Chapter 254: Unkind Visitors
Soon, the members of the "Mountain Antelope Group" finished collecting the funeral objects in the stone chamber and had nothing else to do. They gathered in groups of two or three, whispering to each other, with uncontrollable joy on their faces.
"Haha, we got rich this time..."
"Yes. With this money, it's enough for me to get married and live the rest of my life in peace. I don't have to go out hunting and risk my life anymore."
"I plan to buy a better genetic potion to see if I can break through to the second level of transcendence..."
"Don't be too happy too soon. Wait until you can get out alive."
“…”
But everyone understands that the person they should be most grateful to for being able to live to this day is "Dr. Nicholas" who is doing some strange things in the corner at this moment.
But no one dared to ask, and no one dared to disturb.
…
There is also a concept of addictive drugs in this world.
Ryan was like a drug addict, injecting himself with paralyzing toxins with a syringe from time to time.
After each injection, it takes less than half an hour for the body's immune system to fully adapt to this dose of toxin.
Then add a little more and inject again.
Even without looking at the system's data panel, he could clearly feel that the paralysis caused by the [Dog-head Paralysis Toxin] was becoming weaker and weaker.
When the toxin resistance reaches a certain level, it will almost reach the level of complete immunity. In the end, it will be like drinking water, you just drink it.
Probably, it won't be long before we reach that level.
…
Now that the elusive monster was gone, Ryan and the members of the "Mountain Antelope Group" waited patiently in the stone chamber.
The sound of distant gunfire could often be heard in the corridor, as if it had taken thousands of twists and turns before reaching the ears, and was already too faint to be noticed.
It can be imagined that the other hunters encountered monsters and were firing fiercely.
But that's none of their business.
This small stone chamber provided everyone with a temporary safe shelter.
Ryan found this "safe house" by following the special symbols carved on the wall. It was like solving a Rubik's Cube, which required certain skills. It was not something that could be found by just barging in.
But even though the maze is big, it can't handle the large number of people.
This time, tens of thousands of scavengers entered the underground. No matter how complicated the maze was, there were still some lucky guys who accidentally stumbled in.
However, other hunting groups are not as lucky as the "Mountain Antelope Group".
The "dog-headed man" in the maze can pop out from the cracks in the wall at any time and easily take a person's life. There are not only monsters, but also mechanisms.
One wrong step could mean fatal danger.
Generally, a small or medium-sized hunting group of dozens of people cannot withstand a few twists and turns.
Sooner or later, those experienced hunters would realize that this was a maze. But no one knew the ancient Monk language, and no one could guess the structure of the maze like Ryan did after just one look.
There may be other "safe houses", but the ancient characters on the stone carvings are incomprehensible, so they may have been overlooked.
The more anxious people are, the more they want to find the "exit". They run around in the maze like headless flies, but before they know it, there are only a few people left.
During the hours of waiting, several waves of scavengers came by mistake, but most of them left in disgrace.
Those survivors, with fear and despair on their faces, rushed into the "safe house" in a panic and ran into Ryan and his group who were recuperating, which was no more reassuring than running into monsters.
In such a confined environment, there is no burden at all in killing people, and strangers traveling with others are also "dangerous factors" that must be guarded against.
This is an experience that any wilderness hunter knows.
Therefore, everyone in the "Mountain Antelope Group" was very alert to any movement.
If someone breaks in, more than ten muskets will be pointed at the intruder. After all, they are carrying a huge sum of money on them, so no one dares to be careless.
Most of those who strayed in were injured, and some of them also took with them some treasures they found in the maze. In their panic, looking at the black muzzle of the gun, in order to avoid misunderstanding, no one dared to stay and left in a hurry.
The most important thing is that no one thought that the stone chamber where Ryan and his companions were staying was any different from the ones they had encountered before. There was no need to take the risk and stay together.
Of course, there are exceptions.
That is the strength of the intruders. They are stronger than the "Mountain Antelope Group" and are so unscrupulous.
This time, the Duke's Mansion recruited mostly small and medium-sized hunting groups, with the smallest group having a dozen people, the largest having only a few dozen people, and the least having a team of several hundred people.
A team of this size simply can't stand the hassle. They can just wander around in this underground palace and be lucky if a few of them are still alive.
Ryan and his group stayed in the stone chamber for five or six hours and encountered more than a dozen groups of fellow travelers, but most of them were incomplete teams of three or five people.
Finally, after using his muskets to force several assassins who were leading the way back into the corridor, Ryan realized that trouble might be coming.
…
Five or six hours have passed since we collectively entered the mausoleum.
The surviving hunters are encountering danger less and less frequently.
At the beginning, a "dog-headed man" might emerge from the cracks in the rocks at almost any time; but now, you may not encounter one even after walking for half an hour.
Everyone understood that the number of those "dog-headed monsters" was not infinite. The thirty or forty thousand people who entered the underground palace had probably consumed them with their lives.
In the dark corridor, a group of people were making marks along the way, trying to find the exit of the maze.
