"The area ahead is a radiation exclusion zone. We can't go any farther. Let's head back and grind ordinary Raiders and Mutated Creatures."
Thin Dog, Demon Fox, and Lin Tang, who had gone out to explore the map, had now reached the southernmost area of Four Mountains.
There was an enormous crater here.
It looked very much like the epicenter of a nuclear explosion.
Radiation-infused thorn flowers grew all around it, blooming in flowers of every color, beautiful in an eerie way.
One prick would inflict the radiation status and start draining health.
The three of them carefully hid behind the thorn flowers, staring at the lush green crater ahead.
They couldn't see the end of it at a glance.
But they could vaguely make out creatures moving inside.
The moment they had stepped into the crater, all of them had been afflicted with a radiation Debuff and had begun slowly losing health. Terrified, they hurriedly retreated. Only after resting for a while did the radiation status fade from their bodies.
Clearly, this area was not somewhere they could set foot yet. Otherwise, they would die of radiation before even seeing anything.
Thin Dog, who wore a ring that increased radiation resistance by 11%, took advantage of his recent injury to calculate how effective his equipment was.
Sure enough, the damage he received was 11% lower than that of his other two teammates.
"So if we raise our radiation resistance high enough, we'll be able to explore in there, right?"
"Theoretically, yes." Demon Fox agreed with Thin Dog's assessment.
But that was a matter for the future. For now, the three of them could only turn back.
On their way here, they had discovered another Raider Camp. If they waited nearby, they might catch a Raider that had wandered off alone.
Just as the three turned around and prepared to get up, a group of Raiders approached from the north.
"Get down! Hide!"
The three lay low among the thorn flowers and watched nearly ten Raiders enter the radiation crater.
The intense radiation did not harm the Raiders. After all, their race mutated by absorbing radiation, and they could even absorb Radiation Energy to evolve themselves.
Demon Fox said, "Don't those three green-skinned Big Muscle Men leading them look familiar?"
Lin Tang exclaimed, "Hey! Aren't those... the elite monsters from the Raider Camp we visited before? Why are they here?"
The three Raiders who were visibly larger than the others were leading the group.
Thin Dog said, "Strange. Raider spawn points aren't fixed? Elite monsters move around with regular mobs? What kind of design is that? Come on, let's leave before they spot us. Once we log off later, we can ask Sentinel about this game's monster spawning mechanics."
"Alright, retreat!"
"Oh, right. Pick a few flowers and bring them back. Flowers that can survive radiation in such a hostile place might be useful."
The three each picked several vivid radiation thorn flowers and tucked them away.
With their team's current strength, fighting one Raider was the safest option. If they absolutely had to fight two, they stood a chance, but their margin for error would be extremely low. That was only because Thin Dog had upgraded his equipment; with his skill level, he needed to land some Golden Critical Hits to have any chance of winning.
The three marked the two Raider Camps they had discovered so far on their Smartwatches.
They named them Raider Camp 1 and Raider Camp 2.
The three doubled back to Raider Camp 2 and lay in ambush nearby for half the day.
They finally caught a Raider that had separated from the main group and immediately unleashed an inexplicable combo on it.
After spinning the Raider dizzy, they gave it a thorough beating.
In the end, the three each gained another 8 experience points and obtained a corpse.
Thin Dog glanced at his Smartwatch.
Experience: 42/500
He had gained 12 experience points for killing one Raider alone, 16 experience points from the three of them killing two Raiders together that morning, 6 experience points from killing two Mutated Hyenas, and another 8 experience points from killing one Raider together just now.
The other two only had 30 experience points.
Thin Dog said, "Experience is rising so slowly. At our current efficiency, now that we've found these two fixed monster spawn points, we'd need to grind one at a time for at least a week before leveling up."
Lin Tang said, "Yeah. If we had some kind of area-of-effect weapon and could wipe out an entire Raider Camp in one go, killing dozens at once, we'd level up much faster."
Demon Fox was deep in thought.
"Lin Tang has a point. We need to find a way to speed up the game. We can't keep letting the developers lead us around by the nose."
"I think I remembered some crucial information."
"Once we log off, I'll think it through properly."
"Let's keep hunting for now. It'll be time to log off once it gets dark. Let's try to get some more loot and experience."
