Chapter 1093: Our Mission Is
"Can you calm down?" Zheng Da frowned. "Yuan Kai and the others aren't careless people. There's no way they'd fall for something so easily. The only explanation is that their opponent is far stronger than them, so killing them took no effort at all."
He paused, then added, "But I'm a bit puzzled about why it's such a mess here."
He was referring to the patch of forest the vest player had set on fire.
"Judging from the traces, that Xu Zhi isn't actually very skilled in practical combat," Jiang Wenzhang said. "He must have had a trump card that guaranteed victory, otherwise the other three wouldn't have died so easily."
"What kind of trump card?" Pu Gaoshan asked impatiently. "Can you stop being so cryptic?"
"Do you think I'm a fortune teller?" Jiang Wenzhang adjusted his glasses with displeasure. "It could be a trait, an item, or Super Evolution. Without seeing it firsthand, I can't make an accurate judgment. But one thing I'm sure of—he's deliberately showing weakness."
"He dared to bring an injured person out with us. Do you think he didn't anticipate this situation? If we want to make a move, fine. There are seven of us here, but at least two of us would have to die. Who's willing to make that sacrifice?"
He swept his gaze across the group and continued, "Besides, Mr. Kang already said that some of these people might be our comrades. If you mess up Mr. Kang's plans, who's going to take responsibility?"
Zheng Da and the others stayed silent, but Pu Gaoshan was still unconvinced. "So we just let him kill our people? Even if someone like that stays in Xiaohe City, who could get along with him?"
He wasn't the only one dissatisfied. Jiang Wenzhang narrowed his eyes. "Actually, we don't have to do it ourselves if we want to get rid of them."
"You mean later..." Zheng Da caught on instantly.
"Our mission this time isn't just to hunt some mutants and bring them back. We lost a few comrades—asking for their help is perfectly reasonable," Jiang Wenzhang said. "Mr. Kang's rules can't be broken, but he killed someone right in front of me. I can't just let that slide."
Pu Gaoshan chuckled darkly. "They're getting off easy."
On the other side, Zhou Yuanzhu was also speculating in the car about how they might act. "Logically, seven against two gives them a huge advantage. There's no reason for them to be so restrained... How did you know they wouldn't start a fight on the spot?"
"If they were going to start a fight, they would have done it back in Xiaohe City," Xu Huo said, looking toward the forest. "I was just testing their limits."
"If they won't make a move even with a seven-to-two advantage, it proves these guys aren't all that capable," Zhou Yuanzhu remarked.
Although those players had foul mouths, Xu Huo could tell they didn't actually want to kill. It seemed that "not rushing to kill outsiders" was a consensus among all players in Xiaohe City.
That was a form of goodwill in a sense, but trying to recruit players by such means was nothing short of a fantasy. So they must have had other plans.
Was it related to the mysterious disappearances?
Or the abnormally high number of players in Xiaohe City?
The air was stifling. Since they weren't getting rained on, Zhou Yuanzhu had already taken off her protective suit. Xu Huo's forehead was also sweating, but they didn't have to wait long. Soon, Jiang Wenzhang and his six companions returned with the bodies and their prey.
The grotesquely mutilated mutant animals were thrown at Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu's feet like a provocation. Pu Gaoshan jumped onto the vehicle. "We have something else to do, but it's a bit dangerous. You two are injured—why don't you wait here for us?"
Xu Huo smiled. "Since we came out together, we should go together. Maybe we can even help. What's the task?"
"Simple," Pu Gaoshan said. "The mutant swarms come back every so often. To keep them from reaching Xiaohe City, we go deep into their nests ahead of time and capture a mutant cub. Once the swarm senses the cub is in danger, they'll naturally return to the nest."
"The main mission this time is to capture a mutant cub."
"I see. We should help with that." Xu Huo agreed without hesitation.
No one spoke after that. The vehicle sped for three hours before stopping. Xu Huo got out and found himself at the edge of a cliff. Ahead of him stretched a winding, mountain-like labyrinth of ravines and stone forests. The strip-like rock formations were bizarrely shaped, and each strip was flanked by chasms at least dozens of meters deep. Unlike the exposed rocks above, strange trees grew askew below, and vines of unusual colors wove into nets. With the poor visibility, occasional beast roars echoed from below, though the terrain made it hard to pinpoint their exact locations.
Zheng Da and the others walked over, including Jiang Wenzhang, and without any pause, leaped down.
Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu followed closely, using items to land safely on the ground.
The soil beneath the vegetation was damp and soft. A single step left a deep footprint.
They had all used silencing items. Zheng Da handed Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu a route map with several marked locations. "It's not breeding season, so finding a nest might not be easy. There are a lot of underground nests, so we'll split up to search."
They picked three of the marked nests and left the rest for Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu to choose from.
"Remember, the cub must be captured alive," Jiang Wenzhang instructed. "Whether you succeed or not, meet back here in two hours."
They left swiftly, not bothering to check if Xu Huo and the others would follow the plan to search for the underground nests.
"What do we do?" Zhou Yuanzhu asked.
"Since we're here, let's go take a look." Xu Huo didn't bother with the overly simplistic map. Instead, he chose to follow Pu Gaoshan and Wang Mo's group.
However, after noticing they were being tailed, the group changed course and used items to interfere. After repeatedly splitting up and regrouping three times, they finally took the correct route.
"No one's following us anymore, right?" Pu Gaoshan asked uncertainly.
"I placed micro surveillance devices along the way. Even if he can fool human eyes, he can't fool electronic eyes. Don't worry." The bald-headed Wang Mo was confident in his machines. After fiddling with a remote control, he sent a toy car out, letting it crawl through a crack in the ground and rocks, and said smugly, "We don't need to risk ourselves to find the cub. As long as the cub swallows the bait, the job is done."
Clearly, this wasn't their first time doing this. Pu Gaoshan was unfazed and leaned against a wall to wait for the result. After a while, he suddenly tilted his head, pricking up his ears. "Did you hear something?"
Wang Mo took off his headphones and waited two seconds before asking, "What sound?"
Pu Gaoshan listened more carefully, then said uncertainly, "I must have misheard."
Wang Mo turned back to his work, but soon Pu Gaoshan called him again. "There really is a sound. It's coming from underground."
"How could there be a sound underground? Except for a layer of soil on top, it's all metal rock down there, as hard as high-quality metal. Forget people, even mutants might not be able to dig through it..."
But before Wang Mo could finish, a rhythmic sound came from beneath their feet:
"Thump... hiss... thump... hiss..."
(Chapter End)