Chapter 76: Chapter 63: Crisis Resolved, Returning Fully Loaded
The sudden unexpected event caught everyone off guard.
The riverbank slope was only seventy meters long. A male Rock-Horned Horse, charging at fifty yards a second, accelerated downhill, breaking through sixty yards; it would take just four seconds to reach Old Duncan.
Fortunately, Lin Feng, who was always vigilant of his prey, reacted in time and raised his lv9 precision handgun, aiming at the rampaging male leader...
And then followed a burst of automatic mode gunfire!
With a fire rate of twenty bullets per second, the barrage rained down on the Tier One Rock-Horned Horse, sparking a spray of fire.
Every bullet hit its mark, all on target!
But hitting the target doesn’t necessarily mean causing effective damage.
This Mid-stage Tier One male Rock-Horned Horse, with a body measuring a towering two and a half meters tall and six meters long, was encased in over fifteen centimeters of hardened rock armor.
It was like an impenetrable wall, indestructible!
As it evolved, impurities within these rock armors were constantly extracted, and with the energy heating from photovoltaic rock plates, a highly hard ceramic layer was gradually baked out...
The back armor underwent a transformation under the scorching sun, turning into a hard glass panel with excellent translucency. The pure silicon dioxide and the photovoltaic rock plate below consistently absorbed and refracted the sunlight, providing a rampant charging power for the horse, like an off-road vehicle.
Such an evolutionary desolate beast that had adapted to the wasteland was invulnerable to Lin Feng’s handgun, with only forty-five points of damage from a level-nine handgun, proving ineffective.
When bullets hit the rock armor on its body, they only left a series of shallow one-centimeter to two-centimeter marks, like scratching an itch on the male Rock-Horned Horse.
So Lin Feng quickly adjusted his strategy, aiming the muzzle at the target’s head.
The horse head of the male leader was half a meter big.
Lin Feng could easily lock on to it within a hundred meters.
He pulled the trigger and another twenty bullets concentrated on the half-meter-sized horse head.
Unfortunately, when the Rock-Horned Horse was in a charging state, the entire head was lowered and tucked in, with the neck curled, half of the horse’s face hidden within the extended shoulder armor plates.
The eyes were naturally covered as well.
This was a defensive strategy of the male Rock-Horned Horse to protect itself.
In power struggles with other Rock-Horned Horses, it effectively avoided severe head injuries.
For instance, having its eyes pierced by a horse horn.
In competitive fights, two Tier One male Rock-Horned Horses charged at each other like two cars, colliding at nearly one hundred yards per hour, inflicting impact damage that could seriously injure other Tier One evolutionary beings.
Without such thick external armor defense and the curled-up neck and head, just the leader’s battles could kill most male Rock-Horned Horses.
In fact, this was also the evolutionary strategy of the Rock-Horned Horses.
The stronger the male Rock-Horned Horse, the thicker its armor, the greater its power, and the more excellent the lineage it left behind.
Years of evolution had created this biological war chariot charging recklessly ahead.
Although a series of Wolf Fang Bullets hit the head and didn’t execute a kill, it at least caused some degree of damage to the male leader’s thinner head armor.
Leaving behind a splattering of blood blooms upon breaking through the scalp.
And the pained male leader, instinctively avoiding damage, chose to change direction, turning its head to rush to the other side.
Taking advantage of this, Old Duncan, upon regaining his composure, immediately rolled to hide behind a giant rock beside a dead female Rock-Horned Horse.
At the same time seizing the opportunity, he pulled the roped captive closer, tying up its hands, feet, and mouth.
To prevent its wailing from continuing to provoke the male leader.
As dozens of gunshots echoed in succession, the remaining Rock-Horned Horses on the riverbank slope fled swiftly like startled birds.
When the charging male leader halted and looked around, discovering the herd had already left, it also hurriedly turned around and fled.
Lin Feng watched the male leader’s massive figure disappear into the city ruins, then lowered his gun, walked forward slowly, and stood on a huge rock, waving the gun in his hand:
"It’s over! They all ran away!"
The people hiding behind the rocks finally dared to stick out half of their heads and look around.
A sudden crisis was resolved without danger, thanks to Lin Feng’s powerful firepower output.
At this moment, the man moved toward his trophy:
A female Tier One Rock-Horned Horse, now brain-dead, but its body still twitching slightly.
This was the first time Lin Feng observed such a close distance with a Tier One desolate beast, even though it was close to dying completely, the aura it emitted remained overwhelming.
Its heaving heart and twitching limbs—if not for the eye sockets gushing with blood and the brain matter splattered all over, Lin Feng might even think it was still alive.
However, everything was merely the last struggle of this evolutionary body in face of brain death.
Without the brain’s command, no matter how much you tried to wake it up, it was futile.
Lin Feng waved his hand, asking Liu Qian on the distant hill to ride down the tricycle.
Then he turned back, scanning the surroundings.
