Fzzt~
Electric currents, suggestive of microwave radiation from the Abyss, continued to buzz in the receiver. Tao Yu stood on a forked branch, hugging the tree trunk with one arm while constantly waving his hand back and forth. He quickly also received the updated broadcast information for the day.
"...Fzzt~, that variety of Yuan Force creature excels in lurking and has both high speed and explosive power, posing a great threat to you. Perhaps it is due to some space-time anomaly that such a difficult Yuan Force creature has appeared, so now start gathering in groups as early as possible.
"Those from the Inner City should get organized, each person should bring at least five peers from the Outer City, and there will be rewards for those who bring more..."
The new intelligence information followed the broadcast, the same voice as yesterday's, and after listening to a round, he also began to listen to the replay in front to fill in the gaps.
"In a day's time, I have met up with my sister and also encountered two other peers, and it seems that our location is right at the boundary between two world fragments, our side being an endless grassland.
"Determining east from west with the annular pattern of sunlight, to our west is a rainforest. If there are people in the rainforest, try to move eastward, enter the grassland, and we will light some smoke along the way as a marker..."
The twins from the Inner City indeed boasted impressive equipment, apparently also having positioning and communication methods among themselves, having managed to rendezvous in just a day, even finding two scattered peers in the process.
In a normal mission, those two scattered peers wouldn't actually be so lucky, as they might be used as cannon fodder for some explorations.
But this time, faced with a space-time anomaly, their temporary shortage of manpower might make them more concerned about the number of people they could utilize.
Through the orders given over the broadcast to those few in the Inner City, one could surmise their intentions.
Regardless of their aims, at least in terms of the actions taken, they have aided a group from the Outer City whose abilities were generally lower.
"They really weren't in the rainforest but on a grassland to the east?"
Tao Yu murmured to himself in contemplation.
He was preparing to hunt a python to complete the two skill pieces of information, then see if he could find the Blood Orchid, with the matter of heading to the assembly being not so urgent.
Surviving in such a place still came with a fair amount of pressure.
And with those two guys from the Floating City around, next time they might bring something tailored to deal with this very issue. He would still be living in the Outer City upon his return, so ultimately, his direction of progression did indeed need to align with theirs.
Tao Yu knew he had potential, but the Floating City twins held an overwhelming advantage in both Yuan Force and skills.
Combined with their sophisticated equipment, his strength would surely fall short of theirs for a considerable time to come.
To temporarily form a safe haven around them seemed like a good choice.
Information in this broadcast also hinted at the presence of a "great threat" to newcomers in the form of agile Yuan Force creatures on their grassland?
Tao Yu speculated for a moment but didn't come to any definitive conclusion—the information was still too sparse.
This once again proved that the help provided by the World Will on the Day of Awakening wasn't all-powerful.
After all, the Abyss was an endless terminus capable of devouring many worlds, and one couldn't rely on past experiences to make judgments.
Having received the information for the day, Tao Yu looked around from his position in the tree, making a quick assessment of the surrounding safety, before looking down at Zhang Wei, who was busy dealing with the snake carcass and equipment.
Having a little follower like this was actually quite good; he could take care of all the dirty and tiring tasks, never complaining, even acting as a meat shield to some extent with the scent of bloody snake meat on him.
This snake had been freshly killed in the morning, the very one that had eaten Tao Yu's backpack, which had now been retrieved from its stomach, with Zhang Wei finishing up the cleaning of some useful supplies.
With more and more bullets fired and equipment dropping from creatures killed, Tao Yu couldn't help but feel a bit speechless.
Thanks to the increasingly ample ammunition, Tao Yu was getting more and more confident about finding the Blood Orchid and completing the python skill information.
Given the immense size of the place, the Blood Orchid might be hard to find, but completing the information on hunting the python should be achievable.
"Ah Wei, that's enough, it's time to leave."
Tao Yu descended from the tree, landing beside Zhang Wei.
"Alright, Tao Brother, here are the cleaned bullets."
"Good job."
