Mobile Shelter

Chapter 135 Discovery and Invitation

What Dong Qi couldn't understand was that, when faced with such enormous mutated marine creatures, even if the awakened ones were wielding huge heavy weapons, they were only the size of toothpicks to them.

Without the aid of superpowers, those cold weapons would cause negligible damage to the enormous, mutated marine creatures.

It's like that tattooed man with a double-handed axe, who seems to have been busy for a long time, cutting away a lot of flesh from the giant sea creature, but if we use a human analogy, it's actually only equivalent to causing a wound the size of a fingernail.

If this situation continues, even if Dong Qi comes back in three days, the giant mutated marine creature that is currently under attack will not suffer fatal damage.

Of course, Dong Qi wasn't stupid. They deliberately chose uninhabited areas to hunt those giant mutated marine creatures, which meant they were very confident in their abilities.

Just as Dong Qi was still speculating about the fighting techniques those people possessed, a huge axe shadow suddenly appeared and stood above the giant mutated sea creature.

As the giant axe fell, a huge wound appeared on the giant mutated sea creature.

Before Dong Qi could react, the long knife that was originally stuck in the body of the giant mutated marine creature suddenly became enormous.

Following the wound inflicted by the axe shadow, it plunged directly into the flesh of the giant mutated marine creature.

If it weren't for the drone's high-definition camera and its connection to a smart hub, all the transmitted images would have been displayed on the screen only after passing through the smart hub.

Dong Qi had no idea that after the long sword was inserted into the giant mutated marine creature, its surface began to vibrate at a high frequency, although the amplitude of the vibration was not large.

But with the vibration of the longsword, the entire longsword slowly penetrated deeper into the body of the giant mutated marine creature.

Even so, the changes to the blade did not end.

By analyzing the changes in the wounds around the blade, the intelligent control system compares the data with other wounds on the body of the giant mutated marine creature.

It was discovered that the blade, which should have been at room temperature, was likely slowly heating up.

The giant mutated marine creature was first attacked by the shadow of the giant axe, and then a giant longsword appeared and pierced directly into the wound.

This is followed by the blade vibrating, increasing the depth of penetration, and the high temperature of the blade further aggravating the wound.

The giant mutated marine creature, which had been fiercely resisting, gradually slowed its movements and eventually leaned forward, crashing heavily to the ground.

Upon seeing this result, Dong Qi did not leave immediately.

Ultimately, they only brought three vehicles, two trucks and one SUV, and the actual number of people involved was only a dozen or so.

Even if you manage to kill a giant mutated marine creature, its enormous size makes it extremely difficult to quickly decompose it.

Just as Dong Qi was about to observe how the other party dismembered the giant mutated marine creature, a sharp arrow suddenly shot out from the location of the off-road vehicle.

The drone, which was hovering high in the sky, was hit by the arrow before it could even take any evasive action or react.

The drone did not fall vertically as it would normally do when shot down.

Instead, as if pulled by some force, although it was still falling downwards, it was not falling vertically downwards, but rather gliding through the air, swaying and flying towards the direction of the off-road vehicle.

Upon seeing this, Dong Qi realized that the other party must have discovered him.

The reason we didn't take action earlier was simply to avoid fighting on two fronts. Now that we've dealt with the giant mutated marine creature, we can finally free up some resources.

Just as Dong Qi was about to drive over to explain things to the other party and retrieve the drone that had been damaged by the arrow,

Then they saw that the three vehicles that were originally parked far away on the battlefield had started up. Two trucks drove towards the giant mutated marine creature that had already died, while the other off-road vehicle drove towards Dong Qi.

At this moment, the mechanical arms on both sides of the vehicle did not retract and remained in their original grass-cutting posture; only the mechanical claws that were originally rotating at high speed in front stopped.

As the other SUV approached, when they saw their own car with its somewhat strange design, perhaps out of surprise, the SUV gradually slowed down.

Ultimately, the SUV remained parked about ten meters away from Dong Qi's car.

However, this time, the person getting off the bus was not one of the two people they had met before, but another middle-aged man they had never seen before.

Seeing that the other party was carrying a drone that had been shot down by an arrow when they got out of the car, Dong Qi did not stay in the car any longer and got out immediately.

Upon seeing Dong Qi, the other party did not immediately become aggressive, but instead spoke very politely: "Young man, your behavior seems a bit unethical."

When we first encountered you, we had already deliberately chosen a relatively remote area to avoid you.

"You're chasing after us again, are you plotting something against our team?"

As they spoke, the other party raised the drone in their hand and shook it a few times as evidence.

Although the other party's words were questioning, judging from their tone and attitude, they had no intention of fighting at the moment.

They probably came here to find out Dong Qi's purpose in monitoring them, and to stall Dong Qi so that the other side could divide the spoils and buy more time.

Dong Qi guessed the other party's purpose in coming, and in order to get the drone back, he did not intend to avoid the questions the other party asked.

