Chapter Ch87.2 - Therapsid
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
The valley by the lake.
Wei Shi’s disappearance was like flicking a switch, waking up the players who’d been lurking in the dark.
Ming Yao’s expression was still solemn, “What did he look over here for! Little Witch, did you provoke him?” Looking at his expression, it seemed that he was capable of sacrificing his teammates in order to escape at any minute. Ming Yao was then very frank as he explained his behavior, “I’m not afraid of death, it’s just that I’m spontaneously protecting the DPS core of the team––which is myself, as the sniper.”
“……” Wu Jin rubbed his face and shifted his gaze from Ming Yao, to Lin Ke, who was afraid of all insects, and finally looked at their fourth teammate.
The E-level trainee smiled and introduced himself, “Sora, scouting position.”
Wu Jin nodded quickly and also introduced himself. He thought in his heart that he finally understood why this teammate had run faster than anyone else.
By the lake, the two Anteosaurus were closely guarding the dead Moschops they’d taken down. One was still trying to break open the supplies box, and to one side of the team, there was the flash of gunfire.
Wu Jin narrowed his eyes, “There are at least three teams on guard nearby––”
Sora and Ming Yao both spoke up at the same time, “Four teams.”
Wu Jin nodded. Both of them were more experienced than he was. However, he soon discovered that all three of his teammates were looking at him.
Wu Jin was confused.
Ming Yao immediately reminded him, “You’re the brain! I’ve watched all the previous games. It’s the type of brain that can automatically find a way and solve any riddle. Or do you mean that it has to be wound up first…”
“!!!” Seeing Ming Yao stretch out his hand, Wu Jin jumped up with a swish and puffed up his small round face.
Ming Yao had to take his hand back. He muttered under his breath, “I’ve wanted to touch it for a long time. Forget it. How about we go down and grab the supplies first? This valuable sniper can take the lead.”
He raised up his gun skillfully and swept his two hands through the air, adjusting the anesthesia injection needle to a strangely crooked angle before he was barely satisfied. Ming Yao beckoned behind him, then ran into the valley without looking back, but was taken by surprise when a head of small curls appeared beside him.
Ming Yao was shocked.
Wu Jin gestured for him to go back and pointed to himself, “I’m the a.s.sault position.”
Ming Yao was amused, “Are you trying to protect me?”
Wu Jin nodded repeatedly as he looked for a dead branch and quickly started up a fire with the magnesium bar. “The tranquilizer gun has a maximum range of 40 meters. We won’t need to defend against snipers if we charge quickly. In theory, these Dinocephalians should be afraid of fire. I’ll block them for you, and you open the box. Save on the anesthetics if you cank2013;k2013;”
Wu Jin’s eyes suddenly opened wide, and he huffed as he covered up his small curls.
Ming Yao laughed loudly, “I just touched it, don’t be so petty! Ah, don’t mention it, even our captain wants to touch them. If I had your hairstyle, would the captain care about me more… Hahaha, why is your face red? No wait you were red just now, but weren’t you squatting with me to watch the creatures. How can you blush from looking at monsters…”
Wu JIn’s heart felt haggard. When Ming Yao wasn’t crying, he spoke without punctuation marks. He could only retort back, “You saw wrong! I didn’t blush! It was the light from the fire!”
Behind him, Lin Ke also lifted up his torch and was especially careful to keep the insects at bay.
Ming Yao casually pushed against Wu Jin with a shoulder, “Hey, with this gun in my hand, I can shoot and hit even at 40 meters. Don’t worry.”
Wu Jin paused, then his eyes lit up.
Jingyi’s snipers weren’t only the core of the team, but also the core of their entire entertainment company. He was overjoyed that Ming Yao could make use of this simple tranquilizer gun.
Ming Yao was immersed in the joy of his boasting and continued to gesture, “If it was my captain, he’d be able to snipe you from 100 meters with this c.r.a.ppy gun! Beyond the gun’s range!”
Wu Jin stopped paying attention to his exaggerations and discussed tactics with the other two teammates before holding a torch and making his way down the mountain. Lin Ke followed immediately behind him, and Sora whistled from off in the distance to show that he’d finished his arrangements. Ming Yao hid himself in the forest, then counted to three––
The terror-filled roar of the beasts filled the jungle.
Countless cameras flew up at this moment.
The youth’s face was illuminated by the fire, and two other people rushed into the valley at the same time as he did. The lake water was dyed red by the torchlight, and the two Anteosaurus unsurprisingly showed fear towards the fire. They were overly hasty in their retreat, and exposed a wrinkle in their tough, stiff skin. They let out constant, low rumbling roars and exposed their tusks in a show of deterrence even as they attempted to approach.
