Chapter 48: Chapter 47: New Members, Forming the Desert Hunting Team
After sleeping for more than ten hours, Lin Feng woke up slowly with a yawn, catching a glimpse of the upgrade completion notification out of the corner of his eye.
Before falling asleep, he ate some wolf meat, consuming six points of Life Value, and upgraded two Level 4 shotguns to Level 7:
"Shotgun lv7, White Quality"
"Basic Attributes: Damage 40, Effective Range 70 meters, Remaining Ammunition: 10, Durability 10/10; can consume one Life Value to continue upgrading"
"Extra Attributes: Bullet Head Switch (can switch to Shotgun Mode, low Shotgun Damage, low Penetration, wide Dispersal, suitable for group damage)"
"Evaluation: An inferior old-style shotgun, upgraded to its limit as a shotgun. After branding, its upgrade potential can be increased. High damage, short range, only suitable for close combat."
Initially, at lv4, its damage was 25 points, but the range was only 40 meters. Now, with three consecutive upgrades, the damage has increased to 40 points, and the range increased by 10 meters per level.
However, due to its outdated structure, even the bullet loading requires manually removing the shell, loading, aiming, and then firing in single-shot mode, with no drum or magazine.
Each time after firing, the fastest it takes is four to five seconds to reload and aim again.
Apart from its great power, the rest are all drawbacks.
But its power is genuinely great. A single shot can directly blast through a same-level enhanced creature, with damage even higher than the Armor-Piercing Horn Bow.
However, the range is too short. If the first shot misses, by the time for the second shot the enemy is either already in front or has long since escaped the range.
In actual combat, it’s hard to have the chance to fire a second shot.
Qi Mountain and others had already proven with their lives that there is only one chance.
However, when Lin Feng handed over the upgraded shotgun to Chen Shanshan and another woman, they happily took it, exploring how to aim and reload.
Lin Feng introduced the power of the Level 7 shotgun on the side, and instructed them not to load bullets usually, keeping the safety on to avoid accidental discharge.
Upgraded to Level 7, with 40 points of damage, and a thumb-thick bullet, a single shot can directly break an arm or leg; its power is no joke.
For Deserters, though firearms lack ammo supplies, if the power is strong enough, even a single shot equates to a life-saving chance.
Like this wolf hunting mission, if holding a shotgun, even Ding Yi, who has no combat experience, could stay in the trike and single-handedly kill a late-stage Desolate Wolf.
Unfortunately, the shotgun’s structure is too outdated, and nothing extra can be upgraded.
Don’t underestimate the 05 Revolver’s low power, but at least it’s a modern product of the twenty-first century, merely having reduced bullet lethality, other large-caliber versions are quite powerful.
And shotguns seemed to be invented in ancient times, evolved maturely by the seventeenth century, often used by pirates.
The structure is just a simple iron pipe with a firing device.
Even if Lin Feng were to equip such a secondary weapon, he’d have to buy a modern-designed semi-automatic shotgun with ample upgrade potential, to avoid wasting Life Value.
And now, it’s time to head to the Hunting Wilderness Guild to upgrade the team’s weapons and gear up!
Transform the results of this wolf hunting mission into tangible combat power!
Lin Feng pulled out the squad card from his pocket as well as the anonymous ID card from the Holy Spring Village, revealing a faint smile.
After washing up, the group of five rode an armored trike and two bicycles, heading to the Hunting Wilderness Guild.
Early in the morning, the guild was not crowded, unusually quiet.
Lin Feng and his group entered lightly equipped.
Security guard Uncle Wu at the entrance smiled reassuringly at Chen Shanshan and said proactively:
"You’ve finally grown up, resembling your master from back then. You can already handle affairs alone..."
Chen Shanshan nodded in gratitude and said:
"Thank you, Uncle Wu."
After a brief chat, the group arrived at the hall, and Lin Feng immediately spotted Ah Lian and her group sitting in the corner.
Five people came in total, including the Level 9 Enhanced Person who was absent before; due to serious injuries, he didn’t participate in the wolf hunting mission, but as an important leader of Li Hu’s team, he also needed to make this trip.
Lin Feng walked directly over and asked for their opinions.
The three team members surviving from the wolf hunting mission chose to withdraw and leave.
Lin Feng nodded without wasting words, motioning for Liu Qian to take two cards for exchange into points chips.
Li Hu’s team killed four Desert Wolves in total, totaling four hundred points, exactly one hundred points per person.
Plus, the team points card still had six hundred and twenty-four points, considering the team’s overall tally of twenty-one people, each got thirty points.
Thus, giving each of them one hundred and thirty points resulted in a total deduction of three hundred ninety points.
Currently, two thousand five hundred thirty-four points remained.
Lin Feng then looked at the last two people.
If Ah Lian also chose to leave, two people at one hundred sixty points would be insignificant.
But the team would lose a major support since Ah Lian’s combat experience is rich, far surpassing Liu Mingfei’s.
This is when the woman in front spoke up:
"You can let me join, but I have a condition."
Lin Feng frowned slightly; he didn’t like negotiating conditions:
"Speak..."
Ah Lian turned sideways, revealing the person behind her and spoke:
"I want Ah Ming to join with me, but she injured her thigh in the last wolf pack ambush, needing at least a Holy Spring Day to rest."
