Chapter 457 : Braising Luoluo
Liu_Kaixuan Editor: Valvrave
Although the mother beast had been killed, from Doom Walker, the Black Water Organization and the other teams’ perspective that was a Pyrrhic victory. They suffered great losses, and their casualties amounted to more than 40 paranormals and at least 100 elite combatants. As for guns, ammunition, and heavy trucks, every team’s vitality was greatly undermined. The constant high-intensity fire caused serious damage to firearms, and innumerable ammunition had been used. And 13 heavy trucks were destroyed and could no longer be used anymore.
After checking their losses, Hou Dingkun and the others felt distressed. In the end, all the teams ordered to camp in the same place to collect and clean up the battlefield. Everything was done orderly.
Among all the people, it was no doubt that Jiang Liushi’s harvest was the largest. According to the rules, since Jiang Liushi had killed the mother beast, its entire body should belong to him. Of course, no one was against.
According to the military’s intel, the mother beast’s body flesh was very special, containing a variety of complex substances. Although its flesh tissue also contained energy, it was not only inedible but also very toxic to humans. Even the military could just use its flesh for research purposes.
Currently, Zhang Hai and Sun Kun were waving their machetes to cut in pieces the mother beast’s carcass, and no others dared to come close. At the same time, the robotic arms dragged the chunks of meat to the minibus’ storage space. Nobody knew where those chunks had disappeared.
“Brother Jiang, here you are.” Zhang Hai approached Jiang Liushi and revealed a few blood red crystals in his hand.
‘Detected a level 2+ mutant nucleus and 7 level-1 mutant nuclei,’ Starseed’s notification sounded in Jiang Liushi’s mind.
“7 mutant nuclei? Where did you find them?” Jiang Liushi asked.
“One was dug out from…probably its heart and the rest were found in its stomach,” Zhang Hai said. He could make sure they came from its stomach because the outflow of stomach acid had dissolved several holes in the ground.
“It really had a good appetite…” Jiang Liushi felt speechless.
It seemed that the mother beast had eaten many mutant beasts. Since it could control other mutant beasts through the blood lichens, it was indeed quite simple for it to eat them. However, mutant nuclei had extremely high energy purity, so even though the mother beast had eaten them, they had yet to dissolve and get digested in its stomach. Unfortunately, the purity of the 7 mutant nuclei was lower normal ones, but Jiang Liushi was not disheartened. On the contrary, he was quite pleased with the unexpected harvest.
Starseed’s notification echoed in his mind once again, ‘Detected 1,2 kg of bio-metal, which triggered the evolution project- Grade-1Military Factory System.’
‘Specifics: The activation of the Military Factory System requires the MCV to be upgraded to level-1. The current level of the MCV is level 0. The upgrade needs two level-2 mutant blood nuclei, strengthening of the dynamic system, and rare metals…’
A stream of information was transmitted in Jiang Liushi’s mind. When he noticed the Grade-1Military Factory System, Jiang Liushi was overjoyed. He remembered clearly that to forge his sister’s special longsword, they had to give the military five tons of mutant meat. If they could make weapon themselves, it would undoubtedly save them a lot of resources.
However, after knowing the upgrade conditions of his MCV, Jiang Liushi’s boiling blood was quickly cooled down. The conditions were too harsh. His MCV was still level-0. Let alone the two mutant blood nuclei. Getting them was as difficult as climbing up to heaven.
Two level-2 mutant blood nuclei represent two level-2 mutant zombies, which he had to kill. Not to mention they were intelligent and knew how to fight. They were practically stronger and much harder to kill than level-2 mutant beasts.
At first, Jiang Liushi was under the impression the mother beast was a level-3 mutant beast, but in reality, it was a level 2+ mutant beast. Although it was far from his expectations, in truth, it was fair and sensible. If they had to truly confront a level-3 beast, the battle would be way more difficult, and the casualties and losses would be even more terrible than it was now.
‘Detected unique body of energy. It can be integrated with mutant queen’s egg.’
At that moment, Jiang Liushi suddenly noticed a reddish mass of energy in his storage. Meanwhile, the mutant queen’s egg was restless and struggling violently.
Jiang Liushi guessed that the so-called unique body of energy was the mother beast’s essence. In fact, mother beasts were extraordinary lifeforms as they shared insects and beasts’ traits.
