Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Within minutes, at full speed, they could see the faint lights of the resort hotel hidden deep in the mountains, mixed with screams that, though suppressed by the drizzle, were still piercing.

The resort hotels here don't have many high-rise buildings; they are mostly complexes of two- or three-story villas. If a dozen or more people rent a villa, it's not too expensive.

When Sheng Dou, the lead car, was still dozens of meters away from the hotel entrance, he slammed on the brakes. The cars behind him quickly spread out, forming a semi-encircling arc.

The high beams aligned perfectly, creating a blinding white haze; the scene before us was shocking.

The gate was completely blocked by a bunch of cars that had been smashed and twisted.

Six or seven unusually large black bears, like shadows in the night, stood upright, opening cans of food from cars and dragging out people crying and begging for mercy, twisting their limbs in a direction they preferred.

Among them were the protesters' cars.

That immense power was displayed vividly before the fragile human body, and the screams grew sharper and sharper with each one.

"Ah!! Help—!"

A man was grabbed by the shoulder by a giant bear and swung around like a rag doll, slamming heavily onto the hood of another car. His body was grotesquely deformed, and large amounts of blood foam gushed from his mouth.

"Waaah!"

Another bear was pinning down a struggling woman, its long tongue licking her cheeks. Its sharp teeth easily tore open the flesh of her shoulder, and blood instantly stained the protective black bear T-shirt she was still wearing.

The shattered hood served as a plate, the windshield was splattered with blood and gore, and severed limbs lay scattered on the ground. The pungent stench of blood seemed to be clearly audible even from more than ten meters away.

The hunters' expressions instantly turned extremely grave.

They had anticipated a horrific situation, but the scene before them far exceeded their expectations; the level of bloodshed and madness was suffocating.

Humans are afraid of bears, but bears are also afraid of human settlements and firelight under normal circumstances.

In many cases, even when bears trespass into human territory, they are somewhat instinctively timid and feel guilty, making them relatively easy to drive away or frighten off, unless in extreme situations where food is extremely scarce.

But the scene before them—these black bears—was so strong that they didn't seem to be lacking food at all.

It was a completely organized and premeditated large-scale invasion of human territory, completely disregarding lights, voices, and vehicle engine noise, exuding a bloodthirsty excitement and fearless violence.

The old hunter's words kept echoing in Shengdou's ears.

These are no ordinary bears.

Perhaps it really is a monster.

"Open the window, fire." Shengdou forced himself to suppress his turbulent emotions and issued the order in a low voice.

"Yes Yes!"

Xiaolin's voice distorted with nervousness. He quickly leaned half his body out of the car window and aimed the muzzle of his Sakho sniper rifle at the blood-stained behemoths enjoying their feast.

His trembling finger finally pulled the trigger.

boom--!

Like a signal flare, the loud gunshot tore through the rainy night, bringing a brief silence.

However, a second later, the other hunters were also jolted awake from the enormous shock before them.

Anger overwhelmed fear, and amidst suppressed roars and curses, car windows were suddenly rolled down or pushed open.

"Bastard thing!"

"Kill it!"

The hunting rifles rang out like popping beans, and in an instant, gunfire erupted.

Bright muzzle flashes flickered briefly in the rain as bullets pierced the still-raging behemoths with a sharp whooshing sound.

Shengdou clearly saw that the 338LM bullet fired by Xiaolin accurately struck the forehead of a giant bear that was tasting its prey.

Even he rarely used bullets of that power, because there were no prey to match them.

In Shengdou's decades of hunting experience, this was enough to crack open the skull of any bear or boar.

But an exception was happening right before his eyes.

The giant bear, struck by the bullet, flung its massive head backward, splattering a spray of blood mixed with black fur and dark red liquid.

However, its massive body only staggered back two steps, shook its head violently and unnaturally, and then, enraged, the bear let out a deafening roar.

It stared sharply in the direction of the pickup truck, its fierce eyes reflecting a terrifying red light under the headlights, showing no sign of injury or impending death.

