Giant Bird

"Is it dead?"

Du Ke waited cautiously for a moment before carefully walking to the edge of the large pit blown out by the grenade. There were chunks of flesh on the ground, which he studied first.

He didn't know which part of the flesh it was. The outer skin was so tough that even a knife couldn't cut it, and it was a full finger thick. It took a lot of effort to cut off a small piece, stuff it into a test tube, and then examine the pit. Half of the Death Worm's body was exposed in the pit. He released a rope, hooked it onto the wound, and began to pull.

Using the principle of a winch, after a few minutes, the Death Worm was completely pulled out.

The Death Worm wasn't blown in half, it only had three large holes in its body. Its total length reached ten meters. The initial part was its head, which was a full fifty centimeters in diameter. Its skin had dense protrusions, which were likely used to dig through the soil rapidly.

"Beautiful, this is a big catch, haha." Although the Death Worm was disgusting, Du Ke happily took a commemorative photo with its corpse.

This was the first terrifying creature he had killed in the New World.

"I wonder if the meat is edible... Oh, right, I remember breathing in some of the New World's air earlier, and I didn't feel any discomfort?" He finally felt a sense of dread. He had just dispersed his Nano Armor to shake off the acid, exposing himself to the New World's air.

Fortunately, there were no abnormal sensations, so it was temporarily deemed safe.

"It would be great if I could take a Death Worm tooth back, these teeth are really unique." Du Ke carefully observed the Death Worm's mouthparts.

Overall, from Earth's perspective, the Death Worm should be a low-level creature. He didn't see eyes, nose, or other organs. It was just a mouth that led to its intestines, which then led to its anus, with no superfluous organs at all. But its teeth were strange, arranged in a spiral around its mouth.

A single tooth was somewhat like a file, with dense granules on its surface, which should have increased its lethality. However, its bite force was average; it hadn't managed to bite through Du Ke's titanium alloy Nano Armor before.

Compared to its acid, it was indeed far inferior.

There were also four tentacles around its mouthparts, which were probably its sensory organs, and they also appeared very primitive. After recording the general tissue structure, Du Ke left the Death Worm. He continued walking forward, and the types of trees gradually changed. Although blue trees were still dominant, they were interspersed with trees of other colors.

He also saw a type of slender, pale green tree with golden fruits. Some small beasts resembling monkeys were active in the treetops, feeding on these fruits.

As soon as they saw Du Ke, they disappeared, extinguishing Du Ke's idea of capturing them.

After walking for a while longer, a small stream came into view. Du Ke hurried over, "It's water, it's definitely water! This planet has water!" Humans should feel a sense of familiarity with water. Scientists judge whether a planet can harbor life, including whether it has water resources.

Finding a water source was within expectations, but Du Ke was still very excited because the water here looked the same as Earth's water.

He carefully scooped up a handful, materialized his kettle, and began to heat it. When the temperature reached 100 degrees Celsius, it indeed bubbled.

"It's definitely water, not some other liquid. It looks very pure too. I wonder if it's drinkable." Du Ke didn't try it but collected a test tube of New World water to take back for analysis.

He had to figure out the water and food in this world, otherwise, he could only stay in the New World for half a day before having to return.

In a short while, he collected three more test tubes, filled with fresh humus, yellow algae from the stream, and a small creature living in the water. Speaking of which, it couldn't really be called a small creature; it looked like a tadpole but had four legs and could swim rapidly in the water, as well as walk slowly on land.

"There are no more Bomb Caterpillars on the trees here. I might as well climb to the top of the trees to see what this Great Blue Forest looks like."

No sooner said than done.

Du Ke used his materialized tools to climb up the treetops at a steady pace. He confirmed that the large trees were sturdy enough and climbed a bit higher, reaching the highest branches. He half-sat on a branch and looked around. Most of the trees in the Great Blue Forest were blue, with a minority of other colors.

The forest undulated, revealing low hills, and in the distance, tall peaks could be seen.

In the sky, besides the two suns, there were also white clouds and flying birds. Strange calls could be heard from the mountains in the distance.

Suddenly.

Du Ke's peripheral vision caught a black shadow rushing towards him from one direction.

Before he could react, the shadow was already upon him. It was a giant bird. With a sweep of its claws, it grabbed Du Ke and flew into the sky.

"What the f*ck!" Du Ke didn't know how many times he had cursed. He felt that this New World was too dangerous.

He wanted to materialize his assault rifle and blast the Giant Bird that had captured him, but the bird was flying too high. This altitude made him fearful, and coupled with his loss of balance, he couldn't hold the gun steady. The only thing he could think of was to materialize a rope and wrap it around the bird's claws to prevent it from dropping him to his death.

Eagles on Earth would drop their prey from high altitudes to kill them.

But just as he wrapped the rope around the bird's claws, the bird suddenly released a red halo from its body. Wherever the halo spread, the rope broke inch by inch, and Du Ke's Nano Armor also began to crack. At this moment, the bird actually released its claws, letting Du Ke fall freely.

"F*ck your ancestors!" Du Ke plummeted rapidly, watching the Giant Bird that had captured him recede into the distance. The weightlessness made his heart leap out of his chest.

He had designed a wingsuit, but that required good balance before flight.

So, he was helpless now.

Just as he was about to hit the ground, he finally concentrated his will, activated the coordinates of his Mind Armor, and chose to travel back to Earth. In an instant, time seemed to stop, his thoughts extended billions of light-years away, placing him and Earth at the same spacetime node. He was back in the villa room.

With a single step, he returned to Earth from the New World.

Thump.

He landed on all fours, sprawled on the ground.

"Hoo!"

"Hoo!"

"Hoo!"

He lay on the ground, panting heavily for a few breaths before dispersing his Nano Armor. Clack, the metal box containing the test tubes fell to the ground. It had cushioning material inside, so the test tubes wouldn't break. He then checked his Mind Armor; its energy was depleted to the bottom. It would take another half a year to accumulate enough energy to travel again.

"You f*cking bastard!" Thinking of his travel being ruined by a Giant Bird, Du Ke was furious. But as things stood, he could only silently pick up the metal box and pull himself together.

He took a shower and ate some bread and chocolate.

He returned to his study, materialized a computer, and replayed the videos he had filmed in the New World to ensure the visual data was intact.

It turned out that the Mind Armor was indeed powerful; it still worked normally in the New World, allowing these precious materials to be preserved. The metal box opened, and the test tubes inside safely contained the resource samples collected from the New World. There were a total of eleven test tubes, each one a priceless treasure.

If others knew that these were resources from an alien planet, the whole world would go mad.

"So I have to be as low-key as possible. Quietly enter the village, no shooting." Du Ke took a deep breath and began to watch the videos seriously.