Chapter 69: Jungle Cat
The next day at noon.
The sun blazed down like a fireball, scorching the earth, the rising heat distorting the air like a mirage.
Inside the rainforest.
The scorching sun didn’t penetrate the canopy; most trees here were tall, competing for sunlight to carry out photosynthesis.
Don’t think the rainforest was cool. Though shielded from the sun, the damp ground and temperatures of 42°C above zero made it feel like a steam oven.
Bubu Wang lay sprawled on a pile of grass, tongue hanging out, looking utterly disillusioned with dog life. The oppressive heat, combined with his ‘factory-original fur coat,’ made the misery easy to imagine.
Su Xiao, bare-chested, sat on the same grass pile. Sweat dripped from his chin. Short stints in the rainforest were fine, but prolonged trekking and bushwhacking left him drenched in sweat too.
“Drink.”
He tossed his canteen to Bubu Wang. The dog took a sip and nearly spat it out—it was lightly salted water.
“That thing’s nearby. Keep your fluids up.”
Hearing Su Xiao’s words, Bubu Wang tilted his head back and drained the canteen.
Rustling sounds came from afar. Su Xiao’s eyes snapped toward the source, his right hand resting on his sword hilt.
After arriving in this area, the bird calls had vanished, and the monkeys that usually leaped about were nowhere to be seen. That wasn’t a good sign. It meant a powerful polar creature was nearby.
And indeed, within a 15-kilometer radius, a feline creature held territory—a massive jungle cat.
At first glance, a cat seemed harmless, but the claw marks oozing blood on Su Xiao’s chest told a different story about how formidable it was.
This jungle cat stood about 1.4 meters tall at the shoulder, nearly three meters long, and with its tail, over five meters in total length.
If all felines were scaled to the same size, domestic cats would undoubtedly be the most formidable. Their sense of smell, hearing, and nerve reflex speed nearly crushed other felines. The only reason humans kept them as pets was their small size.
Even if this jungle cat wasn’t a polar creature, scaling an ordinary house cat to this size while retaining its jumping ability and speed would let it easily slaughter the largest tiger, like a mouse.
A pair of green eyes appeared in the grass not far away.
“Roar!”
The jungle cat let out a low growl, eerily similar to a tiger’s roar.
Su Xiao stood up. He hadn’t wanted to provoke this cat, but it had stubbornly tailed him for ten kilometers.
The Apostle’s Eye floated beside him, a faint red aura spreading around.
[Comparing intelligence attributes... Comparison complete. Our intelligence attribute is 1.71 times the enemy’s. Obtained 100% enemy data.]
Data as follows:
Name: Shadow of the Hunt
Category: Polar Creature · Leader Creature · Vismont Jungle Cat
Health: 100%
Mana: 2020 points
Strength: 72
Agility: 99 (True Attribute, World Extreme!)
Endurance: 80
Intelligence: 52
Charisma: 47
Skill 1, Leader’s Majesty (Passive): Health +2000 points, Mana +1500 points, Strength +10, Agility +27, Endurance +12. Ignores 8% air resistance.
Skill 2, Feline Instinct (Passive): Nerve reflex speed +70%, dynamic vision +66%, sense of smell greatly enhanced.
Skill 3, Hunting Instinct (Active): Can track any scent, blood trail, or footprint within 5 kilometers. If distance closes to 0.5 kilometers, locks onto the target.
Skill 4, Wild Instinct (Passive): Perception greatly enhanced. Can detect invisible, stealth, or concealed enemies.
Skill 5, Killing Instinct (Passive): Vismont Jungle Cat’s claws carry a special toxin. After claw attacks, an endurance check is triggered. If passed, target takes 107 points of true damage. If failed, target takes 107 points of true poison damage + 0.2 to 17 seconds of paralysis (duration based on endurance and poison resistance).
Skill 6, Twinborn (Passive): Effect unknown. This ability cannot be analyzed via detection equipment.
Skill 7, Polar Storm Cat (Exclusive Ability): Vismont Jungle Cat’s speed increases by 35% for 20 seconds.
Seeing the jungle cat’s dark green eyes, Bubu Wang let out a loud bark.
Hearing the bark, the jungle cat’s fur bristled. It hadn’t wanted to provoke Su Xiao, but after spotting Bubu Wang, this ‘suspicious creature,’ instinct screamed that it had to kill him. Not for food or territory—it just wanted to kill that suspicious thing.
The jungle cat hated Bubu Wang, and Bubu Wang hated it right back.
After a rustling sound, the jungle cat emerged from the grass. Its body was covered in black-and-white patterns, paired with those dark green vertical pupils. Calling it a cat was an understatement; even calling it a tiger would be an insult.
Some say cats are neurotic animals, and this jungle cat was no exception. It padded slowly toward Su Xiao and Bubu Wang, its long black tail swaying side to side. From the tail’s movement, it was in a good mood.
Su Xiao really didn’t want to fight this cat. Its speed was terrifying. His Instinct ability could track it, but whether his body could keep up was another matter.
Whoosh~
Dead leaves flew. The jungle cat vanished eerily, reappearing behind Su Xiao and Bubu Wang.
Su Xiao reversed his grip on Dragon-Slaying Flash. The jungle cat, about to pounce, stopped and eyed him with interest.
Unfortunately, this cat’s nemesis wasn’t here. That was Amu. If Amu were present, he could slow the cat down until it questioned its own existence.
Su Xiao slowly turned, signaling Bubu Wang to toss him the premium pet snacks he’d bought in the Sun Kingdom.
Though reluctant to feed his snacks to an enemy, Bubu Wang prioritized the bigger picture and tossed the bag over.
Su Xiao pulled the ring on the tin can. Meat aroma wafted out. The nearby jungle cat sniffed, its tail wagging faster.
From his sleeve, Su Xiao slid out an alchemy bomb. It quickly disintegrated into granules, mixing into the tin.
He tossed the tin toward the jungle cat. Claw shadows flashed, and the tin was instantly sliced into pieces, the meat spilling onto the ground.
Su Xiao raised a hand, signaling Bubu Wang to back off. As they retreated, he pointed at the meat on the ground.
He was certain this jungle cat had decent intelligence. When it had been tailing him, it had circled ahead and poisoned the water source with toxic insects—something no ordinary beast could do.
Seeing Su Xiao retreat, the jungle cat immediately advanced. But the scattered meat caught its attention. Having only ever eaten raw meat, it had never smelled such a delicacy.
The cat didn’t eat the meat. It just lowered its head and sniffed, wary. But the next moment, a burning sensation hit its nose.
Boom!
The alchemy bomb mixed into the meat exploded. Flames surged.
“Mrow!”
The jungle cat yelped in pain, the blast knocking it backward.
With a dull thud, Su Xiao and Bubu Wang, who had been retreating, charged forward. Bubu Wang’s excited expression practically screamed, “Let’s get him!”