Time rewinds to three minutes ago.
At this moment, the team has been operating at the edge of the Iron Worm Forest for over an hour.
The truck stopped a total of four times during this period.
The first three times were due to encounters, with the team's response being extremely swift. They immediately took action as soon as the sensor indicated a warning, not giving the Ruined Beasts any chance to cause damage near the truck.
Bai Feng and Wen Lei, two melee members, worked in tandem to attack and defend against the Ruined Beasts, while Zheng Tian at the rear swiftly switched to specialized ammunition based on the type of Ruined Beast, waiting for the opportunity to deliver a deadly strike.
The team was well-trained, coordinated seamlessly, and performed excellently, managing to avoid danger altogether.
The fourth battle was Ou Youning's turn to shine.
Two Ruined Beasts gathered together, exhibiting a high energy level reaction, and the sensor gave an early warning.
The team then spent ten minutes, using up nearly half of Ou Youning's reserves, to set up a chain blast trap. Bai Feng lured the two Ruined Beasts to the trap and annihilated them in one fell swoop.
In total, the team had hunted five Ruined Beasts in just over an hour, earning nearly 15 Contribution Points, exceeding their average daily earnings.
Zheng Tian assessed the remaining supplies and found that the remaining ammunition was still sufficient, deciding to expand their gains while their luck held and continue further in.
They soon discovered a First Level Ruined Beast in poor condition, stopped the truck, set up another trap, lured it, and ambushed it.
While the other four were busy, Ren Zhong and Chen Han were waiting in the truck.
At the start, everything was going smoothly, and the trap, capable of easily blowing up the Ruined Beast, was quickly set up.
But three minutes ago, just as Ou Youning's trap was about to be sprung, a red indicator light suddenly lit up inside the truck, and the alarm blared piercingly, almost drowning out the sound of explosions outside.
On the control panel's simple electronic map, a large red dot suddenly appeared near their location, with an estimated energy level index range shown below, measuring between 370 and 650.
This indicated that the suddenly appearing new Ruined Beast was releasing an energy level reaction intensity fluctuating between 370 and 650.
Ren Zhong had already learned through observation that the energy level index of a First Level Ruined Beast ranged between 10 and 50, equivalent to a power of 10 to 50 kilowatts in human mechanical terms.
The index for a Second Level Ruined Beast ranged between 50 and 300.
An index above 300 signified a Third Level Ruined Beast, a vicious creature one must flee from immediately upon encounter.
Chen Han opened the car door and ran away on foot in terror, screaming, "Run! Run fast! It's the Blade Mantis!"
In fact, Chen Han's reminder was unnecessary as the other four had already received the intelligence through their tactical communicators.
They didn't even attempt to run back to the truck, each choosing a different direction to scatter and escape, leaving Ren Zhong alone in the vehicle, tense and confused, not knowing what to do.
Ren Zhong couldn't understand why the others wouldn't get in the truck to escape.
Wouldn't driving be faster?
But in the next instant, he understood.
A green shadow, known as the Blade Mantis, hurriedly charged from a hundred meters away.
Ren Zhong saw almost nothing but a green blur slicing through the air, shooting past, and then heard the farthest-running Wen Lei emit a heartrending scream.
This thing was too fast!
For the performance of a hover truck, it was nothing more than an iron coffin.
No wonder they scattered to flee.
Their calculation was that if even one of them could escape, it was worth it.
But of course, their hope was a fool's errand, leading to a straightforward and complete annihilation.
...
Boom!
Boom!
White mist rose.
Ren Zhong sat despondently outside the Frozen Storage for half an hour.
He pondered for "ten days and ten nights" but couldn't make sense of why things happened this way.
His head ached.
Despite being so careful, advancing with caution and care, one slight oversight led to such a dramatically sudden demise again.
It wasn't that he lacked capability; his teammates were simply too ridiculous!
It was his teammates who got him into this mess!
He had always heard Zheng Tian boasting about how strong and sharp his team was, yet when the team was wiped out, it happened without even a blink.
It was too real.
Just how unlucky are they?
But Ren Zhong also suspected he might be the problem.
After all, Zheng Tian's team had developed steadily before encountering him.
Well, forget it, just do it.
Anyway, the sun would always rise the next day.