Chapter 7.1

The four of them rested for the afternoon. After dinner, Adolf came personally to escort them out of the prison gates. With a sarcastic smile, he said, “Good luck.”

All Hunter Nights happened after dark. The shape of Mammon Island resembled an ancient Chinese ruyi scepter. The base of Mammon Mountain formed the “head,” shaped like a lingzhi mushroom, while the forest below stretched out in a long, narrow strip with rolling hills and small slopes. The forest was filled with dense shrubs, tall broad-leaved trees, and packs of wolves released by the prison.

Many hoped to escape Mammon prison, but on Hunter Nights, nearly every prisoner desperately wished they could return.

After taking a few steps, Jude spoke nervously, “Seven… maybe we should find a place to hide.”

Tom chuckled, “Sure, why not? Hide right here if you want.”

Mo Zimu replied, “They choose night not just to make us afraid, but possibly because they have infrared, heat-seeking devices or something like that. If you hide, it’s a dead end.”

Both Tommy and Tom glanced at him with admiration. Jude asked, “Then… then what should we do?”

Tom replied, “Just follow Tommy. He’s been through six Hunter Nights and knows this terrain better than anyone.”

Tommy didn’t deny it. “From now on, we run without stopping. This is about survival. No one’s watching your back. If you get separated, that’s just bad luck.”

He and Tom took off running. Jude was still trembling when he looked down at what Mo Zimu had just handed him.

It was a small square blade. Jude muttered, “What use is this?”

But before he could finish, Mo Zimu had already started running. Jude had no choice but to follow.

The four of them kept moving, constantly changing their position as they pushed through dense shrubs. In the subtropical climate, fallen leaves from overgrown bushes mixed with algae and waterlogged soil, forming thick, muddy swamps. Each step sank deep, often requiring a struggle to pull free.

The sky was overcast with dark clouds, and by the second half of the night, it began to drizzle.

“Shit!” Tom cursed. “It’s been raining all winter. If it were spring, it wouldn’t be so bad!”

The four of them were cold and exhausted. Jude whispered, “I… I can’t go on anymore. Let’s take a break.”

Mo Zimu glanced at Tommy. Despite Tom’s sharpness, it was obvious that Tommy was the true veteran of Hunter Night.

“No!” He said coldly. “They’ll catch up to us soon.”

“But in this forest, they have to walk too, don’t they?” Jude protested. “They can’t drive here!”

His persistent whining got on Tom’s already frayed nerves. Tom shoved him and snapped, “Damn it, stay if you want to.”

Jude staggered back from the push and accidentally stepped onto something that caused his foot to get stuck. He looked down and let out a terrified scream.

Mo Zimu quickly crouched down to check. There, hidden among the bushes, lay a mangled corpse. Its chest and abdomen had been hollowed out, and Jude’s foot had stepped directly into the open cavity.

Jude’s scream of horror echoed through the forest.

Tom’s face turned pale as he yelled, “Shut up! Shut up!” Just as he finished speaking, a gunshot rang out in the air.

Tommy’s expression changed instantly. “They’re already on our trail.”

Mo Zimu grabbed Jude and pulled his leg free. Without needing further discussion, the four of them bolted forward as fast as they could.

Gunshots echoed intermittently behind them, sometimes distant, other times seeming frighteningly close.

Each shot drove the exhausted group to sprint with all their might.

As they ran, Mo Zimu suddenly heard a loud “Ow!” Turning back, he saw that Jude had tripped, his foot sinking into a patch of mud, and he had fallen to the ground.

“Jude fell!” Mo Zimu called out to the two ahead.

Tom grabbed Mo Zimu and whispered harshly, “Keep going! Don’t you know the Hunters are right behind us?”

“If we leave him, he’s as good as dead.”

“Do you know how a lead sheep saves the flock?” Tom said. “By abandoning the weak ones, the rest can survive.”

Mo Zimu stared at him coldly and replied, “Unfortunately, you’re not the lead sheep, so it’s not up to you.”

He ran toward Jude. Tom cursed under his breath and, along with Tommy, continued running ahead.

Mo Zimu reached Jude and said, “I’ll help you get your foot out!”

Jude squirmed, tears streaming down his face as he cried, “Seven, I can’t move. My foot won’t budge. I’m dead, I’m done for!” He broke into loud sobs.

Mo Zimu slapped him hard across the face and said harshly, “Shut up!”

The sound of rain pattering on leaves filled the night, creating a whispery noise that resembled approaching footsteps. Jude flinched at Mo Zimu’s sudden aggression, letting out a soft whimper as he shivered in fear.

“Stay here,” Mo Zimu ordered coldly. Then, he reached into Jude’s pocket and pulled out the small square blade.

