Chapter 139 - Terrifying Endurance
Dark Demonic Wolf was a close cousin of the Demonic Bloody Moon Wolf.
Demonic Blood Moon Wolves hunted in packs and intimidated their prey with fear-inducing bloody fog, while Dark Demonic Wolves were solo hunters. They would not let their prey notice anything until the moment they tore apart their throats and dug out their hearts.
All of their limbs and organs were designed for them to hunt in the dark.
Their bodies had the streamlined design of bullets and blades. Their limbs contained thick pads, and they could seal their pores at any moment to not release any sort of presence. In fact, even their throats and nostrils had evolved to the point where they could remain silent even when they breathed rapidly.
Of course, since the Dark Demonic Wolves had to maximize their ability to remain hidden, they had to sacrifice some of their offensive ability.
Its body was smaller than that of an average Demonic Bloody Moon Wolf, and when its strength was a little lower. It was very difficult for it to deal with large prey which had thick skin.
But once it was modified genetically and mechanically by Monster University, this weakness was mostly covered.
Its claws were changed to strengthened alloy and became sharper than those of a Dinofelis. It had lightweight metal bones implanted in its limbs, which reduced its weight by 10% and increased its speed by 15%.
Airbags were inserted into the backs of its pads, which made it even more nimble, discreet, and swift when they snuck through the shadows and pounced on their prey.
The terrifying Dark Demonic Wolves were one of the fiercest biochemical beasts that could be controlled by monster controller freshmen.
Gao Lang, who controlled the Dark Demonic Wolf, was the strongest after Wu Wu among the monster controller freshmen.
During the tournament among freshmen, he relied on his Dark Demonic Wolf to defeat four martial arts freshmen before he ran out of stamina. Even though he lost, he still enjoyed glory.
When Gao Lang saw how Meng Chao looked down on them after defeating two students, he could no longer hold back. He decided to cleanly and smooth end the farce.
Fang Lin wanted to say something, but did not.
Gao Lang was going to control a Dark Demonic Wolf to fight against Meng Chao, whose eyes and ears were covered and who was not going to use any weapons or items. Even if he won, was there any meaning to the fight?
But if Gao Lang stepped back, Fang Lin simply could not think of anyone else from among the monster controller freshmen aside from Wu Wu who could be Meng Chao’s opponent.
As for himself?
What a joke. He was an upperclassman and a member of the monster controller course’s student council president. He was a rank above Meng Chao, so how could he bully him? He would be laughed at by the upperclassmen of the martial arts course!
During his brief moment of hesitation, Gao Lang’s Dark Demonic Wolf pounced forward.
It turned into a sharp and black bolt of lightning.
But it did not possess a presence as terrifying as that of the Dinofelis.
Instead, the black fog it produced absorbed the sounds and wind pressure, making it look like lightning.
The wolf did not pounce on Meng Chao straightaway.
Instead, it agilely took a turn in midair and snuck behind Meng Chao in an attempt to rip open the artery on Meng Chao’s neck.
All the monster controller freshmen stood on their tiptoes with clenched fists.
Meanwhile, Fang Lin prepared a full set of emergency medical equipment and medicine to go up to save Meng Chao.
But against their expectations, Meng Chao managed to avoid the silent attack that they were certain would tear him apart.
He could not see or hear, and the Dark Demonic Wolf had even lowered the wind pressure around it to the lowest, even making sure that it was breathing as quietly as possible.
Even so, Meng Chao seemed to have a third eye on his back. He dodged the attack by a hair’s breadth.
Although the Dark Demonic Wolf did not manage to hit Meng Chao, its limbs moved like springs, and it immediately launched its second attack.
In just a short three minutes, it attacked 354 times.
It jumped all around and bit at Meng Chao twice every second.
But Meng Chao looked as if he was dancing on a blade. He dodged a total of 354 times.
The most success the Dark Demonic Wolf achieved was when it managed to cut off three strands of hair from Meng Chao’s head with its sharp, dagger-like claws.
But that was all it managed to take from him.
“Huff, huff, huff!”
Meng Chao panted harshly. His back was drenched in sweat. His muscles twitched, and he looked exhausted.
Since he looked like he was about to collapse at any moment, Gao Lang was drawn into the fight as well. He continued limiting Meng Chao’s dodging space together with the Dark Demonic Wolf.
The nails of the students watching the fight were digging into their palms, and their hearts were up in their throats. It looked like they were watching a thin thread being stretched tighter. It could snap at any moment now.
But no matter how tired and pathetic Meng Chao looked and how dangerous the situation seemed—even if his tongue rolled out of his mouth, he started foaming at the lips, or had to roll around on the ground to neutralize the Dark Demonic Wolf’s attack—he still ran about the area and shifted around the limited space to dodge its attacks in a dazzling manner.
The chase lasted a full ten minutes.
The large storage room was now filled with his sweat and footprints.
The victor in a fight among elites was usually decided in an instant. It was rare for a fight to last more than five minutes. This was especially so in a tournament, where everything was revealed to the public.
The two youths fought hard for ten minutes, but the wolf only managed to cut three strands of Meng Chao’s hair, which broadened the monster controller freshmen’s horizons.
Their stamina was drained, and the game of tag was near its end.
Meng Chao staggered and suddenly knelt down on one knee. He hugged his thigh tightly.
Two strands of muscles started twitching violently on the side of his thigh, as if some Other World insect had invaded his flesh and wanted to jump out of him.
