Chapter 82: Chapter 69: Candidate Selection, Disposing of the Horse Corpse, and a Major Upgrade!
Upon hearing Lin Feng’s question, Chen Shanshan, who was happily eating a meat pie, paused:
"There’s also one Evolution Agent left..."
Lin Feng nodded:
"Luckily, we managed to kill a Level 11 Rock-Horned Horse and extracted two Level 10 Evolution Agents. Now, there’s just one left."
"The upcoming action will be challenging. The combat strength of a Tier One Male Rock-Horned Horse is not to be underestimated. Naturally, I hope the team’s strength is as strong as possible."
"So, what do you think about the next person to evolve?"
Even though there is confidence in defeating a Tier One Male Rock-Horned Horse, the Spirit World is different from reality. Consciousness can be infinitely refreshed and revived, but in reality, being hit by a horse horn might not kill you, but it would result in severe injury.
There are plenty of injured Evolvers in the guild, as vivid examples.
Evolvers are powerful, but the challenges faced during missions are exceedingly dangerous.
A slight mishap could mean losing an arm or leg, directly ending one’s evolution career.
Therefore, having multiple Evolvers to help draw fire means Lin Feng can provide firepower more safely.
Their most difficult challenge on this trip is to capture a live horse.
And it’s a Tier One Male Rock-Horned Horse.
The role of the Explosive Gun will be greatly diminished.
A powerful Evolver is needed to work with Lin Feng to complete this challenge.
So, Lin Feng asking Chen Shanshan at this moment actually has another intention.
Faced with Lin Feng’s inquiry, Chen Shanshan put down her chopsticks and fell into deep thought.
Since rescuing Lin Feng, most matters in the team have gradually been decided by the man before her.
Chen Shanshan has grown accustomed to following his arrangements.
Plus, Ding Yi’s previous teachings made Chen Shanshan follow Lin Feng’s words without question.
Now, needing to present her own insights has left her somewhat bewildered.
This was Lin Feng’s test.
But the girl quickly recalled Ding Yi’s teachings and started trying to help Lin Feng analyze the team’s situation:
"Now, only Liu Mingfei is a Level 9 Enhanced Person, and there are the two of them, Ah Lian and Ah Ming."
"Ah Ming hasn’t fully recovered from his injuries, so the candidate for evolution lies between Liu Mingfei and Ah Lian."
"Liu Mingfei lacks combat experience, especially in hunting, so he’s more suited to guarding the camp. Ah Lian could work, but..."
"But Ah Lian just joined our squad, and isn’t as familiar as Liu Mingfei who knows us well."
"The Liu Family Siblings have already been through two battles with us. Although there were no outstanding performances, they were decent, and they are also making efforts to learn and keep up with the team’s growth."
"This time, his contributions to the customization and handover of the vehicle saved a lot of points, which was a big help."
At this point, a light bulb went off in Chen Shanshan’s mind, suddenly recalling something:
"Wait, actually this time the choice doesn’t need to rely on battle strength..."
"Our biggest trump card previously was me, but I couldn’t appear to help with hunting. But now we just need to swap Liu Mingfei for me, continuing to serve as the trump card, staying in the car to guard the camp..."
"I can wear this Battle Armor and join the upcoming hunting activity!"
"And it won’t raise Duncan Squad’s suspicion!"
Lin Feng nodded with slight satisfaction:
"That’s right, and now we don’t need to hide it either. Since I became an Evolver, my strength was already able to crush the opposite side, but being cautious is always wise."
"We need someone of considerable strength inside the camp who can drive the vehicle and guard our spoils."
"So, it seems like a choice between two, but in reality, Liu Mingfei is the best option."
Chen Shanshan nodded, walking excitedly toward the Battle Armor.
Compared to pondering the evolution candidate, what she cared most about was whether she could step onto the battlefield and fight alongside Lin Feng.
Having been "locked" inside the vehicle during the long journey for days, unable even to go outside and watch the battles, Chen Shanshan, who had just become an Evolver, was quite frustrated.
It’s like being obviously strong but unable to display it, like "noble wealth not returning home, akin to wearing fine clothes at night."
Finally being able to be freed and fight alongside Lin Feng naturally made Chen Shanshan incredibly excited.
After making the personnel arrangement, Lin Feng summoned the other five members of the team to announce this decision.
The Liu Family Siblings’ faces lit up with delight, especially Liu Mingfei, who never imagined that one day his dream would be realized so easily.
He didn’t care about Lisa’s analysis and persuasion. Just being able to become an Evolver, accumulating enough resources, and then retiring peacefully was Liu Mingfei’s biggest dream.
Even if the upper limit was only Tier One Evolution.
Now, the previously unreachable dream was right in front of him.
Liu Mingfei was stunned for a moment, only to come to his senses after being nudged by his sister Liu Qian, hastily expressing his thanks.
Lin Feng nodded and instructed:
"After completing the evolution, you will stay on the vehicle, protecting the camp and resources, replacing Chen Shanshan, hidden as a trump card."
"Then Chen Shanshan will join the next hunting activity as the second Evolver."
Upon hearing this, everyone pondered, quickly understanding the deeper meaning behind the captain’s decision.
Ah Lian and Ah Ming, on the side, remained unchanged in expression.
They weren’t surprised by the announced choice. They knew in their hearts that, being newcomers, the captain couldn’t possibly entrust such an important evolution candidate to them.