Jude’s eyes widened in terror, and he pleaded, “No… please, don’t leave me, don’t leave me behind.”

Mo Zimu ignored him and turned, running into the thicket.

Left alone, Jude lay trembling on the ground like a wounded lamb. After a while, footsteps echoed nearby, and a voice called out, “Well, well, looks like we’ve got a stray lamb.”

Turning his head, Jude saw a man, dressed in a black black stepped out from the dense forest. A sniper rifle rested on his shoulder.

The man scanned the area before slowly approaching him. His eyes studied Jude intently before he grinned, revealing a row of sharp white teeth.

“A beauty, huh? Poor thing, left behind by your friends. Don’t be sad or disappointed. Those idiots always act that way. Quite the treat Adolf served up this time. Let me have a taste of you first.”

“No… no, please!” Jude shook his head, tears streaming down his face.

The man set his rifle down beside his leg, grabbed Jude by the hair, and sneered, “I don’t like hearing ‘no.’ So, let’s punish you for that.”

He unzipped his pants and forced his member into Jude’s mouth, His breath turned ragged as he drove in deeper, pushing to the back of his victim’s throat, ignoring the way the body beneath him convulsed, eyes rolling back from lack of air.

Faster and faster, his movements became erratic, his breath heavy. Just as he was about to reach his climax, a dark figure suddenly dropped from above, striking him with a force that sent him flying to the ground.

The figure had jumped from a vine and quickly got back on their feet, pressing the blade of a knife against his neck.

“Four-eyes…” he sneered, shaking his head to clear it. “You dare disrespect Marcia?”

Before he could say more, another figure stepped out from the forest, also a man, dressed in a black. He smirked and said, “You, a fool who only knows how to fuck around, expect respect from your prey?”

“Pick up the rifle!” Mo Zimu shouted at Jude, gesturing to the sniper rifle still on the ground nearby.

Jude scrambled to grab the weapon, fumbling in his panic.

The man chuckled. “No need to panic. Don’t worry, I have no intention of saving him. In fact, I’d be quite happy to see him get taken down.”

“What did you say, Noè?” Marcia growled through gritted teeth. “You damned bastard! Geoffrey won’t let you get away with this!”

Noè smirked. “You ignored Benjamin’s orders and hunted prey on your own. I’m not too worried when he reports me. When they kill you, I’ll carve them up piece by piece to avenge you. I’ll even cut out this boy’s tongue and his… tight little ass to bury alongside you.”

Jude’s hands trembled. “W-wait! We… we don’t want to kill him. Just let us go, and we’ll… we’ll let him go.”

Noè raised an eyebrow. “Are you trying to negotiate with me now?”

At that moment, the rain stopped. Moonlight broke through the clouds, casting an eerie glow over the scene and making the night feel strangely transparent.

The man called Noè stepped fully into view. His features were sharp and striking, black hair hinting at Italian heritage. He carried himself with an elegance that belonged to an orator or a seasoned negotiator.

“Yes… yes,” Jude stammered.

“Then put the gun down first. I don’t particularly enjoy being stared down at gunpoint while negotiating.”

“Don’t put it down!” Mo Zimu shouted.

“But he’s still in your hands. If we negotiate, we can leave,” Jude said, turning to Mo Zimu.

“Watch out!” Mo Zimu yelled.

In an instant, Noè, who had been standing far away, was suddenly in front of Jude. With a single punch, the sniper rifle was knocked out of Jude’s hands.

Mo Zimu gasped, his heart pounding. At that moment, a sudden blow struck him across the face. His glasses flew off as he was sent crashing to the ground.

Marcia didn’t give him a chance to recover. In an instant, he flipped him over and pinned him down. But Mo Zimu fought back, slamming his head into Marcia’s chin. A sharp crack echoed as blood gushed from Marcia’s mouth.

Overcome with rage, Marcia struck him hard in the stomach and kept hitting until Mo Zimu dropped, curled up on the ground, unmoving.

Breathing heavily, he grabbed Mo Zimu and flipped him onto his back. As the moonlight illuminated his face, Marcia froze.

For a few seconds, he stared in stunned silence before suddenly bursting into maniacal laughter.

“Noè… look at what I’ve caught!” he exclaimed, his voice tinged with a crazed excitement.

“Isn’t he the four-eyed kid?” Noè said with a smile, looking at Jude trembling uncontrollably on the ground.

“No… no…” Marcia shook his head, sighing dramatically. “This is a beauty. An exquisite Eastern beauty you could never have imagined.”

Noè cast a glance from a distance before hefting his rifle and strolling toward them.