"Cough, cough, Ah Lian, no need..."
At this moment, Ah Ming, sitting, spoke up, her voice weak but delicate in tone.
Lin Feng paused for a moment, then looked closely.
This person wore a hood with a slanting fringe, half her face covered, her complexion pale, clearly not yet recovered.
When they first met on Holy Spring Day, Lin Feng always thought that Li Hu’s trio consisted of two men and one woman, after all, this person in front of him was dressed like a man and hadn’t spoken a single word from start to finish.
Now upon closer inspection, the other person had no Adam’s apple, and their voice wasn’t as rough as a man’s...
Plus, there was the deep gaze exchanged between Ah Lian and her,
Lin Feng’s mouth twitched slightly as he nodded:
"Alright, the team doesn’t mind an extra mouth to feed. Recover fast and you can help out sooner."
Even though a Level 9 Enhanced Person couldn’t compete with an Evolver, they were still extremely enhanced and could lend a hand in battle, giving Lin Feng no reason to refuse.
Taking a few days of rest was nothing, they had no shortage of enhanced meat.
"Ah Ming can deploy and arrange tactics, helping improve the team’s combat power, definitely won’t be useless."
Hearing Lin Feng agree, Ah Lian sighed in relief and added. She needed to ensure that Lin Feng was genuinely willing to accept a temporarily injured burden.
Lin Feng was secretly pleased, what the team most urgently needed was guidance on specific combat strategies, developing squad battle modes based on each person’s fighting style and capabilities.
It seemed this tomboy named Ah Ming was the true precious member of Li Hu’s squad.
No wonder when the squad suffered severe losses, other injured teammates perished, while only Ah Ming, whom Li Hu never gave up treating, survived.
The squad’s formation into a square formation and their cooperation evidently stemmed from Ah Ming’s guidance and training.
"No problem, let’s discuss this later."
Lin Feng smiled and then said:
"For now, let’s take care of the immediate business first."
"To be clear, our team’s rules are that Points are shared, meeting the overall needs of the team first, and any leftover is divided amongst individuals."
"Any issues?"
Ah Lian and Ah Ming exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.
Lin Feng then led the team to the counter:
"Hello, we’d like to apply to establish a Desert Hunting Team."
The counter lady was taken aback, paused to explain:
"Sorry, only Evolvers are eligible to apply for the Desert Hunting Team, please upgrade your Hunter’s license first."
Then, the lady at the counter summoned someone from the back, who took Chen Shanshan aside for testing.
The method for testing was simple, lifting a one-ton water storage tank in the rest area for more than a minute, to prove capability.
Normally, a Level 9 Enhanced Person at full strength might lift it for just a few seconds before exhausting themselves and collapsing.
Only an Evolver with a super Physique, having undergone cellular metamorphosis, would possess a ton of Basic power.
Just lifting a one-ton water tank was a breeze.
After upgrading the Hunter’s license to an Evolver’s, they automatically received Fifth Village Permanent Resident status, unlocking numerous other privileges.
The staff explained enthusiastically.
Including forming a Desert Hunting Team, claiming Oasis bounty orders, exchanging for advanced materials, and even qualifying for shopping credits for loans on high-Points tasks, allowing early spending.
During the Desert Hunting Team registration, the counter lady asked everyone for their bound residential address, essentially just their trailer home.
Evolvers typically sign long-term cooperation agreements with the Three Major Villages to acquire basic equipment for resolving food, drink, and defecation issues, quickly forming combat strength.
However, Chen Shanshan was one of the rare free Evolvers, and since the group currently lacked their own vehicle, they initially registered at Old Huang’s bus hotel.
There was one Evolver and four Level 9 Enhanced Persons, each granted a quota of fifty liters of water every Holy Spring Day, only charging a nominal two pieces of dried meat per pound.
It’s equivalent to one Point exchanging fifty liters of water.
This granted the Desert Hunting Team temporary permanent resident status.
Also counted as a major guild benefit.
Additionally, once obtaining a certain number of task Points in the future, Level 9 Enhanced Persons in the team can attain permanent Fifth Village resident status.
This is also why many Level 9 Enhanced Persons seek to join Desert Hunting Teams.
Even though following an Evolver on missions is equally dangerous, it’s better than going solo.
Like Li Hu’s top-tier Deserter squad, encountering a pack of wilderness wolves, they would be severely hit instantly.
Without an Evolver to lead, the risk-bearing capacity is too low.
After forming the Desert Hunting Team, the group received a 250-liter quota of fresh water, which could be claimed from the warehouse vehicle nearby.
This directly solved the team’s future water needs.
But what’s most crucial now is heading to shop in Mechanical Village and Dawn Village,
to customize an electric combat vehicle for the squad’s future travels!
This would significantly expand the team’s operational range, no longer limiting them to the vicinity of Oasis Town.
An electric car could carry the entire team miles away to search for large Desolate Beast Groups.
Given sufficient supplies, they could even survive in the wilderness for months.
That’s why you rarely see Evolvers around Fifth Village, as they mostly take their Hunter squads onto the desolate and remote wilderness.
Sometimes they won’t return till a whole Holy Spring Day or month has gone by.
Now Lin Feng’s squad,
is just one solar-powered electric combat vehicle away,
from becoming a true Desert Hunting Team!