“He has a cramp!”
The experienced students could tell at first glance that this was a sign of severe cramps.
It was pretty normal. Meng Chao had been performing dodges at great speeds due to the Dark Demonic Wolf’s movement speed for ten minutes. He had to make three jumps almost every second. Even if his body was made of steel, he could not last.
Gao Lang controlled his Dark Demonic Wolf to crouch down. Its back was like a drawn longbow that was about to fire off the most fatal poison arrow.
Fang Lin opened the medical kit and quickly brought out eight medicines that could be used to stop bleeding, replenish bodily fluids, and restore spirit energy.
Meng Chao squatted in so much pain that his veins at temples popped up. By the looks of it, he had already lost all ability to dodge or attack
The Dark Demonic Wolf was about to jump up high with its limbs like incredibly tightly wound springs when cracking sounds rang through the air. Four blood streams shot out of its limbs, and it fell limp on the ground in a strange fashion while letting out a whine.
Since Gao Lang shared its senses, he pulled his limbs back, and like a puppet with its strings cut, he fell backwards.
Meanwhile, Meng Chao, who looked like he had been just suffering from cramps, became full of life again. He pounced on them and delivered a vicious chop on the artery on Gao Lang’s neck, knocking him unconscious.
“Save him!” Meng Chao told the dumbfounded Fang Lin.
His heaving chest and the viciously twitching muscles on his thighs calmed down before everyone’s eyes.
The monster controller freshmen went to save Gao Lang in a flurry. Then, they looked at Meng Chao, who still had his eyes and ears covered, and the Dark Demonic Wolf, which lay limp on the ground, and finally at Gao Lang, who lay in Fang Lin’s arms with cramps and suffering great pain. Chills crawled down their spines.
Before the students could ask, Meng Chao decided to offer an explanation. “Do you know what’s the greatest advantage that a human has against a monster?
“It’s our endurance. We have the most advanced cooling system and the most outstanding endurance out of all living beings.
“When carnivores hunt, they have to finish their hunt in one go. Whether it’s the incredibly fast cheetahs or the large and sneaky felines, when they pounce on their prey, their success or failure is decided in an instant. They never spend more than ten minutes chasing after their prey. If they used up all of their stamina and still failed, they would be practically committing suicide.
“Hence, our predecessors on Earth used the crudest bone spears, stone axes, and arrowheads made of wood to chase after the most agile antelopes, the strongest wild horses, and the fiercest felines for long stretches of time to drain them of their energy. It took a long time, but they killed these creatures.
“The monsters’ physiological parameters are naturally much stronger than those of the normal creatures on Earth. But as long as they are living creatures, they must obey the laws of nature.
“The Dark Demonic Wolf is a hunter in the dark and the assassin of monsters. Assassins are bound to not engage their enemies for long and fight in battles of endurance.
“If they miss a hit, they flee into the distance. This is the nature of assassins.
“After the first one hundred attacks, Gao Lang should have known that he didn’t stand a chance against me. If he continued fighting, the Dark Demonic Wolf would just spend its stamina faster than a human. Losing was a foretold outcome.”
At that moment, Gao Lang woke up in Fang Lin’s arms.
He cradled his neck and winced in pain, but he still refused to admit to defeat.
“Are you thinking that it’s just a coincidence that the tendons in the Dark Demonic Wolf’s limbs burst? Do you think there was some problem with this biochemical beast’s genetic modifications?”
Meng Chao smiled and said, “That’s not true. Just now, when I dissected the Iron-armored Rhinoceros, I noticed that the university’s genetic modifications lean toward offense. They are fond of stimulating the tendons to increase the biochemical beast’s speed and charge.
“There are pros and cons to genetic modifications. When you greatly increase a function in a body, you must pay a price for it, such as the durability of the tendon falling, which means that it will tear apart much easier. The Iron-armored Rhinoceros’ tendons ripped when it was preparing for a Savage Charge.
“I was sure that if you wanted to increase the stealth of the Dark Demonic Wolf as well as increase its speed, its tendons would definitely have to suffer for it, and they would not be suited for long fights.
“So, during the fight, I intentionally moved left and right all the time, which is not suited for the Dark Demonic Wolf’s movements. I also shifted in small areas to lure and force it to twist its tendons multiple times. It also had to pounce in directions opposite its joints. My goal was to create all sorts of fine tears on the tendons.
“Of course, if it just pounced on me one or two times, the tears would be insignificant. After resting for a while, they would repair themselves.
“But your wolf had to move around at high speeds for ten minutes. All sorts of tears would overlap with each other, and in the end, the tendons would reach their breaking point.
“But even at that moment, you refused to stop attacking me. You wanted your Dark Demonic Wolf to deliver a fatal attack. It would be strange if its tendons did not burst.”
Gao Lang, Fang Lin, and the monster controller freshmen looked at each other at a loss and found themselves speechless.
It sounded like an easy strategy.
But who could be like Meng Chao and fight against a Dark Demonic Wolf for ten minutes while remaining calm. He even chatted with them after the battle!
He was actually pretending to be out of breath and exhausted earlier. The scene of him being drenched in sweat was an act! In fact, he was even faking the whole thing with his thigh muscles twitching!
Why was his endurance so terrifying?!
“But how did you know it?”
Gao Lang gritted his teeth. He simply could not understand. “You could not see and hear, and I’ve made sure to lower the volume of the Dark Demonic Wolf’s breathing to its lowest. How could you still see my attack trajectory?!”