Alien Relic Hunter

First of all, one thing is certain: with the size and ability of the Hunting God Hunting Group, it is impossible to swallow such a large piece of "cake" alone.

Not only them, but any hunting group on the Ark would not be able to complete the exploration of "Yagunaktor" on their own.

Not only because the progress of exploration will be very slow, but also because of this "eating alone" attitude, it is easy to be jealous of others... Even if Ke Lan has an undead crew behind him to support him, there will inevitably be some greedy pinkeyes. Get in the way.

Although the small actions of these people will not cause any harm to the Hunting God Hunting Group, they will disgust people from all kinds of small things...especially when a group of pinkeyes unite.

The God Hunting Group must not be isolated. They must find a group of "partners" and form an alliance to jointly explore and develop this warship. With enough allies around, when some villains cause harm, they will naturally not dare to be so unscrupulous.

But the choice of this partner is also very particular. Compared with enemies from outside, backstabbing from allies is something Ke Lan is more afraid of.

First of all, the quotas for the army and the institute have been determined - the army is the most powerful violent institution on the Ark, and it is also directly controlled by the Undead Crew. Like the United Parliamentary Group, they can also be regarded as The Immortal Crew will be an agent on the surface, and Ke Lan cannot refuse.

The research institute, they possess the most high-end technology and talents on Ark. If you want to maximize the transformation of exploration results into tangible benefits, the research institute is indispensable. What's more, if Ke Lan chooses to cooperate with other forces, most of the things discovered during the exploration process will eventually be transferred to the research institute. It is better to let the God Hunting Group establish a cooperative relationship with the research institute directly to avoid the need for middlemen to make money. This price difference.

As for the remaining options, the only ones are the Security Bureau and various large private consortiums.

Now Ke Lan already knows that the Security Bureau can basically be regarded as a direct force of the Immortal Crew Association... To put it in a layman's terms, this group of people is just like the Ouchi secret agents and Jin Yiwei in ancient times. They are responsible for doing things for the emperor. He does dirty work like wiping buttocks and cleaning toilets. As for the so-called director, he is just a puppet who takes orders from the crew association.

Ke Lan had no need to please them at first, but then he thought about it. If the Security Bureau was also involved, if some unsighted people came out to cause trouble, then he would be labeled as "suspected of endangering the safety of Ark". Go up there, it’s enough for them to eat and walk around.

Although the Security Bureau will not be of much help in the process of exploring the ruins, at least the name is enough to scare people, and it can be used to deter those who want to cause trouble because they can't eat the "cake".

…

Speaking of major consortiums, the first thing that Ke Lan thought of was Zofia's Soma Consortium. However, Zofia is not yet the head of the Soma family. If she goes directly to the Soma Consortium, even if Ke Lan named Zofia to be responsible for cooperation matters, and several other heirs of the Soma family will definitely look for opportunities to insert their own people.

Ke Lan is not interested in the intrigues within the big conglomerates and big families, but if these people bring this mess into the ruins, then he can't ignore it.

Although Ke Lan can connect to the console of "Aguna Kotor", there are still more than 90% of the areas inside the battleship that cannot be opened to him due to "insufficient authority." The degree of danger in these areas is completely unknown, and no one knows I don’t know what dangers I will encounter inside... If there are still people in the exploration team who have their own little plans in mind, are unwilling to cooperate with others, and are even scheming against their own teammates, then it is entirely possible that the entire team will be destroyed. Everyone in the team was killed.

Bringing in just one of these black sheep is enough to cause a headache. If you bring in a group of them... Ke Lan feels that he can already prepare funeral arrangements for the members of this exploration team.

Choosing to cooperate with a consortium is more troublesome: within any consortium, the interest relationships are very complicated. Even brothers will turn against each other because of the fight for inheritance rights, let alone shareholders who are not necessarily related by blood. .

Ke Lan thought for a moment, and decided that it would be better to let Zofia participate as a shareholder of the God Hunting Group, and then use her as a link to let the Soma Consortium join the alliance in disguise - in this way, the people involved in exploring the ruins would They are all Zofia's cronies, so there is no need to worry about other members of the Soma family getting involved.

