Alien Relic Hunter

"There is another possibility, which often appears in ruins - the things they saw may be just hallucinations." Ivan added.

"Whether it's a hallucination or not, just look at what's captured by the camera equipment they carry! People can hallucinate, but machines can't!" Layton said.

The camera equipment carried by the two volunteers has been removed from the protective clothing by the hunter, and the memory card inside has been inserted into the projector.

Soon, an endless plain appeared in front of everyone - it was almost the same as what the two volunteers described. This kind of landform can be seen everywhere in the wilderness. If it has any characteristics, it is probably yellow. Sandy soil is more common in the northern hemisphere of Alpha Planet and less common in the southern hemisphere.

In the distance of the camera, a group of creatures that looked like wolves but were not wolves gathered in twos and threes. They were tearing at several bloody corpses, and the bones hanging with pieces of meat and fascia were dragged all over the ground.

"It is indeed a brand new indigenous creature..." Ivan nodded, "But it cannot be ruled out that it is a variant of a known species. After all, there is no genetic sample, everything is just speculation."

"Wait a minute, pause!" Ke Lan suddenly raised his hand and pointed at a chewed-up corpse in the picture, "Zoom in the picture here."

Thanks to the fact that the camera equipment carried by the two volunteers are high-end goods worth hundreds of thousands, even if the picture is enlarged more than ten times, the picture quality is still very clear, and even the fine hairs on the meat are visible. distinguish.

"Look at these hairs...the color is dark gray, and the texture and length...are exactly the same as those on these creatures," Ke Lan said.

"You want to say that these guys are... cannibalizing themselves?" Ghost Owl said with a frown.

"I just used a computer to analyze the skeleton structures of these corpses and skeletons and these creatures, and I can basically confirm that the eaters and the food are the same creature," Ivan said.

"This...isn't this too strange? Tiger poison doesn't eat seeds after all." The hunting dog murmured.

"Examples of cannibalism are not uncommon in nature, but most of them occur in insect creatures... As for higher-level creatures like mammals, there are generally only two situations of cannibalism." Ivan said - In terms of biological knowledge, he is probably the most knowledgeable among this group of hunters.

"Which two?" the hound asked immediately.

"One is that when the cubs are born, the mother will eat the cubs with congenital defects or diseases. This prevents the disease from being transmitted to other cubs and allows other cubs to receive more milk and Food, the female animal that has become weak due to childbirth can also use this to supplement part of its nutrition."

"What about the other scenario?"

"shortage of food."

"The plain at the other end of the teleportation channel does look very barren... If, I mean if, the exit of the teleportation channel has not shifted, and this place is inside the 'Yagunaktor', then I I think all this makes sense." First Mate Caroline, who had just "transferred" to become a ruin hunter, said nervously, "These wolf-like creatures are trapped in this world, they have no If you cannot leave this wilderness to hunt, you will naturally have to eat your own kind..."

"With all due respect, this inference is completely untenable." Ghost Owl glanced at Caroline and retorted coldly. The latter's face immediately turned red - "Is there something wrong? To say that it is completely untenable... this is not true. Isn’t it a bit too absolute?”

"Think about it, how long has Yagunaktor been soaked in the magma pool in the molten mine area?" Ghost Owl paused and continued, "We won't mention the previous tens of thousands of years. Let’s start from the moment humans landed on Alpha Planet. If you lock a group of carnivores in a closed area with poor food, fifty years later, how many do you think the number of these creatures will be left?”

"It doesn't even take fifty years, it only takes five weeks, and this ethnic group will be completely destroyed." Ivan said calmly.

"It can't be such a coincidence. At this time, the food in this area was exhausted, so we saw a scene of cannibalism, right?" Ghost Owl continued.

As soon as he finished speaking, Ivan continued: "Any ecological zone that wants to last for more than ten years must have one or more complete and stable circulation chains... even if it is a biological laboratory that simulates the real environment. Eco-tanks, it’s also difficult to do this without human intervention.”

