Star Hunter.

Chapter 276 The Strange Neo

Chapter 276 The Strange Neo

Xilin and the gray cat spent three days in this forest, gaining a general understanding of its survival rules. (Tiantian Chinese)

Bio-soldiers and ferocious beasts share the world, but even within them, there are different classifications. Bio-soldiers come in several levels; those Xilin encountered before were all relatively basic. The higher the level of the bio-soldiers, the darker their skin color. During these three days, Xilin had seen a high-level bio-soldier whose skin was very dark, and he could clearly sense the powerful defensive capabilities of that skin.

The same arrow could penetrate completely into a low-level bio-soldier, but it could only break through the skin of an advanced bio-soldier at most, causing no real damage. So after seeing that advanced bio-soldier, Xilin began to think of ways to modify the crossbow.

Chapter 276 The Strange Neo As for the food issue, besides eating some plant fruits, Xilin, like the gray cat, directly eats raw meat. Xilin had experienced this a long time ago and had no psychological barriers or physiological aversion.

Even the slightest thermal reaction here can attract a large number of insects and animals, which, like moths, frantically swarm towards the heat source.

Indeed, many mechanical devices here pose safety risks, so Xilin did not see any signs of gunfire during his three days here. He believed that others who entered the area, like him, did not use firearms frequently.

"Xilin, a few more junior bio-soldiers are coming this way," the gray cat perched on the tree contacted Xilin.

Xilin looked over and saw several brown shadows in the distance, but they weren't heading this way. Xilin remained quietly in place. However, the crossbows were ready, and the arrowheads were coated with poison.

The toxins were obtained by Xilin from some plants in the forest. For the past three days, Xilin had been experimenting, testing several toxins from the plants on bio-soldiers and some ferocious beasts. However, most toxins that were fatal to ordinary people had little effect on these creatures. In the end, only two toxins proved somewhat effective. These two, like the toxins in Chapter 276, "The Strange Neo," were neurotoxins, but their mechanisms of action differed.

In fact, the reason why most of the toxins tested by Xilin were not very effective against the ferocious beasts was mainly because most plants in this forest contained toxins. And those beasts sometimes ate the fruits of these plants, gradually developing resistance. As for the bio-soldiers, they were the same, but not due to resistance; it was a genetic issue.

These two toxins can inhibit their polysynaptic reflex arcs, interfere with neuromuscular transmission, and cause their muscles to relax.

Those bio-soldiers have very well-developed muscles and explosive power. Although this toxin cannot directly incapacitate them, it can act as a buffer, buying Xilin more time to deal with the situation.

Suddenly, the gray cat's ears twitched as it perched in the tree. "A large number of bio-soldiers are coming! And some of them are high-level!"

Xilin frowned. How could so many bio-soldiers suddenly appear? These bio-soldiers don't have the same group consciousness as ordinary people; they're usually quite scattered. Sometimes they even fight each other. But what's going on now?

Xilin could hear the noise too. And they were moving very fast, as if they were chasing something…

The bio-soldiers' steps were already quite heavy, and this was especially noticeable when they ran. One was like that, and if a dozen or so gathered together, the noise would be much greater. Moreover, other stray bio-soldiers kept joining in, so the group grew larger and larger, and the noise became louder and louder.

  

The bio-soldiers that Xilin saw had obviously also heard the sound that was getting closer and went in the direction of the sound.

Finally, Xilin met the culprit who caused the commotion.

In front of nearly twenty bio-soldiers, a rather thin-looking person was running at top speed. He was indeed fast, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to escape being caught by the bio-soldiers.

In front of the nearly twenty bio-engineered soldiers were two bio-engineered soldiers whose skin color was significantly darker; they were two advanced bio-engineered soldiers.

Xilin was puzzled. How could this person have offended so many bio-soldiers? And high-level ones at that, more than one.

