NABC Chapter 66 Awakening
Chapter 66 Awakening
The pickup truck convoy sped through Whistle Valley, and as it passed a large, protruding rock, Xu Su glanced at it suspiciously.
Several clearly visible tire tracks suggest that the vehicle in question is a fairly common off-road vehicle, judging from the tire width and tread pattern.
"Could it be that the two major conglomerates in Haicheng have sent people?"
Upon receiving the information, headquarters immediately notified the Haicheng branch to deploy a fleet of drones. Two senior A-level drone operators are still on their way.
He just reported the sudden situation of the green unidentified substance to headquarters again, requesting a halt to the hunt for Sequence 0 creatures, a thorough cleanup of the old city before taking further action.
If external intervention occurs at this point, the situation could very well spiral out of control.
No, that's not right.
Xu Su shook his head. If it really was the Luo family or the Qian family who sent people, they would most likely mobilize the private army, rather than just sending a few people in off-road vehicles.
Captain Xu had just breathed a sigh of relief when the boy sitting in the back suddenly spoke up: "Captain Xu, there's a cave under that rock. There are two SUVs parked inside, but no one is inside."
The valley was steep on both sides, but the ground was flat. At high speed, the car flashed by so quickly that Xu Su couldn't see the hidden entrance clearly. However, Qi Te's visual perception allowed him to not only spot the car hidden inside but also its license plate.
"Hai F7671C0, Hai G0359C0"
Xu Su immediately turned on the main console, entered the two strings of numbers into the search bar, and got the results.
"The car is from Shenxing Car Rental, and the renter is Shen Ziqiang. I know this guy; he's a bounty hunter."
"Bounty hunters?" Chit asked curiously. "Are they specifically tasked with hunting down wanted criminals?"
"Haha~"
Xu Su laughed heartily, a rare occurrence for him: "Qi, I thought you were like Professor Liu, focused solely on academic research and completely uninterested in anything else."
"That's just a movie plot. Bounty hunters rarely take on jobs hunting down wanted criminals. As for hiring someone to kill, that's even more impossible. But you can't generalize. If the price is high enough, there are always guys who are money-hungry and turn to hiring hitmen."
"Bounty hunters make a living by hunting unusual creatures in border areas. Shen Ziqiang, nicknamed Uncle Gun, is one of the top bounty hunters in Haicheng. He has a high level of experience in wilderness survival and a deep understanding of unusual creatures."
As the Pi team drove out of the narrow Whistle Valley, Chit turned his head to look at the increasingly distant valley entrance, and his eyelids suddenly twitched a few times. That inexplicable sense of unease grew stronger.
"Is Captain Xu very familiar with that gun-wielding guy?"
"We're not familiar with each other. We only ran into each other a few times when we were on missions in the border area." Xu Su said nonchalantly, "Uncle Gun is a very steady old hunter. He won't take on jobs with too high a risk factor."
"In their line of work, surviving long enough is a golden reputation. And besides professional skills, the most important thing for surviving long enough is valuing life."
Qi Te was taken aback, thinking that all bounty hunters were people who lived on the edge of a knife.
The words may be rough, but the principle is sound: to live is the only unshakeable truth in this world.
"arrive."
As they spoke, the convoy arrived at the edge of the rainforest where Outpost No. 3 was located.
Since the tents were also moved into the cave where Outpost No. 2 was located, everyone had to wait in place for new supplies.
Fortunately, after receiving the call, Blue Shield immediately notified its Haicheng branch to dispatch a drone.
Less than half an hour later, the roar of five transport drones grew louder as they flew rapidly toward the designated coordinates.
........................
Three straight lines were quickly drawn across the dense grass, more than two meters high, on the outer edge of the boundary closest to the buffer zone.
Although no people were visible, the outlines of the parted bushes revealed three humans of different sizes.
"Are you kidding me? You're doing it again?"
Isaac muttered a dissatisfied remark, and a screen floating in the grass nearby quickly displayed a photo of the drone that had just passed overhead.
"Ignore the Blue Shield Company's transport planes, continue the operation."
After saying that, Nico walked straight through the bushes and entered the barren, uninhabited buffer zone.
Another silhouette moves rapidly, and judging from its shape, it is undoubtedly the burly man Mukoda.
"I've had enough of these two guys. Shit, how come there are still mosquitoes during winter break? They actually dared to bite me, they're asking for trouble."
As soon as Isaac finished speaking, a huge mosquito, about the size of a thumb, with a light brown body, suddenly turned gray and was blown away by the wind, disappearing without a trace.
Nico warned, "Isaac, we're in the buffer zone. Watch your mouth. Keep talking so much nonsense near the turret, you're going to get riddled with bullets."
"Okay, okay, don't worry, I'll definitely take down those defensive towers for you. I won't mess it up this time."
"Shut up," Mukot couldn't help but rebuke. "You said the same thing last time, and the time before that."
Nico sneered, "If you mess this up again, when we get back to base, I'll feed you to my vipers. Using venom to fuel venom will help them evolve and transform once more."
"No way!"
Isaac refused, saying, "Don't even think about something that's so ugly."
"You're the ugly one."
"Your snake is ugly."
