Working Together

Tao Yu wiped the slime off the magazines with leaves, then slipped the three newly acquired ones into the slots on the front of his leather armor.

Although the dead man had probably absorbed all the Wish Power items he had brought with him, Tao Yu had still replenished some magazines from his body, making up a little for the loss of his devoured pack.

This giant python was not the one he had wounded. Liu Wen's corpse was the only thing inside it; his pack was nowhere to be found.

Aside from that, he could sense the Wish Power throughout the python's body gathering after its death, converging onto one of the teeth in its mouth.

Tao Yu dug out the tooth and absorbed it, gaining roughly fifteen units of Wish Power, along with some fragmented information related to hunting.

With Mental Immunity, Tao Yu was completely unaffected by such chaotic information, and he vaguely understood what it meant.

If he kept killing similar giant snakes to complete the information, he might obtain one or two complete related skills.

They should be skills related to stealth and explosive power.

The skill quality might be average, but with deification, Tao Yu was not picky.

Turning back to Zhang Wei, who was deftly processing the giant python's corpse, cutting the Serpent Meat into chunks and tossing them over the fire to roast, Tao Yu wiped down the pistol he had taken from Liu Wen and said,

"How are your firearm skills?"

Liu Wen's Assault Rifle had been damaged by the giant python's bite, but there was still a pistol that could be used.

Hearing Tao Yu's words, Zhang Wei, whose hands were dripping with blood as he cut up the Serpent Meat, looked up with an awkward smile.

"I... I've never trained with one."

The moment he heard that, Tao Yu immediately gave up the idea of lending the extra pistol to him.

Firearms might seem simple to use, but for someone who had never touched one, they were quite troublesome. They might even become a threat to their own side.

He then tucked the pistol into the leather holster on his other thigh.

After absorbing the giant python's tooth and obtaining that fragmented information, Tao Yu wanted to keep hunting these giant pythons.

Giving Zhang Wei some equipment at a time like this would have been beneficial, but since he had no firearm skills, so be it. Tao Yu was not about to waste bullets letting him practice.

Looking down at the large amount of cut giant python meat, Tao Yu reminded him,

"That's enough. You'll carry this meat later."

"Oh, okay."

Zhang Wei looked reluctantly at the more than half-wasted giant python corpse, but obediently began turning over the pieces of Serpent Meat that had already been cut, roasting them over the fire.

In the Outer City, the few designated places that sold supplies charged exorbitant prices. Two units of Wish Power bought only one pound of meat, while they purchased it for five pounds per unit of Wish Power.

So most of the meat brought back from the Abyss was actually consumed by the people who brought it back, or exchanged among relatives.

There was also private selling, but if one was caught, their cannon-fodder points would be wiped clean. Unless they had truly reached a dead end, few would risk it.

The same went for food.

With the amount of supplies each person could carry back and forth from the Abyss limited, the company had effectively pinned all living supplies in the Outer City at a fixed threshold, keeping everyone tightly controlled through price adjustments.

By the time Zhang Wei had lightly roasted the Serpent Meat and stuffed it into his backpack, night had fully fallen.

A rainforest night was a true dark forest. Layers of tree shadows surrounded them, looking like dancing demons beneath the flickering firelight.

Even so, with such a huge, reeking snake corpse beside them, Tao Yu urged Zhang Wei,

"Get ready to move. It isn't safe to stay here too long. I wounded another Giant Snake earlier, not this one. It might be nearby."

"Okay."

They needed rest, but they needed to find another place first.

Otherwise, it would not just be Giant Snakes that might come. All kinds of trouble could be drawn over. Even if they could deal with it, they would not be able to rest properly.

Zhang Wei understood that as well.

After making several crude torches from resin and branches, he took a torch in one hand and a steel pipe in the other, walking in front.

"What talent did you awaken? A combat type?"

Tao Yu looked at Zhang Wei's tall, thin frame. After everything they had been through, including dissecting the giant snake, he still seemed to have plenty of strength left despite carrying roughly twenty kilograms of Serpent Meat, so Tao Yu asked.

