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Chapter 66 - Into the Mountains
Chapter 66 - Into the Mountains
Chapter 66 Into the Mountains
About ten meters in front of where the vehicles were parked,
a roaring bonfire chased away the darkness in a radius of tens of meters.
The people in the transport team sat in a circle on the ground.
There were only three trucks that had barely been repaired. The rest of the trucks would have to rely on these three trucks that could still operate to slowly drag them back. The return journey might take two or three times longer.
“Wei Chaoyuan, how much are the losses this time?” Wang Jianyan asked in a low voice.
Wei Chaoyuan was in charge of tabulating the losses caused by the alien creatures’ attacks.
“The death compensation is about 10 million yuan. The repair fee for the trucks is about 20 million yuan,” Wei Chaoyuan reported.
The steel plates on the trucks were made from special ores from the otherworld. If it was an ordinary steel plate, it would not just have deformed after being hit by the alien creatures. Instead, it would have broken immediately and would need to be scrapped altogether.
“The bonus for this month will probably be difficult to get,” someone whispered.
The Anteng Transportation Company had a standardized bonus plan that considered the value of the spoils of war, the number of times they went on missions, the loss of personnel and items, and many other factors.
Everyone fell silent.
The Anteng Transport Company had to pay up a huge amount of their profits every month. The rest would then be given out from the higher tiers, and their treatment could not be compared to someone from the Mantis Snake Sword School.
Ordinary members usually went out on missions two or three times a month. This time, not only were they forbidden from going on additional jobs, but they might also lose their bonus.
Martial artists spend a lot of money every month. If they suddenly lost a huge portion of their income, it would likely affect their cultivation.
“I think the transport team is being too conservative. It wasn’t a problem for me to deal with an alien creature alone earlier, so it shouldn’t be a problem for me to deal with the beasts in the wilderness either,” Chen Yiming said. “I think so too. Brother Yiming’s performance is completely unlike that of a newcomer,” Wei Chaoyuan was the first to agree. “I also think Brother Yiming will definitely be able to manage.” Xiong Kai also voiced his agreement.
The different species of alien creatures had evolved through countless years through the survival of the fittest. Even the weakest creatures had their own way of scraping by.
For example, the alien creatures from the lake that had ambushed the transport team were creatures of the lowest level in the otherworld, but they had a natural advantage due to their scales. Even the people from the transport team could not do anything about it when they were on land. If the fight was in the water, the alien creatures would no longer be at a disadvantage because of their speed. Even three to five people would not be a match for one alien creature.
The mutant beasts in the wilderness on the blue planet were native beasts that had evolved due to the influence of the space-travel passage. Like humans who practiced martial arts, they rarely had any special talent. Most of them were weaker than the creatures of the otherworld within the same realm.
Wang Jianyan didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he remained silent for a moment.
“In that case, let’s go with this. We’ll set off immediately at dawn and try to reach Yongluo Town by noon,” Wang Jianyan decided.
Yongluo Town was a small town on the outskirts of the Nuhe Mountain Range.
The Nuhe Mountain Range was known for the rapid river flowing through the entire mountain range. Within it, there were many rapid streams and tall, steep mountains.
A few years ago, a space-travel passage had suddenly appeared within the mountain range. It was similar to the space-travel passage in the lake to the west of East Lake City. The human soldiers could only guard the main exits around the mountain range.
The only difference was that humans could enter the mountains to hunt mutant beasts. Therefore, Yongluo Town slowly became a resting place for those who went hunting in the mountains.
Near noon, the convoy arrived at Yongluo Town.
The small town had a single street connecting the north to the south. On both sides of the street, there were inns that were two- to three-floors high, shops selling mutant beast meat, and small shops for repairing weapons.
After a simple lunch, Wang Jianyan gathered them together.
“Guo Hao, Gong Chengbin, Yu Zishan, the three of you are responsible for guarding the convoy. The rest of you, follow me into the mountain,” Wang Jianyan instructed.
“Boss Wang, you aren’t bringing us along this time either,” Guo Hao complained and felt like crying. Gong Chengbin and Yu Zishan also had dejected expressions on their faces. Wang Jianyan glared at the three of them and said, “When the three of you break through to the fourth transformation, let me know. Otherwise, you’ll only be able to do some miscellaneous work.”
Mutant beasts in the wilderness had generally undergone more than three transformations. Other than the young beasts, very few had undergone less than three transformations. This was because all the mutant beasts that had yet to undergo three transformations when they reached adulthood were basically eliminated by the rest.
Since their bodies had only undergone three transformations and the techniques they cultivated were ordinary ones, it was likely to be very difficult for them to deal any effective damage to the mutant beasts. It was almost useless to have them in the hunting team.
Wang Jianyan finished making the arrangements and led the remaining people quietly into the Nuhe Mountain Range.
“The closer you are to the space-travel passage, the more suitable it is for cultivation. Therefore, most of the beasts in the periphery of the mountain range are below the level of the sixth transformation,” Wang Jianyan explained as the group moved forward, “If you continue walking towards the heart of the mountain range, you will see a large river. The area within ten kilometers of the river is considered the territory of the beasts with at least six transformations. There are even mutant beasts equivalent to the human warriors near the space-travel passage.”