After resolving this matter, Lin Feng took the Liu Family siblings back to the tram, allowing Liu Mingfei to eat a few kilograms of wolf meat and a large amount of fresh water.
He then repeated his own evolution process.
He also informed them clearly about the awakening trial of the spirit world to prevent any mistakes.
Seeing Liu Mingfei drink the evolution agent nervously, opening the tier jump evolution...
Chen Shanshan, wearing battle armor, stood guard nearby.
Liu Qian, despite the danger, insisted on staying to accompany her brother to complete the evolution.
Seeing this, Lin Feng closed the car door and began preparing for the upcoming hunting operation.
From the corpse of the Tier One Female Rock-Horned Horse, besides 200 kilograms of evolutionary meat, they also extracted up to 600 kilograms of horse meat and 300 kilograms of entrails, ultimately leaving only over 200 kilograms of bones.
Additionally, there was 300 kilograms of rock armor, including six photovoltaic rock armors on the back, totaling 120 kilograms.
Calculating this, the total weight of this Level 11 Rock-Horned Horse exceeded 1.5 tons, more than 1,600 kilograms.
Although there was considerable moisture, having just replenished water at the Rift Valley Pool, its weight had surged by at least 30%.
Therefore, its net weight is just over a ton, around 1,200 kilograms.
This complies with the standard weight of a Rock-Horned Horse.
But what surprised Lin Feng was that the ordinary flesh from a Tier One Rock-Horned Horse had Level 9 enhancement quality, no different from Level 9 Enhanced Meat.
As long as it’s thoroughly cooked to kill the trace evolutionary cells inside, Late-stage Enhanced People can also eat it to complete enhancement or restore physical strength.
Ding Yi took a large sheet of transparent plastic membrane from the tram’s trunk, twisted it into a bag shape, and covered the horse meat in the tricycle compartment.
After properly sealing it, a hose was used to guide the edge into a bottle.
This allows for the collection of moisture from the fresh horse meat.
Mainly because the 600 kilograms of horse meat and 300 kilograms of entrails had too much moisture, at least over 200 liters.
So, there’s a great need for collection.
The team’s water consumption is exaggerated now. Lin Feng alone drank ten liters of water during the tier jump evolution. The total water carried this time is only 250 liters.
Now, there’s less than 180 liters left.
So, collecting distilled water from the horse meat is crucial.
Meanwhile, Ah Lian and Ah Ming were processing the rock armor and bones, which are harder than ordinary iron and comparable to steel.
Once dried, they are also valuable, and the bones can be crushed to extract edible marrow.
In short, Tier One Desolate Beasts are treasures for Deserters.
Besides evolutionary meat and photovoltaic rock armor, the most valuable part is the horse horns on the horse’s head.
It’s a pity that the horns of female horses are not very good in quality.
After all, there’s not much competition among female horses, so they don’t need to defend the herd against predators.
The horse horns of the Tier One Female Rock-Horned Horse are only one meter long, totaling two meters.
At most, they can be made into a bow and arrow or some other trinkets. Some Oasis Upper Class even buy them as decorations.
However, these are generally from Male Rock-Horned Horses.
Their horns start at two meters and total four meters wide, charging like a truck, very intimidating.
Hanging on the wall, they are mighty and imposing.
While they were processing the horse carcass, Lin Feng was also upgrading items in the camp.
Firstly, twenty photovoltaic panels on top of the tram had to be upgraded to Level 9.
This way, when he evolves to Level 11, he can fully upgrade the tram.
Lin Feng walked to the edge of the roof to upgrade them one by one, leading to another enhancement of the tram’s power:
「Premium Photovoltaic Panel Level 9, White Quality」
「Basic Attribute: Power generation efficiency 25%, 24-hour power generation 3.75 kWh; Durability 10/10」
「Upgraded to the current quality limit, further upgrades offer limited improvements. Tier jump upgrade can be achieved by integrating Tier One Rock-Horned Horse Photovoltaic Rock Plate」
「Evaluation: Extremely practical photovoltaic power generation panel, generating enough power per square meter to move a 250-kilogram object at top speed of 2 km/h, excess energy is recommended to be stored in batteries」
A total of twenty panels, achieving a load capacity of five tons!
When Lin Feng upgraded the power motor at the car’s bottom to Level 9, the whole vehicle’s attributes changed:
「Light Bus Level 10, Red Quality」
「Basic Attributes: Defense 60; Durability 10/10; Top speed 10 km; Upgraded to Host Level Limit」
「Extra Attribute: Gear Speed Regulation (1/5/10 km/h)」
「Note: The comprehensive upgrade of photovoltaic panels has endowed the Light Bus with abundant power, and the upgraded motor has optimized the entire power system, increasing the top speed to 10 km/h」
Ten kilometers per hour is probably the limit without energy storage in batteries.
Next, Lin Feng’s goal is to upgrade the passive tram into a real tram.
At least a speed of 30 to 40 kilometers per hour is required.
To traverse the wasteland expanse.
After completing the tram upgrade, Lin Feng, while enjoying a plentiful minced meat pie, upgraded and repaired the equipment and weapons of everyone.
Before long, the adjacent Duncan Squad came over.
They invited Lin Feng to discuss a cooperative plan of live capturing a Tier One Male Rock-Horned Horse between the two teams.