"Okay, okay, you two are singing along, you have to make this little girl cry, right?" Hound glanced at Caroline, whose face was constantly changing between green and white, and quickly smoothed things over.

"Actually... what First Officer Caroline said makes sense." Ke Lan said, "When the ecological balance is broken by external forces, it is a disaster for the creatures in this ecosystem... Although I am not sure about the balance. How was it destroyed, but when it comes to external force - this 'ancient battleship' was accidentally activated again by me not long ago, does it count?"

"Yes, of course." Ivan nodded, "Because of this 'accident', you have already wiped out a biological group."

He pointed at the large pit filled with crystal pillars in the distance and continued: "Those mutated lava canthaphias have survived in the power chamber for at least hundreds of years... maybe thousands of years, and have reproduced a large number of offspring, but only Because the energy supply array was activated, they were all crushed into powder."

"Similarly, this block No. 1 may also be affected by the activation of the battleship, causing these creatures to lose the food source they originally relied on for survival, and are forced to kill their own kind and cannibalize their corpses..." Ke Lan pondered.

For the "aboriginals" inside Yagunaktor, the departure of this ancient warship from the lava pool may be completely equated with a drastic change such as "the sun goes out."

"Anyway, let's just go over and see if it's okay." Layton said, "There's no point in talking about it!"

"Thanks to your good luck, if other hunters were as reckless as you, they would have died in the ruins before they met us." Hound complained.

"How can I be called reckless? I am called a practical person. Isn't there a saying that 'seeing is better than hearing a hundred times'? We will find out if that ghost place is inside the battleship. We can go and take a look - anyway, anytime It can all be teleported back," Layton said.

"That's true." Hound turned his head and looked at Ke Lan, "What do you say? Let's go there?"

"Well, since it has been confirmed that there are aggressive creatures in Block 1, we must be prepared to fight them as soon as we land." Ke Lan said.

The previous two volunteers may have not attracted the attention of those wolf-like creatures because their targets were too small, but if the large army of ruin hunters here teleports over, they will most likely alert these eating guys, and the battle will be over. Unavoidable.

Although from the size point of view, the combat effectiveness of these wolf-like creatures should not be much strong, after all, they are a group of unknown creatures that have survived in S-class ruins for who knows how many years. It is always good to be more cautious.

"I'll take the lead." Valentina volunteered - a silver-white humanoid mecha with a streamlined and beautiful outer armor stood at the front of the team.

This machine is not the one modified with the Valkyrie Zero frame that Valentina has been driving before, but a new machine that the Ye Consortium sent to the Zero Fleet just a week ago.

According to Ye Yan, this machine does not have a conventional number or serial number, but only one name - "Augustus".

Just like the unprecedented and unprecedented founding emperor of the Roman Empire, this machine with the same name is the only one in the world. It was specially developed by the Yip Consortium's "Aguna Kotor" exploration operation.

This machine body was designed without considering manufacturing costs and mass production issues. All indicators were pushed to the top - so much so that its skeleton mold was completely "disposable". After removing the machine body and spare replacement parts, they were directly sealed up.

It's not that the Ye's Consortium doesn't want to use this set of molds to produce a "castrated" mass-produced machine. You know, no matter how powerful the castration is, at least it has the gimmick of the prototype, and the sales volume of the mass-produced machine will not be any worse. ——In fact, it’s not that they don’t want to, but that they simply can’t do mass production.

The design specifications of this machine body are not on the same level as other prototypes... The internal mechanical skeleton alone is forged from 100% pure Nino alloy. The diameter of the skeleton of the main part is only 16 millimeters. Other materials, not to mention supporting the heavy outer armor and internal facilities, may not even be able to bear the weight of the skeleton.

Ke Lan still remembers the painful expression on Ye Yan's face during the video communication - although the other party did not disclose the specific cost of "Augustus" to Ke Lan, thinking about it, he knew it must be an astronomical figure.

