Chapter 23 Debt Repayment_2

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"No wonder mechanical and alien augmentations are so popular; they do have an innate advantage in terms of defense,"

Tao Yu looked at the head of Joseph, which had already been battered, and couldn't help but feel some emotion deep inside.

In the many shards of worlds within the Abyss, situations where the weak overcome the strong and make a first-kill were quite common.

Top warriors being shot in the head and dying in resentment wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

The many stories he had heard, as well as rumors from his parents, all contained such records.

Clearly, Joseph's head modifications were likely meant to guard against sneak attacks with firearms, equipped with armor, taking more than a dozen bullets before losing the ability to fight back.

The additional stabs made Tao Yu feel uneasy too.

Earlier, Wino, with his alien enhancement providing a more robust physique, also had full-body armor; they must have armed themselves that way to increase their margin for error.

They were guarding against a catastrophic failure.

"This dead man was also an Inner City Pioneer, still had a gun in his mouth, if it hadn't been for the sneak attack, even if we had knocked him to the ground, giving him a chance would've possibly led to a turnaround against the odds,"

Tao Yu thought about how the other had chaotically shot from his mouth at the last moment, and felt somewhat sighful.

This was something he had not exposed even when fighting the Aliens.

He had considered crippling the opponent and then forcing him to convert his Yuan Force over, but now thought it was good that he hadn't acted on it.

After all, he wasn't foolish, had he really converted it for himself, it would have truly been worthless.

Looking at Joseph's body, Tao Yu fell silent for a moment and ultimately chose not to search the body.

After being pressured by an Alien onslaught, this guy had probably been forced to reveal most of his trump cards.

After all, with mechanical augmentation, who knew if there was anything installed for a desperate last stand...

Boom~

A violent explosion rose to the sky; even at some distance, Tao Yu could feel the strong wind and heat wave hitting him directly!

Seeing the explosion bigger than Wino's high-explosive grenade, Tao Yu couldn't help but inwardly curse.

You Temor really had something up your sleeve!?

Glancing back at the deep rainforest, Tao Yu hesitated no longer, stuffed several plump and pale caterpillars into his mouth, and then leaped down from the treetops, quickly moving toward the east.

The danger was resolved, and his gains were already considerable, now it was all about successfully making it back alive!

His current abilities were sufficient enough for survival, the remaining Yuan Force could be considered for extending the usage period based on the leftover time, to increase the cost-effectiveness of the Yuan Force.

Taking advantage of the abundant meat in the rainforest, he planned to use up all the Yuan Force before heading back...

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"... Zzzt~, that kind of Yuan Force creature should possess a parasitic ability; its young are very weak and responsible for infesting hosts, developing different abilities based on the host. We discovered that the radio we received was from a crashed spaceship, but most of the useful stuff has been destroyed, which is a shame.

"We killed a synthetic human who kept trying to trick us into feeding one of those Yuan Force creatures, but there's a toxin called Blackwater around here, and one careless move could be dangerous for you. It's not suitable as a new settlement location..."

Atop the treetop, Tao Yu held his antiquated receiver, picking up the new day's reports.

It turned out the siblings from the Floating City had almost cleared the neighboring grassland area.

Joseph and Wino, these Inner City Pioneers, had shown various powerful trump cards at the critical moment of life and death, which made Tao Yu tense just thinking about it now.

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The sneak attack on Joseph would have likely resulted in our position being locked onto from a distance for a precise counterattack had it not been combined with a psychic assault.

Wino's fury was quite explosive.

It seems that it's not all that strange for the siblings from Floating City to bulldoze through the neighboring fragments.

"...The mission objectives have now been updated. Centering around the descendants from the Inner City, everyone should start to disperse and explore, to select a site for gathering, searching for new world fragments. There are still three days left before the first batch of Pioneers returns. The main task for all Pioneers these few days is to stick together and survive."

"After returning to Starshine City, we'll arrange according to everyone's specific circumstances. As long as you make it back alive, you'll have completed the mission. Any recognized combat talent or support talent will receive a guaranteed reward of a thousand units of Yuan Force..."

Obviously, because of the presence of the Blackwater Toxin, capable of giving birth to Aliens, the prairie area is indeed not suitable for use as a gathering place.

If they put in some effort to develop the forest area and spend some time, it does have the potential. However, it's clear that the siblings are still looking for a better area.

A temporary gathering place is fine, but there are many factors to consider if one intends to develop it into a new long-term gathering place.

The environment for survival, resources for living, the general situation of the nearby world fragments, safety, and risk, among other things.

Although the guy from Floating City is sometimes blunt, Tao Yu has to admit that for ordinary people entering this time, it's indeed fortunate to have two strong supporters from Floating City.

Only they have the ability to mobilize enough resources to create a relatively stable area.

The reward of at least a thousand units of Yuan Force for combat talents and recognized support talents alone after returning is already quite generous.

This is probably a benefit that only happens during a temporal anomaly when new lands are opened, enough for the average families of the Outer City to go wild with joy.

There is quite a big difference in style between the Floating City siblings and the two Inner City Pioneers.

Or to put it another way, to the people of Floating City, the slight gains of the mud-legged folks from the Outer City are not worth considering...

Tao Yu, who had been crossing the rainforest alone for several days, could also feel that kind of fatigue that comes with solitude.

In terms of strength, he could defeat the Aliens and Pythons, and even if it were a Python Alien, if he got the chance, he could engage it by overexerting his body.

His ability to sneak attack could create various possibilities.

But...

The oppressive feeling of having to keep one eye open even while resting kept Tao Yu's nerves stretched tight.

He was afraid that the moment he opened his eyes, he would meet the cherry-like mouth of an Alien.

Most of the time, the vigilance and caution are of no use, just wasted effort, yet he had to maintain constant alertness.

Tao Yu could develop different versions of "Infiltration" from both the Python and the Alien, which shows that they were extremely good at sneak attacks as well.

With Tao Yu's current strength, if he were successfully ambushed, he would be done for.

It's only by relying on the power of "Bullet Time" that he could detect threats in advance while remaining vigilant.

And now that he had "Infiltration · Modification," his ability to save himself was very strong, provided that he had enough alertness!

"Still, it's the lack of stamina and defense. If I could maintain 'Shadow Evasion' throughout the whole journey, or if my defense was strong enough to survive one sneak attack without dying, I wouldn't need to be so tense..."

Tao Yu lamented in his heart, thinking of Joseph's head that took over a dozen bullets, and then of Wino's full-body armor.

After listening to the broadcast, Tao Yu flipped down from the tree and cut off a piece of meat from the roast wild pig on the fire with a small knife.

Even though he still had some salt, without anything to remove the gamey taste, it was really hard to eat...