Chapter 133: Chapter 121 Letting Go
Tao Yu was setting up the tent, with a campfire already kindled in front of him, preparing to spend the night there.
In the event that more aliens decided to deliver themselves, it would save quite a bit of effort.
Next to the campfire, several racks supported by branches were set up, covered with the slender tails of aliens that resembled air-dried cured meat.
The main purpose was to dry out the sticky sensation, so carrying them later wouldn't be so disgusting.
Besides that, a few plump capybaras had also been skewered. These supersized rodents, once skinned and gutted, unfolded like small tables, and four capybaras almost completely covered the fire pit.
Little Black crouched beside the fire, occasionally rolling them over and had even learned to sprinkle salt on top.
After all, these capybaras had been caught by it.
In addition to this, a number of fat-tree grubs were wrapped in leaves, roasting on the side of the fire pit.
Dingling~
The crisp sound of a bell came from afar, immediately drawing Little Black's attention.
Tao Yu, who was in the midst of setting up the tent, was somewhat surprised, and casually said to Little Black,
"You stay here, keep watch, and roast the meat."
Then he let Cao Shaolin lead the way, following behind toward the direction of the noise.
With his exceptional Dynamic Vision, Tao Yu had already noticed the shaking of the bushes, quite a number of them.
But the glimpses through some gaps seemed to suggest that they were humans who had entered the rainforest, most likely Pioneers.
Even if they were Pioneers, Tao Yu didn't let down his guard.
In such a place, humans were not necessarily a safe species, especially since he had quite a few spoils of war with him.
Having often overcome stronger enemies through stealthy ambushes, Tao Yu had no intention of becoming the one who was taken out.
Luckily, with his 'Spirit Perception' amplified several times over, combined with Bullet Time and Stealth, Tao Yu had a rather unique advantage when it came to dealing with ambushes.
"This must be what they mean by 'the boldness of an artist', huh? If it had been my first time here, I would have either hidden or stood my ground with a gun waiting..."
Tao Yu also felt the confidence that came with strength, a kind of fundamental self-assurance!
"Who's there?"
Tao Yu didn't brazenly approach; upon almost pinpointing the other party's location, he stood next to the trunk of a huge tree and asked in a stern voice.
As Tao Yu spoke, Lin Chao, who was in the team, suddenly felt a surge of extreme danger clouding his mind, leaving him gasping for breath for a moment.
"Wait..."
The moment Lin Chao spoke up, the two Inner City Pioneers, who had been somewhat relaxed, had a change of expression.
Nuosen, who was about to push aside the branches in front, also stopped and ducked behind a nearby tree trunk.
The others also tensely raised their guns, as if ready to attack at any moment.
"Stop, stop! Don't point your guns, put them down!"
Lin Chao felt the sense of crisis escalating, as if someone was holding a blade right before his eyes!
"Put them down, stay alert."
Huang Jian found cover for himself and ordered, following Lin Chao's advice.
Afterward, he responded to Tao Yu in a deep voice,
"Friend, we mean no harm, we're Pioneers who came in to hunt aliens."
"Lin Chao?"
Tao Yu recognized Lin Chao's voice from before, recalling the Pioneer he had met once.
The Pioneer with a child's heart had made a good impression on him.
"Tao Yu?"
Lin Chao was initially startled by the sudden sense of crisis, but now he also recognized that it was Tao Yu's voice.
The knife-edge sensation at his eyeballs also lessened considerably.
Er, it turned into having a knife held against his throat.
"Tao Yu?"
Zhang Wei also recognized who it was from this reaction.
"Do you know each other?"
Huang Jian asked.
"Yes, it's the companion I told you about before, the one with Grade A Dynamic Vision."
Zhang Wei didn't conceal it.
This made both Huang Jian and Nuosen relax a bit.
"So it's him. I know him. Wino wanted to invite him to join the rescue team before, Grade A Dynamic Vision with strong Perception, though not as good as Lin Chao, but he's still quite the talent," Nuosen said.
Upon discovering a familiar face in the wilderness, the sense of caution in each of them eased somewhat.
"Brother, we were also about to rest. Can we join your team?"
Nuosen regained his confidence, suddenly feeling good again.
He came out brazenly from behind the tree, lifting the bushes in his full body armor, and appeared in front of Tao Yu; meanwhile, he also saw Tao Yu and Cao Shaolin 'the two of them' standing next to him.
Quickly assessing the two and their gear, Nuosen made his judgment. Read the latest on m_v-l'e|m,p| y- r
Their strength must not be weak, but at this distance, I should be able to handle it.
