Chapter 210
"That snow monster is cunning; it only attacks when it's snowing heavily, leaving not a single footprint. There should be a limit to your boasting, shouldn't there?"
Shi Lei remained calm and his stance unchanged. If they give up today, who will be held responsible for any casualties that occur later?
"Sir, we have indeed discovered traces of a large beast. We'll go take a look and come right back. You can follow Miss Amiya's plan and leave after the surgery. We will return to our This Ship before then."
At this point, he looked at Amiya:
"Given the size of that beast, two Operator probably wouldn't be enough to handle it. I insisted on doing this for the safety of Rhodes Island operator."
Amiya's small frame revealed a maturity beyond her years. After a moment's thought, she agreed:
"Alright, Mister Zhongli, then I'll trouble you."
"Yes, thank you for understanding."
Without another word, Shi Lei turned and headed north out of the village. The other Messenger followed suit.
Once inside the Snowfield forest, he conjured a large Rock platform out of thin air, capable of carrying more than ten people. Texas, Exusiai, Mudrock, and Croissant understood and stepped onto it.
Lappland had seen Shi Lei summon meteors in Syracuse before, so she was more accepting of it. But this was Xi's first time seeing it, and she was extremely shocked.
To save time, Shi Lei didn't ascend to nearly 10,000 meters. Instead, he hovered at an altitude of 1,000 meters and flew at supersonic speed. What would have taken ten minutes was shortened to two or three minutes.
After landing safely on the Rock platform, Xi walked down somewhat dazedly. She ran one hand to her chest and looked at Shi Lei's back, feeling her cheeks burning.
Not only that, my heart was beating really fast.
I once heard a folk opera story that said when a woman's heart races when she sees a man, it means she's fallen for him.
So this is what it feels like?
"We're here, right below."
Shi Lei manipulated the Rock platform to reach the location identified by his Mental diffusion scan. The large creature, resembling a bear, was underground, and he needed to pass through this cave to reach it.
As he ventured deeper, the surrounding light sources grew dimmer and dimmer, and visibility became extremely low.
As the saying goes, "A thousand days of partying, all gone in one go." With free light sources around, why not take advantage of them?
"Exusiai, come to the front."
"Ah?"
Led by her, the group ventured deeper into the monster's lair. There, they discovered traces of man-made structures.
274 White Lies (3K)
The halo above Exusiai's head, as a natural light source, is brighter than a mobile phone light.
She was speechless at the request. But she still went to the front of the line to act as a light source.
Xi doesn't like dark and gloomy environments, but with Shi Lei here, she doesn't seem so afraid anymore.
To his left was Texas, and to his right was Mudrock; there was nowhere to get close on either side. Xi followed directly behind, staring at the back of the figure that gave her a sense of security.
By the light, the group discovered a twisted and deformed mechanical door deep within the cave. The gap was very uneven, as if it had been forcibly torn open by some strange force.
Upon entering, one finds a laboratory. The table is covered with broken instruments and glassware, all coated with a thick layer of dust and cobwebs, suggesting it hasn't been used for quite some time.
The ability to construct such exquisite buildings underground suggests a powerful force. It might be a large medical institution, or have a noble or military background.
Shi Lei lacked night vision, but he could project his Psychic Power. The images he received in his mind were predominantly black and white, with only a few warm-blooded creatures displayed in color. This was somewhat like having built-in thermal imaging lenses in his eyes.
"Gurgle~"
The spacious laboratory layout amplified the low growls of wild beasts to the maximum, as if warning intruders.
Shi Lei looked towards the source of the sound and reminded him:
"Did you hear that? It's right ahead on the left."
Lappland, possessing some Night Vision, fearing her prey might be stolen, quickly called out:
"Just give me a shield, don't try to steal it!"
As she spoke, she drew her sword and charged forward.
Exusiai wanted to join in the fun, but after taking only two steps, Croissant grabbed her collar and pulled her back:
"You're in the lighting department, where do you think you're going?"
Shi Lei created a rod-shaped Rock Constructs and pressed the light switch on the wall, but unfortunately, there was no response. This indicated that the laboratory was not connected to power.
Seeing that Lappland had chased after them alone, no one was worried that she would encounter any accidents.
This is the sense of security that Shi Lei brings.
The group moved forward slowly, determined to find useful information from the scene, and soon arrived at the next room.
In the center of the room was a large table, which looked like an operating table. But the instruments that should have been there had been moved away, not even a single wire.
Keep.
In the corner glass cabinet, there were many human organs and animal specimens preserved in formalin that were not taken away.
Perhaps due to poor air circulation, the pungent odor still lingered. From this, it can be inferred that this is a biological laboratory.
"Awooooo!"
At the other end of the corridor came the roars of wild beasts and the sounds of various collisions.
Undeterred, the group continued searching for valuable information at the scene.
This biological laboratory was disposed of quite thoroughly before being abandoned. Equipment that couldn't be taken was smashed, leaving behind only unsigned and worthless items.
Before long, the roars of the wild beasts came to an abrupt end.
Lappland returned to the room where everyone was, grinning with a somewhat manic smile:
"I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
"Good news."
"I've already dealt with that beast."
Exusiai was speechless upon hearing this; there was no need to bring up something that everyone already knew.
"And the bad news?"
"I saw the man that the elderly couple in the village were looking for."
"..."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell into a brief silence, the meaning of which was self-evident.
