Chapter 192: Shocking the Crowd  

"Captain, isn't that Yang Ze?" one of the hunters beside him shouted out the moment the three hunters from Team Zenith vanished from sight.

Everyone turned toward Liu Hong, who was a hunter from Sacred Fire on Mars. Yang Ze was the victor of the tournament in Sacred Fire; no one in the Carter settlement had managed to win against him, and even Liu Hong had been vanquished in a single blow.

"I'm not blind!" Liu Hong hissed back. He believed he would have been able to get into the top ten easily given his strength, but because he met Yang Ze, he wasn't even able to advance to the finals. Otherwise, he wouldn't be looking at him with such malice.

The crowd of hunters quieted down. They might have dared to lay a hand on a regular team of hunters, but against Team Zenith… Yang Ze alone would likely be enough to take on them all, let alone the two other hunters of similar strength beside him.

"What do we do now, Captain?!" After all, the Labyrinthine Forest was in the vicinity of the Carter settlement, and they surely had to defend their resources from being taken by other hunters.

However, how could they stop three hunters from Team Zenith?

"We'll head back first," Liu Hong suddenly suggested, breaking the silence. The hunters rushed back to the Carter settlement.

"Go on—spread some news about how hunters from the Blacksteel settlement came to the Labyrinthine Forest to hunt down some lifeforms," he commanded, the moment they reached the settlement gates.

The hunters nodded and spread out through the crowd. What did hunters in the dimensional world care most about? Enhancing one's strength, improving one's framework and techniques—and all this relied on the resources available around the settlement. Would hunters from the Carter settlement allow others to steal resources from them? Of course not!

You might be hunters of Team Zenith, but let's see how well you can handle tens of thousands of enraged hunters!

The startling information quickly spread throughout the settlement, and large swathes of hunters rushed out of the Carter settlement and into the nearby forest. Liu Hong, the one who had instigated this entire affair, didn't even deign to participate; he simply had his subordinates handle everything.

. Deep within the Labyrinthine Forest, just as Sun Xiaowu plucked out another herb, Yang Ze and Fang Yi heard a commotion coming from behind.

Yang Ze frowned, his hand on his sword. "What's going on? It sounds like there are quite a few hunters rushing our way."

Fang Yi smiled. "It's normal, isn't it? We're intruding on their territory and their resources— but don't forget our objective. We'll try to avoid a confrontation as much as possible!"

A party of about a hundred hunters rushed out from the trees nearby almost exactly as soon as Fang Yi finished speaking, surrounding the three hunters.

"You're members of Team Zenith from the Blacksteel settlement, aren't you? The Labyrinthine Forest is the domain of the Carter settlement. Please leave immediately!" A hulking hunter walked out of the crowd before Fang Yi and the others could say anything, calling out for them to leave.

Fang Yi smiled and stepped forward. "Friends, I think you might be mistaken. We're just passing by the area, and we don't intend on hunting down the lifeforms in the forest—only those that are blocking our way. On what grounds do you seek to expel us? ?Stand forth, if you dare!"

Fang Yi's smile made him look friendly and approachable, but by the time he finished his remarks, all the hunters present were shivering with shock. Wind- and thunder-attuned genetic energy exploded from his body, and the aura forced everyone present to take a step back.

The hulking hunter who had led the crowd stammered, "I—no, I mean, all of us—"

However, hearing his words, everyone else hastily took another step back. They were just there out of indignation; who would be foolish enough to pick a fight with members of Team Zenith? The members of Team Zenith were known worldwide! All of them had already broken through and had perfectly acclimated to their limit fragments, and they had won every single fight in the Void Cup with just one blow.

How could any of them hope to stand up to such strength? This wasn't an official competition, after all, and there would be no one to save them if they were defeated. They had initially expected to overwhelm even the hunters of Team Zenith with numerical superiority, but despite the fact that there were only three hunters on the other side, they didn't seem cowed at all.

The moment Fang Yi activated his framework, so did the other two hunters, bearing down on the others with the vitality of the sea and sharpness of gold. The hunters from the Carter settlement instinctively reared back against such dramatic fluctuations in genetic energy.

Furthermore, as the hunters from Team Zenith had claimed, they truly didn't seem to be hunting down the lifeforms in the forest. Many of the hunters who had gathered were even thinking of retreating.

"You? Do you speak for everyone here?" Fang Yi's eyes focused on the hulking hunter in front.

The leading hunter, Li Youcai, couldn't help but panic. "No, no, I'm not!" magic

Fang Yi suddenly retracted his aura and began to smile. "Given your behavior, it looks as though someone has taken you for a pawn. Tell me: who's the one who incited all of you to come here? Who told you that Team Zenith's trying to steal all your resources?"

Li Youcai, along with quite a few hunters in the crowd, suddenly blinked. They turned around and tried to search for the hunters that had led the way, only to see a few of them retreating from the crowd and running away. However, by then, it was already too late. "Liu Xiu!" Li Youcai called out the name of one hunter who was trying to dart away, and others quickly noticed as well. Within mere moments, Liu Xiu, Wang Neng, and one other instigator—subordinates working for Liu Hong—were ferreted out and pushed to the front of the crowd.

Staring at the three offending hunters, Fang Yi spoke once more, "Shall we hear why these three hunters are trying to provoke all of you to attack us?"

He leaned forward and, grinning maliciously, whispered into the ears of the three hunters, "Of the three of you, only one will live: whoever gives me the most details about what's going on."

"I'll speak!"

"No, no, let me speak! It's Liu Hong!"

"No, it's Li Xiao!"

"What? Of course not—it's Liu Hong!"

The three of them spoke over one another all at once.

"One at a time!" Fang Yi shouted impatiently. "Liu Xiu, you begin!"

Liu Xiu smiled broadly. "Yes, yes, I'll speak! Liu Hong—more specifically, Young Master Liu, from Sacred Fire on Mars—was the one who had us rile up the crowd. Li Xiao, who was brought up earlier, was just one of Liu Hong's subordinates, and we're only doing this because he gave us points. Please, spare our lives!"

Liu Xiu bore Liu Hong no loyalty; his life was far more important.

"And do either of you have anything to add?"

The other two hunters, their faces ashen, clutched their hair as they tried to think of anything else to add in order to save their lives. As they did so, Fang Yi mulled over the situation. The Liu clan, from Sacred Fire... it didn't seem like a particularly small clan, so why would they be targeting Team Zenith?

Suddenly, he turned to Yang Ze, who was standing behind him.

"Come over here, Yang Ze!"

Of the hunters of Team Zenith, Yang Ze was the only one who could be implicated in this series of events.

"Wait, I have something to add!" Just then, Wang Neng spoke up. "It's all because of Yang Ze! Liu Hong was one of the top ten hunters in Sacred Fire, but because he encountered Yang Ze during the nationwide stage, he failed to advance to the next round. He's harbored a grudge for Team Zenith since then, and Liu Hong's surely the mastermind behind this whole affair!"

Yang Ze raised an eyebrow. "Who are you talking about? That cocky white-haired brat?"

The crowd was stunned into silence. Who would dare to call the only son of the Liu clan head from Sacred Fire... a white-haired brat?