Translator: Sean88888 Editor: Elkassar1
Beer and hot dogs are really ordinary things, but for these people who had been in this accursed Hunting Ground planet for several years, the temptation was beyond imagination… Whispers rose among the group, and they were clearly captured by Sheyan’s ears with his acute Perceptive Sense.
“Damn it, it must be a type of monster that excels in creating illusions. It can even read our thoughts and our memories, so it knows what we most desire! Do not fire! I repeat, do not fire! This guy who’s doing the talking is just an illusion for the purpose of wasting our bullets. We need to find the real body of the monster and kill it in one go. Pay attention to any unusual signs around us!”
“Calm down, calm down! We’ve fought against monsters with the power of illusions before!”
“Oh my god, he actually has my favorite Harbin beer. That attractive white foam is more delicate than a woman’s skin. I can’t, I can’t!”
“I smell hot dogs! This illusion is way too vivid!!”
“…..”
Black lines emerged on Sheyan’s forehead as he watched these pathetic men. The other contestants behind him were already laughing so hard that they were crying. Sheyan could not stand it any more; he flung the canned beer and hot dogs at the newcomers.
“Ouch! Isn’t the beer just an illusion? Why do I feel pain when it hit my head? God, I can’t resist this fatal temptation anymore…*gulp gulp gulp*… Oh, it tastes so pure!!! I haven’t tasted this in years!”
Seeing the tearful brave pioneer and the empty can in his hands, the rest of the people instantly jumped at the hot dogs rolling in the mud.
“I don’t care if it’s an illusion anymore! If I die, so be it!”
“Damn it, let me be the first to take the risk! You guys are indispensable, unlike me! I’m unimportant and useless! Let me test it first!”
“F*ck off!”
Nothing could prove the contestants’ identities as humans better than steaming hot dogs and delicious beer. The soldiers rushed at the food like hungry wolves. In their shabby military uniforms, they looked just like a group of starving refugees. Fortunately, Sheyan had enough carrying capacity and a big enough storage space, or this meal would have ended his food reserve.
Now that both sides had proven that they were humans, the communication that followed became much easier. Meeting those of the same species in such a harsh and dangerous environment was a joy which could not be described with words. They were more excited than people who met others in a foreign country that spoke in their native accent.
After the contestants inquired about the identity of these newcomers, they were shocked speechless. Their judgment from before turned out to be completely wrong. All of these people, without exception, were those deemed by the Predators to be warriors strong enough to be their opponents, and were thus captured and brought to this planet.
Most of these men were elite fighters possessing unique skills. Among them, there were sharpshooters, explosive experts, and even genetically-modified warriors that were prevalent among the future humans. In addition, there were two men who were convicted of crimes against humanity and first-degree murders. The first one was a doctor, the other was a military pilot. The former killed hundreds of people with a virus, while the latter dropped a bomb on a residential area. These two guys should have been sent to the electric chair, but because their “records” of killing hundreds of people were too impressive, they were favoured by the Predators.
After arriving here, their bodies had been transformed by the Predators to adapt to the local atmosphere and were also branded with a special brand, which was a small black spot on the arm. This way, when the Predators scanned the surroundings, these humans would be regarded as qualified “prey” and their information would be automatically blocked from the Predators.
When these humans were captured by the Predators, they were not given any time to prepare. At most, they were given the time to collect their weapons. But a lot of weapons needed continuous energy supply, and firearm weapons also required ammunition…. The Predators had obviously neglected this. Based on the original intention of the Predators who regarded fighting as their life, they would definitely prefer to have their enemies in peak conditions. Only then would the killing be fun.
The high-tech weapons and assisting devices that these newcomers were wielding were acquired from the spaceships sent to explore planet Uplos, but had instead crashed onto the planet.
Only now did the contestants realise the astonishing cost the Empire had sustained in order to explore the planet. In a sense, this place could be regarded as the bridgehead in the technological warfare between the Empire and the Predators.
Countless space fortresses and spaceships had crashed down on the surface of Uplos when they approached the planet. More than ten bases on the scale of Alps Base 7 had crashed here, as well as over a hundred spaceships on the scale of the Kitty Hawk. As for spacecrafts like the Wasp, there were simply too many to keep count.
