Enemies Are All Nourishment for My Fungi..

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Hunting with Captain Xiao Ni (3)
 

The team rested on the spot, throwing out the prey they had just stored in the Space and the others began to skin and debone the animals.

Ah Qi and Ye Nai climbed into the tractor, first flipping through the instruction manual to understand the functions of the various dials and levers, and then moved on to hands-on operation.

Despite increasingly complex dashboards, the basics of tractor operation remained the same. Having a tractor driving license didn’t really matter since Ye Nai wasn’t using it in the city. She bought this for use as a special vehicle in the Secret Realm, and, see, it came in handy almost immediately after purchase.

Ye Nai learned nonstop all morning without theory or traffic rules to consider, only needing to drive straight and reverse properly.

Once she had mastered it, those who were skinning and deboning also finished their job. They discarded the unwanted waste on the ground, and the logistical team members collected the clean meat.

After the team finished packing up, they prepared to cross the river.

Ye Nai stored all the team’s vehicles into her Space and then brought out a large trailer.

This again elicited cheers from the team, who had initially thought they might need to ferry people back and forth across the river using the tractor’s head.

“Relax, I’m thorough in my work. Having just the tractor head without a trailer wouldn’t do.”

Ye Nai patted her chest, smiling with a spirited look.

She backed the tractor up to the trailer and secured the bolt. Aligning the vehicle precisely was still beyond Ye Nai, so Ah Qi stepped in to complete the task and took over driving across the river.

The Water Element team members ran along the bank to find a relatively safer section of the river. Their crossing would be noisy, and if there were any mutant beasts in the water nearby, they would have difficulty escaping alive.

Once everything was ready, the others climbed into the trailer and stood steady, holding on, while Ye Nai sat in the passenger seat, observing every move Ah Qi made.

The tractor slowly entered the river.

The water reached just below the engine hood, with no worry of water ingress, and the section chosen by the team members proved to be indeed safe—they reached the shore without incident and continued driving until they stopped on solid, dry land.

“Ah Qi, Ye Nai, get on the trailer.”

Captain Xiao Ni’s voice came through the walkie-talkie that Ah Qi was carrying. Both immediately got out of the tractor and climbed into the trailer.

The floor of the cargo space was filled with boxes of guns and ammunition.

Seeing this, Ye Nai also took out all the guns and ammunition from her Space.

“Here, Ye Nai, let’s discuss something.”

“What is it, Captain?”

“How about using this tractor as a cover? During hunting, we can have the logistical group stay on top of this?”

Ye Nai immediately understood. The trailer, being big, tall, and heavy, was a place she’d also like to hunker down in herself.

With its slow speed, staying in the tractor’s cabin wasn’t very safe. Facing a mutant beast that liked to charge, the glass wouldn’t withstand several hits, but the steel body of the trailer would.

She had six trailers. Besides the two that were loaded with stuff, there were four more—they could even be used as bludgeoning weapons in a pinch, capable of crushing a few creatures if not outright killing them.

“Sure, I also think it’s safer here. It’s surrounded on all sides, giving more of a sense of security than lying on the roof of a car.”

“Haha, great, then it’s settled. Let’s go, get off, and we’ll chase after the prey.”

“How about this,” Ah Qi suggested, “Ye Nai continues to drive the tractor as practice, to learn how to drive with a trailer. Follow behind the convoy, and Big Eye will stay on the vehicle to be our eyes.”

“That works for me,” Big Eye nodded.

The rest also thought this was a good idea.

Ye Nai looked in the direction of the voice and saw the warrior known as Big Eye indeed had a pair of beautiful, large eyes and was carrying a large sniper rifle.

She felt a fiery desire in her heart at the sight, longing to have such a gun for herself.

“Wow, sniper, I didn’t notice before, what are the requirements to get a big sniper rifle?”

“At least Training Level 4,” the team members said with a laugh. “Big Eye’s Awakening ability is perfect for sharp vision, and he’s an Elite Sniper at Training Level 5, which means he’s really got some exceptional skills.”

“Wow!”

Ye Nai’s admiration gushed forth like the endless waters of a torrential river.

At only Training Level 2, practicing with a pistol at a static target, she couldn’t even imagine how many years it would take to reach Training Level 4 and lay her hands on a sniper rifle.

“Actually, even the grenade gun you were using before requires at least Training Level 3 to handle, but you know, it’s different inside the Secret Realm.”

“Got it.”

Back on the ground, Ye Nai released the convoy’s vehicles, driving a tractor and following the last car, with Ah Qi sitting in the passenger seat, ready to adjust and correct anything promptly.

This was their first river crossing, and without a map, they relied entirely on Big Eye to point out the direction.

Ye Nai also released a large number of superpower spores to search for prey, and when the fungus detected the prey, it was almost exactly in the direction Big Eye had indicated.

Once they found their prey, Ye Nai began to mark their territory by using the fungus to build a defensive line. The prey could run anywhere they liked, but they were not allowed to charge toward the convoy.

Prey caught in her sight only had two fates: either to be shot dead or suffocated by the fungus. In any event, this trip required them to return full to the brim.

This was a new area they had not visited before, lush with grass and teeming with herbivores everywhere. Only when they observed a minor panic in a group could they catch a glimpse of a carnivore leaping across.

In such a bountiful place, who would want to leave? They set up camp and began hunting.

Ye Nai’s tractor found a new use. The vehicles formed a circle, tents within, and the watchmen stayed on the trailers, overseeing everything from a higher vantage point.

Nocturnal animals occasionally disturbed their peace, but for the most part, everyone slept soundly.

Such a rich food environment naturally also attracted the bloodthirsty mutant plants, all of which were nourishment for the fungus.

Finding mutant plants was a breeze for the fungus. It propagated through the soil attracted by energy, and once it found the main root, it latched on, sucking all the energy from the roots until the entire mutant plant perished.

At dawn, work began.

Elite Sniper Big Eye and the logistics crew stayed on the trailers while everyone else chased after their chosen prey in vehicles, launching ramming attacks with reinforced fronts, stunning the prey before delivering the final shot.

Ye Nai drove her tractor, pulling the trailer at a steady pace, wary of accelerating too much. She feared that in her eagerness, she might forget about the trailer behind her with several people inside.

Unsafe driving led to tears for loved ones.

The tractor itself naturally attracted the attacks of mutant beasts, but unlike humans, they didn’t understand to target the mechanical weaknesses, and even Gold Element beasts only issued slashes with their golden blades in vain attempts to cut open the solid steel plates of the vehicle.

To no avail.

Instead, it was Ye Nai who used the spores to restrain the mutant beast, preventing it from launching continuous attacks, leading to its demise under Big Eye’s sniper rifle.

After a day’s work, when they tallied the hunting harvest, Big Eye’s kills were arguably the most presentable.

As an Elite Sniper, he would aim for the eyes of the mutant beasts rather than the body, preserving their complete form. Unlike others who used guns and grenade guns, leaving the prey torn apart, a fine pelt had to be divided into several pieces for use.

Though the value was lower, thanks to the bountiful harvest, the profit distributed to each person was still good.

“Ah, we’ve never had such a rich hunting harvest before.”

“We’ll continue tomorrow; let’s use up all the bullets before heading back.”