In comparison, the material support provided by the Soma Consortium seems relatively "shabby". Although the total value must have exceeded 100 million, most of them are things that can be bought on the market.

"Okay, Valentina's 'Augustus' will take the vanguard position, and the rest of us will follow - however, if those wolf-like creatures are not strong, try to keep as many alive as possible, whether it is to take them back and sell them Whether it is given to various research institutions or as rare collections in rich people's homes, I think they should be able to sell for a good price." Ke Lan said - they relic hunters are not an army. To put it bluntly, the word "profit" is The real driving force... Judging from this video, these unknown creatures are probably the only valuable things in Block 1.

"What you said makes us feel like real hunters." Hound teased.

"Whether it's a dead thing or a living thing, as long as it's valuable, it's our target." Ghost Owl nodded calmly, "No one has trouble with money."

Counting Ke Lan and the others, the four groups totaled nearly a hundred people. Naturally, it was impossible for all of these more than a hundred people to be included in the advance team. Only those with the strongest strength and the most experience Only a hunter can take on this important task.

The Hunting God Hunting Group sent out four people, Valentina, Ke Lan, Asano Akira and Ivan. The five of them, Thirty-Three, sent out their entire army. As for the Gray Bird Hunting Group, they sent out a team of ten people. The elite team is led by Ghost Owl himself.

On the contrary, no one from the Tide Hunting Group was included in the advance team.

The risks and uncertainties of the initial exploration are very high. It is undoubtedly very risky to bring a group of newcomers who have never visited the ruins at this time... Even if Ke Lan and the others decide to use S-level ruins to train their troops, at least they have to wait until they have established a firm footing. Let’s talk about it after you get your heels down.

"Check your equipment one last time, especially the weapons." Ghost Owl said to the hunter behind him. Ke Lan noticed that the hunters of the Gray Bird Hunting Group all held two guns in their hands, one of which had a distinctive shape at first glance. Known to be non-lethal firearms used to fire tranquilizer rounds.

"The preparations are really complete..." Layton couldn't help but sigh in a low voice. It is rare to use tranquilizer guns when exploring ruins, but he didn't expect that the Gray Bird Hunting Group could actually have ten people with one. They always We couldn't have expected this to happen in advance.

"Let's go!" Ke Lan ordered. Valentina took the lead in driving "Augustus" into the black fog, and the others immediately followed -

From the perspective of others, twenty-one seconds can be said to be very short, but as the person being transported, he cannot feel the passage of time during the transmission process... Ke Lan feels that his consciousness is like a darkness. After drifting for decades, a ball of light suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. The next second, control of his body returned to him again.

The first moment he landed, he opened the energy shield and assumed a defensive posture.

Not far away, the silver-white "Augustus" was confronting dozens of wolf-like creatures - they did not directly attack the mecha, so Valentina did not choose to take the lead, but had already taken action on her own. The force restrained the entire herd and bought enough time for those behind to adjust.

"The radiation in this place is so high." Ivan's voice came from behind. He was the third one to arrive at "Block 1" after Ke Lan, but he did not immediately pay attention to those creatures. , but turned on the environmental monitoring equipment.

"The radiation in this place is more than fifteen times that of the power room... Although it does not pose a threat to us, these creatures live in such a high radiation environment and can still look so 'normal'. From a certain point of view, It’s rare to say that.” Ivan commented.

"Not only the radiation, the magnetic field is also completely disordered." Valentina's voice came from the earphones, "This can explain why the previous drone did not return."

[P.S. Thanks to the 10,000 starting coin reward from Wei Yusheng and Wei, congratulations on the birth of the thirty-seventh helmsman of this book; thank you to book friend 20220210201712462 for the 500 starting coin reward; thank you to stdc for the 100 starting coin reward. 】

[P.P.S. The cold has gotten worse again. I feel groggy all over. I feel a little incredible that I can barely code it out... Anyway, I can't guarantee the updates in the past few days. I may ask for leave at any time... Please forgive me. 】