Chapter 201: The Performance Show |
"It went too smoothly! Brother, we found its lair!" Qin Ziwu jumped down from the Crowned Eagle's back and shouted excitedly, "It's on the mountainside of that stone mountain. The Tarbosaurus's nest is really there!"
"Give me the phone."
Taking the phone from his younger brother and seeing its dwindling battery, he pulled a power bank from his backpack and plugged it in.
In the afternoon, he had arranged for his brother to ride the Crowned Eagle and follow the Tarbosaurus's incoming trail to investigate its nest, take a video with the phone once found, and bring it back.
The video was shot from a high altitude.
On the mountainside of a hundred-meter-tall stone mountain, a natural Karst Cave was clearly visible.
The cave wasn't deep, but it was wide and also fairly high, just enough to accommodate the Tarbosaurus curling up inside to escape the scorching sun.
In the footage, the Tarbosaurus spotted them.
It emerged from the cave, looked up, and issued a deterrent roar.
Then it performed a 360-degree panoramic shot of the stone mountain from a distance.
"That Tarbosaurus hid too well, its butt was always blocking the back. I suspect there's something behind it. I wanted the Crowned Eagle to change angles, but it seemed like it couldn't understand me. It was just trading insults with that Tarbosaurus the whole time." As soon as Qin Ziwu finished speaking, his butt received a kick.
"Ouch, who kicked me?"
Qin Ziwu turned his head. The Crowned Eagle stood behind him, lowering its head to preen its feathers.
"Did you just kick me?" Qin Ziwu asked suspiciously.
The Crowned Eagle continued preening its feathers by itself, then swaggered away with a waddling gait.
Qin Ziwen found it amusing. How could the Crowned Eagle not understand? This guy looked honest and simple, but in reality, it had plenty of cunning little thoughts.
However, the current intelligence was already sufficient.
First, the Tarbosaurus's lair was confirmed. A Tarbosaurus with a fixed lair that also regularly returns is easier to deal with than one that is homeless and wanders everywhere, because it has a home, and thus, a weakness.
"Brother, now that we've found its lair, what's the next step to deal with it?"
Qin Ziwen pondered. The remaining gasoline was already running low and might not be enough to support a battle.
During the previous second crossing, the cars parked outside the residential complex didn't cross over with them, and the remaining cars were basically all scrapped.
Other residents in the complex might still have some gasoline hidden away, but the quantity should be limited.
Wanting to douse its entire lair with gasoline probably wouldn't be feasible.
After all, the Tarbosaurus has legs; it can run.
And there's another point. The Tarbosaurus had previously seen the Crowned Eagle use the gasoline-dumping tactic to burn the Hadrosaurs.
So it might be sensitive to the smell of gasoline.
Top predators like this carnivore usually don't have a poor sense of smell.
If they use a gasoline ambush, it might not work.
Using Molotov cocktails launched from the air does have some feasibility.
Qin Ziwen immediately gathered the team members to brainstorm.
"The Molotov cocktails might not be useful." Yang Cunshen was the first to voice his opinion.
"First, there's a difference in body shape between the Tarbosaurus and the Giant Toad. The Giant Toad's build made it easier for gasoline to stick to its back. The Tarbosaurus's body shape isn't suitable. Also, this is a plain. If we throw Molotov cocktails, the Tarbosaurus will be in our faces in just a few steps."
"What about having the Crowned Eagle drop them from high altitude?"
"That would probably require preparing a lot of Molotov cocktails, enough to keep dropping continuously." At this point, Yang Cunshen paused. "Can our complex even gather that many bottles and that much gasoline?"
Qin Ziwu suggested, "How about using the Vehicle-mounted Crossbows? When the Tarbosaurus returns to its lair, we prepare ten or twenty Vehicle-mounted Crossbows and ambush it from a distance. No matter how strong it is, it's still flesh and blood. I don't believe it won't die after dozens of heavy crossbow bolts."
Cao Biansheng took over the conversation with a serious expression, "If it can withstand even that, I'm willing to transfer the title of 'Legendary Endurance King' from the Desert Giant Worm to it."
Everyone couldn't help but chuckle.
"It definitely can't withstand it." Qin Ziwen shook his head. "The difficulty lies in how to set up in advance. The Vehicle-mounted Crossbows simply can't catch up to the Tarbosaurus on the plains. And if we get close, the Tarbosaurus should also notice."
Wang Yun, however, had a different view. "Aren't you overestimating its intelligence? No matter how smart it is, it can't imagine things it has never seen before. If it's gasoline, it might be very sensitive because it saw us use gasoline to burn the Hadrosauls before.
But Vehicle-mounted Crossbows, forgive me for saying, probably aren't much different from roadside stones in its eyes. The only difference might be that after we use them, they get stained with some of our scent."
"Right up to its face?" Qin Ziwen repeated.