Checking everyone’s catches.
Old Duncan on the right had caught two cubs.
One had already been subdued and he was tying up the other. Still shaken, he looked up, and exchanged eye contact with Lin Feng.
He gave a slight nod in gratitude.
On the slope of the river channel on the opposite left, Lisa had caught a juvenile Rock-Horned Horse.
In total, counting those caught by the two before, there were five.
Of which Duncan secured three: one young, two cubs, and Lisa got a young and a cub.
After tying up the Rock-Horned Horse, Liu Mingfei and Ah Lian rushed over, standing by Lin Feng’s side.
Or rather, by the corpse of the Tier One Rock-Horned Horse.
This was now the most valuable item on the field.
And it belonged to Lin Feng, belonging to everyone’s squad.
However, having just survived a life-and-death crisis, Duncan and his group clearly weren’t very interested in the Tier One Rock-Horned Horse.
Surviving the ordeal, they skillfully tied up the five trophies, then sent someone to ride a bike to fetch a cart.
After locking several juvenile Rock-Horned Horses in the iron cage on the cart, Lisa lifted the healthiest one and walked towards Lin Feng’s group.
The group, who were considering how to load the two-meter-tall, five-meter-long female Tier One Rock-Horned Horse corpse onto the tricycle, paused their work and looked warily at the approaching person.
Lin Feng gestured with his hand, signaling everyone to remain calm.
Lisa came empty-handed, holding a young Rock-Horned Horse and smiling as she approached:
"This is the trophy we promised you earlier."
"Sorry, I only caught two, so there’s only one we can share with you."
Lin Feng nodded:
"Thank you."
Lisa had a young Rock-Horned Horse, while the other one she caught was just a regular cub.
Her willingness to share the more valuable live horse showed that the Duncan Squad was extending goodwill.
Whether it was gratitude for Lin Feng’s rescue or intimidation by his powerful strength, there was no malice.
After setting down the over 400-pound young Rock-Horned Horse, Lisa shook her head and continued seriously:
"We should be the ones thanking you. Thank you, Mr. Lin, for your help; otherwise, if that male leader had gone berserk, the consequences would be unimaginable."
"The captain asked me to thank you on his behalf..."
"Also, your marksmanship is excellent."
After speaking, Lisa returned to her previous smile:
"Now here’s something personal I’d like to ask."
"Mr. Lin, are you a superpower pre-awakened individual?"
As the words fell, the remaining three people beside Lin Feng frowned. The question was too direct, appearing quite impolite to them.
However, Lin Feng nodded without any concerns.
Lisa’s group, being Westerners, differed from the reserved Asians who preferred to hide their strength and be introverted. They were more straightforward and willing to showcase their strength to outsiders.
After admitting, Lin Feng directly retorted:
"Captain Duncan can subdue a Rock-Horned Horse alone; he must be a pre-awakened too, right? Power-oriented as well."
This question left Lisa momentarily speechless.
She was stunned for a few seconds before responding:
"That’s right, Captain Duncan can temporarily enhance his power, a type of physique-based superpower."
"Does your ability relate to firearms? Precision targeting or empowerment bullets?"
Lin Feng shrugged, waving the precision pistol in his hand:
"Both, I suppose. I recently advanced, so I’m not quite sure, but it enhances power after locking onto a target."
Lisa nodded thoughtfully, then looked at Lin Feng with a slightly intrigued smile:
"Such a rare ability, it seems there’s indeed a chance of capturing the male Tier One Rock-Horned Horse alive this time..."
"Once more, thank you for your rescue, Mr. Lin. As for now, let’s head back to camp for a brief rest."
"Then we’ll consider future collaborations."
The group watched Lisa’s departing figure, looking at each other in bewilderment.
Lin Feng sheathed the revolver, lifted the head of the Rock-Horned Horse corpse, and said:
"Load it onto that empty tricycle and push it back together."
"Come on, one, two, three, lift!"
With a combined effort, the four easily hoisted the over a ton-heavy female Tier One Rock-Horned Horse corpse onto the tricycle.
Ah Lian brought the tricycle’s tire, which instantly deflated, nearly flattening the base.
With Ah Lian handling the handlebars, she pedaled firmly, while Lin Feng and Liu Mingfei pushed from behind.
Liu Qian rode ahead on an armored tricycle equipped with a live horse.
Twice the time spent coming, the group of eight finally traversed thirty kilometers in ten hours, returning to the entrance of the beast tide at the Wild Rift.
Returning fully loaded to the ruins camp.
Seeing the familiar modified electric cart and the figures of Ding Yi and Ah Ming outside the car, Lin Feng took a deep breath.
Pushing the creaking tricycle into the camp, Lin Feng pulled out a dagger, ready to undertake the most crucial and long-awaited step on the journey:
Dissecting the Tier One Rock-Horned Horse corpse to retrieve the Evolutionary Meat!
To achieve Tier One Evolution!