But no matter which way they went, they found that there was no pattern to the marks at all.
This is a medium-sized team called the "Iron Feather Hunting Group".
Before entering the underground palace, they had about 300 to 500 people. But now only the 30-odd people are alive, nearly 90% of them have been killed.
Then, by accident, the assassin who was leading the way discovered Ryan and his group in the "safe house".
This situation was also reported.
"Captain, there is a hunting group in the stone chamber ahead! They seem to be from the 'Mountain Antelope Group'..."
"Huh... That small group hasn't been wiped out yet? How many people are there?"
"Twelve."
"Is it possible? They didn't lose much personnel?"
“…”
Coincidentally, this hunting group knew the "Mountain Antelope Group".
They also knew that this small group usually had only about a dozen people.
Now they have encountered this damn maze. Countless hunting groups that are much stronger than them have been wiped out, but they actually survived?
And... there was almost no loss of personnel?!
This is really surprising.
The leader [Elephant Foot] Becky is a veteran strongman of the third level and is quite famous among the individual hunters.
He listened to the assassin's report, frowned, and immediately realized something, "Let's go! Let's go and take a look!"
…
Dozens of people walking in the corridor made quite a noise, so naturally the members of the "Mountain Antelope Group" discovered them.
The team members were also nervous.
The other side has several times more people than them. If a conflict really breaks out, they will be at an absolute disadvantage.
"Captain, some people are coming, at least dozens of them..."
"What do we do now?"
"If they really have bad intentions, we will fight them! Anyway, I would rather die than give up the treasure that I exchanged my life for..."
"Me too!"
“…”
Captain Bart also looked solemn as he listened.
If you don't have so many valuable treasures on you, you can just ignore them. People with bare feet are not afraid of those with shoes. We are all hunters. Even if we have bad intentions, we will never kill just for the sake of killing.
But now that I have a huge amount of money, the situation is different.
If it really gets robbed, the thing I exchanged my life for would be used as a wedding dress for nothing. No one can bear it.
But it is obvious that the other side has more people and more power, and it is impossible to defeat them by force.
Bart did not pin the safety of their group on the kindness of those guys of unknown origin.
Now we can only prepare for the worst, either fight or leave.
But leaving this stone chamber now is not a good option.
Thinking of this, he turned his gaze to look at Ryan, who was still calm and meditating with his eyes closed, and asked, "Mr. Nicholas, look at us..."
Ryan didn't even raise his eyelids, and said calmly: "Just wait and see."
"good!"
Hearing the calm tone of these words, Bart felt delighted, and the uneasiness in his heart suddenly settled down.
Knowing that the other party has more people and more power, he is still so calm, which means that this "big shot" in front of him is fully confident that he can deal with it.
But Bart also tried hard many times to recall when he had made friends with such a big shot.
But there is still no impression at all.
…
Soon, the members of the "Iron Feather Hunting Group" came out of the corridor.
The firelight illuminated the faces of people wearing gas masks, which looked a little grim.
These guys were fully armed, and most of them were wearing equipment that was several times more than they could carry. It looked like spoils of war, or things they had taken from their dead companions.
Click, click, click…
The two groups faced each other one by one, and the sound of gunfire rang out in unison.
More than a dozen muskets faced off against dozens of muskets.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
At this time, a path separated from the crowd and a man walked out.
He didn't care about the guns at all, and said with a smile: "Yo... Bart, what do you mean? You and your brothers are going to greet me with guns?"
Bart looked at the other person's attire and recognized him. He was a little surprised: "Captain Becky?"
Although his expression was calm, he secretly felt that something was wrong.
He never expected that the person coming would be a third-order transcendent!
Most of the high-level extraordinary people are concentrated in the subordinates of great nobles, or in large-scale hunting groups. For ordinary hunters, the third-level extraordinary people are the top-level strong people they can come into contact with.
This is a big shot.
Seeing the person coming, Bart's eyes unconsciously fell on Ryan in the distance.
He felt somewhat nervous, because although he knew that this "Doctor Nicholas" must be no ordinary person, he was not sure that he could be a match for this top-tier warrior among the independent hunters.
What’s more, there are so many people on the other side!
"Everyone, put your guns away..."
After recognizing the man, the strange look on Bart's face disappeared for a moment, and he signaled his team members to put away their guns.
Because this kind of weapon is useless against high-level extraordinary people and will even anger the opponent.
If they really find an excuse to take action against others, they will definitely be the ones who suffer.
The "Mountain Antelope Regiment" put down their guns, and the "Iron Feather Regiment" also put down their guns. However, there was a hint of ill intention in the eyes of those people, as if they were carnivorous lions looking at herbivorous antelopes.
Becky looked around the stone chamber, her eyes lingering for a moment on several golden coffins inlaid with gems, then moved to other places.
To his surprise, there was neither the body of the dog-headed monster nor any human bodies in the stone chamber.
And when she looked again, she was even more shocked by the sutured wounds on the necks of the wounded soldiers of the "Mountain Antelope Regiment".
