Chapter 22: Purging the Serpent Demon

During the [Survival] mission, more than two thousand Fang Demons appeared. Among them, Qin Hao collected some of the most perfect genes, those best suited for himself—the divine gene of the Fang Demons for bone growth.

With this gene, Qin Hao lost interest in hunting Fang Demons. The divine gene is already the ultimate boundary of a species. What Qin Hao must do is collect the divine genes of countless species, strengthen himself, and transform these genes into his own.

Now, he no longer needs the Fang Demon’s gene, but he requires the Serpent Demon’s gene. The Serpent Demons possess immense strength and incredible speed—though that speed refers to their crawling, it still means their musculature is even more developed.

Moreover, hunting Serpent Demons increases Qin Hao’s hero points by a thousand. The humans nearby, who tremble in fear before the Serpent Demons, erupt into cheers upon seeing Qin Hao.

“That’s the person from yesterday’s video, the one with Zi Hui.”

“It’s him, he’s here to kill those monsters.”

“Thank heavens.”

These people worship Qin Hao’s powerful combat prowess, offering countless hero points, but they dare not step outside, watching silently from the shadows. Having never left their homes, they do not know what the city has become. They can only hope the nation and government will soon eradicate these monsters, unaware that from today onward, the world will only worsen.

Before Qin Hao’s eyes, the mission predictor continued to roll swiftly. He could filter tasks through the predictor, and he entered “Serpent Demon”—over a hundred missions popped up within a twenty-kilometer radius.

Twenty kilometers covers roughly the area of a major city center. As the Serpent Demons move, they create crises for humans. Qin Hao can use these missions to track the Serpent Demons’ locations and hunt them down.

The next mission was three blocks away. Qin Hao walked over, killing Fang Demons along the way.

The thrill of killing with every step, leaving no trace, filled Qin Hao with endless emotion.

“Before reversing time, I was only a little stronger than others.”

Back then, he killed Fang Demons and received two Star Energy Gems, gaining hero points as a system reward.

He then bought a strength potion and drank it, gaining permanent, immense strength.

The price for a basic strength potion was only a thousand hero points, and after using it, his punch rivaled that of a champion.

Because of the incident with Zi Hui, Qin Hao was taken out of the detention center and interrogated about the Hero System.

Unexpectedly, during the transfer, the Aurora Disaster struck; the car exploded, and everyone escorting him died.

Social order collapsed, humanity plunged into crisis.

No one cared whether Qin Hao had killed before, nor did any hero realize that among the first batch, only one person truly survived.

Qin Hao was no different from anyone else.

He trembled, hiding inside buildings, fighting Fang Demons with all his might.

When attacked by Serpent Demons, he barely survived.

But now...

Another Serpent Demon appeared in Qin Hao’s field of vision.

“Ah!”

A scream echoed from the tall building ahead.

Glass shattered and fell. On the fifth floor of an office block, a massive Serpent Demon appeared, now burrowing inside, intent on slaughtering those within.

Yet its huge body struggled with the small window, crawling inward, bursting through rebar and concrete.

Qin Hao’s mental tendrils unfurled. A metal streetlamp nearby snapped, morphing into a hollow spear over three meters long.

He dragged the spear, aiming at the Serpent Demon.

Go!

With immense force, the hollow spear tore through the air, shrieking as it flew.

“Whoosh!”

“Splat!”

Instantly, the spear pierced the Serpent Demon’s rear neck. Qin Hao’s battle experience was vast, augmented by Eagle Eye—every wrinkle on the Serpent Demon was clear, let alone the fatal spot on its neck.

This strike killed the second Serpent Demon.

The spear even penetrated the ceiling inside the office, and thanks to the lamp’s tapering shape, it pinned the giant Serpent Demon to the building.

Blood gushed down, pouring into Qin Hao’s body, guided by his mental tendrils.

A genetic lock chip was absorbed by Qin Hao.

The sensation was utterly liberating.

Qin Hao took out a liquid sphere from his spatial ring.

Divine item: Adaptive Metal Shapeshifting Omni-Mechanism.

This device was also a tool, like the mission predictor, without any offensive capabilities.

However, it could transform into any vehicle, even a house.

Qin Hao infused it with his mental power.

The liquid sphere writhed and morphed, becoming a deep blue motorcycle, infused with a futuristic, dreamlike aura.

Qin Hao mounted it; under mental control, it hovered a meter and a half above the ground, gliding forward silently and at incredible speed.

Like a streak of blue lightning, Qin Hao darted through the city streets.

In barely three minutes, he arrived at the next location.

Serpent Demons hunted humans; Qin Hao hunted Serpent Demons.

All day, Qin Hao killed and harvested blood genes, ceaselessly.

By nightfall, he had slain over a hundred Serpent Demons.

Unfortunately, none of their genes met his requirements.

This whole day’s progress was slower than during the [Survival] mission, when he’d gathered more in just three hours.

Yet this was normal.

The Invading Alliance attacking humanity must abide by the peace treaty.

Otherwise, if they unleashed a terrifying number of monsters at once, how would the Peace Alliance siphon Star Energy and mental power from humans?

Moreover, humanity’s mental power is so abundant.

Thus, Qin Hao had to keep striving, hunting monsters and accumulating hero points.

Of course, most importantly, he needed the Serpent Demon’s blood.

Qin Hao appeared in a residential area but saw no Serpent Demons.

This was expected; the mission predictor, imbued with divine temporal power, could foresee the future. Within five minutes, a Serpent Demon would inevitably appear.

As Qin Hao waited, he heard a low animal growl—it sounded like a dog’s bark.

He walked forward and soon saw three unusually large Alaskan Malamutes.

These big dogs are popular now in the Magic City, with the largest weighing up to sixty kilograms and able to knock down an adult when standing.

But these three before him stood shoulder-high to a man, nearly a meter and a half tall, looking quite intimidating.

On the back of one brown dog, its fur bristling like a colt, a man was riding.

In the distance, a Serpent Demon was closing in.