Tao Yu patted Zhang Wei's shoulder and put the bullets into his own backpack.
Then he picked up a piece of snake jerky sprinkled with a bit of salt and began gnawing on it.
"Bro Tao, did the broadcast mention anything?"
Zhang Wei was packing up, getting ready to hit the road and looking at Tao Yu with some anticipation.
No matter whether he would gain any improvement after returning, the Abyss would still be here next time, so deciding the next steps was crucial.
Having teamed up with Liu Wen before, neither of them could climb high enough to receive the broadcast information. It was only last night that Zhang Wei found out about the space-time anomalies from Tao Yu, which hit him hard.
"There is some good news, actually. We can confirm the general direction we need to head in next..."
Tao Yu briefly explained, which somewhat relieved Zhang Wei.
"But I've still decided to hunt the Python first."
Tao Yu glanced at Zhang Wei; it was both giving Zhang Wei a choice and a test.
"I'll follow your lead, Bro Tao. I'll just handle the work."
Zhang Wei didn't show any objections to Tao Yu's decision, keeping a very proper attitude.
At least that was how it appeared on the surface.
No matter what, he needed to rely on Tao Yu to survive.
Object? Did he even have the right? That would only increase Tao Yu's annoyance; there was no need for it!
Zhang Wei, who had lived carefully in his aunt's house since he was little, had this awareness.
"Don't worry about spending too much time either. Encountering two Pythons in two days indicates that their density is somewhat abnormal."
Seeing Zhang Wei's choice, Tao Yu still smiled and reassured him.
The Pythons' food consumption is not low, and although the rainforest is abundant in food, the close proximity of two Pythons could indicate their mating season is drawing near.
Tao Yu had a deep impression of some related scenes from his memory, particularly the image of a group of Pythons mating together to form a large ball. Although the number of these snakes wouldn't be large, the nearby presence shouldn't be too scarce at this time...
...
Tao Yu's judgment wasn't wrong. In the following three days, while updating new broadcast information every day, he also hunted four more Pythons and spent a couple of units of Yuan Force each night to slightly accelerate the "Basic Breathing Technique - Modified."
Although the consumption of Yuan Force wasn't much, the practice time was long enough and he was well-fed, so the effect seemed quite decent, allowing him to feel a slight improvement.
Just that Tao Yu found it a bit absurd that one of the Pythons even exploded with another peer's gear, unexpectedly increasing his ammunition count again.
"Hmm, if now willing to spend Yuan Force for Acceleration or take more time to practice, at least one Skill should be getting formed."
After Tao Yu absorbed a new Python fang, the fragments of information inside it pieced together like a puzzle with prior data, sketching out the rough outlines of two Skills.
Following this information, he could master them in advance and also spend Yuan Force to accelerate the process.
However, with only a hundred units of Yuan Force saved up, Tao Yu didn't want to waste it on this. It was better to wait, absorb one or two more Pythons to naturally perfect the Skills and then go for Deification, which seemed more cost-effective.
"Bro Tao, you're really incredible, managing to hit their heads even with the Pythons' burst of speed. I was dumbfounded watching you earlier; it's no wonder you have the B-grade Dynamic Vision."
Zhang Wei was dissecting the Python's body, checking to see if there was any "new equipment" while enduring the stench, and he couldn't help but admire Tao Yu.
It wasn't just flattery either; the previous one had attempted to attack like a few days ago with Liu Wen, trying to be stealthy by circling to the back for a surprise attack.
But unfortunately, Tao Yu's Bullet Time insight was laid out before him. What seemed like dangerous dodging and shooting were all within expectations, and the passive enhancement alone resolved the issue without even triggering his active state.
"It's nothing special. In terms of strength, a Python could throw me a few streets away, but with a gun in hand..."
Tao Yu said nonchalantly with a smile. However, his expression froze as the branches around them began to shake unnaturally, just like when a Python appeared before.
Most crucially, this disturbance was quite significant, more than any previous encounter!
And it wasn't just one!