If they can gain anything from the ruins, it can all be attributed to her, helping Zofia improve her status in the Soma family - if they are lucky, they can directly help her to become the head of the family. It's not impossible.

By then, no one will say that Ke Lan is a freeloader, and there may be many wealthy nobles who want to send their young ladies to him - even though Ark is in principle monogamous. , but the relevant laws have a lot of loopholes that can be exploited. Many men from large families have more than one female partner...

Of course, if a woman is in an absolutely powerful position, then the situation will be completely reversed - Ke Lan once saw a piece of news on the Internet: Mrs. Maria, who started out as a jewelry and art company, her harem group The number of men is in three figures, and many new members are added every year.

Among these men, there are young masters from wealthy aristocrats, popular young stars, and amateurs with ordinary but handsome looks. Even the lady of the male publicist in the nightclub has "collected" a lot. They The only thing they have in common is that they "don't want to work hard anymore"...

The only thing that makes Ke Lan a little strange is that there are so many men, that Lady Maria... can she use them?

"What are you thinking about? You are smiling so lewdly?" Hound interrupted Ke Lan's reverie and smiled evilly, "Do you think of the eldest lady from the Soma family? Tsk, what are you thinking about? Yes, if you don’t take the initiative yourself, who can you blame? They have already arrived at your door. If you were bolder, you would have won it long ago. Do you still need to dream here? "

"I did think about Zofia, but I didn't think about the dirty things you said. I was thinking about whether to drag her into the exploration project of this ruins." Ke Lan said righteously, and in an instant Throw those ambiguous images out of my mind.

"Tch? The place where you die is dressed up as a serious man, right? How can this be a dirty thing? You agree with me and it will happen naturally. That is the great harmony between life and nature. How come it has become a dirty thing in your mouth?" Hound said silently The ground raised a middle finger to Ke Lan.

"Yes, you and I are willing, and things will come true... So last month you and Layton went to Fuso Street in the New East 9th District to discuss the great harmony between life and nature with your kimono sister?" Ke Lan immediately replied. .

"Tsk, you don't understand this... The New East Nine District has just been rebuilt, and it's full of waste. It needs people to go there to spend money and drive popularity, so that the whole neighborhood can gradually prosper. This is why the big guy and I generously donated money. Contribute your own strength to the revitalization of the New East Ninth District." Hound said seriously, without even a blush on his face.

"Ah, yes, yes!" Layton, who was suddenly pulled into the topic, quickly agreed, "It is our duty to revitalize the economy of backward regions!"

"Contribute your strength? Are you afraid that all your strength has been contributed to others?" Ke Lan glanced at the two of them speechlessly, "Okay, let's get down to business. As for partners, I have decided on four for now."

"The military, the research institute, the Security Bureau and your beautiful fiancée." Hound immediately answered, "You don't have to think about it, it's so easy to guess."

"Because these companies are a sure thing." Ivan said, "But considering the size of Yagunaktor, it is far from enough to rely on the manpower of these companies."

"That's right...the military, the research institute, the Security Bureau and the Soma Consortium. Together, these companies may not be as good as a few of us." Layton said while counting his fingers, "First of all, let's talk about the military. , although the equipment and numbers are large, and the individual strength of the elite troops is not bad, they are soldiers after all, and they are not involved in the delicate work of exploring ruins. In the same way, the same goes for the people in the research institute and the Security Bureau. If they are not professional, carrying them is like carrying a bottle of oil."

"That's right, as for the girl who just left, she and her men have no other abilities, they will only cause trouble for us. Without them, our mission would probably be much smoother." Hound complained, " I suspect these people were not sent to help us, but to monitor us."

"Nine times out of ten, yes." Ivan nodded.

"These three families themselves are not involved in ruins exploration matters, so I won't go into details here." Leighton straightened his three bent fingers, "The remaining... people under the eldest lady's hands are not very good, to be honest. Sample."

