As Ed finished speaking, everyone else was stunned. Alex was the first to react, quickly pulling Lucas back a few steps.

They feared the Red Poison Ants would spray poison again!

Beside Ed, Thomas looked panicked. "Ed, should we back up too?"

However, Ed stood there unfazed, "There's no need. The Red Poison Ant's greatest strength is its poison."

"But each Red Poison Ant can only spray poison once. After that, it can be easily killed."

Ed then shot Thomas a glance, and Thomas immediately understood.

He drew his steel sword and quickly pierced the Red Poison Ant through its body!

Then, carefully, he severed its head.

"We've killed another monster!" Thomas' face showed delight, and inside, he was full of admiration for Ed.

"Ed, how do you know so much? You're like a veteran Hunter who's been at this for decades!"

Meanwhile, Alex and Lucas, who had stepped back, were just realizing what had happened.

"What?! We missed another chance at loot?" Alex lamented quietly.

They weren't part of the same association, each fighting for their own points. This meant whoever killed a monster got the points for it!

Thomas asked, "Ed, you mentioned there are a lot more monsters nearby, right? What else is there?"

Ed looked to the side and pointed, "I told you, the Red Poison Ants are social insects. The one we saw earlier was just a scout. The nest is nearby!"

"It's this direction." He pointed again.

Lucas, standing next to Alex, whispered with excitement, "Big bro, did you hear that? There are more Red Poison Ants! We still have a chance!"

Alex nodded. Sure enough, the two of them walked in the direction Ed pointed, taking about twenty steps.

Only then did Alex feel it — the air was thick with the scent of Red Poison Ants.

He froze for a moment, then thought to himself, "How could this be? This young man... his Hunter's senses are so much sharper than mine!"

Ed and Thomas followed closely behind, and as they looked ahead, they saw a large mound of dirt beneath a dead tree!

The mound had a hole leading underground, and there were countless Red Poison Ants coming in and out of it!

So many that it was impossible to count them!

"My God, that's a lot!" Thomas and the others were thrilled.

If they could take out all of these Red Poison Ants, think of how many points they'd get!

But just then, Alex furrowed his brow. "Hold on, don't move. Look, we're not the only ones who found this nest."

...

On the spectator screen, the secondary display mostly focused on the same group of people for most of the time.

It was like how the main screen often showed the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association, since they were the strongest and the most exciting to watch.

The same applied to the secondary screen; even among the many individual Hunters, there were always the most powerful ones.

For instance, in the current scene.

A team of four Hunters appeared. The leader was wearing a black headscarf, and the cloak behind him clearly marked him as a lower-tier Black Iron Hunter, a force to be reckoned with among his peers!

But surprisingly, he looked very young.

Only in his early twenties.

Behind him, the other Hunters were all middle-aged, yet each of them seemed to hold the young man in high regard, as if he were their leader.

It was clear that the young man was the leader of the team, and the others all respected him!

Jason glanced at the secondary screen and said,

"Alright, right now the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association is on the move, and there isn't much action to see. Let's focus on the individual Hunters."

"And now, it's Ivar! His team has already killed two D-rank monsters, and now, he's found another target!"

"It's a Red Poison Ant nest! Looks like they've hit the jackpot!"

Jason explained to the audience, and below, the spectators were eagerly discussing.

"Ivar's strength is impressive, he's even comparable to those ordinary associations!"

"I really suspect he's the mysterious man himself! His age and strength seem to match!"

"I agree! I heard that Mr. Ivar is quite arrogant and has rejected many invitations from associations!"

"And I also heard that his real strength has already surpassed the Black Iron low-tier, he just hasn't updated his cloak in a while! I think the mysterious man is probably him!"

Ivar's name was somewhat famous in Dorey City.

And since the start of this competition, his performance had been outstanding, causing many spectators to connect him with the mysterious man in their minds.

In fact, a lot of young women had already become his fans right on the spot!

Jason also understood that people were very interested in the topic of the mysterious man.

So he decided to give more commentary on Ivar as the footage continued.

When he saw the Red Poison Ant nest, he began explaining to the audience about the Red Poison Ants. These creatures were actually quite dangerous for a C-rank monster!