The three meter long behemoths were instinctively wary of fire, but the danger the team faced didn’t come from this.
Two tranquilizer guns were constantly aimed at the biggest threat––Wu Jin.
“Lin Ke!” Wu Jin avoided the fight as he dodged forward to escape the attack while running towards the two beasts.
Lin Ke followed closely behind him, dry leaves and branches kicked up from the ground with his movements. In a flash, Wu Jin had already come around to the back of the two giant animals.
The youth finally stood still.
The trainee who was far away from Wu Jin prepared to shoot again, but was almost hit by an anesthesia needle that approached from a tricky angle. He retreated abruptly and looked towards Ming Yao, who was hidden amongst the trees.
By the lake, the Anteosaurus who were now huddled beside the body of the Moschops finally tried to charge at Wu Jin.
The torch was too small, and it was too far removed from the forest fires that existed in the primitive, instinctively transmitted memories of these Permian period Therapsids. The female was even bigger than the male at nearly four meters long. Its heavy head stuck out from its thick neck, and saliva flowed down from its tusks.
They were trying to provoke the flames.
Existing in the Permian period 260 million years ago, they needed to through a long period of evolution, avoid numerous natural disasters and exterminations, and make it into the mammalian genealogy with a 1/10000 probability before learning to worship and embrace fire 250 million years later.
However, at this moment, its 4 meters of length and nearly 8 tons of weight was enough to allow it to ignore the damage caused by this small cl.u.s.ter of flames.
Wu Jin slowly set down the torch.
Lin Ke finally tossed down the last dry branch and wasn’t stingy at all as he sprinkled the tinder over it, like cotton wool floating in the night sky.
The brows of the other two trainees twisted abruptly. They’d seen almost the same scene during the final stage of the last round of the Tarot card instances––
The flames blazed.
The female Anteosaurus was half a beat slower and stepped onto the fire. It was frightened by the flames and drew back, but its temporary male partner immediately urged her onward with a roar, only for her to roar back in defiance.
In the Permian period where the oxygen content of the air was as high as 28%, the burning rate of the flames was much faster than everyone had expected. The two creatures could only turn around and run in the opposite direction. The trainee who’d originally been standing behind them ended up in the path of their charge, and he trembled as he began to run away.
One side of the valley was now completely cut off by the fire, and the lakeside that represented the throne at the top of the food chain had finally been cleared out by the team of four.
From behind them, Ming Yao quickly put away his gun, “I’m coming, I’m coming. Are you really letting me open the box? Don’t blame me for my unlucky hands––”
The sky suddenly lit up.
Wu Jin looked up in amazement, and Ming Yao swallowed back the second half of his sentence as he frowned up into the night.
Lightning broke through the sky, and roiling clouds soon covered up the moons.
“Hurry.” Wu Jin and Ming Yao spoke at practically the same time.
There’d been no sign of the storm a few minutes ago, the double moons hanging high in the sky. The sudden appearance of lightning and thunder were obviously not in line with common sense––
Wu Jin suddenly realized. If the Crosson show really aligned with common sense, then how would he, the leader of a boy group, end up on a colonial planet amidst a galaxy of stars with the Permian period and these Moschops that had been restored by some method that only ghosts understood, holding a torch as he jumped around?!
On the other side, Ming Yao had ruthlessly pulled out all the materials in the supply box and shared them with his teammates.
Lightning streaked by again, and rain began to fall like sharp blades, suddenly suppressing the blazing fire.
From above the valley, Sora quickly reported his position and the other three rushed back into the jungle with solemn expressions on their faces. The rain sounded like bullets as they smashed against the huge fern leaves, interfering with their hearing.
“Let’s go. Those two beasts are still behind us.” Sora, who was in charge of scouting, tried to speak as loudly as possible, “We can’t build up a fire now. Head south. Based on the landform, there should be mountains and rocks there.”
Ming Yao also raised his voice to reply, “Alright. How many people are still left alive––”
All of a sudden, he straightened his neck and looked ahead. His throat moved, trembling, but he was unable to make a sound.
The forest along the hill in front of them was blocked by a group of giant lizards.
Their eyes were terrifyingly bloodshot, and their backs all bulged up with no exceptions.
Ming Yao suddenly backed away.
Pieces of bright red bones stood up, and the skin attached to the lizards’ back stretched open revealing a crisscross of membranes and blood vessels.
All the lizards present raised the chilling spine sails on their backs.
Juurensha: Is it velociraptor time???? Also, got to kind of ship Ming Yao with his captain, the true double C sniper CP.