Monster Hunter, start with a wife!

The next morning.

Black Cloud Forest.

Six heavy armored vehicles, each over ten meters long, rolled over the dead branches and leaves scattered on the ground. The roar of their engines exploded in the silent forest, like six steel behemoths, as they sped into the depths of the forest.

Cheng Zhuo leaned against the window, scanning the rapidly receding morning scenery outside.

He now understood how the Black Cloud Forest got its name.

The thick black fog, reaching waist-high on both sides of the road, was as dark as ink, so dense that even sunlight could not penetrate it. Traveling through it truly felt like traversing through flowing black clouds.

About half an hour later.

The convoy gradually slowed down and finally came to a steady stop in front of an open area.

Cheng Zhuo got off the bus with the team, and the cold air, carrying the smell of damp, decaying leaves, hit them.

There was an open space in front of us, about the size of two football fields, with fresh logs piled up along the edge. The crooked, broken tree stumps were covered with glistening resin, clearly indicating that this was a temporary outpost that had just been cleared.

The thick fog here has been dissipated.

Many different groups gathered from all directions, some bearing the logos of major guilds, and others being smaller guilds that Cheng Zhuo had never seen before.

There were also some scattered groups, presumably hunters who formed their own groups.

In the very center of the open space stood a boundary gate more than ten meters high.

It blends almost seamlessly into its surroundings; if it weren't for the ripples like water, it would be nearly impossible to spot.

"Brother Cheng, don't be nervous."

Wei Qingfeng's knuckles, gripping the staff, were turning bluish-white, and even his shoulders were trembling slightly, yet he forced himself to approach Cheng Zhuo and said in a low voice:

"Let's fight the outer monsters near the boundary gate. If anything seems amiss, we'll retreat immediately. We'll definitely be safe."

"Take a look down at your droopy legs."

Pang Wei leaned against the car door, crossed his arms, glared at him, and said irritably:

"You're shaking like a leaf, and you still have the nerve to tell others not to be nervous? I think you should consider Sister K's suggestion and become a cook in the kitchen."

"Hahaha--"

The surrounding crowd burst into laughter, instantly easing the tense atmosphere.

"Cheng Zhuo."

Anuo moved closer to Cheng Zhuo. "Are you nervous?"

Today she wore a dark green combat uniform. The fabric was close-fitting but not tight, perfectly outlining her beautiful curves. The waistline was neatly cinched, making most of her 170cm height appear to be long and shapely legs.

Cheng Zhuo glanced back, raised an eyebrow, and said:

"How could that be? I'm the strongest rookie. Only the monsters get nervous when they see me."

Anno smiled gently, tapped his shoulder with her longbow, and said reproachfully:

"Wow, you're quite confident."

Her movement immediately attracted the attention of many boys in the group.

Anuo was already a girl with outstanding looks and figure, and now standing next to Cheng Zhuo, she looked even more dazzling.

After Cheng Zhuo's physical fitness improved dramatically during this period, his already handsome face gained a sharper edge. Standing at nearly 190 cm tall, he was tall and slender, and surprisingly, he and Anuo, who was holding a longbow, looked quite well-matched.

Even the models in the Hunter promotional videos that are played on a loop in the square all year round can't compare to the scene of these two together.

In this way...

Many people looked at Cheng Zhuo with barely concealed sourness, and even a hint of hostility.

"Tsk, looks like I've become a thorn in the side of quite a few people."

Cheng Zhu smiled jokingly.

Anuo subconsciously glanced around, a faint blush rising to her cheeks, her voice tinged with panic:

"No, I ignored them."

Cheng Zhuo didn't notice her unusual behavior. His gaze was fixed on the transparent portal of H0173, and his tone became somewhat somber:

"After completing the revelation mission, this kind of multidimensional portal allows you to either exit or ascend to a higher-level void realm, right?"

"Hmm." Anno nodded slightly, then a hint of surprise appeared on his face:

"You wouldn't be thinking of...?"

"After this is over, you take them out first, and I'll go for a stroll in the One Star Ruins." A strange excitement flashed in Cheng Zhuo's eyes.

Anno suddenly became a little anxious and said:

"The One-Star Ruins here are completely different from the incompletely mutated Ruins for newcomers. There are many Tier 1 enhanced beings and overlords here, and it's even possible for a Tier 2 BOSS to appear. Moreover, the guilds..."

She wanted to say that the guild wouldn't allow it, but then she suddenly remembered that Cheng Zhuo wasn't a guild member.

"Don't worry." Cheng Zhuo looked at her tense profile and softened his tone. "If there's any danger, I'll back out."

He raised his chin, gesturing towards the boundary gate:

"Let's go, we're going in."

The team led by Cheng Zhuo included Anuo, Wei Qingfeng, and Pang Wei.

There was also a young couple.

Their names are Li Dexuan and Fang Han, respectively.

They were a couple, slightly older than them, probably around twenty-four or twenty-five years old.

The two had failed to awaken in their earlier years and were among the previous batch of awakeners.

They still harbored some reservations about Cheng Zhuo's arrival.

The guild's desire to recruit this top newcomer is self-evident. Giving a position in the team that should have been reserved for veteran hunters to a newcomer is undoubtedly gambling with their lives.

Unfortunately, they had no say in the team's personnel configuration.

He could only make up his mind in secret:

We'll just wander around the vicinity of the boundary gate, but we won't go any deeper.

"Let's form teams first," Anno said.

"It'll be our turn soon."

She was the first to release a light blue source of energy, which slowly emerged from her fingertips like spider silk.

Cheng Zhuo then raised his hand, and a pale gray source energy overflowed from it.

This is a fundamental coupling that can bind six people together.

To prevent chaotic teleportation after they enter the Ruins.

The moment you pass through the boundary gate.

A bone-chilling coldness crept in through the collar.

The morning breeze here was several times colder than in the Black Cloud Forest, and it was mixed with a pungent frost and a putrid smell, which made everyone cough.

Cheng Zhuo stopped and looked around:

Before us lay a vast, empty cave of ice and rock.

Rock layers and ice blocks are stacked alternately, and icicles hang from the top wall, which is tens of meters high.

The longest ones are three or four meters long, gleaming with a cold, bluish-white light. Spider webs covered with ice particles hang from the tips of the icicles. When the wind blows, the spider webs sway gently, and the huge spiders on them look like they might fall off at any moment.

"It's that ice cave again. That hairy spider is tough to deal with!"

Wei Qingfeng sighed.

As soon as they finished speaking, the gate behind them rippled, and a voice as rough as if it had been ground against gravel came through:

"Newbies, move over! If you can't, go back to the guild and get some milk, or you'll end up losing your lives here."

Anuo frowned slightly when she saw who was behind her.

She quietly moved closer to Cheng Zhuo and whispered:

"It's a team from the Ashes Ruins Guild. The leader is called Lei Hu, and his men are all hunters who are close to reaching the next level. We encountered them once before. They have terrible tempers and never leave any room for mercy when they steal their prey. Last time, they cleared out all the beasts on the outer perimeter and even took the ones we injured. Today, our harvest will probably be much less."