parentshiftbook Chapter 75: Third Evolution, Ultimate Form
Chapter 75: Third Evolution, Ultimate Form
Amidst the roar of engines, like the howl of a trapped beast, two dark gray SUVs sped out of the narrow Whistle Valley.
The young hunter, Ada, who was in charge of driving, panicked and instinctively stepped on the gas, trying to escape.
As he tightly strapped the temperature-controlled backpack to his back, Uncle Gun nervously turned his head to look out the rear window.
Then they saw a car not far away, speeding off in a certain direction.
Uncle Gun quickly raised his hand to touch the mask and turn on the binoculars.
"A military vehicle!"
The old hunter's keen intuition about danger made him realize that the military off-road vehicle also seemed to be fleeing for its life.
"Keep up, keep up!"
Ada quickly applied the brakes, adjusted the direction, and followed the military off-road vehicle.
The other car behind quickly reacted and followed closely.
A roar like that of a dragon suddenly rang out.
"Holy crap!"
Tony felt a chill run down his spine and quickly pressed his face against the car window, looking up at the rocky mountain.
Although we haven't seen that terrifying behemoth yet, the sound clearly came from the other side of the mountain range, indicating that the big guy has already emerged from the burrow.
"Ada, hurry, hurry!"
There was no need for Tony Leung to urge him on; the young hunter was practically flooring the accelerator.
Earlier in the underground cave, he originally wanted to help Lao Jin, but he watched helplessly as Lao Jin was instantly melted away, leaving not even a trace of bone. He was so frightened that he threw away Lao Jin's only remaining severed hand.
An angry, low roar, like a dragon's cry, continued to echo, and the sound was noticeably closer than before.
"Damn it, son of a bitch, they're not really following us, are they?" Wei-zai cursed angrily, then asked suspiciously, "We escaped through the tunnels, yet they can still find us even after circling the mountain. Could they have installed a tracking device?"
Gunner deliberately avoided the route provided by his employer, fearing that if he disturbed the Golden Dragon Salamander, it wouldn't be able to escape from the burrow where the dragon usually appeared. The tunnel that Old B had carved out with his superpowers was narrow and winding; the Golden Dragon's massive body definitely couldn't fit inside.
However, to everyone's surprise, after emerging from the cave, the giant creature circled the mountain range where the canyon was located, as if searching for their whereabouts.
One of the female hunters in the vehicle speculated, "Location is impossible; could it be the scent of a dragon egg?"
"Boss, if all else fails, just throw the dragon egg away," Ada said timidly. "My wife is about to give birth, I... I don't want to die..."
Uncle Gun frowned, but Tony immediately retorted, "Pah, coward. What kind of hunter are you if you're afraid to die?"
"But... but you can't risk your life for money!"
Ada was almost in tears. Before becoming a hunter, he was just an ordinary car mechanic.
He knew this industry was a high-risk profession, but after being unemployed for more than half a year, he simply couldn't make ends meet.
If given a choice, who wouldn't want to stay home, enjoying good food and drink? If it weren't for earning a living and supporting their families, who would willingly come to this godforsaken place, the border region, in temperatures below -30 degrees Celsius?
"There's too little information on Jinlong, so we don't know what's going on. However, the backpack has a scent-blocking function, so that shouldn't be the reason."
Uncle Gun calmly said, "Let's escape first. If they really catch up, we'll talk about it later."
"Uncle, you don't really want to give up on this mission, do you? That's tens of millions!"
Tony disagreed and turned his gaze to the backpack that Uncle Gun was holding.
Uncle Gun glanced at him as if he understood something: "As long as you're alive, you still have a chance to make money. If you lose your life, you lose everything."
Wei-zai sensed the warning look and became somewhat more restrained, but he still muttered resentfully, "What about Lao Jin? What is he?"
The huntress said coldly, "He's just unlucky."
"I always buy insurance for everyone on every mission. Also, it's standard practice in our line of work that we can choose to cancel in case of an emergency, but the deposit will not be refunded. After deducting the cost of equipment, half of what's left will go to Lao Jin's family."
Uncle Gun is very famous in the industry and has an excellent reputation, and there's a reason for that.
Tony looked annoyed and was about to retort when he saw a golden figure slowly appear above the scorched mountains.
"Holy crap, they've really caught up!"
..........................
One by one, the dormant, strange creatures awoke and emerged from their nests.
Soon, the ground began to shake.
After nearly two months of silence following the onset of winter, the border area gradually came alive again.
Amidst gunfire, roars, cannon-like sniper fire, and the screams and howls of countless strange creatures being hit by bullets, the convoy, after racing for more than an hour, finally escaped the pursuit of a large herd of beasts and plunged into a patch of tall grass.
The grass, taller than a person, lay flat on both sides like waves parted by a yacht.
Good news: guided by the Blue Shield control center, they avoided the area with the highest concentration of beast hordes.
This was thanks to Qi Te's timely reminder and the correct escape route.
Judging from the results, if one had panicked and run forward recklessly at the beginning, one would have inevitably been surrounded and killed by countless abnormal creatures.
