Alien Relic Hunter

"Of course...it's just..." Yu Yi said with a confused look on her face.

"What, is it possible that some consortium secrets are involved again?" Ke Lan asked.

Yui shook her head, clicked her fingers on the tablet a few times, and then handed the tablet over with an expression that said, "You'll understand after you see it yourself."

What is displayed on the screen is a video shot with an infrared camera in a low-light environment. Judging from the constantly shaking lens, the path under the photographer's feet must be very difficult to walk.

"This is the only remaining recorded image from the second team's exploration. Their current location is about three hundred meters away from the end of the mine's proven area," Yui explained.

"Three hundred meters? Is it the horizontal distance or the vertical distance?" Old Dog interjected.

"No, the spatial structure in Leviathan's body is very complex, and the positioning equipment often fails. What we calculate is the actual distance traveled."

The hunter who is responsible for leading the team should be wearing thick power armor. The high-temperature color block on the back is very conspicuous, which is where the engine and energy converter of the power armor are located.

Ke Lan could vaguely hear rapid breathing... The dark and cramped passage, the rugged ground beneath their feet, and the fear of the unknown inherent in human instincts, kept these people in a state of high tension almost all the time... …And in this case, physical strength is undoubtedly consumed extremely quickly. From this point alone, it can be seen that the commander of the hunter team of the Soma Consortium is probably a rookie with little actual combat experience.

According to the regular process of exploring ruins, let alone three hundred meters, the team should take a break at least one hundred meters to allow the team members to adjust their condition before continuing deeper. However, these people in the video are obviously almost exhausted. . If such a team is suddenly attacked by an enemy, it can only wait for the kill, and it will be difficult to organize a decent counterattack...

Just when Ke Lan thought of this, something happened in the video - the hunter wearing power armor seemed to have tripped over something and suddenly fell to the ground!

"Um?!"

No, that's not right! He was not tripped, because the next second, he was dragged into the darkness by something... As for what exactly attacked him, not even Ke Lan saw it.

"The infrared camera did not capture the attacker, which means that the temperature of the attacker is almost exactly the same as the environment..." Ke Lan murmured.

"It is a temperature-changing creature, and it may also have a certain degree of camouflage ability." Ivan added.

Soon, the team fell into chaos. The panicked hunters shot wildly into the darkness, and the bright muzzle flash almost blocked the entire video screen...

Then, with the crazy rolling of the screen, the video ended hastily.

"Including the hunter with the infrared camera, only four people escaped, but from the beginning to the end of the battle, they didn't know what they were fighting." Yui explained with some embarrassment, "The ruins exploration and It is not considered the main business of the Soma Consortium. The consortium has not invested many resources in this area, so the quality of these hunters... It is for this reason that Miss Soma decided to issue this commission to you."

"It can be seen that the quality of these people is indeed beyond words...even the captain in charge of the command does not look like a professional." Ke Lan said.

"It's not even third-rate. This is a pure newbie! A pure rookie! They are probably all laymen who have been transferred from a bunch of rubbish mercenaries. It's a shame that you are willing to spend so much unjust money to support these bunch of losers." The old dog didn't give any face at all, and complained sharply.

"Have you found the bodies of the victims?" Ivan asked.

"No." Yui shook her head regretfully, "The conditions of the two subsequent explorations were similar. Except for some scattered weapons and equipment, there were no corpses left... They were probably taken away as food by those creatures."

"Then this information is really pitiful." Ke Lan stared at the four characters "End of Play" on the screen and sighed, "It seems that we need to reconsider the risks and difficulties of this commission."

In the body of Leviathan, there is a very special magnetic field. Under the influence of this magnetic field, human electronic equipment often malfunctions. In addition to mining equipment, it also includes equipment used for A remote-controlled robot conducting surveys... If you want to know what's going on deep in the mine, the only way is to do it...

The Soma Consortium has tried this method four times. After losing so many hunters, they still can't figure out who the attackers are...

In Ke Lan's view, the sacrifices of these hunters were of almost no value.

“It’s not impossible for us to accept this commission, but we’ll have to pay more.”

"..." Yui's lips moved, but in the end she didn't speak.

She is just a secretary, and the bargaining power is not in her hands.

"Let's do this. The original reward will be increased by three times. In addition, any ultra-pure crystals found deep in the mines..." Ke Lan thought about it for a moment, and then said, "Converted into credits or equivalent units of standard crystals, we It’s going to be divided into two percent.”

Two percent, this is a very subtle number - if he chooses to open his mouth and ask for 50% or more in one breath, it is likely to cause both parties to directly break up... and if he asks for too little, he is sorry. The corresponding risks and difficulties of this task...

According to the relevant laws and regulations on the Ark, if a hunter finds energy crystals in the relics, which are equivalent to "hard currency" relics, he can decide on his own whether to keep them or sell them to the officials at the average transaction price of the day. The officials will not Forced intervention will be carried out, and if a rare high-grade crystal is found, those sold to the official will even receive additional bonuses...

But in the current situation, the nature of the mine and the ruins are different. As the party with the mining rights, it is not an exaggeration to say that this place is the private territory of the Soma Consortium, and this ultra-pure crystal is equivalent to the private property of the Soma Consortium. The treasure dug up in the garden... However, the monster guarding this treasure was too fierce. The owner of the garden had no way to deal with it for the moment, so he invited "outsiders" like them to deal with it.

20%, this ratio is just right, no more, no less, it should be just within the range acceptable to both parties.

"I can't decide this..."

"But Miss Soma can." Ke Lan stared at him with a smile, "I think you should be able to contact her now, right?"

The command vehicle in the convoy is equipped with a complete set of signal amplification equipment, which is almost equivalent to a mobile base station. With the help of various transfer stations set up in the wilderness, Ke Lan and the others can still get in touch with the Pioneer icebreaker in the middle sea... Although the signal is not very good.

five minutes later.

Yuyi hung up the phone, turned to Ke Lan and said, "Miss Soma agreed to your request, and she is willing to increase the share ratio from 20% to 2.50%."

"Oh? Does she have any additional conditions?" Ke Lan was a little confused. The 20% ratio was increased to 2.50%. It seemed that it was only 0.50% more, but Ke Lan and the others actually earned more than before. A full quarter.

Considering the value of ultra-pure crystals, this 0.50% is not a small amount of money... It is even much more than the three times the fixed remuneration proposed by Ke Lan.