When Shi Lei located the ferocious beast, he didn't find any other creatures nearby. Hearing Lappland's words, he immediately realized that Ivan had encountered something extraordinary.
Considering there was a young lady from a prominent family in the group, he turned to Xi and politely advised her:
"If you're afraid of blood, stay here and don't move. We'll go take a look."
This land is nothing like the peaceful world Shi Lei traveled through before; it is filled with violence and killing.
He didn't know Xi well enough and wasn't sure if she could accept these things, so he made it clear in advance. After all, judging from her social anxiety, she probably hadn't seen much bloodshed.
Xi hesitated for a moment, then chose to follow.
Rather than being alone in the dark laboratory, she preferred to stay close to Shi Lei at all times.
"Exusiai, come here for a second."
Just then, Texas called for a light. She rummaged through the trash can's wastebasket and pulled out several strips of paper that had been torn into pieces.
Using Exusiai's light, Texas pieced together the complete sheet of paper. The content was too blurry to be recognized; only the signature at the end was visible.
"The Seventh Group Army, this should be a biological laboratory created by the official Ursus army."
After searching the room, the group arrived at the corridor where Lappland was. Even before getting close, they could smell a nauseating stench in the air.
Thanks to Exusiai's aura, everyone was able to see this enormous beast clearly. It had many mechanical components on its body, and its deep red blood vessels were not natural creations, but rather resembled those of a modified mechanical creature.
Shi Lei used Rock Constructs to wrap the Mechanical bear and Ivan's corpses and transported them out of the cave.
The laboratory was very clean; some rooms could be inspected at a glance. After exploring every possible area, the group left the cave and returned to the surface.
Aside from knowing that the Ursus Seventh Group Army was conducting biological experiments, there was no other useful intelligence.
Shi Lei raised his hand and summoned the Rock platform, preparing to carry everyone back to the village and deliver the Mechanical bear's corpse as a token of his mission.
As he took off, he glanced sideways at Ivan's corpse, which was wrapped in Rock Constructs, and suddenly spoke:
"I feel that if we just take his body back, the elderly couple won't be able to handle the shock. But if we don't take it back, leaving them with a memory, worrying day and night, it won't be good for their health."
Finally, Shi Lei looked at Lappland:
"If you don't care about this credit, why not treat him like a hero?"
Lappland shrugged and spread his hands, saying:
"I don't care. Taking down a wild beast isn't exciting at all, there's nothing to brag about."
She felt that killing a Mechanical bear wouldn't be particularly difficult. Even without Shi Lei's shield, Lappland was confident of victory in the skirmish.
Texas and Mudrock both looked at Shi Lei, both feeling that he was a very gentle person:
"I'll listen to you."
Me too.
After explaining some details, the group returned to the village in just three minutes. Including the time spent exploring the biological laboratory, the whole trip took only half an hour.
Once the Rock platform landed safely, Shi Lei immediately dismantled the Rock Constructs. He placed the Mechanical bear's corpse and Ivan's mangled body at the village entrance.
Exusiai volunteered to run the errand and went in with Lappland to deliver the message.
Before long, the villagers who had heard that the Yeti had been dealt with, along with the Rhodes Island Operator, all came to the village entrance to check.
The villagers were terrified when they saw the Mechanical bear carcass lying down, as tall as a small mountain. If this thing were allowed into the village, even weapons wouldn't be able to stop it.
The Rhodes Island operator were quite surprised to see the Special Operations Team resolve the Yeti crisis within an hour.
This poorly mobile team actually managed to find the Yeti and the missing persons in the vast Snowfield. This alone shows that the Messenger are actually quite capable.
It seems I underestimated them before.
Huang and the Messenger didn't have any Blood Sea Deep Grudge for each other; at most, he hadn't assigned them any missions in the past few days.
For a village the size of this, a medical team and a guard team are sufficient. Sending a Special Operations Team is largely unnecessary.
I heard someone brought back snow.
The strange corpse drew many villagers to the village entrance, where they peered inside. Ivan's parents also arrived at the scene, squeezing through the crowd.
"My son, my son!"
The elderly couple hadn't expected the Special Operations Team to be so incredibly efficient. In the time it took to cook a dish, they actually brought back the child and the Yeti.
Before this, they had searched the area within a radius of three or four kilometers without finding it.
The old man stared at his son's broken body, his voice choked with emotion:
"Thank you for avenging my son."
"No, it wasn't us."
Lappland didn't care about these honors and generously gave Ivan a script for a hero's downfall:
"We found them in a nearby cave by following the trail. By the time we arrived, he had already perished along with the wild beast."
So you should thank this man, not us. He is the true hero of your village.
Upon hearing this, the elderly couple stared at their son's body in silence for a long time, a look of relief appearing in their eyes.
"Good job, son! You're a real man!"
There were some Rhodes Island combat experts on site, such as the sniper Scout and the guard Operator Blaze.
They could all see that the Mechanical bear had only recently died. Half of Ivan's body had been bitten off, and judging from the swelling, he had been dead for at least a day or two. In this situation, it was impossible for both sides to be seriously injured.
But they all realized that this was the Special Operations Team trying to appease the feelings of the deceased's family. So they all tacitly remained silent and did not expose it.
Shi Lei couldn't be sure if this Mechanical bear was the Yeti the villagers were talking about. In any case, there were no other large, ferocious creatures within a ten-kilometer radius.