Chapter 175: Migrating Beast Tide (2) |
Thinking about the two migrating animal herds he saw in the morning, and calculating the time, they should have also traveled quite a distance in this direction by now.
So Qin Ziwen strapped a phone to the Crowned Eagle and sent it flying into the sky for reconnaissance.
Not long after, the Crowned Eagle returned with the phone.
Taking the phone down, a group of people gathered around. "How is it?"
"Captain, are the herds coming? Is there anything inside that Instructor Du can hunt?"
Everyone was concerned about Du Yu's Limit Break mission.
Especially now that they knew there was a one-week time limit, they all wanted to help,
to let Du Yu complete the mission as soon as possible, to see just how powerful breaking the mortal limit would be.
"After Instructor Du breaks through, will he become the kind that wears his underwear on the outside?" Yuan Ming asked curiously.
Having been here for so long, he knew what 'underwear' was. How could such an intimate garment be worn on the outside?
"Stop talking nonsense!" Yuan Dajun scolded the silly kid. Instructor Du was an ancient person, and ancient people and modern people had many differences in understanding. How could he say such things carelessly?
"Instructor Du, don't mind him. We're just curious about how powerful you'll become after breaking through, whether you'll become like an immortal."
Du Yu gave a wry smile. Becoming like an immortal was something he dared not imagine.
Taking one step further would be good enough.
"Alright, everyone quiet. From the video, the closest herd to us is about a kilometer away. It looks a bit like camels."
Hearing it was camels, everyone felt somewhat disappointed.
"However, behind the camels, there's a tail following." Dragging the progress bar, Qin Ziwen discovered an old friend behind a sand dune behind the camels—a Desert Raptor.
This Desert Raptor was sneakily tailing the camel herd. In the video, it noticed the suddenly approaching Crowned Eagle, got startled,
angrily shook its tail, glanced back, then turned and ran away.
Du Yu chuckled lightly. "That really is an old friend."
So far, the two dinosaurs he had hunted were both Desert Raptors.
For him, prey of this size met the standard, and its strength wasn't too high.
But there was also a problem: he had hunted too many Desert Raptors. Could they be wiped out in this area?
In a given region, a specific type of animal generally has a population limit, especially solitary predators like Desert Raptors. Their numbers usually aren't too high.
But that was a concern for later. Now that a target had been found, they should complete the task first.
Half an hour later, the Desert Raptor tailing the camel herd stopped. It had discovered this group of approaching humans.
Although it hadn't tasted this new flavor before, it didn't mind giving it a try.
"Roar!"
The Desert Raptor spread its two legs and ran with all its might.
Du Yu lowered his center of gravity, holding his spear at the ready.
Having already hunted Raptors twice, he was becoming increasingly familiar with their attack patterns.
Ten minutes later, the Raptor lay in a pool of blood, its throat and chest pierced by several conspicuous bloody holes.
Du Yu gasped for breath, a long wound on his cheek. Just now, the Raptor's claw had grazed his cheek, almost splitting his skull open.
Fortunately, he dodged in time, but the long claw still scraped across his face.
It was a close call.
Qin Ziwen took out the collected Healing Spring water from a thermos and handed it to Du Yu.
Du Yu took it and drank deeply. Wang Yun stepped forward to help Du Yu disinfect and treat the wound.
The Hunting Team members had complex expressions. Even Instructor Du, who had already hunted two Raptors, still faced high risks when confronting a Raptor for the third time.
Putting themselves in his shoes, they only felt the mission was incredibly difficult.
Hunting one could rely on luck. Hunting three consecutively might be extraordinary luck. But hunting ten within a week could only rely on strength.
Countless tiny light points coalesced on the Raptor's corpse lying on the ground, converging into a gray card.
[Building Card] Level 1 Tavern.
Just as he put away the card,
the commotion from the battle here attracted the attention of some uninvited guests.
On a sand dune in the distance,
a large group of Mononykus stood on a distant sand dune, observing the group.
"Ssss-gah~"
The Mononykus emitted sharp cries,
attempting to scare the humans away.
Seeing the humans not fleeing, they even ran over to try and attack.
"Scram!"
Qin Ziwen drew his bow and nocked an arrow, pinning one Mononykus to the ground with a single shot.
The remaining Mononykus immediately scattered like birds and beasts.
"These bullies who pick on the weak and fear the strong." Qin Ziwu was disappointed. He thought there would be a big fight, but it was all thunder and no rain.
Yuan Ming said, "These guys are like Gobi dogs, bullying smaller insects and snatching prey caught by other animals."
