The Cyclops in front of Wen Yu was gradually losing patience, possibly due to hunger, or perhaps its brutal nature urged it to draw first blood.
The Cyclops decided not to wait any longer.
Growling lowly at the old neighbor before it, the Cyclops opened its massive maw and lunged.
Staring into the gaping mouth filled with shredded flesh, streaks of blood, and virus, Wen Yu summoned every ounce of his strength. His eyes blazed with terrifying ferocity as he thrust his right hand directly into the Cyclops's maw, forcefully grabbing its tongue and yanking hard.
The Cyclops seemed momentarily stunned that the human before it dared to retaliate from a position of absolute disadvantage, pausing briefly.
Considering the vast difference in their power, it ignored the pain in its mouth and pounced fiercely onto Wen Yu.
The immense force left Wen Yu no room to resist. He instinctively grappled with the Cyclops as they both tumbled to the ground, the creature's jaws snapping shut with terrifying force.
CRACK!
A sound like a breaking stick echoed, and a wave of excruciating pain washed over Wen Yu. He lost all sensation in his right hand; he knew it was gone.
"AAAAAAH!"
The overwhelming pain, however, only fueled Wen Yu's ferocity and his desperate will to survive.
With his remaining left hand, he grabbed onto the Cyclops that was right in front of him. Using all his strength, he managed to throw it off. Then, he frantically scrambled towards the swirling vortex ahead.
Startled by being thrown off, the Cyclops probably hadn't expected prey already in its grasp to struggle so violently. Immediately, it spotted Wen Yu's objective—the rapidly spinning vortex.
A flicker of almost human-like confusion crossed its single eye, only to be swiftly replaced by primal savagery and bloodlust.
Ultimately, a beast is a beast. No matter how advanced its Evolution, instinct would always be the primary driver of its actions.
Quickly spitting out Wen Yu's mangled right hand, the Cyclops lunged again, sinking its teeth into Wen Yu's calf.
The intense pain made Wen Yu roar in agony. Seeing the Cyclops latched firmly onto his calf, he abandoned all hope of a lucky escape, his innermost ruthlessness flaring to life.
His spear was long lost during the chase. With his remaining left hand, he snatched the large kitchen knife slung across his back and chopped fiercely at the Cyclops's head.
The kitchen knife descended rapidly, but Wen Yu's desperate hope for a killing blow went unfulfilled. Firstly, he had lost his dominant right hand, so his left arm lacked significant strength. Secondly, after several fights, the kitchen knife was no longer as sharp as it once had been.
Most importantly, as a Level 1 mutant beast, the Cyclops's hide and bones were far tougher than those of Zombies corroded by Demonic Qi.
The kitchen knife struck hard on the Cyclops's head, creating a wound that was neither superficial nor very deep. Yet, the Cyclops remained unfazed, its eye beginning to glow with a sinister red light. Simultaneously, its sharp claws raked across Wen Yu's lower body, tearing bloody gashes into his flesh.
"Die! Just die!" Wen Yu screamed.
He had plunged into utter madness. In this desperate moment, all he could do was swing the kitchen knife wildly, hacking again and again.
The Cyclops, too, was consumed by ferocity. The red glow in its remaining eye intensified. No matter how many times its head was cut, it continued to gnaw viciously at Wen Yu's leg.
Even when one of Wen Yu's blows struck its tender nose, carving a large gash, the Cyclops didn't flinch, its eye only blazing an even deeper red.
Wen Yu knew that if this continued, he would be brutally killed. Steeling his resolve, he raised the kitchen knife high with his left hand and brought it down with savage force.
He chopped frantically, each strike landing on his own leg where it was being bitten.
Intense pain seared through Wen Yu's nerves. The increasingly dull weapon he wielded undoubtedly aggravated his suffering.
Enduring the excruciating pain, Wen Yu brought the knife down with resolve.
CRACK! A crisp sound rang out.
Wen Yu felt the force tugging at him from below suddenly vanish.
With no time to mourn his severed leg, he mustered his last ounce of strength to swing the kitchen knife in his hand, chopping hard at the Cyclops's nose. Then, using his remaining hand and leg, he scrambled desperately towards the vortex.
The Cyclops was stunned by Wen Yu's desperate gamble, seemingly unable to believe the human before it could be so resolute. It paused for a moment.
The large wound on its nose caused the Cyclops discomfort. However, due to its evolved abilities, the injury only made it more frenzied and ferocious. It savagely chewed the severed leg in its mouth and lunged at Wen Yu once more.
This time, the Cyclops had no intention of toying with its prey any longer. This human had caused it pain.
So, this time, its fangs aimed for his neck.
Hearing the rush of air and the stench of blood from behind, Wen Yu understood. This time, I really don't have much time left. A second? Maybe not even a second.
Wen Yu forcefully pushed off with his remaining leg, using every last bit of strength to lunge forward.
The Cyclops stared intently at the fist-sized vortex before it. Its evolved intelligence told it that its prey had vanished into this very portal.
Just a moment ago, Wen Yu and the Cyclops had both lunged. In the end, just as the Cyclops's fangs were mere centimeters from Wen Yu, he had reached the silver vortex.
A tremendous force washed over him. Wen Yu felt a powerful suction originating from his hand and spreading throughout his body. Then, his body began to spin uncontrollably, like clothes in a washing machine, before, with a WHOOSH, he vanished into the silver vortex.
Wen Yu had, of course, heard of treasure lands, but he had never entered one before.
After all, even setting aside whether Wen Yu could secure a spot to enter a treasure land, even if he did, someone of his 'cannon fodder' status wouldn't find any valuable treasures. Instead, he would more likely lose his life to various trials or other humans.
Wen Yu carefully assessed the treasure land he was in. It was clearly not large. The space was open, and apart from an unlocked golden treasure chest placed in the center, there was nothing else. There were none of the guardian beasts or bizarre trials he had heard about from his previous life.
However, the size of a treasure land determined the number of treasures within.
The treasure land before him was only about the size of his old rented room. A treasure land of this tier would naturally contain fewer treasures. And the fewer the treasures, the slimmer Wen Yu's chances of survival became.
Excessive blood loss had numbed Wen Yu to most of the pain. He quickly tended to his wounds as best he could, pushing aside thoughts of his increasingly desperate plight. Using his final dregs of strength, he crawled to the treasure chest—the only one in the entire treasure land—and opened it.
A burst of light flashed and then immediately vanished.
Wen Yu squinted, waiting for the light to subside. He steadied his rapidly despairing emotions and looked into the treasure chest.