The Alpha Wolf Intel, Let's Make a Deal
Athena watched the scene play out, her expression twisted with complicated emotion.
Xalen's fight against Jack… it was over in seconds.
Sure, Jack was just a Common Gene Soldier, but that speed was still way too fast.
Even a Rare Gene Soldier shouldn't have been able to pull that off.
And yet, Xalen just did.
What the heck was going on?
What was the deal with that horrifying power of his?
And what about that freakish regenerative ability? What even was that?
At that moment, Jack was, of course, equally shell-shocked.
Only by actually trading blows with Xalen could you understand just how terrifying he really was.
From what he felt, he and Xalen weren't even in the same league.
Could it be that the guy was actually already an Awakened Master?
And how did he have such advanced throwing weapon skills?
He'd never heard a single thing about that before.
Had Xalen been secretly training that this whole time?
Jack's head spun with unanswered questions, but one thing was absolutely certain: this time, he'd kicked a solid steel wall.
So Jack surrendered without a second's hesitation.
The corner of Xalen's mouth tugged up.
He didn't actually know any fancy throwing skills.
That little move just now? It was only because his Four-Dimensional Attributes were so overpowered that replicating Jack's throwing form was effortless—and he'd pulled it off with way more power behind it.
And no, he wasn't an Awakened Master either. At this point, he was still only a LV2 Gene Soldier.
It's just that his Four-Dimensional Attributes were… a tiny bit insane.
As for Jack's surrender? Xalen had zero intention of accepting it. "I'm not in a duel with you. Surrendering isn't going to help you here."
Jack's face instantly went pale. Seeing that fist packed with horrifying force about to come crashing down again, his mind raced, and he blurted out, "Xalen, buddy! I'll buy my life with intel!"
"I've got incredibly valuable intel!"
Xalen raised an eyebrow at that.
"Who doesn't have intel?"
He sounded dismissive.
But Jack quickly added, "My intel's about the Alpha Wolf."
What?
Those words made Xalen's motion finally halt.
Up in the tree, Athena also registered a look of shock.
The Alpha Wolf?
Xalen refocused, his interest now genuinely piqued.
He obviously knew about the Alpha Wolf's existence.
Generally speaking, there was always a BOSS inside every spatial rift instance.
This was the Shadowwind Wolf instance, so the BOSS was naturally the Alpha Wolf.
The Gene Academy had also clearly stated that to claim first place, not only did you need the highest kill count, there was also a hard requirement for the Alpha Wolf.
Meaning, no matter how many Shadowwind Wolves you slayed, if you didn't kill the Alpha Wolf, you weren't getting first place.
So, naturally, Xalen was extremely interested in the Alpha Wolf.
Plus, a creature like the Alpha Wolf was always surrounded by its pack.
In other words, wherever the Alpha Wolf was, the wolf pack was there too.
"You know where the Alpha Wolf is?"
Xalen looked at Jack, curious.
Jack nodded fervently. "I know, I know."
But Xalen was skeptical. "With your strength, how could you possibly know where the Alpha Wolf is? One encounter and you'd be dead in a second, or swallowed up by the pack."
At Xalen's blunt takedown, Jack could only give a bitter smile.
Not too long ago, he was the one mocking Xalen for being weak. Now, in the blink of an eye, Xalen was mocking him right back.
But on this point, he couldn't really argue.
Still, he actually did know where the Alpha Wolf was.
Jack hurriedly explained. "You're right, Xalen. I'm definitely no match for the Alpha Wolf, or the pack. But remember, my gene is the Golden Monkey. My ability lets me travel up in the treetops. Those Shadowwind Wolves, even the Alpha, can't touch a single hair on my head up there!"
Saying this, Jack finally reclaimed a tiny sliver of his pride.
His gene wasn't totally useless.
Though lacking in raw power, it was super effective in this kind of environment.
Hearing this, Xalen looked mildly surprised. He glanced up at the massive, dense trees around him and finally accepted Jack's explanation.
Monkey-type genes probably could allow travel between trees.
Especially ones this huge and heavily overgrown.
Up above, Athena also realized Jack wasn't lying and found herself leaning in to listen more closely.
"Alright, fine. Let's hear it then."
Jack gave a nod and immediately started recounting what he knew.
The intel he had on the Alpha Wolf was all true.
Earlier, while hunting for lone Shadowwind Wolves, he'd actually stumbled upon the Alpha Wolf.
He'd even seen the massive pack it commanded, made up of over a hundred Shadowwind Wolves.
At the time, though, the sight scared the daylights out of him, and he'd quickly taken off through the treetops to get far away.
But even so, that information was invaluable.
If you followed the directions he gave, there was a very high chance you'd find the pack, and even the Alpha Wolf itself.
Xalen immediately sank into thought.
According to the Gene Academy's rules, if he wanted to take first place, he definitely had to kill the Alpha Wolf.
But right now, he wasn't fully confident he could actually pull it off.
Because killing the Alpha Wolf didn't just mean fighting the Alpha alone—it meant dealing with the entire pack it led!
If over a hundred Shadowwind Wolves charged him all at once, Xalen would be under immense pressure.
The issue was, even though he could now locally manifest a piece of dragon scale, he still couldn't cover his entire body.
If he got caught in a swarm, taking countless hits, his Indestructible Tyrant Body could probably heal through the injuries, but he wouldn't have unlimited stamina.
In short, for him right now, taking on the Alpha Wolf still carried a certain level of risk.
With that thought, Xalen quickly suppressed his impulse.
He absolutely couldn't afford to die.
He'd already promised his mom and little sister that he'd definitely come back alive.
So, as wild as he'd seemed earlier, deliberately luring wolf packs toward him, every move had actually been well within his control.
But carelessly charging at the Alpha Wolf right now? That was a different story.
There were risks he simply couldn't completely eliminate.
With that in mind, Xalen shelved the idea for the moment.
Though postponing it now didn't mean abandoning it forever.
Once he leveled up a few more times, he should be able to pull it off without a hitch.
Having made up his mind, Xalen looked at Jack. "Here's the mission for you: find the Alpha Wolf for me, keep tabs on it, and report back with updates."
"Huh?"
Jack blurted out, stunned.
What was that supposed to mean?
His immediate reflex was pure reluctance.
But then, in the very next second, one sentence from Xalen turned that reluctance into eager willingness.
"You want Shadowwind Wolf corpses, don't you? You pull this off, I'll give you ten of them."
At those words, Jack's eyes blazed with excitement!
"Are you for real?"
"Why would I lie to you? It's not like I'm running short."
Xalen gave a faint, casual smile.
Jack's face practically glowed.
With his abilities, tracking the Alpha Wolf wasn't actually all that dangerous.
If anything, taking down ten Shadowwind Wolves himself would be way harder.
In that light, this deal was an absolute steal.
After thinking it over for a split second, Jack nodded firmly.
"Deal!"
…