"I didn't come here on purpose to spy on you. You can tell from the state of my car and the situation over there that I was just harvesting seaweed along the edge of the seaweed patch. I just didn't expect to see you here."

Furthermore, after discovering the battle on your side, I did not continue to approach, but waited for the battle to end from a distance away from the battlefield.

As for the issue of using drones for aerial surveillance, frankly, isn't that a perfectly normal thing?

Although I wasn't close to the battlefield, I was curious to learn about the fighting there, and I'm sure you can understand that curiosity.

Hu Jing never expected that Dong Qi would so frankly admit his question without any attempt to hide anything.

And under his observation, although Dong Qi's natal car looked a bit strange at this moment, the state of the mechanical arm was clear.

And looking along the area where the car came from, you can see obvious traces of seaweed harvesting.

Although he couldn't see where the seaweed that had been cut by the mechanical claws went, the seaweed roots left on the ground clearly showed that this area was indeed originally covered by seaweed.

After realizing that Dong Qi was not lying, Hu Jing's wariness towards Dong Qi eased slightly.

Before Hu Jing could speak again, Dong Qi directly asked for the drone in Hu Jing's hand: "Brother, now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, can you give the drone back to me?"

Upon hearing Dong Qi ask for a drone, Hu Jing subconsciously glanced at the drone in his hand.

At this moment, the center of the drone had been pierced by the arrow. Reconnaissance drones are designed to be small and compact in order to reduce the chance of being detected.

After a huge hole appeared in the center of the drone, the drone was fatally damaged.

Before the Awakened Ones appeared, to be honest, the cost of repairing this drone might have been higher than buying a new one.

In fact, it is not uncommon for repairs to cost more than buying a brand new item. Let's take a common keyboard as an example.

Excluding brand premium, a brand new keyboard and mouse set costs only twenty or thirty yuan. Even if you want to buy a higher-end mechanical keyboard, to be honest, it will only cost a hundred yuan at most. During some promotional periods, you can actually buy it for thirty or fifty yuan.

Cleaning a keyboard would cost at least fifty yuan in labor, which is enough to buy a new keyboard.

The same applies to repairing drones, especially drones like the one Hu Jing is holding right now, which have suffered penetrating damage to their center, rendering their core components essentially useless.

The remaining parts are basically just some less important lines. More importantly, the drone's shell is basically a one-piece molded structure, and once a hole appears in the center, it is almost impossible to repair.

Even now, for most people with healing abilities, performing repairs would be extremely difficult.

After all, most awakened individuals with healing abilities can only repair damaged items and cannot create things out of thin air.

After the drone was pierced through the center by an arrow, the fragments of parts damaged by the arrow were scattered somewhere during the drone's fall, making it virtually impossible to retrieve them.

Therefore, Hu Jing did not pay attention to Dong Qi's request and simply tossed the drone in his hand to Dong Qi.

After Hu Jing tossed the drone to Dong Qi, he noticed that Dong Qi did not reach out to catch it. He assumed that Dong Qi was afraid that he would tamper with the drone.

Thinking that since the drone was already damaged, even if it fell to the ground again, it wouldn't have any special impact.

Even though Hu Jing had already decided that Dong Qi was cautious, his positive feelings towards Dong Qi still decreased.

But Hu Jing never expected that the drone he threw away would not fall to the ground even though Dong Qi did not reach out to catch it after it approached Dong Qi's vehicle. Instead, it disappeared directly in mid-air.

Dong Qi was deliberately showcasing his car's remote storage capabilities, and the reason is actually quite simple.

Through observations using drones, I have learned that the opposing team contains a large number of awakened individuals with supernatural abilities.

Don't be fooled by the fact that only Hu Jing and a driver came to talk to him at this moment; it's because the Awakened Ones are currently dismantling their spoils.

After they finished their work, if they saw that Dong Qi was an ordinary person, and there was no one else coming from the surrounding wilderness.

And most importantly, just by looking at the appearance of the car at this time, it can be seen that the car has been modified.

Putting everything else aside, having a freely usable robotic arm at this point would be very attractive to most people.

At this moment, Dong Qi's ability to remotely store things in front of Hu Jing was also a way of telling Hu Jing that even if Dong Qi was an ordinary person, there were awakened individuals in the car.

Don't underestimate this small display of superpowers; this action can actually avoid a lot of trouble.

Just as Dong Qi had guessed, Hu Jing's pupils contracted slightly after he saw the drone he had thrown disappear into thin air, and then the smile on his face became even more genuine.

The shrewd old man naturally understood why Dong Qi was displaying his superpowers, but he didn't care. Moreover, through the disappearance of the drone, he also figured out why there were no scattered seaweeds on the ground when Dong Qi arrived.

However, since dragons don't associate with snakes, if Dong Qi were just an ordinary person, even if he had a modified vehicle, there would be no need for him to get acquainted with him. If someone in his team took a liking to the modified car, he would have plenty of ways to get it from Dong Qi.

