Chapter 231 Uncle Sam's Disciple
Just as the intelligence said, the ruins buried underground in the desert are very large.
It seems like there are many huge ancient countries with cities connected to each other, spread over tens of thousands of square kilometers.
But not all places with city ruins are worth exploring. Most of the team members are experienced wasteland hunters who know how to distinguish the value of ruins and are half archaeologists. Civilian houses are short and are most seriously corroded by wind and sand; those large buildings with different specifications are the key places to look for.
Of course, many of them are empty cities with only broken walls and ruins left.
Occasionally, some pottery jars and corroded metal objects can be found in the sand, but they are of little value.
President Catherine of the Redwood Chamber of Commerce did not seem to intend to collect those yellow and white things. Money did not mean much to her.
Occasionally, when they passed by places where there might be valuables, she did not stop the hunters in the group from digging. But they did not delay for too long, and after a short rest, they continued their journey.
Logically speaking, this was the first time that the ruins had been discovered, and no one knew what was inside, so they could only explore as they went along. But Ryan didn't know if it was his illusion, he always felt that President Catherine seemed to know some directions, as if she was looking for something.
…
I gained nothing on the first day and spent almost the entire day walking.
The wind and sand in the desert are dazzling, rolling over one sand dune after another, endlessly.
Fortunately, everyone was a transcendent and had brought enough supplies, so this level of intensity was still easy for everyone. Apart from encountering a few scattered low-level zombies along the way, there was no danger, and they were directly killed by the wasteland hunters who had been sharpening their knives for a long time.
In the evening, everyone found an ancient city ruin with a thick broken wall and set up camp.
The camp is surrounded by weathered bricks and the ground is compacted loess. You don't have to worry about a skeleton arm suddenly popping out of the wall and grabbing you while you're sleeping. Even if you encounter a large-scale zombie tide or monsters, there are places to defend.
Tents were set up in the camp, fires were lit, and the sky gradually darkened.
There were no monsters or hunting in the desert, so everyone just ate the dry food they brought with them.
Ryan took out the dried meat and bread he brought with him and ate them at the door of his tent. He didn't hang out with other people, which made people feel a little lonely.
Surprisingly, while they were eating, President Catherine came out of the main tent holding a basket full of fruit, followed by her son Gannicus, who was carrying a silver spear.
The young master of the wealthy merchant family seemed to have never participated in hunting before. When he first entered the desert, he seemed extremely excited and interested in everything. From time to time, he used his spear to poke scorpions and lizards in the sand. But as the day went by, his interest faded. This was not the same as he had expected. He walked around for a day without encountering any treasures or any battles that would allow him to show off his skills. Everything was so quiet that it was boring...
Catherine seemed to be interested in teaching her son how to behave , so she asked him to follow behind her with a large basket of fruit. Then she asked the team members about their conditions in each tent and gave them two pieces of fruit.
Ryan had seen them a long time ago, but when the lady came over, he was still surprised by her polite attitude.
Catherine looked at Ryan, handed over two big berries, and said politely: "Mr. Nicholas, you have worked hard today. I brought some fruits, but not too much, please don't mind..."
Fresh fruit is a luxury in the desert.
Oh no, as long as it is a normal hunting operation in the wilderness, it is a luxury. Although storage rings are almost standard equipment for high-level extraordinary people, the precious one cubic meter of space is not for luxury goods such as fruits. It is too heavy to carry it by yourself, and it is not easy to preserve. As for vitamins? Wild vegetables in the wilderness can solve the problem.
The bigger the chamber of commerce, the more perfect he is in handling the human relationships.
I have to say, Catherine was able to remember the name of every scavenger and was so polite as to personally deliver fruits to their door, which won her enough favor.
Putting aside the relationship with the "Black Gold Chamber of Commerce", even Ryan, after taking the fruit, felt the urge to fulfill the contract with all his heart.
It was a very clever way of showing favor, but it didn't make people feel uncomfortable at all.
"Thanks."
Ryan nodded and said nothing more.
Catherine responded with a smile, turned around and walked towards the other team members.
…
Because of the [Black Tide], the number of sentinels is even higher.