Jiang Liushi felt excited as he knew that would be the most critical part of all the process.
‘Integration,’ Jiang Liushi ordered. He was willing to see what kind of entity would be created. Even if it was a real monster, Jiang Liushi was confident they could control it.
Later, the pale red energy instantly penetrated the mutant queen’s egg.
In the holographic view of the MCV provided by Starseed, that mutant queen’s egg in the storage started to emit a dazzling red glow.
‘Boom! Boom!’
The mutant queen’s egg started wriggling and swelling just like a heart. The hard outer shell turned soft, and a faint reddish mist escaped.
‘Warning! The temperature in the storage has risen, and the temperature control system has reached its limit…’ Suddenly, the urgent notification of Starseed echoed in Jiang Liushi’s mind.
Jiang Liushi frowned. The storage contained a lot of mutant meats and other materials. In the past, those mutant meats could be persevered because of the temperature control and sterile systems’ presence.
Currently, a thin layer of ice covering the mutant beast was melting at a rapid rate. If it continued, those mutant meats, as well as medicines, ammunition, and other materials, would all be damaged.
Apparently, the blood-red mist coming from the mutant queen’s egg was a weird substance that emitted intense heat.
“No! I must hurry to get it out!” Jiang Liushi said suddenly.
Mutant meats could be replaced by evolutionary crystals. However, drugs and some other materials were scarce. Moreover, if the temperature continued to rise, the storage would become a powder keg because of ammunition.
“Everyone! Scatter now!” Jiang Liushi shouted to his teammates.
Li Yuxin and the other didn’t know the reason he had given such an order, but they followed it quickly. After that, a giant heart-like crimson egg suddenly appeared on the alloy floor of the carriage. One could see something creeping inside and desperately sucking up the nutrient liquid inside. The faint red fog that was secreted caused the surrounding temperature to rise rapidly.
‘Starseed, scan the egg,’ Jiang Liushi ordered. At the same time, he reached for his gun. Once he felt it was a big threat, he would immediately kill it.
‘Energy level is too high to scan!’ Jiang Liushi was speechless.
Suddenly, a small snow-white shadow flashed over him. This figure had a pair of drooping ears that stood erected with excitement the moment it saw the egg. Making a beautiful jump in the air, the figure fell on the mutant queen’s egg, and when the faint fog of strange colors touched its body, its fur got on fire. Naturally, the little figure was none other than the cute Luoluo.
Ignoring the intense heat, Luoluo opened its mouth, revealing two rows of snow-white front fangs.
Jiang Liushi shouted, “Luoluo!”
It was too late when he realized that Luoluo wanted to devour the mutant queen’s egg. And then, he recalled when they first met Luoluo. The little beast had snuck in a nest and stolen an egg. Undoubtedly, Luoluo’s true love, and probably life purpose, was eating delicious food.
Jiang Liushi wanted to stop it, but unfortunately, it was too late. Luoluo had already sunk its fangs in the eggshell and opened it. And then, a weird egg white liquid rushed out. Luoluo was startled and fell, but it instantly lifted its little butt, and its little tail flashed like a hairball. Immediately after, Luoluo drilled its head inside the egg.
“F*ck!” Jiang Liushi cursed as he couldn’t let Luoluo eat the mutant queen’s egg.
He grabbed Luoluo’s leg and tried to pull it out, but no matter how hard it tried, it wouldn’t move. The only thing he was able to pull was the little beast’s scorched hair. Jiang Liushi tried again, but Luoluo kept chewing before swallowing the egg’s contents in its stomach. After Luoluo finished, it stared at Jiang Liushi innocently with a pair of watery eyes.
Jiang Liushi was at a loss for words with how thing turned out. He quickly squatted down and checked; the mutant queen’s egg was empty inside!
If that could be tolerated, what could not?
Jiang Liushi was unable to contain his anger! “Spit it out! Did you hear me? If you don’t spit it out, I will tell Ling to braise you!” Jiang Liushi grabbed Luoluo’s two big ears, shaking them up and down.
Luoluo was being swung in Jiang Liushi’s hands like a large ball.
Ling, who was playing with her dagger while witnessing the whole incident, looked at them in surprise.
‘Wah-‘
Luoluo burped…
Undoubtedly, Jiang Liushi felt annoyed by that sound. ‘Life goes up and down just like a roller coaster!’
