These creatures couldn't harm Kent, and their infamous stinky gas, due to the distance, had no effect on him.
However, in their panic, a few weasels instinctively released a cloud of yellow-brown smoke from their rear ends, which quickly spread several meters around. Kent saw one unknown monster, hiding underground, rush out of its den and flee at lightning speed.
Kent frowned. The weasels' reputation was well-deserved. He didn't want to inhale any of that stench, so he quickly pulled down his helmet and activated its oxygen supply function.
Being a Class B combat suit, it was well-equipped, and the oxygen function was specifically designed for mercenaries in remote areas to handle situations where breathing became difficult. It had a built-in pure oxygen converter, enough to provide an hour of breathable air.
Once the oxygen ran out, the suit had basic filtration functions, though it was uncertain whether it would help with the weasel's foul stench.
Kent and Garfield continued their attack. With no immediate resource consumption, they had plenty of bullets and wind blades to keep fighting.
Soon, the weasels, darting in every direction, were mostly shot, bleeding heavily.
At this point, Garfield communicated through telepathy, indicating that it could no longer bear the unbearable smell of the gas, which spread everywhere and made breathing impossible—worse than poison gas.
Kent immediately summoned Garfield into his beast-handling bracelet.
Although he no longer had Garfield's wind blade support, Kent didn't stop fighting. After using up over a thousand rounds of rifle ammunition, he drew a longer-range weapon, prepared to shoot from over a kilometer away. He closed his oxygen function, hid, and aimed at the target.
After the mutations on Earth, to deal with monsters, the power of bullets and the size of bullet heads had been greatly increased due to advances in materials and technology.
The earlier rifle bullets weren't particularly large, but the sniper rounds were much bigger. They were designed to deliver lethal power with every shot.
Kent aimed carefully and pulled the trigger. In an instant, a large bullet shot out of the barrel with a loud crack, traveling over a kilometer and striking a weasel hiding in the leaves, followed by a scream of agony.
That shot made the entire forest fall silent.
Then, all the remaining weasels started fleeing. Kent knew that he had just killed a weasel of level 30+ because the shot had shattered its skull, causing the other weasels to panic and flee.
Although he had solved the nuisance of these creatures, Kent wasn't one to show mercy. He intended to catch up and become the hunter king, giving these beasts a lesson they would never forget.
Fortunately, the weasels seemed to be a pack. When they fled, they instinctively ran in the same direction.
Kent pursued closely. Even when he temporarily lost sight of them, he wasn't worried about losing them, thanks to his fiery eyes with golden pupils.
After about half an hour of pursuit, he suddenly lost track of the weasels.
"Something's wrong. They must be here."
Kent carefully observed. His time residue ability allowed him to see movements from the past ten minutes.
"There." Kent found a large stone and looked down. He could vaguely see a black hole.
"This is their den."
Kent wanted to deal with all of them at once. While he didn't know whether they had multiple lairs, he thought it was worth a try.
He placed a grenade into the hole and sealed the entrance.
The grenade emitted a cloud of smoke mixed with slow-acting poison gas, which would make the creatures faint more quickly.
About a minute later, Kent heard noises coming from the hole, followed by the sound of a weasel trying to push the large stone blocking the entrance.
The stone moved slightly, but Kent quickly pressed it back down with force. The vibrations in his palm gradually weakened, signaling that either the weasels inside had left or they had passed out.
After waiting three minutes, Kent judged it was safe and moved the stone. He activated the oxygen supply, used his fiery eyes with golden pupils, and entered the hole.
The weasels weren't small, and their tunnels were just wide enough for Kent to walk by lowering his head slightly.
"Pathetic," Kent muttered as he took a few steps in, seeing several weasels lying on the ground, still faintly breathing.
He drew a shotgun and shot them in the head, instantly blowing their massive skulls apart. He didn't want to touch these beasts due to the lingering smell, so he had no interest in any materials or energy gems.
After eliminating these weasels, Kent moved deeper into the cave. A few turns later, he found several more weasels that had been previously injured and were now unconscious.
Kent made sure to finish them off, blowing their heads apart.
"There are still a few left," he thought, feeling a deep sense of anger. He couldn't be at peace until he had dealt with every last one of these creatures.
He pressed on.
Soon, he was amazed. "This cave is really deep, and the passages I've been walking through are just tunnels."
A sense of curiosity emerged, and he continued deeper.
About five minutes later, his brow furrowed. It seemed like he was moving further underground, and ahead was a steep slope.
The range of his grenade had long passed, so the remaining weasels were probably unharmed and inside.
Kent gritted his teeth and decided to continue exploring. After descending the slope, the path gradually widened, and he began to see traces left by humans. More importantly, these traces appeared to be from ancient times.
"Passages, stone objects, murals... and a strong smell of death." Kent shivered. Could it be that he had stumbled upon an underground mausoleum?
He didn't dare to take it lightly. His fear of ghosts and spirits had always been strong, and instinctively, his back felt cold. He wasn't keen to continue exploring.
"Damn it, what's there to fear? There are no ghosts in this world."
Not willing to give up, he steeled himself and summoned Garfield to his side, hoping that having company would help bolster his courage.
After passing through a passage, he finally arrived at the tomb's entrance. It was a wide square-like area, but the tomb door had already been damaged. The marks indicated that the weasels had caused the destruction.
Kent held his breath and advanced cautiously.
Upon entering the mausoleum, he saw stone lions, statues, scattered human bones, and heaps of monster bones and fur piled into small mountains.
Kent immediately realized what had happened. These were the remains of the weasels' prey—humans and monsters alike. After they were consumed, only these remains were left behind.
Among the remains were recognizable human skulls.
Kent's heart boiled with fury. Overcoming his fear, he silently vowed to destroy every last one of these weasels.