Free Web NovelChapter 557: Chapter 198: Underwater Crisis, Wilderness Tactics! (Part 3)
In this desolate wilderness, there’s simply no time or energy to dig a pit for burial. Everyone could only silently grip the edges of the body bags and, after an unspoken prayer, together throw the two bags into White Water River.
The black and yellow body bags rolled in the water, perhaps the blood inside the bodies had long been sucked dry by the Water Leech, and the bags swiftly floated to the surface, drifting downstream with the current.
"This is the best way for now."
Luokuke dusted his hands and came over, speaking softly, "I hope their sacrifice will buy us some more time to prepare."
"Is that powder meant to attract the Infected Body?" Cheng Ye noticed something.
The Inspector’s manual does have a Chapter on Wilderness Survival, mentioning several special drug formulas.
Some can attract the Infected Body, while others can repel mutated creatures.
But most of those are relics from the Great Expansion era; whether it’s the mutated creatures or the Infected Body, their evolution has far surpassed expectations. Methods that work today might lose efficacy after a while, or even backfire.
Only a few obscure methods can barely maintain their effectiveness, and the more people use them, the quicker they become ineffective. So these methods are basically treasures held by the Inspectors.
Luokuke shook his head, "Not attracting, just hoping that the mutated creatures in the water follow the bodies downstream. With the fast current of White Water River, it’s hard to say how much attention it will divert."
He paused, gesturing with his chin toward the water, "Did you see anything out of the ordinary?"
"No."
Cheng Ye shook his head honestly, "This is only my second time outside the city."
"Alright, then look where I’m pointing." Luokuke didn’t hide anything and directly pointed toward the water not far away.
Cheng Ye immediately squinted, raising a hand to his brow, following the direction Luokuke pointed.
On the calm water surface, the area where Luokuke pointed seemed to have water that was a bit darker than the surrounding area, with a faint black-silver hue, yet even looking closely, it seemed like an illusion caused by sunlight refraction.
"Is there something there?" Once he saw it clearly, Cheng Ye didn’t follow Luokuke’s lead, but rather asked.
"Aren’t you good with your spear technique? You can try firing a shot."
"Better not." Cheng Ye smiled and shook his head.
Taking down the Thorn Bird leader was because the flock, although annoying, posed no real threat.
But shooting at an Infected Body underwater, if not killed, would only attract their attention, which would be big trouble.
These Infected Bodies are not ordinary beasts, many "species" are quite vindictive.
A subtle surprise flashed in Luokuke’s eyes, "Didn’t expect Inspector Cheng to be this cautious on his second time out in the wilderness."
"It’s not cautious, it’s not being stupid." Cheng Ye pointed to his head, maintaining his smile, but his tone became serious, "If something comes ashore at night, I don’t want you drawing it to me to test me, if I find out, I’ll assume you’ve been parasitized by the infection source and kill you directly."
"So confident?" Luokuke’s expression didn’t change, his tone devoid of emotion.
"You can try, I always do what I say."
"Alright, I’ll return that line to you as is, each handles their own troubles."
Luokuke also put away his smile, and both sides finally set down boundaries.
Having established the boundary, Cheng Ye glanced down at the mutated Water Leech on the ground, indicating for Li Jie behind him to pass the crowbar.
Poking the first one, there was no response.
But the moment the crowbar touched the second one, lines of information popped onto the panel.
[Collector detected escaping biological information, auto-absorbing...]
[Absorption complete, new biological guidebook recorded: Mutated Water Leech]
Got it!
Cheng Ye discreetly retracted the crowbar and without hesitation turned to lead everyone away.
On the way, he began to understand why Liu Bi seemed so conflicted when reminding him.
Luokuke, who managed to rise up in the recuperation version of the inspection station, is definitely not simple.
Perhaps digging pits for others has become a habit, each of his words seems fine on its own, but together they carry an obvious sense of scheming. A moment’s inattention, and you might find yourself in a "pit" within the rules he laid out.
Someone like Wang Kang absolutely can’t be left alone with Luokuke, or else he might get sold without realizing, and still help count money for the other.
Back at the supermarket, without need for Cheng Ye to instruct, the dozen or so people who had gone to the river gathered around the crowd voluntarily, clearly explaining the situation with the mutated Water Leech, and the weaknesses Li Jie mentioned (fear of fire, strong light, fragile body).
The families from the mining community were initially scared, but when they heard that the creature could be killed with a shovel, they immediately relaxed, picked up their tools, and returned to their construction work, only now with far more enthusiasm than before.
Clearly, after their sense of luck was shattered, no one wanted to wait until nightfall with the surroundings still barren, without even a defensive stronghold to rely on.
"Brother Cheng..." Wang Kang came over, lowering his voice and with a hint of wariness in his eyes, "Earlier, I saw Garcia sprinkling some white powder by the border, not sure what it is..."
"Hmm?" Cheng Ye glanced over before shaking his head, "It’s nothing, don’t worry about him." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
The white powder was sprinkled within the Red Zone, not crossing the boundary, staying within the allowable rules.
Yet, it’s Luokuke and Garcia’s tactics that have given him a sense of crisis.
In terms of combat ability, he prides himself on not losing to the two of them, and he holds an ace capable of contending with the mother source.
But in terms of these little survival tricks in the wilderness and practical skills to protect a group, he doesn’t have any.
Previously, he hadn’t thought to search in this direction, though now, after this trial, it’s something he needs to focus on.
After instructing Wang Kang to continue urging residents to build, Cheng Ye walked towards the wilderness while glancing at the panel to check the information on the mutated Water Leech.
[Mutated Water Leech]
[Description]: A special mutated creature from Sand Province, large in size, feeds on biological blood. Saliva can extract a special protein used for medical anticoagulation and emergency detoxification.
[Currently recorded traits]:
Anticoagulant protein (5.17%)
Growth Factor (1.29%)
...