The person running ahead of the bio-soldiers looked disheveled, but his spirits were high, which Xilin couldn't help but admire. Although he didn't know how long he had been running, it seemed that he could continue for quite a while.

With the presence of a group of bio-soldiers, the ferocious beasts no longer had to worry about them, and they all obediently avoided the large group of bio-soldiers.

The person was getting closer and closer to the bio-soldiers, but following their original route, they would avoid the spot where Xilin was hiding. At their closest, they were about twenty meters apart. Xilin didn't choose to run away. Based on his understanding of the bio-soldiers over the past few days, he knew they wouldn't be able to detect him. If he left rashly and made any noise, he would definitely be implicated. Xilin didn't want to provoke so many bio-soldiers right now, especially since there were two high-level ones among them.

As Xilin was pondering what this person had done to those bio-soldiers to cause such a large group to relentlessly pursue him, the group was already less than fifty meters away from Xilin.

Suddenly, the man made a sharp turn and ran directly towards Xilin. Xilin's eyelids twitched, and he had a bad feeling.

That person obviously spotted Xilin while running.

Trying to drag me down with you?

Xilin quickly packed his things and called to Gray Cat to prepare to run. Now was not the time to deal with that person.

The man rushed over like the wind, and as he approached Xilin, this idiot looked at Xilin with a look of utter disappointment and hissed, "Are you looking for death? Run!"

Xilin: "..."

If Xilin hadn't seen the genuine lack of malice in this man's eyes, and even the obvious worry in them, he would have strangled him on the spot. If it weren't for this Wang Dan, would they have been discovered by those bio-soldiers?!

"Hurry up, hurry up, follow me..." Before the man could finish speaking, he realized that Xilin was running even faster than him.

"Don't run into the dense woods!" the man shouted urgently.

Xilin scoffed, "You think I don't know?!"

Therefore, the number of people being pursued by the bio-soldiers increased from one to two.

Xilin had memorized the terrain and had even laid traps in several places, just in case. But those traps were only in place for a day before that "what if" happened.

Xilin ran ahead. The man saw that Xilin wasn't running in the direction of the dense forest, so he followed.

When they reached a hill, Xilin ran in an arc and then made a slight turn. The person following behind Xilin also ran along Xilin's route.

As the man ran past, he heard a series of thumping sounds behind him. He didn't look back; Xilin hadn't stopped walking, so he didn't stop either.

With the delays caused by those traps, Xilin managed to leave the bio-soldiers further and further behind. Finally, after confirming that he had completely entrusted them with the task, Xilin stopped in a secluded little cave.

Xilin found this cave on the first day, and he and Gray Cat rested here that night. The surrounding rock was very hard, so as long as the main entrance was blocked, it wouldn't be easy for those ferocious beasts to get in. To be on the safe side, Xilin set up a lot of camouflage around the cave, as well as branches of several kinds of plants to mask their scent. Two branch entrances were also carved out of the cave, each only wide enough for one person to pass through. Even if large ferocious beasts found these two branch entrances, they wouldn't be able to get in. As for the bio-soldiers, their muscles were too developed. They had been swollen up to a considerable size, so it would be difficult for them to get in as well.

That person came here with Xilin. As soon as he arrived, he rolled around in the haystack.

"I'm so tired... I'm exhausted!"

Xilin was originally prepared to interrogate the man with a knife, but the man seemed oblivious to Xilin's hostility, rolling around on the haystack that Xilin was using as a makeshift bed, and then fell asleep.

Looking at this person, Xilin couldn't understand what he was thinking at all. Even when Xilin placed the knife next to the artery in the man's neck, the guy didn't react at all.

Heartbeat, blood flow, pulse—everything indicated that if this person wasn't a master cunning old fox with superb acting skills and a deep understanding of psychological tactics, then he was a complete idiot.

Xilin believed the latter more.

The gray cat circled the man, sniffing him. "Besides some plant scents, there's not much else. And besides a dagger, he has nothing else on him."