If a real conflict erupts, I just need to rush with a shield to knock one person flying, then swing the hammer at another—I won't say it'll be resolved in an instant, but I can control the situation.
'Carrying guns and such long blades in this kind of rainforest is really inconvenient. With blades that long, you'd need a talent like Masu's to make it work, a bit of a show-off, this kid...'
'And that guy with the black cloth over his eyes, a poker face—wonder who he's showing that to.'
Nuosen pondered in his heart, but all his expressions were hidden under the helmet, revealing nothing.
"Are you the friends from the Inner City that Wino Big Brother once hired?"
Hearing the previous conversation, Tao Yu thought of some information Wino had mentioned to him before.
The man is dead, and now still protecting him from the shadows, Tao Yu still maintained respect for Wino in his words, then continued,
"Do you have a way to find Wino Big Brother's nest?"
"What, interested in the Queen? We can collaborate with our two teams, but the specific division needs to be negotiated."
Huang Jian also spoke up gravely, as the group slowly made their way over and gradually saw Tao Yu and Cao Shaolin.
From their perspective, since these two were so close by, they were very likely members of the team that had eradicated those alien beasts up ahead; being able to handle so many aliens means their team must be quite competent.
Bai Ya's squad also seemed somewhat surprised at this moment—were these not the two handsome guys raising alien beasts? So they did have a team, no wonder they turned down the invitation.
But for some reason, the handsome guy with the eye cover suddenly went from a single eyepatch to black cloth covering both eyes—was it some special talent?
Tao Yu sized up everyone and judged them, feeling a bit disdainful.
Adding them might save some trouble, but if they couldn't solve a problem he couldn't, they didn't seem of much use.
However, they should have a means of locating the aliens' nests—something Wino had mentioned before, which could save a lot of time.
It'd be much more convenient than aimlessly searching through the rainforest.
"Come over, we can talk."
Tao Yu turned and walked casually ahead of Cao Shaolin, positioning Cao Shaolin's figure behind him.
Lin Chao and his team were also following behind, walking toward the faint light of the fire ahead.
Lin Xue cautiously asked Lin Chao,
"Bro, what happened to you just now? I didn't feel anything."
"I don't know, I just felt like if we didn't put down our guns, we would die..."
Lin Chao was still a bit nervous, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
He didn't know why he had such a delusion, but it was there; Intuition was always a bit mystical, inexplicable.
Huang Jian also exchanged a silent nod with Nuosen, who turned to look back at him, preparing to have a good talk with the leaders of their team soon.
"I've raised an alien beast; don't attack it," Tao Yu mentioned first, lest their conditioned reflex upon seeing an alien in the rainforest would be to attack.
"Oh? Brother, you've raised an alien beast. Are you preparing for a breeding task?"
Nuosen, who had been somewhat disdainful of Tao Yu in his heart, now lit up with enthusiasm.
A Grade A Dynamic Vision, plus being able to raise an alien, able to shoot from the back with the alien taking the front—should the alien die, it could even burst with acid blood—his strength and status had instantly soared!
"By the way."
Tao Yu didn't elaborate much.
He merely parted the branches blocking the way and, upon seeing the crude campsite and campfire ahead, everyone present was taken aback.
The scene was much smaller than imagined, and aside from an alien being roasted by the fire, there were no other people?
Then, the alien's tail hanging in front of the fire, being roasted like a sausage, also dazzled their eyes for a moment.
Damn! So many are just lying there casually?
The trophies from the earlier killings?
But where is everyone else?
A small personal tent, a bonfire, hanging 'sausages', plus the alien warming by the fire and the fragrant meat grilling.
This scene looked bizarre from any angle!
At this moment, Tao Yu took a seat by the fire in the prime spot, Cao Shaolin stood quietly to the side, and Little Black eagerly handed over a hot capybara foot.
While taking a bite of the capybara foot, Tao Yu casually said,
"All this roasted meat is mine; if you want to buy some, it won't be cheap—eat what you brought for yourselves."
Then, Tao Yu settled on a rock and casually scanned Huang Jian and Nuosen before him,
"I have two negotiation suggestions. First, sell me the coordinates—I'll give you five alien tails in exchange. Second, we team up—the Queen is mine, and I take seventy percent of the other spoils. Choose."
In an instant, the jovial expressions on Huang Jian and Nuosen's faces stiffened, and then everyone else also began to slowly realize something.
Wait, the so-called team is just the two of you?!
The team that wiped out that group of aliens just consisted of you two?!
In just a moment, everyone had the urgent words of Lin Chao echoing in their minds.
'Put it down!'
This...
If we don't put down our weapons, could we die…?