Bad news: three members of the Blue Shield team have been killed in action. Ammunition is running low; if they encounter another horde of beasts, they'll have to rely on their special abilities and fight bare-handed.
The worst news is that all six vehicles are almost out of gas and can only travel another fifty kilometers at most.
Fortunately, there is a buffer zone 60 kilometers away.
Outside the boundary closest to the buffer zone, the number of anomalous creatures has decreased sharply, and the danger level is relatively low.
The team members remained on guard on the roofs and sides of the vehicles. Xu Su, who had fought his way in and out of the beast horde several times, was exhausted.
Back in the main vehicle, Yue Wanwan immediately treated Captain Xu's injuries.
In Xu Su's view, Qi Te's real intention in arranging for the girl to be in the main control vehicle was to ensure her personal safety. Just as Qi Te guessed, he was indeed a dual-elemental ability user.
Strength is grade B, self-healing is grade C. Although it cannot achieve instant self-healing, it is perfectly fine as long as vital organs are not damaged.
However, although self-healing is a passive ability, it still requires energy to maintain. Considering that he was almost exhausted at the moment, Xu Su did not refuse. While receiving treatment, he nervously checked the real-time monitoring screen on the main control panel.
An AI-generated alert sounded: "Small number of abnormal creatures detected ahead, highest value 2682..."
Are those three SUVs still following us?
Xu Su fought his way in and out of the herd of beasts. The surveillance footage projected onto his mask obstructed his vision, so the AI switched to voice mode. As mentioned before, three vehicles were following behind.
"The military off-road vehicle is located 16 kilometers to the left rear. One of the dark gray off-road vehicles has been swallowed by the beast tide, and the other is 2.5 kilometers away from the military off-road vehicle. The movement trajectory of the three vehicles is consistent with our convoy."
Xu Su's eyes narrowed slightly, and he was basically certain that the three cars were following him.
"16 kilometers, at that distance, unless there's another visual perception-type ability user like that kid in the other car, otherwise..."
Xu Su quickly thought for a moment and immediately asked, "How do I check if our vehicle has been hacked?"
Soon, the artificial intelligence gave a negative answer, and Xu Su was finally relieved.
If the convoy's network is hacked, the hacker might deliberately stop the convoy in order to protect themselves in the event of a large horde of monsters.
They were used to delay the herd, while they themselves took the opportunity to escape.
There's a saying among bounty hunters: when you encounter an undead creature you can't defeat in the borderlands, all you need to do is run past your teammates, and you'll have a chance to survive.
The dark gray SUV was undoubtedly Shen Ziqiang's men, the old hunter. Most bounty hunters, faced with a beast horde attack, would probably have panicked and run around like headless flies.
While I was pondering this, a red warning light suddenly appeared on the screen.
"Abnormal energy fluctuation detected, value 15079"
Xu Su's forehead tightened suddenly, his eyes widened, and he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Liu Baichuan's face, slightly wrinkled, trembled violently. His mouth gaped open in utter shock as he exclaimed, "No...no mistake!"
Human superhumans have an A-level energy limit of 10,000, but in life-or-death situations or under extreme excitement, they may exceed this limit.
But at most, it will exceed three or four hundred.
More than 15,000, not quite S-level, but far exceeding A-level.
"Energy source signal tracking complete, image now projected."
Upon seeing the enormous object appear on the screen, the people in the car turned ashen-faced.
"Golden Salamander!"
Xu Su was utterly astonished, while Liu Baichuan's eyes lit up with immense joy as he exclaimed, "This border region actually contains a mutated creature that has completed three evolutions?!"
Thanks to Zit's warning, the convoy retreated in time, and so far, no one has witnessed this terrifying creature.
"Perfect, absolutely perfect!"
As a biologist, Liu Baichuan was no stranger to the golden dragon salamander, although he had never seen it in person.
In an effort to recruit him, Oasis had previously offered to provide him with a golden salamander as a biological research sample.
Abnormal organisms refer to products that have similar gene sequences to organisms of the old era, but also have significant differences, and are a fusion of genes from multiple different species other than humans.
The lifespan of abnormal organisms is polarized.
According to incomplete statistics, excluding microorganisms, 85% of abnormal organisms have a lifespan of less than ten years, 14% less than twenty years, and 0.9% 100 years. The remaining 0.1% are immortal organisms.
The concept of immortality is controversial. However, a very small number of anomalous organisms that can infinitely replicate their own cells could theoretically achieve immortality.
Of course, being killed is the same as dying.
That's another matter. In short, the longer the lifespan of an abnormal creature, the more likely it is to have undergone at least two evolutions. Those that can reach three evolutions are called the complete form of that evolutionary sequence.
The Golden Dragon Salamander is the most perfect, complete form among the abnormal creatures known as the Black Dragon Salamander.
The king-class yellow dragon salamander is over 15 meters long.
The golden salamander captured by the monitoring satellite was calculated to be a massive 23 meters long using artificial intelligence.
It is entirely golden, resembling a statue cast in gold.
But it is alive.
Moreover, this living golden dragon was currently opening its blood-red maw, devouring a large number of abnormal creatures with the ferocity of a whale!