Chapter 116: The Blue Moon Ice Cave

When the Blue Moon Mountain Range reappeared in Wu Hua’s sight, he couldn’t help but glance toward the mid-slope. It was precisely there that he had perished last time. But this time, if he were to encounter the Azure Star again, the outcome would be anyone’s guess.

The Ice Cave was perched atop the mountain. If it weren’t for Brick MM’s prior instructions, the entrance would have been hard to find. Inside, Wu Hua found the cavern narrow—only wide enough for one person to pass—but as he ventured deeper, the passage gradually widened.

The terrain displayed on the sensor read: a downward slope of five degrees, a five-meter-wide passage, and an endless depth stretching into darkness.

Yi Yi, undoubtedly an intelligent pet, was not yet ready to fight at this stage. She sat on Wu Hua’s shoulder, clutching a flashlight to illuminate his path. Wu Hua held the Finnish Star rifle carefully, advancing step by step.

The cave’s layout was straightforward—just a sloping path with no forks. Wu Hua’s courage grew steadily.

The first monster encountered was an ordinary wolf, spotted through the sniper scope at a distance of 500 meters below.

By now, Wu Hua’s proficiency with the Finnish Star had reached 25%, allowing him to shoot from a single knee position, and it could even double as a steel baton if needed.

“Bang!” The muzzle erupted in a fierce blaze, so loud that Yi Yi instinctively covered her ears.

The wolf was struck squarely on the forehead, letting out a howl before flying backward and dissolving into white light.

“—5210!” Wu Hua was surprised. Though the wolf’s HP wasn’t high, its defense was formidable—cutting the Finnish Star’s damage by half.

Yet Yi Yi cheered, her entire body radiating with colorful light. She had clearly leveled up.

When a monster is slain, the owner gains 100% experience, and the pet shares 25%. Yi Yi was only level one, so early levels came quickly. Wu Hua wasn’t surprised and casually glanced over her stats:

Level: 2
HP: 125
MP: 75
Strength: 6
Defense: 6
Agility: 11
Intelligence: 100
Endurance: 100/100
...

Wu Hua was secretly astonished: Yi Yi’s growth outpaced his own. Her base stats for strength, defense, and agility all increased naturally, whereas his had remained static during level-ups, relying solely on attribute points. It seemed the benefit of high intelligence was immense.

After continuing onward, Wu Hua soon encountered two wolves. Without hesitation, he dispatched them with the Finnish Star. Unfortunately, the wolves dropped nothing valuable—bullets cost three credit points each, so he was technically at a loss.

However, Wu Hua noticed a pattern: every 20 meters, the passage widened, and the number of wolves increased by one.

After some time, the wolves were no longer countable individually but appeared in packs. Wu Hua switched tactics: first using the Finnish Star for a one-shot kill, then switching to the AUG heavy barrel for burst fire. The AUG dealt about 1,000 damage per shot, two shots enough to kill one wolf, whose HP hovered around 2,000.

Yi Yi’s experience soared as well, with all attributes shifting. The fastest increase was in intimacy, now at +36.

Wu Hua’s leveling speed was much faster than ordinary warriors or psychics. Armed with a superior weapon, he feared nothing. Experience points surged rapidly, and thanks to luck points, some wolves dropped spectacular loot.

Yi Yi remained aloof, disdainfully ignoring the C-grade crystals, clearly looking down on their low quality.

“Looks like you’re quite picky,” Wu Hua chuckled.

Yi Yi snorted coldly, then extended a small hand, pointing downward as if to say, “Keep going.”

Wu Hua smiled and raised his rifle, pressing deeper into the cave. But fatigue began to set in. The wolf packs grew to at least thirty strong, forming a dark mass in the sniper scope, like ghosts lurking in the shadows. They didn’t attack unless provoked—wolves were intelligent.

Wu Hua’s strategy was methodical: at 300–500 meters, he fired four shots from the Finnish Star. The first three with armor-piercing rounds took down nine wolves in one burst; the fourth was a fragmentation round that ignited the pack, increasing visibility and killing ten wolves outright. The remaining twenty or so within 300 meters were mowed down with the AUG’s burst fire. The AUG’s 60-round magazine was more than enough.

As the cave deepened, the wolf numbers became terrifyingly large. Wu Hua had to adopt a hit-and-run tactic, sometimes even pulling out the M500 to finish off the last wolf within ten meters.

After each fight, he calmly reloaded. His reload technique with the M500 was impressive: a flick of the right wrist ejected the cylinder, the left hand swiftly reloaded, and a final flick closed the cylinder into the chamber. Equipped with Blackhawk tactical gloves, the reload took about eight seconds; the AUG needed six seconds; the Finnish Star five seconds. Total reload time approached twenty seconds. Combined with the hit-and-run approach, Wu Hua’s progress slowed significantly.

The sensor showed he had ventured approximately seven kilometers into the cave, yet there was no sign of the legendary Ice Cave. The place resembled a wolf den more than anything.

By the time he reached the eighth kilometer, Yi Yi had leveled up to ten, and Wu Hua’s experience was at 29 levels and 96%, poised to break level 30.

Suddenly, trouble arose: about forty wolves appeared 500 meters ahead, and inexplicably, another forty wolves appeared 300 meters behind him. Wu Hua was caught in a pincer attack. He immediately understood the treacherous nature of this map—once you plunged in, you’d be trapped.

As he pondered his next move, gunfire erupted behind him—rapid AK fire with loud steel-on-steel clangs, mixed with the booming shots of sniper rifles. Reinforcements had arrived.

Wu Hua wasted no time and opened fire on the wolves ahead, seeking to escape first.

In moments, both front and rear wolf packs fell, leaving a scattering of crystals.

“Don’t move! Hands up, or the bullets won’t spare you.” Four purple-glowing AKMs were trained on Wu Hua, their owners no more than ten meters away.

Wu Hua reluctantly raised his hands. At such close range, he could only withstand five seconds of gunfire.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” The group was clad entirely in SAS aircrew gear, well-organized. Their leader was a sniper.

He carried an Arctic Police heavy sniper rifle, nicknamed the AP, a renowned firearm made by a British precision instrument company. It resembled the Finnish Star but featured a solid hard plastic stock, making it heavier. Although weaker overall than the Finnish Star—2x zoom, 7,000 joules muzzle energy, firing 7.62mm NATO rounds with a range of 900 meters—it boasted a crucial advantage: a frost-resistant design specially made for extreme cold.

Wu Hua thought to himself that players were growing tougher these days, with snipers appearing more frequently.

The sniper eyed the Finnish Star on Wu Hua’s back with surprise and envy. “Don’t move. Hands up. What are you doing here? You look suspicious.”

Seeing their professional attire and lack of hostility, Wu Hua replied, “I’m here leveling up. Brother, don’t make trouble.”

Another flashlight beam appeared, and a gentle voice called out, “Isn’t that Brother Feng? Everyone, stand down. He’s one of us.”

Startled, Wu Hua looked back and smiled. “Life is full of unexpected reunions.”