Chen Yiming nodded.
He had read something similar in the library of the Mantis Snake Sword School headquarters.
The reason for the rise of the human martial arts was because the space-travel passages suddenly appeared all over the blue planet. The closer one was to the space-travel passage, the more suitable it was for cultivation.
Therefore, the true martial arts elites of the human race had always been in the cities built on the other side of the space-travel passage. On the blue planet, only one of the elites was left in each city as a guardian.
“Boss Wang, we’re about to reach the iron-armed apes’ territory,” Wei Chaoyuan reminded him.
The iron-armed apes were mutant beasts that had evolved from the chimpanzees native to the blue planet. They were one of the few mutant beasts in the periphery of the mountain range that could undergo more than six transformations to become the ape king. They had a fixed territory in the periphery of the mountain range, and their long arms were their most commonly used weapons for attack. When used in a fight, they were like two metal rods.
Wang Jianyan stopped his conversation with Chen Yiming and led his team to a stop at the back of a hill.
Not far away, there was a forest.
Groups of iron-armed apes were running along the treetops, carrying an unknown fruit in their hands.
“Boss Wang, why don’t we just kill this group of iron-armed apes? It’s both troublesome and a waste of time to look for lone mutant beasts,” Xiong Kai suggested.
Wang Jianyan glared at Xiong Kai and said in a low voice,
“Xiong Kai, when can you change your impatient personality? To put it nicely, you’re a martial arts fanatic. To put it bluntly, you’re brainless. We haven’t confirmed if the ape king exists yet. Do you want to die?”
“…Won’t you take the lead for the investigation? Anyway, I didn’t finish what I wanted to say just now,” Xiong Kai stammered.
Chen Yiming stared at the iron-armed apes in the woods, his interest piqued.
Even if there was an ape king, Wang Jianyan would be in charge of dealing with him.
Ordinary iron-armed apes only had two shiny black arms that were like metal rods. However, that did not mean that the iron-armed ape’s arms had a natural advantage just like the alien creatures from the lake.
When he used his Mantis Snake Sword Technique to stab the iron-armed apes, it would not be as difficult to penetrate their defenses as when he stabbed the alien creatures’ scales.
“Boss Wang, I think Xiong Kai is right too. If we don’t take the risk and attack those mutant beasts, how long will it take to fill up the trucks?” Wei Chaoyuan asked.
“I have no problem with that,” Chen Yiming said.
He knew that he was still the main reason for Wang Jianyan’s hesitation.
On the surface, Chen Yiming had only undergone three transformations. Without considering the advantage of the Mantis Snake Sword Technique, which was one level higher than the cultivation techniques of the rest, he was considered the weakest in the group. If he died here, the rest of the team would not be affected. However, as the person in charge, Wang Jianyan had to give the Mantis Snake Sword School an explanation.
“Since everyone thinks so, I’ll go and check the situation first.” Wang Jianyan took a glance at Chen Yiming and made his decision.
With that, Wang Jianyan left the group and went to the other side of the forest to investigate the ape king.
Ten minutes later, Wang Jianyan returned to the team.
“Our luck is pretty good. I’m 90% sure that there’s no ape king in this group of iron-armed apes at the moment. Either the ape king has gone out, or he’s dead and no new ape king has appeared for the time being,” Wang Jianyan said directly, unable to hide his excitement.
“Doesn’t that mean that if we can get to all of them, we might be able to fill up one-third of the trucks?” Xiong Kai widened his eyes in surprise.
“What are you thinking? Do you think the iron-armed apes won’t retreat for the time being and will just wait here for you to capture them all?” Wei Chaoyuan laughed as he pointed out the open space surrounding them in all directions.
Wang Jianyan nodded and said in a low voice, “We probably won’t be able to fill up a third of the trucks, but I think it’s very likely that we can fill up a quarter of the trucks. I’ll need you guys to try your best to stop the iron-armed apes from escaping. I’ll deal them a fatal blow.”
“When using my Mantis Snake Sword Technique to chase after the iron-armed apes, it should be rather effective,” Chen Yiming said directly. He didn’t want it to be like when they faced the alien creatures earlier, where he was only responsible for holding them back.
Wang Jianyan hesitated for a moment before agreeing. He instructed Chen Yiming to be careful, and the others had no objections. On the east side of the forest was a cliff that was hundreds of meters high. The team’s plan was for Wang Jianyan and Chen Yiming to fight their way in from the northwest side of the forest. The rest of the team would stay at the south side of the forest and try their best to stop the iron-armed apes that might try to escape.
Soon after, a whistle echoed through the forest. This was the signal that the team had agreed on.
Chen Yiming and Wang Jianyan leaped down from a tree at the same time, each of them leaving an inch-deep footprint on the ground. Their figures turned into bolts of lightning and charged straight at the group of iron-armed apes who were still playing around.
“There are so many of them!”