In fact, if you ran into a large group, the danger level would be even higher than that of a Bear Demon!

"Ivar doesn't seem to plan on letting this Red Poison Ant nest go, but directly attacking it is quite dangerous."

"Keep in mind, there are a massive number of these Red Poison Ants, and when they're defending their nest, their combat abilities will be at their peak!"

"Let's watch together, viewers, and see how Ivar and his team deal with it."

Jason continued speaking.

...

Meanwhile, over by Ed's group.

Thomas stood beside Ed, nervously asking, "Ed, should we go after this Red Poison Ant nest?"

Thomas hadn't even realized it, but after everything that had happened, he had subconsciously become Ed's follower and started relying on him.

Ed nodded without hesitation, "Of course, taking down all these Red Poison Ants will bring in a lot of rewards!"

Thomas hesitated for a moment, frowning, "But, Ed, do you see that? There are others interested in this Red Poison Ant nest too."

Ed and the others had just arrived, but ahead of them, four people had already gotten there first.

The leader was none other than Ivar, wearing his signature headscarf.

When Alex arrived, he had been focused on the Red Poison Ant nest, but as he turned his head, he noticed someone else. As he took a second look, his heart skipped a beat.

He turned to the people behind him and said, "Hey, there is indeed a Red Poison Ant nest here, but we should just give up. Someone else has already found it."

"Moreover, that person is Ivar! I can't believe he's in this competition too!"

Alex appeared quite wary of Ivar.

So much so that he didn't even want to try to compete for the nest and was ready to give up immediately.

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Ivar is that strong?"

Alex nodded vigorously. "Of course, Ed. To be honest, out of the more than a hundred individual Hunters in the competition, there's probably no one stronger than Ivar."

Lucas, standing next to them, chimed in, "Not only is he strong, his cultivation is above the Black Iron tier! Just that alone is something we can't even begin to fathom!"

Ed was unfazed.

"So what if he's Black Iron?" he asked.

The others froze for a moment. Alex spoke again:

"Ivar is definitely not to be taken lightly. Not only is his cultivation impressive, but he's also been famous for a long time. Reaching this level of cultivation at such a young age just shows how gifted he is!"

"And there are surely many influential people supporting him behind the scenes."

Ed raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly.

"Famous at a young age? Then let me ask you this, am I young?"

Alex hesitated. Indeed, Ed was younger than Ivar, but that didn't necessarily mean much.

He had already realized that Ed was far more powerful than he appeared on the surface.

However, Ed was still only at the Black Iron low-tier, right?

It would be hard to compare him to Ivar, who had been famous for a long time.

But since Ed was so confident and wanted to challenge Ivar, Alex decided to follow his lead. He said:

"Since you're so confident, Ed, we won't retreat. We'll follow your lead."

He gave a cold smile, thinking that once Ed saw Ivar's strength, he'd realize his mistake.

Ed didn't respond, but he didn't rush forward either.

Instead, he stood still, about thirty steps away, quietly observing the Red Poison Ant nest and Ivar's team nearby.

"What's going on? Ed, aren't we going to compete? Why aren't you going?" Alex asked curiously.

Ed shot him a cold look. "Do you have a brain? These guys won't be able to handle the Red Poison Ants. We'll wait for them to weaken each other, then strike."

Alex was scolded but couldn't respond, so he just watched, impatiently waiting for the moment when he could see Ed proven wrong.

Nearby, next to the Red Poison Ant nest, Ivar's team members showed excited expressions.

"Look, so many points! Following Ivar was definitely the right choice!"

"Captain Ivar, you're amazing! Please, let us handle these ants. You can just watch!"

A group of older middle-aged men were all respectfully deferential to Ivar because he was the one who had led them to this spot.

Ivar enjoyed this feeling, but he wasn't about to let others handle the Red Poison Ants just yet. He was cautious when it came to dealing with any monster.

However, the others in his team didn't care much. Before Ivar could say anything, a burly man stepped forward.

"Ivar, I'm going!" In an attempt to flatter his leader, the big man flashed a smile at Ivar and drew his steel sword, ready to charge forward.

The next moment!

Splash!

A sudden sound filled the air as liquid splattered out. The big man didn't even have time to react before the poison covered his face!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.