Kobayashi gaped in disbelief, managing only a hoarse syllable: "Huh?!"

Shengdou's heart sank to the bottom.

The old hunter's words about being able to get a headshot from a landmine without taking any damage have now been proven true.

This bear couldn't have come from Kofu City, which means that this giant black bear is not an isolated case.

Or rather, they encountered a large number of exceptional cases.

"Roar--!!"

"Ouch——!!!"

The other giant bears, which had also been hit by bullets, roared furiously.

The enormous sound even drowned out the gunshots, making the car windows buzz.

The hunting dogs inside the vehicle, specially trained to deal with wild beasts and who had accompanied Sheng Dou in hunting down no fewer than ten black bears, did not dare to utter a single provocative bark at this moment.

They were so frightened that they tucked their tails between their legs, suppressed whimpers of extreme fear escaped their throats, and their bodies curled up in a ball, trembling.

"Oh no!" the old hunter cried out in alarm.

The next moment, the giant bear that had been hit by Kobayashi completely abandoned the snacks in the car body next to it. With its massive body and the momentum to crush everything, it pounced on the pickup truck parked in front.

The enormous shadow, like a mountain, almost completely blocked out the faint light from the resort hotel, and the ground beneath the tires seemed to tremble.

Sheng Dou quickly regained his composure. Faced with this monster that was completely beyond reason, fearless, and with maxed-out physical defense, a head-on confrontation would only lead to certain death.

In that life-or-death moment, Sheng Dou slammed his hand on the vehicle's internal communicator, his roar echoing through all the hunter vehicles: "Buy time! Don't get close! Spread out!!"

hum! !

No sooner had he finished speaking than Shengdou slammed his right foot down on the accelerator!

The pickup truck's engine groaned under strain as the rear wheels struggled to find traction on the muddy, slippery ground.

"Sit tight!"

Shengdou forcefully pulled Xiaolin into the car, gave him a warning, and then sharply turned the steering wheel.

The pickup truck sped off like an arrow, making an extremely dangerous arc to narrowly avoid the giant bear that was charging head-on. The rims almost grazed the bear's slashing paw, and the force of the wind it generated even ruffled the fur on the bear's legs.

He didn't choose to reverse into open space, as that would be too slow and could easily cause chaos in the group.

So he drove the car directly into a nearby area that didn't look very dense, with some vaguely visible pedestrian paths. It was fairly wide, just enough to accommodate two cars, and the resort hotel must have specifically requested that it be cleared out for the convenience of its guests.

He pressed the accelerator pedal almost into the chassis, and the car hurtled violently into the dark woods.

"Master, that guy's speed is ridiculous, we can't shake him off!" Kobayashi stared intently at the giant bear that hadn't gained much distance.

"Keep an eye on what's behind you, don't be polite to that big guy!"

Shengdou gritted his teeth in anger.

"Yes, Master!"

Kobayashi leaned out halfway again, holding his breath, trying his best not to waste a single bullet.

Gunshots echoed through the forest, accompanied by screams coming through the internal communicator.

Hunters were already caught off guard as soon as they met.

"Help! I'm right here, and two giant bears flipped my car over—damn it! Are all these bullets counterfeit?!"

The hunter left behind his desperate last words, followed only by the howling of the hounds and the sound of bones breaking.

The atmosphere grew increasingly tense. No one knew where the other hunters had gone, and they were all left isolated and helpless.

The giant bear was in hot pursuit, and despite Kobayashi's best efforts to aim, he still missed many shots.

Suddenly, lights flashed ahead, and Shengdou squinted hard.

"Sheng Dou, a Pikachu at full speed is no less powerful than a Landmine!" The old hunter's voice crackled through the communicator.

Shengdou instantly understood what the guy meant: "Alright! Let's see who's tougher! Kobayashi, hold on tight!"

The two vehicles approached each other almost head-on, simultaneously turning off their high beams and switching on their low beams to see the location of the black bear chasing behind them.

