Volume 1 Glacial Relics Chapter 3 Temporary Team
However, what the Hound said was not wrong. Weapons are indeed greatly limited in the ruins. It is not that weapons are useless, but in many cases, fighting cannot solve the problem, but will make things more troublesome.
In fact, many hunters are not specialized in combat - when forming a team, engineers, geologists, biologists or doctors like Ivan are often more popular than full-time warriors.
"Zhuoligetu, your strength is your strength." A short and strong man with braided hair gave Ke Lan a simple smile, "I was the one who pulled you back on the plane before."
"Thank you. If you need anything, please let me know. I will do my best as long as I can." Ke Lan nodded in greeting. Although she was almost given a concussion by the other party, it was still a life-saving favor after all.
"No, no, I should thank you for getting the protective suit back. Otherwise, none of us would survive." Zhuo Ligetu waved his hand. Compared with the previous three people, this Mongolian man seemed much easier to get along with.
Ke Lan subconsciously moved closer to Zhuo Ligetu. He didn't know why, but he always felt that the hound seemed to be hiding his abilities. It would be impossible for him to become a lone hunter of this level relying solely on his sense of smell.
"Jiang Lian." This was the only female among the seven people. She was wearing clothes with very little fabric, and large areas of exposed skin were covered with intricate and exquisite tattoos. There was even a blooming rose tattooed on her cheek.
"I seem... to have heard of this name..." Leighton stared at Jiang Lian's face and said thoughtfully.
"That's it, that's the one...very famous in the North Ninth District...I heard that it only costs 800 credit points..." An obscene smile suddenly appeared on the Hound's face, and he looked up and down at the other's body with an undisguised gaze.
Ke Lan was stunned for a moment, somewhat stunned. Although the income of a hunter was not very stable, it was not necessary for him to rely on selling that to make a living...
"Your information is a bit outdated. The current market price is three thousand credit points. However...if it were you, fifteen hundred would be enough." Jiang Lian was not angry. Instead, he twisted his waist and walked in front of the hound.
"Old dog, be careful!" Layton, who thought he was an enemy of the hound, suddenly took a step forward and stretched out a mechanical arm to block the hound .
"Ding!"
There was a flash of silver light, and a crisp sound of metal collision was heard. An inconspicuous white mark appeared on the mechanical arm, and a steel needle with a bluish-purple luster bounced off and fell to the ground.
"It's boring." Jiang Lian shrugged. "This poison won't kill you."
"Is this concentrated PSP toxin?" Ivan had picked up the steel needle at some point. "Did you extract it from algae?"
"You already know everything, and yet you still ask me?" Jiang Lian replied.
"What is that?" The Hound thought he knew a little about toxicology, but he had never heard of the name of this toxin.
"An ancient neurotoxin originating from algae on Earth... I thought specimens of this thing could only be seen in the research institute..." Ivan sighed in a low voice.
"If this needle pricks me, will I die?" asked the hound with lingering fear.
"No, the dose is not lethal, but it will at least cause hemiplegia, incontinence and so on... I suggest you don't make such jokes in the future. No one wants to travel with a burden." Ivan turned around and handed the steel needle back to Jiang Lian.
"If he only keeps his mouth shut."
The hound glanced at Jiang Lian angrily, and soon set his sights on Ke Lan: "It's your turn, our hero."
"I don't deserve to be a hero. If you can get out alive, I'll have a share of the spoils." Ke Lan smiled. "My name is Ke Lan. I'm a professional hunter. I don't have any special abilities."
"No ability?" Layton repeated these five words unhappily. "What do you mean by no ability? We are in this situation now. We are all in the same boat. Why hide it?"
"I'm just telling the truth. I'm the kind of person who knows a lot but not expert in any one thing. I know a little bit about everything, but I only know the basics." Ke Lan spread his hands.
"I see, I see. You're an all-round talent, right? You're too modest." The Hound smiled and patted Ke Lan on the shoulder. "People like you are always sought after when forming a team."
Ke Lan could only smile at the hound's flattery. Compared with working in a team, an all-round hunter is more suitable to work alone. The reason is that people like Ke Lan have a very awkward position in the team - he can play any position, but he is not as good as the talents who specialize in this position. Most of the time, he is just an dispensable candidate to fill in the gap.