"Right up to its face." Wang Yun nodded.
"We can set up the Vehicle-mounted Crossbows near its lair in advance, aiming towards its lair. After it returns, we find a way to get close, then just activate the Vehicle-mounted Crossbows."
Yuan Dajun sighed with emotion, "You guys are bullying the Tarbosaurus for not understanding culture and not recognizing crossbow carriages."
Qin Ziwu looked at Wang Yun. "Doctor Wang, its sense of smell is sharp. If we need to get close, should we smear something on ourselves?"
"Right, it's best if we can mask some of our scent. We can use mud from the bottom of the lake to smear on ourselves in advance."
"Can't we use its feces?" Cao Biansheng asked curiously.
Qin Ziwu and Yuan Ming instantly frowned. "Damn, Old Cao, you're too disgusting! I never knew you had such a fetish. If you want to smear shit, go do it yourself."
"What? I don't have such a fetish! I was just curious! Curious!" Cao Biansheng flushed red, muttering things like he just wanted to scientifically investigate the matter.
"Feces aren't suitable. It might even arouse its curiosity. Imagine you're sleeping at home and suddenly smell your own scent outside the door. Wouldn't you be curious? And fresh Tarbosaurus feces should all be near its lair. Collecting feces itself is a dangerous process." Wang Yun shook his head.
Cao Biansheng said, "Do we have to go to its lair? Can't we look elsewhere? It can't possibly only go to the bathroom when it's home, right?"
"That's too crude." Qin Ziwu listened and shook his head repeatedly.
"There are two Tarbosauruses here. What if you find the other one's?" Wang Yun said with a half-smile.
Thinking of the scene where the two Tarbosauruses were locked in confrontation earlier, Cao Biansheng fell silent.
"As for the mud from the lake bottom, there's actually some risk too, because it's also an unfamiliar smell to the Tarbosaurus. But at least it can mask the human scent. From the Tarbosaurus's perspective, it changes from a group of strange mice standing outside the door to a group of strange televisions standing outside the door."
"Brothers, I just thought of another problem. There are only ten of us from the guild here. Even if one person operates one Vehicle-mounted Crossbow, we can only operate ten at most. Will ten Vehicle-mounted Crossbows be enough? But if we use more, what if non-guild members steal the kill?" Yuan Ming raised his hand.
The others looked at him like he was an idiot.
Yuan Ming hesitated. "Did I say something wrong..."
Cao Biansheng said, "Is it possible that we only need to kill one Tarbosaurus to complete the task? Who kills it isn't important; the important thing is that it dies."
Qin Ziwen made the final decision. "Alright, let's go with this plan then. But for now, we still have to wait a few days because we don't have that many Vehicle-mounted Crossbows yet. Once the subsequent Vehicle-mounted Crossbows are transported over, we can start hunting the Tarbosaurus. As for now, let's complete a few more of the other tasks first."
Cao Biansheng was eager to try. "Guild Leader, what's our next target?"
"The Paraceratherium. But we don't need to take action ourselves. Next, you just need to invite others to come watch a performance show."
...
By the lake, five Paraceratheriums stood on the grassland, leisurely grazing.
Wherever they passed, large swathes of trees and grass were devoured.
But as the top-tier behemoths of this oasis, they strolled about leisurely.
A Gobi Desert Ankylosaur lingered not far away. It watched the Paraceratheriums ahead, its eyes wary.
Although in terms of body length, the two seemed to be in the same league, their actual tonnage was worlds apart.
The Paraceratherium, excluding its tail, was eight meters long, with a shoulder height of five meters, weighing over twenty-four tons.
It was the largest mammal ever to walk the Earth's land.
Standing there, it was like a mountain.
Although the Gobi Desert Ankylosaur, including its tail, was also nearly eight meters long, its shoulder height was only two meters, and its weight was between five to seven tons.
However, because they grew a thick layer of bony plates on their backs, hard as rock, with just this external hard skeleton, they forcefully squeezed into the top three ranks of the oasis's herbivores.
The Paraceratherium, Gobi Desert Ankylosaur, and Hadrosaur herds had always coexisted peacefully in the past, each having demarcated their own territory.
But today, this peace was shattered.
The Hadrosaur herd's leader was drowned in the lake.
This threw the Hadrosaur herd into a leaderless panic.
Previously, they could occupy the most fertile location in the oasis, relying on the leader's strength and numerical advantage.
Otherwise, in terms of individual size, Hadrosaurs weren't necessarily stronger than Paraceratheriums.
"Kreee—"
A heavy cry suddenly came from overhead.
It caused waves of commotion among the Hadrosaur herd.
The Paraceratheriums silently moved closer together.
The Gobi Desert Ankylosaurs swung their tails and continued grazing.
Other animals were afraid, but it wasn't.
