Chapter 156: A short lived victory.

Zyra woke up early. The morning sun was barely peeking over the horizon, but she wanted to make sure she personally prepared everything the team needed before they left for Rose Water Village.

She lazed around, with access to the virtual shop, scrolling her finger through the available items.

Scanning through the weapons section, she frowned. There were decent swords and spears, but she needed something much better for a dangerous mission. Her Somnivore spear needed to be saved for worthy moments. She didn’t want word going out about it. The many secrets she had were enough to cause envy.

"Beauty, isn’t there anything better?" Zyra asked in her mind. "I want a gun that choose targets and fire automatically, if you have one!"

The cheerful Beauty popped out, spinning lazily in the air.

[Host, if you use 1,000,000 energy stones to upgrade the shop, better beast-protection weapons will unlock!]

She scoffed. Beauty knew she had a stash of energy stones Achilles had brought her. In total, he had brought her 5,000,000 energy stones. Beauty could not confiscate them as part of rent, so the system had decided to take a few in another way.

"One million!" Zyra had doubts.

[Take it or leave it.]

Zyra sighed and opened her beast pocket. "Do it,"

The money was deducted instantly. The virtual shop vanished briefly, then flashed back open_ bigger, brighter, and packed with more advanced items. Zyra ignored the snacks and snake chocolates which were flashing brightly, begging to be bought. Her finger went straight to the weapons catalog.

Her eyes widened. There were choke fangs that could be wrapped around a beast’s neck to drain its air in seconds, and plasma whips that could slice through heavy armor like hot butter. But her attention was completely captured by the Disruptor Rifle. It could scan an enemy beast in one second, identify its hidden weak points, and make auto-targeting shots effortlessly.

"Beauty, buy ten of these!" Zyra ordered.

Each rifle cost a staggering 15,000 resonance points or 50,000 energy stones.

Her money continued to dwindle. It hurt, but she was taking comfort in knowing these were worthy purchases.

"Beauty, recommend explosives that do some good damage and are swift. A gun can only target one person or beast at a time. If I am surrounded, I need something to take down many targets at the same time." She thought of this because her mind went back to the wolf pack in the frozen wild lands.

[Host, might I suggest pulse shards? They scatter fragments that detonate in sequence, create chain explosions. Even if an enemy tries to run from the first explosion, they will just meet another one.]

"That sounds impressive," Zyra nodded. "Buy five."

Each pulse shard went for 500 resonance points or 15,000 energy stones. Zyra couldn’t help but wince. "Ugh, why is everything so expensive? You’re robbing me!"

[Host, you have forgotten armor_]

Zyra cut Beauty off with a glare. "All this system cares about is making me fall deeper into debt or helping me spend money and protecting the beasts!"

Beauty puffed out her cheeks defensively. [Host, I was simply reminding you that the beasts will be given free armor anyway! It is completely okay if the humans go naked without any. My official job is to protect the beasts!]

A heap of sleek, shiny boxes appeared right on Zyra’s bed_ full of customized armor for every single beast in the pavilion.

Zyra stared at the pile, sighed heavily, and shook her head. She couldn’t send the human out to war in thin cloth while the beasts walked around dressed like army tanks.

"Fine_ get the damn human armor too," Zyra grumbled.

Beauty twirled happily in a circle. [I knew you would come around! You soft-hearted host!]

More large boxes materialized on the floor. Zyra opened one, expecting heavy metallic plate armor like typical soldiers wore. To her surprise, she pulled out a flexible, dark suit made of coarse animal skin.

"What is this?" Zyra raised an eyebrow. "Is this leather? And why do they look like beast skins?"

[This is Crocodile skin that serves as a full human armor on steroids!] Beauty explained proudly. [It hardens instantly when struck by heavy blows, but stays soft and flexible during movement! It even repairs small cracks by itself in minutes!]

Beauty paused dramatically, saving the best feature for last. [Most importantly, it absorbs heavy impacts from all types of weapons and can completely nullify crashing attacks!]

Zyra picked up the helmet that was part of the suit. It looked like a crocodile head with a short, menacing snout.

[Each helmet and skin can be connected to a specific link band to prevent theft and make it easy to be found in case it is lost.]

Zyra smirked. "Sweet." This way, even if someone was stripped in battle by the enemy, they could follow them back to their location.

Before she could inspect the rest, loud shouting and metal clashing echoed from outside in the courtyard. Zyra walked over to her window and looked down.

A huge crowd of people and beasts had gathered to watch two people sparring. But they weren’t just practicing_ they were fighting like sworn enemies from opposing clans!

Zyra’s jaw dropped at the sight.

Bianca was currently beating Hunter like a helpless child! Hunter had a bloody nose and small cuts on his shoulder, while Bianca jumped around him in nimble circles, landing quick strikes.

"Is that all you’ve got, cousin?!" Bianca bragged loudly, bouncing on her toes.

The crowd broke into cheers, and the beasts were roaring with laughter. Even Tyrant the clapping his huge paws. Zyra’s beasts were the loudest, squawking and hooting in victory. Bianca began jumping around, making clown noises and hilarious faces to provoke him. The spectators were howling with laughter.

Hunter wiped the blood dripping from his nose with the back of his hand, his face pitch black. "The show is over," he growled.

Bianca laughed and charged at him again like a lightning bolt. Hunter didn’t dodge. He simply swung his hand in a single, precise counter-slap.

Bianca hit the dirt flat on her back. The courtyard went dead silent. Their heroine’s road to victory had been ended with a single swat! As if she was a fly! Could anyone beat Hunter?

It took Bianca a long moment to groan and wobble back to her feet. The beasts immediately swarmed around her, growling and squeaking anxiously to see if she was okay. Squirrel scurried up her shoulder, handing her a tiny water bottle with a serious look, as if pleading with her not to give up the fight.

Bianca coughed, rubbing her red cheek. "Alright_ alright, point taken!" She faced Hunter and raised her fists. "Even if it kills me, I must defeat you."

Squirrel jumped back, egging her on with its chirps.

She leaped at him, only to be slapped down again with a single hand. Bianca rolled like a log, falling into the outdoor duck pond. Her body floated on the water, face down, as if she was dead. Then, Hunter growled under his breath, holding his bleeding nose, and stomped away from the crowd toward the main house.