When a team loses members, the first thing they need to consider is not to fill the position, but to retreat immediately. This is the way of survival for elite hunters.
"There's only this last guy left." The hound turned around and looked to one side.
A young man wearing an old model of standard armor sat cross-legged quietly on a stone, with his head lowered, holding a standard sword in his arms that was as worn as the armor - from the time Ke Lan woke up until now, he had maintained this posture without moving, and had not spoken a single word.
This man seemed to be very lonely - this was the first impression he gave to the other six people, and it was for this reason that the hound ranked him last.
"Asano Akira, a retired soldier, his specialty... let's say swordsmanship." The young man raised his head and said slowly.
"Retired soldier? I see you are only in your early twenties. According to military regulations, once you serve, you are not allowed to retire before the age of thirty-five... Besides, this set of armor of yours is an old model from more than a hundred years ago, right? It is badly worn, and the unit number and rank on the armor have been erased. Could it be that you bought it at a flea market?" The Hound was very suspicious. His eccentric personality and deliberate concealment of his identity and strength would often make such a person an unstable factor in the team. No one knew what accidents would happen in the subsequent exploration process. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was a time bomb.
Compared with Asano Akira, people like Jiang Lian are more reassuring.
In addition, there was one point that only Ke Lan did not notice - before on the transport plane, when everyone worked together to pull him into the cabin, Asano Akira was the only person sitting in his seat indifferently, except for Layton who could not move.
"If you want to prove that you are not lying, I suggest you report the number and organization of your original unit." Ivan interrupted.
Among the six people, Layton and Hound were both retired from the army. As long as Asano Akira could say these things, they could easily guess whether what he said was true or false.
"I am indeed a retired soldier, but due to confidentiality regulations, I cannot say these things."
"Bullshit!" The Hound suddenly cursed, "It's not like I haven't been a soldier before! Do you think this is still the old era? The serial number is not a military secret, there is no such thing as a messed up confidentiality regulation. I think you simply can't make one up! I think we absolutely cannot take this kid with us. The safest decision is to leave him here and let him fend for himself!"
"But I can tell you why I retired," Asano said, pointing to his eyes. "I'm blind."
Only then did Ke Lan realize that although Asano Akira had been looking at them, his eyes were unfocused - he was really a blind man.
"Blind man? Can a blind man be a hunter these days? Then I think even sows can climb trees!" The hound was stunned for a moment, but he was not polite at all.
"I won't be a burden." Asano Akira said in the same calm tone as at the beginning. He didn't seem to be angry at all about the hound's doubts and sarcasm.
"I think we can bring him along. He shouldn't be a burden." At this time, Ke Lan spoke .
"Why?"
"Did any of us notice before he said it himself... that he was blind?"
As soon as these words came out, the other five people fell silent - that's right... Apart from anything else, just when he climbed out of the wreckage of the transport plane, Asano Akira's behavior was not like that of a blind man at all. Not only did he not seek help from anyone, his speed of escaping was not slower than that of others.
"Are you really a blind man?" Before the Hound finished speaking, he had already pulled out the dagger from his waist and stabbed it straight into Asano Akira's face, stopping less than five centimeters away from the opponent's nose.
The strong wind brought by the dagger slightly blew a strand of hair on Asano Akira's forehead, but his eyes were still blank and unfocused, and he didn't even blink.
"Okay, but you have to keep up by yourself. No one will pull you up if you fall behind." The hound curled his lips and put away the dagger.
"Thank you." Asano Akira nodded.
Ke Lan saw the entire process of the hound attacking Asano Akira, and he did not try to stop it. But from the latter's performance, he really couldn't see anything. Otherwise, even if his expression was calm, facing the sharp weapon coming straight at him, there would be no possibility that his eyes would not show any slight change.
There was another discovery that Ke Lan did not mention - the sword in Asano Akira's arms and the armor he was wearing were obviously a complete set, but in the Ark's army, no unit was equipped with such standard weapons.
In Ke Lan's understanding, the most common melee weapons in the army are multi-functional daggers and engineer shovels, followed by rivets and chain swords installed on mechas... This kind of sword, which is similar in shape to the Japanese samurai sword, was eliminated as early as the old era and can only be seen in collectors' markets and fight clubs.
