in red, distinct from other creatures, much like a selected unit in a video game.

When Ma Lu focused his gaze on the Giant Claw King, three options appeared:

— Move, Attack, and Defend.

It was a pity there were no skills; the Giant Claw King originally possessed the ability to command nearby beasts, but this ability was lost once it turned into a corpse puppet.

As the Giant Claw King collapsed, the hunters from the Sai Blade team who were attacking, along with the tall, tattoo-covered man, breathed a sigh of relief, though a hint of regret flickered in their eyes.

A Giant Claw King was quite valuable, but they had to deal with the Six-Armed Ancient Ape next, leaving no time to carve up or process it. If left behind, it would likely be devoured by other beasts by the time they returned.

Despite this, the hunters decided to cover the wounds with a tarp to mask the scent of blood, hoping to preserve the carcass.

However, just as they approached, the supposedly dead Giant Claw King’s hind leg suddenly twitched, causing the hunters to pause in confusion.

Before they could react, one of the Giant Claw King's massive claws lifted and smashed violently into the ground.

“Huh?”

The loud crash caught He Yueji’s attention.

She had been glaring fiercely at Ma Lu, but when she turned back, she saw the Giant Claw King, which they had just killed, seemingly revived.

Was it playing dead?

Some beasts did have a feigning death ability, but it was He Yueji’s first time encountering a Giant Claw King pretending to be dead, and she had never heard of such behavior before.

Could it be some special effect caused by the beast tide?

There was no time to ponder the cause. He Yueji looked at the tall, tattooed man again.

“Duomeng, can you trap it again?”

The tall man responded emotionlessly, “I need time.”

“I’ll have someone buy you that time.”

As they spoke, the revived Giant Claw King swung its claws, forcing back the hunters who tried to approach it. But instead of launching further attacks, it burrowed back into the sand.

“It’s trying to escape!”

The petite female hunter who had previously pinpointed the Giant Claw King’s location was already on the ground again, listening closely to the movements below, and alerted the group.

“Where is it going? Let’s chase it down,” volunteered two more hunters.

But He Yueji thought for a moment and shook her head. “Forget it, let it go. Our target this time is the Six-Armed Ancient Ape. Don’t waste time and energy on these small fry. Clear the nearby beasts quickly, and let’s move on.”

The others agreed without objection.

On the other side, after the corpse puppet of the Giant Claw King burrowed into the sand, Ma Lu lost sight of it, but the red glow beneath the ground and the previous options were still visible.

Ma Lu asked Mai Mai, discovering that, just like with the previous poison stacks, only he could see these red highlights and options.

He tried controlling the corpse puppet to move underground for a while, and once it was safely out of danger, he commanded it to resurface.

Though the sand dunes blocked Ma Lu’s view of the other side, it didn’t stop him from issuing an attack command.

Previous