Except for the financial sponsor Catherine, everyone worked in three shifts. As early as dark, the first wave of sentries had already gone to the periphery, on the battlements, outside the city walls...
Ryan was assigned to the second group, on midnight duty.
As the night deepened, it was still early to go to bed, so everyone gathered around the campfire and started chatting.
"Hehe, probably because of the S-level zombie tide the night before, there are not many zombies in this desert. Our hunting this time is relatively easy..."
"It's hard to say. Some zombies don't have very sensitive perceptions, or they can't get out of some underground spaces like 'underground palaces' or 'caves'. Maybe there are some very tricky ones..."
"If we really come across an underground palace, we will make a fortune. I heard that the place where a mountain of gold was found was an underground palace."
"Yes. Our current hunting team is no less powerful than those large hunting groups. As long as we don't encounter large high-level zombies, it will be easy to deal with them..."
"Eh... didn't the intelligence say there were a lot of giant bugs in this desert? We don't seem to have encountered a single one..."
"It may also be because of the insect repellent powder we brought. The first group of people encountered those strange insects and seemed to be unprepared. We brought a lot of insect repellent powder..."
“…”
The hunters were chatting and gossiping, and Catherine and her son would occasionally join in the conversation.
Probably because of the fruit just now, the wasteland hunters are obviously not so unfamiliar with the sponsor .
At this time, a wasteland hunter asked, "Madam Catherine, where are we going? I see we have been walking all day and haven't dug much. Does it seem like we have a predetermined destination?"
This is also the issue that wasteland hunters are most concerned about.
After all, the final harvest is a “dividend” in which everyone participates.
The team walked for a day today and encountered several city ruins, but almost none of them had been dug in depth. This was different from their usual hunting methods.
When Ryan heard this, he also became interested. It seemed that he was not the only one who felt this way, everyone felt the same way.
He also turned his head slightly and looked over, wanting to hear how the president would respond.
"To be honest, I do have a general direction."
Originally, it seemed a bit presumptuous for the team members to ask about the financier's plan to hunt for lies, but when Catherine heard this, she seemed to have expected it.
She had a bright smile on her face and didn't look unhappy. She explained to everyone, "Now that we have confirmed that there is a ruin of the ancient Monk Kingdom in the desert, if it is an ancient country, there must be large buildings such as the royal city. But the cities we found during the day were not large in scale, so... I guess there must be a larger ruins somewhere in the desert."
Hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up, and they vaguely guessed what she was going to say.
After a moment of silence, Catherine continued, "And it happens that I have done some research on the layout of ancient city buildings. So I guess there may be a big city at the level of a 'royal city'! Now we are one day later than the first group of people who came in. If we delay in these small cities any longer, we may miss the opportunity to reach the big city first. So, we hurried today and thank you for your hard work..."
There was one thing she didn't say: if there was a large temple, it must be in a big city like the "King's City". This was also the biggest purpose of her adventure team entering the wilderness.
This was a very polite statement, and it also clearly explained the direction and purpose of this hunting trip.
"Oh...I see."
After hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what was going on, and the slight resentment in their hearts caused by their hasty journey also dissipated instantly.
At this time, Catherine said again: "Of course, I am just guessing, there may not be ruins of a big city. However, even if we don't find the royal city, when we come back, we can follow the marks left behind to explore these small cities..."
After all, wasteland hunters are after profit.
After hearing this, everyone felt relieved. It turned out that it was not that they did not want to dig, but that there was a priority.
After discussing this topic, the atmosphere became more and more harmonious.
…
Lady Catherine's son Gannix seemed to be more interested in martial arts.
Now he was not too unfamiliar with the hunters, and he also got to know some of the veteran hunters in the group. The young man could not contain his vigorous energy, and asked Soldo, who was also using a gun and shield, for advice: "Senior Soldo, you are also a shield warrior, I want to ask you for advice."
The tone sounds a bit naive and childish, but it also shows the upbringing of a big family.
"Oh? Master Gannix is interested in this?"
The bearded middle-aged man named Soldo raised his eyebrows and looked at him.
In the past, Soldo led a hunting group of 20 to 30 people, but because of a high-level monster attack a few months ago, the group was disbanded due to heavy casualties. Later, he did not reorganize the group, but just joined some temporary teams to get by.