As Chen Yiming charged forward, he swept his gaze across the forest and realized that there were iron-armed apes everywhere on the trees. There were at least a hundred of them.
“Most of them have undergone three transformations, and no more than ten of them have undergone five transformations. I’ll kill a few first before you attack them,” Wang Jianyan reminded him.
By quickly killing a few of them first, the rest of the iron-armed apes would know that there was a powerful enemy chasing after them and would quickly disperse to make their escape. “Alright,” Chen Yiming replied as he followed closely behind.
Many of the iron-armed apes who were still playing among the treetops were startled when they heard the whistle. The dozen or so iron-armed apes who happened to be facing Chen Yiming and Wang Jianyan immediately became enraged and started shouting loudly. This was their reaction to having their territory invaded.
The iron-armed apes relied on their numbers to maintain their control on their territory in the periphery of the mountain range. They subconsciously wanted to kill the intruders.
11*&^&*()”
Three of the closest iron-armed apes jumped down from the tree, waving their arms as they charged at Wang Jianyan.
The iron-armed ape’s body was big and stout, but its speed was not slow. In the blink of an eye, it was already in front of him. Its long black arms were about three meters long, and when it waved them, they looked like two metal rods.
Wang Jianyan didn’t even blink. He raised his fist and delivered an ordinary straight punch. He didn’t need to use any punch techniques at all.
“Bang!”
A loud bang suddenly rang out in the forest, and all the iron-armed apes were shocked. His fist nimbly avoided the iron-armed ape’s long arms and the punch landed on its chest.
The iron-armed ape instantly let out a wretched cry. Its body was sent flying tens of meters into the air, where it made an arc and fell from the sky. Before the other two iron-armed apes could react, Wang Jianyan had already arrived in front of one of them and sent it flying with another straight punch.
Seeing this, Chen Yiming used the Mantis Snake Sword Technique to attack the remaining ape.
His speed increased a little.
“Swish!”
His sword pierced through the iron-armed ape’s chest. Chen Yiming quickly drew his sword and retreated.
It was only then that the iron-armed ape’s two long arms came crashing down. With a loud bang, they cracked the ground and the ape fell to the ground.
In an instant, three of the iron-armed apes were killed by Wang Jianyan and Chen Yiming. At this time, the other iron-armed apes on the treetops were still waving their arms and glaring at the two intruders.
At the next moment, the iron-armed apes remaining on the treetops had looks of fear on their faces.
Six of the larger iron-armed apes exchanged glances and immediately jumped down from the tree branches, charging straight at Chen Yiming and Wang Jianyan.
These six were the iron-armed apes that had undergone five transformations that Wang Jianyan had mentioned earlier.
Ten seconds later, Chen Yiming, who didn’t dare to use his full strength, could only use the Forward Reverse Sword Technique to fight with an iron-armed ape that had undergone five transformations.
Three of the six iron-armed apes were instantly killed by Wang Jianyan, and the remaining three turned around and ran when they saw that something was amiss.
The strongest among the iron-armed ape group had been defeated, and this instantly destroyed the confidence of the rest of the apes.
1*&^%$#” Screams sounded as the iron-armed apes started to flee in all directions.
Chen Yiming chased after a small group of the iron-armed apes that were fleeing to the northeast. Wang Jianyan chased after most of the iron-armed apes that were fleeing to the south.
Along the way, an iron-armed ape that had undergone five transformations turned around and saw Chen Yiming, who appeared to be much weaker, chasing after them alone.
“…&*%”
The iron-armed ape shrieked and called out to the three iron-armed apes beside it, who turned around and surrounded Chen Yiming.
Chen Yiming surveyed his surroundings from the corner of his eye. Wang Jianyan was far away and busy chasing after the other iron-armed apes. The rest of the transport team members were even further away and were also doing their best to stop the escaping iron-armed apes. No one had the spare time to observe what he was doing.
In a single breath,
a red line appeared on the necks of the iron-armed ape who had undergone five transformations and the other three iron-armed apes who had undergone four transformations.
He had gotten rid of them even faster than Wang Jianyan who had killed them with his punches. The iron-armed apes that had surrounded him fell to the ground at the same time with furious expressions still on their faces.
Half an hour later, the transport team dragged all the killed iron-armed apes to an open area at the foot of the mountain.
There was unconcealed joy on each of their faces.
“Brother Yiming, you really live up to your reputation as someone from the Mantis Snake Sword School. The lethality of your sword technique is truly astonishing. The efficiency at which you injure your enemies is not inferior to Boss Wang’s.”
Chen Yiming didn’t use his full strength, but he still managed to kill half of the iron-armed apes. The Mantis Snake Sword Technique could increase one’s speed and explosive power at short distances, making it very suitable for complicated terrain like the forest.
“I just rode on the advantage that Boss Wang created for us. Those iron-armed apes didn’t even have the courage to fight back after being frightened by Boss Wang. They only knew how to escape,” Chen Yiming said humbly.
“That’s already very impressive. If it were up to us, we probably wouldn’t be able to take down so many of them,” a team member praised.