They did not dare charge directly into Raider Camp 2, so they could only search for lone Raiders that were out hunting and looting.
The Raiders had not expected that after robbing others for so many years, they would one day become someone else's prey.
After all, Raiders were nothing but vermin on the wasteland. Their blood and flesh were full of corruption, making even their corpses difficult to dispose of. Humans generally did what caravans did and dumped the bodies in the wilderness. Even animals would not eat Raider flesh, leaving the corpses to rot.
Watching the time, the three searched for mobs they could grind while heading back toward the base.
Elsewhere.
Inside the Radiation Pit.
There stood a Stone City built entirely from stone.
Its inhabitants were all dark-green Raiders over two and a half meters tall. Their muscles bulged, their leathery skin was as hard as stone, and they radiated power. Unlike ordinary Raiders, they did not appear dull-witted. They possessed a measure of intelligence and could speak and communicate.
The three elite Big Muscle Men from Raider Camp 1 were kneeling on the ground before the largest Raider within.
"Humans... stole... Sacred Relic. Please punish us, Chief!"
The Raider in the middle stood five meters tall. Countless tiny cracks split its skin, and the flesh within those cracks continuously writhed, like tentacles growing from its body. It was slick and disgusting, while the blood beneath its skin was blackish-green.
Smack!
The Raider chief did not move its foot, but the skin on its foot did. It transformed into a tentacle and lashed out, knocking the two-and-a-half-meter-tall Raider Elite to the ground.
"Idiot! You couldn't even handle powerless trash humans! You've absorbed Sacred Relics for so long for nothing!"
"It was the Commander, but I urgently need a Sacred Relic now. Please give me another one."
The skin on the Raider chief's hand shifted, and it took a green radiation source from its pocket.
"This Sacred Relic is only being lent to you temporarily. Bring it back in one week."
"Old humans cannot absorb the power of Sacred Relics. They must have hidden it. You must find them."
"In the coming days, I will have all our Raider Camps in Four Mountains assist you in sweeping through the humans. Our tribe's numbers should increase somewhat."
The large Raider that had come to beg forgiveness received the 'Sacred Relic,' accepted the order, and left the Radiation Pit.
But on the road, it was still puzzled as to why the two tribesmen who had gone out that morning to search for humans had yet to return.
It rubbed its stiff head. It could not figure it out.
At five-thirty in the afternoon on the wasteland, Thin Dog and the other two dragged their loot back to Calamity Base.
They saw Ink Dye Sword Xiao and Forgiveness Hat Wholesaler still building a house.
Their eyes met.
Thin Dog grinned. "Yo! New players?"
Lin Tang said, "666!"
Demon Fox looked at the large wooden cube-shaped matchbox house the two had built, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
"You two... really understand MC—Minecraft."
Thin Dog and the other two still had quite a bit of loot.
Two Raider corpses, one Mutated Vampire Rabbit, and one Mutated Hyena.
It could be said that the three had been fighting monsters the entire time.
After a busy day, their physical condition had declined to the limit. Even though the sensation of negative statuses had been weakened, they could still feel that their bodies had reached their breaking point.
Thin Dog put some beans on to cook. After everyone exchanged a few pleasantries, they began sharing information.
Xiao Xiao directly tossed out the polished stone spear. "The three of you, take a look. Is this weapon any good? If it is, I'd like to trade it for some of your prey—just enough for me to complete the beginner's quest. I'm not very good at fighting monsters."
Thin Dog said, "Huh? Your wooden spear has a really high minimum attack! And it also comes with 5 to 7 points of base Pierce Damage. Not bad at all. It feels much lighter than a Wolf Tooth Club too. Did you really make this yourself?"
"Mm! That's not the only kind of weapon I can make!"
Xiao Xiao proudly straightened her chest.
The gazes of the four people present briefly converged on the same point.
After discussing it, Thin Dog and the others decided they needed to befriend someone talented at crafting weapons.
"Alright! Make one more spear for us, and we'll trade you one portion of Biological Raw Materials."
Demon Fox said, "Oh, right. Before crafting it, let me appraise this thing first. It might be useful."
He placed the thorn flowers from their pockets onto the Attribute Conversion Tower.
A flash of light appeared.
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