Such a horrific wound was obviously caused by the bite of the dog-headed monster.
But how can you survive after being bitten by that monster?
One could be considered a coincidence, but there were actually three injured people whose necks were bitten?
Several second-level deputy captains in his regiment were bitten to death instantly. How did these guys survive?
At this moment, countless doubts popped up in Becky's mind. He looked at Bart and did not rush to ask other questions. Instead, he asked directly: "Bart, did you also encounter those dog-headed monsters?"
Bart didn't seem to talk to these people, but he had to respond: "We did. Our team also lost several brothers because of this."
Just a few?
Hundreds of people in my group died because of that monster!
Becky looked unhappy after hearing this, and asked tentatively, "I see the wounds of your brothers were caused by the bite of the dog-headed monster?"
Hearing this, Bart guessed what the other party was curious about and thought to himself that something was wrong.
But such a big wound could not be concealed, and people might believe him if he lied. But he certainly would not expose Dr. Nicholas's superb medical skills.
Unexpectedly, Sister Pasha said, "Yes. They are lucky. They didn't die after being bitten."
"oh?"
Becky looked at Pasha's attire and asked doubtfully, "Are you a high-ranking doctor?"
Hundreds of people died in his team. How could he not know that this monster not only bites, but also releases poison and sucks blood instantly, making it impossible to save them.
This was the conclusion reached by the only senior doctor in their team.
Now, we actually see a living person in a small group?
Pasha didn't intend to explain further, neither admitted nor denied, she just said: "I am a clergy extraordinary."
“…”
When Becky heard this, her expression became uncertain.
Having witnessed hundreds of people being bitten to death, he naturally did not believe that a low-level extraordinary person could heal such injuries, but the facts were before him. Perhaps, by chance, some holy beings could heal such injuries?
If there really is such a medical genius, then we must keep him under our control!
…
It was obvious that the other party was trying to find out their secrets with one question after another, and Bart also saw through the little thoughts of the people in the "Iron Feather Group".
He didn't intend to get entangled with these people, and said to the members of the group beside him: "Brothers, tell the brothers of the Iron Feather Group..."
As soon as the words fell, everyone in the stone chamber immediately leaned against the wall, clearing a passage in the middle.
This is a euphemism for driving someone away.
The stone chamber of only a few dozen square meters could not accommodate so many people. Only when they made way could the uninvited guests pass through.
As soon as the words fell, everyone in the stone chamber immediately leaned against the wall, clearing a passage in the middle.
If we were hunting somewhere else, we would just say hello and leave.
But Becky was not stupid. Looking at the dried blood and burnt torches on the ground, he guessed that Bart and his men had been in this stone chamber for quite some time.
He was also more curious. His own team had escaped a near-death experience, but this "Mountain Antelope Regiment" did not suffer much loss. Why was that?
He was not in a hurry to leave. He turned his eyes and asked again, "Captain Bart, you should have noticed that we are now trapped in a maze. My group is short of personnel and doctors, so you can come with us. We can take care of each other."
Under normal circumstances, if a third-level extraordinary person could speak in such a polite tone, a small group like Bart would naturally not dare to disobey. But in the current situation, Bart also knew what the other party was coming for.
When they say they are short of people, they probably mean they are short of cannon fodder to explore the way.
They said they were short of doctors, so they must have seen the ability of the mountain to heal the bite of the dog-headed monster. But that was not Sister Pasha's ability at all, and they had no right to decide anything for that gentleman.
No matter how you look at it, teaming up with these guys is not a good choice.
Bart glanced at Ryan who was silent and refused directly: "Thank you for your kindness, Captain Becky. But no need, we have injured people now, and we still plan to rest."
"???"
Being rejected so directly, Becky thought she had misheard.
His face turned a little gloomy, and he said, "Oh? So that's it..."
How dare these guys reject me?
No matter how stupid he was, he guessed what "secret" these people might have.
All responses have been avoiding him.
In the current situation, their "Iron Feather Group" has an overwhelming advantage, but they still care about their face. This is not smart.
Since we have encountered this, the doctor must be taken away and the secret must be revealed.
Since the other party is so shameless, let's just break up with him!
…
But even if you take action, you have to find a reason.
Becky set his eyes on the three golden coffins in the stone chamber again and said directly, "Hey, Captain Bart, it seems that you have made a good harvest this time?"
Although they had Ryan's storage ring, the extra treasures still occupied the packages of the "Mountain Antelope Group", which were bulging, making it easy to see that they had made a considerable harvest.
When Bart heard this, he took the initiative to open a bag, revealing the golden coins, and said, "I found some gold items that are not very valuable."
Hearing this, Becky always felt like she was hitting cotton with her fist. Bart didn't give her any chance to make trouble.
At this time, Becky's eyes fell on the coffins in the stone chamber and asked, "Are there any treasures in those coffins? These pure gold coffins inlaid with gems are priceless. You didn't take them away?"
He thought these coffins were the biggest "suspicious points" in the entire house!