Wang Yun shook his head. "From what we've seen so far, in the ecological chain, they can't even compare to modern grassland dogs. At least dogs have a chance to steal food from lions' mouths."
Qin Ziwu found it strange. "These Mononykus seem to have come from that direction too, right? Why are there so many animals? In the past two days when we came, we hardly saw anything. Today, we've seen three or four waves since morning."
"Could it be some migration season? Like the Great Migration in East Africa?" Wang Yun guessed.
Qin Ziwen said, "Possibly. If it's a great migration, it would also be a good thing for Du Yu."
A great migration would bring a large number of animals, making it easier for Du Yu to find targets and complete his mission.
By the afternoon, the animal migration reached its peak.
From the west came dense, massive herds of wild horses.
These wild horses somewhat resembled Mongolian Horses but had differences. They were larger, nearly two meters tall and four meters long, with flat, fan-shaped broad hooves, thicker nostrils, and short, light-colored fur that reflected a faint fluorescence under the sunlight.
There were about forty to fifty of these wild horses. They moved and stopped intermittently, occasionally nibbling on green plants they saw along the way.
Upon seeing the humans, the lead horse king stood at the front, its eyes filled with vigilance.
It irritably kicked its hooves, eventually leading the herd away as they migrated.
Qin Ziwen did not attack. This herd of wild horses looked ill-tempered, large, and numerous.
The surrounding area was all open plains. If they provoked them, they might not be able to escape.
However, not all wild horses had such large herds.
In the evening, a family of seven wild horses was approaching from the west. Among them were four adult horses, and the other three looked slightly smaller.
A Sarkastodon was sneaking up, slowly approaching this family.
Facing the approaching Sarkastodon, the wild horse family formed a circle, protecting the young horses in the middle with the adults on the outside.
The Sarkastodon found an opportunity and pounced forward. One of the adult horses reacted quickly, its large, fan-like hoof striking out, heavily hitting the Sarkastodon's forehead. A small dent was visibly made on its forehead.
With one hit landed, the Sarkastodon seemed completely dazed, sitting dumbly on the ground.
Several other wild horses nearby, not wanting to be outdone, stepped forward and delivered two more kicks.
The awakened Sarkastodon let out a mournful cry. Instinct made it stagger backward.
The Gobi wild horses did not pursue. They merely surrounded the young horses, vigilantly watching the Sarkastodon's retreating back, and... the sand dune not far away.
As soon as the Sarkastodon reached the base of the sand dune, a swift figure suddenly charged down from above. The figure leaped, landing on its back. Sharp claws hooked firmly into its back like hooks, and then a massive jaw opened and bit into the Sarkastodon's back.
The Sarkastodon emitted a mournful cry.
In the past, it would have simply rolled on the ground, trying to struggle free. But the kicks from the Gobi wild horses had left it disoriented, not yet recovered.
Lying on the ground, its cries grew progressively weaker.
The Desert Raptor suddenly released its bite, warily looking at the group of people walking towards it from the distance.
"Not bad. After lying in wait for so long, we finally meet you again." Qin Ziwen sighed.
After discovering the large-scale migration of animal herds in the afternoon, they had been using the Crowned Eagle to search for lone Desert Raptors.
But sometimes, even if they spotted a target from the sky, by the time they managed to reach the location, the target had already left. Especially for mobile carnivores like Desert Raptors, getting them to stay peacefully in one fixed spot was too difficult.
So, in the end, they decided to "wait by the tree stump for a rabbit."
They narrowed down the search area.
Finally, a little after 5 PM, they encountered this lovely Desert Raptor.
The Desert Raptor was unwilling to give up the prey it had finally caught. It watched the group warily, emitting threatening low growls.
Du Yu, who had been motionless, maintaining his state, slowly approached from behind on horseback. He dismounted, spear in hand, and stepped forward.
Seeing a human break away from the group, daring to charge forward alone,
the Desert Raptor moved.
In its view, this skinny, small human, so tiny, was prey on its menu.
Seeing food charge at it, what reason did it have to retreat?
Eight minutes later, the Desert Raptor turned into a cold corpse.
"Master, card." Du Yu picked up the Micro Blank Expansion Card it dropped.
Cao Biansheng was envious. If he had Instructor Du's strength, wouldn't he also be able to "swipe cards" like that?
At night, visibility decreased, and the clarity of the phone footage from the Crowned Eagle was also greatly affected. After lying in wait until 7 PM, the group returned to the residential complex with their prey.
Returning to the complex, they found many people gathered around Building 2.
Zou Jianghe was at the front of the crowd, loudly saying something.