The rearview mirrors collided and shattered, and the pickup truck, carrying its owner's dignity and ferocity, crashed headfirst into the giant bear's head that was relentlessly pursuing them from behind!

Chapter 217: The Prisoner on a Rainy Night

Bang!

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky and pierced the forest, and the rain suddenly poured down.

A deep, loud crash echoed through the rainy night along with a clap of thunder.

Inside the car, Shengdou and Xiaolin felt as if they had been hit by a giant hammer. At the moment of impact, the airbags violently deployed.

"Ugh!"

The airbags squeezed their chests, and their ears were filled with a sharp, piercing buzzing that echoed continuously. Their bodies felt like they were falling apart, and they couldn't even breathe properly.

Shengdou suppressed his dizziness, staring intently with wide eyes, unwilling to blink even once; he had to see the giant bear's condition with his own eyes.

In his shaky vision, the giant bear that his car had hit was sent flying backward more than ten steps by the high-speed impact, slamming into a tree trunk on the side.

chap!

Trees collapsed, groaning as they snapped. The giant bear struggled on the ground for a few moments, then stood up, panting heavily.

On its enormous head, from the side of its face to its throat, a large patch of fur was torn open, revealing dark red flesh and stark white bones underneath.

One side of his body was noticeably constricted inwards, indicating that he had suffered at least a serious injury.

It swayed unsteadily, but there was no sign of retreat in its scarlet eyes; instead, the intense pain fueled its rage even more fiercely.

“Woohoo!!”

Thick saliva mixed with blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. Dragging his half-impaired body, he approached Sheng Dou's wrecked pickup truck, which was deformed and emitting white smoke, like a behemoth that had been unleashed.

Shengdou kept trying to start the car, but the old buddy had burned out and couldn't move.

He was in excruciating pain, his ears were ringing, and he was slow to react. To make matters worse, one of his legs was stuck in the deformed structure!

Xiao Lin's condition was equally bad; his face was pale, with bloodstains from the broken windshield, and his eyes were dazed and unfocused.

"Kobayashi! Wake up! Grab your gun and get out of the car!"

Shengdou shook him with difficulty. The guns in the car were in two bags; Xiaolin's bag was at his feet, and Shengdou's bag was in the back seat.

Given Sheng Dou's current predicament, he can't get his hands on any of the bags; the only thing he might be able to use is his revolver.

But that's for close-range finishing shots, so you can imagine how powerful it is.

Unless you can shoot inside the bear, but how is that even possible?

"Woof! Woof! Awooo—!!"

Just then, the hounds, still dazed from the violent impact, erupted in unprecedented barking, and a Shikoku dog and two Kai dogs jumped out of the shattered car window.

They forcefully suppressed their instinctive fear of the giant bear, trembling as they stood guard in front of the vehicle, letting out threatening roars.

The giant bear lacked even the strength to threaten these karami; in its eyes, they were no different from panting kittens.

Now all it wants is to tear the two culprits in the car to shreds.

As the giant bear approached, the three hunting dogs had nowhere to retreat. They glanced back at their master, who was trapped inside, but ultimately charged forward without hesitation. Following past experience, one lunged at the bear's injured foreleg and tried to bite it, another leaped high to try and bite the bear's vulnerable throat, and the third circled around to find the bear's rear end.

"Roar—!" The giant bear was completely enraged by this reckless harassment. Ignoring the excruciating pain in its body, it swung its large paws like swatting flies and grabbed the hunting dog that was rushing towards it.

"Woo!"

Hiss.

Flesh and blood tore apart, and the hound's screams vanished instantly.

Immediately afterwards, the hunting dog that had bitten the leg was pinned down by the giant bear and fell silent.

The hunting dog that had circled behind was kicked hard by the bear's hind legs, shrieking pitifully as it rolled a long distance away, its internal organs spilling out of its ruptured belly. After whimpering a few times, it stopped moving.

"Kobayashi! Wake up!"