Chapter 95: Offline Idling
Yang Bo needed to see how much usable time he had to scout his surroundings. The more intelligence he gathered, the better.
“Let’s hope the members of the Red Earl don’t stir up any trouble. Otherwise, I’ll have to strike first,” Yang Bo thought. “These guys are lurking here, which means the Alliance’s military has been severely infiltrated. As soon as I get back to the Administrative Star, I’m slipping away.”
He was already figuring out a way to leave the country. If the Alliance’s military had been compromised by extremist organizations, he could only imagine how bad things were elsewhere!
Since there was no distinction between day and night in space, the soldiers on duty generally took a meal break once every eight hours. Yang Bo used these time windows to expand his search area.
The Warship was structured into independent, honeycomb-like cabins, divided into numerous zones.
There were functional areas for dining, accommodation, Weapons, and so on.
Yang Bo also found the storage area for the Mechas and Warplanes, where soldiers were training on simulation equipment.
Unfortunately, he only ever visited during meal times. Since he never saw the soldiers operating the actual machines, he couldn’t learn how to pilot them himself. The lowest-tier Mechas here were 13th generation, while the most advanced were 15th and 16th generation models. Equipped with various attachments, these Mechas made Yang Bo drool with envy.
However, compared to the massive Warship, these Mechas and Warplanes were merely the size of mosquitoes!
Furthermore, the Mecha and Warplane storage area was guarded by security Laser Cannons. Judging by the power of their emission tubes, their output was massive. No Mecha or Warplane could withstand a hit from one of those!
“The Red Earl shouldn’t try anything, right? The defense level inside this Warship is incredibly high!” he thought.
Since his window of opportunity was only half an hour long, and he needed to set aside about ten minutes as a buffer, he only had twenty minutes to scout the surrounding area. That was the extent of his reach!
Even so, he had managed to map out the layout in his head after five days of exploration. If anything happened, he could immediately retreat to another location to hide.
Electric Energy Control +4!
Electric Energy Control +4!
…
While Yang Bo was worrying about his future in his cabin, strings of messages suddenly popped into his mind!
“What in the world…!” he thought.
Yang Bo instantly understood. His antics in the Mecha game were finally bearing fruit! Last time in the Underground World, hadn’t he dismantled a Hydrogen Bomb and thrown it into the lake?
A Hydrogen Bomb explosion itself didn’t produce lingering radiation, but the materials inside it certainly did. At the time, those mutant electric eels had swallowed the radioactive materials whole, leaving him absolutely dumbfounded!
“This is a great method! I’ll have to do it again next time!” he thought. The feeling was incredibly wonderful, especially during such perilous times. Yang Bo guessed that the Electric Energy Control ability was related to the percentage evolution of a Mechanician!
While Yang Bo was thrilled, some people were left speechless. The Tiger-faced King watched his subordinates hunting down one mutant electric eel after another!
Originally, the Tiger-faced King’s camp had been located right next to this underground lake. But one day, mutant electric eels began appearing in the water. In nature, these creatures had virtually no natural predators.
Not only did they completely wipe out all other life in the lake, but they also began attacking the tribe members living along the shore. Because of this, the Tiger-faced King was forced to relocate!
The Tiger-faced King had previously tried to clear out the lake. They had succeeded once, only for the mutant electric eels to return. After investigating, he discovered that whenever it rained on the surface, some mutant electric eels would navigate the lake’s water system and slip into the subterranean river network!
This underground lake used to provide the Tiger-faced King with an abundance of fish. But once the mutant electric eels moved in, the fish vanished entirely!
Furthermore, the eels would attack lower-ranking members of his tribe, who were completely powerless against them!
To make matters worse, the mutant electric eels had somehow evolved again. They could now survive on land for short periods. Many tribe members had been ambushed while out gathering materials.
Left with no other choice, the Tiger-faced King had to lead his subordinates to purge the underground lake once more.
His tribe members regularly ventured out to gather food and other supplies.
In the Underground World, incidents happened every day. Rocks tumbled, and caves collapsed. These newly opened caverns often revealed gemstones or other valuable materials.
Additionally, while the flora and fauna resources in the Underworld weren’t particularly abundant, it was connected to the surface. Whenever heavy rainstorms hit above, plants, fish, and even animals would be washed into the subterranean rivers. These resources would then be scavenged by the tribe.
Moreover, in certain special subterranean rivers, rare materials akin to Energy Metal could be found. These were essential components for the tribe to forge Weapons and equipment!
“Your Majesty, there are a ton of mutant electric eels in here, and they’re quite strong! Most of them are C-level or D-level,” one of the Tiger-faced King’s subordinates said after hunting down a pile of them. “They make for excellent food. I don’t think we should kill them all!”
“Then we shall hunt them systematically,” the Tiger-faced King ordered with a nod. “Distribute the meat to the youth of our tribe. The flesh of Mutant Animals can help them awaken their abilities much earlier!”
“Then we need to keep a close eye on this place,” the subordinate replied. “Our neighbors suffered heavy losses recently. If they find out we have mutant electric eels here, they’ll definitely try to pull something sneaky on us!”
“Alright, assign some guards here!” The Tiger-faced King paused. “Why hasn’t that Jinx logged into the game recently?”
He was eagerly waiting for the Jinx to show up again. Every time the Jinx appeared, even though the Tiger-faced King ended up covered in dirt, his two neighbors suffered far worse—one was dead, and the other had taken massive losses. Therefore, the Tiger-faced King was more than happy for the Jinx to return.
“According to our spies in the Alliance, the Jinx also suffered huge losses this time,” the subordinate explained. “Furthermore, his rival hasn’t gathered all their Mechas yet. He’s most likely waiting for his rival to assemble a full Mecha squad before he logs back in!”
“Your Majesty, that Jinx is incredibly lucky! He was ambushed by so many Advanced Mechas twice, yet he still managed to escape both times!” the subordinate added.
“Why else would he be called a ‘Jinx’?” the Tiger-faced King laughed heartily. “Tell the men to steer clear of him if they see him in the future. Don’t let his bad luck rub off on us!”
“Of course, Your Majesty. We will keep this strictly confidential. Ideally, when the Jinx reappears, we can leak his location to our neighbor and let him walk right into his own doom. When that happens, his territory and population will all be ours! A few more times, and we’ll be the largest tribe within a ten-thousand-mile radius!” the subordinate suggested.
“That makes sense. It’s just a pity that the Jinx only roams around our area. It would be great if he ventured deeper!” The Tiger-faced King felt a twinge of regret.
“Your Majesty, I have a suggestion,” the subordinate lowered his voice. “Since the Jinx’s Mecha is absolute garbage, could we figure out a way to help him upgrade it?”