"He also knows how to use plant scents to mask his body odor, but what kind of person is this guy? Logically speaking, the person recommended for testing shouldn't be this bad."

Xilin took the dagger the man was carrying. The dagger was of very good quality, sharp, lightweight, and corrosion-resistant, making it very suitable for this person.

"Should we kick him out?" the gray cat asked.

"Let's ignore him for now and take a rest."

Xilin sensed no malice from this person; Xilin always trusted her intuition. However, this person left Xilin with a feeling of helplessness. There are always some people who think they are doing good deeds but don't realize that the effect is the opposite.

This person seemed simple and straightforward, like the gray cat, the kind who wouldn't lie. Moreover, aside from being fast, he wasn't physically strong; in terms of combat ability alone, he was probably trash. What puzzled Xilin was that, judging from the clothes this person wore, he had been in the forest for at least ten days, meaning he had arrived even earlier than Xilin.

His clothes were covered in scratches, some from plants, some from animal claws, yet this person was still alive. He had very dark circles under his eyes, probably from not sleeping well, which explained why he could sleep so soundly after such a frantic run.

Finally, after sleeping for two hours, the person woke up.

Still a little groggy from just waking up, she stared at Xilin and the gray cat for a moment, then exclaimed "Ah!" as if she had remembered.

"Who are you?" Xilin asked.

The man ruffled his messy hair and said to Xilin, "My name is Neo."

Seeing that Xilin was holding his own dagger, Neo was furious: "I saved you, and you still steal my knife!"

"If you hadn't rushed over, those bio-soldiers wouldn't have even noticed me." Xilin showed no intention of returning the dagger to Neo.

Seeing that Xilin's tone was serious and his expression didn't seem like he was lying, Neo frowned. "Really? But I did run over there to warn you."

Xilin looked suspicious.

"You don't believe me? Look at my face, and you'll find the answer."

"Dark circles under the eyes?"

"No, it's sincerity!" Neo said earnestly.

"Your sincerity is too profound; all I can see are superficial dark circles under your eyes."

"That's your problem," Neo began, rattling off an explanation. "Let me tell you, the truth often shows on our faces. A single expression, a glance, even the contraction of the pupils can reveal a lot..." He then gave an example, "Like you, you look a bit angry right now, and there's a hint of violence in the air. But what I don't understand is, why are you angry? Is it just because of a misunderstanding? Also, let me remind you, according to research, workplace violence and domestic violence are closely related..."

"This is not a workplace," Xilin interrupted his long-winded explanation.

"This is it for me!"

"Why did you follow me here?" Xilin asked.

"In fact, I think that following you would give me better security. Based on the situation at the time and your reaction, I compared the security probability analysis of the two scenarios: 'following you' and 'running away on my own.' The security probability of following you is 12.26 higher than the security probability of running away on my own."

"You're very arrogant," Xilin said.

"No, this is confidence. I've done the tests; my scores are 2.1792 times higher than the Empire's average."

"What test? The frequency of ear twitching?" Xilin looked at Neo's ears, which had been twitching ever since he woke up.

"No, an IQ test."

Xilin: "..." Is the reference point for IQ tests pigs?

"Okay, Mr. Neo, who has a high IQ, may I ask why you were chased so badly by those bio-soldiers?" Xilin asked.

"Sigh, it's a long story." Neo sounded quite frustrated as he spoke. "You know, in such a primitive environment, money and such are all external things. Knowledge can easily lag behind and needs to be updated constantly. Only the food you eat truly belongs to you."

"You mean it's for the food?"

"Yes, I was looking for a kind of fruit, but unfortunately, due to a low-probability event, I was discovered by those bio-soldiers whose intelligence is close to that of stone."

"So, Mr. Neo, with your high intelligence, would you be willing to tell us about the fruit you're looking for, and the process of being chased by bio-soldiers whose intelligence is almost as low as stone?"

"Of course," Neo replied readily, without the slightest awkwardness.

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