Even if some of the humans in these space stations and spaceships had survived the crash, they did not live for long. Why? Because normal humans could not survive in this atmosphere, and their weak constitution certainly did not help.
Besides that, they also had to deal with the threat from the local creatures. Many of the planet’s powerful creatures possessed high-level intelligence. The creatures quickly found that the spaceship wreckages not only contained delicious food (human corpses and stored food), but were also excellent shelters from bad weather. Compared to the wreckages, natural caves were not only scarce, they were also not always practical. The wreckages were thousands of times better.
So whenever these giant wreckages were discovered, the fierce beasts would quickly occupy them and turn them into their dens. For the humans, their greatest enemy was the air on this planet. Once the oxygen-rich environments in the spaceships were destroyed, it would mean the end of their lives.
The “native” survivors willingly answered any question the contestants had, but that did not mean they would be willing to to have a full cooperation with the contestants. They were all people who had struggled their way out of deaths, so how could they easily risk their lives for the contestants’ sake? There must be an exchange of interests between the two sides.
The survivors’ greatest wish, of course, was to leave this damn place and go home. Unfortunately, the contestants could not fulfil that wish, and these shrewd survivors would definitely be able to tell if the contestants lied to them. It was a good thing that Sheyan had plenty of food, which was a great temptation to the survivors.
So the leader of these survivors, Hadrick, proposed that the two sides would cooperate for the rescue operation, and when the operation was over, Sheyan would provide enough food in exchange for the information the contestants wanted. No matter how Sheyan and the others negotiated with them, Hadrick insisted on this condition and refused to back down. Although this condition was somewhat harsh, it still met Sheyan’s basic requirement, so the two sides barely managed to reach an agreement.
After having a lengthy talk with these “native” humans, Sheyan also learned some common knowledge about this planet. If they wished to travel quietly on planet Uplos, moving at night and resting during the day was the preferable choice.
That was because the more powerful a creature was, the more it would like the sun. Hearing this, Sheyan could not help thinking of the situation on earth. The dominant species, the human beings, could wander around during the day and sleep at night, while the activities of the weaker creatures were limited to the night. It seemed that on this damn planet, the status of human beings was extremely low.
The advantage of traveling at night was that the nocturnal creatures on Uplos generally relied on their acute sense of smell and sense of hearing to hunt for food, so if the humans just walked along the river, the sound made by the flowing river would cover up most of their footsteps, and if they wiped some foul-smelling plant juice on their body, it would cover up their smell.
That was the reason these “native” humans found the contestants at night.
After an hour’s rest, Hadrick suggested that they set out immediately to harass the Violent Beast camp because the Violent Beasts were a dominant race, so they were diurnal creatures (active during the day). If they sneaked over right now, they could give the beasts a nice surprise.
Sheyan and the other contestants had no problem with the plan. Except for Paul, all of them had almost recovered to full strength. They were also eager to check out the fighting prowess of these “native” humans. Therefore, they set out immediately.
Before they departed, Sheyan took some time to consider the current configuration of the team. He found that the only close range combatants left in the team were Ronnie and himself. Even if Paul said that he could assemble another metal robot with about 70% of Heracles’ strength if he was given a few hours, it still would not help much.
There were also too many mage-type attackers in the team. They lacked the ability of firearm-wielding gunners to deal damage non-stop. After taking all this into consideration, Sheyan decided to use the genetic sample of Ramtas from before to cultivate a creature that mainly specialised in long-range physical attack. It would be quite weak in a melee fight, but it would be able to take a lot of hits.
In order to let their newfound allies gain an idea of the strength of their side, Sheyan directly prepared the mix in front of them.
The mix boiled inside a test tube. A bluish-green smoke mysteriously rose and wrapped itself around Sheyan. Finally, Sheyan produced a giant egg the size of a coconut which had thick bluish blood vessels on it. It contracted rhythmically like a beating heart.
Sheyan buried it in the ground, then poured an ample amount of nutrient solution on it. The nutrient solution was not cheap at all. The cost amounted to at least 50,000 utility points. Soon, from under the ground came a strange, deep heartbeat. Like the beating of a war drum from the netherworld, it was faint, but persistent and strong! Those who heard the heartbeat could feel their internal organs resonating with it!
