When Red Dress had finished collecting the Xuantie Giant Ape's outer skin, bones, and valuable materials, she handed the Xuantie Giant Ape's skin to Chu Tian.
"Here, consider it my membership fee for joining the team," Red Dress said generously.
Chu Tian hesitated for a moment but accepted the Xuantie Giant Ape's skin.
Seeing Chu Tian take the incredibly tough skin, Red Dress smiled with crescent-shaped eyes, then happily went to the Thunder Pattern Snow Foxes' nest.
The four baby Thunder Pattern Snow Foxes were peacefully sleeping. They hadn't even opened their eyes, completely unaware of their parents' deaths.
Red Dress approached and took out palm-sized metallic spheres from her spatial bracelet. These four spheres had no buttons on them. Red Dress seemed to touch some hidden mechanism, and one by one, she collected all four baby Thunder Pattern Snow Foxes into the metallic spheres.
Observing Red Dress's actions, whether it was taking out the powerful handgun weapon or using the metallic spheres to contain the foxes, it was evident that this young girl was not ordinary.
"Here, you can have a pair. They're quite valuable," Red Dress said, handing two metallic spheres to Chu Tian.
Chu Tian didn't say much and accepted the two Thunder Pattern Snow Foxes.
"Is this something like the legendary Poké Balls?" Chu Tian couldn't help but think of a popular anime from his past life, Pokémon.
Red Dress looked at Chu Tian with a puzzled expression, tilting her head as if she were looking at a fool. "My goodness, you don't even know that space technology can be used to make pet cages?"
Hearing Red Dress, Chu Tian could only chuckle and then inquired about the powerful handgun, which had a damage potential equivalent to B+.
"This gun is a semi-finished product, troublesome to maintain, and requires a large amount of spirit crystal as a power source. Its conversion rate is also a big issue. If you like it, take it. It's just a money-losing item for me," Red Dress said openly, taking out the handgun from her spatial bracelet.
However, Chu Tian didn't accept it. He waved it off and said, "It's fine; I'm not someone who takes things by force. I've been here for a month, and it's time for me to return and complete my mission."
"I'll go with you. Thanks to you, I've already finished all my tasks," Red Dress said, evidently quite happy about how easily she'd completed her missions.
The two of them retraced their steps, but just as they entered the Ruined City, they encountered a seven-member mercenary team.
These seven individuals had varying levels of strength, with a middle-aged man leading them. He had a burly figure and wore a combat suit that was casually unbuttoned, revealing a tuft of chest hair in the shape of a fierce tiger's head.
[Detected talent, do you want to copy?]
[Detected talent, do you want to copy?]
[Detected talent, do you want to copy?]
-Kre McLenn
-Gender: Male
-Race: Human
-Level: C
-Talent: Furious Bear Power
-Zhang Xuchang
-Gender: Male
-Race: Human
-Level: D
-Talent: Speedy
Looking at these talents, apart from the leader's C-level talent, Furious Bear Power, there were some that interested Chu Tian. Most of the others were similar to his own abilities. Without hesitation, he copied the leader's talent.
Immediately, Chu Tian felt a surge of restlessness. It took a while for him to suppress this wild feeling inside him.
Furious Bear Power was indeed a talent, but it was also quite temperamental. After careful examination, Chu Tian realized that once he used this power, he would transform into a giant bear in an instant.
Standing beside Chu Tian, Red Dress seemed to sense the change in his spiritual power, though it was very subtle and brief. This made her glance curiously at the young man beside her.
"Let's take a detour," Chu Tian said, preparing to leave with Red Dress.
He had already heard that this group of people was here to kill the Giant Devouring Mantis.
The Giant Devouring Mantis was a C-level savage beast, and besides its six pairs of sharp sickle claws, it could also fly. So, under normal circumstances, it was challenging to kill this flying beast without deploying air units.
"Who are you?"
Just as Chu Tian was about to leave with Red Dress, a man suddenly shouted loudly behind them. This man, who was hiding their location, was holding a semi-automatic rifle and pointing it at Chu Tian and Red Dress.
However, this man didn't emit any spiritual power fluctuations, which had caused Chu Tian to overlook him earlier. This man had the same talent as Liu Wei - he could hide his aura.
"Hehe, two E-level little mice," the middle-aged man named Kre McLenn, who led the group, stood up and looked coldly at Chu Tian and Red Dress.
Chu Tian glanced around and looked at the eight people before him, then smiled and said, "We're just passing through. If we've caused any inconvenience, we apologize."
"If apologies were enough, the police would be all we needed. But since I don't like you right now, hand over all the materials and mission items you've found. The guy can cut off his limbs himself, and the girl can have some fun with us. After we've had our fill, we might consider letting you go," said Kre McLenn, the leader, in a disdainful tone.
Chu Tian's pupils slightly contracted. He quickly changed his expression from icy to a smiling one. "Come on, we're all humans here. Unity against external threats should be our focus. Why resort to infighting?"
As Chu Tian spoke, his spiritual power suddenly surged, even though it was faint and short-lived. This change didn't escape the notice of Red Dress, who was standing beside him.
The sudden increase in spiritual power formed a fierce cyclone.
At that moment, thunderclouds unexpectedly gathered in the sky above them, and peals of thunder rumbled about ten meters above everyone's heads.
"Thunder-type talent?" The members of this mercenary team were startled and took a step back. Thunder-type talents were formidable in combat, ranking among the top ten talents in terms of combat effectiveness, except for talents with specific counter-attributes.
Chu Tian snorted coldly, and it seemed as if lightning from the sky was about to strike down, creating the imposing aura of an advanced A-level spiritual calamity.
However, just as the mercenaries were preparing to defend themselves, Chu Tian suddenly grabbed Red Dress's hand, and his Speedy talent instantly activated. He turned into a shadow and dashed toward the distance.
Chu Tian's speed was incredible, and by the time the mercenary team reacted, he and Red Dress had already disappeared more than two hundred meters away.
In the sky, after only a few breaths, the previously tumultuous thunderclouds dissipated.
"Damn it, the thunder was loud, but the raindrops were small. We've been fooled by that kid," one of the mercenaries cursed through gritted teeth.
Unfortunately, Chu Tian and Red Dress had long vanished without a trace.