As he got closer, the moonlight illuminated Mo Zimu’s half-closed eyes. Noè looked at him carefully, hesitated for a moment, then remarked, “Truly exceptional.”

“He’s mine,” Marcia said, unzipping his jacket with labored breaths. “The rest are yours. Damn, lucky we didn’t bring that psycho Kōsō along. Otherwise, this beauty would’ve been gutted like a frog. What a damn shame that would’ve been.”

Noè frowned slightly.“You really want to do this now? You know Geoffrey prefers Asian prey, and they’re rare on Mammon Island.”

Marcia pulled off his shirt, revealing his toned upper body. Leaning down, he licked the side of Mo Zimu’s face, “I can’t wait. Didn’t you say there’s a Chinese saying that sex for thirty minutes is worth tens of thousands of dollars?”

Noè sighed and corrected him, “The saying is, ‘A fleeting night is worth a thousand gold.’”

Marcia took a deep breath. “For this, I’d pay millions.” He tore off Mo Zimu’s shirt and threw it aside, then began pulling at his pants.

Noè frowned, “Marcia, Geoffrey wanted me to tell you—”

Marcia, who seemed to hold Geoffrey in high regard, instinctively turned slightly to listen to Noè.

In that split second, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air, and a needle-like object pierced deep into Marcia’s back. He screamed in pain, but Noè caught him quickly and dragged him toward the dense forest.

“What the hell are you doing?” Marcia cursed. “Kill them! Since when do hunters run from prey?”

Noè chuckled, “The situation changed. Let’s save the hunt for another day. Even hunters get hunted sometimes.”

The spike had sunk deeply into Marcia’s back, leaving him too weak to resist. He had no choice but to let Noè drag him away.

Once they were gone, Tommy and Tom stepped out from the bushes and rushed to Mo Zimu’s side, helping him up.

“Are you alright?” Tommy asked, helping Mo Zimu put his shirt back on. Noticing the cross on Mo Zimu’s wrist, he said, “This is Mammon, Lucifer’s world. God’s rules don’t apply here.”

Mo Zimu, regaining his composure, quickly adjusted his clothing, found his glasses, and slipped them back on. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

Tom turned to Jude, who was sitting on the ground, sobbing. With a sneer, he said, “Are you going to stay here and let the wolves eat you, or are you going to get up?”

Jude glanced at him, tried to push himself up, but his trembling legs gave out.

Tommy frowned, “Tom, help him. We need to get moving!”

Tom walked over but didn’t offer his hand. Jude stopped crying, grabbed onto Tom for support, and with effort, slowly pulled himself up.

Tommy said, “We don’t know if they’ll come after us again. We should leave here quickly.”

Tom, clearly reluctant, half-supported and half-dragged Jude, who was limping heavily.

Mo Zimu and Tommy led the way. Fortunately, after this harrowing ordeal, they somehow made it back to Mammon in one piece.

The four of them stood atop the hill, looking out at the deep blue Caribbean Sea bathed in the morning sun. After a long silence, Tom finally muttered, “That was one hell of a fucking close call.”

Tommy responded, “Yeah, because we’re still alive.”

Tom smacked his lips but, for once, didn’t argue.

They all knew that if Mo Zimu had left Jude behind, like Tom and Tommy had planned, they would have lost their only leverage.

And if Tom and Tommy hadn’t turned back, they never would have had the chance to wound the hunter.

In the end, they probably would have been picked off one by one.

Surviving that death match had nothing to do with skill. It was pure luck.

They had encountered Marcia, who was more lustful than bloodthirsty, and Noè, who seemed less inclined to kill.

Even the guard who opened the gate for them appeared a little surprised.

Last night, Adolf looked at them as if they were walking corpses. But when he saw them again in the morning, it was as if he were looking at a species that had already been declared extinct. He struggled to maintain his air of superiority but couldn’t help but be shocked by their tenacity.

Back in the main building, they could feel the excitement rippling through the hive. To their surprise, they were greeted with applause.

The strong devouring the weak is a victory for the strong. But escaping from the jaws of the powerful, even if it meant running like a stray dog, was already a victory for the weak.

For some, this kind of victory was a source of great inspiration. For others, it was the ultimate humiliation.

The red-haired Teabag smacked his lips. “Wow, I’ve been so busy I didn’t realize there’s a little beauty in C Block.”

“Boss, you interested?” someone behind him teased.

Teabag didn’t answer. He simply licked his lips.

Tommy and Mo Zimu quickly returned to their cells. Tom, looking flushed with excitement, raised a hand in greeting, while Jude, still struggling with his injured leg, stood awkwardly by his side.

After the winter Hunter event ended, the New Year was just around the corner.