After a few glances, they looked away.
Leading the group upstairs.
Nowadays, everyone basically spent their evenings honing their skills inside the buildings. Other things might be illusory, but only one's own strength could follow permanently.
Naturally, Qin Ziwen was happy to see this.
"Master." Jia Liangcai knocked on the door and entered from outside.
"Where have you been?"
"Reporting to the Master, your humble servant went to understand the current situation of the residential complex." Jia Liangcai said.
Qin Ziwen nodded. "What do you think we can still improve upon?"
Jia Liangcai pondered. "If the Master wishes to unify the residential complex, the people's hearts are indispensable. You could first open a hospital to accumulate public goodwill."
"You mean learn from Renhe Hall?"
Jia Liangcai said, "Yes. Currently, the complex has many residents but few doctors. It is precisely a time lacking medical care."
Qin Ziwen thought for a moment and agreed with this decision.
"Alright. However, we must be like Renhe Hall and charge consultation fees for treatment. Things obtained for free are not easily cherished."
"Understood."
Qin Ziwen was curious. "By the way, what's going on over there at the complex? Why were so many people gathered downstairs?"
Jia Liangcai explained. It turned out that in the afternoon, due to the large-scale animal migration, many residents of the complex went out to form teams for hunting.
Among them, while hunting a wild horse herd, an accident occurred. Someone mistakenly provoked the wild horse herd, resulting in two deaths and three injuries in the team.
But the person who provoked the wild horse herd didn't die. Instead, he ran fast and didn't even get injured.
The families of the deceased hoped he would be severely punished.
The person who provoked the wild horses didn't admit fault. He only said he was performing his task normally, and he couldn't control the animals suddenly going mad.
So the two sides argued, causing quite a stir.
This kind of thing was hard to judge.
Qin Ziwen suddenly became curious. He asked Jia Liangcai, "If it were you, how would you handle it?"
Jia Liangcai already had a prepared answer. He immediately said, "Stop the chaos to preserve order, compromise on accountability, and stabilize people's hearts. Since things have reached this point, pursuing the mistake is meaningless. Look only at the consequences. Use labor as punishment, and order him to compensate the families of the deceased. Simultaneously, the Alliance will hold a burial for the deceased, and request you, Guild Leader, to personally preside over the ceremony to win over people's hearts.
How the two sides are handled is not important. What's important is how to settle this matter, stabilize people's hearts, and establish authority."
Qin Ziwen neither agreed nor disagreed.
The next day,
Qin Ziwen led the team to continue searching for suitable targets for Du Yu, while the hunting squad provided protection.
On the second day, Du Yu successfully hunted two more.
On the third day, the animal migration reached its peak.
They could even see many small animals crawling along the road towards the direction of the residential complex.
Some scorpions and poisonous snakes crawled into the Underground Garage of the complex, hiding in corners.
Also on this day, Du Yu successfully hunted two more mission targets. The Limit Break mission had reached eight kills, completion was within reach.
That very afternoon, Qin Ziwen finally understood why these animals were migrating in such large numbers.
At the distant horizon's end, where the dusk yellow should have met the sky, a layer of pale brown haze now rose.
The Crowned Eagle emitted urgent cries. Chitu stomped its hooves uneasily. Since getting horseshoes, it had rarely been this agitated.
The wind blowing from the distance carried fine, broken sand.
"That's... a sandstorm." Qin Ziwu murmured to himself.
In the Home, many people were witnessing a sandstorm for the first time in their lives.
Rolling dust, like surging waves in the deep sea, raced across the land.
The sky turned gloomy. A thick sand wall stretching to the horizon advanced like a tsunami.
"Close the windows!"
"There's a sandstorm!"
"Seal the doors and windows tightly!"
Shouts came from some residents within the complex.
Those still outside quickly ran home.
Some people carried potted plants from their balconies back inside.
The complex's wall acted like a natural barrier. Some animals that approached actually walked directly into the complex, then stopped behind the courtyard wall, unmoving.
Half an hour later, the sandstorm approached.
The sky outside the balcony instantly took on a faint gray hue. Visibility dropped dramatically.
And visibility continued to decrease at a visible rate.
The air took on a hazy yellow tint, like the color of sand.
Later, the color deepened, turning increasingly dusky yellow. Wind speed increased until, finally, outside turned from day to night, and visibility completely vanished.
Only the howling of wind and sand between buildings could be heard, along with dense sand grains pelting against walls and windows.
It wasn't until 9 PM that the wailing sound outside the windows gradually faded away.
Comments 1