Because it had armor. Even the Gobi Desert overlord, the Tarbosaurus, was unwilling to provoke it casually.
Only when the shadow overhead grew larger and larger did the Gobi Desert Ankylosaur finally sense something was wrong.
It let out a low roar but found it difficult to lift its head.
Because its cervical vertebrae were extremely short, so short one could say it had no neck.
The thick bony plates gave it extremely strong defense but also limited its ability to look up.
Faced with a hunter attacking from overhead, all it could do was spin in circles on the spot.
The Crowned Eagle's sharp claws, like eight scalpels, precisely cut into the Ankylosaur's head.
The Ankylosaur shook its head, the spiked club at the end of its tail constantly swinging behind it.
This club, capable of shattering a Tarbosaurus's leg bones, struck uselessly at the air.
The Crowned Eagle maintained its balance, its claws continuously exerting force, then adjusted its posture.
Suddenly, the Ankylosaur beneath its feet bent its limbs, lay on the ground, and rolled over on the spot.
Its massive body crushed large patches of grass and plants.
It actually rarely used this posture because rolling would expose its belly, which was the Ankylosaur's weak spot.
The Crowned Eagle flapped its wings and flew up overhead, easily dodging the Ankylosaur's attack.
Then it descended again to attack the Ankylosaur's head.
Repeating this process, after over ten minutes, the Ankylosaur collapsed with a heavy thud.
From its corpse, points of light emanated, coalescing into two cards.
At the same time, Qin Ziwen received a notification from Home.
[Completed Hunting Ladder Level 1 Task · Hunt Adult Ankylosaur*1]
[Reward Obtained: Minor External Injury Healing Card, 2 points]
The sixth Level 1 task successfully completed!
Qin Ziwen was delighted. The two targets for the Level 2 tasks were also confirmed. As the Crowned Eagle advanced to Superhuman, he found completing tasks was becoming increasingly easier.
Setting aside the Level 2 tasks for now, at least for the Level 1 tasks, relying on the Crowned Eagle's flexibility, as long as they were willing to spend time,
They were basically not difficult.
It's just that he didn't know what the points were used for.
So far, he had accumulated 7 points.
In the distance, on the stone platform, the people sitting or standing couldn't help but exclaim in amazement. "That Ankylosaur was completely countered."
"This is the first time I've directly felt what it means to be hard-countered." Wang Sheng sighed with emotion.
Was this Gobi Desert Ankylosaur strong?
Strong.
With this defensive capability, plus its low center of gravity, thick bony plates with spikes on top, and that massive tail club that could be called a battering ram,
It was absolutely very troublesome to deal with. Ordinary arrows probably wouldn't work on it.
Most predators would absolutely hate dealing with this kind of tank with thorns.
Someone said, "Does that mean as long as you can raise a bird, you can easily deal with Ankylosaurs?"
The person next to him immediately joked, "That also depends on what kind of bird. Guild Leader Qin's bird is very smart and also huge. Swap it for a small bird, and it won't even be able to break the Ankylosaur's defense."
Qin Ziwen knew part of the reason. After breaking through to Superhuman, the Crowned Eagle's strength skyrocketed, and its claws became extremely sharp, even more exaggerated than steel blades.
With these eight claws stabbing into its head, the Ankylosaur could only take the beating.
As the Ankylosaur died, some nearby beasts scattered to avoid it.
But there were also bold ones, like the Desert Raptor. It smelled the blood in the air, tentatively took two steps forward, and called out twice towards the Crowned Eagle overhead.
Then the Crowned Eagle swooped down, scaring it into fleeing in panic.
"Now the Ankylosaur's corpse is right there. How do we bring it back? Do we butcher it right there?" someone suggested.
But others felt it was too risky.
After that Ankylosaur died, three of its kind gathered around its corpse. They stood on the side of the body, forming a circle.
The Crowned Eagle made several swoops to drive away the remaining Ankylosaurs.
Afterwards, Qin Ziwen rode the Crowned Eagle in to retrieve the cards.
These two cards were one Ordinary Building Duplication Card and one Level 1 Stable.
For the next two days, the Crowned Eagle and the group cooperated, continuously hunting in this oasis.
They literally killed their way into a fearsome reputation.
And the convoy returning to the residential complex also arrived at the oasis again.
They also brought a large amount of support supplies moved from the complex.
Things like tents, Cotton Quilts, blankets, and other warm items.
And some seasonings like salt.
These members of the transport team who had just returned felt the environment here was somewhat strange upon arriving at the oasis. For example, they saw a herd of Wild Horses on the road. These horses, which had previously ignored them, galloped away upon seeing them.
Also, those Desert Raptors that used to like harassing them stood on a Sand Dune, watched for a while upon seeing them, then turned and fled without looking back.
This kind of scene was something they had only ever seen back on Earth before...
...