Disgraceful! A group of so-called first-level, even second-level experts actually lost track while following an unranked barbarian! What is this? But, if they can't see William Carter, what can they do? Other than exchanging helpless glances, the group truly had no other solution.

At least half of them, with no other choice, decided to turn back. After all, William Carter would return sooner or later, and when he did, there would be plenty of chances to teach him a lesson. The remaining half believed their tracking skills were good enough; even if they couldn't see William Carter, they could still catch up by following the traces he left ahead.

After chasing for several more miles, the crowd had already split into several groups. Each group believed the tracks they found were the real ones, left by William Carter, so naturally, everyone separated, each tracking the target they believed in.

After setting up a few decoy traps, William Carter quickly sped down the mountain along a small stream. At the foot of the mountain, he left the stream at a spot where it was hard to leave any traces, crossed over two more ridges, and within two hundred meters behind him, there was no one left.

The bright spot displayed on the individual combat terminal was still dozens of kilometers away. After crossing a few more mountains, he would reach the territory of the demon beasts. The equipment pod had clearly already penetrated deep inside. Only demon beast hunters or experts seeking training would enter this area.

The anti-insect injection administered on Earth before departure was still effective. That injection would cause William Carter's body to emit a scent that insects extremely disliked for half a month. After carefully observing with binoculars from a mountaintop, William Carter silently blended back into the forest.

A while after William Carter's figure entered the demon beast territory, a shadow appeared like a ghost at the spot where William Carter had previously stayed. This was a true tracking expert; the decoy traps set by William Carter hadn't fooled him. Instead, while others were being misled, he took the opportunity to follow alone.

The tracker was puzzled—William Carter walked ahead without the slightest pause. Meanwhile, he himself was being tormented by the bugs in the jungle, already driven nearly mad after just a dozen miles, with almost no good skin left on any exposed part of his body.

No one had expected William Carter to enter the forest, so none of the trackers were prepared for this, and now they were suffering in silence. Once they figured out William Carter's intentions, they would make sure he couldn't live or die in peace.

Up ahead, William Carter seemed unaware of anyone tracking him, making no more tricks along the way, heading straight for his destination. The dozens of miles of mountain roads would have taken more than a day on Earth, but now, William Carter's marching speed was at least fifty percent faster than on Earth, and he reached his destination in less than most of a day.

He was lucky—no particularly fierce demon beasts appeared along the way. Of course, this was also because William Carter carefully avoided areas that were obviously the lairs of dangerous beasts. Many wilderness survival skills from Earth were still very useful in this world.

The military green camouflage equipment pod lay quietly on the forest floor, half-buried from its fall from the sky. But military gear is tough—despite its battered appearance, it wasn't damaged at all, and the wireless signal was still functioning perfectly.

The equipment pod was originally designed to protect the gear inside, combining safety, waterproofing, and shock resistance. Even if it fell at high speed, it wouldn't be a problem.

Pulling the pod out of the ground, William Carter quickly entered a long string of codes on the panel. When the pod emitted a soft beep, William Carter entered another set of codes, and with a faint click, the pod's automatic lock opened from the inside.

William Carter lifted the lid of the pod and began checking the equipment inside, one item at a time.

The long, slender, intact case inside the pod was a sniper rifle, CheyTac M-200. Because it was protected by two layers, William Carter didn't check the rifle immediately, but sorted out the other items first.

A first aid kit, three emergency injection syringes, two smoke grenades, two incendiary bombs, four scatter-type anti-tracking landmines, two flat directional blasting mines, two remote-controlled high-explosive charges, a week's worth of military rations (seven energy bars), two packs of twenty-four water purification tablets, plus a double-shoulder backpack—this was everything.

Not much, and with the firearm, the total weight was kept under twenty kilograms. Any more, and it wouldn't be a mission, but a weighted endurance march. After sorting and securing everything in the backpack, William Carter finally began to check the sniper rifle.

The rifle was in good condition. Even after falling from over a hundred meters, the double-layer shock protection had kept it intact. The three magazines of bullets had all been carefully selected and were also undamaged.

This mission was special, so the ammunition prepared wasn't ordinary sniper rounds, but all armor-piercing rounds—seven per magazine, twenty-one in total, all intact including the magazines.

With the prepared backpack, William Carter quickly packed everything inside, then filled the equipment pod with a batch of rocks he had picked up along the way, closed the lid, and activated the pod's self-destruct program.