The other man did not have a trait like One Proof, Eternal Proof. The only reason he could remain normal was that his Stamina limit was high enough.

"Brother Tao, my awakened talent is Stamina (E+). Leave this kind of hard work to me. As long as you can hold the line behind me, I don't need anything. I just want to follow you and make it back alive."

Zhang Wei walked ahead, his voice full of flattery.

Hearing him, Tao Yu roughly understood why he was being so humble.

Because he had a Combat Talent, as long as he survived this trip, he could achieve a certain class promotion. With that hope in sight, he was not merely being polite.

On Awakening Day, Outer City residents usually only hoped to survive. The fact that they had already killed a giant python counted as a pretty good haul.

By comparison, if Zhang Wei went back and sold himself, both his price and income would be much higher.

Stamina (E+) was a standard workhorse talent. It was more useful on the combat side than Eagle Eye, and roughly comparable to Dynamic Vision of the same rank.

It was considered a standard ordinary Combat Talent.

Getting a stable job like his parents'—or even a better one—would not be difficult.

Of course, it was hard to say whether his skill rank was really E+. Perhaps there was some exaggeration involved.

"Very good. Mine is Dynamic Vision (B). I can see the road clearly at night too. We complement each other somewhat. But I'm planning to keep hunting these Giant Snakes. Are you sure you want to follow me?"

Tao Yu estimated that revealing one of his talents would give the other man more confidence.

If he had encountered those twins, he might have revealed Dynamic Vision (MAX) to raise his own value.

But right now, he only needed to keep Zhang Wei in line. There was no need to show off too much.

"A B-rank Combat Talent? Brother Tao, you're incredible! Don't worry, as long as you hold the line, I'll cooperate with you."

Zhang Wei was both flattering him and genuinely shocked. Dynamic Vision was only an ordinary Combat Talent, but wouldn't a B-rank level be enough to easily enter the Security Team?

If he worked hard, perhaps he might even have a chance to enter the Inner City?

That was something Zhang Wei did not even dare dream of.

Then he said awkwardly,

"Well, actually, my talent is D+. When I teamed up with someone before, he seemed a little jealous."

Since he no longer had to worry about provoking jealousy, Zhang Wei wanted to make himself seem a little more valuable.

Zhang Wei had never had any thoughts about the gains from Awakening Day.

He did not have a single valuable skill and could only rely on his talent to get by. To put it bluntly, even if he had Wish Power now, he could only improve his physical condition by doing radio calisthenics, which was both wasteful and inefficient.

Since Stamina (D+) already ensured his lower limit, he might as well give his limited Wish Power to this powerful backer and improve his strength first.

"Not bad. The stronger you are, the better. I'll take anything related to Wish Power. If you perform well, you can take the Serpent Meat and Liu Wen's pistol back afterward."

Tao Yu gave him a small promise.

The items people could carry back and forth between the two places were limited not only in volume, but in weight as well.

That was why his home was full of things cobbled together from everywhere.

Weight was calculated based on the load a person could carry without being affected. With Stamina (D+), Zhang Wei should have a chance to bring back fifty kilograms in the final round.

Along with an ordinary pistol worth around a hundred units of Wish Power, that was already a very good haul for Zhang Wei.

Tao Yu's two parents combined might only earn this much in half a month.

He could have given him nothing, but setting a target to dangle before him would better motivate the other man's initiative.

"Thank you, thank you! I'll definitely work hard!"

Zhang Wei had clearly been stirred into action and looked somewhat energized.

His talent was not particularly outstanding. Even if he returned and sold himself, he would only become a laborer, though his life would be much better than before. This haul was enough for him to take the risk!

Besides, this big brother had Dynamic Vision (B), and he clearly had some foundation in firearms, shooting with incredible accuracy. These Giant Snakes looked dangerous, but they were still within an acceptable range...