Since Luoluo had already swallowed the contents of the mutant queen’s egg, Jiang Liushi had no methods to pull it out. It was too late!
‘We have to braise it!’ Jiang Liushi thought while staring at Luoluo.
“Brother Jiang, please don’t bully Luoluo. Its mental state is undergoing very intense changes!” Ran Xiyu said and shared her spiritual vision with Jiang Liushi, enabling him to see that Luoluo had turned into a big fireball. Only level-2 mutant beasts had such a fierce mental intensity!
“Luoluo…” While Jiang Liushi felt surprised, Luoluo fell into a deep slumber. Its burnt fur fell off, and new fur, which gave off a special luster, grew rapidly. This process continued until Luoluo became like a ball of hair with strong heartbeats coming from it.
Jiang Liushi put it down quickly.
“Why did the small Luoluo become like this?” Li Yuxin and the other members all looked toward Jiang Liushi in surprise.
“The mutant queen’s egg had absorbed all the energy of a unique body of energy, but Luoluo devoured it instead…” Jiang Liushi explained worriedly.
Li Yuxin stepped forward and put her hands on the hairball. “After examining Luoluo, it seems okay. It’s showing signs of evolution,” Li Yuxin said with a strange expression.
‘Evolution?’ After hearing Li Yuxin’s words, Jiang Liushi nodded and thought. If it was true, it was good for them. After all, Luoluo didn’t have a wild nature, and it got on with them, so it should be less harmless than the lifeform in the mutant queen’s egg. After all, he had no intention of nurturing dangerous creatures.
After a few hours of rest, everyone had regained some of their energy. The ground covered by dried blood lichens was a desolate sight. If one looked further ahead, they’d also see a blood-stained battlefield with countless cracks on the ground.
“Brother Jiang, President Hou ordered us to give you these.” A heavy truck was parked beside the minibus. Qi Liang was the driver, while Little Seven was sitting next to him. Recently, those two had gotten really close.
“One level-2 mutant nucleus, 10 level-1 mutant nuclei and 16 tons of mutant meats. Brother, please check,” Qi Liang shouted.
“It’s not necessary. But I would like to discuss with your president. I don’t need mutant meat, but I would like to use two level-1 mutant nuclei in exchange for one more level-2 mutant nucleus,” Jiang Liushi said after thinking carefully. After all, he needed many level-2 mutant nuclei to upgrade his minibus.
“I will inform our president.” Qi Liang nodded.
After a while, that heavy truck came back, and Qi Liang smiled. “Brother Jiang, our president only took the 16 tons of mutant meats. He said that the level-2 nucleus is a gift.”
“Good.” Jiang Liushi faintly smiled. This was why he was willing to cooperate with Hou Dingkun.
Counting the level 2+ mutant nucleus obtained from the mother beast as well as the level-2 energy his minibus absorbed, Jiang Liushi had 4, which were enough for the upgrade of his minibus. And he only needed to find several rare metals, which were kind of difficult to be acquired. Those metals were used to construct planes!
It was a challenging task to find planes and obtain all the rare materials.
Jiang Liushi secretly calculated in his heart and felt quite happy. He had 30 level-1 mutant nuclei so he could produce enough evolutionary crystals. Moreover, he still had 5 level-2 mutant nuclei as well as several level 2+ mutant nuclei.
“Zi-Zzi-”
Suddenly, the radio in his minibus rang.
“…special notice from the Military’s Temporary Radio Station. Commander Peng Dinglong and Deputy Commander Li Yinqiang have ordered all teams in the Beast Nest area to gather in the core area. From now on, no team is allowed to leave this area. Once discovered, they will be punished by the military. The location will be transmitted…”
It was an urgent mobilization order!
On the other heavy trucks, intense discussions broke out. Apparently, they had all received the news.
‘Om-‘
Suddenly, Jiang Liushi heard a strange noise from the sky. Through the minibus’ windshield, he saw a helicopter flying from the southeast. Inside the helicopter, several soldiers wearing camouflage uniforms looked alertly downwards. More armed helicopters appeared and started patrolling in large circles. As for the purpose, Jiang Liushi guessed it was in order to prevent teams from escaping from this area.
‘Why would they issue such an order? What exactly happened over there?’ Jiang Liushi had a serious expression on his face.
He distinctly remembered that not long ago, the military had changed the mission’s commander temporarily. It was a rare and strange decision.