"Yes."
Gannix nodded and said, "My teacher said that the extraordinary people who hunt in the wilderness all year round have very strong practical skills. I hope you can give me some advice..."
Soldo also showed some interest: "Master Gannix, I saw that your marksmanship was taught by a famous master. May I ask who your master is?"
Gannix called out a name: "Sam Aurora!"
Soldo was very familiar with the name. His eyes turned and he immediately asked, "The first Holy Shield Knight of Wasakodo Province, [Dragon Lancer] Sam Aurora?"
Among the high-level extraordinary people who use knight spears in the world today , there are a few big names that cannot be ignored, and Sam Aurora is one of them.
Gannix said with a look of pride: "Yes!"
Hmm…
Not far away, Ryan was also a little surprised when he heard this. This Gannix was actually Uncle Sam's disciple? No wonder he felt that this guy's gun and shield moves were a little familiar.
"Since you are Senior Sam's disciple, you are definitely not allowed to teach me. But we can communicate."
The eldest son of the "Redwood Chamber of Commerce" lowered his posture to ask for advice, and Soldo was naturally willing to give some pointers. Although he had not broken through the third level, his many years of hunting career had allowed him to accumulate rich practical experience and his combat power was quite good.
Speaking of communication, it is natural that discussions are inevitable.
Gannis is a typical young master. His martial arts and breathing techniques are all advanced, and he goes on the court with full confidence.
The two of them fought back and forth, and it was quite lively.
But Ryan could see that Soldo had been at ease from beginning to end, which was considered to be giving him enough face. The sparring might be evenly matched, but if it came to killing, Ganniks would probably be stabbed to death in two or three encounters.
There was not much entertainment in the quiet night, but this competition was very exciting for everyone to watch.
Bang, bang, bang... the sound of shields and spears hitting each other resounded through the night sky.
"good!"
"Master Gannix, great gun!"
“…”
After all, he was the sponsor, and the audience cheered for the young man.
Ryan also found it very interesting and shouted a few words from time to time.
Perhaps infected by the intense atmosphere of the competition, all the wasteland hunters were itching to try their hand.
At this time, the bald hunter next to the tent approached Ryan and asked, "Brother, I see you are also in the Fighter Rank. Which style of boxing did you learn?"
Although there are more than a dozen melee combatants in the hunting group, the only ones who can be said to be pure fighters are Ryan and the martial artist named Tam next to him.
You can tell by looking at the weapons; only pure fighters are equipped with only boxing gloves.
The rest, most of them were armed with murderous weapons, swordsmen, axemen, hammer fighters, or shield fighters, light armor swordsmen...
Ryan responded: "I have never had a proper master. I learned a little bit here and there, but I am not good at anything. Brother Tam, how about you?"
Tam: "Brother, you are too modest. I am only a few years older than you. I learned the boxing techniques from the Qianghu Grandmaster of the 'Ba Hu Martial Arts School' in Glory City. I can barely be considered an outer sect disciple."
Ryan: "Oh? I also went to the 'Ba Hu Martial Arts Hall' to learn boxing, but I only learned for ten days or half a month. The secrets of the Qiang Hu Grandmaster are extremely powerful and I was deeply impressed."
Tam: "I studied for several years. I had the opportunity to learn a few ultimate martial arts from my teacher, but I didn't seize the opportunity and I didn't learn even after watching."
After a pause, he continued, "How about we both give it a try?"
Hearing about the sparring, Ryan politely declined: "Forget it, my boxing style is very complex and I can't control it well. Many of my moves are not up to par and can easily hurt people."
At his current level, it doesn't make much sense for him to compete with ordinary wasteland hunters. If he really uses all his strength, he may easily hurt others.
Tam didn't mind and joked, "Haha... You didn't learn the practical 'Street Fighter' style? Do you have moves like spreading lime?"
Ryan smiled and said, "I know a thing or two..."
"Hahaha... Any move that can kill the enemy is a good move. There's nothing that can't be put on the table."
Tam laughed out loud and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
“…”
Soon, the competition ended and everyone returned to their tents to rest.
Darkness swept across the desert, with only a glimmer of light where they were camping. They had no idea that a few sneaky figures had sneaked over in the night.
