Chapter 376: Prehistoric Beasts
The team members had now been assigned to various areas of the base to help out. Even Li Zhuang, who was extremely passionate about research, had been sent to reinforce base defenses. Other than the designated drivers, only Zhuang Mingxu and Lu Weiyi remained inside.
“They’re actually moving slowly. Lu Xi had already developed the energy conversion device a while ago. Though the loss rate is a bit high, with Antonio’s help it stabilized and works fine. All they had to do was apply the existing tech to the rocket launcher—it’s not that hard.”
Zhuang Mingxu sat at the work desk in the cabin, scribbling on documents. He scoffed with thinly veiled disdain. “Zhao Changming is capable, but he’s been flattered for so long that he can’t handle being questioned. Now he wants to play games.”
“So how did you deal with him?” Ning Yuan asked.
“When he told me he had improved the energy conversion rate, I immediately saw through his intentions. I told him if it’s that complicated, I could have someone else research it, and let him choose a new project.”
Ning Yuan burst out laughing as soon as he heard it.
The boat headed to the side of South Island that was far from the coast. Antonio was already waiting there with Zhao Changming and a few researchers. On the small car they had arrived in were two single-soldier rocket launchers that looked completely unmodified.
The group boarded the boat swiftly and set off toward the distant sea. After an hour, they were surrounded by nothing but open ocean.
“Let’s do it here,” Zhuang Mingxu instructed the driver to stop.
“Do you need me to take the motorboat and measure the range?” Ning Yuan asked.
“No need. Long range isn’t the priority for now—what matters most is power,” Zhuang Mingxu said, looking at Lu Weiyi.
Lu Weiyi extended his mental power outward and finally detected a massive creature about a hundred meters away.
“What is it?” Zhuang Mingxu asked when he saw his serious expression.
“Over there… a fish? About thirty meters long by the looks of it. Are we going to attack?” Being on the sea put them at a disadvantage, especially against such a large creature. Who knew how powerful its attacks could be? If they couldn’t take it down and had to retreat, they might end up leading it back toward the base, which wasn’t worth the risk.
“…Let’s pick a different one,” Ning Yuan suggested. “I’m not doubting our abilities, but we’ve never fought a large mutated sea creature before. We don’t know its capabilities.”
“Then let’s wait a bit more.”
While the group waited, Ning Yuan casually began harvesting sea creatures with his powers. He wove a net of water currents to trap local marine life. As he raised the net, it brought the catch to the surface and deposited them into a container on the deck.
Antonio, intrigued, used a thin piece of metal to create an ultra-fine metal mesh net and dropped it into the water. When he felt a creature get trapped, he raised an eyebrow at Ning Yuan and began pulling it up.
But just as it neared the surface, the struggling creature tore through the metal mesh and splashed back into the sea, drenching Antonio with water.
Ning Yuan laughed. “That kind of thing needs constant power input to control the water flow—no way to hold it otherwise. And these mutated sea creatures are vicious.”
He opened the special container on the boat. A column of water instantly shot toward him.
“About one percent of mutant creatures can develop water-based powers. Ignore them and they might not bother you, but once captured, they’ll definitely attack.”
“Any fire-based ones?” Antonio imagined it for a moment and then laughed at the image.
“Never seen it. But I did encounter a metal-type one. Punched a hole in our boat. Luckily it wasn’t high-level and we killed it on the spot,” Ning Yuan said, clearly unimpressed by the memory.
After joking around for a while, a creature over ten meters long started approaching them. This time, Lu Weiyi didn’t hesitate—he raised the rocket launcher and fired.
A small transparent energy orb shot through the water and struck the approaching creature. Moments later, an explosion shook the seabed, and the surrounding waters for hundreds of meters instantly froze.
The ship went silent for a moment.
It took a while before Ning Yuan found his voice. “That…”
“This is an ice-type converter. The energy orb was ice-based. The rapid temperature drop caused the surrounding sea to freeze,” Zhao Changming calmly explained.
“I divided the converter’s output into three levels. This launcher has a level-one converter, which is the highest. No matter the crystal grade, each shot drains the crystal entirely. It can’t be fired twice.”
Lu Weiyi removed the used crystal from the launcher and saw that it had turned white—the energy was almost completely gone.
“What grade was that crystal? The power… was impressive,” Ning Yuan said, swallowing as he stared at the still-frozen sea.
“B-grade,” Lu Weiyi replied.
“So if we use a lower-level converter that doesn’t drain all the energy at once, we could get multiple shots from one crystal?” Zhuang Mingxu asked, skipping over any expression of awe and getting straight to the point.
