Chapter 96

"Indeed, you are as troublesome as you claim to be," Fude said. "To have managed to leap to such a place by sheer luck."

"Ha! Luck?" Feng Bujue said shamelessly. "This is skill. This move is the legendary lightness skill known as 'Floating on Shit.'"

Fude did not comment on his foul language or absurd remarks and silently pulled out a pistol from his pocket...

"Damn!" Seeing this, Feng Bujue vanished with a swoosh.

Upon closer inspection, he had hidden himself behind a large, protruding rock at his feet. He held a flashlight in his mouth, crouched, and hugged the rock. Due to the distance, his body was in Fude's blind spot.

Although it was not yet dawn, Fude's vision was much stronger than that of an ordinary human. With the help of the faint light from the flashlight behind the rock, he could see clearly, but unfortunately, there was no angle from which he could shoot.

Feng Bujue clung tightly to the rock with his hands and feet, only his buttocks touching the mud. This small contact area was not enough to make him sink. Before his stamina ran out, he could maintain this position for quite some time.

"I should have brought a shotgun," Fude said with a smile, putting away the pistol. "My marksmanship is good, but a pistol is not suitable for aiming at medium to long distances, especially in such darkness."

"You're just trembling from the shock of my world-class lightness skill!" Feng Bujue shouted. To provoke Fude in this almost shameless manner, he even let go of the flashlight in his mouth, spitting it into the mud below.

"Heh heh... Do you really think hiding there will keep you safe?" Fude sneered. "Do you really think I won't dare to come over directly?"

"Less talk!" Feng Bujue replied in an even more arrogant tone. "I'm a busy, respectable person and don't have time to beat you up, so please be quick and run over to my fist." He spent two seconds loosening one arm, extending his hand to give Fude the middle finger, and then quickly hugged the rock again.

"Rude bastard..."

Fude was suddenly provoked to curse.

Fude then moved away from the edge of the swamp, creating a running distance. Feng Bujue's "Floating on Shit"... Fude indeed did not know it, nor had he read martial arts novels, so he couldn't understand it. However, with Fude's physical skills, if he prepared properly, he could jump directly to the large rock Feng Bujue was clinging to.

At this moment, Feng Bujue's flashlight had completely sunk into the swamp, and Fude had no lighting equipment. The surroundings were very dark; the moon had disappeared, and the sun had not yet risen, leaving the sky a dark purple. Even in the open Death Swamp, Feng Bujue's vision could only make out the outlines of objects within about five meters.

At this moment, the surroundings were eerily quiet, and the sound of bubbles rising from the swamp could be heard. Feng Bujue held his breath and listened for Fude's movements. Soon, he heard... footsteps, at a very high frequency, much higher than when he was chasing him, and very powerful, with a short stride, indicating that these steps were not for speed but to build up and release power.

Finally, there was a "thud" as a foot heavily stepped on the mud.

Fude leaped in a high arc, like a whale's back, springing up and flying over.

As soon as Feng Bujue heard the sound of Fude's jump, he climbed back up the rock with all his might, instinctively drew his pistol, and fired two shots into the air. These bullets were not aimed to hit but to use the muzzle flash to see where Fude had leaped.

These two shots indeed missed, and by a wide margin. Worse still, about a second later, Fude had already arrived, standing on the same rock, less than two meters from Feng Bujue.

Feng Bujue had no time to hesitate and immediately fired another shot, hitting Fude's body. In such low visibility, aiming for the head was impossible; hitting was good enough.

A normal person, even with a bulletproof vest, would fall backward, unable to breathe or even go into shock at such close range. But Fude did not take a single step back; he just tightened his expression as if he had been punched.

"Heh heh heh..." Fude laughed triumphantly, knowing it was over. This Fude did not plan to use a gun; he intended to tear this uncultured bastard apart with his bare hands.

"Heh heh heh..." Feng Bujue laughed even more triumphantly and used his remaining two-use consumable skill, sidestepping and tripping Fude.

Ignoring proficiency levels, the 100% trip effect theoretically worked on any monster that could be tripped. This effect was particularly suitable for this Fude.

Fude fell backward, his hands flailing in the air, his expression horrified. In reality, a Fude of his caliber could react during the fall, twist his body, change direction, or even roll to stand up... but under the influence of Feng Bujue's skill, any monster had to be "tripped," and only after completing the "fall" would the skill end.

Thus, Fude fell sideways from the rock, landing in the swamp...

Without a word, Feng Bujue moved to the other side of the rock, hugging it again to keep himself out of Fude's line of sight.

Having fought to this point, Feng Bujue would not expose any more weaknesses. If Fude pulled out a gun and fired randomly or threw a clump of mud, reducing his HP, it would all be for nothing.

Better safe than sorry, so Feng Bujue maintained this position, silently listening to Fude's curses and struggles in the mud. After about three minutes, the sounds finally stopped. Fude was still cursing until his mouth sank into the mud, and the mud filled his lungs, stopping his breathing.

It seemed that killing Fude would not trigger Ivan's rage event, which was reasonable; otherwise, the main plot would be too exaggerated.

After climbing up the rock, Feng Bujue thought: Perhaps after reading General Zaroff's final words, another way to complete the script would be to infiltrate the castle, find the underground port's location while dealing with Ivan, and escape by boat. However, this would likely only be possible with a larger group of players. In short, using himself as bait to lure Fude away while others took the opportunity to enter the castle...

He quickly teleported, as his HP could not afford to stay any longer.

Shortly after Feng Bujue left, Ivan's tall figure emerged from the dense forest. He stood at the edge of the swamp, looking at the mud, planning how to retrieve his master from the bottom.