But when he learned that Dong Qi was an Awakened, he had the idea of ​​befriending him. He then introduced himself, saying, "Let me introduce you. My name is Hu Jing, and I am the vice-captain of the Tiger Roar Hunting Team. What's your name, brother?"

"Dong Qi, a freelancer."

Hu Jing was even happier to hear that Dong Qi had not joined any other organization.

After all, for a hunting team like theirs, the more awakened individuals there are in the team, the stronger the team is.

Furthermore, for awakened individuals, as long as they can awaken their special abilities, there are no useless special abilities.

Even if a superpower is considered useless by ordinary people, as long as you go to the Great Xia Research Institute and pay some fees, you can ask the researchers there to evaluate your superpower.

Not only can you learn several ways to hone your own abilities, but you can also find out the most suitable scenarios for showcasing your abilities.

As the saying goes, even waste paper can play a more important role than a thousand pieces of gold if placed in the right context.

Moreover, the ability to store things remotely that Dong Qi just demonstrated is clearly not something that can be accomplished with a simple superpower.

Furthermore, through his team members, Hu Jing clearly knew that there were not only the one drone they had shot down, but two drones circling in the air observing the battle.

The reason they only shot down one drone was that they did not intend to declare war on Dong Qi. Shooting down one drone was just a warning, while shooting down both drones would likely be seen as a provocation by Dong Qi.

Furthermore, hitting and shooting down a drone hovering high in the sky with an arrow is not an easy task.

Although they appeared to have shot down a drone very easily, they actually used supernatural abilities to enhance their skills.

And in order to kill with a single blow, the archer used all his strength.

The reason why the drones hovering in the air observing the battlefield were not attacked when fighting the giant mutated marine creature was because this tactic was originally intended for battlefield support. That is why the drones were attacked only after the battle was over.

Upon seeing Hu Jing's expression, Dong Qi guessed what the other person was thinking.

Although Dong Qi did not intend to join the other party's group at this time, he still wanted to hear what kind of conditions the other party would offer.

"Brother Dong, I believe you can guess what I'm thinking about inviting you to join the team. Although I think you're unlikely to join us, I'll still introduce the Tiger Roar Squad to you first."

Our squad has a total of about one hundred people, but only about twenty are actually combat personnel, which are the people who came this time. The rest are both logistics personnel and family members of us combat personnel.

You should know the state of things now. Within the Great Xia territory, as long as you work hard, you won't starve to death, but it's still quite difficult to live a comfortable life.

Even for awakened individuals like us, even if we join the official hunting teams organized by the imperial court, although our lives are guaranteed, it is difficult to gain much.

It is well known that consuming the flesh and blood of giant mutated marine creatures can enhance one's superpowers.

However, the imperial court did not announce that long-term consumption of the flesh and blood of mutated marine creatures, while rapidly enhancing supernatural abilities, was like taking drugs.

Although consuming the flesh and blood of giant mutated marine creatures can rapidly enhance one's superpowers, it also indirectly puts a shackle on one's abilities.

If one could originally improve their superpower strength through training, although this method seemed slow, one could perfectly control each increase in superpower strength.

While consuming the flesh and blood of giant mutated marine creatures can rapidly enhance one's superpowers, it also makes it difficult to maintain detailed control over those powers.

To give a simple example, an awakened individual who has developed fire-based abilities, if these abilities were enhanced through training, can use them to create flames of various appearances and control them freely.

While the ability strength can be increased by consuming giant mutated marine creatures, the rate of increase in ability strength is very fast.

However, when using it, you can only gather a huge fireball around yourself and then throw it at the target area like throwing a stone.

After throwing the fireball, he was unable to exert any fine control over it.

However, on the other hand, the increase in superpower strength gained from months of arduous training may not be as significant as the increase gained from easily consuming the flesh and blood of a few giant mutated marine creatures.

And as you know, the enemies we face are mostly those with enormous size.

Even with the most powerful micro-management abilities, combat superpowers cannot inflict much damage on enemies of enormous size.

It would be better to strengthen the power and use a powerful brick-throwing method to defeat the enemy.

Therefore, if you choose to join the imperial hunting team, even if no one asks you to eat giant mutated marine creatures, you will naturally be ostracized if you don't make a significant contribution.

If you join our team, we will not reject you because your ability improvement speed is slow.

To be honest, most people aren't stupid, and they all understand that consuming giant mutated marine creatures to enhance their superpowers isn't the right way, but it's a long-term solution that can't solve the immediate problem.

Some things cannot be done by simply knowing the optimal path.

The imperial court will inevitably train a group of awakened individuals who do not consume giant mutated marine creatures, but this unconditional training means that ordinary people without connections cannot join in.

But joining our team is different. As you can see, our combat personnel already possess sufficient fighting power, so even if your special ability doesn't make you particularly strong in combat right now.

Once you join us, we'll assign you a suitable position. While your earnings may not be comparable to those of frontline combat personnel, they will certainly be much higher than those of non-combat personnel.