“Yes. Level two converts about half the energy, so you get two uses. Level three converts about 30%, so you can shoot three times, though with reduced power. Based on the data, a level-three C-grade crystal shot would be about as strong as the old crystal-powered guns. Anything lower hasn’t been tested.”
“And that’s just the B-grade version. Imagine if we used an S-grade crystal…” Ning Yuan’s eyes lit up, excitedly gesturing.
“No,” Zhao Changming cut him off. “The converter materials can’t handle more energy than this. This is the upper limit. An S-grade crystal would perform no differently.”
Still, that was already amazing.
Ning Yuan made a mental note.
As they discussed, the frozen sea began to thaw. Dead mutant fish floated to the surface, and finally, the creature they’d shot emerged.
Only then did they realize—it was a whale.
A juvenile, judging by its size.
“Unmutated, but it must weigh over a ton. Let’s take it back to the base cafeteria—give the regular folks some extra meat,” Ning Yuan said, freezing a section of the sea to walk out and inspect it. He used his power to lift the whale out of the water.
“Good idea,” Lu Weiyi quickly stored it in his spatial device and warned, “Get back on the boat—blood in the water could attract large carnivores.” Especially sharks. That memory wasn’t pleasant…
The two rocket launchers—one fire-type and one ice-type—were tested all morning with various converter settings. The weapon enthusiasts in the group offered practical feedback and suggestions for improvement.
By the time they returned to base, Lu Weiyi’s storage now held more than just the whale. There was also a giant octopus with over twenty arms and tentacles over ten meters long; a shrimp around eight or nine meters in length with claws longer than a grown man and bristle-covered legs that could double as weapons; and a massive crab that Ning Yuan joked could be hollowed out and used as a temporary shelter.
After dropping the researchers off at the lab, the group headed straight to North Island. To raise the awareness of local fishermen, several mutant creatures were displayed in the most crowded area of the island.
“These were captured today by Base Leader Lu and his team during patrol. We’re showing them here so everyone can get a better understanding of the mutated creatures nearby. Fishing boats heading out should stay alert at all times and remain clear-headed,” Ning Yuan stood in front of the creatures—who looked pitiful despite their prehistoric size—and gave a speech with no hint of modesty, eager to take credit.
“These mutants are huge! If we ran into one, we wouldn’t even make it into its mouth before we were dead.”
“This is terrifying. Are we entering some kind of prehistoric revival era?”
“Thank goodness for Base Leader Lu. If it had been anyone else out at sea, they probably wouldn’t have made it back.”
“Exactly, we really owe it to Base Leader Lu.”
The crowd showered Lu Weiyi with praise, making him a bit embarrassed. At that moment, he finally understood what Zhuang Mingxu had meant earlier by “creating a hero.”
As the person in question, he found it… a little awkward.
“Ahem…” He cleared his throat, interrupting Ning Yuan’s speech. “I have things to do, so I’ll head back. Have someone send the non-mutated whale to the cafeteria later. Handle the rest as you see fit.”
Ning Yuan gave him an “OK” gesture.
Lu Weiyi quickly pulled Zhuang Mingxu away from the scene.
The appearance of giant mutant creatures prompted Zhuang Mingxu to increase patrols in the waters around the base.
The introduction of the crystal-core rocket launchers also brought a collective sigh of relief. The weapon’s power provided a sense of security. After several rounds of testing, Antonio immediately gathered all the metal-element ability users at the base and began crafting rocket launcher parts using their powers.
Everyone at the base was working tirelessly, preparing for any potential crises in the future.
News of Lu Xiao and Zhao Qiang’s imminent arrival reached Moonbay Base at that time.
“My uncle sent word. He helped us recruit over a hundred skilled workers in petroleum extraction and mechanical engineering—enough to restart some of the oil processing machinery and begin refining the crude oil on Oil Island.”
Zhuang Mingxu looked at the message Lu Xiao sent that day and sighed. “That message must have been sent before they even set out, but communication has been intermittent lately. We’re only receiving it now.”
“At their estimated pace, they’ll arrive within three days. We need to get the facilities on Oil Island in livable condition before then.” Which meant… they had to deal with the people currently on the island.
He looked toward Antonio and Li Zhuang, who were acting like this had nothing to do with them. With no choice, he called them out. “Do you two have any suggestions?”
“Nope,” Antonio shrugged first.
Li Zhuang shook his head, then asked after a pause, “What are you planning to do with the people on the island?”