"You're ugly"
"Stop arguing!" Mukert promptly stopped the two teammates from hurling insults at each other, and prompted, "219 meters ahead, we've reached the first defensive tower."
..........................
In the Whisper Valley Mountains, deep underground caves more than 1500 meters below the surface, lava reflects off breathing masks like flickering flames.
Six bounty hunters, in groups of three, installed the cantilever at the fault line in the earth's crust.
Gunner and another veteran hunter descended via a cantilever. After lubricating parts of the golden salamander's body with lubricant, Gunner raised his left arm. His entire arm had been bitten off by an aberrant creature when he was young. Between cellular remodeling and a mechanical arm, he chose the latter.
This robotic arm, which has been with him for over a decade, has greatly helped his hunting work, even though it lacks the tactile sensation of human skin.
Tony Leung barely dared to breathe, staring intently at Uncle Gun below, his hand hovering over the control button on the cantilever.
Gunner's mechanical arm extended a pincer-like object made of alloy, which brushed against the lubricated scales of the golden salamander and carefully pulled out a glittering golden egg from under its massive body.
The Golden Dragon Salamander is a variant of the Black Dragon Salamander, with a danger level of A+. Even during its winter dormancy, it remains an extremely terrifying creature. Its entire body is golden yellow, and in the bounty hunter community, it is simply referred to as the "Golden Dragon."
Golden dragons are extremely rare; based on current discoveries, the number worldwide is estimated to be no more than double digits. They belong to the deep hibernation category and are hermaphroditic.
Although more than a hundred years have passed since the Cataclysmic Era, the climate remains extremely harsh. Temperatures vary drastically throughout the four seasons, especially in the border regions. While spring and summer are relatively pleasant, temperatures plummet in autumn, and in winter, temperatures as low as -30 or -40 degrees Celsius are common.
The Black Dragon Salamander is a typical carnivorous predator that not only hunts other animals but also cannibalizes its own kind when hungry. There's a saying among bounty hunters that the Golden Dragon is the ultimate form that evolved from a Black Dragon Salamander that devoured one hundred of its own kind.
Golden dragons hunt during spring and summer, and burrow into their burrows to breed new life when autumn temperatures plummet. Black dragon salamanders are highly fertile, but golden dragon salamanders lay only one egg per year. They enter hibernation when temperatures drop below 0 degrees Celsius, and enter a deep hibernation mode when temperatures drop to -10 degrees Celsius.
To put it simply, as long as you don't bombard Him with cannons, He won't wake up.
However, there are exceptions.
Seeing Uncle Gun's gesture, the four people at the fault line immediately pressed the control button, and the cantilever rope quickly retracted.
"We succeeded!"
Tony exclaimed excitedly, took the backpack from Uncle Gun, and couldn't wait to untie it and take a look.
It was about 60 centimeters tall and heavy, weighing at least 30 kilograms. It looked as if it were made of pure gold, and Tony Leung couldn't take his eyes off it.
This was precisely their objective: the dragon eggs.
"What are you still looking at? Recycling equipment."
As soon as Uncle Gun finished speaking, a deep, muffled growl suddenly came from below.
"not good!"
Gunner exclaimed, "Old Jin, quick!"
A young hunter hurried to fetch the newly promoted veteran hunter.
Amidst the creaking of the shaft, the cantilever quickly retracted inward.
However, when the young man grasped Lao Jin's hand, a burst of lava shot into the sky.
"ah!!"
A scream rang out in everyone's headphones.
The young man stared in utter terror at the hand he was holding, while the owner of that hand was reduced to a bloody mess within two seconds, his bones rapidly dissolving.
"Retreat! Retreat now!"
Uncle Gun shouted, and Wai-jai quickly slung his backpack over his shoulder and ran frantically back the way he came.
The other three quickly realized what was happening and immediately took off running without looking back.
Molten lava kept flying down from the bottom, crashing against the charred rock walls and making a sizzling sound.
"Ah~"
Another scream rang out.
"Help me, help me!"
A hunter's left leg was hit by lava splashing from the rock wall. His trousers were quickly burned through, and wisps of white smoke rose from the skin and flesh of his leg, emitting the smell of burnt meat.
Uncle Gun rushed forward and, without saying a word, carried his companion.
The group quickly arrived at the cave entrance, fastened the ropes, and Old B, who was waiting above, pressed the winch switch one by one.
"Something's happened?!"
Old B glanced at everyone in astonishment and immediately got the answer.
"Old Jin isn't coming back, let's go."
Gunner carried his injured companion upstairs, and Old B reached out and pulled him into the tunnel.
The climb up is sloping downwards, but the return climb requires using both hands and feet to ascend.
As Xu Su commented, Uncle Gun is indeed a highly experienced and top-notch hunter with all-around survival skills. How could he not have thought of this problem?
Uncle Gun took out his phone and activated the remote switch.
Signal transmission devices were installed every 100 meters inside the tunnel to ensure that the two off-road vehicles on the ground could receive the start signal.
As the winch installed in the rear of the vehicle begins to turn, the seven specially made ropes automatically retract upwards.
Roars and violent impacts echoed from the bottom of the cave, causing the hunters who were climbing up the tunnel by rope to tumble and roll like ingredients in an automatic frying pan.
The golden salamander, which had been in a deep hibernation, has awakened!