The Soma Consortium itself is not very interested in the business of exploring ruins. The "Pioneer" icebreaker was not built to explore underwater ruins at the beginning. As for the hunting group under the Soma Consortium, although it can be regarded as a " It is a "company-level" hunting group, but its strength is only a few levels. In terms of professionalism, it is not even worthy of carrying shoes for a hunting group of Polaris level.

Ke Lan and the others have already seen the quality of the hunters under the Soma Consortium once during the Leviathan mission. To say that they are crooked is already flattering them - they are all a group of third-rate mercenaries who came here. He is a bastard who has neither received systematic training nor any actual exploration experience. When encountering any unexpected situation, he will immediately mess up his position... Ke Lan still remembers the man who was hit by his own ricochet. The unlucky guy with the big arteries in his legs.

By then, the people sent by Zofia will probably only be able to take charge of some logistical work.

"To put it bluntly, none of these four partners are useful." Hound smacked his lips and said, "What we need are experienced elite hunters, preferably those who have been in the industry for decades and have the experience of exploring. There are a lot of A-level and B-level ruins, so it’s best if you have experience in exploring S-level ruins..."

"There are too few people like you are talking about." Ivan shook his head, "It is a high-risk industry to begin with. The mortality rate of exploring high-level ruins is so high. I don't think there will be many such experienced veterans in the entire Ark. More than fifty...and most of them have already washed their hands. Just being coaches and consultants in hunter training institutions is enough to make them a lot of money. How many people are willing to take such a big risk to start again? Are you doing your old business?"

"Hey, I know someone like this." Zhuoligetu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said, "That guy has been a ruin hunter for at least fifteen years, and has participated in six exploration missions of S-class ruins. There are even more AB-level ruins that I have visited, and this guy is still active on the front line of exploring the ruins."

"Who is it? If there really is such a person, how come I haven't heard of him?" Hound was a little puzzled, "I know the leaders of the most famous hunting groups, but I don't remember such a number one person? Could it be that he Can’t you become a team leader with such qualifications?”

"No, he is not a member of a large hunting group. He is an independent hunter. He usually behaves very low-key. Very few people know him." Zhuo Ligetu said, "I happened to go to the ruins with him twice before I left. Those things he heard from his teammates.”

"Is it true?" Hound grinned with an expression of disbelief, "Could it be that his teammates lied to you just to brag?"

"I don't know if it's true or not, but that man is really strong, especially his ability to play with throwing knives. He's simply amazing - do you know the blood rock in the Rust Ridge Mountains? Because the rock contains a lot of iron. Mine, the entire rock wall looks dark red and has high hardness. But the throwing knife he threw can be pierced into the rock wall without its handle. I feel that even Layton's robotic arm is not that exaggerated. ."

"Is he very good at using throwing knives? Is this guy... nicknamed 'Thirty-Three'?" The hound was stunned for a moment, "Is he carrying thirty-three dart-shaped throwing knives forged from Nino alloy? , usually doesn’t talk much and is very serious. He especially hates people smoking in front of him, right?”

"Ah? You...you know him?" This time, it was Zhuo Ligetu who was surprised.

"I know. This guy used to be in the field force and was the deputy captain of the Velociraptor assault team. Later, during a mission, their Velociraptor assault team suffered heavy losses. Even the captain died in the battle. He also retired due to injury. There is no news. ...I didn’t expect that he would actually become a ruin hunter. By the way, how many of them are there?”

"Not many, about seven or eight people... They are all quite old, and judging from their behavior, they are a group of extremely self-disciplined guys. They also said that they were retired soldiers, but they did not say which army they retired from. ." Zhuoligetu said, looking at Hound and Layton, "I originally thought veterans were like them, until I met you two."

"Hey... It seems that these few of them should be the remaining members of the Velociraptor team back then." Hound said, "Logically speaking, their pension should be enough for them to live a comfortable second half of their lives. Why? Why did you run out to do this?"

"Uh... one of them told me about this." Zhuoligetu hesitated and said, "He said that after listening to the deafening gunshots for half his life, he was used to lying in the harsh trenches. Now he is lying on the soft But I couldn’t fall asleep no matter what. When I closed my eyes, I would see images I didn’t want to recall, so I ran out.”

"War traumatic stress syndrome," Ivan said.